Times Advocate, 1993-06-23, Page 10Page 10 Times -Advocate, June 23,1993
The Ailsa Craig Lions Club arrived in Exeter lastTuesdeyeveningto.coHectrthe bags and begs
of goods collected by the recent Fire Department Food:Drive. The food -will be: going to the -Ail-
sa Craig Food Bank where it will be distributed :to needy families, including atieast.25 families
from the Exeter area. Here Lions president Don Ward stacks uplhe goods in the first of -three
vans while Fire Department volunteers Danny Smith and Todd Jones give him a hand.
Loses money every year
Province to close
Otario Mock Yards
TORONTO - The Ontario Stock
Yards (OSY) will. be.closing as of
the end of this year, the Minisuy:of
Agricultum has announced.
The OSY land, 35 acres at Keele
St..and St. Clair. Ave. in Toronto,
.will:be.leased to the private sector.
A Livestock Industry Trust Fund
will he crewed from Ihe proceeds
of the lease.
"When the Ontario Stock Yards
was created in 1944, the operation
was a viable marketplace for the
province's: livestock," said agricul-
ture minister Elmer Buchanan in a
release Thursday. "But despite the
best efforts of the Ontario Stock
Yards Board, the volume of cattle
marketed in the province over -.the
past 10 years has fallen steadily,
with the Stock Yards' financial pic-
ture falling with it."
Between 1982 and 1992, total
volume of livestock sold at the
OSY fell from 672,000 head to
265,000 head per year - a drop of
61 percent.
Tho province has cited an overall
North American trend away from
live auction sales for finished ani-
mals. Approximately 85 to 90 per-
cent of North American finished
ateers.and heifers are marketed di-
rect front .the-pzoducer.to thepack-
.er. In Ontario,.40:toi0Eeruentare
marketed directto.the:er.
Livestock- marketed -Brough 'the
OSY includes cattle, _slaughter
calves, feeder cattle, sheep .and
lambs goats and horses. Although
the OSY ::is the largest -market for
sheep and lambs -in Ontario, vol-
umes .have declined -steadily since
1989, while the number of sheep
and lambs in the province has gone .
up.
Alternate strategies for the mar-
keting of sheep and lambs is being
sought - and the ministry notes
most of the lamb sold through the
OSY was being processed outside
of onto;.
" itiioriMPP Prier Klopp said "af-
ter a decade of declining volumes
of animals handled .at the Toronto
yard and several studies, it was
time to make the decision to close
the yard. Tough decisions are not
pleasant or popular, but the taxpay-
er cannot continue to foot the bill
for the yards. In Huron County we
are fortunate to have an excellent
livestock market at Brussels."
There are 50 community sales
barns in Ontario which provide live
auction sales.
4. Id Crop-
Sponsored by the Kirkton
Agricultural Society
Anyone wishing to enter their
Wheat, Corn, Soyabeans or
White Beans please contact
Mike O'Shea 225-2600, Rob
Morley 229-8868, Mervin
Shute 229-6159 or Jim Nairn
229-6467. Samples must be shown on Kirkton Fair
day for wheat (1 gal.), corn (6 cobs) soyabeans (6
plants with roots), white beans (no sample required) in
order to collect prize money.
II WI
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Crop damage
light, clespfte
heavy 'rains
LUCAN - While the weekzi
end's -rains may have seemed
harsh and threatening, the local
-crops -may escape relatively un-
scathed.
Mark Scott at Scott's Elevator
in Lucan said from what he had
heard by Monday afternoon,
damage was minimal.
"I . don't think there's really
anycrop damage, except for the
area of the tornado," said Scott.
Some fields may be a liule
drowned out by the rainfall, but
do appear to be draining quick-
ly. ball, Scott said most of the
emerging crops really "needed.'
&drink".
Ear1"Reichert at Cook's Eleva-
tor in Hensall said he had spok-
en with several company plants
on Monday and Aund that most
of the rainfall was in the ExeteP
region, with less rain farther�
north.
Although he said some farms
received up to 15 centimetres of
rain over the weekend, it was"'
"going away quite nicely".
"The ground was so dry it
was better than it could have.
been," said Reichert.
Fields with poorer drainage
may be hurt a liule, depending
on how quickly the rain evapo-
rates.
"Some of the crop is sub-
merged in water and what that
looks like in two or three days 1
don't know," he said, but noted
for most of the area "the ground
needed a darn good soaking
anyways."
