The Rural Voice, 1999-10, Page 12WELLESLEY LOADING
CHUTES
SHEEP FEEDERS
ROUND BALE
FEEDERS
4.va
"!s'
i
i
LOADING
CHUTES
• Heavy
Construction
• 3 Pt. hitch
(both sides)
• Ramp settings
26" - 42,E
SHEEP FEEDERS
.. .._
••(4.•• yartriyiyiy0,
' NUOI Ai '
, ,F: -
• Ruggedly built yet convenient feeder
• Manufactured with 1" x 1" tubing and
14 gauge sheet metal
• 32" wide trough with 3/8" rod V -type manger
Rods are 2 1/2" apart for less hay waste
• Grains and other fine particle feeds can be
fed. Sizes available: 4', 6' and 8' long.
Other sizes available upon request.
ROUND BALE FEEDERS
��
t
ililipil
•7'x8'
• Feeds approx. 18 cattle
• Holds 5' x bales
(anddsmaller) Ilk
• 1 1/4" tubing CANADwNWOE
• Heavy duty construction
TILMAN SHERK
R.R. #3 Wellesley, Ontario
519-656-3338
519-656-3429 evenings
8 THE RURAL VOICE
Robert Mercer
The battlefields of France
It was a mix of old and new as we
drove through the battlefields of
France late this summer. The fields
of Normandy we're both those of the,
war as well as those of the world
grain war still
lingering in the
trade patterns of
modern
agriculture.
Our visit was
limited, but
driving through
northern France
in September we
noticed the large
modern grain -
based farms
from Calais to
Rouen, but as we
drew closer to
the Normandy
beaches of D -Day fame, they were
smaller. By the time we reached
Cherbourg the farms were smaller
still. The fields were Tess than an
hectare and the farm buildings
constructed many centuries ago as
part of fortified farms. Much of this
was during the time of William the
Conqueror who left to defeat
England from the port of Barfleur in
1066 on the northern tip of the
peninsula.
Agriculturally the whole area
gives you a small understanding of
the potential for grain production and
the need for the Common
Agricultural Policy too. It is this
policy that both supports agriculture
and funds the social aspects of
maintaining small income farms.
In a way the eastern part of our
journey through the larger farms
reminded you of the prairies with
rolling hills uncluttered by hedges,
stone walls or cattle. Further to the
west, it was not so prosperous with
small fields, the lush green look of
Ireland and a mass of hedges, walls
and narrow laneways. The extremes
of corporate farming to the small
scalefamilyfarms were in sharp, and
side by side comparison.
In the fields and farms behind'the
beaches where WWII code names
Omaha, Juno and Sword were made
famous, the hedges were high and the
walls thick with stones, rubble and
rose hips. It was amazing what was
grown in these tiny fields. It might be
corn, flax, wheat or vegetables, but in
all cases it would be impossible to
get to the fields, to enter the field or
even work in those fields with
modern farm machinery.
It was the first time I had seen the
Normandy Beaches and looked out
over the sands, the cliffs and the old
coastal defenses in the area where the
landing -day harbor was brought in to
rest on the beaches at Arromanches.
This visit put reality in understanding
the horrors of war. It certainly
created for me, a new respect for
those who planned, those who came
and for those who will remain
forever there.
The enormity of the invasion task
is spread before you as you stand on
the cliffs looking back across the
waters to England. It may be 50 years
or more ago, but the works of the
governments involved in operation
Overlord have brought that past into
the present with dignity, yet reality,
with carefully organized museums,
memorials, artifacts and films.
The past is also seen in the present
with the churches spread out round
the Normandy coast, each with a
different and distinct tower. No two
are the same as it was these buildings
which gave the fishermen their points
of reference to guide them along the
coast. Towns were identified by their
churches. Thus the names of the
villages and towns often relate
directly to the church and its patron
saint.
The past is savored in France as it
is in food. Yet there was no doubt
that present technology is also
embraced by high input farming on
the corporate scale. There are in
French farming two different social
and economic policies trying to
sustain both a way of life and a way
to advance.0
Robert Mercer was editor of the
Broadwater Market Letter and a farm
commentator in Ontario for 25 years.