The Rural Voice, 1998-06, Page 76HURON
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 1L0
519-482-9642 or 1-800-511-1135 Email: ofahuron@ odyssey.on.ca
County•Federation o Agriculture NEWSLETTER The Rural Voice is provided to all farmers
f 9 in Huron County by the HCFA.
Huron County's agri-tourism is worth cultivating!
The Huron Tourism Association and
agricultural partners have recently
received a Canadapt grant for a project
entitled "Explore Ontario's West
Coast" to further develop Huron
County's agri-tourism potential and tap
into a growing demand for agri-tourism
experiences. This grant will make it
possible to promote Huron County in
many new and exciting ways. Below
we are outlining some of the exciting
programs that will be cultivated this
year. Don't miss this opportunity to
expand your tourism and income
potential.
The Huron Harvest Trail is a
permanently sign -posted route through
Huron County that will include
interested farm gate and agri-tour
operators as well as restaurants and
shops that showcase locally grown
foods and products (similar to the
Niagara wine route idea). Simple to
recognize main road signs will be
augmented with individual farm/
business signs for easy access of
visitors.
We, in Huron County, have a wide
variety of enticing agri-tourism pro-
ducts that are of interest to travellers.
The Huron Tourism Association is now
launching an attractive campaign that
will be aggressively promoted via paid
advertising and promotion through
trade shows, public relations, tourism
outlets in Ontario, etc.
Participants in the Huron Harvest
Trail will receive the following
package:
• A "Huron Harvest Trail" sign
• Inclusion of your facility on the
Huron Harvest Trail maps which will
be mass printed and circulated to all
travel inquiries and distributed via all
tourism outlets in Ontario
• A one -day training seminar "Opening
Your Gates to Tourism" (Ontario
Agricultural Training Institute course)
— for farm -gate and agri-tour
operators, and "Being an Ambassador"
for restaurants and shops. These
courses will be offered at various
intervals throughout the year and all
participants must take a course by
March 31, 1999.
• Membership in the Huron Tourism
Association — the best opportunity to
learn and network with your tourism
and hospitality partners in Huron
County.
Total cost of the Huron Harvest
Trail package is $145 for the first year
and only $95 for the second year.
The Huron Harvest Trail will be
launched this fall and we need to hear
from all interested parties by the end of
May to ensure that you will receive a
sign and be included in the maps for the
fall launch. Please call us for more
information.
Don't miss the opportunity to be
part of this exciting project that will put
Farming and Food Production Protection Act
receives Royal assent
OFA is pleased that the Honourable
Hilary Westin, Lieutenant Govemor of
Ontario, gave "Royal Assent" to the
Farming and Food Production
Protection Act, the first bill to become
law in this session of the legislature.
The new act replace the Farm Practices
Protection Act, 1988 and is effective
immediately.
The act will safeguard farmers'
ability to conduct their business and
produce food without fear of nuisance
lawsuits or barriers created by bylaws
restricting normal farm practices. This
act has enhanced the definitions of
72 THE RURAL VOICE
"normal farm practices" and
"agricultural" operation. Also, the act
will include measures to ensure
municipalities take "normal farm
practices" into account when drafting
bylaws.
Ontario farmers will still remain
subject to the Environmental Protection
Act, the Pesticides Act, the Health
Protection and Promotion Act, and the
Ontario Water Resources Act. Under
the new Farming and Food Production
Protection Act, the Board will be
composed of farmers, non -farmers and
municipal councillors.0
your operation or business "on the
map". Explore Ontario's West Coast —
Project Manager, Cass Bayley, Tel:
519-263-3050. Fax: 519-262-2936.0
INTERESTED IN HAVING GROUPS
VISIT YOUR FACILITY?
We are presently packaging a variety of
itineraries for agri-tour ideas — both
general public and specialty/ag-
industry tours — that will be promoted
to all group tour operators in Canada
and the U.S. If you feel that your farm
or facility would be appropriate for
groups to visit, call us for more
information.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Deadline for Farm Business>
Registration is AUGUST 31, 1998
NISA DEADLINES
The new NON -Penalty application
deadline for the 1997 stabilization year is
June 15, 1998 for individuals and June 30,
1998 for corporations/co-operatives. The
final application deadline for both
individuals and corporations/co-operatives
is December 31, 1998.
Another important deadline is the
Deposit/Withdrawal deadline which is
December 31 or 60 days after the
"Deposit/Withdrawal Options Notice" has
been issued. Last year, thousands of
NISA participants neglected to make their
maximum matchable deposit resulting in
over $55 million in matching government
contributions being missed.
4TH ANNUAL FARM
HIKER TOUR
Sunday, October 4, 1998
Central Huron Area
Watch this page for further details!
HCFA OFFICE HOURS
Mondays and Fridays
9 a.m. to 12 noon
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday
Please leave a message.
(519) 482-9642
1-800-511-1135
FAX (519) 482-1416
Email: ofahuron@odyssey.on.ca
i