Behind the Lines - February 2013

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Has food, in particular local food, ever had a higher profile in public forums than it has lately?

Locally produced food is experiencing a renaissance. Many consumers have caught on to the fact that local food is good food and they would like to get access to it.

Smaller producers who produce identified products instead of commodities see a lot of potential in this. But how do they reach markets beyond one-on-one consumer sales? Can consumers be expected to drive past supermarkets to go to farms in the country beyond their urban area?

Enter the regional "food hub," the active management of aggregating and distributing food products that are identified by their source. The promise offered by these hubs, a new feature in Ontario's food industry, and the associated pitfalls, are the subject of this month's cover story by Mary Baxter. As always, we are looking at these developments from the farmers' point of view. Start reading about this on page 10.

Ontario's apiarists were hit by a severe bee-kill off last spring. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the federal Pest Management Review Agency are looking at corn seed pesticides as a cause, but the jury is still out. That story starts on page 28.

Spring planting isn't that far away, and before that comes manure spreading with its threat of compaction of farm fields. Going on the land too early can harm crop yields for years to come. Writer Don Stoneman examines a Wellington County farmer's progress working on an innovative system to rapidly deflate and inflate tires on manure tankers and the large tractors that haul them. That starts on page 32.

Meanwhile, in his article on page 44, crop consultant and longtime Better Farming writer Pat Lynch argues there has been a "paradigm shift" in thinking about what constitutes adequate weed control. Any weeds are bad weeds and "100 per cent clean" fields, the goal in the 1970s, are once again the target.  What goes around, comes around – kind of like local food.

Our ever-popular Crop Scene Investigation series drew an unusually high number of responses last month. As many of you guessed, RTK AutoSteer was key to the solution. We really enjoy the observations you send along with your answers, so keep those coming. Typical was the quip from one reader last month, who assumed the farmer was likely retrieving market reports on his BlackBerry instead of concentrating on driving: "Good thing there weren't any hydro towers on that pass!!!!!" CSI begins on page 46.

We also want to acknowledge those farmers who unhesitatingly allow us to put their lives under a microscope in Up Close. This is a selfless act that gives readers a rare and honest look at how their fellow farmers see things. This month, we feature Lambton poultry and pepper producer Jack Greydanus, who describes, among other things, how succession planning made him more aware of other people's needs and changed his management style. BF

ROBERT IRWIN & DON STONEMAN