The Rural Voice, 1998-08, Page 3ti
Editor: Keith Roulston
editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County
John Heard, soils and crop extension
and research, northwestern Ontario
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.
George Penfold, associate professor,
University of Guelph
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
contributing writers:
Gisele Ireland, Mary Lou
Weiser -Hamilton, Ralph
Pearce, Bonnie Gropp,
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Darene
Yavorsky, Peter Baltensperger, Sandra
Orr, Carl L. Bedal, Janice Becker,
Allison Lawlor
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
Anne Harrison
printed & mailed by: Signal -Star
Publishing, Goderich, Ontario
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Telephone: 519-523-4311 (fax 523-9140).
e-mail: norhuron@huron.net
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Behind the Scenes
Worlds
A criss-cross of expressways,
freeways, and throughways leads me
out of the heat and smog that hangs
over Toronto in the summer. It's a
good hour's drive before I open my
window to breathe in clean, fresh air
and pass by wide stretches of open
land.
This part of the province isn't
entirely foreign to me. I first came to
Bruce County almost 10 years ago,
when I spent a summer on a farm in
Elmwood. I was a junior
agriculturalist— the official title
given to us by the provincial
government. A group of students
spread out across the province took
part in the program. It has since been
cancelled, but its original intention
was to encourage young people to
learn about farming.
It worked for me. A big city girl in
the heart of Ontario's bread basket,
exposed to a world I had little
connection to — I learned a lot. After
the program, I went on to spend the
next two summers working on
different farms.
Seven years later I'm back in rural
Ontario for the summer. This time
I'm experiencing farming second-
hand through the places I visit, the
people I talk to and write about in
The Rural Voice. Why am I back in
this part of the province? I sometimes
wonder.
I like the country and I like the
city, but the divide between the two
doesn't seem to be getting any
smaller. While the city continues to
expand outward eating up valuable
farmland and leaving subdivisions in
its tracks, farmers and urban dwellers
still seem worlds apart. I hear farmers
and urbanites echoing the same
stereotypes they did seven years ago.
When people here find out I'm
from Toronto they often ask me how
I can live in such a busy, crime -
infested place. On the other hand,
when I go back to the city people
wonder how I can stand being in a
place that is so quiet and isolated.
While there is truth in both of these
observations, it's truth that only
touches the surface and refuses to
apart
look deeper.
In Toronto I look for signs of the
country and find few. I scan the three
daily newspapers looking for word on
agriculture—I rarely find any. If I do,
the news is either about food safety
and health scares, poor weather
conditions or problematic
environmental practices. While all of
these issues are important they only
tell part of the story. There's more to
life in rural Ontario than that.
While urbanites and farmers
remain dependent on each other they
continue to live worlds apart. It's not
just cars, crime and cornfields that
separates them — it's their way of
life.
In this month's issue — protection
from the elements. Fire, lightning and
wind continue to wreak havoc on
farms across Ontario every year.
When a barn goes up in flames and a
farmer stands by watching the
blazing fire destroy not only his
livelihood but his hard work, his
neighbours are there to lend support.
Neighbour helping neighbour —
it's the same principle farm mutual
insurance companies base their
business on today.
Despite the red -tape and delays,
Jeff Dudgeon of Paisley beat the odds
and planted his first 10 -acres of hemp
this June. Find out what he has
learned about the new crop.
Our Profit$ section this month
looks at the sheep and dairy goat
industry. Leaving behind its
backyard image, the goat milk
industry continues to grow. There are
now close to 100 commercial goat
milk producers in the province. Bob
and Linda Reid talk about their
experience in the industry.
Find out the results of new
research done on pasture grazing for
sheep. Jim Johnston of the New
Liskeard Agricultural Research
Station recently completed his study.
In the Rural Living section, Patti
Robertson gives hints on how to
throw an outdoor summer theme
party and Bonnie Gropp passes along
some peachy summer recipes.°
-Allison Lawlor