HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-02-16, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012. PAGE 15.
At a time of the year when people
are usually complaining about snow
removal issues, Morris-Turnberry
Council is already dealing with
complaints about dust.
The Feb. 7 council meeting began
with Owen Curtis presenting a
petition from more than 20 residents
along Salem Road, in Turnberry
Ward, calling for council to
complete the tar-and-chip paving of
the road that had been promised by
the previous council.
“The road at the moment is
dangerous with fine gravel, mud ruts
(no stones) and potholes which
grading and calcium doesn’t seem to
help – admittedly it’s winter,” Curtis
said. “So now we have a problem not
only in the summer but in winter
too.”
Curtis said it’s a busy road with
feed trucks, milk trucks, livestock
trucks and several sawmills in the
area, as well as many people using it
to get from the Howick-Minto
Townline to the B-Line in
Wingham.
As an asthma suffer, the dusty air
is dangerous to his health, Curtis
said.
Mayor Paul Gowing said council’s
job is to decide on priorities for its
limited budget. There are a couple of
expensive bridge repair projects that
need to be carried out, he said. (Gary
Pipe, director of public works, later
estimated the cost of repairs on
bridges on Jamestown and
Browntown Roads at $200,000
each.)
Pipe admitted there are problems
with dust control on Salem.
Reconstruction of the road meant
that some of the residual effect of
application of calcium had been lost,
he said. Calcium builds up over
years of use, he said.
Later in the meeting council
decided to wait until after
budget deliberations before replying
to the petitioners about what
could be done to reduce their
concerns.
In his road report, Pipe elaborated
on the problems caused by this
unusually warm winter. “I’ve never
seen a winter like this in 23 years [of
working on roads] and I never want
to see another one,” he said.
While there had been savings in
snow removal costs the five or six
freeze and thaw cycles had caused
lots of problems.
The previous week his crews
had been busy grading and
gravelling but with the 6º Celcius
weather, and heavy loads on the
roads, there had been a lot of
damage.
“The roads are bad everywhere,”
he said, saying crews are putting up
signs to at least warn drivers there
are rough roads.
“We ask a heck of a lot more of
our roads than we did just a few
years ago,” agreed Gowing.
Total receipts for Brussels
Livestock for the week ending Feb.
10 were 1,908 cattle, 283 lambs and
goats.
On Tuesday fed steers and heifers
sold steady. Choice steers and
heifers sold $121 to $124. Second
cut sold $117 to $120. Cows sold
steady. On Thursday veal sold on a
good active trade with strong
bidding. Beef calves sold steady
while holstein veal sold $1 to $2
lower. Heavy lambs sold barely
steady and light lambs sold on a
strong active market. Sheep sold
slightly lower and goats sold steady
to last week’s prices. On Friday
calves and yearlings sold on a steady
trade.
There were 76 steers on offer.
Francis Riley of Walkerton,
consigned 10 steers averaging 1,465
lbs. selling for an average of $121.71
with five black steers averaging
1,422 lbs. selling to St. Helen’s Meat
Packers for $124. John Wiersma of
Blyth, consigned six steers averaging
1,498 lbs. selling for an average of
$122.03 with one red steer weighing
1,255 lbs. selling for $124. Southlore
Farms of Palmerston, consigned six
steers averaging 1,453 lbs. selling
for an average of $119.57 with three
hereford steers averaging 1,390 lbs.
selling to St. Helen’s Meat Packers
for $122.50. Loomis Farms of Ailsa
Craig, consigned 20 steers averaging
1,468 lbs. selling for an average of
$121.26 with seven charolais steers
averaging 1,394 lbs. selling for
$121.75.
There were 81 heifers on offer.
Mark and Elaine Fischer of Ayton,
consigned five heifers averaging
1,400 lbs. selling for an average of
$120.62 with one limousin heifer
weighing 1,380 lbs. selling for
$123.50. Andy VanderVeen of Blyth,
consigned six heifers averaging
1,338 lbs. selling for an average of
$122.44 with one charolais heifer
weighing 1,365 lbs. selling to St.
