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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-05-22, Page 16Page 16 Times -Advocate, May 22, 1991 My father, in his victim's voice, used to say it often: If the queen of Sheba had red-headed twins, I'd get blamed for it. The remark always came after mother accused him of some misde- meanor. I was reminded of this say- ing while listening to television news the other night. An announcer and a mall owner were wondering why so many Ca- nadians were shopping across the border for bargains in the Excited States. The mall owner, also the proprietor of a food store, blamed the agricultural community. "It's those marketing boards, the ones that keep prices artificially high, that force people to buy cheaper across the line," said the proprietor. "People buy milk and eggs and chicken at half the price over there." I do not know what he meant by "artificially high" prices In my ex- perience, marketing boards that have price -setting powers must be those prices on cost -of -production formulas that are monitored by sev- eral unbiased boards. Anyone who wants to doubt the system can ap- peal to govemment-appointed bod- tes. Everybody and his uncle is taking shots at marketing boards. Farmers, unfortunately, do not have the or- ganizations nor the money to fight these attacks. It is general knowledge that you can buy milk or chicken or eggs or turkey cheaper in the United States. No one in his or her right mind is going to dispute those prices. But we pay a penalty in this coun- try for at least trying to preserve the family farm. I do not know the sta- tistics today but a decade ago it was estimated that 85 percent of all the eggs and chickens marketed in the United States came from five per- cent of the farms. I have driven past some of those "factory" farms. Row upon row of barns housing laying hens or broiler chickens. Hundreds of thousands of square feet of housing, all owned by one giant corporation. That corporation, with 10 times the population to sell to, can exist with a profit of one or two cents a pound because of the hugeness of the market. We pay the price for our smaller population. We also pay a premi- um preserving family farms, for having the foresight not to allow 85 percent of production to fall into the hands of five or six facto- ry farms. We also pay the penalty in extra taxes to maintain the wonderful social programs in Canada. I'm sure everyone has heard the horror stories about illness in the States. One serious illness can wipe out a family's entire savings. Hospital care over there is, in some hospi- tals triple or quadruple the amount here. I know one couple who lived in Oxnard, Calif. The husband had a serious heart attack -- aren't all heart attacks serious? -- and had to spend three weeks in hospital. It cost that couple $31,000. They were virtually ruined financially for years. That doesn't happen in Canada although the way the politicians arc talking, it may be coming here, too. You will soon be paying extra in Canadian hospitals. If not, then I'm misreading many signs. hila,• tit tppWtc.ttd by Sob Twit*, (Waif wf lmwt On, N31 2C 7_♦ For now, though, we are paying in a different way, through extra taxes and I, for one, am happy to pay most of those taxes just for the privilege of being a Canadian. I am also willing to pay a little more; for food if it means keeping the family farm in business. 4-H group makes field trip EXETER - The South Huron 4- H Rough Riders made a field trip May 2, to Dan and Kathy Patter - son's barn. The agenda covered creating a stable environment ak)ag with riding and riding prob- lems. The group was met at the barn by Dan Patterson, who gave a rid- ing lesson. He went over various gaits on horses and discussed dif- ferent breeds, their attitudes, uses, and what they are best known for. The meeting also covered stable vices such as cribbing, biting, weaving and stable layouts. At the last organizational meet- ing, held at the Exeter Youth Cen- tre, the Rough Riders covered such topics as trailoring horses to and from shows, field trips and other extra activities and fund raising • events. The council consists of: president Steve Hendrick, vice president Re- becca Darling, secretary Lisa Bean and news reporter Michelle Parkin son. The Rough Riders have many new members this season and look forward to a promising year. Ministry announces new appointments TORONTO - The Ontario Min- istry of Agriculture and Food has announced its appointments for those poeple who sit on the minis- tries boards, agencies, and com- missions, some of which include people from the South Huron area. Diane O'Shea of Granton has been reappointed for a three-year term to the Beef Red Meat Advi- sory Committee, which adminis- ters and promotes the Red Meat 11 research fund. Earl Wagner of the Hensall and District Co -Op has been reappoint- ed for a one-year term to the Grain Financial Protection Board, which protects producers of grain, corn, soybeans, and canola from default- ed payments from licensed buyers. HarryDougall of Exeter was re- appointed for a two-year term to the Ontario Farm Products Market- ing Commission, which supervises Ontario's 25 marketing boards. Kingsley Osuorah - Nigerian student spends summer working at Centralia College's research farm. Centralia student strives to improve homeland's agricultural system by Rhonda Vandeworp CENTRALIA - "Apart from the tech- nology, there is little difference between Canada and Nigeria," claims Kingsley Osuorah, an agricul- tural business man- agement student at Centralia College. The way Africa is pictured in classes is the "old" Africa. One could say it's new and im- proved. Canadians get shown things on TV like huts. They don't get shown the cities." Beyond the skyscrapers of Ni- geria's major cities lies the coun- try's agricultural sector. Nigeria, like most West African coun- tries, is dependent upon com- modity exports to sustain eco- nomic growth. Osuorah admits the farm lands are lacking the technology, fi- nances, and trained workers nec- essary for agricultural develop- ment. He also notes that high schools and universities in Nige- ria do not provide hands-on ex- perience for farm management, but instead teach the students with theories and textbooks. Osuorah states "there are not many tractors or combines in Ni- geria. Most of the crops are planted by hand. In high school I took an agricultural