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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-08-03, Page 14Page 14 Times -Advocate, August 3, 1983 More bucks for beans says GM Farmers who have stayed with beans this year will be rewarded since prices should be going up, Charlie Broadwell, general manager of the Ontario Bean Pro- ducers Marketing Board, told approximately 20 farmers at the Seaforth Legion last Wednesday. Because of the low prices last year, farmers in both On- tario and the United States cut their production of beans. In Minnesota and South Dakota, production is down 45 percent, in Michigan 35 per- cent and .in Ontario, 45 percent. Compared to the 9.1 million bags of beans produced last year, Mr. Broadwell says 7 million bags will be produced this year from both Ontario and the U.S. Ontario's share of that total will be 850,000 bags. "I don't think there's any question that the price will go up substantially. Of course, that depends on how the ,beans are fed into the market. If prices go up too fast, and too high the canner will react by cutting back on his inven- tory. And, that is something we have no control over," he says. F ARMERS Book Now To have your seed wheat custom cleaned on your farm. We clean, treat, bag or bulk and we offer ger- mination tests. Call: Canadian Mobile Seed Cleaning Ltd. (agent) 519-289-5602 Citing prices as $21.10 per bag in 1979, $28.50 in 1980 and $30.70 in 1981, Mr. Broadwell predicted that price will fall somewhere in-between. Since he has just returned from a trade mission from Japan, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand trying to in- crease Ontario market share, he expressed concern that farmers may have cut pro- duction too much. "I feel that we just don't have enough beans. i wish you hadn't cut back as much, as you did." A disastrous year of drought and floods in Australia has reduced that country's yield of beans from the usual 6,000 tons to 900 tons and left beans rotting in the fields. "They're going to be in the market for beans as a result," he says. Ontario beans may also be sold in New Zealand where canners are looking at grow- ing their own beans but will have to overcome problems with climate. After visiting bean paste plants and setting up in-store promotions in grocery stores in Japan, Mr. Broadwell says there may be an opportunity to sell more Ontario beans if the Japanese begin to grade their beans instead of putting all different kinds into one can. The marketing board recommended that the can- ners in Japan send for Cana- dian and British standards. "We think the potential for selling Ontario beans is good." Farmers looking for more payment on their 1982 bean crop will have a delivery deadline of August•15 when Mr. Broadwell says the board will close the pool, audit the year and then make represen- tation for stabilization for the year's crop. "Farmers may want to hold back their beans and take a chance on '83 prices, though," he said. We'll Do the lob Right... Ready -Mix Concrete FREE ESTIMATES Residential, commerical and farm. founda- tions, floors. slabs, sidewalks, driveways. manure tanks. etc form rentals. equipment rentals. For guaranteed strength quality controlled and service call C.A. McDowell Redi-Mix Ltd. Centralia, Ontario Plant: Exeter, Hwy . No. 83 west 235-2711 Office: 228-6129 After hours: 228-6780 1 Cali 236.4057 or 238 8434 Dignan Landscaping and Sod Supply • Fertilizing • Ground Work • Sodding • Seeding R.R. 2 Hensall, Ontario • Railway Ties • Design Service •' Nursery stock planting SAVE $$$ ON OUR SPRING SPECIALS Order your nursery stock now...or the work • can be clone by our landscaping speciafists4: • Piton* to Inquire about our nursery stock guarantee 236.4457 23S-8434 Quality is first in our business CO.OP ti • TOUR AREA — A group of 48 Junior Farmers toured the counties of Huron, Perth, Oxford and Middlesex this past week. Here some of the beginning formers hear the story of Gord and John Player (back to the camera) of Gadshill who have been farming since 1979. In the for left of the photo are Perth associate agriculture rep. Art Lawson and farm business advisor Herb Norry of the London OMAF office. ane loot in the lurrow'.>�.:e "Those stupid farmers," said the attractive young homemaker in the supermarket. She was talking to an older companion at the produce counter. Of course, i eavesdropped while preten- ding to select a bunch of carrots. "See that label? It says Product of California. Yet, strawberries here are rotting in the field because farmers won't pick them." "That's not quite true." I murmured and the young lady was a little startled. "If you must blame someone for the lack of Ontario -grown strawberries, write a letter to Lloyd Axworthy." And I proceeded to explain how the new labor regulations have made it extremely dif- ficult for farmers to get, casual help when harvesting starts. She feigned interest but her eyes wandered, she excused herself and followed the older woman down the ai- sle, happy to get away from a mouthy farm writer. Farm organizations tried to explain to the minister of labor that the suggested changes would cause genuine problems. But the bureaucrats polite- ly