Don McGugan sat down with Kevin Forbes in late December at his office at St Willibrord Credit Union in Sarnia to talk about his view of the future, the challenges agriculture faces and the Young Farmers Forum that he attended in November in Toronto.
Don McGugan: Kevin, can we start with your background?
Kevin Forbes: I was born in Sarnia and grew up on a dairy farm. I attended St Clair Secondary school in Sarnia and graduated in 1999. Ithon attended the University of Guelph where I obtained an Agriculture Business degree in 2003. While at Guelph, I was quite active in my Class Executive where I was held the positions of Vice-President and then President. I was also the co-chair for 2 years of the Canadian Intercollegiate Judging Competition. Throughout my youth, I have been active in sports, mainly hockey, but also soccer, football, and lacrosse among others.
In my 4th year, I accepted a position as an Agricultural Account Manager at a Financial Institution. I worked for this financial institution for a year and a half and then moved home.
I presently work at St Willibrord Credit Union and am a board member of the Lambton Federation of Agriculture and a member of the Seaway Kiwanis.
DM: OK, now that we have talked about your past, let’s talk about the future – for you, your farm and agriculture in general.
KF: For me, I always intended to work here at home it was just a matter of when. I think that working for a financial institution has been an education for me to become a farmer – you have to be a business man now when you run a farm – in the past, you could just work hard, now things are different – you have to look at things as if you are running a business.
For our farm, we did an expansion 2 years ago so we do not have large plans for right now – the plan is to focus on more efficiency – increased cow health, improving what we have. Our plan is to increase milk production from 1 kg of butter fat per day per cow to 1.2 kg of butter fat per day per cow.
For agriculture in general, I think there are going to be a lot of opportunities for farmers in the future. The landscape for farms is going to change in the next 10 years – there will be a big transition to larger farms and a transition to family corporations. I think that we will see people working together more (via co-ops or other forms of co-operation).
DM: Now, out of all the issues that agriculture, what are the biggest challenges that your farm faces.
KF: I think the increased amount of paperwork is one of the biggest challenges we face, whether it be WSIB forms, nutrient management, etc, etc. All of these things add up and don’t go into what anyone would consider “farming.”
I think another challenge that agriculture faces is our largest trading partner – the United States. I think we need to tread carefully on any issue with them.
DM: You work for a financial institution, why do you want to go into farming?
KF: Farming is a lifestyle, not a job. Farming provides me with the opportunity to be in business for myself, all the decisions that I make impact me. Farming provided my parents with a decent living and taught my sisters and me work ethic and responsibility, that’s what I want in the future.
DM: Being a young dairy farmer, you must have some opinions on supply management?
KF: I think supply management is an excellent way of providing returns to everyone involved in production of the good. This is something that our government must defend as I do not see it as trade distorting like subsidies are. However, supply management does make things tough for people who want to enter the industry.
DM: You were sponsored by the LFA to attend the Young Farmers Forum in Toronto in November. What are your thoughts on this forum?
KF: It was an excellent place to network and meet people. I have been there 2 times before and I always gain insight from the people I meet. Also, this year I was impressed with the quality of speakers.
One of the biggest messages that I received from this conference is to get involved – if 10 people from the Young Farmers Forum went home and joined their local Federation each individual Federation would not have to worry about renewal or directors retiring.
DM: Now, going on from this – what are your thoughts on young people being involved in agriculture?
KF: It is extremely important. I have been extremely fortunate that the LFA has embraced me on the board, I’m sure that every county would not be like this.
DM: What is the biggest challenge young farmers face right now?
KF: One of the biggest is the financial barrier to entry. A young person could not buy a farm on their own, it would even be tough to purchase a tractor on your own to start doing custom work to start building cash flow to purchase a farm.
It also doesn’t help what we (young people) hear from the older generation – everything is always so negative “there isn’t any money in farming, get a job in the city”, we hear this all the time, but look at the older generation – they have nice homes and vehicles, why couldn’t we. Parental encouragement is key, and I am lucky to receive such encouragement from my parents.
DM: If you were the Prime Minister or Minster of Agriculture (Federal or Provincial) what would you change in our agriculture policies?
KF: Right now, I would change CAIS. CAIS is just not working, I don’t know if it is bureaucracy or what but things need to be streamlined. I think that within 12 months of a fiscal year end you should have received your money from a support program and right now people are receiving payment for their 2003 fiscal year. This is like a person who is on unemployment insurance and gets their first payment 6 months after they start a new job …it just doesn’t make sense.
DM: Do you have any final thoughts?
KF: The whole economy starts with agriculture and because of that, there will always be opportunities. Just look at technology for clean energy – there are opportunities now and they are going to grow in the future.
I do think that we are headed to a financial revolution within the next 10 years – how much of everything that we see whether it be SUVs, a bigger house or a larger farm has been financed by low interest rates.
How long can this continue? I think if interest rates rise even a little there will a big fall out. Look at our land costs – right now, land is Lambton County is about as expensive as land in Iowa which I consider the best farm land in the world….something has to give sometime.
DM: Thanks for your time this afternoon Kevin. Have a happy and prosperous new year.
KF: Thanks Don, same to you.