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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-06-14, Page 10Page 10 Times -Advocate, June 14, 1995 FARM LJPDATF Who will stop the rain? EXETER - If you talked to resi- dents along Lake Huron Shoreline in Stanley Township and near Bayfield you would have heard many people won- dering who could stop the floodwaters Friday, June 2. Up to seven inches of rain fell in a very lo- calized arca in the Bayfield and surround- ing area. Approximately two inch- es of rain fell in late after- noon with the reminder fall- ing between nine, p.m. and midnight. This rainfall re- sulted in roads overtopping, ditches and creeks surging and overflowing. Small watersheds along the lakcshorc reacted to the rainfall by changing little creeks into raging rivers. Paul Bunyan, and Sugarbush trailer parks were hit quickly with high flows of water. The Ausable Bayfield Conserva- tion Authority staff were respond- ing to the event and talking to local people from two a.m. Satur- day through to Sunday. This type of flooding event is not predictable. Small storm cell move- ment is very unpredict- able. The storm cell movement that created the sudden amount of heavy rainfall .Friday night was unusual. These scells often stove \ steadily across a re- gion. "It is unusual that these cells stopped and thus dropped a large quantity of rain," says Alec Scott, Water & Planning Manager of the ABCA. Flood forecasting with the ABCA involves both warning and preven- tive measures. The forecasting sys- tem is based on large watersheds such a the Bayfield and Ausahle 1 Denfield livestock sales DENFIELD - The market at Denfield traded at a strong demand with the well fed cattle trading 2.00 - 3.00 cwt. high- er. Plain and over finished cattle traded steady to stronger. Cows sold active at strong prices. Veal sold a little stronger. Pigs steady. 340 cattle - 240 pigs on offer. Bill Woodburn, Parkhill sold 24 steers ave. wt. 1298 lbs. average price 92.70 to a high sale of 1.00 Ib. Pur- chased by Dendecker Meats. Gord Hardy. Lucan sold 11 steers ave. wt. 1290 lbs. ave. price 91.44 sales to 95.50 purchased by Corsetti Meats. Larry Unsworth, Tuppervillc sold 3 steers ave. wt. 1128 lbs. ave. price 94.17 sales to 97.00 purchased by Den - decker Meats. Ray McPahil, Kenwood sold 4 heavy steers ave. wt. 1549 lbs. ave. price 86.14. Claire and Kevin Schwartz, Crediton, sold 10 heifers ave. wt. 1189 lbs. ave. price 90.45. Gerald O'Leary Farms Ltd. Ailsa Craig, sold 6 heifers ave. wt. 1091 lbs. ave. price 89.09. Jake and Dennis Schroeder, Dash- wood. sold 14 heifers ave. wt. 1080 lhs. ave. price 90.00 - sales to 1.00 pur- chased by M.G.I. Choice steers 90-94 sales to 1.00 Good steers 86-90 Heavy and plain ileers 78-84 Choice exotic cross heifers 90-94 sales to 1.00 Good heifers 84-89 Common & medium 72-82 DI & D2 cows 553-58 sales to 65.00 D3 & D4 cows 45-53 Bulls 68-79 Hol. hull calves 125.00 - 200.00 Beef type calves 200.(X)-300.00 Pigs - 40-60 lbs. 60-75 cents Over 60 lbs. - 55-65 Sows at 33-39 Boars at 25-30 FARM b. MUNICIPAL DRAINAGE Specializing in: • Farm & Municipal Drainage • Clay & Plastic Tile Installations • Backhoe & Dozer Service • Septic System Installations For Qualify, Experience, & Service calk Wayne Cook (519) 236-7390 R.R.2 Zurich, Ont. NOM 2T0 PARKER a9enRKER LIMITED r Brussels livestock v1 Division of Gamble & Rogers Ltd, Upcoming Sales Tues. 9 a.m. Finished cattle & cows Thurs. 