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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1976-10-07, Page 12xpositor -0 Fredrick Seed Wheat is now Now Available Ask Us For Prices Mcike The foir.riie.rs. flevOtor Work For • y.0 0i. YOU CAN BE ASSURED OF * Fair prices Honest weights Reliable grading * Patronage return on profits * Courteous service Ontario Bean Growers Co-Operative plant at Sealorth WHITE BEAN GROWERS ONTARIO BEAN GROWERS CONOPERATIVE lorr Two Locations LONDON SEAFORTH 345-2007 "Service and a fair deal is our motto" economic and the province should work out how much it is prepared to spend. on 'storage of domestic oil to ensure supply; (d) the report calls for' •a national research committee on energy to concentrate on developing new -.- sources of energy supplies. This was suggested• by Liberal Leader Stuart Smith" in May. Setting the stage for the annual Federal-Provincial debate on energy (oil and gas) prices,, the federal government on April 27th released a long-awaited energy policy paper. The major items of this paper were as follows. Oil and gas prices must rise to reach world prices in order to stimulate exploration; Canada must work toward self-reliance defined as reducing, dependence on foreign , sources. Th is is a change from the 1973 policy of working toward self-sufficiency. A new geological -survey has drastically eat estimates of oil and gas reserves. On May 3rd there was a special debate in the Ontario Legislature to consider Ontario's proposal for alt alternate method of pricing dertieitic crude oil. The debate did' not lead to a yote. The Liberal Party's position was that the pricing; proposal of Energy Minister 'Dennis rimbrell • aitgl the `Ontario Government was iriegbOntible and misleading, It ensure adequate energy supply; tailed to recognize that Canadian nil supplies will ' probably be depleted., yilithin decade,,at which time consumers 411'4'1. itidnStriets. Vali; • taire - no , alternative hnt te world'prices% • -.fdir ,and ignored the ' urgent . elicOfirkgq. energy 'conserViitiOti, develop ironeWahld 131-QjOBS. CALL FOR BIG EQUIPMENT From tap to bottom and front to back, 8430 and 8630 4-Wheel-Drive Tractors are all John Deere. They're farm tractors. They are designed, built, and warranted for use by farmers, not truckers. JOHN DEERE DESIGNED? Everywhere you look, you'll find farm features. Differences that translate into more acres per day. Some exampleV How about: Quad-Ange tMtransmission with built-in Hi-to that can be' shifted on the go; Perma-Clutchtm the virtually lifetime wet clutch; unique variable-ratio power steer- ing; exclusive Sound-Gard '1' body; exclusive rack-and- pinion wheel tread adjustment; 1,000-rpm indepen- dent PTO; Load-and-Depth Control draft-sensing hitch; and Rosy daily servicing, just to name a few. JOHN DEERE BUILT? Every part, subassembly, assembly; and majors4omponent is John Deere. They're cut, machined, formed, welded and assembled to work together. In short, these tractors are built from scratch to be farmers' machines. They don't become agricultural tractors just in final assembly, these Are Not Component Unit 4 Wheel Drives But 100% INTEREST FREE TO MARCH 1 , 1 97Y is will pay you to see "the Equipment People" for "Interest Free " oh all new"and used tractors to March 1, 1971. '1 HURON EXETER 519-235-1115 TRACTOR LTD. 3LYTH 519-523-4244 Latter* are aporepstod by sots Trotter, Eldale Rd Corn storage facilities weded _ HUGE CROWD AT . TENTED CITY — Record,, attendance was the ' order- at the International Plowing Match near Walkerton last week as huge Jack's Jottings Cost of petroleum products causes. concern rose by 15.5c per 1,000 cu. ft. July 1 and will increase by 10c to $1.50 per cubic ft. January 1. Of the oil price increase of $1.75 per barrel, the producing provinces will receive $1.00, Ottawa 50c and the oil companies 25c. The final report of the' Royal Commission on Perroletutt Products Pricing was released on the 19th August' Its major•- concluitons were: (a) Ontario,10., a major user of energy should use its influence to achieve 'a national oil policy; (b) the: national framework for production of crude oil is unsatisfactory - "some problems are traceable to the familiar inconsistencies of objeCtives among the Canadian governments (provinces) and the consequent lack of measures they adopt"; (c) the report suggests' Ontario should make plans to import foreign crude oil in case it becomes necessary or' more We owe it all to the native people of Canada, the Cana- dian Indian. In. 20 short years, grain corn has become this province's biggest farm crop. It was grown by the native people as maize but hybrid varieties have been developed so quickly that the original crop would hardly be recognized. Not too many people except those who grow it have been aware of the tremendous growth of this crop in On- tario.' Between 1956 and 1960, the grain corn crop averaged 28 million bushels a year. Between 1966 and 1970, the aver- age had jumped to 75 million bushels a year and passed the 100-Million bushel mark in the early 19708.; Last year, the crop topped 130 million bushels and this year's yield is expected to be even higher. .Now, that's a good idea, especially when it is a good pro- duct and ready markets are available. But the problem — there are always problems in agriculture — is that the in- dustry has grown so fast in Ontario that there simply isn't enough room to store the crop when it is harvested. Any Canadian who has'-travelled to Western. Canada is aware of the huge .storage elevators spattered across the Prairies. The grain crop is harvested and stored in these elevators until sold by the Wheat Pool and delivered to buyers around the