British Columbia's near total dependence on imported fruits and vegetables leaves B.C. residents vulnerable to food-supply interruptions and price shocks, according to a newly released white paper by a consortium of the province's research universities.

Climate change events, such as the fires that have devastated Russia's wheat crops, frost-killed tomato crops in the United States and Mexico and recent flooding in Thailand, the world's leading exporter of rice, underscore the inherent risks of depending on global trade for food, said Aleck Ostry, lead writer of the report Climate Change and Food Security in British Columbia released, Wednesday by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions.

"There needs to be more balance in a world where you have climatic disasters," said Ostry, a community health researcher based at the University of Victoria. Supply interruptions of wheat in 2010 and rice in 2008 and again this year, spurred many nations to close their borders to exports.

The onus is on governments to step in and ensure that baseline levels of food are being produced locally, he said.

About three quarters of the fruits and vegetables eaten in B.C. are imported - mainly from California - and the province's capacity to grow field crops has fallen "precipitously" in the last 25 years, Ostry said.

"Crops like carrots and onions and field crops like that have really declined quite a lot," he said. Among field crops, only potato production has remained stable.

Production of greenhouse crops, such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers has increased in B.C., but they are expensive products grown mainly for export.

The news isn't all bad. B.C. is at or near self-sufficiency in eggs, dairy and meat.

B.C.'s strong beef and dairy industries come with a significant environmental cost, though, the report notes. Cattle and manure are prodigious producers of carbon dioxide and potent greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Long-term drought in California has depleted groundwater and put increasing pressure on the Colorado River, which supplies water for much of the state's agricultural output, the report notes.

"Given that (California) is B.C.'s main source for fruit and vegetables, diversification away from this region should be a priority for B.C. food security policy," the report says.

B.C. Agriculture Minister Don McRae said the government is actively trying to grow local demand and international demand for B.C. produce, noting that by 2020, Canada will be one of just a handful of food-exporting nations in the world.

B.C. and the federal government are in the middle of a five-year AgriFlexibility program of investment in agricultural infrastructure and innovation totalling $500 million, said McRae.

"The more food we grow in British Columbia, no matter where it goes, the better for the economy," he said.

The growth in farmers' markets - 175 across B.C. and growing - signals that people are actively seeking out local produce, he said.

The chairman of the BC Agriculture Council was skeptical, saying the province's approach to food security and competitiveness is short-sighted.

"I think looking at the industry long-term, if we continue to ignore the infrastructure that is necessary, if we continue to create an uncompetitive environment for agriculture then (food security) is going to be a concern for us," said Garnet Etsell, who spent Wednesday at meetings with the minister and other officials at the legislature.

The return of the provincial sales tax and the provincial carbon tax are going to suck $20 million and $65 million respectively from farmers' pockets each year, he said.

"The industry had a cumulative net loss last year of $85 million and you could argue that's because of poor government policy," said Etsell.

B.C. needs to increase food production by 30 per cent between 2001 and 2025 just to maintain the current level of self-sufficiency, according to a 2006 report on the province's food security produced by the ministry of agriculture.

"Fifty years ago, we probably had 10,000 more farms and 20,000 more farmers producing food . . . we were probably fairly self-sufficient at that time," Ostry said.

Today, about half the food we consume in B.C. is imported, he said.

"Where we are least self-sufficient - fruits and vegetables - is a concern because those are the foods that our nutritionists are telling us we are missing from our diets and that by eating more of them we would reduce some of the diet-related illness that are endemic in our population," Ostry said.

Provincial NDP leader Adrian Dix has called for the province to reinvest in the popular but largely defunct Buy BC program that promoted local products at the retail level and for a provincial institutional buying program that would encourage schools and hospitals to buy locally grown food for the meals they serve.

Earlier this year, the province launched a school-based program that delivers two servings of B.C.-grown fruits and vegetables every other week to children in more than 1,000 schools at intervals through the school year.

The food security report warns that British Columbians will have to achieve greater self-sufficiency while managing the effects of climate change on our own agricultural sector, from heavier rainfall near the coast to drought and declining access to water in the Interior and to the North.

While rising temperatures could increase grain yields in some parts of the province, extreme precipitation events may damage soil and crops, the report says.

Severe weather events triggered payouts to farmers who suffered crop losses of about $80 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to ministry documents.

The report urges further work be done to assess the carbon footprint of the food industry's entire value chain from farm production, processing, transport and retail, rather than just focusing on "food miles," the distance foods travel to market.

