Thanks for noticing
A big thank you goes out to Orrin Clayton from Ottawa, Ont., for his
letter on Oct. 3, 2002 on drought effects in Western Canada.
It’s just too bad that our so-called “smart politicians” can’t see the
effect this drought is having on our farm families.
We have Lyle (Vanclief), who thinks we need more summerfallow in
Saskatchewan, and Ralph (Goodale) says plant more trees.
Since when did growing trees put food in the mouths of these
Read Also
Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
intelligent politicians?
Thanks again, Mr. Clayton, for noticing what goes on in the West.
– M. Clark,
Milden, Sask.
Natural disaster
Thank you for your editorial on the Hay West campaign.
We are large farmers in a severely drought stricken part of
northeastern Alberta, an area where such a drought has never occurred
before.
Our crop insurance is our cattle. When grain is damaged, it can always
be used as feed. There has never before been a case where it just plain
didn’t grow.
The lack of feed and water, plus the crashing cattle feeding markets
have coincided, creating a never-before-seen low in our area.
Therefore, this year we are sunk, and doubly so.
We are selling our herd of 1,200 beef cows. The yields on our
forage-silage crops are half of what is normally expected.
The acreage payment offered by the provincial government does help a
little, but $7 per acre doesn’t reach far, not when rent is $60 for
that same piece of land. We cannot feed these cows for the next six
months on less than $600 per cow, and that is above the expected price
of a weaned calf next fall. To keep the cows means going backward.
Say Hay? Well, though the idea is admirable and has certainly raised
public awareness to our plight, this campaign is not reaching the
farmers in need. A lottery? For 100 bales? Approximately a one day
ration on our farm…. This is not going to keep our cattle from market
and it is not going to save any cattle farms already stressed from lack
of water in dugouts, and low to no yields on grain fields. Do farmers
really deserve to work for nothing, and work hard to only owe more
money in the end?…
I cringe when I read in the paper that to help, readers could donate to
the food bank. Do they honestly expect farmers, those people who
actually raise and grow their food, should be in such a position as to
have to beg for it to feed our own families?
This drought is a natural disaster. It could not have been planned for
any more than it could have been avoided. And its effects will begin to
rebound to every place we farmers spend money or have spent dollars
against our crops in the last year.
To put some serious cash against this disaster by giving real aid is to
save this sector of the economy and rural farm life.
The senator is right. But he should also raise the question of why the
Liberal government isn’t really moving to apply help where it is really
needed. It is easy to criticize when you have no good ideas of your own.
Thank you to the organizers of the Hay West. Your efforts are
appreciated. It’s just that this is not enough to do any good.
Please keep this issue in the news. Only then might the federal
government come forward with some real aid.
– Lisa Anderson,
Lamont, Alta.
Not alone
The opinion has occasionally been expressed in the columns of this
journal that the agricultural trade position of Canada contains certain
irreconcilable contradictions. The government and organizations like
the Canadian Federation of Agriculture are criticized for advancing a
position that recognizes the importance of supply management systems
while seeking to open export markets and remove trade barriers.
This past week the Canadian Federation of Agriculture came together
with a broad group of other farm organizations from developed and
developing countries around the world to issue a joint declaration for
fair and equitable trade rules at the World Trade Organization.
That declaration calls on negotiators at the WTO to recognize the
importance of domestic orderly marketing, while providing improved
export opportunities and assurances that all forms or measures, which
in effect distort trade, are brought under WTO disciplines.
It seems that Canada is by no means the only country in the world to
realize that domestic orderly marketing policies and strong export
policies are not mutually exclusive.
– Bob Friesen,
CFA President,
Ottawa, Ont.
Role to play
Your editorial of Oct. 24 highlighted some of the problems in providing
child-care programming in rural areas.
With farm incomes falling, particularly with this year’s poor weather,
more people are looking for child care as they are forced to work off
the farm.
Many people have the benefit of grandparents who can double as
full-time babysitters, but we do have an aging population and many
elders are, frankly, hard pressed to fill the bill on a full-time basis.
Alberta is facing a child-care crisis. Child-care workers are mandated
to have minimum qualifications and this is a good thing. However, not
many people with diplomas in early childhood education are staying in
the field because most work at or near minimum wage….
Child care is hard work. It is undervalued by society and often
considered babysitting. Quality child care goes far beyond that.
It provides a stimulating environment that fills the development needs
of the children in care. It can identify developmental deficits and
help parents to access the appropriate interventions. We all need to
support it.
In this country, we spend millions of dollars on post-secondary
education, yet more brain development and learning takes place in the
first five years of a person’s life than at any other time.
Investment in these early years will pay large dividends later. Our
governments do have a role to play in making quality child care
available and accessible for everyone. This is especially true in rural
areas.
– Tim Belec,
Chair, Pigeon Lake Child and Family Society,
Westerose, Alta.
