It’s day two of Keystone Agricultural Producers’ annual convention here in Winnipeg. I’ll chuck tidbits from the meeting up into this blog as the day goes on so you can get a sense of what’s happening. KAP, from what I’ve seen over the past almost-11 years, is about the most reasonable, balanced farm group on the prairies ,which is why I think about it as the Parliament of Reasonable Manitoba Farmers. There’s a great spread of members across the political spectrum, and that leads to lively and impassioned debates, but always with the focus of trying to find positions that farmers can generally support. Sometimes that’s not possible, with the CWB issue particularly, but on most issues, KAP comes up with policies that deal with the concrete realities of real farmers.
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Tidbitation begins below, and will up updated every hour or two:
CROSS BORDER GRAIN TRAFFIC: WHICH WAY?
With the border open, which way will grain flow? From Canada to U.S. points, or the other way? Canada has cheaper freight rates, so yankee grain could flow here more often.
PRODUCER CARS
Do producer cars have a chance without the CWB monopoly? How about shortlines? These questions are being pondered by a KAP committee, and lots of farmers are asking questions about this today.
LIFE AFTER THE MONOPOLY COMMITTEE
A KAP committee has been discussing life after the CWB monopoly and looking at the main issues, comm chair Don Dewar is telling farmers. The issues are:
1) Who will represent farmers in the grains industry? CWB used to do that.
2) Wheat futures contracts: will they work?
3) Country of origin problems: will they appear with U.S.?
4) Competition bureau: is it keeping an eye on who takes over the industry?
5) Port of Churchill: will anyone ensure it survives?
6) Producer car loading: will it survive?
DEBRA HAUER ON FARM LABOUR
Debra Hauer, with the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council, is reporting on a survey about the Canadian labour force that says ag employment is decreasing. But hired worker numbers are increasing. The decline is with owner-operators, with fewer bigger farms replacing small ones. Interesting numbers about jobs in ag in Canada: 42 percent of jobs are in livestock/poultry, while 13 percent are in crop production. The need for employees is growing: ‘There is a shortage of workers,” she said. Especially seasonal workers.
GERRY FRIESEN ON FARM DEPRESSION AND STRESS
“You’re going to see warning signs.” That’s something Gerry Friesen of the Manitoba Farm and Rural Support Services is telling KAP delegates about farm neighbors slipping into depression or other stress problems. Friesen has been spreading this message all that he can, but there are so many more people to reach.
I’m glad there are young people here hearing this, because I investigated farm depression a few years ago, and found that most farmers have no clue how to spot depression in friends, family, neighbors. Saving someone is possible if you simply know they’re in crisis. I had a friend who killed himself when I was in university, the same age as these students. I had no clue he had depression, but now I know he was a textbook case. I wish someone had explained this to me when I was 20, because I would have been able to spot it and maybe could have done something. Perhaps these students will be able to catch someone who was going to slip through the cracks, like my friend.
THE OPTIMISM OF YOUNG PEOPLE
I just spoke with a few of the young ag diploma students from the University of Manitoba who are here observing the meeting. I must say it’s nice to speak to people who see agriculture and farming as exciting and fulfilling careers. There’s been a lot of bad-mouthing of farming and ag education recently – a well circulated recent magazine story from the U.S. called ag degrees one of the ten worst degrees you can get in university ,based on the shrinking number of farms – but these students have figured out that agriculture and farming is a booming industry with many well-paying and promising careers. To me, it’s obvious that there are lots of good jobs in ag, whether it’s farming or in the many retail or professional services for farmers, but most people outside of farm families don’t realize that. It’s nice that these students get it, and are active and involved already.
FARM LEADER PANEL
Leaders of Saskatchewan’s APAS, Alberta’s WRAP and Toba’s KAP are doing a panel presentation and discussion now.
The challenge of funding general interest farmer groups, and avoiding micro-commodity groups getting established, getting a checkoff, then taken over for political purposes, has been raised by a couple of farmers. How ensure that checkoff proliferation does not cause a farmer checkoff strike, but ensure that groups like KAP, WRAP and APAS get stable funding for the work they do.
The leaders are discussing the challenges of controlling clubroot. With so many mining, oil and potash service trucks driving around on farmland across the prairies, how do farmers protect themselves from infection? Even urban photographers looking for nature can carry contamination from field to field.
Former CWB director John Sandborn asked an interesting question of the farm leaders: if Canada’s pushing farmers into a U.S.-style system, will the Canadian government backstop Canadian farmers the way that the U.S. government backstops its farmers?
A flooded farmer from the Assiniboine valley in Manitoba just put Sask’s Norm Hall of APAS on the spot about flooding down the Assiniboine river valley because of drainage in Saskatchewan. Hall is replying that Sask is trying to develop water strategies to ensure ag and water management can work together.
Doug Chorney of KAP is talking about the unprecedented flooding of the spring. KAP scrambled and the provincial government took it seriously. Chorney is praising former Ag Minister Stan Struthers for constant communication with farmers about what was going on. Struthers held almost daily conf calls with farm leaders, and farm leaders held daily calls within their organizations about how to deal with the developing disaster. “What we’ve learned with our experience this year, is you need to work with a lot of people in a disaster like this.”
Norm Hall of APAS spoke about farm safety nets, the CWB issue and problems in Sask with funding APAS based on municipalities. Right now WRAP’s Lynn Jacobson is talking about farmers’ need for access to rail lines and producer cars. He spoke a few minutes ago about the need for standardized open market grain purchase contracts, something WRAP, KAP and APAS have been working on.
ROOM FILLED WITH YOUNG FARMERS
The hall here is filled with an unusual number of young farmers today. Dozens and dozens of 20-something farmers. This is unusual for ag group meetings, which are usually dominated by middle-aged, well-worn people like me. But KAP has worked for years to build a big youth contingent, and they and a lot of U of Manitoba students are here. It’s a packed hall right now.
ON THE NEW AG MINISTER
Ron Kostyshyn is getting generally favourable reviews from farmers here, and there’s a sense of relief that Manitoba once again has a farmer that seems to speak their language. Former ag minister Stan Struthers seemed to push a lot of wrong buttons with many farmers, but Kostyshyn comes from a much more similar background to actively involved farmers, so right now, lots of farmers here seem to be delighted to give the new guy a chance to bone up on all the many ag files the minister has to deal with. Then, no doubt, farmers will begin bombarding him with complaints on every issue under the sun . . .
