The Rural Voice, 2006-11, Page 55RAINY RIVER
16
RR 1, STRATTON, ON POW 1NO
807-487-2387
• The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER R11\ Y RIVER VALLEY River Federation members by the RRFA.
Rainy River Federation marks 30th anniversary
On Saturday,.October 21, the
Rainy River Federation of
Agriculture held its Annual Meeting,
Dinner and Dance at the Stratton
Millennium Hall with approximately
90 members and guests in attendance.
This event was all about celebrating
30 years of "farmers working for
farmers" in the Rainy River District.
All past presidents had been
invited and, following the delicious
meal, each was asked if they had any
words of wisdom. Jack Elliot stood
and announced that, as anyone could
see, he had eaten today, and then,
with a grand sweeping gesture,
thanked the room full of farmers.
Most recent past president,
Bernie Zimmerman, congratulated all
those who had let their
names stand for election to the board
of directors and suggested that
it was a sign of a healthy
organization.
The 2006-2007 RRFA Board of
Directors is as follows: President,
Trish Neilson; Secretary, Linda
Armstrong; Treasurer, Angela
Halvorsen. Representatives for Zone
1 are Linda Armstrong and Rudy
Sinninghe. Representatives for Zone
2 are Amos Brielman and Rick
Boersma. Representing Zone 3 are
Rick Neilson and Ken Fisher and
Zone 4, Kim Jo Bliss and Tracey
Hyatt. Trish Neilson has been named
delegate to the OFA Annual
Convention with Rick Boersma as the
alternative.
Ken Boshcoff, MP for Thunder
Bay/Rainy River, and Peter Aalbers,
OFA Provincial Director for NWO,
were on hand to present
congratulations to the RRFA on its
thirtieth anniversary. They each
delivered a brief message to the
crowd and were available to discuss
issues during the social part
of the evening.
Congratulations to Shawn Hyatt,
of Devlin, winner of the draw for a
free one hour flight over his farm and
the rest of the RRD in a six -passenger
Turbo Beaver, courtesy of True North
Outposts and Cabins on beautiful
Clearwater Lake. Chuck and Cathy
Mosbeck, owner/operators of True
North, offer both drive-in and fly -in
cabins to some of the most scenic
wilderness fishing and hunting in
Northwestern Ontario. A big Thank -
you goes out to Chuck and Cathy for
their generosity.•
Fort Frances band, "North of the
Trax", provided very danceable
music. It is a sign of the advancing
age of farmers in :the RRD that the
band was able to pack up shortly after
midnight.
Eric Busch, agricultural intern for
the Rainy River Soil and Crop
Improvement Association, was not on
hand on Saturday night because a job
interview had taken him away for a
few days. Eric's internship is drawing
to a close and it looks like his career
will be taking him away from the
district. Eric's enthusiasm, insights,
and creative ideas have been a great
contribution towards food localism
and agricultural sustainability. Eric,
we wish you success in the future and
hope that opportunity and the lure of
great fishing bring you back to the
RRD. Thank you for all of your
efforts.
Deer hunting season is upon us
once again and some residents are
expressing concern that the Ministry
of Natural Resources' budget has not
been increasing at a time when they
are spending more on the policy end
and less on enforcement. There will
be less patrolling this year because
the deer population is strong and the
MNR looks at the risk to the resource
when deciding how much effort to
put into it's protection. If someone is
night hunting in your field, you may
have a different view of the risk
assessment when there isn't a CO to
respond to your call.
The feed store has been doing an
increasing business selling feed
blocks, corn, and various seed
mixtures to hunters and hunting
outfitters in efforts to attract big
bucks and provide them with
nutrients that will grow bigger
antlers. A recent study might,
however, cause people to reconsider
the wisdom of feeding deer. The
study found that the prions that cause
Chronic Wasting Disease in deer are
found in their saliva. Feeding stations
that concentrate deer herds could
cause the disease to spread very
quickly if (when?) it finds its way to
our area. We really can't do better
with nature than to keep our
interference to a minimum.
Dr. Dan at Northwest Animal
Clinic has announced that he can no
longer continue with the large animal
practice. This leaves RRD farms
without a large animal vet and it is a
serious situation that does not appear
to have a solution, at least in the
short term. There has been a fair
amount of thoughtful discussion
about this issue on the Rainy River
Ag forum.
Now that the cool weather is
here, maybe the forum will
become more active again.
Remember, this is a forum for
discussing issues about agriculture
and rural life in the
RRD and it needs people posting
and reading for it to be worth
visiting. Why not get involved?
Please remember to vote on
November 13.
— Submitted by Rick Neilson
Check out: http://s 14.invisionfree.com/rainy_river_a&forum
NOVEMBER 2006 51