FEBRUARY 2006

Rally now or lose farms

North Gower Crop farmer Dwight Foster, 39, is one of the grassroots leaders launching rallies in February. His head bowed, he told of farmers hiding tractors from the banks. He has never seen so much hurt in the countryside. Under financial strain, one farmer broke down in his driveway, Foster said. They called his pastor.

(Patrick Meagher photo)

 LEAD STORY 

• Rally now or lose farms 
  Expect farm exodus if no government safety net, corn producers say
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EDITORIALS 

• Positive signs in a crisis 
• Every farmer knows of someone who has just cashed in the cows or won't be planting crops this year.  
   Go to story

OPINION 

• It's official, there's a crisis 
• The year 2005 was a bumber year for major reports on fixing agriculture...
   Go to story

 ARTICLES 

• Goodbye, Mr. Minister, again
  Former Federal Minister of Agriculture Andy Mitchell was not re-elected in his riding of Parry Sound- Muskoka after losing a real nail-biter.
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• On-farm cheese-maker refuses to shut down
  Remy Levac refused to shut down his mobile cheese factory, a covered trailer that makes house calls.
  Go to story

• Trade war with suppliers?
  Corn producers get tough on those under paying for corn
  Go to story
  
  

• Blueberries are Canada's number one fruit crop
  Blueberries have become the number one fruit crop in Canada, surpassing apples.
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• New law includes 'super water cops'
  The Clean Water Act is on the verge of introducing enforcement officers and handing powers to municipalities that many have never dreamed of.
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• Pig virus may be mutating into killer but not in east
  Circo virus has always been in Ontario pigs, but suddenly it began abandoning its life as a recluse and has begun showing up apparently as the cause of diseases.
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• Countryside set to 'explode'
  Five years of low commodity prices and no government plan to deal with it has created a countryside bursting with angry farmers, says the Ontario Corn Producers Association general manager Brian Doidge.
  Go to story

• The great escape
  The fugitive farm family has come out of hiding thanks to their new bodyguards- members of the Ontario Landowners Association.
  Go to story

Stories for our subscribers:

• New study is big boost to ethanol- Corn-fed ethanol plants are more energy efficient than the production of gasoline. That's the conclusion of a new study published in the journal Science. 

• Despite plant closure, Olymel seeks Ontario hogs-  Canada's largest pork exporter, Olymel LP, has cut 520 jobs from its St-Simon plant, east of Montreal, but Ontario spokesmen say the plant is re-structuring to become more streamlined.

• Mixed views on new ag minister- but his hometown loves him Ethanol plant faces another delay-  There are mixed reactions to the new federal Minister of Agriculture, Chuck Strahl, a British Columbia native with a logging background.

• IPM rings up sales, boss notes sour grapes- The International Plowing Match to be held in Peterborough County in September has raised almost $300,000 in in-kind donations, says the chairman Norman Blodgett.

• Pothole hell- residents take on township over road repair-  Sheep farmer Al Whitlam and his neighbours have started a petition to put an end to potholes and glare ice on their side roads,. west of Brockville, near Lansdowne.

• Simple, inventive feeder lets cattle feed themselves- David Kerr has invented a hay feeder that allows cattle to feed themselves. "I can't see why people wouldn't want to use it," he said. "It's totally controlled. You don't waste any hay." 

• Wind farms to arrive in Eastern Ontario-  Eastern Ontario is still three years away from seeing wind turbines on farmland. Meantime, dealmakers are bringing landowners on board.   

• Dairy producer plans to build methane digester to power his farm-  George Heinzle is planning to build a methane digester to power his farm of 13 milking cows and sell enough electricity to Hydro One to power a second farm.  

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  THEY SAID IT:       

"The federal government has done nothing. That's why you are going to see the countryside explode."

-Brian Doidge, Ontario Corn Producers Association. 

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  FARM FACTS:

Projected decrease in number of acres of corn grown this year in Ontario...300,000 acres

Projected number of acres grown....1.45 million

Number of dairy farmers in Ontario....4,971

Number of dairy farmers in Ontario in 1995...........7,973

Number of Conservatives elected in the 12 eastern and east central Ontario rural ridings in the federal election...............12