The Rural Voice - August 2024

The

Rural Voice August 2024

THE MAGAZINE OF AGRICULTURAL LIFE ... $3.50 PM 40037593

MIGHTY MACHINES Hundreds of farmers inspect hay cut, raked and tedded by new machinery

TOURING WEST GREY Go to West Grey for waterfalls, beef cows and bank barns and stop for beer and cupcakes

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ATTENTION: ALL FARM PROPERTY OWNERS

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A requirement to get the farmland property tax rate is a valid Farm Business Registration (FBR) number. Contact Agricorp at 1-888-2474999 for more information.

To be eligible for the farmland tax rate, you must contact Agricorp and link all your farm properties to your FBR number(s). If you have any questions on the Farmland Property Class Tax Rate Program, contact Agricorp at 1-888-247-4999 or your OFA representative below.

Brought to you by the Huron, Perth, Grey and Bruce County Federations of Agriculture Loni Elliott Margaret Vincent

(Huron & Perth) (Grey & Bruce)

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loni.elliott@ofa.on.ca margaret.vincent@ofa.on.ca

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Entertainment

Something for Everyone

COME AND EXPERIENCE: Antique Steam Tractors Steam Engines Tractor Pulls Women’s & Children’s Programs Car & Truck Show Craft Shows Good Food & Live Entertainment

History Revisited Family Fun

FUN TIMES

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Contents The Rural Voice THE MAGAZINE OF AGRICULTURAL LIFE

Published monthly by: The Rural Voice, Box 429, Blyth, Ontario, N0M 1H0 Telephone: 519-523-4311 Fax: 519-523-9140 E-mail: info@northhuron.on.ca Website: ruralvoice.ca

18

Publisher: Deb Sholdice

30

22 Columns

Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Keith Roulston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Kate Procter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Jeffrey Carter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Mabel’s Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Woodlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Agrilaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Departments

Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Ruralite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Business Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Newsletters

National Farmers Union . . . . . . . . . .66 Perth Pork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Bruce County Federation . . . . . . . . .68 Grey County Federation . . . . . . . . .69 Perth County Federation . . . . . . . . . .70 Huron County Federation . . . . . . . . .72

AUGUST 2024 • Cover Photo

Tim Zehr and his uncle at Forage Expo 24 in Gorrie Photo by Lisa Boonstopppel-Pot

Editor: Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot rveditorlisa@northhuron.on.ca Contributing writers: Keith Roulston, Kate Procter, Jeffrey Carter, Gary Kenny, Rhea Hamilton Seeger, Donna Lacey, Melisa Luymes, Carolyn Crawford, Bonnie Sitter, Jeff Tribe

• Deadlines: Sept. Issue – Aug 6

Advertising Sales: Shelley Kroes rvads@northhuron.on.ca

18 20 Years of Clean Water

Production co-ordinator & Telemarketing: Joan Caldwell

October Issue – September 10

Bus tour participants visit four projects completed with Huron Clean Water Project

22 Philosopher’s Wool

Former owner’s ideals live on in new farm trust model

30 Mighty Machines

Hay gets tossed left, right and centre during Forage Expo ’24 demonstrations in Gorrie

35 Daytripping in West Grey

PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40037593 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 429, BLYTH ON N0M 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca Subscriptions: $30 (12 issues) $55 (24 issues), includes HST Back copies $3.75 each.

Make cheques payable to: NORTH HURON PUBLISHING CO.

Cows and barns may not be the destination but they are part of perfect West Grey day

44 Power Bowl Ideas

Colourful, healthy and easy, power bowls are a perfect summer meal

48 Farmerettes on Stage Bonnie Sitter sees the book she wrote about Farmerettes launch as a stage production

All manuscripts submitted for consideration should be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited submissions. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publisher. Editorial content may be reproduced only by permission of the publisher. The Rural Voice makes every effort to see that advertising copy is correct. However, should an error occur, please notify The Rural Voice office within 30 days of invoicing in order to obtain a billing adjustment.

A division of North Huron Publishing Company Inc.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.

Feedback

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Letters to the Editor: The Rural Voice, P.O. Box 429, Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 rveditorlisa@ northhuron.on.ca

We need to look at alternate ways of doing things To the Editor: Full marks to you for publishing Mel Luymes’ article that asked readers to reflect upon our economic system (“What is the value of happiness?,” June 2024).

I benefited greatly from reading the piece which, in my view, covered a great deal of important ground. Too often, we do not give much thought to things that are right in front of us, such as our economic system. Ms. Luymes is to be lauded for presenting readers with other ways of setting up our economy.

Another alternative system that I favour are co-operatives (with which I am sure Ms. Luymes is familiar). In addition to providing tangible benefits to members, there is also the possibility of showing members some of the less tangible benefits, such as community building and reinforcing a commitment to fairness.

At any rate, thank you for your publishing such a thoughtful and thought-provoking article. More than ever, we need to begin to look to alternative ways of doing things. ~ Kerry Badgley Kemptville, Ontario

Correction

In the story “Walking and talking about One Health” in the July 2024 issue of The Rural Voice, it was stated Jane Parmley teaches in the Bachelor of One Health Program at the University of Guelph. While she does sit on the program committee for BOH, all her teaching is in the DVM program and at the graduate level.

2 The Rural Voice

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4 The Rural Voice

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“

Ruralite

Some had beef cattle, others were old and falling apart, some restored and some framed by farm machinery.

”

~ Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot on the series of barns on Concession Road 16 on a day trip in West Grey.

See page 35

Fun With Words

● I stayed up all night to see where the sun went.

Then it dawned on me. ● Why are goods sent by ship called CARGO and those by truck called a SHIPMENT?

•

Farm Ownership “He (Eugene Bourgeois) believed that things really came alive when they were shared,” says Tessa, with a huge smile remembering him.

“Eugene felt that through a culture of sharing and open exchange of ideas, the experience of everyone involved would be amplified many times over and become meaningful and beneficial to all,” she adds. ~ Tessa Girling on the philosophy behind Philosopher’s Wool See page 22

August

INSPIRATION

“I inherited that calm from my father, who was a farmer. You sow, you wait for good or bad weather, you harvest, but working is something you always need to do.” ~Miquel Indurain, retired Spanish road racing

•

cyclist who won the Tour de France five times

Neil’s One-Liners Keeping the beans clean

Dale Weber hoes the beans in one of many, many gardens at The Webers of Mennonite Corner in Perth County. For their retirement, they chose to work harder than ever before planting and weeding a pick-your-own vegetable garden, raising dozens of chickens and ducks and offering an on-farm Airbnb.

“Nothing is super fancy but this is our little homestead and we enjoy being here,” said Dale.

~ Photo by Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

(Wisdom from McGavin Files)

● There is no limit to what can be

accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.

•

● Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

August 2024 5

Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot Lisa B. Pot is editor of The Rural Voice, and farms in Huron County

Celebrating clean water Laundry was going and the dishwasher was running before seven in the morning to take advantage of lower electricity rates. Face washed.

Coffee made.

It was already hot as I stuck sweaty feet into black boots to do the morning chores. Hot and dry.

The grass was starting to crunch underfoot as I got out the garden hose to rinse and refill the duck’s swimming trough. Yesterday’s fresh water was brown and filthy, but made good fertilizer water for the planters on the deck. When I took the hose out, the ducks were already cleaning their

feathers and having a grand old time.

The hose went to the PVC pipe contraption that carries water from the hose to the horse trough. Handy, handy!

Next task was to fill pails in the barn from the frost-free hydrant installed a few years back. Like everything else, it’s all manual labour at Big Rock Farms but this is a hobby farm now. No more dairy cows in an automated barn. Everything here is done with pails, troughs and horses. I like it though. I want to use my muscles for my own physical health, working with animals calms my spirit (until the ducks ate all my cauliflower!) and I like being in a barn. It’s restful yet inspiring – a place to contemplate while my hands are busy.

On this day, though, the rushing water from the hydrant slowed to a trickle and then … stopped. I checked the garden hose, also no water. No water out of the house taps either. Had it been too long since I changed the filter. Dang! I rushed to the basement and changed the filter but still, no

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water.

Dale Pump and Farm Service are the best so I got on the phone and told them my situation. It couldn’t be the filter, they assured me. The manager said the guys were working on a broken pump in a pig barn and I would be next. He figured either the well pump was broken or the switch that runs it.

In the meantime, it was blazing hot, all my water barrels were dry and there I was with no water from any tap, hose or pump. It’s a scary feeling. It’s one thing to have no hydro and realize the crews will get it sorted in a few hours time. It’s another to let the mind fly and wonder if the aquifers have dried up, if this is the beginning of the apocalypse and will I now have to pail water from the river? Too far, I know.

But it’s unsettling not having water.

None of my animals, my children or myself will survive on this farm without it.

Not having access to fresh water is terrifying. It’s something millions around the world face but here in the heaven that is Huron County, it’s not something I have to worry about.

The guys from Dale Pump arrived in a few hours and they were calm as could be. Turns out it was the pump switch and they installed a new one and fixed my water softener at the same time. Handy, these guys. Soon all the people and animals in my care had fresh water and the worries of the morning faded, even as prayers continued for rain as the grass got crunchier and crunchier from lack of rain.

Sometimes I take the abundance of clean, fresh water for granted. Other times not. As farmers, we are always conscious of the weather and watch the forecast for rain. July is drought month where I live near the lake and I check the radar daily (sometimes several times a day) to see when rain might be coming. We live in one of those spots where it looks like rain will come then we watch as it falls around us. I’d already watered a new tree plantation twice and needed rain to keep pastures growing. All my farming neighbours needed rain for their crops. Gardeners need it to grow food for their families, everyone needs respite from the heat and as nature-lovers know every plant,

animal and insect needs water in their .particular ecosystems So when Hurricane Beryl brought much-needed rain to my neck of the woods on July 10, I was thankful. So thankful. I know too much water can be more devastating than drought but here, at least right now, it’s good.

Those of us who are of the land have an intimate relationship with water and that’s evident by the success of the Huron Clean Water Project which just celebrated its 20th anniversary. Farmers and landowners have completed over 4,000 projects with the funds and knowledge offered by the program in an effort to keep the land out of the water, and keep our water clean. It’s an amazing success story.

