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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-05-28, Page 17e4 Times -Advocate, May 28, 1986 Page 5A ST DENTS VISIT CCAT — Prospective Centralia College students visited the Campus, Saturday. Above, pri cipal Doug Jamieson talks to Terry and Mary McGregor, Kippen and Dorothy, Harvey and Steven StOwart of Chatsworth. T -A photo I have been laughed at, scorned, ridiculed and pooh-poohed. I have been told by feed mill operators, entrepeneurs and com- pany presidents that Canada will never run out of land. ' For 25 years, I have been urging senior governments in this country, particularly the provincial govern- ments, to formulate a land -use policy that would preserve the best land for future generations. The record of preservation of agricultural land is not pretty. Prime agricultural land disappears at an amazing rate in Canada. -From 1976 to 1981, Environment Canada says almost 100,000 hectares, an area the size of Toronto, were converted to ur- ban use. Half that land was the best farm land in the nation. Th&re are those, including me, who would not mind seeing Toronto disap- pear under the plow but that's another story. Much as I dislike Tranna, it is smaller centres which have taken most of the land in the last five yews'. Of the 70 urban centres studied by En- vironment Canada, the smaller ones were the greediest. For every in- crease of 1,000 residents, cities with BRANDY POINT FARMS CENTRED AROUND ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION • Our breeding stock provides our buyers with proven genetics from the top 3% animals tested across Canada. • Our program enables us to offer quality and health at a price that is hard to .beat • We have an ongoing supply of A.I. sired 'Hump/Duroc, York/Landrace boars 8 F1 York/Landrace gilts • Our closed herd is ranked "Good" by the OMAF standards bf Herd Health Classification. Come and take a look at our stock anytime) Delivery available KURT KELLER R.R. 1, Mitchell, Ont. 519-348-8043 more than 500,000 people absorbed 61 hectares of rural land. In contrast, towns with fewer than 50,000 people absorbed 341 hectares of rural land. This may have happened because there is more farmland available around these small towns. In any event, it is not an encouraging trend. Canada has 46 million hectares of arable land but only 4 million of that is prime or class 1 land. Half of that 4 million hectares is in Ontario-ari- ari-o and 88 percent of the remaining Applications on the way - Beef, lamb and pork producers should have received or will be receiving shortly, application forms and information on the National Tripartite Stabilization Program. This program is being implemented to provide producers with 'a mean- ingful level of support during times of unstable commodity prices. Enrolment forms are being sent to beef and sheep participants in the On- taiio Red Meat Plan to pork pro- ducers who applied for the 1985 Hog Stabilization payments. Any producer who does not receive an enrolment form in the mail, may do so by con- tacting the Clinton OMAF Office. The deadlines for the various parts of the program are as follows: 1. Hog and Lamb Stabilization - June 15. 2. Beef'Cow-Calf and Beef Slaughter Stabilizaiton - June 30. All producers who enrol must com- plete the two page enrolment form and return it to the Crop Insurance and Stabilization Branch, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and F' od, Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario M7A 1B7. If a premium is due, the cheques must be made out to "Ontario Tripar- tite Stabilization" and sent to the above address. Complete details and applications will be available at the ClintonOMAF Office. As well, an information meeting for Pork Producers on the Hog Stabilization Program has been arranged for Monday, June 2nd, at 8:00 p.m. in the Clinton Legion Hall. A similar meeting for Beef Producers will •probably be held early in June. land is in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Those who pooh-pooh my concern maintain that there is plenty of land not now classed as prime land that could be brought into production. They say that when one acre of prime land goes out of production, two acres of less -arable land is still available and will be for generations to come. Not so, Environment Canada says not so. The types of production would be limited and the growing period shortenal. Increased costs to make the less -arable land productive would be uneconomical. Anyway, the land available would add so much to transportation costs that it would just not be viable. Farm writers across this nation have been pounding on this land -use platform fer years. The prime farmland we have in this country should be treated reverently. Too often, it has been recklessly sold and lost forever under acres of asphalt, plazas, subdivisions, power corridors and ticky-tack houses. I have no objection to development, mind you. But development does not have to be on prime farm land. Ontario Hydro has been forced to build power corridors over less pro- ductive land. No longer do these lines travel straight, marching relentless- ly across anything and everything. These lines are bypassing prime land, going around it instead of through it. If one major utility can do it, so can everybody else. In British Columbia, a strict land - use law has been passed which prevents urban development on land reserves around Kelowna in the Okanagan VaUey. If Canadians want to have enough farmers and +enough• farm land around to feed themselves, then pro- vinces will have to take the respon- sibility for steering development away from the best farm land. Somebody has to start speaking out, long and loud, for green, growing hings. We're Fully Equipped for any Job • Trucking • Gravel, Sand & Stone • Bulldozing • Excavating • Top Soil • Septic Systems "No lob is too big or too small" Res. 482-9212 CONTRACTING LTD. Tracking - Excavating Clinton Shop 482-9926 • Seeking art contribution A highlight of every Pork Congress is the Pig Art Competition which draws on the artistic talents of the young and old alike. The 1986 Con- gress won't be any different. Chairman of the Pig Art Commit- tee explains that there are a total of nine classes this