Agriculture in northeastern Ontario is alive and well but does have its challenges said delegates at an agri-food conference Saturday (Nov. 18) at Days Inn.
The event, Growing Our Food Opportunities, was organized by
the Northern Ontario Agri-Food Education and Marketing, a
non-profit farmer led non-profit group.
"Some farmers are doing very well, some are not, success
depends on an number of factors, just like any business in the
north," said Mary Ellen Norry Car, regional manager for the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture.
Ross MacLeod, 23, a young beef farmer from north of Bruce Mines
says don't listen to all the gloom and doom surrounding
agriculture these days.
"A lot of the messages younger people get, especially those
from farm families, are negative-that is that farming is just
too difficult these days and it doesn't have a great future
for them and it is very uncertain," said MacLeod.
"Because farming is weather dependent it does have a degree of
uncertainty but it can be very rewarding if the farm is well
managed,"  he said.
"Another problem is that the media focuses on all the bad news
relating to farming - the farm protests, the foreclosures,
there just does not seem to be enough success stories about
agriculture that are in the media - that can be discouraging
for youth."
Success stories were mentioned at the conference by a variety
of speakers.
Diane Deschatelets, owner of Leisure Farms, one hour east of
Sudbury, towards Sturgeon Falls, says success for her is having
to be innovative.
"In 1981 we bought the farm from my husband's parents - it
had been out of production so we had a lot of work to do first.
We decided to focus on fruit. We started with two acres of
strawberries in 1983. Now we have 50 acres of strawberries and
20 acres of raspberries plus sweet corn. We were a pick your
own operation to start but we have found that now families are
stressed for time - they pick less fruit more often and they
want to buy jam and pies," said Deschatelets
Leisure Farms started an on farm bakery to meet this new
consumer demand from as far away as Timmins and New Liskeard
she said. True to their name, they also capitalized on the new
farm trend of agri-tourism.
"We bring in tours from schools and give the children a real
farm experience-wagon rides into the bush, campfires with
marshmallows, barbecues and give them on-farm produce like
small pumpkins to take home. This keeps us very busy during the
week and on weekends we have cottagers in the summer and other
locals drop by. They enjoy our straw and corn maizes. My son is
very good with the public and that works well for us," she
said.
For more information visit www.ruralroutes.com/leisure.
