The Rural Voice, 1990-01, Page 30BACK TO THE FUTURE
A Bruce County committee asks farmers to set their goals for agriculture
in the year 2000 by going back to some basic philosophical questions.
For the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture, a democratic
general farm organization
with the sometimes nail-biting task of
representing all farmers in the prov-
ince, it was something of a historic
achievement.
At the annual convention last
month, the federation passed a reso-
lution "to undertake the development
of a long-term vision for the future of
agriculture in Ontario."
The impetus for the resolution
came out of a workshop held by the
Bruce County Federation of Agricul-
ture's "Future of Farming Commit-
tee." That committee, formed under
chairman Gerald Poechman in the fall
of 1988, had, after a dozen meetings
and extensive research, produced a
namesake: The Future of Farming
Committee Report.
Essentially, the report, most of
which is reprinted below, tries to
establish a philosophical framework
for agriculture — a base on which to
build policy and lobbying decisions.
Without a framework, the Future of
Farming Committee implies, you're
in danger of living in a house of cards.
And committee members brought the
same questions they had asked
themselves to the OFA workshop.
For the 150 or more workshop
participants, the evening's task was
an unfamiliar one: forget the cold
hard facts for a while, forget all the
ifs, ands, and buts, and envision your
ideal for agriculture in the year 2000.
And as Gerald Poechman reported
after the workshop, he was pleased —
and a little surprised — by the strength
of the philosophical discussion. "We
do have a consensus on the mother-
hood issues — like the family farm,
and good stewardship,' he said, "but
we have to get to the root and expand
from that."
"I think it's going to be slow, but
I think that's where we've got to start
from," he adds, noting that the direc-
tion that agriculture seems to be head -
Planting
a Health Future
Members of The Future of Farming Committee at the OFA workshop (clockwise from
top right): Gerald Poechman (chairman), Byron Monk, Ted Zettel, and Ron Garland.
Other committee members are Bill Davis, /im Cullen, and Art Houghton. Anyone
interested in commenting or following up on the Future of Farming Report is
welcome to call the Bruce County federation's office: 44610th St., Hanover, Ontario,
N4N 1P9, telephone 519-364-3050.
28 THE RURAL VOICE