I consider myself fortunate in having attended the recent Farming for Profit? conference (June 27-28 in Moose Jaw, Sask.) I can think of three reasons why so few farmers attended this conference.
The first would be depression. To hear what is happening to the farming part of agriculture could make some want to up and quit.
Apathy might be a second reason. Although one hears many things that can be done to correct the problems farmers face, some throw their hands up in the air and say they can’t do anything.
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I looked up the word “sucker” in a thesaurus. It is paired with “laughing stock” and “dupe.” Those words could cover the third reason, possibly the main reason many farmers did not go.
They would have discovered that political parties they have voted for, some who claim to be farmer-friendly, have allowed regulations to be put in place that are anything but farmer-friendly. With friends like that, who needs enemies?
It is not nice to find people you have trusted are not trustworthy and to have been suckered into voting for them.
Next year the conference in Moose Jaw will be held June 26 and 27. Farmers should circle those dates on the calendar, especially young people whose families want them to farm.
You will learn about things affecting the financial well-being of our farms and hear some solutions. Don’t stick your head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich.
Politicians should attend. Once they hear of past mistakes, one would hope they would not continue to make the same mistakes, better still to make the necessary corrections.
Lorne Jackson,
Riverhurst, Sask.
