The Lucknow Sentinel, 1989-06-21, Page 5pinion
e ' iver of £hange
In the :space of the past .three months,
I've heard two :almost identical predic-
tions .as to the .future f agriculture
from two very -different sources. These
ecmmnents came . about in ::the course of
:casual conversation ..and it was mot until
-later that it • °clicked ,in _my con-
sciousness: "This .Is a profound revela-
tion, one that will likely come true."
My first source was Hubert :Earl, a
farmer+philosopher from the Ottawa
area who taught for many years at the
Kemptviile College of Agricultural
Technology and is now back to dairy
farming °fvlletime with his three young
schoolage sons. -He told me that the
traditional, middle-sized farm -where one
family earns their living is an en-
dangered :species.
"Farms are getting either bigger or
--smaller,"
er," he said. "Not too long from
now you'll 'have only :the big corporate
holdings where the owners just manage,
:and the .small, ..after -work .farms where
the owner -makes a living from
something else."
Just a few weeks ago, .this was echoed
by one of the most .highly respected
thinkers in Ontario's agricultural
establishment. Elbert van Donkersgoed,
the policy and research :director -for the
Of 6
Farmers Federation .of On-
tario, a man who prides himself on
"dealing with reality," told me the
same thing: "The ones in the : u 6 6 6 e
are being squeezed. -For as variety of
reasons they are ..moving to one extreme
or the other in terms of size."
No more farms where one family
works -the land and earns their living?
Can this be :trate? I -made a .quick study
of the °fauns on my line. 'Of the 14
original :homesteads, six have changed
hands since Id farming in 1977,
and another three probably will in :the
„next year or .so. :Of the six that were
• transferred, 'only -two of the new owners
make their/living anthat :land. ,One ,of
these is mnyself. "fie -tither four :farms
were °either added`°tothe.12oleiags of :reg
panding igghours eor "fit by ;in-
ilividuals eke thek iving g
Tout ::antprx blytiaiwaysA ill.
The scenario proposed by my
distinguished friends Hubert and .Elbert
stands confirmed, in my 'mind at least.
'Farmers are much .more than just
producers of food. They are, .among
other things, the ones who by some ap-
parent defect in the design of the
universe have been entrusted -with the
care and maintenance of mankind's
most vital life'sustaining resource, the
soil. While our record -in' honouring this
trust lean s -a lot to be desired, it seems
ane ne that one of the best safeguards
preventing blatant -misuse of the soil
has been the family farm-- historically
the men and women who :managed The
land, owned .it, and made .their living
from it. They =hoped their sons and
daughters would be . able to .do likewise.
This fragile, miraculous stuff that
covers roily a small and rapidly
decreasing _ portion of the globe is all
that stands between .the human rage
and extinction. Now its traditional .;guar-
dians are handing it over -either to the
corporate sector, where it will' un-
doubtedly be viewed .as ,a raw material
to be exploited for the fastest profit, or
to people whose interest .in it is secon-
.dary to another .profession.
ll a ,changes affect :us till. -it is a
great mystery to my why vie, the
masses, .accept change fatalistically, as
if there were .no way to stop it or direct
its course.
'The words written by R. Alex Sim in
his book, ".Land and :Community," come
to mind: "I . see the rural cmnnlunity,
not as a quiet 'haven to escape ba tur-
htdent world, ;but as _a battered raft drif-
h:tinig. downstream on a river of change.
It bite a lock and :part of it ::breaks off
carrying &away some of its occupants,
while those that remain 'grapple with
-other bits of debris .in a 'frantic effort to
'reconstruct the raft. As other :try to
scramble aboard :this :rural mitt, -those
.already -on :bOard.areundecided whether
to welcome them lir Ahem adrift."
• petth illy::Suhmitted,
'eery Ikon
• dif;Ag kill lure
1 l eelatroast E'a
r::11.1.012 Zia: .
LL2.g
esidential .and !commercial landscape.:Contractor
11,1j1:2 1mle'south :r►f.Lucknow :on
.Lutiunow, Ontario -Huron County Road 41
yrs. (51" 529.7247
Sibr, r IS
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, .
