The Times Advocate, 2004-01-14, Page 15Wednesday, January 14, 2004 Exeter Times—Advocate
15
Farm news
Beach closings will hurt lakeshore business
Continued from page 14 McElhone, for one, is concerned about "absentee land -
this morning, the spread zone will encompass 600 lord" hog operations, which dot the Huron countryside.
acres. "These aren't farms, they're factories," he says.
It's at this stage that the murky mix of pig feces and "There's no home, no one lives there, just
urine is rechristened as "nutrients." sit" pigs stacked two or three high."
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Nutrient management
"Nutrient management is one of the most
important things we have to contend with and
it's something we take very seriously," says
Kemmerling.
"In fact, we have set
the standard for nutri-
ent management
practices in Ontario."
The rules for
manure -spreading
mainly govern what
can be in the liquid
mix, and where and
when it can be spread.
There are restric-
tions on spreading
during wet weather,
on frozen ground, or
near streams and
drainage systems. The
amount of manure that may be spread on any field is
governed by the absorption capacity of the crops grown
there.
But Goss says nutrient -management regulations main-
ly focus on controlling nitrates and phosphates — the
fertilizing chemicals in manure — rather than
pathogens like E. coli.
"The only thing that we've put together for protecting
water from pathogens is really a minimum distance sep-
aration between spreading manure, and wells and sur-
face -water sources," he says.
And the question remains: If properties like Premium
Pork are setting the standards, what are other hog pro-
ducers doing?
Absentee landlords
McElhone
says,
employees
of these
operations
may be tempt-
ed to flout envi-
ronmental rules
and spread
"nutrients" at
inappropriate
places and times.
McElhone, a retired trucking
executive, stops his van, cluttered
inside with water pollution litera-
ture, at the bridge where Hwy.
21 crosses over Nine Mile River,
about 15 km north of Goderich.
The rivulet burbles on its race
to Lake Huron, 2 km west. Tests here have revealed E.
coli levels 260 times higher than the provincial standard.
At the mouth of the stream sits Port Albert, a middle
class cottage community that has been a McElhone fam-
ily retreat for three generations.
The Port Albert beach is one of the five that the county
permanently posted in 2003, effectively ending a love
affair with its lapping waters that McElhone has enjoyed
since boyhood.
"My granddaughter was born one month ago, and my
daughter is on maternity leave and is talking about
spending the summer up here," McElhone says.
"I simply wouldn't let (granddaughter) Elizabeth go in
the lake now. Not at this point."
Mark MacAuley, who co-owns Port Albert's Inn, says
the beach closing is sure to hurt business. It has hurt the
sense of place he's developed over 52 years in Huron
County even more.
"It's an emotional thing here," says MacAuley. "We've
accepted that we might not ever have the same standard
of living that people in central Ontario have, but we at
least enjoyed nice clean air and the quiet.
"And the lake was always one of our great assets. It
was an integral part of our existence."
County officials hope the province's new Nutrient
Management Act, proclaimed in June, will help stem
contamination.
Tousaw says the act will force existing farms to
upgrade their manure management systems to meet
new guidelines, something the municipalities didn't have
the power to require.
But critics say the new provincial guidelines fall short
of actually protecting the watershed. For example, they
still allow manure spreading in winter, a risky practice,
McElhone says.
Miller insists the new act is "just a framework."
"What really matters is the detail in the regulations,
and the more substantive regulations are only being
drafted now."
Miller also blames the Huron situation, in part, on the
demise of a long-standing provincial program to clean
up rural beaches, which was killed by the old Tory gov-
ernment in 1996.
Denfield Livestock report
Denfield Livestock Market
Report
for Tues., Jan. 6, 2004.
Here at Denfield Livestock
yesterday the fancy hard fed
cattle traded on a good demand
at steady prices with heavy
overfinished and plainer cattle
under pressure. Cows sold
steady to slightly higher, sows
and boars steady.
Don Eedy and Mark
Brussels Livestock weekly report
;• 41 For the week ending
Jan. 9, 2004
Total Receipts
1815 head of cattle, 279 lambs and
goats
- -`" Summary
Tuesday: The heavy cattle sold under pressure with
the balance of the fed cattle selling on a fully steady
market. The cows traded on a market steady to last
week.
Thursday: The veal sold under pressure. The
lambs sold on a strong active trade at prices $5 to $10
higher.
Friday: The calves sold at prices $15 lower with the
yearlings selling under pressure.
Steers
There were 474 steers on offer selling from 78 to 85
with sales to 100.