Helen’s Meat Packers for $123.50.
Dennis and Mary Lou Bross of
Listowel, consigned three heifers
averaging 1,405 lbs. selling for an
average of $114.35 with one black
heifer weighing 1,355 lbs. selling to
St. Helen’s Meat Packers for $123.
E. Bruce Robinson of Freelton,
consigned 11 heifers averaging
1,374 lbs. selling for an average of
$116.26 with one red heifer
weighing 1,420 lbs. selling to St.
Helen’s Meat Packers for $122.50.
Murray Connell of Palmerston,
consigned three heifers averaging
1,503 lbs. selling for an average of
$114.34 with one charolais heifer
weighing 1,435 lbs. selling to St.
Helen’s Meat Packers for
$121.50.
There were 373 cows on offer.
Export types sold $68.50 to $78 with
sales to $88; beef cows $71 to $86
with sales to $93.50; D1 and D2, $57
to $62; D3, $52 to $57; D4, $37 to
$47. Magwood Family Farms of
Hanover, consigned three cows
averaging 1,307 lbs. selling for an
average of $74.60 with one holstein
cow weighing 1,440 lbs. selling for
$88. Barry Johnston of Holyrood,
consigned five cows averaging 1,459
lbs. selling for an average $76.39
with one black cow weighing 1,475
lbs. selling for $87.50. Gordon
Sinclair of Kemble, consigned six
cows averaging 1,565 lbs. selling for
an average of $76.95 with one
charolais cow weighing 1,355 lbs.
selling for $86.50.
There were 13 bulls selling $78 to
$84 with sales to $95.50. Charles
Ostendorff of Elmwood, consigned
one red bull weighing 1,650 lbs.
selling for $93.50. Dean Becker of
Ayton, consigned one limousin bull
weighing 2,360 lbs. selling for
$86.50.
There were 185 head of veal on
offer. Beef sold $135 to $170 with
sales to $172.50; good holstein, $120
to $130 with sales to $133; medium
holstein, $100 to $120; plain
holstein, $75 to $90; heavy holstein,
$110 to $122 with sales to $125.
Lamar Frey of Listowel, consigned
10 veal averaging 720 lbs. selling for
an average of $151.92 with one
limousin steer weighing 730 lbs.
selling for $172.50. Mike Durnin of
Auburn, consigned 17 veal
averaging 688 lbs. selling for an
average of $144.79 with one
limousin steer weighing 690 lbs.
selling for $150. Dan Shetler of
Auburn, consigned three veal
averaging 805 lbs. selling for an
average of $160.26 with two black
heifers averaging 800 lbs. selling for
$166.50.
Lambs, 50 - 64 lbs. sold $235 to
$260; 65 - 79 lbs., $228 to $241; 80
- 94 lbs., $203 to $209; 95 - 109 lbs.,
$201 to $210; 110 lbs. and over,
$193 to $206.
Sheep sold $64 to $103 with sales
to $147.
Goats: kids sold $75 to $125 to
$145 per head; nannies, $50 to $90
to $110 per head; billies, $150 to
$300 per head.
Top quality stocker steers under
400 lbs. sold $137 to $200; 400 - 499
lbs., $150 to $207; 500 - 599 lbs.,
$160 to $188; 600 - 699 lbs., $145 to
$176; 700 - 799 lbs., $143 to $163;
800 - 899 lbs., $123 to $156.50; 900
- 999 lbs., $137 to $147.50; 1,000
lbs. and over, $127 to $137.
Top quality stocker heifers under
300 lbs. sold $150 to $223; 300 - 399
lbs., $150 to $187; 400 - 499 lbs.,
$152 to $183; 500 - 599 lbs., $140 to
$164; 600 - 699 lbs., $142.50 to
$157; 700 - 799 lbs., $137.50 to
$149.50; 800 - 899 lbs., $133 to
$151.50; 900 lbs. and over, $125 to
$138.
