The Rural Voice, 1992-01, Page 38RAINY RIVER
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
Box 416, Emo, Ontario POW 1 E0
807-482-2051
• The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy River
Federation members by the RRFA.
RRFA LENDS SUPPORT TO AG IN THE CLASSROOM
I hope your Christmas was a very good
one and all your New Year's resolutions will
be easy to keep in 1992.
The December meeting of the Rainy
River Federation of Agriculture was held on
Thursday, December 5, 1991. The directors
present were: Mike Zimmerman, Gary Esse-
link, Wayne Flatt, Jack Elliott, Susan
Boersma, Peggy Mason, Linda Armstrong
and Kim Hunsperger. Guest: Pat Clysdale-
Cornell, Rural Organization Specialist,
OMAF. Absent: Archie Weirsema, Jack
Van den Brand, Rick Boersma.
The treasurer gave her report and then
presented the proposed budget for 1991-
1992; on a motion by Gary Esselink, sec-
onded by Wayne Flatt, the report was ac-
cepted and the bills are to be paid. It was
moved by Jack Elliott and seconded by
Peggy Mason that the budget be approved as
presented.
The president then invited our guest, Pat
Clysdale-Cornell, to tell us about the activi-
ties of the Ag in the Classroom committee.
They began with a grade two kit focusing on
milk. The teachers who used the kit evalu-
ated it and offered some new ideas so the
committee subsequently updated it. This
fall, the committee held a French P.D. day,
and a new project will be a grade three kit
with the focus on eggs. They have purchased
a kit from the Egg Marketing Board that can
be used from grades three through eight. In
addition, the committee has been placing
videos and books at the resource centres of
both public and separate school boards.
In February, the Ag in the Classroom
committee will hold a P.D. day for the teach-
ers of grades four to six, with an all -day
session for the public board and an after-
school session for the separate board. Other
plans by the committee include a kit on bees
for grade four as well as a farm fair.
Pat has nine school boards to deal with in
the Kenora and Rainy River districts. This
year's budget for the Rainy River Ag in the
Classroom committee is $600 to $700. Jack
Elliott moved that we give a donation of
$300 and that we provide interim financing,
pending receipts from NODP to the Ag in the
Classroom committee. Mike Zimmerman
seconded the motion. Carried.
The directors on the Standing Commit-
tees and liaison with local boards are: Enter-
tainment — Peggy Mason, Kim Hunsperger,
Jack Van den Brand, Wayne Flatt; Ag in the
Classroom — Kristine Carpenter, Lisa
Teeple, Pat Clysdale-Comell; Farm Prog-
ress Building — Peggy Mason, Gary Esse-
link, Susan Boersma; Public Relations —
Jack Elliott, Shirley Morrish, Jacquelyn
34 THE RURAL VOICE
Hunsperger; Nuisance and Wildlife — Jack
Elliott; Membership — Archie Weirsema,
Peggy Mason, Susan Boersma; Bursary —
will ask Dennis Brunn and Gertie Bujold to
continue; Consumer Education — we dis-
cussed that perhaps this should be a major
project as a whole. Will table until next
meeting; NODP — Gary Esselink and Jack
Van den Brand. Kim will verify the term of
office with the Ag Office; ARDA — will ask
Marc Husser to continue; Vet Services —
Mike Zimmerman; Fair Board — will ask
Gertie to report, since she is on the Fair
Board; Farm Safety — Wayne Flatt; Insur-
ance — Linda Armstrong.
The Seed Growers report that there will
be an alfalfa seed school at the Holiday Inn
in Winnipeg, January 10 to 11. NODP fund-
ing will be available to cover the registration
fee of $100.
Cattlemen, who are looking for new di-
rectors, met November 14 to review the past
year. Their annual meeting will be the third
week of January. Gary Esselink suggested
that we send a letter to the Rainy River Cattle
Breeders asking for a representative.
Jack Elliott reported on the OFA conven-
tion at which our resolutions were well sup-
ported. There is already some action coming
up on the stubble -burning resolution: a
meeting will be held with Bruce and the other
ministries involved. Jack felt that this had
been the most positive OFA meeting he had
been to in some time. All the commodity
groups were unified; stable funding for
general farm organizations may be in place
this year; supply management as we know it
may change; and the membership fee was
not raised. The OFA needs 500 to 600 new
members to meet the budget. They dis-
cussed a stable, secure food supply and how
we need consumer education to get it. There
were not many resolutions, but they were
good ones.
Kim Hunsperger gave a report on the
Leadership in Action seminar in Quetico.
Participants started by evaluating their own
skills and characteristics. A discussion of
goal setting —"If you don't know where you
are going, how will you know when you get
there?" — was followed by a discussion of
four leadership styles and the appropriate
situations in which to use each one. By
running a mock meeting we examined how
to run a meeting effectively. We discussed
parliamentary procedure versus consensus,
learning that consensus generally works
better with smaller groups of fewer than 12
members. The public speaking workshop
was good — but I still don't like to do it. The
favourite quote from that session is very true:
"The human brain starts working the mo-
ment you are bom and never stops ... until
you stand up in public." Our impromptu
speeches were videotaped and it was very
interesting to watch the playback and to learn
what to do so the "fear doesn't show."
Leadership in Action was a really worth-
while conference to attend. I feel I benefited
a lot, and hope that what I Teamed can be of
benefit to the Rainy River Federation of
Agriculture. I encourage others to attend
conferences like this if the opportunity
arises. I would like to thank the Rainy River
Federation of Agriculture for sponsoring
me.
Jack Elliott made a presentation on our
behalf at the hearing in Fort Frances on
"Looking Ahead: A Wildlife Strategy for
Ontario." He noted that the agricultural
content and consultation were very minimal
and that the working group has a low agricul-
tural component. We feel that it may be
appropriate that the MNR be designated the
lead ministry in this process, but not as a mo-
nopoly, as it currently appears.
Farms provide significant wildlife habi-
tat. Since we make up less than three per cent
of the population, the policies of the majority
should be paid for by the majority. An
example is the bear damage to grain and corn
crops in late summer. In 1974, a large fire in
the Kenora area coincided with a dramatic
jump in the number of bears in the region.
Since then, resident and migratory bear
populations seem to have increased signifi-
cantly, along with their attendant crop dam-
age. While viewing a field in the Sleeman
area, a crop insurance inspector stated that
1991 was the worst year for bear damage to
crops he has seen across the district. Live
trapping and removal has not worked; some
of the trapped animals returned a few days
after release, causing increasing damage
through '90-'91.
There seems to be a struggle between the
"preservationist" and "conservationist/con-
sumer" factions, with little consideration for
.other segments of society — disinterested
parties, uninvolved urbanites, agricultural
producers and industry. If the policies pro-
posed in this study are implemented, what
are the costs? How do you institute a "user
pay" policy for viewers and preservations?
For angling and hunting, it can be done fairly
simply through licence fees.
A short note in closing: Shirley Morrish
will be doing the column starting next
month. I am going to try my wings in some
other areas that have been tweaking my
curiosity for some time now.
See you around.0 Jacquelyn