The Rural Voice, 1987-12, Page 26SCOTT'S
INDUSTRIAL
& FARM SUPPLY
Nuts & Bolts
(all cam)
Hydraulic hose & fittings
V•belu
Bearings
Rolla Chain
Westward Torii
Epp Procure Walters
R. R. 4, Tara 519-376-0283
8 mi. W. of Owen Sound off Hwy. 21
Evenlnps—Wayne Walker 519.371.4677
ACI71LJ
WAS BORN...
Let every heart rejoice
in the hope and
promise born on that
Holy night.
Season's Greetings
and sincere thanks for
your continued
patronage.
u
R.R. 4 WALKERTON,
519.881.2231
24 THE RURAL VOICE
qualification two, which defined a
farmer as someone who has spent the
majority of time or earned the major-
ity of income farming his or her own
assets. The Farm -Starter will not
necessarily earn the majority of in-
come or spend the majority of time
farming. There is no requirement to
produce a set amount of product. But
the Farm -Starter will be expected to
make a profit of $8,000 before grants.
The profit will be determined on
an accrual basis and not on how much
cold hard cash is being added to the
family coffers And, if the farmer lives
on the farm itself, the necessary
contribution to family living will be
reduced by $2,500 to $5,500. It is
assumed that this will generally be
the case.
So we know that the program will
produce successful farmers because
being successful is the most important
prerequisite of the program itself.
There is some speculation that a
stream of profitable new farmers will
fuel investor confidence and, in time,
encourage investment by the non -
farming community into agribusiness
in Ontario.
This qualification, along with the
declining flat -rate payments, is struc-
tured to wean participants from farm
subsidization. A criticism of BFAP,
on the other hand, is that it leaves
participants "high and dry" after their
grant expires. (It has been necessary
to extend an additional $7.5 million to
BFAP, which will be allocated in the
form of two additional flat -rate pay-
ments of $2,000 and $1,000 in years
six and seven.)
Al Scott of the Perth OMAF office
suggests that although BFAP will
accept applicants up to December 31,
1987 (closing must have occurred and
funds must have been drawn), it is
only beneficial to new farmers incur-
ring an initial debt load in excess of
$180,000.
QUALIFICATION
SIX (?)
The initial Farm -Start press
releases included a sixth and final
qualification which read: "All per-
sons sharing a principal residence are
considered to be one entity for the
purpose of this program." This was a
change in wording from "husband,
wife, and dependent children," who
were considered one entity under
BFAP. This wording in BFAP caused
the government a great deal of trouble.
But the new wording for Farm -Start
was at once equally controversial.
Dorothy Middleton, an Ottawa
spokesperson for Women for the
Survival of Agriculture, called it
"absolutely incredible" that the
provincial government is confusing
social criteria with business criteria.
"The legality," she says, "of ruling out
a certain segment of the population
because their marital partner is already
farming, even though they themselves
have no control or investment in the
operation, is certainly questionable."
The ministry obviously has some
concerns as well, and is returning to
cabinet to get approval for a rewritten,
and as yet undisclosed, wording. If
the intent is merely to allow only one
grant per household, the new clause
should be relatively straightforward,
but if the wording reflects an intent to
disallow spouses from either joining
existing operations on a legal partner-
ship basis or to disallow farm spouses
aspiring to independent and separate
operations, the government will be
looking to avoid legal action such as
resulted from the BFAP clause.
Whether the participants in this
program are farm spouses, farm chil-
dren, agricultural students, or business
majors, we are assured that in the year
2003, as the program winds to a close,
there will be a couple of thousand
farmers in Ontario who have demon-
strated their ability to clear at least
$5,500 a year, thereby contributing
"significantly" to family living. At the
same time, they will have to budget in
damaging weather conditions, possible
falling commodity prices, and unfore-
seen accidents or personal injuries.
The program is, as its name implies, a
start. It remains to be seen if it will be
enough.0