HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-11-03, Page 30One Foot in the
' 1311 Bob Troth')
GATT' negotiators trying to get subsidlfes lowered
Trying to get city' people to
understand the plight of farmers
is a tough job. Urbanites see
farmers as chronic complainers
' with great success squeezing big
bucks out of the government in
the form of subsidies and trade
barriers.
To a degree, city dwellers are
right in their assumption that
farmers get a lot of help. The
tr ie figure is atmost impossible
to calculate but most pundits
would put it around $7 billion to
$9 billion. Peter Sutherland, the
director-general of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT), says the figure is well
above $9 billion. He gets argu-
ments from Canada's dairy and
poultry farmers.
GATT negotiators are trying
to get agricultural subsidies low-
ered around the world, especial-
ly in the European Community
where huge subsidies to agricul-
ture have caused a trade war be-
tween the European Community
and the United States. Smaller
countries such as Canada have
been caught between the super
powers.
Canada's treatment of fanners
is about the same as most devel-
oped countries. Agricultumis
subsidized unite tune-ofabout
$155.9 billion in theEuropean
Community, a hum
which is more than t
of the EC's entire budget.
Trade barriers and subsidies in
the United States amount to
around $91.1 billion. Japan, that
bastion of protectionism, subsi-
dizes agriculture to the tune of
about $74 billion a year. Even
Page 30 Times -Advocate, Novevrtber 3,1993
John Finlay surveys the still -smouldering remains of the stone foundation bam, over a
hundred years old, that Was destroyed in a Friday night fire.
Blale liammer iivonders
he can after blaze
By Adrian Harte
T -A Editor •
EBL.AKE - John Finlay isn't sure✓if he can rebuild
.after Friday night's devastating fire on his family
farm'on Hay Township's north boundary.
Investigators still aren't sure what caused ,the
blaze to break out in his century -old stone founda-
don barn, but whatever the cause, there was no stop-
ping it.
'They figure some tat or mouse got gnawing on
the wires.and _got it .going," said Finlay of the only
theory ofthe fire's cause: F electrical.
tle:had Faust returned home, when about 10 p.m.
thisiatln :noticed "red lights �,in 4he sky" outside the
:Mouse.
-The: fire :claimed the lives -of 34 -cattle, :some :of
aham.asewly:purchased, about -38 :hogs,:arid a_lew
:goats.
"I:couldn't get .the cattle out. The round -bales
were just rolling," said -Finlay.
All:animals quickly perished, and the heat from
the : burring fire and hay scorched the .paint on :the
family's old stone homestead, and even .cracked -a
window. A hydro pole across .We :yard is even
burnt.
Finlay says without -the help -of--the Zurich and
Bayfield Fire Deus which icsponded to the
fire, the old home, of,iiis ifattheriand :grandfather
would most surely have been lost as well.
• In fact, Finlay wonders what would .have hap-
pened to his wife, two children, and himself if the
fire had not broken out a few hours later when all
were in bed.
Monday afternoon, Finlay was still breaking .up
ithentilamcildesing debris from she fire, trying to
.dreg it from-being.fanned by the wind into flames
'"I `mss- ti's 36e same. 81l over. You never have
enough insurance :owshetn," he said, looking over
`.she mess.
'"I .love :livestock," he said, recalling that he
:bought ins frrstt dnfeatt1etat.age 16. "I've got no
ljn to go with them now."
hhe.cattle outside the fianziar the time ofthe:fire
ane:still in the nearby field. -Finlay says he have
m find aplaceforth= :this .winter. Teed for -than
isn't a problem . yetas bis neighbours bring Um tio-
nations:offiay.
"'The neighbours #rave Inert more than goad,to
ante." hesaid. '".Weliveanuone of the best areas in
Abe world."
ilf sasMalay.auspects,insbarn can't be rebuilt, he
i.is ;.thinking -that he ,might have to sell his third-
gasenuionfarsaaroad:and find a new place to begin
again -
Help beef producers
SO
Project accepij ng h1fe rs
CLINTON - To help beef pro-
ducers develop replacement heif-
ers, the .Huron County Replace-
ment Heifer Development Project
has been set up. Weaned, vaccinat-
ed heifers are to be delivered De-
cember 14 .to the farm of Hank
Van Dorp at RR 3, Auburn. The
heifers will grow on a nutritionally
balanced ration with a target of
1.75 pounds per day.
