Steven Byvelds

Steven Byvelds and his wife, Debbie, own Bycrest Farms near Williamsburg in Dundas County. With the assistance of their three sons and Steven's father, they farm 500 acres, the majority of which is devoted to corn and soybeans, and a small area of forages. Because their land is primarily clay loam, they have not adopted no-till farming, opting instead for a minimum tillage system, based on the offset disc. Fields are disced once in the fall and prepared for planting with one pass of a mulch finisher in the spring. Steven says that this system leaves a good cover of residue on the soil surface, while avoiding the limitations associated with no-till on heavy soils. The disc also does not bring up stones the way a plough or chisel plough would. He has also seen an improvement in the soil structure in the years that he has been using the offset disc. "We're building up the organic matter in the top layers much like no-till does," he observes. "It's not a perfect system for conservation, but it's better than ploughing and I sure don't miss the plough."

Steven's "day-to-day job", as he calls it, is custom-raising replacement dairy heifers for two neighbouring dairy farmers. The heifers are raised in a confinement system, from roughly 3 months of age, until about a month before they are due to freshen. Then, they are returned to their owner.

Steven first became OCPA Director for Region 1 (Dundas, Glengarry, Prescott, Russell and Stormont), in January of 2002. Other corn producers in the area wanted to see some things changed so they asked him to run. He finds that representing Region 1 has its challenges. "I'm an analytical person," he says, "who tries to look at the big picture. As an OCPA Director, I have to look at how things affect all of Ontario, while keeping the specific interests of this region in mind too. Sometimes, they don't always line up exactly the same." He notes that Eastern Ontario is a very politically active area. "When people here see something that isn't right, they get active to get it corrected," he observes. "They see what happens in Quebec and how farmers there get their way by working together and making their case known. So, around here people don't sit on their hands when they think something needs to be done differently."

"I graduated from the Advance Agricultural Leadership Program and I find that experience really helps me think things through. It has helped me see the role of a leader as that of encouraging people to do the right things themselves. It has also provided valuable training in how to lead a meeting and how to interact with politicians. I have learned that it's best to start slow and build your case - it's usually not the best idea to hit them with your biggest hammer right off the bat."

"Safety nets are a key issue for those who participate in OCPA in this region. They look at the programs in Quebec and think that they would work well in Ontario. I see OCPA as trying to move things that way but it's a hard sell. Money is tight, so it will be hard to attain. We are looking at a different program which has some chance of being obtained and would get us at least some of the benefits that they get in Quebec."

"Personally, I think OCPA has a very important role to play with respect to marketing. We have to learn to work with processors to get a better deal for farmers. It's far better to get higher returns from the market, rather than to go to the government for more money. We need to find ways to grow the market for Ontario corn and keep the demand up because there's a real lack of competition in the market in Eastern Ontario. We have a surplus of corn here this year and the basis is the lowest it has been for years. People are really talking about it. There's even corn standing in the field yet because there's no market for it right now and no place to store it."

"I'd also like to see the major crop commodity groups work together more, and the smaller ones too, if they want to come along. If corn, soybeans and wheat could work together, it would be a great start, and a great help to all producers. That concept has strong support in this Region. It's partly for economics - for the savings in overhead that would come from working together. But the real advantage would be more political clout. We all need to be talking the same line. That's what they do in Quebec and it's very effective for them. Because they speak with one united voice, their politicians know exactly what the farmers want and where they're coming from. We need that here. In the meantime, we will continue to do the best job we can with what we've got to keep the organization moving ahead for the betterment of farmers."