LINDSAY — Crop farmer and seed dealer Joe Hickson is mobilizing his own grassroots revolution. "What we’re trying to do overnight hasn’t been done in 30 years," he says.

Since he began organizing meetings to see if farmers are ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and speak with one unified voice, his phone at Midnight Acres has been ringing all day long, every day. He got a call from Minister of Agriculture Steve Peters Feb. 4 asking if farmers would actually march on Queen’s Park.

"Damn right we would," Hickson said he replied.

One-third of the calls Hickson gets are from frustrated farmers wanting to vent, one-third are farmers with "poor me" attitudes and one-third are concerned farmers with constructive ideas, he said. "They’re ready to mobilize. We’re starting with more momentum than what we finished up with in 2001."

Tractor rallies across eastern and east central Ontario four years ago fizzled out as all the work was left to a handful of grassroots leaders. "The phone would ring at 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. and guys would tell you to do this and that. And they wouldn’t leave the farm. I don’t have time for those guys."

Four years ago the grassroots revolution ended with 1,500 mobilized farmers, east of Highway 400, but that wasn’t enough to change government minds, Hickson said, adding that this year, there are 7,500 farmers across the province ready to mobilize as the movement leaves the starting gate.

He got more than 20 farm groups to gather in Guelph Feb. 3 to form a committee to unify farmers. Farm groups have until Feb. 11 to decide if they want in. The committee will report to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the first step will mean putting the biggest issues on the table. The philosophy that will bind the group is that no farm group will accept support from government until all groups get what they want, he said. Not surprisingly, the new "one voice" committee has a place for two grassroots farmers: Joe Hickson and Moose Creek dynamo Alain Leduc.

The farm groups appear united because everyone has an issue. Although beef farmers have received most of the public attention due to the closed U.S. border to Canadian cattle, corn producers are dipping into their equity – some for the fourth straight year – just to cover the cost of production, Hickson said. Even the stable dairy industry feels the pain. Many who relied on selling replacement heifers across the border to top up their household income have watched thousands of dollars in revenue vanish like a thief in the night.

The good news is grassroot farmers are viewing reality from a different angle now, Hickson noted, adding that more and more they realize they can’t outfarm the U.S. farm bill and its massive treasury. They see that "We’ve got to stand together. We can’t farm our way out of this one."

Farmers can’t rely on 26 or more farm boards to be their voice, he said. They need one voice to force the government’s hand in support of the farming industry. "To be fair to the boards, the corn producers, CFFO and OFA, they had no support from the back roads ( in 2001)." He added that the simplest way to get one farm voice is for the boards to put their support behind the OFA. At 40,000 members, "they are the largest organization, they have the biggest staff and the deepest pockets."

But they must be willing to shut down traffic in Toronto and lead 5,000 demonstrators to Queen’s Park to make anything happen, he said. "(Critics argue) you’ll lose the support you’ve got. But if we had public support we wouldn’t be in the shape we are in."

One of the biggest question marks is whether or not western Ontario farmers are willing to get off their butts. "I wish someone would tell me" what’s wrong with them, Hickson said, adding his own theory that they’re too complacent because there’s been a lot of money pouring into western Ontario as European farmers move to Canada and spend big bucks to start farming.