The Rural Voice, 1991-03, Page 13FARM RULES CHANGING
AS BRAINS BEAT OUT BRAWN
Robert Mercer is editor of the
Broadwater Market Letter, a weekly
commodity and policy advisory letter
from Goodwood, Ontario LOC IAO.
Farming has always been seen as a
system where the harder you worked,
the more productive were your
rewards. As many have experienced,
that is not so true today as it was in the
previous generation. Our fathers
taught us to work hard. The farm was
where muscle work paid off better
than mind work.
As we speed towards the 21st
century and the technology of the
information age, that basic rule which
served our parents well will not do in
today's global village. We must sub-
stitute knowledge for muscle. Knowl-
edge can become an added value to a
basic commodity. Take corn, for
example.
Any farmer anywhere on the globe
can grow corn where climate and soil
conditions are right. Eastern Europe
has the potential to lift its agriculture
out of the mire of misuse into massive
export potential. Labour costs, energy
costs, input costs, and transportation
costs would all likely be lower to get
that basic commodity grown and
marketed. That would be basic
commodity at basic prices, and be in
direct competition to any exported
Ontario corn.
In the evolving marketplace mo-
ving with accelerating speed towards
the 21st century, your marketplace
will have to be one that returns you
more than the world prices, and don't
look for increased government
supports because they just are not in
the long term cards. (GRIP and NISA
are minimum standards, not those that
should be tolerated by progressive
leaders who shoot for the best returns
on capital, labour, and management.)
Your corn could be specially bred
by your hybrid supplier to suit the
feeding needs of hogs. The amino
acid levels, the carbohydrate levels,
and the kernel thickness, might all be
selectively bred for end market
specifications. You, as the grower,
would guarantee your corn to the hog
producer as meeting certain product
performance goals. It would be tested,
cleaned, and delivered similar to the
way manufacturing trade uses the
"just -in -time" schedules. For all this,
there would be a premium on your
corn. Premiums, added value, niche
marketing — they're all very much
the same thing and they are all based
on adding information value to a
product. Thus mind over muscle.
One of the side benefits of being
able to obtain a higher price is that
knowledge or information becomes a
more intricate part of the marketing
process and because it generates
income, it reduces the need for capital
per unit of output. Human capital
replaces dollar capital.
It is very difficult to change
concepts and then even more difficult
to change practices, but agriculture is
changing to the extent that the sur-
vivors will be practicing production
and marketing techniques very
different to those of our forefathers.
Each farm will have its own set of
circumstances which will dictate how
it can move forward or be better than
average.
If you are in the business of
farming, and not running a hobby
farm, then the business environment is
changing. Now is the time to start
thinking about those long term goals
and how to achieve them. By the year
2000, it may be too late.0
THE WRITE STUFF?
Wanted: People with an
agricultural orientation who can
write features or cover news
stories, or send In reports of local
meetings or community activities.
Write: The Rural Voice
l0A The Square. Box 37
Goderich. Ontario N7A 3Y5
AGRICULTURAL
EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES
Provide employment planning
assistance to the agricultural
industry
Recruit workers for agricultural
employment
Assist worker orientation and
transportation
Promote good employment
standards
Provide information about
government employment
programs
OWEN SOUND WALKERTON
371-9522 881-3671
PatzGard liner
For mangers, feed bunks,
conveyors, slides, gutters
and more.
• Nonporous and super slick for easy
cleaning.
• Will not rust, rot or corrode.
• Avoids rebuilding worn mangers and
gutters.
• Avoids sour odors and feed waste.
• Feed savings could total $30 per cow
each year.
• Cows eat better off PatzGard for higher
production.
• Reduces fly feading and breeding in
mangers.
• Slick surface reduces power requirements
for gutter cleaners and conveyors.
SOUTH HURON AGRI-SYSTEMS
R.R. 3, Zurich, Ontario 519-236-7424
2 miles south of Zurich on Goshen
Patz
MARCH 1991 9