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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-03-29, Page 15kette.s ere 'epp,ec at d by Sob r,bt,e. (kill. d Eim,re •Oni''.N3a 2C7 Bleeding hearfs An ounce of prevention, to use a cliche-, is worth a pound cf. (And how will we say that in metric? It sure won't sound • the same.) That's why it is interesting to note that aroup of people 13 at the University of Guelph, are workingtoet er to allay the fears of a few bleeding: hearts in this country who; believe intensive livestock-prodtiction is cruel. F.J. Hurnik, an animal'scientist at the university, Hugh. Lehman, a philosopher, and Jim Schroder, a veterinary,, professor, are organizing a conference at Guelph to. exchange ideas on animal welfare. "We hope to discuss the ethical issues concerning the use of animals inagricult re' and scientific research and mantle.:.,;b t e tt! . it , the ositii!e and negative : effects: • of ' ,....,g P g contemporary intensive animalroduetion s stems'" says Prof. Hurnik. . Which, when the jargon is eliminated, is a meeting to talk about. the ethics of highproduction. It's it's a good idea. Too many people know SQ "little ami t farming these days. They see a hen caged all its life and. cry to animal welfare officers. In truth,; that pecking hen is probably getting a .better balanced:' diet than the city -dweller's child, That child:, probably munches fadfoods and feels a balanced diet consists of a chocolate bar in each hand. The good professor notes that, if an animal is fully adapted to a confined system—which is done over generations through selective breeding in many cases -- the amount of suffering due to physical restriction is reduced. Because the uninitiated sees a crated 'sow, he thinks he would be unhappy in the same situation. "But, we cannot. strictly apply our judgments as human beings," says Prof. The sow might prefer a larger pen buta farrowing crate prevents her from crushing newborn. piglets. It's a value' • decision. The reduction in the mortality rate among piglets justifies the confinement of the sow. Laying hens in, cages, points out the professor, have Unlimited access to a • ,balanced. diet. They are free from stress of fighting or competing for food, Diseases are rigidly. controlled. Any good farmer can tell you thatasick anin al,.=whether it is a horse, a cow, a steer, a hen, a turkey or a! hog, will not produce. It won't gain weight or lay as many eggs or produce as.. much milk, A suffering animal whether it is mental or physical suffering will seldom perform well. Prof. Hurnik also points out that the moral, principle of agricultural practices relies on' a .higher priority' for, humans than animals.. Technology's job is to minimize discomfort: and,, stress while maximizing production 'Thai 'makes Sense to me . SEAFORTH CAMBRIDGE AYR WOODSTOCK SWEEPS S For ."All" mikes LONGER WEAR MEANSLOWER: COST We know the value of time to a farmer. Breakage means delay so when you, need replacementscome to us. We'have a complete line of IH sweeps an cultivator tools for any soil: Our quality controlled arts will last loner for greater savings • all around'.` SEAFORTH 527-0120 Another group o.f scientists is alsoworking with cows at the university by playing tapes of bawfujg calves when the prows comeinto. the milking parlor.The cows.. have reacted like the good mothers they are;: They give more milk to the! anguished cries'of the calves, cries which were fethrow h the marking parlors by loudspeakers.. Prof. Hurnik says the experiments prove cows are more sensitivethan is widely believed. on the grounds the cows don't What: difference does it make, coerced into buying more bees thmugh: loudspeakers.- at supermarkets buying, things we don't need violins as background• music, in our heartstrings and we tell our was a great movie. '.. !f we let humans get sucked cows?' If cows produce. more mil will drop a few cents a u 4 increasing in price. Milkutg, cows, of more milk humans is considered cricket. ark ,t lMe�n Ia gip But. the bleeding hearts will jump on the good professor know any better. 1: say, ' Humans are: use canned music is piped to lull' us into or even want. The syrupy the movie theatres tug at friends and neighbors it into beingsuckers, whynot k maybe the; price of milk. y art instead of constantly is fair 'game- if milking, Bruce and Grey counties. 4.1 mis 11 BY HENRY HESS The :charge that Qntario. '--Hydro,, by the routing,,of its power ,corridors. is settifig .<the pattern :for industrial ;development inthe province and placing prime agricultural land in jeopardy ' climaxed the first day of 'hearings, by the Royal! C"ottlr' mission; gp Electric Power 'Plannin • at Win ha•. Monday, at. g "Where in Ontario the next 500 kilq volt line, goes maybe the most significant decision regarding ga ri- cutlure here." Pat Daunt; a member of the Concerned' Farmers of the United', Tow- " ships, told Dr. Arthur Porter, chairman of the commission, and commissioners Bill Stevenson and Soulange g_ Plourde -Gagnon. A line now runs from the Bruce generating station to! Milton, he noted, and if the next line goes down along 'the lake it will create a circulars grid all around the foodlands of Ontario -. Huron, Perth and parts of n suggested rnip p011 •' Agriculture and Food Minister !Bill Newman has announced that an expression; of opinion poll will be held