Rob Vanden Hengel of Seaforth is the new President of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture. Murray Workman is the new Vice President. Both were elected at the Federation's virtual annual meeting last week.
Vanden Hengel says one of the biggest problems facing farmers, as well as everyone else right now, is COVID-19, both because of the impact it's having on the industry now and the uncertainty of the future. He says they see the numbers that are increasing and they really don't know how long that's going to continue or what's going to happen next. He points there could be a cases of COVID-19 in a slaughter plant and they'd have to shut down for a week or two for cleaning and that could throw the whole supply chain out of whack.
“Because we see the numbers that are increasing and we don't really know for sure what's going to happen, like, slaughter plants, you know, they could have COVID cases and be shut down for a week or two for cleaning, which will throw the whole supply chain out of whack.”
Vanden Hengel adds, the good news is that, for whatever reason, crop prices are really good. He explains, usually at harvest time, prices are at their lowest, but right now prices for corn and beans and other crops are very good, so that's unusual and people are seeing a benefit from that right now.
“Right now, for whatever reason, the crop prices are really good. For corn and beans and stuff like that the prices are really good, which usually isn't like that. When it comes to harvest time, that's generally when they're at their lowest point. So people are seeing a benefit from that right now.”
Varna area farmer, Bev Hill won the award for outstanding contribution to agriculture and the community.
