small towns, BIG DREAMS

[PureCountry]

Bombay, I do not live in a mansion, and have no idea where that came from. My house was built sometime before 1918, so the oldtimers tell me. I paid $4,000 for it and another $6,000 to move it home. At 18 and staring my future ex-wife in the face, it was all I could afford, and it is still all I can afford. My new wife likes it as much as I do, and it suits us just fine.
The previous generations of my farming family did not help me. I am proud of them, but I have worked in the oilpatch since I was 16 to try and build my cowherd and fulfill my dream of ranching. The only reason our farm is still in the family, is that my Father came to a point when I was still in school, where he knew he had to do something. He was trying to play the high-stakes purebred game, and a couple unfortunate deals was all it took to push Humpty off the wall. So he went back to what had built HIS herd up - pipelining. He makes more money than I ever will, and I'm very proud of him for it. My Father knew he could sell the farm and walk away with a pocket full of cash, but he didn't. He has sunk alot of his earnings into paying down his debt, and not a day goes by that I'm not grateful for it. His sacrifice has enabled me to have at least a chance. I pay rent for his pasture and crop land, but if he hadn't done what he did, I wouldn't have a place to do what I'm doing.
In turn, I learnt from that. I have long hated going to an oilfield job every day. I've long hated working for men who care only about production and the almighty dollar. I hate them because Safety is only for posters and insurance. I hate the whole damn thing for all those reasons, and the fact that a young farmer with dreams like mine who I grew up with, died January 15th of H2S poisoning, and they covered it up like it was nothing.
I will make the same 'sacrifice' my Father has. I won't work in the oilfield or anywhere else, but I will 'get by' anyway I can, and try to make something of this ranch, so that my kids can make an income worth their time. I will not be a slave to the work force. And if you want to call me a slave anyway, go ahead. I am free to do with my time as I please.
I don't walk out my door and see my neighbours house. I don't drive to work in traffic. I come back to the house any time I like, and see my boy bouncing in his jumper.
You can all call it dreaming, getting by with less, or whatever else you can think up to put another clever twist on it. The fact is, I am who I am, and I've never been happy anywhere but with my cows or on a horse. Sometimes I wish I'd been born 200 years ago, but what's a poor boy to do? I never knew I was such a rare breed until I heard from some of you, and others I've met in my research. Go ahead and tell me all about how you used to feel the same way but time, industry, politics, and misfortune changed you and 'woke you up to reality'.

Here's some reality for you...we are very different, and I will end up very different from you. And why? Because I will use my time to change our industry, through politics, to avoid misfortune.

Nobody has e-mailed me yet to discuss an organization for producers - grain or livestock. So the invitation remains open:
pcstockfarm@yahoo.ca
780-888-3791
I hope you take my words as more than just defending my own position. I can't change the world alone, but together there's at least hope.

[bombay_43]

Purecountry; I DO wish you luck in changing our industry. More than anything, I would love to see agriculture get the recognition it deserves. Including monetary recognition! It needs to be a viable, not just honourable profession! When other professions HAVE to have a pay hike to cover inflation, our industry sure as heck needs it too!

If you can get an organization off the ground, that would represent cow/calf producers, and our ever dwindling family farms, you got me!

My only fear is that too many organizations, make many small voices, instead of one very large one! This has been thrashed to death in other threads, but as much as I do not like Unions... we need one!

ujhansen@telusplanet.net

[cowman]

