The Rural Voice, 2002-10, Page 57PERTH 1�
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Jim Van Nes, President
519-393-6712
The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA
Bill 81 concerns voiced at hearing
Any opinions expressed herein inay
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
Bill 81
The following document is a
summary of the presentation made to
the Ministry of Environment and the
Ministry of Agriculture and Food in
Clinton on September 6, 2002:
"It is difficult to assess the merits
of the proposed regulations that we
have been given to date ,without
knowing how they tie in with the
balance of the regulations
(enforcement, auditing etc...) under
Bill 81. Given the amount of
material and detail released, I don't
believe that comprehensive
consultation can or will be achieved
by giving individuals five minutes of
time in this format. I would like to
see more detailed and comprehensive
discussions held with all affected
stakeholder groups, dealing point by
point with specific concerns.
"In general, I am in support of the
proposed regulations that I see —
especially the requirement that all
nutrient users will do N.M.P.s. The
proposed categories do not look to be
a problem for producers, as long as
they are only used to describe farm
sizes and not to set different rules for
different categories. Since we agree
that 99.8 per cent of farmers do not
constitute a problem, it would be my
position that the N.M.P.s that will be
required under this legislation should
not be too restrictive, complicated or
cumbersome for those 99.8 per cent.
In return I would support, and I
believe all farm groups would
support, a more punitive approach to
the .2 per cent of farmers who
blatantly or repeatedly abuse the
environment.
"By 2008, under this proposed
legislation, there will be
approximately 55,000 to 65,000
N.M.P.s created in Ontario. Where
do we find enough knowledgeable
people to properly evaluate and
administrate this many documents in
a comprehensive and timely manner?
"Will this be a provincial
responsibility or will it be
downloaded to municipalities?
"Farmers should not be restricted
to programs such as M.M.A.N. to
complete their N.M.P. if they do not
have access to a computer, provided
they have other acceptable means of
completing their N.M.P. Further.
N.M.P.s should not have to be
developed by "consultants".
especially those where the owned
land base exceeds M.N.U.'s.
N.M.P.s should be seen as
educational opportunities for nutrient
users. OMAF and the MOE. Farmers
should be able to follow the intent of
their N.M.P. where good
management dictates, and not the
'letter' of the plan.
"Since 67 per cent of spills
reported to the MOE for 1999, 2000,
or 2001 (57 out of 84) are related to
spreading, this seems to represent an
area where we could make drastic
improvement. No reported spills in
those three years were the result of
deteriorating storage.
"An economic impact study
should be completed before all of the
regulations are put in place
This would indicate the amount
of government involvement required
so as not to 'unduly hurt' smaller
farms.
"I believe that the farm
community is in support of your
efforts and that of OMAF with Bill
81. But. in return for that support we
expect provincial legislation that
doesn't contain surprises or changes
that alter the intent or application of
this bill."
Safety Nets
At our monthly Perth County Pork
Producers meeting on September 4.
Clare Schlegel. presenting the board
report. strongly recommended that all
farmers should open individual NISA
accounts. This might be the only. or
best safety net help offered by the
government. Assistance can be
available though your accountant's
office.0
— Submitted by Russ Danbrook
PERTH COUNTY PORK
PRODUCERS'
PORK PRODUCTS
• Smoked Pork Chops • Fresh Pork Chops
• Stuffed Loin Chops • Smoked Sausage
• Smoked Cheddar Sausage
• Bacon Burgers • Teriyaki Pork Steaks
• Vittorio's BBQ Sauce
AVAILABLE FROM:
Steve Hulshof (Kinkora) 348-8167
Martin van Bakel (Dublin) 345-2666
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
OCTOBER 2002 53