The Rural Voice, 2002-07, Page 3About this issue
New wags, old wags
Perth and its neighbouring counties have been the centre
of Ontario's pork production for many years but during the
last several decades it's been a case of loading market hogs
onto trucks and waving goodbye as they travel down the
highway to distant cities for processing. The opening of
West Perth Packers in Mitchell in June changed all that.
The plant, first announced in our December 2000 issue,
is a $11 million investment by Miriam Terpstra of Acre T
Farms of Brussels and Larry and Glenn Tulpin of Norfolk
Packers and will employ state-of-the-art technology. We
toured the new facilities and offer an inside glimpse.
While still less than one per cent of Canada's farmers,
the number of producers of organic food and crops
continues to grow at a rapid pace while numbers of farmers
in most commodities drop. There are now 500 members of
the Ecological Farmers of Ontario, for instance.
The growth is even more remarkable considering there's
no easy route into organic farming. There's no program
offered at universities. Only recently has the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture and Food named Hugh Martin as a
program lead in organic crop production. There aren't any
field representatives of supply companies because there are
no big suppliers.
Cast on their own, organic producers have come up with
their own infrastructure to help new entrants enter their
circle and help supply the booming demand for organically -
grown products. We explore how people can learn the
ropes to make the difficult switch to organic production.
Back in the days when virtually every farmer was
organic, specialized buildings were added on farms for
everything from keeping the milk cool to drying corn.
Larry Drew looks at the history of these buildings which
have now nearly disappeared from the rural landscape.
Colin Perkel, author of A Well of Lies, spoke of his
experiences covering the Walkerton water inquiry to
Friends of the Bayfield River, a group concerned with
water quality in that Huron County watershed. We have a
report.0
Update
Biodiesel takes off
Talk about fast -breaking news. The June issue of Thu
Rural Voice containing David Blaney's article on biodiesel
was hardly in the mail when rapid developments began.
First it was the city of Brampton announcing it would
blend soybean oil with diesel for 16 vehicles of its truck
fleet for a three-month test. If the test goes well the
program will likely be expanded to the entire 415 -vehicle
municipal fleet, including 130 public transit buses. It's
estimated the low -ratio blend of soybean oil to diesel could
reduce vehicle emissions by 27 per cent and a 50/50 mix
might reduce emissions by 70 per cent.
Then on June 7, Premier Ernie Eves announced the 14.4
cent per litre provincial fuel tax may be removed on
biodiesel fuels to spur on development of a biodiesel
industry. The tax removal proposal is based on the
recommendations of the BIOCouncil, the all -party
Alternative Fuels Committee headed by Dr. Doug Galt,
MPP and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Deputy Minister's Life Sciences Advisory Committee.
That move was enough for Tim Haig, president of BIOX
Corporation to announce he will go ahead with talks with
the soybean industry and rendering industries about
establishing biodiesel production plants in Ontario.
Ontario Soybean Growers Chair Liam McCreery
suggested removal of the tax, if adopted, "would move
Ontario into the position of being a global leader in
biotechnology and biodiesel production."0
'Rural Voice
Published monthly by:
The Rural Voice,
Box 429, Blyth, Ontario,
NOM 1 HO
Telephone: 519-523-4311 (fax 523-9140).
e-mail: norhuron@scsinternet.com
Subscriptions: $17.12 (12 issues)
(includes 7% GST)
Back copies $2.75 each
For U.S. rates, add $5 per year
Changes of address, orders for subscriptions
and undeliverable copies (return postage
guaranteed) are to be sent to The Rural Voice
at the address listed above.
A division of North Huron Publishing Company Inc.
Editor & Publisher: Keith Roulston
Editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron Cty;
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.:
Gerald Poechman, farmer. Bruce Cty.
Contributing writers:
Bonnie Gropp. Carol Riemer, Ralph
Pearce, Bob Reid. Mervyn Erb, Sandra
Orr. Janice Becker, Mark Nonkes, Larry
Drew
Marketing & Advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
Advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
Production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
Advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
Printed & mailed by: Signal -Star Publishing, Goderich, Ontario
Canadian Publication Mail Agreement Number 1375016 held by North Huron Publishing
Co. Inc. at Blyth, Ontario.
All manuscripts submitted for consideration should be accompanied by a stamped, self-
addressed envelope. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or
photographs, although both are welcome. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily
those of the publisher. Editorial content may be reproduced only by permission of the
publisher.
The Rural Voice makes every effort to see that advertising copy is correct. However, should an
error occur, please notify The Rural Voice office within 30 days of invoicing in order to obtain
a billing adjustment.