the great turkey saga continues

I've mentioned it before: turkeys are extraordinarily hard to come by.


That fact has been driven home again today - my small turkey order, secured and supposedly ready to be delivered, has fallen through.


It probably wouldn't be that hard to get my hands on turkeys if I was willing to lower my standards, but I'm firm on my original position that I do not want white turkeys and I do not want to order them in increments of 20. I want four or five brown, preferably heritage, turkeys.


Is that so much to ask?


Apparently it is. Because I am not willing to drive the 100 - 150 miles to pick up a small number of birds from the hatchery. Nor am I willing to spend money on a white bird that doesn't possess the instinct required to drink water and is incapable of reproducing naturally.


As I said before, I take it as another sign of the death of a tradition - that of the family farm.


And apparently the disappearance of small family farms is even closer than I had originally thought.


When you live out in the rural areas you receive a large number of free newsletters produced by various agricultural groups. One such recent newsletter contained an article citing a report to the federal government stating that Canada needs to eliminate small, unprofitable farms and farms supported by off-farm income.


Which simply illustrates the fundamentally flawed philosophy that presently guides government attitude to agriculture - that it should be regarded as an industry and governed as such: when it's time to cut the fat, farms should be treated the same as other businesses.


But really, when we look around and see the large-scale failure of the industrial model, does it make since to apply the label of 'industry' to a way of life that has existed in one form or another since civilization first began? Because to me 'industry' denotes large scale, centralized production and/or control of a sector, ie. the automotives industry; the mobile communications industry; etc.


By their very nature traditional farms are small to medium in size, local, hostile to centralization, and difficult to place under umbrella terms. They represent some of the few situations where the anyone maintains ownership of the goods they produce. They cannot follow 'good business models' because it is impossible to separate the assets of the 'business' side of a farm from the assets of the 'family' side.


It baffles me that, as it becomes obvious that the solution to widespread collapse is decentralization, diversification, and a focus on 'small,' government continues to support the corporatization of agriculture.


Which I think has an interesting reflection on my situation - it is unlikely that I will ever be able to rely solely on farming to support my family. I will always need some sort of off-farm income to fend off debt (because the thought of large-scale debt makes my skin crawl). That's not to say that our farm is poor - in fact it's one of the better, larger ones in this neck of the woods. But with skyrocketing input costs, unreliable markets, and little government support I don't think that we'll be able to hold out against large feedlots and industrial agriculture forever.


"But Stu," you ask, "if it looks so bad, why don't you just give up?"

Ah, dear reader, never mind me - I'm a natural born pessimist; it's in my genetics - the Scots were never accused of being too cheerful: we're the people who gave you bagpipes and the raincoat, neither of which speak of hope for the future.

When I step back and look at it, it really doesn't seem too bad - the focus of buying local speaks of good things to come for those family farms willing to step in; the lifestyle is hard to beat (no boss, no interoffice email, never have to ask for time off); and there are few other jobs where you can point out the fruits of your labour for all to see and say with pride "I did that!"

And so, dear reader, as a symbol of my hope for the future I will not give up in my search for turkeys - already I have a line on a few gobblers not too far away. I am not beaten yet: I shall be persistent like a ...umm...a very persistent thing.

Remember, we're all in this together.