Prior to speaking to those in attendance at Brodie Ag and Industrial Inc.’s grand opening, Minister Flack had a good close look at some of the mixers that were on- site. From left: Rob Flack, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, Andrew Den Dekker, company owner, North Stormont Mayor Francois Landry, and Michael Lazaris, constituency assistant for MPP Nolan Quinn. Tinkess Photo

MOOSE CREEK – When Rob Flack, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness attended the grand opening of Brodie Ag and Industrial Inc. in Moose Creek on Thursday, he took a moment to speak about his portfolio and his view of agriculture in Ontario in general.

Minister Flack said that the expansion of an agriculture business such as Brodie speaks well of the sector.

“Well, this epitomizes rural Ontario and the economy we generate in this province through Agri food, and it takes many hands to make this industry great,” said Minister Flack. “And you know, we’re $51 billion in GDP in this province, farm gate that the consumers played. And so, you get dealerships like this, or companies like this that serve our farmers to make sure that, in particular here, total mixed ration equipment serving the dairy and ruminant industry that, you know, we’re efficient feeders, and we produce quality, competitive meat and dairy products.

Minister Flack, who has a long-term agriculture background makes no secret of how he feels about his home province. “I call Ontario the Garden of Eden. We have the soil. We have the conditions of usually, sometimes too much, but mostly we have good moisture due to the Great Lakes influence.

“We have good heat units. We have technology with great universities to go to and a highway system. We’ve got employees. We employ 871,000 people, again, from farm to fork in this industry, up 30,000 people since 2018, so we are literally a Garden of Eden. We have a great customer south of our border, and we continue to produce more than we consume. We’re a great promise when it comes to Agri food, and we need to tell the story louder and more often so that people understand where their food comes from and why it’s such an important part of our overall provincial economy.”

Land use is always a contentious issue, particularly with a nation-wide sustainable housing shortage. How do you balance that with also being able to feed the country, and beyond? The struggle over farmland, to keep it as farmland, or to convert it, it’s got to be on the top of your list every day.

“Always is. It’s a delicate, difficult, but delicate balance,” said Minister Flack. “Since I was in high school many moons ago, the province has doubled in size in terms of population. So, people need to be housed. Everyone deserves a roof over their head. They need to be fed. We’re doing it mostly due to the innovation of farmers and our Agri food industry. Yields are up, productions up. We continue to feed more people every day and still export food.

“Bottom line, though, is we still have to protect our best farmland, wherever and however possible.”