The Citizen, 2010-02-25, Page 1Huron farm leaders spoke softly
when they met with their local
politicians Saturday, but their written
briefs made a strong case for better
programs to aid troubled farmers.
At the annual briefing for Huron-
Bruce MP Ben Lobb and Huron-
Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell, who is
also Ontario’s Minister of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs,
groups called on both levels of
government to create a risk
management program for all farm
commodities except those governed
by supply management.
The various presentations repeated
the calls of the Ontario Agriculture
Sustainability Coalition (OASC) for
the provincial government to make
permanent the Business Risk
Management pilot program that it set
up for the grains and oilseeds sector
and to expand it to cover pork, beef,
veal, sheep and fruits and vegetables.
The group calls on the federal
government to provide flexible
funding to the provinces so that
Ontario can use the money to finance
the 60 per cent the federal
government normally pays toward
shared-cost agricultural funding.
The RMP works like an insurance
program with the farmer and
governments each paying into a pool
of funds. When prices drop below
the cost of production, farmers can
draw on those funds to help them
through the down times,
Speaking on behalf of OASC, Joe
Vermunt, Huron-Perth Zone director
to the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture, said Ontario’s local
food supply is threatened unless
governments at both levels commit
to preserve local food production.
The coalition’s plan is based on
the successful RMP for Grains and
Oilseeds.
“Ben,” Vermunt told Lobb, “we
need the federal government to move
on this for farmers not only in this
province, but across the country.
Otherwise, we’re going to see many
farmers across the country go down
the tubes and into bankruptcy.”
No part of farming has been hit
harder by malfunctioning markets
recently as pork production.
Speaking on behalf of the Huron
County Pork Producers Association,
president Rob Versteeg noted that
producers have been losing, on
average, $30 a hog since 2007, even
after revenue from government
programs like AgriStability and
AgriInvest were factored in. Huron
County alone has lost 16 per cent of
its producers since 2008, he said,
with $2.4 million less coming into
the county’s economy because of the
drop in hog production.
Hog farmers haven’t made
money since 2005,Versteeg said, yet
all governments have offered are “ad
hoc, band-aid, short-term solutions”.
Harvey Hoggart, past president of
the Huron County Beef Producers’
Association said the lingering effects
of the 2003 BSE crisis are still
hurting cattle producers with low
prices at the same time as their input
costs for things such as labour,
fertilizer and fuel, have continued to
rise. Current programs like
AgriStability don’t work because
they’re based on a five-year average
and it’s more than five years since
prices were high enough for beef
producers to make money, he said.
Larry Lynn speaking on behalf of
the Grain Farmers of Ontario,
expressed frustration with this issue
of failed government support
programs. “We’ve been talking
about this for a long time,” he said.
“I’d like to be talking about
something else.”
For her part, Mitchell explained
that the provincial RMP pilot project
for grains and oilseeds was a three-
year program and the funding for it
is at an end. No dollars have been
allocated for it going forward,
pending the new budget.
In adopting the BRM proposal
developed by the grains and oilseed
farmers the provincial government
had put its money where its mouth
is, Mitchell said. “We thought we
should lead.”
But the federal government did not
come through with a program that
could provide the 60 per cent
funding in most cost-shared
programs, she said. The province is
trying to draw the attention of the
federal government to the need to
provide flexible funding for the
differing needs of each region.
“We have to have regional
diversity,” Mitchell said. When all
the agriculture ministers are at the
table you really get a sense of the
different agriculture from one part of
the country to another, she said.
“We recognize that the RMP is
what you want,” Mitchell said. And
the coalition has done such a good
job of informing MPPs that urban
members can quote “chapter and
verse” of the argument for the
program.
“I think you’ve done a very good
job of getting your word out.”
Lobb said he was doing what he
could to increase the awareness of
his colleagues for the need for
changes. The problem with current
programs, he agreed, is that they’re
not predictable and something that
farmers can take to the bank. A risk
management program, he agreed,
would be predictable.
Giving back
The Grade 1, 2 and 3 classes at Brussels Public School celebrated their 100th day of school in a very generous way: attempting
to collect 100 cans to donate to the Salvation Army in Clinton. The classes collected cans all last week, but were well on their
way by mid-week. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
13 charged by
OPP for
distracted
driving
Group collects
crutches
for Haiti
Thirteen people in Huron County
have run afoul of the new distracted
driving legislation since Feb. 1.
Huron OPP have laid 13 charges
under the new Distracted Driving
legislation. They say that for the
most part, the public has admitted to
their wrongdoing. In a few cases,
motorists were quite upset with
police for being charged. Police
will continue to enforce this law
until drivers get the message to stop
multi-tasking while driving.
Drivers are reminded that any
handheld electronic device used for
entertainment or communication is
prohibited while driving a motor
vehicle. There are many other
activities that drivers engage in that
are also dangerous and could lead to
a charge of Careless Driving. They
include, but are not limited to, such
activities as applying makeup,
reading a book, reading a map,
eating food, changing clothes and so
on. Hopefully this new legislation
will cause drivers to sit back and
think about their driving activities
and re-evaluate their motoring
priorities.
A group of Blyth residents is part
of an effort to bring crutches to
people in Haiti crippled by the
recent earthquake.
They are one of several groups
throughout southwestern Ontario,
including Exeter and Woodstock
that have taken it upon themselves
to provide some specialized help to
Haiti in its time of need: providing
used crutches to Haiti’s amputees.
Local head of the project Gaye
Datema says she has been going to
Haiti with this group for two years
(this will be her third visit), but the
group itself has been going for 15
years now. Because the group is not
directly affiliated with any church, it
is calling itself the Mission to Haiti:
Norwich.
Datema says the plan is to have a
full container of crutches, or as close
as they can get, shipped to Haiti by
mid-March, so it should be there
when the group of 22 gets there in
April.
She says used crutches can be
very valuable to aid the many people
that have become amputees because
of earthquake-related injuries.
For this year’s trip, she said, there
will be a medical crew and a
Farm groups ask MPs for better funding
CitizenTh
e
$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010
Volume 26 No. 8BIG HONOUR - Pg.18Cadet gets highesthonour NEW SERVICE - Pg. 3 New fire dispatchpromises savingsSPORTS- Pg. 8-9Brussels Atoms, Peeweesin OMHA playoffsPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 7