10 a.m. Dropped calves, veal, goat, sheep and lambs Fri. 10 a.m. Stocker Cattle 1 p.m. Pigs Brussels 887-6461 'Confidence, Trust & Service"J River. - Smaller watersheds such as the gully watersheds along Lake Huron are quite susceptible to flooding with medium amounts of rain, however, these events are difficult to predict because time is a big fac- tor. Highest flows in this event oc- curred Saturday morning at 1:30 a.m. and waters were already re- ceding by 2:00 a.m: The whole event was finished within 12 hours with the water receding to their original banks. The most effective measure to prevent damage due to flooding is to keep your homes out of the flpodplain. The ABCA administers regula- tions to prevent building too close to watercourses. We need to re- mind ourselves that the floodplain is part of the river. The regulations prevent people from building where Mother Na- ture doesn't want people to build. We can't stop the rain but we can make wise decisions on where to build. Brussels livestock sales BRUSSELS - Sales at Brussels Livestock tor the week ending June 9, 1995. Fed Cattle: 848 Cows:248 Veal calves: 248 Sheep & Goats: 130 Stockers: 744 Pigs:Light run The market at Brussels Livestock saw fed cattle selling S 2-3 higher. Cows sold $2 higher. On Thursday veal sold steady with Iambs selling sharply lower. On Friday all weights of stockers sold actively at prices S2.00 higher. There were 558 steers on offer selling from 89.00 to 95.00 to the high of 105.00. One steer consigned by Terry McCarthy, Dublin weighing 1300 lbs. sold for 105.00. Twenty-one steers consigned by Bob Rice, Staffa averaging 1478 lbs. sold for an average of 91.90 with sales to f01.25. Fifty-eight steers consigned by Mac Willits, Wingham averaging 1296 lbs. sold for an average of 93.31 with sales to 100.50. Five steers consigned by Jeffery Becker. Ayton averaging 1229 lbs. sold for an average of 90.48 with sales to 97.00. Twenty steers consigned by Kada Farms, Bluevale averaging 1389 lbs. sold for an average of 91.94 with sales to 97.00. Twelve steers consigned by Johnston Farms, Bluevale. averaging 1432 lbs. sold for an average of 89.27 with sales to 97.00. Thirty-one steers consigned by Cunningham Farms, Lucan averaging 1355 lbs. sold for an average of 91.61 with sales to 96.25. Fifteen steers consigned by Howard Martin. Brussels averaging 1358 lbs. sold for an average of 92.25 with sales to 96.00. Nineteen steers consigned by Carlyle Thomson. Parkhill averaging 1512 Ihs. sold for an average of 90.88 with sales to 95.75. Thirty-one steers consigned by Murray Shiell, Winghatn averaging 1416 lbs. sold for an average of 87.08 with sales to 95.00. There were 264 heifers on offer selling from 89.00 to 95.00 to the high of 105.50. Fifteen heifers consigned by Jim Steed, Creemore averaging 1240 lbs. sold for an average of 93.25 with sales to 105.50. Fourteen heifers consigned by Mux Lea Farms, Woodstock averaging 1250 lbs. sold for an average of 92.29 with sales to 101.75. Twelve heifers consigned by Woodham Farms. Woodham averaging 1007 lbs. sold for an average of 88.75 with sales to 99.50. Four heifers consigned by Gerald Vandewalle, Dublin averaging 1.154 lbs. sold for an average of 95.20 with sales to 97.00. Four heifers consigned by Verne Steinacker, Stratford averaging 1080 lbs. sold for an average of 94.27 with sales to 97.00. Twenty-two heifers consigned by Russ Faber. Kippen averaging 1063 lbs. sold for an average of 87.1 1 with sales to 94.50. Three heifers consigned by Gordon Mann, Wroxeter averaging 1202 Ihs. sold for an average of 88.52 with sales to 93.25. Two heifers consigned by David Bowles. Brussels averaging 1 1 15 lhs. sold for an average of 91.40 with sales to 93.25. Three heifers consigned by Irvin Schenk, Petersburg averaging 1 198 lbs. sold for an average of 90.52 with sale to 93.00. There were 248 cows on offer selling from 41.00 to 63.00 to the high of 70.00. Two cows consigned by Dale Smith, Monkton averaging 1 193 lbs. sold for an average of 57.63 with sales to 68.00. One cow consigned by Les Bluhm.. Chesley weighing 1445 lbs. sold for 67.00. There were 23 bulls on offer selling from 61.25 to 72.47 to the high of 80.50. One Limo hull consigned by Wayne Love, Wingham weighing 1535 lbs. sold for 80.50. One char bull consigned by Jim McDonald. Orangeville weighing 1730 lbs. sold for 78.50. Therc were 248 veal of offer selling from heavier Hol: 60.00 to 65.00. Hol: 75.00 