HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-11-01, Page 27GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1,1979—PAGE 9A
Farm
sales could e result
of interest rate increase
BY JEFF SEDDON
Farmers looking for
that one good year to get
themselves off an
economic tightrope may
have been dealt a
finishing blow by
government recently
when interest rates
soared to record levels.
Government decisions
to allow the interest rate
in Canada to increase to
stay abreast of United
States" lending rates
could spell disaster for
many farmersworking
under a heavy debt load.
Spokesmen for farm
organizations, govern-
ment agencies and len-
ding institutions all voice
the same opinion when
discussing how high
interest rates will affect
agriculture. All claim
that unless those rates
drop soon there will be
quite a few farms going
up for sale this winter and
next spring.
The gloomy future
painted for some farmers
is no indication that
agriculture will suffer
any more than other
industry. High interest
rates combined with
reduced spending will
mean any business that is
operating slightly
overextended will be
forced to drastic survival
tactics.
Stan Paquette, a field
man with the ministry of
agriculture and food
Clinton office, is op-
timistic the majority of
farmers will be able to
weather this economic
pinch. But his optimism
is mixed with doubts. •
Paquette noted that the
high interest rates and
reduced spending has
already made its
presence known.He said
two areas, cattle and
;swine, have suffered
price dips that some
farmers simply won't be
able to afford.
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Bayfield
482-3347
Gerald Regier
Zurich
236-4843
Roy Robinson
Belgrave
357-2269
Bill Stickle
.Bayfield
565-5377
Don McNeil
Goderich
524-8098
He said swine farmers,
now operating with a; high
debt margin resulting
from purchasing
animals, expanding
barns or installing
equipment, will be hurt
by falling prices. He said
many of those farmers
took on the debt with the
intention of getting 65 to
70 cents a pound for hogs.
That price has dropped to
58 cents a pound which is
Mt enough return on
investment to allow
survival.
Pork producers• are
normally the first to feel
any economic pinch since
they will likely be the
ones with the greatest
debt load. Pork is one of
the few agricultural
products not regulated by
market quotas which
encourages many young
farmers to invest in pork
production. Not having to
purchase an expensive
quota convinced many
young farmers to raise
hogs and now those
recent investments may
come back to haunt them.
Paquette noted ,. that
cattle replacement prices
have also been affected
by the country's
economic plight. In the
past six weeks cattle
prices have dipped to less
than a dollar a pound and
many producers pur-
chased calves for feed
lots at $1.25 a pound.
Cash crop farmers are
Probably in the best
osition of any but are not
without problems. Facing
huge bills for equipment,'
seed and fertilizer that
are normally paid after
crops are harvested and
"marketed those farmers
are getting squeezed by
Mother Nature.
With interest costs
mounting many badly
need a break in the
weather to allow corn
crops to be taken off.
NLOct
ha �Le n3nney
borrowed againstthose
crops and the quicker
those loans are paid the
more money stays on the
farm.
Paquette said the next
three weeks may be
critical for corn growers.
He said wet weather has
delayed corn harvesting
and brought it close to the
time when snow could
become a factor. He said
if the corn is not off the
field before the snow
"hits and stays" some
CLAY•
Silo UAloaders
Feeders .
Cleaners
Stabling
Leg Elevators
Liquid Manure
Equipment
Hog Equipment
BUTLER —
Silo Unloaders
Feeders
Conveyors
FARMATIC —
Mills
Augers, etc.
ACORN —
Cleaners
Heated Waterers
WESTEEL-ROSCO
Granaries
B 8, L - Hog Panelling
LOWRY FARM SYSTEMS
RR 1, Kincardine, Ont.
Phone 395-5286.
farmers will be "pretty
well licked".
The dismal future
painted for farmers by
the soaring interest rates
has not escaped
politicians. Huron -
Middlesex MPP Jack
Riddell is well aware of
what could happen to
many farmers this winter
and has been trying to
find out what, if anything,
the province intends to do
to help weather the
storm.
Riddell said he has
petitioned Premier
William Davis and the
minister of agriculture
and food, to see if the
government is willing to-
do, anything to help the
plight of ,the farmer.
Riddell is concerned
about the • impact
bankrupt farms will have
on the economy of Huron
County. He noted that
Huron, unlike most other
counties in Ontario,
depends heavily on the
agricultural industry for
survival.
Both Paquette and
Riddell seem confused
about the benefits of
allowing the interest rate
increase with the United
States' rate. As Paquette
noted "I can't see how it
helps the economy to
have people go broke".
Not unlike other
problems that have beset
the farming community
in the past this latest will
still affect the minority of
farmers. The basic
principle a successfull
farmer will rely on, good
management, will allow
him to carry on in
business.
As Paquette points out
there will be a "pinch"
but farmers, • like
everyone else, will just
have to "slow down
buying".
Expansion of equip-
ment, land or buildings
will just have to wait until
interest rates make that
expansion economically
viable.
LARGEST STOCK
IN THE COUNTY
WORK
BOOTS
OPP Constable Bill Wilson was honored by the
Bluewater Centre for the Developmentally Han-
dicapped recently for his work as community services
officer for the Goderich OPP detachment. Wilson is
leaving the post to 'return to normal police duties and
will be replaced by constable Bill Hassall. The staff at
Bluewater gave Wilson a certificate of appreciation
after he spent an afternoon at the centre giving a
presentation on illegal drugs, their uses and affects.
He has done •a number of similar presentations at the
centre during his tenure as community services of-
ficer. (photo by Dave Sykes)
tits
Rene Levesque may be an ogre in the eyes of many
people outside Quebec. He may also be a saviour of
French -Canada.
