The Rural Voice, 1979-10, Page 24The Voice of a Farmer
by Adrian Vos
Little things
add up to so much
Often we are disgruntled by the way that things are going.
Looking back on the year that has passed since the last
Thanksgiving, we had a long and cold winter with a lot of snow
and the attendant nuisances.
We had severe disease in the newborn pigs in March and
April, that is reflected in having very few pigs to sell this month
and the next. We ran out of corn early because last year's corn
crop barely lasted us till summer, and as soon as we had to start
buying the price began to go up, and is still increasing.
What is there to be thankful about? Pork prices are
relentlessly dropping in the face of the higher feedcorn cost and
the money I have to borrow until my barn is going full tilt
supplying market hogs is out of sight.,
But then 1 begin to realize that there is at least one thing 1 can
be grateful for. The whole family is healthy and that is the most
important thing one can have. We don't have any fear that we
will have to go to bed with an empty stomach, ever.
Since the disastrous month of March/April in the barn, we
have seldom had a more healthy herd or better size litters.
We did have enough credit to be able to build a new house on
the farm, leaving the farm house to the young folks.
We didn't get hit by any tornado or other calamity. The early
frost did hit our new crop of corn, but how much this will affect
the yield we don't know, and if all the other, more important
good things keep happening, we do have a good reason to be
thankful.
Then there are all the little things that add up to so much, such
as the occasional kind words about a column written, or the
heartwarming response of the people in the counties sur-
rounding the Oxford-Haldimand disaster area, who went out in
the hundreds to assist with the work of clean-up.
There is the privilege of meeting a retired man coming with a
cheque of $250 for the disaster fund, just because he couldn't go
to help himself for reasons of health.
There is the privilege of having friends who care.
There is the privilege of living in the longest period of peace in
centuries.
We can be grateful that the "doom -and -gloom" prophets have
been entirely wrong up to now and we can be grateful for living
in a country where the people are willing to share the country
with different skinned people.
When I look back on what I have just written I realize that the
space taken up by the reasons for complaints is only a quarter of
the space used for expressing the joys of Thanksgiving. And
even these complaints have their good sides.
Take for instance the fact that I have fewer hogs in the barns.
It means that I have to buy less of the expensive corn and borrow
less of the expensive money.
The pork prices are still almost $10 per hundred pounds,
higher than was expected.
Yes, I have much to be thankful for.
PG. 22 THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER 1979
FARMERS
We are ready to handle your
CORN CROP
• fast,efficient service
• 200,000 bushel storage
• truck hoist
• buy,sell,store or custom dry
JIDITSCH
FARMS
E.R. 3 Brussels
ATWOOD 356-2292
BRUSSELS & GORRIE ZENITH 37740
RESIDENCE 887-6824
stJggO`gListowel
\41,7'
Newry