Fredericton, New Brunswick – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Livestock producers across the country and abroad depend on the high quality hay produced by Canada's forage and grassland industry in order to deliver safe, nutritious, and sustainable food. Increased forage exports, valued at $360.8 million for 2017, are helping the agriculture sector reach its potential to be an even stronger economic engine for the economy, driving towards our target of growing annual agri-food exports to $75 billion by 2025.
Today, Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay, announced a federal investment of $98,950 for the Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association (CFGA) for a project funded through the AgriMarketing program under the Growing Forward 2 agreement. The investment is helping the sector increase export capacity and strengthen awareness of Canadian forage products to new and emerging markets. In addition to participating in international trade expos in the United States, the CFGA developed export readiness training for their members and developed strategies for emerging markets.
A further investment of $16,000 was provided to CFGA to hire a student intern under the Agricultural Youth Green Jobs Initiative to help farmers integrate environmentally beneficial management practices into their crop planning. The initiative has created 591 youth jobs nationally, both on the farm and with organizations engaged in the agriculture and agri-food sector.
Today's announcement is part of Minister MacAulay's ‘Growing Canadian Agriculture' tour, where he will meet with farmers, processors and industry leaders, as well as participate in rural agricultural events across the country, to hear ideas on how to capture new growth opportunities for the sector.
Source : Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada