Ken Forth of Lynden to be inducted into agricultural hall of fame

Ken Forth is a fifth-generation Lynden farmer, leader and storyteller who will soon be entering the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame.

“When I was young, I remember the time I was cutting asparagus with my parents and grandparents and someone was lamenting the weather,” Forth, 72, said. “My grandfather said ‘it’s nothing to with the weather, it’s the government you have to worry about.

“That was 60 years ago and compared to the government of that day, to the government of today there’s a lot to worry about it.”

Agriculture isn’t treated the way it should be within government, mostly because many of those in government don’t understand farming, Forth said.

“We want them to understand so we’re always telling and sharing the story of agriculture,” Forth said. “That’s been my job for 40 years now, explaining agriculture to those who don’t know or understand it.”

Forth doesn’t cast aspersions on those who don’t understand. It’s just that these days more people in leadership positions come from urban centres not farming communities. They change frequently and so education about farming is an ongoing challenge.

Forth used the threat of tariffs imposed on Canadian goods going to the United States as an example.

“I guess we’ve gotten a reprieve for now but we certainly have to be thinking about how they can impact agriculture,” Forth said. “If we’re shipping products to the United States with a 25 per cent duty on them, that’s going to be hard on us but it’s not the whole story.

“When our government puts on the same kind of tariffs we’ll be paying more for input costs on products coming into Canada from the U.S.”