The Rural Voice, 1996-10, Page 23Ron and Mildred MacGregor stand beside their restored Imperial tractor,
purchased by Ron's father in 1919. Like the tractor, they're still going strong.
WHY WE NEVER QUIT
FARMING
Ron and Mildred MacGregor have seen it all over their
many years in farming, and they plan to hang around to
see some more.
Story and photos by Sandra Orr
n the Kippen area of Huron
County, it's harvest time. It's been
a while since you could brag
about what price you got off the
combine per bushel, for corn or any
other crop a farmer might be
growing.
Like cash -croppers everywhere,
the MacGregors of Kippen are finally
smiling.
Ron MacGregor has reached what
could be the pinnacle of his long
farming career, when he said, "I
never thought I'd see corn to be $7 a
bushel. Last year was the best year
ever in farming when good weather,
good prices, and good crops came
together." Last year, many farmers
got $4 off the combine for corn.
Like many other farmers who have
a crop to sell, Ron and Mildred
MacGregor and their sons, Bill,
Scott, and Paul do better than they
used to. Until he retired, Ron's
brother Bruce also was part of the
family farm enterprise. The two
brothers followed the tradition of
their father and uncle in the
continuous number of years they
farmed the same land.
Ron remembers the lean times in
the '80s when he wondered many
times why a person would continue
farming although he said he never
thought seriously of quitting.
"For a few years when we weren't
making much money, we lowered our
standard of living to compete with the
times."
He plans to farm for the next fcw
years in much the same way as he's
done for the past 20 or 30 years.
"They'll have to carry me off," he
says, asserting his devotion to his
trade and his longevity in the
business.
These statements are nothing new
to people familiar with farming, who
never like to give up their
independence. "The good years make
up for the lean," he says with a smile.
The MacGregors now farm about 700
acres although previously they had
140 acres until Ron's sons bought
nearby. Crops such as corn, white
beans, soybeans, and wheat arc
rotated every year. His goal is always
trying to have the biggest yield ever,
and he finds the wcathcr is the
biggest asset or hindrance. The main
improvement over the years has been
chemicals, he says, as well as bigger
equipment with air conditioning in
cabs of combines and tractors which
is sorely missed when it breaks down.
s well as cash cropping, the
MacGregors were in the
custom harvesting business for
years, harvesting the
neighbours' crops as well as their
own, which meant they had to cover a
lot of acres. Air conditioning has
made the job more pleasant, keeping
down the dust. Ron can remember
when he coughed up a puddle of dust
out of his lungs, probably responsible
for his emphysema today, he says.
The hours aren't as long as they
used to be, except maybe at harvest
time, and it takes more than dew to
keep them from harvesting white
beans at midnight or later. Chemicals
and machinery have contributed to
the high cost of farming and
computers help in keeping track of
what is spent. Paul, also uses his
computer to watch the grain markets
— judging when's the best time to sell.
Getting reports every day, they
forward sell, or take a chance on what
the price of corn is going to be.
Ron MacGregor began helping his
fathcr William and Uncle John in the
cash-cropping"and the harvesting
business at age 13. When askcd if
he'd ever wanted to do anything
besides farming he maintained that
his farm, family and grandchildren
have been very important. The only
thing he docs besides cropping is
restore the antique farm equipment
that's been in the family for years.
He can recall the boom years just
after World War II as well as years
that weren't so good. In the early
'40s, the price of land was about
$100 per acre, about what you'd pay
to rent today. In those days, they
workcd from daylight until dark,
much longer than farmers work
today.
OCTOBER 1996 19