PAGE 8 –– JANUARY 2013 THE GROWER
Goodbye 2012, greetings 2013
MAC JAMES CHAIR, OFVGA
2012 was a year of many challenges to the fruit and vegetable industry in Ontario. Spring frosts devastated portions of the fruit and vegetable sector. Random areas of low moisture and excessive heat took its toll on many crops. On a world scale there have not been any major disasters, thus a sufficient or over supply of produce soon puts pressure on prices for some commodites. It seems like fresh produce can be shipped half way around the world over night.
Many of us are glad to see the end of 2012. On the brighter side, looking forward there is always optimism when we start planning for the new year. After many hours of discussion and consultation, we have a new SDRM/RMP program although considerably reduced in value with a cap of $100 million for all of Ontario agriculture. It is there to work with. There will be many new minor use crop protection products available for 2013. Watch for them!
After much lobbying, there is some hope that some of the water issues we are facing may be moved from the Ministry of Environment to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Nutrient Management Act. With the potential increases in production that are appearing on the horizon it is going to take a sharp pencil to remain viable in 2013.
The importance of our labour supply
ART SMITH CEO, OFVGA Sometimes in life things are either taken for granted or simply not thought about, either through complacency or sometimes because we know no different as “It has always been this way.” Many young farmers among us will not remember a time when we did not have access to dependable quantities of farm workers. The older ones most certainly will.
As a kid growing up on a fruit farm I remember all too well the turnover in help that we experienced. I remember my father lamenting that he did not know from one day to the next how many workers would be there to pick fruit. In an industry so heavily dependent on manual labor, consistency and quality of the work force are essential. I remember as well my parents vacationing in Jamaica and upon returning home dad saying: “We have all this work and nobody to do it and they have all those people and no work for them to do.” In 1966, the first offshore labour program took place but it only lasted for one year. It was a time of growing unemployment in Canada, a time of easier access to unemployment insurance. Many folks in Ottawa thought that these on-farm jobs should be filled with workers from areas of high unemployment. Programs were put in place to transport farm workers from the east coast and the north
to the farms in the south. In many ways it made sense but it did not work as satisfactorily as it needed to. In 1968, after much lobby pressure, the offshore program was back, but there were restrictions. The greater problem was the unknown factor as to whether or not the program would survive to see another year. There was an ongoing sense or opinion that these jobs should be used to get people off unemployment -- after all, those numbers were growing and costing tax payers hundreds of millions of dollars annually. This organization and a number of its leading directors lobbied hard over many years to keep the program running. Over time, problems cropped up and farmers were concerned about the cost of running the program and in particular the cost of air transportation. To address the concerns of Ontario fruit and vegetable farmers, the OFVGA created the Foreign Agricultural Resource
Management Services or FARMS in 1987. They celebrated their 25th anniversary this past year. There are approximately 20,000 workers that come into the country under the Seasonal Agriculture Worker Program of which about 15,000 come here to our farms in Ontario. It did not happen easily -- it took a lot of lobbying and even more dedication on the part of a number of people. From 1987 to today there has been but three chairmen of FARMS: Gary Cooper, Hector Delanghe and Ken Forth. They have all done a remarkable job as have the various boards and staff. The program started as a concept of a few; they pushed hard and got Ministerial support in a time when the political situation was not in their favour. There were certainly many bumps along the way, but this program -- first seen by some as taking jobs away from Canadians -- has in fact created many, many more both here in Canada and in the host coun-
tries alike. It is one of the best international sponsorship programs going. From its humble beginnings in the mid ‘60s through to today, the program has provided our farmers with a stable core of farm employees. The program is held up internationally as a program that works. It works for our farmers, it works for the men and women that come up here and it works for the host countries. As a farming sector so dependent on labour, I believe we owe this organization a great deal of gratitude. Without this program, without FARMS, our fruit and vegetable sector would be little more than a cottage industry instead of the $1.5 billion dollar sector that it has become today. For what it’s worth, it’s the way I see it.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
STAFF Publisher: Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association Editor: Karen Davidson, 416-252-7337, kdavidson@ecomente.ca Production: Carlie Robertson, ext. 221, production@thegrower.org Advertising: Herb Sherwood, 519-380-0118, hsherwood@cogeco.ca
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ONTARIO FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2012 MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Chair Vice-Chair Fruit Director Veg Director Director
Mac James, Leamington Ray Duc, Niagara-on-the-Lake Norm Charbonneau, Port Elgin Jason Ryder, Delhi Jason Verkaik, Bradford
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Apples Fresh Vegetable - Other Tender Fruit ON Asparagus Grws’. Mkg. Brd. GGO/Fresh Grape Growers Fresh Vegetable - Muck ON. Potato Board Small Fruit/Berries ON. Ginseng Growers’ Greenhouse Greenhouse
Brian Gilroy, Meaford Mary Shabatura, Windham Centre Fred Meyers, Niagara-on-the-Lake Jason Ryder, Delhi Ray Duc, Niagara-on-the-Lake Jason Verkaik, Bradford Mac James, Leamington Norm Charbonneau, Port Elgin Ken Van Torre, Burford Jan Vander Hout, Waterdown Don Taylor, Durham
OFVGA SECTION CHAIRS Crop Protection Research Property Labour Safety Nets CHC
Charles Stevens, Newcastle Harold Schooley, Simcoe Brian Gilroy, Meaford Ken Forth, Lynden Mark Wales, Alymer Murray Porteous, Simcoe