The Rural Voice, 1996-11, Page 48GREY
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1 P9
519-364-3050
' The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey
County Farmers by the GCFA.
Tax Update
Farm Tax Rebate: The average
Ontario farmer's property tax
rebate was $2,085 in 1994. OFA
got the rebate for farmers 26 years
ago and will fight to keep it until
we get genuine tax reform.
Payroll Taxes: OFA pushed
government to help lower
Ontario's farm employers' costs.
The provincial government
responded by freezing the
minimum wage, phasing out the
employer health tax, and reducing
workers' compensation premiums.
Waste Management: To relieve
the relentless demand for landfill
sites, OFA 'lobbied for and got
incineration included as a
municipal waste management
option.
Right To Farm: OFA led Ontario
farmers' struggle to get the Farm
Practices Protection Act and is
pressing this year to have that Act
significantly improved.
What does OFA do for me?
Environmental Farm Plan: OFA
co-ordinated the development of
Ontario's environmental farm
planning (EFP) program. Using
education rather than regulation,
EFP has guided almost 7,000
farmers through risk assessment
workshops and approved over
3,000 on-farm action plans.
Rewarding action, the average
Ontario farmer's EFP incentive
payment was $1,345 in July, 1996.
Rural Telecommunications: OFA
is lobbying the CRTC and Bell
Canada to quickly reduce the
number of party lines and get a
modem telephone service in rural
Ontario.
Farm Implements Act: OFA
fought to get machinery legislation
in Ontario that would provide basic
purchaser protections; OFA is
fighting now to stop the
government from off-loading
responsibility for administering the
Act.
Regional Directors & Delegates to
1996 OFA Convention
The Annual OFA Convention for 1996 will be held November 18, 19, 20, 1996
at the Delta Meadowvale Hotel, 6750 Mississauga Road, Mississauga.
Phone: 1-800-268-1133.
Your Regional Directors and Delegates will be representing Grey County
interests in policy decisions made at Convention.
All OFA members are welcome to attend as observers.
GREY REGIONAL DIRECTORS 1996/97 AND
1996 OFA CONVENTION DELEGATES
GREY NORTH - Pearl Bumstead
Townships: Derby, Holland, Keppel, Sarawak, Sydenham, Sullivan
Delegates: Bob Rodger, Paul Sachs, Elmer Scarrow
Alternates: Vacant
GREY SOUTH
Townships:
Delegates:
Altemate:
GREY EAST -
Townships:
Delegates:
Alternates:
-,Brian Milne
Bentinck, Egremont, Glenelg, Normanby, Proton
Karl Braeker, Karl Chittka, Ken Furlong
Marjorie McKeown
Bob Brassington
Artemesia, Collingwood, Euphrasia, Osprey, St. Vincent
Tom McGee
Vacant
44 THE RURAL VOICE
Energy Costs: OFA intervened
this year in the Ontario Energy
Board hearing trying to change the
rules so that farmers get better
access to natural gas supplies.0
Things a farmer can
be thankful for
Thanksgiving is a special time of
year for farmers because it reminds
us to be thankful for our harvest. On
Thanksgiving Sunday this year our
minister offered a prayer which I
thought was worth sharing with
others. It was written by Ardis
Rittenhouse and goes as follows:
FARMER'S PRAYER
For work that wets my weary brow,
For voices that ask Daddy how,
For buming sun that saps my strength,
For fireplace logs I chop to length,
For fresh -turned earth and fields of
green,
For stables that I shovel clean,
For hogs and cows and wooly sheep,
For weariness that lets me sleep,
For the smell of hay, the evening
chores.
For creek banks lined with
sycamores,
For legs so long they make a lap
Where sleepy heads can take a nap,
'For quiet hours, my favourite chair,
For the wife who smiles beside me
there,
For churches where the Almighty
Accepts and loves a man like me,
For all these things You've let me
touch
I humbly thank you, God, so much!O
Submitted by Brian Milne
OFA Director, Grey South
GREY COUNTY FEDERATION
OF AGRICULTURE
DIRECTORS' MEETING
Thursday, November 14, 1996
OMAFRA Boardroom, Markdale
8:00 p.m.
Members are welcome to attend.