The Rural Voice, 1987-04, Page 16THE MACHINERY INDUSTRY
FINDING
ITS
BEARINGS
T$
he average Ontario farmer, for
every tillable acre, has about
300 invested in his farm
machinery. That number, depending
on the type of operation, is often twice
as much as his year's return per acre.
Crop Enterprise Report for Ontario
Dairy Farms
(per acre basis — average 344 farms)
Value of Crop Production $191.27
Direct Expenses $ 63.64
Return over
Direct Expenses $127.63
Field Machinery
Investment $306.94
(Ontario Farm Management Analysis Project
1985)
Comparison two: In 1921, there
were 7,161 tractors on Ontario farms.
By 1981, although the rate of increase
had slowed considerably, there were
178,041 — almost 25 times as many.
Number of Tractors on Ontario Farms
1921 7,161 1961 150,046
1931 18,993 1971 165,752
1941 34,460 1976 175,918
1951 105,204 1981 178,041
(Census of Agriculture, Statistics
Canada)
Comparison three: Between 1958
and 1981, the horsepower of the aver-
age tractor in Canada tripled, moving
from 35 hp to 105 hp. And in Ontar-
io, with its approximately 5 million
acres of land in cultivation, a fleet of
tractors with a capacity of 20 million
hp is p.oked across the province. As
John Kessler, secretary -manager of the
Ontario Farm Machinery Board
(OFMB), observes, think of your
grandfather's 100 acres and imagine
him stabling 400 horses to work
them with.
These statistics are flags marking
some of the changes that agriculture
has both welcomed and worried about
for decades. They point to today's
most plaguing agricultural problem:
overproduction. Heavy investment
in powerful equipment is one aspect
of the economy of scale equation that
has prompted larger, more intensive,
and more specialized farm operations.
In fact, agriculture's industrial
revolution at its most intense came
relatively late, and only in the past
decade has the agricultural community,
fromthefarmer to the agribusiness,
been faced with consequences that
suggest bigger is not necessarily
better.
The farm equipment industry that
has helped Ontario farmers become
among the most labour efficient in
the world has its own statistics to
illustrate the thinning and consolida-
tion of its ranks caused, in part, by
excess capacity. From the average
small manufacturer's perspective,
while there are exceptions, his market
share is, if not embattled, limited.
The stories of the big mainliners are
well-known: White Farm Equipment
finally takes shelter in the Allied
Products Corporation, as does New
Idea, and White's rotary combine
design goes to Massey -Ferguson;
New Holland fmds a home with Ford;
Deutz buys out Allis Chalmers;
Versatile goes to Ford -New Holland;
International Harvester joins J. I.
Case, and Case dons a new red coat.
On the dealers' side, Glen Peart,
executive vice-president of the Ontario
Retail Farm Equipment Dealers'
Association (ORFEDA), provides
this example: ORFEDA has about
400 dealers on its mailing list at the
moment; two years ago, when Peart
was revising the list, there were 475.
The farm machinery industry in
Ontario is represented by two major
organizations: The Canadian Farm
and Industrial Equipment Institute
(the manufacturers) and ORFEDA
(the dealers). Also prominent in the
industry are the Ontario Centre for
Farm Machinery and Food Processing
Technology, which offers technical
expertise to small and medium-sized
manufacturers, and the Ontario Farm
Machinery Board, set up largely to
serve the farmer's interests. What role
do these associations and agencies
play, and what are the issues facing
them and the farmer?
ORFEDA, for one, is not an
organization that lacks vitality, and
Glen Peart epitomizes its upbeat and
salesman -like style. Recent conven-
tions have sported themes such as
"Progress through Profit" and "Go for
it!" As a lobby group celebrating its
41st year, ORFEDA is persistent and
effective.
As an association, it offers its
dealer members (332 full members
plus 72 associate members) sales and
business management literature and
seminars, an employee benefit pro-
gram, business insurance, and the
"Challenger" computer system.
ORFEDA also works with
Fanshawe College and Kemptville
College of Agricultural Technology
14 THE RURAL VOICE