By now most producers have finished planting another crop. A lot of decisions had to be made again this year about what crops we might grow to make a profit. I had a conversation with a local seed sales person as to what types of grain I should grow in order to make a reasonable return. The sales person told me they had the same conversation with someone else 30 years ago. So I guess some things never change!

The PEI Federation of Agriculture continues to work on your behalf. There always seem to be meetings to attend. Recently at an Atlantic Federation of Agriculture meeting, discussions took place about work being done to start an Atlantic brand. This brand would compliment provincial brands now in place. Hopefully something will happen to help promote our agriculture products in this region and to improve the prices we receive for them.

We are working on our defence of electricity rates for farmers which will be heard at IRAC public hearings starting on June 14.  This will be a challenging debate but we will make sure to have our voices heard over the concerns of ever increasing energy costs for PEI farmers and how this makes competition with our colleagues in other provinces even more difficult.

The Federal standing committee on agriculture was on the Island in May as part of their cross-Canada consultations with the agriculture community. Some harsh criticism of Federal agriculture policy was presented to them by many individuals; as well as the PEI Federation of Agriculture.  We focused our attention, among other things,  on the need to make sure that food imported into Canada meets the same standards as Canadian producers are asked to meet and to fix Business Risk Management (BRM) programs.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture has developed a national food policy and presented it to the Federal Government. We undoubtedly need more direction as to where our industry is heading. 40% of the food we eat is now imported. Do we want that to continue to increase? With stronger industry driven policy for agriculture maybe we’ll get the feds onside to make the changes we need to improve the situation.

As many of you are aware of by now, our Executive Director Mike Nabuurs has tendered his resignation and has accepted a new job with Atlantic Beef Products.  Mike’s commitment to the organization is evident in the work he has done over the last six years. In that time, he has demonstrated his passion for the agriculture industry time and time again. We wish Mike all the best in his new job.

By now most producers have finished planting another crop. A lot of decisions had to be made again this year about what crops we might grow to make a profit. I had a conversation with a local seed sales person as to what types of grain I should grow in order to make a reasonable return. The sales person told me they had the same conversation with someone else 30 years ago. So I guess some things never change!

The PEI Federation of Agriculture continues to work on your behalf. There always seem to be meetings to attend. Recently at an Atlantic Federation of Agriculture meeting, discussions took place about work being done to start an Atlantic brand. This brand would compliment provincial brands now in place. Hopefully something will happen to help promote our agriculture products in this region and to improve the prices we receive for them.

We are working on our defence of electricity rates for farmers which will be heard at IRAC public hearings starting on June 14.  This will be a challenging debate but we will make sure to have our voices heard over the concerns of ever increasing energy costs for PEI farmers and how this makes competition with our colleagues in other provinces even more difficult.  The Federal standing committee on agriculture was on the Island in May as part of their cross-Canada consultations with the agriculture community. Some harsh criticism of Federal agriculture policy was presented to them by many individuals; as well as the PEI Federation of Agriculture.  We focused our attention, among other things,  on the need to make sure that food imported into Canada meets the same standards as Canadian producers are asked to meet and to fix Business Risk Management (BRM) programs.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture has developed a national food policy and presented it to the Federal Government. We undoubtedly need more direction as to where our industry is heading. 40% of the food we eat is now imported. Do we want that to continue to increase? With stronger industry driven policy for agriculture maybe we’ll get the feds onside to make the changes we need to improve the situation.

As many of you are aware of by now, our Executive Director Mike Nabuurs has tendered his resignation and has accepted a new job with Atlantic Beef Products.  Mike’s commitment to the organization is evident in the work he has done over the last six years. In that time, he has demonstrated his passion for the agriculture industry time and time again. We wish Mike all the best in his new job.