Study reveals some agricultural growth in Ontario's north

Thursday, November 5, 2009

by SARAH VAN ENGELEN

An agricultural economic impact study of northwestern Ontario indicates there has been some agriculture growth but recommends provincial officials work with the local community to address policies that don’t meet the region’s needs.

Guelph-based Harry Cummings and Associates conducted the study, which looked at the current and future impact of agriculture in the districts of Thunder Bay, Dryden/Kenora, Rainy River and Cochrane.

It’s the first time the region has been studied. Results not only indicate that agricultural activity has been fairly consistent but also, in areas such as Thunder Bay, that the number of farms has been slowly increasing.

“This is one of only five districts in the province where the number of farms increased between 2001 and 2006,” says Donald Murray, the research firm’s senior associate.

Looking at the whole picture, says Murray, agriculture’s economic impact is around $140 million in direct and indirect sales. The region maintains 2,500- to 3,500 jobs related to agriculture.

For every on-farm job, approximately one to two jobs are generated or sustained in the wider economy, he adds. Every dollar in farm gate sales generates $1.30 in sales beyond the farm.

Some of the numbers are misleading though, he adds, using the dairy sector as an example. The number of dairy farms has decreased, but herd size is increasing. Improvements in genetics and feed rations mean there’s more milk volume per cow than 20 years ago. If you look at the volume of milk shipped out of the Thunder Bay district, it hasn’t changed very much, he says. Total production has not slipped.

Conditions and marketing in northwestern Ontario are different from agricultural regions in the province’s south. Farmers “need to develop a localized market because they are in isolation,” says Murray.

With a population of just over 100,000, Thunder Bay has a lot of potential to become a major market for agriculture and provide the sustainability the local sector needs, he says.

Farmers are responding, with a new abattoir being built in Rainy River being a prime example.

The venture was formed by a number of stakeholders so they wouldn’t have to ship their livestock out of the area for processing. The abattoir means more value added will take place in the Rainy River district – but it took years to develop because of all the government regulations that they had to comply with, says Murray.

He says that a lot of producers in northern Ontario are frustrated by policies and methods they believe have been developed in a southern Ontario market or based on southern Ontario farm units. Regulations based on southern Ontario farming do not reflect what’s happening in northern agriculture.

“Hopefully this report will show the need to have something that better fits around policy planning and divisions in northwestern Ontario as they relate to agriculture there,” says Murray. BF