The Rural Voice, 1987-03, Page 8TREVOR HUNTER
Chartered Accountant
Providing a full range of financial services
to farmers and businessmen in the areas of
income tax preparation, planning, and
accounting.
151 Garafraxa St. S.
Durham, Ontario
(Across from MacDonald's Bakery)
1-519-369-5663
Big
Bear
SERVICES
INC.
WET BREWERS GRAIN
or
WET CORN DISTILLERS
can help your feeding
program by:
• Providing a protein
supplement
• Extending roughage
supplies, protein and
palatability to stover diets
• An excellent rumen
stimulant
• Available in full and
split load lots
Also available —
Hominy, Gluten, Screenings
and Mineral
For further information on
these and other feeds contact:
BIG BEAR
SERVICES INC.
FEED DIVISION
50 Westmount Rd.,
Waterloo, Ontario
N2L 2R5
(519) 886-4400
6 THE RURAL VOICE
GOOD SIGNS -
THE FORCE OF CHANGE
This month I have an upbeat
feeling that some of my previous
comments" and suggestions are not
altogether falling on deaf ears.
Perhaps at last, we, as farmers, are
hurting enough that we demand more
response to our economic problems
and, therefore, will be looking for
leaders of the highest quality to
respond to our needs.
I, for one, am sick
and tired of silent
majorities and self-
interested minorities
whose groups are
used by politicians
as an excuse for not
facing realities.
The mood is
changing and changing
quickly. The second
week in February saw
the fust annual meeting of the Ontario
Beef Producers For Change Inc. There
are now more than 1,000 members
who paid $50 each — not a $3 mem-
bership and non-refundable check -off
— to join. There were more than 300
members present at the meeting who
approved the constitution and the by-
laws that will make the organization
"grass-roots" and exclude under the
counter dealing. The members came
from all over the province, braving
appalling weather conditions to dem-
onstrate their strength and unity be-
hind the principles that the organi-
zation stands for. The feeling in the
hall was almost electrifying, and you
could feel the intense power of a
movement starting to roll.
The guest speaker, Del O'Brien,
warned of the opposition from people
with vested interests and people
protected from unemployment by
job security — opposition from those
who wish to see farmers live or die in
a marketplace heavily weighted in
favour of middlemen and occupations
beyond the farm gate. We are sup-
posed to live by the rule of "economic
Darwinism," according to which only
the strong shall survive. If econ-
omists and the like had their salaries
tied to changing market conditions,
as is the case with farmers, or had to
compete with Ph.D.s from Third
World countries, maybe their think-
ing and advice would be somewhat
different.
In a previous column, I discussed
the British system
of the "February
Price Review,"
through which the
single farm organ-
ization sits down
with government
and decides prices
for the next 12
months. This
system goes back
to the early 1950s.
Now the Con-
servative agriculture critic is recom-
mending a similar annual review in
Ontario, coupled with production
targets and controls and land set-aside
programs. Why, oh why has it taken
a public figure so long to come up
with such a common-sense approach?
I only hope that this private member's
bill is moved rapidly through the
legislature.
Finally, one other encouraging
and upbeat item. Brigid Pyke,
president of the OFA, reports that
membership has increased by more
than 500 since she took over as pres-
ident. Surely the message is that we
are now at last having the kind of
leadership and policy that the farmers
really want.
Let us now move forward with
greater determination than ever to see
that we have fair economic policy for
our industry.0
Barnie Evans, P. Ag., owns a
beef farm near Embro and is well-
known for his work on agricultural
policy.