Signs of discontent are appearing in his cabinet and
there are people who predict that he will lose his'long-
awaited referendum. Some of the legislation passed in
Quebec would not be considered democratic in other
parts of Canada.
However, his government has passed a bill on land
use that is -one of the toughest in Canada and could be a
model for the Ontario , legislature. It is important
legislation if Canadians want to continue to eat in the
generations to come.
Land is like petroleum: it is a non-renewable
resource. When the best land in the country is lost to
urban Sprawl, power corridors, recreation, paved
plazas and superhighways, that land cannot be
reclaimed. Itis gone forever.
A new law freezing development of most Quebec
farmland and dramatically restricting urban sprawl
is being hailed by most farmers in that province as the
best thing the Parti Quebecois has done since coming
into power.
The law sets aside some four million acres of land in
the Ottawa and St. "Lawrence river valleys and
prohibits non-agricultural uses unless special per-
mission is obtained from a commission _ a land use
commission — created to enforce the legislation.
Dave . Barrett, the former premier of British
Columbia whose government brought in . Canada's
first agricultural zoning law, has praised the
toughness of the Quebec law.
The legislation was not passed without a fight, mind
you. The Union des Producteurs° Agricoles fought to
beat hell to get the law passed. This organization, as I
understand it; has 80 per cent of the 48,000 farmers in
Qiiebee as members. Those members were frightened
the the demand for rural land through speculators
would soon drive the price of farmland so high that
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farmers would sell out in droves rather than continue
t� try to make a living on the land.
The Quebec real estate association fought against
the bill. Cutting off the possibility of suburban ex-
pansion, they said, has already made city land more
,expensive, up by 20 per cent. This same escalation has
been a fight farmers have been living with for the last
20 years.
The union of Quebec municipalities fears the law
will heighten land speculation in urban areas. Doesn't
this impossibility of sub -dividing for residential use
translate into a monopolization of land? they ask.
Maybe it 'does. If so, it's worth it. Good farmland in
Canada keeps dwindling. If a monopoly is needed to
preserve it, then so be it.
At least .this province.has shown some .leadership.
and foresight in preserving farmland. The ideas have
been etched into legislation.
When, then, is Ontario going to enact similar laws?
At this time, about the only thing this province has
done in a weak, milksop effort to placate those who
would preserve land is an innocuous piece of paper
known as Food Land Guidelines. And that's all they
are, just. guidelines. No legislation to give some teeth
to those who get sick to the stomach when thousands of
acres of the best farmland in the country disappears
every year to the developers' hammers.
Anyone over 40 in this country is well aware of how
huge tracts of land have disappeared into urban
sprawl. It cannot go on forever. Perhaps there is
enough land left to fill the bellies of Canadians. But the
rate of ,growth does not diminish and more and more
acres are being,engulfed.
How long can Ontario people wait for the province to
take definite steps, legislative steps, to preserve
farmland?
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HEAD OFFICE: 10 MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT.
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DIRECTORS AND ADJUSTERS
Ken Carnochan, R.R.#4, Seaforth
Lavern Godkin, R. R.01, Walton
Ross Leonhardt, R.R.N1, Bornoholm
John McEwing; RSR -#1, Blyth
Stanley Mcllwain, R,R.112, Goderich
Donald McKercher, R.R.N1, Dublin
John A. Taylor, R.R.N1, Brucetield
J.N. Trewartha, Box 661, Clinton
Stuart Wilson, 11.0 81, Brucetield
AGENTS
E.F. 'Bill' Durst, 14,0. 84, Seaforth
James Keys, R.R.41, Seaforth
Wrn. Lelper, R.R.#i, Londesboro
482-3354
527-1877
345-2234
523-9396
524-7051
527-1837
482-7527
482-7593
527-0687
527-1455
527-0467
523-4257
CALL AN AGENT OR THE OFFICE
— Industrial
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— Factory
Plain or safety toe
PUNCTURE PROOF
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Open all day
Wednesday
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SHOESHOP
--142-The quare,
Goderich, Ont.
............... ...............
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PHONE:
524-8610 or524-7324
FARM CLASSIFIED SECTION
A. For sale
TWO USED Clay Manger
Ranger electric feed
carts in good condition.
Asking $2,500 each.
Phone 395-5286.-43,44ar
TALK CORN: Talk to
your P.A.G. seed dealer
about this year's results
from test plots in
"operation Side by Side".
Call M. W. Durst 482-
7309.-43-46
B. Custom work
CUSTOM COMBINING
FOR CORN - 6600 John
Deere with truck. Phone
527-1939 or 482-3203.-43-
44x
CUSTOM CORNSTALK
CHOPPING. Phone 529-
7851.-44,45
WANTED TO RENT•
Crop land in Colborne,
Goderich and Ashfield
Townships. Top dollar
paid for top land. Call
Steve Buchanan,
Goderich 524
4700.-38tfnc
CUSTOM CORN DRYING
Buy - SeII - Store
or weigh out to your account.,
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George Robertson
R.R. 5 Goderich 524-6658
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B. Custom work
CUSTOM COMBINING -
book your corn early
before the rush. $18.00 per
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even ings.-44,45nc
CUSTOM COMBINING
.with 6600 John Deere
combine wide row,
wagons and auger sup-
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4260.-42-47
C. Wanted
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Box 1207 Cambridge, Ontario
Edmonton • Winnipeg
HYBRID CORN • FORAGES • SOYBEANS
Area National -NK Dealers are:
Gerry Greydanus
° Bayfield
482-3347
Gerald Regier
Zurich
236-4843
Roy Robinson
Belgrave •
357-2269
Bill Stickle
Bayfield
565-5377
Don McNeil
Goderich
• 524-8098
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