We can’t control the rain but we can certainly take action on our farms and fields to ensure the rivers run clean before they enter our Great Lakes. Check out the Clean Water Projects in your area and take advantage of the money and support it offers to make sure clean water keeps flowing at your place. ◊

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Huron Safety Day

THANK YOU TO OUR LOCAL SPONSORS for their support of

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Axiom Mutual Insurance Bayfield Berry Farm Brian McGavin Claussen Farms Custom Farming Corteva Pioneer Brand Seeds Delta Power Equipment St Marys Egg Farmers of Ontario FCC Farm Credit Canada Gateway Centre of Rural Health Gwen & Lyle Haney Haney Farms Haney Front Farms Hensall Co-op Hosper Dairy Farm Huron & Area Search & Rescue - HASAR Huron County 4 H Huron County Dairy Producer Committee Huron County Egg Producers Huron County Federation of Agriculture

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A special THANK YOU to all the sponsors, presenters and volunteers, because of your generous support, donated items and valuable time 148 children were able to attend our Progressive Agricultural Safety Day. Co-ordinators: Gwen Good & Susanne Claussen Huron County Progressive Safety Day

August 2024 7

Keith Roulston Keith is former publisher of The Rural Voice.

He lives near Blyth, ON.

We have to realize we need food Looking at columnist Jeffrey Carter’s column a couple of months ago, I find it hard to believe how far the population of Ontario (and Canada) has gone from the reality of us needing to eat.

Jeffrey was dealing with the loss of farmland to urban development in southwestern Ontario and elsewhere.

As I wrote in a column in another publication, recently, I remember when it was said that one-third of families in Ontario had ties to growing up on the farm. That was before the Canadian population doubled in size to more than 41 million. We’re adding nearly a halfmillion people every year, despite a

decline in the birthrate, as the federal government tries to fill the needs of employers.

Those people need somewhere to live, and with a Toronto-based premier and a Montreal-based prime minister, the solution is simple: grow our southern cities bigger, Recently on the news there was a story that the Town of Caledon, (once a village) was planning to expropriate hundreds of acres of verdant farmland so that several hundred homes could be built.

Jeffrey mentions in his column that in the Dresden area there are plans to construct a landfill to receive tonnes of garbage.

Meanwhile, he writes, in Wilmot Township, the Region of Waterloo is threatening to expropriate 770 acres of farmland for an industrial park.

Near St. Thomas, another 1,500 acres of prime farmland was chosen for Volkswagen’s battery plant for building electric cars.

The premier attempted to siphon off hundreds of acres from the Greenbelt before he was opposed and had to abandon the idea.

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Part of me, as a former editor, gets excited. Thousands of jobs! But I’m also a farm boy.

All the extra people we’re importing need to eat. At the same time, we are taking land out of food production at a rate of 300 acres every day, in the last 35 years – a total of 2.8 million acres, 18 per cent of Ontario’s precious farmland.

Our urban politicians fail to see farmland as precious, however. And when they go into our supermarkets and see shelves in the vegetable section overflowing with produce, they’re unlikely to be more worried, especially when voters in rural Ontario keep electing Progressive Conservatives in every election.

The problem is, once farmland is gone it’s too late. If we wake up and the grocery store shelves are empty, we can’t get back the farmland we’ve paved over.

We have a huge province in a bigger country, but the farmland being paved over is rare. We have fewer productive acres to grow our food. If the growth was taking place near North Bay or Sudbury, we’d have plenty of food-producing land in southern Ontario. But the growth is on prime farmland, and the 300 acres that we’re losing today, and tomorrow and the day after that, is so valuable to grow food that it’s criminal to waste it. We must change!

Rural Ontario has become less important politically, even if we weren’t fooling ourselves by electing supporters of our urban-minded premier. We need somehow to get the political power to stop the criminal loss of essential farmland – to steer growth to northern or eastern Ontario where our future food supply isn’t being endangered.

I’m all for growth of Canada and Ontario and offering a home and jobs for the poor of other parts of the world, just not at the expense of the food those people, or their children and grandchildren, will need. In a huge country we can have people and jobs without losing farmland.

We’ve got to get over being excited about what’s new in farming.

We need to recognize the importance of simply having a full plate for supper. ◊

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Kate Procter Kate farms, hikes, canoes, and plays guitar in Huron County.

More lessons on aging gracefully

I

recently attended a retirement party, a relatively new experience for me. For people working in the pork industry through the last 50 years or so, Dr. Doug MacDougald would be a familiar name. For those of you outside of the industry, I hope your industry has someone like him.

We walked into the venue and Doug was the first person we saw.

Some may hear the words “retirement party” and picture a dusty, old, tired person, ready to hang up the towel and ride off into the sunset. Not so with Doug.

Standing beside Doug was like standing next to a fire. He is the kind

of person who emanates a powerful positive energy that is impossible to ignore.

To say he changed the pork industry in Ontario would be a big understatement. He went from working out of his own car, with supplies in his garage, to helping build what is there today – a collaboration of 14 specialized swine veterinarians, with a staff of 70 people. He changed the model of veterinary practice – from one of the vet coming to tend to your sick pig, to a more business-focused, holistic approach. How do we look at your whole operation, and set you up to succeed?

Doug is a numbers guy. He focused on keeping meticulous records, and using the data to figure out how to not only prevent disasters from happening, but also how to manage your way through when they inevitably do. Especially in the pig business. With all the emerging diseases, world markets, and labour challenges, the next disaster is always just around the corner. But Doug

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helped people in the industry manage that.

One of the big diseases that we worked through during my time in the barn was “mystery swine disease”, which we now know as Porcine Respiratory Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS). If that name sounds big and unwieldy, it is because the disease is big and unwieldy, affecting all parts of the barn, with multiple different strains that continue to pop up and create disasters – from abortion storms to 50 per cent pre-wean mortality, to figuring out that your most profitable pigs were the ones that died during the first 10 days of life because those that survived were so compromised you could hardly feed them enough to ever get them out the door.

The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) virus that is so decimating to baby pigs was discovered in 2014 to be transmitted through feed byproducts, something that was caught and contained early thanks to the meticulous recording keeping and collaboration of vets. Doug’s philosophy on managing through these diseases saved a lot of farm families.

Doug is also a people guy. What makes him special is his focus on people and bringing them together in a way that strengthens everyone – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Aristotle). The pork industry sometimes gets painted as a huge industrial complex. The term “factory farms” comes in part from our big modern pig barns, that from the outside, do kind of look like a factory. Until you step inside where it is nothing like a factory. Every farm, every animal is unique, and nothing is predictable except change.

But most farms in Ontario are still family owned and run. These businesses are about people. Doug saw that – and he was able to challenge people, igniting their desire to do better, to be better. As one of my former employees said after a herd health visit, when Doug focused that steely eyed gaze on you – you couldn’t help but want to do better.

He looked at the entire business, not just on a sick animal. On a family farm, focusing on the business means you are dealing with a family,

because our farms are where we work, live, and raise our kids.

Changing the model to consider not just pig diseases, but how to make that farm work as a business changed the lives of the farm families Doug worked with. That was evident in his retirement speech when he talked about working with families through two or three generations over his career.

Doug was the spark that got people working together and pulled those up around him. He is not a oneman show still working as the local vet; his vision helped create South West Vet Services, “We are – veterinarians, innovators creating solutions for real world problems across all facets of pork production; communicators connecting you with training, knowledge, and analytic tools. We are better together.” (https://www.southwestvets.ca/).

Working together with other vets and always bringing more people into the tent made the veterinary practice stronger, which in turn made the entire industry stronger.

Doug has also been a strong supporter of a variety of charity organizations, especially Sleeping Children Around the World (https://www.scaw.org/).

He regularly travels to countries where the organization is active, most recently Rwanda, to distribute bed kits to children in impoverished areas. The kits contain a mattress and bedding, school supplies, clothing, masks, and a mosquito net to combat diseases such as malaria, Zika, dengue fever. The organization is structured to ensure that 100 per cent of donations go toward buying bed kits in the local area where they will be used. It targets countries specifically that have a Gross National Income of less than $6000 (USD) (https://www.scaw.org/).

His enthusiasm was contagious as he talked about continuing his work with SCAW, more family time, and other projects. It was inspiring to hear how Doug’s plans for retirement sound more like a change of focus rather than really giving up anything.

For me, it was another lesson in aging gracefully. ◊

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August 2024 11

Jeffrey Carter Jeffrey is a freelance journalist based in Dresden, Ontario.

Will Trudeau go?

A

nyone driving from Wallaceburg to Dresden along Highway 77 in Chatham-Kent is likely to notice a pair of signs proclaiming an area resident’s feelings for the current Prime Minister of Canada.

The first reads, “Trudeau must go” and the second a few hundred feet away repeats that message exactly, though one might suggest a bit of humour might have been used instead like “sooner better than later” or perhaps the question posed, “is it number one or number two?”

It was in the fall 2021, not long after Canada had extricated itself from the conflict in Afghanistan, that I spoke with a longtime member of

12 The Rural Voice

the Liberal Party of Canada, one who had not only met the current Prime Minister’s father but was also acknowledged – a peck on the cheek – for her behind-the-scene contributions many years ago. At least that is what I surmised.

At the time of that discussion, Canada had already extricated its soldiers from their untenable position and was putting plans in place to do the same for Afghanis who had been supporting them as interpreters, drivers, and in other capacities.

Unfortunately, days, weeks and months passed before much in the way of progress was made although other nations were able to act promptly.

Not a time of honour for Canadians.

As we touched upon the political situation in Canada at that time, I restricted my comment to the words, “I think he’s in over his head.”

Within a few months, members of the “freedom convoy” had settled in downtown Ottawa for a lengthy stay with hot tubs, barbecues and a bouncy castle, and there were

protesters rallying at other locations, notably the border-point crossings at Windsor in Ontario and at Coutts, Alberta.

The national media were, at best, inadequate in their coverage, content it seemed at portraying the protesters as a homogenous group of Neanderthal knuckle draggers – or worse – but largely failing to pursue the obvious question, why were they there?

That point was made again some months later by a caller during CBC’s Cross Country Checkup, the host Ian Hanomansing seemingly at a loss for words. The convoy participants were obviously discontented though not solely due to Canada’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. There are, I suspect, as many answers to the question as protestors, all of whom simply wanted to be heard.

Had our prime minister taken the time to listen, insisted upon listening, had a humility to listen, the extraordinary step of declaring a state of emergency would not have been necessary.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia came on the heels of the protest. At the time, I wondered whether the timing might even be related.

Afterall, Canada, is among the United States’ closest allies and if mired in civil discontent like its neighbour might be poorly equipped to respond.

The geopolitical situation hasn’t improved since. The war in Ukraine continues unabated as do other conflicts, in Myanmar, in Sudan and since October 7, 2023, in Israelicontrolled Palestine, not so much a war as a slaughter.