among rutabaga growers on April 3, 1979. Growers will be asked to ''consider a proposal to, establish a marketing plan to determine prices paid to producers through a ' Rutabaga Marketing. Board and to appoint ; agents to ' market rutabagas Growers north of Parry Sound 'will be exempt from theproposed plan. The expression of..opinion poll will be conducted pattly by :mail . andpartly through polling stations. Mr. Newman has asked, the Farm Products Marketing Board o establish:. polling stations in the counties rid municipalities west of and including. p , Grey, Wellington, Hamilton -Wentworth and. Niagara. Mail -in ballots will besent to. growers in therest of the province, to be returned postmarked' no later than April 3, 979. Growers wishing' to cast a ballot :wilt asked.. to sigI a declaration that they n i, have produced and marketed rutabagas in .1977 and 1978. Letters outlining the details have been sent to growers. The Provisional Rutabaga Committee will hold the following meetings to: discuss the proposed, marketing plan: March 20 Middlesex' Building, Centralia College, 8:00 p m, March' 22, Ohtario Ministry of Agricul ture and Food, 26 Thorncliff • Place; Ottawa; 1:30 p.m. March 26, Ontario Ministry of Agricul- ture and Food, 234 King Street 'East, Bowmanville, 2:00 p.m • The wording of the question to appear on. the ballot is as follows: "Areyou in favour of the proposal', to establish , a ..rutabaga marketing plan to .' determine prices paid to producers and: to .• appoint' ;agents tomarket rutabagas on behalf of the Rutabaga Marketing Board?" BY JOYCE DOUGHERTY The Huron County Junior Farmers held, their meeting '• ! on March 21, ^ 1979 at the Clinton O.M.A.F. Office. Bill Armstrong opened the meet- ing.. Sharon • Colclough gave the secretary's: report, and Larry Plaetzer stated the financial , 'position, Jim Phelan: then introduced : the guest speaker, professor Josephine Meeker from the Department of Geography at Brock University. Mrs. Meeker asked: the Junior Farmers for their help in the replacement or pur-, chasing of new Century Farm Signs for farmers of ./Huron Mews camas: . :L -•LINE•"OF-FARM: EQUI,PMEN Get your SPRING TUNE-UP done now, • We service all makes of tractors and all machinery. Sales 8 Service Phone 482-9286 Charlie Fraser Srt cefield 4 County. She also wishes to conduct: interviews with Cen- tury farmers, . if convenient, to help her with her research and to; compile information on the 'farmers' families and their histories. Jim Phelan, .a member of Auburn Junior Farmers of Huron, County became Presi dent 'cif the Junior .Farmers' Association of Ontario recently' at a conference in elp �nhears i s e co-operate n: s� classificationa a qk g f foodlands t f led Yh ' salt ofstudy its latest report require - have The power ;grid will ,enetr. age .urban and industrial development in this area, The problem,of land' gob- bled up by the power cor ridors themselves as bad enough, Mr. Daunt declared„ but the other consequences Of such .a a o power er grid are.far anbre serious. This block of land is unique. he said, not: because we live here but by virtue' .of: its suitability for agriculture. "The volume of food prod- uced here is vital to. _Ontario and will be more vital in the coming years." The province already has a surplus of electrical power but is a net importer of food, he noted, and he suggested. that one of the most im- portant factors in, maintaining an agricultural community is an immunity to urban .development. The brief' presented by the Concerned Farmers Monday., night blasted Ontario 'H dro -for carrying out its planning from an'ivory tower with no. concern: for the effects• of these plans on the province's most precious resource, its.. foodlands. Even after Hydro was per. suaded to co-operate a' study on . and ra nkingof it failed to use the results of the in Its latest report on require THE HURON EXPO='ITOR, MARCH ;tWtN'. "By its ,actlon% hydro is making those decisions," i4e declared, Mr, Campbell; also said Ontario Hydro is " more than aware" of the work agri- cultural groups havedone e to address these problems and 11' urged the farmers not to be discouraged because that work is not included in the "particularity of response to. .these particular terms of reference"} Hydro. understandsobi t..h,epr.em..s and is't, uns t i n ympa het e. hey promised. The Concerned Farmers. O the United Townships, taking in Turnberry, Howick, Wallace, lvarybarough, Peel, Woolwich and Pilking- ton, is a groupformed 1974' when Hydro's planning department proposed building three 500 ICV lines through this area, Since then. it has been working to force .Hydro to recognize agricultural concerns and was instrumental' in gaining: public hearings on the. proposed expansion plans. LOAD FORECASTS, CHALLENGED •At the Monday session the Porter Commission also heard .briefs; from the Huron Federation of Agri- culture gri- culture and CANTDU, a local group interested in energy merit for additional . bulk power facilities in south- western Ontario, the group charged. Mr. Daunt declined, to speculate on why Hydro didn't use the 'information it possesses on. foodlands ,c • m- menting he still has s6me in Ontario Hydro, but said he can't see that the utility has given any con- - sideration in its report to the F 0 impact; its plans have for agriculture.. • Toronto. Jim has been an. -r>aetive