FEBRUARY 2005

King of the road

Lanark Landowners' Association president Randy Hillier has done it again. For the second time in two weeks his group shut down a portion of Highway 401. Over his shoulder a convoy of 270 tractors are being escorted by police, who had a helicopter and undercover officers patrolling the scene near Prescott. Hillier, above, talks with reporters. 

Rowan Lomas photo

 LEAD STORY 

• Renewed revolt
  One man's hope to unit our farmers
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EDITORIALS 

• You're more likely to die from choking on beef than from eating it
  At the meat counter, fear is creeping into the minds of consumers. They eye the hamburger and cuts of beef and some wonder: "Is it safe?"
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OPINION 

• Kill our differences or kill our future
  Ontario farmers are running out of alternatives to keep their farms in production. They have called on their organizations to lobby government, bug government ignores them.
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 ARTICLES 

• Farmer can't buy peanuts from sale of cow
  Dairy farmer Leo Imfeld said it would have been cheaper to shoot his cow.
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• Ethanol project's new president still waiting on bureaucracy
  Outspoken crop farmer Alain Leduc, who recently accepted the position of president of the Seaway Grain Processors, says the ethanol project at Cornwall is still waiting for a Ministry of Environment permit.
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• 270 tractors block Hwy 401 
  A colourful parade of tractors and trucks snarled traffic for three hours Friday, Feb. 4 on two major eastern Ontario highways leading to a protest at the international bridge near Prescott.
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• Ag minister fears LLA, farmers at his doorstep
  Ontario Agriculture Minister Steve Peters fears a revolution from the back roads. 
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• Plan now for alfalfa winterkill
  Often plagued by winterkill, Ontario could be in for another winter of alfalfa kill.

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• Articles for our subscribers

• You might have to pay to take water from your own pond -  Proposed water fees by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) are not sitting well with farmers.

• Milk quota hits record high - Ontario milk quota has hit a record high $29,400. 

• Farmers want one voice, poll says - Of 120 farmers polled at a Port Perry meeting, 119 voted "in favour of a single voice being the ultimate goal for Ontario agriculture."

• 11 per cent of Ontario's best farm land is gone - Statistics Canada confirmed what farmers know: that urban Canada is gobbling up some of the best farm land in the country.

• School textbook blames farmers - A province-wide chemistry textbook has fingered farming for the deaths of seven people in Walkerton five years ago.

• Grain cheaper than hay in Renfrew - In hay starved Renfrew County Kevin dick is urging livestock farmers to switch from hay to grain.

• Tie stall barn built for 80 cows - According to conventional wisdom, a dairyman shouldn't build a tie stall system for more than 60 milking cows. The workload is too heavy.

• Linking milk to Johne's, Crohn's disease - The debate continues over the possible link between Crohn's Disease in people and Johne's disease in animals.

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  THEY SAID IT:       
"Breeding is the enjoyable part of the business."

—  Hugh Hunter,   Smiths Falls dairy farmer

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  FARM FACTS:
Number of Ontario's 12 dairy farmers named master breeders who farm east of Toronto.................4

Amount on cheque received by Plantagenet dairy farmer for January sale of 1,366 lb. Holstein.......52 cents

Where fault lies in Walkerton tragedy, according to province-wide Grade 11 textbook called Chemistry 11.............agriculture