HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-04-29, Page 28PAGE 10A— (ODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29,1981
'Vilma f 111
furrow' .,
Chicken feed, said the youngster on the main street as he
kicked a penny into the gutter. means so little to
He didn't even stop to pick it up; a penny
kids today.
But the expression he used.;is an anachronism, something
out of its proper time. Shakespeare's plays had .dozens of
them.
The cost of raising livestock and poultry has tripled in the
last 10 years. The two major costs of producing a pound of
chicken are the cost of the original chick and the cost of feed.
Those. two factors account for more than 65 per cent of the
costs in raising chickens to market weight.
Other factors include labor, energy and overhead including
borrowing costs. All these components are going through the
roof, too, but the chicken feed ® the stuff poultry eats ® is
the highest single factor in the production of chickens
whether for laYers or the table.
Shipping, killing and packuig costs more than double the
place before the. _food_ reach• J your table. The Ontario
Federation of Agriculture has estimated that, for every
dollar received at the farm gate, another. $1.08 is added
before the products reach your table.
The same high feed costs are true for hogs and cattle. In
facie the pork producers can prove, to their satisfaction
anyway, . that it costs farmers as much as $84.47 a hun-
dredWeight to raise a hog. Have you checked what they are
getting for a hundredweight lately? It has been hovering
around$62.
How pork producers stay in business is a mystery. Feed
acconnte for to 50 of " that $84.47. Any pubhhc school
mathematician can figure out that, if these figures are ac-
curate, hog farmers are losing more than $22 for every
hundredweight shipped.
When figured . on cost -of -production, I suggest most
producers can prove they are losing m 1 .
The gap between what farmers get — a e farm -gate price —
Letters are apprec•ared by Bob Tone E!dare Ro Eio a Om N38 ?C7
and what the consumer pays, the retail price, •hs widenlig if
we can take the federation of agriculture's figures. The
federation says the farm prices for a selected food basket
have been rising by about $1.06 a year for the past few years
while retail prices for the same food basket have been rising
at an average of $3.62 cents a year. •
In 1979, the federation says, the farmer received 59.2 cents
of every food dollar spent on a food basket but last year, the
farmer received 55.8 cents.
The processing, distributing and retailing industries get ,
slammed for taking more money but they, too, have higher
costs to absorb including labor and energy. Withthe
tremendous concentration in the food industry, there is little
doubt that these huge, multi -nationals certainly have the
power to gouge consumers. However,'recent investigations
indicate many of them are in trouble. Their profit margins
are frequently, they say, less than three per cent and the
return on their investment is a paltry 6.5 per cent.
Compared to interest rates in most other sectors of the
economy, that 6.5 percent is pretty grim.
So what is the answer?
Higher prices for food, without a doubt.
Canadians today are the best fed people in the world and
are getting their food at a lower cost than any other nation in
the world with the possible exception of the United States.
Food costs cannot go any place else but up, especially if
here is a poor harvest in the Soviet Union this year. When
they go hunting the world for grain, the cost of grain goesup.
When the cost of grain increases, that chickenfeedneeded to.
put eggs and poultry on the table goes sky high.
' It is no longer chicken feed. It costs big bucks to feed
chickens or any other farm animal.
Be prepared to pay more for food this year and for the next
few years after that.
1981 exec
The 1981 executive of the Goderich Township Federation of Agriculture is (back row, left
to right) directors Case Brand, Walter McElwain,' and Jack Tebbutt and (front row)-.
director Laurie Cox, secretary -treasurer Stan McElwain, president Larry Sturdy and
director Dan Lobb. Absent: vice-president Garnet Wright. (photo by Gibb)
Riddell
ag. critic
The re -appointment of
Jack Riddell as Agriculture
Critic for the Ontario Liberal
Caucus was, announced at
Queen's Park April 21 by Op-
position Leader Stuart
Smith. Riddell was recently
elected to a fourth con-
secutive term as MPP for
the riding of Huron -
Middlesex.
In making the appoint-
ment,
ppointment, Smith called Riddell,
"one of the most effective
members in our Caucus, and
a stinging debater in the
Legislature. He's also one of
the most knowledgeable peo-
ple in Ontario in the field of
agriculture and food."
A farmer by trade, Riddell
has served as the Liberal's
Agriculture spokesman
since 1977. Partly through
his hard work and pressure,,
the government agreed to
set up a Royal Commission
Inquiry into Food Prices in
1978.
"That Commission
became a whitewash, unfor-
tunately," says Riddell.
"There are still some very
bad practices of discounting
going on in the food industry
and our farmers are the real
victims.
