The Rural Voice, 1989-11, Page 68GREY
44610th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1 P9
519-364-3050
The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey
County Fanners by the GCFA.
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
GOALS AND HURDLES
by Lome Eccles
Grey County
Federation of Agriculture President
Agri -Food Week has once again
come and gone. May we give thanks for
the abundance of food available in our
country. In Canada you can buy food for
less money than in any other country
except the U.S. Where does it come
from?
The man on the land, the farmer. Do
we realize that ours is one of the largest
businesses in dollars, with only the car
industry ahead of us? Twenty people in
every hundred in Ontario are connected
with agriculture. We export billions of
dollars a year in pork, apples, beef, dairy
products, etc. Ontario is the largest
provincial producer of food products in
Canada. We grow every conceivable
product from the south to the north of
our province.
The OFA then asks the question:
Why does our govemment want to
shuffle up our land tax rebate program?
There is no doubt that some do not
deserve this rebate, but the money the
government is saving will hardly cover
the cost of administration. The OFA
offered to cut the rebate back to 90 per
cent for everyone, but this proposal was
not considered by the government. The
Ontario government has ruled that the
rebate will stay as was proposed this
year.
The promise from our new Minister
of Agriculture is that now and in the
coming year the government will sit
down with the OFA and negotiate on
policy concerning tax rebates, crop in-
surance, GATT, and many other agri-
cultural issues. This is a step in the right
direction.
The farmers who generate a large
income in trade for this country are still
being brow -beaten into a cheap food
policy which began back around 1972.
We have never kept up with infla-
tion. Our members of parliament in this
area are good people and do listen to our
concerns, but with rural ridings being
changed, it is the city sprawl that gives
them more members. This in turn makes
it much more difficult for them to
achieve our goals.
In Grey County this year, thanks to
hard work by our fieldperson and direc-
tors, we are holding our membership
steady. Other counties are not so lucky.
With city people buying land and farm-
ers retiring, the total membership has
dropped a little.
In Grey County we still ponder the
check -off, which would have everyone
pay for OFA services. At present, all
farmers receive some benefits. If we
could put the OFA in a position of hav-
ing 80 per cent of farmers as members,
we would be a group that could lobby
about our concerns very efficiently.
Pollution in agriculture is another of
our concerns. Livestock manure is one
of the most natural fertilizers a farmer
can use, and if used properly will not
pollute our watercourses. We are
blamed for polluting watercourses, and
perhaps we do in a small way, but we do
not come even close to manufacturers,
which have been doing it for years —
not only our water, but also the air.
And cities and towns and some rural
municipalities are burying garbage, thus
covering 500 acres a year. With 600 or
more of these sites in Ontario, it is a
tragic situation. In Grey County we
believe that incineration is the only safe
method to be used.
County government, topsoil re-
moval, agricultural education in our
schools, animal activists, the Goods and
Services Tax, and GATT proposals are
on the agenda, with the last two being
priorities in the coming year.
As President of the Grey County
Federation of Agriculture, I would like
to see the OFA become a strong, united
voice.
We have a lot at stake: let us fight for
our rights to be citizens with incomes
comparable to those of city and urban
people.0
66 THE RURAL VOICE
TOWNSHIP ANNCJAI
AND BANQUETS
EGREMONT
Annual Meeting
and Banquet
Friday, November 10
Amos Presbyterian Church
Drumore
Dinner 6:45 p.m.
Guest speaker: Art Clark —
slide presentation
Tickets $9 per person
PROTON
Annual Meeting
and Banquet
Friday, November 17
Dundalk United Church
Dinner 7 p.m.
Guest speaker:
Jim Algie
Sun Times Farm Reporter
Tickets $10 per person
NORMANBY
Annual Meeting
and Banquet
Wednesday, November 8
Ayton Centennial Hall
Dinner 7 p.m.
Guest speakers:
Tom and Joanne Weber
— will highlight their trip to
Australia and New Zealand
Tickets $10 per person