HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-08-07, Page 16a
" some of his experiences in Onta,,,a,sy„Loreen McDonald and
her daughter Holly, both hosts for the pro"fgram, and Sheila
Steinsvoll, one of the visitors listen. (staff.phot"o)
•
•. PARE 1O---GODERICH SIGNALSTAR, THURSDAY, cAUGUST 7, 1975 r N.
1..
g..
4110111.+
ite differences
Coming east was an eye
opening experience for two
Saskatchewan farm youths
taking part in a Nationil
Farmers Union exchange
program . with Ontario farm
union members. Z'The pair,
Grant McFarlane, 18, and
Sheila Steinsvoll, 16, spent a
week on two Lucknow area
farms "recently and were very
surprised at some Ontario farm
practices . and by the tight
quarters fhe farmers work in
compared to Saskatchewan
holdings.
"We passed a group of farms
on the highway and I thought
we were in a 'small town,"
recalled Grant. "Ev6ry'one that
heard that I had asked what
town it was seemed to get a real
chuckle out of it,"
The two are used to wghat is
broadly referred to as the wide
open iorairies. Grant illustrates
the point when he refers to his
neighbours just' down -the road
(nearly 'two miles) and to his
married sisters living near the
family farm (one; eight miles
away and the other 32. miles
away): The crowning touch is
' when he says his hometown .of
1=I'ari�t's', Saskatchewan,,
population 300, is just. outside
Saskatoon. Harris is 70 miles
west of the city.
The McF'arlane farm is onl'
a 'small 'one ort µits -own, a °.
cording to the young farme'r's
union: 'Only five and
one quarter quarters in size - a
quarter is 160 acres U - his
father's 840 acres issmall by
Saskatchewan standards. But
he is quiek to point o.ut that his
father and his two brothers,
Grant's uncles, combined their
efforts' onto" one i'arm that
measures 15 quarters, 2,400
,acres, and that, he concedes, is
a big farm.
Sheila Steinvoll lives a tittle
closer to Saskatoon than Grant
does and her father's farm is a
little 'closer to average size by "
Saskatchewan standards. She
4 hails from Allan,- population
800, which is 35 miles east of
Saskatoon. Her father's farm, a
,:second '"getie'r""anon•family
holding, is l 100 acres 'in size
which suits her and her two��
sisters justTine.
The Steinsvoll girls are not
really that involved with the
work on the farm but accordin
to Sheila know enough abo
rural ,olife to know that the
g
ut
y
would like to stay on the farm.
"t don't handle the
machinery at all,v Sheila
confessed, "Around harvest
time. I help out occasionally i
driving the grain truck but
that's about all."
Her father is kept busy with
chores and, field work„ and
handles all the work himself.
.. He keeps about 40 head of cattle
.in a small cow, calf operation
and feeds about 100 hens for
,meat. forhis family. He plants
the occasional' crop of flax but
mostly " sows what is, the
mainstay ,of the prairie farms,
wheat,
Sheila's daily activity on the
farm didn't change much when
she arrived in Ontario. She' has ' •
been the guest._ of Lorne
MacDonald and his•family on
their Lucknow area farm...Her
routine has been limited 'to
doing dishes and other
"housework ,since she has no
ambition to: do any field work
but she 'managed to closely
observe the .:workings of an
Ontario farm.
Grant explored the farm he is
visiting a little closer than his
female counterpa•rt.._ A'fter
viewing his host John Austin's
line, of machinery, he im-
mediately •ask.ed„wh.ere -the • rod
weeder -was ” �. ...
edge and mounted in
front of a tractor or other piece
of equipment. It is' lowered
about three_ or four -inches
below the surface of,the ground
and rotated quickly as the
machinery moves pulling up all
the weeds'i.n its path.
The absence of the • rod
weeder was explained when"
'Grant's roving eyes spotted a
plow. He had never seen such a
thing before in his'18 years on a
farm and had no idea what it
was for or how it, was used:
V1'hen the Use of the plow „was
explained he was still slightly
- bewildered but understood a
little ;more why a rod weeder is
• not used in Ontario soils.
"We never plow in S.askat-
.
chownnAwhe explained. "In the,.
spring we cultivate the ground;
'and plant the crops."
