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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-04-21, Page 30PAGE IOA--GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1977 Fruit cropdamage bne kat itt tlael due to severe winter furrow'tZi Last week's column on Canada's archaic tarilt regu- lations brought considerable response At least one .letter from the Walkerton area wanted an example, to prove that some sectors of the agricultur- al economy are being forced out of business Off the top ot me bony Irish head. I can think of one apples. Canada. at one time. exported 14U million pounds of apples a year to Europe but that market has been lost to us through the European Economic Market Toda, France exports more than 140 million pounds a year from subsidized orchards and wont let us sell a pound of apples in Europe Fred McCain. co-chairman ot the agricultural caucus 'of the federal Progressive Conservatives, is trorn Flur• enceville. N.B , and he told a group ot students and farm- ers recently in Guelph that Canada once exported live million pounds of strawberries a year but. because, ot open border policies, we now have to import about 50 million pounds. Canada lost the frozen trench fry market in Australia and today we import Australian peaches and pears and goodness knows how many pounds of Australian beet came to Canada last year Yet, we have trouble ex• porting the same products to Australia Another letter from 'the Kincardine area.suggested the Canadian beef industry wouldn't be in such dire straits if Canada had impgsed import quotas on Australian beet long before We did A chicken fanner from Goderich wrote to say thatimport controls will be absolutely nec- essary or producers here will be forced out of business by lower-priced products from the United States -Remember,- he wrote. ''a one per cent surplus in the United States can glut the Canadian market almost. over- night • A Stratford -area hog farmer wondered what could be done tor his business because pork is tied W a North American market as is beef. He suggested Canada could not take a stick -our -head -in -the -sand attitude but much could be done by setting reasonable quotas at the border rather than stringent tariffs. A cash crop farmer from Dresden said Canada is com- petitive today only for seed such as wheat. barley. forage seed and seed potatoes in export markets. If ,agriculture Lnnes ,be app,roatnd by 900 Trotte, Eldale Rd Elmaa Ont N3B 2C I continues to be a trade -oft under federal policies. a great many. farmers wilt be out ot bustness in a short time What other sector ot our economy has been forced into -taking a 30 per cent cut in income. this year"- asked a dairy tanner from Elmira The same sentiment was echoed by a tanner s wife who wrote from the Drayton area Several tanners from the Brighton-Marmora-Maude area said the same thing and a lengthy letter from Baden gage me a detailed description of how much money was lost by several beet tanners during the terrible tunes the beet industry has had in the last two or three years, -And l dun t see an end to it tor another three years'' he >aid It anybody needs changes in taritts. import quotas ,and some changes in our own methods of domestic- .mar- keting it is the beet industry." he said To change the subject but remain with the letter writ- ers l quote trom a letter in response to a column written back in February about the work done by farm children. "Your column sparked a lively discussion at our house which led our children — ages 9, 12 13 - to compare their lite- with that of their city friends. Our daughters may grumble about cleaning out our horse -boarding stab- les. feeding. the chickens and .caring for 4-11 calves but we were happy to hear they prefer this life And they were hippy to note tour recognition -of it." There was much more to the letter from Brenda Merri- man of RH 1. Puslinch• such as the tact that they are new to tarmung. They lett Toronto three years ago and have never regretted the move. It is also worth noting that somebody in Queen's Park reads this deathless prose. A column about gun control brought a letter from Clare Westcott, executive director.. othce 01 the Premier of Ontario. Ile quoted troth a talk given some years ago when he spoke to graduating students at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute- - America holds a record that has no equal, he said. .More Americans have killed each other with their 1 >w'n guns inside their own country than have been killed . in all the wars the United States has ever fought in. ;111 the more reason l say, for more stringent gun con- trol legislation in Canada before we beat that unenviable 1' S record. • • By Robert Wilcox 1 xtension Horticulturist Ontario Ministry of ,Agriculture and Food The problems for the fruit growers started on January 19, 1976, when temperatures dropped to -21 degrees C in. smut, of the fruit -growing areas of Ontario. This tem- perature was responsible for a complete loss of the peach crop in the Fonthill and Norfolk areas, and an overall 30 percent reduction in Ontario's peach crop. Sweet and sour cherries were also affected by this