We certainly raised some interesting comments last week when we showed support for more discussion about bringing more vegetable crops to the area.
If it started discussion and started people thinking about it, that's great.
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To recap, Chatham-Kent farmer and municipal councillor Leon LeClair wants the community to hold a symposium coming up with ideas for more, and more varied vegetable crop because, there is more land that is suited to vegetable production than is being used for vegetable production. And with price up, and consumers apparently being willing to pay for a quality product the time might just be right.
It is absolutely true that vegetables can be riskier than grain crops, especially those that have a fairly short shelf life.
They can also be more profitable, and they should be, risk should be rewarded. It isn't always of course, that's why it is called risk.
There is no doubt that there can be problems, oversupply can sink prices, but that's a risk with corn, soybeans and cattle as well.
One thing that needs to be clear is that any reward has to be reaped by those who face the risk.
In conversation with one of our well known farmers it became clear that's not always the case.
It seems there has been interest expressed by an international group in buying and marketing vegetables grown in the area. This group, from a major American vegetable producing state was going to offer to handle all of the distribution and as our contact told me, take care of everything except the risk.
That's why the interest in expanding the crop is something that should be planned and thought out. Just start planting squash or more peppers is indeed not the way to go.
And one person reacting to my last commentary on the topic also noted that the presence of large scale greenhouses also has an impact.
Those greenhouses do indeed have an impact and they do indeed have a role to play in high value crops for the agricultural community.
It is indeed all about agricultural economics. But then so is almost everything else. You have to get the economics right and the risk to reward ratio has to be in line.
I like to be optimistic enough to think that is possible but realistic enough to know it is not for everyone.
It may or may not come to anything, but if you don't look for opportunity, you don't find it.
