The Huron Expositor, 1982-08-18, Page 11—=THE HURON EXPOSITOR, AUGUST 18, 1962 — All
W* @t 111AVOL Aiftm IPA 9 t t
PU
BY CLI FF RATTHIEWS
m sig aria ysts is some,,
Agelrultural Rep
what unfair. but we shoulq
Should I invest in a new
have learned some lessons.
silo? Should t buy a used
You can go wrong with a
combine to avoid custom
major investment in land.
harvesting costs? You may
"You can't go wrong buying
have already made the deci•
, land", has proven otherwise.
Often the decision to buy land
sion and now there is a
problem meeting debt obliga-
was not based on profitability
tion.
or cash flow. Too often land
Decisions on capital invest-
was acquired because it may
merit should answer twonot
s
be for sale again.
' Some large investment de-
questions, Does -pay?
cisions were based -on con -
borrow,ed money is required,
venience•instead of econom-
does it .pay fast enough to
its. A reasonable decision if
repay the borrowed money on
borrowed ,money is not re-
schedule?
Take the case of the com•
quired. High .cost silos are a
bine, After several calculi-
towering example. The silo
may be a super way of storing
tions you are sure that it more
and handling feed. Question:
than pays itsway in 5 years. If
your farm ingoperationisjust
How much extra income did
meeting deft servicing re- '
the silo generate?
quirements now, a loan to pay
Other factors have magni-
fled the effects of a w•rdtig
for th.e combine over 3 years
k t' d bt
decision. Higher interest
ma es ora a servicing
THE OLD WAY®Seaforth area farmer, Jack MacLean is one great -great grandfather from the Canada Company in 1.835. bind.
rates, lower sellingrices and
f a handful of Huron County farmers who cuts grain with a The above photo shows the fifth, sixth and seventh generations This example is just chaff
higher input costss are three.
Lenders were also very eager
_�inder,,stooks the sheaves, and threshes the grain. One field of of MacLeans' stocking grain as their fore -fathers. Shown, from compared to situations some
to finance capital investment
14 acres of mixed,grain will be threshed with the balance of his left to right is Rick, Mike, Jack and his son Mack MacLean. The Farmers find themselves in
tobi
Some ome g decisions
i
during the last 6 years.
crop combined. "Combines are the greatest things for threshing is done with a 1935 Bell Thresher. (Wassink photo) .d
%% ere made with little thought
Capital investment de'i-
scattering. weeds,'' says Jack. His farm was purchased by his to financial consequences.
•
Bions must stand up • to •
financial tests if borrowed
® r
s ®� f ce&1eed advice
money d the source of h filo -
„ing. Budgeting and cash flow
-` projections should be com-
mon in the future --for bot,
BY JACK HAGARTY choice$ were distasteful. He'was confused of power. And when equity erodes to 20 per ors"' of their main product are courting
and lender's pur-
e. ture ira�
Area Coordinator and )Farm Management and hurt but still had a.sense of humour.. A cent then someone has eight votes to the disaster a few months down the .road.
owner's two votes. Farmers who sold sows last winter in order
poseower's
env estnBa tedecistons on
Specialist ,4 positive sign!
"It's my way or the highway." That'' He said, "it remind me of the story of the The owner can only assume control when to retain machinery or art extra parcel of
"generat-
tional economic sense. The
consequences unfold in the
what one frustrated bank manager said crops specialist who continued year after there is liquid cash flow to.pay all operating land are no doubt wishing those
costs, to service debt and to pay`fo[ family ors" were still around to produce wcaner
future: where most of us plan
about a farm business that was in, drastic year to call on a tenant farmer to give him
living, pigs at $10.00 each.
financial straits. The farmer watched his weed control advice. But, each year the g r P g
f h id k til A f itch'financial difficulties has
to be.
equity erode from 60 per cent to 20 per cent
of assets in just three years. The bunk
manager repeatedly asked what adjust-
ments were planned to turn the situation
around. or to at least stop the erosion of
equity, But the farmer couldn't or wouldn't
make a decision. He hated to part with anv
of his 450 acres of land. He hated,to sell any
of his machinery and run the risk of relying
on custom operators. The very thought of an
auction sale to clear off some assets was
weeds got worse. Then one day the crops
specialist dropped by and to his surprise the
fields were clean --not a weed to be seen."
