The Rural Voice, 2004-05, Page 55IJ\..I
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R.R. 1, Devlin, Ontario POW �1V 1 •" • 807-486-3622
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER ' The i Voice is provided to Rainy
RAINY RIVER VALLEY River Federation members by the RRFA.
4pril 19, 2004
Another Easter season has come and
gone. and with it the promise of new
hope and new life. We welcome Bradley
William Teeple, born to Jason and Kelly
on March 22. Grandparents are Allen
and Shirley Teeple and Marilyn
Faragher. The circle of life goes on.
The Emo Research Station is open as
of April 1. so drop by and get up-to-date
information from KimJo Bliss.
The RRFA held their April meeting at
the Emo Curling Club with Bernie
Zimmerman, Linda Armstrong, Angela
Halvorsen. Betty Salchert, Kristine
Carpenter. Shirley Morrish. KimJo
Bliss. Rudy Sinninghe, James Gibson.
Marvin Smith and Clayton Teeple
attending.
Rainy River Ag Days was the topic of
discussion and planning. It was held
April 7 - 8 to coincide with speakers
coming from the Thunder Bay Ag Days.
This year the fee was $10, of which half
went towards membership to. Soil and
Crop.Association. A huge thanks goes
out to the people who gave up two days
of their regular duties to make sure the
events rolled along smoothly. Bernie
Zimmerman, Gary Sliworsky and KimJo
can be commended for making it an
educational experience. Linda and her
committee made sure that the annual Bill
Gibson award was presented. The
recipient this year was Telford Advent.
Telford has joined the construction world,
now. but has given countless hours of his
time to agriculture while he was a beef
man. He's not that old. but he's
adventurous and the recognition has been
long past due. Telford was also president
and one of the founding members of our
local OFA when it originated.
A horse clinic was sponsored and
held for all interested horse people at
Emo. Dr. Jan Pierroz find Dr. Wayne
Etherington were on hand to give lots of
good information. Horse owners should
seriously consider West Nile
Vaccination for their horses this year.
The first dose should be given five
weeks before the onset of mosquito
season and the second dose three weeks
later. If we're lucky. there will be no
mosquitoes. but, because it is spring. we
should prepare and dump standing water
found in old tires. containers. and other
things around the home and yard.
Mosquitoes breed in standing water. so
regular dumping will reduce your
chances of getting bitten. as well as your
horse. Health Canada can be reached at
1-800-816-7292.
A Farm Safety meeting will be held
at Alwine Teeple's home on May 5 at
7:30 p.m. Anyone interested in safety is
invited to attend. We're being advised to
monitor Internet use by our children.
There are numerous predators who can
enter homes through the Internet by
children communicating in chat rooms.
Any suspicious activities can be reported
by calling 1-888-310-1122 or 1-800-222-
8477(TIPS).
KimJo announced that Dr. Wayne
will be leaving our district as of May I.
Dr. Dan will be looking for someone to
replace Dr. Wayne. In the meantime, Dr.
Dan will be extra busy. We're thankful
that some years back. Dr. Dan gave
classes in emergency procedures for
farmers to help themselves when animals
needed aid. We're lucky to have
NorWest Animal Clinic and the capable
staff. We could have been stuck with a
name like "Tiggy Winkles". an animal
clinic in England.
Did you know that -in Arizona. it's
illegal to hunt camels?
Angela, reporting for the fair board.
says that there are tenders out now for a
new barn. It will be built in time for this
year's fair in August. The entrance fee
for all exhibitors will be the same.
including horses. Books are now being
printed. Jan Judson is the new
secretary/treasurer and contact person to
obtain memberships.
Some 19 million chickens are being
destroyed in B.C. because of Bird Flu.
This will cause a chicken shortage by
early June. Cost will go up in the chicken
industry. It's a bit scary. because this
weekend we're off to Vancouver for our
son's graduation. Tom may not be
getting his breakfast eggs and 1 may not
be eating my favourite crispy chicken
burgers. But. at last. we get to see the
mountains.
The Canadian Food Inspection
Agency has issued two health alerts
March 13 and 23. after certain lots of
imported honey contained nitrofurans.
These are anti -microbial drugs forbidden
in Canada. but permitted in certain
countries for use in food -producing
animals. It has the potential to cause
cancer and allergic reaction in humans.
CFIA encourages consumers to buy only
100 per cent labelled Canadian honey.
Canadians produce only the highest
standard honey.
The next 4-H Leaders' Association
meeting will be held May 17. 7:30 p.m.
in Barwick. The 4-H ski 'rip in March
was a huge success. Thanks to Tracy
Hyatt for organizing it. There will be a
first-aid course, possibly in October.
Tickets are on sale now for a beautiful
set of lawn furniture: Memberships for
4-H has gone up to $35 for the year. Our
local association pays $10 of that to help
each member. Next year. the fee goes to
$50. Kimio is contact person for any 4-H
questions at 482-2863. Ellen Chojko
Bolec is provincial director.
Goats will soon be getting their own
national ID program. There are 18
representatives from across Canada on
the newly -formed Canadian National
Goat Federation. A tag has to be
designed suitable for all the various
breeds. Nubian. and Angora have small
or very thin ears. while the LaMancha
have no outer ear to hold a tag
Alternative identification systems will be
started with pilot projects this summer
and the target launch date for the ID
program is January 1. 2006.
NORTA "Freedom Ride" will take
place 9:00 a.m. on September 11
beginning at Trail's End Riding Stables.
Rain date is September 12. Pledge sheets
are available from Joyce Young at 486-
3378 ui 1 µmint Shoemaker at 274-3308.
The ride wraps up with a wiener roast at
Joyce Young's.
"Bookkeeper" is the only word in the
English language with three sets of
double letters.
There's a Yonge Street cleanup about
to happen. Volunteers are needed to
clean up the first mile of the 2000 -mile
Yonge Street which begins in the town
of Rainy River and ends in downtown
Toronto.
Well. it's happened. the news
everyone didn't want to hear. As of April
I. the price of electricity has gone up.
Consumers are urged to conserve energy
if you want to see your increase stay low.
New pricing structure won't happen until
May 2005. For information call 1-877-
632-2727 or 416-314-2455.
With no rain to date. the land is
slowly drying and with more sunshine.
farmers will be on the land in a couple of
weeks. So. for you older farmers who
need to build your arms and upper body.
begin by standing straight with a five -
pound potato sack in each hand. Extend
your arms straight out from your sides
and hold them there as along as you can.
Try to reach a full minute. then relay.
After a few weeks. move up to l0 -pound
potato sacks. and then 50 -pound potato
sacks. Eventually try to get where you
can lift a 100 -pound potato sack in each
hand and hold your arms straight out for
more than one minute. After you feel
confident at that level. start putting a
couple of potatoes in each of the sacks.
but be careful not to overdo it.
1 really need this holiday!0
— Submitted by Shirley Morrish
MAY 2004 51