Tough times for agriculture

By Derek Neary Northern News Services

Agriculture has largely been stunted in the NWT over the past year.

The Northern Farm Training Institute (NFTI), one of the longstanding strongholds in the territory’s agricultural sector, collapsed.

The Hay River-based “experiential farm school,” as it billed itself, began downsizing last summer — including laying off staff and butchering and selling farm animals as cost-cutting measures. The group’s president, Jackie Milne, who has been critical about what she feels is too little agricultural funding available through the government, announced that NFTI would start closing for the winter.

But the organization never reopened in the spring and its land lease was cancelled.

It marked a dramatic downturn from the optimism of May 18, 2018 when approximately $5.6 million over five years was announced in Hay River through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a joint federal-territorial agreement.

That partnership remains in the territorial budget, however, with $1.2 million in place for 2023-24. The Government of Canada supplies 60 per cent of those funds.

“Its goals are to build sector capacity, diversify local economies and encourage market access to fresh food in the NWT,” the budget states.

Eggs sent south Hay River’s Polar Egg, another mainstay in the industry, also faced challenges last year. For most of 2022, its eggs were not found in its own branded cartons but were instead were mixed with eggs from southern Canada. The company’s product had to be shipped south for grading due to complications with overhauling its own grading facility.

Sahtu top region for funding

Regionally in 2021-22, the Canadian Agriculture Partnership provided the most funds to the Sahtu region, at $166,990. McNeely Gardens was the largest recipient at $73,942.

The partnership doled out $141,873 for projects in the North Slave with Boreal Cultivation Ltd. receiving the largest total at $43,911 for various initiatives.

The South Slave region took in $139,370. Riverside Growers was granted the bulk of the funding at $72,526.

A total of $135,076 was disbursed in the Dehcho. Midnight Sun Growers in Fort Simpson made use of $74,601 of those regional funds.

The Beaufort Delta benefitted from $125,470 and the Community Garden Society of Inuvik accounted for that entire sum by offering training to community garden coordinators, purchasing and installing a solar array for its hydroponics unit as well as needing funds for buying plants and supplies.

Another $383,952 was given out through the Northern Food Development Program in 202122, helping individuals, businesses, educational institutions and Indigenous governments.

The Northern Food Development Program will have $550,000 to work with in 2023-24. $500,000 in Nunavut

In Nunavut, the 2023-24 territorial budget shows $500,000 being contributed through a Canadian Agricultural Partnership agreement with the federal government.

The GN’s 2021-22 Grants and Contributions report contains no mention of any agricultural initiatives. There are, however, a number of greenhouse initiatives in communities across the territory.