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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1991-12-23, Page 29THE CITIZEN, MONDAY, DECEMBER 23,1991. PAGE 2<. Farms must be viable, speaker tells dairymen While farmers should continue to defend supply management, they must also make their farms more economically viable, a speaker told the Huron County Dairy Day in Blyth Thursday, Dec. 12. Clarence Markus, Oxford County dairy farmer told the 100 farmers at the meeting that farmers today must be ready to take on those who criticize supply management, but that he also worries when he sees Taking GRIP into account in land rental agreements BY BRIAN HALL OMAF FARM SPECIALIST FOR HURON COUNTY New twists to land rental agree ments are being negotiated by land lords and tenants as a result of the GRIP and NISA programs. Some landlords are asking for a higher cash rent next year now that farmers are eligible for GRIP on some crops. Another twist is where the landlord is being paid based on the value of a set number of bushels of com or soybeans. One landlord was telling me that he thought some bushels should be valued at the GRIP support price. He also wanted a share of the farmer's NISA payment. These twists really just reflect a problem in land rental where the landlord and tenant frequently over estimate the value of productivity of the land. Priorities in land rental can get lost. Over the past several years crop prices have been declining and now have reached a very low level. In many cases cash land rents have got out of line with returns to crop ping. Some producers could not, or should not, have paid any rent. Every dollar they paid in rent was either paid out of savings or out of debt. Many producers have been slowly wearing out their equipment with no savings to replace it. Some of these farmers have already reduced their farming activities and others soon will unless the situation improves. It's a lough situation but that's the way it is. We must look closely at our cropping intentions for the land, our costs and yield expectations. The first priority must be to cover input costs. It doesn’t matter who farms the land, seed, fertilizer, land taxes and insurance are costs that must be paid for by someone. Secondly, the tenant must have enough income to operate and maintain his equipment, including some allowance for depreciation or normal replacement of the equip ment. Finally if there is money left after meeting the first two items, then we can look at a way to divide the profits. If there is not profit then why would a tenant rent the land? They will ultimately get tired of working for nothing. Establishing a fair rent means being open and honest with your landlord. You need some mutual appreciation of needs and wants. There may be some non-cash things you can do to either supple ment or replace rental payments. There may be services such as the provincial average income per cow at only $3200. "What kind of debt can that support?" he won dered. "Whether we like it or not, we must be viable." In any business, he said, 10 to 15 per cent of the business operators are always falling off. "Wc don't have the right to be a farmer for eternity," he said. Mr. Markus said he was somewhat concerned when he hears some farm organizations still complaining despite the gov ernment support that has been given out. "We have to pick up our socks and go," he said. On his farm, said the operator of a top Oxford dairy operation in partnership with his wife, he aims to produce $5000 per cow. The farm carries a debt load of $9000 per cow so milk production has to pay the way, he said. The first step ping stone to top milk production is top forage production. He credited snow blowing, yard and building maintenance, or firewood, you could provide. These things have a value to the landlord, but may be more economical than a cash outlay on the part of the tenant. Payment terms may also be nego tiable. Can part of the rental pay ments be timed to wait until GRIP Continued on page 32 By-product feeds can save dairy farmers money Feeding food-industry by-prod ucts can save money and provide special nutritional requirements for animals, Brian Tarr, of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture's Feed Advisory Branch told the 100 farm ers attending the Huron County Dairy Day in Blyth Dec. 12. Mr. Tarr, said by-products are causing problems in the food man ufacturing system and unless the industry can get rid of these waste products, "we'll have problems that will eventually feed back" to the farm level. If brewers can't move the wet brewers grains left over from the brewing process, he said, they can't go on brewing. But many of these products can not only be cheaper for farmers to feed their animals but can provide for some special needs. Hominy, for instance, can provide more pro tein and energy than the same amount of com or soybean meal. By-products can fill particular At this holiday season it is time to say Thank you and to express to our customers old and new warm Season's Greetings from Ron and Betty K.M.M. FARM DRAI WALTON 887-6428 his brother who operates a nearby dairy farm and specializes in forage for both operations with producing the high quality forage needed to boost production. He advised farm ers to use the highest producing alfalfa strains and use good equip ment to get the crop in when it's ready. In raising calves, he said, his wife trains calves to be aggressive in their eating. They have to clean out the manger before they get more. His young heifers are bred according to size to calve at a 26- 30 month age. While he said no two farmers see things the same way when it comes to herd health, he advised farmers to keep an eye on their stock. Rec ognizing a problem in an animal right away, instead of at a milking 12 hours later, can mean the differ ence between saving her and ship ping her. "I don't like a $1000 vet bill a month but I'm not afraid to call him," he said. When a cow pro duces $4500 to $5000 a year she's worth looking after. Is she has to be replaced for poor health it's going to cost more than a vet bill. Energy is the greatest key to pro duction, he said and on his farm they have never gone away from com silage as the cheapest source of fibre: cheapest to grow and har vest and cheapest to get in front of the cow. Genetics should be chosen for dairy strength: sound udders, sound legs and feet and a lactation curve that shows a cow can stick it out at top production through the whole needs in the feeding system, he said. Different by-products have different qualities and a farmer should match the qualities of the by-product to meet the needs of the farm. "It may not necessarily save a lot of money but in some cases it may be able to give the cow some thing it needs." But he warned there are problems with by-product feeding. Farmers should be aware how much mois ture content there is in a by-product because it costs to transport water around. A farmer should also look at the kinds of handling and storage facil ities he has to be able to move the feed around once it's on the farm. He should also look at regularity of supply. A feed is best if you can get it on a regular basis, he said. Dairy farmers should also inves tigate the possbility of residues on some by-products that could end up in the milk they ship. lactation period. "You'll get those kinds of strengths if you use the best bulls in the industry," he said. If supply management is killed by the GATT talks he predicted that not only Canadian dairymen but U.S. dairymen as well would be hurt. "There will be a rude awaken ing on both sides of the border," he predicted, saying some of the 40-42 cow dairy herds in the U.S. won't survive. "Poor operators will fall off on both ends," he said. TUESDAY, DEC. 24 THURSDAY, DEC. 26 FRIDAY, DEC. 27 TUESDAY, DEC. 31 THURSDAY, JAN. 2 FRIDAY, JAN. 3 -No Sale -No Sale -11 a.m. Stockers 1 p.m. Pigs - 9 a.m. Slaughter Cattle -11 a.m. Veal -No Sale I The 'Management and Staff of Moncnuay 'J arms of 'Brussels unsh all of our customers a very Merry Christmas. fl has been our pleasure to provide you unth quality breeding s toef in 1991. 'Hk loofejonvard to serving you in 1992. uONOWAY FAR«S ’ * “ ----- * YORKSHIRE LANDRACE DUROC HAMPSHIRE Wayne Fear and Sons ROP Tested - QS Approved Purebred and Crossbred Gilts and Boars York-Landrace-Hamp-Duroc Fl York x Landrace Gilts F1 Hamp x Duroc Boars Herd Health Good ** R. R. 4 Brussels, Ontario Wayne or Paul Fear Don Ruttan Q.S. Rep. (519)887-6477 887-9884 Wayne & Gerrie Kennedy & family R.R.3, Blyth 523-9837 But he predicted the best support farmers have for supply manage ment is the "green” movement. There are all kinds of environmen tal problems with high density dairy operations in the U.S., he said. The "green" movement in Europe is likely to spread to North America and if farmers can show that small, efficient farms can be more environmentally friendly, they can have this powerful move ment on their side. A?: