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the HERALD Agriculture Wednesday February 1992 Farmers coalition calling for environment assessment By BOB SAVAGE Thomson News Service may love the land but how healthy will their relationship be in years to come Thats the question being put to Ontarios 40000 full time farms by a coalition of farm groups Theyre calling on farmers to conduct individual environmen assessments of their own operations with an aim to im prove areas where environmen tal awareness is weak We are committed as a farm community to pursue these en vironmental concerns Ontano Federation of Agriculture dent Roger George told a Queens Park press conference The OB A and other farm organizations that belong to the coalition have identified 17 areas of environmental concern in cluding such issues as soil erosion and surface water contamina But the coalition says it doesnt have a clear idea of the environmental strengths and weaknesses of various farming activities Its hoped the environmental agenda initiative launched Wednesday will pinpoint the pro blems The idea is to have farmers record work practices and environmental problems at their farms The anonymous and confidential records will then go to local committees which will attempt to find common pro blems that can be addressed In a few years time the coali hopes it can work with Director remains John Porterfield an egg producer from Palmerston has been elected to his seventh term as a Director for the Ontano Egg Pro ducers Marketing Board Mr Porterfield will continue to represent the egg producers in the Counties of Wellington Peel and the East half of Waterloo who elected him to the Board January 28 in Moorefield Mr has been an egg producer since His background also includes several years as a tree surgeon in Ontario Hydros Division Policies and operations of the Ontano Egg Producers Marketing Board is the responsibility of 15 producerelected directors Thirteen of these are elected by egg producers in 13 zones or areas of the pro vince two are elected by pullet producers or farmers who raise chicks to egg laying age In each zone producers elect a set number of Committeemen who then elect a Director for that Pullet producers elect Commit teemen to vote for a pullet producer Director for each half of the pro vince Directors are elected for a one year term Agreement reached The Ontario Cattlemens Association and Better Beef Ltd Ontarios largest beef processor are cooperating in a joint project which will allow cattlemen to sell small lots of cattle on a carcass weight and grade basis Until now this option has not been widely available cattlemen Many cattlemen with only a few cattle to sell at one time would like to sell on a carcass weight and grade basis in order to obtain data on the quality of cattle they breed and feed The upcoming change the beef standard due for implementa tion in early will likely in crease demand for this selling op tion for small lots of cattle Better Beef Ltd will purchase and supply a special ear tag for such lots of cattle The tags will be available to catlemen or their agent truckers from the Ontano Cattlemen s Association The cat tle must be tagged by the seller or his truckeragent before the cat tie are delivered to Better Beef As well a manifest must be com pleted and accompany the cattle Manifests can be obtained from the OCA office with the ear tags Cattlemen wishing to use this option can call the buyers office at Better Beef to obtain a price quotation and gradeweight counts for cattle that will be pro cessed the following day All snail lots of cattle delivered to Better Beef will be processed at the end of the day using addi tional staff on the processing line to ensure tag transfer and tion To offset additional processing and handling costs Better Beef will charge a fee of per head which will be deducted from the proceeds of sale on small lots The tagging option will also be available to sellers of load lots of cattle who want to match identity of live cattle and carcasses Dale Pallister Chairman of the OCA Marketing and Grading Committee said We have been talking about this selling option in OCA for several years While we have examined sophisticated electronic identification systems they are costly for both packers and cattlemen I am pleased that Better Beef has agreed to co operate in this low cost project and that we can finally move for ward to explore the practical aspects of providing this ser 4H leaders The Arts of Empowerment was one of the many timely subjects presented at the Provincial Leaders Conference in Toronto Attending the Conference from the Region of Halton were Carol and Jean McLean David Guthro of the Consulting Edge told us how to ourselves The H Program is all about empowering others Self esteem forms the basis for self empowerment Good self esteem is important before we can em power others The Ontano Program is moving and input from our members is important The Na tional Conference offers op portunities to discuss concerns our members have about their communities across Canada Carolyn Sleegers a 4H member from Middlesex County told us of her experience at the National Members Con ference With the ever increasing awareness of child abuse it was time for us to look at child safety The Ontario Provincial Police Specialist discussed how to recognize child abuse symptoms and what we can do to these families before it is too late After discussing roles and respon of 4H leaders it was fit ting to wind down with Wayne Fleming of comedy fame His voices brought us back to reality and prepared us for more who and what is H is on the move Are you For more information on the program In please all the office or he Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Milton at government to find solutions to farming practices that harm the environment While the coalition hopes farmers will participate willingly it doesnt rule out the use of government legislation The coalition hopes govern ment will help fund the plan although coalition members denied suggestions that the in itiative is aimed to fend off government efforts to enforce environmental standards on the farms George told reporters that legislation only targets the lowest common denominator when it sets improvement stan The coalition aims to ac tively promote higher standards for environmental protection within the farm community Its going to go beyond anything government can do coalition also hopes hard- pressed farmers will want to im prove environmental practices even if there are some costs in The group says it is seek ing a balance between the tough economic times facing farmers today and the need to have viable farm land in the future YOU PAY ONLY 99 oil CHANGE AVAILABLE WHEN YOU PURCHASE ANY ONE OF THESE SPECIALS ENGINE TUNEUP Check Spark Plugs Distributor Cap and rotor HT Wires all filters emission set to specs PARTS EXTRA IF NEEDED ELECTRICAL SYSTEM SERVICE INCLUDES Starter draw test Alternator Output Test Load Test Battery Clean Battery Ter minals Check Belts HEADLIGHT SERVICE INCLUDES Headlight Align ment Inspect Adjusters and Mountings Check all Lights MOST DOMESTIC CARS Plus taxes Most domestic cars and light trucks BRAKESFront or Rear Supply install Brake Pads or Shoes Machine rotors or drums Inspect hydraulic components Top up master cylinder road test MOST DOMESTIC CARS UGHT TRUCKS Offer Ends Feb 14th 1992 CAPITAL 2 LOCATIONS ACTON GEORGETOWN MAIN ST IM 8532370 8731626