The Rural Voice, 1991-07, Page 14AGRICULTURAL
EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES
Provide employment planning
assistance to the agricultural
industry
Recruit workers for agricultural
employment from across
Canada
Assist with worker orientation
and mobility costs
Promote and develop
education needs for
employees and employers
Provide information about
government employment
programs
OWEN SOUND WALKERTON
371-9522 881-3671
WAVW
Canada
CANADIAN
CO-OPERATIVE
WOOL GROWERS
LIMITED
ACCEPTING
WOOL CLIPS
ON CONSIGNMENT
,
Skirted Fleeces
* Well Packed Sacks
For more information contact.
RIPLEY
WOOL DEPOT
John Farrell
R.R. 3, Ripley, Ontario
519-395-5757
10 THE RURAL VOICE
ODDS AND ENDS: DUCKS
AND DEREGULATION
Adrian Vos, from Huron County, has
contributed to The Rural Voice since
its inception in 1975.
Ducks Unlimited (DU), the orga-
nization that spends millions of dollars
annually in North America to preserve
wetlands, has added its voice to that of
the CFFO. Both organizations are
concerned that the GRIP program will
cause farmers to plant from hedgerow
to hedgerow. The CFFO fears addi-
tional over -production. DU fears far-
mers will be tempted to drain even
more wetlands, valuable for both wild-
life and groundwater retention for
farmers, and will farm more marginal,
erosion prone land, which, without the
GRIP, would be unprofitable.
As long as Mazankowski was at
the helm of Agriculture Canada, sup-
ply management was relatively safe.
Bill McKnight, the new agriculture
minister, doesn't have the pull of the
deputy premier. To add to the threat,
Mike Wilson, the advocate of dere-
gulation, is now our trade minister.
Maclean's magazine reports Wil-
son as saying: "The world is trading.
Competition is tough. We did not
make it that way and we cannot wish
it away," and "... There is no argu-
ment of ideology here. It's reality."
It's not known yet what Wilson
plans to do, but rumours are surfacing
that "marketing boards" must go,
along with inter -provincial trade re-
strictions announced in the throne
speech. Both issues are closely rela-
ted. All supply managed commo-
dities rely on protection of provincial
quota.
(To address American concerns,
we could rename marketing boards
"marketing orders" as is done in the
U.S. for peanuts, hops, and, ... yes,
milk in Texas. It just may make U.S.
legislators realize that they have simi-
lar systems at home).
Regrettably, we haven't heard Wil-
son propose to let the Canadian dollar
drop to its rightful value, estimated to
be below 0.80 U.S. Should that hap-
pen, the nation's industries, including
agriculture, would experience an ex-
port boom. The jobs created would be
well worth the higher cost of imports,
and also stop cross border shopping.
Farmers have little cause to be con-
cerned about the looming FTA with
Mexico. That country has a land base
too small to even feed its own popula-
tion, let alone compete with us. Now
we buy out of season vegetables and
tropical fruits and nuts. Nothing indi-
cates this will change, but they may
buy more wheat and meat from us.
Even for those farmers whose
wives (or sisters) lost their jobs to low
wage Mexicans, a free trade arrange-
ment can't be any worse than what we
have now. Fleck industries of Huron
Park, the often quoted example,
moved out long before free trade.
Before plowing this fall, farmers
should take a good look at conserva-
tion tillage. Until now, many wanted
to adjust to the new realities but were
reluctant to buy new, expensive
equipment. This need no longer be
the case. SWEEP reports farm tests
with moldboards cut by 75 per cent,
show old plows can do the job.
The controversy about methane
belching cattle is not going to stop.
The environmental fundamentalists
will suck to their dogma like any other
fundamentalist, despite evidence to the
contrary. For those with an open
mind, the following calculation.
In Bruce county, a 100 acre pasture
feeds 100 cows and calves for six
months. During that time the grass
produces enough oxygen for 69,700
people, according to figures from the
Professional Lawn Care Association
and DowElanco. Each cow and calf
unit looks after the oxygen needs of
2,323 people for six months, or 1,162
people a year. At the same time, the
pasture absorbs an equivalent amount
of carbon dioxide, the stuff which is,
along with methane and other gases,
causing the greenhouse effect.0