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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-02-06, Page 274 a 4 TUnott-Adyocaa. FeaAssry 8.1981 Papa 27 Governmentfunded programs discussed at corn growers' meeting VARNA - Two new jointly Granton farmer funded government safety -net pro- To apply for the program, a grams were the topics of discus- farmer must agree to a minimum sion at an afternoon corn growers' six-year commitment right off the seminar, sponsored by Hill and bat, said Wallis. To opt out of the Hill Farms Ltd. of Varna, last program, a farmer must give three Wednesday, at the Stanley Town- Years' notice. ship Community Centre. The GRIP program prevents The Gross Revenue Insurance fanners from going into one type Plan (GRIP), and the Net Income of crop insurance and ignoring Stabilization Account (NISA), others. have been set up by the federal Start-up penalties will apply to and provincial governments, to those who delay enrollment. The help corn, soybean and oilseed penalties will be similar to those farmers stay afloat during difficult applied for other tripartite pro - financial times. grams. GRIP program With GRIP, producersp- The GRIP programs objective is proximately three percentpay the to ensure fanners' level of gross average market value. Farmers revenue per acre does not fall be- who sign up for the program must low a specified level, namely a join in the spring, but the remain - percentage of the product of his- lag premiums owing can be paid toric average yield on an individu- as late as November 1. al farm basis multiplied by the his- Payouts made under the GRIP toric provincial price for the crop program will equal out to the sup - commodity. port price subtracted by the market The program is a transitional price, multiplied by 80 percent of revenue insurance plan for 1991- than individual's historic time 92, and will replace the current yield per acre. The payouts will be Western Grain Stabilization Pro- dictated ,by the average farm yield gram. It is also an add-on revenue plus the provincial average prices. prom. Payouts will be made after the The basic price support level will be 85 percent of the 15 -year end of the 1991-92 marketing year, average price, adjusted for chang- but provisions do exist for an inter - es in the Farm Input Price Index im payment during the year. for Eastern Canada. One benefit of the GRIP program "It is as good as we could get is that it gives the farmers the re - out of the government at this point sibility to produce and market in time," said Gerry Wallis, a sir own products, said Wallis. The programwill cover up to 100 percent of a farmer's historic farm yield, but will be offset if the 1992 yield is above the 100 percent aver - "W s the only game in town," said stating in his opinion it was a estern Grain Stabs izagpr' pro "Everybody's in this equally and catunitted adding there is a maximum roof olly," said f percent 5 Wallis said t�premium can fluc- tuate to keep it actuariiy sound in the market -place. The current GRIP program has a five-year commodity and government commitment and then will be adjusted. There is little danger of the sup- portprices declining, said Wallis. "The two ents are put- ting in their $2 for your Si," he said. The United States/Canada Free Trade deal will not be violated un- der this program, assured Wallis, noting U.S. actually doles out more aid to its farmers. "It has nothing to do with Free Trade, it's got to do with whether you have a bottom line or you don't," he said. Exceptionally successful farmers can reap excessive benefits from the program, said Wallis, noting an individual can be underwritten for up to 110 percent of the township average. "There are some fantastic average t> • foot in the I hate to say I told you so but.... Back, oh many months ago, when the Canada -U.S. Free Trade agreement was signed, I suggested that things would work well until the farmers in the Excited States got excited about Canadian farmers who might be benefiting from the agreement. Here we have the Yanks still slapping a countervailing duty on Canadian pork, eight cents a kilo- gram, even after a bi-national panel requested its removal. The panel, set up under the agreement, asked the International Trade Commission to reconsider die duty. The comrt*ion refused, even af- ter the bi-national committee proved the countervailing duty was unfair. I hate to say I told you so... This countervailing duty amounts to