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The Rural Voice, 2000-11, Page 48GREY County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER 446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9 Email: grey@ofa on.ca Website: www.ota.on.ca/grey 519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551 • The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey County Farmers by the GCFA. 60 years "Farmers working for Farmers" In a rapidly changing world it is quite an achievement for an organization to function successfully in its mandate to represent and further the interest of farmers for 60 years. This is just what the Grey County Federation of Agriculture has done and will continue to do in the future. In the 1930s and '40s when Ontario was mostly rural and there was no television, internet, limited hydro and telephone services, and farmers had more personal contacts it became apparent that a united voice to represent the farm community at all levels of government was the best way to address problems facing farmers such as new regulations on production, food safety, disaster relief and new technologies. This is the main reason the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and county federations were formed. Well guess what? With all the new gadgets and the decline of the farm population and expansion of farm operations it is still just as important as it was 60 years ago that farmers are united and represented by a strong and caring county federation because the problems facing farmers today are just as complex as in the earlier years and more issues have been added. We now have global markets, intensive farming, nutrient management, minimum distance separation, and a more urban population to deal with. In Grey County we are fortunate to have our township federations who help to bring the concerns on the home farm to the monthly board meetings and make recommendations to the Regional Directors to deal with them at the local level or bring it up at the OFA board meeting to be dealt with at the provincial level. Many times the concerns we have here are the same as in other regions of the province and can best be addressed at the OFA level. I think this small example will give you an insight why we use the slogan "Farmers Working For Farmers". The yearly highlight of the Grey County Federation of Agriculture is, of course, our annual meeting. This sort of gives the report card of the last year's activities to our members and seeks their endorsement for another year. I feel the best way to measure our performance is by the number of members attending and participating at our annual meeting. This year's meeting which was held on Friday, October 13 and with a full moon, was well attended by 87 people. This number is somewhat less than 15 years ago when the farm population was considerably higher. Those who attended the meeting had the opportunity to listen to, and ask questions of, Dr. Gord Surgeoner, President, Ontario Agri -Food Important notice regarding electricity pricing The Standard Supply Price for electricity will be 4.2 cents per kilowatt hour if bought from Hydro One or a Public Utilities Commission and no more than 5.1 cents per kilowatt hour if bought from their affiliates. The Standard Supply Price is the price you will pay if you do not sign up with a reseller. If the Standard Supply Price is set too high or too low it will be adjusted. It does not include service charges or taxes or other fees. With this in mind, prices from electricity resellers with fees included (but not service charges) should be no more than about six cents per kilowatt hour to be competitive. The only thing that a reseller can offer if the price is more than about six cents is price stability. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is asking the government to "revisit" early contracts that people signed for prices that are out of line with the Standard Supply Price.0 44 THE RURAL VOICE Technologies, who spoke on Biotechnology, where it came from, where we are now, and what the future has in store. I am sure not everyone agreed with what was said and some may have certain reservations, but it surely was interesting to see the projection where the world is going in the next 50 years when the population is projected to reach its peak at 10 billion people. It was reassuring to hear the confidence that farmers will continue to be able to produce enough food to feed this number of people and that the biggest challenge will be the distribution of food. The farmers of Grey County have done their part in giving our population high quality food in the past. Your federation has done their part over the last 60 years to deal with farmers' concerns. I am confident that your township and county directors will continue to deal with issues as they arise, to the best of their ability, and put meaning to the slogan "Farmers Working For Farmers".0 — Submitted by Karl Chittka President, Grey County Federation of Agriculture GREY COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE DIRECTORS' MEETING Thursday, November 16, 2000 8:00 p.m. ANNESLEY UNITED CHURCH 82 Toronto Street, Markdale Members are welcome to attend.