Farm Out: Agrinauts, Frontier Farming & the O4 Experience Machine

obj: feed 3 billion more people over the next 20 years O4: One Of Our Options O4.1 Research High Latitude Farming or NEO Frontier Farming. O4.2 Recruit & Identify Agrinauts O4.3 ABC Farming: Access, Build, Cultivate - a return to homesteading, small scale, ie 11 or less acres. O4.3.1 Lotsa Small Northern Farms the neo press release that connected the dots... Press Release: Leaf Rapids NEO Research Station: China Crisis & Canadian Challenge FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Canada Can Solve China/India/global Food Crisis 1M + new acres of arable land could be in production within next 5-10 years Leaf Rapids, Manitoba, Sep 18, 2006/ via Independent Media Initiative/ - - Scorching demand from the emerging economies of China & India are putting new pressure on their domestic farm production and creating an unrivalled opportunity for Canadian agriculture. The threats to Chinese/Indian production include water shortages, net loss of over 200 million rural inhabitants due to urbanization and migration, deteriorating organic soils, desertification, thinning land base, pest stress on crops, intensive agriculture has nutrionally depleted soils, excess use of chemical(fertilizers & pesticides) inputs and the threat of global warming and climate change. The world’s population is predicted to increase to 9 Billion over the next few decades requiring a tremendous amount of additional foodstuffs, including, for example, an extra 1 billion tons of cereals a year by 2050. For Paul Hughes, Coordinator of the NEO Research Farm Project in Leaf Rapids, Manitoba (northernexposureorganics.com) the solution became clear after attending the Pan North American Circumpolar Agriculture Conference on Sep11/12, in Hay River, NWT. “Three speakers connected the dots for me. Don Hoover of Serecon Consulting spoke of the massive untapped agriculture potential of the north, citing millions of unused acres. Yu Zhang of the Canadian Center for Remote Sensing addressed the impact of climate change and global warming on the north, much of it very positive, with substantially increased growing days and increased annual rainfall over the next 30-80 years. And Jacqui Meckling of the Northern Association of Community Councils outlined some of the social problems related to poor economic/employment opportunities in many northern communities. For me it was a matter of Northern Canadian Agriculture coming online to balance the steadily increasing loss of food production in China and India, thereby giving Northern Canadians a remarkable opportunity to implement sustainable economic initiatives grounded firmly in agriculture. I think Northern Canadian Agriculture can feed the New World.” Hughes added, “It is important at this moment that our political, community and cultural leadership recognize this opportunity. It will require changes to land use in the north, a return to small scale farm homesteading, or as I prefer to call it ABC Farming, Access, Build, Cultivate Farming. It means intensive Northern Agriculture/High Latitude research and training. It means a commitment by all levels of government to move and act decisively to mitigate and alleviate a global problem that Canadian agriculture has the unparalleled capacity to resolve. We have a unique opportunity here to save souls using Canadian soil to effect transformative change, both at home and for others around the world.” Chinese Agriculture at a glimpse: 2002: China exported $13 billion worth of agricultural goods, imported $10.8bn. 2004: China exported $15.8 billion worth of agricultural goods, imports had grown to $25.9 billion source Jim Buchan, scotsman.com Estimated Acreage of soil capability in Northern Canada Available Class 3 & 4 soils total: 6,000,000 acres Source Paul Hughes, Coordinator, NEO Northern Agriculture Research Farm & Training Center # # # agrinaut