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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-03-20, Page 33Fg• • . . • •!)."•. of 1. !; • A.' •fd,.$."-• • • c • .7t:4••••< C01,01)01 concern 0 WOOD County V Huron of Parlia Unitec The hydri* County' Inhiso Garniss, Huron County Federation PresY1001WS0r1;!"The farm community has watched in dismay as the recovery from recesSiO1t0Vetthailaat two years has passed the, agricultural community • by: Our 10404 ,Y-74/1 '••;ft'oM'i.1,11,e.;111,0aet:•,•01 • •tbeprogressOf Ilivon•• Marks, Cliairinan Owe'. suppliers 11001. the first to tell you that we have ''• • Mydroltepert, Tony McQUail represented the Foodland Hydro Cenomitcee audexpressed the committee's , concerns on the impact of 01009 - WO routes, through southern ar,000431;4artd Middleeelt counties. Mr. *Q. naillielielfe'elhat Hydro will discover thatthflitilpaet onlagriculture will be significant., when their research is • ennWlete , 4Tix0,1p. tirtiOg process which Hydro has been trying. tO:fellow- to ,get more power out of the Brit Onclear Power Development is operative or small business approach as an imProteirietit' over earlier years. It has opposed to allowing huge multinationals to involved Con.aiderahle consultation with the prevail. Large insensitive projects are not potentially, effected communities. The what the area needs, or wants. To think that hearing process also involved considerable a large company could even come close to input from . governinent ministries,, replacing th'4,000 jobs that once existed at conservation commissions and farm groups. the BNPD is wishful thinking," said Brian So much input was received that the Jeffray of the energy committee. "If we " hearing board modified the proposal Hydro were to talk strictly on the basis of job had brought it, in light of the input it creation, the best thing the government received." . , • could do is to encourage a healthy "At the last moment this decision was agriculture in the area." nullified by a court ruling that notice of the 4-H Clubs hearing has been inadequate," explained Approximately 1,200 youths are expected Mr. Mectiall. i to take part in a large range of 4-H projects However, he 'also pointed out that the in Huron County this year. Ken Ramsey, of , problem remains whether or not a new the Huron _county 4-H Club Leaders' hearing 'board will agree that agricultural Association, reported that the combining, of land preservation is a major concern. "We the homemaking and agricultural programs can expect a tough arguement before the has been challenging, yet rewarding to the hearing hoard." 250 volunteer leaders. Energy Committee Events planned for this year include a For a number of years residents of Huron judging competition, demonstration County have heard rumors df the competition„Reach for the Top competition construction of an adjacerft enerdy park eand an achievement day. from the Bruce Nuclear Power Pork producers Development (BNPD) Concerns from Huron County agricultural groups and committees were expressed to MP Murray Cardiff,- MPP Murray Flston and MPP Jack Riddell during the Huron Federation of Agficulteire Members' of Parliament Dinner. Also present to answer ques- tions and listen to concerns on March 9 at Wesley -Willis United Church was Huron Coun- ty Warden Paul Steckle. (Anne Narejko photo) important t� develop the area with a co - "The biggest single issue facing pork The Energy Comnlittee of the Huron producers at this moment is whether or not t Federation of Agriculture is not opposed to the United States government will put duties making the most of the energy generated at on pork going into the USA," said Ross Eedy • the BNPD, but would like to see the interests of the Huron County Pork Producers. of the community put first. Mr. Eedy explained that the subsidies "We feel that if ordinary Canadians, pork producers received last year- barely ' especially local residents, are to benefit covered the cost of production. He .felt the from any project at the energy park, it is subsidies were not designed to give the r Ontario producers an advantage over the producers in the„ States, who also have indirectsubsidies to help them. Mr. Eedy feels the arguement that large • volumes are hurting their market is "far- fetched" because' it uiakes up approximately two percent of the total market. Another concern the pork producers have is to make the competition level equal for producers in each province. "Notable support programs in Quebec have had a tremendous impact on our industry with Quebec doubling their production from 2.5 million to 5 -million hogs over a -relatively short time span," commented Mr. Eedy. "Under current conditions, a free market system is a far cry from reality." A third concern is for the family farm. In order for it to survive, it is .believed a long term financing program at reasonable interest rates is needed. "Gross income is generally 2-1, meaning a farmer invests $500,000 and with that investment, can maybe generate $250,000. In sales in business this is completely different. The gross income is many times more than the total business inve4ment, therefore high interest rates of the past five years have hurt farmers more than any group. A long term low interest financing program would certainly help this situation," said Mr. Eedy. Another point brought forward. by the Pork Producers' concerns grading fees. ; • . , CrOPEr,tICH GNA ."1.