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The Citizen, 2001-01-31, Page 15Healthy eating... regular physical activity WK1 for maximum 2,000 sq. ft house using approx 2000 litres per day or for individual treatment of separate aop/iances as required. WIC2 for over 2,000 sq. lt house welt water approx. 5000 litres per day or fix individual treatment of separate appliances as rammed. WKS for maximum 30 bed premises / hotels / aparnonnts using approx 20,000 Nines per day or ror individual treatment of separate appliones ae required. WK4 for larger reeadereal and commemel application Using IV to 200.000 area per day . For further advice on mstallekin seem TOLL FREE 1,900-26 63233 WATER SOFTENER ALTERNATIVE Brock Aqua-Max Combo amazing new system When Terry Bums in Blyth decided to replace his old oil furnace and fuel tank, he called Chisholm Fuels. He knew that he wanted to. stay with'an oil system as opposed to gas, because he and Mrs. Bums both felt it was safe, reli- able, economical and clean. Grant Chisholm recommended the Brock Aqua-Max Combo System oil water heater and air handler. The Brock 1B-32 water heater replaced the old furnace and electric water hearer and the 30 gal. hot water Was then pumped through a coil and circulated by fan to every corner of the house. The Brock Aqua-Max Combo System is the perfect way to combine hydronic heating with central warm air. An optional air conditioning coil can be added. Grant also recommended that Terry try the Water-King to avoid any lime build-up in the new tank and coils of the heating unit. Hard water is a natural phenomenon that contains a high percentage of minerals and salts. While these are necessary for all plant and animal life, they also rause a problem known as 'limescale'. This limescale builds up in the water system pipework and appliances which can result in expensive water heating and even appliance repair or replacement Now, with the advancement of technol- ogy, there has been a major break- through in water treatment - Water- King. Sold by Chisholm Fuels in Lucknow and Kincardine, the Water-King injects a series of specially selected low-fre- quency electro-magnetic radio waves that alters the salts in the water. For less than $10 a year, water will feel 'silky', shower heads, taps and kettles will become scale-free and shampoos and detergents will lather better. Water pressure will increase dramatical- ly and your hot water thermostat may even have to be turned down to com- pensate for higher water temperatures. Customer Satisfaction The Burns were amazed and delighted with their new water quality almost immediately. "The water actually felt slip- pery between the fingers", explains Mrs. Bums, "and the shower heads became clean with no build-up". Terry had been taking a week- ly supply of drinking water from his home to his employment with Hydro in Orillia. "Ordinarily," says Terry, "there would be a white settle- ment in the bottles after about three days and now my water is crystal clear after weeks!" The Water King system can easily be installed with either plastic or copper plumbing and can be used in a residen- tial or commercial application. The WIG model can be used in hotels with up to 30 rooms, small apartment blocks, offices, cafes and small restaurants or nursing homes. Dev.Floped by "Li fescience Proaucts Ltd." and sold by Chisholm Fuels, Water-King car- ries a five year warranty and an unbelievable 100 day 'money back guarantee'. Grant Chisholm Fuels in Lucknow has built a reputation urns based on quality service and prod- ucts in all areas of heating that includes oil, hot water, steam and radiant and can convert your present system to one that will heat your home or business more efficiently. Now, with the Water-King system, Chisholm Fuels can also ensure that your water is sparkling clean and healthy. To find out which is best for yolk family and home, call Chisholm at 529-7524 in Lucknow, 396-8183 in Kincardine, or toll fire at 1-800-799-3363. Brock Aqua- Max Combo Terry B 100 Day Money Back Guarantee. If, for any reason wnats.)eyer, you are dissatisfied with your Water-King product, you may return it at any time during the first 100 days after purchase and the purchase price will be reimbursed in full. Simply return it to wherever it was purchased, together with your full name and address and proof of purchase, showing the price paid. CHISHRSI,L nty FUELS THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2001. PAGE 15. Pork producers consider usefulness of drugs As consumers become more and more concerned with use of drugs in raising animals, farmers don't want to lose some therapeutic drugs, but growth promotants mightn't be a big loss. That was the message from Dr. Tim Blackwell to pork producers at the 52nd annual meeting of the Huron County Pork Producers in *Varna, Wednesday. Blackwell, a veterinarian specializing in pork production, from OMAFRA's Fergus office, • prefaced his remarks by saying there is no problem with drugs used in animal production but there's a perception of a problem among consumers and therefore that is the problem. "In this history of meat production nobody has even gotten a rash or had any other problem" from drugs in meat, he said. Still telling consumers that is not going to reassure them. Still, he said, while 99 per cent of hogs going to market are free of any drug residues, 15-20 pigs a weak with residues are being caught with drug residues by checks at processors. And, he said, random testing system doesn't even do a good job ferreting out all pigs with residues. Because these residues don't really hurt anyone, this isn't a problem, he said. "The real problem is if the Japanese find it and we didn't." Canada's competitors such as the Danes will trumpet the unreliability of Canadian health checks, he said. For producers, there are severe penalties for shipping a pig with drug residues. If that pig is found, every pig in the load will have to be checked at a cost of $100 each and that will be billed