Meanwhile, little is being done to address the plethora of related crises impacting our world, climate change, food and housing affordability, forced migration, unrestrained capitalistic greed, and the growing disparity between rich and poor, even here in Canada. Governments meanwhile, appear content to pursue policies of division, rhetoric substituting for leadership.

Will I be voting in Canada’s next federal election? Certainly. Do I know for whom I will vote? Not so much.

The obvious alternative to the Liberals for anyone looking for change – as so many Canadians are – is Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party of Canada.

Contrary to a broadly held view, including among members of the media, the Conservative party does indeed have a set of proposed policies. Lacking in detail perhaps, but at least worthy of consideration.

Justin Trudeau has a choice to make as calls for him to step down

from his role grow, even from within his own party. A new leader might be chosen, though anyone from his inner circle would be handicapped from the outset. An intelligent voice from outside that circle may be more appropriate, if only to avoid an absolute rout.

My preference is for the Prime Minister to not only hold firm, remain as Prime Minister, but cast the dice and call an early election.

The honourable course to take. ◊

Home • Farm • Auto • Commercial • Life https://moorehemsworth.ca Dublin – 519-345-2512 Listowel – 519-291-3920 Email: mhi@mhins.ca

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“Whew, it’s nice to be able to breathe again,” said Molly Whiteside fanning herself with the menus before she set them in front of the guys at Mabel’s Grill the other morning. “Back in the kitchen it’s really hot!”

“I thought this place was airconditioned,” commented Dave Winston, studying the menu.

“It is but with the temperature so hot outside, it can’t keep up, what with the stove heating things up to cook food.”

“Oh oh,” groaned George Mackenzie, “next she’ll be wanting us to have salad for breakfast to keep the heat down.”

“Or cold cereal,” said Dave.

“I was seeing on TV the other day that we set heat records for every month from last July to this June,”

Cliff Murray said as he studied the menu.

“Here we go again!” George said disgustedly as he smashed his hand on the table. “Another diatribe on global warming!”

“Just stating the black and white facts,” mumbled Cliff.

“You people are always going on about global warming as if it was real,” exploded George. “Some year has to be the highest temperature you know, even if there is no global warming – which there isn’t.”

“Just quoting world-famous scientists,” sighed Cliff. In an attempt to change the conversation he told Molly, “I’ll have bacon and eggs.”

The others also ordered and Molly headed for the kitchen, taking a moment for a couple of deep breaths before she re-entered the heat.

“On the way into town I scared up three turkey buzzards feeding on a dead groundhog on the side of the road,” Dave said.

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other morning and listening to CBC – I thought I’d got rid of that socialist station on her speed dial – and this woman was complaining she lives in a high-rise and all she sees are pigeons, Canada geese and seagulls,” said George. “Good thing she doesn’t see buzzards in the city.”

“That’d be tough, missing all the pretty birds,” said Cliff. “I love watching the hummingbirds and Baltimore orioles at the liquid feeders, the goldfinches, indigo buntings and cardinals at the dry feeders and the bluejays and other birds at the birdbath.”

“Sounds like a sheep farmer – too much time on his hands once the sheep are on pasture,” said Dave.

“Now if you had a barn full of pigs and a few hundred acres of crops, you wouldn’t have time to watch birds.”

“Which is why I like sheep,” Cliff said quietly.

“Okay, here are your meals,” announced Molly, setting the plates in front of the guys and standing back to fan herself.

“Is it supposed to be this hot on the weekend?” she wondered. “I’m supposed to go to a wedding on Saturday and I’m not looking forward to it if it’s this hot.”

“Oh oh, here we go again on weather,” sighed George before he sliced into his pancakes.

“Well, I mean when it’s this hot we might as well be in India or someplace,” Molly said.

“I was just hearing about this rich couple’s wedding in India where the people had so much money they paid Justin Bieber $10 million to entertain,” said Cliff, seeking to change the conversation.

“I heard that!” said Dave.

“Glad I’m just a farmer and would never have been invited to a wedding like that,” sighed George.

“I wonder how big the wedding presents were when the wedding was as expensive as that?” Cliff wondered.

“I wonder how much the staff got tipped at a wedding like that,” Molly said, practically drooling.

“Since it was in India they were probably happy just to eat the leftovers,” George grumbled. ◊

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August 2024 15

Mel Luymes using mowers and swathers like that, remember bringing all the crops into the barn to thresh and remembering when the first tractor came to their farm. They are amazed at how far the technology has come just in their lifetime: precision soil mapping, variable rate seeding, time-release fertilizer and real-time yield mapping, just to name a few.

And where will we be in the next 100 years? How many people will we need to feed? Will we be farming with robots, growing different foods, growing more indoors? Will we still be growing food to power automobiles?

Over the last years, my fascination with the past has been superseded by a vision for the future … and reflecting on the nature of time itself.

Einstein explained that time is the fourth dimension. To locate an object in space, you need to know its 3D coordinates – X (east-west), Y (north-south) and Z (elevation) – along with the exact date and minute and second it was there, so that is

Mel Luymes works in agriculture and conser‐ vation and blogs at headlands.ca

About time

W

hen I was young, I liked to go back to the woodlot because it was a machinery graveyard. Rusted and nearly unrecognizable, as a mower or swather, trees had grown up through them. My siblings and I picked through old bottles, boards and bones like archaeologists, imagining the story of the man who had left his stuff there and died so long ago. One hundred years! I thought that was forever; back then I couldn’t wrap my head around time.

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why time is termed the fourth dimension. He also, famously, explained that time was relative, and that the gravity of a large object would impact how quickly time passes. I don’t believe he figured out how years go by faster as we get older.

While humans can travel up and down, back and forth through the first three dimensions with relative ease, it is a bit more difficult to travel through time, except at the rate and direction we are already going, that is. While I can easily hit the backspace or undo button while writing this article, I can’t undo knocking my favourite vase to the ground, like I did the other day. I can’t un-smash-it-into-twenty-pieces.

We are stuck in linear time, of cause and effect.

It means that what we do matters, and it matters for the rest of time.

I’ve been doing some reflecting on “long time” after my conversation with the incredible people at Philosopher’s Wool Co. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about final disposal solutions for spent nuclear fuel. Read this month’s article and you’ll see why.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the major isotopes will remain radioactive for millions of years, but only at dangerous levels for the first tens of thousands. Finland has led the world for a Deep Geological Repository (DGR) in the bedrock of Olkiluoto Island. ONKALO® began in 2004, is half a kilometre underground and will have 40 kilometres of excavated tunnels when it is completed. It has been tested to keep canisters of nuclear waste safely stored for tens of thousands of years.

And I thought 100 years was hard to wrap my head around!

I’ve also been listening to the Long Time Academy podcast, and they have some time-bending exercises to help us get out of the short-term thinking, individualism and instant gratification embedded in Western culture and our current political and economic systems. It features an Indigenous elder that talks about Seven Generation

thinking and the love that she has for our descendants that are not yet born.

The podcast challenges us to think of the rights of future generations as equal to our own, to become good ancestors. It has us consider that if short-term thinking got us into the dilemmas we are in today, then maybe long-term thinking is what we need to get us out of them.

The Long Time Project also features artist Katie Paterson, who has created Future Library. In 2014,

1,000 trees were planted on the outskirts of Oslo, Norway to be cut down in 100 years and made into books. Each year, an author is asked to submit a manuscript in a handover ceremony at the forest location. The manuscript won’t be printed or read by anyone until 2114, and the first author to submit was Canada’s own Margaret Atwood.

It is deeply humbling to know that I will not be able to read Atwood’s (or anyone’s) contribution to Future Library. Maybe my

youngest niece will be able to read it at the age of 92, but what future will she be living into? Will she walk through a forest near the end of her life and see a tree growing up through an 8R tractor? Oh goodness, I hope it at least gets recycled!

Well, at some level, we know what her future will be like. It will be the future that we are shaping today, it will be where we are investing our time and resources now. It is about time we asked some tough questions.◊

See you at the...

Perth County Plowing Match Saturday, August 24th, 2024 Host: John & Nellie Vandenhoven ~ 5222 Road 164, Monkton

• Displays • Machinery Show Looking for Queen of the Furrow Queen must be 18-24 by Jan 1st (or under age 25 at the IPM Match)

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August 2024 17

Clean Water

Trees before and after the tornado

These two photos were taken at the same spot.

One after the 2011 Goderich tornado that destroyed the Treble woodlot (right) and one in June, of participants taking part in the Huron Clean Water Project’s 20th anniversary bus tour (above).

I

t’s hard to believe the difference from the lush, healthy woodlot we were walking through compared to photos on a poster depicting the broken, barren bush left after the 2011 Goderich tornado.

The bush being explored this day during the Huron Clean Water Project’s 20th anniversary bus tour was the Treble Woodlot, just outside of Benmiller. The bus full of participants learned most of the trees in this formerly maple-dominated woodlot were destroyed by the tornado. Thirteen years later, it’s a whole new scene.

A group photo taken that day reveals the recovered backdrop of trees.

“One hour before the tornado hit, we were in here with my daughter and her friends for her birthday scavenger hunt,” Laurie Treble told the crowd. “One hour later, there were a few surviving maples, otherwise it was flat. We couldn’t even walk around because everything was meshed together.”

18 The Rural Voice

Four of 4,000 completed Huron Clean Water projects were visited to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary • By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

Dave Pullen, Huron County’s forest manager, said this woodlot was chosen for the Huron Clean Water Project tour because it's an example of what can be done with tornado restoration. “This woodlot is also a model of restoration of a degraded woodlot,” he said. Emerald Ash Borer had devastated the ash trees in the woodlot before the tornado so replanting efforts included a diverse species of seedlings and saplings to make it more resilient to environmental changes.

Tree varieties include tulip trees, shagbark hickories, Kentucky coffee trees, burr and red oaks, hackberries and sycamores. Since the planting, other native trees have seeded themselves into the woodlot so the forest is even more diverse.

During the tour, Pullen pointed out an Angelica atropupurea (purple angelica) because it's a tall plant that many confuse with giant hogweed.

However, angelica is a beneficial native plant with solid purple and green stems, versus blotchy and prickly purple stems of giant hogweed. Also, angelica has a compound leaf versus one giant leaf.

The Huron Clean Water project provided funding for this project and partnered with the Trebles, the Huron Stewardship Council, volunteers and students, such as Trebles’ daughter and her class. “They planted over 1,200 trees and that was really special,” remembers Laurie.

Andy Ross Tree Planting and Naturalization Next stop on the tour was to the home of Andy Ross whose property is beside the Morris Tract Reserve which Andy noted is the second largest green space on a topographical map in Huron County.

The first is the Saratoga Swamp.

