Taking traditional industry into tomorrow

BY BRENT FOX

Kings Coounty Register

Agriculture and the province’s other traditional resource industries will remain viable mainstays of our economy; they are not “sunset” industries.

At an Advertiser/ Register editorial board interview Oct. 16, opposition leader Darrell Dexter said Nova Scotia’s farming, fisheries and forestry businesses will be competitive well into the future, but they need new direction.

Dexter said the current government treats the traditional resource sector as “sunset industries.”

“We have to look at new ways to take the resources we have and create new markets and to add value, and we’ll continue to stay competitive in the economy for years and years to come.”

He said “we have the capability to feed ourselves, but we don’t.” The province still imports most of its food.

Despite this and the crises facing the industry, the provincial government has reduced the Agriculture Department appreciably in recent years, Dexter noted.

To help create local markets, Dexter said, the “buy local” campaign has to become a consistent mindset. That includes advertising, identifying products, work with retailers and promoting institutional buying. Corrections facilities and hospitals provide potential markets for buying Nova Scotia products.

“We have to build a mindset that buying local is a good thing - and the right thing - to do,” Dexter said.

Some agricultural sectors are doing well, but there needs to be balance for sustainability.

Dexter said the apple sector is growing, but care has to be taken to avoid overly focusing on one type of apple at the expense of other mainstays or potential new varieties.

Meanwhile, there are disconnects in the agriculture sector. While the pork industry is in crisis, processors still need suppliers. The number of Nova Scotia pork producers is half of that of a year ago – production costs, low prices and a bout of pig wasting disease having taken their toll; some growers are even focusing on specific growing periods. Meanwhile, Larsens is seeking workers to staff its Berwick plant and more livestock for processing.

To keep up with agriculture and other resource industries, Dexter meets as often as he can with organizations such as the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture.