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Times Advocate, 1992-11-25, Page 2pounds/bushel), is within 2-5 per- cent of higher -grade corn in feed energy content, and similar in pro- tein percentage. OCPA has learned that major feed companies have reached the same conclusion and are using grade four and five in feed rations in almost the same propor- tions as would be the case with higher -grade corn. Although some mould infection has occurred for corn in scattered areas of the province, particularly in low -heat -unit areas where the corn was least mature when frost stopped growth. the level of incidence re- mains relatively low in most areas. "We would hope that initial fears as to the feed: quality of the 1992 crop will dissipate quickly so that the present high levels of price dis- counting begin assess for grade four and five corn will diminish," said Anthony. "With some buyers this has already happened." The corn association bas dis- cussed this issue with grain trade representatives and will continue to do so on a near -daily basis. Moisture measuring technology is of major concern because the stan- dard "model 919" tester used by most elevators in not calibrated about 35 percent grain .moisture us- ing the official tables. The Canadi- an Gran Commission has issued two new calibration tables this fall for use on corn above 35 patent moisture However, producers retain the op- tion of having a sample sant to tie Canadian Grain' Commission bice at Chatham where it will be dried before testing so that the moisture content and grade of .tbe original sample can be calculated accurately. OCPA applauds gain elevators Huron County and surrounding are- as who have chosen 10 ithe.*fl eider calibration table to ensure fAirness to producers, and who bave,lowered their drying charges.belowthe stan- dard rates recomtdeaded by qbe On- tario Grain and Feed Dealers' Asso- ciation for conn above 3S patent moisture. Perhaps the biggest criai=,1nvolves '!, cashdflow antis of fanners who .1 cannot harvest toad sell porn") meet autumn debt obligations. ODEA is addressing this by asking crop insu- rance officials to provide speedy settlement for crops which are "written off' this fall, and partial crop insurance payments on crop which will be left in the field for salvage harvest operations during the coming winter or next spring. OCPA has also made formal re- quest to the Government of Canada to permit advance payments to be issued for corn left standing in the field over winter under the Ad- vance Payments for Crops Act pro; grain and the associated Cash Flow Enhancement program. The asso- ciation notes that similar provisions already exist for . yet -to -be - harvested crops in western Canada. "The endurance of Ontario grain farmers has been tested at various times during the past decade, but at no time more severely than during 1992 for most areas of the prov- ince," said Anthony. "Hopefully with continued cooperation among farmers, the trade, crop insurance staff, and governments, most of us will be able to survive; what will long remain in memory as the night -mare year." Leaving the crop in the fieids to dry naturally below 30 percent moisture would means lower dry- ing costs and less damage to corn. Realistically, however, little drying occurs in November and the con- tinued rain and snowfall has meant extra moisture which means many will still have their crop in the fields when winter really comes. Because the levels are so high, drying cocas will skyrocket due to the high level of fuel required for the job. Cost will eventually be de- ducted from grain prices which spell more bad news because grain prices have already plummeted to all-time lows thanks to a bumper crop in the United States. Page 2 Times -Advocate, November 25, 1992 Regional wrap up Man pleads guilty to axe attack LONDON - A man who ..threatened police with an axe on June 21 at his parents home in Ailsa Craig has been sentenced to 12 months in jail with two years probation and ordered to receive treatment for alcohol abuse. According to the Parkhill Ga- zette, Martin McVeeney, 29, of Ailsa Craig pleaded guilty to three of nine charges he faced, assaulting police officers, pos- session of a weapon dangerous to the public peace and threaten- ing to kill Constable Ralph Christmas of the Lucan OPP de- tachment. The coun heard Lucan OPP received a call from McVeeney's parents asking that he be re- moved from their home, and a second call indicated he had armed himself with a ceremonial sword. McVeeney himself then called police claiming to have two loaded firearms. Police arrived, to find to find the sword had been taken from McVeertby, and he instead wielded what was described as a five-foot ax with a 20 Ib. head. The accused was tackled by his father from behind and then subdued by police. No one was injured, but later at the Lucan detachment McVeeney informed Christmas "I know where you live. Fm coming after you." Cofell found guilty of fi rst-degree murder GODERICH - A 19 -year-old Chatham malls feriti{ggund guilty icon three couilast-degree `Murder in God&ich last Tuesday' after the jury deliberated for about six hours. Jason Cofell was sentenced to life in prison on each count to be served concurrently. He will serve 25 years with no chance for parole. Cofell was convicted in the October deaths of Jasen Pang - burn, 19, his grandmother, Vir- ginia Critchley, 73 and her hus- band Alfred Critchley, 77, all of Chatham. The Critchleys were found stabbed to death in the home of Virginia's son. Richard Pang - burn, just outside of Chatham. -lawn was found shot to death and partly buried in a ravine be- hind the house. McQuail wins NDP race LUCKNOW - Tony McQuail of Lucknow has defeated Ross 'Hemingway of Brussels to be- come the New Democratic Par- ty's candidate for the Huron - Bruce federal riding. McQuail has been very active in community organizations and was elected for three teams