HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen Agriculture, 2003-03-19, Page 47PAGE A-22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2003.
The Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food has released
the farmland statistics for the
province for 2001 and Huron County
ranks high in several production
categories.
Though the county accounts for
just over five per cent of the farmed
acres in the province, specific crops
and livestock operations far exceed
that number.
Huron has 13.65 per cent of the
hog farms in Ontario accounting for
18.23 per cent of the total pigs.
Poultry and egg operations come
next with 10.69 per cent of provincial
numbers and 11.53 per cent
(5,030,978 birds) of the total
numbers. Turkeys added another
231,365 birds for 6.8 per cent of the
provincial totals.
The county has 2,817 farms with
sales greater than $2,500 and though
hogs and poultry account for the
largest percentages provincially,
there are more operations focused on
Dressed for the shon
Cherry Blossom, owned by Vaughn and Marlene Toll, was the two-year-old junior champion
at a show in Michigan in 2000, which qualified the mare for the all-American. Having only been
to one show, Cherry Blossom proved a stellar competitor finishing third. Said Toll, “Had we
gotten to other shows she likely would have done better.” The Clydesdale is 18 hands and
weighs 2,100 pounds, large for a mare. (Brian Richman photo)
Huron-Bruce is an instrumental s^jp^y j*
contributor to Canadian agri- I
business. Our proud agricultural g: J
history has equipped us with the !
knowledge and experience to dS
meet the challenges of today
and assist us with the direction
for tomorrow. Our success is
also complimented by the strong j|
support of our rural I
communities. It is a pleasure to
represent those who are working j
to make Canada a world leader
in Agriculture.
For more information please contact:
Paul Steckle, M.P., Huron-Bruce
Constituency Office
30 Victoria Street North, Goderich, ON, N7A 2R6
519-524-6938
Loss of Royal
would hurt
agriculture
Continued from A-21
Royal.
Comparing this sale to the Royal,
Ontario’s premier farm show, where
in 2002 he copped second for his
yearling filly in the Ontario bred and
sired class, Toil is concerned. “The
location is a problem. Trying to
drive these trailers in and out of
Toronto is difficult and it may be a
factor in why the numbers seem to
be decreasing.”
Toll worries about the future of the
Royal, about people such as himself
having somewhere to showcase their
animals and agriculture in general.
“Livestock numbers are down and it
would really hurt the industry to not
have the Royal. I’m not saying that’s
the direction it’s headed but it looks
like it.”
Noting that the agricultural
ministry used to invest in the Royal,
Toll says it seems now that they are
willing to let the fair go. “It really
doesn’t seem to matter to them,
anymore.”
other areas.
There are 970 grain and oilseed
farms, 590 beef cattle, 335 hog, 282
dairy, 172 poultry and egg, 164
miscellaneous specialties, 144
livestock combinations, 48 other
field crops, 40 other combinations,
30 vegetable, 23 wheat and 18 fruit.
Though Huron has 11.68 per cent
of the heads of steer and 4.87 per cent
of the beef cattle in Ontario, they are
produced by just 4.32 per cent of the
all beef farms in the province. Other
categories include dairy cows, 4.88
per cent and sheep and lambs at 6.08
per cent.
The county also cultivates a high
percentage of the provincial crops
acres. Almost 30 per cent of the
province’s dry white beans acreage is
in Huron as is 10.77 per cent of the
winter wheat and 9.16 per cent of the
com for grain. Soybeans come in
next with 7.83 per cent of the
province’s total acreage.
Other field crops account for the
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following acreage percentages: oats
for grain, 3.32;barley for grain, 5.92;
mixed grains, 5.96; com for silage,
6.81; hay, 2.73 and potatoes, 2.6
The top two vegetable crops by
acreage for Huron County in the
provincial context are green peas
with 1,856 acres or 7.96 per cen( of
the provincial total and green or
waxed beans with 1,035 acres or 7.94
per cent.
However, the county has 2.979
acres of sweet com which accounts
for just 6.08 per cent of the
province’s total.
While Huron does not contribute a
great deal to the fruit market in term
of total acres, there are 281 acres of
apples (1.16 per cent) and 55 acres of
strawberries (1.1 per cent). There are
20 acres of peaches (.3 per cent), 11
acres of raspberries (.85 per cent),
four acres of grapes (.02 per cent) and
two acres of sour cherries (.09 per
cent).
Of the 2,880 farms in the census,
1,280 were smaller than 130 acres,
1,162 were between 130 and 399
acres and 438 were larger than 400
acres.
Twenty-two per cent of those
operations had total gross farm
receipts between $100,000 and
$249,999. Sixteen and half per cent
saw gross total receipts of $50,000 to
$99,999 and just under 15 per cent
had receipts of $25,000 to
$49,999.
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In the upper earnings brackets,
12.6 per cent made $250,000 to
$499,999 and 8.6 per cent earned
more than $500,000.
However, more than 25 per cent of
operations realized gross receipts of
less than $24,999.
Year-round hired labour accounted
for the equivalent of more than 1,100
full-time jobs with seasonal
employment adding another 26,085
weeks of work.