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The Rural Voice, 1987-09, Page 32TIRES xwa '401ki NIP! SALES & • Radials • Rice tires • Reg. tractor tires • Truck tires • Automotive tires All makes in stock ERVICE ON FARM SERVICE Willits Tire Service Lucknow 519.528.2103 Now more than 12,400 FARMERS WAITING TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTS Place your advertisement in The Rural Voice, a rapidly growing farm magazine which promotes the agricultural industry. For more information contact us at 519-524-7668 or write: THE RURAL VOICE Box 37, 10A The Square Goderich, Ont. N7A 3Y5 30 THE RURAL VOICE NEWS CENTRALIA HOSTS CROPS UPDATE Good weather and a good crowd of about 250 farmers contributed to the success of Centralia College's Crops Update August 19. Farmers who visited the college's research and demonstration farm were offered tours of the experimental study plots and commentary on hard red wheat, fertilizer on corn, coloured beans, quackgrass control, field bean diseases, and alfalfa. The site, as college president Bill Allen noted, will soon include a new agronomy building housing techni- cians' offices and laboratories. Charles Broadwell, general -man- ager of the Ontario Bean Producers Marketing Board, commented on the yield and price of the current white bean crop, noting that while some areas have suffered from bad weather, the crop in Huron and Perth counties is expected to be average or higher. He cautioned, however, that if the predicted yield comes off, farmers not in the tripartite stabilization program may see a price as low as $11.02 a hundred. The board, he added, has been devel- oping marketing approaches, and after a trade mission to Europe, Ontario white beans have already been exported to Greece. "As long as we can produce a quality product, we're getting the ear and the eye of this business." Broadwell also said that the tripartite arrangement for white beans — the first field crop to be in the program — has been a significant bonus for Ontario farmers. "I think our Michigan people are close to green with envy," he said. Also speaking at the Crops Update was market analyst John DePutter. He predicted that in a few years the urban economy will crash as the agricultural economy did. "They're even more over- built than agriculture was," he noted. "Rural people now understand that no market is a one-way market. Urban people don't. They're going to learn the hard way." DePutter also advised the audience to sell gold, which is overvalued, unlike agricultural commodity prices. "I'd rather own corn than gold," he said, adding that when a commodity is cheap — and not poised on a market precipice as gold is — it can rise in value without buyer resistance. Charles Broadwell, general manager of the Ontario Bean Producers Marketing Board: "As long as we can produce a quality product, we're getting the ear and the eye of this business." Market analyst John DePutter, left, with Centralia College president Bill Alien. "I'd rather own corn than gold ..." DePutter says. "You're going to make more money owning corn — or lose less." DePutter concluded by noting that "The next big crunch in agriculture is going to come from higher interest rates, not lower commodity prices."0