The Rural Voice, 2003-02, Page 22Introduction To Ecological Agriculture
The Ecological Farmers Association is offering this two day course.
Taught by Experienced Organic Farmers.
Sponsored by OntarBio Organic Farmers Co-operative.
Organic Courses Available in Ontario
Courses • Markdale - February 6, 7, 2003 ersAssoc.
So Far • Morrisburg - February 14, 15, 2003 4.�� o�
• St. Marys - February 21, 22, 2003 ?1
s-.
More Courses To Come! Call for Details. o c
Call anytime and leave a message. Registration is Required. 1 — - c
Call 519-335-6566 or efao@wightman.ca e
HillAND Hill
FARMS
LIMITED
VARNA ONT.
At Hill & Hill Farms, we bring
more value to your farming
operation by offering seeds from
the following companies:
41111;11133)PK-
Consider these available varieties & genetics:
Roundup Ready Corn
Roundup Ready Soybeans
Liberty Link Hybrids
Bt Hybrids
Stacked Gene Hybrids
Speciality Soybean Contracts
I.P. Contracts
CaII Pete or Kristen for further details
519-233-3218
18 THE RURAL VOICE
U.S. is having a hard time getting
that market back, he said.
Whewell emphasized that farmers
must make sure that "As we grow
crops it is something our customer
wants. We found out our customers
didn't want Starlink. We need to
grow for our customers, not for our
seed salesmen."
The good news in corn is
increasing industrial usage, from 800
million bushels of corn in 1980 to 2.2
billion in 2002. "Ethanol production
in the U.S. is mind-boggling," he
said.
That heavy industrial use has the
potential to raise prices if there
is a short crop, he said. There's
now a situation where the corn crop
has to match trend yields in order not
to reduce the corn carryout, he said.
"That's a different story than when
trend yields increased carryout."
U.S. soybean carry -out in
December 2002 was also about half
that of the December 1998 carryout,
Whewell said, yet the price was
$1.25 a bushel less in 2002. The
situation is different because of the
growing production of Argentina and
Brazil where in 2002, for the first
time in history, production was larger
than production in the U.S.
Prices haven't increased despite a
lower U.S. inventory because the
trade believes South America will
out -produce the market, Whewell
said. That puts a lot of pressure on
the South American crop and weather
will play a big part in that.
Total production in both the U.S.
and South America has been
increasing steadily but world demand
has offset that increase. It can be
frightening to see that an estimated
50 million more acres in South
America could come into production
but it will do so when the market
needs it, he predicted, unless the
Argentinian government pushes more
land into production for economic
reasons.
An example of increased market
potential is China with its 1.2 billion
people and steady economic growth,
he said. When poor people get
money the first thing they do is
improve their diet. Three per cent
annual growth in a market of 1.2
billion people has tremendous
potential, he said.
"I'm optimistic we will continue
to see that growth," he said.