"We'll just have to put
more pressure on the
government to realiee that
when you hurt the farmers,
you hurt consumers too."
BUTLER -
Ring Drive Silo
Unloaders
sig Jim Silo Unloaders,
Volume Malt Feeders
Convey -n -Food Cattle
Feeders
Single Chain Conveyors
Ram Cleaners
Oswalt Ensilmixers
FARMATIC-
Rlender Hammer Mills
B lender Roller Mills
B lender Mills for Ground
Hi -Moisture Corn
Augers
Log Elevators
ACORN -
Cable Ram Cleaners
Hydraulic Manure
Pumps
WESTEEL-ROSCO
Grain Bins - 1,330 to
230,000 bu.
Ruck Feed Tanks
ACME -
Fan -Jot Ventilation
Systems
ASTON -
Ventilation Systems
RAL-
Completo Hog Confine-
ment Systems
SLURRY -SLINGER
Liquid Manure
Spreaders
CLAY -
Parts and Service fort
Clay Equipment
AERO -FLUSH
Liquid Manure Pumps,
Aerators, Separators
WE HANDLE EVERYTHING
ALMOST
LOWRY FARM SYSTEMS,
RR 1, Kincardine, Ont.
Phone 303-52!15
WATER WELL
DRILLING
"SA YEARS EXPERIENCE"
• FARM • SUBURBAN • INDUSTRIAL • MUNICIPAL •
• FREE ESTIMATES
' GU.A-RANTEED WELLS
• FAST MODERN EQUIPMENT
• 4 ROTARY & PERCUSSION DRILLS
"OUR EXPERIENCE ASSURES
LOWER COST WATER WELLS"
DAVIDSON-
WELL DRILLING
LIMITED
4 Rectory and Percussion Drills
PHONE 357.1960
WINGHAM
Collect Coils Accepted
"ONTARIO'S FINEST WATER WELLS SINCE 1900"
Goderich Twp. council
Approve permits •
Requests for 17 building
permits were dealt with
when Goderich Township
Council met in regular
session Apri120.
Building permits were
issued to Ray Bush for a
picnic shelter on lots 23 and
24, „ Maitland Concession;
Richard Kaptein for a
swimming pool on lot three,
Base Line; Anthony Sch-
wartz for a cottage addition
on lot 72, Plan 13; John
Scanlan for a machine shed
on lot six, concession two;
Don Bosman for a house on
lot 21, concession nine; Doug
Robinson for two sundecks
on lot 141, Plan 13; Ken
Sowerby to, demolish a shed
on lot 12, concession 3; Ed
Britnell to build a garage
and shed on lot 5, concession
3; Martin Van den Berg for a
broiler barn on lot 99,
Maitland Concession and for
a produce stand at the same
location; Tony Van Dongen
for a barn addition on lots 57
and 58, Base Line; Seranus
Martin for a maple sugar
shack on lot 72 Maitland
Concession; Gordon Lobb for
a sun deck on lot 18, Huron
Road; Gerald Rodges for
feed roonis on lot 22,E
Maitland • Concession;
Ronald Kruspe for a storage
shed on lot five, concession
three.
Permits were also ap-
proved for Nick Den Boer for
a dairy barn on lot 37, con-
cession 14; Mike Moriarty
for a barnon lot 34, con-
cession five; and Mrs.
YvonnMoyer for a house on
e yr u -.•-
lot 42, Maitland Concession.
But these permits were held
pending the proper ap-
provals.
Accounts totalling
$11,823.82' were approved for
payment. Of this total,
$10,267.88 was for road
superintendent payroll and
$1,147.50 was for Postill Tile
Drainage for the new
township hall.
The water well and system
on Plan number 29 were •
discussed but information
was not available fromW.M.
Dundass. The clerk was
instructed to contact Mr.
Dundass and set up a
meeting with the council and
Ontario Hydro.
J. Slade was present at the
council meeting to explain
insurance policies as
suggested for the township.
Council members asked
many, questions but • no
motions were recorded.
Bruce McClinchey, Ray
McClinchey and Peter
Imanse were also present at
•the meeting to discuss the
water system on , Plan
number 28. The system
presently supplies four users
on Plan number 28 and one
on Plan number 18. No
motions were recorded.
Tile drain loans were
requested by H. Torrance for
$6,025 on lot 28, concession
five; and by Charles Wain
for $10,020• on lot- 30, con-
cession two andfor$15,915 on
lot. 30, concession' one.
Council passed a motion that
the township will loan up to
75 per cent of the approved
expenditures to a maximum
loan •of $12,000 per year per
applicant; and that all loans
will be made on a first
completed, and inspected
basis for 1981.
