When the hydraulic pump on Saskatoon-area farmer Gary Boe’s swather was stolen and prairie people heard about his plight, six farmers offered him a new one. (Western Producer, Sept. 11 & 25.)
When Graham Spencer of Yorkton, Sask., had a heart attack and left son Dave with 2,000 acres of crop yet to harvest, the neighbours brought their combines over and helped him out. (WP, Oct. 9.)
When grain prices rose to unprecedented highs this spring, giving potential respite after many lean years, nearly half of all Canadian farmers still donated some of their production to local or international food banks. (WP, Sept. 25.)
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Worrisome drop in grain prices
Prices had been softening for most of the previous month, but heading into the Labour Day long weekend, the price drops were startling.
These are the kinds of people you and I are involved with, as part of this amazing business called agriculture. Their stories are a mere sampling of the generosity and hard work that typify the lives of prairie farmers.
Let’s think about that a little bit, as we look toward Thanksgiving. Let’s think about where we’d rather be and about what we have.
Are there businesses you would rather be in right now? Would you rather be in banking and finance, facing the American economic meltdown and trying to forestall similar Canadian problems?
Would you rather be a Canadian politician, out on the campaign trail, listening to hundreds of people query and complain about what’s wrong with this country, without ever mentioning what is right with it?
Would you rather be a nine-to-five clock puncher, with no workplace decisions to make and no power over your career?
Or would you rather be a farmer who has just completed harvest and watched a soil-enriching rain fall on fertile fields?
Would you rather be a farmer who grows food for others, who is intricately connected with the circle of life and experiences it day after month after season?
Would you rather be a person with the right to vote next week in a democratic election, without fear of injury or death at the hands of dictators or mobs, because others in this country fought and died to ensure that you had that right?
Would you rather be a person who is their own boss, managing their own destiny and free to make choices in career and community involvement?
Farming and ranching can be a hard life. It can be unforgiving and unprofitable and underappreciated. It can also be engaging and enriching and amazing.
At this time of Thanksgiving, I am thankful to be involved in this business of agriculture, to understand the advantages it offers and to know some of the people who make it great. I hope you can say the same.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
