2005 Annual Report to Ontario Agricultural Services Coordinating Committee
Executive Summary

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• Ontario Agricultural Economics and Business Research and Services Committee 2005 Annual Report - printable PDF format

Executive Summary

The purpose of the Agricultural Economics and Business Research and Services Committee (AE&BRSC) is to identify and prioritize the future agricultural economics and business research and service needs of Ontario’s agriculture and food industry stakeholders.

The Ontario Agricultural Economics and Business Research and Services Committee developed Strategic Research Priorities in 2002 to cover the period 2002 -2006. At that time, the Committee recommended that research be undertaken to address the following issues listed in priority sequence:

• Competitiveness of the agri-food industry.
• Business impacts of environmental sustainability and food safety/quality requirements on the agri-food industry.
• Risk management.
• Agricultural business management practices.
• Market opportunities.
• International trader opportunities and threats.
• Agri-food industry and rural countryside linkages.

Many of the research priorities contained in the 2002-2006 Strategic report have been incorporated into the priority issues of the OMAFRA/University of Guelph Resources Management and Environment research program.

An Agricultural Economics and Business Research Day was held on December 16, 2005. A major focus of the day was to highlight research which resulted, in part, from the strategic research priorities set by the Agricultural Economics and Business Research and Services Committee. Presentations focused on the economic implications of a wide range of agricultural research topics – trade, environmental stewardship, food safety, land use planning, nutrient management, and agricultural policy issues. The full agenda and presentations is available at http://aeb.uoguelph.ca/events/aebresearchday.html .

The Agricultural Economics and Business Research and Services Committee follows a four year strategic research priority setting cycle. The next four year strategic report is due in January 2007. At a committee meeting on January 11, 2006, a work plan was adopted for the 2007 – 2001 Strategic Research Priority setting process. This will involve broad industry stakeholder input throughout the fall of 2006. The committee also developed an industry sector scan to help identify broad themes for agriculture and food economic issues to be included in the 2007 – 2011 Strategic Priorities. These four broad themes are:

• A Canadian farm and food policy for the future
• Safety Nets – support for short term and individual income fluctuations
• Viability – conditions for long term sector profitability
• Opportunities and impacts of focusing on domestic markets.

For a complete copy of the report go to : http://www.uoguelph.ca/research/omafra/forms/oascc.shtml

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