Alan McCallum at Clinton's
Ontario M'aistry of Agriculture
and Food office confirmed that
drainage, not outright damage,
is the main concern for local
farmers.
With winter wheat not yet dc-
veloping full heads, the heavy
rains had little effect. Any
farmers with beans not emerged
may be worried about damage,
or erosion of the topsoil from
upwards of 10 centimetres of
rain.
"The drainage is going to be a
big issue," said McCallum.
Jobs for youth
CLINTON - The Summer Expe-'
rience Wage Assistance Program
is designed to create new jobs for
Ontario youth. The program offers
wage assistance of $3.00 per hour
for employers to create new jobs
for youth in the edible horticulture
and tobacco sectors. Funding is
provided under the Summer Expe-
rience Program and administered
through a partnership between the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
and Food (OMAF) and Agricultu-
ral Employment Service . (AES)
contractors.
Funding for the Summer Experi-
ence Wage Assistance Program is
limited. Applications for the pro-
gram will not be accepted after all
funds arc committed. Accordingly,
the application period for the pro-
gram may end prior to July 16,
1993.
For applications and further in
formation on Cie program contact
the Agricultural Employment Ser-
vices office in Walkerton at (5+9)
881-3671.
On.e in Foot the Furrow
B Bob Trotter
This move to close two agricul-
tural colleges in Ontario seems to
be a high-handed, autocratic step
by the Bob Rae govemment.
Information I have indicates that
there are 123 first-year students
expecting to attend classes in Sep-
tember at Centralia College of Ag-
ricultural Technology. This school,
along with another in New Lis-
keard, are slated to be chopped by
the province. Cutting the two col-
leges is expected to save about 560
million.
Protest rallies against the move
have not swayed Agminister El-
mer Buchanan. A move by several
students at Centralia may have a
bearing, though. Apparently, seven
students have filed an application
in provincial court to force the
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
to keep Centralia going. The move
may force the school to remain
open until the courts can decide its
future.
The students -- and 1 am on their
side -- maintain they have a signed
contract with the ministry which
would provide them with the edu-
cation they have chosen. Paul
Vogel, a lawyer from London, On-
tario, is acting for the students.
Vogel said only seven students are
named •in the suit but it is a class
action on behalf of all students.
The students are enrolled in
courses for agricultural business
-:management, food services man-
agement and veterinary technolo-
.gy.:It is my understanding that the
placement rate of graduates at
Centralia has been good, even in
these recessionary times. This so-
called placement rate -- graduates
who get jobs -- is often used an an
excellent guidelines at the com-
munity college level to determine
whether educational programs
should be continued or nuked.
Ispent more than 20 years inti-
mately involved with a community
college =and I am quite sure these
students have an excellent case
when they say the province must
fulfil its contract. At the college
where I taught, this did not stop a
program from being cancelled but
the college and the minister had to
provide .uanspartation slid accetiP
-modation for several students in
the final year of their schooling.
Those students were bussed to an-
other college some 50 miles away
to complete the program.
They say they will suffer "irrepa-
rable ham►" through the loss of
post -secondary education. They
also claim permanent impairment
of earning capacity, lost employ-
ment opportunities, diminished
ability to successfully operate their
own farm operation, and dimin-
ished quality of life.
They claim that Centralia's offer
of courses now "constitutes negli-
gent misrepresentation by OMAF"
and that the breach of its contractu-
al obligations included... loss of
present and future income, toss of
employment opportunities, tuition
fees, cost of replacement labor on
home farms for those students re-
quired to move, and accommoda-
tion and travel costs for those stu-
dents required to move.
These are not frivolous state-
ments.
It is tough to be involved in edu-
cation in these days of deficits.
Teachers and staff in all education-
al institutions are being forced to
face bitter realities. Faculty mem-
bers have to do more with mudh
less and it is putting a terrible
strain on many people which will
eventually spill over to students.
I am only a pan -time teacher
these days having retired two years
ago as a teacher of joumatism but I
can see what is happening. I know
of one teacher at a college near
here who lost his job after 23 years
of seniority. That must be tough to
take. I ani also firmly convinced
that much more paring of staff
could be done at all levels in the
education system if half the so-
called specialists and experts were
terminate:l But that's for another
column.
It will be interesting to see what
the province and these students do
if this case does come to court. -
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tt
would you
do if you
won?
Ft4A4q.,‘,zo/ve.
And remember... Say yes to
A
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