Alfred Galarneau became one of the pioneers of organic farming in CanadaKATRIN TIMOFF/Getty Images/iStockphoto
There has long been a spirit of innovation in the Galarneau family.
Back in the 1980s, Saskatchewan grain farmer Alfred Galarneau heard that there were customers looking for "chemical-free" grain and would pay a premium for it. Sensing that this might be a burgeoning trend, he marketed his first load of chemical-free grain in 1982.
In that first, forward-thinking move, Alfred Galarneau became one of the pioneers of organic farming in Canada. He helped to form the first organic certification body in Western Canada, the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA), and built an organic grain cleaning plant in 1987 to work with other farmers and fill the growing market.
Those early moves helped to create what's now Prairie Heritage Seeds Organics Inc., an international organic trading company and a leader in the organic grain industry.
"We are still producers – a grain company and a contractor," says Alex Galarneau, Alfred's son and president of Prairie Heritage Seeds Organics, based in Radville, Sask. Mr. Galarneau and his brother Robert took over operation of the company in the early 90s.
"It was a simple evolution really. You grow the grain, you have to market it. And as you market it, you get to learn the industry and how it is traded and bought, and from there you progress to being a broker."
Prairie Heritage Seeds Organics' primary crop is kamut, an ancient variety of wheat that's high in protein and minerals, says Mr. Galarneau. Because 90 per cent of their sales are to the European market – countries like the U.K., Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium and Denmark – they've partnered with a European distributor who handles all the distribution while they handle all the production.
The company's first entrée into the European market was all about "just going out there and exploring and asking questions and putting yourself out there," says Mr. Galarneau.
"We started attending conventions and food shows and started to get to know the industry," he says. "In going to Europe, that market was a lot more mature than the Canadian market and it was quite a bit easier, there were some major players already."
"When you come to Canada, it's hard to talk about organic on the prairies because it's pretty clean, there's a bit of resistance," says Mr. Galarneau. "In Europe, they're not as sure about where their food comes from, so there's a big demand." He says that kamut has also gotten a boost from recent European studies showing it can reduce symptoms in people with allergies to "modern" wheat.
As demand has grown, Prairie Heritage Seeds Organics has partnered with growers – handling, cleaning and transporting organic product for about 180 farmers across the province.
Mr. Galarneau says he spends about 45 per cent of his time on outreach to get more farmers on board. "The European market is asking for roughly 18 per cent more per year than we grow. Our growth formula is not us producing it ourselves, it's developing partnerships with farmers and making it economically viable for them."
There are challenges though. Mr. Galarneau says their biggest competition is "for acres" – they've lost growers who have decided to go back to conventional farming because after 2008 (when wheat prices skyrocketed), the returns for conventional farming were the same as organic.
"It's purely economics to go back to conventional farming," he says. "But that pendulum is swinging back because of the marketing work we're doing with the end-users and educating them that there is a price to organic farming, and asking their customers and buyers if they can absorb that."
The strategy seems to be working – Mr. Galarneau says they are at a 300 per cent premium over conventional now "and that's not going anywhere," he says. "It's customers saying, 'We value the product you're selling, we want to support you and we'll do it with our consumer dollars.'"
According to Jeff Schoenau, farmers have always been good innovators.
"There is a required resiliency to deal with the vagaries of unknowns like weather and market price," says Prof. Schoenau, professor and Ministry of Agriculture strategic research chair at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Agriculture and Bioresources.
These days, there are plenty of innovations available to farmers, says Prof. Schoenau, in both the organic and conventional realms. He gives the example of precision agriculture, which provides more precise applications of inputs like nutrients and crop protection products. Another example is the movement toward 'zero-till' farming – the practise of seeding directly in to the soil and applying fertilizer without cultivation to retain the protective cover and reduce soil erosion.
"Being at the forefront of developments in everything from soil management practices to crop development, processing of your crops and livestock production practices, those are all very important both from an economic standpoint but also in terms of maximizing the production of food efficiently," he says.
"In many cases the kinds of practices that are agronomic and economically beneficial are also beneficial for the environment as well."
Keeping on top of the latest developments means keeping an eye on the cutting-edge research that's being done in agricultural schools in Canada and abroad, says Prof. Schoenau. "The results of this research gets published in scientific journals, it's disseminated through fact sheets that are provided by the provincial Ministries of Agriculture. The students we train, the agronomists are on the frontlines working with growers to help them adopt and use this technology."
Mr. Galarneau says he is always on the lookout for innovations that will support their industry even further and eliminate the challenges.
"We're talking to people in every part of the business, people in research, in the universities, seeing what conventional farmers are doing, and on the other side, we're looking at what's coming out in terms of food and health research and what consumers are demanding," he says.
From Mr. Galarneau's perspective, he and his brother Robert have not just inherited their innovation from their pioneering father. They are continuing in a spirit of innovation that's always been alive in Canadian farmers.
"Most farmers I know are innovative, we are innovative because we have to be," he says. "Saskatchewan farmers are always thinking of how they can do it better. That's the difference between success and failure of a farmer – always trying to make your operation better."
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