The new president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Canada’s largest provincial farm lobby, is calling for a mood change among farmers.
Geri Kamenz, a 46-year-old livestock and cash crop farmer from Spencerville south of Ottawa, suggested that despite difficult economic times, farmers should boost their optimism.
“Our industry needs to restore the strength and confidence necessary to attract young farmers,” he said after his election at a Toronto convention in November.
“Without that strength and confidence, the young people Ontario agriculture needs to survive and succeed will look elsewhere. We need to turn things around to restore faith in the future.”
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In a Nov. 24 interview, Kamenz said he was not downplaying the economic problems that have faced farmers.
He said improving safety nets and in particular, convincing federal and Ontario governments to change programs to allow Ontario farmers to operate safety net programs designed for provincial conditions is his first priority.
Kamenz’s farm was the backdrop for the announcement of the agricultural policy framework with then-prime minister Jean Chrétien, agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief and a bevy of other Liberals posing with the farmer.
Since that optimistic day, Kamenz said he has realized the resulting Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program is not appropriate for the grains and oilseeds sector. In addition, he said it was ill-advised to phase out the Net Income Stabilization Account program, as well as provincial programs designed to accompany federal programs.
The 70-year-old OFA has a membership of 38,000 in Canada’s largest agricultural province. Membership grew last year for the first time in more than a dozen years.
