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The Rural Voice, 2004-05, Page 12CANADIAN CO-OPERATIVE WOOL GROWERS LIMITED Now Available WOOL ADVANCE PAYMENTS * Skirted Fleeces Well -Packed Sacks For more information contact: WINGHAM WOOL DEPOT John Farrell R.R. 2, Wingham, Ontario Phone/Fax 519-357-1058 8 THE RURAL VOICE Jeffrey Carter Getting folks to listen Jeffrey Carter is a freelance journalist based in Dresden, Ontario. The 650 workers at the Ford engine plant in Windsor were told they'd lose jobs on the same day I sat on a social justice panel in that city. The economic blow, I suspect, made it just that much harder to get across to an urban audience the type of challenge faced by farmers. Windsor relies on its auto sector for a large part of its wealth creation. The jobs pay well. Any time a plant closes its doors, the economic reverberations are considerable. There's another economic engine in Ontario, however. It's a point I wanted to make that day. Money burns a hole in the pocket of a farmer just as fast as it does in that of an auto worker, perhaps even faster. Farmers, after all, have to spend money whether they're turning a profit or not but a lot more dollarsare spent when farming is a paying proposition. Farmers making money from agriculture use those dollars to buy trucks and a lot of those trucks will contain Ford engines. The connection to those 650 workers, and the rest of the society, is obvious. There's another tie that's a little more subtle. There' are close to 250,000 farming operations in Canada, the majority of which count on off -farm jobs for a large of their income. The latest statistics — from 2000 — show that just 16 per cent of the farmers had a net income of $25,000 or higher. About 47 per cent had either zero net income or actually lost money. More than 137,000 reported their major source of income was off - farm jobs. Some farmers may enjoy working their farm and working an off -farm job. However, I suspect that if there were better opportunities in primary agriculture, there would be far fewer farmers competing in the job market. Economic arguments, unfortun- ately, often fail to capture the imagination of people interested in social justice. I think the strongest reaction 1 had came as I relayed the words of a Wallaceburg-area tomato grower: "We have to compete with Third World countries who are bringing the product here ... There's too much risk for the amount of money that's in it ... We have to bring Third World people (to work on our farms) to put food on our table. That is what we have to change ... Until we change our cheap food policy we have in Canada, we will not be healthy in the food industry." This was not a farmer's whine, I feel. The woman was simply providing a farmer's -eye view of the world. As I presented her view, I could hear the reaction, the sharp intake of breaths as one sharp reality that farmers face came into focus for the urban audience. The meeting was sponsored by the Windsor International Press Club. There were four of us discussing a broad range of issues. Howard Pawley, a professor at Windsor University, drew on his experience as a former premier of Manitoba. Chris Mclntrye, an assistant professor in political science at the same institution, offered an informed view on public policy. Activist Rob Spring brought his perspective as an environmental and labour activist. My role was to add a farm and rural voice to the mix.0 The Rural Voice welcomes your opinions for our Feedback letters to the editor column. Mail to: The Rural Voice, PO Box 429, Blyth, ON NOM 1H0 J.R. FARMS EAST FRIESIAN DAIRY SHEEP t -t > Breeding Stock and FI crosses > Milk production records available > Closed Flock, Maedi -Visna OPP - negative > Economically priced BILL AND LAURA MCKAY RR 2 Tavistock, ON NOB 2R0 (519) 462-1446 e-mail: jrdairysheep@execulink.com CANADIAN CO-OPERATIVE WOOL GROWERS LIMITED Now Available WOOL ADVANCE PAYMENTS * Skirted Fleeces Well -Packed Sacks For more information contact: WINGHAM WOOL DEPOT John Farrell R.R. 2, Wingham, Ontario Phone/Fax 519-357-1058 8 THE RURAL VOICE Jeffrey Carter Getting folks to listen Jeffrey Carter is a freelance journalist based in Dresden, Ontario. The 650 workers at the Ford engine plant in Windsor were told they'd lose jobs on the same day I sat on a social justice panel in that city. The economic blow, I suspect, made it just that much harder to get across to an urban audience the type of challenge faced by farmers. Windsor relies on its auto sector for a large part of its wealth creation. The jobs pay well. Any time a plant closes its doors, the economic reverberations are considerable. There's another economic engine in Ontario, however. It's a point I wanted to make that day. Money burns a hole in the pocket of a farmer just as fast as it does in that of an auto worker, perhaps even faster. Farmers, after all, have to spend money whether they're turning a profit or not but a lot more dollarsare spent when farming is a paying proposition. Farmers making money from agriculture use those dollars to buy trucks and a lot of those trucks will contain Ford engines. The connection to those 650 workers, and the rest of the society, is obvious. There's another tie that's a little more subtle. There' are close to 250,000 farming operations in Canada, the majority of which count on off -farm jobs for a large of their income. The latest statistics — from 2000 — show that just 16 per cent of the farmers had a net income of $25,000 or higher. About 47 per cent had either zero net income or actually lost money. More than 137,000 reported their major source of income was off - farm jobs. Some farmers may enjoy working their farm and working an off -farm job. However, I suspect that if there were better opportunities in primary agriculture, there would be far fewer farmers competing in the job market. Economic arguments, unfortun- ately, often fail to capture the imagination of people interested in social justice. I think the strongest reaction 1 had came as I relayed the words of a Wallaceburg-area tomato grower: "We have to compete with Third World countries who are bringing the product here ... There's too much risk for the amount of money that's in it ... We have to bring Third World people (to work on our farms) to put food on our table. That is what we have to change ... Until we change our cheap food policy we have in Canada, we will not be healthy in the food industry." This was not a farmer's whine, I feel. The woman was simply providing a farmer's -eye view of the world. As I presented her view, I could hear the reaction, the sharp intake of breaths as one sharp reality that farmers face came into focus for the urban audience. The meeting was sponsored by the Windsor International Press Club. There were four of us discussing a broad range of issues. Howard Pawley, a professor at Windsor University, drew on his experience as a former premier of Manitoba. Chris Mclntrye, an assistant professor in political science at the same institution, offered an informed view on public policy. Activist Rob Spring brought his perspective as an environmental and labour activist. My role was to add a farm and rural voice to the mix.0 The Rural Voice welcomes your opinions for our Feedback letters to the editor column. Mail to: The Rural Voice, PO Box 429, Blyth, ON NOM 1H0