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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-12-21, Page 27SPECIAL MENTION — The float entered by Jerry MacLean & Son received special mention from Saturday's parade judges. The people under those costumes are Don Keeping, Jane MacLean and Julianne MacLean. T-A photo To our best friends we want to say “thanks" and wish you the merriest ever. Harold & Donna Patterson MAIN ST.EXETER •s 0 a s Self sufficiency is theme of Farm Union convention People Over The Bridge Will) pride and gratitude GET OUR PRICE BEFORE YOU BUY Jerry MacLean & Son c * AUTOMOTIVE LTD. Exelcr 235-0800 OUR STORE IS BIG ENOUGHTO SERVE YOUR NEEDS... BUT SMALL ENOUGH TO BE FRIENDLY By LLOYD WILLERT Self sufficiency or under development in agriculture was the theme chosen for the ninth annual convention of the National Farmers Union held in the Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa December 4- 8. President Roy Atkinson reported that Canada is importing 350 million dollars worth of agricultural products that could be grown in Canada and that means we are exporting jobs and importing inflation. In 1978 Mr. Atkinson was in England at a meeting of World wheat exporting countries in Geneva to sit in on the negotiating of world tariffs arid trade. He said International trade links between countries and producers of agriculture commodities would be more solid if they were based on mutual interdependence and need rather than exploitation and greed”. In his farewell address as president Mr. Atkinson gave an example of exploitation that took place in our own country. This summer, Roy took a trip to the far north on his holidays to visit some of his native friends, whom he had met on a (government mis­ sion back in 1967. He said while he was there two civil servants and represen­ tatives of fish companies came to make a deal to buy fish from these people and Roy sat in as an observer at this meeting. He said they offerqd 15 cents a pound for fresh lake whitefish and when one young lad got up to try to get more money he was told the demand isn’t there but if demand improved they could maybe give seven cents more. Roy said “he was ashamed”. Here were these poor helpless people being exploited by people who should know better. This is going on all the time, especially uninformed people are taken for a ride, but with so many people today being told to make a fast buck, no matter how its done, what else can we expect. We hear very little today that isn’t . related to dollars and cents. Taking advantage of your neighbor is tdken for granted, that it is alright.. Roy Atkinson has been called do testify at the R.C.M.P. Inquiry and he said only history will reveal some of the true facts of some of the cooked up schemes and crooked ac­ tivities of our government and solicitor general that have taken place from the time of the F.L.Q. crisis till now. For some unknown reason the media will not or dare not reveal the'facts. In the late 60’s the task force on “Agriculture in the Seventies” revealed the plan that agriculture should . follow and then last year the T.M. 10 report, a secret document, leaked out, showing us the course agriculture should follow, then there was the meeting of the (Trilateral Com­ mission) of which Roy Atkinson attended. These groups all recom­ mend agriculture should become less labor intensive and push for thd\ huge conglomerates. This applies in other industries as well. Japanese are buying into our fishing industry, eventually ending up processing fish. No matter where look big business gradually taking over renewable resources Canada without much of a fight. The mass media seems to be governed by what these big corporations tell them to say and what not to say. If present trends are not reversed soon we in Canada will be swallowed up in a system that most everyone says they don’t want, but by saying everything is going good, will take us to where the communist countries were when communism took over. Vice-president James Mayne reported on some of the activities of the Union in 1978. The Maritime regions put on demonstrations with 600 farmers blocking the Trans Canada Highway, trying to get their message across as to how potato producers were being ex­ ploited. Potatoes were being imported while at the same time, local ^growers could hardly give their potatoes away. In Ontario the main push is to get corn under the um­ brella of the Canadian Wheat Board System Under the Canadian Constitution we need a national approach to marketing so we can regulate imports and ex­ ports. The Canadian railways were taken to task this past year for failing to move enough grain to export positions. N.F.U. members con­ ducted a program known as “spy sky”, where farmers conducted a search by air and ground and found many rail cars transporting U.S. grain on American railroads, as well as many cars in Canada sitting on siding empty, some needing very little repairs. After a heated confrontation with the heads of railroads, they promised to do better. Farm input costs to rise with oil Tony McQuail, Lucknow area farmer and the former co-ordinator of Huron County’s Energy Con­ servation Centres, told members of the Huron Federation of Agriculture that as crude oil goes up in price, farmers’ input cosVs also increase. The problem, Mr. McQuail said, is that “we in the farming industry can’t pass on these price increases to the consumers as quickly.” Mr. McQuail spoke to federation members on Thursday night at their monthly meeting held in the Clinton OMAF office. In examining some of the energy conservation practices