Loading...
Times-Advocate, 1987-04-22, Page 14• Page 14 Times -Advocate, April 22, 1987 Brief sparks Glob ate with politicians Huron cattlemen oppose Hlghway 8 widanin The.,Huron Cattlemen's Association brief, as is often the case, was the . most controversial brief presented to the Huron Federation of Agricplture's annual Members of Parliament din, nery in Clinton. Among the items in this% the longest brief of the day presented by Keith Strang, were the•proposed.widening of Highway 8, i which the Cattlemen's Associ tion opposed), to call fort n- clusion or in- clusion f .siteage corn under the Special Canadian Grains. Program to the approval of the Ontario Hydro line through Httron county. Of these, the most controversial was the Highway 8 widening. "We ' feel Highway 8 is very adequate now," (he brief stated. "Hundreds of • millions of dollars of agricultural pro- ducts travel in and out of Huron coun- ty each year without problem. To build a highway to serve industry • which does not exist would be a foolish - waste of the taxpayers' money." Dealing with a recent call from the mayors of the five county towns for more diversification of industry to make up for the declining farm . population. the brief said "(hit' (acrid- the acrofthe matter is Huron county is the leading agricultural producing coun- ty in the province of Ontario... In- - dustrialization and urban develop- ment would not complement our • agriculture base. Since we do not have -high -unemployment -or -a -large market for consumer goods, major in- dustry would not locate in Huron County unless it was subsidized." MPP Jack Riddell was the first to comment on the Highway 8 portion of the brief saying that he avoided Highway 8 "like the plague" when he was travelling back and forth to Toronto. Aside from agriculture, he said, Huron county is industry defi- cient and he thought it was wise for the County of Ituron to establish a development officer to tty to get more industry into the county.. Young peo- ple now have to leave the•county to get jobs. he pointed out. Warden Brian McBurney pointed out that of the 58.000 people in Huron county. 1:3.000 were farmers or farm families, 25,000 lived_ niin towns and villages and the remaining :30.000 were living in rural areas but not in- volved in agriculture. "Where are the young people who grew up here," he asked. He said there are industries that want to establish in•iluron because of the stable workforce and the lower wage level •than elsewhere. The coun= ty is looking at putting more emphasis on the development part of the Plan- ning and Development office, he said. because too often an industry has ap- proached one municipality, not been able to find a suitable location and was lost to the county because there was no co-ordination between municipalities. As -for -Highway -8; he said, -'the on- ly thing that makes Highway 8 look good is Highway a in the winter." • FARMING TALK — Former Huron county warden Bill Elston and former Stephen township reeve Allan Wolper chat before a luncheon in Seaforth Thursday. The guest speaker was Ontario Premier David Peterson. T -A photo Everyone's business "Soil conservation is everybody's business". That is the message from , federal Agriculture Minister John Wise in announcing this week as Na- tional Soil Conservation Week. The week spotlights soil conserva, tion problems that are costing Can- dian farmers $1 billion a year. CAMADA•OMTARIO Crop Insurance Agent Donald H. Weigand RR 1 Dashwood Ont. NOM 1NO "=" e ® =en= Food "There are two basic issues here – food and our farmers' future," Wise said. "We must protect our soils to en- sure the long-term success of our agri-food industry." The major threats are erosion, salt and acid soil, soil compaction and loss of soil nutrients. About 20 percent of farmland across the country is already serious- ly affected by these problems and the damage is spreading. Losses to Ontario's farmers are estimated at $90 million a year. The federal -provincial Soil and Water En- vironment Enhancement Program - SWEEP - is helping farmers fight such losses in southwestern Ontario. The joint $30 million, five-year pro- gram is aimed at improving soil and - water quality and reducing pollution in lake Erie caused by cropland run- off. - Agriculture Canada will be involv- ed in the development and evalution phases of technology transfer to farmers in southwestern Ontario. APRIL ONLY Parts Value Of The Month. SAVE Now on the BATTERY that starts with quality! Right now we have a large