The Rural Voice, 2001-04, Page 41I,!
Guelph professor who now heads
Ontario Agri -Food Technologies in
Guelph.
Surgeoner pointed out that there
will be an extra 200,000 mouths to
feed in Ontario this year (and every
year) as population grows. That looks
good but it represents 1.3 per cent
growth. In a business climate where
investors expect a minimum 15 per
cent return, that 1.3 per cent growth
isn't much. People might as well
leave their money in the bank and
collect bank interest as invest in
agriculture.
"That's the reality if we stay in the
commodity business," he said
pointing out that in real terms, with
inflation factored out, commodity
prices reached their peak in 1812 and
have been declining ever since.
Farmers have been trying to make up
for the declining value of their
products by producing more and
shaving costs.
There isn't much future in
producing more when
population isn't growing as
fast as production and the number
one problem related to food in the
western world is obesity, he said.
"We have to create value-added
foods or new markets," he said.
He predicted there are two
opportunities of potential growth:
crops related to human health and
crops used for industrial base stocks.
"For health, we will reach for the
kitchen cabinet as often as the
medicine cabinet," he predicted.
"We're beginning to understand the
healthy ingredients in foods."
Pharmaceutical companies, feed
companies and small specialty
companies are teaming up to produce
new foods that will deliver solutions
to specific health problems. Farmers
in the future may be producers of
medicinal ingredients, he predicted.
As oil gets more and more
expensive to get out of the ground
and plants as carbon/hydrogen chains
become cheaper, providing base
materials to replace petroleum may
open up new markets for farmers.
If you're looking at new
possibilities ask yourself several
questions, Surgeoner said:
• What am I going to do better than
anyone else?
• What do I do that provides value to
humans?
• What makes my product unique? 0
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APRIL 2001 37