Don Frew has been a farmer all his life. Born and raised on a farm in Norwich, near Woodstock, he gained a variety of farming experiences on his father’s farm and at the same time helped on farms of his friends and neighbours during his youth.
As one of eight children, raised during the depression, he learned to work hard to help with family responsibilities.
Don met Norma Burrage at a dancehall in Burford in 1944. He recalled, with a smile, how he had to sell his 1936 Oldsmobile convertible to buy her an engagement ring. They were married a year later.
The young couple spent the first year of their married life living with Don’s parents while he worked on the farm. By then his father had ventured into tobacco. Don and Norma both worked in the tobacco fields during that first year of marriage.
Norma and Don Frew live in a comfortable new home near
one of their farms just north of Nestleton.
It was also at this time that Don started to buy and sell cattle. “Wheeling and dealing,” he says. In 1950 Don’s father decided to sell the farm. This meant that Don and Norma had to truly venture out on their own. They sold their cattle and moved to Alliston where he successfully managed a tobacco farm.
The experience he had learned gave him the confidence to buy a 100 acre tobacco farm of his own at nearby Scotland in Brant County in 1953. By now the Frews had three children and when two were enrolled at the nearby Zion school, Don was asked to serve on the local school board. This marked his first venture into local politics.
Hard work on the farm, working at other jobs during the “down times” as well as his “wheeling and dealing” paid off. He was able to add to his holdings by buying a neighbouring farm.
In 1958 he heard of a farm with a tobacco quota for sale in Cartwright Township near Lake Scugog but he had no idea where the lake was located. With his curiosity piqued, he and his brother Bill set out to look at the farm. They were so impressed with the quality of the tobacco that they quickly arranged to borrow the money and in partnership bought the property.
Since Don and Norma still operated the Scotland farm they placed a manager at the Cartwright farm. After a succession of unsuccessful managers, Don suggested to Norma that they place their Scotland farm under a manager and move to Cartwright. Norma was most reluctant to move again, but, as Don says, “I talked her into trying it for a year, and now look at us, we never left.”
Their move to Cartwright proved to be a happy one. By then four of the Frew children were ready to enrol in school at Blackstock. “George Bowers used to pick up the kids at the end of the driveway,” Norma reminisced.
At the end of a successful year Don bought out his brother’s share of the farm and then sold his farm in Brant County. Don and Norma settled comfortably into their life in Cartwright expanding their land holdings until today along with their sons, they own 18 farms with more than 3,000 acres.
By the late 1970s it was obvious that the demand for tobacco was rapidly diminishing so they quickly disposed of their tobacco quotas and moved into raising hogs and in buying and selling grain.
Don, his sons David and Al, and his grandsons have more than 4,000 hogs and tend to 3,000 acres in corn and 50 acres of beans. Don and Norma’s daughters live locally; Valerie works at the Lindsay Post newspaper, Virginia owns the Marlin Travel office in Port Perry and Nancy has been a nurse at Port Perry hospital for over 30 years.
When asked about the future of farming in Ontario, Don became quite agitated. “There is no government strategy for agriculture,” he said. He explained, saying that, “Since 1980, the price paid to farmers for their produce has remained the same for the past 25 years while the cost of machinery, fertilizers and fuel has risen dramatically. That leaves us with an ever decreasing margin,” he said.
Don’s son David joined in the discussion, saying “All the foreign countries, particularly the countries that supply us with so much of our imports; the U.S., China and Brazil, all the agriculture in these countries is very heavily subsidized.”
As Don thought about the changes in farming during his life time, he felt one of the biggest changes to take place has been the cost structure. “Gone are the days of the 100 acre farm comfortably supporting a family,” he said with a trace of sadness. “It’s impossible to get young people into farming. The costs of starting up a farm these days are prohibitive. That combined with heavy taxes, duties and complicated legislation involving farming actually discourages any young person from getting into farming.”
David agreed, saying, “We love farming but the financial incentive has gone. That’s why we desperately need agricultural strategies at all levels of government.”
They are also troubled that while the demand for food is increasing as our population increases, more and more food is being imported and some of the best farmland is being sold and covered with subdivisions.”
Don was involved in local politics, beginning with his time on the local school board in Brant County. After arriving in Cartwright, he served again on the local school board and then as a councillor on the Cartwright Council for four years before the new Region of Durham came into being in 1974. He also served one term on the newly formed Township of Scugog Council.
When asked about his proudest moment on council, without hesitation he responded, “The building and opening of the Nestleton Hall.”
As we moved our conversation to a close, Don said with a smile, “You know what? With only a grade eight education, I am so proud of what I have done in my lifetime.”
He continued saying, ”Norma and I started our married life with almost nothing to our name, but here we are in Nestleton in a lovely home with a happy and tremendously supportive family. But it’s not all luck; it’s hard work, honesty and the drive to get a good bargain.”
At age 85 Don enjoys life and still advises his sons in the buying and selling of hogs. He sometimes even helps out in the loading and unloading of the animals as they are shipped weekly to Peterborough.
Now that’s a lifetime of hard work.
By Paul Arculus
Focus on Scugog
