OCTOBER 2006

It's show time

Regional 4-H championship shows at Melcalfe and Lindsay, will be sending repeat winners back to the Toronto Royal this year. Above, Jaclyn Rivington shows off her heifer after being named reserve showman at the 150th anniversary of the Metcalfe Fair on September 30. 

 (Patrick Meagher photo)

Seize the day

Signs of prosperity in beef and crops

A new day is dawning for agriculture. Farmers can be forgiven if they read those words with skepticism. Ontario agriculture has been through four hard years of closed beef markets thanks to BSE and a price drop in the oils and grains sector that sapped financial reserves and kicked the heart out of the heartland.

 Go to story

 LEAD STORY 

• Farmers threaten to shut down snowmobile trails 
  Give us a risk management program, grassroots farmers demand, if the federal and provincial governments don't agree on a risk management program by November 15.
  Go to story

EDITORIALS 

• How pesticides are saving the earth

  Pesticides are a key part of modern agriculture, contributing to the dramatic increases in crop yields achieved in recent decades. Through the use of pesticides, farmers are able to produce crops profitably in otherwise unsuitable locations, extend growing seasons, maintain product quality, and extend shelf life. 

   Go to story

OPINION 

• Liberal attack on gun control, Harper hits back, defends farmers                       Liberal MPs were on the attack Tuesday, September 19, using the shootings at Dawson College in Montreal, in which one teenage girl was killed, as a means to attack the Conservative government on its plan to scrap the gun registry.     Go to story

 ARTICLES 

• Larger milk trucks force dairy producers to pay for upgrades or quit the business
  WINCHESTER — Richard Hess sold his 40 Holstein cows in May, saying he would have had to spend $130,000 to build a manure pit to comply with the Nutrient Management Act. He would have also needed to make major changes to widen his laneway.   
  Go to story
• Bigger is not always better                         GUELPH- Canadian farms least likely to make money are not small farms. They are farms with poor managers, suggests a George Morris Centre study. 
  Go to story

---

• Five year forecast looks best for pork, fruit, veggies and exports
  OTTAWA- Canada's food manufacturing industry will continue to stall over the next five years and will see growth in export markets but not domestically, reports the Conference Board of Canada.  
  Go to story

---

• Fraudulent buyers in fruit and vegetable sector 10 times worse than in the grain sector
  Seems it's an all too common practice to buy things and try to get away without paying for it. It's called stealing or theft. I heard from a farmer who said he finally got his money for hay after a year or so of badgering the guy and dropping in at this place.   
  Go to story

Stories for our subscribers:

• He spent 33 days in jail after cattle starved OTTAWA —  A former beef farmer who let cattle die from starvation on his property has served 33 days in jail. Carl Purdy, 45, of Ashton, southwest of Ottawa, was released Sept. 25 following sentence for cruelty to animals. He served time, waiting for sentencing, at the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Detention Centre. Judge Bernard Ryan decided 33 days was enough. He also ordered Purdy to seek counseling and find a job. Purdy is forbidden to own animals for two years.

• OFA president to quit                                         TORONTO-   Ontario Federation of Agriculture President Ron Bennett will not seek re-election at the annual meeting in November.

• Grain $1 million to find farm workers                 The federal government has dropped $1 million l  a two-year project to help farmers find skilled workers and turn farm-related jobs into a more attractive sell among an urban leaning work force.    

• Canada- a good place to do business             You think regulations here are bad? Try doing business in Russia. The World Bank announced last month its annual report on where the best countries in the world are when it comes to the regulatory cost of doing business. In other words, in what countries do governments get out of the way and let the people git'r done? Canada ranked fourth out of 175 countries. Only Singapore, New Zealand and the United States ranked higher.  

• Ontario plan will give grain growers $6 per acre                                                               TORONTO — The Ontario government will provide $110 million in transitional funding to farmers and $75 million for rural infrastructure.   

• Farm cash receipts drop again                OTTAWA — Farm cash receipts dropped almost six per cent across Canada in the first six months of this year but not in New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Quebec.

• Cattle trucks to pay $5.25 to cross border     Beginning November 29 the United States will start charging border fees to make up the $78 million it spends annually for stepped up security and inspection. 

• Hay wound round drive shaft sparks three tractor fires in Renfrew                                             FORRESTER FALLS- The heavy hay that's filled Renfrew County barns to overflowing is also taking a toll on tractors. Three of them have caught fire after the hay wound hard around the drive shaft and burst into flames.    

• Ontario to devalue property rights in Clean Water Act                                                     TORONTO- Despite deep concerns by farmers across the province, the Ontario Liberal government is poised to pass the Clean Water Act as early as this month. The bill should outrage municipalities. The responsibility for policing land and paying for it will be up to each municipality.

• Fourteen mysterious fires since June    CHESTERVILLE — There could soon be a reward to find an arsonist setting barn fires across Dundas and Stormont Counties, southeast of Ottawa. 

• Keene-ers attract 81,000 to biggest event in Peterborough County                                    KEENE — The biggest event to ever hit Peterborough County, the 2006 International Plowing Match, attracted 81,000 people and included one wedding. Sadly, the event also witnessed an accidental death.

• Pontiac farmer invents potato bug trapper PONTIAC COUNTY, QUEBEC — Eric Campbell remembers hiring others to pick potato bugs from his patch at the rate of one penny per bug. But now 'Uncle' Eric, as he is affectionately known, on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, does the job all by his lonesome. He has an amazing invention to do it.

• Suncor plant opens, while local producer hopes for better corn prices                                     SARNIA-  Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, under the guise of Santa Claus, officially opened the Suncor ethanol plant at Sarnia. Ontario will provide $36 million in subsidies over three years. The plant will create about 38 full-time jobs. The money is to take the risk out of the investment.

• Odessa ethanol plant would be Canada's largest                                                                              ODESSA — Upper Canada Ethanol (UCE) plans to construct a $200 million ethanol plant in the spring of 2007 and begin processing corn in the fourth quarter of 2008.

  THEY SAID IT:       

"the icing has changed but the cake is still the same."

— Dennis St. Pierre, retired dairy farmer and water policy expert, on the amended provincial Clean Water Act.

 CLASSIFIED ADS:  

Place a classified ad  in Farmers Forum and it goes on this website at no extra cost  — Click for listings ...

  FARM FACTS:

The lowest projected exchange rate of the Cdn. dollar to 2010, by the Conference Board of Canada...U.S. $0.85

Number of days in jail served by Ottawa area farmer convicted of starving cattle.....33

Canada's top four destinations for food product exports.........United States, Japan, China, Mexico

Percentage if pork, which now accounts for the largest share of meat produced in Canada by weight, of total Canadian meat production.........40 percent

Percentage of beef of total Canadian meat production.........33 percent

Percentage of poultry of total Canadian meat production..........26 percent

Percentage of lamb and sheep of total Canadian meat production.........0.7 percent