It was a question from a young Ontario farmer that left a veteran politician grasping for words.
During a March 11 meeting between senator Eugene Whelan and members of the Canadian Agriculture Lifetime Leadership program, Ridgetown, Ont. hog and cash crop farmer Patrick Van Haren asked:
“What is your greatest fear for agriculture?”
It appeared to catch Whelan off-guard and at first, he fumbled for a response. “I don’t know how to say it.”
But once he got wound up, it was clear the former agriculture minister has a lot of fears for the industry.
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“I fear a selfishness entering into our farm industry,” he said. “That’s not how we built it. We built it by working together.”
He criticized agriculture bureaucrats who know more about managing files than they do about the industry.
“Some people think all you need in agriculture is management,” said Whelan. “I think you have to have a good knowledge of agriculture. It just can’t come out of a book.”
And finally, he lit into the government’s move to lean more on private business to finance and to set priorities for research. He said it can distort the type of agricultural research being done.
“One of my biggest fears is that agriculture is not going to have enough public research, properly funded and independent,” he said. “Letting big companies direct the research is not the way to go. It’s rather shocking.”
Later, several MPs who heard the exchange between Whelan and the 30 young farmers and industry players involved in the 18-month leadership program decided they would tackle the “interesting question.”
New Democratic Party agriculture critic Dick Proctor focused on the possibility of more corporately owned farms.
“My greatest fear for the future of agriculture is agri-business,” he said. “I’m fearful that over the next decade, we’re going to see a real increase in agri-business involved in the farm and that is a worrisome trend.”
Progressive Conservative critic Rick Borotsik said his biggest concern is that farmers and agriculture will not be able to keep up with changes.
