HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-10-20, Page 2826 Times -Advocate, October 20,1982
Tr 11
SERIOUS DISCUSSION — Newly arrived Katimaviker Michel Paris chats with Exeter mayor Bruce Shaw at an
informal reception for the group at ARC Industries.
Off
Is It possible to define who
is–and who is not --a farmer?
Agricultural organizations,
particularly the Ontario
Federation of . Agriculture
(O.F.A.), have been battling
with the problem for more
than a decade.
It is necessary because
senior governments give
grants and subsidies to
farmers. But some of those
so-called farmers should not
get those subsidies.
Is a farmer a person who is
occupied on the farm on a full-
time basis, a person who
makes a living from the land?
If that is true then half the
farmers say, in Waterloo
Region, would not qualify
because many of them are
forced to work at other jobs to
maintain the farm,
So that definition is out.
Some census figures from a
few years ago revealed that
more than 50 percent of the
farmers in this province have
off -farm income.
And is the professional man
– doctor, lawyer, dentist,
engineer - who buys a farm
with another income just to
show a loss for tax purposes,
also.a. farmer?
What about the chap who
has a full-time job someplace
4fone foot in the]
hitildrOW° byamitootLetters are appreciated by Bob Trotter" Etdat, Rd Etmna Ont N3B 2C 7
Which is when the corn
farmer said: ")f corn prices
drop much more, I won't
gross $5,000 this year."
Ralph Barrie, the articulate
president of the federation,.
said the definition may be
taken out of the federation's
hands. The province will
make the decision, he said,
and then the O.F.A. will deal
with it.
Much of the work being
done by the Ontario federa-
tion and, indeed, the Cana-
dian federation, depends on -
this definition which, in itself,
does not sound too difficult
until you consider all the
ramifications. There are so
many different kinds of
farmers, so many degrees of
who is a farmer and who is
else and works the farm on
weekends, holidays and
nights to supplement his
income?
The definition is important.
Literally millions of dollars in
grants and subsidies are at
stake here.
Is the weekend farmer
eligible, the man who works
a few acres for a cash crop or
who raises a few steers as a
hobby? '
At a meeting of the O.F.A..
recently, a county director
said if income figures were
used as the sole criterion, the'
O.F.A. itself would lose hun-
dreds of members who could
not qualify. A full-time corn
grower said he woutd lose
money on his crop this year
because of the disastrous corn
prices. Although desperately
trying to make a living on the '
.farm, he could not qualify as
a farmer.
In Ontario, the province is
embarking on some tar -
reaching tax reforms. Farm
land could be exempt from
municipal education taxes,
for instance.
Suggestions have been
made. One definition suggests
that any farmer who grosses
more than $10,000 a year from
the farm should be considered
as a bona fide farmer.
Area produce farm
gets government aid
Sixteen more Ontario fruit
and vegetable growers and
packers have received grants
from the Board of Industrial
Leadership and Development
(BILD) under the Ontario
Storage and Packing
Assistance Program for Fruit
and Vegetables..
Included was a grant of
$21,182 to Soudant Farms,
Varna, for onion and potato
storage construction.
Agriculture and Food
Minister Dennis Timbrell said
the $376,095 in grants are
"really incentives to help the
growers and packers expand,
upgrade and improve their
operations". The recipients
have personally invested
another $780,418 in the various
projects.
"My ministry's gpal is to
help Ontario become more
agriculturally self-sufficient.
This is just one of the many
Sales, Parts,
Service
Logan Ford
Tractor Sales Ltd.
Hwy. No. 8 East
of Mitchell
Phone 348-8467
programs which will help us
reach that goal."
The grants cover one-third
of the costs of new or
renovated storage facilities
for Ontario -grown fruits and
vegetables for both the fresh
and processing markets.
They also apply to one-third of
the cost of purchasing and in-
stalling handling and packing
equipment.
The BILD initiative is aim-
ed at extending the marketing
period for fresh Ontario fruit
and vegetables and reducing
imports. BILD, a cabinet
committee chaired by
Treasurer Frank Miller, co-
ordinates Ontario's five-year
$1.5 billion economic develop-
ment plan. It has set aside $20
million for this initiative and
has already awarded
$2,710,054 of it.
Mastectomy group
issues invitation
The Goderich Mastectomy
Group extends a cordial in-
vitation to anyone having had
a mastectomy to attend a
meeting to be held in- St.
Peter's Parish Hall, North
Street, Goderich, Ontario, on
November 6 at 1:30 p.m.
Guest speaker will be Mrs.
Thelma Griffin, President of
the London Mastectomy
Group.