A solid environmental evidence base will help guide the way forward for food policy-makers who will have to tackle the complexities of expanding and regulating local food production in a sustainable way, Ostry said.

Randy Shore, Postmedia News, November 2, 2011

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Canada's agricultural sector is projected to expand at a rate near 2 per cent in 2012, and between 2 and 3 per cent in subsequent years, according to the new Canadian Agricultural Prospects report released by BMO Capital Markets Economics.

"The livestock segment should grow at a comparatively fast pace in the area of 3 per cent next year, as producers respond to still-favourable prices," said Kenrick Jordan, Senior Economist, BMO Capital Markets. "In particular, livestock production should get a lift from the expected re-opening of the South Korean market to Canadian beef. Moreover, pork exports to Asia should continue at a brisk clip."

Mr. Jordan also noted that crop production is slated to grow by about 1.5 per cent in 2012 as planted acreage and yields move back to more normal levels and prices remain elevated.

"The sector has shown remarkable adaptability, evident in superior productivity growth, rising export orientation, a shift in output mix toward value-added products, and the launch of new enterprises like greenhouse vegetable production and specialty crops," said Mr. Jordan. "These trends must hold for the sector to enhance its competitiveness."

"Canadian agricultural producers faced some challenges this year as many prairie grain growers had to deal with epic moisture levels and livestock farmers contended with rising input costs," said David Rinneard, National Manager, Agriculture, BMO Bank of Montreal. "However, Canada's farmers have a wonderful track record of perseverance and success. With a return to better growing conditions, favourable prices, and continued demand, the 2012 table appears set for the industry to expand in the coming year."

Mr. Jordan noted that it is specifically critical for farmers to boost productivity. "Competition is intensifying, as 'non-traditional' producers like Brazil, Argentina and Russia make inroads into global markets. In addition, sophisticated risk management strategies will be needed to address volatility in input and output prices, production and profits. Given the need for ongoing cost reduction, innovation, market diversification and risk management capacity, consolidation is likely to continue based on larger, more capital-intensive and more complex operations."

The report also included the following:

- Agricultural production is forecast to grow above the longer-term trend beyond 2012, at annual rates between 2 and 3 per cent

- Continued price strength should support further increases in crop production.

- The prices of major grains and oilseeds are expected to remain above historical norms and to trend higher amid robust demand from developing countries, continuing expansion of biofuel production globally, and increasingly scarce resources such as arable land and water.

- Meat demand is projected to grow briskly, as expanding populations in fast-growth developing countries broaden their diets, which would be positive for both livestock and crop producers.

"Agricultural production should also be promoted by the growing demand by advanced-country consumers for products embodying a range of attributes - related, for instance, to health, environmental sustainability and food safety - that offer scope for increased value-added as well as by the development of niche markets like greenhouse vegetables, organics, and specialty crops," suggested Mr. Jordan.

The complete report can be downloaded at www.bmocm.com/economics.

Source: BMO Financial Group, in Farms.com, October 31, 2011

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It's a surf-and-turf research deal like no other.

A potential new natural fertilizer product, which has been branded as AquaGrow by Prince Edward Aqua Farms in New London, is being tested at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Harrington Research Farm to determine its usefulness for organic and conventional farming.

"AquaGrow is a byproduct (from) the wash from when they bring the mussels in at harvest time," says Basil Dickson, who is a research technician with high-value crops at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

"They're covered in a muddy material. In order to be presentable when they market them they need to wash this off. Traditionally it's gone back into the estuary but then that's caused tunicates to be released back in and a buildup of silt in the waterway."

PE Aqua Farms approached Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada a while back to test this possible new product for use as a soil amendment.

"They had a field (of rye grass) next to their mussel plant that they had spread it on to dispose of it and what they noticed was the rye grass was growing really well with few weeds," Dickson says.

This summer a variety of crops were tested at Harrington Research Farm: barley, rye grass, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots.

"We've also researched grass on golf courses and pastureland. We've done hydro-seeding where we put seed in the AquaGrow liquid and then spread it on land to see how that grows," Dickson says.

The research project consisted of four treatments; firstly of a zero control test with no fertilizer, just plain old soil with no amendments. A second study plot focused on what typical commercial farming operation would do in terms of fertilizer. The third was a straight application of pure AquaGrow.  The final was a half-and-half application of AquaGrow and fertilizer.