Silos were another thing
Grant and Shiela had never •
been. On prairie farms the
tallest buildings are the grain
bins used to store. crops before
' shipping and no one stocks
anything like a silo to feed their
livestock. -
The price, of Ontario far-
mland per acre surprised the
westerners. They both agreed
, that the current average price •
of $300 per acre in Saskat-
chewan was high and could
scarcely believe .that the
equivalent amountof land here'
'.,vciuld bring from $500,to11,000
depending on quality of soils
- and the geography.
.. The one sir rilarity that the •
two guests of Ontario noticed in
they two communities_ was .the
Slightly perplexed Mr. Austin
asked him what he was talking
about. He patiently explained
that.a rod weeder was simply a
rod equipped with a 'type of
l91'5Honey Crop
6'5'CPERLB.
.Bring your own containers .
}week'days to our Apiary,
and have them filled.
CLOSED WED. EVEiINGS & SUNDAYS
FREE SAMPLES AT'HONI.YHOUSE
FergusonAp'iuries
236-4979
GOSHENwSTREET SOUTH -, ZURICH
THE SASE
FACTORY
OUTLET
i
there's
trend of children growing up on the need for a good farmer's
farms u "and older farmers .anion. He claimed that most
retiring. In Saskatchewan as in'
farmers only ask for help �a h 'rl
-Ontario -youngn : ---1 a. ,� . i...a ,. .he.. ,,..;. �a.n .
°o gyre leavrng yr etE�a'iT wfped out. and
the farms tcv take butter paying they usually come 10 the union "
jobs in cities and retiring for assistance. He felt that if
:• farmers are selling iheir land
for the highest dollar possible
rather than making any effort
to keep it in agriculture. '
A discovery Shie
and Grant
had during th-• visit irked`
them both tree t✓ ndously. Grain
marketing systems they were
not aware of appear to be lining
the pockets of middle men
somewhere at the cost of the
producer. Grant discciVered
that the screenings or small
grain that may be cracked, is
docked from the farmer's
payment for his harvest income
by the elevators at which it is
sold.
The farmers,a ccording to -
Grant consider, the -screenings
waste, and acceptthe charge.
He discovered thatthe'grain is
not waste but thatit is shipped m
east and sold for ore money
per ton than what i supposed to ,
be the number one r ain.
"The screening are shipped
here and sold for 118 per ton
and our good barleyonly brings
•$114 a ton' at h me,” corn''.'-
plained Grant. `Somewhere+
along,. the line s mebody is
making alot of m ey and not
even paying th shipping
charge for the grin. The,
gr
s
0
0
on
e
w
docked at the etevator."
The discpvery . only
.Grant's ' belief in
farmer .pays" it hen he ,is
v�^
they 'handed together for their"
protection, things like the
S .rt'�' I1.n aha tfit eoulel -4 e-
� ply I
-_}>r'e vented.
A quick forecast of this year's•
crops'„ indicated a surplus of _
4.
reenien
};rain tor the western farniers.
Grana explained that most
-pr-ndtireTs-ktei ,,-third"tci 7iaif:
of their crop in storage to
protect themselves against
crop failure. He said that as .,
long as that buffer is in the
,Qi ii n b i rls„..iJ.l be pie
shortage „unless someone buy
the grain and just stockpiles it,
clbtiMing a shortage to drive the
price up.
Long periods of conversation between farmers from both sides
,of Canada were common during the visit to Ontario by two
Saskatchewan youths." taking part in an NFU exchange
program recently. Here Grant McFarlane, far left, jokes about
•
Bay'fiIdm�n, 9, dies
when truck by car
A, 19 -year 'old Bayfield man
was run over by a car and killed
early Saturday morning on
'Highway ;'84, . jusf. ;-west. of
.Hensall. "
According to police” in-
vestigation and'. autopsy-
results,
utopsyresults, Douglas Schilbe was
already lying on the' pagement
when "" he was 'struck and
dragged 86 feet.
No charges are being Paid
against a man who reported the
accident- about ° 5 a.m. after
driving 10 miles further west t
Zurich. His narn,e is being
withheld' 'by police at his
request. .
Initially, ,provincial police at
Exeter issued an area hit-and-
run bulletin, believing Schilbe
'had been hit by an ur>;known car
before being hit by the car
whose driver called"them.
