By the time that you are reading this article, we have probably been told what we got and what we have to give up (or not) with our “deal” with the U.S. The president just south of us has been standing on shaky ground for several months with the recent wars in the Middle East, his choice of affiliation with North Korea instead of South Korea, his recent attempt to annex Greenland, the flip-flop way he has tackled the Russia-Ukrain situation, and an attempt at making Canada the 51st state. If he cannot get his way with the recent trade negotiations (tariffs), then the quick sand that he is standing on will only get softer.
Ever since Canada gave back the most of the illegal tariff on softwood lumber that the U.S. had charged and the right to continue charging tariffs, and after Canada had traded away the auto-pact that Canada had with the U.S., and the first concessions on Canada’s supply management system, Canada has continued to trade away 18 per cent of Canada’s dairy market. Canada has also been selling electricity to the U.S. for less than some of its own citizens pay. Now, Canada has an abundance of precious metals that the U.S. wants access to. Canada also learned that we can easily do without U.S. spirits. Canada makes some excellent wines and liquors, as do many other countries who are more strict on what is not in that alcohol.
Sunday night while watching the late news, a family friend of ours was on TV mentioning some of the effects the changes in the CUSMA agreement with the U.S. could cause. Our families have worked together for generations in farm organizations, especially in Quebec. His buildings that housed more than two hundred purebred dairy cattle burned to the ground about two years ago, with most of his herd and the winter’s feed stored in the loft. Also, his equipment to keep a dairy farm running: calf pullers, records, drugs to keep his animals living until the veterinarian arrived, a bottle of epinephrine big enough to fill a thousand EpiPens. Cows get sick just like people do and sometimes, different drugs must be administered ASAP to prevent death. Dairy farmers also keep drug detection kits to check milk before it is shipped to the dairy plant.
We have a son that is allergic to penicillin. Some cows are allergic to oxytetracycline and break out in big blotches on their skin and might die if not injected with epinephrine as soon as a blotch appears on her skin. One of the best drugs that the farmers had for treating calves and baby pigs was taken away from farm use a year after it was introduced. It was the only drug at the time that killed clostridium so it was reserved for people only.
When a farm loses a herd of cattle by fire or because of financial pressure, generations of genetic selection are lost forever. Farmers not only breed for pretty cows, but also for fat and protein content in the milk, cattle health and longevity, A2 milk which is more digestible than A1 milk, and “ease of calving” which reduces both calf and mother cow death. All this information is recorded in a health and drug book or in a computer program in the barn office. Every time another dairy farm closes its doors, the community loses kids that go to school, another less family at church, and as an old local businessman once said, “several less pairs of boots that I sell every year.” Many of the best employees at our farm have been students that want to earn a few dollars after school or on weekends. Kids care about how animals are treated and fed. They also learn that you cannot quit work until the job is finished, and often, animal care and feeding comes before we eat ourselves.
We have learned that there are reasons why Canadians have a longer lifespan than our U.S. neighbours. We have also learned that even the worst leaders in the world will not be here in a short time. Still, let’s choose our future leaders carefully. They might be here just too long.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
