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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1995-04-12, Page 13K OUNTRY ETTLE RESTAURANT LLBO BUSINESS HOURS; Sun. 11 - 8 Mon. - Closed Tues. - Closed Wed. 11 - 3 Thurs. - 11 - 7 Fri. 11 - 9 Sat. 12-9 Happy Anniversary Thanks to everyone for their support over the past year. Help us celebrate Easter Sunday Buffet April 16 11 - 8 All Day Beef, Ham, Potatoes, Salad Bar, Dessert Bar, and much more All You Can Eat $6.95 FOR RESERVATIONS PHONE 523-4836 Euchre - Thursday, April 13 - 8 p.m. Cash prizes, lunch, $5 Admission County Road 25 Blyth, Ontario NOM 1H0 523-4836 SPORTS BAR & BURGER SHACK (Lower Level LLBO) Sun. 7 - 11 Mon. - Closed Tues. 7 - 1 Wed. 7 - 1 Thurs. 7- 1 Fri. 7- 1 Sat. 7- 1 WED. - WING NIGHT - 250 EACH Take Out Available 523-4836 Pool - Pin Ball Video Games, Big Screen T.V. - Music (Everyone Welcome) THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1995. PAGE 13. Winds of change carry agriculture into future Lindsey Barfoot By Bonnie Gropp The winds of change are carrying agriculture into the future. Change was the operative word when agriculturalists and interested individuals gathered at a meeting in Brussels Legion last Thursday evening to discuss the future of farming with Lindsey Barfoot. A director of agriculture with Price Waterhouse in Kitchener, Barfoot is a former Grey County resident, who was invited to speak at this meeting by PC provincial candidate Helen Johns and the Huron PC Association. In leading the discussion, Barfoot said he felt like a bit of a fraud being there, because he really didn't know the future. "But I believe that politicians need to listen as well as talk and this meeting is giving Helen the opportunity to hear what you people have to say about the future of farming." "When I think of the future the operative word is change and the challenge facing those in the farm industry is to manage that change." Barfoot said that change is driven by many things and there are three options for handling it. "We can ignore it, resist it or understand it." He noted several change' drivers which he felt were impacting agri- culture. The move worldwide to increase trade, he said, had major implications for the agricultural sector due to the necessity to com- pete outside the provincial bound- aries. Though he admitted this does pose a threat it could also create opportunities. "If we are going to survive, and we will, as a healthy industry we'll respond to that," he said. Another impact is the govern- ment deficit. "It is almost a certain- ty that this is going to have a direct effect on agriculture. There will be less government support and we will probably need to start doing more of our own funding and researching." Information technology is having an impact on how business is being done. Individuals, he said, can have the capability of major corporations for direct transfer. Biotechnology is clearly a revo- lutionary impact, he said, while connectivity between producers and downstream customers is also affecting agriculture by "providing a certain product to be used by a certain customer at a certain time." Agriculture, he said, needs to attempt to be more customer focussed. "As customers ourselves we like dealing with people who meet our needs best. Provide the service or someone will out compete us." The last impact Barfoot noted was environmental concerns which he said may be one of the biggest. "It is something we want to manage and manage (wisely)," he said, adding that the consulting business of his company is now 30 per cent environmental. Barfoot asked those gathered• for their ideas on what the biggest obstacles that are facing farmers today are. The first comment came from a' dairy farmer who said he was concerned that he would not be able to afford the quota to expand. Changes in the dairy industry have made the value of market quota a concern, he said. Buying more makes economic sense if it maintains its value, but if not the farmer could face difficulties. "I see the industry being exposed to change. I think the dairy industry has resisted change and is now fighting to• catch up," he said. Bar- foot projected that the dairy indus- try will be responding in the future. "They are probably going to be doing things differently than in the past." Former Huron Bruce MP Murray Cardiff said he felt confidence was a big obstacle for farmers. "You can't legislate it, but you have to do things to provide that confidence," he said. Barfoot agreed saying that he had compiled his own list of obstacles and number one on this was atti- tude. "Any fact facing us is not as important as the attitude towards it Attitude determines success because that determines the success or failure," he said, adding that government must provide leader- ship and fiscal responsibility to help. Also, individuals can become more confident through education and progressive thinking. "Keep up to date," he said. Though the world economy is improving there is concern over keeping up with the competition and how to go after the markets. "The markets aren't going to come to us. We have to find them, take them." In the dairy industry it was discovered that the Canadian industry was 20 to 30 per cent less competitive than the U.S. in cost structure. For example, the cost structure on a 40-50 cow operation in Canada was higher thari a 150- 200 head operation in Wisconsin. "That's not sustainable. We have to do something about that." Though he wouldn't say there is no future for the small farmers,. Barfoot says he believes they would have to work twice as hard to compete so sees them respond- ing to the local niche market instead. "To me the biggest obstacle is resistance to embracing change," Barfoot said. Government and organizations in the industry have a "pretty slow decision making pro- cess to respond to change." "There is a natural resistance to this in an organizational structure. The most opportunity for change tends to be on a one vote basis." Bill 163 won't affect most farmers, panel says Despite worries about planning changes under Bill 163, most farm- ers don't have much to worry about, a panel of officials told a meeting in Clinton Wednesday. Anyone wanting to develop non-agricultural uses of prime farm land, however, is in trouble. Bill 163 introduces new rules for municipal councils but, more far-reaching, brings in changes to the planning act. The Clinton OMAFRA office and the Huron County Federation of