The Rural Voice, 2004-10, Page 31
About this issue
The most valuable corner
Recently a group of farmers got together to put up a
display at the Huron County Plowing Match depicting how
farm commodity prices haven't kept up with inflationary
price changes elsewhere. James Armstrong and Wayne
Hamilton pointed out that in 1965 an MP made $12,000 a
year and a new combine also cost that much. Today the MP
makes $141,000 and the combine costs $250,000.
But there's one corner of the farm where crop prices
have kept up with inflation pretty well: the bush. Ironically,
it's an area that few farmers pay much attention to. Russ
Horning is one farmer who always paid attention to his 16 -
acre woodlot. As farmers do with their cattle or crops, he
tried to learn as much as he could about how to make his
crop of trees produce to maximum efficiency. He also kept
records of the income earned from that corner of the farm.
Those figures today show that, year in, year out, a well-
managed woodlot can be among the most profitable portion
of the farm, and all with very little cost or effort.
There has been a good deal of effort expended by farm
and homeowners in Grey County to spruce up the
appearance of their properties to greet visitors attending the
International Plowing Match at Meaford. Janice Becker
brings us information about the winners in the IPM's
beautification contest.
October is traditionally the time for the harvest of corn,
though who knows with this year's weather? Today the
combine is the tool of choice for bringing in the crop but at
one time corn was picked on the cob. Two Lucknow-area
brothers, Fred and Ken Phillips have recently restored one
of the ultimate machines in corn -picking, a 1950-51
Minneapolis Moline uni-sytem. Elyse DeBruyn has their
story.
In our People section, Perth County Federation of
Agriculture recently took on the job of educating urban
MPPs about the realities of modern agriculture with a one -
day tour of area farms.
Bonny Gropp's recipe selections this month pay tribute
to the German influence in cuisine with recipes for
Oktoberfest.0
Update
Working on water qualitg
In January we reported on a meeting in Huron County
that brought farmers and beach -front businesses and
property owners together to discuss issues of water quality
in Lake Huron. The result was the creation of a water
protection steering committee. In September county
council accepted several recommendations from the
committee aimed at improving water quality.
The committee, made up of representatives of
municipalities, conservation authorities, agricultural groups
and lakeshore residents' associations, recommended the
county work in collaboration with the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food, Ryerson University and the
University of Guelph to seek funding for water protection
initiatives in the county.
One project will use the geographical information system
to target areas of the county susceptible to groundwater
contamination because of conditions such as soil type,
slope, land -use and proximity to surface and groundwater.
After identifying such areas, the program would approach
landowners to suggest remedial actions such as changing
cropping practices, planting trees, changing manure
application practices or upgrading septic systems.
The county will also approach the Federation of
Canadian Municipalities for funding for a loan program for
septic tank improvements and replacement. The county,
behind Warden Bill Dowson, has been a major promoter of
a loan program, similar to farm tile drain loans.0
'Rural Voice
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Editor & Publisher: Keith Roulston
Editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron Cty;
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.;
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
Contributing writers:
Bonnie Gropp, Carol Riemer, Ralph
Pearce, Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Sandra
Orr, Janice Becker. Larry Drew
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