HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1973-01-25, Page 16osarosi nary
MAYO
oyER THE
FARM GATE
by IBM Remains
ice this is the first edition of "Crossroads", and this is
My first attempt at providing a column, words of welcome
are certainly in order. The venture undertaken by this paper
certainly receives my full -hearted congratulati.
In this space each week I'll try to bring you my interpre-
tations of what is ham in the agricultural scene. - While
the area of circulation is only one part of Ontario, I don't be-
Iietre it is in the interests of people connected with the indus
. try to confine the comments to only local issues.
This column, at various tithes threughout the year, will •
look at commodities and examine their history and outlook.
These market trends will hopefully encompass all literature
which crosses my desk. Trends we watch in Ontario may be
interpreted differently in the western part of Canada .or in
other countries. It should be made clear to people that there
are,differences of opinion and facts and I'll certainly try to
• bring them to proper light.
This column will, from time to time, also look at farm or-
ganizations,people, marketing boards, ands --legislation af-
fecting the man on the land. There are times when my own
media will riot allow the time to fully cxplaiii what is
happening and why. The theory and philosophy which causes
and affects changes in these areas need explanation. The
print media provides the vehicle to explain.
We must remember that the folks who are not farm-
•ers- -millers, farm. ,produce salesmen, or related indus-
tries—must also be keptformed. Consider Huron County, a
county regarded as theagricultural area of Ontario, which
haa.a farm population of only four per cent. Consumerinfor-
mation must be one of a prime purpose since the other 96 per
cent no doubt want information of what is happening to cause
price changes and social changes in this area.
With these purposes in mind, one will easily see that this
column i$to provide something for everyone.
The area. of farm
r
m eommunication has,of late, been
downgraded. In the short time that I have been involved with
communicating farm happenings, I have witnessed a regres-
.cion in the farm writers' fraternity. Readers no doubt
remember the days when each, newspaper, each radio sta-
tion, and each television station had its own recognized voice
.
of thefarm.
•T
•on
oris,; the Man the agriculture beat is� either
non-existent or has been absorbed into the "news team"
�coverintg,evepnttsranging from girlst basketball tq city council
, and, farm meetingsw` i
Itis regrettable that this transformation has, .and is,
taking place. Granted, farming is a specialized businesslike
steel production or hardware sales. However, there is the
historical link of man with the land. And there is`the indis-
putablefact thatevery person is affected bywhat happens on '
the'farm whenhe or shecooks the meals. To dismiss farm
communications because farming is becoming a smaller and' •
Mere ..specializ dbuSinessis wrong.
Another area of. farm 'communications which concerns
me is the flow of • information .between government and
fanner Oiarketing boards and farmer; and farm organza -
tion and' Mere •
As we moveintoi e
h gh r•and higher production per unit •
overnmients, marketing -boards and-orga•nizations are look,'
'
abroad for markets It'o no great:secret that�;Canadian
farmersc e
an 4 Y' C ie
e
4du Y$r � c odrt ro ori s
. ; � . $ , y; �!!�?!?�! �,y S Vert ? , ei[�:-•
at':this " y�
rime .�` �t
a
�c
f �r
�' �` !�t'� odtic:
eve,
0
every c nritnodity a� one and t>die"sain� tithe: �� this'of
type
T p
potential injected into a supply and demandarket,.farmers
-and, communities can eas ly, a adversely affected by wide
fluctuations of'production. Too great a supplyleads to poor .
returns for farmers and low pricesfor consumers. And:con-
etwly, a limited supply leads to excellent returns for pro
dicers and high costs for, the consumer. -
• Ineauh.case, a small fluctuation on each individual' farm
leads to adverse reactions on the farm economy as a whole.
Traditionally, farmers have .;been independent and ;
rather secretive about what they were doing inside the barn.
There, were, severalreasons for this—More than -space per-
'riifs. ; •a .
But everyone, including the farmer, is realizing that this
secrecy isunnecessary and quite,detrimental. As. people look
;for expanded markets, progress reports need to' be fed back
to the producer—and the producer, in turn,, must feed in-
formation on his plans back up through the system. In this
manner, a planned exploitation of ,rnarkets can be manipu-
lated. I do:not,mean exploitation of people. I mean markets,
such as thosen our own cities or other countries, are sup-
plied- to benefit' both farmers and. consumers. Information
`,Bow; therefore, is critically important.
This newspaper is to be commended, for expanding its
agriculture reporting. It is a move that should be adopted by
other media outlets
ario wheat sales
t board records
The Ontario Wheat Producers'
Marketing Board , has released
figuresindicating it has sold
5,458,536 bushels of 1972 crop pur-
chases, leaving only 935,213
bushels on •hand. . Total purchases
of 6,803,749 bushels, including
77,148 bushels of 1971 carryover
and the volume sold, both set re-
cords forboard operations.
