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The Rural Voice, 1985-01, Page 42RAINY RIVER FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE Hope to organize farmers' week; projects approved for Agri - North; arrangements made for Crop Check North. Nearing the end of the month (November) and winter still has not arrived in the Rainy River District. The weekend of November 24 had temperatures rising to 50°F and most area farmers rushing to complete those last minute jobs. Even with an extra month, it seems the farmer never really gets caught up on all his chores. Except for the very wet Oc- tober weather, which put a stop to fall field work, it has been an above average fall. Agricultural Representative Bruce Ward is hoping to organize a farmer's week program in the District for this coming winter. Apparently these winter programs have been very suc- cessful down east. Nancy Gale, managing director of the Rainy River Business Development Corporation, will be actively involved, and her organizational skills will be ap- preciated. Also, most of the farm commodity groups have agreed to have representatives sit on a farmers' week program committee, and will give their support to the organization. Projects Approved In his recent newsletter, Bruce Ward announced that three new pro- jects have been approved for the District, by the Agri -North Com- mittee. One was the Soil and Crop purchase of another larger earth scraper to help farmers install surface drains. Another Beef Heifer Feeding Demonstration has been established for 1984/85 in co-operation with the Rainy River Cattlemen's Association. Results from this project will be available in the future. The third and largest project will be called, Crop Check North. This is a District ex- perimental farm to be operated in conjunction with the New Liskeard Agriculture College and the Rainy River Soil and Crop Association. To date, arrangements have been made to lease a 10 -acre site from John vandenBrand Sr. at Princewood. Hopefully, John will be closely in- volved in this project as he has proven to be one of the top farmers in the District. The last week of November, John Mason of Rainy River Drainage was busy tile draining the 10 -acre site. New crops and differing technology, 40 THE RURAL VOICE will be used to learn the different reactions to Rainy River District con- ditions. The Rainy River Cattlemen's Asso- ciation held a directors' meeting at Emo on November 19. The directors hashed over the pros and cons of the October Stratton Sale. It was also noted the sales yard has been used more often in 1984 than ever before in its history. Most directors favour District farmers taking advantage of these splendid facilities, as previously they were kept under lock and key, except for one week of the year. This also helped the financial statement, which showed the association should finish the year with a clean slate, despite rising costs, and beginning the year with a $7000 deficit. There was some discussion on the past and pre- sent heifer feeding projects. Many directors felt this project should have a separate bank account, because of the financial confusion during 1984. The Rainy River Federation of Agriculture held a meeting on Oc- tober 24 with newly elected president Ed Fisher in the chair. At this meeting, the federation passed a mo- tion to assist Nancy Gale, and the Rainy River Business Development Corporation, to establish a farmers' market in the District. At the same meeting, Dave Packer was elected vice-president for 1985. Harry Romyn will continue to repre- sent the federation on the board of directors of the Rainy River Business Development Corporation. The Nor- thern Ontario Policy representatives will be Bob LeBlanc, one year; and Dave Packer, two years. The Veterinary Services Committee member will be Ralph Hunsperger, for one year. On the Arda Communi- ty Pasture committee, Bill Romyn, one year; and Andy Carpenter, two years. Committees Established The following committees were also established for the coming year. Finance: Wayne Flatt, Jackie Hunsperger, and Tom Morrish, chairman. Membership: Norman Cain, Dave Packer and Bill Romyn, chairman. Entertainment: Allan Teeple, Rudy Sinninghe and Bill Gibson, chairman. Farm Progress Building Commit- tee: Bill Sieders, Dean Hodgson, Jackie Hunsperger, and Ralph Hunsperger, chairman. Public Relations: Dean Hodgson. The November meeting of the federation was held on Monday the 19 at the OMAF office in Emo. Pre- sent at the meeting were president Ed Fisher, secretary Norman Cain, treasurer Jackie Hunsperger, direc- tors Harry Romyn, Bill Sieders, Wayne Flatt, Tom Morris, Ralph Hunsperger, Allan Teeple, Rudy Sin- ninghe, Bill Romyn, Dave Packer, and guests Doug Gowanlock and Dean Hodgson. Doug Gowanlock, OFA fieldman, attended the meeting to help the directors organize theie efforts for the coming year. Doug stressed the im- portance of a strong membership, and would like to see the membership committee set goals for the coming year. The committee chairman, Bill Romyn, said they were capable of raising the membership by at least 10 per cent. Doug pointed out all direc- tors should be involved in increasing the membership but reminded everyone not to take existing members for granted. There was considerable discussion concerning the proposed compulsory checkoff of membership dues from the land tax rebate. The Rainy River federation directors were unanimous in not supporting any type of com- pulsory checkoff. It was felt this could move the OFA executive too far from the grassroots membership. The federation could become more like the beef producers, and be operated from the top down, rather than following grassroots directions. Another topic receiving a thorough examination during the evening, was part-time farmers. After many pros and cons, it was finally agreed, about 75 per cent of all District farmers could be classed as part-time. Doug Gowanlock felt perhaps 60 per cent of all OFA members could be called part-time farmers. The general feel- ing of the directors was, since most part-time farmers would like to farm full-time if circumstances were favourable, the OFA should continue to work to improve conditions for all farmers. ❑ Dean Hodgson