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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Two wise writers who will be missed

By: Laura Rance

4/07/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Two important voices in agricultural journalism have been silenced, with the recent deaths of Glen Nicoll and Paul Beingessner.

Although these two individuals lived in different provinces and wrote about different things, they each brought a uniquely valuable perspective to the newspaper pages on which they appeared. In a world in which raw information is increasingly substituted for understanding, their contributions increased producers' knowledge of issues fundamental to their futures.

Nicoll, who would have turned 54 this summer, died June 29 after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He covered cattle auction markets for the Manitoba Co-operator and earlier, the Farmer's Independent Weekly.

A cattle producer, Nicoll logged hundreds of kilometres a week travelling to auctions to provide a knowledgeable, first-hand account of how the bids correlated with the quality and type of cattle moving through the ring. He also addressed changing market trends, both short- and longer-term.

It was a far cry from reports that told producers how many cattle were sold and the average prices.

Nicoll's reports went something like this: "Some white-faces in both red and black were sold at $1.25 for the 357-pounders ($446), the 395-lb. Angus-Tarentaise traded at $1.20 ($474) the 445-lb. Chars stayed at $1.13 ($503) and a 425-lb. smokey-Simm sporting a rat tail remained at 95 cents ($404). Light heifers managed to put the $1.20 line behind them on 85 per cent, but it wasn't the biggest drafts. The 433-lb. Char-Simm-Red Angus had what it took to get $1.27 ($549). The 491-lb. Red Angus-Xs sold for $1.17 ($575) and the 473-lb. Char-Tarentaise stopped at $1.12 ($530). Looking a little susceptible to viruses, the 350-lb. smokey-Simm stalled at 96 cents ($336)."

Such 'cattle-speak' wouldn't wow the judges in writing competitions, and it made his editors' eyes roll, but it was information producers were happy to have. Knowing the prices at which various breeds, types and conditions sold provided a reference point for assessing their herds.

In addition to covering the markets, Nicoll wrote stories, raised and marketed grass-fed beef, operated a bed and breakfast, volunteered for the fire department and drove a school bus. He also photographed rural Manitoba -- again with a fresh perspective.

If he had an opinion on a rural or farming issue, and it's rare that he did not, it was based on first-hand experience and observations -- something often lacking in journalism.

Beingessner, who wrote a widely circulated column from his farm near Truax, Sask., died after becoming entangled in haying machinery June 25. He was 55.

Raised as a farmer and trained as a psychologist, Beingessner's perspective was rooted in a passion for community and land. The weekly column covering farming and transportation issues he filed since 1991 had a focus on social justice. A former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool delegate and one of the founders of Saskatchewan's first short-line railway, Southern Rails Co-operative, Beingessner was well-regarded as someone who advocated for policies that favour farmers.

He was labelled "leftist" by some, usually those who disagreed with his views favouring retaining the Canadian Wheat Board as a single-desk marketing agency. It was an odd designation, given his track record in grassroots capitalism.

But farm politics is a funny business. Those who look for ways for farmers to work together to achieve market power are considered left-leaning or socialist. However, co-operatives decentralize and democratize power. The socialist model, a top-down approach in which the real power is consolidated in the hands of a few, tends to be the purview of the corporate sector.

But whether he was left, right, wrong or somewhere in between, Beingessner challenged conventional thinking in an articulate, insightful and often witty way.

Production agriculture has become a business of specialists. The danger of being too focused on one aspect of the industry, however, is that people lose sight of the bigger picture.

Whether you agreed with them or not, columnists Nicoll and Beingessner were among a declining number of industry commentators whose credibility was based in a first-hand knowledge of their business.

Their perspective will be sorely missed.

Laura Rance is editor of the Manitoba Co-operator. She can be reached at 792-4382 or by email: laura@fbcpublishing.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 4, 2009 B8

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