Allan Parker: farmers could join endangered species list

Extreme weather patterns wreaking havoc on many parts of the world could put the global farmer on the endangered species list, says an international agricultural expert.

Allan Parker offered the synopsis during the annual meeting of the P.E.I. Potato Board in Charlottetown Friday as he described the dismal situation of the Russian potato crop and the damage that savage weather can cause on an agricultural commodity.

We see polar bears in some parts of the world on the endangered species list, but I’m afraid we’re going to see farmers make that list as well since they are on the front line of global warming,” said the president of Parker Potato Ltd., who is also a director of the DokaGene Group in Russia.

“Some people call it global warming, I call it extreme weather,’’ he said. “But it is absolute nonsense for anyone to say it isn’t happening.”