The Rural Voice, 2000-09, Page 68by contacting, Dr. Ludovic Boure at
the Ontario Veterinary College. 519-
823-8800.
• Veterinarians are commonly called
to see horses which have crusty.
inflamed patches in the unpigmented,
pink -skinned areas of the face.
Buttercup can cause a local skin
irritation but photosensitization or
photodermatitis is the common
diagnosis. Photodynamic agents
contained in certain plants
accumulate in the liver and react with
ultraviolet light to cause the
dermatitis. This is commonly seen in
pyrrolizidine-alkaloid-containing
plants such as: alsike clover, tansy
ragwort, groundsel, fiddleneck,
common heliotrope, vipers bugloss,
and rattlebox.
Phenothiazine -derived wormers
and antibiotics such as sulfonamides
and tetracyclines have also been
associated with this condition.
Horses that are at the greatest risk of
plant -induced photosensitivity are
those grazing on very poor pastures
which contain a lot of weeds,
especially in the fence line. Submit
samples of plants for identification to
a local weed/plant specialist and
consult the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs'
publication 505, Ontario Weeds, for
weed identification.0
Farm Debt Meditation
Service helpsfarmers
The Farm Debt Mediation Service
(FDMS) provides insolvent farmers
and their creditors with mediation
services to help them arrive at
mutually satisfactory arrangement.
The service is a private,
confidential and more affordable
alternative to using the courts. It's
also successful 70 per cent of the
time, meaning that farmers and their
creditors are able to work out a plan.
There are two ways a farmer can
use the service. The first is called the
Stay of Proceedings, Review and
Mediation. The second is called the
Review and Mediation Without a
Stay.
The significant difference between
the two processes is the Stay of
Proceedings is applied under the first
64 THE RURAL VOICE
Advice
option. This is very important where
the creditors have already begun
legal actions against you.
Secured creditors are required by
law to serve the farmer with a Notice
of Intent to Realize on Security
before undertaking any action to
recover debts. A farmer has 15
business days to respond to this
notice before legal action begins. In
this case, the farmer would usually
choose to apply for the Stay of
Proceedings to prevent further action
by the creditor during mediation.
The farmer would also apply for a
Stay when being sued for a debt by
an unsecured creditor. Though
unsecured creditors are not required
to provide the Notice, the Stay still
protects the farmer's assets during
mediation. If a Notice hasn't been
served and legal action hasn't been
taken, the farmer may prefer to apply
for review and mediation only,
without applying for a Stay.
The consultant will help the farmer
assess alternatives and the fargter
will select a course of action, and
develop a two or three-year
operational plan, including cashflow
and income and expense projections.
Eligible farmers are those with
their basic farm bookkeeping in order
or readily accessible and are
experiencing one or more of the
following situations in their farming
business.
1. Incurring losses
2. Margins decreasing
3. Difficulty paying bills as they
come due
4. Operating loan not revolving —
unable to reduce loan balance
regularly, loan not being extended
5. Debt terms incongruent — timing
and amount of payments are
incompatible with the cashflow of
the operation
6. Evidence that any of the above is
likely to happen in the future.
To obtain services you should
contact: Farm Consultation Service,
Mr. Bob Zidichouski, General
Manager, 174 Stone Rd. W., Guelph,
ON NIG 4T1 Telephone: (519) 836-
8135 or 1-800-265-7288. Fax: (519)
836-3213. Website:
http://aceis.agr.ca/progser/
Do you know about
Farm Consltation
Services?
Do you know about farm
consultation services?
The Farm Consultation Service
(FCS) provides confidential financial
management counselling to farmers
through two services:
• a pathfinding or referral service
and
• a direct, one-on-one financial
management counselling service
The pathfinding referral service
helps farmers to locate the
information they need to improve or
change the direction of the farm
operation.
The financial management
counselling service helps farmers
who are experiencing farm financial
problems. For a nominal fee qualified
counsellors who understand farming
will work with you to prevent more
serious financial problems. The
service will help you assess your
current financial position and
develop a plan for future success.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Pathfinding/Referral Service
Over the phone yciu can obtain the
name and brief details of programs,
services and individuals who can
help. You can find information under
the headings of Farm Organizations,
Provincial and Federal Departments
of Agriculture and their services and
Commodity Specific Organizations.
Financial Management
Counselling Sbrvices
A farmer who wants one-on-one
financial counselling can obtain the
following service from the
consultant:
• The consultant will prepare an
income and expense information
statement for the past two years, a
current balance sheet and one to two
year income and expense projections
based on continuing the existing
operation.
WHAT ARE THE STEPS?
The steps for both options are the
same except where noted. Once the
administrator confirms eligibility:
• A financial expert is assigned to