Last week Canada鈥檚 Agriculture Day came and went with limited awareness and almost no fanfare.
It is perhaps easy to dismiss such days in this era because there are days marking everything from avocados, (July 31), to hotdogs, an effort dating back to 1971. Even important days can be lost as the world begins to tune out the ridiculous.
Agriculture Day is a new effort, one which began in 2017, thanks to the effort of groups such as Agriculture More Than Ever.
Lawrence MacAulay, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, who participated in the Canada鈥檚 Agriculture Day celebration in Ottawa, captured the reason that Agriculture Day is one worth marking in this country.
鈥淥ur agriculture and agri-food sectors contribute over $110 billion to our economy and generate thousands of quality middle-class jobs in the food processing, transportation, and retail sectors across Canada,鈥� he said in a recent release. 鈥淥ur government has an ambitious plan to grow Canada鈥檚 agriculture sector in order to meet our target of $75 billion in agri-food exports by 2025.
鈥淎t a local level, family farms are the lifeblood for many rural communities; they support small businesses, their children attend local schools and they contribute in many ways to the quality of life in rural Canada.鈥�
MacAulay used the day as the platform from which he officially launched the six federal programs under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
The Partnership is a $3-billion, federal-provincial-territorial agreement which is expected to help chart the course for government investments in the sector over the next five years.
Developed with input from provincial and territorial partners, as well as industry, federal programs and activities under the Partnership will focus on three key areas outlined in a recent release:
*Growing trade and expanding markets ($297 million) - Providing core industry services, such as timely market information and sector expertise to help improve the sector鈥檚 competitiveness, growth, and adaptability. Advancing and defending international trade interests, as well as improving market development and market access activities to address emerging needs of the sector, and of small and medium enterprises (SME). This will help expand markets and trading opportunities for the sector.
*Innovative and sustainable growth of the sector ($690 million) - Enhancing the competitiveness of the sector through research, science and innovation, and adoption of innovative products and practices, with an emphasis on the environment and clean growth.
*Supporting diversity and a dynamic, evolving sector ($166.5 million) - Strengthening the sector by better reflecting the diversity of Canadian communities, enhancing collaboration across different jurisdictions through a new Regional Collaborative Partnerships Program, securing and supporting public trust in the sector, and improving client services.
鈥淭he Canadian Agricultural Partnership reinforces the Government of Canada鈥檚 strong agenda for agriculture. These initiatives will focus on priorities such as growing trade and expanding markets, innovation, and sustainable growth of the sector, and supporting diversity and a dynamic, evolving sector. These investments will help ensure Canada鈥檚 agricultural sector remains a leader in job creation and innovation, and will help achieve our objective of expanding agricultural exports to $75 billion by 2025,鈥� said MacAulay in the release.
Whether the new programming will achieve what is hoped will be determined over time, but the importance of agriculture remains, and a day to mark that is a positive.
Calvin Daniels is Editor with Yorkton This Week.
