The Rural Voice, 1999-06, 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, Lisa Boonstoppel-
Pot, Bonnie Gropp,
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Sandra
Orr, Carl L. Bedal, Janice Becker,
Andrew Grindlay
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
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Behind the Scenes
Finding a market
While most farmers are worried
about the price for corn and soybeans
this fall or beef and pork next week,
there are farmers who have a more
intriguing marketing issue.
Take Jack Mantz of the Newton
area (near Milverton). Sandra Orr
reports this month that Mantz sells
rare animals to people who want
unique livestock on their acreages.
Like the idea of a zebra in the front
field? It might cost you $25,000 for a
female. But even here the laws of
supply and demand hold sway. It
doesn't take much to create an
oversupply. Emus, for instance, once
sold for $3,000 for a laying female
and now are down to $150.
In our Profit$ section, pork
producers in Perth County have not
been content to just sell their pork but
have been busy, over the last 15
years, promoting pork and even
developing new products. The
barbecue committee of the Perth
County Pork Producers Association
conducts barbecues for groups from
400 to 5500. They've introduced the
taste of smoked pork chops and
teriyaki pork steaks to many people
who have become fans. And in case
people can't get these delights in
local stores, they sell pork as well.
We talked to committee members this
month.
Farmers have long worried about
their image in an increasingly urban
society. One place where rural life
has been reflected to urban audiences
for a quarter century now is the Blyth
Festival. Rural and farm people also
have a chance to see themselves or
their neighbours represented on stage
in plays from the hilarious He Won't
Come in From the Barn to the
dramatic Another Season's Promise.
It's a unique experience as writer and
actor Gary Muir found out both on
stage and when he spoke to members
of the audience in preparing a
retrospective on the Festival's 25
years of portraying rural life.
Everyone who grew up on a farm
in the past, when diversified farming
meant making hay was part of every
farm operation has memories of the
experience. Barbara Weiler recalls
hers from the days before balers,
either small or large, changed the
way hay was harvested.
June is strawberry month and
Bonnie Gropp has collected recipes
to take advantage of the abundance of
this delicacy this month. Meanwhile,
in her decorating column, Patti
Robertson answers questions from
readers, including making the most of
your outdoor deck.0
Update
Cream producers press issue
The timing of the provincial election for June 4 has been seized upon by the
Ontario Cream Producers Association in an attempt to get the provincial
government to solve the problem of small-scale dairy producers getting into the
business or expanding (as featured in our article Still Hanging On last month).
Paul Campbell, president of the association, Don O'Neill, association
secretary, and Ed Bennett who has been arguing the position of Old Order
farmers, have co-authored an open letter to Premier Mike Harris claiming
injustice for cream producers who pay the quota price for whole milk when they
can sell only the cream skimmed off. They propose the two solutions outlined in
our article last month: either an exemption for small herds or a renters pool from
which new entrants could rent quota while they built up their equity.
The problem, they reiterate, is especially difficult for Old Order farm families
for which cream production is integral to an entire religion -based way of life.
These farmers do not have the option of shipping whole milk because, for food
safety concerns, they would have to install electrically -powered bulk coolers,
which goes against their religion. Though cream production is a tiny
uneconomical venture for modern dairy farmers, for the Amish selling cream
creates cashflow while they feed skim milk to calves or hogs.0