The Rural Voice, 1987-01, Page 17If it's not going to
work on paper,
stand back. 1987 is
not a year to go on a spending spree.
In pork production we've been
looking at lower feed costs and higher
pork prices. One of the cautions is
that people in beef and pork production
not get carried away, spending all their
money on replacements with joyful
abandon — they could use up all their
profits the day they buy them.
Take advantage of all the programs
out there. Investigate them all because
there are many from different levels of
government.
We'll gladly help anyone to sort
out the paperwork.0
Don Pullen
Agricultural Representative
Huron County
WOMEN for the SUPPORT
of AGRICULTURE
The biggest thing for 1987 is that
WSA, both regional and county, is
backing a national Agriculture in the
Classroom conference (London, April
13-15). That is an issue you're hear-
ing more about these days, in the re-
spect that consumer information is
what we're working on right now, and
agriculture in the classroom is part of
that — making the public aware of
just what it is that farmers do.0
Sharon Weitzel
Co -Chairman (Perth) and
Executive Member (region)
The problems that I
see for the sheep
industry are that New Zealand
and Australia are actively looking for
outlets due to the fact that there is a
great reduction of sales to Europe. I
recently heard from somebody who'd
been in New Zealand, where breeding
ewes were selling for 50 cents apiece,
and fat lambs for less than $20. There
is just no way that we can compete,
and it's only distance that saves us
from being swamped.
Although we have enjoyed some
fairly good prices this year, I think it's
a very tenuous situation ... I see sup-
ply management as the long-term sal-
vation ... I don't think that we can go
on indiscriminately producing food.0
Tian Clarke, President
District 2
Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency
FARM
CREDIT
CORPORATION
As far as FCC is concerned, 1987
promises to be a difficult but chal-
lenging year. Loan application
numbers will probably be much
the same as last year, with little
or no increase anticipated.
Much more tune will have to
be spent counselling borrowers to
overcome low returns. So far,
interest in commodity -based loans
has not been high, but with the
index on both hogs and beef rising
every month, some farmers will
probably take advantage of the
situation to refmance.0
M. P. Rogers
Credit Advisor, FCC
Goderich
1 -t
A farmer must come up with
something that he can market
which is different from his
neighbour's. But he must
have a market first. He must
be market-oriented.
— Dr. Neil Stoskoff
Director, Diploma Program
`_ Ontario Aocultural Coll.Ise
RED WHEAT
J
This is only about the third crop
that's been grown of red wheat and
I'm concerned about the marketing
of it. In our area with the wet year
there was a lot of disease and the
quality wasn't as high as it might
be. On a new crop, all you need is
one little thing like that ... But not
every year is the same and we had
two good years before that with
good yields, and we're hoping that
the future will be better.
— Murray Thompson, R. R. 1,
Kincardine. Grew 100 acres of red
wheat in 1986, will harvest 100
acres next year.
I expect that interim payments
on corn and soybeans, which put
more money in the hands of far-
mers, will be roughly the same in
1987. Moreover, the federal govern-
ment will continue in its efforts to
direct financial assistance (through
stabilization programs, for example),
as quickly as possible to farmers.
Murray Cardiff, MP
Huron -Bruce
I would like to, somehow, develop a bet-
ter relationship with the banks so we
can talk to them more easily and work
with them to lobby the government to
accomplish some higher returns for the
producers. I'd like to decrease the antag-
onism between the banks and individual
farmers. And I'm going to try
to stay in business myself.
Grant Collins
President
Bruce Federation of Agriculture
see four issues:
the abundance of production, soil
degradation, chemically supported
agriculture, and animal welfare.
There are two options for Ontario:
to try to compete in the high volume/
low cost/mass production market, or to
aim at the high quality specialty mar-
kets. We'll have to be better or cheaper
than our competitors on a world basis.
The directions implied for the col-
lege are to provide a broader range of
courses in the food system and more
levels (we are now offering only the
diploma course and we need courses at
the certificate level — one-year courses
— and more continuing education).
Doug Jamieson
Principal
Centralia College
CREAM
In the cream industry there's a rift,
which is bad. I would encourage a
young farmer to go the milk route, but
I don't appreciate it if they want to use
the cream industry as a stepping stone.
If the cream industry were to be fault-
ed for anything, I would say that the
biggest fault was not stepping up the
quality standards quite as high as they
might have. But the steps are being
taken at this point.
I think that as farmers we're always
scared to have the food prices in line.
Food prices should be such that they
carry the weight, that we don't have to
look for govemment assistance. We
always seem to apologize for the price
of food, but when we look at the farm -
gate price, it isn't that high.
One important thing is that all farm
organizations work closely together. It's
food that we're producing. And I don't
care if you're rich, poor, or who you are,
food is number one.0
Walter Cook, Chairman
Perth County Cream Producers
JANUARY 1987 15