{"id":6729,"date":"2020-12-04T10:49:39","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T15:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6729"},"modified":"2020-12-04T10:54:57","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T15:54:57","slug":"episode-184-disappearing-farms-witness-to-historical-change-in-ontario-society-1950-to-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=6729","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 184 DISAPPEARING FARMS… WITNESS TO HISTORICAL CHANGE IN ONTARIO SOCIETY 1950 TO 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 184  DISAPPEARING FARMS<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec. , 2020<\/div>\n

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THIS is a story about the pace of  change in our society between  1950 and  2020.<\/div>\n

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Keep this point in mind   as  you peruse and  remember the point for the next episode:  ONLY 12% OF CANADA  IS <\/div>\n
SUITABLE FOR AGRICULTURE.  ONLY 12%!<\/div>\n

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FARM AUCTION ABOUT 1975 OR SO:   Look above the heads the crowd.  That\u2019s Marjorie with the kids<\/div>\n
sitting on  the milk parlour roof with our great Coonhound Tara.  <\/div>\n

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AT A  FARM AUCTION…One summer afternoon,  August 24,   our anniversary\u2026I bought marjorie  a coonskin coat and myself a bearskin coat. <\/div>\n
Granted the coats were out of season.  They were also a little worse for wear\u2026that\u2019s why my bid was the only bid that day.<\/div>\n
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ACCELERATING PACE:   FARM AUCTIONS 1950 TO 2020<\/div>\n

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As fortune would  have it, we became adults in the 1950\u2019s just when North American agriculture was being revolutionized.  Corporate <\/div>\n
agriculture grew and grew through the last half of the 20th century.   Small, 100 acre family farms in Ontario began to disappear at<\/div>\n
an accelerating rate.  In the 1960\u2019s, 1970\u2019s, 1980\u2019s there were so  many farm auctions that specialized  newspapers such as<\/div>\n
the Woodbridge Advertiser could make a  living just listing the auction sales.  Impossible to go to all the auctions.  Basically, Ontario\u2019s<\/div>\n
rural heritage was on the auction block booth weekdays and week ends.  One of the sad features of these farm auctions  was the<\/div>\n
fire pits where things considered irrelevant or not saleable or too personal were simply burned.   Things  unsold at auction were <\/div>\n
dealt with the same way.  One farm auction last year put all the old family pictures on the block.  I bought them all then the<\/div>\n
family asked that I not write about the pictures.  Odd.   How did they know I was a writer?  I never knew the people.  So<\/div>\n
I guess word spread about our rescue efforts.  Why would  people sell  off their family pictures?  \u201cThe children are not interested.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2026an answer we heard all too often.  Children change\u2026they grow up\u2026and then they get interested often too late.  The family farm<\/div>\n
is gone and the records  of the 20th century are ashes  in many cases.<\/div>\n

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SOME RANDOM PICTURES THT TELL THE STORY<\/div>\n

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I bought six or seven of these threshing machines.  Huge things.  Beautiful things.  We  have  two of them tucked away in our barn.  Others<\/div>\n
we donated to various museums.   We even had  a backyard auction with friends years and years ago . The purpose was to raise e $200<\/div>\n
to buy a machine like the one Marjorie is holding.   We got the money, bought the machine, donated the machine\u2026and the next week<\/div>\n
the storage barn caught fire and all was lost.   It is hard to look after a machine like  this  Raccons like to live in threshing machines.<\/div>\n
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These pictures are just a tiny cross section of the auctions we attended in the last 60 years\u2026literally hundreds of  auctions.  There are 52 weeks in a year\u2026about 40 or more<\/div>\n
of those weeks we got up early headed west, north, east to a farm auction.  Our kids, Andrew and Kevin, were with us as were the various dogs we shared our house with<\/div>\n
over the past 60 years.   So what is 40 x 60?  The total is  2,400 auction  sales.   Hard to believe?  Truth! We  witnessed a  revolutionary change in Ontario  society.<\/div>\n
The number of auctions shocks me.  The bigger shock was the change in our society.<\/div>\n

