Village Squire, 1978-05, Page 24has a lot of potential, a lot of opportunities,
but our costs are so staggeringly high that
"I really question how we can hold what
export markets we have."
It isn't just wages that are to blame, he
says, it's the attitude of management.
government, everyone. Two of Canada's
major export industries, the pulp and
paper industry and the grain industry, are
both in trouble because of the cost of
production in this country.
The farming situation is equally
ridiculous. He tells of buying some plow
parts this fall. There were about 100
pounds of parts, all relatively simple to
make, stamped -out and tempered metal.
The cost was $176. His first three -furrow
plow. he recalls, cost 5175. The value of
that 100 pounds of plow parts equalled
5800 pounds of corn.
Still, he says, though, times have been
harder for farmers this year in many
commodities, farmers have had four good
years in a row and most people have been
able to build up their equity in their farms.
The problem is, he says, that most farmers
have also built up their liabilities. As a
result; things such as the white bean crop
failure will make some farmers dependent
on the attitude of their creditors.
The high cost of equipment, of supplies
and of land have turned farming into a high
cost enterprise. he says. "Anybody who
thinks we can have cheap food is wrong."
The only way you can have cheap food is to
hurt the farm community.
He noted with interest the present
depressed situation in the farm equipment
business where sales have slowed to a
crawl. But one thing certain. he recalled
reading in one report. was that the
companies would not be reducing the price
of equipment to increase sales. Yet this is
just what the farmer is expected. indeed
forced to do.
"I get pretty disillusioned with most
consumer advocates," he says. They are
either uninformed or dishonest when they
imply that cheaper food can be produced."
He also gets perturbed when he sees
things like the Consumer Association
charges that consumers are being ripped
off on the price of eggs spread across all
the front pages of the nation's newspapers.
but hardly a mention when the egg pricing
formula led to a six cent decrease in the
price of eggs over the summer.
He recalls a meeting of the Committee
on food in British Columbia in which a
consumer association spokesperson was
asked why. when farmers portion of the
food cost increase had gone up only two per
cent and the margin between the
distributer and retailer had jumped 10 per
cent. why was the C.A.C. only attacking
the farmer? Her answer was the
organization didn't have enough money to
fight the retailer.
Eventually." he says. "you get to the
point where you say what the hell's the
use?"
In all, he led the OFA for seven of its
most important years in history. then
retired to be succeeded by Peter Hannam,
a Guelph area farmer. During those years
his wife Ruby and son Bev kept the large
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v1
171 Horton at
Richmond,
London, Ontario.
PG. 22. VILLAGE SQUIRE/MAY 1978.
Hill farming operations going. He was
away most of the time. either at his desk in
Toronto or attending meetings or giving
speeches. The family back home ran the
1500 acre operation growing white beans
and corn.
He retired in the fall of 1976 but it wasn't
too long before he,w•as back in the limelight
again. He was wooed to join politics and
finally decided to seek the New Democratic
Party nomination for the riding of
Middlesex. a few miles to the south of his
farm. It had been held by former Provincial
Agriculture Minister William Stewart and
now was held narrowly by his successor.
Bob Eaton. also a Conservative.
The NDP sought for the first time in the
province to get a strong agricultural voice
when it also secured former NFU Ontario
leader Walter Miller who ran in Grey. But
Ontario farmers haven't been big
supporters of the socialist parties for years
and both men went down to defeat.
although both got a good deal of attention
for their efforts to get the NDP recognized
in the farming community.
Mr. Hill says he isn't entirely unhappy at
being defeatd. He entered the battle. he
says. despite the fact he wasn't sure he
really wanted to be an M.P.P. Some of the
aspects he would have liked, he says, such
as being in on policy formation and the rule
making. but he honestly feels the
constituency problems would have ended
up being a drag. Solving these problems is
a seven day week. 52-week a year
problem. he says. He's at a point in his life
when he wants some privacy.
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Phone or come by for a visit soon. See our newly
expanded shop for yourself. We will also give tips
and advice for people working on their own.
ROBERT [TED] SCHINBEIN
MITCHELL 348-8169
[edge of town, Hwy. 23, North]