Time is of the essence in convincing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to create an Agrifood Growth Council and instruct government departments to collaborate in removing impediments to the growth in the farm and food sector.That is the consensus of representatives from the agrifood sector in the wake of the Powerhouse report released last week by the Canadian Agrifood Policy Institute and the Public Policy Forum.It builds on a commitment in the recent federal budget to boost agrifood exports to $75 billion by 2025. The budget described agrifood as one of three industries in Canada with "great potential for growth and job creation.”“We have a window of opportunity and we have to move quickly,” says Ron Bonnett, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Achieving the $20 billion increase in exports will mainly come in the value added industries.A request to the PMO for comment on the primary goals of the Powerhouse report was shuffled off to Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay. That response “hits the nail on the head” of the main problem the sector faces in getting action on the report, one insider said. It needs more than just the attention of Agriculture Canada.The sector wants to build on the awareness of the agrifood sector Trudeau displayed in a recent interview with Bloomberg News on President Trump's attack on supply management.“Every country protects for good reason its agricultural industries. We have a supply management system that works very well here in Canada,” he said. “The Americans and other countries choose to subsidize to the tunes of hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, their agriculture industries, including their dairy.”The CAPI-PPF report is founded on proposals released last year by Dominic Barton, chairman of the federal Advisory Council on Economic Growth, which reports to Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau.Bonnett said discussions are being held across the agrifood sector to develop a co-ordinated approach to the Prime Minister as well as provincial and municipal governments. “We have to get everyone lined up.”The challenge is selecting a delegation from the sector that can convince Trudeau of the need for his backing to swing the federal bureaucracy around to working toward the $75 billion target, he said.Carla Ventin, Vice-President of Food and Consumer Products of Canada, said there's agreement in the industry of the need “for support from the centre (the Privy Council Office) to achieve the interdepartmental co-ordination we need.”“We need to make sure everyone is working together to reach the goal.”Linsay Martens, Director of Policy for the Public Policy Forum, said agrifood now has an unprecedented opportunity. “We have to keep the momentum that started with the Advisory Council report going.” He agreed that leadership from the top “is what's needed.CAPI and PPF held consultations across Canada to gauge reaction to the Advisory Council report which urged the federal government to use agrifood as a pilot project for boosting the economic growth of seven other sectors. It said “The aspirational vision – being the trusted global food leader – must be the lens through which we assess all relevant policies and strategies.”In addition to top level government support, “We must lead on public trust or we'll risk our food brand and balanced regulation,” the Powerhouse report said. “The delivery of co-benefits – health, environmental sustainability – is critical to remaining a priority sector, attracting investors, enticing talent and building trust.”While growing exports is important, “we must also drive significant growth in domestic opportunities,” it said. “Producers, processors, innovators and academia can do more to work 'pre-competitively' to add value and advance innovation and breakthrough solutions.”The Growth Council should consist of leaders from across the entire food system “to get this highly diverse sector out of its many silos and galvanize it around a growth agenda,” the report said. “It should focus primarily on a few major regulatory priorities at a time with the aim of making our regulatory process a competitive strength.“It should also provide leadership on top-down goals. Recognizing the cross-departmental nature of agrifood issues, and the need for a whole-of-government approach, … It should report on progress every six months.”The Agriculture Canada Value Chain Roundtables “are not the appropriate vehicle to take the growth strategy forward. To be successful, it requires leadership from a representative Council and from the centre of government.“The government should promptly set up an interdepartmental task force, with a mandate to improve cross-departmental communication and collaboration, and triage and resolve regulatory obstacles. This will ingrain a whole-of-government approach and enable fulfillment of ministerial mandate letters.” The process “should drive transformative change, not just incremental improvements. They should also identify and act on a handful of quick wins.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.