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We filled our truck and trailer with things nobody seemed to want.  Jewels to us.<\/div>\n

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On one of these farm auctions\u2026the Root Family Farm near Ospringe\u2026I borrowed a new movie camera and documented the day.  i gave the film to my good<\/div>\n
friend Robert Root.  A family record. Bob and  I were both high school teachers at Parkdale Collegiate  Institute\u2026a high school in the  core  of the city  of Toronto.   I made a big<\/div>\n
mistake that day when I did not bid  on one Bob\u2019s family tractors.  The price was reasonable in my mind\u2026unreasonable  to the Root family I imagine\u2026i.e. $600 to $700.<\/div>\n
Note to Bob Root:  That film can  be  converted to digital\u2026costs a bit but you will need it for future generations. <\/div>\n

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Future Episode:  Bob Root and  I were allowed to visit an abandoned farm\u2026people just seemed to have walked away.  Took what they<\/div>\n
could carry and walked away.  We were shocked.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec. 2020<\/div>\n

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\n

An Industry Leader<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Canada is the world\u2019s largest producer and exporter of flaxseed, canola, pulses, durum wheat, peas, lentils, and mustard seeds<\/li>\n
  • The meat processing industry is Canada\u2019s third largest manufacturing industry, ranking behind motor vehicles and petroleum products<\/li>\n
  • Canada is the world\u2019s 2nd largest exporter of malting barley (used to brew beer)<\/li>\n
  • Canada\u2019s is the world\u2019s largest producer of blueberries<\/li>\n
  • Canada ranks #1 in the G7 for low food processing cost<\/li>\n
  • Canada produces 85% of the world\u2019s maple syrup<\/li>\n
  • The US is Canada\u2019s #1 food export destination<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The Environment<\/h2>\n
      \n
    • One tree can remove the same amount of carbon dioxide from the air that is emitted from a car driving 17,700 km<\/li>\n
    • 50,000 fewer gallons of water are needed to grow an acre of corn today, compared to 20 years ago<\/li>\n
    • Thanks to Canada\u2019s conservation tillage practices, 12 billion kilograms of CO2 were prevented from entering the atmosphere in 2008<\/li>\n
    • GHGs from Canada\u2019s dairy cows and manure management decreased 21% from 1990-2009<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Dollars<\/h2>\n
        \n
      • In 2008, Canadian agriculture generated more than $70 billion in economic activity<\/li>\n
      • The value of honey bees to Canadian agriculture is over $1 billion<\/li>\n
      • The cattle industry contributes approximately $24.6 billion to the Canadian economy<\/li>\n
      • Sales of milk and dairy products contribute $10 billion to the Canadian economy<\/li>\n
      • In 2011, Canadian dairy genetics exports were valued at $120M<\/li>\n
      • Grains create $9B in economic output for Canada<\/li>\n
      • In 2009, Canadian farmers exceeded $1B with a total economic impact of over $3B<\/li>\n
      • Beef industry contributes almost $25B to the Canadian economy annually<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Growth & Demand<\/h2>\n
          \n
        • Canada is the world\u2019s 5th largest exporter of agricultural products<\/li>\n
        • World food demand will increase 70% by 2050<\/li>\n
        • Since 2007, China\u2019s import of Canadian vegetable oil has increased by 300%<\/li>\n
        • Within the last 6 years, Canada\u2019s exports to Russia alone have increased by 430%<\/li>\n
        • A farmer in 1900 produced enough food for 10 people. Today\u2019s farmer feeds over 120 people<\/li>\n
        • 3% of Canada\u2019s population is employed in industrial farmer \u2013 they are able to feed a population of over 30 million and export to foreign markets<\/li>\n
        • <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          EPISODE 184  DISAPPEARING FARMS alan skeoch Dec. , 2020 THIS is a story about the pace of  change in our society between  1950 and  2020. Keep this point in mind   as  you peruse and  remember the point for the next episode:  ONLY 12% OF CANADA  IS  SUITABLE FOR AGRICULTURE.  ONLY 12%! FARM AUCTION ABOUT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}