HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-02-23, Page 11FARM 1IPDATF
Times -Advocate, February 23, 1994
Page 11
One Foot in the Furrow
By Bob Trotter
Silent Majority fight stable funding
A great deal of wrangling
went on in farm circles when
Agminister Elmer Buchanan
proposed what has become
known as stable funding
legislation. The excrement hit
the ventilating device.
Several farm groups opposed
the idea. At least one
disgruntled segment got
together to fight the idea calling
themselves the Silent Majority.
For those of you who do not
know, the stable funding law,
passed last fall, means that
every farmer in the province of
Ontario is now assessed $150.
That money is split between two
general farm organizations
according to those who
designate it. The Ontario
Federation of Agriculture and
the Christian Farmers
Federation of Ontario get the
money.
For the life of me, I could not
understand why so many
farmers kicked about this stable
funding fee. But they did. The
opposition was fierce for a
while. Those opposed
demanded a referendum, a vote
to see if the majority of farmers
favored the so-called "automatic
checkoff:" of $150 a year. The
legislation was changed, finally,
to allow farmers to designate
where they wanted the money to
go and to request a refund.
Bashful
Bakers learn
to make
cakes
USBORNE TWP. - The Usborne
#3 Bashful Bakers held their third
meeting on February 9.
President Cecile Maes opened the
meeting with the 441 pledge. Then
secretary Barbara Harrigan read the
roll call and minutes.
Leaders Marianne VanEsbrocck
and Cindy Harrigan demonstrated
making an angel food cake by the
egg foam method. They broke into
three groups and made Raisin Spice
I do not know how much will
be collected. I guess no one
knows until it is all collected
and refunded but guesses
suggest it could be as much as
$5 million with the bulk of it
going to the federation of
agriculture.
I have been loosely connected
to farm organizations for 40
years and they have always been
short of money to do the job
they were intended to do. The
federation once had more than
26,000 individual members. I
don't believe the CFFO had
much more than 700 members
at any time but they always
were a thoughtful influence
right from the time they were
formed. Their influence, in
other words, was greater than
their membership.
It is interesting to note that
their membership has increased
six -fold under the new funding
system when farmers can
designate where the money
should go. It leads me to believe
that a great many Christians out
there in the boondocks did not
want to pay a membership in the
CFFO until they were forced to
do so.
My observation is based on a
quote from Elbert Van
Donkersgood, the brilliant and
articulate policy director of the
CFFO. "Less than a sixth of the
Cake, and a filling and frosting
The meeting ended when all
members 48,44 what was made and
cleated'up:
Seams the topic
of meeting
EXETER - Meeting 4 of the
Exeter 11, 441 club was held on
February 28. The meeting started
with the 4-1-1 pledge.
The secretary and press report
were read. Then Meghan Straw
talked about thc roll call which
was an elastic guide.
Linda the leader talked about
different sewing techniques, and
how to properly press the fabric.
She showed how to finish seams
and different types of seams.
PIONE
ER
DAYS.
IT'S A
BUSINESS
TRIP.
From February 21-26, farmers across the country
will be going on a business trip. A trip that saves
them 6% on all Pioneer® brand products, with
purchases counting toward Pioneer Quantity
Savings as well. We call this business trip Pioneer
Days. Come harvest time, you'll call it a smart
business investment.
Your Pioneer Sales Representative is:
Sereda Farms
RR 1 Centralia
229-8102
229-6383
.0 PIONEER.
Pioneers brand products are sold subject to the terms and conditions of sale
which are part of the labelling and sale documents. a Registered trademark
licensed to Pioneer Hi -Bred Limited, Chatham, Ontario N7M 511.
SAVE 6%
FEBRUARY 21-26
registrations that have come in
so far are from existing
members," he said last month.
It may be too soon -- not
enough memberships yet -- to
make a judgement but it looks
to me like the CFFO will come
out way ahead.
Certainly, the federation
appears to be on the trail of
getting the kind of funding
needed to do many of the things
that the organization has
dreamed of doing for many
years.
One of the things I think either
or both of these organizations
should sponsor is a two-day or
three-day school for as many
farmers as possible to teach
them how to handle the mass
media. If farmers are ever going
to get their points across to a
doubting and increasingly angry
public then they must be able to
state their case quickly, easily
and honestly. They must not
only be honest in their
approach; they must be seen to
be honest. In my humble
opinion, too many of them when
questioned seem to be
apologizing for what they need.
Now, I happen to know an
old farm writer who also used to
teach journalism at a
community college. His name
escapes me at the moment but I
think his initials are B.T.
There was discussion about
achievement night. Melinda
adjourned the meeting at 9 p.m.
CG Farm Supply of Zurich sponsored a Planting for Profit seminar, Thursday. From the left are
Agco territory managers Ian Chard and Mark Jefferies, guest speaker Jack Riddell, area farm-
ers Harry Pennings and Gerard Masse and CG farm equipment salesman Arnie Martin.
Students learn dangers
of flooded waterways
EXETER - ...ten, eleven, twelve,
thirteen seconds..."Wow, that's
cold!", a grade five student
exclaims as their right arm is
quickly lifted out of a bucket of ice
water, water that is indicative of a
local river in winter. You will hear
children in the playground, on the
bus, at the corner store talking
about the cold water bucket
experiment. How long do you think
you would last in -3°C water? This
is a common question many grade
four, five or six students are asked
this time of year.
Patti Haist, Communications
Technician of the Ausable Bayfield
Conservation Authority is once
again performing the Floodwater
Awareness Program to local school
students in grade four, five and six.
A video, slides regarding local
rivers, ice safety and rescue
techniques, warm/cold water
experiments and activity sheets are
included in an action -packed one
hour program. In a controlled
setting, the students learn about the
dangers of being near a lake, river
or stream at this time of year.
"It is dangerous to be playing
near a flooded waterway; this
message is something the
Conservation Authority wants
children to understand," said Haist.
Much snow has been falling on the
ABCA watersheds, many rivers
have large snowdrifts and the banks
•
of the river are far from being
visible; be wary of such places.
This year the program will
operate for eight weeks prior to
March Break and the demand is
steep. Bookings are received on a
first -request, first-served basis. The
following schools are booked for
the program: Warwick Central,
Huron Centennial, Holmesville,
Precious Blood, Vanastra, St.
Patrick's (Dublin), Clinton
Christian, Usborne Central,
Bosanquet, Exeter, JAD McCurdy,
and St. James (Seaforth). The
booking schedule is not yet full;
interested schools may call the
ABCA office at 235-2610.
irdWPF The Gaiser Kneale
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id you know that you can
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Manager, Financial Services
235-2420 (Exeter office)
Joyce Fulton
2384484 (Grand Bend office)
Barb Lovie
482-9747 (Clinton office)
Janet Cameron
remember...
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