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The Huron Expositor, 1979-03-08, Page 15LEARNING ON THE JOB.4- Larry Brownlee of Clarksburg is spending two: weeks on the Harry Arts farm, R R•4, Seaforth, learning some ol. thepractical pointers of pork production: Here Martin Verbern, one of..the employees at the Harry Arts farm, shows Larry Brownlee some of the finer points of record keeping. Larry is one of 25,students in the swine farm worker traininB program offered at Centralia College this year for the first time. Grain drying costs on seminar progran Increasing energy costs developing, better `drying are forcing farmers to find systems: ways to reduce energy. re- Several farmers, working quirements of one of the • under this program, . will, largest consumers on • the : discuss their experiences farm - the 'grain: dryer. with high-temperature In response to the demand drying, dryeration, and low for information on this topic, temperature drying systems.,; a ,special On -Farm Grain T Drying Conference will be he use of heat'lamps,solar-as- heat ers nd held at Guelph,' .12: exchang a Y; silted drying will also be The` conference is de discussed: signed to update farmers on the latest developments to reduce .the cost and energy requirements of grain drying," says Stan Young, coordinator. of ,';agricultural extension, Ontario "Agri- cultural College. The conference will focus. and the Ontario Ministry of on the Innovator Incentive Ag., riculture . and Food, is Program for, Grain Drying, • and individual, farmers" ex- opep - to farmers, industry d extension'personnel,and Howard Nodwelt, of the o er .p Lambert Often, School of Engineering, .Ontario . Agri- cultural College, will present a progress report on low- temperature drying research at' the'University of Guelph. The conference, sponsored by the University of Guelph periences an in th interested ta d eopie Re HURON EXP tS 'O;Rr 1 1IY AUCEORB` tc rtenee gym! I* Volere WANTED; E pe d Worke#S tor lane tarrew-tet-fiP'+ap, operation;- 'solar ..per week lard,sup,l,ied;. Despite high unemployment,, want oda like, this o.n haven't been generating the -response swine producers want when they're' looking for aPneW employee. The reason is simply that experienced stvrtc farm; workers area scarce breed these days The fact that both, the Canada farm Labour Pool offices and Centralia College of Agricultural Technology were being flooded: with requests for experienced workers by area, swine., produeera has led to thetreation of a unique new programatthe cgllepe the swine farm worker training program. : Doug Jamieson,head of the livestock section of the- college, and administrator- of the new program, said. the ,shortage of skilled farm workers was so acute that farmers; either ended up: hiring people who were untrained; or else tried to lure good. employees away from neighbouring farmers. • Mr; Jamieson and Joanne Weber, then the manageress of the Walkerton office of the Canada Farm Labour Pool, decided the time was right to introduce a program which would, Create a pool ; of trained people to work on swine farms. Instead of creating a program and hoping there would be jobs for the graduates, as colleges have been accused of doing in the past, the swine worker training prograni is "supplying trained people for jobs already in existence," said Mr. Jamieson• Ms, Weber met with swine producers in Bruce County to hear suggestions for training they .felt should 'beincluded in the ' programa- Then _Mr, Jamieson and his staff mailed out a survey to, 1,000 pork producers in 21 counties in Ontario using a mailing from. Quality. Swine and the Ontario Swine Breeders' Associ- ation, Every„ other producer on the lists; was sent a questionnaire and the college received 200 replies. The verdict Was that producers wanted: trained people to work on their farms, Doug Jamieson said 43 per cent of the farmers who responded with press releases about the program; OMAF officesreceived, information on the course and the Farm Labour Pool offices advertised the program with job applicants. The Canada Employment Centres did the actual recruiting,. since the program is sponsored by them, and over the Christmas: holidays, a three man committee of Doug McRae, JoanneWeber and Bo1r Robinson, of the Huron. County Pork. Producers' Association, :interviewed applicants; To qualify for the program,. applicants had to beat least 17 years of age, have been out of school'. for a' full 12 months and have at least a public school :education. • GUINEA P1GS ;The . 