Keep supply management
Having been a fluid milk shipper since 1968 from a now coming into the third generation family setting, we see it very important to retain the dairy supply management system.
It seems the news media has been misinforming the public of the value placed on the investment and input costs that we face 365 days every year to make a living for our families.
We have been self-supporting without government subsides as are required in other countries.
What the public needs to know is the costs need to be covered and will be charged one way or another.
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Crop insurance’s ability to help producers has its limitations
Farmers enrolled in crop insurance can do just as well financially when they have a horrible crop or no crop at all, compared to when they have a below average crop
Keep up the honest effort of informing the public.
Wayne Zimmerman,
McBride, B.C.
Preserve our water
The large pipeline spill in Alberta is a stark reminder of dangers of tar sands.
We, as humans, continue to pollute and destroy what all living things need to survive and exist on this planet Earth — our water.
Will we ever learn?
John Fefchak,
Virden, Man.
Highway needs attention
Premier Brad Wall and his government should be ashamed of Highway 42 between Keeler and Brownlee.
This highway takes you to three resorts and the travel-trailers and motor homes that have to take the highway must be a disaster inside them by the time they get to their destination.
They are going to rebuild the Highway 42 between Brownlee and Eyebrow, which is far better than the highway between Brownlee and Keeler.
The highway between Brownlee and Eyebrow could have been saved had they filled and resurfaced it while the break in the pavement is small, but they wait until it is a crater, then they have a greater expense.
Maybe some of these elected officials should come out and drive down Highway 42 (west of Keeler) but people that live west have no other choice.
The highway was to be started May 15 but by early July they had not started. Will they get it done before freeze up?
The NDP had this highway put back to gravel about 10 years ago and then we were going back to the 1950s. Now, 10 years later, they are doing the same thing.
Premier Wall, shame on you and your crew.
Elaine Cozart,
Land ownership needed
In response to Frank Su’s article (WP July 9) regarding land ownership, I would have to disagree with him. When farmland ownership is opened up to anyone and everyone our local communities die.
Speaking as a 28-year-old, sixth generational farmer on a 116-year-old farm, the only reason I’m able to participate in this amazing industry is because of the generations before me. They worked tirelessly, selflessly, passed land down to younger generations. But most importantly, they bought land. When a farmer purchases land it becomes a multi-generational farm. When land is rented, rarely does the lease get passed down.
When family farms lose land ownership, we lose stability. Stability is the foundation of our small farming communities. When young farming families lose land ownership we lose the ability to become a multi-generational farm. Without multi-generational family farms, kids don’t return and the stability of the community is lost. The school board closes the school due to poor attendance. Churches close, halls and rec centres become old and run down buildings that city dwellers take pictures of and upload onto their Instagram accounts. Within one or two generations the community dies.
Su says, “The current rules may help keep the ownership of farmland in the hands of farmers, but it is done at the expense of retiring farmers.” I would counter with the idea that those retiring farmers were once young farmers trying to buy land in the first place. He is thinking as an absentee landowner, not as a community member.
Owning the land I drive on is what will bring my three-year-old son back home to farm along beside me. I pray that the vast majority of farming fathers will have the same privilege.
Ryan Richardson;
Brownfield Alta.
