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The Citizen, 1987-03-18, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1987. Glen Agnew of the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board shows a copy of a study that showed why pork producers don’t want supply management as he speaks on marketing to the Huron Federation of Agriculture Thursday night. Bob Holmes [centre] of the Wheat Board and Ken McLeod of the Chicken Board also spoke on marketing at the meeting. Blyth UCW members learn about Queensland Marketing systems, free trade B’y th U.C.W. ladies responsible for the March meeting were: Evel\ n Smith, co-leader; Ida Proc­ tor and Ella Richmond, the worship service; the study, Myrtle Vodden; lunch. Vera Hesselwood; music, Ruby Philp and card report, Lenora Davidson. The themeformeditation was ‘■ rale lime”, the basis for which w as Ecclesiastes 3, 1-11 and 17 vk hicii statethereisatimeforall •} 1) i ngs. People are liable to take insufficient time for spiritual growth. forgetting to lift their eyes tcGod “fromwhencecomesour strength”. Time can be likened to a •lowing stream, and some people arc content to sit on the bank all the lime. Nevertheless, there are times for doing nothing which al'ows energy to be revived. To become too busy lessens the effectiveness of work. Betore Mrs. Vodden began her study on the native people in Queensland, Australia, she told what the people in West Africa have to put up with. It is river blindness caused by a parasite perpetuated by black flies. Thou­ sands become totally blind. Many dollars have been spent on a spray »o cut down the number of flies. A new drug is now being tested that will be injected into the blood .irc.tni of the victims in an immunization program. Land rights was an injustice practised in Queensland, Austra­ lia, against the aborigines for years. There, the natives took over their land not bothering to make land treaties. The aborigines, realizing that resistance meant massacre, let their rights become encroached upon, sometimes shar­ ing what they had with the invaders. Even today Queensland does not recognize land rights. The aborigines cannot sell land nor minerals, but now they can inter-marry and have voting rights. Their life expectancy rate is only 53 years compared to the national rateof 73, partly due to inferior economic and social condi­ tions. <. liu:ch services in all United Churches will include from now on one minute for Missions. On April 5, Mary^Wightman will be taking this in Blyth. On April 5, in the afternoon, thereisthe Walton U.C. Thankoffering service. Special gucs’s are the Alma College singers. Blyth U.C.W. are cor­ dial!' invited. I he U.C.W. Executive will meet on March 30 instead of March 31. April 1 2, at 8p.m. is the Blyth U.C.W Thankoffering service. Grace Pyme, Past president of Huron-Perth Presbytery, will be the speaker. Members were urged to keep depositingtheirtapes from the two Blyth focdmarketsandZehrs in the box in the church narthex so they can do their part to make the arena lift a reality. hot topics at HFA meeting Marketing systems and free trade continue to be one subject that will get Huron County farmers into heated debate from indica­ tions at the Huron County Federa­ tion of Agriculture meeting in Clinton Thursday night. Representatives of three differ­ ent marketing agencies spoke to the larger than normal turnout of Federation members. Glen Ag­ new, secretary of the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board spoke fir st followed by Bob Holmes, zone 5 director of the Ontario Wheat Producers Marketing Board and Ken McLeod, director of the Chicken Producers Marketing Board Mr. Agnew was the only one of the three to give support to free trade, saying hogs are sold on a North American market with Canadians consuming only 71 per cent of the pork they produce. Of the remaining 29 per cent, he said, 86 percent goes to the U.S.In 10 years Canada went from being a net importer to an exporter of nearly 30 per cent of its production. Pork is the second largest agricul­ tural export in Canada and the largest in Ontario. He dealt head on with the resolution passed at the December annual meeting of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture which called for the OFA to support a referendum on supply manage­ ment in the red meat industry. Since then the matter has been debated by 15 county pork produc­ ers meetings, he said, and only one has supported the OFA. Some of the biggest pork producing coun­ ties had voted against supply management referendum he said, and he could only assume the vote would be the same when the issue came before this week’s annual meeting of the O.P.P.M.B. Mr. Holmessaid supply man­ agement in wheat production wouldn’t work because of the potential for crop disasters like last fall which would lead to a shortage of product for the millers and lead to an opening up of the markets for outside wheat to meet their demand. This might make it hard tor the wheat producers to gain back their market in the future, he said. He was an opponent of free trade however, saying that “if free trade comes about, everything we’ve fought for since 1958 will crumble around us.’’ Western hard wheat producers, however, don’t seem to share that opinion, he said. Mr. McLeod reviewed the disas­ trous conditions in 1965thatled chicken producers to vote 80 per cent in favour of supply manage­ ment. The producers then faced the realization that either the growers control the business or somebody else would control the business, he said. He credited the board with putting stability in the industry and keep it from drifting into the hands of large feed companies as it has in the U.S. He praised the OFA for getting involved in the supply manage­ mentdebate. “If we hadn’t had the help of the OFA 20 years ago, we wouldn’t have the chicken market­ ing board today,’’ he said. The OFA and knowledgeable market- ingpeoplehavean obligation to inform producers of the options, he said. “Most of the marketing boards don’t tell their producers both sides of the story.” He was blunt about the effect of free trade on the chicken business. “Free trade and the poultry business is done”. He pointed out that building costs alone make a huge difference with poultry build­ ing costing $12.50 a square foot in Ontario and $4.50 in Georgia. Add to that the cost of heating Ontario poultry buildings and higher wag­ es in processing plants and the Ontarioproducerscouldn’t hope to compete. Mr. Agnew drew most of the questions from the audience who were so ready to take part in a discussion that the original idea that the meeting would break up into smaller groups was abandon­ ed. Asked about the possibility of a two-price system for pork which would allow a higher price for Canadian consumption and a lower price for export he said the United States Department of Agriculture had indicated ‘ * no bloody way ”. “ I don’t think the National Pork Producers Council would allow it”, he said. George Underwood asked how good pork exports to the U.S. would be if the Canadian dollar ever came back to par or close to par with the U.S. dollar and Mr. Agnew admitted that would pro­ bably hurt exports. Mr. Underwood hit again at the effect of the dollar saying if the dollar was at or near par there would be a huge surplus of pork that could destroy the rest of the red meat industry. Mr. Agnew said such a shift in the dollar wouldn’t happen quickly and producers would have a chance to reduce production. Chris Palmer felt the pork board had not demonstrated compassion for the individual producers The OFA hears grumbling from pork producers, who are in trouble, a lot ofthem who are OFA members. “As long as there are people like me and my father there will be talk about supply management,” he said. Mr. McLeod came under heavy questioning about the cost of young farmers getting into chicken production because of the high cost of quota. He did not defend the cost of quota saying he felt it was too high but, he said, “if the old man can’t make a living, why would the son get into farming?” Quotas had helped keep a generation of farmers on the farm, he said. The board is trying to make changes to get younger farmers into the business. “Chicken producers had a choiceofamarketing board and working on a family farm or growing chickens for a feed company (like in the U.S.)’’, he said. Free trade would let the U.S. big companies buy out the Cana­ dian market which wouldn’t only hurt chicken producers but corn producers who now sell grain to be used for t hicken feed. George Underwood reminded the audience that the poultry business received a $100,000 grant in 1965 to help set up the marketing board in 1965 but hasn’t received any government aid since then, unlike many producers who refuse supply management. LS,■ / Ek KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION will be held at the Lucknow & District Christian School on Wednesday, March 25, 1987 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon Please bring along appropriate birth and immunization records. If you requireany information please call theschool at 528-2016. 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