The Rural Voice, 1977-12, Page 32NEWSLETTER 11
Huron County Federation
of Agriculture
Area Off.ce Vonoefro, Bo■ 429 C'.n•ln, Onf
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32
Jim received his B.S.A. and M.S.A., specializing in poultry, from
O.A.C. in Guelph, and has been actively farming with his father for
the last sixteen years. Up till June of this year, he was Clerk
Treasurer for Tuckersmith for the same length of time.
Fie operates 500 acres; 410 in corn production, the balance in
barley and wheat. He also rents some land.
J im has a large corn drying operation; with the addition of two new
concrete silos, he has a storage capacity of between 50-60,000
bushels.
Presently, Jim has a base quota of 33,000 caged layers; due to
poor market conditions for eggs, his quota has been cut to 23,000 and
he will receive a further cut in January, to 21,000. Corn is the main
energy source for his hens.
lim's wife, Brenda, was Deputy Clerk Treasurer up till June of
this year. His daughter, Carol, 14, attends Seaforth District High
School; Ross, 11, is at Huron Centennial Public School.
J im enjoys woodworking and he has helped build his own home as
well as shelves, cupboards and several farm buildings.
Snowmobiling is a winter hobby.
Jim McIntosh will be speaking on "Soil Conservation, A farmer's
Viewpoint at the O.A.C. Annual Conference in Guelph on January
5th, 1978.
DID YOU KNOW: I •
• The Federation of Agriculture was founded in 1938 by the
Association of Counties Council?
• 75% representation to the Ontario Federation Board of Directors is
from I.S.M. regions?
• 80% of O.F.A.'s budget comes directly from farmers with the
remainder coming from commodity groups and co-operatives?
Your three new Regional Directors (Jim McIntosh, Merle Gunby,
Gerry Fortune) know the above and much more now, because they
spent a day and a half at Aurora on Nov. 15/16 at a Director's
Orientation Conference.
The company, as usual when farm people get together, was
enjoyable. Best of all, the meeting was interesting and informative.
We learned. We learned about O.F.A.'s past history, the
guidelines within which our organization must function, economic
power structures, the control of money interests in our country. Does
all this sound dull and boring to you? It wasn't. It was a real
education to learn about our organization and how other business
and government interests perform.
Regional directors had innovative and imaginative ideas and plans
from their counties. We would welcome the opportunity of sharing
their ideas and what we lehrned with you. Come out and talk to us at
our next monthly meeting Help us put what we have learned to work
on your behalf.
HURON COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE
ANNUAL MEETING AND BANQUET
OCTOBER 27, 1977
A capacity crowd attended the Annual Meeting and Banquet of the
Huron County Federation of Agriculture, held at the Sandpiper Inn
at Vanastra.
Visiting guests from other counties included Mr. and Mrs.
Laverne Wray, Lambton; Mr. and Mrs. Herman Steffens,
Middlesex; Mr. and Mrs. James Walker, Wellington; Mr. and Mrs.
William Kellar, Perth; Mr. and Mrs. Brian Ireland, Bruce; Mr. and
Mrs. Ron White, OFA executive and Huron County Warden, Doug
McNeil and his wife.
Jane Davidson, representative from the OFA Foreign Aid
Committee, briefly outlined the OFA aid program to Sierra Leone.
Mr. Roland Stalker and his wife Grace and son Kevin have gone to
Sierra Leone to share their knowledge of poultry, swine, machinery,
building construction and management with the farmers. Mrs.
Davidson urged the people of Huron to give generously to this
worthwhile project.
Guest speaker for the evening was Bruce McCall, manager of the
Brussels Sales Barn. He spoke lightheartedly to the group but ended
his speech on a serious note, urging farmers to work at protecting
the land, which he called "our greatest inheritance."
Murray Gaunt, M.P.P. for Huron -Bruce addressed the audience
and stated that this has been a tough year for farmers due to bad
weather and low prices. He congratulated the Federation for the
strong leadership shown in Huron County.
Louise Marritt, Rural co-ordinator for the University of Guelph's
rural development outreach project (RDOP) explained briefly what
the group is doing. It is working with the county planning dept. on
secondary township plans, she said, as well as helping with studies
on topics such as drainage and nutrition in Turnberry township. ,
Fieldman Bill Crawford reported the membership in the county
was 2,032, a loss of 30 from last year. He urged that everylmember of
the federation take an active part to maintain an effective
organization.
Gordon Hill, the former president of the OFA was presented with
the Huron County Federation Award for his outstanding contribution
to agriculture. The award was presented by publisher Keith
Roulston, last year's winner.
Alan Walper, from Stephen township was re-elected president by
acclamation; Merle Gunby, Ashfield township was chosen 1st
vice-president and Bev Brown of Turnberry township was returned
to the position second vice-president. Three directors at large were
also chosen -John Van Beers, Hullett township; Mery Smith,
McKillop, and Tony McQuail, West Wawanosh.
A resolution was carried, supporting the Bogie's Beach Cottage
Owner's Association, in opposing the proposed seasonal residential
development in Colbourne twp., adjacent to the existing lakefront
cottage community. It was felt that this sort of development would
create a precedent and pressures would mount for more
development of a similar nature.
A resolution setting up a committee to study data from the
Pollution and Land Use Reference Group (PLUARG), established in
1973 by the International Joint Commission, was also approved. The
Federation Committee is to be made up of people carefully selected
for their knowledge in a number of fields, including fertilizer,
livestock management and erosion. It will publicize problems
relating to land use and the PLUARG studies in general, and will
make a submission to the IJC before that body makes any final
decisions on the PLUARG findings, in 1978.
Another resolution was passed that the OFA maintain its
opposition to the placement of power plants and their associated
services on agricultural land.
Winners of Lucky Draws are as follows - Baker's Farm Center,
Clinton Stockman's Cane -Adrian Vos; Howson and Howson, Blyth -2
bags of flour - Marion Zinn, Doug Filsinger; Huron Plowman's
Association -T -shirts -Donna Thiel, Andrew Davison; Lucknow Co-op,
Lucknow-ground sheet and sleeping bag -Sheila Miller; Seaforth
Co-op, Seaforth-bag of Pig Prestarter-Ken Moore; Topnotch,
Seaforth-bag of Calf Starter -Gordon Hill; Huron Tractor,
Exeter -Adjustable wrench -Grant Farrish; Vincent Farm Equipment,
Seaforth-Toy Tractor -Sheila Gunby.
Mrs. Gordon Hill was presented with_a floral arrangement from
Lewis Flowers, Wingham. They also supplied flowers for the tables.
THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1977,PG.31.