Nova Scotia Agriculture Minister and Guysborough-Tracadie MLA Greg Morrow hosted his
Guysborough-Tracadie MLA and Agriculture Minister Greg Morrow (Communications Nova Scotia photo)
Atlantic counterparts at a meeting in Halifax on Thursday. Topics of discussion included approaches for the next agricultural policy framework. It is being developed by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to provide agricultural policy and programming. It will replace the Canadian Agriculture Program, which expires at the end of March, 2023. Emerging issues and potential collaboration opportunities to support producers were also raised at Thursday’s meeting.
Morrow says the global pandemic has highlighted the importance of local agriculture and food supply chains, and that also applies to Atlantic Canada. Morrow says ensuring farms are healthy and sustainable is a top priority by all four ministers. He added the four provinces need to ensure farmers can achieve that goal while facing rising costs that also result from global conditions.
The ministers also discussed rising production costs, the mental health of farmers and emergency preparedness.