"(AquaGrow) is about .2 per cent nitrogen. There are a lot of micronutrients in it. Iron is a big component. That's one thing we found with the turf (test) was there wasn't a lot of yield response but there was a lot of colour; we think the green came from the natural plant chlorophyll enhanced by the iron content but we're still looking at that. . . ," Dickson says.

AquaGrow's micronutrient profile might be of interest to different growers because of their specific requirements for their crops.

"Some crops might need zinc, for example, to prevent a disease condition and so that (micronutrient) profile might fit a cabbage crop better than a carrot crop so those are things that we're exploring right now," Dickson says.

The yield from each crop in this research project, which was funded by PE Aqua Farms, will determined after the harvested. Other factors such as disease and insect damage will also be evaluated.

The project is still in its infancy but the results from this stage should be determined early in the new year. The goal is to have AquaGrow available as a commercial product.

And because all mussel growers would be dealing with a similar byproduct of the mussel harvest there is the potential to access even more and thus reduce the amount being returned to Island waterways.

"(Disposal of it is) problematic from an environment and an economic standpoint. I think (PE Aqua Farms has) really taken a leadership role on this and it's going to be a benefit to not only their plant but to the (mussel) industry on the Island. . . ," Dickson says.

"(In addition), fertilizers are expensive so if we can find a way to replace even a portion of that production cost that¹s going to be a benefit to the farmer and to their bottom line."

Mary MacKay, The Guardian, October 31, 2011

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As the world's population hits seven billon this week, the United Nations is warning that the planet's water resources will come under intense pressure.

Most population growth is in the developing world and "dwindling water supplies is the environmental issue most often raised in developing countries," says the UN Population Fund's State of World Population 2011 report.

And so they should be, argues Lester Brown, an author and founder of the Earth Policy Institute.

Brown points out that agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of the water used every year on the planet. With more mouths to feed, the world's poorest countries will make increasing demands on the resource.

"The demand for drinking water goes up but that's trivial. The demand for water to produce food is the big one. It takes a thousand tons of water to produce one ton of food. So when we look at the water issue it's really a food issue," Brown says.

Countries like China and India are already buying vast tracts of agricultural land in Sudan and Ethiopia, writes Brown in his most recent book, World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse. And the purchase of agricultural land means the purchase of the water to irrigate that land.

But it isn't just developing countries that need to be worried. Canada is at risk, too. Canada is to fresh water what Saudi Arabia is to oil. Canada has a lot of it. The problem with that analogy is Saudi Arabia knows how much oil they have (but doesn't tell anyone). Canada, on the other hand, has never done a clear accounting of its ground water resource.

"I use the image of groundwater being like people with straws and blindfolds on in a big bathtub. Everybody's sucking the water out of the bathtub and it's fine until the very moment that the last drop of water is gone," explains Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.

Canada, though, is in an enviable position. We may not know how much there is but at least there seems to be plenty. Developing countries with growing populations know they are running out.

That's where groups like One Drop come in. It is a non-governmental organization started by Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil. The group uses theatre to educate people in developing countries - like Haiti - about water. It also partners with Oxfam on projects to bring water to those most in need.

"The issues of water today are issues of poverty and not issues of resources," says Marie-Anne Champoux-Guimond, One Drop's water and education adviser. "We have to change our behaviour and our relationship with water because we don't use it in a sustainable way."

Max Paris, CBC News, October 30, 2011

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Choosing how much nitrogen (N) to put on corn fields isn't something farmers take lightly. Many factors go into the decision, including past experiences, the timing of application, yield goals, and results from soil tests.

Nevertheless, crop sensors can select N rates for corn that outperform those chosen by farmers, according to more than 50 on-farm demonstration projects conducted in Missouri from 2004 to 2008. Compared to producers' N rates, sensor-selected rates increased yield by almost 2 bushels per acre, on average, while reducing by 25% the amount of excess N that was applied to fields but not removed in grain.

As concerns about N pollution continue to mount, the sensors offer a way to cut fertilizer inputs without hurting yield or profits. "The most important thing, I think, is that we were able to make progress on both fronts: The technology slightly improved production and slightly improved environmental outcome," says the study's leader, Peter Scharf, a University of Missouri extension agronomist. "There has been talk about win-win, but really there have not been a lot of approaches that have actually [achieved] that."

Funded by the USDA-NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants program, the Missouri DNR Nonpoint Source Pollution Control program, and the USEPA Special Grants program, the study appears in the November-December issue of Agronomy Journal.

Scharf explains that although optimal N rates can vary substantially within and between fields, most U.S. corn growers still apply the same rates to entire fields or even entire farms. Many farmers in Missouri and elsewhere also spread N fertilizer months before planting, often the November before.