• „, . . TAB,N* NrADAY, imam 204 , of related'issues They feel that the government adding to their problems by charging M cents feremb •ectiremi.graded. 1Ve ace selling pork for too low a pries as it is and furthir feeS will only make our situation worse," During his presentation, Mr, Eedy stated that in 1975 the average price for pork was $66.98 for 100 potillds and .in .1985, they are gettin6 $72. He feels that with the inflation rate, they should be •receiving $1.20 per pound to stay at the same level of return for 1975. Milk Cominittee Jim Hunter of the Huron County, Milk Committee presented four concerns; interest rates, false dairy products, milk plants finding themselves with little milk in, the fall and a price increase in Number 1 quota milk. Concerning fall milk shortages, Mr. , Hunter explained that the Ontario Milk Marketing Board will try and have more milk produced at that time, however, he feels that this will be difficult as cow's milk production lessens in fall and the costs of extra are greater. Increasing quota prices also concerns Mr. Hunter. Price increases for the dairy farmer often effects the price of milk for the consumer and Mr. Hunter asked, 'Will the people be able to buy the milk?" He further added, "We have a business to run and most of our dairy farmers have a large debt to service and wages to be paid along with so many other things." Mr. Hunter emphasized that the long term objective of the dairy industry is to "ensure the maintenance of the commitment of governments to the essentials ("L. Canada's national dairy policy." Egg Producers ‘Frec trade and the difference between the present government's altitude towards supply management agencies and the former government's attitude is the main concern for the Huron County Egg Producers. William Scott, •Huron director on the Ontario Egg Producers' .Marketing Board said, "The Canadian Egg Marketing Agency is probably one of the few commodity organizations that is not violently complaining about the imposition of inspection user fees by Agriculture Canada." The United States has had lovfogg prices for the past two or three years. The executive of the United Egg Producers has been invited to attend a meeting with the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency this month, showing that they are interested in learning about Canada's egg plan, Mr. Scott commented, "It would be ironic if we dropped supply management or made radical changes to it and the USA turned around and put a supply management Stetii inplace for eggs and then dumped their surplus eggs into Canada. th0s0 0.101,0s of tOn0Ping theSWAN of tax dollars, obviously supply is a better program than any kind of stabilization program that depends on talc 'dollars and unrestricted production." Finance Committee The Huron Federation Finance Corihnittee major concerns involve -ages, averages and incomes. Our research found that 10Percent of all farmers are over 65 and about half of' all farmers are over 50...Our concern is with the younger group who will be expected, to refinance the older group as old age take its toll. As time passes these low equity young farmers will be a larger percentage and as the older high equity farmers retire, the average equity of farmers will decline," reported Stephen Thompson, 'Chairman of the Finance Committee. The White Paper indicates that farniers' incomes are comparable to other occupations. However, the committee'S, belief that the older farmer makes more and the younger farmers make less farm income because of their debt load and principal payments. Research has shown that off farm income made up approximately 30 percent of net farm income in 1976. ' "What.we want to illustrate is that if off farm income were subtracted, farm income by itself would nut appear to provide farmers 'wage parity' with non farmers, especially for young farmers," stated Mr. Thompson. Absentee Foreign Ownership "Ten percent of Morris Township land can be classified as absentee foreign ownership," said Bert Sanders of Morris Township. He said that this causes problems for the municipality because the tax base is reduced, and since buildings are being torn down, the population is declining. "First and foremost, absentee foreign ownership threatens the family farm. We cannot compete with owners who are willing to take a five percent return on their investment when we are paying 12 - 15 percent or more for mortgage money," stated Mr. Sanders. , The response people like Mr. Sanders have been getting is that governments don't want to discourage foreign investment. Agriculture concerns covered a wide range of topics at the in-depth session between government representatives and local farmers. Federation President Garniss noted, "1 hope today can be one of the first steps in which the various farm groups and government representatives can work together to integrate these Solutions and to set agriculture on a course to stability and prosperity for the future." BIG ORANGE B e? 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