I have just finished writing an article about the Louisville Farm Show for Country Guide magazine.  I spent a few days there this past February.  It’s a wonderful show and a microcosm of the stability we have here in North American agriculture.

As farmers we have our agricultural economic problems but if we can muster up enough money we can engage our tastes in the some of the new technologies you see at Louisville.  On both sides of our border we live in stable societies where we can farm as we like and be safe doing it.  That’s not neccesairly the case in many other places of the world.

Regrettably we had a crack in that stable facade last week in Canada.  Last week’s terror arrests have sent shockwaves throughout Canada.  In Canadian farm country, it was a reminder of what may lurk within.

Those 12 accused were charged with a series of offences ranging from conspiracy to carry out a terrorist activity, bomb making and importing and illegally importing guns and ammunition.  There were also charges with regarding to training for terror purposes.  What was shocking to many was that this is a “homegrown affair”.  All 12 charged were Canadians.

I first learned of it by looking at an email from my co-author, Dr. A.K. Enamul Haque, Professor of Economics at East West University in Dhaka Bangladesh.  It simply said, “Fertilizer bombs”, what’s up with that?  I didn’t have a clue what he meant.  Flipping on the TV, I soon found out the fertilizer referred to ammonium nitrate, something I’ve used many times.

I have used it in the past applying it to my winter wheat every April.  However, Ammonium Nitrate has fallen out of vogue even for doing that.  After the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, many agricultural suppliers at the distributor level stopped selling Ammonium Nitrate on liability fears.  Many local farmers switched their nitrogen source over to urea or calcium ammonium nitrate.  One is cheaper and one isn’t.  However, both sources don’t explode.

So when I heard the 12 accused had sourced 3 metric tones of the ammonium nitrate I wasn’t very surprised.  When I heard it was in bags I was quite surprised.  When I learned the RCMP might have sourced this material, I thought there must be a lot more to the story.

Buying 3 metric tones of ammonium nitrate is a walk in the park for anybody reading this commentary.  You show up at your farm supplier, hook up to a spreader and get that three tonne dropped into your spreader.  Now that will be changing.  The Ministry of Natural Resources have draft regulations coming forward which will control its sale and distribution.  It will also apply to other materials which can explode.  For farmers, you can bet there will be a few more questions when you ask for 34-0-0.

It has shaken this country.  In this country we have an unemployment rate of 6.4%, inflation at 2.4% and a prime interest rate at 6.0%.  These Canadians have allegedly attempted to blow up many things in this country which help us get there.  If they had of been successful, you could kiss those solid economic numbers goodbye.  After 9/11, if you remember the economic bloodbath was palpable.

There is more to this.  It will probably be weeks before we know exactly what was planned and how far the Canadian conspirators got.  However, we know how our American friends feel.  There tolerance for any semblance of another 9/11 is zero.  When the news broke in Canada it was everywhere in the American media.  Border security along the US Canada border was tightened.  Some senators warned the border could be closed the next time any terror related event hit Canada.

That’s a rough spot to be in if you are Canada.  However, from an agricultural perspective it’ll hit home real fast both on the farm and on Canadian food grocery shelves.  Any tension along this border causes us problem, a complete shut down would back up right into our feedlots and grain bins.

It also goes further than this.  This is what Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in December 2005 at a farm near Chatham Ontario.

“You can’t really talk about sovereignty as a nation if you don’t have a strong role in the production of our own food”.

Right now “food security” for Canadians means an open, transparent and free flowing US border.  Its been taken for granted for years by just about everybody.  BSE changed that from a Canadian farmers perspective.  However, the Canadian consuming public didn’t blink.  What would happen if another terror strike shut that border down like a vice?  Stephen Harper’s pledge about “Canadian sovereignty” and “food production” would be front and centre.

Don’t ever think it can’t happen.  The sinister revelations of last week should serve as a warning.  Food production needs to be valued in this country.  Sometimes in our stable, preordained world its easy to forget that.