The Rural Voice, 1978-02, Page 19current problems there are now a great
number of people wanting to get into the
industry because it is organized and does
offer some stability, some guarantee of
being able to pay the bills and have
something left to live on, an important
factor when considering that in 1976 and
1977 net farm income dropped 32 per cent.
The drop in grain prices had allowed a
six cent per dozen decrease in the price of
eggs in 1977, a contrast to most products,
he said. The broiler industry has been in
trouble because of low priced imports from
the U.S.. particularly Georgia which have
flooded the Toronto and Montreal markets.
The imports are produced by large
corporations and both producers and
processors there do not come under the
minimum wage act and so labour costs are
much lower. Ontario broiler producers
have asked for a national marketing plan
but Alberta. Manitoba and Newfoundland
have refused to join such a plan.
Mr. Munro said he expects input costs
for farmers to stay high despite the
uncertain grain market but said the new
grading system instituted in early January
should give producers a little better break
in the grading of some carcasses.
Monkton man honoured
by Holstein Assoc.
A Monkton man, R.A. Ellacott, R.R. 3.
Monkton was honoured at the annual
meeting of the Perth County Holstein
Breeders Association in Brodhagen in
January.
Mr. Ellacott had been a member of the
Canadian Holstein -Friesian Association for
44 years. A pin. marking the occasion was
presented to him by Alan Bain, R.R.3.
Stratford, area director for the organiza-
tion. ,
When Mr. Bain later suggested that fees
be increased it was not kindly received. He
told the gathering that at the annual
meeting of the national association this
matter was to be on the agenda. It would
be to increase membership fees from $10 to
$25 per year; registration fees from $5 to
$7.50 per animal and a $2.50 increase
added in the transfer of ownership fee for
registered Holsteins. Mr. Bain explained
that the suggested increases would put the
association in good financial standing for
the next five years. He added that the $10
membership being paid is more than
returned as the Holstein Journal costs $9
per year and each county organization gets
$2 per member back from the national
association. When the speaker suggested
that the national association is considering
reduction in the number of Ontario
directors while increasing the number from
Quebec Ron Skinner, ' R.R.1 Mitchell.
suggested that the number of directors
should be determined by memberships
rather than -animal registrations. This idea
brought general agreement.
John Murphy, London, manager of the
agricultural services for the Royal Bank of
Canada, addressing the Perth association,
pointed out that good management makes
the difference between successful farmers
and those who fail. He said that his job was
to make bankers out of farmers and
farmers out of bankers. Making similar
investments, he pointed out, farming can
be as profitable as any other private
business and while poor farmers complain
on a poor return for their investment good
farmers can realize higher returns than in
other private businesses. To illustrate his
point he used figures from CANFARM
record books, a record-keeping service
outlining differences that exist in farm
management and the resultant success.
1976 figures showed an average group of
farmers had an average return of 8.3 per
cent on investment while a top group of
farmers realized 13 per cent. This meant a
70 per cent greater profit from investment.
The speaker said that good management
showed up in smaller ways like the
production of more crop per acre. Keeping
good records makes good management
easier to achieve. His comment that
individual farmers are responsible for most
of their problems drew unfavorable
response from the audience.
Mr. Murphy offered five suggestions for
success financially: price. which farmers
could achieve by becoming involved in
organizations that represent them to add
strength to them; up price deficiencies
except in the case of milk producers who
find it more difficult to get additional
quota; reduced costs by growing more of
one's own feed and conservation of time.
Here he felt that the bank should be willing
to go to the farmer, not taking the farmer's
time to visit the bank to borrow money:
reduction of investment to increase profits,
e.g. buying only the machinery required;
and. lastly, having a firm set of priorities
with effort towards the needs rather than
the wants. Here he stressed that
decision-making is of great importance. In
conclusion Mr. Murphy told the dairymen
that he does not expect a private farm to be
replaced with large corporate operations
since cows need individual attention. The
last consoling note was his statement that
it will be a long time before the owner of a
40 -head purebred Holstein herd cannot
make a good return on his investment.
Gordon Bell, St. Marys; fieldman for the
provincial association in this area,
presented production record certificates to
Morley Lannin, R.R.2 Dublin. Harry Van
Ness, Omar Wagler and Sons, Gordon
Vines and Stonetown Farms. St. Marys,
Charles and Roy Ready, R.R.6 St. Marys,
had the top herd in the county, followed by
Casey Tagenbosch, R.R. 2 Atwood; Ken
Weitzel, R.R. 2 Tavistock; William
• Klooster. Shakespeare and Ivan Roes,
R.R.1 Milverton.
Lyle Ballantyne, R.R. 3 Stratford,
succeeds Bill Broughton, R.R. 2 Atwood,
as president. Other officers are: first and
second vice-presidents, Robert Haw-
thorne, Listowel, and George Lindner,
R.R. 1 Gadshill; Floyd Willows. Stratford,
THE
has been returned as secretary treasurer
for the 14th year. Township directors are:
Logan, Barry' Dietz; Hibbert, Winston
Jibb; Fullarton, Morris Willows; Ellice,
Lloyd Kipfer; Elma, Robert Hawthorne and
Barry Buchanan; Wallace, Royden Clark;
Mornington, Meryl Shantz; North East -
hope, George Lindner; South Easthope,
Tony Danen; Downie, David Packham and
Lyle Ballantyne; Blanshard, Don Stephen.
Auditors will be Bill Rohman, St. Marys
and Ken Parkinson, R.R.6 St. Marys.
Professor against
marketing board
exemption
The exemption of farm product
marketing boards from the new Competi-
tion act is a serious weakness Professor
W.T. Stanbury, associate professor of
commerce and business administration at
the University of British Columbia told a
food policy forum held recently at the
University of Manitoba.
Prof. Stanbury claimed the exemption is
yet another demonstration of the power of
agricultural interests in the federal political
process.
"It is apparent that all provincial
agricultural marketing boards are to be
totally immune from the federal competi-
tion legislation. And given the manner in
which a number of these boards have
operated - namely as government -
mandated producer cartels impervious to
the wider public interest - this is an
undesirable element of competition pol-
icy."
He said, for example, that the
Competition Act will be useless if one of
Canada's problems seems to be a
monopoly level of prices maintained by
farm product marketing boards.
"If farm marketing boards are permitted
to operate outside federal competition
legislation. then the utility of the
legislation to deal with this problem will be
non-existent."
He said Ottawa's Food Prices Review
Board supports his views, since the board
remarked in its final report that many
foolish and contradictory food policies stem
from the marked reluctance of politicians to
speak out against agricultural interests.
"A competition policy which can only
scrutinize the behavior of processors,
distributors and retailers has one arm tied
behind its back," said Prof. Stanbury. "It
seriously limits competition policy's role
to examine farm gate prices established by
producer -controlled marketing boards."
He also said the new Competition Act
will not halt mergers that increase
concentrations of power and monopolies in
the food industry. The act is predicated on
RURAL VOICE/FEBRUARY 1978, PG. 19.