The Rural Voice, 1999-07, Page 45PERTH
Andy DeVries, R.R. #1, Atwood NOG 1B0 Phone/Fax 519-356-2133
PCFA Office 229-6430 Fax 229-6269 e-mail: perth@ofa.on.ca
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
• The Rural Voice is provided to farmers
in Perth County by the PCFA.
Survey shows farm safety is a big priority for producers
Results of a farm safety survey
conducted by the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture at the Canadian
International Farm Equipment Show
indicate that more than 90 per cent of
Ontario's farmers are prepared for
some type of emergency.
The survey was conducted in
conjunction with the recent launch of
the Agricultural Safety Audit
Program (ASAP). Of the 260
respondents, 70 per cent supported
the idea of a personal health and
safety audit for their farms.
ASAP is a new, self-management
program which was designed to help
reduce the financial and human costs
of workplace injuries and illnesses on
Ontario farms. The program is
voluntary and farmers can use it to
evaluate their own farms for potential
health and safety issues.
Of those surveyed, close to 90 per
cent said they are already active in
identifying hazards, assessing risks
and practising prevention on their
Farmers urged to fill out Farmland Property
Tax applications to receive reduced tax rate
The Ontario Federation of
Agriculture is urging all farmers to
fill out and send in their Farmland
Property Tax Application forms for
the year 2000 — or face the prospect
of being subject to a tax rate of 100
per cent of the residential mill rate.
Farmers are eligible for the
farmland property tax rate of 25 per
cent as a result of the new Farmland
Property Tax Program introduced last
year. The deadline for returning the
application forms is August 31, 1999.
OMAFRA is currently in the
process of sending out these property
tax forms and all farm property
owners are expected to receive them
by the end of June. This is the second
set of forms farmers will receive this
year; Farm Business Registration
forms were sent out this past winter.
"We're urging farmers to watch
for the tax forms, fill them out and
send them to OMAFRA," says OFA
President Ed Segsworth. He points
out that each piece of land owned by
a farmer must have a valid farm
business registration number
associated with it to be eligible for
the 25 per cent rate. This registration
42 THE RURAL VOICE
number will belong to either the
owner of the land or the tenant, if the
property is rented.
Segsworth explains that last year,
some farmers felt they weren't well-
informed. Even though they had until
March 31, 1999 to appeal their tax
rate, some didn't receive their
interim property tax bills until
after the appeal deadline. As a result,
their farmland will be taxed at the
full residential rate for the rest of
1999.
Farmers wanting to know
more about the Farmland Property
Tax Program should contact
OMAFRA at 1-800-469-2285 or 519-
826-3446 or via e-mail at:
farmtax @omafra.gov.on.ca0
farms. In fact, two out of every three
farmers indicated they are now doing
safety checks on a regular basis.
However, survey results also show
there is still room for improvement.
More than half of the farmers polled
do not provide safety training for the
farm family or employees. And
although nine out of every 10 have a
fire extinguisher, nearly one in three
farms polled were without a first aid
kit. While many of these farms are
single farmer operations, a first aid
kit is mandatory under the Workplace
Safety Insurance Board rules for
farms with employees.
"The new safety audit program
will help raise awareness levels and
provide farmers with a practical
assessment tool to identify and
improve current conditions," says
OFA President Ed Segsworth. "As a
member of the Ontario Agricultural
Human Resources Committee, the
OFA helped to develop the new
safety audit, and we encourage
farmers to make use of this valuable,
new program."0
PERTH COUNTY FEDERATION
OF AGRICULTURE
ANNUAL MEETING
& BANQUET
Thursday,
October 14, 1999
PERTH COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE
JULY DIRECTORS' MEETING
Thursday, July 29, 1999
Downie Mutual Fire Insurance Office
Sebringville 8:00 p.m.
ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND