~ freelance journalist

A lot can happen in a year

Early in 2011, international agencies were ringing alarm bells about higher grain prices and the devastation they would cause for consumers in poor countries. At one point, there was even talk of reviving grain stockpiles to cushion the blow.

High food prices were credited with playing a role in the turmoil that has shaken many Middle Eastern countries this year.

As the year ended, wheat prices were slumping because of strong harvests around the world. The international agencies were silent on this development.

The turnaround proved the old saw about the best cure for high prices being high prices. Farmers saw money in growing wheat and planted more. It’s doubtful whether many outside the agri-food community noticed.

The world population hit 7 billion during 2011 on its way to a projected 9 billion in about 40 years. And most experts agreed that only a handful of countries including Canada have any potential to be a long term food exporters.

While most of the current discussion about food focuses on how competitive Canada is compared to other exporters, we have to start thinking in terms of how Canada can help farmers in other countries improve their production. Exporters alone aren’t going to feed the additional 2 billion people.

What this means is more agriculture research both at home and in collaboration with scientists and farmers in other countries. Our knowledge should be viewed as important as our commodities.

This past year also witnessed the passage of legislation to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly. Regardless of what one thinks of the heavy-handed way the Harper government went about it, that was the easy part for Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

Making a voluntary, national CWB, or something with a more appropriate name, work to its potential helping Canadian farmers export their products is what will really assure him of a place in the history books.

So would coming up with an array of farm programs under Growing Forward 2 that really responds to what farmers want as opposed to what governments think is best for them as in past programs. We’ve heard constantly how important agriculture and food is to the national economy, so why not show it by letting farmers participate in creating the programs they’ll live with for the next five years.

For a decade at least, farm groups have tried to gain a meaningful role in the development of the programs. They’ve been consulted after the fact.

Let’s get the horse in front of the cart for once.