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The Rural Voice, 1995-11, Page 3Editor: Keith Roulston editorial advisory committee: Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County John Heard, soils and crop extension and research, northwestern Ontario Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty. George Penfold, associate professor, University of Guelph Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty. contributing writers: Gisele Ireland, Cathy Laird, Wayne Kelly, Sarah Borowski, Mary Lou Weiser -Hamilton, June Flath, Ian Wylie-Toal, Susan Glover, Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Darene Yavorsky, Peter Baltensperger, Sandra Orr, Yvonne Reynolds, Carl L. Bedal marketing & advertising sales manager: Gerry Fortune advertising representative: Merle Gunby production co-ordinator: Joan Caldwell advertising & editorial production: Dianne Josling Anne Harrison laserset: with the Macintosh Classic printed & mailed by: Signal -Star Publishing, Goderich, Ontario subscriptions: $16.05 (12 issues) (includes 7% GST) Back copies $2.75 each For U.S. rates, add $5 per year Changes of address, orders for subscrip- tions and undeliverable copies (return postage guaranteed) are to be sent to The Rural Voice at the address listed below. Canadian Magazine Publishers Association All manuscripts submitted for consideration should be accompanied by a stamped, self- addressed envelope. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs, although both are welcome. The opinions expressed here- in are not necessarily those of the publisher. Editorial content may be reproduced only by permission of the publisher. Published monthly by The Rural Voice, Box 429, Blyth, Ontario, NOM 1H0, 519-523-4311 (fax 523-9140). Publication mail registration No. 3560 held by North Huron Publishing Co. Inc. at Goderich, Ontario. The Rural Voice makes every effort to see that advertising copy is correct. However, should an error occur, please notify The Rural Voice office within 30 days of invoicing in order to obtain a billing adjustment Behind the Scenes Starting young ... and starting over For most people alive today in rural Ontario, 4-H has always been part of the lives of young people. It was 80 years ago this year that the organization first began working with young people to teach them skills in farming and in leadership. There have been many changes over the intervening years. The organization has grown and changed. While farm skills are still taught in some clubs, there are other clubs that teach everything from homemaking to wise consumer skills. Now, with government cutbacks, the assistance the clubs are getting is being reduced and not everyone is happy with the situation. This month we take a look at the state of the 4-H movement on its 80th birthday. No matter what troubles rural Ontario finds itself in, it's impossible to compare our situation to that in former East Bloc countries now struggling to emerge from 50 years of communist domination. Doug Richards, swine adviser with OMAFRA's Clinton office, visited the Ukraine this spring and saw first hand the economic devastation in what could be one of the world's bread -basket countries. Caught between the centrally -planned economy of its communist days and the market systems of a western country, Ukrainians have no infrastructure at all. Fertile foods are unproductive because there is no money for seed and fertilizer, there is no transportation to carry what crops are grown, there is little sanitation in markets and few people have the money to buy food anyway. His observations are a lesson in how important the entire community structure is in farming and in feeding the population. Poultry is often a forgotten part of the local farming scene. The scale of poultry operations is so large and the number of poultry farmers is so small, that sometimes the industry isn't adequately reflected in local farm organizations. Recently poultry farmers from Huron, Perth and Oxford gathered for the annual poultry update conference in Holmesville. Some of the developments in the industry are covered in this month's issue. It's annual meeting time for the county Federations of Agriculture. Our news section contains reports on the annual meetings in Perth and Grey. Rhea Hamilton Seeger's gardening column looks at window -sill gardening for children.° Update Dealing with an issue to avoid problems In our July issue we dealt with the head -aches that can result when farmers' needs to renovate an open drain come into conflict with the federal Fisheries Act with its provisions to preserve fish habitat. Obviously these are problems that aren't likely to go away so anything that can be done to head -off a problem is a benefit to both sides of the issue. The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association has been at work near Long Point, working with Norfolk Township, and the Ministry of Natural Resources to demonstrate and evaluate drain designs that could prevent drains from having to be cleaned out so often, thus saving farmers' money and preventing disturbing fish habitat. Rather than continuous bottom clean out of the Cranberry Creek Drain and removal of brush from along one bank, all involved agreed to try sand traps as a means of protecting the trout population and spawning beds. Sand traps are depressions in the channel bottom designed to collect eroded sand material and reduce the movement down stream. It meant construction was confined to only two sites and the rest of the stream was left untouched. It's hoped that if properly maintained, the traps could reduce future cleanout costs. OSCIA is involved in other experimental projects in Oxford and Dundas.°