Help ourselves,speak out

[dan]

I have a question for the local coffee shop. Why are farmers just complaining about the state of farming? In these tough times we must pull together & make things better not fight among ourselves so no one knows what direction we should go in.We are all complaining farms are getting bigger & what are we doing about it?should we endorse it? I am still trying to get a true definition of a small farm & a big farm.Are the goverments helping or hindering ,where are they getting their direction? From people who want to get rid of the wheat board? or grain compainies that want to deregulate? We as farmers know what is good for us how are we going to get the message out or are we infact heading in the right direction? There are some really good people in lobby groups/government etc that need good united input so give it some thought & talk it over in the community on what we should be doing to make farming better for all not a few.

[oilcan]

One of the problems facing agriculture is the lack of lobby groups/government with any long term vision of the changes needed to keep agriculture viable and prosperous in Canada. Ad hoc bureacratic remedies are not the answer.

[noelm]

Hi 'oilcan', I agree there is a lack of long-term vision among politicians, etc. But isn't it the people living on farms and in rural areas that need the vision most? They're the ones that have to live it. If they create what they want, maybe they won't have to accept the picture others have in mind for them.

[cdmars]

Vision? Sounds like identifying a future and setting realistic goals to achieve that furture. Then any that buy into the vision could work together toward that goal. Sounds like extension courses that has been offered for years to farmers. Maybe we should hold one for politicians ;-) I agree. There seems to be a lack of vision on the part of our leaders from local to federal. In three decades Europe went from an ag importer to an exporter. That took vision and commitment, across several nations. I don't agree necessarily how they achieved their goal but they did it together (rural and urban) and with leadership that steadfastly stayed committed even with international pressure to stop.

[dan]

Who elects these people in & gives them direction.We can all talk about lack of direction but why are they not getting direction? I do still do believe in democracy & we have made us what we are. I know its an 'rose colored' outlook but I do still believe that we still have a voice but lets all stop analyzing. Like the one reply said about extension course,we have seen this material offered so why isn't anybody using it for change?

[cdmars]

Dan, make no mistake I to believe in democracy. We are responsible for the leaders we choose. And if we choose not to vote then that is a choice as well. But then ethically it would be more difficult to complain. I wonder though in a vast country like Canada with regions that produce a lot for export and have such a small proportion of the population (vote) if those primary industries are being fairly represented? Are our leaders hearing the message or are they simply reacting to the high voter areas and their concerns? And if I play the other side then maybe Western Canada's grain industry is not that important to the overall picture? The land will be here and it will be farmed by someone. But maybe there will not be a set of viable rural communities as we know them today? And is that acceptable to the rest of the nation? I still believe though that a viable social economic structure in Western Canada is important. I am not sure what it will look like in 2005. And I think that, in part, is where our leaders should be looking and as you say, Dan, we should participate in that discussion and vision identification. If we don't feel part of the vision I highly doubt if we will participate in its attainment.

[dan]

You hit it I think there is a real lack of sticking up for the rural areas since the dense population of the city gets the voice.But we have to get the massage out there that we are needed in rural Canada or someone else will be farming it.Lets say the water was owned by famers & big corporations were trying to take it over.The puplic would be all over that.We are a resource of Canada & should be delt with in the same respect.Not 'oh quit your compaining,I don't get bailed out if I go bankrupt' people have to get the message that that we are worth hanging onto & need support that we are doing something worthwhile.The real question is, why are our lobby groups not getting the word out? Or are they just as mixed up about the vision of our farms?

[loops]

hmmm, i'm trying to put this so as not to offend anyone. Very few people in history are said to have great vision. Most people, lobbygroups,companies, and polititions are consumed by literally looking out for number one. In a democracy, competition prevents us from worring as much about others, in other words if it's good for me but bad for someone else- i'm looking out for number one, sorry that's life. If it weren't true would people bid against their neighbor's at another neighbors forecloser sale? who would buy or farm the land the banks have siezed. an example: locally a feedlot is planned, i was in favor of it till i found out it's my new neighbor, sorry, not my back yard! people 5 miles away are in favor of it, truefully if it were 5 miles away i'd be the first to buy shares! Farmers can't all agree on anything because farms are so diverse and spread out that what is good for some is bad for others, and no one is ever going to comprimise on that broad a scale. Leaders and companies know this, they count on it! we could try to get urban dwellers on side but frankly, they can't afford to pay us subsidies and they are only looking out for number one so I can't really blame them. No one can afford to worry about the future when they are barely surviving today. sorry i don't know the answer, just some of the causes.

[jwright]

I don't know the answers either, but I draw your attention to two facts. First, North Americans pay the lowest percentage of their budget for food than anyone anywhere (and probably the lowest in history). Second, since Reagan and Thatcher and Mulrooney and their puppeteers reordered the world financial system in the early eighties, the very wealthy have doubled the percentage of the wealth that they control, (to about half, if I recall correctly) while the working poor (probably includes many farmers) have lost much of their wealth. So, farmers are not the problem, we are victims of a new redistribution of wealth engineered by the elites in our society. Nothing will change till we find out how to solve the problem, the farm crisis is just a symptom. In my humble opinion. ;-) Jim

[loops]

I agree with you! the working poor are getting poorer and the rich richer (by far) I hope that there is someway all farmers can get together to force change but I have serious doubts I believe if we ever got close to a coalation one group would be literally bought out by a program. A united farm voice can't be allowed- the rich have too much to lose.

[jwright]

Loops wrote: '...I believe if we ever got close to a coalation one group would be literally bought out by a program.' That might be progress. ;-)

[cakadu]

I realize I am getting in on this discussion a little late, but a wise old man by the name of Gandhi once said 'You are the change you want the world to become.' It always starts out small and with one. I don't have any quick and easy answers, I wish I did, but it all has to start somewhere and I agree with noelm, that the place to start is with rural people themselves.