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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1984-03-14, Page 2It' A panel of local men and women discussed farming problems at the Greg Armstrong, Charles Reid, Kay Heyes, Linda Keyes and Rev. meeting in Varna last week, Panel members were, left to right, Wilena Brown. (Shelley McPhee photo) Shelley McPhee 'J!arrning'a a eatpartners now.being '0 .,,a �a)eroi he DOM, • rr d Yam Women• ( 'W), a &r04P fat betanin 1141 in .$rule•• County, has r erred overwhelmiing support kora alert vromen around the country,.. CCW founders Beth Stuunaltie and Doris Sweiger brought their group's objectives. and concerns to Huron Coi!nty on March 8 when they spoke to the group of local farm men and women in Varna. The farm women's activist group was formed to help the economically distressed farming industry. The organizers explained that it began because they could no longer watch their livelihoods and community deteriorate. Fear motivated them to take, action. The crisis situation is best described in the CFW's book The Farmer Takes A Wife, "Bankruptcies, foreclosures, packed meeting halls, laud calls for government action:, such vas,the stuff of .headlines. But .. behind. the. headlines was the human -to ; the strain on the families, the added pressu as husbands and wives took on outside jobs, the desperate efforts to refinance, the worry and anxiety conveyed to the children and the attempts to keep one's troubles private." Slumskie and Sweiger called a meeting of friends and more tha 50 women responded. A...second. meeting was scheduled and 0. *when turned out to Share .their concerns about the disastrous effects of high interest rates. The CFW was formed and ° members spe atelywent to lobby on behalf of the fang,. be gpotnilfeleen their concerns when Minister of Agrigultgre Eugene Whalen vlsfted Port. ElgInrthat fall. The group then submitted a brief to the Ontario Federation • of Agriculture on the psychological effects of financial stress. on faun families. The survey The brief, which began as a small poll of area farrn women, became a major project, one that has made Concerned Farm Women a high profile organization. The Farmer Takes A Wife, written by Gisele Ireland of Teeswater is a result of that expanded poll. The survey grew to encompass a cross section of farm women in Bruce and Grey Counties. The 31 -page questionnaire was answered by more than 400 women. , In the book's introduction, Susan Glover, survey researcher explained, '°It is also about the farm women in Grey and Bruce Counties; how the financial crisis has affected -them, their -roles on and -off -the farm and their views_ of :themselves_ and their futures. Our research focussed on one area of Ontario, but we suspect that our findings will strike a response in farm women across the country." Results of the survey touch many areas. The facts are startling and reassuring, optimistic and tragic. The survey confirmed what Rmany farm women already knew,.tbat _. . they are vital to the 'farm industry. Sixty-seven per cent of the women surveyed have joint ownership of their farms with their husbands and 86 per cent of Localpanel discuss farming troubies and triumphs VARNA - Depression, optimisim, anger and piide were some of the emotions that went through the small crowd after they heard a presentation made by the Bruce - Grey Counties organization, Concerned Farm Women (CFW). About 25 area men and women turned out at the Varna hall on March 8 to hear the presentation, brought to the area by the Goshen Mothers Club., Part of the evening was spent in a panel discussion that continued past midnight. Panel members were local farm men and women, including: Greg Armstrong, a young hog, grain and cash crop farmer; Charles Reid, a middle aged farmer who has worked in dairy and cash cropping; Kay Keyes, a middle age women whose husband runs .a mixed farming operation; Linda Keyes, a young rural mother who farms with her husband Steve and Rev. Wilena Brown, minister at Varna and Goshen United Churches. The panel, the audience and CFW President Beth Slumskie and Co-ordinator Doris Sweiger covered a wide variety of topics, from commodity prices to stress on the farm in the discussion. Rev. Brown; said that she could determine high pressure times in the farming community. Spring and fall were seen as the most stressful times, but Greg Armstrong suggested,. "Stress isn't any worse than it was 15 