The tenant farmer explained it this way,
"You see, the landlord came around and
said if i didn't cut those weeds it would be
my last year on this, (arm. And no one ever
explained it to me quite that way before."
The fanner should be the puppeteer --not
the puppet. That's good policy! But, the
factsoflife are that the person or institution
One question armers s ou as em
selves --"what is my main product". That's
not a hard question to answer if you're
Ontario Hydro --you're in the business of
producing electricity. Just as Ontario Hydro
has generators that produce electricity. so
do farmers have generators. The generators
are in the form of sows that produce little
pigs. calves that gain pounds of beef. or
hens that lay eggs. if Ontario Hydro sold off
their generators they'd soon be out of
I • F h II Cr ..e at-
armer to s
to make a choice. The decision may be to
take action, The decision to take no action
has predictable consequences. The malig-
nancy of interest, arrears will continue to
grow. it may be that mainr surgery is the
only opjion, But, don't ' take just one
person's advice: -seek opinions• of other
advisors such as a local chartered account-
ant: another banker and or an Agricultural
Representative, "It's my wav or the
. h a • not be the onls• wav
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akin to shock treatment. All the obvious with over 50 per cent of the %hares has a lot usmess. armers w o se o gen r big way in
PI® ing 20
Ys up
st®re in future DRIVE TE
�
Scare stories on the lo%% Of farmland in atcll. they ha%c allowed that control to be -NEW NUMB
� ®NE
o
this codntry have been printed off and on or
two decades.
The concbrn surfaces. then disappear,,.
then reappears. Only last month. Reader'%
Digest had a lengthy story which suggested
that farmers, themselves. were respon%ihlc
for land which lost its tilth.
I have been deploring the loss of farmland
f,iv-;o vears until. I think, many reader% are
getting sick of the same old complain[%.
But support is growing for a comprchcn'
si%c land•usc program in Canada. A docu
mens has been purchased for Canada's
agricultural ministers which addresses the
problem squarely: "A concerted and %u-ordi
rated effort towards the conservation of
good quality agricultural land docs not %cl
exist in Canada. but it is necessar% if the goal
f h A' F d Strile v for Canada is to he
by B D b 4QolN@T
No ane is pushing the panic button. Yet.
The fact%are available: Lcss than eight per
viii of IN%huge land mals called Canada can
he iuln%atcd Of that total, only about rive
per ,eni Is aha+,• marginal capacity for
agriculture Onhhalfofonepercent iscla%sl
farmland
The Alberta report puts the question in
perspcctl%c tit) per cent of that good land is
w nhin 11'0 kilometre% of Canada's 23 largest
erne% No ane need% to he told that the cities
and file tu%%n% of this country are perhaps the
hakkc%f tulpnt in the to,% of farmland.
B h
It is interesting to note, too. that only
British Columbia. Quebec, Newfoundland
and Prince F�dward Island have passed laws
to preserve prime farmland. Other provinces.
including Ontario, have guidelines only
Guidelines arc'about as useful as a hip pocket
in undershorts. They have no legal authority
Some provincial governments have set up a
%v%tcm of subsidies to encourage farmers to
hold their land for agriculture.
It is not enough. The provinces have the
political clout to,control land use. Unfortun
passed on to the numiclpal go%ernments.
Municipal government%. a% a general rule.
are more interested In growth and industrial
expansion than they are in prc%crving prime
farm land. Cutc% and town% want to grow.
Local and even prminti-d'poliurlans encour•
age them it, grow,
Their grtmih, alnio%i it, the acrc••Ilop%,
hectare is on the hr%i larniland in the
counir%
Not long ago, a frond of mine sent me a
cartoon w hick depicted f,irnicr% plow ing land
but the land was located on the flal-16pped
roofs of do/m% of Licri,r% buildings.
