The Rural Voice, 2006-09, Page 56Advice
Florence Pullen named FAB winner
Florence Pullen accepts the CKNX FAB award from
Andrew Campbell, CKNX farm director.
Florence Pullen of Clinton has been named winner of
the 2006 CKNX Radio Farm Advisory Board FAB Award.
One supporter of Pullen's nomination for the award said
Florence exemplifies the desired qualities of a community
leader by her contributions to many diverse organizations
throughout the years. She's described as an icon amongst
both sheep and dog breeders in rural Ontario.
Another supporter says Florence Pullen puts her heart
and soul into every organization she joins ... and there are
many.
Pullen's been a 4-H leader in Huron County for more
than 25 years. She's been involved in the Huron County 4-
H Judging Competition and the Go for the Gold
Competition. She's active in the Bluewater Kennel Club
and in the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program at
Huronview in Clinton.
Florence Pullen is active in the Suffolk Breed
Association and the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency.
And she's shown her innovation by importing embryos
from Great Britain and using A -I to advance the quality of
her Suffolk flock.
Pullen was a high school science teacher in Seaforth and
was also a faculty member at Centralia Agricultural
College.
The CKNX Radio Farm Advisory Board FAB Award is
one of two annual awards administered by the CKNX
Radio Farm Advisory Board. The other is the CKNX
Radio Farm Advisory Board FAB Bursary - a $1,000
bursary awarded to a student from midwestern Ontario
entering his or her second year of an agriculture -related
post -secondary education program. The bursary winner is
selected each fall.
The first CKNX Radio Farm Advisory Board Award
was presented in 1999. The CKNX Radio Farm Advisory
Board is a group of farm and agri-business people from
across midwestern Ontario established by the radio station
to help it maintain and build upon its strong agricultural
information programming. The board's members have
backgrounds in a wide range of commodities - and come
from across midwestern Ontario.0
Changes coming in CAIS, Stahl says
Starting with the 2005 program
year, more producers could be eligible
for increased coverage under Canadian
Agriculture Income Stabilization
(CAIS) the federal government says.
There are two key changes:
• There is no limit on the number of
negative margin payments a producer
can receive in a five-year period.
Previously, producers could receive
only two negative margin payments in
a five-year period.
• Producers with a negative reference
margin are now eligible for CAIS
benefits. A reference margin is a
producer's average margin over the
previous five-year period, where the
years with the highest and the lowest
margins are dropped. Producers are
now eligible if they have two years of
positive margins in the three reference
years.
CAIS participants do not need to
apply separately for negative margin
coverage. Their benefits will
automatically be calculated when their
2005 and 2006 CAIS applications are
processed.
This commitment of $80 million
(cost shared 60:40 between the federal
and provincial/territorial governments,
respectively) will provide assistance to
farmers facing income pressures due to
sudden price declines, and increased
costs for inputs such as fuel, fertilizer
and seed.
The CAIS program is delivered by
the Government of Canada's CAIS
Administration in British Columbia,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New
Brunswick, Yukon, Nova Scotia, and
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Producers in these provinces can
contact the CAIS administration toll
free at 1-866-367-8506.
The federal government announced
these changes June 27 at the annual
meeting of the Ministers of
Agriculture. Part of the announcement
included working with provinces and
territories to ensure that producers with
negative margins would receive better
coverage under the CAIS prograrn.0
SEPTEMBER 2006 53