inventory of superior quality batteries at the year's best values. For cars. For trucks. For all your farm equipment. Get started today. Replace that tired battery with a quality CASE IH battery and save. rerneMs -FARM EQUIPMENT LTD. "Serving You For 55 Years" D D beater 235-2121 c��3afi� Dashwood 237-3242 6 Paul Klopp worried that if Highway 8 was improved it might make Huron county a more attractive site for a chemical waste disposal site, noting that one of the favourable areas for such a site was in Huron. Riddell said it would be "assinine" to truck waste all the way from the in- dustrial heartland, to Huron giving greater chance to an environmental catastrophe if there was a truck accident. ' ' On Tripartide Stabilization the Cat- 'tlernen's brief called for producer premiums to go into individual ac- counts instead of a pool with the farmer being able to recover his premiums less administration costs if there hadn't been a payout. "It's just not as simple as it would appear from this presentation," Rid- dell replied. There is no easy answer and the fund must be actually sound, he said. To the Cattlemen's disappointment over the approval of the Hydro line ..through Huron, Riddell said he was surprised there had not been an ap- peal of the decision. Ile said he never fully understood Hydro's reason to drop the original Bruce-Essa route which had been stopped. on a technicality but that there was�o doubt there were some rich people along that route who didn't want a power line going over their cottage. Ontario Hydro claimed it was just a matter of time before a line to Lon- • don was built anyway, but he said, if there was no appeal the matter wouldn't likely come. before cabinet and he would not be able to argue on behalf of the Huron farmers. 4,•. ON THE FARM Ontario's Agriculture Minister Jock. Riddell and Premier David Peterson look over some calves on the Eckert farms in the Seaforth area. THIMET* THE EFFECTIVE, ECONOMICAL BEAN INSECTICIDE THAT WON'T WASH OFF IN THE RAIN • Don't let insects get a head start on your bean crop. Apply granular Thimet 15-G when you plant and enjoy excellent protection against Mexican bean beetles, leafhoppers, aphids: lygus bugs, thrips and mites. Thimet goes to work from - the roots on up through the entire plant; and unlike foliar sprays, won't wash away when it rains. CF1LL iff:Ixl��I.��7x�ic1 ' 1111'11 ' i• !^.irk ..,ndrni.; , .rr: , 1 1,'. CYA/VAM/D Serving those whose business is agriculture. Agrichemicals for a growing world T -A photo The best sequential weed control program in white beans. BASF Patoran® FL The best sequential weed control program in white beans starts with the proven preemergence broadleaf weed performance of BASF Patoran FL. It makes good sense! BASF Patoran FL provides all • these outstanding features: . • season -long control.of tough broadleaf weeds such as lamb's - quarters, pigweed and ragweed, including their triazine-resistant strains • safety when used in'triazine- • sensitive bean varieties • no yield -reducing stress on bean crops • n� soil residues to limit future bean crops • no soil residues to limit future crop rotations • new reduced rates of 1.0 to 1.2 litres per acre JTNFOLINE] ' 1-800-387-4857 Patoran FL broadleaf control Annual Broadleaf weeds Wild buckwheat Good Excellent • Lady's -thumb Lamb's -quarters Mustard Black nightshade • • • • Pigweed • Poast annual grass control Annual grasses Good Excellent Barnyard • Crabgrass • Pall panicum Foxtails . • • • rainsafe one hour after spraying, • safe to crops at any growth stage, . with no soil residues to limit next Poast' The best sequential weed control program for white beans con- tinues with the ultimate standard • in grass control — Poast — now with quackgrass control,'too! Poast gives you these posits e performance features: • 6 to $ weeks of quackgrass control while bean crops get a headstart • kills (oxtails, barnyard grass, proso millet,'volunteer cereals, volunteer corn, plus many more tough an- nual grasses • flexible application timing — from the 1-3 leaf stage for quackgrass, 1-6 leaf stage for annual grasses Old witchgrass • • Proso r>jjllet • Sburce Publication 75. Guide to Chemical Weed Control. 1'986. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food year's crop rotation Poast and Patoran ... ask your local agrichemlcal supplier for them now. - Always read label before using Poast and Patoran. Poast is a registered trademark of BASF AG • ' Patoranls a registered trademark of Ciba Geigy Canada Ltd BASF •