By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady
It’s Wednesday, August 28, 2024, and I’ve just returned home from the Haldimand-Norfolk Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario summer barbecue. It’s nice to get together as a celebration of sorts as they wrap up their respective harvests.
There are so many unknowns in farming and elements out of the farmer’s control, and faith in agriculture often helps them through. A young farmer read a devotion before dinner, and I found this part particularly interesting: Yet farmers have an opportunity to determine their attitude, how they implement the resources at their disposal, and what effort they will give to their work. Some may be more passive or put in minimal effort. Others might demonstrate more initiative, try to be better prepared, and stay determined to generate the maximum results.
Locally, we have farmers who go the extra mile. This summer, I posted about harvesting wheat and driving a combine. I also posted about my day working at Snyder’s Sweet Corn. And just a few weeks ago, I spent a few hours at Harry’s Berries. All of these farms represent the amazing farm families we have right across Haldimand-Norfolk who take pride in what they do, so we have access to the best food right here at home.
But many farmers tell me they feel disrespected by the government. Farmers spend hours each day or must hire someone to spend hours each day, filling in often redundant paperwork. The truth is governments have made life more expensive and made it more difficult for Canadian farmers to put food on the tables of Canadian families.
While at Harry’s Berries, I was shown a prototype for a robotic picking cart carrying pickers down the table-top system’s aisles. The prototype was the brainchild of Jayson Kitchen, Harry’s son-in-law. We need this type of innovation here in Ontario, and we need to manufacture these innovations in the province; however, the farm could not receive any innovation funding because Jayson developed it himself and did not buy it from a third party. Jayson sold two units, and while it’s great that those two farmers could secure innovation funds, why wouldn’t the farmer who developed it receive total funding? To take it one step further, the government should help Jayson in manufacturing these units, or production may go to another country, making it economically impossible for our farmers to purchase. It’s not a great way to encourage our farmers to think outside the box when someone else can reap your rewards.
Another major issue I heard at Harry’s Berries is the delay in payment from major grocers to the farmer. Although there are penalties if a farmer’s shipment of goods is late to a grocer, there are no repercussions for a retailer who delays payment. We expect to be paid on time, and the farmer should be treated no differently. At the end of the day, who is holding retailers boasting record profits to account when farmers are posting near losses or losses? I may add these retailers are collecting interest on those monies owed to the farmer.
Farmers understand their own needs better than any government in Toronto or Ottawa. We have amazing farm organizations that do a great job lobbying, so I wonder why the voices aren’t being clearly heard.
If we treat farmers in our province fairly, invest in them, reward them for being forward thinkers, and simply get out of their way, we will have no worries about food insecurity in the future.
As harvests wrap up, I want to thank all of our farm families for their dedication to Ontario agriculture and to our rural communities.
Bobbi Ann Brady is the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk