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Times-Advocate, 1981-08-06, Page 12Page 12 Times -Advocate, August 6, 1961 We're In Business To Keep You Working Cylinder Bars Feeder Chain Concaves Raddle Chain Grille Guards Hugh Parsons Bolts and Tools Ltd. Phone 262-5681 11/4 Miles East of Hensall Drainage pays off in drought prevention Gccc dranage pomotes root growth as plants reach fof the capUary water in the sal in undrained Ionil. Cap"dry water is o.o k : e onry neon the surface so roof systems are ShdlOw 'Ikhen dry weather oRN@s. shallow rants CorNlpt suppry enough wafer 50 the plOnt to keep it heotthy Deep rooted crops also withstand wind arra stand oetter at rnatunfy as were KI$TABR noga KOR.R. 1 GADSHILL, ONTARIO NOK 1J0 519-656-2618 Debate resolutions at Guelph _T NFU decries lack of help for Y 9►ownfarmer By LIOYD WILLERT Joe Miller and myself attended the regional meeting of the National Farmers Union at Guelph on July 27 and 28. This meeting was well attended, much better than I expected, mainly I suppose because of many issues in the farming industry, high interest rates, high production costs, and many more. Also many came out to debate the structural change proposed by the regional N.F.U. reform committee. This committee recom- mended that our national officers for the Ontario region would be elected at the yearly regional meetings rather than at national convention, thus giving more Ontario members an op- portunity to attend and also have a regional treasury, which would keep more finances closer to home. This proposal passed by a narrow margin. Resolutions: One resolution recom- mends that we approach the Ontario government to subsidize interest rates for young beginning farmers, who would like to get into farming. Another resolution proposed an incentive program of some sort to encourage retiring farmers to hold mortgages on land being sold to a young lad who would like to get started in farming. These proposals would some how need Supervision by some agency to see that the wrong people don't get a hold of cheap subsidized loans, for their oWtt•personal gain. During the debate on these two resolutions it was pointed out that there are three farm agencies and not one has gotten off its butt and really tried to do anything for young farmers. Who wants to get into farming and if nothing is done we are in danger of losing a generation of young far- mers. Dr. George Collins Executive Director, Production and Rural Development Division, for the Ontario Department of Agriculture was present and commented favourably to these former resolutions but Dietrich Metal Products E. N Manufacturer of Metal Trim Sales of Steel Siding Farm Building Construction Concrete Forming Complete Building Sales for=_ Self -Erected Structures 1 VI Miles West of Mt. Carmel and %2 Mile South =R.R.# 8 Parkhill Phone 294-69401 5111111111111111111111111111111111111111111n111111111111111I1111111111811111111111111111111111811111101t1Iniu1111 inintuallaln1011118giuIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIininininiffi CO.OP i Westeel Rosco & CO-OP... True Quality Whether your needs are great or small, CO-OP and Westeel Rosco have combined forces to bring you a grain bin to fit your needs and your budget! For More Information CaII or Drop In To HENSALL DISTRICT CO-OP Illrucefleld Zurkh Henson 482.9623 236-4393 262.3002 said they welcomed any suggestions as to Who would qualify as a beginning far- mer? Richard Taves from District 6 gave us an ex- cellent report on why the National Farmers Union takes a strong stand against the proposed Plant Breeders Rights Legislation. We will try to report on this in a later edition , because of the mail problem I was a unable to get hold of this report. We also had a panel discussion on marketing Systems in Canada which dealt onnational marketing. Participants were Grant Smith Ontario, Milk Marketing Board, Cliff Mclsaac Canadian Dairy Commission, James Boynton on the powers of the Farm Products Marketing Council, and Professor Warley, University pf Guelph, who had input into the Lotty debated economic OUR Tit MANY DOM?tTI, I TO council study done on farm marketing boards. During . his presentation supply management boards in particular were really torn apart, he said some boards had a licence to print money. The price of quota he said made it impossible for anyone to get into farming run by supply management boards. To the latter the Union has long taken a stand that quota should have no money value. Professor Warley was really put on the hot seat during the question period, after he accused many farmers of being inefficient. He was asked if he thought dairy farming for instance should be run by two or three big setups like they have in Florida. Yours truly told him he was sick and tired of some educated fool telling him he was inefficient. The N.F.U. has long been a proponent of a National Meat Authority, which could have powers to regulate exports and im- ports. Some facts and figures for why we propose such a structure are given below. No 1- There's a problem the meat industry. In 1980 farm cash receipts were up 10 per cent over 1979 but in 1980 Ontario realized farm net income was down by 29.5 per cent from 1979. Operating and depreciation charges on Ontario Farms increases by 15.8 per cent in 1980 over 1979 and Ontario farm debt increased by 14 per cent in 1980 over 1979. Farm bantruptcies in Ontario totalled 122 in 1980 compared to 64 in 1979, in the first three months of 1981, 46 farm bankruptcies were reported and are still continuing, (Quote from Royal Bank Farm Business Review) As of December 31, 1980, farm loans outstanding to all SALUTE DOCTORS — The Dashwood Medical Centre committee entered a float in Satur- day's Friedsburg parade paying a special tribute to former medical men, Dr. H. Taylor and Dr. V. Gulens, while at the same time thanking donors for aiding the building fund and pos- ing the question of who would deliver babies in Dashwood in the future. Staff photo No other industry in the world is as messed up as agriculture. More than 1,200 million people go to bed hungry every night. Famines still occur with astounding regularity. People will starve to death in northern Africa and southeast Asia this year. World