Times-Advocate, 1985-01-30, Page 16•
LittIe optimisni for
corn producers
Dave Brock also said efforts to en-
courage the use of corn -derived
alcohol in lead-free gasoline have
been set with a favourable response
from the federal Ministry of
Agriculture. The slow -down in the
distilling industry has left some
surpluscapacitythat could be used to
produce the fuel. The corn alcohol is
financially attractive when used in
combination with wood alcohols, and
the mixture enhances octane levels.
The fuel is already being used in
Iowa.
Elections for county executive posi-
tions were also held at Thursday's
meeting at the OMAF office in Clin-
ton. The new president of the county
organization is Warner Ritgen. The
new secretary is Ken Philips. The
delegates to the OPCA annual conven-
tion in March will be Warner Ritgen
and Bud Yeo.
"If you can see a crop that gives a "It would seem right now that I
better return than corn, think about would be selling - take the money and
it." That's the advice Tino Breuer, a run." Prices have been fairly stable
grain merchandiser from Cook's of this year, at about $3.25 a bushel. But
Hensall, had for growers attending Breuer thinks prices may drop,
the Huron County Corn Producers an- because of the influence of the U.S.
nual meeting on Thursday. producers.
Breuer wasn't "painting a real "The U.S. is a major factor in our
bright picture" during his talk about corn market, and the U.S. govern -
whether growers should store or sell. ment want to get out of storing grain.
He said that there was more being They are going to reduce loan rates,
stored right now than almost any maybe sharply, going to a five year
other year, and yet with the cost of modified moving average. If this hap -
carrying corn, "this is not a very pro- pens, Canadian grain prices will
fitable year to store. It doesn't pay." follow the American, and go way
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down," Breuer days.
Breuer feels the high-cost pro-
ducers in the States will go broke, and
the low-cost producers will increase
production just to clear the same pro-
fit. "Come 1990, we may be down to
$2 a bushel U.S."
Tom Perry, general manager of
"Soilab" Soil and Crop Managmeent
Services in Auburn, was the second
speaker at the Corn Producers'
Association. He started the Service
last year, and was explaining to the
growers the fairly new idea of his
business.
Perry's company offers soil
analysis, crop production programs,
and pest monitoring. He determines
a grower's yield potential, and
together they set yield goals. Perry
emphasizes a complete package.
He brought computer printouts with
statistics comparing several fertilizer
methods as an example of the
ressarch that goes into his recom-
mendations. Perry's computer data
base represents more than 30,000
acres of crop in Huron and Bruce
counties.
"Soilab" works with growers of all
cash crops, not just corn. Perry offers
two package crop management
programs.
In the coming year, the Corn Pro-
duers' Association will be going into
the magazine business. They've
teamed up with a press in Delhi, and
will be producing a magazine called
"Ontario Corn Producer". This will
replace both their newsletter and the
magazine "Cash Crop Farming."
According to co-director Dave
Brock, the Association is working on
increasing the level of advance
payments to equal those available in
Western Canada. The loan money
given to store product is twice as high
in the West as it is here. The Corn Pro-
ducers want to double payments from
$15,000 for a single person to $30,000,
from $30,000 for a couple to $60,000,
and from $45,000 for a group of three
or more people to $90,000. The loan
money is paid in order to even out the
flow of product.
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(519) 235-2520
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DIVISION OF GERBRO INC.
Hensall
Centralia
Kirkton
Walton
262.2410
228.6661
229-8986
527.1540
Times -Advocate, January 30, 1985 Page 15
TALKING CORN — Tino Breur of Cook's tells the Corn Producers
Association what's in his crystal ball.
John Milton swung his battered
pickup truck into the farm lane and
stopped for the mail.
The mailbox, along with advertis-
ing fliers, contained three other let-
ters: one from his bank demanding a
meeting with the manager -about his
interest payments; one from the feed
company urgently requesting pay-.
ment on an overdue account; and the
third from the gasoline company with
his monthly bill.
He stuffed the letters in his overall
pocket and pulled into the driving
shed.
He is neither young nor old but his
face is prematurely lined because of
the many hours spent under the sun
every summer for 20 years, from bat-
tering all kinds of weather keeping his
hog farm producing.
He has been farming for 20 of his 40
years. His father owned the farm
before him a,nd his grandfather before
that. He steps wearily across the ice -
coated yard and goes into the summer
kitchen where he carefully hangs his
coat and dumps his barn boots outside
the door.
Inside the kitchen, he is puzzled
when his wife of 19 years fails to greet
him. She is usually busy in the kitchen
getting supper at that hour of the day.
He wanders into the livingroom and
she is sitting in the corner chair.
"We are out of wafer "
can t o a was . I can't even make
tea."
Ile knows the old pump in the well
has finally died. He also knows it will
cost $1.000 to replace it. Silently. he
walks to the chair and shows her the
three bills he received in the mail that
day. He sits on the arm of the chair
and puts his arm around her. She
finally breaks down and the tears flow
freely'. Ile clumsily tries to comfort
her and stares out the window.
"I love this place." he says quiet-
ly. "1 grew up here. This is a heritage
farm. 1 get a great feeling of fulfil-
ment when I feed the hogs every day.
I love the smell of the place.
"1 love the land."
Ile stops speaking and continues to
stare out the window.
The school bus disgorges three
children at the end of the laic and the
three kids come running up the lane.
"I wanted to have something to
leave to them but it all looks so
hopeless," he says. "We actually lost
e
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money on that last shipment of hogs.
"What is going to happen to us?
What will happen'? Probably
another figure in the staggering total
of farm bankruptcies. Or, perhaps,
just another young farmer who will
decide to sell out. The hundreds of For
Sale signs around the rural areas are
mute testimony to the conditions that
are rampant in agriculture.
This story is true. The names have
been changed and the dialogue re-
constructed but the facts are there. It
is a story that is being repeated too
many times across this vast seeming-
ly uncaring land of ours. It could be
hogs. It could be beef.lt could be cash
crops. It could even be dairy,
chickens or turkeys even though these
are under supply management. If a
dairy farmer expanded too much a
-few years ago, he could be in trouble.
Chicken farmers are screaming for
more quota and tobacco farmers are
seeing their livelihood disappear.
It is people we are talking about
here, not just an industry.
If senior governments can find
literally billions of dollars to bail out
ailing industries, surely some help
can be found for hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of farmers in Canada.
Mount Carmel
Income Tax Centre
Income Tax Accounting
for farmers
Vince Ryan B.A.
RR 3. Dashwood
Announcement
Cook's Division of Gerbro Inc.
f
oe 11
/, ti+'ii{
•
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t�t
Cook's Division of Gerbro Inc. is pleased to announce
the appointment of MURRAY INSLEY as Manager of
the Kirkton Branch. Murray Insley is a long term
employee of Cook's, more recently filling the posi-
tion of Agri -Sales Representative for the Company
and before that, as General Foreman at Kirkton.
This appointment takes effect immediately.
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Feb. 1 - Feb. 28
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Cash Soles only
Also free hauling for work
orders over $500.00
ESE
nt,
FARM SUPPLY LIMITED E:
SERV,Ct
Sales and Service - Repair
Phone 236-4934 236-4321
Box 39, 22 Main St. E. Zurich Ont.
1