to the producer. For the most part, the concern about drug resistance by bacteria is also overblown because most of the bacteria that will become resistant to animal drugs only affect animals. An exception is salmonella where even pigs that aren't sick can carry salmonella. That salmonella can be exposed to drugs and develop immunity and could under some circumstances be passed on to humans. Still there's only ever been one case where this happened, Blackwell said and that involved poultry in Minnesota. Farmers don't have to worry about losing the right to use drugs on animals that are already sick, Blackwell predicted, because animal rights advocates would protest any suffering that would result. What's more likely to be lost is the right to use small amounts of drugs in feeds to promote faster growth, and this may not be a costly loss, Blackwell said. "It will end when the Americans stop using it," he said of growth promotant use. And as long as nobody else is using the drugs, everyone will be equal and no one will be disadvantaged. That's why European farmers are upset because they can't use the drugs and must compete against North American producers who can. What's more, Blackwell demonstrated that the cost advantage for the use of drug is only a dollar a pig at best. Use of antibiotics in feed increases feed efficiency from 0-8 per cent, he said with older, healthier pigs getting the least benefit and younger, less healthy pigs doing better. But when you take out the cost of the drugs being used, feed savings probably amount to $1.05 per pig, even under the best scenario. If the drug costs go up or the feed costs come down, the gain is even less. This is one of the areas of drug use producers can wean themselves on, Blackwell said. He said producers should perhaps look at their whole drug use scheme. "I know a lot of place I say 'Why are you doing that?" he said of visits to farm, "and they say 'We always have'." Do a cost/risk assessment, he advised. If the consequences of making a mistake by withdrawing drug use are large, then keep using the drug. If the risk is small and reversible, then maybe you can experiment. Review your dfug use yearly with your veterinarian, he advised. Have a back-up plan in place if disease occurs. Review the results of your changes every few weeks, months and years. Drug use in animals will decline, he predicted, noting that many drug companies are already getting out of producing animal feed additives. "But some will stay in it as long as it's legal and they can make money," he said. Quality assurance gains acceptance The two largest processors of pork in Ontario now require producers signing contracts with them to use the Canadian Quality Assurance • (CQA) program, Doug Richards, Ontario Pork field rep says. Speaking to the annual meeting of -. the Huron . County Pork Producers, Richards said Quality Meat Packers required CQA validation as of Dec. 31 while Maple Leaf will implement it by March 31. "We know there are smaller packers waiting to see - what happens," Richards said. Ontario producers are applying for the program in large numbers with 1,099 producers who annually ship 1.8 million hogs already validated. Ontario Pork's Pool Plus contract program is becoming more attractive to processors, Bill Charlton, - executive director of the marketing board told Huron pork producers Wednesday. Charlton admitted there had been problems in the past year with having more hogs under contract from producers than processors were contracting to buy, meaning some By Janice Becker Citizen staff Individual identification tags are the next step in protecting Canada's beef industry and ensuring rapid detection of problems. Stan Eby of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association answered questions for those gathered in Brussels for the annual meeting of the Huron County Beef Producers. With the system up and running at the beginning of the year, Eby said the new identification numbers will allow tracers to track problems twice as fast because they will be able to work from both ends. Instead of just moving backwards from the location where a problem was first detected, the numbers can be used to determine the originating farm and move forward through the system as well. Concerned about liability, Eby told farmers nothing had changed in that area. "We will be better able to follow the movement and determine the source." He also noted tagging the animals Producers with Pool • Plus contracts from Ontario Pork may be rettuired to have CQA validation, Richards said but they would likely get at least four months notice because it take three months to go through the validation process. "We're the first province to have plants require CQA," Richards said, probably because those plants are so export oriented. But with food safety the number two concern of consumers (after the environment), he said, other provinces are bound to follow. He noted attention the national media has been giving to more outbreaks of mad cow disease. "They're really beating up beef farmers," he said. contracted hogs had to be put through the regular pool at lower prices. But now some processors are coming back to the contracts and balancing out the number of hogs contracted from producers with the number needed by processors. Processors are learning that the Ontario Pork contracts mean when they need want 1,000 hogs they'll get 1,000 hogs, Charlton said. was just the first step in the system as the industry works to get electronic scanners at all stages of the process. Producers were reminded that although they do not need tags until July 1, 2001, warnings will be -issued after that date. As of July I, 2002, fines of $500 to $6,000 can be levied. The beef producers did not support a resolution which asked that the cost of the national identification program not be passed down solely to the purchaser of the tags. Currently tags cost $1.50. Bd. contracts more attractive Huron Cty. Beef Producers seek ident. tag information