The Rural Voice, 1999-07, Page 51HURON
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 1L0
519-482-9642 or 1-800-511-1135 Email: huron@ofa.on.ca
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
• The Rural Voice is provided to all farmers
in Huron County by the HCFA.
Celebrating the 1946 Victory Match
For well over 150 years now, plowing
matches have been held in Ontario, from
the days when plowing was done by a
yoke of oxen and a wooden plow, to a
metal plow, and to a tractor and plow, and
today where fields are planted in corn,
beans and grain without plowing.
The first plowing match to be
sponsored by the Ontario Plowmen's
Association (OPA) was held at
Sunnybrook Farms, now a part of
Toronto, in 1913 with 31 single plow
entries. While there were no classes for
tractor drawn plows, there was one tractor
on the grounds, and this provided plenty
of curiosity and caustic comments by the
visitors. No doubt one of the questions
was: "Do you think that it will ever
replace the horse?"
In 1946 the International Plowing
Match (IPM) adopted a very fitting
slogan: "The Victory Match" in view of
the fact that this was the first match since
1941, due to the Second World War.
The site of that year's match (1946)
was held at Port Albert Airport, near
Goderich where the Royal Air Force
trained pilots during war years for the
British Naval Arm. Many British airmen
came to Port Albert and Sky Harbour to
train and ended up married to Canadian
girls. I can think of one couple, Jeff and
Doreen Wilkinson of Stratford. Do you
know of anyone else?
On October 15, 1946 the first IPM in
Huron County was officially opened by
His Excellency Field Marshall, Viscount
Huron County Federation of Agriculture
ANNUAUREGIONAL MEETING
Thursday, October 7, 1999
BMG Community Centre, Brussels
7 p.m.
Details to follow soon - mark your calendar!
HCFA OFFICE NAURS
Indays and Fridays
9'� m to 12 noon
1p� (o4pm
�esday ; Wednesday. T ursday
t e etta ,aft ssatge
(519) 482.9642
41111135'
FAX (519);4821416
of Directors' M (,tin; s
113. . Vautastra Office
48 THE RURAL VOICE
Alexander of Tunis, Governor General of
Canada. By the way, he was the last
British Governor General. Following him,
Vincent Massey became the first
Canadian Governor General.
Following the opening ceremonies,
Gordon McGavin, president of the OPA,
introduced Lord Alexander. Mr. McGavin
recalled the fine war record of Lord
Alexander and the part that the Governor
General had played in the defeat of the
Nazis. Mr. McGavin declared that while
the site of the present plowing match was
not a battlefield, it was an historic site
because many men had trained there for
their part in the winning of the war.
Mr. McGavin, a native of Huron
County, Walton, Ontario, was the owner
of McGavin's Machinery. His son Neil
McGavin, Walton, Ontario is presently
the First Vice President of the OPA 1999.
In 1946, to be a good farmer, a young
person must take pride in straight
furrows, straight seed drills, tidy fences
(now gone) and buildings. Should this not
apply to any occupation today? In short:
"plow a straight row, cultivate your
friends for lasting friendships, seed
young people with common sense.
Remember you reap what you sow."
If you have any memories of the
1946 match, please send them to me,
Harry Nesbitt.
The Plowing Match 1999 is being held
at Dashwood, Ontario. September 21 to
25. This is near Grand Bend. Packages of
five advance tickets are being sold for
admission to the Plowing Match and a
draw on a Trailer Park Home.
More information can be found in our
Official Match Pamphlet or call: Jeanne
Kirkby. Secretary, 34 Queen St., Walton,
ON NOK IZO, 519-887-6038 or Harry W.
Nesbitt, Chairman, Advance Sales, 39
Elizabeth. Apt. I, Stratford. ON N5A
4Z1. 519-271-6742.0
Pre -Purchase your 1999 INTERNATIONAL PLOWING MATCH TICKETS ... the draw for a park model home is
FREE with your purchase of tickets.
Please fill out the following information, enclose with your cheque or money order and mail to address below:"
Name(s)
Address Town/City
Province Postal Code Phone ( )
Payment Method Cheque Money Order
Please make your cheque or money order for $50.00 payable to IPM '99
Your tickets will be mailed to you in the summer of 1999 and may be used any day from September 21 to 25, 1999.
IPM '99 - c/o Jeanne Kirkby, Secretary, 34 Queen Street, Walton, ON NOK 1Z0 "
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
Farm and 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 the month. 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 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 519-826-3446.0