The Rural Voice, 2000-04, Page 3i
R.V.
Editor: Keith Roulston
editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.
George Penfold, associate professor,
University of Guelph
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
contributing writers:
Gisele Ireland, Lisa Boonstoppel-
Pot, Bonnie Gropp, Ralph Pearce
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Sandra
Orr, Carl L. Bedal, Janice Becker,
Andrew Grindlay, Sarah Caldwell
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
printed & mailed by: Signal -Star
Publishing, Goderich, Ontario
subscriptions: $16.05 (12 issues)
(includes 7% GST)
Back copies $2.75 each
For U.S. rates, add $5 per year
Changes of address, orders for subscrip-
tions and undeliverable copies (return
postage guaranteed) are to be sent to The
Rural Voice at the address listed below.
Published monthly by:
The Rural Voice,
Box 429, Blyth, Ontario,
NOM 1I-10
Telephone: 519-523-4311 (fax 523-9140).
e-mail: norhuron@scsintemet.com
Canadian Publication Mail Agreement
Number 1375016 held by North Huron
Publishing Co. Inc. at Blyth, Ontario.
All manuscripts submitted for consideration
should be accompanied by a stamped, self-
addressed envelope. The publisher cannot
accept responsibility for unsolicited
manuscripts or photographs, although both
are welcome. The opinions expressed here-
in are not necessarily those of the publisher.
Editorial content may be reproduced only
by permission of the publisher.
The Rural Voice makes every effort to see
that advertising copy is correct. However,
should an error occur, please notify The
Rural Voice office within 30 days of
invoicing in order to obtain a billing
adjustment.
Behind the Scenes
Changing and expanding
Spring, in the past few years, has
brought a boom in new buildings
going up on farms across southern
Ontario as farmers expand to take
advantage of economies of scale in
various commodities.
At OMAFRA's recent series of
workshops called "Planning your
future in dairying", for instance, Jack
Rodenburg, OMAFRA's dairy
production systems program lead,
predicted the average herd size on
Ontario dairy farms by 2015 will be
100 cows. Since 100 cows is above
the threshold of efficiency for tie -stall
operations, it means there will be a
tremendous number of changes in
dairy operations in the next 15 years.
This month, we have a story looking
at the economics and the possibilities
of dairy expansion.
Expansion has already been taking
place in hogs with much larger
operations going up, but that
expansion has brought tremendous
public resistance. Worried about
damage from liquid manure
application, municipalities have
required nutrient management plans
before building permits will be issued
for new, larger livestock operations.
There have been problems with
manure spills and plenty of
complaints from neighbours,
including those in towns near large
hog operations, about the smell.
But there are steps being
undertaken to solve these problems.
We have a story this month that
explores the idea of two-storey hog
barns that make use of the efficiency
of liquid manure while creating solid
manure that doesn't create as much
apprehension among neighbours.
Other new initiatives explore the
possibility of reducing odour
complaints by pushing air from
exhaust fans through a bio -filter.
While some farmers must get
bigger to survive, a Mitchell -area
beekeeper thinks he's found a new
way for smaller farmers and
hobbyists to add to their income.
Ernst Bayer has been training people
to breed bees to meet a tremendous
shortage among Ontario beekeepers.
Not only farms have been
changing. Municipal amalgamation is
erasing towns and villages. But some
communities show it's possible to
exist even without a legal identity. In
the first of an ongoing series of
articles on communities that work
together, we look at the "Hamlet with
a heart", Belmore and the community
effort that makes the Belmore Maple
Syrup Festival an integral part of
community activities.0
Update
Cattle feeders, OCA, BIO co-operate
Back in September 1998 we carried a story on the formation of the Ontario
Cattle Feeders' Association (OCFA), headed up by Dave Gardiner of Kirkton.
The association was formed because feedlot operators in Ontario felt they were
being left out of the decision making of the Ontario Cattlemen's Association,
(OCA) which was made up mostly of cow -calf and background operators.
Since then the OCA and the OCFA have co-operated on several programs,
including the new Corn -Fed Beef Program, a partnership of the two organiza-
tions and Beef Improvement Ontario and funded by a $235,300 CanAdapt grant.
The program will assist 400-500 Ontario beef farmers to produce a high
quality, consistent product to capture a larger share of the domestic beef market,
says the Agricultural Adaptation Council. Noted Murray Calder, M.P. for
Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey in announcing the grant, "today's informed
consumers prefer corn -fed beef for its taste and tenderness".
Open to all beef producers in Ontario, the program will set out guidelines on
feed, implants and supplementation. Dr. Jock Buchanan -Smith of the University
of Guelph will conduct feedlot trials over a two-year period to develop
production protocols. A minimum of 85 per cent of the energy in the rations will
be derived from corn.0