A' municipal drain ap-
plication was received from
Bud Yeo and others. Council
useum opens doors
The Ontario Agricultural
Museum near Milton opens
its doors for the third season
May 11. Five new. buildings
will be open to the public this
year, bringing the total
facility to 23 buildings.
"This is a living museum
that's changing eyery year,"
says Bob Carbe4, museum.
general manlier. "We'
started with about 5000 ar-
tifacts and now the collection
is close to20,000 pieces."
Among the five new
buildings is the carriage
house,, a horseshoe -shaped
building that houses a
complete display of wheeled
and ru>pnered vehicles. The
display features 50 vehicles
including cutters, sleighs,
buggies and hearses.
The octagonal barn which
opened last year is now a
landmark alongthe south
side of highway 401 near the
Niagara escarpment.
Are you 'being beaten
by veivetleaf,
irnsonweed, 'andr11*'
cocklebur
Lasso® herbicide plus a metribuzin
product such as Sencor or Lexonel is the
smart choice for tough weed control in soy-
beans. These hardworking tank mixes effec-
tively reduce competition from hard -to -
control weeds like velvetleaf while
controlling many grasses like {oxtail,
crabgrass, fall panicum and barnyard -
grass. They also control many broad-
leaves like pigweed, smartweed,
common ragweed, nightshade and
wild mustard.
And Lasso gives you excellent crop
safety with no carryover. In fact, if
you're switching some acres to soybeans...
you'll find that a Lasso tank mix will give
you the same. great grass control you're
used to in corn.
Don't put up with tough weeds. Remember,
Lasso plus metribuzin is the smart way to
fight back.
passed a motion that it be
accepted and referred to
W.J.' Bartlett and Associates
for inspection and report
Several tenders were
received by J. Potter for
supply of a mower.
Quotations.. Included the
exchange of the present
mower. A motion was passed
to accept the tender of
Clinton Ford Tractors with
an amendment that council
inspect the various mowers
before purchase.
Four tenders were
received for loading and
hauling pit run gravel,
crushed gravel and top soil.
Council accepted the tender
of James Adams subject to
the approval of the M.T.C.
Council passed a motion
that the treasurer be
authorized to apply to the
Ministry of Housing for an
Ontario . Home Renewal
grant in the amount of
$30,000.
The reeve and clerk were
authorized by council to sign
the deeds selling fourth, fifth
and sixth streets on Plan
cumber 8,
Land severances were
requested by Herman
Stryker and Robert and
. Pearl Hartinap.. C,ouncit
decided to deal with
Stryker's applieatioiras-per
questionnaire and to defer
Hartman's for furthet in-
vestigation.
A waste disposal' site
agreement was presented
and a motion was passed to
have the reeve and clerk sign
it
Council then adjourned
until April 30 at 8 p.m.
DAVE HAYLOW
ELECTRICAL.
Serving
Industrial. Comm
Residential Needs
524 .6 038
Omni
RX295 & RX29
for 260011.U. areas
RX 383
for 2700 H.U. areas
Cecil Cranston'
R.R. 2, Auburn
Phone 529-7691
Your authorized
Dealer for...
ARCTIC CAT
SNOWMOBILES
SUZUKI
MOTORCYCLES
HONDA
MOTORCYCLES
VI XII
!
v
'GUMS
VARNA, ONT.
(HWY. 04, NORTH OF HENSALL, LOOK FOR THE SIGNS)
262-3318. or 2624809
•
t • h•1
• Tx- `, J
wt,
•
R�•
Lasso'.
The
Smart
Choice
Monsanto
every farm
should reap
the many
benefits of
Daymond
Sub -surface
Drainage
• f
4 • •
X44,
en you choose
Lasso®plus nnetra.buzin...
given tough weeds losethe fight.
t'e.4, • :,
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW THE LABEL DiRECTIONS
Lasso" LS a registered trademark of Monsanto Company
Monsanto Canada inc . registered user
Sencor is a trademark for a herbicide of the parent company
of Farbenfabrlken Bayer GmbH. Leverkusen r
•
Lezone• is a trademark of 5.1 duPont de Nemours and Companp '
eMonscmtoCompany 1981
Monsanto Canada Inc.
Winnipeg. Montreal. lbronto. Regula. Saskatoon,
Calgary. Vancouver LN -V-3-81
Lake H u ren
Farren Drainage
R.R. 1 Dung
• ' ' 011.._...Ontario-.._._.____._
• �zy�, y
(519) w"a'`t ®7 10