The Rural Voice, 1986-06, Page 81Askide &wilt
MACHINE
REPAIR
• Precision Machinery & Milling
• Custom Built Truck & Trailer Boxes
• Combine & Tractor Overhauls
• Machinery Replacement Parts
— Custom Made
Kippen
519-262-3020
Big
Beat
SERVICES
INC
WET BREWERS GRAIN
or
WET CORN DISTILLERS
can help your feeding
program by:
• Providing a protein
supplement
• Extending roughage
supplies, protein and
palatability to stover diets
• An excellent rumen
stimulant
• Available in full and
split load Tots
Also available —
Hominy. Gluten, Screenings
and Mineral
For further information on
these and other feeds contact:
BIG BEAR
SERVICES INC.
FEED DIVISION
50 Westmount Rd.,
Waterloo, Ontario
N2L 2R5
(519) 886-4400
80 THE RURAL VOICE
YOU GET
WHAT YOU EXPECT
"An entrepreneur is someone
who undertakes to start and con-
duct an enterprise or business,
usually assuming full control and
risk," says my dictionary. That
perfectly describes the farmer.
How to succeed as an en-
trepreneur has been written about
by numerous authors, usually suc-
cessful entrepreneurs themselves.
Without exception they all have
one condition for success in com-
mon. Be positive. The Power of
Positive Thinking, etc. etc.
The opposite also applies. An
athlete who doesn't believe he can
win, won't. Equally, a farmer who
doesn't believe he can be suc-
cessful, won't be. This could be
called "The Power of Negative
Thinking."
An excellent program on
CKNX-TV and CFPL-TV recently
(Ross Daily's "This Business of
Farming"), featured a number of
young entrepreneurs succeeding in
various farm enterprises. What
they all had in common was a
positive attitude. Not only that,
they all believed that they would
even be more successful in the
future.
These young men, speaking also
for their wives, said that they are
eager to adopt new technology
when it becomes available,
technology such as hormones for
increased milk production, new
designs for farrowing crates, and
whatever else that becomes
available. None of them was
satisfied to be average.
In a recent company publication
I read about an American farmer
who made lots of money on beef
while everyone else either lost
money or made little. He bought
cattle rejected by others because
they didn't look good. He bought
them at a fraction of the price of
good-looking cattle and fed them
till they not only looked, but ac-
tually were good. He made a bun-
dle by recognizing an opportunity.
Closer to home, retired farmer
Frank Sanders of Blyth, grows
herbs. He said that his son last year
grew four acres of coriander seed
as a specialty crop. It gave the best
return per acre of the whole farm
at $440 a ton. If the weather had
co-operated it would have been
first quality and returned $550 a
ton. The input cost, according to
Sanders, is comparable to corn.
Coming back to "This Business
of Farming," questions from the
moderator revealed the fact that
the young farmers had already at-
tained production goals set in the
U.S. for the year 2000 AD — more
than 21 pigs per sow per year and
over 19,000 pounds of milk per
cow.
They didn't worry about over-
production and were positive that
they could compete with all com-
ers. They said that in business
there always will be those who lose
and that farm business is no excep-
tion.
It struck me that several times
the moderator mentioned letters
from northern counties that
disputed statements made during
earlier programs on the subject.
These letters appeared to WANT
to find negatives.
I'm sure they'll find them. I'm
equally sure that their power of
negative thinking will pull them
down. They'll be better off to
move to an industrial area and find
a job with good labour union pro-
tection.
Yes, there are tough times for
farmers, and, yes, I believe there
should be some government help
for those who deserve it. And they
are getting it. Despite the cries of
outrage from all sides to the
federal government's commodity -
based mortgage program. Despite
the cries against anything either the
provincial or the federal govern-
ment is doing.
But to survive and prosper,
farmers must be true entrepreneurs
and think positively. ❑
Adrian Vos, from Huron County,
has contributed to the magazine
since its inception in 1975.