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Times-Advocate, 1999-03-03, Page 22EY.a. Tiww.INwcsoe Wednesday. March 3, 1999 Farm news Can relieve stingof financial stress? package their products. IN is downturn. response to this emerging The program will also be turf -war, Minister Vanclief trade -friendly and in line has been meeting with with our international industry and provincial 'obligations under the leaders to develop a timely North American Free and appropriate response. Trade Agreement and Following the announce- World Trade organization. ment of the $900 million This announcement is federal emergency assis- important to all tance package, discussions Canadians. Agriculture began in earnest with the and agri-food creates provinces to work out employment for 1.9 mil- details, such as cost shar- lion of us, in both rural. ing. It was hoped that, and urban centres. The with provincial co -opera- industry is the third tion, Canadian producers largest employer in could receive up to $1.5 Canada and is responsible billion in emergency for over $95 billion annu- income assistance over the ally in domestic retail and next two years. I am food service sales. In 1997, pleased to inform you that, for example, the industry as of February 24, the fed- set record export sales of eral/provincial aspect of $22.3 billion. The industry the discussions have been is a foundation of our successfully concluded. economy, creating jobs Our response is not com- and ensuring a healthy, modity specific, but takes affordable food supply. It a "whole farm" approach must be protected and based on historic farm preserved. income as reported on tax With this package, I am records. This emergency hopeful that our farmers assistance package also can now concentrate on builds on the existing safe- tasks associated with their ty net programs. The Net spring planting than with Income Stabilization spring auctions. Account (NISA) and crop Canadians know how to insurance address normal come together to give sup - fluctuations in commodity port to their fellow citizens in times of need. It is fit- ting that we come together now to bring relief to a proud community in its address needs resulting time of need. from extraordinary cir- Sincerely, PAUL STEcta.E cumstances caused by M.P. conditions such as the cur- Huron -Bruce rent international econom- Dear Editor: weather patterns. In The 1998 growing sea- response to this crisis, the son has not been a kind federal Minister of one for the farmers of Agriculture and Agri- Hu,ron-Bruce, or for the Food, the Honourable Lyle Canadian farming com- Vanclief, has announced munity in general. income -based diaster Primary producers across assistance of up to $900 this country (and perhaps million, over two years, for the world) have seen their those Canadian farmers incomes drop 4harply as a most severely affected by result of severe interna- circumstances beyond tional economic condi- their control. With this tions, plunging commodity package, the Government prices and unstable of Canada hopes to relieve some of the stinging finan- cial stress felt by farmers and their families during this very difficult time. It is important to remember that this crisis did not initially develop domestically. The current farm income crisis has been driven by economic problems that first began i►, f'.�ia and rippled around the globe. Canadian farm- ers have responded to changes in the market by decreasing production by 15 percent -Despite this strategy, farmers in European Union countries and in the United States, who receive considerable subsidies ($116 per tonne in the E.U. and $72 in the U.S., as compared to $15 in Canada) have increased prices and weather-relat- their production output" ed production losses. The (by nearly 20 percent in purpose of the emergency Europe). Caught between assistance package is to falling commodity prices and subsidies overseas, Canadian farmers lost both traditional and emerging markets for Denfield Livestock report The market at Denfield traded on a strong demand at fully steady prices on all classes of fed cattle with American orders active at steady prices, cows sold at strong prices, stockers strong, veal steady, pigs, sows and boars steady. Don Eedy and Mark Vanderploeg, Denfield sold 10 heifers avg. wt. 1322 lbs. avg. price 95.56 with sales to 101.00 pur- chased by Richard Heleniak for Norwich Packers. Ross and Henry Duff, Croton sold 12 steers avg. wt. 1469 lbs. avg. price 94.00 with sales to 98.50 purchased by Norpac and 97.50 purchased by MGI. Murray Switzer, St. Marys sold 14 steers avg. wt. 1330 lbs. avg. price 92.25. Norman Hodgins, Parkhill sold 38 steers avg. wt. 1450 lbs'. avg. price 91.25. Morley Hodgins, Parkhill sold 21 steers avg. wt. 1418 lbs. avg. price 91.00. Bill Duff, Croton sold 12 steers avg. wt. 1467 lbs. avg. price 90.75. Choice steers 92.00- 95.00 sales to 98.50 Good steers 88.00-92.00 Heavy plain steers 83.00-87.00 Choice exotic cross heifers 92.00-96.00 sales to 101.00 Good heifers 88.00- 92.00 Common and medium 80.00-85.00 Heifery cows 60.00- 70.00 Good cows 55.00-60.00 sales to 65.00 Shells 30.00-40.00 Direct to Packer cows over 600 lbs. 1.12 Direct to Packer bulls 1.15 Good veal 80.00-90.00 Yearling steers 90.00- 104.00; Yearling heifers 90.00- 104.00 Steer calves 100.00- 128.00; Heifer calves 100.00-120.00 Good Holstein bull calves 100.00-220.00 Pigs 40-60 lbs. 65.00 - 75.00; Sows 23.00-30.00; Boars 15.00-20.00 Volunteers needed for deer count at Pinery GRAND BEND - We are looking for volun- teers to take part in a deer survey and get some real exercise on Saturday, March 27 from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. An updated esti- mate of the deer popu- lation following the 1998 deer herd reduc- tion in Pinery Provincial Park is required to pro- vide guidance for the development of future resource management programs. The rugged twain, size of the area to be surveyed and the time required to complete the survey create the need for 300 volunteers to carry out the project. Individuals will be spaced about 25 meters (80 feet) apart along the south `boundary in a line that will move across Pinery on foot driving the deer into centre of the park. At the same time, a second group will form a simi- lar line along the north boundary and drive the deer back towards the centre of the park even- tually moving them across a count line that has been set up by the first line of volunteers. Any deer that cross the line as it traverses the park are recorded by the adjacent line sur- vey. This method is very similar to the surveys that were successfully conducted by volun- teers and recorded 827 deer in 1993, 613 deer in 1995 and 781 deer in 1988 for the Pinery site. It is anticipated thatthe count will take approxi- mately five hours to complete starting with a briefing at 8:45 a.m. Pinery will be closed to all day visitor access on Saturday March 27, until 2 p.m. If you are interested in helping you must register inadvance by calking 519-24.3-8574 between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. before March 18, 1999. We will mail out more details to everyone who registers for the count. Surveyors must be able to walk at least six kms through a rugged forested dune landscape and be 14 years of age or older. Please pass this infor- mation on to any other individuals who may be interested in helping out. Soybean growers have a ally. Introducing VIPER, an aggressive new post -emergent weed control solution for soybeans. VIPER hits weeds fast and fierce and gives you the freedom to choose the best soybean varieties. You can count on VIPER herbicide for season -long, broad-spectrum weed control in a single pass. 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