'I don't know why,' says agriculture minister about N.S. farm losses
'What we're focused on is helping the industry grow,' says Minister Greg Morrow
Nova Scotia Agriculture Minister Greg Morrow has no clear explanation for why the province's farming sector is an economic outlier in the country, having not turned a profit since 2016.
"It could be weather, it could be access to markets … any number of things could play a role," he told reporters Thursday following a cabinet meeting.
Figures recently released by Statistics Canada show Nova Scotia's farming industry was in the red in 2024 — it lost more than $41 million. It was the eighth consecutive year of losses, and Nova Scotia is the only province that has had farm losses so consistently over the past decade.
Even neighbouring Maritime provinces, which have faced similar extreme weather events in recent years, do not have the same problem.
"I don't know why we're different than [other] Maritime provinces," said Morrow. "What we're focused on is helping the industry grow moving forward."
LISTEN| Federation of Agriculture on how to improve the finances of the province's farms:
Morrow said part of the effort to help is reducing interprovincial trade barriers to open new markets.
He would not say whether his department has done an assessment of the farming industry's financial woes.
Interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette said he was surprised by Morrow's response.
"The minister … needs to be able to come before the media and before the public and say, 'These are the steps that we're taking to help to support an important sector in our province.'"
Mombourquette said the government needs to engage more with farmers and tap into science to inform a plan for getting the industry into better standing.
NDP agriculture critic Krista Gallagher said the government should be more proactive on this issue.
"Farmers want to farm," she said in a statement. "They want to know they have the support of the government to expand our growing season and adapt to the changing climate and economic conditions."
Gallagher said the food and beverage strategy the province promised several years ago could help guide the support farmers need.
Food and beverage strategy abandoned
However, Morrow revealed Thursday that the province has quietly abandoned its plan for such a strategy.
The food and beverage strategy was supposed to "help improve access to and increase the production of healthy, local food," according to a provincial webpage dedicated to the initiative, which is still online.
The province did a round of public consultation on the strategy in 2022 and released a report the following year with that feedback.
Morrow said they're using the feedback, but decided not to put it into a formal strategy, in part because of the need to be "nimble" in light of Canada's newly tumultuous relationship with the U.S.
"I don't think we need a strategy to do the right thing. We're acting," Morrow said.
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