Many vegetable growers use farmers markets as their main sales outlet. The challenge has been getting retail space in larger “to make increased production profitable.
Last year, a group of 16 growers from all four regions of the province formed the Prairie Fresh Food Corporation. It supplied provincial Co-op grocery stores with vegetables like sweet corn, carrots, radishes, onions, cabbage and cauliflower. Total sales were 340,000 kilograms. The 2014 target is 567,000 kilograms of locally grown produce.
Emile Marquette of Marquette Gardens near Kelvington, Sask., grows onions, beets and zucchini.
"The partnership has seen a shift from thinking small to thinking big," Marquette says. "We're now farming 70 acres and have expanded the packaging and cooling facilities to meet our future needs."
"These producers are positioning themselves well for the future," says Bryan Kosteroski, value chain manager at the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan. "They’re getting a good understanding of the market and what the consumer wants."
All 16 growers either have irrigation or are applying for irrigation projects to provide water for their vegetable crops. There is room for much more production, according to Roger Pedersen, chair of the Saskatchewan Irrigation Projects Association.
"For Saskatchewan to reach its full potential, we will need an additional 40,000 to 50,000 acres of irrigable land just for vegetable production," Pedersen says.
The report makes a number of recommendations, such as a benchmark study to build confidence and strengthen the vegetable industry, and development of a strategy to increase competitiveness.
Source: FCC