There’s only one thing that generates more controversy than bad news.
Good news.
That’s the nature of the agricultural business, in which farmers are so accustomed to difficult times that they are loath to accept the idea, let alone the reality, of long-term prosperity.
Last week, Statistics Canada reported that grain prices over the past three years have risen faster than input costs.
That means there are farmers on the Prairies who are realizing higher net incomes than they did in the earlier part of the decade.
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It means that despite ever-increasing input costs, there is prosperity to be had in farming, at least for some.
True to pattern, farm groups and organizations were quick to explain that producers are not better off today than they were before grain price rallies of recent years.
The spread between returns and the cost of production is narrowing, they said.
Farmers say they have fewer dollars in their jeans, they said.
Required capital expenditures, such as equipment replacement, are not reflected in the StatsCan figures, they said.
They may be right, and of course it is the job of farm groups to explain agricultural pressures, alert politicians to adverse situations and obtain policy improvements that will increase farmer prosperity. Farm group representatives are knowledgeable about their members. Their effectiveness depends upon it.
But whose job is it to talk about agricultural successes? Whose job is it to talk about all that is right with agriculture and to promote its importance to the industry and to the public?
Why is this industry so leery of good news and so reluctant to celebrate any good fortune that may occur? And why does it persist in emphasizing the negative when the emphasis on food production and the interest in nutrition and food value is at an all-time worldwide high?
There are probably many answers to that question but the first dose toward the remedy lies with primary producers.
The medicine for this malady is for producers to promote agriculture and publicize its value and success.
No, it isn’t easy to overcome the culture of the “poor farmer” who struggles daily to make ends meet.
But it is necessary if the industry is to attract new entrants and establish the means for these entrants to buy land, become productive and prosper.
We cannot ignore the problems in agriculture, and there are many. There are always sectors that flounder because of weather or market vagaries.
But nor can we ignore the advantages this business offers to those involved in it, with all its diversity and choice.
An incident at a recent farm meeting is illustrative of the challenge. A farmer stood to talk about his profits last year – and he had some. But before making his point, the fellow was compelled to preface his remarks with a comment that “I may get crucified for saying this, but…”
There must be few other industries in which participants feel it necessary to apologize for doing well, for making good management decisions that yield the desired results, and perhaps worst of all, for talking about it publicly.
The federal government for months has been learning about the impediments facing new entrants to farming. They include massive startup costs, succession issues and access to land.
If farmers young or old expect to address these problems or have them addressed by government, they must show there is value as an end result.
“Farming for fun and profit?” Some farmers may laugh at that pithy phrase. But in many cases, it describes reality.
The industry needs to collectively celebrate its value, its profits, its worth. Farmers owe it to themselves to do so.
Bruce Dyck, Terry Fries, Barb Glen and D’Arce McMillan collaborate in the writing of Western Producer editorials.
