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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1969-01-30, Page 11WQULD-BE ELECTRICIANS AT WORK—One of the many night school courses being currently taught at South Huron District High School is an electrical one. Above, instructor Walter Fydenchuck, second from left is giving instruction in panel, wiring to Fred Miller, Stan Horrell and Harold Hockey. T-A photo. Ask Parliament to change estate tax amendments Ready Mix CONCRETE L Plant 235.0833 Residence 228.696'1 C.A.McDOWELL Boost YOUR HOME TOWN It's Good For You USED TRACTORS We've got 'em to suit EVERY NEED and EVERY BUI3GET FARMALL 806 DIESEL with cab FARMALL 706 DIESEL FARMALL 504 GAS INTERNATIONAL 606 DIESEL MASSEY 35 DIESEL 3 clylinder MASSEY 35 DIESEL 4 cylinder MASSEY 65 DIESEL FORD 3000 DIESEL NUFFIELD 460 DIESEL CASE 530 DIESEL Several More to Choose From Designed to be the best . INTERNATIONAL CADET 60 MOWS LAWNS BLOWS SNOW DOZER BLADE for snow removal and light material jobs Fibre Glass body resists denting and can't rust 6 H.P. Motor N. T. MONTEITH EXETER LTD. 235.2121 "The best in service when you need it most!" SEE IT TODAY AT CONTRACT MALTING BARLEY Conquest Variety Order NOW Supplies Limited Fertilizer Supplied COOK BROS. MILLING CO. LTD. PHONE 262-2605 HENSALL TYE FARM EQUIPMENT THORNDALE NEW HOLLAND NEW IDEA NEW AND USED Manure Spreaders DAVID BROWN TRACTORS Full line which gives us 2 more new models. MODEL 4600 GAS, 46 H.P. MODEL 3800 GAS, 38 H.P. Just for the special farmer who needs a gasoline tractor. New Holland Corn & Grain Combines Be sure to Check here at the "Combine Headquarters" for any size new or used. 11 brand new New lielland Combines sold in the last 12 months We still have a few good used combines left (with Several enquiries) such as: A - A2 and C GLEANERS with 2, 3, 4-row cornheads. ONE MASSEY 410 with 4-row head. ONE COCKSHtJTT 427, 10 ft, grain head. SNO-JET SPECIALS* ONE 1969 DEMONSTRATOR 19 h.p. Standard. List 045 Clearing at 5785 NEW HOLLAND -- NEW IDEA DAVID BROWN DEALER PHONE 461-1530 THORNDALE • • GUEST SPEAKER —I Reserve the date for ... Farming Frontiers '69 EXETER LEGION HALL Friday, January 31 - 8:00 p.m. Jack Underwood, Agricultural Engineer, Centralia College of Agricultural Technology, Speaking on Cattle Feedlots, Wind-breaks for Snow on Feedlots, Cattle Housing, etc. INFORMATIVE FILMS and SPEAKERS DISCUSSING TOPICS OF INTEREST TO ALL FARMERS * New Shapes for livestock * Pre-conditioning cattle * 10 steps to 10 tons of alfalfa * Mastitis control * Plus other valuable information FREE Win Rollalea A u Gardt and$250Seat Belts v Refreshments Everyone invited SPONSOR ED BY Fri Li poi €11 Alli 101 11" n Fil EGUIIPMENt LIMMECII EXETER. 235-1115 —I . Friday Night .Beet industry hopes pronounced 'dead' Hopes of reviving the Ontario sugar beet industry are "dead" on . the first anniversary of the official announcement that Ontario's beet sugar refinery would close, That's the opinion of George Higgs of Dresden, chain/tap of the Ontario Sugar Beet Marketing Board, after months of negotiation to keep the industry alive, followed by a campaign to salvage everything possible from the wreckage, Kitchen groups to be continued Executive members of District 5 of the Ontario Farmers Union meeting at the home of District Director Jerry Huzevka at Petrolia last week learned that "kitchen meetings" being held in each area are receiving good response. The small get-to-gethers held in the kitchens of local executive members have been attracting more non-members of the Union than actual members. It was noted at the Petrolia meeting that the rate of signing potential new members at these functions is about 60%. John Mcllhargey of the Lucan local reminded everyone in attendance that when one farm organization becomes a reality, farmers should not go home and forget about it but strive to achieve harmony within the group. Kitchen meetings have proved effective and it is hoped will be continued on a province-wide basis. Meetings of this kind in the Lucan local area have been held at the homes of Joe O'Neill, John Mcllhargey, Jack Harrigan and Alfred Ovens, Mr. Higgs said Tuesday he is aware of current rumors of the pending takeover of the Chatham beet sugar refinery by new interests. These rumors found voice in questions asked last week by Kent County council members of an Ontario Federation of Agriculture delegation. Mr. Higgs said the only way the industry could be started again would be " from scratch." He pointed out the Chatham factory owned by Canada and Dominion Sugar Company has been advertised for sale at "junk" price levels, and inquiries have come from a neighboring state where a sugar beet industry still exists. The marketing board chairman said it is doubtful Canada and Dominion Sugar Company would sell to a rival firm. "They'd let it rot first," he predicted. The marketing board chairman said he understands the company's position, the hard business reasons for its decision to end the Ontario beet sugar industry, and he is happy his board has been able to maintain an amicable relationship with company officials. The marketing board tried to get federal or provincial aid, then concentrated on salvaging anything it could for growers, an effort that finally won a promise of approximately $1,000,000 in "severance pay" for growers from Ottawa. The board chairman said the farm industry as a whole has suffered as a result of the end of ,,sugar production, far more than the $4,500,000 annual crop value would