40 YEARS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE

by David Morris

Gerry Wallis

Gerry Wallis, OCPA Director for Region 9 (Perth County), describes his farm as "pretty small as corn farms go today". Gerry, and his wife, Barbara, farm 300 acres divided more or less evenly among corn, soybeans and winter wheat. "Our farm may be small," he says, "but it's the only job I have -except for all of the other things I do".

All of those "other things" amount to quite a lot. Gerry is active in both local politics and several farm organizations. "Besides the Corn Producers', I've been on the board of OFA at the provincial level and on Township Council and County Council. Together they take a significant bite out of my time - at least 3 or 4 days a month - and that can really interfere with the farm work. This is pretty much a one-man operation so there is only one machine running at a time around here and not much happens when I'm away."

Gerry has had a life-long commitment to both municipal politics and to the work of farm organizations. He has served on Township Council for 15 years and most recently, has been one of Perth South Township's representatives to Perth County Council, by virtue of having been elected Deputy Reeve by his fellow councilors. At the time of writing, he was busily campaigning for re-election as Councilor.

"I've been involved in farm organization politics for about 40 years," says Gerry. "I was township director to the Perth County Cattlemen's Association for over 20 years and served as Secretary for 6 years. When I got out of cattle, I became active in OCPA." He was a delegate for one year and then was elected as a Director in 1986. Since then he has served continuously as Director for Region 9 for all but one year.

Within OCPA, Gerry has had several roles. He has chaired the Communication Committee and the Grain Trade and Marketing Committee. He is currently a member of the Safety Net Policy Committee, the group which focuses on issues related to the Agricultural Policy Framework, Market Revenue Insurance, Crop Insurance and trade injury compensation.

Gerry also served as OCPAs representative to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for almost 10 years. Through this connection, he became a member of the Nutrient Management Working Group of the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition (OFEC). This working group had the challenge of developing a position which all of the member organizations in OFEC could endorse regarding the government's proposals for the Nutrient Management Act and associated regulations. "Being part of that working group was interesting," he comments. "We got to see what was coming at least a year before it was announced. It was also challenging. Because of my experience in municipal government, my perspectives on some things were quite different from those of some other committee members. Some seemed to want to pretend that agriculture never did anything wrong environmentally, but I knew that wasn't the case."

When asked what he sees as OCPAs major accomplishments over his time on the Board, Wallis first mentions the financial support that the association has been able to get for grain growers from both the federal and provincial governments. He also highlights the growth in industrial uses of corn in Ontario through products such as ethanol and corn sweeteners. On a personal note, he points to the success of the Ontario Corn Producer magazine, which he helped launch by being part of the team that negotiated the first contract with a printing company to publish it. In more general terms, he is pleased at the way that OCPA has been able to work with government and businesses, on an industry-wide basis, for the benefit of corn growers.

As for the future, Gerry believes that the emphasis on developing more industrial users for corn must continue. "We've got to get more corn being used for things other than feed. The price difference between feed and industrial markets isn't big, but it all helps." He is also concerned about the effect that the continuing trend to fewer and bigger farms is having on farm organizations. With fewer farmers available to give leadership to farm or rural organizations, Gerry believes they have to find ways through which they can make more effective use of their collective resources. He also hopes that the on-going conversations among the OCPA, the Wheat Producers and the Soybean Growers lead to an agreement through which they can better share resources.

The Kirkton-Woodham Farmers' Club, of which Gerry is a long-standing member of, is a local example of that kind of cooperation. As the operator of a small farm, he has to use every competitive edge that he can. He finds his involvement in this buying club to be especially valuable in that regard. The club has a membership of over 200 farmers who join together to buy fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and seed in volume. "It's a multi-million dollar operation," Gerry notes, "big enough to be able to negotiate with any of the big farm supply chains and get the same deals, or better, as any of the big farmers in the area. We share equally in the volume discounts. They come to the club and every member gets the same percentage rebate on their purchases. I really like the simplicity of it from my end. Our manager makes the deals with the suppliers, sorts out the accounts and sends me my bill, so I have only one cheque to write." Lest anyone think that this is a new concept, Gerry points out that the Kirkton-Woodham Farmers' Club was formed over 80 years ago and that in its early days, the big items were coal and binder twine.