The Rural Voice, 2002-11, Page 50BRUCE
Email: bruce@ofa.on.ca
website: www.ofa.on.caibruce
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
•The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER County Farmers by the BCFA.
Ron MacLean, Buzz Hargrove and the U.S. Farm Bill
Just a few musings from down on
the farm on another dry year at
harvest time.
We noted a couple of weeks back
when our good fellow Ron MacLean
was having his differences with
CBC over Hockey Night in Canada
when according to the press it
seemed to threaten the very
existence of our country. It actually
appeared to get more press and
overshadow the federal
government's "Throne Speech"
which outlined priorities for our
country for the next five years or so.
Talk about priorities of the press.
Then just this morning (October
16) on the airwaves it was
announced that our friend Buzz
Hargrove and the CAW have
successfully wrapped up their
negotiations with Chrysler,
following General Motors and Ford.
You've certainly got to hand it to
Buzz and his negotiators. Heck
besides getting a reasonable raise in
pay and job security built in for their
members, they also negotiated
replacement jobs with a raise in pay
when the big companies threatened
to close certain plants. Way to go
Buzz. Yes, my kind of negotiating.
Can you fellow farmers even
comprehend the difference in our
lives it would make to have Buzz
working on our behalf when we are
negotiating with Mr. Vanclief and
his provincial associates? And to
think that approximately 20 years
ago when overtures were made to
agriculture by the union leaders our
representatives actually turned them
down.
I say we need a Buzz Hargrove
type as the next president of OFA.
We need a person who will go to the
wall on our behalf and get things
accomplished for our farmers and '
not come back with a half a pail of
promises that is full of holes and
leaking.
The U.S. Farm Bill
Whether we like it or not the U.S.
Farm Bill is huge and for us a
reality. I think it is high time that
our federal leaders treated
agriculture as seriously for this
country as it is in the United States.
The feds in Ottawa can and should
match the U.S. Treasury on a per
capita basis as an investment in our
country.
New Publication available
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) has released
Publication 811: Agronomy Guide to Field Crops. This new publication
is a comprehensive guide to agronomic practices for field crop
production. Information on tillage options, soil management, variety
selections, seeding, fertility, harvest, storage and more make this an
important tool for a better bottom line. Descriptions of crop problems
and over 100 colour plates help with quick diagnosis. Diagnostic guide
and scouting calendars make this publication a very useful resource.
To order copies call the OMAF Publication Order Centre at 1-888-466-
2372.0
46 THE RURAL VOICE
The Small Farmer
Small farmers do not deserve to
be squeezed out just because they do
not have the economies of scale or
programs are not tailored to
accommodate them. What will our
small rural communities look like in
10 years if the trend continues?
In closing I urge you my fellow
farmers to band together and get
involved. Make your concerns and
thoughts known to the
organizations, and if asked for a
little time to help out in a
meaningful way say yes, because
you can make a difference!O
— Submitted by Robert Emerson
(Just a Farmer)
2nd Vice President,
Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture
BRUCE COUNTY
FEDERATION OF
AGRICULTURE
DIRECTORS'
MEETING
Monday,
November 18, 2002
8:00 p.m.
Sprucedale Agromart
R.R. #2, Walkerton
25th sideroad Brant
(north off of former Hwy.#4
- east of Walkerton)
MEMBERS ARE
WELCOME TO ATTEND
Please Note change in
meeting due to OFA
Convention