Loading...
The Rural Voice, 1993-01, Page 10SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO'S 55th ANNUAL FARMERS' WEEK "Farming For The Future" January 6 - 9, 1993 Ridgetown College PROGRAM Feature Speaker Wed , Thurs., Fn., — 1.30 • 2: 15 p m OMAF Information Booth - Wilson Hall - OMAF personnel available daily to discuss programs & problems in Farm & Soil Mgmt JAN. 6 - CORN AND SOYBEANS • Corn Management I • Nitrogen Fertility • Ear Mould, Toxins • Corn Variety Performance • Corn Management II • P & K Fertility Mgmt • The Third Wave Corn Prod • Corn Prod Via Satellite and the Computer Chip • Soybean Management • End Product Specdic Soybean Varieties • Problem Weed Control • Genetic Engineering Realny vs Fiction • Markel Analysis JAN. 7 - PRODUCTION FOR PROFIT - SOIL MANAGEMENT • Soil Testing • Soil Management • Environmental Farm Plan Management • Agricultural Inputs and The Environment • How I Included the Environment In My Farm Plan • Will The Environmental Farm Plan He To Address The Concern Raised by The Ont Farm Groundwater Quality Survey' • The Environmental Farm Plan - What Is It & What Stage Is It At' • Production For Profit - Ag Business Mgmt. • Using Farm Finance Expertise • Getting The Most From Your Investment • NISA Making h Work For You • What's Gone Wrong Wsh the Weather' • Squeezing Extra Revenue From The Farm JAN. 8 - WHEAT CULTURE • Winter, Spring, Red and White Wheat Varieties & Their Gross Returns • Mgmt of Red & Whne Wheat • Wheat Storage • Horticulture Crops • Processing Tomatoes • Processing Tomatoes II • Domestic, U S & World Tomato Snuanon • Impact of New Soybean Herbicides • Herbicide Application Strategies • Fresh Market Vegetable Prod. • Fresh Produce Mktg. • What is OMAF Doing To Promote Ontario Produce' • What do Ont Growers Have to Do to Get More of The Super Markets Shelf Space JAN. 9 - ALTERNATIVE CROPS MGMT. • Alternative Crops Mgmt. I • Farming Alternatives • Problems With Primrose Grown In Ont • Making Red Winter Wheat Work In Ont • Problems With Pnmrose As An Alternative Crop In Ont • Alternative Crops Mgmt. 11 • Market Strategies For On -Farm Alternatives • Garlic The Gourmet Crop" • New Markets For Traditional Crops • A Photo Tour 01 Alternate Crops • Goat Production & Mgmt. Goat Mgmt. I • Purchasing Breeding Stock • Nutrnion Computer Programs • Goat Mgmt. II • Using Body Score to Monitor Nutritional Needs • Becoming a Successlul Chevon Producer • Computers in Agriculture - Hardware & Software Show • Maintenance • What Can You Do With A Modem • Mapping Your Future Via Satellite & Computer • Alternative Livestock • Alternat ve Livestock Business • Diversdication • Marketing Strategies for Alternate Livestock • Sheep Prod. • Sheep Demonstrations & Exhibits Grading • Health • Nutrition • Tricks to Increase Lambing Percentage Pegistration cost $8 00 including admission to the days program and Farmers' Week information. Noon meal available each day at dining hall. COME EARLY — BROWSE AND SOCIALIZE ' Special Exhbns on Alternate Crops ' Commercial Exhibits ' Posner Information ' RCAT Lbrary - Largest source of ag. information in the South West — Over 200 Farm Periodicals This program *organized and sponsored by the Soil & Crop Improvement Assoc., of the Counties of Essex, Kent, Lambton, Middlesex and Elgin, OMAF, & RCAT 6 THE RURAL VOICE Keith Roulston Don't fix what ain't broke For a decade of government bashing and deregulation fever I've been a cynical by-stander. After all, I reasoned, many of the laws we're now questioning were laws that were brought in to protect our interests a few years earlier. Lately, how- ever, the rule - makers seem to have gotten out of hand, giving us laws nobody asked for. Was there a great outcry, for instance, about buildings collap- sing because they were made with ungraded lumber? Were there people perishing under roofs that collapsed because they were held up by lumber that didn't have an inspector's stamp of approval? Was the Consumers' Association on the warpath because of the danger to people from roaster chickens, ducks and geese coming out of those farm -yard slaughterhouses that are now going to have to be government inspected, at an added cost that might shut down many of these small operators and prevent more than a few farm families from adding a little income by selling some backyard poultry to their neighbours? Have there been any examples of people becoming ill from poorly -handled food from these slaugherhouses? My own experience, as someone who has raised back -yard chickens for more than 15 years, is that the facilities for slaughtering chickens are better in the last five years than at any time in history. At the same time as we're tightening regulations in these little neighbourhood operations, inspection of meat production in Targe producers south of the border is being reduced to the state of dangerousness, accord- ing to Lambton-Middlesex M.P. Ralph Ferguson. Similarly, was anybody complaining about getting ripped off because ungraded eggs were being sold in farmers markets across the country? Was there really any danger to the unsuspecting consumers? Then there's Bill 162, the amendments to the Game and Fish Act which will regulate just about every animal that moves. Was this bill introduced to meet any pressing need or just to create more reason for bureaucrats to exist? Not only was there no public call for most of these regulations, I doubt if many were even initiated by the political side of government. My guess would be that civil servants dreamed up most of the reasons why these regulations had to be instituted, then convinced the politicians to go along. Governments change but their employees tend to stick around. How else do you explain that rural Ontario fought against regional govemment in the 1970s, sending some Conserva- tive MPs to retirement in the battle, so that the issue would be put to rest? When the Liberals were in power, however, the issue arose again under the new title of county restructuring. The government changed again when the NDP won election, but the issue remains on the agenda despite stubborn foot -dragging by rural politicians. The same holds true of district health councils which are being pushed now on those areas that saw no need to have one when governments, going back to the Bill Davis regime, promoted the idea. All these regulations are making life more complicated and expensive for rural people at a time when they need every break they can get to survive. What's more, they run against the professed beliefs of both the federal government, and Ontario Agriculture Minister Elmer Buchanan that people should be more self- sufficient. And at the same time that government is promoting recycling, those lumber inspection regulations make it difficult to use salvaged lumber in buildings. Bureaucrats should take a rest from writing unneeded laws, and give us a rest too.0 Keith Roulston is editor and publisher of The Rural Voice as well as being a playwright. He lives near Blyth, Ont.