Ross used to rent small, irregularshaped fields on his property to local farmers but he always had “in the back of his mind” a plan to reforest the 15 acres that butted onto the reserve as a retirement project. When a naturalist walked the property and informed him about tree planting funds available from the Huron Clean Water Project and the 50 Million Tree Project (which has since been cancelled) he knew it was time to talk to the farmer renting his land,

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even though he was stressed he would receive pushback from the farmer.

However, the farmer supported the project suggesting the field was “tired” and he lost significant portions of his crops to wildlife.

“Fifteen acres is a lot to plant in one year so we decided to do three separate projects beginning in 2017 and finishing in 2019,” explained Ross. When it was done, over 9,000 trees were planted, almost for “free” using grants. Money Ross himself had saved up for the project was invested in 1,800 protective tubes that he used to protect the trees from Laurie Treble (left) talked about the destruction and replanting of the woodlot at deer and other wildlife.

Treble Farms during the first stop on the Huron Clean Water Project bus tour “I now call them growth tubes while Dave Pullen (right), Huron County’s forest manager pointed out tree because they are like little greenhouses. I think they almost species in the thriving woodlot. double the first year of growth,” said Ross. Tree varieties that were planted include black cherry, black walnut, sugar maples, varieties of oak, spruce, pine and tamaracks, butternut hickory, shagbark hickory and tulip trees. A cover crop of white clover was planted between the trees. I wanted a carpet to prevent other weeds,” he said.

Part of the funding requirements included signing a contract that Ross could not cut the trees down for 15 years, he had to keep the weeds down Andy Ross undertook a and try to stop animals from massive tree plantinig destroying the trees. He just passed project to connect his the five-year inspection to learn where most plantations have a 60 per property to the Morris Tract. cent survival rate, his 15-acre woodlot has a 90 per cent survival rate.

The biggest killer of his trees are rodents.

He uses large, metal, live traps to capture several mice at a time then plays a game of “chomp and stomp '' with his dogs to eradicate the mice.

Ross still mows grass from the trees planted in 2019 but will soon quit to protect naturally seeded trees which he says are “hardier and more robust” than Restoration Specialist Shannon Miller explained how a restoration project at Weth Mushrooms cleaned the planted trees. up Naftel’s Creek and provided cool, clean water for brook trout.

20 The Rural Voice

Dam Removal and Wetland Creation, Weth Mushrooms Moving towards Naftel’s Creek outside of Goderich, the tour stopped at the location of a former dam that was creating stagnant pools and warming water in the creek, known for its high-quality cold water which is home to brook trout.

Maitland Valley Conservation Authority Restoration Specialist, Shannon Miller, explained the dam was about one metre tall and was preventing fish from migrating up the river. “The water was also becoming warm and stagnant from a pond that was fully connected to the creek,” explained Miller. “Brook trout like cool, clean water.”

In 2017, Brian Weth of Weth Mushrooms wanted the area cleaned up. He did not like the algae and mosquitoes in the valley but he needed help as this project required extensive funding, engineering and many permits. The total cost of the project was $120,000.

The dam was removed and a concrete cable spillway was installed instead of a rock spillway as a more permanent solution when water rose.

The pond was separated from the creek so that no warm pond water can enter the creek and now works in a “floodplain capacity,” said Miller.

Miller said the project was important to preserve habitat for brook trout as only 16 per cent of the original creek is still intact. Of the remaining, 42 per cent is degraded and 44 per cent has been extirpated.

This restoration reconnected four kilometres of upstream habitat which fish and other aquatic animals can now migrate and utilize.

Once the mechanics of the project were completed, the area was seeded to native plants and 50 trees and shrubs were planted.

“It looks bare now but it will start to take off and once the dogwoods get going, they will provide shade to the creek and help keep it cool,” she said.

Carnochan Livestock Access Restriction The Carnochan family farm experienced bank erosion through their farm as it is located along the headwaters of the Bayfield River, states the agenda material on this last

stop on the tour.

Concerned about the erosion, the family considered how they could modify their agricultural operation to protect water quality in the Bayfield River. Project construction began in 2010 with installation of a fence to restrict livestock from the river.

Rock riprap was installed along the riverbank and laid down to form an in-channel weir, creating a natural pool-riffle formation.

Once the fence and erosion control was in place, trees and shrubs were planted to further naturalize the site and enhance the riparian conditions.

The Carnochan site was chosen for the tour because it is an example of how protecting water quality requires a dynamic approach, sometimes involving more than one Huron County Clean Water project for site success.

Hullett Marsh The bus tour ended at the Hullett Marsh for a picnic lunch and talk about where water wells have been decommissioned, trees planted, invasive species controlled and more.

The Hullett Marsh is an example of how the Huron Clean Water Project is available to support landowners and partners of all scales, with protecting and improving water quality in the county.

Since 2005, Huron County residents have completed nearly 4,000 stewardship projects with funding from the Clean Water Project, including: – 113 liquid manure storages decommissioned – 435 wells upgraded – 620 wells decommissioned – 38,000 acres of cover crops – 1,319 tree planting projects – 304 erosion control projects ◊

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Land

Peace on Earth, Good Wool to All Though the original owners of Philosopher’s Wool Co. have passed, the farm lives on with a new vision, trust and social enterprise • By Melisa Luymes •

T

his is the third (perhaps not the final) installment of a series on land trusts and farmland access. In this month’s story, a farm near Tiverton is continuing a life the original owners started for it, even now that they are gone.

Eugene Bourgeois passed away in his home on September 16, 2020, just four months after Ann Bourgeois, his beloved wife of 49 years, lost her long battle with cancer. They had met at university and were inseparable since then. Ann was a teacher and Eugene was a philosophy student (Pythagorean mystical philosophy to be exact), when they moved from Waterloo to a small farm property near Lake Huron with their three children in 1974. Just across from Inverhuron Provincial Park, they built a home and barn, raised sheep and grew the wool business in Ontario in a substantial way. Their work as The Philosopher’s Wool Company made them a beloved hub for the local community and took them around the world.

Eugene had written in his will that the land was to be used for the benefit of the community and he had made it clear to his friends that he didn’t want the land to be sold. It took some time to settle the estate and to get through a global pandemic. However, in the last two years, a group of Eugene and Ann’s friends have pulled Philosopher’s Wool Co. back together. Jim and Lynne Young, Tessa Gerling and Marti McFadzean have formed a board and operate the on-farm store as a social enterprise, Eugene and Ann Bourgeois, (top photo) the founders of Philosopher’s Wool Co. have passed but the farm and business lives on thanks to a board of directors (below) continuing their vision. From left to right: Lynne Young, Jim Young, Marti McFadzean, Tessa Gerling and Martin Straathof, pictured in front of the on‐farm store near Inverhuron.

22 The Rural Voice

volunteering their time and aiming to invest profits back into the community.

It is what the couple would have wanted. Eugene and Ann were incredibly generous to their community, taking only what they needed from their business and investing the rest into the people around them. In business as well, they paid local farmers top prices for top quality wool, creating a virtuous cycle that improved quality year after year. The Philosopher’s Wool Co. profit-sharing model became a case study for sustainable business at Harvard.

As for the 37 acres of workable farmland, it is currently a hay field rented to a young Amish farmer. It was Scott Dunn’s July 2022 article in the Owen Sound Times that got the word out that the group was looking for more opportunities for the property. That caught the attention of the Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT).

After several months of discussion and aligning on a vision for the property, it has just been announced that the farm has been donated to OFT for them to protect in perpetuity.

OFT was Canada’s first provincial-wide agricultural land trust. It grew out of work done at the University of Guelph to turn the tide of farmland loss, currently calculated at 319 acres a day. The charity was incorporated in 2004 and was instrumental in changing the Conservation Land Act in 2005 to allow for Farmland Easement Agreements, which protects land for agricultural use, for good. Since then, it has done research, policy, and protected over 3000 acres on 26 farms, many of them just outside of the Greenbelt and at risk of encroachment development.

Farmland easements are contracts made between OFT and property owners and then registered on the title of the property. The process can take over a year and involves an environmental assessment, easement negotiations, and a property value assessment. If a property loses value due to its new restriction, as it often does, a tax credit is issued to the landowner. Once on title, the legal

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contract is difficult to amend; it would need to demonstrate increased protection of the land and would require the agreement of OFT, the landowner, as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources. OFT is currently triaging over 50 properties waiting for easements; they don’t currently have the financial capacity to keep up with the demand.

Eugene and Ann’s property, however, is not an easement. This donation to OFT now means the property is off the market permanently. Tessa thinks this would suit the couple just fine because they didn’t much care for the idea of ownership in the first place, especially Eugene.

“He believed that things really came alive when they were shared,” says Tessa, with a huge smile remembering him. “Eugene felt that through a culture of sharing and open exchange of ideas, the experience of everyone involved would be amplified many times over and become meaningful and beneficial to all,” she adds. The couple hosted countless dinners at the house, sharing their space and time with generous hospitality.

“This donation of land is a first for OFT,” says Martin Straathof, which has pivoted in the last few years to address not only protection of farmland but the issues surrounding farmland access. Martin was raised on a dairy farm in Eastern Ontario and pursued a master’s degree in Rural Planning and Development from the University of Guelph, focusing on protecting farmland through innovative and sustainable community developments and intentional community planning. He is now the Executive Director of OFT and brings a strong voice to the organization.

He is concerned about the rising prices and financialization of farmland as well as farm succession.

He cited RBC’s recent Farmers Wanted report, in which their research shows that 40 per cent of farms in Canada will change hands over the next 10 years and 66 per cent of producers don’t have a succession plan in place.

“What is the good of protecting farmland, if farming isn’t 24 The Rural Voice

economically sustainable?” he asks.

OFT’s newest strategic plan was just released, and it takes a more holistic approach, addressing farmers’ ability to access land and farming knowhow. OFT also advocates for investing in the rural infrastructure needed to farm successfully.

OFT will be hosting community engagement sessions in the Tiverton/Inverhuron area to get a better understanding of how best to use Eugene and Ann’s land. It could be a community garden, it could

support the local food bank, it could support new farmers for the first years building their business, perhaps it would even see livestock again.

“I’d love to see sheep back in this barn,” says Tessa, as we walk around the property. It has several smaller outbuildings that could create a few different opportunities.

As for the house, it is a gorgeous red brick, built in the style of local farm houses but with playful, geometric twists, timber-framed additions and wrap-around porches.

Tessa Gerling, with Jim and Lynne Young, stand in front of the Philosopher’s Store, open Saturdays 10‐5.

