Huron Expositor, 2007-03-07, Page 1PASSPORT
PHOTOS
FAST
Ala) clods oil AV:
• sc,whacking supplies
• Photo Album s
• Photo Resiorafon
mmil mole!
Jervis Photo
a t Is Hwy 4 Nem
4820494
Week 10 - Vo1.003
www.seaforthhuronexposltor.com
Windy blast
closes
roads
Monday
A blast of cold Arctic
air with wind gusts
reaching 90 km/h blew
through the region
Monday, reducing
visibility to nil at
times.
A narrow band of
snow hit Huron
County and combined
with the wind, closed
roads throughout the
region, including
Highway 8 from
Goderich to Stratford
and Huron County
Road from Seaforth to
Walton.
Plows were called off
the roads in Huron
County during the
afternoon Monday.
The weather forecast
kept school buses off
the roads, bringing the
total of snow days to
20 for the Avon
Maitland District
School Board.
"As the numbers
start to climb, it's
impacting the
curriculum," said
Steve Howe, manager
of communications for
the board. "We're
heading into that
territory of watching
very closely so
students don't lose too
much," he said.
Stratford Beacon
Herald
$125
get included
Wednesday,
March 7, 2007
WISHING
EVERYONE A
SAFE & HAPPY
Susan Hundertmark photo
Huron -Perth MP Paul Steckle, Huron County Federation of Agriculture president Steve Thompson and Huron -Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell field
questions from Huron farmers during the federation's annual MP/MPP meeting in Clinton on Saturday.
Inequity between U.S. and Canadian
farmers can't be ignored any longer
Canada needs equivalent to U.S. Farm Bill, say Huron farmers
Susan Hundertmark
Both the federal and
provincial governments can't
continue to ignore the fact
that Canadian farmers had
their worst three years ever
when U.S. farmers enjoyed
their best three years ever,
Huron -Bruce MP Paul
Steckle and MPP Carol
Mitchell were told Saturday
by various Huron County
farm commodity groups.
"And, that's thanks, almost
entirely to completely
ineffective and v;oeful1y
substandard government
farm support policies on this
side of the Canada/U.S.
border," said Huron
Federation of Agriculture
president Steve Thompson.
Thompson said the
Ministry of Agriculture
seems to be "dumbed down"
since it refuses to
acknowledge farmers are
experiencing an income
crisis or that the U.S. Farm
Bill is causing it.
Bruce County Federation
of Agriculture president Bob
Emerson added that in 2006,
Canadian farmers have a
$51 billion debt and a
negative farm income.
"We need a Canadian
Farm Bill that supports
farmers on a comparable
basis to the U.S. Farm Bill,"
he said, adding that U.S.
farmers know in the spring
what their income will be
that year.
"The federal government
says they don't have the
money to invest in
agricultural but compared to
what farmers are investing,
(what the government
contributes) is pocket
change," Emerson said.
Bev Hill, a member of
Huron's grassroots farm
group, told Mitchell and
Steckle that if current trends
in agriculture continue, the
industry will die.
He said agriculture's
demise is heralded by the
fact that there have been no
new farmers in the 20-30 age
group over the past 10 years.
"How do we put a degree of
financial security in place to
convince the 20 to 30 -year-
olds to be part of the
agriculture industry?" he
asked, adding that
"elementary issues" such as
the Canadian Agricultural
Income Stabilization (CAIS)
funding program, have to be
changed.
Paul Klopp, of the Huron
federation's finance
committee, said that while
consumers want to know
why their taxes are going to
agriculture but farmers
aren't happy, it's programs
like CAIS that ensure
farmers' incomes aren't
stabilized.
"Billions of dollars are
announced in programs and
the money is not getting to
the farmers," he said, adding
that farmers are not allowed
to claim expenses like farm
machinery repairs and
preventative maintenance of
farm assets.
He said the average age of
farmers is approaching 58.
"The farm community has
gone through the worst farm
crisis with decreased prices
at the farm gate - often being
compared to the `dirty 30s,'"
he said.
See MITCHELL, Page 6