Manitoba Feeds the World

28Sep06: International Right To Know Day Manitoba Feeds the World. NEO Frontier Farms, Leaf Rapids.MB 1100 farms in 11 years. 2500 direct FT jobs. $500M in Economic Stimulus. It all begins with the NEO High Latitude Research Farm & Northern Agriculture Training Center on 11 acres in Northern Manitoba. Expanding to 160 acres over 5 years. As China/India et al agriculture goes offline due to global warming, desertification, 1000 years of intensive cultivation, urban migration, etc, we need to look at new ways to feed the 3Billion population increase over the next 20 years. Bringing Northern Agriculture online may be one of our options:O4... Frontier Agriculture is recruiting Agrinauts... "On The Living Edge" NEO Tactical Agriculture Collective:Concept Paper 1 Northern Experimental/Demonstration/Research Farm in Leaf Rapids The entire project would take 5 years to complete. Food would be produced as early as Year 1. Start date of NEO would be June 2006. ::Field to Plate in under 100km::-::On The Living Edge::-::Good To Grow:: The need for a local/regional farm in the north has never been greater. The MB Govt's Northern Food Prices Report:2003 specifically targeted creating food production capacity where there is virtually none. The Northern Food Business Development Program:NFBDP promotes and supports businesses/organizations that produce, process and market nutritious foods in the north. The NFBDP is a Prioritized Strategic Option in the report. It specifically targets Local Food Provision. It strongly suggests a focus and emphasis by all community and economic development programs, services and funding agencies on these types of business, which tend to be micro-enterprises in size and function, in northern communities. Northern Exposure Organics seeks to establish primary/foundation capacity for the provision of locally grown foods in the community of Leaf Rapids. This would be achieved by the creation of a 160 acre/65ha sustainable farm operation located within 20km of Leaf Rapids. The NEO Farm would incorporate multiple growing options such as: greenhousing, innovative growing concepts, field vegetables, raised beds, heated beds, advanced composting, northern composting specific research, NOG:Northern Organic Growing, microhydro/solar capture, micro diversions & thermal mass applications, livestock, chickens and northern permaculture concepts. The entire operation would lean heavily towards a functional experimental model which will assist in second generation economic growth and, in time, supply the Leaf Rapids community with locally grown foods. Additionally, NEO Farm will host conferences, workshops and month long hands on programs focused on creating understanding and knowledge of superior northern farm practices and realtime capacity and production. Present northern farm infrastructure is non-existent and completely inadequate, leaving northern residents extremely vulnerable and without secure food options. General benefits of the NEO Farm initiative would be the availability of local grown foods for residents of Leaf Rapids and other northern communities. Additionally, the establishment of such a venture would encourage and promote similar efforts in other communities, thereby offering a food security option presently unavailable to residents of northern MB. 1100 farms in 11 years. Manitoba Feeds the World. submitted by Paul Hughes, Farm Coordinator, Northern Exposure Organics(NEO) Farm neofarm at mts dot net

Frontier Farming + F4:Fresh Frontier Farmed Food

Not just better food for the north but the BEST food for the north. Healthy food with superior nutrients, northern vigour and grown in pristine locations, far removed (>1000km North of the 49th parallel) from the pollution, pesticides, herbicides, smog, contamination and toxicity of the south. The BEST food, the HEALTHIEST food on the planet. Fresh Frontier Farmed Food:F4, F5 if you add Fabulous! frontier farming northern agriculture

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