The Rural Voice, 1999-01, Page 60HURON
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 1L0
519-482-9642 or 1-800-511-1135 Email: huron@ofa.on.ca
CountyFederation o Agriculture NEWSLETTER 'The Rural in Voice is provided to all farmers
, f 9 in Huron County by the HCFA.
Seeing how good our safety nets are
As I write this article in early
December. the sun is shining; people
are walking around in short sleeves,
with the temperatures at 15 degrees
celsius. Hopefully, by the time you
read this, we will have had lots of
rain, followed by winter. The water
table level will be rising and wells
will no longer be at risk.
Huron County Federation paid
tribute to Bob Humphries for his
service to agriculture. That same day,
your executive took the opportunity
of meeting with Jim Wheeler, an
OMAFRA Assistant Deputy
Minister. Jim, a local Huron County
producer listened to our concerns
about school closures as we reminded
him that we took the rural affairs
section of OMAFRA seriously. We
discussed water quality issues as well
as other environmental issues. We
raised our concern about the hog
industry.
Most of us, in Ontario never
expected the pork price to continue to
fall. By January, we will have better
details as to how the federal
government disaster support program
will work. Using a formula, similar to
NISA, we expect that an average of
three years net farm income will be
used to determine a 70 per cent
payout.
This program will apply to all
farmers across Canada. Farmers from
other sectors have voiced concern
about a "pork bailout". Hopefully the
disaster relief program will allow
those who wish to leave the pork
HCFA OFFICE HOURS
Mondays and Fridays
9 a.m. to 12 noon
1 p.m.to4p.m.
Tuesday; Wednesday, Thursday
Please leave a message.
(519) 482-9642
1-800-511-1135
FAX (519) 482-1416
Email: huron/tofa.on.ca
56 THE RURAL VOICE
industry to do so gracefully. At the
other end of the scale, young farmers
need to weather the storm to keep the
pork industry going as this cycle
ends. In all likelihood western grain
farmers will benefit more than
Ontario farmers because of our more
diversified agriculture. Fortunately
Ontario farm leaders have managed
to retain our GRIP program which
will be heavily used this year.
By this time next year, we will
know just how good our safety nets
are. Many.of us will have accessed
our NISA accounts. We will know
just what worked and what didn't in
times of falling farm gate prices. Just
as we meet changes in farming, our
farm leaders have to constantly adjust
our lobby efforts. We at the Huron
County Federation rely on your input.
Don't be afraid to call us with any
ideas that you care to share.
Those of you in the south can
expect to see us knocking at your
door with orange and red safety tape
to light up your tractor. We are uoing
an every -member visit in Hay,
Stephen, Stanley and Tuckersmith.
When we deliver your tractor safety
tape kit, we will have overwidth and
tow kits for sale. This will be your
chance to share your ideas with us.
Huron County Federation
Executive has tried to be as helpful to
the Huron Pork Producers as
possible. We joined them at the
Toronto rally. Along with grain and
oil seeds representatives and the pork
producers, we visited Paul Steckle
MP and Helen Johns MPP to gain
their support for the federal national
disaster program. In tough times, we
need to support each other, in asking
for the disaster program to be a
handup and not a handout.°
— Submitted by Pat Down
President, HCFA
Huron resolution dealt with at OFA convention
A Huron County resolution was dealt with at the 1998 OFA Convention, November 23/24. It
read as follows:
WHEREAS livestock farms are under increasing scrutiny of their manure handling and utilization
practices, and WHEREAS the majority of livestock farmers are responsible stewards of livestock
manure as a nutrient source, and WHEREAS repeat offenders who mismanage livestock manure
give livestock producers a bad name
THEREFORE BE RESOLVED that OFA lobby the government of Ontario to increase funding to
MOE so it can adequately investigate those who repeatedly mismanage livestock manure and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that OFA work with It OE and the livestock commodity boards to
determine appropriate escalating fines for repeat offenders who .mismanage livestock manure.
The result of the above "resolution" was to remove completely the 'second' be it resolved
section, and the remaining portion of the resolution was referred to the OFA ENVIRONMENT
Committee for further consideration.
FARM AID DETAILS
The details of the recently announced Farm Aid packages at the deadline date for this
article are very preliminary. We will have more details as they become available to us.
Federal Government Relief Program:
• available to all farmers of all commodity groups
• $900 million over two years
• Provinces expected to contribute another $600 million
• Program will be designed not to violate NAFTA and World Trade Organization rules
. Ontario Government Relief Program:
• available to farmers of all commodity groups
• $40 million Interim Funding — up to $30 million initially, and another $10 million once the
Federal Program is up and running
• available to individual farmers whose gross margins for 1998 fall below 70 per cent of
their three to five year average
• OMAFRA expected to mail applications to registered farmers in early January
• further information is available at 1-877-838-5144 or on the internet at
www.gov.on.ca/omafra