The Rural Voice, 1989-12, Page 88BRUCE
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050
• The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County federation members by the BCFA.
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
OPINION —A Look Ahead
On November 8, directors attended OMAF's
"Look Ahead" Conference in Toronto. It was a fas-
cinating and disturbing event that gets more pro-
foundly disturbing the longer I think about it.
The list of speakers was impressive, but leaned
heavily towards the processor -retailer side of the
agri-food industry. Those who dealt with farming at
all did so from a political or academic perspective.
The repeated message was that agribusiness is a
rapidly changing, highly competitive industry in
which the end user, "Mrs. Consumer," ultimately
calls all the shots. Every level of the industry must
be able to adapt to consumer trends in order to
compete. The opening up of world trade is creating
a global commodity market in which lowest cost of
production is the bottom line.
A professor from Wisconsin spelled this out
whcn he ridiculed arguments against BST for dairy
cows. "We know it will increase surpluses while
driving out some producers, but every advance in
technology does that. The lowest cost of production
is all that matters." He did, however, concede that if
consumers don't want it, it's dead.
As a farmer, I felt about as important as a fly on
the ceiling of that 1,000 -seat conference room.
What part does the farmer play in this "look ahead"?
An extremely small one! The president of Dominion
Stores gave us a good indication in his diagram of
"The Structure of the Food Industry." We are one
word on the line below "Input Suppliers" and above
"Wholesalers." In the world of the future envisioned
at this conference we are very insignificant.
What a contrast it was to attend, only two days
later, the BCFA Annual Meeting and see the real
face of agriculture. Here is the human side of
farming, men and women who raise families while
struggling with overwhelming debt, low prices, the
pressure of too much work and too little time. People
who belong to communities, who live and laugh and
suffer together while inconspicuously feeding the
other 97 per cent of society.
I'd like to deliver a message back to that confer-
ence in Toronto. When you plan for the future, don't
forget that we, out here on the farm, are more than
just numbers on some economic summary.
The changes in agribusiness affect more than just
financial statistics. Our communities, our social
interaction, the rich cultural tradition that is the
essence of farming hang vulnerably in the balance.0
Each month this page will contain an opinion on
a current farm issue. We would like to know what
YOU think. If your opinion differs from the one
you have read here, or if you support our view,
call the office at 364-3050.
86 THE RURAL VOICE
Outgoing Bruce County Federation of Agricuhure president Ron Garland and in-
coming president Bill Davis at the annual meeting November 10. (Below) Ted
Zettel receives the Farmer o the Year Award om Brian and Gisele Ireland.
The new slate (from left) President Bill Davis, 1st Vice -President Allan Smith, and
2nd Vice -President Tony Morris — standing with Annie and Don McCosh of
Ripley, who hued start the Bruce federation 48 years a 'o.