to the Huron County Board of Edu- cation. McQuail ran in the 1980 and 1988 federal elections as well .as the 1981 provincial election. He recently served as Executive As- sistant to the Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food. Warden race in Perth MITCHELL - The 1993 race for the warden's seat for Perth County is already beginning to heat up. According to the Mitchell Ad- vocate, North Fasthope Reeve ' Bob McTavish and Morningtom Reeve George Steven have both announced their intentions to tun for the position. Both have nerved four years on county council. The election for warden will lake place December 10 at thd3 Perth County Court House. - Ministry claims phase out is years away Board not convincer! workshops won't close 'By Adrlsa liar'te T -A Editor DASHWOOD - The government has no immediate plans to close the sheltered workshops that provide employment•formany of the prov- ince's developmentally handi- capped. That message came across loud and clear at a community meeting in Dashwood Thursday .—evening -.as -parents of -clients _and board members of Community Liv- ing South Huron (CLSH) confront- ed government officials about cut- baeks to funding of the ARC Industries workshop. "Policy does. not put people to work" However, many parents and offi- cials appeared unconvinced that the sheltered workshop will not face a setback in coming weeks or months. To date, CLSH does not know exactly how much will disappear from its projected 1992 budget for funding the ARC Industries work - .shop which presently 'employs 47 people from the South Huron area - 26 from Exeter alone. MPP Paul Klopp said the con- cerns over workshop funding arose from a policy review conducted by the Ministry of Community and So- cial Services over the summer - a review which calls for cutting $5 million from the $65 million pro- gram and reallocating $2 million to a "supported employment" pro- gram. Virginia Turner, a senior policy advisor with the ministry, said the review was to find out which pro- grams work well "and see the things we can do a little switching around in." John Gray, executive director of CLSH, criticized the government's plan as not having a clear direction for its agencies to plan for or fol- low. "The point of view we took is this is not any form of strategy," he saki addle drat a letter of caterer -molt etre atiniair Marion Boyd did not appear to have any effect on the ministry's plans between now and March. Gray said the ARC Industries workshop has been very successful. While receiving S406,000 in gov- ernment funding, it generates an- other 3170,000 in revenues to meet its expenses. The catch, he said, is that cutting subsidies will cut back shop hours, in turn cutting into rev- enues. "There could very well be a downsizing in the day program. I don't think we can fudge around that," said Gray. "Sons and daugh- ters may have to be at home." Gray said there are other flaws with the province's plans. Regard- less of funds provides for "support- ed employment", many clients won't be employable in a competi- tive workplace, especially in this economy. He also said grasp homes are only funded to allow for residents to be out during the day and daytime care is not part of their mandate. "There is a rippling effect that be- gins to take place here," said Gray. The effects on the cliehts them- selves could be profound. "People who work in the work- shop view that as their job," em- phasized Gray. "And 1 don't ,think we can belittle that or lake anything away from that." In his letter to Marion Boyd, Gray asked how the minister would deal with these people. Her re- sponse, he said, is that "policy pro- cess lis being used in] the develop- ment ,of alternatives for those people who want to work but can- not work in a competitive environ- ment." "That doesn't mean anything to me," said Gray. "Policy does not pui"poople to work." Turner, in reponse to Gray's presentation said that the workshop closures were a "myth". "Sheltered workshops are not closing this year. They .are not closing in three yews. They arc not closing in five yearns," said Tierney. She said the reallocation of $2 million for ai sportive employment was "a way for some .pm* who at willing and abc to receive somewhat of a just WNWOthers. the AK "will a&wayrs aced some load 0fas4Uitard ttwtIk- " alt _. .be "Flame, if there's *Ohio. else to hew tonight, 1 want you to hear Yet," mid Turner. Ron Walker, a member of the CLSH board, asked Turner how she could promise the workshops would not close when $oyd's tier clearly states "the ministry's policy that segregated, sheltered work- shops for people with developmen- tal or physical disabilities are to be phased ow". "The reality is if you take the funding. there _is no workshop," said Walker. Turner- responded by saying the 35 million taken off workshop pro- grams across the province would not have a drastic effect on CLSH, and was partly a response to a need for spending cutbacks in the reces- sion. Tomer did agree with another board member that the funding pro- cess was "stupid" and that because funds were targeted for specific programs, local board were unable to Shuffle funds around to do the moskgood. Another board member demand- ed to know why Turner was prom- ising no closures of workshops when Boyd's lever clearly called •fir their phasing out. Ranter re- plied by saying the letter's "word- ing would fie diAererti" if it road to be written again. The intent, she lait.was that workshops would be tainecissary a "very, very, very long time down the road...when there would only be a small number of people who would need to be in the workshops." Henry VanEssen compared the workshop program to "a house of cards" "Take one card away and the whole house would collapse and that's what we're afraid of with our workshop," said VanE.ssen, adding that the cutbacks were only an- nounced in November, giving the board no chance to spread