On Monday November 29th, the 7th annual Farmer Appreciation Day will be held at the Manitoba Legislature. This annual event is an opportunity to recognize those who are involved in one of the largest and most important parts of our economy.

And while there will be lots of words of tribute spoken at the event, it is important to ensure that it is more than just words. The appreciation for farmers that is expressed in words has to translate into action.

Manitobans have good reason to be proud of their farmers. Whether in livestock, crops, poultry, dairy or other parts of the industry, our farmers compete at the highest levels with farmers around the world. Farming in Manitoba today is very very different than what it was even a few decades ago. It is more efficient, environmentally friendly and technologically advanced.

Several hundred people can now be fed by an average Manitoba farm. Many of today’s farms are more secure, to ward off contamination and disease, than almost any building you will enter in Manitoba.

More than 10% of the jobs in our province are somehow tied to agriculture and billions of dollars of agriculture products are traded internationally.

Appreciation for farmers has to extend to appreciating the changing circumstances they farm in. Farms in Manitoba are getting larger in size and with technology there are fewer people working directly on the farm. The average age of farmers is increasing and it is more difficult, and perhaps less attractive, for younger farmers to become part of the industry.

Not only have input costs, like fertilizer, increased substantially, the price of food itself has not changed much in comparison. In fact, the farmer doesn’t receive much more than a quarter of every retail dollar that is spent on the product that they produce. Perhaps that’s why so many farmers today earn a substantial part of their income from non-farm related jobs and activities.

These are some of the realities that farmers face today. Added to these realities are rules and regulations imposed on them from government. While the vast majority of farmers are open to regulations that are both sensible and are backed by science, far too often regulations are imposed that have no scientific basis for protecting the environment and don’t seem to be grounded in common sense. Moratoriums and regulations that cannot be justified on scientific grounds not only drive up the costs of farming, they increase the frustration of the farmers.

So with the annual Farmer Appreciation Day coming up, it is an appropriate time to salute our farmers. But we can only hope that those members of the current provincial government speaking words of accolades will turn those words into action to support our farm families.