From Grade 3 to Grade 9, I grew up on an apple orchard in Creston, B.C.
On one side of our orchard was my grandmother’s orchard, which in addition to having apples, sported a large number of soft fruits, such as peaches, apricots, plums and cherries. Our other neighbour was Groot Farms, a large commercial hothouse that at the time supplied SuperValu’s in Western Canada with everything from tomatoes and cucumbers to potatoes and asparagus.
Later on, I would move to the Okanagan where I lived for more than 20 years, often literally in cherry pit spitting distance of multiple fruit orchards. And for the last four-plus years, I have been in Barrhead, which our readers know is a large agriculture community.
Despite all this exposure to various agriculture operations, I know relatively little about the industry.
When I was a kid, like most farm kids, I was basically slave labour. Back then, children didn’t get allowances, and were tasked with joe jobs such as picking up prunings and picking fruit. So I didn’t have much of an opportunity to learn what it really took to have a successful orchard operation.
I imagine I’m not alone, which is why I am so grateful the County of Barrhead is so proactive in promoting events such as their annual agriculture tour, their City Slickers program for Grade 4 and 5 students, and its most recent offering: an Open Farm Days bus tour to help those who only get to see farming from the outside a better understanding of the industry as a whole.
And quite frankly there isn’t a time in our immediate history when it is more important for the general public to understand the challenges the industry is facing.
Take a look at the story starting on the front page of the Town & Country to get an idea of the challenges Lac Ste. Anne County producers are facing right now.
On top of the weather issues, which have proved to be so much of a challenge that the county issued a state of agricultural disaster (the second straight year it has done so), agriculture producers have to face changing market conditions and shrinking markets due to a trade dispute with China.
The questionis, what should governments do? From my interview with Lac Ste. Ann Agricultural Services Board (ASB) chair Coun. Ross Bohnet, it seems the programs provided by the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation isn’t enough.
Hopefully, people who are smarter and more familiar than I with the agriculture industry can find a solution sooner than later, because the conditions farmers are facing today will happen again.
