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The Rural Voice, 1983-09, Page 14THE GREY -BRUCE CANADA FARM LABOUR POOL has qualified persons to help you with your harvest labour needs. Looking for a relief milker? We have a list of experienced milkers to help you. WALKERTON 881-3671 OWEN SOUND 371-9522 Canada 1+ Farm Labour Pool Quality Swine Co-op Monthly Breeding Stock Auction Sale Sept. 1 7:30 p.m. Excellent selection of QS. Tested and Approved Purebred and Cross- bred Boars and Cross -bred Gilts. For more information on brochures on the Quality Swine Breeding Pro- gram and/or Tele Auction for Feed- ermen, contact the area Supervisor nearest you: Norm Wilson Fordwich 335-3127 or Chris Hills Seaforth 527-1913 Quality Swine Co-op P.O. Box 53, Shedden, Ontario. NOL 2E0 519-764-2300 PG. 12 THE RURAL VOICE, SEPTEMBER Science degree in crop sciences back at Guelph, about a 90 minute drive from the farm. Jane's thesis is going to be based on the zero tillage practices used on the farm of Don Lobb of Clinton. Her thesis advisor is another area native, Prof. Terry Daynard, formerly of Staffa. While the University of Guelph was begging for agricultural graduate students a few years ago, Doug says today's uncertain employment pic- ture is keeping more students in graduate courses. Doug thinks the result will even- tually mean a change in the OAC faculty, where a majority of pro- fessors are from the U.S. or the United Kingdom, where agricultural studies are more established fields. Neither Doug or Jane have any regrets about their time at Guelph - nor were either tempted to settle for the shorter, two-year diploma course available at both Guelph and other Ontario agricultural colleges. Doug says the two-year Guelph program - nicknamed the "dipper course" by students - seems to appeal most to students who are already actively far- ming, and return to family operations to work on weekends. But Doug thinks the couple have the best of both worlds -they can rely on the university and their former professors for advice, and then bounce this off the practical knowledge of neighbouring farmers. If he has any criticism of his university period, Doug says, "I found in the agricultural economics and animal science (programs), it's hard not to be removed from what's going on down at the farm." It would be possible, he reflects, to graduate from the four-year program without knowing a whole lot about actual far- ming. The solution, Jane says, is that "you couple the degree with ex- perience and you've got something. Also, the university has introduced a new, five-year co-operative agriculture program which may end student's feeling of isolation from the farm community. Under this pro- gram, students spend January to April as a work semester, employed either in agri-business, or on farms. If Mary Lynn Elder was taking her university course over again, she'd make one major change - taking some computer courses. "It seemed a blessing at the time to 1983 be able to avoid that course," she says now, admitting while her job hasn't really required computer ex- pertise yet, she knows the new technology is here to stay. Mary Lynn hopes to eventually add some accounting courses to her skills. This is in anticipation of a possible move back into the branch system in banking. Mary Lynn says there's more op- portunity for advancement within the branch network simply because there are more jobs there. With only 13 agrologists in the Royal Bank in Ontario, "it makes it tough to move up." Should Mary Lynn someday make the move, she'd likely work as a loans officer, not specifically in farm credit, but hopefully in a branch where she was dealing with farm loans. Although she enjoys the challenge of her present job, she entered it at a time the industry was facing its darkest days. There are instances where she has to tell a farmer from the information on hand, his operation just isn't viable, nor is it likely to be viable in the future. Therefore the question to ask is, "Do you want to keep farming and see that equity go down the drain or is it better to sell out now, and get out of farming and take that level of equi- ty while you can?" It's a tough decision, she says, "when your home and your farm are the same place...but on the other hand, sometimes you have to take an objective viewpoint of what's hap- pening financially to your farm operation and make those tough deci- sions." Doug says it's exciting to have studied agriculture "and now you're actually doing it," even if sometimes you discover "how much you don't know." Mary Lynn, never intending to ac- tually farm while attending OAC, also finds the thought more attractive of late. "I've toyed with the idea a bit, whether I'll ever do it or not, I don't know. Certainly the capitalization it takes to start a farm is a big obstacle," she says, adding if she ever does farm, it would have to be in a partnership arrangement. She says it's all really a dream and not likely to happen. But, if she does, you can almost bet it will be with another "aggie".