HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1988-07-27, Page 18Page 6A
Times -Advocate, July 27, 1988
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(ua's ara apprac „ate.] op Cob hong, Ihas,* Onr WO .'( 7
When 1,200 farmers get together
for a conference in the middle of
haying season, .the agenda must be
important even if it is the worst
crop of hay -in 50 years: Many
farmers in our arca did.not get a sec-
ond cut.
The Conservation Farming 88
conference in Woodstock attracted
that many which, in illy_ humble
opinion, is.a great indication that
farmers are just as conscientious
about c.onscrvation as they should
be..0h, ycs, 1 know., Some. of them
rape the land but they arc in the_mi-
nority. .
As proof of niy contention, the
Land Stewardship Program being
funded:by the Ontario government
and administered by the, Ontario
Soil and Crop Improvement Asso
ciation, has been welcomed by
more than 6,000 farmers who have -
applied.
Ontario's Agminister Jack Riddell
called it a program of "farmers -
working with farmers .tq .sort out
the best way to make_ conservation
work." -
He also warned that it won't be •
easy to reverse years of unwise
(land) management. "A few quick •
fixes won't be enough," he told the
conference.
Canadian fariners have been
- blained by conservationists for do-
ing all kinds of dastardly deeds
against the land. Monocultcr, for
instance, can destroy the tilth in.
soil. Ontario farmers, in -particular,
have been guilty.. of just that when
they plant corn year after year after--
year
fteryear in the same fields. -
Interest -and enthusiasm about soil
and water .conservation has - been
bandied about, off and on, for .30.
years. The enthusiasm in Wood-
stock gave way to many warnings. •
"We know the way (towards con-
servation)," said Charlie Tatham,
the local MPP. "Do we have the
will?"
"When -crop prices arc good and
the rains conic, we can do all sorts
of things to the land, not necessari-
ly with the land," said Charlie Bald-
win, a highly -respected soil scien-
tist from Ridgetown College of -
Agriculturc Technology. Soil and
watcr conservation has been up and
down like a yo-yo, he added..
Farmers and pesticide companies
made a deal at the confcrencc which
would reducc.chcmical pollution of
Ontario's streams and rivers by 50
percent in the next five years. The
goal set by the conference tics in
with the province's aim to reduce
pesticide use by 50 percent by the
year 2002.
I have heard it said that 90 per-
cent of the phosphorus in the Great
Lakes would be prevented if dairy
farmers did not wash the residue
from milk houses intodrains, gut-
ters, ditches and streams.
I have felt uncomfortable defend-
ing -some farmers over the years
because I have seen the results of
some poor agricultural practices.
An Old Order Mennonite farmer ,
near our home -- and they are usu-
',ally great stewards of the land -- re:
moved stones and a small berm
alongside a drainage ditch and tilled
and planted within a foot of thelip
of the ditch.
It is just such disregard for the
land that put the land in danger and
aided in the pollution of so many
waterways in this country.
I am overjoyed to sec farmers,
environmentalists, industries and
-governments meeting and trying to
-solve these .pollution problems.
They can be solved if everyone
works together.
It is the large chemical compa-
nies that stand to lose the most,
yet they are staunch supporters in
the fight.
That , in itself, is' the most en-.
couraging fact to come out of the
conference on Conservation Farm-
ing 88.
RHYTHM LINE - A group of enthusiastic youngsters attending Vacation Bible School at Trivitt Memorial Angli-
can Church provided the musical accompaniment to some.choruses during the daily. closing.ceremony.
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GRADUATE - Clayton and Alice
Kooy of Duron Park are proud to an-
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daughter Bonnie Jean, who re-
•'—^""swelff isi'2m honours degree in E.C.E.
at Lambton College, Sarnia. She
has accepted a position on the
teaching staff at Stepping Stones
Nursery School, London, beginning
August 2. Bonnie is the grand-
daughter of Tom and Mary Kooy, •
Centralia.
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