A RURAL VOICE

By Ken Eshpeter

Rural people having a say

Do you think that technology has had a significant impact upon your community in the time you have been around?

I recently received a copy of a research paper written by Dr. Darin Barney of McGill University in Montreal. A large part of Prof. Barney’s job description at McGill is to research the impact of “technology” on the social and financial landscape of the country and society. In this paper he is investigating the impact of technology in the form of the concentration of grain handling and transportation services within the farm community. Over the last 15 years the grain handling and transportation systems on the prairies have changed from systems that took into account the needs of farmers to one where the farmer is now treated as a dairy cow to be milked at least twice a day and expected to survive on a subsistence ration.

Here’s a little background. In the early 1900s farmers were being encouraged to settle the prairies and begin producing a quality wheat that was in demand particularly back in England. After producing this wheat, often under harsh conditions, farmers needed a way to market their grain. The railway companies were willing to haul the grain but of course the process would have to be profitable for them.

They began negotiating with the grain companies of the day to build and service grain accumulation facilities that could receive and store large volumes. These large stocks at predictable intervals along the tracks would allow the railway companies to spot and pick up enough cars thereby creating profitable train runs. Sounds good so far, doesn’t it?

Well as you might have already predicted there was one small glitch in the plan. Big grain and big rail had “forgotten” to include farmers while planning the new system. It took a little while for farmers to realize that this new model was not designed for their benefit, but when they did they set about devising a method to level the playing field. Their concept was simple but ingenious. They created co-ops that constructed elevators to receive their shareholders’ grain. They created the infrastructure and net working required to merchandise that grain.

One of the most important features of the prior and recently dismantled system was accessibility to elevators every 10 miles across the prairie landscape. Not only did this proximity allow farmers of 50 and 80 years ago access to elevation, but it served farmers of recent times as well. However, big rail realized that this system that was benefiting farmers and hurting their own bottom needed to change.

You have to admire the power of wordsmithing and massage because big rail was able to convince the grain companies of the present day, including the co-ops, that reorganizing the grain handling and transportation system would increase the efficiency of marketing and transporting grain to such an extent that farmers would be overwhelmed by the benefits.

Farmers misinterpreted that promise slightly, thinking that benefits would accrue to them. Big grain and big rail meant benefits would accrue to their coffers. Farmers were overwhelmed, though. On a 1,500-acre farm in the year 2000, I calculated that my extra costs as a farmer to market and transport my grain had increased by $70,000 compared to just a few years earlier.

As a means of reducing the financial hurt being created by this current unlevel playing field, some farmers have taken to buying shortlines and setting up producer car loading facilities. I will write at more length about this phenomenon in my next column.

Eshpeter and his wife farm near Camrose, Alta. He is passionate about maintaining a vibrant rural landscape for people and all neighbourhood creatures.