Board members with the Ontario Farm Trust tour the Philospher’s Wool farm near Inverhuron with Eugene and Ann’s friends in April 2024. ~ Courtesy of OFT.

When Eugene and Ann first moved to the property, they transported an original log cabin from a neighbouring farm and lived in it like pioneers themselves while Eugene built the rest of the house around it.

The logs are still exposed in a cozy living room. Ann taught in Ripley, Eugene worked on local farms with the Amish community especially and the couple saved every penny to build up the property.

Ann had first taken up knitting on a teaching exchange to Scotland which is where she learned the Fair Isle method, which she went on to modify, simplify and teach as the Two-Handed Fair Isle Method. When Eugene brought his raw wool to a Toronto market one day and sold it for $0.30/lb but then bought some yarn (on sale!) for Ann for $22/lb, he realized the opportunity in processing.

He raised Dorset sheep, kept clean and shorn only once a year for longer fibres and higher lanolin content. The couple took the wool down to Texas every winter for cleaning and then to the Maritimes to be naturally dyed.

They taught knitting courses near and far and created new patterns along the way; these are included in their own knitting book, Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified, featuring gorgeous sweaters modeled by friends and family. In the prime of the business, Philosopher’s Wool Co. sold 73 colours of yarn, including some that they called “BBQ colours”, because they were dyed in vats of KoolAid on their barbeque.

Today, the business has 39 colours of yarn for sale (and can teach anyone how to make 16 BBQ colours), also selling buttons and knitting starter kits, along with sweaters, shawls, hats and many other products made by local knitters.

They are pulling together the business contacts, writings and thoughts of their dear friends to carry on their legacy. Many things were lost over the last years. When Ann was diagnosed around 2006, Eugene soon sold the sheep and the business was put on the backburner as he cared for her in their home, especially in the last year of their lives.

“Maybe some knowledge was

Tessa Gerling (left) knits the Monarch pattern using the simplified Two‐Handed Fair Isle method she learned from Ann Bourgeois in the on‐farm Philosopher’s Wool store filled with colourful wool (above).

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lost,” says Tessa, “but the biggest loss is their spirits that made this place so special and that is why we are determined to carry it on.” She was a neighbour to Eugene and Ann in her childhood and looked up to them as grandparents. She remembers fondly how Eugene’s wild curly hair made him look like his sheep, how he went barefoot and would stand in a tree pose while talking with someone, with the sole of his foot pressed above his other knee. Tessa is now working on a new pattern, the Monarch, to bring to the knitting community, to raise both capital and environmental awareness.

Jim Young has his own largerthan-life stories as well. He had a cottage nearby in the mid-1980s and had come up the lane when Eugene was building the showroom (now the store) to let him know that the roof wasn’t straight. Eugene came down to have a look and agreed. Dr. Jim Young is an engineer and an air quality and weather specialist; he worked very closely with Eugene on environmental issues related to Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) over the years.

When Eugene and Ann bought the property, they were not concerned about their proximity to a nuclear facility because they were supportive of clean technology. But in the 1980s, when the site operated a heavy water plant, Eugene’s sheep were getting sick, blind, born with defects and dying. When working outside, there were occasions when he would be overcome with debilitating pain in his head and nausea. Jim was able to model the thermal internal boundary layer from Lake Huron on the days that Eugene had the experience. He demonstrated that hydrogen sulfide from the plant would have descended in rapid bursts across the area. Eugene brought the issue to the attention of Bruce Power, but it was dismissed. He became a tireless advocate for the safety of the Inverhuron community, but to this day, Jim says the company has not admitted to any fault from the heavy water plant.

The Bruce Power site would go on to be perhaps the world’s largest nuclear facility and when the bid for

hosting a Deep Geological Repository (DGR) there became known in 2013, he joined a community of activists that fused together against the bid. Marti MacFadzean had been a long-time seasonal resident and moved to Inverhuron permanently in 2009; she was a leader in the DGR opposition and says Eugene played a crucial role. He lived to see the bid be overturned by a vote from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation in May 2020.

Eugene remained critical of the community safety procedures of OPG to the end. Eugene was even the subject of a short documentary about his struggle, Toxic Neighbour, directed by Colin Scheyen and released in 2021, a year after his death. It is for sale at the Philosopher’s Store.

Eugene’s activism also lives on in the Philosopher’s Wool Environmental Preserve (PWEP), a non-profit protecting the local environment. It had been relatively quiet until provoked in 2023 by a

proposed subdivision housing development directly across from the property, on the Little Sauble River.

They organized the community, successfully petitioned Bruce County for a judicial review of the project and have crowd-funded legal fees.

The hearing is expected to take place in the fall.

It was written on their hearts and around their home: “Peace on Earth, Good Wool to All.” While Eugene and Ann’s property is a testament to their creativity, talent and generosity, perhaps their true legacy lives on in the community they left behind – the people they inspired and those who continue with their work.

It doesn’t feel like an end; in fact, it feels like Eugene and Ann are just getting started.

The Philosopher’s Store is on the farm and open every Saturday 10-5 or by appointment, see philosopherswool.ca. If you’d like to support their environmental work, find them at pwepreserve.ca, and to connect with OFT, find them at ontariofarmlandtrust.ca. ◊

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August 2024 27

96th Annual Huron County

PLOWING MATCH

Thursday, August 15 & Friday, August 16, 2024 Hosted by: Vermue Farms 36118 Bayfield River Road, Bayfield

Co-hosted by Huron County Warden, Glen McNeil

Thursday, August 15 - Junior Day

Schedule of Events - Friday, August 16

Practice - 9:00 am - 11:00 am Lunch - 11:00 am - 1:00 pm by Tracey’s Tasty Food Trailer Competition - 12 noon - 3:00 pm Princess Speeches - 1:00 pm

Awards Ross Gordon Memorial Trophy William Leeming Memorial Trophy McGavin Family Award Don Dodds Award Best Going Plow Team Award Antique Tractor Awards

Antique Plowing Champion Huron Junior Champion Huron Junior Reserve Champion Huron Senior Champion Huron Senior Reserve Champion Val-Lea Farms Award MGM Townsend Tire

For information call Steve Hallahan 519-440-8474

7:30 - 9:30 am - Breakfast 8:00 am - Registration 9:00 am - Competition Banquet Horse Ploughing Tickets 11:00 am - 3:00 pm - Lunch by Tracey’s Tasty Food Trailer Call 1:00 pm - Queen of the Furrow Speeches Neil & Joan 2:00 - 4:00 pm - Huron County Soil & Crop Association Vincent 519-357-2336 & Local Dealers field presentation and info session Antique or 5:00 pm - Greetings Competition Joan Ryan Bring your 5:30 pm - Banquet catered by Cardiff BBQ Catering Ltd. 519-237-3806 restored and Silent Auction Bidding throughout the day unrestored Awards Presentations and Queen of the Furrow Crowning antiques following Banquet Silent & Live Auction

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Machines in the move at Forage Expo

F

orage and grazing specialist, Christine O’Reilly, was having a hard time keeping farmers in line, which was necessary for safety. They couldn’t wait to get into the rows of hay cut, raked, conditioned and tedded to compare the result from different makes of forage equipment at Forage Expo 2024.

Hundreds of farmers and machinery salesmen were on hand at the event which was hosted by the Ontario Forage Council (OFC) and Huron County and Eastern Valley Soil

and Crop Improvement Associations. It was held in Huron County on July 4 at the farm of Mark Horst and family on Harriston Road near Gorrie.

The volume of farmers and the sheer size of the machinery were astounding to someone who hasn’t made hay in recent years and it was fascinating watching the process as machine manufacturers such as Massy Ferguson, Kubota, Fendt, Samasz, Vermeer, Kuhn, Krone, Bale Baron, CLAAS and others featured their haying equipment with salespersons giving a spiel before each pass.

“This is the biggest one of the market,” said Galen Wideman of the Krone KWT 2000 trailed rotary tedder which tossed hay from eight windrows as it made its pass down the field. “It’s 65 feet wide. We are of the mindset that you can go big or go home.”

This tedder has permanently lubricated gearboxes which gives peace of mind and increases the machine’s longevity. It also features OctoLink finger clutches and rotors are available with five, six or seven-tine arms. The tine arms mesh as they

Andrew Heida of D&S Downham Equipment In Stratford teds hay for drying with the Kubota TE 4052T four basket tedder to be followed by a huge, eight‐row Krone KWT 2000 rotary tedder (above) while farmers wait to view the stems and leaves as the machinery passes. At right, Ken McCann, territory manager with Kuhn North America and Steve Lush, regional field support manager with Kuhn watch the action.

30 The Rural Voice

rotate, spreading the material uniformly across the working width.

In contrast, Travis Grubb brought a TE 4052 T four basket tedder, pulled by a Kubota M5-111 tractor.

Grubb is a field product specialist with Kubota Canada and the tractor driver was Andrew Heida of D&S Downham Equipment in Stratford.

“This is our little guy at 17 feet,” said Grubb. “A lot of farmers question what tedder is better to reduce compaction and this is it but it will spread hay out to a 10-foot width.”

Many more tedders, rakes and balers were featured at the event which allow farmers to see what’s new for 2024 while also witnessing It was a great day for future farmers to scope out all the huge forage equipment. Hanging out by the Krone and Vermeet machinery were (left to right) Adrie, Kenzie, Coleson, Kedrick and Kavan. Below, it was a sea of plaid shirts and green grass as farmers inspected the forage after it was cut, conditioned, raked, tedded or baled during Forage Expo ‘24 near Gorrie.

August 2024 31

this equipment in head-to-head field trials! Equipment also included windrow inverters, mergers, harvesters, dump wagons, large round balers, large square balers, and a small square bale bundler.

“This event provides an opportunity for farmers to view the latest technology available to harvest forage quickly with minimal loss and maximum quality,” states Patricia Ellingwood of the OFC. “Ian McDonald and Christine O’Reilly of OMAFRA will be in the field, working with the equipment companies to provide information to farmers and answer questions. This is important in making decisions on investments which ultimately enhance their farm operations in capacity, minimizing harvest losses, product quality and profitability.”

O’Reilly had the task of corralling enthusiastic farmers but she was all for it, saying ”Forage Expo provides a unique opportunity for farmers to see different makes of hay equipment operating side by side in the same

CLAAS Quadrant: Kyle Martin of Gowanstown (left) and Kervin Horst of Teeswater (right) chatted with Darren Campbell of GJ’s Harvest Centre Inc. in Milverton about the CLAAS Quadrant 5300 RC 3X4 baler. This is a roto cut, high density, single‐knot baler which creates baling efficiency with a heavy duty machine. The heavy flywheel helps with capacity, it has an anti‐plugging system and farmers can run zero, 13 or 25 knives depending on their chopping needs.

