The Rural Voice, 1988-01, Page 8K.G. JOHNSON LTD.
St. Jacobs, Ontario NOB 2N0 519-664-2277
rilledat
ULTRASOUND PREGNANCY TESTER
CaII or Write Today For 1988 Price List
Ontario
Bob Gillies Ayr 519-632-7368
Chris Hills Seaforth 519-527-1913
MORE THAN JUST STEEL
Suppliers of Sheet and
Structural Steel
with equipment to
shear, bend, roll
or weld
and to fabricate
your product.
Feed Tanks
• 1 tonne to 20 tonne
(larger sizes built to order )
• 14 gauge metal
Also
• feed factories
Tandem Livestock Trailers
Standard Sizes or Built
to Your Specifications
SMITH STEEL & FABRICATING INC.
Hwy. 23 North, Atwood, Ont. 519-356-2802 or 2824
"THE ONE STOP SHOP FOR STEEL"
6 THE RURAL VOICE
FEEDBACK
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4'; •
TROUBLES WITH
FREE TRADE?
While the fine print is yet to be
examined, I don't share Adrian Vos's
equanimity about free trade (column,
The Rural Voice, December issue).
Dairy farmers will retain their
marketing board and quota system as
promised, and with the exception of
yogurt and ice cream, import quotas
will remain in place. In that the
existing 17 per cent import tariff is
removed from all farm products,
yogurt and ice cream will enter duty
free.
Informed sources suggest that the
yogurt and ice cream business amount
to up to 15 per cent of industrial milk
production (MSQ) in Ontario.
Thus dairy farmers face a potential
15 per cent cut in income plus a 15 per
cent loss of whatever the quota cost
them. For example: a milk producer
holding 200,000 Litres of quota with,
say, a market value of $140,000 stands
to lose 15 per cent, or $21,000 spread
over five years ($4,200 annually).
Add to this the loss of 15 per cent of
income at $104,000, which would be
$15,600. In total ($4,200 + $15,600),
the loss would be $19,800 a year.
Plenty to think about.
There are reports that agriculture
minister Jack Riddell has requested
that the federal finance minister
intervene with the banks, which are
said to be discriminating against grape
growers, who are viewed as poor risks
because of the free trade deal.
The elimination of the two -price
system for wheat may weaken the
Canadian and Ontario wheat boards
and, much more likely, relieve wheat
growers of the extra $300 million they
receive under the two -price system.
The scrapping of the Western grain
transportation subsidy on grain sold to
the American market is a needless
(cont'd)