indicate. He said most area farmers tied in their use of seasonal labor for sugar beets with canning crops, and the whole cycle has been thrown out of kilter. A Mount Albert, Ontario barrister, John C. Medcof, has gone on record opposing proposed estate tax amendments. In an open letter he writes as follows: The new Estate Tax Amendments now before Parliament must be changed: Estate Tax aims to raise revenue and prevent accumulation and concentration of wealth in too few hands. The October Budget tried to reform the Estate Tax and remove inequities, but so far as the farmers are concerned it threw out the baby with the bath water. Estate and gift taxes are eliminated between husband and wife but the Budget aims to recoup this by raising rates on gifts and bequests to children. The proposed basic exemption is to be $20,000.00 plus $10,000.00 for each child and rates on taxable value will The Special Committee on Farm Income recommends new legislation, to be incorporated in a Farmland Rental Act, to improve present leasing practices. The proposed Farmland Rental Act would, among other things, require that: All rental agreements be in writing. Leases be signed for a specified number of years. A minimum notice period be required to terminate a lease. , Disputes between tenant and landlord be sent to arbitration, especially in respect to such matters as rent charges for long-term leases, compensation to tenants for unexhausted improvements to land and buildings, and compensation to owners where tenants wish to stop farming before the lease expires. The Committee recommends that appropriate legislation be introduced as soon as possible but staged over a five-year period to adjust to the new requirements. To increase the amount of good agricultural land available for renting, the Committee recommends that the Farm Enlargement and Consolidation Programme of ARDA be expanded immediately and that the present restriction on $100 per acre be removed. If the ARDA programme is not extended to meet present requirements, the Committee proposes that the provincial government should establish an Ontario Land Corporation. The necessary capital would be provided by the provincial and federal governments with the balance raised .through sale of bonds and shares. The Corporation could undertake the present ARDA program and extend it to all areas of the province, regardless of land values. Land purchased would be rented to qualified farmers on long-term leases. The Committee recommends that these and other supporting steps are necessary to establish a desirable renting pattern in Ontario. "Desirable renting pattern" is defined as a situation where farmers own a basic farm unit and rent the extra land needed to expand the farm into the full size desired. There has been an encouraging trend toward this system, but the Committee feels that it should be hastened in order to relieve the pressure on farmers to sacrifice present income and decent living standards to obtain the land necessary to support a viable farm unit. As supporting measures to the above approaches, the Committee also recommends: Educational programs to stress the benefits of security of land tenure, model types of contracts and other information on leasing and renting. Promotional programs to encourage investment institutions to hold farm land as part Of their portfolios and to Show Marketing and credit range from 1.5% to 50%, This may be the death knell of the Family Farm. The Family Farm is the basic unit of Canadian agriculture. Modern mechanization has made the 100 acre general farm obsolete; 350 acres and up is a common holding in Eastern Canada and acreages into the thousands are frequent in the West. The failures of Chinese communes and Russian collectives illustrated by their purchases of Canadian wheat and the sorry financial records of some of our Canadian Corporate farms contrast with the surpluses commonly produced by the North American Family Farm. With all its faults, the Family Farm is the best agricultural system going to-day. A typical Ontario farm will have $78,000.00 invested in land, buildings, stock and equipment subject to variation depending on the type of farm, agencies the benefits of dealing with those farmers who hold long-term leases. Effective land use planning and regulation immediately. Farmers week set for Guelph Management techniques to meet the challenges facing farm operators today will be accented in OAC Farmers' Week, 1969, at the University of Guelph, Tuesday, February 18 to Friday, February 21, 1969. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the program will deal with some of the findings and implications of the Report of the Committee on Farm Income, a document soon to be made public. Among the aspects of the Report to be considered will be the kind of farm operation likely to remain economically viable, long-term farm financing, and farm marketing problems. On Tuesday, in particular, the program will be of interest to both ladies and men, Thursday, there will be a special Ladies' Program on the theme "What's Happening to Food?" Members of the faculty of Macdonald Institute, along with home economists from the Ontario Food, and other experts will produce this full day's program. For the men on Thursday, the program will examine the modern systems approach to management adapted to boosting farm profits. Friday, the program will look at the corn crop, its yield potential for livestock feed, and how it may best be used with different kinds of livestock. The