HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Rural Voice, 1980-01, Page 20Rural News in Brief
Farm Credit rates may go up
When farmers go to the trough in future
to borrow low-interest money from the
Farm Credit Corporation, they may find
themselves paying a higher interest rate,
FCC chairman Rolland Poirier of Ottawa
said.
"The main reason we're looking at
possible changes is that in the last two
years, because of economic restraint in the
government, we haven't been able to get
the money from the treasury we need to
meet our loan demands from farmers," he
;aid.
Because the FCC is a crown corporation,
it has borrowed its money for farmer loans
from the federal treasury at reduced rates
of interest, and the agency also has been
spared administration costs.
As a result, the FCC has always been
able to pass its interest -rate and admini-
stration savings onto farm borrowers in the
form of loans at lower rates than the
regular banking system offers. The present
FCC interest rate is 12 per cent, compared
with about 15 per cent or more on the open
market.
"We've laid out two possible scenarios,
but any decision will have to be made at the
political level," Poirer said.
The first possibility is that the FCC
would remain a crown corporation but be
given the power to issue bonds so it
wouldn't be completely dependent on the
treasury for money.
"We would borrow both from the
treasury and the financial marketplace to
widen our borrowing capacity. But if we go
on the open market for money, we would
have to pay our own administration costs
which we don't do now," Poirier said.
This would result in higher interest rates
to cover administration costs, but he said it
is expected the FCC rate to farmers would
remain below the going bank rates for
bans.
Poirier said the second "scenario" the
government is considering is to "privat-
ize" the crown corporation by letting
farmers buy in.
"In time, we might be able to ask
farmers to lend us money through issuing
bonds or even go a step further and ask if
they want to buy equity in the corporation,
he said.
Such a corporation would be a farm
co-operative of sorts. Poirier said, where
participating farmers would own a piece of
the pie.
If the FCC were to be "privatized", it
would have to pay its own administrative
costs, and if it had to borrow outside, its
membership would have to pay higher
interest rates.
As a result, interest rates to member
farmers would be higher than in the past,
but would likely remain below going bank
rates, Poirier said.
Over 10100
at Swine Symposium
For the second year in a row, pork
producers from Southwestern Ontario
poured into Stratford on Wednesday,
December 5th for the 2nd Annual Swine
Symposium. Although only 300 advance
tickets were sold, over 1000 producers
showed up at the Straford Coliseum for
four hours of lectures covering swine
health, building design, financial
management and swine management.
The noon meal, catered by "The
Garage" in London, was pork chops and
spare ribs, of course. Sid Fraleigh, M.P.
and former Chairman of the Ontario Pork
Producers Marketing Board, was the
luncheon speaker. He told his audience
that "the best customer of the Ontario Pork
Producer is the Canadian housewife" and
he urged producers to continue their
support of extensive advertising programs
for pork.
UCO opens
Grey -Bruce
assembly point
The United Co-operatives of Ontario has
opened its first stocker -feeder barn and
assembly point outside of Toronto just
south of Owen Sound.
UCO president Robert Coulthard said,
"This is the first real formalized cattle
facility in Ontario outside of the Toronto
stockyards that we have opened." The
UCO will be watching the facility as a pilot
project and possible expansion of the
program will depend on the yard's success.
The Grey -Bruce assembly point is two
large yellow buildings, a barn and livestock
shed located on Highway 6 and 10, just
south of Owen Sound. The facility will be
used to gather calves and assemble
butcher cattle for shipping to Toronto.
With this in mind, farmers in the two cattle
counties could save on shipping costs
because they could bring their cattle in
their own trucks to the new UCO facility.
Len Barfoot, the facility's new manager,
said the facility is not a sale barn but an
assembly point where farmers will be able
to bring cattle.
Pork Producers attended a course given by Bev and Jim Wilbers
of the Swine A.I. Assocation of Ontario in Clinton, Dec. 11. Here
a group of farmers gather around a table of excised sow
uteruses to learn A.I. techniques.
PG. 18 THE RURAL VOICE/JANUARY 1980