The Rural Voice, 1983-10, Page 19where he was posted on Niels Peter's
hog farm "on the beautiful island of
Fyn."
This exchange "was more of a
challenge since I had the language
barrier," he says, although his young
host family did speak some English.
Fyn, with its thatched roof cot-
tages, and cash crops including sugar
beets and rape, was very different
from either Australia or Canada.
The farms were very mechanized,
Brad found, and farming very inten-
sive. His host family raised 40-50
sows on an 80 -hectare farm, which
was larger than many on the island.
"The Danish pork industry, I think
is the best in the world," says Brad,
who recently joined the ranks of On-
tario's pork producers.
Last spring, Brad returned to work
for his Australian host family on his
own, although it took a bit of doing
to get a work visa.
The year before, his hosts lost 600
acres of crop in Australia's "great
dry" - the worst drought in 30 years.
Not only did Brad experience the last
days of the drought, but he survived
"Ash Wednesday" on the
Melbourne -area farm. That day, now
called the "night of fires" in
Australia, saw record temperatures of
43.4 degrees Celsius, and a horizon
that was a brilliant and frightening
red, as fires raced across the
grasslands, only 20 miles away. Brad
says, "the heroics, you wouldn't
believe it," as he shows newspaper
accounts of the tragedy, which burn-
ed out several neighboring families
Brad knew.
The final toll was 29 people dead,
and scores of livestock and wildlife
trapped by flames.
Brad experienced some of the ter-
ror of the fires the day a duststorm hit
as he worked near the piggery. Think-
ing the dense, black cloud was
another fire, Brad and a fellow farm
worker were dispatched to rescue his
boss' daughter-in-law and children in
a frame house some distance away.
The two men wrapped themselves in
wet blankets, turned on the car
headlights and blew the horn, since
visibility on the road was nil. They
eventually realized they were fighting
dust, rather than smoke, but so
violent was the storm that hunks of
steel were torn from buildings and
machinery.
Now that their adventures abroad
are behind them, both Karen and
Brad are keeping up with IAEA
alumnae activitie.
When he first returned, Brad
shared his trip with public school
classes and local church groups. Now
he interviews prospective trainees for
the exchange, now much better-
known in Ontario through the
agricultural colleges and the Universi-
ty of Guelph.
For further information on the
program, contact Centralia College
of Agricultural Technology or write
to: Junior Farmers Association of
Ontario, 8th. Floor, 1200 Bay Street,
Toronto, Ontario, M5R 2A6.O
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•
11:05
Here's a lovely family
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11:18
...minutes later, the Tree
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11:06
First step towards "Instant
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11:24
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Landscape Design Tree Pruning
•
THE RURAL VOICE, OCTOBER 1983 PG. 17