Agriculture in Nova Scotia

Agriculture in Nova Scotia is the production of various food, feed, and fiber commodities to fulfill domestic and international human and animal sustenance needs.

Nova Scotia is a province in Atlantic Canada, totaling 55 284 km2 of land and water, and bordering New Brunswick.

The Norse adventurers discovered Nova Scotian coasts, and Europeans reached[clarification needed] the first agricultural settlement.

[5] Some of the major crops include grains, forages, carrots, broccoli, apples, grapes, blueberries as well as many other fruits and vegetables.

The lowbush blueberry is endemic to Eastern North America and is well adapted to the acidic soils found in Nova Scotia.

[9] Nova Scotian growers employ a wide range of grape cultivars in order to create a wines such as L'Acadie Blanc, Castel, Cayuga, Ortega.

[8] Wild flowers such as mayflower, pitcher plant, white water lily and a variety of violets grow throughout Nova Scotia.

[10] The original forests of Nova Scotia took many years for the settlers to clear in order to perform other forms of agriculture on the land.

In January 2016 $950,000 was invested by Nova Scotia's Agriculture Department to help farmers re-establish their sap collection systems.

There are 203 farms that are part of the Dairy Farmers of Nova Scotia, the governing body that administers supply management system and sets the price of milk.

Industry trends are pushing Nova Scotian dairy farms toward fewer, larger, confinement-based systems.

Once considered a world renowned grass fed beef region, Nova Scotian beef producers are at a competitive disadvantage to Midwestern grain producing regions that can export carcasses cheaper than Nova Scotians can import grain.

[15] Nova Scotia aims to provide an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable aquaculture industry which creates year-round jobs and increased wealth throughout rural coastal Nova Scotia, while mitigating overfishing impacts, and allowing wild stocks to replenish.

[24] The blueberry industry is always a strong force in the economy of Nova Scotia bringing in 70 million dollars in worldwide exports.

[5] The provincial government of Nova Scotia has helped with the land use planning in many areas such as the Annapolis Valley in an attempt to reduce the groundwater issues and drinking water contamination.

Areas such as the Bay of Fundy are now very important to the field of agriculture because of the marshlands formed by the high tides, once dykes were built these lands could be harnessed for crops.