Osiah Weber, Mount Forest consigned one limo
steer weighing 1220 lbs which sold for 100. His over-
all offering of twenty-four steers averaged 1362 lbs
selling for an average price of 80.94.
Seventeen steers consigned by Willard B. Martin,
Drayton averaged 1474 lbs selling for an average
price of 81.60 with his top limo steer weighing 1290
lbs selling to Holly Park Meat Packers for 92.50.
James Frey, Chesley consigned one blond steer
weighing 1410 lbs which sold to White Veal Meat
Packers for 90.50. His overall offering of thirteen
steers averaged 1375 lbs selling for an average price
of 80.11.
Heifers
There were 250 heifers on offer selling from 78 to
85 with sales to 92.50
Merkley Farms, Wroxeter consigned six limo heifers
averaging 1279 lbs which sold to Norwich Packers for
92.50.
One limo heifer consigned by George VanderVeen,
Lucknow weighed 1170 lbs selling to Dominion Meat
Packers for 85. His overall offering of two heifers
averaged 1150 lbs selling for an average price of
82.55.
Ray Simpson, Glencoe consigned seven black heifers
averaging 1181 lbs which sold for an average price of
82.92 with his top six black heifers averaging 1156 lbs
selling to Norwich Packers for 84.
Cows
There were 161 cows on offer.
D1 & D2: 15-25 sales to 30; D3: 10-15; D4: 7-11.
George Carter, Holyrood consigned one char cow
weighing 1385 lbs which sold for 21.50. His overall
offering of two beef cows averaged 1378 lbs selling for
an average price of 17.02.
One hol cow consigned by Klaas Steenbeck, Varna
weighed 1485 lbs selling for 21.50. His overall con-
signment of ten hol cows averaged 1303 lbs selling for
an average price of 13.32.
George Ruetz, Mildmay consigned one hol cow
weighing 1735 lbs which sold for 20.50.
Bulls
There were 5 bull on offer selling for 8 to 20.
Jim & John Bennett, Goderich consigned one limo
bull weighing 1810 lbs which sold to Levinoff Meat
Products for 20.
One hol bull consigned by Henry Bos, Blyth weighed
1615 lbs selling to Levinoff Meat Products for 19.
Veal
There were 147 head of veal on offer.
Beef: 84-98 sales to 103.50
Holstein: 70-80 sales to 84.
Plain Holstein: 45-60.
One limo veal steer consigned by Sunnydale Acres,
Ailsa Craig weighed 720 lbs selling to Abingdon Meat
Packers for 103.50. Their overall offering of seven
limo veal calves averaged 797 lbs selling for an
average price of 92.39.
Nicole Laidlaw, Atwood consigned one red wf veal
steer weighing 700 lbs which sold to NewMarket Meat
Packers for 98.
Thirteen veal calves consigned by Arnold Lamb,
Goderich averaged 597 lbs which sold for an average
price of 76.80 with his top black veal heifer weighing
530 lbs selling to Millgrove Meat Packers for 84.
Lambs
Under 50 lbs: 160; 50-65 lbs: 135-187; 65-80 lbs:
113-184; 80-95 lbs: 113-129; 95-110 lbs: 106-124;
110 lbs and over 87-108.
Goats $102-$65
Sheep $50-$60
Top Quality Stocker Steers
Under 400 lbs: 74-102; 400-500 lbs.: 93-112; 500-
600: 82-110; 600-700: 87-98; 700-800: 72-94; 800-
900: 70-86.50; 900-1000: 70-98; over 1000: 70-89.75;
Top Quality Stocker Heifers
Under 300 lbs: n/a; 300-400: 70-96; 400-500: 70-
103; 500-600: 74-101; 600-700: 70-94; 700-800: 71-
81.50; 800-900: 74.50-95; Over 900 lbs.: 70-84.50.
Vanderploeg, Denfield sold 18
steers average weight 1527,
average price 82.18 to a high of
95 purchased by Denview
Meats.
Choice steers: 85-90, sales to
95; Good steers: 60-70; Plain
steers: 50-60; Choice exotic
cross heifers: 80-85; Good
heifers: 60-70; Plain heifers:
40-60; Good fed cows: 17-23;
D1 and D2 cows: 13-16; D3
and D4 cows: 8-12; Shells and
problem cows: 3-6; Good
Holstein bull calves: 100-155;
Good Sows: 30-33; Boars: 14.
I would like to thank our reg-
ular buyers Norwich Packers,
Clark Brothers, Denview Meats,
and Thames Sales Yard for sup-
porting the Market to the best of
their ability during this stress-
ful period.
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