We are incredibly lucky as Islanders that we know exactly where our food comes from and the hard-working families that grow it. Ninety-eight per cent of farms on P.E.I. are family owned and operated; they are our neighbours, friends, community members and relatives.
Here on P.E.I., we can be confident that our food is grown with passion, dedication and care. But, there is a possibility that we may lose these important family farms. Due to increasing demands, changing climate and public misconceptions, our Island family farms are struggling more and more every day to continue to grow our food. If they are forced out of business, it will be larger corporations or out-of-province investors who will buy up the land as not many Island producers are in a financial position to invest in expansion.
Island farmers are working remarkably hard to grow safe, high-quality food under unfavourable conditions and lack of resources, but at the end of the day – no matter how good farmers’ agricultural practices are – plants need water to grow.
Island farms are well connected with scientists and agronomists and use beneficial management practices, including (but not limited to): building soil organic matter, cover cropping to prevent nutrient loss from soil erosion, use of soil building rotational crops and use of soil moisture data to support precision irrigation.
In Central P.E.I., for example, there is a group of family farms continuously changing and monitoring their practices. Between these 14 farms, they have voluntarily taken more than 920 acres out of production to install terraces, berms, waterways, grass headland and extended buffers. Their fields are covered in fall and spring with cover crops, and moisture readings are done weekly on their soils throughout the summer so supplemental irrigation is used only when necessary and at adjusted application rates.
The agricultural community is asking for equal access to our natural resources not as an alternative to all of these efforts but as another tool to be used as needed during dry growing conditions. Farmers need fair access to water as a backup plan when mother nature leaves them high and dry.
Action needs to be taken now – by all of our political parties – to find a way to allow farmers fair and responsible access to water. After the devastating effects from the drought this past summer, many farm families are suffering and will not be able to endure more loss. Without consistent water availability, growing food on P.E.I. is not sustainable. As a province, we cannot afford to lose family farms or the transparency of how our food is grown.
Our leaders in the province, especially this year, are encouraging Islanders to support local businesses to ensure they remain viable. Together, as Islanders, we need to protect and support our local family farms, so they can continue to provide food and jobs for us and our families.
Andrea McKenna,
Kinkora