Despite a pledge of $1 billion from the federal government last week, farmers in Rainy River District would be advised to look to themselves and their communities for the keys to the long-term health and survival of agriculture.
That was the basis of the message from Fort Frances Times publisher Jim Cumming, who was the keynote speaker at last Wednesday’s workshop hosted by the Rainy River Federation of Agriculture in Barwick.
“Communities can no longer depend on senior levels of government to help them,” Cumming warned. “They are not interested in rural Canadian issues.”
Although Cumming does not have a background in agriculture, he is a lifelong resident of the district and is the current chair of the Rural Economic Development Committee.
As such, he’s seen a trend over the years of governments paying more attention to urban issues at the expensive of rural populations.
Why is that?
“Because the votes are in the cities,” Cumming explained. “Rural Canada is on its own.”
Consequently, the solutions to problems in small communities (those with fewer than 15,000 people) must come from within those communities themselves,” he argued.
“Government policies come and go so if you wait for government to help you, you’ll be going in circles,” he remarked. “Leadership must come from within rural communities.”
Cumming extended his point on lack of government help to international issues, such as the current BSE crisis. Increasing pressure from special-interest groups south of the border is likely to keep Canadian cattle out of the U.S. for the foreseeable future.
“You can be sure the U.S. has
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the foreseeable future.
“You can be sure the U.S. has no intention of letting us back in,” he predicted.
With that market virtually gone, it is necessary to find other markets elsewhere, Cumming reasoned. And in order to do that, district farmers must turn what might seem like a liability (the small size of the district and the fact it is almost unknown to the rest of the world) into an asset.
“We are not the only ones in the worldfacing agricultural problems,” he reminded delegates.
Cumming then cited the example of Australia, where farmers have been using the concept of farm-gate brands and documenting everything regarding their animals from birth to slaughter.
“We can promote Rainy River beef as safe and healthy,” he remarked.
But some of the issues facing local farmers are the same as those in the district at large.
“The farming community has grown older,” Cumming stressed. “This brings to mind the issue of succession. There must be a mechanism in place to ensure the family farm remains in the family.”
Cumming concluded his address by throwing out a challenge to the audience. “Today your mission is to begin the process of wrestling control of your destinies,” he said.
Fort Frances Times
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