The Rural Voice, 2003-04, Page 36How size matters to our communities
While the majority of speakers
at Size Matters focussed on
the farm itself, Elbert van
Donkersgoed. strategic policy advisor
with the Christian Farmers Federation
of Ontario. looked at the effect of
fewer, larger farms on the rural
community in general.
Size is not neutral, he said. "Bigger
farms are about as neutral as farm
pickups sharing the 401 with 18 -
wheelers."
One of the ways bigger farms are
changing rural life is the need for
family participation in farming. he
said. Much of the physical labour is
gone as a result of specialization while
technology has speeded up the pace of
farm life and makes it a more danger-
ous place. Management has become
more important than physical labour
and management is an adult activity.
Farm lifestyles are under pressure,
van Donkersgoed said, with spouse
and children often being Tess involved
in the farm business. "Unless families
intentionally seek out activities beyond
the farm, farm life risks being more
isolated than in the past."
Farm neighbours are less relevant
as farmers, with a full line of
equipment of their own, don't need to
turn to their neighbours for help. The
common values that once brought
farmers together are broken down by
specialization as pork farmers and
dairy farmers attend different
meetings, use different suppliers and
tour separate open house events.
Declining farm numbers and more
rented land means a farmer has fewer
neighbours, period. The land next door
may be farmed by someone living
kilometers away. "Communications
may be reduced to a neighbourly wave
if spring planting happens to coincide
or harvests overlap."
Loyalty to local communities is
fading. "Farmers are no different from
city folks in their desire for choice, up-
to-date technology, convenience and
service."
Big farms buy in volume and
emphasize quality, price and service
that the local community may not be
able to provide. "The big farm's search
for volume discounts has extended its
supply region to hundreds of
kilometers." Ontario's villages and
small towns are still important to big
farms for non -economic relationships
such as worship. friendships, sports
and recreation, and for small purchases
like light bulbs and screwdrivers, but
the business of farming, done big, has
gone cosmopolitan, he argued.
The "hurry factor" and the focus on
the financial bottom line risk
squeezing the time necessary for doing
proper stewardship of the land. With
bigger farms if something goes wrong
or management is not up to snuff. there
is more risk to the environment. Given
the risk, governments regulate more as
best management practices can't
remain voluntary options.
When a farm business expands on
one site. its ecological footprint
becomes, not just bigger. but more
complex. "Growth in size creates a
complexity that leads to new
environmental stewardship challenges
and greater risk of unintended
consequences."
Through a series of workshops
across the province, the Christian
Farmers Federation of Ontario has
developed a new vision of agriculture
that doesn't see the future in low-cost,
commodity production. "Farmers need
not scramble to be the low-cost
producers for export markets. There
are openings for farmers to reinvent
themselves as producers of nutrients
and health. Consumers may insist on
cheap food but they are willing to pay
for health."
Part of the rural advantage is
diversity, van Donkersgoed argued.
"There is no one rural — no one
countryside. When rural communities
build on their unique characteristics —
open spaces, cultural landscapes,
historical buildings, managed
ecosystems, good-looking farmsteads,
recreational developments and great
spaces to call home — they are
building on their strengths.
"Municipalities have to be able to
develop their unique characteristics. In
the past, if you saw one rural
community you had seen them all.
Ontario's rural economy Zags because
of that sameness. Rural vitality
depends on communities consciously
distinguishing themselves from the
many others."
In arguing for the ability of
communities to play on their own
uniqueness, van Donkersgoed
promoted the controversial idea that
the Nutrient Management Act is
deeply flawed and municipalities
should be allowed to impose caps on
the size of livestock operations.
"Ontario's rural landscape varies
hugely. Ontario is too diverse for a
one -size -fits -all approach. The basic
rules need to be customized to suit the
local landscape. In other words,
municipalities need a defined role in
projects like nutrient management."
The NMA will allow risks for the
environment from livestock enterprises
to increase, he argued. "Ever -larger
enterprises will bring greater risks. No
doubt those greater risks can he
balanced by new, more sophisticated
regulatory systems and red tape.
"There is a simpler, less intrusive
way of taking precautionary action to
protect our environment: cap the size
of farms on any one site, keep
livestock dispersed and tied to a land -
base. Then, a heavy-duty regulatory
system will be unnecessary."
Provincial regulations should set
general policies, including minimums
and maximums. Municipalities should
be required to consult on the need to
modify provincial standards and
demonstrate that there are local needs
that make modification important, he
said. Municipalities should be able to
set a maximum size of 400 to 600
livestock units per site and a maximum
density of 1.0 to 2.0 livestock units per
acre, depending on the environmental
and cultural needs of their
communities. They should be able to
require up to one half of the land -base
needed for nutrient management be
owned by the farmer.
Ontario needs a different model
than the American approach of ever -
bigger barns, he argued because
minimum distance standards are
already preventing some operations
from expanding. "We need alternative
technologies and management
systems. Ontario's best future is with
technology and management systems
that make the moderate scale of many
of our farms more productive. A cap
on size will help farms and out farm
infrastructure focus on keeping our
moderate-size enterprises profitable."0
32 THE RURAL VOICE