25 students who were selected' as the guinea pigs to test the program come from a wide variety of backgrounds. All but three of the students had some previous experience, on a swine operation, and -two of thesehad worked on dairy farms. Two of the students Left paying jobs to take the program and others are paying their own way, since they didn't qualify for a re-training grant from Canada Manpower. One student, Larry Brownlee of Clarksburg, in Grey County, who's currently on a work term with Harry Arts near Seaforth, said he was interested in the program because someday he, hopes to get into his own swine operation. In the .:meantime, he has been working on farms and plans to keep on working fdr someone else for the next number of years. tarry'said the main 'thing he wants to gain from the program is ,. experience" - to getideasboth from the speakerswho talk to students at the college and from the farmers he works for, during his practical, on-farm work periods. The swine workers' program, which started at Centralia in January,, lasts 15 weeks, including five weeks in the classroom and ten weeks of on-farm experience, at three different' farms, Mr. Jamieson said placing the students on different farms. for their work periods give them a chance to experience,:.three different types of hog operations.. For these students, unlikemany inO ntario , em l oyment atter graduation from theprogram,doesn't lookAke of a problem, Ten; of the 25.training farmers already indicated they, 1l; be interested in hiring, someone from , the course and Mr: • Jamieson '.has already hod: calls • from a number of swine producers who wanthelp on their farms. Doug ianneson said as swine enterprises have grown, they've outgrown the labour the individual family can provide. Now Some ofthe students,; in the- first saline- wericers.. training course at COAT} trained outsiders are need to fill vacancies on the fa One of the two- womenstudents enrolled in the program is taking the course because she and her husband want to expand. their. own :farming operation, The demand for swine farm workers springs, frena.the fact more people are going into pigs, now that prices are higher, • Mr. ,Jamieson saidmany existing pig operations are being expanded' and, require more labour. Mae, dairy farmers who don't buy anymore quota to expand are going into pigs either as a second enterprise fpr themselves or their family. Finally, many beginning farmers are opting to go into swine operations: PRACTICAL ART • The Centralia swine worker training prograin emphasizes the practical. art of raising,. pigs and students learn how to do.. everything from clipping needle teeth . to administering medication, operating hydraulics inthe barn and filling in production record: forms, Mr,. Jamieson said the aim of the classroom instruction is to show t "Why we do things thewe do." A major students, h l � aJ X8,Y. part of the classroom has included, listening to speakers who are involved in swine production themselves. For example, John Arts of RR 3, Seaford', who operates a farrow-to-itinish. operation, spoke to students on management practices in a sow barn and Bev Brown, a Bluevale area farmer, talked about .pig behaviour. Advisory committee members from the County Pork Producers Associations are: Huron - Bob Robinson,; RR. 4, Walton-, Perth Hans Feldman, RR 3, Listowel; Middlesex - Jim Long, Woodlynn Farms, London; Bruce - J:3 Manjin, RR 2, Teeswater and Grey, Ken Leith, RR, 4, Durham.. Adrian Vos, of RR 1,: Blyth represents OPPMB;the Quality Swine Co-op. is represented by Don McLean, Shedden; and the Ontario Swine Breeders Assoc, by Jim Donaldson. of Tavistock. Once the students are out on the farms, they put the things already employed someone on their farm and 76 per cent thought a training • program was needed: When asked What kind, of education the students should have to be accepted into the swineworkers program.. 29 percent said they didn't feel,there should be any minimum level of education for entry, 34 per cent replied students didn't need, to have any previous swine farm experience but almost 80 per cent of the respondents felt students should receive some ,on-farm training during the program. Perhapsan even more convincing statistic from the survey was the fact 81 per cent of the swine. producers said they would hire a .. •trained person from the program now or in the :future, Also, a number of respondents also indicated they W6uld be willing to provide some on-farm training for students. in the course. SELL THE IDEA Once Mr• Jamieson • and Ms. Weber had some concrete evidence that; the program was needed, they approached the two levels of government to sell the idea to them: When they could: prove there would be jobs waiting for the, graduates, the red tape was forgotten and the Canada EinploymentCommission and the Ontario ministry of. ;colleges and universities: agreed to co -o erate in ettin the course off theground financial) • P 8.g Y Bymid- o ember o Jamieson was sure enou h t e' ' ilot 1Vv Du a h , Deus p. g project would get off the ground that the college hired Doug McRae,• of RR 1 Denfield, to co-ordinate: the program, Mr. McRae, a Centralia graduate Who worked both for OMAF and for agri-business;._ operates a beef feedlot and swine