The Rural Voice, 1986-08, Page 12Do it Yourself
with steel products
from Lakeport Steel
Federal Sales Tax Extra
3' x 20' Hog panels 2" x 6" opening
top to bottom $43.00 each
Min. 5 Panels
3 1/8 O.D. with 5/16 wall
pipe $2.35 per foot
3 1/8 O.D. with 1/4 wall
pipe $1.95 per foot
3 1/8 O.D. with 3/16 wall
pipe $1.50 per foot
Min. 100 ft.
2 x 2'/4 x '/4 AnglP 92' per foot
13/4 x 11/2 x 1/8 Angle 30' per foot
Min. 100 ft.
'/z" Round Rod 18' per foot
Smaller sizes too numerous to men-
tion at Special Savings.
Min. 500 ft.
5" O.D. '/4 wall pipe .. $3.15 per foot
Min. 100 feet
14 pc. Wrench Sets $23.95
14" Cut-off wheels in quantities
of 10 $90.00
SPECIAL
At present we have some real specials
on barn posts & tubing, ideal for cattle
and hog barn renovations
Drop In Or CaII & Check Our Prices On
Wide Flang Beam, Channel, Angles,
Flat Bars, Rounds, Threaded Rod,
Reinforcing Steel, & Welded Wire
Fabric, Plate, Square & Rectangular
Tubing & Expanded Metal Sheets.
LAKEPORT
STEEL
HOURS:
Monday to Friday 8 to 5
For further information,
call Lakeport Steel at any
of the following:
Hanover 519-364-1247
1-800-265-5513
Goderich 519-524-2171
1-800-265-5183
10 THE RURAL VOICE
AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY
SHOULD BE REALISTIC
A.E. Wright, the president of
an international grain and feed
dealers association, with members
in forty countries, must be con-
sidered an authority on the need
for agricultural products from
North America.
When he told Canadian feed
dealers (in June) that there is a
decreasing need for American,
Canadian, and European grains
in the world because more and
more countries are able to pro-
duce enough food themselves, he
better be taken seriously.
He reminded his audience that
it is only 100 years ago that our
great-grandfathers, and in some
cases our grandfathers, plowed
up the prairies and killed the
buffalo. The time may come, he
said, half seriously, that we may
have to give back the prairies to
the buffalo because there won't
be any need for prairie wheat.
Anyone who has given thought
to the "farm crisis" will have
noted the decline in the number
of farmers. If Wright is correct,
then this decline in numbers will
continue.
It is, therefore, absolutely
necessary in the development of
agricultural assistance programs
that the first priority is to analyze
agriculture in Canada and in the
world, to determine as close as
possible how much production
will be needed here and for ex-
port. After that, the acreage
needed can be figured out and the
number of farms and farmers
that are needed to produce from
that land. Only when that is
known can programs be
developed for those who are to
remain on the farm and for those
who must leave.
Wright noted another similarity
in the present farm situation and
the history of his own country,
Britain. In the 1920s and '30s, he
said, the farmers of the rich
farming area of East Anglia were
in a similar position as many of
our farmers are today. They went
broke. Their farms were bought
for a song by Scotsmen who were
used to low incomes and long
hours of work. They survived the
bad times and when things turned
around they prospered. But now
they are in the same situation as
the people from whom they
bought their farms.
We obviously cannot let that
happen again without alleviating
the agonies of those who must
leave. Our government programs
must be geared to help them adjust
to a different lifestyle.
I must note that there is
another opinion on the future of
food production. A recent study
done for the U.S. Congress
predicted that the annual increase
in world population would result
in Canadian grain exports ten
times as large as at present. But
we have heard that story for the
last fifteen years and the world
responded to such an extent that
no one knows what to do with
world food surpluses.
It seems to me that Wright
presents the more realistic situa-
tion. Even former desert coun-
tries like Saudi Arabia have
become grain exporters through
efficient use of modern
technology. The term "marginal
land" has almost become mean-
ingless, Wright said.
Proposals as forwarded by the
National Farmers Union to
regulate all agriculture into a
rigid quota system are unrealistic.
It would result in something The
Economist of London con-
templated. "In 2016, a Cotswold
hill farmer is fined 1,000 ECUs
for breaking the terms of the
Rural Amenity Preservation
grant. Inspectors have found his
farmhands milking a herd of low -
yield Friesians with a milking
machine, rather than by hand,
and failing to wear antique
smocks during working hours."
Such an act would surely keep
farmers on the land. Is that what
we want? O
Adrian Vos, from Huron County,
has contributed to the magazine
since its inception in 1975.