listened and blundered along, treating farmers the same as the rest of the population. No one anywhere, except farmers themselves, seems to understand that far- ming is different from any other sector of the economy. Axworthy and his henchmen -women went right ahead with a new regulation that maked farmers fill out a complex unemployment in- ,surance form every time a new worker is hired. I talked to one farmer near here and he said the form takes at least half an hour to complete. "If I wanted to harvest all my berries, I would need a whole day to fill out the forms," he said. "I need about 15 workers when the Letters are appreaated by Bob Troller $Mate Rd Eim ,a Oni N38 2C7 crop is ready. Under the new rule, though, I can't even get the workers. The crowds are not there. They get two or three days' work asd get docked for unemployment in- surance payments and in- come tax. "They simply won't take the chance of losing their unemployment insurance payments by picking up some extra bucks here." To suggest that unemployed men and women report every extra penny they earn is to hide your head in the sand. it is a fact of life that the few extra dollars made do not get registered. The strawberries rotted in the field so the government decided a little mistakehad been made and allowed a seven-day period of grace. Farmers do not have to deduct premiums or keep unemployment records until a laborer has worked seven consecutive days. Typically. farmers were the last cp know EIDELWEIS ACRES FLOAT — Sonia, Andrew, Ryan, Kaethe, Kurt and Erich Freiter comprised the Eidelweis Acres float in Saturday's Friedsburg Days parade in Dashwood. Huron ram tops sale Grant Coultes, RR 5. Wingli m, a relatively new R.O.1' Sheep breeder had the highest selling ram in the Eta. p. Ram and Ewe Sale at Sheep Focus. Coultes previously had a commercial flock and had been an active 4-11 Sheep ('hub member in Huron County. This high gain- ing station tested ram was purchased at $1,300 by Wesley Glaspell. Oshawa A total of- G3 station tested rams sold at an average price of $382 50 Second highest selling ram Coming Soon Biggest Sale in town Watch for it!! EXETER DISTRICT CO.OP 235,08, which was purchased at $1,000.00 by Agriculture Canada for the A.I. Ram Stud al United Breeders Inc., (;uleph, was from the flock of Wm. Gardhouse, Newmarket. This ram had previously been selected as the Champion Suf- folk ram by Judge Russell Dow, Bowmanville. The top selling Hampshire ram at $700.00 was from the flock of .lack and Lois James, Russell, and was also pur- chased by Agriculture Canada for the A.I. Ram Stud at United Breeders. Eight rams in total were purchased for the A.1. Ram Stud. Agriculture Canada also purchased the highest selling Dorset ram al $600.00 from the Century Lane Farm, flock of Robert and Shirley Graves, Stittsville. Both the top selling ilamp- shire and Dorset rams had been previously selected as breed champions in the show which preceeded the sale. A total of 42 home tested ewes all with indexes above the breeders flock average sold at an average price of $184.64. Highest selling ewe was a Suffolk lamb from the flock of Wm. Gardhouse, Newmarket which brought $325.00011 the bid of C. and N. Bobier, Wailacetown. A total of 431 rams com- pleted station test at Ontario test stations this year. All rams in the sale had been rigidly selected from those that had completed station test with average daily gains above the breed average at the station in which they were tested. REDI■MI t L 'R*4•• PRECAST PRODUCTS MANGERS STEPS SLATS CURBS X CONCRETE MTC Approved ALL TYPES OF CONCRETE WORK REDI-MIX CONCRETE & FORMWORK McCann Redi.Mix Inc. Dashwood, 237-3647 Exeter 235-0338 about the changes. There is simply no way to compare farming with any other industry. The same rules cannot be applied. My farmer friend, when no casual labor turned up after two calls to the Canada man- power office, put up a couple of tug signs, inserted a $15 advertisement in the local paper and let the public pick their own berries. "I didn't make any money on the crop but I guess I didn't lose any, either," he said. . It will be fun now to see what goes on during the tobacco harvest. Mr. Axwor- thy and his people -- not one of them from the farm, pro- bably -- have all ready curtail- ed the number of offshore workers allowed in Canada. U is impossible for a bunch of bureaucrats who live by the book to even dimly com-. prehend the problems of farmers. And this latest fiasco is another indication that Agminister Eugene Whelan has Ipst any power he ever had in the cabinet. Pierre E.T. does not listen to people who have said they are out for his job. Junior Farmers tour area See management techniques Junior Farmers from across the province toured farms in four counties this past week to gain insight to soil and crop management. • The 48 Junior Farmers in- cluding sonic from as ifar away as Rainy River, were based out of Centralia College of Agricultural Technology from July 25 to 29 and each day travelled through the counties of Perth, Huron, Ox- ford and Middlesex. Farm business advisor Herb Norry, of the London Ministry of agriculture office, said the young men have "either just