The CLAAS brand has been around since 1939.

Bryan Gross and Peter Nonkes were some of the volunteers handing out pork on a bun to farmers and machinery experts at Forage Expo ‘24 held in July.

OMAFRA’s forage specialist, Christine O’Reilly (left) and cropping innovations specialist Ian McDonald (right) were at Forage Expo to direct traffic and answer questions about forage.

32 The Rural Voice

Forage Expo ‘24 was held at the farm of Mark Horst (above, chatting with farmers) and family on Harriston Road near Gorrie.

field. It’s an event where all players in the forage space – input suppliers (seed, preservative, inoculant, etc), equipment dealerships, and farmers – can get together, network, and see some of the latest developments.”

Attendees are given a chance to take a closer look at each pass after the equipment runs. O’Reilly says “For mowers and mowerconditioners, farmers are looking at how clean of a cut, and what angle it’s at. They want to see how conditioners crack stems, and whether rollers were set too tight and bruised leaves. After tedders, fluffers, rakes, and mergers, they are looking at how these machines move the crop (either to spread it out or bring it into windrows), if they kick excess dirt into the forage, and whether they are turning the crop appropriately. The baler demos should produce solid, neat, well-wrapped or well-tied bales.

And the wrappers should wrap neatly with enough plastic to keep air out and preserve the crop.”

Forages are critical for dairy, beef, goat, sheep and equine farmers because “forages are the foundation of ruminant rations. High quality

forage provides much, or sometimes all, of the energy, protein, and fibre needed by the animal,” added O’Reilly. ◊

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34 The Rural Voice

Daytripping

Beef, barns, beer and boobies in West Grey

Don’t miss Concession Road 16 in West Grey where left and right, the barns, fields, cattle and bales made for some spectacular landscape views on a daytripping adventure.

Go to Grey County for its waterfalls for sure but don’t miss Neustadt and all it has to offer or the hilly roads in West Grey filled with rural images of barns and beef cows.

T

• By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

he plan was to start with a hike at the Normandy Tract on Concession 12 Ayton, a place described as “extensive plantation and wetlands…fishing” as the start of my daytripping experience in West Grey.

Thing is, I couldn’t find it. Despite GPS and maps, I could not find a sign or even lane leading to this tract. “I’m probably stunned but honestly, where is the entrance?

“Fine”, I thought. I’ll head into Ayton to explore the river there, as part of the “nature” element of this day trip.

Nope. Could not easily find access to the river there either though the view from the bridge is outstanding. The town is also super cute.

Honestly, the trip was going downhill fast (literally as these roads are hilly and gorgeous) so I decided to abandon all my plans and head to Neustadt as the start of the West Grey day trip.

Neustadt is a delight. I stopped at the Granny's General Store and bought a pie to take home to the girls then walked across the street to It’s My Pleasure for a gourmet

salted-caramel cupcake. Owner Jamie Callan says she “loves to bake” and has been offering cupcakes and other baked goods for 13 years at this location. The cupcake was cold so she encouraged me to let it sit in my warm van so the inside would be warm and creamy.

That meant I needed to eat lunch first. I could have chosen Noah’s Inn Fish and Chips and be like my father who orders fish and chips at every restaurant, unless they have crispy chicken. But I was drawn to Atelier 522 across the street where I met Elizabeth MacKenzie, an eclectic painter who grew up in Palmerston and then spent 30 years living and working as an artist in Toronto. The beauty of Grey County pulled her back to a farm property they owned nearby and she moved back and opened Atelier 522, a gift shop featuring beautiful and practical items from Europe.

“I work super hard at curating products from all over to find timeless elements for your home and to gift to others,” explained MacKenzie. You can also visit her studio at the August 2024 35

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Elizabeth MacKenzie runs a gift store in Neustadt called Atelier 522 and in the back, you can enjoy an eclectic sampling of her art including this one of a dead bird among flowers, honouring the Wabi‐sabi tradition of Japan. At right, you can drive by the house where former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker was born. It’s now a private residence.

Jamie Callan has been serving gourmet cupcakes at It’s My Pleasure in Neustadt for 13 years and I would return just for the salted carmel cupcake I ate.

Wesley Weber lives above the Neustadt Springs Brewery and served my beer and pizza with a smile.

If you love old barns and landscapes, take a drive down Concession Road 16 in West Grey — it’s so rural and rich with farm images like these round bales.

August 2024 37

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back where it’s any guess what you’ll see as she is currently finding a “theme to explore”. On this day, there was a lady in a kimono with flowers for her head, a beautiful painting of a dead bird amongst flowers, a pair of boobies on a nude and more florals. “I'm at a bit of a crossroads,” she laughs. I loved the colours, the freedom and the beauty of her paintings…she may be trying to find her new muse but what fun she’s having along the way.

Up the street, I stopped to taste test four little beers while enjoying the Mush Lush (mushrooms, garlic, parmesan, yum) at Neustadt Springs Brewery. I had a great chat with two teachers beside me on the patio who inspired me to attend more theatre plays as a method to teach my children about culture and history and be inspired by references to things unknown. Very enjoyable, all of it.

I was served by Wesley Weber, son of the owners, Mike and Anita Weber. This is a family business with a huge history as stated on the website: The history of our brewery began in the year of 1857, when Henry Huether came from Germany to the town of Neustadt, Ontario. He founded the Crystal Springs Brewery in 1859 which was built over a natural spring. In the early 1860s, a fire destroyed much of the wooden structure. Forty stone masons were then brought over from Germany to rebuild the brewery. Local fieldstone was brought in by farmers in exchange for beer. By 1869 it was ready to begin brewing again.

For 57 years, the brewery continued serving local needs.

Villagers skimmed yeast from the vats for their baking and malt residue was used by farmers to feed their cattle. This spirit of sustainability lives on today, as our used malt is reused by local farmers to feed their cattle.

You can also book tours of this historic building.

After lunch, I took a quick drive to see the house where John Diefenbaker, the 13th prime minister of Canada, was born. It’s a private residence now and you can’t tour it

but hey, still good to pull in some history on a day trip.

I still hadn’t seen much water or rocks (something Grey is famous for) so I headed to McGowan Falls in Durham. If you want waterfalls, you have numerous options including Hogg’s Falls, Inglis Falls and Eugenie Falls, all of which I’ve visited at other times. Check out Grey County Waterfall Tour online for a comprehensive list. Today, I wanted to keep my driving time to under two hours so I went to McGowan.

To get there I travelled on Concession Road 16 and as I was driving, I thought there seemed to be an unusually high number of scenic barns. So I doubled back and ended up taking over a dozen landscapes featuring cool barns just on this short stretch of road. Worth the drive, I say. Some had beef cattle, others were old and falling apart, some restored and some framed by farm machinery.

As luck would have it, the road was closed heading to Durham so I had to take a detour on Concession Road 2 sideroad which took me to the Allan Park Conservation Area.

Beautiful! This placid lake had three families fishing and one couple, Bill and Christine Bester of Kitchener, had caught four trout! Rainbow, speckled or brown trout? They said rainbow but I’m not sure. This pond is stocked by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and admission is free, though you do need a fishing license of course.

I didn’t walk far as the deer-flies were frightful, to be honest. But this is a park I will revisit with my fishing pole and a can of serious bug spray.

On the road again, I picked up a $10 bouquet from one of many roadside stands I saw along the way.

This bouquet was from the farm of Ken Martin, an Ontario Dairy Goat member and it was stunning. Thank you!

Finally, I made it to McGowan Falls in Durham. This dam offers a view of powerfully streaming water, forest, cool rock formations and natural beauty. Here I sat for a while, reflecting on the day. Enjoying the scenery. Admiring the beauty of

West Grey and thinking, “there are worse jobs in the world” as I ended this daytripping tour for The Rural Voice. ◊ Bill and Christine Better were having all the luck with four trout and counting at Allan Park Conservation Area. West Grey has many water features including McGowan Falls in Durham which features a dam, swimming area and trails in the woodland surrounding the Saugeen River.

The countryside in West Grey is gorgeous with beef cattle, sheep and horses dotting the landscape. This trio took a minute to inspect me on the side of the road before returning to grazing in their pasture.

August 2024 39

161st Ripley Fall Fair

Have Fun at the Fair!

September 27 & September 28, 2024 Fall Trees and Honey Bees September 26 ~ Pre-Teen Dance September 27 & 28 ~ Exhibits, Sheep, Beef & Light Horse shows; parade; pipe bands; live music/beer garden; midway.

Special Events: Super Dogs; FMX Show, Saturday night fireworks September 29 ~ Stoneboat Pullers Full schedule and all other info available at www.ripleyfair.ca

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Ø g & Ø - Ø& ) g 40 The Rural Voice

Have Fun at the Fair!

THE 164th ANNUAL DURHAM FALL FAIR Friday, Aug. 30th - Sunday, Sept. 1st, 2024 Durham Community Centre (Arena)

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

- Homecraft Displays - Ambassador Program (JR & SR) - Dessert Auction - Opening Ceremony - Kids’ Tractor Pull

- Baby Show - English & Western Horse Show - 4-H Invitational Beef, Dairy & Sheep Show - Parade - High Tea - Medieval Troup - Fun Factory - Games and Prizes - Live Entertainment

- Community Breakfast - Community Church Service - Antique Tractor Pull ($5 Entry)

Admission

by Donation

For more information and Schedule of Events check us out on Facebook at “Durham Agricultural Fair”

Drayton Fair August 9 to 11, 2024

Friday 5 pm - Gates open 5 pm - Food Booths Open 6 pm local Truck & Tractor Pull Saturday 7:30 am - Gates open 11 am-4 pm - Wellington County Library Interactive Display 11am - Goat Show 11 am - Food Vendors Open 11 am-4:00 pm - Petting Zoo 12 pm - Exhibits Open 12 pm - Dairy Show 1 pm-9 pm - FREE Children’s Activities & Inflatables 1 pm-3 pm - FREE Face Painting 1 pm-4 pm - FREE Children’s Activity Table 2 pm - Kiddie Tractor Pull 2 pm-6 pm - Live Music by Cara Smith 3:00 pm - Pet Show 4:00 pm - Birds of Prey 4:00 pm - Baby Show 6 pm - OTTPA Tractor Pull Sunday 7:30 pm Gates open 8 am-11 am - Legion breakfast (at Legion) Cash 10 am - Worship service (open to public) Only 12 pm - Exhibits Open 12 pm - Food Vendors Open 12 pm-5 pm - FREE Children’s Activities & Inflatables 12 pm-2 pm - FREE Chuckles Balloon Artist & Face Painting 12 pm - Beef Show 12:30 pm - Sheep Show 1 pm - Demolition Derby

www.draytonagsociety.com

Hanover Fair

August 10 & 11, 2024 Hanover Raceway Fairgrounds

* Exhibits * Beef Show * Dairy Shows * Sheep Show Inflatables * Mechanical Bull * Children’s activities * Wagon Rides * Teddy Bear Picnic * 4H Shows * Horse Pull * and so much more!

