Memory isn’t what it used to be. By any accounting, the last five years on the farm have gone beyond the transitional. We haven’t merely been on our way to a new agriculture. We have arrived. The place is different than it used to be, and so are the people.
This is no disrespect to those who have gone before. Agriculture has always demanded strength, vigour and determination. It has demanded balance and shrewdness. But farming today is different, and we shouldn’t trip over our tongues to admit it, and we shouldn’t get so tied up in false modesty that we can’t see the world for what it is.
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The truth is, many farmers who succeeded in past generations wouldn’t be able to succeed today. It’s just fact. Indeed, it’s part of the reason why we’re so uncertain about whether we should encourage the next generation to take over the farm. Do they have the right stuff? More importantly, do they have the stuff that farming is going to demand when we go another five or 10 years down this road?
Such questions are so vital because the potential is so bright. There will of course be challenges, but the next several decades offer huge opportunity to agriculture and to farms that are above-average competitors. Agriculture is going to be a great place, maybe the best place to be… if you’re successful. But as you’ll see in Anne Lazurko’s story from the rain-soaked swaths of the Prairies this year, it can be the growth-oriented, apparently successful farms that get hit hardest when the going gets tough.
We thought a lot about this conundrum when we started putting together this issue of Country Guide. So make sure you read Leading Question, where Grant Robinson shares his nuanced and actionable list of the skills our farmers will need over the next decade and beyond. To keep it all in perspective, though, also be sure to read 10 Questions, where CAFA member Stan MacEwen talks about how far you have already come.
Between those stories and throughout the entire issue we bring you viewpoints on the competitiveness and outlook for Canadian agriculture. There’s a lot to take pride in, and more than a little to worry about. Indeed, we can all be forgiven if we’re tempted sometimes to say, “Okay, we got where we needed to go. Now lets take some time to regroup and get our feet back under us.”
History won’t let us. On the contrary, it’s much more likely that the rate of change you’ve seen in the last five years will double than be cut in half. Already, a cluster of great visionaries, made up of the farmers who will drive the business of farming to heights that the rest of us haven’t dreamed of, is somewhere among us, dreaming their dreams.
You can dismiss this as wide-eyed naivete if you like. But first, try explaining to your parents or grandparents how many acres you farm today, or how you manage your finances. They’d never believe you.
Are we getting it right? Give me a call at 519-674-1449, or email me at [email protected].