•
Board chairman William ran -
der, RR 8, Mississauga, Said the
majority of board purchases
were top grade milling quality
wheat and out of the stocks on
hand 626,356 bushels are sample
grade dire to sprout content.
The satnp a stocks as well as
the remaining 303,280 bushels of
,grade 110.2 wheat have been out
on offer for some _ time, and the
board is hopeful sales will be
made in the near future.
Mr. Brander said the board has
adjusted its price in line with the
rising export price but has not
been able to capitalize on the
situation because overseas soft
white' wheat buyers are appar-
ently not anxious purchasers at
present levels. The board chair-
man said official government
estimates placed the 1972 crop at
14,965,000 bushels. He pointed out
producers have sold a record 13.4
million bushels up to the end of
November which leaves only' an
estimated 1.5 million bushels in
farm or elevator storage andno
doubt at least 500,000 bushels of
that amount should be deducted
as seed which would not enter the
commercial market.
000
Crossroads
Published every Wednesday as the big, action cross-country section in
The ListoweliBanner, The Wingham Advance -Times and The Mount
Forest Conflate. Wenger Bros. Limited, publishers, Bos 390,
Wingham. ° •
%gym Wenger, Pres. Robert O: Wenger, Sec.-Treas.
Dick Eskerod, Editor.
Misplay and Classified ad deadline --
Tuesday, week prig to publication date.
REPRESENTATIVES
C.C.N•.A,, Room 24, Ontario Weekly Newspapers
2IlloorILODatt, Assoc., I27 George St.,
to. i-5324 Oakville 4 644.0184
W 1TE. LANDSCAPE E er season has its own reward
� y ki.
1�
.and winter w iter in Midwesterh Ontario brings the newness of a•
landscape re -done in pure white, Set aside for a moment the ''
Dou Miley
heads .Royal
Homes sales
The appointment of Doug,
Milley f Toronto as sales
manager of Royal. Homes Limit-
ed has been announced, by H•.
Kuyvenhoven, president of the
Wingham company.
Mr. Milley has been in the real
estate and construction business
in Toronto' for the, past eight
years. He has a broad practical
experience as a licensed electri-
cian; 'construction worker, • con-
tractor and real. estate dealer:
x-
----A-na
—A -native -of Toronto, cr; tre:attenfl
,„, s , l rr�r,r e rft6W
��•....
ed public school there and is a
graduate of Bathurst Heights
Secondary School.
Mr. Milley was active in sports,
especially hockey and is in-
terested in boating and swim-
ming. Now 33, he is married and
plans to bring his wife, Carole,
am
and family to Winghin th
near future. The children . are
Stephen, 12; Patricia, 8; Sharon,
7, and infant Katherine, one year.
Doug likes what he has seen of
Wingham and surrounding area
and the friendly reception here
and looks forward to meeting
many more of the residents of
Wingham and district in the
weeks to' come.
cold
and hardships o
f wint •
r
a
nden'
Q the'•
bee lf 1 white
scenery which blankets' rural Ontario. This ;could be your
laneway. (Ont. Min. of Ag. & Food Photo/.
Tests reveal that little girls
are.. smarter than little .boys
It appealrs that what little girl;
have been 'saying for years: just
might be true... they're smarter
than little boys.
This blow to junior league male
chauvinists is the result of one. of ,
26 tests• and sub -tests conducted
during the pastyear with the aid •
of 1,392 students in 24 Waterloo';;
County schobls.
Started in November of 19710
the series of tests will, continuer
- forno
a then::twoyears. TChildrenv
invoi iedrr n • Wel start - ,a .e : Ft o
�!' y. �' h.sscii
born during- 1965. When the study
began, most of these children .
were entering grade ane, al-
though some were in kindergar-
ten and some had been advanced
to grade two.
Main purpose behind the two
tests was to find ,covariance fig-
ures, or bench marks, to find if
there are significant differences
between students' achievements
in schools classified as Low CP
(Continuous Progress) and High
CP. °
Same Average
Little difference was found in
the IQ, or intelligence quotient, of
students in . the two types of
schools.
The low CP group had an aver-
age' IQ of 103.32, while the hig.i
,CP group had an average of
103.65.
However, when the ° statistics
were examined on a basis of age
and sex, it was found the girls
scored significantly higher. The
IQ for girls averaged 105.32,
while the boys averaged 101.48.
In what appears to be corro-
boration of "old wives'•tales", the
final comparisons also • showed
differences between students
born in January, February and
Marcliand those born In October, -
November and December of the
same year.
In all sub -tests, the older stu-
dents did much better than the
younger students.' However, be-
cause of arr -adjustment for age,
this difference does not show up
in. the IQ score.
