2,000 cows sold to Russians

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AWARD WINNERS OTTAWA VALLEY SEED GROWERS' MARCH 14, 2007

01 Brian, Robert Nation Valley Potato Growers' Trophy for the Championship Exhibitor of Potatoes Won byVogeldale Farms, Leeds County accepted by Max Vogel Presented by Daryl Acres	02 Gail, Jim, Susie, Grahame Class 1 Alcyon Oats - won by Barclay Dick & Son accepted by Jim Arbuckle, OVSGA Director Class 4 Sable Spring Wheat – won by Grahame & Steve Hardy, accepted by Grahame Hudson Class 8 OAC Championship Soybeans – won by Marc Bercier, Accepted by Susie LeSauteur
03 Brian Hudson, Bob Dick Barclay Dick Challenge Trophy for the best exhibit of Red Clover Won by Bruce & Brian Hudson, Carleton County accepted by Brian Hudson Presented by Bob Dick, OVSGA Director	04 Susie, Jim Lanark Mutual Insurance Company for the most points in the pedigreed Classes   Won by Marc Bercier, Prescott County accepted by Susie LeSauteur Presented by Jim Lowry
05 Gail, Grahame Robertson Associate Trophy awarded to the Champion Exhibitor in the Pedigreed Coarse Grain Classes Won by Grahame & Steve Hardy, Dundas County accepted by Grahame Hardy Presented by Gail Harris	06 Phil, Graham SECAN Trophy most points in Pedigreed Wheat Won by Grahame & Steve Hardy, Dundas County accepted by Grahame Hardy Presented by Gail Harris
07 Brent, Phil Bishop Farm Seeds Plaque Exhibitor winning championship in the Barley Class Won by Mount Airy Farm, Leeds County, accepted by Joe Modler Presented by Brent Cochrane	08 Gary, Keith Mrs Ed Wallace & Issac Wallace Challenge Trophy for the Championship Hay Exhibit Won by Gary Gordon, Frontenac County Presented by Keith Lackey, OVSGA Director
09 Brian, Jim Hal Botham Memorial Trophy warded annually to the Championship Exhibitor of Forage Seeds Won by Bruce & Brian Hudson, Carleton County accepted by Brian Hudson Presented by Jim Arbuckle, OVSGA Director	10 James, Keith OVSG challenge for the Champion exhibit of Haylage Won by James Foster, Lanark County Presented by Keith Matthie, OVSGA Director
11 Jim, Daniel E.H. Wallace Memorial Trophy for the Champion exhibit of Soybeans Won by Daniel Lillico, Dundas County Presented by Jim Arbuckle, OVSGA Director	12 Daryl, Max synAgri Trophy for Championship open & 4-H ear of Corn Won byVogeldale Farms, Leeds County accepted by Max Vogel Presented by Daryl Acres
13 Dave, Don Embrun Agricultural Co-Op Trophy for the Champion Exhibit of Shelled Corn Won by David & Allen Hess, Grenville County, accepted by David Hess Presented by Don Lortie	14 Lois, Mack, Trevor Mack & Lois James Award for the most points in the 4-H section field crop classes Won by Trevor McDiarmid, Dundas County Presented by Mack & Lois James
15 Gary, Bob Hay Quality Competition (Class 49 First Place won by Gary Gordon, Frontenac County Presented by Bob Dick, OVSGA Director	16 France, Bob Second Place won by Ferme Gascon accepted by France Gascon Presented by Bob Dick, OVSGA Director
17 John, Keith Special Export Hay (Class 50) 1st cut won by Rob Nanne, Twin Peaks Farm, Lanark County accepted by John Nanne Presented By Keith Matthie, OVSGA Director	18 Cecil, Keith 2nd cut won by Cassbrae farms, Prescott County accepted by Cecil Cass Presented By Keith Matthie, OVSGA Director
19 Melanie, John John Posthumus Award for the most points in the 4-H section Life Skills classes Won by Melanie Briscoe, Renfrew County Presented by John Posthumus

     THEY SAID IT:       

“I don't want to be known as the guy who closed Forfar Dairy."

— Forfar cheese factory owner Murray Campbell on possible effect of Nutrient Management Act.

OPINION 

• Politics of water threatens the life of small cheese makers  Go to story
  Every once in a while a university, think tank or some other government funded institution presents a report in which it asks for an inquiry into such things as rural poverty or high unemployment. But the provincial government only has to look at its own cynical and made-for-city solutions to find many answers to many problems.

OPINION 

• What free market is really free? Go to story
  One of the main discussion items amongst farm organizations is how to help the majority of farmers in their quest to obtain adequate income. In this regard, much of the debate lately has centered on things like expanding farm operations, cutting costs, adding value to products, improving marketing skills or increasing exports. In and of themselves, all of these things are good, but they miss the main point.

