The Rural Voice, 1992-07, Page 55GREY
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
44610th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1 P9
519-364-3050
• The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey
County Farmers by the GCFA.
How do we get on "Front Page Challenge"?
Ina recent issue of "Farm &
Country" Roger George states that for
farmers to get their concerns across,
agriculture has to play on "Front Page
Challenge".
But how do we get on "Front Page
Chal lenge"?
The fact is that the consumer finds
an abundant supply of wholesome and
reasonably priced food in the
supermarkets. As long as that does
not change, agriculture is of little
interest to our customers.
We have tried in many ways to
make our concerns public. With the
exception of the Ottawa Rally, which
made it to the bottom of page 2 of the
major urban newspapers, agriculture
rates a small paragraph after the want
ads.
If we needed to be reminded of
how important agriculture is in the
theme of things with our media, both
print and electronic, the cancellation
of the farm shows on CKNX
Wingham and CKVR Barrie drives
that point home.
For agriculture to play on "Front
Page Challenge", we have to find a
new way to get our point across.
To our mind it is essential to get
the facts out to the people buying our
products who also are the people who
will lose the most if agriculture fails
to prosper.
What we need is a medium that
gets before the consumer every day of
the year. A medium that cannot be
ignored. A medium that is highly
visible and can change with the issues.
Impossible? We don't think so.
Every last farmer has a land base.
Every farmer borders on a concession
road, county road or Queen's
Highway.
Every farmer has, or has access to,
a posthole auger to put a couple of
cedar rails or old hydro poles into the
ground with a 4' x 8' piece of
plywood facing the road.
Oh, I know, there are regulations,
especially on the provincial highways,
that can be overcome, and most
townships and counties have no
regulations.
Once those billboards are up, it
should be reasonably easy for our
provincial organizations to design,
print and supply the individual
farmers with the message to be glued
to the plywood. This message could
be changed as needed.
If only 10 per cent of OFA
members participated, we would have
2000 billboards right across the
province. You don't think that would
have an impact? Imagine the cost if
we had to buy this amount of space.
If our brains at OFA can come up
with a variety of positive and thought
provoking messages, we will certainly
grab the attention of the driving
public, and who does not drive these
days.
The important part is that the
messages must be positive and be able
to stand the most critical scrutiny.
The messages must be thought- •
provoking and raise questions in the
reader's mind. The sign would have
the OFA logo clearly displayed.
The possibilities are endless. Sure
there will be costs. But these are
minor inconveniences when compared
to the impact this billboard campaign
could have.
This proposal was presented to the
June 1992 OFA Directors' meeting by
the Grey County Federation of
Agriculture.
At the time of this writing no
decision had been made about the
future of this proposal.
Should the provincial body choose
not to implement this billboard
campaign, there is no reason why our
county or a group of counties should
not go it alone.
It is essential that Canadian
agriculture get the message to urban
Canadians that the demise of the
family farm will make us dependent
on food imports, with no guarantees
on quality or price or even
availability.
Let us become pro -active
defending our industry. No one ever
scored a goal playing defence.
submitted by Karl Braeker
OFA regional director for Grey South
GCFA Directors' Meeting
Thursday, July 30, 1992
OMAF Boardroom, Markdale
8:00 p.m.
Members are welcome to attend
Readers make great writers. And The Rural Voice welcome submissions from anyone involved in the
agricultural community. We will gladly consider for publication:
REPORTS OF MEETINGS
OR EVENTS
• from commodity groups
to community fairs
FEATURE ARTICLES
• on the people, places, issues,
and management decisions
central to life on the farm
PROSE AND POETRY
• capturing the creativity
and the values of rural people
and rural life
For freelance rates or more information, contact Keith Roulston at:
The Rural Voice, 136 Queen Street, Box 429, Blyth, ON NOM 1 HO, Phone 523-4311, FAX 523-9140.
JULY 1992 51