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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-08-10, Page 11is 0 Rains force board to alter sales Continued from front pa ge fill from canning factories European orders with poorer quality beans, beans pur- chased from American growers or had to buy back the orders from factories with cash. The two largest dealers which the Ontario Bean Producers Marketing Board sell to, the Ontario Bean Growers Co-operative in London and W.G. Thomp- son's and Sons, blame the farmers for not meeting their commitments and so they are holding back the final payment for the beans, Allen said. Since the dealer's haven't made the final payment to the Ontario Bean Producers Marketing board, they can't make the payment to growers. The board is now suing the dealers for the final $5 to $7 million dollar payment and the two dealers are countersuing the board for a payment for the beans they had promised but weren't able to deliver. Allen told federation members he expects the litigation will be tied up in court for some time, which means it will likely be at least another year before growers receive their final payment for the 1977 crop. Mr. Allen, a commercial bean seed grower from Brucefield, said he would try and explain "why the bean board is in the mess it is." In tracing the background of the agency, Allen said when his father started growing beans, in the early 1900's the barter system was the rule of thumb. If his father wanted a bag of sugar, he took a bag of beans into town, and made a trade. Gradually marketing boards sprang up to handle beans for growers, including a 1935 board which was empowered to buy and sell all the beans for the growers. This board lasted only the year, Mr. Allen said the boards for the next 20 year period were "negotiating boards," For every bag of beans growers delivered to the mill, the board would take 77 cents of the purchase price. Then, every few years when there was a five to 10 percent surplus of white beans, the board would buy this up and dispose of it, so the surplus didn't bring down prices. But improved insect sprays and the use of combines allowed bean growers to double their acreage and the board soon faced annual surpluses. In the late 1960's, the board decided to build a mill in Exeter, and suggested taking 10 cents from every bag of beans brought in by growers. The growers voted down the suggestion, and the government took this as a vote of non -confidence in the board. Allen said some dealers wanted to be rid of the the board anyway, so "trum- ped up false charges" against the agency which was put out of office by the government. The board member said the only other marketing board which supported the Bean Producers was, the hog producers agency, In 1969, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture sent down a troubleshooter from Toronto to investigate the situation and he decided the charges were false and alerted farmers. The directors were re-elected and the Ontario Bean Producers Board was back in business, Allen said the board still faced the same old problem: "what roblem- "what to do with the surplus beans." He said the board has to sell beans when the market wants to buy them. Since 80 percent of the Ontario white bean crop is exported, the agency has to accept the world price that's being offered. Allen said for the three years before the agency marketed beans, the growers were averaging $1 per bag less than Michigan growers and that they averaged $1 per bag more since the beans were handled by the board. The Ontario Bean Producers Board markets all the beans of Ontario growers, although growers can hold their beans back after harvest. Buy elsewhere Allen said the European buyers can beans every day of the year, and "if you hold your beans back, they'll buy somewhere else." He said the problem oc- curs when everyone tries to sell the crop at once, and the price of beans goes down. Although dealers sell the HAVE DRAW ON QUILT — At the garage and bake sale sponsored by the Catholic Women's League of St. Peter's church at St. Joseph, tickets on a draw for a quilt were being sold. Buying some ticketswere(left) Erna Pitt of London from CWL members Mrs. Olivia Bedard and Mrs. Dolly Jeffrey. Staff photo BIG WHEELS FLY HIGH — One of the many categories in Sunday's motocross action at Hully Gully was the school boy big wheel competition. These two riders came over the finishing jump in one of the qualifying rounds for that category. Staff photo majority of Ontario beans to Britain, Allen said last year's crop was sold in 51 other countries as well. He said three European buyers were touring Ontario this week and that "they've got to have our beans and we (growers and board) have to have them." He said the buyers in Britain have assured the board that they would never buy their beans all from one country. One grower in the audience expressed concern that buyers might purchase all their beans from the United States. American growers are expecting a very good crop this year. In response to questions from other bean growers in the audience, Allen said as far as the board knows, the dealers cannot put a lien on future bean crops. He said dealers can't take the debt from one pool and carry it to the next. Allen also told the growers that under the federal government stablization program for the 1977 white bean crop, pedigreed seed growers do not qualify for assistance. 