Opportunity Knocks?

Jeff Green | Feb 22, 2017

It’s safe to say that a company of the size and wealth of Feihe International has never expressed an interest in doing business in Frontenac County before. As we saw from the census just last week population growth in Frontenacs not only lags badly behind the rest of the country, it lags behind the region. We also aging faster than most other places. If we are going to keep schools open, keep a business community afloat, an injection of money and jobs is just the ticket to reverse a worrying downward spiral and rejuvenate the local economy.

On the other hand nothing about the rich history of agriculture in the county has been on an industrial. Factory farming is not envisioned in our Official Plans, strategic plans or stated economic development priorities. In fact it runs counter to the promotion of small-scale food, craft and tourism businesses that have sprung up in recent years. The most powerful constituent group in the county, the up to 20,000 seasonal property owners, pay high taxes not for roads or bridges but for clean water and environmental stewardship.

Participating in a large way in the development of intensive goat farming, which is what Feihe needs, will require not only an entrepreneur who is willing to invest and also make an effort to develop local expertise, it will also require a change in the way Frontenac County sees itself.

There was significant resistance to wind turbines in North Frontenac. They are seen as a threat to the pristine wilderness. There is resistance to a 13 home subdivision in Hartington because it may impact the water table. The potential impact  of a goat farm with thousands of animals living in a confined space on neighbouring properties is big. Even in China, where large scale operations are common,  Feihe’s farming practices have had their detractors.

An article published by phys.org this past December, says that in China there has been  “an economic boom and government backing transforming dairy into a $40-billion-a-year industry, shifting production away from small-scale producers towards massive megafarms with up to 10,000 cattle—and a lot more waste.

“‘The smell of the manure... in the summer it's very intense,’ said Ren Xiangjun, a farmer in Gannan county. Pointing at a stream of green water escaping from under a grey brick wall at the giant farm owned by agro-conglomerate Feihe International, he added: ‘You can see how it flows right out of the farm.’”

The article describes manure piled up like a mountain, and quotes villager from Daxing, near on of the Feihe farms: “There are no advantages for us. There is just pollution and noise.”

While the situation would be different in Frontenac County. Farms could be smaller but they would still have to be of a scale that is beyond anything we have ever seen.

Sooner or later a discussion will need to take place in Frontenac County about how this opportunity should be dealt with.

There are those who will say we should stay as far away as possible, and there are others who will want to consider the opportunities this offers for community development, with caution. As a business owner I see opportunities, but as a homeowner I’m not sure I would want to live next to a 10,000 goat operation.

Before Frontenac becomes the “Goat capital of Canada” we need to figure out what that means and whether we can live with the consequences.