A new western Canadian agricultural think tank says it wants to help farmers see developing trends around the world.
“We want to provide unbiased, high quality information,” said Stewart Gilroy, a pedigreed seed producer from Ohaton, Alta., and director of the new Western Agri-Food Institute.
Now the agriculture industry seems to lurch from crisis to crisis. By connecting with similar partners around the world and watching emerging trends, Canadian farmers will be better able to see trends and plan their activities, he said.
“We want to go out there and find out what’s going on and not react to these crises,” Gilroy told about 50 people at the institute’s Alberta launch and the beginning of its organizational drive. For a fee of $100 to $100,000, farmers or institutions can become members of the Western Agri-Food Institute.
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“We want to develop scenarios to help farmers survive in the future.”
For the next 18 months the volunteer board of directors will make presentations across the western provinces to raise funds and awareness of the need for such an organization.
Agricultural intelligence
The idea began about three years ago within Alberta’s Agriculture Food Council. The organization wanted an entity that would provide intelligence to the agriculture industry, said Ian Morrison, dean of agriculture at the University of Alberta.
It soon became clear Alberta’s need for information on future trends was the same as that in other western provinces and territories. An agreement was reached to work together.
Unlike other think tanks or policy organizations, the organizers wanted an institute that could provide unbiased information, he said. Other organizations hire consultants they know will produce the report with a preordained slant.
“We wanted a separate stand-alone organization with no baggage from the past,” said Morrison.
Gilroy said once established, organizations will hire the institute to produce unbiased reports. Their first project is the development of an international electronic colloquium, a type of worldwide agriculture chat room to share of agricultural issues.
As well, the institute will produce an annual state of western agribusiness annual report.