If something t% not done to prc•%cr%c prime
farmland. we rna% end up doing just that:
plowing the 'roofs of buildings,
it
�4 10
WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 1
and
THURSDAY,
assTor
p S SEPTEMBER 2
n t c gr - cx, K. I hose urban centres sprawl. erving t cy I e s' T ®r all a �+ v
met. wore ongmall% small linens serving the g DRIVE THE NEW SERIES TRACTORS
'The quote is from a policy paper prepared ukn%ultural ,ornm irim. then were built in
M• the New Brunswick department of the tenure of gial(I land. Now. they are'J e'
agriculture and rural development for ihr kr"w ink at an alarming rate and eating up the u ron plow m®N / ® �i/T® 9®WS•nation's agministers. Similar opinion% ha%c loml the% were originalh built to serve. ■■ �.
been expressed from other prov%es. par 'WATCH NEXT WEEK'S PAPER FOR LOCATION"
titularly Alberta where another report also More Land, the reports say, could be used
discussed the lack of a natiom%%ide effort to for ,igrictiltorc hilt it is not the hest land. It BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE The witty ill the ,)edges and recite a speech. S !M -W20
%%III %"st far more u' make It produce%c• The winner i% crow ••i „the day of (he match. �.M�'VR � �i r7i�'V��
preserve land. The 55th annual Huron Count' plowing There are plowing classes for r%cr% age
match "ill he held on 5aturday. September range, male or female. Politicians can get into
18. the act in a plowing class for present and
info'
.September
will he available be eld i, former wardens, mayors, erects deputy
September 1-. The match %+ill be held "n meves. MPs and MPP, ,There is also an
Get I atest Hallrcc Farms in Fast Wawanosh Town%hip antique class for tractor% 411 %car% or older.
1 of 4, Con 4. three miles north of Bhih and The junior match %, all he held on the Friday " • !�
To get the latest research it III be nn liana Or Rob'llall ( rar% rutin hexa cutter will one mile w'e'st afternoon starting ,u ' p m
information about the cash and Dr. Wall% Beversdorf for lit, go. en. Tours of the College field under the auspices of the Huron Besides plowing, there arc tither competi•
crops grown in this arca vote the t•ri%crvt, of Goclph %%ill research plot, will he a%ail (nuniv Plowmen's Association, there arc tions such as h,)r%c shoe pitching, log %awing
should attend Crops update hr at tilt. da% ,,rid ('harle% able and hunch can he pur acti%rties for everyone. The highlight at Iht and nail dri%ing
at ( entralia College of Agri. Hrnad"01. klanaecr of the rha%cd nn the ground%. Mark da% is the Queen of the Furrow compefttton Award% to the %%inners %% lit he presented at
cultural Technnlogv, "Thi, Ontario ' Ikon Producer, (hm n the date. August 25, Contestanl% in the queen competition pl, a banquet on Frid,i, , October 20 at the
da% will cover white beans. Marketing hoard. %,III pot and don't miss ,t at q a.m. on the day of the match, gree do Brussels legion. Centralia • •
tovbcans. and a lot of other the latest white bean market
h w and ex er-
crops etng gro n p
update
imented with here". said.lom
washers ♦ Dryers a Refrigerators + Ranges a
O'Toole. Head of the Agron.
C vntraha College rc%car%h
om% Section of Centralia
cr% and Ontario slini%tr% of
College "It'%a chance toget
'\gnculftire and Food exien
the latest information. in lit%t
%u'n special,%n %' ill he gn Ing
one da%, about a lot of crop.
re%car%h %umm,ane%on topics
that are very important to
ranging from red %hover pin%%
farmers in this arca. said
do" n, %%hilt mould. nc%% he.an
O'Toole
%anctics ,and herbicide% to
starting at G•10 a.m. on
%ceding %%inter wheat into
Wednesday. August 25. the
wl%bean% .1r1(i man\ other
das will feature a wide range
current u 1"I+ % Irttcn•%ting
ofkevnotespeakemand other
equipment demonstrations
highlights. Harold Rouget.
includuig spra% monitor
an Fxtension agent from
equipment h% SF l) S,%tem%
Michigan State University.
Incorporateil and the new
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CONFERENCE
FOR RURAL WOMEN
Directions R: New Challenges for Rural Women
August 27 28
Huron hull, Centralia College
Registration at 6:30 p.m., August 27
Guest speaker and reception
WORKSHOPS FROM 9:15 a.m., August 28
1. Challenges far Women on the Form
2. Chollenge of Being Alone
3, Challenge of Change
4, Challenges In Fomily Relationships
5. Challenging Our Creative Self
6. The Challenge of Eating Well
COST: $20.00 ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE 510.00
To Register Phone:
' MINISTRY Continuing Education
OF AGRICULTURE Centralia College
AND FOOD 22�"6,999
Ontario