Coroner Dr. Charles Wallace
of Zurich, how -ever, determined
that Schilbe&s injuries were
NEW
� r
STORE HOURS:
MONDAY through
FRIDAY411 AM to 9 PM
SATURDAY 9 AM to 6 PM
Closed SUNDAYS
HURON COUNTY'S LARGES1
DEPARTMENT STORE
MEN'S BC YS`' -LADIES' . GIRLS' and BABY" Si .WEAR'
YARD'GOODS-FURNITURE- MATTRESSES -PAINT-
.SEWING MACHINES -SMALL APPLIANCES -LAMPS
LOCATED ON HWY NO. 4
SOUTH OF CLINTON AT VANASTRA
4u,aggr�� ✓rrl
consistent with lying on the
road and being rolled under a
•.car.,Evidenee on the underside
of that car verified that, police
said.'
Former .Clinton
resident wins
The hit-and-run bulletin was';
cancelled by Saturday afr
ternoop.
-We can't- explain Why he
jackpot
,Monday's Clinton Monster
Bingo brought Centennial
celebrations to a close and a
$1,000 jackpot to Doug Bezzo of
RR2, Thaniesford.
Monday's :games' also made
Mrs. Marjorie Steep of Clinton
$180 richer with Agnes Hart-
man of Hamilton, Mrs. Alice
Brown of Bayfield 'and Ethel
Reeder of Exeter sharing the
$175 special game jackpot and
Mrs. Mary Lou Melick of
Goderich and. Mrs: .Laverne.
Jamieson of Brussels splitting .
the $170.50 of the third big
game.
The', many winners taking a
share of the $50 regular jack-
pots were: Mrs.'1VIitte+lj, Marg
Carter, Marg -Steep, Mary
Arthur, Mrs. Reg Millar, Grace
Lawson, Mrs. William Steeop,..
Mrs. Rufen -Beach, Mrs. Millie
Hanley, Mrs^t Joan Switzer, Mr.
Elgin Dale, Mary Grigg, Elsie
Murrell and S. Lovett of
Clinton; Rose. Hill, .Anne
Linklater, Mrs' Alma McLean,
Mr. Del Geddes, Mrs. M.
Lapaine, Mrs. Lola Atrofon+, -
Mrs, Annette Stemp, Miss E.
MacKay, Mrs. iohanne' Cale,
and Mrs. Jean Elliott •of
Gbderich; Mary Laws, of •
Brucefield;, Ledn Albert of
Hagersville; Victor Hoy of Port
Albert.; Mrs. Russell Brindley:
of Auburn:, John Finnigan of
Wingham; Evelyn Chessell, '
Carol McClocklitt ,and Judy
Norman, of Mitchell; Donna,
Westlake, J,ay McLeod, Kristen
Parsch and Mrs. Bill Mcllwain
of Bayfield; Mr „Barker, Mrs,
D. Moore and, Bob Bob' Bishop
of London;. Mrs, essiei'Katool'
of St, Catharines; Hilda Austin'
of Seaforth ; Mrs. Debra -
Bromley of Vartastra Miss'
Debbie Riley of Londesboro;
and Mrs, Mel Beatty of
Listowel".
In the junior hockey Share
the -Wealth draw that was held
h'efore 'the $1,000 jackpot' bingo
game, Centennial-Quoei"
JoAnne Palmer had the win-
ning
in ning ticket which entitled her to
the $442;50 of the winnings,
BE A REGULAR
BLOOD
DONOR
ONLY YOU CAN
GIVE THE GIFT
OF LIFE!
was on the road.," said CpI.'Ray
Brooks in Exeter. "We don't
know if he was sleeping there or
what,, only, that the car that
.reported it is the only one that
hit him."'
The deur�t.on that, there was
"no legal li'bility in the case,
according to' Cpl. Brooks, was
'made in consultation with
Crown Attorney W.G. Cochrane
in Goderich,
Schilbe resided with 'his
'parents at R.I2, 1, Bayfield:
Et's"SV-MME-R TIME'
And The Winning Is Easy.'
So All The Good Horses Are Going To
GFRIDAY
. ,. .• 1:45- PM. � EXCITING A 4
I�a�
EXACTOR into ,'v lit d ;
People are' Welcome too . ; 0.. the Odds Are You'll Have .a G00D TIME
ly
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