Farmer facing income crisis

D4

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Members of the National Farmers Union (NFU) in the Atlantic provinces will be meeting in New Brunswick on Aug. 9 to focus on the income crisis facing livestock producers and other high-priority issues.

The meeting, which takes place at Our Lady of Calvary Abbey in Rogersville, will feature a panel discussion on the crisis facing meat producers in the Maritimes and across Canada.

Jean-Eudes Chiasson, a hog producer from the Rogersville area who was recently elected as district director of the NFU in New Brunswick, will be among those on the panel.

Other highlights of the meeting include a tour of the Cistercian-Trappist Monastery's farm. The Abbey farm was founded in 1902 when a half-dozen monks immigrated to New Brunswick from Bonnecombe, France.

Despite numerous setbacks over the years, the Abbey and its associated farm operation survived and continue to thrive today by drawing on humanitarian values.

The Abbey's Web site, www.calvaryabbey.com, advocates greater emphasis on close connections between farmers and consumers and sourcing food locally.

Jacques Laforge, an NFU member and national president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada/les Producteurs laitiers du Canada, has agreed to serve as Chairperson for the meeting.

Elections will also take place at the meeting to select two representatives for the Atlantic region on the NFU National Board of Directors as well as choosing a Women's Advisory Committee member and a Youth Advisory Committee member.

The regional meeting will also see a number of resolutions introduced and debated by the membership. Resolutions which are adopted at the regional meeting will be forwarded to the NFU National Convention in November.

A number of guest speakers have been invited to the meeting, including the New Brunswick Minister of Agriculture and the Prince Edward Island Minister of Agriculture.