operation with his brother in Middlesex County; • With; the co-ordinator hired and the program ready to roll, the nior Farmers The annual meeting: •and provincial conference of the Junior Farmer's Association of Ontario will be held at Toronto, March: 16 to 18.. More than 350 Junior Farmers, including guest de legates from other provinces and the United' States, are ,' Every week more .and More 'people discover what mighty , jobs are ac- complished by low cost Huron Expositor Want Ads. Dial S27-0240- extension branch; Ontario' gistration fee for the cots be held at Ministry of Agriculture' and' Terence, which will Food, will explain the jointly . the Royal Canadian Legion, • . funded, federal -provincial " C°to, John : McCrae C°1°"1 program to assistfartners in Memorial' Branch, is $10. Be'' careful with with mail order, • minister says i� Don't fall for 'extravagant, claims when ordering garden products by Mail; Frank. Drea minister of consumer and Commercial relations, today warned. , "Consumers order these products at this .tithe of year expecting they'll: produce 100 pound watermelons or yard-, long cucumbers," said' `Mr Drea, "But be realistic: They're not going to grow that large in Ontario." 14r, Drea said that al- though the ministry has tak- en talon against mail-order. nursery product , companies' in the past, the best Solution is to avoid being taken in by exaggerated advertising tights. Make sure advertisements state whether there Ys a. rrsoneybtck gtrarrtntcc and how long: delivery will takeo. the minister advised. Because some companies are slow in filling orders, consumers should plan well in advance so they don't miss planting time, he said. kip -offs can also be avoid- ed by checking the firm's reputation with the Better Business Bureau and cam- parison shopping at local gardening. centres. SHIPPED to UNITED CO-OPERATIVES' OF ONTARIO LIVESTOCK DEPARTMENT TORONTO Ship your livestock with MIKE DOYLE Tuesday is Shipping Dar From Dublin. CALL DUBLIN 345-2656 ZURICH 236.4688 II N' DAIRY SYSTEMS LTD*' Sales, Service 8 installation of RSI 1,114 WALTi expected to attend, says Janet Horner, public relation officer, Youth Extension, Ontario Ministry of Agri- culture and Food.. t` One of the highlights of the conference is the an- nouncement of the :travel opportunity winners, a'nd. travel scholarship ,winners, Traver scholarships to the 'United Kingdom, and New Zealand and Australia will be awarded to five outstanding Junior: Farmers. • „ Spring rY • �s Lush around the corner We haat WHITE. BEAN SEED available .for you! • Sefarer • • Senilac Kentwood Founds►tion bw certified ble - A complete line of EVVART GRAINS 0 Barley e'Oat3 • Mixed: Grain .Por more information cOntocf' Walton: Ontario Seaforth 5274521 Brussels 8874261 next step Was finding people who were interested in working on the faun riot as,farm managers but as labourers• In order to speed up the process of locating potential students,. Centralia College blitzed the media in the surrounding counties they've discussed to the classroom} into practice, While they're working on; the farms, the students are rated on their level of skill in performing a variety of tasks by the farmers they're working! with The students will finish the program on. April 20 and any farmer interested in hiring a graduate should contact Centralia. College by March: Doug Jamieson doesn't seem concerned that graduates will have any difficulty finding a job. Swine producers have already' been calling the college regularly about hiring graduates. Also, the program administrator said he's also already had inquiries , .from people interested.'in enrolling in the training course if it's: offered next year. This summer, the success of the pilot project will be intensively evaluated, and if Centralia is interested in running the program again and the Canada Employment Commission in funding it, .then the course will be .offered again. THE NEW BERG ari 111 •Thla specially, designed pump WON the mattersiron the barn, tMaugtt an underp'aund pipe, h Nn s>etsg yes , As the nl.nurAmtilim:thS atsnage ,alas, tram below, the outilde sterti cs forms d crust, : *bleb retains. tM_ lmporta it 'nitrogen and potaulum Inside the pita and also rodeo* theodor' and fly probionnt, Mail the, coupon for details. Keith Siemon e. l Catrel Plumbing—Farm :Egts pRtent Mvoeeea,-arwu R. R. 4, Walton,.Qnt.. eKa,Me�t+et rurar : Phone 345-2734; ALL FARMERS BE OUR GUEST ATA BRMKMST MEEflNI ONTARIO BEAN GROWERS y CO.OPERATIVE y COMMERCIAL HOTEL SEAFORTH' Breakfast starting'8:30 to. 10:00 Met3ting to follow r. , J • TOPIC&• ,„,,, SOYBEANS """ USED FOR SOYBEANS CHEMICALS iO BE .s SPEAKERS: .. SOYB ANE' - GARY, JE�CINE — KING GRAN CHEMICALS — GRANT COLLINS: - KING GRAIN •�,'Y4tiT 'Y„ J' YYY YY -'1 Y,iY "Y Y hY, Yti4 til `Y ifY Y',` ^Ci ' Reply revisited by March. '13. Call 345 .Y 2007 ONTARIO BEAN GROWERS tO4PBRATIVI:1IRtC'tO►RS WILL ATTLND