program this year will provide increased opportunity each day for questions and audience participation in discussion periods. As usual, there will be plenty of free parking on the campus. Hot noon meals will be available in one of the university dining halls at moderate costs. number of operators, etc. In prime farm areas, 350 acres at $300,00 — $500.00 per acre may be worth $100,000.00 to $200,000.00 and yet yield only a modest living. On a taxable value of $130,000.00, Estate Tax would be $23,700.00 plus 30% on the balance over $130,000,00. Such crushing taxes may force sale or breakup of the Family Farm. With this sort of tax, how can the farmer pass the Family Farm to his son? It is all very well to tell farmers to set up family corporations or to make their sons partners as soon as possible, but this just doesn't happen. Many farmers are reluctant to give all or part of their farms to their sons at 21 or 30 or 40. What will happen to the father? What if the son soon decides to give up farming or marries a wife who will not stay on the farm? What if the son is impractical or unsuccessful? What if a "generation gap" dispute develops? The farmer, understandably, hesitates to turn the farm over and in fact if he does he is immediately subject to gift tax. The farmers' sons usually go along with the arrangement and contribute their labour, often at low rates, on assurance of inheritance. They spend the best years of their lives building up the family business. Now it may be crushingly taxed on the father's death. The son can either leave the farm or risk the confiscation of years of labour unless his father transfers his farm how.' The father who wants to leave the farm to his son must either surrender the farm now or risk taxes so heavy as to force a sale on his death. And if he does turn the farm over to the son now, gift tax exemptions are to start at $2,000.00. One solution would provide that where farmers' sons have contributed to the joint family business, estate tax would only be levied on the father's share of the joint venture. Another answer is a drastic alteration of exemption schedules. There may be still further answers, all of which should be explored. It has been truly said "Farming is no longer a way of life. It is a business.". But farming is not a business like the others, Governments need revenue and farmers should pay their fair share of taxes, but no tax should be imposed without considering the special circumstances of the part of the economy on which the tax will fall. While aiming at revenue and fairer shares, the new Estate Tax Act may impose an intolerable burden on the Family Farm on which 10% of our people live and on whose food 100% of our people depend. It must be changed. Huron County council learned Thursday of the habit of some nursery stock companies to give European Buckthorn as a bonus and agreed with a resolution from the county of Ontario to petition various influential offices of the discontinuance of this practice. Huron Agricultural representative Don Pullen, Clinton, advised coUncil that European Buckthorn was a host to the rust spores that cause damage to the grain crops in Ontario, Pullen said European Buckthorn was a large shrub commonly confused with barberry. It grows wild in fence rows and along the banks of the Maitland River but even with its small flowers in the spring of the year, Pullen said he would "not call it a bonus" for the garden. The matter of grants to universities will be studied by the executive committee soon. There has been some dissatisfaction voiced in council that students attending universities other than those financially supported by county council should have an equal opportunity at bursaries provided by council. The tender of The Seaforth News was the only tender received by Clerk John Berry for printing the minute books for 1969. The price is $4.34 per pae. g Roy Pattison, East Wawanosh, chairman of the county development committee (the former agricultural and reforestation committee) asked council to be a sounding board for problems affecting farmers in Huron. Girls begin meat project By MISS ELI-A MORLOCK CREDITON The 4-H Club is beginning a new project "Meat on the Menu" Saturday, February 1 at 1:30 p.m. in the Community Centre. All girls who are twelve by March 1 are welcome. Rev. and Mrs. Howard Zurbrigg were in Kitchener Sunday. Rev. Zurbrigg was guest speaker for a special youth service at Calvary Memorial Church, the church of which Dr. J.V. Dahms is pastor. Monday evening, January 20, the young people of C,rediton's churches went tobogganing at Pinery Park. After fun on the slopes they returned to Crediton United Church for hot chocolate. Shawn Michael, infant son of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Dinney, has been released from hospital and is now at home with his parents and brothers, Tommy and Daryl. Crediton's newly organized social club held its first dance in the Community Hall Friday evening. J. Howard Campbell of Blyth, a representative of Alcohol and Drug Concerns Inc., was guest speaker at Zion United Church Sunday morning. Times-Advocate, January ?Os 1969 .Raga 11 Income committee asks rental changes A NEW COMPANY GRANTON FERTILIZER & SUPPLY LTD. Will be in operation for the spring fertilizer season featuring special prices for bulk fertilizer We will also have bagged fertilizer chemicals and other farm needs, Check Our early season discounts before ordering your spring fertilizer. Phone 1, Granton; or evenings Ron Stiuire 229-6697