inember for five years and: has held many executive .. positions. He is taking over from: Bart Johnson of York County, At the county meet ing, Jim gave a speech of his gratitude to., the 'Junior Farmers for their continued', support: throughout the years At this meeting, • Rick Archambault was voted in as (Continued :on ' Page 20) Bruce Campbell, a IawYer for Ontario Hydro, denied' the utility is planning develpment in the province.. It is not and shouldn't be Hydro's; job to • say where develppunt will go, he. said. Thosedecisions should be.: made by government. Mr. Daunt agreed, but added that .those decisions, have not been made :by government because it isn't politically expedient right ONTARIO BEAN GROWERS COOFER/T IVE Seaforth 345-2007 Spring seeding is' fast approaching: Now is an excellent time to discuss and: order your seed &chem call meds!. Wei can supply at COMPET/T/VE PR/CES` • Seed Barley • Seed Oats • 'Mixed Grains •• Pride Seed Corn • Seed`White Beans' • Seed Soybeans • Complete ;Line of Chemicals * NOTE THAT EARLY MATURING SOYBEANS WILL BE IN SHORT SUPPLY SO PLAN EARLY. ONTARIO BEAN GROWERS CO-OPER,kTIVE A aJ e conservation and alternative; `sources of energy, Both briefs took issue with Hydro's prediction that the: y d';nand for electric power W»I rise more sharply in the '?anise, , following a bre .. period:\oi♦•r levelling off, and suggested the trend toward reduced consumption will. continue. The federation brief ex- pressed doubt thatfarm energy usewill continue to increase at the rates Hydro seems to suggest, noting'that`' the ,pr, human ocess labor of with electric motors has largely been com- pleted. Tony McQuail; a federation director, noted in • presenting the brief that farmers have become more• energy conscious in their choices." Five years 'ago o . a , farmer. didn't consider _. energy in calculating • his. farms costs but that's no • rar lenges trues he said. Energy conservation on the fax just !beginning. He also declared that while fanners would go along with expansion. by Hydro, to Meet a need for More power, they. see no evidence that such a need exists, So to t ey can drive tg'the cities and see office buildings all lit ups in the middle of the night, the streets 4Irnosibrighter than daylight and every parking. lot looking like high noonthey won't feel any moral ';re- ponsibility to go along; with more building, just so more power can: be wasted. The brief also expressed Serious reservations about Hydro's .export goals. "It has been bad enough to have .rural. Ontario bearing the cost of Hydro's ex- pansion plans supposedly for Ontario consumers, We do not want .'trim building ,plants and transmission lines in Ontarioto supply ,U.S, consumers."' The CANTDU brief out—, lined a number of stepsl' members have taken to re- duce energy consumption in - their homes and suggested that if Hydro must keep expanding its activities, it should do so in the area of conservation, providinglow interest .loans to home owners and, businessesfor reinsulation , solar water heaters and proven con- sumption reducers i;nstead.of building new generating capacity. Earlier in the afternoon the commission :,heard a brief prepared by Walter Palmer.; manager. of Hydro's Clinton J area (whish: takes iri roost . Huron County,), outlining load forecasting for the arca. Power omers are; divided intocnsutht seic0;1 • farm, tesid'eiitlai 4.0d industrial-commercial. The bfi farmsst, at 4l) perfq po, cent, risein flus the a use wer gg . rs area, followed by residential; at 30 per cent and industrial', commercial at 23 per cent of toall consumption. Elbert van Donkersgoed,, a representative of the .Food Land Steering Committee questioned • rPalmer's _M.. prediction that power neon* sumption inthe farming sector will'. continue to"grow; at as high a rate as in the past and Dr. Porter ex ress •.; ., P ed some 'concern over the informal: nature of the fore.' casting proctss, Mr. Palmer he based the forecast of con tinu,ed growth on ob- servations' ,and information gathered fromc•o,ntacts with staff,, farm customers, repre- 'entatives of agribusiness nd die ministry of agri- cultyrd and food, the local banking community. electrical: and building ton - tractors, suppliers,. developers and others. Dr. Porter observed that in the future one megawatt of generating capacity may re- present ' an investment of S1,5 million and said he would have preferred a more. • ; , formal method of projecting need. He noted: at the outset of the Wingham hearings that. Hydro's reluctance or. 'in- ability to demonstrate the. (Continued on Page ge 20 and Seminar u rsday,, April 5 10 a.m. Exeter:CQmmunity Centre A11.intr t ' e es ed formers welcolme Light lunch will be served S onsored.b P y MF A RL ul ER S 345-2611 Staffa Seaforth, Ont,. ■ art ne'' r■ re MI a 12:30 noon Seaforfh, Community Centre Wednesday, Apnl .11th. _'.... _ .Please -reply - by April -7th Our sprayer experts will be on hand to show you all the newest features. Discuss' your spraying needs With these people to ensure you get the best for your`fartn.'Aiso learn more about the sprayers that can handle 28% nitrogen. At last there is machine aVallab Ie to handle this important farm chemical,.: A three acreert presentation On the :newest chemicals available; Chemical representatives will be, On hand to answer any questions. Ita' Mai J.. DIETZ Phone 579.527-0608 410,4,