This week’s Special Report by The Western Producer’s Robert Arnason on pages 26-28 is worth a good read.
Arnason details the odd situation in which, despite a growing demand for organic food at the grocery stores, there are actually fewer organic farmers in the Prairies than there were a few years ago, even though there are opportunities and potential profitability in organic farming. It’s hard to see that trend turning around any time soon.
Arnason methodically details the depth of the organic farming dearth, then outlines the barriers farmers must overcome to transition to organic farming and asks the question: “Will conventional growers convert to organics?”
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Without a significant move in that direction, he notes, “a country that is one of the largest exporters of grains and oilseeds in the world could become a net importer of organic grains and oilseeds.”
It is one of the things we try to do well at The Western Producer — that is, capitalizing on our experienced staff to go in-depth on issues that are important to farmers.
Given the Producer’s long history covering the industry and our efforts to attract and keep talented agricultural journalists, our readers expect us to produce this kind of material.
We see the information published in our pages as helping farmers make key business decisions. We are planning more, about one a month, aside from what we call “Issue 52,” our last edition of the year, which is entirely devoted to a particular subject.
In future Special Reports, we’ll look at the virtues of protecting Saskatchewan’s farmland from foreign ownership, and we’ll stress the need for farming safely, especially for younger generations.
As readers, you can have your say on these issues by writing letters, or online through comments and poll questions accompanying our stories. We like to spur debate on issues, so it’s important that we encourage input from our readers to get the whole picture.
We’ll also look to our readers for suggestions. What would you like to see us look at in-depth? Would you like to see more on organics? On genetically modified crops? On pesticides? Or would you like us to focus more on the business of farming?
The Western Producer is here to help farmers do what only they can do: feed the nation and the world. Let us know what we can do best to help you do that.
brian.macleod@producer.com
