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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-03-29, Page 1Government ____I_______Agriculture_______I_____Congratulations Huron Federation of Agriculture hosts annual MPs’ dinner See page 13 Businesses host dairy day in Brussels Sponsors give Dogs their due See page 14 See page 24 40 days rain needed to raise well levels By Janice Becker Citizen staff With two years of dry conditions, farmers and those with shallow wells may be wondering what to expect in terms of moisture for this season. “We are not much better off than last year,” said Jack McPherson, hydrologist for the Maitland water­ shed. “However, we are not worse off.” Noting the northern area of the region was able to take advantage of the late snowfall because the ground was not frozen, McPherson said it will take a lot of precipitation to recover from previous dry years. “I doubt it could be done in one sea­ son.” “We will be looking at dry wells again. Thirty to 40 days of rain would be needed to bring levels up,” he said. In spite of the fact there is less available water for human and plant use, McPherson said the amount of precipitation has been trending upward for many years. “It is not that we are getting less precipitation, but it is not coming in the right form.” McPherson' cited short heavy downpours followed by the hot sun, generally milder temperatures earlier in the year and windier conditions for increasing the amount of mois­ ture lost to evaporation. “We are losing it back to the atmosphere instead ot (it going) into the ground.” he said. Though stating milder, windier conditions could fall under the glob­ al warming, weather trends scenario, he adds that most people with shal­ low wells will remember times in the past when the wells have gone dry. “It is about a 20- year cycle,” he said. He said this can also be seen in streams which are currently at record low flows. “Some will go dry, but they are the ones which went dry 20 years ago.” Right now. everything seems to be working against keeping water in the ground, he said. From a biologist’s point of view, Mike Malhiot with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Clinton said that with streams and rivers running under drought conditions fish pro­ ductivity will be affected. In speaking with local farmers, many reported dried swamp areas on farms. This allowed timber to be har­ vested which had not been taken out in at least three generations, added Malhiot. “It could be the first harvest ever.” The dried swamps will also have an impact on the plant and animal life supported by those ecosystems. With only a reasonable amount of snowfall, no major flooding and a total dependence on rainfall for moisture, Malhiot said, “We have all the makings for another dry sum­ mer.” CitizenTheNorthHuron No ball in Brussels By Janice Becker Citizen staff The ball has been dropped by the Brussels community when it comes to offering softball for the youth. Having waited two weeks for vol­ unteers to step forward and take over the leadership reins of Brussels Minor Ball, outgoing president John Harrison said he received only one inquiry from a young man. “He wanted to help out,” said Harrison, “but he couldn't do it alone.” A couple also spoke with him, but they had very little time to give. Harrison said a minimum of three people are needed to run the organi­ zation with six making the job easi­ er. Harrison is leaving the post after 10 years due to work responsibili­ ties. The other two executives are also stepping down. Even with time running very short, Harrison said there is still an opportunity to pull it together. He has to attend the tri-county meeting in a couple of weeks to pull Brussels Time to spr If there was any doubt spring is here, there’s one more sign this weekend. On Sunday morning at 2 a.m. we move forward to Daylight Savings Time. out if ball is to be cancelled, so the organization will not be fined. Scheduling meetings are usually held two weeks later. Harrison said the disappearance of Brussels Minor Ball is because there is “no interest from the adult per­ spective. They will have to travel farther (for the children to play ball).” Other communities have been holding registration in the past week or plan to in the near future. Karen Dolmage of Hullett Minor Ball said registration did not go very well there with only the Tyke age group nearing a full rooster. However, having not yet spoken to her Auburn registrar or conferred with the Blyth organization, Dolmage said she hopes there will be a full slate of teams. In spite of an amalgamation of communities for ball, Dolmage said there will be no PeeWee Boys team, but they will be trying very hard to pull together a PeeWee Girls squad. Walton, Belgrave and Ethel will be holding registration in the next few days. Vol. 16 No. 13 70c + 5C GST 75CWednesday, March 29, 2000 Sampling the offering Two-year-old Brady Shaw was kept busy consuming one of his favourite meals Sunday when the Melville Presbyterian youth of Brussels provided a spaghetti luncheon for patrons. After replenishing their spirits at the church service, the congregation was invited downstairs to sat- isfy their appetites with pasta and caesar salad. MPP hears complaints about cuts It may mean one less hour of sleep, but if you don’t want to be late for church, you’d better remember to turn your clocks ahead before going to bed on Saturday night The discussion remained polite but several farm groups expressed their concerns, Saturday, to Huron- Bruce MPP Helen Johns over cuts to the service of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. In what Huron County Federation of Agriculture President Pat Down described as probably one of the last large meetings to be held in the OMAFRA boardroom in Clinton before its close, several people expressed concern about where farm groups will meet in future. ‘There were 500 meetings in here last year,” noted Jim Love, reeve of Hay Twp. “I don’t know where they’re going to meet. It’s ludi­ crous.” “Some of us see this as a time bomb,” said Down of the lack of meeting facilities. Others pointed out other problems with OMAFRA’s closing of county extension offices. Evert Ridder of the federation’s environment com­ mittee, noted that Ag Rep Daryl Ball had been a helpful source of infor­ mation and advice for initiatives such as the Huron County Water Quality Coalition and the Huron Farm Environmental Mediation Committee but that help is being lost. As well the water quality coalition would have difficulty if it must rent rooms for its meetings, he said. The Huron County Wheat Producers also complained about the lack of meeting facilities and the support of staff in the Clinton office. Noting OMAFRA staff did such duties as conducting elections for commodity organizations, the wheat producer’s representative Peter Heinrich suggested perhaps Johns herself would like to take over that task. Heinrich asked that the govern­ ment provide OMAFRA with enough funding to continue variety trials for all crops, including wheat. ‘These independent trials are a vital source of information for today’s farmer,” he said, noting that without independent evaluation farmers are left at the mercy of seed salesmen.