population experts say more than 2 million people will starve in Africa alone. Starve to death. Russia and China scour the world to buy grain. They have the money to buy it and they get it. India, once one of the world's greatest grain - growing nations, a country that exported wheat, can no longer grow -enough grain to fill the millions of hungry bellies in that beleaguered part of the globe. Yet. farmers in this coun- try are held to quotas in producing milk, chicken, turkeys and eggs. If as many farmers as wanted to do so could grow all those com- modities. the country would be swamped with food. Not long ago. the U.S. govern- ment actually paid farmers not to grow grain. The stories were rampant about the inanities that cropped up 1 Comedians told jokes about farmers sitting around, get- ting paid millions not to grow corn. The farmers sat and listened attentively to the corn they weren't grow- ing. You know the stories. Even Canada got into the act with legislation paying farmers not to grow grain but to diversify in the West. Yet, today, world grain stocks are lower than they have been in 10 years. Until the new crop comes in any time now, grain stocks are enough to last the world about 10 days to two weeks. Canadian agriculture is setting out on a program to sell. sell, sell as many products as possible around the world. Guessperts in Ot- tawa have just released a report indicating that Cana- dian farmers can increase exports and decrease im- ports so the industry will become more than self- sufficient. But the guessperts also warn that it will need to be a hard -sell program, especial- ly in European countries because those countries have a protectionist policy, the EEC, that will effective - Prejudice is being positive about something negative. ty stop the rest of the world from selling farm products over there. So, where will Canadian agriculture sell its products? To the more affluent coun- tries of the emerging Third World such as Mexico, Venezuela, Nigeria, Algeria, and to the richer countries such as Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea. That is, if they can persuade those countries to trade. All this information is con- tained in an optimistic out- look for farming and agriculture in Canada, a paper produced by the high- priced help in Ottawa to be tabled for cabinet. The bureaucrats make everything sound rosy in the report, as easy as, well, get- ting paid for not growing grain. They say food prices are going to increase between 21 and 63 percent because of population increases, higher incomes and constraints on food production. I'm getting a little tired of white papers, green papers, red papers, toilet papers, Royal commissions, special committees. standing com- mittees. sitting committees, parliamentary committees and all the other parapher- nalia that goes with our bureaucratic jungle called government. If they would just let farmers alone, they could solve most of their own problems without in- terference. They need help in the way of a few subsidies at this time: they need some surcease from these crushing high interest rates, usury, really. They know the direction they want to go. They know where they should he going. Now. if we can get governments to give a little and then get farmers together to go the way they know they should, maybe a few more people in the coun- try would catch the faith and we would all help the world get hack en an even keel. i Cecil R Squire Sales & Service Repair Shop Equipment 92 Waterloo St. Exeter 235-0465 Dr Sob l.o,,.• 141.4 Rd t4m.. Onr N31 2C7 Maybe fill a few million empty bellies, too. banks in Canada totalled $7. billion an increase of 116 cent over 1976. Ontario ac- counted for 32. per cent of outstanding farm loans owed to banks in 1980.) Token payments by Ontario Government of 640.00 per head on slaughter cattle and stabilization payments do nothing more than prolong the agony and eventually those who have over expanded themselves as well as small producers will be pressed even harder. It must be remembered that these government handouts come from taxpayers dollars and only really benefit in- dustry. (Its legalized rob- bery)Canada is a net im- porter of beef since 1969. In the first six months of 1981, the meat trade has imported 98,000 fat cattle from U.S. mostly to Ontario nearly double the total of 1980 which was 51,769 head. The federal government brought in Bill C 46 which is supposed to be a (meat import act) which will do nothing to prevent live cattle imports. It will do nothing to limit import quotas negotiated under the G.A.T.T. agreement, which guarantees we will import a total of 139.2 million pounds of dressed beef commencing in 1980, and increase every year according to population growth. Bill C 46 cannot halt the massive destruction of our beef and pork production units now occurring across Canada, it will only benefit the trade. It will help keep prices down to producers. 2 going down the drain and per cor'por'ations like Molsons We should point out here that 96 per cent of beef cow calf operators have 100 cows or less made on these operations 83,000.00 a year or less, feedlot operators 66.00 per head over ten years, so small as well as large operations are in trouble, What puzzles me is to why when we have made some effort to come up with what we think are suitable solutions, we don't seem to get much response from people who are most af- fected. Do they really think governments are going to icontinue bailing them out, ,without putting their shoulder to the wheel and help? The family farm is rapidly and Labatts will take over if we do nothing about it. McCANN CONST. LTD. 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Use it after harvest to control quack - Nothing works like Roundup. grass for easier tillage the following spring. And don't forget general farmyard cleanup around fencerows, headlands and buildings. In all kinds of -places nothing works like Roundup. Monsa nto Monsanto Canada Inc. Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto, Regina Saskatoon, Calgary, Vancouver. ALWAYS FOLLOW TFE LABEL DIRECTIONS FOR ROUNDUP! Roundup* h a registered trademark of Monsanto Company. Monsanto Canada Inc., registered user. *Monsanto Company 1981. RCt14-81