The Rural Voice, 1999-12, Page 59HURON
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 1L0
519-482-9642 or 1-800-511-1135 Email huron@ ofa.on.ca
The Rural Voice is provided to all farmers
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER in Huron County by the HCFA.
AIDA boosted to cover negative margins
A boost of $170 million to the
two-year A'gricultural Income
Disaster Assistance (AIDA) program
has been announced by Agriculture
and Agri -Food Minister Lyle
Vanclief.
Under the revised AIDA program.
70 per cent of producers' negative
margins for 1998 and 1999 will now
be eligible for coverage. Negative
margins occur when operating costs
exceed revenues.
The top -up, which pushes the
program over the $1 billion mark, is
something OFA has been lobbying
for over seven months. "We have
recognized the inadequacies of the
AIDA program — such as its failure
to cover negative margins — and
we've taken the leadership in pushing
for a program that responds to the
needs of all Ontario farmers". says
OFA President Ed Segsworth.
The revised AIDA program will
also allow producers to make a one-
time choice in 1999 of a reference
period on which payments are based
— previous three years or three of the
previous five years where the high
and low income years are not
counted. In addition, in calculating
the 1999 program margin, family
labour will now be treated the same
as non -family labour.
Producers who have not filed a
1998 AIDA application have until
December 31, 1999 to do so.
"Although the changes to the
program will ultimately boost the
program to $1.78 billion in federal -
provincial assistance, it's important
to keep in mind that this is a short-
term fix for a situation that could go
on for some time," adds OFA Vice
President Ken Kelly. "We still need a
permanent, third -line of defence
which doesn't interfere with existing
safety net programs. such as NISA.
crop insurance, market revenue
insurance, and self-directed
Federation provides bursaries at high schools
The Huron County Federation of
Agriculture donated a $250 bursary
to each of the six high schools in the
county to a student going on to
further their education in some field
of agriculture.
This year, the St. Anne's Catholic
School in Clinton had their first
graduating class since it opened four
years ago. The recipient of our award
at St. Anne's was Joe Debus, son of
Joe and Julie. Central Huron High
School in Clinton had Dustin Steckle,
son of Ruth -Anne and Stuart Steckle.
Goderich Collegiate's recipient was
Harold Beyerlein. son of Kathy and
Draw Winners
Two Huron County residents
were the lucky winners of a $25
value of groceries at the Huron
County Federation's draw at the
International Plowing Match in
September. They were Ron Baer,
R.R. 5. Goderich and Grant
Tnebner, R.R. 1, Exeter.0
56 THE RURAL VOICE
Fritz Beyerlein. Bryan Wynja, son of
Allan and Frances Wynja was the
recipient at Seaforth District High
School. Marc Eigenheer, son of Kathi
and Walter was the recipient at F. E.
Madill. Wingham and at South Huron
High in Exeter the recipient was Lisie
Guerts, daughter of Clasina and Gus
Guerts. We wish all of these young
students the best of luck in furthering
their education in the field of
agriculture'0
HCFA OFFICE HOURS
Mondays and Fridays
9 a.m. to 12 noon
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday
Please leave a message.
(519) 482-9642
1-800-511-1135
FAX (519) 482-1416
management. The AIDA program in
the long-term still needs to address
the issues of funding caps (pro-
rating), inventory values and NISA
deductions," he adds.
"The federal minister has put his
money on the table and we commend
him for his efforts. It's time for the
province of Ontario to support
Ontario's producers by contributing
ro this federal initiative for 1998 and
1999," says OFA Executive member
Bill Mailloux.0
Safety Signs
The Huron County Federation of
Agriculture in conjunction with nine
elevators in the county have posted
"Safe Harvest Signs" at their sites.
We hope these will promote safety
and prevent farm accidents.0
Counselling available
Anyone interested in counselling for
individual or family -related stress in the
agricultural sector may be interested in the
following dates and programs. You may call
Del Bianco at 1-519-526-7625 for more
information. Dates: Tuesday, November 23,
Dungannon United Church; Tuesday,
November 30, Brussels United Church;
Monday, December 6 at Brucefield United
Church.
Other Workshops Available
NO NEED TO REGISTER for the
programs below: Just Come!
Tuesday, November 16, 7:00 p.m. -
Letting Go of Anger and Dealing with
Difficult People
Wednesday, November 24, 7:00 p.m. -
Increasing Your Self -Esteem
Monday, December 6, 7:00 p.m. -
Creating Healthy Relationships with your
teenagers
Thursday, December 16, 7:00 p.m. -
Stress and Conflict Management
• All of the above sessions will be held
at the OMAFRA office in Clinton at 7:00
p.m.
On Thursday, November 4, 7:00 p.m.
there will be an OPEN HOUSE and a short
WORKSHOP on herbs and the benefits of
these products at the INNERFIT
Cpunselling Centre in Auburn with Mr. Del
Bianco.0
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