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Times-Advocate, 1988-12-07, Page 241 Page 8A . Times -Advocate, December 7, 1988 Tees /or sale - Members of the 1st Exeter Scout troop are selling Christmas trees. in Exeter to raise money to send two leaders and nine scouts to the Canadian jamboree in PEI in July. Shown in the. car lot south 01 the Anglican church are (left back) Dana Wright, Scout Master Dennis Hockey and (front) Jeff Bowen. Simon Drnoey and Mark Weigand. • bne foot in the furrow' lir a3 t -•e•.reu ••• 4,,e, •r.e o. B.a T .. t.ut+Rp (".•. 0'.'. NJ 21' They painted a bleak picture Of the future of the family -farm. They spoke at an agricultural con= ference early last month in Toronto. By the year 2000, the number of family farms will dwindle to 125,00() from 450,000. That means, if these futurists arc right, half of the family farms will disappear in about 11 years. The year 2000 is not that far away. • I hope these chaps arc wrong. I hope the family farm is not going the way of the corner grocery store. The ffroblem is, of course, to de- fine a family farm. Is it a mom -and- .. dad -and -the -kids place where every- - body pitches in and docs the work? Or is it a father and` son on egttal .shares? Or Or a father and daughter?. The futurists don't really care how you define it. They maintain that farming will become big business • and all agriculture except for the hobby. farmers will be iii the hands of national and multi -national cor- porations. • - Rural Canada is .aging faster, even, than•the rest of Canada. Sen- iors will soon makeup more than 15 percent of this country's popula- • tion but the average age of the Ca- nadian farmer has shot up dramati- cally in recent years from 52 to 58 years. One of .the reasons is that farming no longer attracts young people because the return on, labor and investment is not worthwhile. - In addition, the system of allocat- ing quota in, the feathers industry and in milk and tobacco has Made it simply toxo costly for young people to get started: Some young people called on parents for help. Some got it. Some didn't. Some didn't have parents to call. From 1980 to • 1988, -some of the •best young up--and- coming. farmers in Canada had to call it quits. When the interest rates '.skyrocketed in 1981, 1982 and into 1983, the new, innovative. farmers • were forced to quit. Only now is that Toss being felt. That is why the rural population is aging fastcr_than the rest of Canada. What concerns --me -i! that Canada seems lobe heading in .the. same di- rection • as the Excited States. For instance, in the chicken industry, 85 percent of.thc birds arc.grown by 1O percent of the chicken tanners. The Sallie. is true in -eggs. Do we want the feeding of the na- tion. to he in the hands of so few? - The ramifications -for farmers and farm organizations arc rnipd- boggling. If we are going to have half as many farmers in. the future, what is going to Happen to farm or-. ganiations? .Their ranks arc thin enough. now. with a great deal_ of . work being done by a few. -Rural Canada will virtually disap pear.....,sntal.l—tow41adwi44- c rrre- small town full of city people. Ru -ril areas will be filled..with corpo- rate farmers - businessmen in cover- alls with brief crises and computers instead of pitchforks.. Rural leaders leaders need to he concerned about all this. if the .1uturists-were saying it is going to happen some- time in the next century, say 2025, we could appoint a Royal commis- sion and the report, costing S2 hil- Ilion, could be tabled in 2015 and •pigeon -holed until 2025. - But it is supposed 10. happen in . not much more than a decade. Scary, isn't it? J Chance to work, on foreign farms CALGARY - The International Agricultural Exchange Association (IAEA) offers a unique,expericnce . to young people who are interested in foreign agriculture by working os'crscas. Participants on the IAEA pro - grain have an opportunity to live and.work with a hosting family in the country of their choice. During their stay the participants become a working member of their hosting. family receiving a monthly training allow ce. TheY also share in commonagri- cultural interests and relaxation time with their 'hosting family and are'cncouragctd to becomeinvolved in the local community. Thdfi panic= ipants not only gain a second fami • Iy from another country, they also gain friends from around the world. A variety of programs and types of'farming operations are available. Farming operations vary from crop- ping, beef, sheep to dairy and horti- culture. Each IAEA program in- 'eludes a minimum of three weeks unpaid •holidays which gives the participants a chance to sec more of their hosting country. The cost of the program includes he participants airline ticket, work visas, full medical and baggage cov- erage, supervision, security when • travelling, and a three day orienta- tion seminar. The orientation seminar takes place upon arrival in the hosting R.I.D.E. • TORONTO - The Ontario P.ro- vincial Police Christmas/New Years R.I.D.E. Driver Check Pro - 'gram began Sunday, November 27 and will operate until Saturday, Jan- uary 7, 1989 on a province wide ba- sis. - The Ontario Provincial Police R.I.D.E. Program is a year-round anti -impaired driving campaign which will be stepped up during the festive season. • - Impaired driving is still one of the most significant factors in ap- proximately half of all fatal motor vehicle accidents investigated by the O.P.P. The O.P.P. R.I.D.E. initiative is an'essential means of reducing the risk of accidents and fatalities on our highways any -time of the year. In. No. 6 District all av4ilablc per- sonnel and vehicles will be detailed, when possible, to this program. - - The District R.LD.E. Tcarn will operate as usual through thcdistrict and will also work-in cr njunciion with O.P,P. detach Men t,,nrsonaci �rcrj�a� t'cjlit. Dcpartmcnts. Increased -:patrol. and roadside - chccks will not be confined to busy highways but will often be dont in small villages and both -county and township roads on a random basis. The, public is reminded and en- couraged -10 use taxis or designated drivers to avoid the cost Of embar- rassment of being charged or the grave consequence of being. in- volved in an accident while im- paired. • • Ilelp make this Christmas sea- son a safe and happy one for you and your loved ones by being a safe and sober motorf t. country and covers such topics as the country's customs, culture, laws and different agricultural practices. Panieipants must be between the • ages of 19=28,:single and have at , least two years practical faring ex- perience., IAEA is •a nonprofit organisation specializing in sending young peo- ple with experience in:the fields of agriculture, horticulture, or home management overseas to widen their knowledge and give them an appre- ciation of alternate farming meth- ods. There are 18 pat'ticipating Host Countries in 'Europe and the South Pacific. IAEA was founded, in1963 an 'within that time over 16;000 young -people have experi- enced this one -in -a -lifetime oppor- tunity. - Anyone wishing to participate or act as hosts. in Canada should con- tact the International Agricultural Exchange Association at 40.3-244- 1814 in Calgary. Ho! Ho! Ho! Now is the time to order The planter you can grow' with... The new KINZE Series II Planters introduce an. - exciting. innovative modular design concept that. offers you total flexibility in planting options plus the most etficient precision placement planting technology Think of the possibilities! With KiNZE s Single Frame Planter you can plant 30" corn - and minutes later convert -l0 15" even 10" row spacing for beans or for small grains Or set rt up with liquid or dry fertilizer options instead of .push units and save the extra trips and expense of other fertilizer application systems Or you can add the front mounted Double Frame'' attachment and do it alt --standard rows tertrhzer and split rows Alt with the same planter same drive components same drive system Without sacrificing one ounce -of that quality KiNZE construction SIX 30" ROWS • SIX 30" ROWS OR ELEVEN 15" ROWS SIX 30" ROWS OR SiXTEEN t0" ROWS H E Bros. Ltd.j 0 - ) Hensall Rannoch 262-2605 229-6700 SIX 30" ROWS OR ELEVEN 15" ROWS. Kling SERIES it WITHL101110 FERTILIZER • KM Youth Award - I irkton-Woodham Optimist president Gord Robinson -presents the annual Youth' Citizen of the Year award to Mike Richardson. Demonstration on beans Saturday at Valu Mart CENTRALiA - This is thh cap- tion of the Ontario Bean Producers' Marketing BWeed Board magazine. ced it would appear that white beans arc emerging:- Dr. Violet Currie of Centralia College says there is more to beans than "Beans & Pork". The fihrc content of whitc beans have taken oft new dimen- sions. . Researchers in thc U.S.A. have been investigating the effects of thc soluble fibre of dry beans -and oats along with some other substances on the cholesterol level of individu- als with high blood cholesterol. To date results have shown that white bean fihrc may be beneficial in low- ering blood -cholesterol. Dry beans arc a good source of .protein and the Canada's Food Guide recommends a serving as an .alternate source of protein. For several years, Dr. Currie has been developing products using white beans. On Friday and-Saturday'Decem- bcr 9 and 10 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 9:30 a.m. - 12 nom respective- ly. she will be at Exeter Valu Mart to demonstrate some of these prsxt- ucts. Come, sample and team more about.this versatile vegetable. COMMERCIAL When.reviewing your'home insurance needs. consider The Co-operators. Our Com- mercial -Guard program offers some of the broadest cover- ages available anywhere. Call today for complete de- tails. the co -open Ito Exeter: 472 Main St., Bob Tommie 235-1109 Lite • Home • Auto • Commerical • Farm • Travel Visit our New Huron Tractor Toyland Best Selection of Toys Around �