year with the addi- tion of glass art. Other classes include fine art, humour, original model, preformed model, stitchery, poetry, quilts, photography and cake decorating. Mrs. Gillespie is looking for entries from all pork producing areas of the province, plus from urban areas. In addition to the prize money, the top entries in each category will be auc- tioned off at the Pork Congress with the proceeds going to the entrants. The auction will take place on Tues- day, June 17 following the evening •PigNic. A new feature of the Congress this year will be the extended hours on the Opening Day until 9:00 p.m. This will give Congress attendants time to view all Pig Art entries. All entries must be in the hands of the Pork Congress by 1:00 p.m. on Monday, June 16. More information on the Pig Art Competition can be obtained from: Mrs. Jean Smelski Secretary, On- tario Pork Congress, Box 61, Strat- ford, Ontario N5A 6S8. TO HEAR SPEAKER The next meeting for the Federa- tion of Agriculture will be on June 5 at 8:30 p.nl. in the Clinton Public School. The speaker will be Brian Doidge from Ridgetown OMAF The topic will be U.S. Farm Bill. BEST RATE 1 93/4% 1 • •'1 INVESTMENTS I\ \\1 I \I 1 I:\ I I!I. 1,Uitrl itli '1-2I r.1 1.51111-''111.1-:1:111: tti,.gs Shore study HON. JACK RIDDED Minister of Agriculture F u rther,tn information in my last column, the committee appointed to study long-term solutions for shoreline management along the Great Lakes will be holding public bearings in Godertch on July 10 at the Livery Theatre, beginning at 7:00 P.m. The committee will be looking Itt• the roles and responsibilities of private and public sector in shoreline management, and will examine and make recommendations to' the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs on options for long-term management. Members of the public who are directly affected by high water levels are invited to make their .concerns and suggestions known to the Com- mittee, who will then prepare a report for submission to the Ministers in November, 1986. Ontario's assistive devices pro- gram, which now covers 75 percent of the cost of medical devices for young people up to the age 21; will be ex- panded to cover prostheses for people 9f all ages beginning July 1, 1986, my colleague Health Minister Murray Elston announced recently. Prostheses include artificial arms and legs, breast prostheses, facial prostheses and prosthetic eyes. Thp assistive devices urogram will be further extended to cover 75 per- cent of the costs of respiratory equip- ment for people of all ages on September 1, 1986. This will include ventilators, suction machines, com- pressors and equipment for people with cystic fibrosis. Mr. Elston also announced that coverage of all other assistive devices equipment including wheelchairs, ostomy supplies, hearing aids, visual and communications aids, incon- tinence supplies and orthoses, which includes braces and splints, will be extended to include those who are 22 year's of age of July 1, 1986. Costs for the additions to the pro- gram will be $4 million for 1986-87. This will bring total annual costs for the expanded assistive devices pro- gram to approximately $18 million. The program helps to, provide medical devices for people with chronic illness or physical disabilities. Agencies such as the Cancer Socie- ty and the March of Dimes tradi- tionally assist people in need with the remaining 25 percent portion of costs for assistive devices. 40 For more information on the pro- gram, call toll free 1-8007?.68.6021. Acting to deal with the problem of costly insurance settlements and con- sequently higher insurance rates, the Ontario Liberal Government set up a task force this past January to ex- amine problems in the insurance in- dustry. This ween at. Queen's Park; Consumer and Coaufencial Relations Minister 11$onte Kwlnter released the report of the Slater task force on the insurance industry. In its report, the task force, chaired by Dr. David Slater, former Chairman of the Economic Council of Canada, has recommended the in troduction of private no-fault auto insurance as a first step toward improving the in- surance system. In addition, the Slater report states the Ontario government "should not establish at this time a government insurance corporation to deliver auto insurance services." The report said private companies should have a chance to provide no-fault coverage. Mr. Kwinter had said he plans to act on the recommendation to eliminate discrimination in auto insurance premiums based on age, sex and marital status. The Slater report also recommends basing auto insurance premiums on a new classification system i i . takes in o accoun an in- dividual', driving record and ex- perience. It suggests that people with poor driving records be penalized with higher premiums. Mr. Kwinter said members of the public and the insurance industry have until July 31, 1986 to comment in writing on the recommendation of the Slater report. Written submissions may be sent to: Office of the Superintendent of In- surance, 6th Floor, 555 Younge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M7A 2116 Attention: Ontario Task Force on Insurance. • Bovaid® The Season Long FLY CONTROL For both beef and dairy with a simple Ear Tag $2.25 oa. • Debantic Insecticide Ear Tags rf $1.50 per tag ' Genitalia Farmers Supply Ltd. Centralia 228-6638 1 BEAN D GR0WERS 0 0 G I C)ft)f CLEAltikt4CE UNION 1 CARBIDE //lIIiiii 111111111111 III I Illi AMIBEN I'llll�lll�lhih'Ithllllllll II111111 You can depend on AMIBEW to give you effective` broad-spectrum weed control in white beans. Now, with each 208 Titre drum you purchase, you will receive a FREE TRANSFER PUMP or CASH EQUIVALENT• Each drum of Amiben treats approximately 45 acrqs (treated area varies depending on soil type, weed pressure and herbicide program). Supplies of drums are limited, so be sure to order from your participating Pfizer dealer today. Distributed by CROP PROTECTION DIVISION LONDON, ONTARIO ® Amiben is a gisa rad' ',artwork of Union Carbide Agricultural products Comports Inc. • Of valid on drums 04 AnMb•n liquid herbicide otyy. TUTHILL FILL -RITE Transfer Pump Model 112 Complete with telescopic suction pipe, 8 -foot hose and nozzle. •(Approximate Retail Value 5150.00) K.