The Rural Voice, 2000-07, Page 30� h
OLAND s
Marvin L. Smith
B.Sc.F. (Forestry), R.P.F.
Farm Woodland Specialist
570 Riverview Dr.
Listowel, Ontario N4W 3T7
Telephone: (519) 291-2236
Providing advice and assistance with:
• impartial advice/assistance in selling timber.
including selection of trees and marking
• reforestation of erodible or idle land
• follow-up tending of young plantations
• windbreak planning and establishment
• woodlot management planning
• diagnosis of insect and disease problems
• conducting educational programs in woodlot
management
• any other woodland or tree concerns
If you've got a lot of land to cover and hard work
to do, take a Polaris RANGER Nothing beats it
for farm work. construction, hunting and other
farm and recreational uses.
GEORGIAN
POWER SPORTS INC.
Highway 6 south of POLARIS'
Durham RIDE THE BEST
519-369-3594
26 THE RURAL VOICE
However quickly business is
growing right now, there have been
challenges along the way for the
family, perhaps the largest one being
the conversion to organic farming in
the first place and the impact this had
on them and their relationships in the
community.
Booy and De Groot are
accustomed to breaking new
ground and taking chances.
They immigrated to Canada from
Holland with two children in 1980.
Without much practical farming
experience they relied on the
neighbours to guide them along and
followed their lead for nine years
cash cropping cereals and intensively
managing them for higher yields. By
the time they had been farming this
long they were becoming wary of the
practices they were using both from
environmental and social justice
viewpoints. Booy is a board member
for the National Farmers Union.
The biggest roadblocks to why
everyone is not farming organically
is peer pressure, said De Groot,
especially if you've grown up in a
tight community with your
neighbours. Being immigrants the
pair said it was easier for them to
break away in the beginning because
they were not as strongly rooted in
the community.
Making the transition wasn't an
easy road however. In the first year
one of the soybean fields was
covered in mustard and the
neighbours would tease and bug De
Groot about his crop of mustard,
although they knew it was actually a
soybean field. Frustrated, he was at
the point where he picked up the
phone and was ready to call the
sprayer in. Although he put down the
phone before the call was made, the
incident illustrates making the
transition was a heavy load to carry.
Not only were the crops not co-
operating but the neighbours had
their own opinions to voice about
their plans. A neighbour, who is a
good friend of the family, told them
when they started that in theory it
sounds good but don't do it because
they'd go broke.
The family's whole peer group
also changed. Booy said since you
weren't buying chemicals at the Co-
op any more you also weren't going
to the BBQ's and meetings with the
rest of the area farmers. The common