Farmers prefer to get their income out of the market, instead of existing on government programs. Of course, governments prefer it that way too.

But first, markets need to be established.

And that’s where government help is welcome by farmers, especially now that traditional markets are teetering and new ones are needed so badly.

To that end, federal dollars will soon be released to help farmers diversify their operations. Governments can’t hustle new trade deals unless they have something to trade, something that fills a niche; likewise, neither can farmers delve into producing new commodities if they are uncertain how and where they’ll sell (and for how much).

So a part of Canada’s new National Food Security Strategy, announced earlier this summer, is dedicated to what Ottawa calls value-added, capital-intensive, high-potential projects for the Canadian agri-food industry.

In particular, the initiative is designed to help farmers diversify. In some cases, that means doing more food processing right on their own farms.

Traditionally, farmers have sold their raw commodities (grain, livestock, fruit, vegetables, etc.) to processing companies, to turn those commodities into products with broader consumer appeal. That’s called value-added – adding value to a raw commodity by processing it into something closer to a finished, packaged product.

More profit potential exists in adding value. But so does the risk.

Capital aspects of a value-added project – processing equipment, especially – can be expensive, and most lending institutions balk at requests.

Even if farmers have a good idea, they have trouble attracting money. Almost three-quarters of Canadian farms are unincorporated, making them even riskier prospects for banks, who have never really had a warm spot for farmers anyway. In fact, the feds created Farm Credit Canada (FCC), back in 1959, because banks had so little faith in farmers. And now FCC is the country’s biggest agricultural lender.

Wisely, FCC will front this part of the national food strategy, worth a total of $3 billion.

That sounds like it has potential.

Besides processing, farmers can diversify or add value to their operations by performing specialized agriculture-oriented work for other farmers. Perhaps they can also open their own market shop or bed and breakfast. The overall thrust of such initiatives is to make farmers more viable. And that has benefits to all parties concerned.

First, for farmers, it gives them another source of income, so they don’t have to rely as much on traditional markets.

For consumers, there’s something new – new destinations, new products, new experiences. And all with a Canadian flair.

For governments, they can add to the menu of tradable goods, which is a real plus for a country like Canada that has such a stellar reputation abroad.

Financing value-added diversification for farmers has been talked about endlessly by Ottawa. It seems now like there’s a perfect storm: farmers understand that doing the same thing they’ve always done is not the way forward. Consumers are increasingly eager to support Canadian farmers, or at least they say they are, and federal trade specialists have a fire under them.

Let’s see the creativity that ensues.

Owen Roberts is an agricultural journalist.