News Article

Agriculture industry ready for growth


12/8/2004 11:16:29 AM


LAB FARMING - The lab at the Carbonear campus will be a useful tool for students of the Agribusiness program, coordinated by Chris Turpin. Chemist Dr. Somasundaram Karunanithy works at the lab where "chemicals extracted from locally grown blueberries are further processed to produce useful fractions, which are further analysed for commercial applications." ~ Photo by Lillian Simmons/The Compass

By Lillian Simmons
Printed with permission from The Compass

The new Agribusiness program at the College of the North Atlantic's Carbonear campus appears to tie in with what the provincial Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development is trying to achieve in rural Newfoundland.

On a recent visit to Carbonear, Innovation, Trade and Rural Development Minister Kathy Dunderdale noted the new program offers "potential benefits for the region and for students within the province to secure training," and also promotes entrepreneurship.

Before offering the program, the college hired Andrea Bourne to carry out a two-year study to assess what agriculture industry people would need.

Tony Marx is the agricultural awareness coordinator for the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture.

"We're doing some work now on trying to bring an agriculture course into high schools, so there's good linkages to what the college is doing," he said.

During the needs study, done in partnership with the provincial government and the federation, Ms. Bourne travelled around the province assessing what training is needed to bring the Agrifoods industry, and entrance within the industry, forward.

"Right now we're looking at a changing industry and we have to adapt," said Mr. Marx. "One way is to bring new skills sets into this market."

The needs assessment identified the challenges that confront the industry.

It also identified the strategic goals of each commodity group - like beef, fur, horticultural - to help with future development.

Mr. Marx said harvesting techniques and crop techniques are changing and farmers are getting into different types of crops.

"There are huge commodities within agriculture right now. One of the main areas is food safety. People demand that the product is safe, is fresh and has quality. So, obviously in order to meet those demands we need new training and new skills sets."

The province's future agricultural industry, previously untapped, has the most potential of any industry in the province right now, Mr. Marx believes.

"The province just received an industrial milk quota," he said, as an example. "There are two milk quotas, one for fluid milk, the other designated as an industrial milk quota."

According to Mr. Marx, once that fluid milk quota was used, the dairy producers had none to put into secondary processing. Now they can increase their quota towards industrial milk.

"Now we're moving into opportunities," he said. "Out on the west coast they're going to be starting to make yogurt. Now we can make cheeses."

There are 700 farms of all types and over 4,000 people employed in the industry all over the province, with sales of over $500 million annually from primary production value-added commodities.

"The future looks extremely bright," said Mr. Marx. "(Natural Resources) Minister Ed Byrne and this government are putting agriculture on the front page as an area where we can grow and certainly help rural Newfoundland when it comes to rural development. Out of any industry, this industry currently has access to the most funding."

The province signed an Agricultural Policy Framework with the federal government in May 2003. The $32.5 million five-year program is cost-shared by the province and the federal government.
It has been set up to enhance opportunities for the agriculture and agrifoods industry in the province.

"It provides assistance under five elements," Mr. Marx pointed out.

Those elements are food safety and food quality; environment; renewal; science and innovation and business risk management.

The agricultural awareness coordinator said, "when it comes to rural development, we have never received more support from government. We've been invited into every aspect, so we are all on the same page here. We haven't seen that in the past, so we're building up some good relationships."

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For more information contact:

Stephen Lee
Communications Manager
(709) 643.7929