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FREDERICTON, N.B., October 30th 2015 – Today, the provincial government announced upcoming open houses sessions toward the development of an Agriculture Land Policy.

 

 

“We are very pleased that our industry is being recognized as a major economic driver and as a sector that is full of potential for our province. Providing agricultural land and topsoil preservation and protection has been a priority for our organization for more than twenty years”, said Michael Bouma, President of the Agricultural Alliance of NB.

Agriculture is the province’s second largest goods producing sector, yet occupies 5% of the provincial land base. Our sector faces great uncertainties and risk from urban sprawl to commercial development. Protecting our existent and potential agricultural land base is fundamental.

In order to continue producing food for local and export markets, we need to protect agricultural land for both local food security and to meet future population growth demand. The global population is expected to increase to 9.6 billion by 2050 meaning that the world food demand may increase by 70%.

We recognize that much effort will be required after the public and industry consultations but we want to thank the provincial government with the commitment they have expressed to date toward our sector.

These actions by government are very timely, 2015, declared by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as the International Year of Soils.

Consultations for agricultural producers will be held during the Agricultural Alliance of NB Regional meetings beginning at 7 pm at the following dates and location:

 

 

 

Date Region Location
November 3rd7:00pm 4 NB Dept of Agriculture701 Main Street (back door- porte en arrière)  Sussex, NB
November 5th7:00pm 6 NB Dept. of Agriculture39 Barker Lane

Wicklow, NB

November 9th7:00pm 1 NB Dept of Agriculture
824 Rte 108
Saint-André, NB
November 10th7:00pm 2 NB Dept. of Agriculture1425 King Ave. Edifice Agriculture

Bathurst, NB

November 12th7:00pm 3 NB Dept. of Agriculture
381 Killam Dr
Moncton, NB (Same parking lot as Moncton Coliseum)

 

 

For further information, contact:

Mike Bouma, President

Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick, 506 452 8101

Or

Josée Albert CEO

Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick, 506 452 8101