The Rural Voice, 1985-11, Page 40FARM NEWS
Ford Company and New Holland amalgamate
The Chinese designate an animal to
represent each year. This year in the
North American farm equipment
business, it has been the year of the
piranha. First the J.I. Case Company
gobbled up the International
Harvester Company, then Deutz
swallowed Allis Chalmers; in the past
month The Ford Motor Company has
consumed New Holland.
In a press release issued by Sperry
New Holland, G.G. Probst, Sperry
chairman, said the boards of direc-
tors of both Sperry and Ford have
authorized the agreement. New
Holland will report to Ford tractor
operations. The acquisition gives
Ford a line of specialized farm equip-
ment to go with its own tractors.
Donald E. Petersen, Ford Motor
Company chairman, said Ford plans
no changes in the New Holland pro-
duct lineup. He also said no im-
mediate changes are planned for the
dealer network of either company.
Ford and New Holland dealers
Need volunteer drivers to assist shelters
A new service for women in Grey
and Bruce Counties is looking for
volunteers. The Rural Transporta-
tion, Public Education, and Support
Home Network will be operated co-
operatively by the Grey -Bruce
Women's Centre in Owen Sound and
Women's House of Bruce County, to
be opened in Kincardine soon. Both
houses offer counselling and tem-
porary shelter for women. About 60
per cent of the women who used the
Women's Centre last year were vic-
tims of abuse.
The aim of the service is to link
volunteer drivers to women who need
assistance in getting to the shelters.
Rural communities pose special pro-
blems for women seeking help in
changing or leaving a problem rela-
tionship. Transportation difficulties
may make it almost impossible for a
Choose Grey Dairy Princess
Ernie Cole. centre, Chairman of the Grey County Milk Committee is flanked by
1984-85 Grey County Dairy Princess, L vnn Spencer (left), and the 1985-86 queen,
Joanne Hewitson, R.R. #5 Owen Sound, right.
Photo by M. L. Weiser -Hamilton
38 THE RUP 1L VO'CE
contacted were unsure how the new
arrangement would affect them. As
far as they knew, it was business as
usual.
Now, Ford's tractor and farm
equipment business will have combin-
ed annual sales of about $2 billion in
more than 100 countries, with over
18,000 employees.
Ford is reported to have paid $330
million for the Sperry New Holland
equipment business, while assuming
an estimated $110 million in
liabilities.O
woman to leave her home and seek
safe shelter.
Federal statistics released in 1980
indicate that "every year one in ten
Canadian women married or in a
relationship with a live-in lover are
battered" (cited in Linda MacLeod's
Wife Battering in Canada; The
Vicious Circle). These figures indicate
that more than 3,000 women are like-
ly victims of abuse in Grey -Bruce
each year.
Volunteers in the network will also
take part in public education projects
in their communities to attempt to tell
more people about the difficulties
these women face and the services
available.
The Rural Transportation, Public
Education, and Support Home Net-
work is part of new Ministry of Com-
munity and Social Services funding
initiatives for rural communities. A
toll-free line is now available at the
Women's Centre for women who
would otherwise face prohibitive
long-distance charges. The opening
of Women's House of Bruce County
will provide similar services out of
Kincardine.
For more information, contact
Marilyn Struthers, Network Co -
Ordinator, Women's Centre, P.O.
Box 905, Owen Sound, 371-1600.0
Atlas available
First proposed in 1984, the Huron
County Historical Atlas has now been
published.
When undertaken by Huron Coun-
ty Council, the atlas contemplated
was similar in size and style to the
original Belden Atlas of 1879 and a
subsequent Perth atlas published in
1982. But increasing public interest