 ARTICLES 

• CAIS foundering on incompetence  Go to story
  The Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program, popularly known as CAIS, is foundering in incompetence and possibly fraud, according to the Auditor General’s report released in early May.

• OMAFRA pays 33 bureaucrats more than $100,000 a year Go to story
• Two years ago the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) employed 26 people at a salary of more than $100,000.

• Kemptville College graduates 37 ag students  Go to story
  The Kemptville campus of the University of Guelph graduated 170 students at the May 25 convocation, including 37 students from the two-year agriculture diploma program.
   

• Switching to robots  Go to story              
  In 2003 the Allen family constructed a new barn with two robots to milk 120 cows. Four years later 42-year-old Kelley Allen , one of the four partners, reflects on the decision..
                

• Rise of the Red and white Go to story              
  Jacob Buehler is beaming after his $30,000 Holstein heifer was named grand champion at the international red and white show at Victoriaville, Quebec.

• Flavoured goat cheese-- rum raison and blueberry -- is the new niche for this inventor Go to story  
  Bruce and Sharon VandenBerg are enjoying a hard-earned success. The owners of Mariposa Dairy, in Kawartha Lakes, were one of 55 earning the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovative Excellence.

• David the diversifier Go to story  
  It’s hard to get lost in Bloomfield in beautiful Prince Edward County, hemmed in by water and sand banks. But if you’re not from these parts, south of Belleville, it’s a lot harder just finding this little village of 700 people. On main street, David Prinzen runs his dairy farm, with his father Bernard, next to his uncle’s restaurant, JJ’s Texas Grill.

• Ontario loses 10,000 farms in five years Go to story  
  Ontario farms have decreased by 4.2 per cent since 2001 says Statistics Canada in its recently published Census of Agriculture.

• The future of milk quota and how Australia survived the dismantling   Go to story  
  There are not too many topics more polarizing in Canadian agriculture than a discussion on dairy quota. If you are interested in a different approach to the issue, consider checking out a document posted on the web by the Montreal Economic Institute called, "Reforming dairy supply management in Canada: the Australian example." You can download it by going to: www.iedm.org.

• Small cheese factories say new laws will shut them down Go to story  
  Ontario’s small, independent cheese factories might soon become an endangered species as they struggle to meet the requirements of the Nutrient Management Act.

Stories for our subscribers:
 

• Battle weeds early
  Farmers should gear up for battling weeds early this year, says OMAFRA crop specialist Gilles Quesnel.
   

• County-of-origin labelling needed
  Canadian farmers are losing markets partly because of deception in the marketplace, says Ontario Federation of Agriculture vice-president Bette-Jean Crews.

• New look for old favorite          
  The St. Albert Cheese factory produces enough cheese curds each year to give every man, woman, and child in Ottawa one bag with enough left over to give each Ontario dairy farm 45 bags. Next time you enjoy a bag, you may notice a subtle change, a new logo, featuring the old.
   

• Soybean rust monitored across Ontario
  For the third year, Tri-County Agromart will be monitoring a plot near Trenton for soybean rust.
   

• Almost half of all farmers work off-farm: Statscan
  Almost half of all farmers are now working off-farm to make ends meet. Recently released figures by Statistics Canada shows that in 2001 44.5 per cent of farmers worked off-farm.
   

• Farm income increases in 2007                                  
  First the bad news: Canadian farm income dropped for the second straight year in 2006 due to the increase in interest rates, fuel and labour costs, reports Statistics Canada.Now the good news: 2007 is off to a great start as market receipts are 13 per cent higher in the first three months of this year, over the same period last year.

• Warmer than normal summer predicted
  "I am hoping for some moisture. "The words of Ste.-Anne-de-Prescott farmer Heiko Boekhoff, south of Hawkesbury, were echoed by many other farmers after a drier then average spring and a very dry month of May.
   

• One-stop how-to clinic delights 4-H crowd          
  Who wouldn’t have a good time. Forty-two young people from ages 10 to 19 converged on an Ottawa-area farm and were handed burgers and clippers and a Hereford to groom.
   

• Who knew you could see a Kangaroo in Kemptville         
  "I never knew this was here" was a common remark when people visited the Saunders Country Critters and Garden Centre last August when it opened it for a test run just off busy Highway 416.
   

• Options income support program gets axed for some
  There’s a huge wrinkle in The Canadian Family Farm Options Program. The federal program, first announced last year to top up family income to $25,000 in a crisis year, has been axed, sort of.

• Farm owners score above average on job satisfaction scale
  Farm owners typically like what they do. They put in long hours and it may not be among the top 10 most satisfying jobs in the world. But farming sure beats roofing. A job satisfaction scale in a study published by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center surveyed 198 occupations.