The Rural Voice, 2000-01, Page 20U S K y COMMITTED TO QUALITY YOU CAN DEPEND ON
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16 THE RURAL VOICE
OMFRA for they've slowly taken out
of the system," he said. Recently
during a coffee -shop session he
polled the regulars on who used
OMAFRA services and 80 per cent
said they didn't.
Jack Wilkinson, president of the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture,
says use of OMAFRA has been
reduced over the years because it had
so much less to offer than in the past.
Which came first the chicken or the
egg, he wonders of the lack of
interest by farmers in the service
pro' ided by their local office?
But Wilkinson points out there
were a lot of things
OMAFRA's local offices did
that will be missed. Ag Reps and
specialists, for instance, provided
support for local farm groups like
Soil and Crop Improvements
Associations.
Karl Chittka, president of the
Grey County Federation of
Agriculture says OMAFRA staff
were often a source of
communications between different
farm groups, bringing concerns of
commodity groups to the Federation
and vice versa. And the Markdale
office became the unofficial "home
place" for farm groups that used its
board room for their meetings.
What happens to those board
rooms even in the offices that remain
is still unknown, says Carlow but
OMAFRA will not be operating
them. Currently, he says, the board
room in Clinton is used 300 times a
year by farm and community groups.
Pat Down, president of the Huron
County Federation of Agriculture
said rumours suggested another
government ministry had already
been measuring the boardroom space
at Clinton for possible conversion to
offices.
Local offices have also served as
problem -solving centres. Gertie
Blake, OFA field representative in
Grey and Bruce, says she often
referred people to their local
OMAFRA office when they had
problems with government or needed
information.
"Where are these people going to
go to pick up information?" she
wonders.
Bill Murdock, outspoken member
of provincialparliament for Grey -
Bruce admits that he referred a lot of