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8-Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, March 6, 1985 Durham Lamb Awareness Day A Huge Succe.ss, Bob Worden of Darington Township and runner-up in the 1984 Canadian Sheop Bbearing Competitioin displayed bis talents in this able to feel the lànolin next to field last Saturday at the the skin whicb keeps the Lamb Awareness Day. animal dry under ail weather Those in attendance were conditions. Mrs. Russ Dow of R.R. 4 Bowmanville along with Giuseppe Bianco of Oshawa admire the cadillac of roasts, Crown Royal roast and more so being of young lasnb. Lamb cutting was but one of the features at the Lamb Awareness Day held in the Bowmanville Lions Centre last Saturday afternoon. Other features included display of spinning, sheep skîns, wool and features per- taining to the Durham Coun- ty Breeders' Association, from Sam Turner of R.R. held in Ontario. noon. Two hundred att Bowmanville at the event. The general public con- a dinner and dance at The Lamnb Awareness Day tinued with a steady oc- which was also heldi was the first of its kind to be curance throughout the after- Lions Centre. Fed. of Agriculture opposes federal stand ioR.ONTO - The inter- pretations in the news medlia pretation of the figures in the are shocking and appalling, federal government's wite accordîng to the Ontario paper on tax issues in farmn- Federation of Agriculture ing, and furthei misinter- (OFA). From an emergency ex- ecutive- meeting held in Toronto today, OFA presi- dent Harry Pelissero said, "Wbile figures don't lie, in- terpretations may vary." He said the white paper, prepared at the request of Finance Minister Michael Wilson, is "one-sided and not current. "For instance, in dis îng the decline in land vi the white paper stops at Since.thenf.iand values plummeted, especiall western Canada where were bit by drought." "Some of the compar used in the study and -. reported in the media are il- ~; logical," Pelissero said. "To compare the worth of the average farmn to the worth of the average Canadian faxnily is comparing 'apples and oranges. It would be more credible to show a business- to-business comparison." The white paper's figures on the rate of return on equi- ty may look good on paper, if - it's interpreted to be 19.3 per- cent for the years between 1975 and 1983, "But farm groups aren't talking about the golden days of the seveni-, ties. According to the tables in the white paper, for 1982 and 1983, farmers have been losing on their equity. The crîsis bas been in recent years," Pelissero said. Another illogical comn- parison, Pelissero saîd, is bet- ween the value of farm land and trading stocks. "The fact that the value of rural real estate has increased means nothing. A farmrer can't * dump his business as easily as be could shares on the Toron- to Stock Exchange. Equity, - or paper value, doesn't pdt ended the kids through school or tnight put sboes on their feet," in the Pelissero said. In addition, Pelissero said, the white paper shows that in 1982 and _1983, the nnmjiwý value of lands and buildings declined significantly. "Once scuss- agairi, these are the crisis 'alues, years, and the severity of the 198 1. problems is diffused when the b ave interpretations incorporate Iy in figures from 1972." ey The white paper's inter- pretations should not be read- isons in isolation, and the contents of the 64-page document can- not accurately be summarized in a brief news story, Pelissero said. "The ýFaim Credit Corporation did a tborougb study on Canadian farmers wbich sbowed that 17 percent are in severe financia distress, seven, Percent are in moderate distress and the re- maining 76 percent are more stable because tbey have the minimum equity needed to give them a reasonable chance to survive in agriculture." "This is a far cry from the white paper's interpretation that only 3.2 percent are in the distress category. The contradiction in figures, both from government depar-t- ments, proves only that there is no definitîve statemnent on what is happening in the faim sector. As president of an organization, that represents over 24,000 faim families, 1 can .only say that there is more thanenough cause for concern, and-that these cold, impersonal governiment p apers don't reflect the reali- ty in the country.". He said the OFA will be discussing the white paper with government and elected officials soon, and lie will be reminding them all of the statement made. by Prime Minister Mulroney at the re- cent First Ministers' Con- ference. Mr. Mulroney said,' 111 don't know that there's an aiea of our national ecoflomic life where there bas been a greater productivity increase in the last 15 years thaît Canadian agriculture. 1 don't know of a sector that has receîved less in return in termis of reward for that in- divîdual effort." Russ Dow teermed the Awareness Day a huge suc- cess lastSaturday and this is evident through the fact of those purchasing draw tickets