The Rural Voice, 1999-09, Page 3. V•
Editor: 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, Lisa Boonstoppel-
Pot, Bonnie Gropp, Ralph Pearce
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Sandra
Orr, Carl L. Bedal, Janice Becker,
Andrew Grindlay
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising representative:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
advertising & editorial production:
Dianne Josling
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Behind the Scenes
Years of planning rewarded
There's no bigger project for a
county to undertake than to host an
International Plowing Match. In 1999
it's Huron County's turn to finally
see the results of years of planning
and hard work as the IPM comes to
the Dashwood area in the south end
of the county.
Hundreds of volunteers have been
hard at work for years planning the
event. As the match draws nearer, it
becomes a full-time job for many as
they try to make sure everything is
ready to host more than 100,000
visitors to what had been, only weeks
earlier, farm fields. We have a
number of stories on the efforts of
these volunteers and what you can
expect if you go to see how "Huron
Shines in '99".
The other big show each fall is the
Outdoor Farm Show held near
Woodstock and we have a feature on
what to expect at that show this year.
The fall is a big time in the cattle
industry as well. As the cattle come
off pasture it's a time when the cow -
calf operator markets his summer's
work and a time when the feedlot
operator fills his lot for the season
ahead. For both, it's a key time for
determining how profitable their
business may be.
In an effort to make it rewarding
for both sectors, cow -calf operator'
are being encouraged to provide
value-added calves by making sure
the calves are vaccinated, neutered
and dehorned so they're ready to
grow when they move to the next
stage of their development. One of
the programs encouraging this has
been the pre-sorted sales and the
preconditioned sales at Keady
Livestock Market. We talked to the
people at Keady about the success of
the three-year-old program and the
changes it is bringing to the industry.
Farmers often complain that
nobody wants to tell their story to
non -farmers but theatre director Paul
Thompson, a native of the Atwood
area, has been telling farm stories on
stage for nearly 30 years. Now, in
Death of the Hired Man, to be
presented at the Blyth Festival in
September, he is telling of that
dynamic time when the old
communal days of neighbourhood
threshing bees gave way to the
modern era of self-sufficiency with
the combine.
Also this month, Bonnie Gropp
looks at brunch recipes and Patti
Robertson looks at decorating with
the many shades of white.0
Update
Dumped on again!
The latest round in the battle between Ontario's garlic growers and importers of
cheap Chinese garlic seems to have gone to the Chinese, according to The
Grower, the horticultural industry's newspaper. According to the newspaper
China is reported to have brought more than 1.8 million kilograms (four million
pounds) into Canada prior to July 1 when anti-dumping duties take effect.
Warren Ham of Stratford (featured in our September 1995 story on the growth
of garlic growing) told The Grower that garlic growers expected this kind of
tactic when the Canadian International Trade Tribunal determined China was
guilty of dumping product but decided to impose the duties only between July 1
and Dec. 31 because Canada does not produce enough garlic production to
impose year-round duties.
China dumped 661,748 kg in June, 1997 and about the same amount in 1998
but increased that by a huge amount in 1999.
Garlic growers began early harvesting (by the end of July) of an exceptional
crop this year and worry that the premium prices they should have received will
be eroded by the huge Chinese imports.
"When you put that much garlic into the market before July the price is
naturally going to be driven down," said Garth Burrow, president of the Garlic
Growers Association of Ontario.0 — KR