The Rural Voice, 1987-11, Page 25people have been trying to define what
a farmer is. Maybe never in our
lifetime will it be defined."
Professor Warley points to the
wide historical view: changes in the
agricultural picture are "part of the
process of the industrialization of
agriculture and the homogenization of
rural society." When farmers argue
emotionally about the sanctity of
farming and the preservation of the
rural community, one might do well to
ask what exactly the rural community
wishes to preserve, and whether part -
especially in a time when agricultural
subsidies around the world have
strained national budgets. But part-
time farming hasn't, generally speak-
ing, been actively supported when it
comes to targeting scarce funds. "In
principle over the years the policy in
Canada towards part-time farmers has
been of benign neglect," Professor
Fuller remarks, "If anything, in the
particular provision of programs, it's
been exclusive of part-time operators."
Nevertheless, with little specific
assistance, those who have chosen to
"We're hoping that there's going to be a return to normal ...
and there's absolutely no evidence that that's going to
happen," says Professor Fuller.
time farming is not restrictive but in
effect "a means by which more
Canadians can farm."
The notion that farming develops
"a unique or disproportionate share of
value" might be seen as "agricultural
fundamentalism," Professor Warley
observes. Consider, for example, that
the majority of people in rural society
are non -farmers now. And, says
Professor Warley, "I personally don't
accept that there's anything of peculiar
virtue, peculiar virtue, in farming as an
occupation, or in rurality as an envir-
onment." If debating the issue of the
erosion of rural values in relation to
part-time farming, he adds, one must
ask just what it is that is eroding. In
his university classes, for example,
half of the students are from farms and
farm part-time have achieved stability
in unstable times. Part-time farming
has helped to keep families on the
farm, it reverses the trend toward rural
depopulation, it contributes to the
rural tax base, and it adds capital and
ideas to commercial agriculture.
In the case of farmers forced to
seek off -farm work, on the other hand,
the agricultural economy as a whole is
brought into question. In seeking
answers to that larger and complex
question, however, it is likely that full-
time farmers and part-time farmers
will have to work in concert. The
farming community must not only
consider various routes, from supply
management to diversification, but
make hard choices if it wishes to
control its destiny, to avoid such
"For years people have been trying to define what a farmer is.
Maybe never in our lifetime will it be defined."
— Don Pullen, agricultural representative
half not from farms, and he can't tell
the difference. Fifty years ago, one
could have.
It remains true, however, that
farming does enjoy special status of
some kind. As Professor Warley says,
94 per cent of Canadians are not
farmers, but are willing to vote huge
amounts of money to the agricultural
sector and to treat them differently in
terms of, for example, taxation.
In practical terms, perhaps
financing is the crux of the issue,
possibilities as corporate agriculture
and the loss of half of its ranks. •
In fact, part-time farmers are often
the most active workers on the policy
end of agricultural questions. Among
those farmers are some of the best-
known names in the agricultural
community: Brigid Pyke, Eugene
Whelan, Jack Riddell are names that
come to mind immediately. And those
are only a few of the names on a very
long list.0
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