Any beef breed or cross of heifer
born in April and May of 1993
will be considered. Heifers beve.to
be weaned and introduced to dry
feed by November 14. By Novem-
ber 21, they have to be vaccinated
for IBR -P13, BVD and 7 or 98
way clostridial. They have to be
treated for warbles, lice, wormed
and be dehurned and healed. The
minimum delivery weight is 450
Upon delivery an Detlembe,r 14,
the heifer will be earlagged,
weighed, given a booster shot with
* Cattlemaster 4R and treated with
lyceum:. On January 13, 1994 the
heifers will start a 112 day feeding
period during which time they will
bc weighed every 28 days and
chute scored for temperament and
soundness.
Following the end of the lest in
May, the heifers will go to pasture.
Heifers will undergo a synchroni-
zation program using the MGA
Recipe and be bred artificially
Warring the week of July 4. The
;particular Al sire will be selected
by the consignor of the heifer.
Consignors will bc responsible
for the health costs during the first
math. the cost of semen and the
.uiwance on their animals. The fee
for the feeding period from De-
cember 14, 1993 to July 15, 1994
titin be.S400 per head. Frum July
15 to the ,pick up date of Septem-
ber 15, the fee will be $50 per
head.
To nominate heifers, please con-
tact Hank Van Dorp at 529-7965.
A cheque for $200 per heifer along
with pedigree information should
be sent to Hank.
The objective is to develop pro-
ductive heifers that calve at two
years of age. Research in Oklaho-
ma has shown that an extra 330
pounds of calf on a lifetime basis
from heifers calving as two year
olds versus three year olds can be
obtained. Besides individual infor-
mation, comparisons can be made
among the group.
For further information, contact
Hank Van Dorp at 529-7965 or
John Bancroft at the Ontario Minis-
try of Agriculture and Food office
in Clinton 482-3428 or 1-800-265-
5170.
smaller countries -- smaller in
population, that is -- such as
Switzerland, Finland, Norway
and Austria give agriculture
more than $4 billion a year.
I mention all this simply to
suggest that Canadians arc not
alone in helping farmers. It is
happening all around the world
and Canadians should be aware
of it. Not only that bit the gov-
ernment helps all kinds of other
sectors of the economy with
grants an subsidies, too. We all
know of the help the automobile
industry has received in the last
decadeAt is also appropriate to
mention`bere that the textile in-
dustry in Canada got about $1.5
billion in trade barriers and sub-
sidies last year.
It is also worth mentioning --
and every farmershould be able
to quote some stats to support
the suppon going to agriculture
-- that agriculture is second only
to the automobile industry in
generating jobs in this country.
In Ontario, especially,.the size
and divetsity.of.agriculture is
notewottfiy.
A.is.vrrorthanore
than.$171illlion.a year.in.lhis
province. At one.lime, mote
dhan 30.penaant of the work
d?orce,depended ons lame
:for jobs. That figure' has: slipped
-m regent yearsto thepoint
.where abou t one job in 10 de-
pends on farming but that instill
l0percent of.theworkforceand
should be supported.
iIt is difficult to pin down how
many fanners are:in Ontario.
The definition oft farmer has
never been solved to the satis-
faction of everyone. Is a rich in-
dustrialist who owns a farm for
fun still a farmer?-ls a chap with
a few hogs who has a full-time
job elsewhere still a farmer?
A reasonable estimate would
be about 70,000 bona -fide farm-
ers in Ontario growing more
than 200 different crops and ani-
mas. Yet, about 84,000 work in
the food processing sector
alone, more than the number of
farmers. Take the packaging,
delivery, advertising and all the
other side effects that hold an
industry viable and you've got a
lot of people depending on the
lowly farmer toiling on a dusty
tractor.
Osborne &
Hibbert Mutual
Fire Insurance
Company
Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S1
(Established in 1876)
Provides Full Insurance
Coverage
for Farm Properties
New Applications are
Welcomed
DIRECTORS & ADJUSTERS
Gardiner: RR2, Stella 345-2678
/Lloyd Morrison, Michell 348-4589
Lorne Feeney, WittIlell 348-8853
Jack Hodgert, RR1,Kirk1on 229-6152
Joseph Ghetto, RR5 Mitchell 348-9705
M chael O'Shea RR3 Graviton ..225-2600
AGENTS
Ross Hodgert. Exeter 235.3250
John -Moore, Dublin ..... _....._ 345-2512
Joseph Uniac. tirghell ;.--.... 348-9012
Bryan Levis, Clinton ........482-9310
Head Office. Exeter 235.0350
A refund from surplus was de-
clared for all policy holders
who qualify, are on record and
in. good standing as at Decem-
ber"'
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