Agriculture- brought together a panel represent- ing the Huron County Planning Department, Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources, OMAFRA, Huron County Health Unit and the Mait- land Valley and Ausable-Bayfield conservation authorities to discuss the changes the bill will bring. In an outline of what would hap- pen to one farm under three differ- ent scenarios, the panel indicated that farmers who continue to farm in the current manner have nothing to fear from the new legislation but those who want to branch out into "urban" land uses won't be allowed to unless they are adjacent to an existing urban development. George Thompson, who is co- ordinator of Farm Environmental Workshops in Huron County, used his farm to give three different sce- After discussions ranging fro budgeting, safety of citizens, child care, strengthening the work ethic, nutrition education to citizens' responsibilities, the provincial board of directors of the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) voted at their March meeting in Guelph to launch a new focus for the organization, Safe and Healthy Communities. Since 1988, the focus FWIO has been the environment. In two years, members initiated over 350 projects. Across the province these included major recycling projects, tree planting, and refusing to use disposable items. The first step towards Safe and narios for the panel. In the first he would continue to operate as he had and none of the panel said they would have any jurisdiction. In his second scenario he pro- posed a hypothetical small recre- ational development at the back of the farm near the Maitland River and plans soon came to a grinding halt. Objections from the Planning Department came first. Scott Tou- saw said that if only one cabin was involved, there might be provisions in the township plan already to allow it. If it was to have more than one cabin it would require a zoning change. The difficulty with recre- ational developments in farming areas is that a restrictive buffer zone around them can affect other farmers. Ken Petersen of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs said his ministry would require proof that there was a demand for this kind of develop- ment and look at the impact on other farms and residences in the area. It would look at the sewage treatment system, preferring a com- munal system rather than individual septic tanks. The Ministry of Natural Resources, said Alan Aitken of the Wingham office, would be worried about the impact of the develop- ment on the river and fish habitat. MNR requires there be no harmful Healthy Communities will be a provincial seminar in the fall. Community leaders will be invited to identify and prioritize needs, develop ideas to address those needs and write the project descriptions required for funding applications. The Women's Institute will facilitate discussions with agencies that have expertise in the target areas. There will be opportunities to network with other community leaders. Safe and Healthy Communities is intended to create a positive atmosphere for community living. The Women's Institute has a long history of involvement in community action for "Home and County". alteration of fish habitat, no disrup- tion of habitat and encourages a net gain in fish habitat. No develop- ment is allowed in Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest and there are restrictions on development near these areas and near significant wetland. Since none of these are located on the Thompson property, however, these would not be affect- ed. But the imaginary project came to a grinding halt with Carol Neu- mann, land use specialist with OMAFRA's Walkerton office. Under Bill 163 developments of a non-farm nature in prime farm land (classes 1-3) are forbidden and a recreational development doesn't fall into an agricultural application. "The goal is to protect prime agri- cultural areas for long term agricul- tural use," she said. Only primary and secondary agricultural uses will be allowed on prime farmland under the compre- hensive policy statements included with the new bill. Secondary occu- pations included home occupations, value-added agricultural products, and farm-oriented business such as equipment repair, wood-working or crafts. Agri-tourism things like bed and breakfast facilities are allowed if they are within the current cluster of farm buildings. Further process- ing like cottage wineries are allowed. Not allowed are things like golf- courses and trailer parks. Such activities would be moved to "set- tlement areas". What's more, under Bill 163, there is no room for arguments of justification for non-farm uses of prime farmland except for the expansion of settlement areas, and even then there no expansion is allowed on specialty crop lands such as vineyards in the Niagara Peninsula. Many among the 95 people in attendance felt Bill 163 locked farmers into farming even if it was unprofitable. "The message is you're going to have to farm this land until it destroys you economi- cally," said Mason Bailey, farmer and real estate broker. "Everything on this property except George and his family arc protected," said Bill Wallace, past president of the Huron Federation. "Who does the farmer depend on? Who's going to look after George's concerns?" But Ms Neumann said that the legislation is designed to protect the livelihood of surrounding farm- ers from an incompatible land use. Developer and hobby farmer Mark Sully argued that by the time a developer got a definite "no" from OMAI'RA he could already have spent $40,000 on studies to satisfy agencies like MNR and Municipal Affairs. Ms Neumann said that's why the new legislation allowed up-front consultation so people won't invest too much money before getting an indication of the barriers to approval. One other scenario for the Thompson farm was played out. If the owner chose to stop farming and sever the house and sell the rest of the farm, few of the agencies would be involved. About half the townships in Huron County allow severance of surplus farm resi- dences so it would depend on the township involved. OMAFRA would want proof that the sever- ance was as small as possible, accommodating only the buildings and the well and septic system. The Health Unit would require that there be enough land for installa- tion of a new septic system if the old one failed, and enough room to drill a new well at a safe distance from the septic system. Group's focus on safe communities