cience Farm assets up class. I only saw a tractor in textbooks." Although he lived for 20 years in the former capital of Nigeria, Lagos State, a city comparable in size to London, Osuorah's concern for the state of his coun- try's agricultural sector led him to leave his family-oriented, city life and to enroll in an agricultu- ral program at Centralia College. Like all parents, Osuorah's mother and father were hesitant about sending their son alone to a foreign land. Never before had he lived by himself (the Osuorah household includes sev- en siblings, two parents, and five relatives!). A year has passefl, however, and all apprehension of his parents has now turned into pride. "They think I've improved when I write them. They are happy when they receive letters and post cards," Kingsley said. Osuorah is convinced studying at Centralia College has been the "best thing that has ever hap- pened" to him. He is learning about farm management, re- search, industry and business in both a theoretical and practical manner. Information learned in the classroom is supplemented with training on computers, trac- tors and other farm equipment, and physical research in the labs. R The post -emergence power -pack weedkiller for corn... This summer, Osuorah is stay- ing in Centralia in order to work at the college's research farm. He is using this research and farming experience to further enhance his classroom studies. He is presently busy with spray- ing and setting up the plots of land, and will continue to take part in the planting and harvest- ing processes. Osuorah believes the knowl- edge he has acquired in the classrooms, and the practical training he has received through the CO-OP program and his summer job at the research farm, will enable him to contribute to the improvement of the farming situation in his homeland. After graduation, Osuorah plans to work a few years for a Canadian farmer. With this ad- ditional experience, he hopes to return to Nigeria and demon- strate the hands-on experience and technical knowledge his high school could not offer him. Osuorah realizes that he can not expect drastic changes over- night, but with generations of learning and working together the farming industry will ad- vance and the people will profit. "I am devoted to my country. I know 1 can't change the world, but I could help my people in Nigeria. Together, we could make a change," concluded Osu- orah. • • • for better _. results at less cost! J 15 weeds includis�ec1es * Controls over resistant p elvetleaf and tl�iazine to a�eCt v - no vapour drift * Non-volatile nearby crops affect crop rotations * soil residue to * pardr1er is the cost-saving ►tment �0r corn post -emergence rile -mixed with Atrazine * Can be td SUPPLIES AND INFORMATION FROM HENSALL DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE Hensall 262-3002 CO.O P Zurich 236-4393 Exeter 235-1150 Allsa Craig 293-3282 PARDNER• Is a registered trademark of Rhone-Poulenc Agrochinle, Lyon - authottzed user Wne-Poulenc Canada Inc. OTTAWA - According to the 1990 farm financial survey con- ducted by Farm Credit Corporation . (FCC), average farm assets rose by 12.7 percent from December 1987 Dec be 1989 Tips on pasture ration balance CLINTON - Early pasture gc- rowth is high in quality, but de- clines rapidly warns the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Within a month, the dry matter of spring grass can drop from '68 percent TDN and 15 percent protein, to 50 percent TDN and 7 percent protein. In addition, pasture quality can change drastically from one field to another depending on the type and amount of grasses and legumes present, and the maturity of the stand. It is this variability which creates most of the difficulties of pasture quality before production slumps occur. Even short-term, in- adequate feeding practices have major long-term effect on the pro- duction of individual cows. The grain mix which comple- ments your pasture feeding pro- gram, will depend on the quality of pasture available. Until the end of June a mix containing 14 percent protein should be adequate, but dur- ing summer and fall a grain mix of at least 16 percent protein is re- quired. If only one grain mix is to he fed throughout the pasture sea- son, it is best to overfeed protein in the early stages. A common problem with cows on lush pasture is the change in ap- petite. To consume the dry matter of 30 lbs. (13.5 kg) of hay, a cow may have to cat up to 200 lbs. or 90 kg of lush pasture, causing even high -producing cows to fill up, and so refuse grain. This problem can be minimized by changing over to pasture gradually, allowiiig only a few hours of grazing in the early part of the year The cows will fill up in a short time, but will digest this, and be ready for grain, and other dry feeds at milk- ing time. Because of the low fibre con- tent, lush pasture often causes a severe drop in butterfat test. To avoid this, make dry hay available in a free -choice hay feeder. If each cow docs not consume at least 5 lbs. of hay per day, it may be nec- essary to keep them in the ham longer for hay feeding. During the summer and fall, the quality and quantity of pasture available are often inadequate to support normal levels of milk pro- duction. When pastures decline, be prepared to supplement them from stored feed with hay, ha lege or corn silage and adjust the grain mix to balance with these feeds. Ontario trials with pastured beef cattle have shown, year after year, that average daily gain decreases drastically after mid-August. In most cases, use of some supple- mentary stored feeds is critical in the fall if production slumps are to be prevented. WHI MN SEED START WITH HYLAND QUALITY BLUE TAG CERTIFIED SEED Your choice of white bean seed is one of the most important decisions you will make concerning your 1991 crop production. Growing a successful crop means starting with blue tag certified seed. Please order early! Due to the popularity of Thompson's private varieties - Stinger, Midland, Wesland and Rocket, supplies may become limited. Contact your Thompson representative today. Our trained staff will help you develop a complete white bean program for 1991. Quality service and quality seed - our commitment to you. Available at your nearest W.G. Thompson di Sons branch. Seaforth 345-2545 Port Albert 529-7901 Hensall 262-2527 i Ailsa Craig 293-3223 Mitchell 348-8433 Granton 225-2360 A GROWING TRADITION i