HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2006-12-06, Page 9The Huron Expositor • December 6, 2006 Page 9
generation
Jeff Heuchert
Ronald MacGregor has been har-
vesting the same piece of farmland
for the past 75 years.
He is 87 years old.
And, he has no intention of retir-
ing anytime soon.
I know a lot of farmers my age
that are done harvesting," notes
MacGregor, "but I still want to keep
farming."
"I guess I'm just a crazy old goat,"
he adds jokingly.
The truth however, just might be
that farming is what he knows best.
MacGregor has been harvesting
the land at RR 2 Kippen since he
was a young boy.
He grew up in the same small.
farmhouse he owns today. His
father William was the previous
landowner.
The MacGregors have been
attached to the property much
before then however. •
"I'm a fourth generation farmer
here. This land was settled by the
MacGregors in 1851," he recalls.
MacGregor lives on the farm with
his wife Mildred. Together they
have three sons and one daughter.
MacGregor first got involved with
farming by helping his father after
school, and he still recalls a num-
ber of memories from those years.
Like one harvest in the late '308,
when they had crows and pigeons
eating the kernels off their stock, or
the time in 'the late '40s when they
planted a "double crop," mixing
turnip seeds with their corn fertiliz-
er, just in case there was a crop fail-
ure.
"The turnips weren't too bad and
it- didn't interfere with the corn too
Much," he says.
He remembers when they bought
their first corn picker in the '40s
and when he turned the new
machine too quickly, tipping it over.
Or, when they had to buy a cater-
pillar tractor to work the wet fields
during the harvest of 1954, when
Hurricane Hazel hit the east coast.
MacGregor also remembers the
harder times, especially during the
depression in the '30s.
"It got so tough farmers were on
the edge of bankruptcy," he says,
noting a bushel of corn during those
times sold for only around 70 cents.
"There was just no money. But
armer, 8
REATER SEAFO RTH AREA
celebrates his 75th harvest
Ronald MacGregor stands in front of his combine during this year's harvest.
then the (Second World) War came
and things picked up," he adds.
And for the most part, farmers
were able to make a comfortable liv-
ing as a cash -crop farmer. -%
That was until more recently,
when low commodity prices and
subsidized corn from foreign mar-
kets, have threatened many
Canadian farmers' livelihoods.
MacGregor says he is saddened to
see the difficulties today's cash -crop
farmers are facing, especially the
younger ones still supporting chil-
dren.
"A lot of farmers are having to
take off -farm jobs. I never had to do
that," he says, adding he expects at
least 75 per cent of the employees at
the new ethanol plant in Hensall
will be farmers who need a second
income.
"It's too bad, because we're supply-
ing the food for this country. But, an
American farmer gets $150 (in sub-
sidies) before they even turn a
wheel - and that's what we have to
compete against."
"I don't know what the future
holds. If someone is going to start
today (farming), they've got quite a
battle to keep going," he adds.
Huron County Federation of.
Agriculture president Steve
Thompson says the average age of
farmers has gone up in recent years
to around 57-58.
"And it doesn't surprise me at all,"
he adds. "I kid with people that
soon to get a list of current farmers
we'll just have to look at the senior
citizens list."
Thompson says since farming has
become less profitable, many will
not just find off -farm jobs, but forget.
about farming all together for a
number of years.
"Some say, `I'm going to work 30
years off the farm. Then once I'm at
a retirement age, I'll spend my time
farming,'" he says.
Thompson also attributes the
increasing age of active farmers to
better health care.
And while commodity prices have
recently increased slightly,
Thompson says they're sure to drop-
again,
ropagain, and farmers will be facing
the same problem since the govern-
ment is yet to level the playing field
with other subsidized markets.
"It's a convenient dodge,". he says
of the recent rise in prices. "They
have no intension of doing anything
and we'll be back with the same
problems."
Since MacGregor is no longer sup-
porting his entire family, the money
he does make from his crop each
harvest is enough.
In fact, he might even be planning
a trip to Australia.
But, come the spring, he'll be out
planting his crop. Come the fall,
he'll be taking it off.
As for when he plans to retire, he's
already got that figured out.
"When I'm not able to drive a com-
bine or tractor, _that's when I'll
retire. But, at 87 years old, you
can't plan that far ahead."
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