Should farmers also go on strike? The teachers, the nurses, who would say they are not important? We should still also consider the condition of those who make us eat. Many are exhausted.
We are the third generation “in milk” and have decided that now is the time to prioritize the well-being of our family. I still believe it is important to highlight the working conditions of a majority of farmers. It is high time for things to change and I want to contribute to this change.
We farmers are the slaves of the days.
One morning, during milking, our two and a half year old daughter died at home. It wasn’t expected to happen that day. She was very ill. Still, his father would not have been able to take the time to be at his bedside as he would have liked. He had to be in the barn. The cows are now. All the time. Each day. Every week. All year. All the life.
We can’t be late. Everything will go wrong otherwise. That morning I called him to tell him to come over. NOW. Right away. He was there in less than 30 seconds. Out of breath. Exhausted by these two crazy years running between Sainte-Justine and the barn, he took our daughter’s little body in his arms.
I remember the violence of his pain. His sorrow was infinite. His pain, deep. Less than four hours after our daughter died, he had to go back to milk the cows. He couldn’t count on any employee to replace him. Who goes to work the day their child dies? A farmer.
Go last
Farmers are often in distress, sometimes in bad shape, but they cannot give up. There are no qualified personnel to replace them. Sick or not, you have to show up at the barn every day. At least twice. No vacation. No public holidays. No sick leave.
And accidents are numerous. There is no shortage of opportunities to get injured. And indeed, farmers are getting hurt. More than any other profession. Chronic pain? Talk to farmers.
The luxury of being able to take care of yourself does not exist. The farmer does not benefit from group insurance.
The price of land is increasing. Interest increases. Insurance is increasing. The price of materials. The price of the feed. The price of fertilizer. The price of gasoline. The price of labor. The price of contract work. The price of the machinery. It seems like we are machines to endure all that.
The farmer must think about the well-being of his animals. Whatever people may imagine, while often ignoring the realities of life on the farm, this is the heart of his concerns. The farmer eats his salary feeding his animals, depending on seasonal problems.
Animal welfare has improved greatly over the decades. What about that of farmers?
I know women who are volunteers for eternity in their spouse’s company. To relieve the latter’s workload, some decided to leave their jobs to help out on the farm. They don’t count their hours. They give of themselves for a business that does not belong to them, while supporting a spouse who is exhausted. They cannot ask for anything, because they know very well that the money is not coming in. They are promised shares in the company in exchange for the hours worked. They sometimes find themselves caught in a circle of financial violence.
I see the agricultural announcements coming through. Hay sold below production cost. Producers fear being stuck with it. But who so easily agrees to go into debt to produce? Harvest money never arrives right away. And sometimes that ends up taking the form of a growing line of credit.
You finish your train in the morning. If all goes well, you can go to lunch. On the way home, you meet a representative who came to chat. Well, you won’t have breakfast this morning. You end up coming home, but the doorbell rings. Someone else who needs a signature.
The camera shows a cow calving. Twins. It will be complicated. Another has an abomasum. You call the clinic. The vet is busy. How much will it cost you this month? You have to plan the harvests, make big decisions based on the weather forecast. If you make a mistake, the consequences will be visible on your flock.
The accountant calls you to remind you that he needed your papers for tomorrow yesterday. By the way, have you filled out the new form for the grant? You will also have to discuss with the banker.
No respite
Between the daily routine, the farmer must be a carpenter, mechanic, plumber, engineer, handyman. In short, he must know how to respond immediately to all requirements and all unforeseen circumstances. He must also fill out paperwork and then ensure that he respects his suppliers, his deadlines and his deadlines.
We must prepare for the retirement of one of the partners. Will everything be well for him? No one has fallen yet, but the next generation is slow to arrive. Farm transfers are difficult.
From the moment the milk leaves the tank, everyone in its path will enjoy better conditions than its producer.
The sun never sets on the farm. Yet we are often in the dark. What will happen to us tomorrow? We do not know it.
We are pitiful. I’m tired of being pitied. I want to be taken seriously. I no longer want to hear that a farmer disguised his suicide as an accident, because he thinks he is worth more dead than alive. If we don’t solve the problem at the root level, if we don’t manage to provide balance to our farmers, we’ll have to pick them up with a plow rather than a spoon because the damage will be so great. The distress is great. Do you realize this?
The number of farms has continued to decline. Will they all have to disappear? Do we really want our tables to be filled with food from abroad so that people finally wake up?
Should we also go on strike so that this country realizes that it does not exist without peasants?