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The Rural Voice, 1990-03, Page 52NEWS SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT CHOOSES EXECUTIVE The Huron Soil and Water Conserva- tion District elected a new executive at its recent annual meeting in Exeter: (front row, from left) Russel Kernighan of Colborne Township, vice-chairman, and Jack Kroes of R. R. 2, Clinton, newly elected chairman; (back row) secretary Tom Prout of the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority and past chair- man Rick Coghlin of Atwood. The Huron Soil and Water Conservation District covers a large area of Huron and Perth counties and encourages bet- ter soil and water conservation, particu- larly by farmers. OMR APPLIES FOR TRACKAGE RIGHTS TO HAUL FREIGHT by Alice Gibb The Ontario Midwestern Railway (OMR) is expanding its plans for rail- way service to southwestern Ontario. The directors of the OMR originally planned to haul freight from Missis- sauga to Owen Sound, from Stratford to Owen Sound via Hanover and Listowel, and from Stratford to Goderich. Now they are also negotiating to offer freight service on the line running from London to Stratford and Kitch- cner-Waterloo and on to Georgetown. They are also negotiating for the rights to use shorter branch lines to Elmira, Cambridge, and one running from St. Marys to the Lucan area. The directors have applied to the National Transportation Agency for trackage rights. Only two other railroad companies have ever made similar ap- plications to the national agency, says OMR director Peter Swire of Stoney Creek. The four original OMR partners, who have been joined by Jim Ewing of 48 THE RURAL VOICE Wiarton, are also meeting with officials from both Canadian National and Cana- dian Pacific railways to discuss access for the OMR to abandoned lines owned by CN and CP. Jim Ewing worked 32 years for the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Rail- road. And if negotiations with an American railroad are successful, the OMR will be buying the management skills of the successful U.S. regional railroad company. Peter Swire says the five partners sill hope to have the OMR in operation by this summer. When fully operating, the new railway will have 43 people on staff. Freight trains will operate with two-man crews, and the directors plan to start operations with 8 locomotives and 50 covered hopper cars. The other partners in the OMR are Peter Bowers and John Harrison of Owen Sound and Hamilton lawyer William Kosar.0 CANADIAN AGRA ANNOUNCES CONTRACT Canadian Agra (CA) announced last month that an agreement had been signed with Miracle Feeds/Miratrade International to market all of the alfalfa cubes produced at CA's $15 million cubing facility being constructed at the Bruce Energy Centre near Kincardine. The plant will begin operation in May of 1990 and, by 1991, will have an annual production capacity of 60,000 to 90,000 tonnes of alfalfa cubes. Locally grown alfalfa will be proc- essed using steam heat supplied by Ontario Hydro's Bruce Nuclear Power Development. Miracle Feeds/Miratrade Interna- tional is a division of Ogilvie Mills Ltd. of London, Ontario.0