The Rural Voice, 2006-02, Page 47RAINY RIVER 446
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
PO Box 104, EMO, ON POW1EO
807-482-3805
• The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy
INY RIVER VALLEY River Federation members by the RRFA.
Looking at ways to increase profits
By the time this article comes out,
a bunch of you will have some new
calves running around, and I know
that it can be an exciting and
exhausting time. I wish all a
successful 2006 calving season.
The RRFA had an interesting
meeting in January. Jarrod Gunn -
McQuillan of the Northwest Health
Unit (mentioned in last newsletter)
was invited out to talk about food
localism. Jarrod expressed interest in
putting together a small committee to
discuss food localism issues. Among
the ideas he'd like to pursue is to
produce a map showing the locations
of various farm -gate sales in the
district. Activities to be taken on by
this committee would be to promote
and create awareness for local foods
being produced in the district.
Another project that the committee
would take on would be the
organization of a local flavour -type
event where local chefs use local
ingredients to provide a tasty supper
for anybody that wishes to attend.
This type of event would be
beneficial to multiple parties. Some
local restaurants would be able to tout
their chefs, the producers would be
able to promote their food sales, and
any one in attendance would benefit
from an increased awareness of the
community around them. Another
idea of Jarrod's is to produce a
newsletter that might showcase a
different local food industry in each
issue.
My work has the same end -goal in
mind, that being sustainability of
Rainy River agriculture, but I am
looking at things from a different
perspective. Although it is very
beneficial to the local economy when
we feed people with food produced in
the district, we recognize that no
matter what, most of the commodities
produced must leave the district.
Traditionally, the tool that most
farmers have at their disposal to
increase incomes is to lower theur
cost of production. This works in the
short run for individual producers,
but in the long run it does nothing to
address falling cattle prices, and you
can only lower your cost of
production to a certain extent. The
key phrase when improving exports,
in this case cattle exports, is value
adding.
There are a whole host of different
ways to add value to your cattle
produced, from simply conditioning
your cattle for feedlots, right up to
joining a marketing alliance to
produce beef for a niche market. The
latter is what we're most interested
in. I believe that there is a great
opportunity out there for farmers
willing to take on the challenge. So
far, from my research I have
identified many different niche
markets including lean beef, organic
beef, pasture -raised, pasture -finished,
all grass-fed beef, humanely -
produced beef, the list goes on and
on.
The one niche market that I feel
deserves special attention is natural
beef, produced hormone and
antibiotic free. From reading and
interviewing people involved in this
market from the east and west, there
is a common consensus that this
market is experiencing a healthy
growth.
For this project we have both a
short-term and long-term vision, and
of course these visions are evolving
as we learn more about the subject.
Our long-term vision is of a Rainy
River Cattle Alliance based here for
the sole purpose of benefiting Rainy
River Farmers. Our short-term goal is
to prove that there are opportunities
available for Rainy River farmers
today, and help provide the necessary
tools to take advantage of those
opportunities. Right now the ideas are
being passed back and forth between
RRFA President Trish Neirson and
me at an amazing pace and we are
regularly refining our visions for
what agriculture in the Rainy River
District could be.
To start taking advantage of
marketing alliances, you first have to
understand how they work. I don't
have enough room here to go into too
much detail, but I will explain a bit
about them and their driving force,
that being information sharing and
transfer. Most farmers run their
operation with good old-fashioned
know how. Did you ever stop and
think how much that knowledge
could benefit other people along
the supply chain — in other words,
from gate to plate'? These days.
niche marketers can turn information
into a commodity, for the simple
reason that a growing segment of
consumers are willing to pay
premiums in order to know how their
food was produced and where it
comes from.
Packers and distributors also hold
a lot of information that can be
beneficial to the producer, including
carcass data and its interpretation.
Having interpretation of carcass data
can lead to improved decision-
making with respect to genetic
selection, or breeding programs.
Overall, value adding through various
means has proven to be a worthwhile
endeavour for many operations. The
RRFA would like to help its members
decide what is right for them.
You are invited to come online
and discuss any of these issues and
more at the Rainy River Ag Forum:
www.s14.invisionfree.com/Rainy_Ri
ver_Ag_Forum or call me at my
office in Emo at 807- 482-3805.0
— Submitted by Eric Busch
FEBRUARY 2006 43