Don’t give up the right to farm and live to tell it

Communicating, speaking, even breathing and eating the story of farming is something I do every day of my life, and as the adage says, and twice on Sunday. As I noted to a friend on Twitter recently, I started farming when I was seven or eight year’s old, well at least driving a small Ford tractor pulling an eight-section harrow.

Officially, it was in 1965 renting my first piece of land from my father who desperately wanted me to farm. He forgave me for choosing the storytelling of farming and how others produce the food we eat, the best, healthiest, safest, and the least costly compared to anywhere in the world.

Sometimes I get into some great discussions on Twitter about the subject I love telling the story of farming.

Bob Bartley of Roland, MB said 97 per cent of Canada’s farms are family owned. “Many farms are handed down through generations, and it’s not uncommon to see family members working together to produce healthy, safe food. Tools like pesticides help farmers protect crops and ensure their land is healthy in the future.”

I said we need to stand up strong, for family farms and be careful what the food police, food policy people, and climate change extremists, carbon tax proponents from taking us off our game. Simon Ellis of Wawanesa, MB a robust young farmer said constant communication and relationship development with our government representatives is critical. Family agriculture is the foundation of this great country.

“If the communication and relationship development with our government representatives results in government taxing our farms and directing a farm organization to do their bidding (like carbon taxation), then something has gone badly wrong. Manitoba farmers don’t deserve another carbon tax.”

Mark Chambers, chair of the Banff Pork Seminar said the 2018 edition of the annual event was a tremendous success attracting a sold-out audience.

They represented a lot of production people as well as industry representatives from genetic companies, nutrition companies and equipment companies, consultants and veterinarians.

“This year’s theme was the next generation and communicating, and we had some outstanding speakers, especially the opening plenary was talking about communication and how we need to talk to the public, especially when reporters are interviewing us,” said Chambers. “Because our industry is under the spotlight and we need to know how to address that and how to move forward in the future,” he said.

Farm broadcaster legend Orion Samuelson asked what rights do farmers have when ‘animal rights groups’ decide they have the right to walk uninvited on to a farm or ranch or walk into a dairy barn or livestock building and begin shooting video because they suspect the farmer is abusing the animals on the property? What about trespassing laws and the right of property owners to protect their property against unwanted guests?

The number of such happenings increased to the point a decade ago that rural states began passing laws to make it illegal to go onto a farm and shoot video under a pretense. Animal rights groups and other critics of the law described it as an ‘ag-law’ and said if farmers had nothing to hide, why would they object?

Back in 2014 the Governor of Idaho, Butch Otter, signed the ‘ag-gag’ law, despite loud protests from the American Humane Society. But last month a federal appeals court declared the Idaho law unconstitutional on free speech grounds. Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle made some other interesting comments in her written statement.

She said the ban on shooting video was a “classic example of a content-based restriction that cannot survive strict scrutiny.” But here’s the one that got me…‘the ban on making misrepresentations to enter facilities was void because it could criminalize innocent behavior.” I interpret that as the court saying it is legal to lie.

Orion said here we go again taking away from farmers the right to decide who comes onto their private property, to determine who is trespassing or not trespassing, and who lies to go onto that property with malicious intent.

Eleven states with similar laws will be overseeing the aftermath of this decision. I still say it is a violation of your property rights. •