No Virginia, food does not grow in the grocery store
down the drain.”
These adjustments mean less income in an operation where feed and grains demand remain basically the same unless the producer decides to sell one or more producing animals.
One would expect to hear a producer express discouragement and perhaps complain, considering the Keenan family with two sons at Macdonald College and two children at home. “But that’s the way it is and we have learned to live a bit differently. Food production must keep up and we all have had to adjust.”
“A perfect example here has been having the boys at home, continuing their studies on line and helping out with chores and spring work. So now we have agreed they do chores on every other weekend meaning Maria and I get a weekend off. That’s pretty special for a dairy farmer,” he explains.
The Valley Feeds enterprise, situated on the edge of town, is where Peter Griffith and Mark Murphy face the challenge of supplying a variety of productions locally with the stock feed, rations, supplement they continue to need if food production doesn’t falter. But here, the story is a bit different. Cattle feed sales are down a bit but we have a new clientele, firsttime gardeners and chicken, baby turkeys and laying-hen customers. “Garden seeds are completely sold out - have been for a month,” he says, “and I don’t think you could find a laying hen for sale chicks, turkeys and laying hens are completely shut down. I don’t think you could find a laying hen anywhere in Canada,” he adds, laughing a bit at the image of first-time producers of chicken, turkey and eggs. “People seem to be adjusting to a very changed lifestyle and are looking for ways to produce some of their own food at the same time as the activity helps calm stress and isolation from family and friends.”
“We always have a regular demand for chicks, but this year has more than tripled demand and we’ve been sold out for a couple of months.”
“You know we have a great team here. Of course, we can’t shut down as so many other productions have. Food production is essential and even if demand in some categories are down and our income suffers, we have a great team here, conscientious and willing to stick to the regulations about masks and gloves and our customers are also taking care.”
Agricultural production has no choice, much like front-line caregivers.