Today and every day, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are encouraged to raise their forks to the farmers and producers who support food self-sufficiency across the country, and especially here at home.

Canada’s Agriculture Day is a celebration of Canadian agriculture and food, and in Newfoundland and Labrador, there is much to celebrate. The Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, is working with farmers and producers to explore opportunities to promote locally grown and produced products to ensure consumers have more options to buy local goods. The Provincial Government’s BuyNLCan campaign is also encouraging citizens to choose products and services from Newfoundland and Labrador first, keeping money and jobs here at home.

The province’s agriculture sector is 100 per cent self-sufficient in production of fluid milk, chicken and eggs, and self-sufficiency in beef and sheep production is increasing.

The Provincial Government continues to grow food self-sufficiency in Newfoundland and Labrador by:

• Working closely with the dairy, poultry and egg sectors to continue increasing the amount of locally produced products.
• Working with farmers to develop and enhance farmland for fruit and vegetable production. Farmers are producing traditional crops including potato, cabbage, turnip, carrot and strawberries, as well as diversified products such as broccoli, kale, leek, onion, asparagus, canola, wheat and cranberry.
• Encouraging farmers to avail of financial support from a suite of funding programs – including subsidized crop insurance – to help protect their valuable crops and improve their businesses. The option to insure crops helps diversify and strengthen Newfoundland and Labrador’s agriculture sector and better protect our farmers.
• Offering programs that increase food self-sufficiency in Newfoundland and Labrador, including the Provincial Vegetable Transplant Program at the Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Development in Wooddale. Vegetable transplants give farmers a head-start on the province’s short growing season by providing high-quality vegetable transplants – more than four million annually – to promote higher marketable yields, more crop variety, and earlier harvest and returns.
• Collaborating with academic institutions and other agencies to research innovative crop and livestock production practices that help improve local food self-sufficiency.
• Providing a fresh new crop of agriculture technology students with hands-on experience in agricultural practices at the Western Agriculture Research Station in Pynn’s Brook.
• Continuing to support food self-sufficiency through the annual Community Garden Support Program, with thousands of people from municipalities, schools and community groups working together to establish and grow their own community gardens throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Minister Byrne will mark Canada’s Agriculture Day today by co-hosting a reception with the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture. Minister Byrne’s Parliamentary Secretary, Lucy Stoyles, MHA for Mount Pearl North, will visit St. Bernard’s Elementary School in Witless Bay on February 13 to join in a celebration hosted by Agriculture in the Classroom Newfoundland and Labrador.

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“Farmers, producers and industry professionals are key to the Provincial Government’s commitment to a strong local agriculture sector. Together, we are increasing access to good food and supporting the well-being of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. This year more than ever, Canada’s Agriculture Day is a testament to the resilience and future of our agriculture sector and the people who keep it strong.
Honourable Gerry Byrne
Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture

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