Anyone wanting more in-
formation should write to 128
Widder Street, Goderich, or
call 524-9427 or 524-2537.
HY-1?FT
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(
• . • . a 1.
•
not, that any distinction
could tramp on a lot of toes
Do you tell a doctor who
already makes $100,000 a yea
off the farm that he cannot
receive any of the privileges
when he can prove his 200
acres lost money last year.?
Do you order the part-time
farmer to quit his city job or
quit driving a school bus or
whatever because it will
negate his tax exemptions?
It is a tough question to
answer. A light-hearted note
was thrown into the discus-
sion' when a Niagara area
farmer said: "A farmer is a
man outstanding in his field".
Can't help but agree. with
that but it isn't enough to
satisfy the senior govern-
ments in this country.
s satisfactorily.
• A study of dra
maintenance showed th
r 25% of tiles less than t
years old had been repaire
Of tiles 11 to 20 years old 66
had been repaired. All til
over 40 years old had eith
been repaired or neede
maintenance.
Trends in drainage in Ohi
Random systems are bein
replaced by evenly space
systems - usually plastic. I
most cases the rando
systems were still workin
when they were replaced.
The random tiles wer
generally felt to be too fa
apart and too shallow.
Random systems are stil
being installed to dra$
seepage areas and solve "we
spot" problem in fields with
several soil types.
They're much the same as
us in the fact that few farmers
have drainage maps. Service
is often complicated by dif-
ficulty in finding headers and
mains or knowing what size of
tiles are in various locations.
Some contractors are pro-
viding aerial photographs of
drainage systems. Pictures
are more likely to be saved
than maps. '
The fact that a quarter of
the relatively new (1 to 10
years old) tile drainage
systems examined needed
repair came as a surprise. If
the same thing is true in On-
tario, I'm sure that a lot of
farmers are not getting a
good return on their tile
A drainage investment.
Tile drain service
Drain inspection needs to
become a more routine chore.
Most problems occur at junc-
tions or abrupt changes in
grade. Outlets are another
problem area. A drainage
map makes for quick inspec-
tion of possible problem
areas.
Huron farm and home news
Report on file drainage, 441 caIf sale
There area lot of opinions
on how long drainage systems
should last. In Ontario we
don't really have too many
facts about the useful life
span of tile drains. Unlike
most Investments, tile drains
can't be monitored or looked
at very easily. You can find a
bCeak of washout, but you
really can't measure general
tile performance very well.
There have been several
studies in the United States.
Estimates on drain life expec-
tancy range from 10 to 100
years. Work done in Ohio by
Dr. Warren estimated drain
life at 10 to 15 years, but found
that some systems failed in as
few as five years. The drains
that failed in Dr. Warren's
study were generally in
unstable soil conditions that
caused shifts in grade or
alignment; collapsed tubing;
pulled joints and plugged
outlets, pipes and manholes.
In 1978 there was a study of
95 tiles mains in Williams
County, Ohio. The tiles rang-
ed in age from one to 76 years.
Of the 95 systems, 12 needed
repair and six needed
replacement. The other 77
systems were worki
ng
in
at
en
d.
es
er
d s
Huron -Bruce 4-H Thanksgh•
ing show and sale big succes
Thirty-four 4-H calves from
Huron and Bruce were shown
and sold at the Second Annual
Thanksgiving Show and sale.
James Coultes of Wingham
judged the show and MPP
Jack Riddell auctioned the
sale at the Brussels
Stockyards Limited. Both
Jim and Jack are to be com-
mended on the excellent job
of judging and auctioning.
Teeswater scaled at 990 and
ti sold to Modern Livestock
Auction Mart, Clyde, Alberta
at 88.00e per cwt. Steers were
divided into light weight,
(under 1100 lbs.), medium
(1100-1200 lbs.) and heavy
1200 lbs. and over classes.
Paul Coultes of RR 5
- Brussels, 1060 Ib. steer topped
the light weight class.
Brussels Stockyards Ltd. pur-
chased the calf at 85.50. Scott
Townsend of RR 4 Seaforth,
1060 lb. reserve calf sold to
Gamble and Rogers at 85.00.
Grant Hayter and Kenneth
Thompson calves were cham-
pion and reserve in the
medium weight class. In the
heavy weight class, Joseph
Gower of RR 1 Centralia, won
with his 1230 lb. steerselling
at 90.50 to Blyth Meat Market.
Brad Falconer of RR 4
Seaforth, sold the reserve
steer in the class weighing
1200 lbs. to J.M. Schneider of
Waterloo for 85.25. All calves
sold above the market, thanks
to the buyers. Average weight
was 1083 lb.s with an average
price of 82.70 per cwt.
