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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1989-03-08, Page 22Page 2 — FFarm Edition '89 Queen's Bush Ministry, help for farrners By NELLIE BLAKE Bruce County farmers on the verge of losing their farms and who are experienc- ing tremendous amounts of financial and marital stress can turn to the Queen's Bush Rural Ministry for help. In this area Brenda Mason of Belgrave and Brian Ireland of Teeswater can help farmers climb out problems with financ- ing, marriage and stress. The ministry, serving all of western On- tario, provides non -denominational ser- vices (though clergy from various chur- ches sit on its board) using a rural helpline serving communities such as Walkerton, Teeswater and Paisley. The helpline is connected to either Mr. Ireland's or Mrs. Mason's office. Calls can be made any time of the day or night. When helping a farmer, Mr. Ireland tries to get a "picture of the person's pro- blem" by asking to see the farm and fami- ly to determine if the family really needs help. The ministry can also refer farmers to marriage counsellors, clergy of various denominations and lawyers depending on their needs. Mr. Ireland described the service as "battlefield medicine" because co- ordinators try to fix the problem im- INFORMING GROUPS ABOUT the benefits of the Queen's Bush Rural Ministry Brian Ireland was in Kincardine Jan. 17. He told a group of three people what he does to help farmers in a vast ar- ray of problems. Maureen Smit, middle listens intently to Mr. Ireland's comments. Brian helps Brenda Mason of Belgrave deal with farmers. (Nellie Blake photo) art SPRUCEDALE AGROMART CROP INPUTS Branches at Hanover & Tara FERT;ILIZER • AIRFLOW SPREADING and SEEDING •SPREADER TRUCKS and THREE WHEEL FULL FLOTATION TERRA GATOR •SPRAYER TRUCKS •Dry Fertilizer - Bags or Bulk - Standard Grades or Custom Mixed to your specifications •Liquid 28% Nitrogen •Anhydrous Ammonia'•Custom Application [KELM 170)NE *Full line of Herbicides for all your crop needs •Custom Spraying *Bulk Herbicides - for additional savings and convenience •Cereals bags or mini bulk - bags or bulk •Soybeans •Forages - custom mixed on the spot to your specifications •Corn -Northrup King & Jacques •Canola WE ARE NOW A DEALER FOR PATZ EQUIPMENT *stable cleaners *silo unloaders *feeding equiment *etc. Agromart mediately through referral. The ministry's first priority is the family or person, he said. Another method he uses is "to be as com- passionate as possible" when farmers call for help. It takes a tremendous amount of "intestinal fortitude" to call the helpline, he said. Problems not connected to alcohol abuse Working with the ministry since late 1987, Mr. Ireland said he realized most cases in the Teeswater area were not con- nected directly to alcohol abuse. "I only had one person call with a specific problem with alcohol," he said, adding that in other cases he has only suspected that alcohol was the root of the problem. He said he expected a higher number of alcohol-related cases but now believes these statistics are only higher in the summer. Mr. Ireland became interested in help- ing farmers when he lost most of his own farm and equipment in 1985. Only a few days after he retained part of his farm, Mr. Ireland helped another farmer negotiate with a bank to save his farm and found he enjoyed it. Mr. Ireland was also a member of the Grey -Bruce Debt Review Board, a pilot project, aimed to help farmers climb out of debt. At that time, chairman Bob MacKenzie of Tiverton talked about getting churches involved with funding the service. But the project fell through shortly afterward. Mr. Ireland said he then saw an adver- tisement from the Queen's Hush Rural- Ministry and applied, but, after being in- terviewed, he refused a co-ordinator's job. One month later he received a call from Mrs. Mason and accepted a proposal to join forces. The job was only part-time un- til she could handle the workload..herself. But Mr. Ireland worked up to full-time within a month, a feat that usually takes a year to accomplish. Always involved with helping families Mrs. Mason said she started with the ministry in December 1987 because she has always been involved with helping farm families. Her experience reaches back to when she was on the executive for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and was a farm family advisor for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. She said the most common factor of farm families is a fear that they are the on- ly ones with a financial problem. Mrs. Mason said she also noticed talk about farm closures has stopped and become an "accepted way of life." "That is wrong. What is happening to the farm family," she asked. Because of this lack of interest for the farm community, she said young people are not willing to pursue farming as a career, causing universities such as the University of Guelph to campaign for new students. She said the price of growing food is balanced with the loss of farmer's lives from so-called farm accidents or suicides, connected to farm stress. COME IN AND SET UP YOUR CROP INPUTS FOR 7989 TODAY! 4 1E AG spay gip Lima TED #IANOV#R 364.64070 934-2340 Clergy sit on board of directors The Queen's Bush Rural Ministry has 15 people on its board of directors including eight clergy from the United Church and clergy from other denominations such as Lutheran and Presbyterian. The ministry was incorporated January 1987. Clergy are represented on the board to provide .a wider resource area when solv- ing problems and to provide insight to how their church works. Mr. Ireland said that when helping a Turn to page 4 •