The Rural Voice, 1979-07, Page 27NFU wants national.
grain marketing board
The National Farmer's Union is circu-
lating a petition urging the provincial
government to establish a grain corn
marketing commission, similar to the
Canadian wheat board.
The NFU has already collected 900
names on the petition and Flans to collect
more when the planting season is over.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture
petitioned last year for a farmer -elected
corn marketing board and the organization
took more than six months to collect 1,500
signatures.
The OFA's petition for the board with
negotiating powers for transportation rates
and terms of sale resulted in the govern-
ment establishing an interim corn market-
ing committee before a plebiscite is held,
likely in the spring of 1980.
The NFU proposes a government
appointed agency of marketing experts,
not necessarily farmers, with which gen-
eral farm organizations could negotiate
most marketing conditions, including corn
pricing. The commission could also control
corn imports.
The NFU wants the provincial farm
markets board to include their proposal in
the plebiscite on the OFA request for
farmer -elected marketing board.
Bob King of Rodney, the NFU corn
committee chairman, said, "We want to
see the farmerc with a choice on that ballot.
If our proposal isn't included, all the
farmers will have is the choice between
what now exists and a low-key farmer
marketing board."
In circulating cneir petition, the NFU has
talked to growers in Perth, Huron, Brant,
Oxford, Middlesex, Elgin, Kent, Essex and
Lambton counties.
Under the present situation, corn now
trades freely on the open market. Farmers
and other segments of the corn industry
are represented on the Ontario Grain Corn
Council whicl- is headed by farmer Ken
Patterson of Kerwood, who was appointed
by the provincial government.
Canfarm names
local representative
Canfarm Cooperative Services has div-
ided Ontario into four market regions to
handle with its farm management services.
The man who will be handling the
Western Ontario region of Perth, Huron,
Bruce, Grey, ,Waterloo and Wellington
counties is Fred Mooney of Guelph.
Mr. Mooney worked for Canfarm for
seven years in the past, before opening his
own farm financial managment consulting
business in 1975.
A year later he joined the Bank of
Montreal as farm specialist and was
responsible for the eastern Ontario region.
He rejoined the Canfarm service this May.
Mr. Mooney is originally from Carp, a
small town in eastern Ontario.
The Canfarm Cooperative Service is a
private company which undertook to
market and develop farm managment and
accounting programs, previously operated
by Agriculture Canada.
In addition to its farm record keeping
service, dairy feed formulation program
and money management services, Canfarm
has recently added two new services for
hog and beef farmers.
The swine breeding management pro-
gram is designed to give the larger breeder
precise control over the breeding and
selection of his herd.
Canfarm's beef finishing program not
only helps the farmer establish a ration
advisory service for his cattle, but it also
lets him play around, on paper, with
various marketing options to see which
would be most likely to return the most
money.
Farmers shortchanged by underweight fertilizer
Federal inspectors have seized at least 65,000 bags of
Ontario -produced fertilizer found to be underweight. ' Some
100 -pound bags were found to be as much as 12 pounds short of
the promised weight. This shortchanging could mean consumers
would have been overcharged as much as $1 million in a year.
Ed Morden, manager of the National Farmers' Union office in
Guelph said, "If there is collusion proven the situation could
compare with the great dredging scandal of late. This is a
$127 -million -a -year industry across Canada."
Ron Jones of Midland, a director of the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture, was quoted as saying the shortweighing on bagged
fertilizers concerns him on behalf of farmers and urbanites.
"I think farmers, though, will tend to be somewhat
understanding of the difficulties that may be experienced by the
companies in the packaging and weighing, because there is such
a volume of fertilizer moved for spring planting," he said.
Marion Brechin of Etobicoke, a director of the Consumers'
Association of Canada, said the shortweighing points out the
fallacy of recent government cutbacks in inspection services to
protect consumers. She said this is one case where farmers and
city consumers have a chance to stand together, since the two
groups are so often pictured as being at each others' throats.
When the shortweighing was discovered by inspectors firms
were notified and have made moves to correct the problems.
Under the federal Weights and Measures Act it is an offence
to sell', deliver, or cause to be sold or delivered, anything by
weight, measure or number short of the quantity purchased.
THE RURAL VOICE/JULY 1979 PG. 25