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Staff at an Agriculture Agri-Food Canada research farm in Nappan, N.S., were given notice of cuts on Thursday, and the federal government is offering few details on the facility’s future.
The Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture said it’s aware of a notice of closure at the Cumberland County facility and is working to better understand the situation.
“We are hearing from members who are concerned about what this could mean for the sector,” Carolyn Van Den Heuvel, the federation’s executive director, said in a statement.
“The station plays an important role in supporting our beef and forage industries here in Atlantic Canada through meaningful research.”
The Nappan Research Farm, which opened in 1887, is one of Canada’s five original experimental farms.
A spokesperson for Agriculture Agri-Food Canada said approximately 665 positions were cut across the country on Thursday. The statement did not provide the number of cuts at the Nappan farm, or address questions about a closure.
Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, the Independent MLA for Cumberland North, said employees at the research farm contacted her after receiving the “devastating news” of a closure in a meeting Thursday morning.
“It’s been a cornerstone of our area and to the beef industry,” she said in an interview.
“I’m assuming someone in Ottawa is just trying to make a budget work, and they don’t realize the significance of science and research.”
Smith-McCrossin questions the timing of the decision.
This week, Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald, who is also an MP from P.E.I., announced Canadian beef would be returning to Chinese markets for the first time since 2021.
“It doesn’t make any sense. If anything, we should be seeing an increase in investment for this area, not a decrease,” said Smith-McCrossin.
“Also, Canadians are telling us loud and clear they want more local options. We should be securing our local food supply and we need to make sure research and science are a part of that.”
Jonathan McClelland, executive director of the Cumberland Business Connector, estimates about 10 to 15 people are employed at the Nappan farm. He said the countrywide cuts will degrade Canada’s competitive advantage in the agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing sectors.
“When you look at our need for export diversification right now with the uncertainty and the turmoil with the U.S., we are very well regarded globally as a good place for safe food,” McClelland said.
“I would see this as an area that the federal government and the provinces should be doubling down on to grow the industry.”
A spokesperson for Alana Hirtle, the Liberal MP for Cumberland-Colchester, said her office has reached out to Agriculture Agri-Food Canada.
The Nappan facility previously faced the threat of closure in 2005.
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