What is a union? Is it a bunch of workers walking around with signs wanting more money and less work? Or is it a "professional" group that has obtained the power to limit membership and thus create a monopoly situation? Or perhaps a manufacturing group that muscles out the competition and buys the politicians to create laws that keep out any meaningful competition?
I would suggest to you that the Mafia is a "unuion"...or the Hells Angels? You want to take care of business you'd better be part of the group!
When it comes right down to it the common denominator of all these groups is they are "mobbed up" to form a bloc of power that society has to deal with, one way or the other? Then consider the farmer? Say the price of barley is $2/bu.? A group of farmers decide they need $2.75? They all agree to hold out for that price? The price rises to $2.50 and The barley users start to cry to the government? In comes the foreign crap and the farmers all rush to sell their barley for $2.50 or less! Now if those same barley farmers were really "mobbed up" they would meet that foreign grain at the border and turn it back? Then the price would have to rise to the target of $2.75? And if they were a little squeamish about taking any kind of radical action, they could hire their fellow "union buddies" the Mafia or Hells Angels to fire bomb a few trucks or something! If farmers got really mobbed up they could pretty well dictate to the public how things were going to be? Of course we'd never do something like that right??? Which is why totally unscrupulous "businessmen" like Cargill/IBP have no problem running the show! Because tactics like that are their stock in trade...no different than the Mafia?

[cowman]

Better not use the term union Purecounry, it obviously brings out some displaced emotions! I like the Grange Hotel, maybe Granger is a better word.

[kato]

It is our very independent natures that are used against us. Divide and conquer, so to speak.

I think there are a lot of powerful entities out there who have a deep dark secret fear that one day the primary food producers of the world will wake up and realize just exactly how much power they have, if they ever decided to use it.

It's the ultimate power, and large corporations are dedicating themselves to getting it in their hands. If they ever did get complete control, the world would be a very scary place. A fellow on a news show the other day said he ran corporate ethics through a personality analysis, and it came back as "psychopath." (total focus on self-interest, no conscience, no compassion for others who interfere with same self-interest, no hesitation to break laws in pursuit of self-interest).

Much better, I think, to have the food supply in the hands of people with prinicples. Get the consumers behind us, and it just may happen.

[grassfarmer]

cowman, A union is whatever you want to make it. The idea that all unions are mafiosa or communists is just nonsense. We constantly talk on Agriville about cooperation and joining together as farmers - that would be a union. Instead we get tied up on stupid terminology disputes like this and as a result sit back do nothing and get trampled by the multi-national corporations. It's time we as farmers grew up and got on with some of this co-operating we are supposed to be doing.

PureCountry I personally am not in favour of starting yet another industry organisation as we have more than enough already although we need to get active in them and get them working for us instead of against us.

[StrawBoss]

PureCountry; Slow down a little young man your flying on one wing and you need two to stay afloat. As the saying goes “don’t p--s on the boss’s disk” because you may need your old job back?
I have to agree with Cowman unions had their place at one time but they are becoming more like a mafia now.
A union work’s for employees because they don’t have to invest money in the business, and all have one common cause, rip off the employer as much as they can.

Farming is a business so a union wouldn’t work, but maybe an association or cartel may work with the farmer’s cooperation in some areas and still working independently.

I can’t see any advantage by starting another farm/ranch organization, because we already have too many working against each other.

I believe as I said many times on other threads we need one organization to accommodate everybody in the food chain to be fair and profitable to all including the consumer.

We all have our grievances, but every day I watch the news and see the world's unrest and feel very rich to live in Alberta (Canada) eh!

[cowman]

Grassfarmer: Was I ripping the idea of a union? Call it an association, cartel or whatever...the idea was there is power in unified numbers working toward a common goal? Whether your tactics are Mafia like or tactics like the "Professions" is really irrelevent? Look at the French farmers....they don't seem to mind using some fairly violent tactics to get the job done? The doctors use different tactics such as witholding services, agressive advertizing, agressive lobbying,limiting membership etc.
But the underlying theme has to be a unified membership working toward common goals?
I know you are impressed with the NFU and the basic concept they have is exactly what we need! However you cut it, the NFU will not fly in Canada and especially on the prairies. Not the concept but the name! They alienated just about every grain farmer on the prairies by aligning themselves with the grain handlers union a long time ago. Farmers who were losing everything were dismayed that their "union", the NFU, was supporting the Grain handlers right to tie up the ports and take millions out of there pockets. Believe me when I tell you the NFU will never get the support of the prairie grain farmer!