The Rural Voice, 1979-09, Page 27Congress speakers emphasize:
Treat beef as business
Two of the speakers at the first annual
Ontario Beef Congress, held in London
recently, emphasized that cattlemen must
treat their industry as a business and keep
well-informed on what's happening in that
industry.
Stewart Brown, president of the Canad-
ian Cattlemen's Association, told cattle-
men that while the beef cycle may be
difficult to tame completely, a better
informed industry can avoid the situation
faced by cattlemen in the early 1970's.
Bob Kerr, a Chatham area cattleman and
a Harvard University business graduate,
sounded a note of warning in his speech on
the future profits in the industry.
Mr. Kerr said the pessimists in the cattle
industry bailed out by 1977, but warned the
industry is still "a competitive business."
Admitting he was putting his necw on we
line, Mr. Kerr made a number of
predictions about the outlook facing cattle-
men in the next few years. He said the
number of feeder animals available for
slaughter will decline year by year until
1981. Mr. Kerr said the supply of beef is
projected to be down eight per cent this
year, while pork production is up 23 per
cent and broiler production has also
increased. This means the overall supply of
red meat isn't down for consumers.
However, Mr. Kerr said the U.S.
economy already seems to be in the first
stages of a recession, with cattle, broiler
and hog prices dropping, and a higher
unemployment rate predicted. He said
consumer morale south of the border is
already down, and this will affect the
Canadian economy.
Mr. Kerr said he predicts the demand
for meat will weaken as the recession
continues. The rising Canadian dollar will
lower the import ceiling. A society which is
less affluent will spend less on beef to
economize, Mr. Kerr said. He added
expected higher costs of feed for cattlemen
in the fall will mean their profits will be
reduced. He said the outlook for cattlemen
in the future doesn't seem to be very good.
Mr. .,err said the fact hog producers
have been "hell bent on expansion" also
doesn't bode well for the cattle industry. If
low market prices and high feed prices
continue , Mr. Kerr said it may trigger a
swine herd liquidation, which means the
market would be chaotic for some time.
The cattleman's advice to his fellow
producers was to keep inventory losses to a
minimum. He said despite the predicted
recession conditions will still not be as
serious as cattle producers faced in the
past.
Mr. Kerr said he feeds his own cattle on
a fairly steady basis and in a recession,
tries to buy his cattle at the right time.
Both Mr. Kerr and Mr. Brown advised
cattlemen to keep posted on the industry
by keeping up with the beef watch
guidelines, available twice a year through
the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.
Mr. Kerr concluded if cattlemen uss
common sense, the potential for profit will
still exist despite the nredicted recession.
The first annual Ontario Beef Congress,
a two-day event held at the Western
fairgrounds, London, attracted about 2500
visitors.
Huron farmer places
fifth in tractor safety
rodeo
Jim Phelan of R.R. 2, Blyth, placed fifth
in the recent Provincial Tractor Safety
Rodeo Final held in Guelph.
The winner of this year's rodeo was
Murray Lowry, an Almonte, Ontario Junior
Farmer, who out -maneuvered 19 other
challengers to take first place.
The 20 competitors who took part in the
rodeo were the top place. finishers from
eight zone competitions held across Ontar-
io during June and July.
The rodeo final was held in conjunction
with the Ontario Junior Farmers' Annual
Summer Games on Aug. 11 at the
University of Guelph campus.
Murray Lowry was able to score a
remarkable 1,895 points out of a possible
2,000 points in his initial run throuoh the
course, which included intricate exercises
with a tractor and wagon and front-end
loader. Contestants also had to complete a
written examination.
Jim Phelan's score in the competition
was 1,815 points. Another area contestant
was Roger Morrison of R.R. 1, Lucknow
who placed 12th in the overall competition.
The rodeos are designed to increase skill
and safety in the operation of farm
machinery and are jointly sponsored by the
Farm Safety Association, John Deere
Limited and the Ontario Junior Farmers'
Association.
Nut growers hold
annual meeting
A group organized in the early 1970's to
investigate the possibility of growing nut
crops in the Great Lakes Region recently
held its' annual meeting in Hanover.
About 65 people attended the annual
meeting of Song or the Society of Ontario's
Nut Growers, and elected a new slate of
officers. Past president is John Gordon,
president is Roy Metcalfe of Mississauga;
vice-president is Charles Rhora; secretary
is Robert Hambleton; treasurer is Joyce
McEwan of Beamsville and Douglas Camp-
bell of Niagara on the Lake will be the
editor of the organization newsletter.
After their election of officers, the group
toured the Saugeen Conservation Auth-
ority's demonstration nut plantation pro-
ject outside Kincardine.
The group's May meeting was held at
the Essex Regional Conservation Authority
where five acres of nut trees have been
planted. Due to its southernly location,
Essex County is the most favourable
county in Canada for nut trees.
A Helping Hand — Junior Agriculturalist Veronica (Ronnie) Coughlin (fourth from lett) la helping out al ttta
farm of Mervin Smith until August 21 as part of the Junior Agriculturalist programa progr a *SIM
,nvnives city students In farm work. Standing with Ronnie beside the Charola s cattle w Darryl t111Mth, IYN1*s
.;Huth, Marilyn Smith and at the extreme right of the oicture Is Charryl Smith. — - -
THE RURAL VOICE/SEPTEMBER 1979 PO. 95