The Rural Voice, 2001-05, Page 66BRUCE
Email brucedofa.on.ca
website www.ofa.on.catruce
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
• The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County Farmers by the BCFA.
Change is inevitable. and at times,
desirable. Those that do not change are
left in the proverbial dust. Change in
agriculture is necessary to stay current
and competitive in a cutthroat market, but
we must be ever cognizant of the reason
for change and the broader effects of that
change.
The rate of change in farming is
accelerating as in many areas of society.
and not all of these changes are for the
betterment of our communities and way
of life. I am referring to the intensive
livestock issue. This issue has caused
families, friends and communities to be
split, and in many cases, it may take years
to heal the emotional wounds.
In theory, the factory farm concept
sounds like the answer: a large, vertically
integrated company, that controls all
aspects of food production from the field
to the store shelf should be able to
provide cheap, safe food for all. This
should work because such an
organization would have the capital to
attract the best people and methodology
to do the job. This has not happened in
practice. These same organizations, in an
effort to increase their bottom line, look
for ways to economize. They start
contracting out parts of the chain of
production and after there is excess
capacity, the franchisees (farmers) find
that they have to cut corners in order to
get a return on their investment. The
franchisees find they have to work harder
and longer to meet the conditions of their
contracts, and this can lead to mistakes
that will affect their community and their
lives.
Multi -national corporations -encourage
global free trade, and this also sounds
advantageous. In reality, this is a vehicle
whereby goods can be moved from a
depressed third world part of the globe,
transported to an affluent part of the
world, and sold at a great profit to the
BRUCE COUNTY FEDERATION OF
AGRICULTURE
Directors' Meeting
Monday, June 25/01 - 8 p.m.
Sprucedale Agromart
RR 2, Walkerton
25th Sideroad Brant (north off of former
Hwy. *4 - east of Walkerton)
Members are welcome to attend
Please Note: There will be NO board
meettng In May
62 THE RURAL VOICE
A choice for the future
multi -national. Local farmers have
competed in the marketplace until now by
becoming more efficient and taking less
retum on capital for themselves. I feel we
will not be able to continue this trend. and
eventually the global free trade will
eliminate the local production of some
commodities.
You may ask what has this got to do
with intensive livestock operations. As
these operations become larger, they will
need more feed for the livestock, and
these feeds may eventually come from
the cheapest source of production, even if
it means movini them around the globe. I
think in the long run this is not
sustainable. We will eventually use too
much of our dwindling energy supply in
moving feedstock, and in producing the
high energy feeds used in intensive
livestock production. The entire system
will become too expensive, and when
franchisees lose interest in their business
because they are not getting the returns
they had hoped for, the quality and
efficiency will drop, large-scale
production methods will also fail, and
prices to the consumer will soar.
There is room for smaller producers
who own their own livestock, buildings,
and feed production facilities. Producers
will not be wasting time and energy
moving commodities from one part of the
world to another, and they will be able to
use nutrients from their own operations to
fertilizer their own crops. This also saves
energy used in the production of
commercial fertilizers. They will also be
concerned about their environmental
impact since they live and work in their
local communities. I am not advocating
we should ignore technological changes.
We should take the best of new
technology, and combine that with
environmentally safer practices and the
pride of ownership to produce food for
the nation. I feel there is an optimal level
of production between yesterday's small
producer and today's mega -farm that can
produce food economically, safely, and in
an environmentally friendly way, while
also supporting local agribusinesses.
Farmers have always shown they can
meet the challenges on a level playing
field. It is up to government to create an
environment that provides that level
playing field and ensure that all markets
are open to all farmers. Farmers will
adapt to the changes in agriculture, but
perhaps it is time to realize that we will
not always produce cheaper food, but
must focus on producing food in an
environmentally friendly way, and still
retain the high quality of our product.
This conscientious method of food
production will help heal the scars of
division in our communities that have
been caused by moving to a strictly
volume oriented type of agriculture.°
- Submitted by Wietse Posthumus,
Director, Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture
Congratulations to Tommy
Cooper Award Winner
We would like to extend our
congratulations to Heather Parkin, RR 6,
Owen Sound, the winner of the 2000
Tommy Cooper Award presented at our
Meet the Members and Tommy Cooper
Award meeting on April 6.
We would also like to congratulate the
four other nominees Stan Eby, RR 5,
Kincardine; Jim Farrell, RR 3, Ripley;
Morgan Inglis, RR 1, Walkerton and Bob
Rodger, RR 1, Bognor. It is an honour to
be nominated for the Award and all
should be considered winners for their
commitment to agriculture and their
communities.°
Bruce Couple Ontario Outstanding Young Farmers
We would like to extend congratulations to Glen and Sheila Burgess, RR 2, Mildmay on
winning the 2001 Ontario Outstanding Young Farmers Award. The award recognizes a
farm couple that exemplifies excellence in agriculture. They were nominated for the
Ontario award, which was presented on March 24 at a banquet in Mississauga, by the
Bruce County Federation of Agriculture .
Glen and Sheila and their family of six children operate a Jersey and Holstein dairy farm
south of Formosa on Bruce County Road 12. The Burgesses have hosted numerous
school classes giving students farm tours explaining their dairy operation and industry.
They also participate at the Roots of Bruce program for Grade 5 and 6 students in Bruce
County. They are involved in various local community organizations and sports, including
Mildmay Agricultural Society, broomball, school council, 4-H and Girl Guides.
Glen and Shiela will complete with six other national finalists for the honour of being
Canada's 2001 Outstanding Young Farmers in December in Ste -Hyacinthe, Quebec.°