The Rural Voice, 2004-06, Page 66BRUCE
Email: bruce@ofa.on.ca
website: www.ofa.on.ca/bruce
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
• The Rural Voice is provided to OFA
Members in Bruce County by the BCFA
Plastic bale wrap recycling program
Having served on a committee in
Bruce County to look into the extending
of our landfill sites in the early 1990s.
thought it interesting to go to a meeting
in Dundalk on April 29 where they
talked about recycling plastic bale wrap.
The intent of the meeting was to get
farmers and municipalities interested in
recycling used bale wrap. and to have
the municipalities make a bin available
at their land fill site for the plastic.
It was a very informative meeting
with product produced from the bale
wrap on display. things such as 2 x 4s:
2 x 6s: 4 x 4s. with the quality of
lumber. The estimated cost of the
products is to be in the price range of
cedar of the same dimensions. I was
amazed at the interaction between
farmers and council members as to make
this venture work.
Don Lewis. Warden of Grey County
spoke and expressed interest in seeing
this project work. My own municipality
of South Bruce passed a motion to
receive bale wrap at the land fill sites in
Teeswater and Mildmay. 1 sincerely
hope that farmers in South Bruce will
make an effort to take the hale wrap to
the land fill sites in Teeswater and
Mildmay instead of disposing of it in
some other manner.
If you would like to knob more about
the hale wrap recycling program you can
visit CS Plastic Services Inc. website at
wwss.csplasticserv.com Email:
extruders@csplasticsserv.com or contact
Darry Gallagher at 1-800-295-7604.0
Submitted by Bob Bregman
Culross Township Director
Wind Power
I attended a meeting in Holmesville on
April 27 about wind power to create
electricity. My wife and I travel to Holland
occasionally where they have lots of wind
turbines. We have pictures of row upon
row of the power -creating wind turbines.
It is a sight to see.
In Canada the industry is in its infancy
with approximately seven or eight large
units in Ontario.
Nearly 50 per cent of new wind
capacity installed in the world was in
Germany. Spain, Denmark and Holland
account for most of the rest. Wind power
of course, has been used for centuries,
such as grinding grain, drying land, log
sawing, etc.
The following information is taken from
a pamphlet distributed at the Holmesville
meeting.
How do Advanced Renewable Tariffs
relate to renewable portfolio
standards?
Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)
are simply targets, for example 10 per
cent of electricity supply from renewables
by a certain date. Renewable Portfolio
Standards do not specify how to arrive at
such a target. Many mistakenly assume
that to meet RPS targets, bidding is
required. Bidding is only one way to meet
RPS targets, Advanced Renewable
Tariffs are another.
Bidding is cumbersome, legalistic, and
often excludes community participation.
Because of the sophisticated gaming
strategies used by bidders, there are
heavy up -front legal and engineering
costs associated with bidding. These up-
front costs deter individual farmers, as
well as community groups, from
participating in bidding. This leads to
further concentration of renewables in the
hands of the power generators.
The most egalitarian mechanism for
quickly bringing the 'most new
renewables on line is Advanced
Renewable Tariffs.
Have Advanced Renewable Tariffs
been used before in North America?
Much of the wind -generating capacity
operating today in California was
installed under a program quite similar to
Advanced Renewable Tariffs. In the early
1980s, the California Public Utility
Commission introduced what were then
called Standard Offer No. 4 contracts.
These contracts guaranteed a
pre -determined price for a period of 10
years. Unlike modern Advanced
Renewable Tariffs, the price under
these contracts increased gradually
during the period they were in effect.
Nearly 1,500 MW of the 2,000 MW
currently operating in California today
were installed under this program and
launched the world's commercial wind
industry.
Who Pays the Difference?
Society - federal or provincial
taxpayers or ratepayers - makes up the
difference between the so-called
wholesale market price and the fixed
tariff.
Who should qualify?
For maximum rural economic benefit,
premium payments under Advanced
Renewable Tariffs should be limited to
farmers, co-operatives, or other small
holders. Power generators should be
excluded.
Why Now?
Energy is politically in play and the
deregulation fiasco opens the door to
innovative proposals.0
- Submitted by Bob Bregman
62 THE RURAL VOICE
BRUCE COUNTY FEDERATION OF
AGRICULTURE
DIRECTORS' MEETING
MONDAY, JUNE 28, 2004
8:00 P.M.
Bruce County Administrative
Building, Walkerton
Members are welcome to attend
Beef Connections
launched
Bruce County is the number one
cattle producing area of Ontario and, as
the U.S. border remains closed to export
of cattle, farm families are feeling the
effects of the BSE crisis. One rural
church minister, Rev. Cathy Hird, of St.
Andrew's United Church in Ripley,
decided to try to do something practical
to make a difference.
Under Hird's leadership a number of
interested people gathered 10 identify
needs and possible solutions. The group,
which includes clergy, farmers, the
Federation of Agriculture, and members
of the community, met several times to
discuss concerns, share stories and talk
about hopes for the future. As a result
they have launched a pilot project called
"Beef Connections". The project is based
on using the church network to make the
connection between consumers and
farmers.
Urban churches in the Hamilton area
have agreed to participate, and will help
gather orders and provide a pick-up
location. Initially, two local farmers are
providing 10 head of cattle for the
project, with the hope of expanding the
numbers in future shipments. Beef will
be pre -sold in 50 -pound boxes, each
containing an assortment of cuts, with
the participating farmers being
responsible to arrange processing and
transportation.
The group was also concerned about
finding ways to address the increasing
financial and family stress created by the
loss of market for beef. They hosted the
Brian Allen talk show, on CKNX radio, for
discussions on support services
available to farm families, for stress
counselling and income disaster relief.
Farm organizations and government are
also distributing information about family
support services.
The other issue that was identified
was the lack of communication and
understanding in the urban centers about
the issues and challenges facing the
farm families who produce our food. To
help educate the consumers who buy
through Beef Connections, each box will
contain a profile of the farm family who
raised the beef and their farming
practices.0