The Rural Voice, 1979-06, Page 5The future in farming
BY SUSAN WHITE, SHEILA GUNBY
AND RHEA HAMLILTON
The last 20 or 30 years have seen a
revolution in agriculture in this part of the
country. "What in Heaven's name are you
going to do with 300 acres?" An
agriculture graduate of the fifties was
asked when fie came home to Huron
County with some big plans.
4‘iia...,...._....w.. uuipossiole dreaming to
the farmers of the fifties. . . cash crop
specialization, much bigger land holdings
and huge machinery to work them with, is
the reality of farming in the seventies.
Will we see a similar revolution in
agriculture in the next 20 years? What will
farming in Western Ontario be like in the
year 2000? What sort of furture is there in
farming for our children?
One thing the experts that Rural Voice
talked to agree on is that there'll very
definitely be strong family farms. "Large
corporations cannot supply the quality of
management that an individual farmer
can," says University of Guelph crops
specialist Terry Daynard, who predicts
we'll see less tendency for big business to
go into farrling although companies may
invest in land.
' Jki►► and management on individual
farms is exceptionally high in comparison
to other industries, despite input costs and
the uncertainty of productivity," Dr.
Daynard says. He points out that GM can
predict sales, production and have less
competition than farmers. "The individual
We'II see more irrigation,
crop specialization
and strong family farms
U of G Crops' specialist Terry Daynard
farmer is a superb manager and large
industry can't compete."
"The average age of farmers is going
down and will continue to go down. And
they'll be in debt the rest of their lives, the
same as any other business. That is not an
issue", the Perth County native says.
While Id Nonnecke, chairman of the U of
G's horticultural science department and
OFA past president Gordon Hill both
express strong confidence in family farms
of the future, Dr. Nonnecke thinks by the
next century "the old trend of going to be a
farmer because father was" will change.
He sees both city and farm children
choosing their direction early and
specializing in farming.
By contrast, Mr. Hill says "if you don't
have a toe in the door, forget it" and says
it'll be "impossible to get into farming
unless you are part of a farm family."
OMAF engineering specialist Ed
THE RURAL VOICE/JUNE 1979 PG. 3