temperature. On February 2, tem- peratures again dropped in Niagara, this time to -20 degrees C, causing further damage to fruit buds. For Niagara growers, the most serious weather problem was not the extreme cold of winter, but the ex- treme heat of April 15 - 18. Temperatures of 24, 27 ,27, 28 and 29degrees C forced fruit trees into bloom about one month earlier than rtisrmal. During this early bloom period the weather changed. and from April 20 to June 30. temperatures were well below normal, dropping to freezing or below on 18 oc- casions. Fortunately, the lowest temperature was -2 degrees C. Rain or snow occurred 23 times during this eriod and, in Nia ora, there was .a record precipitation of 108 millimetres for April. Bee activity and pollination conditions were particularly poor at" blossom time for Japanese plums, prunes, sweet cherries, tart cherries. and pears. These crops were very poor. Apples bloomed in fairly good pollinating weather and crops were accordingly good. June was an excellent growing month, with above- average sunshine, heat units . and ample moisture, Frequent showers during the harvest of a very small crop of sweet cherries caused splitting and rotting. Very few sweet cherries were marketed as fresh fruit, none were processed, and a small volume went to the distillery. Many sweet cherries were left on the tree. The end of the strawberry harvest was also adversely affected by the excessive rainfall. The remainder of the growing season was cool,-w,ith below-normal'sunshine hours and adequate rainfall. - 'The grape crop, despite the adverse growing season, developed well, but for the most part was not of a high. quality, with .sugars low and acids high, October, November and December of 1976 were the coolest months on record. ,1976 will long be remembered but not fondly - by fruit growers in Ontario. , p g n Peter Hannam outlines` improvements "'Agriculture is one of Ontario's basic industries. It provides jobs NI- thousands of people. It provides hundreds of thouganaa of dollars in gross national product. "It stimulates the economy . immeasurably", Peter Hannam, President of the Ontario Federation of'" Agriculture, said to the Ontario Cabinet recently while presenting OFA's annual brief to Cabinet. "But agraiculture suffers from a unique problem. Because it is carried out by thousands of family farmers, rather than the` large com- panies characteristic of other industries, agriculture does not have at its disposal the vast capital sums needed 'tor research and capital in - CLAY — Silo Unloaders Feeders Cleaners Stabling Leg Elevators Liquid Manure Equipment Hog Equipment BUTLER — Silo Unloaders Feeders Conveyors FARMATIC — Mills Augers, etc. ACORN — Cleaners Heated Waterers ZERO — Bulk Tanks Pipeline & Parlour Equipment WESTEEL-ROSCO Granaries B & L - Hog Panelling LOWRY FARM SYSTEMS RR 1, Kincardine, Ontario Phone 395-5286 vestment", Mr. Hannam pointed out. "Ontario agriculture, blessed with a unique com- bination of superb land and excellent climate, can be even more- productive. It can make an even greater con- tribution to our economy -- particularly in providing jobs for the growingaarmy of,the unemployed. But this will only happen if research and investment money is made available," he said. "The Ontario Government has, a responsibility to stimulate agriculture through research. At a relatively low cost, they could give the food industry the needed shot in the arm. OFA's brief outlines, a number of projects that would do just that -- improved marketing, energy con- servation research and capital grants", he advised. ' The cost of these projects would more than pay for themselves", Mr. Hannam said. OFA estimates that 400,000 people in Ontario have agriculture related jobs. "The Ontario Government owes it to all these people to help them improve the viability of their. industry." Mr. Hannam said. CAPITAL GRANTS "Over the past ten years. the amount of capital required to own and operate a viable farm operation - has skyrocketed. This makes it increasingly difficult for farmers to make im- provements that would not only increase their produc- tivity and lower their costs but that would also save energy and decrease pollution", said Hannam. "Canadians spend less of their disposable income on food than any country except the'United States. If this is to continue, more capital in- vestment is needed by far- mers " WATER WELL DRILLING "76 YEARS EXPERIENCE" • FARM • SUBURBAN • INDUSTRIAL • MUNICIPAL • • FREE ESTIMATES • GUARANTEED WELLS • FAST MODERN EQUIPMENT • 4 ROTARY tit PERCUSSION DRILLS "OUR EXPERIENCE ASSURES :LOWER COST WATER WELLS" re tela ilei l it Ov1244:6-1110"1:1!1118 � li DAVIDSON4 Rotary and Percussion Drills PHONE 357.1960 WELL DRILLING LIMITED WINOHAM Collect Calls Accepted , N "ONTARWS FINEST WATER WELLS SINCE 1f00" He recommended that the Ontario Governm,ent ;establish a capital grants program to include: a) tile drainage to make land more productive; h) fence row removal` to increase the amount of productive land, c) capital grants designed to encourage the utilization of energy saving methodssuch as low temperature drying units, solar heating, high