GrainsWest Spring 2021

Spring 2021 Grains West 8 THE FARMGATE HOW BEST TO APPROACH value-added opportunities in the agri-food sector is a tricky question. “I first heard the term ‘value-added’ in the late ’70s from Grant Devine, a professor at the University of Saskatche- wan, who would go on to be premier of Saskatchewan in 1982,” said Tom Steve, general manager of the Alberta Wheat Commission. “He couldn’t see the logic in shipping our raw products to markets and letting them realize the processing opportunities. Others referred to western Canadian farmers as ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water,’ producing bulk grain cheaply while all the processing jobs went to Ontario or overseas.’” Successive Alberta governments have pursued the expansion of the value-added sector yet failed to achieve their objectives. Now that the current government looks to bounce back from COVID-19 with the Alberta Recovery Plan, it hopes to give valued-added agriculture a boost in the process. READY, AIM, INVEST “We are aiming to attract $1.4 billion in private sector investment in the val- ue-added sector over the next two years, while adding 2,000 new jobs,” said Devin Dreeshen, Alberta minister of agricul- ture and forestry. “That will include everything from canola crushing and fertilizer plants to new grain mills and malting companies. This past summer we announced an $815 million invest- ment in irrigation that will net 200,000 new acres of irrigated land. So many value-added commodities need irrigated land to grow specialty crops such as sugar and potatoes.” The government plans to support these efforts by streamlining the regulatory ap- proval process, keeping taxes low and add- ing agricultural trade offices in Singapore, Mexico City, and parts of the EU and U.S. There are additional signs of promise in this area. A recent report by Farm Credit Canada (FCC) outlined signifi- cant growth opportunities for Canadian value-added agri-food exports. “In spite of an initial slowdown due to the pandemic, cereals have rebounded well with strong demand globally,” said J.P. Gervais, VP of ag economics and valuations and chief economist for FCC. “As far as domestic processing, we’ve seen growth in recent years with grain and oilseeds, while bread and bakery has Not just arawcommodity Ag sector examines Alberta’s value-added aspirations Successive Alberta governments have sought to expand value-added opportunities in the ag sector. In recent years, Canada has seen value-added growth in the processing of grains and oilseeds as well as the production of bread and baked goods. Photo:Pixabay