LIVE MUSIC ~ Featuring Lulu's ~ with Dropped Tailgate and Assorted Affair Saturday, August 13 ~ 6:30 p.m. - 1 a.m. at the Raceway No cover charge ~ All ages event Free admission all weekend More info. and schedule of events available at www.hanoverfair.ca or email info@hanoverfair.ca

161ST Brussels Fall Fair

“Pork & Beans”

September 17-18, 2024 At the BMG Community Centre

www.brusselsfallfair.ca Check out our Facebook page for all our events!

August 2024 41

Have Fun at the Fair!

- 1 = 0 1 -4 " 0Ö Ï4 ÉÇÉË

ʻˢ˥˦˘ ˆ˛ˢ˪˦ʟ ʶ˔˧˧˟˘ ˆ˛ˢ˪˦ʟ ˃˟˔ˡ˘˧˔˥˜˨ˠʟ ʿ˜˩˘ ˀ˨˦˜˖ʟ ʷˢ˚ ˆ˛ˢ˪ʟ ʾ˜˗˦ ʴ˖˧˜˩˜˧˜˘˦ʟ ʴ˚˥˜˖˨˟˧˨˥˔˟ ʸ˗˨˖˔˧˜ˢˡ ˔ˡ˗ ˀ˨˖˛ ˀˢ˥˘

gL g- ɅɄ ȤɅȲɃ ȺȸȹɅ ɀɃ ȿ Ɋ Ʌȵɀ ɃɄȵȲ ȥȹɆ Ʌȹ Ʌȹȶ ȠɆ ɄȼDzDz Ⱥ Ɇ ɀȷȷ Ɉ ȺȸȹɅ ȑ ȕ ȟ ȶ Ⱥ Ȟɀɇ ȗȣȚȕȒȪ ȖȧȖȟȥȤDzDz

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ȤȒȥȦȣȕȒȪ ȖȧȖȟȥȤDzDz

ȒɆȸɆɄɅ ȂȇɅȹ ǾȂȉɅȹǽ ȃȁȃȅ

ǾșɀȾȶȴɃȲȷɅ ȖɉȹȺȳȺɅɄ ǾȓȲȳɊ ȤȹɀɈ ǾȅǾș ȓȶȶȷ ȤȹɀɈɄ ȤȦȟȕȒȪ ȖȧȖȟȥȤDzDz ǾȥɃɆȴȼȶɃǸɄ ȗɆȿ ȗȶɄɅ Ǿ ȗȺɃȶȷȺȸȹɅȶɃǸɄ ȓɃȶȲȼȷȲɄɅ ǾȠɁȶȿȺȿȸ ȔȶɃȶȾɀȿȺȶɄ ǾȒɃȴȹȶɃɊ ǾȔȹɆɃȴȹ ȤȶɃɇȺȴȶ ǾșɀȾȶȴɃȲȷɅ ȖɉȹȺȳȺɅɄ ǾȥȶȲȾ ȡȶȿȿȺȿȸ ǾȤȲɆȸȶȶȿ ȧȲȽȽȶɊ ȡɀȿɊ ȔȽɆȳ ȤȹɀɈ ǾȒȥȧ Ƿ ȞɀɅɀɃȴɊȴȽȶ ȡɆȽȽɄ ǾȡȲɃȲȵȶ ǾȤȿɀɈȾɀȳȺȽȶ ȕɃȲȸɄ ǾȔȽȲɄɄȺȴ ȔȲɃ ȤȹɀɈ ǾȥɃɆȴȼ ȤȹɀɈ ǾȡɆȳ ȡȲɃɅɊ Ƿ ȨȺȿȸɄ ǾȘȲɃȵȶȿ ɅɃȲȴɅɀɃ ȡɆȽȽɄ ǾțȲȴȼɁɀɅ ȓȶȶȷ ȤȹɀɈ ǾȒɃȾ ȨɃȶɄɅȽȺȿȸ ȔɀȾɁȶɅȺɅȺɀȿ ǾșɆȾȲȿ ȗɀɀɄȳȲȽȽ ǾșɀȾȶȴɃȲȷɅ ȖɉȹȺȳȺɅɄ ǾȝȺɇȶ ȖȿɅȶɃɅȲȺȿȾȶȿɅȋ ǾȔɀɃȿȹɀȽȶ ȥɀɆɃȿȲȾȶȿɅ ǾșɀȴȼȶɊ ȤȼȺȽȽɄ ȔɀȾɁȶɅȺɅȺɀȿ ȨȖȖȜȖȟȕ ǾȤȶȾȺ ȥɃɆȴȼ ȕɃȲȸ ȣȲȴȶɄ ǾșɀȳȳɊ șɀɃɄȶ ȣȲȴȶ ǾșɆȾȲȿ ȥɃɆȴȼ ȡɆȽȽ ǾȡȺȶ Ƿ ȔȲȼȶ ȒɆȴɅȺɀȿ ȟȖȧȖȣ ȖȟȕȤ ǾȡȺȴȼɆɁ ȥɃɆȴȼ Ƿ ȤɆɁȶɃ ȤɅɀȴȼ ȡɆȽȽ ǾȕȶɃȳɊ șȲɅ ȔɀȾɁȶɅȺɅȺɀȿ ǾȤȶȾȺ ȥɃɆȴȼ ȡɆȽȽɄ ǾȕȶȾɀȽȺɅȺɀȿ ȕȶɃȳɊ ǾȕȲȿȴȶ ǹȲȸȶ ɀȷ ȾȲȻɀɃȺɅɊǺȋ ǾȔɀȾȳȺȿȶ ȕȶɃȳɊ

ȤȖȥȥȝȖȣǸȤ ȔȣȖȖȜ

țȦȤȥ ȗȠȣ ȥȹȶ ȜȚȕȫDzDz

ȤȒȥȦȣȕȒȪȋ Ȓȝȝ ȨȖȖȜȖȟȕȋ ǾȨȲɅȶɃȾȶȽɀȿ ȖȲɅȺȿȸ ȔɀȿɅȶɄɅ ǾȗȲɃȾ ȘȲɅȶ ǾȗɃɀȸ țɆȾɁȺȿȸ ȔɀȾɁȶɅȺɅȺɀȿ ǾȥɃȲȴɅɀɃ ȣȺȵȶɄ ǾȡȶȵȲȽ ȥɃȲȴɅɀɃ ȡɆȽȽ ǾșɀɃɄȶ ȕɃȲɈȿ ȣȺȵȶɄ ǾȚȿȷȽȲɅȲȳȽȶɄ Ǿ ȓȽȲȴȼɄȾȺɅȹȋ ȤȦȟȕȒȪȋ ȕȲɇȶ ȜɃȺɅɋ ǾȡȶɅ ȤȹɀɈ

42 The Rural Voice

*SPPS[ YW SR *EGIFSSO 'LIGO SYX SYV [IFWMXI LXXTW XIIW[EXIVJEMV GSQ

Sow it, Grow it, Show it August 23 to 25, 2024 All weekend enjoy the Children’s Village Friday Parade 6:30 pm Taste of Minto 7 pm Saturday Kinette’s Pancake Breakfast 8 - 10 am Tailgate Garage Sale 8 - 11 am Minto Farmers’ Market 9 am - Noon Tractor Show 9 am - 4 pm Pet Show 10 am Library Fun 10 am - 3 pm Mr. J & the Groovy Gang 10 am & Noon Local Youth Talent 10 am - 4 pm Baby Show 11 am Party Safari 11 am & 1 pm Tie Dye & Make & Takes 11 am - 2 pm H&H Ranch Horse Demo 12:30 pm Kids’ Pedal Tractor Pull 2 pm Auction of Champions 3 pm The Consolers & Beer Gardens 4 - 9 pm Chili Cook-off Judging 4:30 pm Cornhole Tournament 4:30 pm MFM Corn Eating Contest 6:30 pm Mullet Competition 6:45 pm Farmer Olympics 7 pm Sunday Jr. Broomball Breakfast Booth 9 am - Noon Mini-Excavator Games 9 am - 1 p, Church Service 10 am Dog Agility Show 11 am and 1 pm Zucchini Races 2 pm Roast Beef Supper 4:30 - 6:30 pm

palmerstonfair.ca

DON’T MISS THE ANNUAL

2024 BRUCE COUNTY PLOWING MATCH Friday, August 31 Host: Ribey Family

583 Concession Road 12, Kincardine 12 km west of Paisley 6 km east of Hwy. 21

Call 519-901-1076 for details Plowing starts at 10 am Plowing Classes including

Horses, Junior, Antique, IPM Plowers, Reversible Plows, Queen of the Furrow Competition Queen of the Furrow Registration by August 22nd Call Tom Evans 519-901-1076 to register AGRICULTURAL DEMOS & DISPLAYS

Contacts: Displays - Barry Ribey 519-389-5375 Sec./Treas. Tom Evans 519-901-1076 or tommyrollover@gmail.com

2024 Sponsors Bruce County Women’s Institute

www.brucecountyplowmen.ca

August 2024 43

Recipes by Carolyn Crawford

Protein is the power in healthy Power Bowls

L

ast month I shared with you some recipes for summer salads suitable for a cold salad plate. This month we will look at putting together a protein-rich power bowl. Of course, if you have brumotactillophobia – the fear of different food items touching each other – this idea might not be for you!

Power bowls can provide healthy sustenance over a long, physically active day. Power bowls were originally called Buddha bowls as people who have followed Buddhism or practiced vegetarianism, have eaten bowls of vegetarian foods for over many years. Hippies revived the Buddha bowl trend in the sixties. And it was Martha Stewart who first dubbed the expression “power bowl.”

She is credited with this term in her 2013 edition of her cookbook entitled “Meatless.” Thankfully (for me anyway!), a power bowl does not have to be meatless, and this is what sets it apart from a vegetarian Buddha bowl.

Power bowls often lend themselves to using up leftovers. If you had steak and grilled vegetables for dinner last night, you could add them to some cooked quinoa or rice, and raw vegetables in your power bowl. You can also

keep on hand some frozen edamame, peas, or corn to dress up your bowl and keep it chilled until lunchtime.

