While there is a spot in this publication where an opinion piece on agriculture appears weekly, this week we're highlighting farming in this space.
Some readers will wonder why that is the case, especially since the editorial of a newspaper has traditionally been a space to offer ideas about things of importance to the community. It is a space where newspapers try to inspire its readers to think about things which make their local community all that it is.
And that is exactly why farming, and more specifically Agriculture Month, is this week’s topic.
Each year the province designates October as Agriculture Month, a lead Yorkton Council followed at its last regular meeting, making the month-long designation specific to our city. The dual designation is a testament to the importance both the provincial and municipal government place on agriculture.
For city residents, the importance of agriculture may be less understood, as many people have little to no direct connection to farming these days.
Active farms might be as close as crossing our city boundaries, but many people haven't visited a farm. That is a reality driven by the decades-long trend of fewer and fewer farmers. Since the end of the First World War, the number of farmers has declined as farms have become bigger and bigger.
So, more and more people know less about farming. They may drive by fields of canola, wheat, flax, and barley on trips outside the city, yet be unaware which crop is which and not understand what a farmer must undertake each year to produce those crops.
Some will say understanding farming is not that important, suggesting most of us do not know the ins and outs of how potash is mined or just how the lumber used to build our homes came to be produced. To an extent that is true.
But agriculture holds a unique position as our food producer, which is, of course, critical to our survival. Having some understanding of the industry that produces food when it is close at hand seems wise on our part.
If actual understanding of farming is more than we want to achieve, we should all, at the very least, have an appreciation of the sector and those who operate the farms.
It is, after all, farming which drew many of the earliest settlers to our region.
The sector remains hugely important locally, especially as we recognize how it is the reason for the creation of canola crushing, flax oil processing, oat processing, grain elevators, machinery dealers, and other innovations. Many businesses exist to serve the sector and that means jobs for people and money rolling through our economy.
Suddenly, understanding why October is Agriculture Month becomes much clearer.
