Are Farmers an Endangered Species?

There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.”

~ Aldo Leopold

I was fortunate enough to grow up on a farm. My family owned beef cattle, a few hens for eggs (and an occasional chicken dinner).  We grew our own vegetables, farmed hay for the cattle, we grew and sold corn and had a small sugar bush that produced a spectacular maple syrup. We did not live in opulence, but we worked hard and we ate well. What’s more the community to which we belonged…simply by choosing a farm life….became this incredible extension of our family. We supported one another, worked with each other, helped one other through hard times and celebrated during good times. I remember it as being such an enriching and rewarding, and demanding, life.

The future of farming is a popular topic where I live. I wonder what it will be like in 10 years, 20 years or even in 50 years. The 2011 Canadian Census reported a 10% decline in farms since 2006 with the number of farm operators following suit. What is more startling, is that farmers are getting older and they aren't being replaced.

• In 1991, 48% of farmers were between 35 and 54 years only.  Young farmers (farmers 34 years of age or less) made up 20%.
• By 2001, 54% of farmers were 35 to 54 years old.  Young farmers dropped to 12%.
• In 2006, 90% of farmers were 35 years or older.   
• By the 2011 Census more than half the farmers were over the age of 55.  55!!!  

Canadian farmers are aging. They are retiring and the family farm is dying. Fewer and fewer farm kids are taking over the family farms. Since 2006, there has been a 9% decrease in the number of farms in the province of Ontario and farm acreage in this province has dropped by 5%.

I watched this statistic unfold in my own family. My father did not choose farming as his livelihood. My grandfather always said that farming was tough and you only got paid once a year. It took discipline and frugal measures that tested the limits of even the most Scottish of farmers. We ate in season, we froze and pickled and canned our goods to hold us through the winters.  We prayed for weather that would give us what we needed to survive and thrive. But my grandfather eventually became too old to farm. The cattle were sold, we stopped cutting the hay and tapping the trees and the cornfields lay fallow. The farm ended.

Today, the net income per family for a cattle farm operation is estimated to be $6279; poultry farms are more lucrative at an average income of $52,000 with vegetable farms hovering somewhere in between at an average net income of $22,076. For comparison purposes, consider that the average Canadian earns $32,100 per year and the average Canadian family earns $76,600.

So why do people farm? Because they love it. Because it's not a job, it's a lifestyle. Maybe they do it out of a sense of duty to their God and to their neighbour. Here's the thing. If we don't support our farmers, if we don't protect them and promote then, we're going to be forced to become them. 

Check out this video.

http://youtu.be/dIsEG2SFOvM