Cross-border farm issues aired at forum

PORTLAND – At the first forum of its kind for agricultural commissioners from New England and their counterparts from eastern Canada, the goal Friday was to identify cross-border issues and work on solutions.

It was quickly apparent that the two dozen attendees had more questions than answers, more issues than solutions.

Maine Agriculture Commissioner Robert Spear hosted the gathering, which had been in the planning stages for more than a year. Governmental agriculture representatives from Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Brunswick, Quebec, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia attended.

“What we need to do is harmonize both sides of the border,” said Spear. “The agriculture bonds between Canada and New England haven’t been as closely aligned as they could be.”

Discussion centered on issues such as cross-border livestock movement, profit margins for farmers, terrorism and food safety.

Halfway through the daylong conference, PEI Minister of Agriculture Mitch Murphy commented, “These are the issues of the 21st century.”

But in the same breath, all present agreed that the group should promote problem-specific solutions and regulations rather than using a wide, paintbrush approach.

“There are a lot of issues which affect western Canada and the western U.S. that don’t have anything to do with us,” said Thomas Harty, deputy commissioner of agriculture in Vermont.

Some of the specifics discussed included the lack of cooperation between testing agencies on both sides of the border. Murphy said, “Our scientific test results mean nothing at the border.”

Terry Bourgoin of the Maine Department of Agriculture said U.S. test results get the same disregard in Canada.

Whether it is seed potato certifications, wild blueberry shipments or tuberculosis vaccinations, neither U.S. nor Canadian officials will accept the credibility of each other’s scientific testing results. What Murphy called unnecessary, excessive testing surrounding the PEI potato wart discovery last year has created an atmosphere of mistrust.

Murphy said when the potato wart fungus was discovered, it only affected an area the size of a living room. If PEI wishes to export potatoes to the United States, said Murphy, “we are now required to soils test 300,000 acres for the next three years. We think it is ridiculous.”

“We cooperate with your protocols, not because we agree with them,” he said, “but because we want the international trade. As long as we play silly bugger games with scientific results, we are not going to get ahead.”

Both Canadian and U.S. representatives bemoaned another layer of border regulations that will be imposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2002. New Brunswick Assistant Deputy Minister of Agriculture Clair Gartley said, “There is free movement now [of all but seed potatoes and nursery stock] but additional regulations will have a huge effect on the blueberry industry. We are going to mire ourselves in regulations dealing with perishable goods. At the end of the day, we are all going to be the losers.”

Murphy added, “This paintbrush approach is just going to slow down commerce and cost the farmer more.”

Steven Taylor, New Hampshire’s agriculture commissioner, said policies and regulations created in Washington and Ottawa are “a long, long way from the farm. On both sides of the borders, our geography is the same, our problems are the same.”

Other topics discussed included the difficulty of bringing pulling oxen that cross into Canada for competitions back across the border. “This one seems to be our problem,” admitted Spear.

The commissioners and ministers also debated how to increase farmer profitability and access global markets.

By the end of the session, all agreed this initial forum should be just the first of a series of such meetings, and that representatives from the federal agencies in Canada and the United States need to be invited to the table.

Vermont Agriculture Commissioner Leon Graves said, “Without knowing why they do what they do, we cannot know how to effectively intervene in the system and move forward.”

By working together, the international coalition is hoping to stem the flood of small farmers leaving the industry.

Nova Scotia Minister of Agriculture Ernest Fage said the states and provinces all have programs for farmland protection but also need to have programs for farmer protection.

“I see this as a starting point for societies as a whole to protect the future of tourism, wildlife habitat, water quality – those are the long-lasting things we can affect,” said Fage.

Graves agreed, adding, “Countries must begin to encompass these types of values and stewardship of the land as part of agriculture’s economy.”