The Rural Voice, 1996-06, Page 65HURON
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 1L0
519-482-9642
• The Rural Voice is provided to all farmers
in Huron County by the HCFA.
Good news for some, bad news for others
The past month has been
noteworthy for agriculture in
Ontario for a number of reasons,
some good, and some less than
good, depending on which side of
the equation one is sitting.
Those lucky enough to be still
holding 1995 corn have seen the
per bushel price of that crop rise to
the level that one would have, up
until recently, expected to receive
for soybeans. On the other side of
the equation, those requiring corn
as an input have had to contend
with more than a little despair.
During the last week, we have
received several items of
correspondence dealing with what
is described as desperation in the
cattle business. It would seem that
good times for one sector have had
a fairly strong linkage to less than
good times for another sector of
agriculture.
The past several months have
fairly clearly indicated two
important trends in agriculture.
The first is that agriculture is a
vastly diverse industry, and that
anyone assuming "good times in
agriculture" because of the good
fortune of one sector, is woefully
under -equipped to appreciate and
understand the linkages in
agriculture. The second is that,
unlike in the past, there just is not
going to be any assistance, of any
significance, by any level of
government, to any sector of
agriculture going through hard
times.
What this means is that the
"highs" will be higher, and, when
your sector of agriculture is down,
the "lows" will almost certainly be
lower. Whether this "leaner and
meaner" approach will be a success,
will be seen much later. As for
now, we had better be prepared for
what the "meager" might bring.
The Provincial Government
brought in its long-awaited budget,
with relatively few surprises. One
item which pleased the OFA was
the Retail Sales Tax rebate on farm
building materials purchased
between May 8, 1996 and March
31, 1997. The Federation has long
supported such a move, believing
that, for farm buildings, the
materials are likely to be from
Canada, and the labour is likely to
be sourced fairly close to home.
Two matters of continuing
concern for the Federation are the
"downsizing" of both OMAFRA
and the 4-H movement. Many
concems have been expressed about
the continued viability and
continued relevance of a vastly
HURON COUNTY
FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE
Annual Meeting
Friday, October 25, 1996
Seaforth Community Centre
(Watch for further details)
64 THE RURAL VOICE
smaller Ministry. We have similar
concerns about the cuts in funding
to the 4-H program, because the
4-H program has been, and we
believe, still is, an important part of
the development of the human
capital resource of rural Ontario.0
By Steve Thompson
President, HCFA
HCFA donates
bursaries to
high schools
This year the Huron Federation
of Agriculture will be donating to
each of the five high schools in the
county a $250 bursary to the most
deserving graduating student going
on in the field of
agriculture/science/ dairy food
category. These awards will be
chosen by the Principal and/or
teachers and will be presented at
the commencements of Central
Huron District School, Clinton;
South Huron District High School,
Exeter; F. E. Madill Secondary
School, Wingham; Goderich &
District High School, Goderich;
and Seaforth District High School,
Seaforth.0
HCFA OFFICE HOURS
Mondays and Fridays
9 a.m. to 12 noon
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday
Please leave a message.
1-800-511-1135
482-9642
FAX 482-1416
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