years ago, it just has more zeros to it." Charles Reid noted that two decades ago he also had to workoff the farm to bring in extra income and he also knew stress then. In the 1950s in western Canada, stress was a community loss as people were still suffering from the effects of the Dirty '30s, Rev. Brown suggested. Today, she said, stress on the farm is more individual and, "our society now has an idol of success.' Greg Armstrong said he believed his parents' generation felt that way but noted, "Younger farmers are thinking otherwise. People still want to be successful but they can now survive if they're not." Doris Sweiger said that younger farmers have to keep trying, or defeat will take them off the land. She said, "Ifreveryone declared bankruptcy, farming would be in bad shape." There is still a belief in the family farm, in the idea that parents wont to pass on their BUSINE SAN® PROFES5IQNALDIRE-CTQ (A' OPTOMETRY REPAIR R.W. 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NOM 1X0 HEATING * AIR CONDITIONING * SHEET METAL SALES * SERVICE * SATISFACTION BILL BAILEY 262-2020 Specialists in Pulse Combustion Heating ,PiHOTOGRAPHY ...: F itzgerald Studios photography and custom framing 400 lames Street Clinton 482-3890 land to their offspring. Beth Slumskie believes, "It's born and bred in parents. They're molded to the land. Linda Keyes was born a farm girl and she said she'd never marry a farmer, but she did and is happy with her choice. Financial crises faced by farmers in recent years was suggested to be a "godsend," by Charles Reid. "It was a hard lesson but it showed somefarmers that the money has to be paid back...Farmers have learned. In the past they trusted the banks." "The banks knew it (high interest rates) was coming, but they sold the farmers short," Beth Slumskie claimed. "If the banks knew, they wouldn't have lent farmer the money," Greg Armstrong noted. "They're doing things backwards, now banks are teaching farmers how to manage money." Charles Reid noted that at least farmers now must make monthly inventory reports to the bank and. no longer, "kust bbrrow a little more -money ' Rev. Brown asked, "Why do you :.(farmers.) work so hard without a nn,.. -guar ntee?-" "It's faith," Charles Reid said, "in the crop and in a better year." Rev. Brown said that farmers must have faith, but they must look at . things realistically. She noted, "Farm people must say that they're not going to give their work away." "Everything we buy and sell keeps other producing," Doris Sweiger noted. Rev. Brown said, "The church suggests that we go back to a simpler life, by growing our own and importing less." Beth Slumskie. replied, "I wish we could produce just 'enough for ourselves and to heck with everyone else. It's impossible to go back in this age of technology." "Farmers are eternal optimists," someone philosophized. "They can Have a whole field ruined, but they start again." Greg Armstrong said, "We can talk about teaching the consumer that he's eating cheap food, but that's very hard to do.". Rev. Brown noted, "People don't understandwhy farmers cry poor, but they have all these material items. It was noted that machinery is needed to farm efficiently and productively, "but it's gone to far." Regarding the work of the Concerned Farm Women (CFW) Charles Reid. suggested, "The CFW .need•to'-change their presentation before taking it .to. the urban .people. We know that men are involved (in , faeming 1 -but -urban pe-opleL •might say, `Isla pe out the women share financial decision making with their spouse. As well as managing a home, raising a family and often working off the farm, the survey showed that rural women also help with farm chores and administration. Fifty- five per cent of the women do chores, 87 per cent feed livestock, 81 per cent doctor animals, 74 per cent do harvesting, 54 per cent help with milking, 51 per cent operate machinery and 56 per cent clean barns. As well, 81 per cent of farm women keep farm accounts. The survey dealt with many areas of agriculture: beef ( 41 per cent) ; mixed livestock (?y0 per cent); dairy (16 per cent); mixed farming (9 per cent) ; mixed crops ( 6 per cent; hogs (5 per cent); sheep, poultry (2 per cent). In spite of the variety of farming commodity involved in the survey area, the majority agreed that farming was . worse-. off than. it was in 19.7.6._.Pr-oduct and. iaput,prices and intens raja,w_g�ra manned as,_, major contributors to, the .poor. state gf the farmingeconomy Farm stress Lack of profit, lack of money for a holiday, lack of leisure 'time and machinery breakdowns were the greatest problems felt by the farm women: The Farther Takes A Wife reported, Record-keeping. and accepting, un the farm fell mainly for the women, who were responsible for financial decisions concerning personal wants and needs and paying outstanding accounts. When financial situations deteriorated, there was the added stress of denying family members items that would normally be granted. In other words, deciding how to rob Peter to pay Paul." The most common symptom of stress was mental fatigue. The CFW book noted, "According to the women who discussed the survey information, mental fatigue was defined as an emotional state off indifference. The loss of an animal was greeted with the same degree of equanimity as the plugging of the sink. The woman no longer cared." Frustration was the second most common symptom as 'farm : women realized, no matter how much they put into the farm in hours or , effort, it would make little difference in the end results. They realized that things were going badly but were unable to change the course of events to make any improvements." Irritability, marital difficulties, depression, sleeplessness and 'indecision were also cited as signs of stress. While the CFW determined that a cure for stress is to get away from it all, farm obligations and lack of money prohibited many from doing. this.. Instead, women in r the . survey reportediat—they , sought emotional comfort from their spouse, family . and,friendn, thair.minister doctor, or through rofessional help -'Fifty-eight per cent of the women who went to doctors since 1976 were prescribed drugs for their stress-related problems and another 25 per cent received drugs and counselling. Seventeen per cent received counselling only. Turn to page 3 • wonder they went broke, the men weren't working.' " CFW representatives noted that their presentation is being re -designed for urban audiences. They also stressed that their organization is actually a total family dshould be sown as hth concern an at. . • David Hiltz canton James Rhynard Clinton Jeff Lobb cllnton Kimberley Farquhar Elmira Andrew Ball Clinton Kimberly Atkinson ciinton Lindsey Bartliff Clinton Colleen McAdam Holmesvilie Kelly Lunn Renner Sioux Lookout Robbie Crich Godorich Jason McAsh varno Jeffrey Oestreicher Walkerton Robbie MacAulay Clinton Michael Mastro Cilnton Shannon Duizer Londesboro Teresa Wammes R.R. 1 Clinton Rick Cook ciinton Jeffrey Heipel cunton Kevin MacKay Clinton Bryan Mastro cllnton March 14 Marc�h� 14 Mardi 18 March 14 March 14 March 14 March 15 March 15 March 15 March 16 March 16 March 17 March 17 March 17 March 17 March 18 March 18 March 18 March 19 March 20 Sweet Riddles 1. Wttat were the strawherry and_ the raspberry doing on. the road? They were in a traffic jam 2. Where do candyoholics go? To chocolate bars. 3. What was Scrooge's favourite candy? Humbugs. 4. WhO liked the fizzy drink better — the mother Or the father?. . The pop. 5. Why were the banana and the pear fighting'' There were in a fruit punch. 6. Why did the mathematician bake a pie in a square dish? Because pie are squared 7. Did the kid with a sweet tooth use crutches when he broke his leg? No. he used a candy cane. Distributed by Canada Wide Feature Service Limited T9(14 MacKay Prathero S' ODDA EST. 1975 r ) T GOLDSMITH SILVERSMITH JEWELLERY DESIGNER.. REPAIRS- ALSO, CERAIDICS._ WEAVING...__.. WOOD, ART. GLASS CANADIAN AWARDWVyINNINO DESIGNER 524-4.509 58 WEST ST., GODERICH, ONT. • • (49 West Wawanosh Mutual Insurance. Company Dungannon. Ont. NOM 1R0 529-7961 FARM RESIDENTIAL AUTO AGENTS:° Frank reran Lyons 4. Mulharn Donald MacKay Kannetlo B. Maclean John Nlsron Donald R.sknpson Below Sproul R.R. 2. I.uchnow 46 Wast St., eodarlch R.R. 3, Rlplay R.R. 2, paisley R.R. 3, Brussels R.R. 3, fboderleh R.R. 3. Auburn .. 223.3424 324.2642 3433362 344.837 447.4417 32!.7367 924;7273 FOR A QUOTATION ON YOUR FARM, HOME, COTTAGE OR AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CONTACT THE AGENT IN YOUR AREA DIRECTORS; Mon Bradley John Bryne Olen Coultas Gerald Kerr Austin Martin Donald MnKenete Lucknoe s R.R. 3, Paisley R.R. 3. Rvussate P.O. Ron 62, Blyth P.O. Box 324. Lucknotu 16361RIn Alta. West, fdadertch CLAIMS SHOULD DI REPORTED PROMPTLY TO THE DIRECTOR IN YOUR AREA 321.2114 3339431 422-61s4 3234319 s1s-3i41 924.1442 411.