an extra tax on Canadian pork exports and has the effect of lower- ing prices for all of Canada's hogs and pork, not just the 25 percent that is exported to the U.S. I know. I know. It is open season on the United States these days. Everybody within ear shot is taking a crack at the Americans since they fired the first shots in the Gulf cri- sis. But we are their closest neigh- bors. We are supposed to be friends. WE have a prime minister who jumps when George yells. Not only that but our glorious leader shouts: How high, George? You would think, given the great undefended border and the support. Canada constantly gives to our big elephantine neighbor, that we would have a special place in the hearts of the yanks. Not so. This countervailing duty was alapped on Canadian years go We protested and dcc�,ompl ended a change„ but the fann y across the 49di mood . The duty sdll pseuds. The same thing is with meat inspecdOns at do nen* .•+.•... •,,.«,«.. e, byaia M.N.., I*.w „y1_.-• On .4)070 American meat inspectors have been harrassing -- I can think of no word which describes the situation better -- Canadian shipments at bor- der crossings. Our hide -in -the - woods agminster, Don Mazankow- ski, made a deal with the Americans to stop inspecting each other's meat shipments at the border for a one- year trial period. The trial was sup- posed to begin last April but was postponed and is now on indefinite hold because the Americans are stalling. Both nations are stopping meat at border crossings like children in a backyard property fight. Canadi- ans have doubled their inspections and are checking every fifth ship- ment. The yanks are also making nuisance inspections. If they find any fault, the whole load gets re- inspected and that costs money. It also delays shipments and de- liveries. I love the Americans. I can readi- ly understand why they love their country. It is a glorious country and they are justifiably proud of it. But, when it comes to money, all friendship seems to cease. They can be as nasty as a wounded wolverine. If you think our farm lobby is strong, try dealin* with theirs. As this is written, the border in- spections are still causing havoc. What deliveries are missect Ameri- can customers buying our great Canadiaep Asn quit and buy at C packers lose businessmen � any businefarmas stell you s meat far easier tend letscoral it an old customer than it is to get a new one. dtOea not nce the hers isotne, int hog producers. in�s ince sell one quarter of their production across the border.. _ they , when natrassments allow them. Som rich for hes trade. I hate to sty..,. 4 New band - We got our first glimpse of what will eventually be Exeter's concert band. The first band meeting was held ' Monday evening at the high school. Organizers say they were surprised that about 30 people arrived for the meeting and practice, nearly double what they expected. Yields in this alma," said Wallis. "Everybody's treated more or less equal to sir ability in this pro- gram," he stated. • The NISA not NISA program et legis- lated, as Huron mounty re concern for The involves individual accoprogram unts into which producers and governments will make contributions based on annual farm sales, and from which producers make deductions in times low and/et below-average net farm income. The accounts have a maximum size based on the farm's annual net sales. It is subject to an upper abso- lute limit, and cannot be drawn into a negative balance. To register for it, a farmer must fill out the proper form at income - tax time, and the program itself is more administrative than anything else, admitted Wallis. • A farmer must list eligible net sales and expenses, as well as sub- mit a cheque for annual contribu- tion of up to 20 percent of eligible net sales. The contributions will be matched equally in a separate gov- ernment account up to a maximum two percent level of eligible sales. The producer's contribution will be placed in an individual account where it will earn interest at a com- petitive rate. Governments will also pay an additional three percent in- terest bonus on the producer's ac- count. Payouts are made whenever the gross margin falls below 100 per cent of the previous 5 -year farm av erase or the net income falls below 510,000. "MSA is not insurance," said Wallis. "Premium costs are depen- deent on your yield." Partial benefits of the NISA pro- gram may be retroactive to the 1990-91 crop year, he noted. Marketing