The Rural Voice, 1987-10, Page 82HURON COUNTY Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
Box 429, Clinton, Ontario NOM 110 519-482-9642
MINUTES OF HCFA ANNUAL REGIONAL MEETING
The minutes of last year's meeting
were read, approved on a motion by Bob
Harrison, and seconded by Tony
McQuail; carried.
Guest speaker George McLaughlan
of the Ontario Farm Debt Review Board
was introduced by Brenda McIntosh.
Before Mr. McLaughlin took this posi-
tion, he spent 12 years as chairman of the
Milk Marketing Board, president of the
Dairy Farmers of Canada, and president
of the Holstein Association of Canada.
Mr. McLaughlan explained how the
board operates, his position, and the
duties of the board members in Ontario.
They receive 60 to 80 applications in
their office a month. The FCC is still a
big problem, but it is great now "com-
pared to last February." At present there
is a tremendous amount of pressure on
the federal government to refinance the
FCC. The government gives the corpo-
ration a small amount of money to cover
farm losses but this is quickly used up.
Also, the FCC cannot hold land for more
than five years, therefore it can't make
agreements with farmers for more than
three years in order that it will have time
to sell the land before the five-year per-
iod is up.
Last year there was such a backlog of
applications that the Debt Review
Board was three months behind; now a
case usually can be well on its way in a
three-day period. The aim of the panel
is to keep the farmer on the land if he
wants, wherever possible. About 50 per
cent of the applicants are "darned good
farmers." They made the wrong deci-
sion at the wrong time. No one told them
interest would go up to 22 per cent and
commodity prices would go down or
they wouldn't have done what they did.
Mr. McLaughlan was thanked by
Doug Garniss.
There was a motion by regional di-
rector Doug Garniss, seconded by Tony
McQuail, that the HCFA oppose the
proposed restructuring of the OFA
Board of Directors that is under discus-
sion and look for alternative methods to
cut down on finances; carried.
The proposal is that each county
have only one representative to the OFA
board instead of the present five direc-
tors that we have in Huron. The board
would be called the Provincial Council,
with one director and one alternate from
each county. The per diem would stay
the same and this would save approxi-
mately $2,000 per OFA director's meet-
ing each month. The proposal would not
take effect until 1989.
Election of Regional Directors
and Convention Delegates
Huron North West: Ashfield, Col-
borne, East Wawanash, West Wa-
wanosh
Regional Director: Chris
Palmer, R. R. 5, Wingham
Delegates:
Tony McQuail, R. R. 1, Lucknow
Jerry Jaretzke, R. R. 5, Wingham
Ralph Scott, R. R. 3, Blyth
Alternates: John Gaunt, Donald
Dow, Walter Elliott
Huron North East: Turnberry,
Howick, Grey
Regional Director: RobertHar-
rison, R. R. 1, Monkton
Delegates:
Murray Crawford, R. R. 3, Brussels
Will Stafford, R. R. 1, Wroxeter
Jim Mann, R. R. 1, Monkton
KEEP THIS DATE OPEN!
Friday, October 9, 1987
Huron County Federation of Agriculture Annual Meeting
Hensall Community Centre
Speaker: Dr. Freeman McEwen, Dean, OAC, Guelph
Topic: Agricultural Task Force
Tickets available from directors, or call the office, 482-9642
80 THE RURAL VOICE
Alternates: John Underwood, Keith
Williamson
Huron East Central: Morris, Mc-
Killop, Hullett
Regional Director: Doug Gar-
niss, R. R. 4, Wingham
Delegates:
Larry Plaetzer, R. R. 1, Auburn
Bert Sanders, R. R. 4, Brussels
Allen Cardiff, R. R. 5, Brussels
Alternates: Leon Maloney, Bill
Murray
Huron West Central: Goderich,
Stanley, Tuckersmith
Regional Director: Hank Bin-
nedyk, R. R. 2, Kippen
Delegates:
Wayne Elliott, R. R. 2, Goderich
Brenda McIntosh, R. R. 4, Seaforth
Jim McIntosh, R. R. 4, Seaforth
Alternates: Jim Papple, Stan Johns,
Steve Keys
Huron South: Hay, Stephen, Usbome
Regional Director: Paul Klopp,
R. R. 3, Zurich
Delegates:
Mike Ondrejicka, R. R. 1, Exeter
Teresa Van Raay, R. R. 3, Dash-
wood
Matt Muller, R. R. 2, Crediton
Alternates: Gary Baker, Hugh
Rundle.
"Often Imitated"
"Never Duplicated"
OFMA
Dealers in Huron County
Harold Peck
Varna
482-9997
262-5867
Alvin Becker
R. R. 1, Dashwood
237-3239