The Rural Voice, 1999-10, Page 21private consulting firm to conduct
tests of liquid manure facilities of all
sizes and ages all across the province'
to see if the problems could be more
widespread than suspected. It's
hoped the study will be completed by
December 30, Bradshaw said.
Murray Clark, president of the
Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture, says mean-
while, that a special meeting of his
board of directors was held to discuss
the issue of large livestock
operations. The Federation decided to
conduct a survey of members to see
what direction they think the
Federation should take.
"We're caught in the middle on
this," Clark says noting that some
members produce livestock and are
worried about their ability to
continue to grow while other
members are opposed to larger and
larger operations. ,
And behind the whole issue are
the fears of smaller farmers and non -
farmers alike, that the current Targe
operations are just the beginning.
Ontario's "large" operations, notes
Caldwell, are not large by continental
standards. -
In a letter to the editor of The
Kincardine` News on September 15,
Kathy McCarrel of the group
Citizens Actively Representing
Environmental Security worried that
the Farming and Food Production
Protection Act, administered by a
five -person appointed board, could
be used by large corporate farming
businesses to redefine "normal
farming practices" and win
protection from local bylaws put in
place to protect family farmers and
non -farmers.
It's the kind of fear that is
dividing the farm population itself
with some farmers feeling bigger is
their only hope of success and
resisting any attempt to restrict their
growth while other feel rural life is at
a crossroads.
One speaker at the Kingsbridge
meeting probably spoke for many
farmers in the room as well as
cottagers. Noting that one of the
speakers said Ontario must allow its
pork operations to grow so they
remain competitive in export
markets, he said "I don't think that
it's a success to maintain the export
market but lose 75 per cent of our
farmers."0
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