The Rural Voice, 1985-12, Page 36DWR
pM1gA6II
Farm & Municipal Drainage Systems
Clay & Plastic Tile Installations
All workmanship guaranteed
R.R. 4, Stratford 519.271.4777
(49
West Wawanosh
Mutual Insurance
Company
Dungannon, Ont. NOM 1R0
529-7922
FARMS RESIDENTIAL AUTO
AGENTS
Frank Foran. R.R.2. Lucknow 528.3824
Lyons & Mulhern. 46 West St.. Goderich 524.2664
Donald MacKay. R R. N3. Ripley . 395-5362
Kenneth 8. MacLean. R.R. #2. Paisley 368-7537
John Nixon, R.R. N5, Brussels 887.9417
Donald R. Simpson. R.R. N3. Goderich 529.7567
Delmar Sproul. R R N3. Auburn 5297273
FOR A QUOTATION ON YOUR FARM,
HOME, COTTAGE OR AUTOMOBILE
INSURANCE, CONTACT THE AGENT
IN YOUR AREA.
DIRECTORS
Eldon Bradley. Lucknow
John Bryce. R.R. 143. Paisley
Glen Coultes. R R #5. Brussels
Gerald Kerr. P o. Box 62. Blyth ....
Donald McKenzie. 163 Elgin Ave. West
Goderich
Gordon A Stewart. R.R. 2. Ripley
528-2214
353-5631
887-6124
523-9273
524-7602
395-5235
CLAIMS SHOULD BE REPORTED
PROMPTLY TO THE DIRECTOR
IN YOUR AREA.
Norris Peever, Manager
Dungannon, Ontario
NOM 1R0
519-529-7922
34 THF RURAL VOICE
FARM NEWS
HOPE (cont. from pg. 33)
dollars and cents brings out underly-
ing emotional issues and values. One
of the major obstacles for families is
giving up ownership of the land,
when there is no alternative. I help
clarify the financial picture which
often enables them to recognize the
need for change.
I can share with others my observa-
tion of the serious need for a
mechanism to improve the business
assessment capabilities of
owner/operators. There is an im-
mediate need for training, and it
might have to be compulsory in order
for it to work. This could come down
to the lender imposing conditions for
continuing credit. I have had ex-
perience with this and it works. 1 was
with the Farm Credit Corporation in
the early and mid -60s. They set up
and monitored on-farm financial pro-
grams in cases where they thought the
risks merited such programs. They set
up the model for the owner to follow
and monitored the results on a mon-
thly, quarterly or annual basis.
Usually, everybody won.
The Church and Agriculture
Eugene and Brenda Swain
We acquired the family farm in the
fall of 1978, having farmed all our
lives. It was a completely self-
sufficient operation, from farrow to
finish, producing 2,000 hogs per year.
With the onslaught of high interest
rates and low hog prices, we lost
heavily. The process of losing the
farm was drawn out from the beginn-
ing of 1981 to the first part of 1982,
when the legal process was completed
and we moved off the farm. The
following year was a year of trauma,
of drifting without a direction, not
really in a stable frame of mind.
There are many other things to do
in life, other jobs and ways to make a
living. However, there is a common
expression, "you can take the boy out
of the country but you can't take the
country out of the boy." This has
been a realization for us recently. Ra-
tionally, we have adjusted to a new
way of life, but emotionally the sense
of yearning is still vivid because farm-
ing is not just skin-deep. It is not that
we are filling in time and longing for
a return to the past; rather we feel we
are still in a period of grieving. Even
our children still miss the farm. A
farmer may be happy to find a finan-
cial solution but the job of recreating
his personal identity takes more time.
Concerned Farm Women
Beth Slumskie
Concerned Farm Women started in
fall 1981 as a group of farm women
who were all experiencing financial
difficulties. They began lobbying
government because of high interest
rates and import policies. Now there
are members from across Canada,
although the core is in Grey and
Bruce Counties.
Concerned Farm Women deal
specifically with the impact of farm
financial issues on farm women and
their families. The group encourages
farm women to take an active role
and seeks to raise their level of self-
esteem.
Members have become more aware
of farming as a business and want to
become more knowledgeable about
financial management in order to
become more skilled and effective
decision -makers.
Many members have become effec-
tive public speakers and four have
taken training in public relations and
presentation skills. Members have all
grown in self-confidence and being
able to voice their opinions. They
have learned that there is always
someone around to help when there is
a specific need. CJ PC
Encourages other crops
A five-part, $2.5 -million program
to encourage the introduction and ex-
pansion of alternate crops in Ontario
was announced by agriculture
minister Jack Riddell recently.
'We should be able to grow a
number of new crops in Ontario given
the proper research and
development," he said. "There are
also some crops now grown on a
small scale or in specific areas that
could be expanded."
The Ontario Crop Introduction
and Expansion Program will provide
partial funding to a maximum of
$100,000 a year for up to three years
to farm businesses and farm
organizations to enable them to work
with the research community. In
special cases, aid will be given for an
additional two years.
The program will help in the
development of processing and
marketing techniques to encourage
the commercial production of an in-
creased variety of crops in Ontario.
A brochure decribing the program
will be available from local Ministry
of Agriculture and Food offices.