The Rural Voice, 1993-08, Page 62People
`Compare the Share's' Ralph
Ferguson stepping down as M.P.
Ralph Ferguson, the often quiet
farmer from Lambton County who
made a big noise noise with his study
of food prices, has decided not to run
for re-election in this fall's federal
election.
Ferguson, the Liberal member from
Lambton-Middlesex announced his
decision not to run at his riding
association barbecue at his farm near
Watford.
Ferguson's Compare the Share
studies of food pricing raised the ire of
heavy hitters in the food processing
industry for pointing out how little of
the food dollar actually went to
farmers. But Ferguson's study also
pointed out that food mark-ups in
Canada were often significantly higher
than in the United States. While farm
prices remained very stable throughout
the 1980s, prices of the processed
product to the consumer often
increased dramatically. In pork, for
instance, farmers got eight cents a
kilogram more while the consumer
paid $2.16 extra for pork chops.
Ferguson pointed out there is much
less competition among food
distributors and retailers in Canada
Ralph Ferguson
Won't run in this fall's election
than the U.S.
Ferguson was first elected in the
Lambton-Middlesex riding in 1980,
defeating Conservative Sid Fraleigh
who had been elected in 1979. During
the Trudeau government he served as
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Ministers of state and finance, Deputy
Whip and as Minister of Agriculture
for a short period in 1984. Defeated in
the 1984 election, he regained his seat
in the 1988 election.0
Ethanol pioneer honoured
Long before most Ontario farmers even knew what ethanol was, Phil
Durand was using the grain -based alcohol to power his farm equipment. At
the recent "Ethanol — The Developing Industry" conference, sponsored by
the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, Durand was honoured for his
pioneering work.
The inquisitive farmer from St. Joseph, on the Lake Huron shoreline in
southern Huron County, has used ethanol on his farm since the first energy
crunch sent petroleum prices soaring two decades ago.
Durand thought there was no reason ethanol couldn't be produced from
surplus crops to replace the expensive petroleum. He built what may be the
first large-scale alcohol still in Canada using corn, barley and poor quality
white beans as the raw material. By the early 1980s he had invested $55,000
in distilling equipment. At that time he was producing an ethanol blend of
one-third alcohol, two thirds gas at 32 cents a litre.
Although he was saving money his primary concern was with the
environment. He worried that pollution from farm equipment, greater with
ordinary gasoline, was affecting crops, food costs, health care costs and the
quality of water, accounting for millions in hidden costs.
Durand was also honoured closer to home when he won one of the Canada
125 awards for Huron County, presented by Huron M.P.P. Paul Klopp.0
OMAF appoints field
service manager
for Huron and Perth
What OMAF budget cuts took
away from Jim O'Toole, OMAF also
gave back to him.
O'Toole was scheduled to lose his
job as an agronomist at Centralia
College when it closed next May.
Instead he has become the field
service manager for OMAF in Huron
and Perth. The new position, one of
16 created across the province, is part
of a streamlining of OMAF activities
in the field. Each field service
manager will oversee several OMAF
offices, taking over human resources
and some other administration
functions from the ag reps. The move
is designed to give ag reps more
opportunity to work directly with
farmers. The ag rep will remain as
the team leader in the local office.
O'Toole will work out of the new
OMAF office in Clinton.
"I had some management
experience in my position at
Centralia College. Obviously, with
the closing of Centralia I was looking
for other opportunities elsewhere in
the Ministry. With the new
streamlining process taking place in
this branch of the Ministry, there
were some positions created. This
was one I was kind of interested in
— it was a nice opportunity that
came along."
Dufferin AG Rep
gets new job
Terry Sullivan, Ag Rep for
Dufferin County has moved on to a
new position as Manager, Field
Services for North and South
Simcoe, Halton/Peel and Dufferin.
Sullivan joined the Dufferin
OMAF office in 1969. "I have
thoroughly enjoyed association with
the many farm organizations and
individual clients," he wrote recently.
"Overall, the many people involved
in Dufferin agriculture display a co-
operative spirit for the betterment of
agriculture and rural Dufferin."0