8 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | April 2024 Beyond the Barn A FARMING LIFE: PAT MURPHY Farmer, husband, father, grandfather, volunteer. Born Feb. 1, 1961; died Oct. 15, 2023. Pat Murphy was a cash-crop farmer from Sombra and recipient of the 2023 Lambton County Farmer of the Year. He was active with several ag organizations, including the local Federation of Agriculture, the Lambton Soil & Crop Improvement Association, and Grain Farmers of Ontario. Pat was a proud supporter of his community, and an active member of his church, Sacred Heart Catholic Church. He was known to friends and neighbours as a very caring person. “He always had time to talk to neighbours or other farmers. You find out after the fact that people were going through hard times and Dad was always calling to check on them to find out how they were doing,” son Steve Murphy tells Better Farming. “You couldn’t do anything quick,” he laughs. “You’d go to get parts, and he’d chat to the girl at the counter for half an hour. Sometimes I’d be waiting for him in the field to find out he was talking to a neighbour at the end of the driveway.” Pat especially enjoyed harvest season and driving the combine. “He was super laid-back,” Steve says. “He never got too worried about anything. He’d always have to bring me back when I got stressed.” Steve, who has a cow-calf and cashcrop farm, says his father taught him everything about farming. He fondly remembers going on combine rides with him – something his children also got to enjoy. “My kids didn’t want to ride with me – they wanted to ride with Grandpa all the time!” BF Producers may often overlook this potential revenue stream, but an Ontario billboard company is achieving growth by showing farmers how to support local businesses while generating extra income. “When we erect a billboard on a rural property, the farmer is often pleased to be helping local businesses get their message out,” explains Top Outdoor (topoutdoor.ca) co-owner Chris Nimigon. “Maybe the town’s weekly newspaper has closed or dropped their frequency. But this allows businesses to grow through advertising in their local area. And without the farmer landowner working with us, that doesn’t happen. “It all works together.” Top Outdoor began erecting billboards in 2016, “with our first seven signs in Haliburton, where I’m originally from,” says Nimigon. His business partner Chris Lecomte adds that “about a year later we started putting up billboards on farms in the Shelburne and Dundalk area – which is where my father owns a farm.” Lecomte says they now have some 540 signs on Ontario farms, “and we plan to put in 100 more over the coming season.” As for location, “often the farmer already has a spot in mind. Could be pasture or a hay field. We work with all types of land. We can work around corn as well. It might be part of their land that is not used, for whatever reason. And we don’t want to put a sign in a location on a field where it’s a challenge to work a tractor around it,” explains Lecomte. The annual rental payment depends on a few factors, such as traffic volume and the view from the roadway. But the supplemental income is usually welcome. As Perth County farmer Dale Foster explains, “We weren’t 100 per cent sure about getting a billboard on our land at first, but after dealing with them for multiple years, on five different farms, we are happy we did. Seamless process, and we love the revenue.” BF - Paul Nolan Chris Nimigon photo BILLBOARDS MAY OFFER EXTRA INCOME Pat Murphy Chris Lecomte and Chris Nimigon of Top Outdoor.
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