Jim Lorraine doesn’t mince words when he gives his opinion about why farmers often clash with urban people living near them.
He said farmers shouldn’t be surprised when towns, cities and provincial governments try to place tough controls on farm operations.
“Society doesn’t create these rules – stupid farmers do,” said Lorraine, who operates a 200-year-old family farm 1.5 kilometres from Truro, N.S.
“Big problems are caused by farmers,” said Lorraine, who attended the Canadian Farm Business Management Council’s Managing Excellence in Agriculture conference Jan. 30-Feb. 1.
Read Also
Vegetable oil stocks are expected to tighten this year
Global vegetable oil stocks are forecast to tighten in the 2025-26 crop year, this should bode well for canola demand.
“It’s not usually society that starts it. They’re not on a witch hunt.”
Wayne Caldwell of the University of Guelph in Ontario urged farmers to try to alleviate conflicts with neighbours by communicating well, understanding others’ concerns and trying to ensure everybody benefits from new developments.
Lorraine said in an interview that farmers need to ensure they think about how urban people will react to common farming practices. Often small changes can make a big difference.
Lorraine, whose farm contains a small feedlot, vegetable fields, a corn maze and a retail shop that sells his farm’s products, said he keeps his customers happy by keeping a clean farm.
“It had better be neat. The crops had better be good. The cattle had better be in good shape,” he said.
“That makes people feel good about buying our products.”
Lorraine said farmers who spread manure often leave big splats of cow dung on the road behind them. That’s a mistake if urban people use that road.
“If they have to drive their car through your manure, that’s the start of environmental legislation,” Lorraine said.
After he spreads manure he and his workers travel back down the road cleaning up their droppings. And he never spreads manure on a Friday or on a weekend, when people with cottages want to breathe clean country air.
“We only spread Monday to Thursday,” said Lorraine, who is one of Atlantic Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers this year.
“People we don’t even know drive up to us and say ‘thank you for leaving us alone on the weekend.'”
He urged farmers to encourage their colleagues to clean up their operations and make sure they are operating safely.
If a problem farmer refuses to prevent his manure pits from spilling into a local water source, then other farmers should complain to authorities.
Lorraine said he has no problems with Truro residents, despite his close proximity to the community. They believe his farm is doing the best it can to be a good neighbour, he added.
“We have zero problems.”
