The Rural Voice, 1977-11, Page 16Rural news in brief
John Wise calls
for import controls
Controls on the import of food products
are needed to protect the Canadian farm
industry, John Wise, agriculture critic for
the Progressive Conservative Party told the
annual meeting of the Perth County
Federation of Agriculture on Oct. 13 at
Mitchell.
"We need action and legislation, not to
prohibit international trade, but rather to
limit it to an acceptable level which would
permit and create an ongoing incentive for
a healthy industry in Canada," he said,
after claiming the Canadian tariff structure
is 25 years out of date and provides little, if
any protection for producers. He claimed
that Federal Agriculture Minister Eugene
Whelan had little voice in the federal
cabinet because of the small number of
Canadian farmers and their lack of political
clout. The power of the ministers of finance
and of trade and commerce was so strong,
he said, that often agricultural products
were used as bargaining tools to get better
trade concessions for manufactured goods.
"It's the same old trade off strategy that
has been in effect for years," he said,
"with Canadian Agriculture again offered
as a sacrifice. Agriculture appears to have
a very low priority." Between 1971 and
1975, he pointed out, the value of Canadian
agricultural exports rose only four per cent
while the value of agricultural imports shot
up 30 per cent. He produced figures to
show that from 1973 to 1975 dairy products
imports increased 83 per cent; pork, 110
per cent; beef, 55 per cent; berries, 370 per
cent; apples and honey, each 58 per cent;
jams, 74 per cent; chickens, 289 per cent;
and tobacco, 1086 per cent.
While the Liberal government seemed to
care little about the situation, he said, the
Conservatives have never strayed from
"the conviction that Canadian Agriculture
is as diverse and dynamic as the country
itself, and is one of the most vital
components of the national economy and
must be constantly viewed in that
perspective."
There were about 50 persons at the
meeting which was to elect directors and
delegates to the upcoming Ontario
Federation of Agriculture convention in
Hamilton in late November.
Only about 50 persons attended the
meeting. Problems arose when only three
of the four districts in the county were able
to name directors. The headache was in
North Perth where the two men nominated,
Robert Yule and John Vander Eyk both
declined their nomination and the position
was left unfilled.
• 1'(s.10. THE RURAL VOICE/NOVEMBER
for Perth West representing the Hibbert,
Fullarton and Blanshard members; Joe
Moss was named to the Perth South post
for the townships of Downie. South
Easthope and North Easthope and William
Osborn was reluctantly acclaimed to the
Perth East directorship.
Delegates to the OFA's annual conven-
tion in Hamilton at the end of November
were also elected at the meeting. For the
east area. delegates are Joyce Riddell,
Dave Smith and Henry Davey. For the
north area, delegates are Robert Yule,
John Vander Eyk, and Hans Feldman.
Delegates for the south area are county
president, Ken Green, Tony Van Klooster,
and Wayne Schneider. For the west area.
delegates are Harry Greenwood. Keith
McMahon, and Roy McKay. With the
exception of the north area, elections were
necessary to determine the successful
candidates for the four areas of the county.
Mrs. Keller and Mr. Osborn reported on
the past year's activities at the provincial
level.
Muddy match sets
Huron planners hoping
Huron county officials in charge of the
1978 International Plowing Match near
Wingham took a look at the problems at the
1977 match at Kingston last month and it
brought back unpleasant memories.
The heavy fall rains that have plagued
Ontario farmers at every turn this year
turned the Match into a giant mud bowl
and left people like Howard Datars of
Dashwood shaking their heads and hoping
it's not a forerunner of things to come next
year. Organizers can recall that the last
time the match came to Huron in 1966 at
Seaforth also turned into a mud bowl and in
1946 when the match was at Port Albert the
weather was also horrid.
Last year in Bruce county wet weather
before and after the match was split up by
a miraculous week-long warm spell that
dried out the site and led to the largest
crowds in the history of the event.
With last year's success, it seemed that
Fontenac county was headed for even
bigger records. The tented city this year
covered 100 acres. But when the streets to
the city became knee deep in mud,
pedestrian traffic bogged down. Many
exhibiters were disappointed in the
number of people entering their booths,
particularly those in the far corners of the
city. But one group was doing a roaring
business, the booths selling rubber boots.
But while the Huron county group can't
plan the weather they do think they may
have learned something from the troubles
in Frontenac. Roy Pattison, R.R.3,
Wingham, vice-chairman of the group says
1977.
exhibitors using the main road ways to set
up their booths, thus turning the roadways
into muddy mess before the event even
began. "We'll have them use the service
arteries behind the exhibits rather than the
streets out front where people walk," -he
said.
Experimental rabies
control program tried
in Huron
Ever since the late 1950's. rabies has
been a constant source of concern to people
living in rural areas of Ontario.
The disease. which is highly infectious
and can affect man and beast alike.
apparently spread southward from the
Arctic where it had existed for more than a
century. perhaps having been imported by
explorers. The disease first became serious
in Western Ontario in 1958-59 and -since
then has followed three year cycles.
following the rise and fall. says research
biologist Dave Johnston. of the local fox
population. The cycle seems to be, he said,
that the fox population decimated by a
rabies outbreak. then recovers in the next
two years then is hit hard by rabies again.
killing off a good portion of the population.
The population is on the way up again.
Johnston says. (though still only 20-25 per
cent of the population before the 1958-59
onslaught) and so the danger of rabies is
increasing.
Johnston, along with research technician
Ian Watt working out of the Wingham
Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources
have been working on a solution. In early
October they took another step towards
possibly • controlling the disease when they
used an aircraft to drop hamburger balls
containing a drug on a 200 square mile area
from Clinton to Bayfield to Goderich. The
baits contained only Tetracycline. a
common antibiotic which is deposited on
the teeth of animals that eat them and can
be spotted through the use of an ultraviolet
light. The success of the program depends
on the co-operation of local hunters and
trappers who bring in carcasses of foxes,
skunks, racoons and coyotes for testing.
More than 5000 animal carcasses have
been tested during the course of Mr.
Johnston's research in the past year and
they succeeded in reaching 74 per cent of
the foxes in a 64 square test area in Huron
County earlier. Huron county has been
chosen for the research, he said. because it
has the highest density of fox trappers in
Ontario. The trappers associaticn has been
co-operating in the program ith every-
thing from taking blood samples to check
natural immunity to rabies (found to be
relatively low) to helping hand distribute •