The Rural Voice, 1999-06, Page 63RAINY RIVER
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
RAINY RIVER VALLEY
May 13, 1999
Did you ever wish for rain, then wish
for it to stop?
The farmers in the district who only
two weeks ago, were fearing drought,
must have forgotten how the Rainy
River Valley always comes through and
never lets us down. Now we'll be very
patient for all the water to evaporate so
that we can once again get at the
seeding. The pastures are greening up,
the forest fires are out and we won't.
have to worry about harvesting the grain
at fair time. So everything always works
out for those who are persistent.
The RRFA held their May 3 meeting
at OMAFRA in Emo, with Linda
Armstrong presiding. It was a good
productive evening and we were able to
arrive home at a respectable hour.
Attending were Dianne VandenBrand,
Wade Desserre, Rudy Sinninghe, KimJo
Calder, Betty Salchert, James Gibson,
Shirley Morrish and guests Gary
Sliworsky, Vicki Ikert, Sitskey
VanZwol and Carol Angus.
Gary from OMAFRA . presented an
outline of the actual costs to put
together the North West Link.
OMAFRA will no longer assume the
expense. It was decided aftcr much
discussion that since there are three
districts involved, a sponsor page of
business cards at a reasonable cost could
cover the price of publishing issues to
every farm household across the three
districts. It is hoped that there will not
be a lapse in the monthly issues while
collecting sponsorship.
Betty set up a colourful display for
Ag Days at Barwick. Information and
pamphlets were available, as well as
Betty to answer questions. She
reminded everyone of the upcoming
election on June 3.
Linda reported on the Farm Progress
Building. Lists are now out and if you
want a favourite space for your displays,
return the forms as soon as you can.
KimJo reported on the Cattlemen's
meeting and the evening with Rick
Wright from Hartland. He was to talk on
marketing in other ways than what is
available, but it was more of a personal
marketing experience for himself.
Wade reported that the new manager
for the Rainy River Community Pasture
is Wally Hunsperger. The committee
Who make the decisions for the pasture
consists of Mark Husser, Herb Govier,
Clarence Bujold, Wayne Flatt, Wade
Desserre and Ken McKinnon. Questions
can be directed to any one of them.
Once again the Rainy River Valley
Agricultural Fair is sponsoring a
Beautification Competition. The co-
sponsors are the Rainy River Federation
of Agriculture, Fern's Bedding Plants,
Cam Belluz Masonry, Hammond's
Nursery, Northwest Nurseries,
Tompkin's Hardware Ltd. and M. L.
Judson Trucking Ltd. Deadline for the
entries is July 23, 1999. There are four
sections under class 62, and' residents
are encouraged to spruce up their
homes, farms and commercial places
well before the fair. A before photo
must be taken prior to improvements.
Entries are available from Linda
Armstrong or Dianna Gamsby, ask for
the Beautification Competition.
The new safety audit booklet is now
available. It's a hazard identification
book to help set up a safety program for
your workers. For ASAP you can call I -
800-361-8855 and they will send you a
complete binder.
Rainy River Farmers' market is
reopening for the season this Saturday,
May 15. Their hours run from 9:00 a.m.
to 12:00 noon. Management to call is
Norma Blight 852-3650 or Mary
O'Conner at 852-3685.
The Clover Valley Farmers' Market
at Fort Frances opened Saturday, May I.
It was packed to the walls. Kim Mose at
486-0009 is the new manager and their
hours are 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Ag in the Classroom, now known as
OAFE, will be setting up a display at
the Farmers' Market on the last
Saturday of May in Fort Frances. The
theme is Sunflowers. A number of
schools have booked time for their
classroom tours of the farm. They are
coming from as far away as Atikokan
this year.
A first-aid and CPR course is
scheduled for May 14 and 15 at
Sturgeon Creek School. Cost is $70 per
person. Sponsors are Rainy River 4-H
and Rainy River Rural Safety. There
will be two instructors.
Rainy River Rural Safety held their
May meeting at OMAFRA on May 12.
Jeannette Cawston from Fort Frances
R.R. 1, Devlin, Ontario POW 1C0
807-486-3622
- The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy
River Federation members by the RRFA.
representing the Safe Communities
Incentive Program was there to give her
first presentation before she goes on to
Thunder Bay to promote it there. To
date 14 communities are participating in
this voluntary safe workplace awareness
training program. All small businesses
paying from $1.000 to $90.000 in WSIB
premiums should consider joining. To
register, call Jeannette Cawston at Rainy
River Future Development Corporation
1-800-465-8502. The next Rainy River
Rural Safety meeting is scheduled for
June 21 at OMAFRA. Anyone
interested in safety is invited to join us.
The National Cattle ID Program is
expected to start up December 31, 2000.
This new database will be used to
determine the herd of origin. The
system will allow storage of individual
animal ID and retrieval of that
information in the event of a health or
safety concern. It will be a web -based
system. QC Data of Calgary was one of
the 12 companies to bid on the project
and they will be supplying the tags that
will be used on each animal.
"You're getting old when you forget
names. You're getting even older when
you forget faces. You're definitely there
when you forget to zip up. But there's
no denying you're old, when you forget
to zip down!"
You can have your own personalized
mailbox from OFA and let your
neighbours know that you are a member
of Canada's largest general farm
organization. They cost $75 and if you
want your name added it's 35 cents per
letter. Contact Mary Myers at 416-485-
3333, ext. 236.
A lot of non -farmers don't recognize
the value of agriculture in society and
it's up to us to remind them that "if you
ate today, thank a farmer."
A recent survey by OFA found that
one in three farmers do not have a first-
aid kit. There was strong support for
personal health and a safety audit on the
farm but a large number did not practise
hazard prevention on the farm. Send for
your Agricultural Safety Audit program
today. It's an eye opener for many.
"No race can prosper 'til it learns
that there is as much dignity in tilling a
field as in writing a poem". — Booker T.
Washington (1858-1915).0
— By Shirley Morrish
JUNE 1999 59