world. I should qualify' that statement: It is delivered when unions decide to accept settlements which will allow the grain to be delivered. Ontario farmers felt they were stuck with a huge sur- plus last spring and laSt fall and sold as much corn as they could r They sold 10.5 million bushels to the U.S. - owned .Cargill Grain Co.. Ltd. who, in turn expoked the corn to Russia and Cuba.' .Ontastio farmers got about $2.35 a bushel for the corn that left this country.. But until the new crop came in this month — it is still being harvested — a corn shortage was evident in Ontario. So Ontario farmers, because they lack- ed storage facilities last fall and this spring, had to buy imported U.S. corn at more than $3 a bushel. Sclunds stupid, doesn't jt? Grow your crop, sell it cheap because you.can't store it properly but buy back the same crop from outside the coun- try fortnore than you got for your own crop. Walter Miller, the outspoken vice-president of the Na- tional Farmers Union, maintains that firms such as Car- gill shouldn't be allowed to Capitalize on the Plight of farm- ers. -Those grain companies are in business to make money and they purposely manipulate prices and markets to max- imize their profits: r Millefigquoted as saying. "Decision-making must be taken out of the corporate boardrooms of another country and put into the public forum," he said. Many will agree although businessmen would simply say that the U.S. - based Cargill company simply smelled a tidy profit and took advantage of the opportunity to make a few million bucks, Who knows whether the grain corn purchased by the firm last fall at $2.35 a bushel is not the very same grain now being bought by the same farmers who .grew it for $3.10 a bushel? . Agriculture Minister Eugene Whelan, I think, is being ignored by the Cabinet. He has consistently supported tax-break proposals for firms willing to build elevators for storage but other portfolios necessary for such a move have not been ready to support him. No one questions the need for storage space. Expensive imports were needed despite the fact that enough Ontario corn had been produced last year to keep up with demand. Some small incentives have been provided by the Cana- dian government such as a 5 per cent tax credit for eleva- tor builders.• But something must be wrong with the incen- tives because space for storing this year's crop — and it'll be a dandy — is still not available and no one is building any. exploration, then surely government should not force consumers to lepto. On May 6th, the provinces took their customary positions, with the producing provinces demanding a $2 per barrel increase and Ontario leading the opposition to price hikes and pushing their "blended" oil price proposal. The Federal-Provincial meeting, however, came to no agreement on oil and gas prices. Federal Energy , Mines and Resources Minister Allastair GilleSpie announced on May 18th that new Canadian oil prices with the agreement of the producing provinces would be: for gasoline $1.75 per barrel more by March, 1977 - $9.05 a barrel on July 1 itnd $9.75 a barrel on January 1, although these price increases were not to cothe into effect for 60 days; for natural gas, the price crowds came out in the bright summer-like weather. ad manager Dave Robb was there and got this view of the tented city. (Staff Photo) [By Jack Riddell, M.P.P.) For many years, the people of Ontario have been fortunate enough to, have plentiful supplies of hydro power, fitel oil and gasoline, and natural gas, at 'fairly reasonable prices. Recently, howeVer, we have come • to realize that this situation is Changing. I would like to reMittrit you of a few of the clevelOptitents over the past three years. . In in 1973 the price of oil in Canada was about $3.80 a barrel, and the OPEC countries quadrupled the world price. At the Federal-Provincial Energy Conference in March 1974. the price of crude, oil was increased 71%from $3.80 to $6.50 a barrel. On July 1st, 1975, the domestic •Canadian price for crude oil increased a further 23%' to $8.00, and Ottawa imposed a 45 day price freeze to give oil refiners time to work their inventories of tower-cost crude through the marketing systems, preventing inventory profits. The Ontario Government, during an election period, extended the freeze 88 days and then 134 days. A Royal Commission on Petroleum Products Pricing was, established and Commissioner Claude Isbister was appointed to study the realtionship betWeen price increases and the interests of the Ontario public. On April 7th this year, Prgvncial Energy Minister Dennis Timbrell called, for a so-called , blended price for oil, which would average out the cost of new oil (which "would rise to world prices), the cost of "old" oil (held at $8 a barrel) and the cost of imported oil. energy sources and prepare our industry and consumers for the advent of world oil prices. We felt that producing provinces' oil revenues should not be further increased,, and that despite Mr. Timbrell's claim that "the needs •of the oil producing provjnces must be recognized .", we are unwilling, to pay: -these The oil industry's claim for a larger return in order' to finance exploration is weak, in our opinion. We agree with Mr. Timbrell that the oil industry should be guaranteed a higher price for new oil discoveries in order to motivate exploration., However, the cash flow requirements to finance exploration should be met in the 'traditional , manner. If' private investors are unwilling to assume the risks of further oil Notice We are now receiving corn for , drying and storage for your winter needs. if you wish to cash your corn, we are paying highest prices in this area. DUBLIN FEED MILL 345-2330