The Rural Voice, 1987-10, Page 36•
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34 THE RURAL VOICE
NEWS
FARMERS MEET TO DISCUSS THEIR
PROBLEMS WITH FARM CREDIT CORP.
by Adrian Vos
It wasn't just "another griping ses-
sion," in the words of Brian Ireland of
Teeswater, but an attempt to come up
with proposals for change.
At a meeting in Hanover September
16 called by the Bruce County Federa-
tion of Agriculture and the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture, about 100
farmers turned out to dicuss solutions to
problems farmers have with the Farm
Credit Corporation (FCC).
OFA president Brigid Pyke ex-
plained that FCC staff had not been
invited to the meeting so that those now
dealing with the FCC could speak with-
out fear.
Jack Wilkinson, OFA vice-presi-
dent, said that the FCC wants at least 35
per cent equity and charges 11.5 per cent
interest for new loans, more than the
chartered banks ask for.
The audience then took the floor to
relate problems and propose solutions.
One dairy farmer, after stating that he is
"a damn good farmer with records to
prove it," complained that he borrowed
from the FCC to pay the bank, which
owns his quota. After selling two cows
for $50,000 each, he made all his pay-
ments except his operating loan of
$65,000. Then the bank called that loan,
which he couldn't pay because some of
his cows had died from nitrate poisoning
when on alfalfa, and refused him a new
operating loan.
The farmer subsequently applied for
debt review but, he said, the Debt Re-
view Board is useless because it has no
teeth.
Now, he added, all his incoming
money goes to the bank and the FCC and
he has no money left to live on. The
FCC, he said, has indicated that it will
seek power of sale, even though his
payments to the FCC are up to date.
Another farmer said that he has been
in trouble ever since he started farming.
He had a job with Ontario Hydro and
was slowly rebuilding old bams. In
1979, however, the FCC talked him into
new buildings, he said. The corpora-
tion, he added, also told him he had to
quit his job to qualify. When he had
trouble with his payments, he said, he
was told to find a job so he could meet
them.
Now, the farmer said, the FCC has
told him that corporation policy doesn't
allow write-offs — and he figures it
makes little sense to pay $170,000 on an
$80,000 farm. The farmer then applied
to the review board, which sent some-
one to assess the situation, but the
board's report was confidential so the
farmer doesn't know if the information
in it is accurate. The board's sole recom-
mendation was to lose the farm and lease
it back from the FCC, the farmer con-
cluded.
One of the few farmers who identi-
fied himself was Barry Ireland of Tees -
water. His problems with the FCC
started in 1982, he said. In dealing with
the Listowel office, he cautioned,
"Don't believe a word they say." In
1983 his arrears were still small, but he
then put the farm in his wife's name,
after consulting with the FCC. He was
told to liquidate and he paid off the bank.
Ireland said he then applied to the
FCC for a loan to finance the arrears. In
response, the FCC put the farm up for
sale. That was when the farmer hired a
consultant from London. In the mean-
time, he said, the FCC rented out the
land. When the moratorium on foreclo-
sures was lifted, he added, he tried to
buy the farm back. He also offered to
rent the land for $11,500, but the FCC,
he said, rented it to someone else for
$10,000.
In addition, he said, his wife and
family were harassed by the FCC when
assessors were sent to the barns and over
the property while he was away.
Brigid Pyke noted that she had been
over the records with Ireland and said
that the case "seems like a grudge
match. This is a bad thing to happen."
Ireland charged that the FCC seems
to have only one policy, to "get the
farmer off the land." In one case, he
said, a farmer offered to buy a farm
back for $90,000 but was refused. The
FCC sold it to someone else for $75,000.
(cont'd)