DECEMBER  2004

Glimmers of Hope

The mad cow crisis has its stories of hope. Allison Miller, east of Kemptville, says he's actually sold more beef since the crisis began as consumers support the industry. He has 25 cows and raises his animals from calves to slaughter. He sells beef at the farm gate for $2 per pound. 

Patrick Meagher photo

 LEAD STORY 

• Protestors challenge Cornwall plant
  Mayor says Seaway ethanol plant will fly.
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EDITORIALS 

• Farm and family reasons to like U.S. election
  Despite the fashionable complaints and cacophony from the extreme left, there are many benefits from the U.S. election.
   Go to story

OPINION 

• Remember the goodness of DDT
  Many people think that DDT is a bad chemical compound that Joni Mitchell sang about in 1970.
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 ARTICLES 

• Renfrew farms lose $39,000 each thanks to mad cow crisis
  Thanks to the mad cow crisis, each Renfrew County farmer has lost enough annual earnings, on average, to have paid for brand new a high-end pick-up for each farmer in the county.
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• OFA dodges LLA bullet
  The Lanark Landowners Association has been stealing the headlines despite a failed run at the leadership of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
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• Optimism spurs U.S. border speculation
  Farm leaders hope U.S. border will open to young cattle next spring.
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• Pig protest became city fiasco
  Air still fresh in Sarsfield after 750 pigs move in next door. 
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• Walkerton veterinarian hailed as a farm hero
  Dr. David Biesenthal, the veterinarian and beef farmer at the heart of the Walkerton controversy, is traveling across the province to set the record straight and in his words "save the reputation of agriculture."

          Go to story

• Articles for our subscribers

• Land developers jump the greenbelt, apply pressure on Kawartha Lakes farm land - The provincially proposed greenbelt, to protect one million acres of farmland from industrial and monster housing projects around the city of Toronto, is increasing development pressures on farmland in the Kawartha lakes area.

• Honey production and price fall - Excessive rainfall has caused a 20 per cent decrease in the Ontario honey harvest this year, says a Statistics Canada report Nov. 19.

• Farmers up against low corn prices and high U.S. subsidy - The price of corn has dipped to its lowest level since 1987 when Ontario corn averaged $87 per tonne.

• Pigs get DNA-test before reaching your dinner plate - Maple Leaf Foods has tested and recorded the DNA of 30,000 pigs.

• What do you think of CAIS? Not Much - The most common question about the new farm insurance program is: Where's my money?

• OMAF services? What services? - The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food's services to farming have declined so much the farm community is questioning their very existence.

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  THEY SAID IT:       
"We upset the apple cart enough, I think some people would have had a coronary if we had gotten more (votes)."

—  John Vanderspank,  of the Lanark Landowners' Association, on OFA election for president.

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  FARM FACTS:
Breakdown of OFA vote

President

Ron Bonnett.......257

John Vanderspank........57

Vice-President

Geri Kamenz......216