Local part-time writer Joyce Beauchamp has recently published a volume of stories on 30 local farmers, titled “Building a Local Farming Community – One Story at a Time.” Each of the 30 farmers is the subject of a chapter in the book, complete with photos. “When all 30 stories are read together, they give the reader a fairly clear idea of how the local farming community was built,” hence the title, Beauchamp describes.
She relates that “Many of the farmers dug deep into their family history, beginning with how their great grandparents in Québec realized there was very little land remaining for their children to farm. News of cheap land in West Nipissing had reached their ears from people working on the railway. Often their local priest recommended heading for this area because it was French-speaking and Roman Catholic. One by one, families bought parcels of land, cleared them and began farming. For example, Gérald Beaudry, one of the contributing farmers, describes in his story how Joseph Beaudry bought four parcels for himself and his family and started farming in 1895.”
Beauchamp tells The Tribune, “Meanwhile, as Dan Olivier describes in his chapter, the mines in Sudbury recruited more and more miners. They and their families needed milk to drink, plus cream, butter and cheese to eat. When it was transported from the south, it either froze in the winter or went sour in the summer. Where better to source milk than nearby West Nipissing? Farmers in Field, Lavigne, Cache Bay, Sturgeon Falls and Verner therefore produced thousands of gallons of milk, shipping most to Sudbury and some to Verner for cream.”
The 30 farmers interviewed range in age from 67 (Normand Delorme) to 97 (Fernand Levac). Gérald Aubin was 96 years of age when Beauchamp interviewed him. “His was another great story, with good photos to match,” she says. “He describes in his story how he started farming after completing Grade 7 in Field. His grandfather gifted him a farm on Highway 539 between Field and River Valley. Full of youthful strength, he worked the land with a team of draft horses, plowing fields and planting oats and potatoes. His wife, Mireille, grew a large garden and cared for 10 children. He cut wood to build barns and feed the wood stove. With the money from milk, cream and potato sales, he bought more land to produce hay. They had more than enough to feed their 10 kids and adds, ‘I had seven boys and it kept them all out of trouble,’” relates Beauchamp.
Another interesting story is that of Janet and John Parsons. Beauchamp states, “they start their story with how it was John, who had not grown up farming, who suggested to farm girl phys-ed teacher Janet one day, ‘let’s buy a farm.’ They searched across Canada, coast to coast, until they found a farm on Gauthier Road that checked all the boxes. John and Janet threw all their youthful enthusiasm into dairy farming. Janet preferred it to teaching phys-ed and, while John got himself certified as a professional farm accountant, she lobbied to bring West Nipissing farmers many benefits such as 50% off the cost of tile-draining land. Her philosophy was ‘if you raise all the boats, you will raise your own boat with them,’” Beauchamp relates.
Other stories include that of Roger Leblanc, who recounts how his father farmed while blind. Jean-Guy Seguin recalls how, as a boy, he overheard conversations at the kitchen table about a new quota system that would revolutionize milk production. Reg Beaudry tells how he became one of the district’s two AI (Artificial Insemination) reps for United Breeders. Normand Roberge explains how his parents farmed – always with an eye on what would sell – butter in wartime, tomatoes and chickens for Sudbury’s Italian community. Cyrille Grenier describes how he persuaded his new bride, Estelle, to take up farming and how she came to be the “sweet corn queen” on Quesnel Road. Rhéal Brouillette tells the story of how he came to raise red deer. Normand Delorme describes how he is now farming in the digital revolution where, for example, his combine self-drives using GPS.
