The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

durhamregion.com The Citizen April 27, 2017 5 Whitby-Oshawa MPP Lorne Coe hosts event to help build partnerships and find solutions to problems facing agricultural sector Parvaneh Pessian ppessian@durhamregion.com BROOKLIN -- While there's no denying Durham is home to a thriving agricultural community, the local industry is not without its challenges. Limited processing capacity, issues related to property assessments and the need for more public awareness about the value of farming were among the concerns raised by area producers and other representatives of the sector during a recent roundtable discussion held at the Brooklin Community Centre. "Durham is a diverse agricultural community; we have lots of mixed agriculture and livestock, horticultural industries and grain and oil seed industries; we have some of the best dairy genetics and some of the best industries in beef and chicken -- all types of industries in agriculture are represented in Durham Region," said Zac Cohoon, who farms north of Port Perry and is chair of the Durham Agricultural Advisory Committee (DAAC). "(However), we lack processing capacity to keep that money in the region," he added. "The 407 is going to help us a little bit with that because it's going to create a better transportation route but we need help from the government on making these things work." DAAC is a volunteer advisory committee established by the council of the Region of Durham to provide advice on agricultural and related rural matters. Cohoon said he wants to see more investment in further processing facilities in the area so farmers can avoid having to ship their product outside of the region. "Agriculture creates the wealth that this country runs on and that I would like to see them help us help them." The roundtable was hosted by Whitby-Oshawa MPP Lorne Coe, who invited not only members of the farming sector, but also community leaders and industry experts to help address some of the issues. Guests speakers included Michael Porporo from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) and Nancy Rutherford, manager of agricultural and rural affairs at the Region of Durham. "Not many people know how important agriculture is in the Region of Durham to our economy here, but there are particular challenges within the agricultural sector where they need help," Coe said. "This is an opportunity for people to provide their feedback to me as their representative because I represent a number of sectors across my riding in Whit- by and Oshawa and people are surprised how big the rural and agricultural sector is. When you move above Taunton Road and you go into Ashburn, you go into Myrtle Station -- there's a cross section of agri-food industries and farming that goes on." Durham Region is a leading agricultural producer, contributing $273.2 million to Ontario's total farm production. Agricultural production in Durham generates significant returns and is the main economic activity in the rural areas, according to the Region of Durham's Agricultural Strategy 2013-2018. The value of gross farm receipts (GFR) generated in the region has risen constantly overtime -- from $240 million in 2006 to $273 million in 2011. The $240 million generated in GFRs in 2006 was estimated to result in an annual economic impact in Durham's economy of $713.7 million. Rutherford said the strategy "provides a vision and the guiding principles that identify key actions that support the growth and the viability" of the agricultural industry in Durham. Outreach and awareness about the importance of agriculture in the community is an ongoing challenge, she explained. "As the population grows, we have a growing diversity, we also have a population of youth (who) don't have a grandfather or an uncle or great uncle that's in the business of farming. So it's that whole thing around where does your food come from, why is it advantageous to have a preference and priority around local food, and also the education stream for the youth that are in high school (to consider this as) an option and a career path." One of ways the region promotes public education is by supporting initiatives such as Durham Farm Connections, a three-day educational program that teaches students about farming through hands-on demonstrations by local farmers and live animal exhibits. More than 1,000 Grade 3 students from across the region attended this year's event, held at Luther Vipond Memorial Arena in Brooklin from April 4-6, and featuring eight different farm-themed stations: apples, eggs, crops, dairy, pork, beef, land stewardship and vegetables. Coe also recently met with the Durham Region Association of Realtors to discuss housing affordability challenges and hosted a roundtable with members of the Whitby Seniors' Activity Centre earlier this month. He said he plans to take the issues he heard during those, as well as the agriculture roundtable, to Queen's Park in order to find solutions. "It's a continuum; it's all about relationship building and partnerships because really no one succeeds alone," he said. "There's a partnership and that's why the Region's here and that's why MPAC's here and why the chair of (DAAC) is here. They all believe that part of the building of solutions is a partnership and everyone wants to work together to support the goals of the Region of Durham's agricultural strategy because it's so important to our local economy and we all have a vested interest in working toward that." Local farmers voice concerns at roundtable discussion in Brooklin Jason Liebregts / MetroLand BROOKLIN -- Jackson Powell helped show his family's cow, Hilarious, with Erin and Emery Munro during the Durham Farm Connections Open House on April 5. The event at the Luther Vipond Arena provided an interactive way to learn about agriculture in Durham Region.