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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1989-03-01, Page 25THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1989. PAGE 25. Local dairymen against hormone testing Dairy farmers may be caught in a “damned it yon do, damned if you don't’’ situation over the use of the hormone Bovine Somatic Trophine (BST), the Huron County Milk Committee was told at its annual meeting in Brussels Friday. Bruce Saunders of Grey county, regional representative to the On tario Milk Marketing Board (OMMB) told that if farmers use the hormone, consumers may react adversely to what has been adver tised as naturest purest food and turn away from it. Yet, he said, BST has been ruled to be safe by Health and Welfare Canada and if farmers do not use it, they may be accused of not using the latest technology to improve efficiency. Huron County farmers at the meeting left little doubt they didn’t want to see the hormone used, and several were angry that all dairy farmers are having to pay for milk from cows that have been BST treated that must now be dumped. Two herds in Ontario, the herd of Ken MacKinnon of Port Elgin and a herd at the University of Guelph, have been testing BST but the OMMB last year said it did not want to accept the milk into the system. The producing herds agreed to dump the milk but since legislation says the OMMB must pick up all milk from licenced producers if it is good milk (and Health and Welfare Canada says it is) the marketing board is paying the producers just as if they were shipping the milk with the pay- ments coming out of the general pool of the OMMB. One questionner wanted to know why so many cows had to be used in the test. Mr. Saunders replied that although 60 cows are involved in the test, only half of that number is receiving the hormone while the other half is a control group for the test. When producers were against the hormone use and consumers were against it, why did OMMB approve the tests, a questionner asked. Mr. Saunders admitted the board had got “caught with its pants down’’ on the issue. The chemical companies had already started the testing when OMMB asked the shipping stopped. However, he said, the be the Farm Women plan conference Anticipation is high as delegates plan to attend the first annual meeting of the newly formed Ontario Farm Women’s Network on March 20 - 21, 1989 at the Novotel Hotel in Mississauga. The theme is “Women in Agri culture Building the Future.’’ The mandate of the Ontario Farm Women’s Network is to promote social economic and political equal ity among Ontario’s Farm Women by recognizing their professional role in agriculture through the sharing of information and mutual support. In existence for less than a year, the OFW Network, with scant promotion, has attracted subscrip- Stockyard payout Continued from page 1 through the Brussels yard but an investigation showed the cattle had been sold at various stockyards across southern Ontario and the money funnelled through Oxford Livestock Company and a number of bank accounts to a small Swiss bank. Mr. Henschel and his wife, Kristin, will appear in provincial court in Wingham March 22 charg ed with 10 counts of theft over $1,000 and nine counts of fraud over $1,000. Mr. Manski, in his letter says he hopes the payout to creditors may be even higher, perhaps in the 90 to 94 per cent range. Dunwoody expects to collect about $60,000 more, including a refund from corporate taxes of $30,000 and hopes about $100,000 of potential claims will be successfully set aside. The final resolution of the affair, however, may be as long as a year away, he said. tions from 15 farm women’s groups and over 150 individuals. The purpose of the annual meeting and conference is for the delegates to evaluate the first year of operation for the Network and to decide its future structure. Do Ontario Farm Women want to continue to belong to a loosely knit body of subscribers to a bimonthly newsletter, or are they aready to form a strong coalition of farm women’s groups which can speak on behalf of farm women on both provincial and federal issues? This is the challenge that will be faced by the delegates attending. Several high profile speakers including Sister Thomas Moore Bertels, called “The Farmer’s Nun,’’ from Wisconsin will address the group. All Ontario Farm Women are invited to attend the Farm Wo men’s Conference on Wednesday, March 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. following the business meeting at the Novotel Hotel. Participants will have the opportunity to attend two issues workshops on important topics such as Rural Child Care, Farm Women and the Law, Effec tive Lobbying, Education and Sup port Services for Farm Women. There will also be a plenary session where participants can put forward resolutions which could be taken to the fourth National Farm Women’s Conference to be held in November 1989 in New Brunswick. Farm women who attend the Conference will not only learn more about current issues affecting them, but will also have the opportunity to network with farm women from across the province. The fee for the Ontario Farm Women’s Network Meeting and Conference is $100 which covers food and accommodation. The fee for the Ontario Farm Women’s Conference only is $25 for Network members and $35 for non-mem- bers. The deadline for applications is February 24, 1989. board has said it will not accept any hormone treated milk from hormone-treated cows after the completion of the current lactation cycle, so there should soon not be any milk from hormone-treated cows to be dumped. Meanwhile some dairy farmers are going to have to clean up their acts if they aren’t to be hard hit by a crackdown on Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) in milk, Orville Shewfelt, OMMB Fieldman told the 130 people present. Farmers with a SCC of more than 800,000 in three or four months will be penalized $1 per hectolitre for the first offence, up to $5 per hectolitre for the fifth offence. The tightening up of regulations begins August 1 with a simulation period and the first penalties to start in December on November milk shipments. If the system had been in effect in January 1989, 18 of Huron’s 422 milk producers would have been over the limit while another 54 were getting close, with a count of over 600,000. A high SCC rate leads to loss of production both on the part of the cows and in the processing of the milk. Both Mr. Shewfelt and Dennis Martin, Farm Management Spe cialist with OMAF advised the farmers that with the uncertainties of the Free Trade Agreement and the GATT talks, the more fluid milk quota they can accumulate rather than industrial quota, the better. Both presented figures to show that more money can be made from the fluid quota and also noted that if there is a loss of market through imports due to either trade agree ment, it would, most likely be in the industrial (processing) sector. Lyle Martin of Ethel, Stu Steckle of Zurich, and Bill Wallace of Tuckersmith were named as mem bers of the committee for three year periods while Harvey Hodgins of Exeter was named for a one year period. {country)■auction!Qy „.. < j BILL PRESZCATOR 233-3220 Office: 527-2540 Monday to Friday JIM PRESZCATOR -------482-7126 (Manager)-------- We have completed our course this winter and are looking forward to serving your auction needs in Huron-Perth and surrounding areas as licenced auctioneers! ‘LIQUIDATION OF ALL KINDS — PICK-UP AND DELIVER - BY MARIE CRONYN On Thursday, February 16, Blyth I 4H club had its first meeting, at the home of Sheron Stadelmann. The meeting was opened with the 4H pledge. There were eight members present. The leaders are Sheron Stadelmann and Yvonne Cronyn. The youth leader is Chris tine Stadelmann. After the pledge, members elec ted Debbie Machan as president. Vice president is Sandra Deveau; secretary and press reporter are rotating. 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