Real Living Summer 2022

REAL LIVING Rural Elgin Agricultural

SUMMER 2022 Issue 13

No Spring Chicken by Simon Joynes, Port Stanley Festival Theatre Artistic Director

Let’s be clear from the get-go – even when I started this gig, I was no spring chicken. I was more like an end of summer chicken,

or even an early fall chicken. And that was seventeen years ago; my daughter was two years old, and aside from the occasional meltdown, still did mostly what I asked her. Now, she just looks at me, smiles, and sadly shakes her head. I don’t blame her, I’d shake my head myself if my neck didn’t hurt, if my arthritic hip wasn’t twinging, and if I could only remember where my glasses are. And the spring chicken thing? Well let’s just say, I’m more like an early winter chicken scanning the ground anxiously for signs of early frost these days. It occurs to me, as I switch my attention to finding my backup pair of glasses, that things don’t always end up the way you think they will. I mean, the surprise curve ball is such a cliché I don’t even know why it’s even called the ‘surprise’ curve ball anymore. It should be called the ‘right on time; pretty much expecting something like this, here we go again,’ curve ball. In Jamie Williams’ new play, The View from Here, one curve ball is not sufficient, as the characters Michael and Mary are forced to deal with a series of surprises. And as in life, their willingness to carry on with a degree of grace and style in spite of the obstacles they

are suddenly confronted with, defines them. Jamie’s characters have both grace and style, along with liberal doses of good humour, and in the end, they triumph. That their triumph is not unequivocal only serves to make their journey that much more interesting. Ah, speaking of triumph I just found my glasses! Well, not my actual glasses or even my backup glasses if it comes to that, but I found my backup to my backup glasses. They’re not perfect; I have to cover one eye to see properly because they’re missing one lens, so my depth perception is all shot to hell, but with any luck at all, when that next expected curve ballarrives, I’ll squint, sidestep it, and watch it just go sailing on by. I may not be a spring chicken anymore, but I’ve got enough sense to stay out of the strike zone!

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Page 2 Real Living • Summer 2022

Advocating for Rural Communities by Laura Fraser, OFA Member Service Representative for Oxford/Elgin Counties [email protected] We are all settling into a relatively ‘normal’ summer, and it’s great to be back to in-person meetings and events, and

meeting with members and the community. Staff and directors at OFA have been busy keeping on top of issues, events and concerns of members and the general agriculture community. The ongoing issue of trespassing on farm properties was highlighted in the news recently, as a Dufferin region farmer suffered damage to his canola crop after selfie-seeking trespassers entered the field. Although they may not have intended to cause damage, the fact remains that entering a private property is trespassing, and it can cause a number of issues for the property owners. In this case, the farmer suffered $2,000 in damages. Other implications of entering private property include risking biosecurity measures, safety risks, animal welfare, and mental strain to the property owner. In 2020, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act was introduced, which allows for fines and penalties to be handed out. The purpose of this act was to prohibit trespassing on farms and other properties on which farm animals are located and to prohibit other interferences with farm animals. This serves as a good reminder that enjoying farmland and its beauty must be done in a respectful and safe manner. Another issue impacting farmers is the tariff on fertilizers. Earlier this year, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Canada placed a 35% tariff on fertilizer imported from Russia and the Belarus to deter Canadian support of these economies. However, some fertilizer suppliers had already purchased from Russia and could not avoid this tariff. Beyond farmers’ control, this price was passed on to farmers, who had to absorb that high cost, rather than passing it to the next stage of the supply chain. The effects of this tariff were felt by many, and the OFA, together with commodity groups, agriculture organizations and County Federations, continue to lobby the government for answers and action.

While we focus on issues and on advocating for farmers, there are many good news stories and positive things happening in the agriculture community. The Elgin Federation of Agriculture has been very active this year, particularly their Land Use Committee. This group of volunteers have been very busy dealing with member concerns and advocating to municipal government on their behalf. The loss of prime farmland in Elgin County is a very real concern, with a recent loss of hundreds of acres. New >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16

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