The Rural Voice, 2001-04, Page 60News
growers, said the price of juice apples
has dropped from $5 a bushel to $1-
$2.50, delivered to the plant.
Meanwhile in South America,
apples are being picked by $7 a day
labourers and packed and sorted on
ships on the way to North America.
"We can't compete with that," Bailey
said. "They can wipe our whole
industry out, all horticulture."
Doctors are emphasizing the value
of fresh fruit in a healthy diet, Bailey
said, "but unless we can find a way to
compete in this market it won't do us
any good in this country. Ours is the
safest food in the world."
Steckle also touched on the topic
of food safety and food security. "If
ever there was a time that Canada
was in an enviable position it's now,"
he said. "We've been saved the
embarrassment of someone getting
sick on food we produce."
If farmers were getting their real
cost of production instead of
Canadian consumers paying 9.5 per
cent of their income for food or even
10.5 as in the U.S., they'd be
spending about 13 per cent or more,
Steckle said.
Steckle said there needs to be a
whole food policy created in Canada.
"Sovereignty in food is a very
important policy."0
CFIA must get
behind HACCP
programs
Farmers are putting in place
quality control programs for their
products but the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA) says it
doesn't have the resources to help
out, Paul Steckle, MP for Huron -
Bruce was told at the March 17
briefing by Huron County's
commodity groups.
"We're ready to go with a Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Points
(HACCP) food safety program," said
John Maaskant of the Ontario
Chicken Producers. "We believe it is
very important but we're very
disappointed that CFIA says it
doesn't have the mandate or the
resources to get involved in this kind
of program.
"All of us recognize that it's
56 THE RURAL VOICE
critical to remain a leader," said
Maaskant of meat producers'
commodity groups' efforts to put
various quality control programs in
place. He said groups don't want to
lose momentum in implementing the
program because of lack of CFIA
involvement and don't want the issue
to fall back from a nationwide to a
series of provincial programs with
no uniformity. "We don't want to
lose international respect," he said.
Jean Lubbers, president of the
Huron County Pork Producers'
Association agreed that a quality
assurance program is important but
"the producer always has to pay for
the add-on value but the consumer
gets the value."
Both Lubbers and Les Falconer,
Huron County's director to the
Ontario Cattlemen's Association,
complained that farmers are having
to pick up all the costs of inspection
and licencing for the on-farm food
manufacturing program.
"The cost of regulation puts small
farmers out of business," said
Falconer.
Falconer wondered if the federal
government was doing enough to
prevent foot and mouth disease from
entering Canada. Recalling that with
a limited outbreak of foot and mouth
in western Canada in 1952 beef
prices in Ontario dropped from 32 to
17 cents a pound overnight, he
estimated it would cost $26 billion if
the disease made its way into
Canadian livestock herds.
"We can't be too secure in our
food systems," Steckle agreed. "I
don't think anyone of us can
understand what they're going
through in Europe."0
Van Ankum wins
Mark of Excellence
Hilbert Van Ankum of Wroxeteer
is the winner of Beef Improvement
Ontario's "Mark of Excellence"
award for 2000.
"Hilbert Van Ankum's
persistence, vision and commitment
to performance evaluation has
established BIO with the credibility
BIO has today," praised James
McKinlay, Bio's treasurer and fellow
beef producer.°
Advice
Frost seeding can
help improve your
pasture
By Jack Kyle
Grazier Specialist
OMAFRA, Lindsay
Frost seeding can be an effective
way to improve pasture stands.
Spreading seed on frozen soil in
early spring is an easy method to
bolster the species in a pasture.
However, there are limitations.
Clovers and trefoil are the two spec-
ies most adaptable to this method of
sward improvement. Success with
alfalfa is poor and not recommended.
The seed should be broadcast while
the ground is still frozen in mid-
March. Some snow cover at this time
is generally not a problem.
You will gain some feed value
from the clovers in the seeding year
but the big benefit will be in the
following year when the plants have
become well established. With trefoil
it will take two or more years before
you are likely to see a significant
benefit.
Managing soil fertility is a crucial
part of any cropping system. If the
pasture field that you are considering
for frost seeding is very low in
fertility then you might consider
fertilizing this spring and delaying
the overseeding for a year. If
overseeding is undertaken, nitrogen
and grazing management will be
critical to allow the new seedlings to
establish. Undue competition from
existing plants or grazing too
intensively will ensure failure.
In some cases pH may also be a
limiting factor. If the pH is low —
below 6.0 legumes are not going to
do as well and steps should be taken
to either raise the pH with the
addition of lime or manage the
pasture as a low pH field. Choose
species that will grow at these lower
pH levels, such as grasses and
clovers. Alsike clover has more
tolerance to low pH than either red or
white clover.
Frost seeding is one of the easiest
and cheapest ways of improving a
pasture stand but the results are
variable. The seedlings need good
moisture throughout the first growing