The Rural Voice, 2019-05, Page 50More than 50 politicians and
members of commodity
groups from Grey and
Bruce counties attended the annual
politicians meeting in Elmwoodto
discuss perennial concerns over farm
tax assessments, the province’s new
wildlife damage compensation
programme guidelines introduced in
February of this year and the
economic impact of farm production
in Bruce and Grey counties.
According to a 2016 report on the
economic contributions of farming in
Grey and Bruce Counties, the two
counties account for nine per cent of
all Ontario farms.
John Rogers, president of the
Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture, speaking on behalf of
the Ontario Federation of Agriculture
noted that the cash receipts for farm
production for Bruce County in 2017
was $1,530 million and accounted for
31,841 jobs while in Grey County
$1,149 million contributed to the
provincial economy while creating
23,918 jobs.
He said in 2017 there were a total
1,928 farms in Bruce and 2,304
farms in Grey County. The total
amount of farmland in Bruce County
is 558,356 acres while there is
495,483 acres in Grey County. The
largest use of land in each county is
used for crops. The largest farming
industry in Bruce County is grains
and oilseeds while in Grey County it
is beef cattle.
Soybeans are the major field crop
produced in Bruce County (107,868
acres), while hay is the most
predominant field crop in Grey
County.
Apples are the largest fruit crop in
both Bruce and Grey Counties 88
acres in Bruce County and, 3,352
acres being used in Grey County for
apple production.
The major vegetable crop in Bruce
County is green or wax beans (148
acres) while Grey County’s
predominant vegetable crop is sweet
corn (49 acres).
Participants heard that recent
amend-ments by
the federal
government to the
health of animals
regulations with
respect to the
humane
transportation of
livestock in Canada
are also a topic of
concern.
A representative
of Beef Farmers
ofn Ontario
expressed
concerns that
under the new
regulations the
reduced maximum
allowable time in
transit without a
rest may actually
degrade welfare of
beef cattle in transit
rather than improve them.
The levels of stress and sickness
are highest when loading, unloading
and stopping at livestock rest stations
where animals are co-mingled from
different origins.
Meeting participants heard that the
Bruce Chicken Farmers produce
$36.5 million of chicken which
represents 4.8 per cent of Ontario’s
chicken production. There are 40
family-run chicken enterprises in
Bruce County and 23 in Grey
County. The industry supports
22,000 jobs province wide and
contributes $3.7 billion to the Ontario
economy on an annual basis.
The Chicken Farmers of Ontario’s
Cares program donates over a million
fresh chicken meals to food banks in
Ontario annually.
The CFO has established a
speciality breeds chicken programme
which is meeting the needs of many
ethno-cultural communities across
Ontario and a new kosher processing
plant is now in operation.
Huron–Bruce MP Ben Lobb
expressed concern over the tariff war
with the U.S. and China and Saudi
Arabia. Also the latest action taken
by China to stop the import of
Canadian canola valued at $5 billion,
affecting mostly Western Canadian
canola producers and to a lesser
extent, local growers.
“We have a Pioneer seed plant in
Wingham for Canola which is a
significant investment by them and
we want to make sure that it remains
viable,” said Lobb.
“We also export beef, corn and
soybeans to China and we need to
make sure we have a solid trade
relationship with them because it’s a
vital part of our rural economy.”
Lobb said Canada has benefited
from the trade war between the U.S.
and China and the tariffs they have
applied to each other.
“We need to support our local
farmers. The Canadian government
and the Chinese regime need to lock
themselves in a room and they need
to get this done; they need to hammer
this out because it’s too serious.
“We’re heading into planting
season here in another month or six
weeks depending on what province
you’re in, farmers need certainty, the
market needs certainty. We need to
get this deal straightened around,”
Lobb concluded. ◊
46 The Rural Voice
Hay is big in Grey, soybeans in Bruce
MP Ben Lobb was one of 50 politicians, farmers and
commodity group leaders who attended the annual
politicians meeting in Elmwood to discuss issues in
agriculture.
By Don Crosby
News