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off selected items including:
Volorado slue Spruce , s'
1st Sizes: "1548" Reg. 18;00 Now 13.50
<� s .
i#14. ;. -2 Rte. .r0.0 Now 2400
6
314' Reg. 6500 Now 48.75
Austrian Mine
Sizes: 1044" 9 . ..14eg 18.00 'Now 1340
344' Reg.:29.0:0 Now 21.766
°teed `Tomatoes
Fuschia Hanging
Baskets
ussae
Oliv
Var 1 'WeIgeILa
-fruit ` 4tCyyii s
' '► ar;seedlings
YOIlow.t r
Solle,APPUfs tovish &carry tap,
,isjuly°1, igeg.
CA,
Reg. S.50 Now 487
Reg.13.50 'Now 10.12
Reg, ik40 Now 0.00
Reg. 12;J M , . w a.O0
,Reg. 940 liow 14:25
liej�
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51 e ,12a% iiimW13.4V0
esnot opply,to,wtosistd tUorno.
, :?®the recalls careers
Sentinel, Wednesday, Jute2113aOD—Page fl
The Canada Employment Centre for
Students in Kincardine asked Williai n
Pike, principal of Lucl now Central
Public School, to share his early work
experience as a student. Re delivered
the Etobicoke Advertiser over thirty
years ago and made two cents„ per
paper. One incident from Hill's paper
route is particularly memorable.
Mr. Pike picked up his papers every
morning at six o'clock at .a local Shoe
store. One winter morning he lingered
in bed longer that usual and luckily for
him was late 'to 'pick up dhis papers.
When he ..arrived at the store to begin
his :delivery, route he saw shoes and
newspapers all over the Street but the
store tad :disappeared. Just minutes
before William arrived the store's pro-
pane heater had overheated and explod-
ed the entire building. If Bill bad been
on time that day he may have been
blown up too!
William also remembers his first
`real' job when he was sisteeen. He
worked at a fast-food restaurant called
the Red Barn. He was hired on a °Satur-
day and made-nightmanager when he
reported to work on Monday.
Bill had ':no idea what he was suppos-
ed to be doing in his job. He didn't
know how to cook a burger -or make a
shake let alone manage the restaurant.
He remembers even putting his hand .in-
to an at%potato ;>
he :didn't :know anything about it. He
managed to :;get :his job done, however,
including ordering .all the food for the
-restaurant with little guidance -from his
boss who spent most of his time on the
golf course. A mist of •emergency
numbers to call when be ran out of food
,proved to be :Bill's salvation. When Mr.
Pike worked at the Red `Barn a ham-
burger and a milkshake were 25 .cents
were 1cen1s.
Mr. Pike's advice to students: work
hard in -school because education is
crucial in the competitive job market
and develop -good habits early for the
workplace.
Thanks to the Lu 1mow Sentinel for
sponsoring this column.
To the editor:
Everybody talks about acid rain and
say it only comes from smoke stacks, but
- =what about airplanes - they leave long
trailers of .smoke you can follow in the
sky on •.a clear ,:day. What about :getting
°rrid :of. plastic,,articleS? .They rcause acid
raain.
All. Wiles in plastic tantalums, such
asst niik,jamsAnittpeanuttatter, Should
in laas.;Mtaits avrappedinlilaStie
=hid ibemrappeid as wax paper.
THE EIC11,.,
luting a Man on the moon is also
:causing acid Frain so Why don't they look
into this. rattan? ' by not atto other lbs
rather thana,go up in the Algr2
?ersowdbr,d like to .awe milk'
juit,pasteurized net with the additives
and titwouidtamhetter:in:glass
ids.
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BOO
CHARTERED:ACCpUNT
auditing, income tax, computer .and rnanageinent .services.
W j ]sKERTON '.MOUNT WOREST
fB.F.Thomson, ,FCA R.L. Drier, CA
'R.J. Millen, CA
('i H. -Munro, CA
P. Thor, CA
481-1211 323-23$1
Offering :full a of accounting,
• a �g
iANOVER
,W.J. Aldersley,=FCA
L.E. Vollett, "CA
J.J. Mint, CA
364-3790
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'0 KM fast orf LurAnow on Hwy. ,
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