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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