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The Rural Voice, 1988-03, Page 78GREY COUNTY Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER 446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9 519-364-3050 THE TOMMY COOPER AWARD Each year, radio station CFOS- CFPS and the Sun -Times present an award to the person who has made the greatest contribution to agriculture and rural living in Grey and Bruce counties during the past five years. The 1988 award will be presented at the annual "Meet the Members" dinner sponsored by the Grey County Federa- tion of Agriculture. This year's date is April 9. Organizations and individuals can make nominations. Forms are avail- able from CFOS. CREDIT UNIONS The latest issue to come before the properties committee is the dilemma facing our rural Credit Unions. Several Credit Unions in Grey County were organized by and for farmers. A recent interpretation by provincial authorities requires that Credit Unions class loans to farmers as commercial rather than personal, and as a result they are prohib- ited from lending to farmer members. This situation cannot be tolerated and will mean the closing of some Credit Unions. If you share our concerns, please write to the Hon. Robert Nixon, Treasurer of Ontario, the Hon. Jack Riddell, Minister of Agriculture and Food, and the Hon. David Peterson, Premier of Ontario. The Credit Unions need your support.0 Don Hill THE FARM PRACTICES PROTECTION ACT — "A MONKEY CHASING ITS TAIL" The recent introduction of a bill in the Ontario legislature, named The Farm Practices Protection Act, is the government's response to the OFA's long-term policy for a Right to Farm bill to end harassment against farmers sub- ject to "nuisance suits" initiated by neighbours. Unfortunately, although well-inten- tioned, it is a simplistic and naive at- tempt to resolve land -use conflicts chiefly caused by the intrusion of urban development into rural areas. It pro- poses to establish a Farm Practices Pro- tection Board which will judge whether an "alleged nuisance" is within the scope of normal farming practice and thereby prevent unwarranted prosecu- tion. Before a farm practice can be con- sidered normal, however, a farmer must not be in violation of any applicable statute or regulation, including the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) and the model Municipal Noise Control By -Law adopted by some municipali- ties and enforceable under the EPA. However, all nuisance suits based on odour, noise, dust, smoke, etc. are the jurisdiction of the EPA, so, like a mon- key chasing its tail, the proposed Farm Practices Protection Act goes nowhere. This has been visibly demonstrated in a recent case where a farmer with a • The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey County Farmers by the GCFA. REGIONAL DIRECTORS: NORTH GREY Case Vanderham R. R. 1, Holland Centre 794-3561 EAST GREY Clay Schwegler R. R. 1, Flesherton 924-2770 SOUTH GREY Bill Pullen R. R. 1, Proton Station 923-6734 cherry orchard in the Niagara Region has been charged with violating the noise by-law after employing bird bangers to allow him to harvest his crop ahead of the offending birds. In this particular case, the local municipality passed a noise by-law with the sole purpose of harassing and harm- ing one individual farmer. Had the proposed bill been enacted previous to this occurence, it would have had no effect on his right to farm. If we are even to get relief from such harassment, there must be exceptions included in the existing statute, or the proposed bill must override the offend- ing existing statute to accommodate normal farming practices.0 Clay Schwegler GREY COUNTY BEEF IMPROVEMENT CLUB ANNOUNCES AWARDS 76 THE RURAL VOICE At a recent meeting, The Grey County Beef Improvement Club issued several awards to producers enrolled in the Red Meat Plan. From left, Wayne Cramp, Meaford, highest Average Daily Gain, 3.13 lbs, 26-50 cows; James McKinley, Ravenna, Most Improved, 1-25 cows; Bill Johnston (and Don Johnston, absent), Flesherton, highest ADG, 2.68 lbs. and Most Im- proved, 51 plus cows. Absent were Blake Gibb, highest ADG, 3.27 pounds, 1-25 cows, and George and Bonnie Holliday, Most Improved Herd, 26-50 cows. Approximately 324 Grey County herds weighing calves were enrolled in the Red Meat Plan in 1987, with an average daily gain of 2.33 pounds and an average weaning weight of 548 pounds. This represents an increase in weaning weight of 46 pounds since the program began in 1984. The number of calves enrolled has increased from 4,383 in 1984 to 8,307 in 1987.