started or are get- ting ready to farm". Each was chosen from their respec- tive county organizations. They toured about 20 farms in the four counties enabling the Junior Farmers to see a variety of farming methods. The tour is headed up by OMAF in co-operation with the Ontario Junior Farmers. Representatives from the agricultural extension offices in each of the four counties. assisted in selecting the farms to be toured. Farms were selected on the basis of "offering lessons to be learned" for the Junior Farmers said Norry. This annual tour has been taking place for about 20 years said the OMAF representative. A registration fee of $100 is paid by the Junior Farmer, or his club with the remainder of the ex- penses, including a bus for travelling, picked up by OMAF. Locally, Perth associate ag. rep. Art Lawson accom- panied the farmers during their tour of Perth. From Huron County, John Heard travelled with the farmers for the entire week acting as soils and crop specialist. On Wednesday, July 27, the group toured the farms of Ken Flanagan, Dublin; White Brothers, Seaforth; Don Henry, Bluevale; and Ray Hogan, Ashfield Township; all in Huron County.. The following day they visited the farms of David Branch, Staffa; Don Hawkens, Fullarton; Player Brothers, Gadshill; Bernard Murray, Embro; John Alder- man, Lakeside and Bob Debrabendere, Rannoch. At the Players Brothers swine operation near Gad - shill, the Junior Farmers heard the story of these two young brothers, John and Gord, and the progress of their operation since 1979. The pair stressed record keeping for all aspects of the farming operation including crops and swine. "Interesting and easy" record recom- mended John. Both young farmers admit they have a trade to fall back on, Gord's is masonry and John's is butchery, but both now work full-time on the farm. Each owns 50 acres of land and they rent 80 workable acres, for a total of 160 acres of corn. Their swine operation con- sists of 110 sows of which they ,.nish about a third. Commenting on the dry spell experienced, Gord Player said the corn yield is expected to be down this year. "Last year we had about. 110 dry bushels per acre. This year we'll have 65 if we're lucky," Gord said. The brothers acknowledge that both their wives work off the farm which has helped them get ahead financially. Referring to his trade, Gord also noted that with his five years experience in masonry, he has been able to build some of the farm buildings himself. This, he said, has eliminated the cost of hiring a construc- tion crew. The Junior Farmers didn't end•their day after the tours. Each evening, back at Cen- tralia, the group discussed what. they had seen that day. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food huron farm and home news Stress in early lactation It becomes increasingly dif- ficult to balance the roughage diet for dairy cows in early lactation. During the first three months of a cow's lac- tation approximately 50 per- cent of the cow's total produc- tion for the year is produced. Coupled with this, addi- tional stress is placed on the cow in the torm of meeting high nutritional re- quirements, keeping the cow healthy (disease free) through peak production periods, and having the cow rebred and safe in calf all within 100 days after calving. Stresscan bea problem with your cows in early lactation. Having a good dry cow feeding program will alleviate some of this stress in early lactation, however fresh, palatable feed, fed several times a day, is one of the best measures to ensure maximum . intake to meet high production levels during the first hundred days of a cow's lactation. -Dennis Martin Farm Management Specialist Debt management Production management is essential in order to max- itnize on milk yield, however dairymen must also have -a good understanding of debt management and repayment capacity as it applies to their level of production. Some pro- ducers, because of their strong equity position, don't have to "push" their cows in order to pay the bills and pro vide for family living. Other producers with higher debt loads must maximuze on milk production to make their operation viable. Production levels can, in- fluence the dollars available for repayment and living, however, as a thumb rule, debt servicing should not ex- ceed 35 percent of the milk cheque. All producers are en- couraged to make good use of a sound feeding program, breeding program, milk recording program -and herd health program to ensure adequate production. Remember, it takes milk flow to make a cash flow, however a dairy cow, regardless of her production, can only service so much. debt! -Dennis Martin Farm Management Specialist Over`-- 80 club Mrs. Annie Noakes. formerly of Hensall, now residing at. the Blue Water Rest Home, Zurich will observe her 85th birthday. Thursday, August 4. Mr. Farmer: We are ready to receive your 1983 WHEAT crop We have 3 combines field ready Free Trucking is also available Call early for arrangements oat, -,r; • .5 is '4,, • / :\ r oma \14 1sto i0 God erich Bayfield aU!1 U L 5O J 1 1 mile off Highway N • Elevator( c r, ARMSTRONG FARMS & ELEVATION Bus. 565-5032 RR 1 Varna, Ont. Res. 262-5393 or 262-5996