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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. NORTHRUP KING PX14 Plant PX 14, one of National- NK's newest high -yielding hybrids. PX 14 has excellent seedling vigor. Single cross. Excellent yields in grain or silage, Has excellent standability. PX 14 dries down fast. Very good stress tolerance and ear retention. Full dent, 2800 Heat Units. Call today. NATIONAL -NK SEEDS LTD. 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 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 How to Measure, Order and Install Rubber Backed Carpeting 1y•`;' .. ;t. P•'p'�1•,'.p �je°�°°m'na�e �b,q n^•n �, \' \ ,� p. as men.,, on s•,m ,mM a NO PURCHASE NECESSARY! PICK UP YOUR COPY of THESE FREE BOOKLETS AT DISCOUNT DAVE'S! Letters a,e apprec.ated by Bob Trott, Etdale Rd Eimna Ont N38 2C7 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? Established 1876 McKILLOP MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY HEAD OFFICE: 10 MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT. Mrs. Margaret Sharp. Sec. Treas. Ph. 527-0400 FULL COVERAGE Farm and Urban Properties Fire, Windstorm, Liability, Theft Various Floater Coverages Homeowner's, Tenant's Package, Composite Dwelling 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 — Farm — Factory Plain or safety toe PUNCTURE PROOF SOLES Open all day Wednesday .ROSS SHOESHOP --142-The quare, Goderich, Ont. ............... ............... M,p1.feGitOVE ENCS 45 NELSON St. GOGERICH "Retirement Horne" with "HOME ATMOSPHERE" — 44 HOUR SUPERVISION — Maple Grove offers gracious yet comfortable living In both private and semi -private rooms. Our warm surroundings and home cooked meals are most comfor- table, os 1s the convenience of being close to the down- town shopping area and most churches. These however are just a few of our many features. Call today for more details, we welcome all enquiries. 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., ROBERTSON FARMS George Robertson R.R. 5 Goderich 524-6658 WATER WELL DRILLING 79 YEARS EXPERIENCE" • FARM • SUBURBAN • INDUSTRIAL • MUNICIPAL • • FREE ESTIMATES • GUARANTEED WELLS • FAST MODERN EQUIPMENT • 4 ROTARY & PERCUSSION DRILLS • "OUR EXPERIENCE ASSURES LOWER COST WATER WELLS" DAVIDSON WELL DRILLING LIMITED 4 Rotary and Percussion Drills PHONE 357-1960 WINGHAM Collect Calls Accepted "ONTARIO'S FINEST WATER WELLS SINCE 1900" B. Custom work CUSTOM COMBINING - book your corn early before the rush. $18.00 per acre under normal conditions. Call 524-2520 even ings.-44,45nc CUSTOM COMBINING .with 6600 John Deere combine wide row, wagons and auger sup- plied. Phone 523- 4260.-42-47 C. Wanted WANTED. - cattle. We pay good prices for reasonably injured or unthrifty cattle. Easy loading trailer with winch. Call collect 238- 2796, John Ansens, Grand Bend. -44-50 PX 21 New hybrid from National - NK with outstanding poten- tial for high yields."S'ingle cross. PX 21 has excellent stalk strength. Excellen,t for grain or silage with maximum Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN). Medium height. Combines well for fast easy harvest. Fast dry down. 2800 heat units. NATIONAL -NK SEEDS LTD..,, 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 DUAL-AIRE SAVE_ with the economy of WOOD, phis the convenience of OIL. BUY the DUAL-AIRE fully automatic combination furnace that can pay for itself. •'Compact 28" width • Efficient tubular heat exchanger • Burns wood, coal and oil • Easy to Install and service • 25 years of proven performance • 4 -forced air models ■ DA150„ Listed by Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (Manufactured by Robt. Bell Industries Ltd., Seaforth Ontario] Also available are Dual -Aire Forced warm air WOOD FURNACES and for your special needs the Dual -Aire GRAVITY FLOW FURNACES See the Dual -Aire Combination furnace on display at the (' .... /u it mall Thur day, Friday and Saturday 'NOVEMBER 1-2-3 during Mall hours. Pres nted by the nda ufacturer, Robert Bell Industries of Seaforth