The 103.41 mean average IQ for
the Waterloo County students
tested was Slig`Htly higher than
the norm, established' through a
sample testing of Ontario stu-
dents.
Small Deviation
There was also_ a smaller de-
viation from, ,.the norm among
un
students. Thet
county tally 4
o
tY ,.e.y .
si4wreariar� edfrotrt. .low o q.
&high of 151: This says, in effect,
that. in the Waterloo County
schools tested, children range in
`mental ages from three to nine in
the same grade—in this case,
grade one. •
In tests for reading readiness,
the Waterloo County -students
scored Much higher than the On-
tario norm.
Twenty-five per cent of uthe
Waterloo County students scored
above .41 in this test, while 25
per cent of the normative group
scored above 78.5.
Fifty per cent of the Waterloo
group scored above 81.25 while 50
per cent of the = controlrgroup
scored ab ‘ire 67.
Ninety-fivve per cent scored
above 56.02 in the county while
the same percentage in the On-
tario comparison group . scored
above 31.
Averaged out, the Waterloo
County students scored 79.28
while the , mean for normative
group of students from around
the province scored approxi-
mately 67.
The range of scores in the•coun-
ty tests was from 26 to 102: A
slight negative skew indicates a
larger than normal group in the
low range, but, says a board offi-
cial, this could have no signifi-
cance.
Extremes
According to Stewart B. Whit-
ney, assistant superintendent of
EXPERTS DEBATE--wExperts in conservation, pollution control, government and land
.fill met in Harriston recently to discuss the proposed CPR landfill ill site in Minto Township.
GP plans to retit.haul soome 400,000 ton of Metro grabage to a still undisclosed site in the
township. John Root, MPP for Wellington-Dufferin s C. Muirhead, a member of the People
manes committee in Pickering Township; Thomas Beckett/ lawyer and active con er-
vstIonlst s and Garfield Hughes, chairman of the meeting were sortie of the speakers. Staff
Photo,
•
planning and development with
the board, the tests showing IQ ,
differences by age and sex make
it "very clear", there, are great
extremes in the readiness of pu-
pils to learn to read at the grade
one level.
"The bias is especially great
for boys born in the latter months
of the year," he said.
"It suggests that .programs
uid ire developed which recd -
.i a a et. A.,�:a.-
�G
rine the, various Gs(ages:; f 'Pre.
PartCNOW,Ifit.4q1p412
i� ax
classroom.
He noted that while schools will
have made, their owk provisions
for handling those differences, it
could be that more assistance
should be available to the
schools.
"Ten per cent of our teachers
have specialist certificates," he
told board members; "but we'
need teachers equipped to handle
this variation well.
"It's not always possible for a
teacher to give -individual atten-
tion,” he said.
The testing program will con:
tinue for another two years, said
Mr. Whitney, using the same
study group,
Study Variables
Three other variables are un-
der Ludy. These include deter -
mina of a bench* mark mea-
sure for socio-economic status;
pupils' attitudes and teacher
attitudes.
Study of tests in the areas of
academic progress and student -
teacher attitudes will allow de-
tailed comparisons between low
and high CP schools, said Mr.
Whitney.
Board trustee John S. Darling
questioned the need for the
studies, since, he said, similar
work had already been com-
pleted elsewhere, notably in
Peterborough.
"I'm aware there are -other
studies," replied Mr. Whitney,
"but this study is unique in its
study of student attitudes. This is
a suspect area which could be the
basis for changes in programs."
One sidelight on the studies was
Mr. Whitney's observation that
the Waterloo County children•
used tests constructed in the Uni-
ted States.
"As a rule, Canadian children
score better than their American
counterparts," he noted.
"It may be that the availability
of pre-school learning programs
has influenced these results."
GIRLS IN RANGERS
The junior forest ranger pro-
gram of the Ontario government
will include girls for the first time
next summer, says Leo Bernier,
minister of natural resources.
Mr. Bernier told the legislature
plans are being drawn up to in-
volve about 72, 17 -year old girls In
the program. He Said the girls
probably would be recruited
through Girl Guides or 4-1I clubs
since those girls would be the out-
door type.
•A WARM DAY
Canada's highest official tem-
perature reading was 115 de-
grees, recorded at Gleichen,
Alta., in July, 1030.
WoEat Cheaper, Sot
• We're Netekeop Natters
(*adios in general and fay in partially Imo
proud of their standard of living, pskrticularly when it comes to I
qUality of food produced and consumed.
pridede d our mrd of wellbeing l ---to a lesser . 'e this
•
went of Agriculture is also
e—bow much
less it costs us at tile markets and food atoms in comparison to
other nations.