While Crop Specialist Brian Hall
from the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
believes that the warm weather
hasn’t been overly damaging to
crops yet, he says that the worst
could be yet to come.
For both syrup crops and winter
field-crops March will be the
determining month, weather-wise,
for producers.
“Basically March will make or
break winter wheat,” Hall said.
“Syrup producers are more
concerned with the temperature
swing from the day to the night.
They want cold nights and warm
days for good sap flow, but they do
need some cold weather before
syrup season.”
If the syrup industry is hurt by
unseasonable weather it will be the
second year in a row they’ve faced
reduced yields after having a banner
harvest two years ago.
“There is some concern with
breaking dormancy on winter
crops,” he said. “Until March it isn’t
a huge concern.”
The big worry, according to Hall,
is that plants, as well as trees, will
bud early and be weakened or killed
by an early frost.
This is a concern with winter
wheat and fruit trees and can affect
any flowering plant.
“Really the safest thing is alfalfa,
it will stay fairly dormant,” he said.
While the cold is a concern for
plants and crops it can also cause
concerns as far as insects are
concerned.
“A milder winter will normally
give them a better chance to
survive,” he said. “But with the cold
temperatures we’ve been having and
a lack of snow it could hurt them as
well. The snow usually insulates the
ground where they stay throughout
the season.”
The most recent analog for this
year’s weather was in 1987 and 1988
according to Hall.
“It was milder, and it wasn’t
great,” he said, adding that local
farmers faced a drought. “It didn’t
have much of an effect though. The
preceeding season is never an
indicator of how the next season will
be and that is especially true of
winter.”
The warmer weather has been
caused by La Niña, an oscillating
weather event tied to El Niño that
causes warmer and drier seasons
during and immediately preceeding
its appearance.
La Niña events are times of at least
five months when conditions that are
attached to the weather system are
present. These conditions are the
opposite that occur with El Niño.
For example, North America
experiences mild, wet weather under
La Niña while seeing drought and
dry weather during El Niño
cycles.
After presentations from Gerry
Ryan, co-founder of Huron East
Against Turbines (HEAT) and
Dennis Mueller regarding a
transmission line running through
Cranbrook, conflicts of interest were
questioned by Huron East Council.
At the Feb. 7 meeting of Huron
East Council Mayor Bernie
MacLellan and Councillor David
Blaney excused themselves from
discussion due to conflicts of
interest. However, Councillor Larry
McGrath felt he deserved an
explanation as to why council
should be left “disadvantaged”
during such discussions.
MacLellan, who owns Jamco
Trailers out of Brucefield, has also
become involved with small scale
wind turbines, he said. His
reasoning, after consulting with
municipal staff, as well as legal
counsel, was that if the bottom were
to ever fall out of the industrial wind
turbine business, the natural step
would be to small scale turbines,
which is why MacLellan has
refrained from discussion.
Blaney said he has “a financial
interest in whether turbines do or
don’t get promoted” which is why
he has abstained from discussion on
the matter as well.
McGrath was satisfied with both
clarifications and said he simply
wanted to know why the conflicts
were being declared on such a
central issue to Huron East.
Warm winter weather affecting M-T roads
Crops yet to be hindered by warm weather
Mayor clarifies wind turbine conflict TUESDAYS
9:00 a.m.
Fed Cattle, Bulls & Cows
THURSDAYS
8:00 a.m.Drop Calves
10:00 a.m.Veal
11:30 a.m. Pigs, Lambs, Goats & Sheep
FRIDAYS
10:00 a.m. Stockers
Call us 519-887-6461
Visit our webpage at:
www.brusselslivestock.ca
email us at:
info@brusselslivestock.ca
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UPCOMING SALES
AgricultureBrussels Livestock report
Fed steers, heifers sell steady at sale
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
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The Citizen
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