Many thanks to all club
leaders who assisted, the 4-H
participants for excellent
presentation -of their calves
and to Brussels Stockyards
Ltd. for their excellent
facility:
We look forward to this
Thanksgiving Show and Sale
continuing as an annual
event.
S.J. Paugette, Associate •
Huron 4-H'ers entered 22
steers, with Bruce entering
eight steers and four heifers.
TheGrand Champion steer
owned by Grant Hayter, RR
:3 1':trkhill, weighing 1120, sold
for $1.04 per pound. Pur-
chaser was Bob Miles of
Woodham Meat Market. This
steer, a Limousin Angus
Cross, was overall show
champion and won the
Modern Livestock Trophy of
Clyde, Alberta, donated by
Randy Scott, their
representative.
Reserve Champion Steer
shown by Kenneth Thompson,
RR 1 Kincardine, weighing
1100 pounds, was purchased
by James Coultes of
Wingham for 91.00 per cwt:
Grand Champion Heifer rib-
bon was won by Donald
Grubb of Teeswater,
weighing 1040, It sold to But-
tons Meat Market of Lucknow
at 99.501.
Reserve Champion heifer
hown by Steven McKague, of
0
g
d
n
m
g
e
r
n
t
•
GAMES FOR ALL AGES Customers at Thursday's
South Huron Hospital Auxiliary rummage sale found a
large number of games for all ages. From the left look-
ing over the assortment are Edith Love and Vera Pin-
combe. T -A photo
inancirig
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Hay Harvesting Equipment
Corn Pickers
Uni-System Combines
Uni-System Forage Harvesters
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luding
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(519) 236-4934
(519) 236-4321
NEW IDEA
Agricultural Representative ed 20% of operating costs in
Ontario farm assistance your last accounting period.
The total value of
program agricultural products on your
Have you applied or en- farm in 1981 must have been
quired about the Ontario more than $12,000.
Farm Adjustment Assistance Some 260 Huron County
Program (O.F.A.A.P.I? farmers have already made
This program provided an use of this program. Others
interest reduction grant on planning to apply should do so
floating rate bank loans of up right away, because the ap-
to five percentage points. If plications have to be process -
you have a $100,000. authoriz- e 1 before the end ofthe year.
ed line of credit at the bank at Application forms are
17% interest, your interest available at the bank. When
reduction for the coming 12 completed, the application Is
months could be $5,000. In- reviewed jointly by your
stead of paying $17,000 in in- banker and a member of the
terest you would actually pay local Ontario Ministry of
only $12,000. That's reducing Agriculture and Food office at
your bank interest cost by Clinton.
29.4%! (5/17 x 100 equals
29.4%). Don Pullen
Agricultual Representative
The interest reduction
grant can reduce interest rate Silo gases
by a maximum of five percen- Silo gas can be fatal. It can
tage points down to 12%. At kill just as quickly as a fall
the moment, interest rates from a silo. Do not enter your
are on the way down! silo for at least three weeks
The program also provides after filling. Always turn on
for a Government guarantee the blower to properly ven-
on a future operating line of tilate yqur silo before
credit if such is shown to be entering.
needed in your farm financial If, for any reason, you have
plan. The interest reduction . to enter the silo before the
grant and the Government three week period is up, wear
guarantee are both for a 12 a self-contained breathing ap-
month period commencing on paratus, and always use a life
the date of approval. rope. Never enter a silo under
To be eligible for these conditions without
O.F.A.A.P.., a farmer must h'nother person present.
have equity in the farm Remember, silo gas can
business of between 10% and be fatal.
60%. Interest and principal John Heard, Assistant
payments must have exceed- Agricultural Representative
ODDFELLOWS INSTALLED — The new executive of the Exeter Order of Independent Odd ellows was installed
recently. Back, left, Floyd Cooper, Fred Delbridge,-Bill Rowe, Bert Brown, Charlie Atthill, Bill Adams, Delmar
Skinner, Norm Stanlake and Tom Kooy. Front, Harold Patterson, Donald Dearing, Bill Noakes, Greg Ramsay,
Noble Grand Norm Whiting, Past Noble Grand Cliff Grasdahl, Don Wilson and Lloyd Hern.
At
Henson, Mitchell, Mitchell, Granton, Port Albert
around the clock
Hi Speed Legs
8 Truck
Unloading Hoists
To serve you
Hensall
262-2527
Mitchell
348-8433
Granton
225-2360
Port Albert
529-7901
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