challenges Marketing challenges are where many farmers fail, said speaker Beverly Hill, president of Hill and Hill Farms Ltd. He stated there are four calendar periods wherein the majority of grain is sold: early January, May, July, and November. Hill said selling the bulk of grain in November is a common financial error made by farmers. He showed statistics which demonstrated grain prices declined after July, nine times out of ten. Hill said 50 percent of corn is sold at the end of November, and four times out of ten, the highest prices paid for corn are in July. "If we aro going to continue in the business, we are going to have to make more money doing it," he said. "Production's not the problem," he said. "Marketing is." Hill said another common mis- take made by farmers involves waiting too long to sell their grain. flue is a risk,'' said Hill. "July -- doesn't always bring the highest prices, Graina is often a money- losing Pas well, he said. There are few exceptions such as waiting until the following, July, but usually the farmer's best bet is to sell at harvest time. Hill suggests setting up a "sim- plestrategy by identifying the risks and potential, and to be sure a cchen.gdme marketing strategy is Hill stated $3.03 as the average cost per bushel for corn, over the last decade. "S3.03 per bushel plus govern- ment payments are not going to make us "We makhave not farmers," he said. adapted to technolo- gy." Hill believes a good strategy coupled with the GRIP is effective, and his coma sort pany fpapny will- ivnecefa ffaset rmers who want aid a on when to sell. "We can sell at an above- average price and get the same money out of GRIP," he said. Hill reputed that there is enough corn left over from last year now to supply North America for most of 1991. Milk board releases - mark _elm s milk for the fiscal year ending Oc- meeting in Toronto on January 9 tober 31, 1990, The figure, released and 10, represents a slight increase with the presentation of the Board's of 6 million litres, or 0.3 percent, Annual Report at its 25th annual from the previous year. MISSISSAUGA - The Ontario Milk Marketing Board reported mar- ketings of 2.362 billion litres of Pevelop your Ieadership skills meeting or contact AALP Execu- tive Director, Patricia Mighton, Box 1030, Guelph, Ontario NIH 6N1. Telephone: (519)-767-3503. 'CLINTON - Would you like to develop your leadership skills to serve agriculture and the agri-food industry? The Advanced Agricultu- ral Leadership Program (AALP) of- fers a unique opportunity for you to do just that. A fourth class of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program will start in September 1991. bead - Him for application is April 30. Ap- pcation farms will 1 available at a ries , , .1. : , I ��'. AL.F . 1^ 1' 1 ,. II! 1 wbilien in the ear y stages of a lead- ership'career, approximately 25 to 40 years old. Participants are farm- ers, employees of culturally - related business and other individu- als concemed about the future of the agri-food industry. The pro- gram consists of nine three-day seminars, a two-week North Ameri- can travel seminar and an interna- tional study travel experience, spread over a two-year period. Through the program AALP partic- ipants broaden their horizons; in- crease their understanding of the lo- cal, national and international issues which affect agriculture and rural Ontario; and develop skills to analyze and creatively manage change. To find out more about this dy- namic program and the selection procedure attend an information The closest meeting will be heldat eClClin�tonn Town Hall on Monday, March 4 from 8-10 p.m. COME FRY WITH US AND EARN YOUR WINGS Wing Night Every Thursday 5p.m.-9p.m. 20' Wings Main St. Bayfield 10 diet' ENTERTAINMENT This Weekend Thurs., Fri., Sat. by NOMAD 565-2641 I Sweetheart Spieled 8 oz. New. York Steak \ (charbroiled to your liking) (0 $1095 0 GRAND BEND WINTER CARNIVAL CHILI COOK OFF FRIDAY Grand Bend Legion Banquet Hall FEB 1 5th MONTE CARLO NIGHT 2 categories RESTAURANT -Commercial- PRIZES 1991 Best Chili Trophy plus "Bean Man" (I OOIbs of kidney beans from GREAT CANADIAN BEAN CO - AILSA CRAIG) HOMEMADE -your own - PRIZES 1991 Best Chili Trophy plus a RIVAL Crock Pot from PINEDALE PRO HARDWARE, GRAND BEND Entries must arrive at Grand Bend Legion Banquet Hall by 5 p.m. FRIDAY, FEB. 15th preferably in self -warming containers. JUDGING by BALLOT throughout the evening. 'Licensed by L.L.B.O. epedal occasion permit