moisture grain handling and storing equipment: d pollution control mechanisms, as well as sewage sludge and manure handling equipment; et modernization of production facilities-- such as farm buildings incorporating new. labour-saving features. ENERGY "Agriculture uses a great deal of energy. With rising prices anc: possible future shortages. it is essential that we find ways to cut down on energy use in food produc- t -ion. Research into this basic problem should be a top priority of the Ontario Government'". said Hannam. "Only a small fraction (less than 1 percent) of the solar energy that reaches crop plants is utilized in the manufacture of substances that can serve as food or feed. It is perhaps the most fun- damental problem of agricultural research to increase this fraction. This research must' be -im- represents a tremendous mediately accelerated," Mr. fertility resource that is now, Hannam said. by and large, being wasted. "OFA's ' brief also Priority must be given to recommends greatly ex- removing, or eliminating at panded research to lower source, any harmful heavy fossil fuel requirements in metals in it,, and to develop farm production," he ,said. efficient distribution and We suggest that $20 million of handling methods for it, the Provincial Lottery funds be allocated to food "All government in - production related research stitutions should serve only annually for the next ten Canadian food, where at all years, This money is sup- possible, as a matter of posed to 'be used for health- policy. It is disgraceful that related environmental any government institution projects and food -production should serve imported food in certainly falls in that preference to Ontario food", category." - said Hannam. The brief outlined the "We were very pleased, "' following possible research ..Mr. Hannam said, "that the projects: Speech from the Throne • Research priorities should emphasized the importance be set on reducing energy in of eating Ontario food, but crop drying and `storing, actions speak louder than reduced tillage practices, words. It's' up to the Gover- efficient utilization of crop nment to start by setting an residues for feed or fuel and example," livestock housing systems. " Buying Ontario food is not • A large potential energy simp y a matter of supporting saver is better utilization of local industry, he added. The naturally occuring fertilizers- benefits of buying home- -livestock manure and produced rather than im- sewage sludge. Chemical ported products accrue to fertilizers, requiring high everyone in Ontario in terms energy inputs in their of jobs in a multitude of in production, will become more dustries servicing the food expensive as energy costs industry and in terms of in - rise. Government research creasing purchasing power of action now in the area of farmers for buying more of efficient manure and sewage the better Ontario -made 'utilization will be an im- inputs for their operations, portant part of keeping Ontario farmers competitive. in the future. • sewage sludge deserves special comment' It AT • • • . 411. • "Established 1876" McKILLOP r, MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY HEAD OFFICE: 10"'MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT Mrs. Margaret Sharp, Sec, Treas., Ph. 527-0400. FULL COVERAGE Farm and Urban Properties - Fire, Windstorm, Liability, Tl_eft Various Floater Coverages Homeowner's, Tenant's Package,Composite Dwelling Directors and Adjusters Roht.Archibald,R.R.4, Seaforth Ken Carnochan, R.R.4, Seaforth Lavern Undid'', R.R.41, Walton Rosa teonhardt, R.R11, Bornholm John McEwIng, R.R.1, Blyth Stanley Meliwaln, R.R.2, Goderich Donald McKerrher, R.R.1, Dublin Wm. Pepper, Brumfield J,N.Trewartha,Box 661, Clinton AGENTS James Keys, R.R.1, Seaforth Wm. Lelper, R.R.1,lnndeshoro Sieve J. Murray, R.R.S. Seaforth 345-2172 CALL AN AGENT OR THE OFFICE- . minimmaimmimiwimini 527.1817 527.1545 527.1877 345.2234, 523-9390 524.7051 527.1837 482.7534 482.7593 527.0467 523-4257 LARGEST STOCK IN THE COUNTY WORK BOOTS —Industrial — Farm — Factory Plain or safety toe PUNCTURE PROOF SOLES ROSS SHOE ,SHOP 142 The Square Goderich, Ont. . Hannam outlined the other recommendations to promote the marketing of Ontario food contained in the OFA brief: that the marketing division of OMAF co-ordinate market promotion in Ontario in co-operation with marketing boards and other segments of , .the food in- dustry. This is the kind of•, leadership that would be easily assumed and which would be most invaluable: A. For sale ONE tractor International D- 414 diesel. Front hydraulic loader, 3 point hitch and live power takeoff. Good tires. Phone 524-7632.—I3tf GOOD quality first cut hay. .',000 bales at 75c per bale. Alvin Hackett, phone 529=7517 after 5 p.m. -16x INTERNATIONAL tractor, call 529-7571,-16 W4 PIONEER SEED CORN VARIETIES AVAILABLE 3990(3W) 2600 H.U, 80 DAYS 397113W) 2650 H.U. 82 DAYS 3965(3W) 2750 H.U. 87 DAYS 3960(SC) 2800 H.U. 90 DAYS Also other varieties available JACK- MAYHEW RR 3 CLINTON PHONE 482.3176 Your representative for Goderich Township and Clinton Are_ 14-17AR A. 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