As fertilizer and seed costs keep climbing, however, corn producers are feeling financial pressure to apply N more precisely-in amounts that satisfy crop requirements but don't exceed them. To help farmers with this, in 1997 Scharf began studying methods for predicting where to put more N in fields and where to put less before sowing crops, since that's the system most people use. But he and his colleagues eventually turned to crop sensors, employed after plants start growing, as a more accurate means to diagnose N deficiency and sufficiency.

The sensors take advantage of what farmers know already from experience and common sense, Scharf says: Crops with enough N are darker green and taller, while N-deficient crops are lighter and shorter.

After developing a technique for translating sensor output into a suitable N rate within a few seconds-work that was published in 2009-Scharf and his collaborators began taking the technology to farms.

Fifty five demonstrations were eventually conducted across a broad swath of Missouri's corn-growing region. In most cases, two or three sensors were attached to N applicators already owned by farmers or their service providers, and then used to side-dress N at variable rates to corn in growth stages ranging from V6 and V16. At the same time, fixed N rates chosen by farmers were applied in other areas, allowing comparison of the two techniques.

An average of 14 pounds/acre less N was applied when sensors chose the rates, the researchers found, without affecting yields. In fact, during the exceptionally wet spring of 2008, sensor use actually boosted grain yield by 8 bushels/acre, on average, over what producer rates achieved-a significant bump that brought the overall yield gain with the sensors to 2 bushels/acre over all 55 fields.

Scharf believes yield increased significantly in 2008 because the sensors actually chose higher N rates than farmers did that year, better compensating for fertilizer lost through heavy rainfall. And this yield bump, coupled with an overall reduction in N fertilizer from 2004-2007, ended up increasing partial profit by an average of $17/acre across all farms.

Despite the sensors' benefits, however, "the adoption numbers are still quite small," Scharf says. Complete systems currently range in price from $10,500 to $16,500 and learning to use them involves time and expense, as well. Still, these aren't the main hurdles to wider adoption, he adds. The bigger one is getting farmers to side-dress N during the growing season, rather than fertilizing in spring before planting or even the fall before.

The unusually heavy rains of the past four years may change that. Because applying N months in advance gives it more time to leach and run off, many farmers have lost loads of it-and, therefore, money and yield-in recent rain-soaked years. That leaves one option: Applying the nutrient during the growing season.

"If this weather keeps up, I think we'll see more people going toward in-season N application," he says.

"And that will be a big obstacle out of the way to using the sensors."

The full article is available for no charge for 30 days following the date of this summary. View the abstract at https://www.agronomy.org/publications/aj/view/103-6/aj11-0164-pub.pdf.

American Society of Agronomy Press Release, November 1, 2011

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Agrifood giant Cargill and seed biotech firm BASF Plant Science plan to work jointly toward a "next-generation" genetically modified canola oil with boosted levels of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Minneapolis-based Cargill and Germany's BASF say their multi-year development and commercialization deal brings "complementary competencies" to the table to co-develop a new dietary source of EPA/DHA-rich polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Those competencies, the companies said Wednesday, include Cargill's "food applications capabilities and existing commercial relationships with major food manufacturers" and BASF's "expertise in genetically enhancing EPA/DHA levels in canola seed oil and deregulating it for use in food products."

The two companies expect the new canola oil to allow food, drug and supplement makers to "deliver the potential health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in a wide variety of new, cost-effective consumer products available by the end of the decade."

The products generated through the deal are expected to address "two key issues" for companies that aim to broadly deliver omega-3s to consumers: shelf stability and cost.

"By addressing stability and cost, we are confident that EPA/DHA canola oil will be embraced by food, pharmaceutical and nutritional supplement manufacturers globally," Cargill Specialty Canola Oils president Jenny Verner said in the two firms' joint release Wednesday.

BASF Plant Science said it foresees a total investment of more than US$208 million over the life of the agreement.

Cargill and BASF cited recent market research as showing the global market for foods, beverages and supplements incorporating omega-3s was worth almost US$7.5 billion in 2010 and is forecast to grow 15 to 20 per cent per year through 2015.

A "growing body of scientific evidence" links dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids with benefits for heart and brain health, the two companies said, citing the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey as showing EPA/DHA consumption in that country today is less than 185 milligrams per day on average.

Health experts in various countries recommend intake of 250 to 500 mg per day for positive health benefits from EPA/DHA, the companies said.

Country Guide, November 2, 2011

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