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Home My WebLink AboutTimes-Advocate, 1985-11-27, Page 18• Page 6A Times -Advocate, November 27, 1985 r— V . COUNTY 4-H HONOURS — A total of eight girls received County Honours at a Huron 4-H Achievement Monday night at Stephen Central School. Back, left, Kelly Talbot, Brenda Vanderloan and Kim Murray all of Hurondale IV. Front, Jeanette Kaak and Vicki Reynolds, Crediton and Brenda Hern and Anne hone Delbridge, Elimville. Missing was Lisa Ellerington, Elimville. P Five --- count 'em, five --- groups of buyers purchase all the food sold in supermarkets across this nation. 1 don't know what the percentage is this year but 1 would be willing to be that these five buying groups pur- chase as much or more than 80 per- cent of the food that is bought in Canada. Those five buying groups are powerful people. Suppose you have food products to sell. Unless you can get some recogni- tion from one of those buying groups, you're up the creek, friend. They can dictate exactly what you will find on the shelves of every super- market in Canada. They can decide which manufacturer will gethigh pro- -BRANDY POINT— FARMS OINT FARMS CENTRED AROUND ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION • Our breeding stock provides our buyers with proven genetics from the top 3°° animals tested across Canada. • Our program enobles us to offer quality and health of a price that is hard to beat • We hove on ongoing supply of A.I. sired, Homp Duroc, York Landrace boars & F I York Landrace gilts • Our closed herd is ranked 'Good" by the OMAF standards of Herd Health Classification. Come and take a look at our stock anytime! Delivery available KURT KELLER R.R. 1, Mitchell, Ont. 519-348-8043 timer$ of aRp $ 'iWd by Pab Tron*. Wills $'440 Vow 4. Om Nie 2C1 Ltd.which includes suchindependents as Knechtel Wholesale Grocers Ltd. This group is rumored to be seeking. a merger with one of the other buy- ing groups which could drop the membership in this powerful but select group from five to four. I have outlined this power in other columns butrecent acquisitions have changed the make-up, especially now that A & P has purchased Dominion and the persistent rumors that the In- dependent Wholesale Grocers group is seeking a merger. In my opinion, farmers have every right to keep their supply - management marketing boards. Pork producers are now going to study a quota system. Supply management marketing boards are legal. And they are con- stantly under public scrutiny as well as being policed by a government- ap- pointed farm products marketing board. But these buying groups have no one keeping an eye on their power. They can do whatever they want because Canada's anti -combines law is as useless as a hippocket in undershorts. In other words, the buying groups -- although unproven to be ripping off the public seven years ago -- can call the price on almost all the food sold in Canada without fear of much competition. Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, Lord Ac- ton said. file space in the grocery stores. They can make or break any processor in the nation. How? They could say to a food pro- cessor that they will buy a zillion ton- nes of food at the price the processor wants. That zillion tonnes of food gets sold. But the buyers ask for a lower price next time around. And they get it. Then, they accept the same price but request a volume "discount". 1t is a rare occasion that the "re- quest" is put on paper. The processor has no choice. By this time, he has put all his manufacturing might into sup- plying tonnes for the big buyer. The big buyer says jump and the pro- cessor meekly says, how high? .Do the big stores get a discount? Difficult to prove, of course. In fact. that big, expensive, time-consuming judicial inquiry seven years ago fail- ed to prove conclusively that there was any intimidation by the big buyers. There are many who believe it was a big, expensive, time- consuming whitewash, too. It seems to me that so much power should not be .concentrated in the pocketbooks of -so few. For instance, IGA and Safeway are in a buying group with Dutch Boy. Dutch Girl and Towers. A & P, which own 90 of the best Dominion Stores in Ontario, is in a group with Lumsden Brothers of Hamilton which is in another buying group with Sobeys in the Maritimes, Epiciers Unis in" Quebec, Federated Co -Ops in Saskat- chewan, Merco Wholesale in Edmon ton, Slade and Stewart and Over- waitea in B.e. Provigo is in a buying group with the Weston -owned stores, National Grocers, Loblaws, Zehrs and Gordons. The fifth group, by far the smallest is the Independent Wholesale Grocers A man's life, like a piece of tapestry, is made up of many strands which interwoven make a pattern : to separate a single one and look at it alone not only destroys the whole, but gives the strand itself a false value. Knekr,"4900010000.1' ri°4 145111 • • e 1111111 • SOYA BEAN and CORN producers when your crop is ready -we're ready! Contact our nearest location ro ir'3 HENSALL CENTRALIA 262-2410 228-6661 61 We A9 KIRKTON WALTON 229-8986 527-1540 Make COOK'S your marketing centre for all your crops! Remember! You can BANK on. COOK'S --"Where you can trade with confidence COOK'S DIVISION OF GERBRO INC. t, You can benefit from a FALL FERTILIZATION program Come in and discuss the advantages We are a moi) Certified Crop Care Centre ,M„ Deadline near for OFFIRR The Ontario Family Farm Interest Rate Reduction Program ( OFFIRR ) will be accepting application$ from Ontario farmers postmarked no later than January 15, 1986. OFFIRR is a $50 million program announced by the Honourable Jack Riddell, Minister of Agriculture and Food, on August 8, 1985, aimed at eas- ing the financial burden of Ontario farmers with high debt loads but viable operations. The program pro- vides grants to reduce to 8 per cent ( by a maximum of seven percentage points) interest costs up to $200,000 of long-term debt. This program recognizes that the eighties have been difficult years for all farmers. Even those who are not in severe financial difficulties are feeling the after effects and could benefit from this program. We feel it is necessary to remind producers that there is a mid-January '86 deadline for entry to OFFIRR. We do not want to see those eligible miss the opportunity to apply for the pro- gram. In fact, fewer than 200 applica- tions have been completed by Huron County farmers to date. Eligibility criteria include that the farm family has not more than 75 per cent equity in the operation, has a net worth of less than $500,000, a long- term debt (amortized over two years or longer) and is not a participant in the Beginning Farmer Assistance Program (BFAP). The farm family should also be personally operating the enterprise and expect to earn Eric Hoffer, on self-image: However much we guard against it, we tend to shape ourselves in the im- age others have of us.. It is not so much the example of others we im- itate, as the reflection of ourselves in their eyes and the echo of ourselves in their words. their living from, farming. For mole information and applica- tion forms, contact the Agricultural Office, Clinton, 482-3428 or 1-800-265-5170. Potential exists for many more ()FMK applications from Huron County Farmers! Don Pullen Agricultural Representative for Huron County ********************* * Star-trac Belt Feeders t * ^ and Conveyors * u- t . 71411iliaMilarailkle* ',.;. w. * * t, i $ x f a rpt T -,..,ate �' K = ` y- ~ * Our New Star -Trac Belt r y Feeders and Conveyors from 10% off i. Starhne beat them all for Feed • Distribution and Dependability 15th 1� 4 14" concave belt (controlled resting area tor teed) y Low horsepower requirements (up to 100 1t./1 H.P.) yT 5 -year 100/. unconditional warranty on belt * Plow independently suspended on CANON BALL door ti ack . *y Economical multi -lot feeding g SAVE MONEY.... BUY STARLINE EQUIP. DIRECT FROM * Ty Hwy. 21 N. of Grand Bend 4(T RR1 Dashwood, Ont. * ° (51912)8-2301 4( ****************) *** i Want To Reduce Your Input Costs... 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