to 85.00, Beef: 82.00 to 101.50. Three veal consigned by Allan McKinnon, Shallow Lake. averaging 663 lbs. sold for an average of 88.97 with sales to 99.00. Four veal consigned by Calvin C. Aiken. Fullarton averaging 664 lbs. sold for an average of 82.60 with sales to 97.50. Three veal consigned by Henry Zekveld, Clifford averaging 612 lbs. sold for an average of 92.52 with sales to 95.00. Lambs: under 50 lbs. 104.00 to 125.00 50 to 79 lbs. 116.00 to 125.00 Over 80 lbs. 108.00 to 116.00 Sheep: 36.00 to 68.00 Goats: 21.00 to 127.50 Stockers: Steers: 400-499 lhs. 98.50 to 127.50 500-599 96.00 to 115.00 600-699 72.00 to 119.00 700-799 80.00 to 111.50 One Foot in the Furrow By Bob Trotter Margin of profit slipping for farmers When a farmer speaks about input costs, he or she means that costs just to keep farming have increased. Those costs have gone up This year, even though most farmers will not be making a penny more when crops are sold. In other words, their margin of profit has slipped January of this year. According to Statistics Cana- da, those costs increased as much as 3.8 percent by the end of March. Bank interest rates and fertilizer costs, along with machinery prices, are the main culprits. • Interest costs jumped by 11 percent in the first three months of this year. In fact, it is now costing farmers almost 30 per- cent more to borrow money this year than it did last year at this same time. It is a dangerous sign. Borrow- ing costs can make or break even the best farmers. All we have to do is look at those sad figures from a decade ago when rural bankniptcies were so com- mon you could travel almost any country road and catch a farm sale on a Saturday some- where. That was back when interest rates -- borrowing rates -- were so high as to be almost out of sight. Several good friends of mine had to bite the bullet when borrowing costs hit as high as 20 and 22 percent; some farmers had to pay even higher rates. It was a dreadful time. Many of us were reminded of the Dir- ty Thirties when everybody was hit by the grinding poverty of the Great Depression. I know half a dozen excellent farmers who were just simply forced off the land when interes'e rates were so high, several of whom are lost to the industry - forever and who are being missed now. I am sure, though, that the ag- ricultural industry learned some lessons from the 1970s and 1980s. Those lessons indicate that farmers are in better finan- cial shape now than they were then because asset value and net worth has increased in rural Canada. A recent federal survey indicates that only about two percent of Canadian farms were in a weak or vulnerable situa- tion, a much healthier figure than 15 years ago. Nobody is suggesting that eve- rybody in the boondocks can go out and buy a new luxury car, mind you. They are working just as hard and as long as ever before -- average 53 hours a week -- but they can see some light at the end of the tunnel. It is important, then, to keep an eye on these input costs. As interest rates increase, so do the possibilities of more farmers getting into financial problems. Those lessons from not too long ago were hard -teamed, though, by not only farmers but those in a position to lend mon- ey, too. I am sure that those in- stitutions are not going to get caught in the same bind again. A column from about a month ago quoted the figures: An aver- age Canadian farm -- and it is almost impossible to define an average farm in Canada -- had assets of $589,000 and liabilities of $90.000 which means farm- ers had an average equity of 85 percent or a net worth of $499,000. Remember that old saw that, of all people, farmers live poor and die rich? Those figures seem to confirm it, don't they? Logic, The World's Most Efficient Water Softener Logic takes the guess work out of water softening. No more estimates of how much water you'll use or how hard it is. 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