SEPTEMBER 2006

Hay makers

Roger Piette takes a break with four of his nine children while haying near Apple Hill on August 17. On the hay wagon at back are: Nathan, 15, and future brother-in-law, Jamie, 21. Middle row: Alisha, 9, and Chad, 12. That’s Nicholas, 7, in front. (Patrick Meagher photo)

Ethanol boom

MOOSE CREEK — Governments demanding more ethanol in fuel across North America should drive up the price of corn, regardless of the number of ethanol plants in eastern Ontario, says the president of the proposed Cornwall corn-fed ethanol plant.

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 LEAD STORY 

• Farmers oppose flaws in Clean Water Act 
  The Renfrew County National Farmers Union has come flat out against the Ontario Clean Water Act. The bill in its present form should be regarded as work in progress, said president Dave Mackay.
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EDITORIALS 

• Squabble over quota ain’t pretty

  Spencerville-area egg producer Shawn Carmichael made headlines when feathers flew on his operation south of Kemptville last March. With OPP officers standing by to keep the peace, inspectors from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) , accompanied by officials from the Ontario egg producers’ marketing board, raided Carmichael’s farm and began seizing his 6,000 or more birds on the allegation that he had run afoul of quota and grading regulations. Following a 10-hour standoff between officials on one side, Carmichael and the Ontario Landowners Association on the other, the birds were returned.
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OPINION 

• We will replace CAIS                                    I’ve been kicking around federal politics for 13 years now, so it shouldn’t surprise me when a headline for a newspaper story doesn’t mesh with the facts. Often it doesn’t even match the story underneath it, and if people bother to read the entire article or do a little digging for the truth, they would roll their eyes at the obvious attempt to simply sell a newspaper. Such was the case with the Canadian Press headline "Unpopular farm program can’t be scrapped as promised: Tories".                                                             Go to story

 ARTICLES 

• Deer hunting season expands
  ONTARIO — The deer and moose hunting season have been extended to control population, deer-vehicle collisions and crop damage.  
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• Who said what about the Clean Water Act?                                                           Here are some extracts from briefs presented at provincial hearings last month on the Clean Water Act. The excerpts are hearings at Walkerton, Peterborough and Cornwall.  
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• Leona won’t dance without Chuck
  Farmers Forum interviewed Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Leona Dombrowsky at Alfred Vogel’s farm at Williamstown August 17. 
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• Seven Ontario farm fatalities since June
  Three months after farm workers have been placed under the Ontario Health and Safety Act, Ministry of Labour spokesman Patrick O’Gorman says no trends have emerged. Accidents on farms look a lot like they have over the past 20 years.   
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• I was haying on the hottest day of the year and, yes, I almost passed out       It was 36 C in the shade. That would make it 44 C. But it felt like 47 C (116 F), according to the humidex.
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Stories for our subscribers:

• Winter wheat sets record, Prescott elevator intake soars - PRESCOTT — Ontario winter wheat shattered a record for production and yields this year and truckers felt the effect of the record crop. Some truckers slept so long in their cabs waiting to unload at the Port of Prescott, they told their families they were at Camp Prescott.

• Why WTO talks collapsed and where to go from here: Bonnett -  The World Trade Organization talks have achieved little in five years and it would take a miracle to get back to the bargaining table now, says Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett. The United States has no will to re-start talks as their election is in 2008.

• Grain dryer burns at Donevelyn Farms -  METCALFE – Twenty-five tonnes of soybeans were ruined when a dryer caught fire at Donevelyn Farms Elevators near Metcalfe, south of Ottawa, on August 23.   

• Lawyer for chicken farmer negotiates to avoid fees and fines - BROCKVILLE — Spencerville chicken farmer Shawn Carmichael will be back in Brockville provincial court Oct.11 to take on the Egg Farmers of Ontario. 

• Chatham ethanol operators want to build near Prescott within two years -  JOHNSTOWN — GreenField Ethanol, the new name for Commercial Alcohol, has plans to build a more than $100 million corn-fed ethanol plant in Johnstown, just east of Prescott, and close to the International bridge that crosses the St. Lawrence River.   

• 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.

• Sunflower niche market sees new growth among bird lovers -There are only about seven sunflower growers in eastern Ontario but in the last 10 years they are seeing their best paying niche market grow — rural people who feed the birds. 

• Farmer watches his barn as he drives home -  In the evening of August 5, Barry Merkley was driving home. "I saw the orange glow and as I got closer I kept driving faster," Barry said. "When I got here (to the farm) I asked three boys who were near to help me get some cows out. We lost 28 head, 20 cows, and 8 calves (before the fire they milked 55). We lost all our hay.   

• He lives the American dream - WILLIAMSTOWN — Alfred Vogel arrived by boat in New York City in 1953 at age 23 with a simple plan: to learn English and go home to Switzerland to his office job.     

• 9 inducted into new Quinte Hall of Fame - STIRLING — The Quinte Agricultural Wall of Fame will induct its first nine local leaders at the Hastings County Museum on September 17. The Wall of Fame will recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the agriculture and food industry in the counties of Hastings, Prince Edward, Northumberland and Lennox and Addington.   

• New sign of hope for rural de-amalgamation movements -  OTTAWA — Rural de-amalgamation movements are elated with a new turn in events. The province has offered to consider a new way to govern but won’t consider referendums on de-amalgamation.

• Robinsons dominate Ontario-Quebec Jersey show - NAVAN — A home-bred bull called Amedeo, the number one bull on the Long term Production Index, proved to be the architect of champions at the Eastern Ontario-Western Quebec Jersey Show. The Grand Champion, mature cow champion, as well as the cow with the reserve best udder were all sired by Amedeo, at Payneside Farms at Finch.

• Stocker prices high but can it continue? - If the pricing trend continues, stocker calves are going to be very expensive this fall. Owner of the Hoard’s Station Sale Barn, Dave Denure, says "A run-of-the-mill 600 lbs. calf was bringing $1.35" per lbs. in the auction ring at the end of August.

• Canadian beef herd declines -- but surplus remains - OTTAWA — Canada’s cattle herd dropped by 810,000 head or about 4.7 per cent between July 1, 2005 and July 1 2006, the single biggest reduction in the last seven years.

• U.S. farm bill called wasteful, say policy experts- Not all Americans love their farm bill, which provides handsome subsidies to American farmers. A group of 38 American public policy experts, enlisted by the American National Conservative Weekly Human Events, teamed up to nominate the top 10 worst government programs in the United States, based on wasted money.

  THEY SAID IT:       

"Most people don’t get rich. You have to want the lifestyle."

— retiring Williamstown farmer Alfred Vogel on his love for farming.

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  FARM FACTS:

Number of ethanol plants operating in Ontario….....3

Proposed Ontario plants...7

Number of ethanol plants operating in United States...............101

U.S. Department of Agriculture budget for 2006…...............$96 billion

Canadian Department of Agriculture budget for 2006...........…$2.25 billion

Tonnes of winter wheat produced in Ontario this year.................2.5 million

Amount of winter wheat produced above previous record .......400,000 tonnes