Two grants for Atlantic farmers

The federal government announced two grants for farmers in Atlantic Canada this week.

Four million dollars will go towards “infrastructure improvements” at the department’s facilities on Prince Edward Island. Two million of that is for modernizing existing laboratory facilities and $2 million to expand greenhouse facilities at the Harrington Research Farm.

Another $1.3 million will be spent to upgrade exhaust systems and repair roves and roads on Price Edward Island and Newfoundland and in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

And Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz also announced that $792,064 is being given to the Atlantic Grains Council (AGC) to improve the quality and output of grains and oilseeds produced in the three Maritime provinces.

“Under the project, field trials will be conducted to look at ways to boost the output of corn and soybean crops, ensure effective fungicide use, and identify agronomic and meteorological factors affecting grain and oilseed yields,” says the department in a news release.

It’s the first large-scale project set up in partnership with funding from farmers via the Atlantic Research Council.

 Allan Ling, chairman of the council, said "I am very appreciative of our producers contributing to the research check-off fund, which has enabled the Atlantic Grains Council to partner with the federal and provincial governments to move forward with this important project.

“Our research is based on our producers' priorities and allows us to focus the region's research capacity, including Dal-AC and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientists, on these needs.”

I find all this federal money rather interesting in the context of agriculture in other parts of Canada. The entire output from Atlantic Canada barely matches what comes out of three Ontario counties - Perth, Oxford and Huron.