The Rural Voice, 1995-11, Page 3Editor: Keith Roulston
editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County
John Heard, soils and crop extension
and research, northwestern Ontario
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.
George Penfold, associate professor,
University of Guelph
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
contributing writers:
Gisele Ireland, Cathy Laird, Wayne
Kelly, Sarah Borowski,
Mary Lou Weiser -Hamilton, June
Flath, Ian Wylie-Toal, Susan Glover,
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Darene
Yavorsky, Peter Baltensperger, Sandra
Orr, Yvonne Reynolds, Carl L. Bedal
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
Anne Harrison
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Behind the Scenes
Starting young ... and starting over
For most people alive today in
rural Ontario, 4-H has always been
part of the lives of young people. It
was 80 years ago this year that the
organization first began working with
young people to teach them skills in
farming and in leadership.
There have been many changes
over the intervening years. The
organization has grown and changed.
While farm skills are still taught in
some clubs, there are other clubs that
teach everything from homemaking
to wise consumer skills. Now, with
government cutbacks, the assistance
the clubs are getting is being reduced
and not everyone is happy with the
situation. This month we take a look
at the state of the 4-H movement on
its 80th birthday.
No matter what troubles rural
Ontario finds itself in, it's impossible
to compare our situation to that in
former East Bloc countries now
struggling to emerge from 50 years of
communist domination. Doug
Richards, swine adviser with
OMAFRA's Clinton office, visited
the Ukraine this spring and saw first
hand the economic devastation in
what could be one of the world's
bread -basket countries. Caught
between the centrally -planned
economy of its communist days and
the market systems of a western
country, Ukrainians have no
infrastructure at all. Fertile foods are
unproductive because there is no
money for seed and fertilizer, there is
no transportation to carry what crops
are grown, there is little sanitation in
markets and few people have the
money to buy food anyway. His
observations are a lesson in how
important the entire community
structure is in farming and in feeding
the population.
Poultry is often a forgotten part of
the local farming scene. The scale of
poultry operations is so large and the
number of poultry farmers is so
small, that sometimes the industry
isn't adequately reflected in local
farm organizations. Recently poultry
farmers from Huron, Perth and
Oxford gathered for the annual
poultry update conference in
Holmesville. Some of the
developments in the industry are
covered in this month's issue.
It's annual meeting time for the
county Federations of Agriculture.
Our news section contains reports on
the annual meetings in Perth and
Grey.
Rhea Hamilton Seeger's gardening
column looks at window -sill
gardening for children.°
Update
Dealing with an issue to avoid problems
In our July issue we dealt with the head -aches that can result when farmers'
needs to renovate an open drain come into conflict with the federal Fisheries Act
with its provisions to preserve fish habitat. Obviously these are problems that
aren't likely to go away so anything that can be done to head -off a problem is a
benefit to both sides of the issue.
The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association has been at work near
Long Point, working with Norfolk Township, and the Ministry of Natural
Resources to demonstrate and evaluate drain designs that could prevent drains
from having to be cleaned out so often, thus saving farmers' money and
preventing disturbing fish habitat. Rather than continuous bottom clean out of the
Cranberry Creek Drain and removal of brush from along one bank, all involved
agreed to try sand traps as a means of protecting the trout population and
spawning beds. Sand traps are depressions in the channel bottom designed to
collect eroded sand material and reduce the movement down stream. It meant
construction was confined to only two sites and the rest of the stream was left
untouched. It's hoped that if properly maintained, the traps could reduce future
cleanout costs.
OSCIA is involved in other experimental projects in Oxford and Dundas.°