4 Change of heart


“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The old, familiar prayer has some resonance with BC farmers these days, who face a growing number of incidents – often violent – that are putting them on the defensive. The shocking incident of a calf killed in its pen and taken from a Langley


dairy barn last summer grabbed headlines, but sheep in the Lower Mainland have also been targeted. Close to a dozen animals have been killed by people who, if they haven’t ventured onto the farms themselves, certainly had them in their rifle sights. The senseless killings should surely outrage animal activists, who have been amassing their own rap sheet of trespass incidents. Whether it’s the placement of hidden cameras or outright farm invasions such as Excelsior Hog Farm experienced last spring, the situation is serious enough that the province passed legislation last fall adding livestock operations to the list of premises where trespass can occur. During a high-powered presentation during the BC Agriculture Council’s Ag Days reception, three provincial cabinet ministers pledged their commitment to protect the province’s farmers from unwanted, and unwelcome, visitors. Charges have yet to be laid in most of the incidents, though Abbotsford police have announced plans to do so in the Excelsior case. The civil response of the Binnendyk family has been hailed for defusing a situation that could have easily turned into something else. Whatever the civil authorities do, it’s a more forgiving approach than some have advocated. But change can’t be one-sided. That’s where the teens who ripped through a Saanich hayfield over the Christmas holidays are setting an example. The joyride caused thousands of dollars in damage, but the widespread attention prompted the individuals involved to show remorse. They’ve offered to do what they can to make things right, which could factor into whether or not the farm presses charges. While forgiveness can defuse a situation, real change only happens when both sides have a change of heart. The onus shouldn’t fall entirely on farmers, who are simultaneously being told having visitors improves the public’s


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • FEBRUARY 2020


understanding of what they’re doing. That public understanding needs to be grounded in respect. Most farmers are living up to their obligations under the law. It’s time trespassers did, too.


Retirement is inevitable but less so for farmers


Journalist John Parker, writing in The Economist, predicts 2020 will begin the decade of the yold. Yold is a contraction of “young-old,” a Japanese reference to people between the ages of 65 and 75. While 65 has traditionally marked the end of employment, in 2016 more than 20% of 65 to 69-year-olds in wealthy nations were forgoing retirement and remaining in the workplace. That number is expected to


The Back Forty BOB COLLINS


increase as the groundswell of baby boomers passes 65. When the first of those boomers entered the workforce in 1964, the average


lifespan was less than 72 years and the average person could expect a seven- year retirement. Thanks to improvements in health care, diet and lifestyle, a 65-year-old in 2020 can expect to live for another 20 years; 85 is the new 72. Given that remaining at work can help maintain health, expect many Boomers to stay in harness until they are 75 and then retire for a decade longer. The earliest boomers will be turning 75 next year, but the last won’t reach that mark until 2039. In 1965, The Who released the Boomer anthem “My Generation,” which included the line, “hope I die before I get old.” That sentiment has fallen by the wayside and the Boomers’ last hurrah will last another 20 years. As the Boomer generation becomes the yold and blazes new trails that will change the workplace demographic, those among them in agriculture will find themselves on a path well-trodden. While a 75-year-old might be new and novel on the factory floor or behind the office desk, they are old hat on farms and ranches. Agriculture has been keeping workplace injury and fatality statistics for workers over 80 for decades. It’s not uncommon to find farmers and ranchers still at work in their 90s, but you seldom hear of anyone 10 years older who is. There are more farmers and ranchers over 70 than there are under 35.


According to Statscan, the average age of a farm operator is 55 and climbing,


the number of farmers and ranchers is 193,000 and falling, and only 8% of them have their futures mapped out with a formal succession plan. There is a growing backlog of decisions for most of the yold, and yolder, to make. One sure way to fill a room with ranchers and farmers these days is to host a farm succession seminar. Anyone who has sat in on one will recognize the common narrative: a yold or yolder operator is still holding the reins, maybe because there is no one else in the wagon to take them, or there is a nagging worry that whoever is there will drive off in a different direction and lose the whole works. Occasionally, there are so many waiting for a turn it would be impossible to make them all happy. There are decisions that need to be made, and with more than 90% of them still pending there appears to be a general reluctance to embrace the process. Any of us yold and yolder who haven’t figured it out yet need to realize that the longer we drag it out, the fewer options remain. Start by admitting to yourself that no amount of determination or desire will keep you alive forever, then ask the questions only you can answer. What do I want? What do I want to happen to the farm or ranch when I’m gone? How do I want things to unfold between now and then? Is that vision realistic? Do I have an idea about how that might happen? Am I committed to making a real plan now? If not, how will things shake out if we die tomorrow? Hopefully, the last question will be rendered moot by the answer to the one


before it. Every solution will be unique, but there are some things they all have in common: ignoring the inevitable and letting the chips fall where they may will unlikely fulfill your vision for the farm. If your vision involves others, is it realistic for them? If the plan involves others, then others need to be involved in making the plan. If you wait too long there might not be anyone willing to be part of the plan at all. If the process bogs down, there are skilled facilitators who can help steer you through it. The last word comes across the years from my grandfather: “Saying it doesn’t


make it so, Sonny. Doing it is all that matters.” Bob Collins raises beef cattle and grows produce on his farm in the Alberni


Valley. Publisher Cathy Glover


The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 Vol.106 No.2 . FEBRUARY 2020


Published monthly by Country Life 2000 Ltd. www.countrylifeinbc.com


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