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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1975-12-10, Page 31Bean producers split Citizens News, Dec, 17/75- Pao.e 11 Bo • Allan opposes bypassing dealers At a recent meeting of the Ontario Bean Producers Market- ing Board held in Zurich, bean producers in Huron County were split over the issue of whether or not the producers should use dealers to market beans produc- ed. Robert Allan of Brucefield, a long time member and former chairman of the board, lost his seat on the board when he took the unpopular position of oppos- ing the bypassing of dealers. In an interview with the News, Mr. Allan recently stated his position on the question and made a number of interesting comments on the past,' present and future operation of the board. As Mr. Allan's story is only one side of the question, the News intends to do a similar interview with Phil Durand of Zurich, chairman of the board, whose views conflict with those of Mr. Allan. "We in the bean industry should be working together to sell Canadian beans, not fighting amongst ourselves all the time." lamented bean farmer Robert Allan of Brucefield. Mr. Allan had recently lost his position as a member of the Ontario Bean Marketing Board, mainly because of his position on a contentious issue among the bean farmers of Huron County, but the loss of his seat didn't seem to bother him as much as the disagreement among fellow producers. "He (Phil Durand) has been going around telling farmers that the mills are making mill- ions of dollars at the expense of the producer," said Mr. Allan, "I would agree that the mills are probably getting a little more than they need but under the present circumstances with the producers disagreeing among themselves, they're protecting themselves." Mr. Allan believes the bean producers can operate efficiently through the dealers as they have been for many years. According to Mr. Allan, the producers are already "selling all the beans" which has been the slogan for the group wishing to bypass the dealers. He stated that the bean board now sets the time, price and. amount for any sale of beans before the dealer can carry out the transaction. The dealers, Cook's of Hensall, Thompson 's of Hensall, Water's of Parkhill, the Mensal] District Co-op and the Ontario Bean Grower's Co-op in London, are already sufficiently controlled by the board, in Mr. Allan's opinion. Mr. Allan explains that the dealers have international con nections and are known, and trusted, by bean purchasers in foreign countries. Since 75% of the Ontario grown beans are marketed to other countries, a continuation of this market is essential to growers. Mr. Allan feels that for the board to attempt to step in and sell directly to foreign customers would be a risk that isn 't worth taking. The charge by Mr. Durand that the producers lost a million dollars in one sale is a "day- dream" according to Mr. Allan. He explained that one year the American bean crop was poor and the Americans had to buy beans to fill orders. Since the demand was there, the bean board set the price at $50 per bag. One of the dealers charged $60 a bag when reselling them to the Americans. "To say that the high price was responsible for a surplus of 100,000 bags* that same year is foolish." said Mr. Allan. "It wasn 't because of high prices it was because the American demand was filled." Mr. Durand's charge that the bean industry is subsidizing beans for seed which are not be- ing used for seed is also false according to Mr. Allan. He said that the board plugged a loophole two years ago by insisting that the dealers buy only enough beans for seed as would be used for seed. This year, he said, 50,000 bags were subsidized by the board as seed and 50,000 bags were repurchased by prod- ucers as seed. Mr. Allan feels the platform taken by Mr. Durand to bypass the dealers is foolish and impract- ical but he's not too worried. He is confident that a majority of the nine man bean board is opposed to bypassing the dealers. Locally, he said, Mr. Durand is support- ed by Richard Erb and Joe Mil- ler and to a degree, by John Hazlitt. He said Mr. Hazlitt wants to thoroughly investigate the possibility before taking any action. The remainder of the board, in other bean producing counties. are opposed to bypass- ing the dealers, according to Mr. Allan. Mr. Allan also charged that Mr. Durand was not acting on the wishes of the board. He said that policy decisions made by the board were disregarded by Mr. Durand who continued to promote his own theories. Even though they are at opp- osite ends of the contentious issue, Mr. Allan still has a lot of respect for Mr. Durand and refers zrzninzialz st Minute Christmas Gifts to him as "one of the best board quickly adds "until he got this members we ever had" but idea about bypassing the deal- ers." REVIEW YEAR - Members of the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority gathered Wed- nesday in Exeter to review the year's activities at the annual meeting. Seen left to right with the annual report are, Roy Wescott of Usborne Township, vice-chairman; secretary Lila Hume; chairman Elgin Thompson of Tuckersmith Township and resources manager Roger Martin. (News photo) Hydro I Continued from page 10 plants and transmission lines should be built on low priority agricultural land or on non- agricultural land," he said. One of the issues he raised was new to the commission: farm liabil- ity increases due to hydro corr- idors. George Adams explained that farmers are liable for damage to hydro towers on their land. Power lines are forced onto the farmer, Mr. Adams said, but the farmers aren 't sure of how far the liability extends. A damaged power line could cause thousands of dollars of damage and could make the farmer liable to suit industries whose hydro is cut off by the damage, he suggested. Mr. Adams proposed that the commission investigate the poss- ibility of Ontario Hydro assuming the liability costs since "the farm- er has no options" as to the placing of the power lines on his property. NEW CONDITIONS About 170 property owners VISIT SELF-HELP ASSOCIATES CRAFTS FROM BANGLADESH * HANGING SIKAS * SHOULDER BAGS * PLACE MATS * TABLE CENTRES * POT HOLDERS * ROOM DIVIDERS * WALL HANGINGS * HAMMOCKS n r s crow on the now -existing Bruce-to- Seaforth right-of-way were rep- resented by David McCallum of R.R.1, Wingham. The Bruce - Huron Powerline Negotiating Committee expressed its conc- erns about the changes created by the presence of the hydro corridors in this area. "Our every day lives, directly or in- directly, have changed," Mr. McCallum said. We offer a prayer for our children, their children and their children's children. May they always have food on their tables as we have had in generations past. Waste not, want not," he said. 3 "We seem to have no respect for agricultural land, even though it may be our most important resource," Hans Feldmann of R.R.3, Listowel suggested. Pat Daunt, of R.R.2, Gorrie, urged, "It is high time that the consumer as well as the farmer assume responsibility for the preservation of agricultural land in Ontario. 'The four-hour meeting ran the limit without allowing for the hearing of five additional briefs. By half-time, however, com- mission members said they were convinced of the need for another meeting in this area. 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