And so, the agricultural fire -kms. In Ottawa, iond along the
following for your information;
"Canhdians are eating pro Onately cheaper today than ever
!tare:
"In 11 am' how's work in a factory. would prate enough money
to buy 1.0 lbs. of sirloin steak; in 1971, it ,bought 2.4 Ibs* POI* .,Cb0p114
198102.51bs.,1971.3. "1 * i mak:.1901 *T,n tits., 09714' 8-8 Ota i aPPlelf,
1961 10.3 lbs., 4971,15,5 lbs,, bread,1961-,11,5 lbs,, 1971 154 lbs.
`Only those living in the U.S. spend a leper portion Of their earn-
iqs on food than Canadians. A, few examples are United State* -118.3
Per cent;:. Canada 19.3 per Cent, _Sweden *aper. cent, F.i ice = 37.:5
"ManyPer cent and Britain consumers mice fp r r ted r til to :,alai :
23,7
'food; Can. be �- gag- �' u .' `' � a'ilso, that a G ,
purchased with this low ratio percentage of an hour's
wage,, the rest of the Canadian economy is able to expand, possibly
Mreating. more :ennployment and additional luxuries."
Add to this• the national pride in the quality of our meat and dairy
products and maybe the food• billsparen't really all that bad.
New Beef Oradell
Speaking of meatproducts, our friends at the Ontario 'Flood Calm-
cil, Ministry of Agriculture and. Food, remind us• of the new system of
grading beef which they believe will be of considerable benefit, to con-
sumers,
According to food specialists at the Ok`C»MAF',,, meat yield is the
• most important new concept in this Ilradiaig system: °
The new beef grading system pinpoints both the quality and qui-
tity of lean meat, in a carcass. Carcasses .are graded en quality, in-
cluding the color and texture ofthe lean meat, and on the lean meat
yieldof the entire carcass: Canada A replaces, Canada Choice as; the
top grade: It is branded with a red ribbon as before, Can3la B grade
carries a blue ribbon and replac,e,. s Canada Good
The lean meat yield, of the cat?cass is determined by taking a .fat
• measurement ata specific point: Based on fat measurements, Canada
A and Canada B grades have been divided into/our categories..
Grade' Al, the top -category, has less fat and more meat than
Grade B -meat has approximately the same fat covering in categories
2, 3 and 4 as Grade A, butthe .gtality of meat is alightly lower. Grade
Bi is allowed slightly less fat than Grade AI?Grade• carcasses do not
have to meet any . minimum requirements for marbling. : °
Grade A carcasses must haveat least a slight degree of marbling.
Marbling docs influence tenderness and flavor of the meat,
It is anticipated that the majority of consumers will choose the.
leaner, meatier cuts and that this eventually` will result in the produc-
tion of more Grade Al carcasses.
-TIP 0' THE HAT—Martin Baan, RR 3, Walton, recently re-elected
president of Gay Lea Foods Co -Operative Limited. Mr, Baan, a three,
tor of the co-operative since 1961, is a large dairy farmer in Huron
County: Mel Proud of RR 2, Tara was re-elect first r
ed vice president
'
est
and Walter Hamel, RR 2, Elmwood, was re-elected second vice presi-
dent. Elected directors were David; Ireland, Teeswater, and Gerald
O'Grady, Listowel. New voting delegates. are John DeJong, RR 2,.
Arthur, Howard Baker, RR 1, Listowel; and Maurice;Hallahan of RR
Belg rave:
•
PICKED UpPig -Pre ie� in-the
Art-y area are
l
ecome Ministry of Agriculture and Pod Extension
ranch Of set
•
t�f1 to s t
e up appointments on the first. and third,
Thursdays of each month to talk over their quotas and other questions
with Ken Carey, the Fieldman for the area.
THIRSTY TREE ROOT is the best way to describe this
freak of nature. Discarded years ago, this broken china tea-
cup was unearthed with the root of a tree growing right
through the finger hole in the 'handle. A member of the
. Crossroads editorial staff, who found it while digging and
cutting out roots from a tree stump, was surprised to see the
cup hanging on one of the roots. The unique find has since
been trimmed down, stained, affixed with a tiny key chain
and hangs in his home as a collector's item. He surmised
this was.a thirsty tree root just looking, for moisture!
9 days to Florida forom 35.00 per person
Departure—March 17, 1973
14 days to Florida—from ;209.00 per person
Departure—Jan 27,Feb.10,1973
Feb. 24 -March 31,1973
Optional side trips from Daytona Beach Motel available. De-
tailed brochures may be obtained by writing or phoning Good
Times Travel Agency or Habkirk Transit.
CALIFORNIA
21 days to California --visiting Salt Lake City, Reno, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Much,
much more. From 080.00 per person.
DIRECT DIAL - TOLL FREE I-800.28,1' .mak
Flakkirk .rrw.wwrrrrr,w �
transjt
S /NC UI LIMilila
011^P0110,114 mos s' " K1r Ila
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