The Rural Voice, 1990-08, Page 23Along with his brother Gord, Strang farms about 750 acres of vegetables, grain crops and select seed.
the OVGMB also sponsors research,
as well as seeking domestic and export
markets, and representing growers at
both the federal and provincial levels
in government and other associations.
The board is financed by a mandatory
check -off system, which this year
totals one per cent of gross product
value plus an additional 1/10 of one
per cent for financial protection,
should a processor default on payment.
Unlike producers of most other
agricultural commodities in Ontario,
processed vegetable growers enter
into processor specific contracts
which detail not only the specific pro-
cessors the product will be delivered
to, but also the contract tonnage or
acreage. To give them some security,
growers are guaranteed a minimum
three-year contract.
This past year has been one of
tough negotiations, says Strang, as
the processors have been using various
"big sticks" over growers' heads to
keep their "raw product costs" down
with the free trade agreement now in
place. Although several processors,
particularly the multinationals, threat-
ened to pull up stakes and move back
to the U.S. if growers here didn't
lower their raw product prices, the
board claims that when all factors
such as currency exchange, transpor-
tation, grade standards, contract vari-
ations, and duties on raw and finished
product are considered, the Ontario
farmer is very competitive.
Strang says some of the compa-
nies, despite their claims, have real-
ized some excellent profits from their
Canadian operations. He points to the
heavy commitment some companies
have made recently to plant renova-
tions and equipment updates as proof
they're making money here. "I guess
they 're just like any businessman,
trying to maximize their profits,"
Strang says.
But some of the fallout from the
new trading climate could be a
lowering of Canadian grading stand-
ards, among the highest in the world,
to the level of the U.S. "The con-
sumer likely won't notice or even
care, or have time to find out. As
long as the shelves are full the farmers
will have to take whatever they can
sell it (their product) for," says Strang.
The Strang family is an example of
a growing phenomenon along the
farming concessions: an off -farm
income helping to support the house-
hold. Keith's wife, Sandra "Sandy"
works full-time as clerk -treasurer of
Usborne Township, a profession she
enjoys "most days" and the couple
share the duties of raising a busy
family of three children — Geoff, 19,
Michael, 15, and Jennifer, 11 — in a
beautiful stone farmhouse built in
1860 on land that's been in the family
for four generations.
"They call this 'old man's town-
ship' because the population is so
stable and farms are slow to turn
over," says Keith. Armed with a
tough secondary plan, Sandy says the
township council has also been able
to keep the township a leading agri-
cultural production area by rejecting
non -compatible severances. "Some
people can't understand why they just
can't build a house anywhere they
want to," says Sandy.
Although Keith says that many
farmers have to work out to keep
things going, in the long run he can't
see farmers keeping up production
while juggling two jobs. It's not
helped by high interest rates either.
"Anything over eight per cent is too
much for agriculture, given the slim
margins," says Keith.
Through it all, however, Keith
still lets a broad smile cross his face
and hopes one of the Strang children
will be able to farm the deep rich soil
for another generation.0
AUGUST 1990 19