and renewable energy options for the farm, Mr. McQuail pointed out farmers, as well as the general population, have become heavily dependent on non-renewable sources of energy. He said farmers could face a situation where oil supplies are exhausted, and “we’re in a crunch situation.” He said this situation could be three years from now or it might not be for 25 years. He pointed out farmers once depended on the sun, their own labor, and organic fertilizer to produce crops. He said “More energy was produced from the crops than labor was put into the system by the farmer.” Today, however, farmers depend on non-renewal resources to provide fuel for their farm machinery, and petro-chemical derivatives are used in both fertilizer and pesticides. Mr. McQuail said farmers should look at their own personal system of energy use on the farm and then examine “what options are open to us.’’Finally, he said, “Farmers should evaluate how you can get from where you are today to where you’d like to be down the line.” Mr. * McQuail said agriculture is presently in a very vulnerable position with its’ dependence on crude oil energy resources. He suggested some ways farmers can conserve energy in their operations is to match machinery to the work it’s required to do, to insulate farm buildings properly, utilize natural ventilation and consider using alternative energy sources in the farm operation. Two such sources Mr. McQuail suggested were using windmills to pump water and using wood-heated boilers to provide heat, using wood from the farm woodlot. He said as the danger of exhausting non-renewable energy resources comes nearer, scientists and others are becoming more practical in their experiments with alternative forms or energy. He said experiments are being carried out to fuel tractors with alcohol from crop residues and others are experimenting with methane gases produced from manure. Mr. McQuail said it’s time to try to interconnect systems on the farm again. For example, an operation which requires heat can passively collect solar heat from the sun on sunny days. This can be backed up with a wood-fired boiler system to supplement the sun’s heat or fuel oil can be burned in a generatorrather thana boiler to produce electricity. Mr. McQuail said if enough electricity could be produced, it could be sold to Ontario Hydro. The secret of conserving energy, Mr. McQuail said, “is to try and make use .of waste from any one system as an input in another system.” Following Mr. McQuail’s speech, audience members discussed whether methane gas could be produced in septic tank systems and how to use generators in a home heating system. One member, expressing* approval of the idea of selling excess electricity i said, “It would be nice to! receive a cheque from Ontario Hydro every month ‘ instead of a bill.” In other business, federation members ap­ proved a resolution sub­ mitted by the Grey Township Federation of Agriculture. The resolution asked that Farm and Country, the OF A monthly newspaper, be asked to publish the Chicago live hog futures in their paper, since daily papers have stopped carrying the reports. r JIM SIDDALL &SON A LICENSED & INSURED TRUCKER . • LIVESTOCK • GRAIN • FERTILIZER • FARM SUPPLIES KIRKTON 229-6439J a •J A seasonal tribute to our farmers and their families I believe a man’s greatest posses­ sion is his dignity and that no calling bestows this more abun­ dantly than farming. I believe hard work and honest sweat are the building blocks of a person’s character. I believe that farming, despite its hardships and disappointments, is the most honest and honor­ able way a man can spend his days on this earth. I believe farming nurtures the elope family ties that make life rich in ways money can’t buy. I believe my children are learning values that will last a lifetime and can be learned in no other way. I believe farming provides educa­ tion for life and that no other occupation teaches so much about birth, growth and matu­ rity in such a variety of ways. I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free: the splen­ dor of a sunrise, the rapture of wide open spaces, the exhilarat­ ing sight of your land greening each spring. I believe true happiness comes from watching your crops ripen in the field, your children grow tall in the sun, your whole fam­ ily feel the pride that springs from their shared experience. I believe that by my toil I am giv­ ing more to the world than I am taking from it, an honor that does not come to all men. I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have done for my fellowman, and by this standard I fear no judgment. I believe when a man grows old and sums up his days, he should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life he’s lived. I believe in farming because makes all this possible. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year From Our Staff EXETER FARM EQUIPMENT LIMITED THE BEST IN FARM MACHINERY Times-Advocate, December 21, 1978 Page 27 I It’s such a pleasure to say thank you to our many friends and customers at Christmas. , 391 Main St., Exeter '"a Sherwood (Exeter) Ltd. I Your Massey Ferguson Dealer BEXETER 235-0743 . | ^eclating tljat liftg bill be tfye best etier unit tfyat a bright (Cfyrtstmas spirit (nil 1 fill gnur fyearts foitlj happiness. TfHang tfyanbs. the you is the of Midst the joys of a truly old fashioned Christmas, we stop for a moment to wish our dear friends all things bright and beautiful! A good noma to grow by HENSALL 262-2410 CENTRALIA 228-6661 Mervyn Erb Blender Manager Brucefield - 482-3948 fence ruoodxvill on/i ioward SartH, 4(cn KIRKTON 229-8986