out their effects over the whole financial year. "This organization has brought people out of the closet in the past 25 years and we as a board are try- ing hard to stop them going back in the closet," he said. "We don't want people to tie their children to drains because they can't go to the workshop," contin7 ued VanEssen. "What are we gd ing to It isn't that we dolt want to streamline, that we don't want to change. What are we going to do?" Klopp said he could appreciate that Huron's three Community Liv- ing organizations were run differ- ently and he hoped that funding cuts would take into account those -differences and "there's going to have to be different bullets to be bitten." One woman in the audience said her daughter was institutionalized for 27 years at Orillia, but is now able to work at ARC Industries, which she said it now an essential part of her life. She said she want- ed to make that point clear even "if I have to take that placard and hit someone over the head to make them realize that these workshops have to stay open". She challenged Turner and Klopp to visit the workshop the next after- noon to see how important it is to those who work there. Same table, different points of view. There was a heavy turnout of the public meeting at the Dashwood Community Centre Thursday evening. Parents, clients, and board members turned out to hear the presentation of John Gray (left), Virginia Tumer, MPP Paul Klopp, and Roberta Walker on what may be in store for Community Living South Huron's ARC Industfies workshop. "If those shops close it would lip a mortal sin, because they Ithe cll- etts)need it," she said. Robeta Walter, chairman of tai CLSH board, offered one nteas question so Throe:, salting if Ste mini;itty knew who would make tip the keit income to the clients fet lost wages by being Laid off frith the Tumerwhadd no response, but en- couraged -those present to -write their concerns in letters to the mi s- ister and promised all would be read. After the meeting, Turner said she was glad to be able to allay some fears about workshop clo- sures. "It's important that people get the right message. Some people are quite afraid," she said, adding that' forced cutbacks on social agencies may prove to be an incentive to get away from government subsidies and find solutions with local indus- tries. Gray said he was not convinced by Turner's presentation that the ARC Industries is not threatened: He said the workshop is already struggling to provide work for its 47 clients now that it has lost an- other small assembly contract to a company that is relocating to the United States. "If we have to downsize, there's compounding effect," said Gray. "We can't just shut the machine down to save some money. It doesn't work that way." Gray also said he had doubts the government's fiscal cutbacks have-- been ave-been fully thought out. Other ex- penses to cover unemployed cli- ents, or staff may negate savings. "We don't feel they're going to save any money in the long run," said Gray. Although the ministry has not re- leased final figures, Gray estimates the ARC Industries workshop pro- gram will lose about $40,000 in funding this year. In turn, CLSH would get back about 36-8,000 for a supported employment program, which be said would be enough to put one staff member to work about 10 hours a week to help clients find jobs in the workplace. Only half of crop insured Corn harvest in critical condition Continued from front page "Those who aren't insured are the ones trying to get into the fields hoping to salvage something to feed their livestock with over the winter," said Humphries. In response to these extreme con- ditions, the 25,000 -member Onta- rio Corn Producers' Association has taken a number of actions. Large acreages of the crop in lower -heat -unit areas of southern and eastern Ontario have not ma- tured enough to produce grain corn of acceptable quality, even if the moisture percentage were suffi- ciently low to permit harvesting. The association has asked Ontario crop insurance officials to have ad - jesters evaluate standing crops im- mect: ' • and, where quality is grant permission to t.,. crops released for "plow -down" so that the soil can be tilled this fall in preparation for the 1993 planting season. "It's critical that crop evaluations be done quickly and fairly," said Frank Anthony, the association president. "Especially in snow -belt regions of the province, recogniz- ing that winter conditions are likely to cause sutaiantial deterioration in the yield and quality of corn if it cannot be harvested until next Wring." In areas which normally receive less snow in winter, it is anticipat- ed that harvesting will continue throughout winter months after the corn has field -dried to at least 30 percent moisture, or less, so that it can be further dried artificially down to about 15 percent moisture pot in -bin storage. "It is very costly and extremely difficult to dry corn artificially down from 35 percent moisture or above, a moisture range which is still prevalent for unharvested corn ia,inoat areas oftbeptovince, while gitil maintaining kernel quality," mid AntJwoy. ,pins resewch (iom Ontario. Que- bec and the United States bas povided not excessively t corn dur- ing drying.. folding 91111lity of 5104e.fa s aed Aye Roth, Wra buy. laga "tat weight' as .low to 47 Notice is hereby given of the ANNUAL MEETING in the Clinton Town Hall Auditorium WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2 • AT8:OOP.M. for the purpose of racial/Ina reports and financial statements for the year ending on Septsrwber s0. 1/112, electing Directors and Credit Committee officers, appolntlag auditors; for the purpose of .amending By -Laws and oftransacting ail other business of an Annual Meeting. Lunch will foaow' the mailing. Door Prizes. Doled at Clinton this 21st day of October, 1902. 4S DNCARI0 $t Marlon. Dobson sway Clinton CornmUnfty$?4MAWf$T,W. *