DAVIDSON, Sask. – Canadian farmers are living through an earthquake of a shift in world agriculture.
And it is always difficult to figure out what’s happening when you are experiencing the shocks, said Murray Fulton of the University of Saskatchewan Centre for Co-op Studies.
He and mental health counsellor Nikki Gerrard spoke Feb. 3 to about 40 people in the basement of the United Church in this central Saskatchewan town, about surviving change. Fulton outlined the economic problems while Gerrard talked about coping strategies.
Fulton said major trends are changing agriculture in the world: The industrialization of agriculture; the declining role of governments and regulation; and the changing social and physical environments.
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The presence of corporations and multinationals has led to a push for more specialized and value-added products, he said. It is no longer good enough to produce basic food.
Worldwide, three companies dominate farm chemical and seed sales – Monsanto, Dow and AgrEvo.
One farmer in the audience lamented this, saying as farmers tie themselves closer to companies through production contracts, the prices seem to drop.
“It makes you kind of wonder if you’re not working for them already.”
One woman said there is no excuse for anyone to go hungry in Canada.
“If we haven’t got so detached from the earth and what it can do for us, there must be some way to get back to growing stuff,” she said.
Audience members also raised concerns about young people not wanting to farm when they can make an easier life in the city. They asked not only where the future farmers will come from but who they will sell to as former customers either lack the money to buy or grow their own food.
Fulton had two answers. One was to seek out niche markets that cater to consumer demands such as special-tasting beer or high quality bread. The other is to follow an American pattern of developing new-generation co-ops that tie a farmer-member to a delivery and processing opportunity. These co-ops also limit the maximum shares a farmer can hold, as well as setting a minimum so no individual gets so large that he loses interest in the collective benefits.
Gerrard told the meeting that most economic factors are beyond individual farmers’ control. But in her 81Ú2 years of working with Saskatchewan farm families she has learned about successful coping. People’s resiliency is based on their attitude, behavior and taking control where they can.
Negative thoughts
“Communities that survive believe in their future. If you think it’s hopeless, that’s what you get.”
Gerrard said talking with family, friends and neighbors is better than staying silent with one’s fears.
“Not necessarily are you going to walk away tonight with the answers,” she said, but people must take the steps to fix their own problems and communication is one of those steps.
Another key is to realize one has choices. The choices may not be desirable but people can regain control by realizing they can choose one path over another.