'Payments The government stablization payments are expected to be made to bean growers by the end of this month. In response to another question about Ethiopia's entry into the world bean market, Allen said although the country was the third largest exporter of beans for one year, this was because the government encouraged farmers to go into beans to get money to buy arms. Allen said the Ethiopian beans were sold largely to German canning factories since the Germans can their beans in salt brine, and sell them in glass jars, rather than canning them in tomato sauce. The board member said the German factories preferred the appearance of the Ethiopian beans. In response to another question, Allen said growers would have taken more of the 1977 crop off the land if Have bike safety program By BARB DIETRICH We have been quite busy these past few weeks. Trips to Ian McAllister's farm on August 1 and 2, proved to be quite interesting for mothers land children registered in morning and afternoon playground. Watching Mr. McAllister pull teeth and inject baby pigs, taking hay rides and kite flying were all a part of the activities. A total of 26 children took part in swimming at the Vanastra Rec. Centre last Thursday morning. We plan to make use of the Vanastra pool for the following three Thursdays of August. This past Tuesday af- ternoon, all interested children participated in a Bike Rodeo. Corporal Woodward, from the Exeter O.P.P. detachment discussed bike safety with the children. He tested their biking ability and gave useful tips where necessary. This will be very useful for our Bike-A-Thon, scheduled to raise money for a special event at the end of the program. there hadn't been crop in- surance. . He said if this had hap- pened, there would have been more- poorer quality beans to be sold to the Japanese market or to be made into dog food. Bean jam The Japanese buyers use the beans to make bean jam, so don't require the highest grade of bean. ;Allen asked bean growers who had any questions about the board to call him or the other three Huron County directors. He said the directors rarely receive calls, despite the many rumours about the board. In other business, mem- bers were asked to contact their local papers to ask why they weren't publishing the monthly Farmers' Price Index prepared by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. Peter Hannam, federation president, said in a letter to members •that while the Toronto dailies and other large national dailies were publishing the index, the smalltown papers didn't seem to use it. The executive committee of the Hurnon County Federation of Agriculture is going to draft a letter to the local media about carrying the index each month. Bill Crawford, fieldman for the Huron County federation, told members a very successful canvas for new members was com- pleted in the north of the county, with 50 new mem- berships purchased. He said since the federation couldn't get someone to donate a building for use at International Plowing Match, the federation booth will be in a tent this year. Adrian Vos reported that there are rumours Canada Packers and its union are talking about a strike set- tlement. He said the only problem the Canada Packers and Swift strike is creating is that many hog producers are taking their light hogs to market early in the week. He said producers are lining up to ship their hogs early in the week, and the hogs are losing weight in the barns while waiting to be slaughtered. Vos advised producers to "ship hogs late in the week." August 10, 1978 Page 11 McMASTER GRADUATE — Martha Gascho daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Gascho received her BA degree at the spring con- vocation of McMaster University. Martha is employed by the Hamilton Board of Education. Local 4-H needs leaders Grace Bird and Bea McClenaghan from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture & Food are looking for people to lead a 4- H food project "Essential Edibles" in Huron. This project features nutritious snacks and meals made with metric recipes. Anybody who enjoys cooking and would like to help teenagers learn about it can obtain more information from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture & Food office in Clinton. Individuals living in town are especially needed to help with this project. Leadership workshops to prepare volunteers for teaching the project will be held in : Wingham - Monday, August 28 and Tuesday, August 29, Gorrie - Wed- nesday, August 30 and Thursday August 31, Exeter - Wednesday, September 6 and Thursday, September 7, Seaforth - Monday, Sep- tember 11 and Wednesday, September 13, Blyth - Thursday, September 14 and Friday, September 15, Clinton - Monday, September 18 and Tuesday, September 19 and Clinton - Saturday, August 19 and Saturday, August 26. All inquiries will be an- swered by contacting Ontario Ministry of Agriculture & Food Box 159, Clinton, Ontario (482-3428) or (Zenith 7-2800) for long distance. IS YOUR SUBSCRIPTION DUE FOR RENEWAL? EASY TO FIND OUT JUST CHECK YOUR MAILING ADDRESS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF YOUR NEWSPAPER. In order to keep rising costs under control we have initiated a new system for subscription renewals. 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