By CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
RENFREW — Farming / More Than a Lifestyle was premiered during the Harvest Gala hosted by the Renfrew County Federation of Agriculture Saturday evening in Renfrew.
The gala event is a way to reach out to the broader community to make sure agriculture is seen in its rightful place by the community at large, said Reuben Stone, president of the Renfrew County Federation of Agriculture.
“There’s a challenge out in the agricultural industry to put ourselves out there and make sure people know what we do and how and why we do it,” he said. “The gala event is a way for us to toot our horn, show the community we’re proud of what we do, we love what we do and that (agriculture) is important to the community.”
In the film, Farming / More Than a Livestyle, various farmers talk about how and why they got into farming and what farming means to them as well as what it should mean to others. While farming is a job, it’s a much different one than someone would have in a town or city, Mr. Stone said.
“Not everything is 9 to 5 with benefits, not all people work like that,” he said the night of the gala. “Our families are involved, our kids are involved. I spent the majority of today with my three-year-old son sleeping on my lap while loading bales. That doesn’t happen in many workplaces, but it’s integral to how we operate as a family. At the same time, it’s our job and our livelihood.”
It’s a challenge to make sure young people not only know what agriculture is, but the reasons and benefits of it, he said. He said while it’s great young people know where the food comes from that’s on the store shelves, there’s no reason they can’t get study computer science technology as a career path, because in today’s agricultural world, that technology applies, Mr. Stone said.
“We’re not all off in the back-40 digging holes and planting seeds,” he said. “It’s a high-tech business. It’s a business that is important to the economy and it’s important we nurture and encourage young people as well.”
Shawn Behnke, of ComBEtek multimedia from Pembroke, produced the film for the federation of agriculture. He grew up on a hobby farm beside a cash crop farmer in the Pembroke area. He left the area, eventually returning and decided to follow his passion – videotaping.
“It was to be a combination of looking back at the history of agriculture in Renfrew County, but also something to educate the next generation,” he said.
While interviewing the many farmers for the video, Mr. Behnke said the expectation of the older generation isn’t that their children will pick up the shovel and carry on. They are allowing their children to make their own choices, whether it be farming or not, he said.
He also found it interesting that many of the young farmers have a university education.
“Reuben, he has university, he was going into aviation, and all of a sudden, agriculture brought him back,” Mr. Behnke said. “Every single person who is a part of that documentary had that type of back story. Some grew up in agriculture and some came into it.”
While working on the film, it opened Mr. Behnke’s eyes that there is a whole lot more to agriculture that he didn’t know about. However, he was surprised to hear the comments from those who were viewing the film Saturday night. Comments included, “I didn’t know we had that here,” or “so that’s how they do it” – and that’s from people within the agricultural community.
“I can only imagine what impact the film will have on the younger generation, the ones in elementary schools, the ones who are in high school,” Mr. Behnke said. “If I’m inspiring or creating that awe within the current generation of the agriculture community, I can only imagine what it’s going to be like for the up and coming generation, whether they’re in a farming family or not.”
He said this film will “plant the seed” that people don’t have to grow up in a family farm to be a part of the agricultural community.
“Yes, it’s a lifestyle, but it’s also a business and it’s also a career,” he said. “What you saw is everyone’s different takes on it and that’s what I think is really powerful.”
Mr. Stone said the film is available to anyone who would like to borrow it.
As for the gala, he’s hopeful it will continue for many years. This year’s event main organizers were Dean Matheson, Kim Leyman, Deb Knapton and Donna Campbell.
“We’ll have to come up with some new ideas, because you don’t want to keep the event the same year after year,” he said. “We’ll tweak it and change it to keep it fresh.”
It’s fashioned after the hospital and chamber of commerce galas, which are used as fundraisers and a way of showcasing what they do.
“We want to showcase agriculture to the broader community in the same type of style,” he said.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is one of three farming organizations that represent agriculture to the federal and provincial governments, he said.
“The Renfrew County Federation of Agriculture holds local meetings to hash out priorities locally and represent the agricultural community to local government and people and put our issues, when appropriate, to provincial and federal levels to make sure our voices get heard across the country,” Mr. Stone explained.
Awards presented
Also at the event, the Renfrew County Soil and Crop association presented three awards.
Janet Smaglinski was presented with a certificate acknowledging their many contributions in facilitating responsible and economic leadership of soil, water, air and crops in the development and communication of innovative farming practices, said Gerry Richards, chair of the Renfrew County Soil and Crop Association.
Glen Smith was presented with a similar certificate, but also acknowledging his many years as an agriculture rep for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture in this area and as secretary/treasurer of the local crop association. He has now retired from both areas.
Tim and Leanne Egan were presented with the Soil and Water Conservation Farm Award for having control tile drainage demonstration on their Admaston/Bromley Township farm.
The association advances soil, crop and water with various associations throughout the province.
“We try to encourage the health of soil,” he said.
Renfrew County participates in a program called Healthy Soil and encourages people to take soil samples each year.
“In Renfrew County, our soil is, by far, superior to the soil in southwestern Ontario because we’ve always had mixed farms,” he said. “We have more worms and good bugs in the soil and we want to keep it that way.”
