YORKTON - In a city in the middle of farm country, you wouldn’t think it would be necessary to remember the importance of the farm sector, but it never hurts either to reinforce that importance.
“I don’t know where we’d be without agriculture,” said Yorkton Mayor Monday morning at the official launch of Grain Milers Harvest Showdown with the now traditional branding ceremony.
Hippsley then gave the Yorkton Exhibition Association a pat on the back for hosting the fall event saying “you bring so much business to the city.”
Those words extend of course to the rural farm sector which makes Yorkton what it is today.
Farming is big, business – very big business – with even a moderate-sized operation having millions invested in land, machinery and crop inputs.
Think about it for a moment and much of that money is accessed through local banks, the machinery and inputs purchased at local businesses, and marketing at local grain dealers.
We often think of the significance of a new business opening its doors, and of course that is good to see, but every farm is a business too and when the producer decides he needs a new tractor or combine he will be writing a cheque for hundreds of thousands of dollar.
Roll up behind a four-wheel drive tractor pulling a combine on a highway, and you are seeing literally a million dollars heading to the field.
And that money was likely spent in the city.
That keeps mechanics and sales people employed.
They buy houses and cars and groceries and grad dresses and that is an economy flowing through our city thanks to farmers.
So heading down to Harvest Showdown this week to look at the grain show, see the cattle, learn a bit more about the business of agriculture is not a bad idea.
We can all get into a pattern of thinking the food on our table comes from the supermarket, but the store shelf is only the final stop on the journey for food that started out growing on a farm somewhere.
So while at Harvest Showdown take a few minutes and talk to a farmer. Learn a bit.
Take a moment and say thanks too.
The show is a showcase for producers, winning a red ribbon for a pen of heifers, or a sample of wheat is a thrill, but it can be more too.
It can be a place that brings farm producers and city people together, and building those connections are always a positive thing.
