There’s such a thing as progress in farming

Castigating Island farmers for their practices and complaining about corporate farms

I grew up on a farm at Staples Brook, N.S. As a young boy, I was groomed to take over someday. I milked cows, worked in the fields and went to school. It became clear the farm could not support the family unless action was taken to change practices. The Second World War brought an influx of people to Halifax, thus creating an increased demand for more food.

It was decision time to expand or join others off the farm. We chose to stay and expand and create an abundance of food necessary for the well-being of the community. The expansion went well, and for once we achieved a decent return from a more productive farm.

Ten years later, father sold his working farm because of ill health and sadly walked away. Being industrious, he was soon engaged in another way of life.

Fifty years later, I find it disconcerting that voices are heard castigating Island farmers for their farming practices and complaining about corporate farms, suggesting corporations are a bad thing. Many Island farms are family corporate farms, highly efficient, productive and profitable. It’s a tough business.

People without a scintilla of experience sit behind their computers, searching for evidence to use as a basis for their tirades. Many have never set foot on a farm. It is a scary thought that such a process is taking place. The next time these voices hit the street or write letters, they should think of their next meal.

The world is hungry. People in the hundreds of thousands die from starvation every year, yet some people on P.E.I. cling to the notion that our farms should be 50 acres with five cows, a dozen hens, two pigs and six geese and starving. There is such a thing as progress in farming, better tillage methods, better seed, crop rotation, environmentally healthy practices and animal husbandry. This has come about through the co-operation of many industries and the willingness by farmers to adapt so that our food supply remains safe and deliverable to hungry mouths.

Long ago a young farmhand, out for a night on the town, awoke the next morning for more of the same but when he “looked into the pewter pot he saw the world, as the world is not.”