HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1997-09-17, Page 1VOL. 127 WIC 38
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, ,1997
65' INCLUDES- G.S.T..
PROTECT step closer
by Kevin Shillingiaw
At the Sept 9 meeting
.of the Ashfield Council.
members of PROTECT
and local livestock 'farmers
gave their thoughts on the
possible moratorium.
PROTECT (Presenting
Recommendations On
Township Environmental
Concerns Together) has
been circulating a petition.
for a ,moratorium on live-
stock 'operations of .100.
livestock units or more for
one year. .
At the meeting, John
Crawley of the Ontario
Pork Producers
Association and.Henry.
Booth of the Huron
County Federation" ,of
Agriculture sp`oke''abQut
the pork producers., both
local and international,
doing •, studies w about'
manure nmanagement..
"A database: is being
created on odor, nutrient
management and water
quality with information
coming from all over the -
,world to help councils
make informed decisions
about livestock opera-
tions," said Crawley..
Booth also said that
there .have been many
studies that have been
done over the past 20
years that deal: • with
manure management and
that it may not be neces-
• sary to start a .new study
locally because of all . the
information that has been
gathered previously.
just need time and
moneys to go through the
massive ,amounts "of data
that has already been . col-
lected,"' said Booth.
by Creger•Campbell
Pig .• farmers aren't used
to being high profile
They feel they are unfairly
being painted as enemies
of the environment in the
press . these days. The idea
that others think they are
responsible for. ."Lake
Urine" gets „them going.
All the buzz: at Friday
afternoon's workshop . on
liquid, manure application.
in McKillop :Township
was about a'producers-
meeting the night before
and a bigarticle in.• that
morning'. s edition of The
London -Free Press On Joe ,
Terpstra, whose Acre T "
farms is building a 3,400-
hog ` barn in Ashfield
Township, only one of 12
production sites scattered •
across Grey and
MKillop.
"It was one of the• most
interesting,'" meetings lave
ever been to," one Pig
farmerwas overheard to
comment on the night
before's pr'oducer's" .get
together.
Friday's McKillop
workshop was packed,
"Bring Your Own Bale"
(to sit on), as one speaker
•gripped. .
Terpstra's Ashfield
facility' would be one of
the bigger (a producer in
southwestern Oxford has a
After the livestock rep-
resentatives spoke, Donald
Miltenburg, a member of
PROTECT addressed
council requesting that a
moratorium be placed on
the building of new live-
1 stock -intense operations
for one year:
"This nnoratoriutn will
give us time to• study these
operations in relation to
water contamination,
iinpac't on soil and plant
life and the effects on -
ground water, surface
water and 'water supplies,"
said Miltenburg.
Miltenbuig then stated
that this one year morato- •
rium . wouldalso give the
township the Much needed
'opportunity to deal with.
current water problems.
After his presentation,
Pl'case see ''Realify" page 2
nfair ima
6,000 -hog barn) in Ontario.
and seems to have become.
a focus for pub lic debate.:
'It has some critics' up in
' arias, who say it will fur-
ther aggravate an E. coli
sewagebacteria problem
along . the Lake Huron
shoreline.
At . one .._point, .Evert
Ridder, of the Huron
Stewardship Council, who
put on Friday's workshop
in . an• "attempt. "to' do some-
thing positive to address
the issue," had to remind.
the many.in 'attendance:
that "application is •what
we're " ,talking, `about
today.,,
PROACTIVE
Host farmer John Artssaid
pork producers are "front.
row,centre" for the envi-•
ronmentally conscious in
the :press and other media
at present. He suggested
that with farmers making
up five per cent of the.
population but controlling
95 per cent of the land this
was to be expected, but. it
might be wise for pork,
producers to be "proac-
tive" before.governrnents
bring down legislation.
Don Hilborn, by-prod-
uct and waste manage-
ment specialist with the
Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food. and
Rural Affairs, said "agri-
• culture has always` been
the original, recycler
Iii the :"context Of agri-
cultural practises' inother
areas of the world, for
instance China, agriculture
in Ontario looks pretty
good, he •said.' We have.
,' lots of manure but lots of
land bas ;to spread.it on,
which isn't the case' in
even more highly agricul-
tural:.developed countries
sue as Holland, .which
just doesn't have enough
Mand:
A nutrient management
approach,. in Which highly
controlled Manure applica-
tion is used to::partly. sup-
plement chemical fertility:
ers, produces better crops,:
better soil and less pollu=,
tion; along' with profits
for• pork producers. I -le
. said it is • a win-win situa-
tion for these producers
and the rest of society,
Hilborn said such nutri-
ent..,inanagement plans.-.
have become more and
more cotnmon. amongst
area pork producers in the
past five or six years.
PROPER PROFITS
Manure management.
. systems and technology
decreases the cost of fertil-
izer and maintainsproper
profits, although some
farmers still have . doubts
Rev Bill' Bresnahan and his wife Nancy participated in the Classic
Car Cruise. and were given souveniers from those present because
they ars moving: (Livingston photo)
ainatio Fall
nearing area
gearea
to be fun
Please see "Pork" page.2
•
by Ron Wassink
The'. townships of
Huron and Kinloss and the
village of Lucknow are . on
their way to 'becoming a..
big happy family. •
When' the dust swirling
around a Bruce County"
decision to amalgamate
municipalities "settles, the,.
threewill be knownas the
Township • : of
Huran/K.itil oss.
Municipal restructuring
is a provincial initiative,
and'Bruce County is in its
second round of restruc-
turing after the province
sent an earlier plan back .as
being incomplete:
A meeting in Kinloss
between the three coun-
cils as a• -whole, last
Wednesday saw local,
politicians making strides
in determining the :new
Municipality's name, its ,
council size, as well as
how councillors would be
elected.
The•new community of
,Huron/Kinloss will have a
seven-metnber council.
Though the amalgams
tion was forcedby the
province and' county, the,
local reeves, Murray
Thompson; Huron, Jim
Boyle, . Kinloss, . and Stuart
Reavie, Lucknow, all
agreed ,n,othing'will' stand
in the way of :the three-
way amalgamation
One of .the first' issues
the 'councillors. `dealt with
was representation.
Though a ward system
was the preferred opt'ion,'
prior to the meeting, coun
cillors opted for wide open,
elections toallow ratepay-
ers a chance to vote for all
candidates,
.'.It was also argued that a
wardsystem could divide
a' council by creating .a turf
protection .atmosphere.
It was Huron Township
that opposed the ward .sys-
tem, even though it stood.
'to have the largest repre-
seiitation based on popula-.
tion. `
"By being elected .at
large, councillors ' are
forced to recognize. the
whole community," Huron
said in a mento.. "They
cannot absolve themselves
Please see `Area" page 2
the Annual Lucknow
Fall Fair will soon be here
and,the motto is "Where
the Town. and Country
Meet.
The fair begins Sept. 19
with
the fair opening, a
.midway, . a .log.sawing.
;competition,: field drop
and,school exhibits,; a pet
show, a pork carcass com
petition and auction, a
fashion show and the
Queen of the: Fair.
Competition with the
Crowing at approximately
•
• 9 pati.
Sept. 20 the fair ••fea-
tubes a haystack hunt, a
pedal tractor pull; bale
rolling, a 4-H competition,
a baby show in the arena,
a police guard dog demon-
stration, "Klash the.
Clown'', magic shows; toi-
let bowl racing,Jand at
noon, • the Mammoth
Parade featuring the ;1991
Fair. Queen and• the
Lucknow Legion 'pipe.,,
Band. The theme for the
Please see "Fair" Page.2
4