Preparing some items ahead of time can be a life saver in throwing together a quick meal. Having on hand some grilled vegetables, or those seasoned and cooked on a sheet pan in your oven, prepared rice, or cooked quinoa, preshredded or crumbled cheese, diced veggies, prewashed and diced vegetables, will save you a lot of time in your meal prep.

Power bowls usually have the following criteria and I have listed a few examples: Proteins: a wide variety of one or more high protein items (can be vegan, vegetarian, or including meat) e.g. edamame (soy beans), chickpeas, avocado, tofu or tempeh, egg, salmon, tuna or other fish, sashimi, smoked fish, olives, cubed deli meat, cheese, thinly sliced or cubed steak, chicken, or other meat.

Grains, Pulses, or Legumes: quinoa, higher protein rice (e.g. wild or brown), bulgar, couscous, lentils, black beans, split peas To cook quinoa: Rinse the quinoa first. The ratio to

Power bowls are a great way to use leftovers and to incorporate proteins, vegetables, fruits and legumes. Combining different colours of foods make for a beautiful dish while homemade sauces add a tasty element.

44 The Rural Voice

cook quinoa is two to one — two cups of water for every cup of quinoa. Combine in a saucepan, cover with lid, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer covered for 10-15 minutes Vegetables: any vegetables cooked or raw suitable for serving cold e.g. grilled zucchini, tomatoes, snow pea pods, alfalfa or bean sprouts, colourful sweet peppers, shredded carrot, diced or sliced cucumber, celery, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower Greens: often the biggest item in the bottom of your bowl; arugula, spinach, mixed salad greens, kale, lettuce of any kind, radishes, beet tops, chard, shredded cabbage (red or green) Fruits and Carb Stuff: (usually a small amount!) beets (cooked or pickled), pickles, sweet potato (cubed and cooked to brown it up), corn, green peas, citrus sections, fresh cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, or raspberries, drained canned fruit, dried fruit, apple, pear Condiment(s): (used sparingly) salad dressing (commercial or homemade) (vinaigrette or creamy style), hoisin, sesame or chili oil, or dipping sauce e.g. chipotle sauce, tzatziki, mayo, hummus, wasabi, soy sauce, yogurt, tahini, kimchi, salsa, sour cream, crumbled or grated cheese This basic Asian style dressing is the perfect amount for one or two power bowls.

Garlic & Ginger Dressing Source: Canadian Living Ingredients: ¼ cup canola oil 3 tbsp sodium-reduced soy sauce 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tbsp liquid honey 2 tsp grated fresh ginger ½ tsp toasted sesame oil 1 clove garlic, finely chopped Pepper Directions: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. You can make this ahead and store it in an airtight container for up to three days in the refrigerator. Makes about ½ cup.

Optional Theme: e.g. Tex-Mex, Asian, Greek (with a chicken or pork

souvlaki on a skewer), Mediterranean, Persian, AllCanadian (all items we can grow here) Tzatziki Sauce for Greek Souvlaki: This is from the “On the Danforth” Greek festival website https://onthedanforth.ca/2014/01/ho memade-souvlaki/ It would work for a Greek themed power bowl. I did not include it but there is a great souvlaki recipe that would serve as the meat for your power bowl.

Ingredients: 1 500g container of plain Greek yogurt 1 hothouse cucumber 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or rice vinegar 1 tbsp minced fresh dill 1 ½ tbsp crushed garlic 1 tsp mint leaves 2 tsp salt ½ tsp pepper Drizzle of olive oil Directions: Place yogurt in medium bowl.

Grate on box grater and squeeze excess water out of cucumber rind.

Add it to the yogurt, along with lemon juice, vinegar, dill, garlic, mint, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Mix together until well combined.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Optional for Heat: spicy wasabi

4

peas, spicy chick peas, chilies, jalapenos I made some crispy hot chick peas using olive oil (1/3 cup) and Franks Red Hot Sauce (1/2 cup). If you like a lot of spice, you could coat them with cayenne, too. They turned out to be a nice flavour even though I forgot to add them to my power bowl!

Garnish: A smattering of seeds, dried fruit (cranberries, raisins) nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds) and/or herbs; sesame seeds, pepita (pumpkin seeds), sliced almonds, dill, cilantro, parsley Colour: Power bowls are intended to entice you with their appearance. Vibrant colourful foods that compliment each other are key to making your power bowl look appetizing!

One thing a power bowl does not have is an abundance of carbohydrates. Full carbs are kept to about a tablespoon or two if included. There is usually a focus on protein packed “brainy” foods for optimum health. A power bowl, in essence, is a healthy fast-food lunch or supper or a quick protein boost after a workout.

I hope you try having a power bowl. From the ingredients listed above, you can see that the variety is yours for the choosing. Pick your favourites and have fun with the preparation and presentation! ◊

5

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August 2024 45

Gardening Rhea Hamilton‐ Seeger is a skilled cook and gardener who lives in Goderich.

Editing in the garden

A

few weeks ago I had a rare day to spend in the garden.

Usually I get an hour here and there but a whole day without distractions or commitments is a treat.

When we had the farm we had lots of spots I could pop a tree into or a new perennial. If I needed to widen a garden I did just that. Here my lot restrictions are a major consideration.

It was just this point I was pondering as I cleared out a corner where an old lilac had petered out. It only had a few blooms on some half-dead major branches but lots of new undergrowth. The idea was to “refresh it” by eliminating the old growth, and compost to encourage new stronger growth.

Klaus got out the chainsaw and we cut three major stems/trunks off.

Another one is perched on the fence.

In the meantime, a small clump of Korean Bell flowers I had transplanted in our move had found their happy place and have been spreading quite happily. I don’t need to tell you they are a member of the non-native campanula family and quite aggressive.

So as I am digging out the bell flowers and admiring their long, pink, tubular flowers with a wonderful smattering of spots inside (quite striking) I am beginning to rethink this corner garden. Every once in a while a light bulb comes on and I hear myself telling other gardeners, “it is your garden, you can do what you want!”. It’s a bit of advice I need to heed.

So the lilac will be coming out completely this summer, probably fall now, along with the bell flower and a patch of Japanese knotweed I found taking off along the fence line.

46 The Rural Voice

With the lilac cut back a couple of fit into a landscape before you spend hostas are not happy, so they are your money. being moved to our son’s place.

In our yard, the trees we planted Imagine my delight in coming to this two years ago, in the midst of the decision and then dreaming of what older shrubs, are settling in and really can go in there. A paw paw tree! And putting on some growth. We can start further down the same fence is an to see how they are going to shape equally old forsythia that is going too the perimeter of the yard. With that thus making room for a second paw in mind, some of the older shrubs paw. You need two to encourage have been pared back to allow for fruiting. greater tree growth and more garden This approach seems to be the surface for native plants. norm lately. I listen to CBC radio What was a great idea 40 years noon on Mondays to hear Paul ago might not be a great choice now Zammit, Professor of Horticulture and it’s okay to make changes. The and Environmental Studies at flowering crab in the back of the Niagara College. A few weeks earlier garden that we cut back to a five foot he was talking about editing and stump continues to sprout prolifically rethinking some areas of your and bloomed this spring. But it is still garden. Shortly after, I was reading an old tree and suffers from leaf curl one of my favourite bloggers – and die-back. I was cutting back Margaret Roach – and she, too, was overgrown sucker branches to let editing her garden. One of her guests more light in and came to the noted that doing the occasional audit conclusion we need to cut this stump of your garden and taking a more back to the ground. It was left to critical look at what you are building/creating is a positive process.

While I am not about to give up my peonies and hostas, I am looking to incorporate more natives and give them the room to expand. Others may be looking at how the colours they have used are still as enticing now as when they were planted. Depending on how long you have had your garden, an audit may include removal of low hanging large branches, crowded shrubs or trees or even biting the bullet and removing a sick tree that has not been responding to your care.

Some, like me, may want to add more trees and shrubs to replace the overgrown, old ones.

Taking in garden tours in your community and further afield shows off new ideas and new colour schemes too. You get to An overgrown corner of the yard required an “edit”, a see how the new plants task Rhea recommends to remove diseased trees and you have been eyeing in plants and replant with natives, new colour the larger garden centres combinations or what gives you joy.

support bird houses, but it has an active, extensive root system and is not about to give up easily.

I do have a deep dark moody lilac next to the house and I am loath to think about cutting it but there is only one main trunk and it leans out at a 45-degree angle making the space behind it inconvenient for the addition of a garden shed. So my solution is to take cuttings and see what happens. Once I have the cuttings rooted I can then, tearfully, cut down the older tree.

Even some arboretums are rethinking their collection. As long as humans have travelled the globe we have collected plants from around the world. We are learning in the last decade or two that some of those choices have seeded out and caused issues with native plantings and created dead zones in nature. Trees that have reached the end of life or are compromised by disease are being replaced with thoughtful choices to aid the environment.

Ahhh so many plants and so little time. Have fun editing! ◊

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We have an experienced Landscaper who does planting and delivery for those who need the service Large selection of shade trees, including... MAPLES.... Royal Red, Sugar, Autumn Blaze, Autumn Fantasy, Morgan, Native Red, Silver X Red Maple, Emerald Queen, Maple, etc., Oaks, Crabapple, Ornamental Pears, Ivory Silk Lilac, Ginkgo, Kentucky Coffee Trees, Lindens, Hydrangea Tree, Serviceberry, Saskatoon Tree, Globe Maple, Umbrella Catalpa, Birch, Weeping Cypress, etc.

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c/o EMANUEL E.M. MARTIN 42661 Orangehill Road RR #1 Wroxeter, ON N0G 2X0 1 Concession North of Wroxeter on Belmore Line Mon. - Sat. 7 am - 6 pm

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Dealer for Permacon, Brown‛s Concrete, Rosetta by Brown‛s, Triple H, Unilock

August 2024 47

Farmerettes

• By Bonnie Sitter •

“Possibly the best summer of my life?”

The Farmerettes were involved in the war effort, have been featured in a book and are now the focus of a play in Millbrook

M

illbrook has become my temporary home this July. I made a decision early this year to attend every production of Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes. To date I have seen six productions!

Each night I smile over and over again as I recognize the memories from the book that are woven into the play. I do get emotional too as people stop me after the play to say “thank you” for the beautiful story. I usually remind them that I did not write the play and they should thank 4TH Line Managing Artistic Director Kim Blackwell who recognized the potential for this Canadian story when patrons of the theatre handed her the book. Also, I suggest they compliment Director Autumn Smith who recently wrote “These moments in time are lodged deep within the fabric of our collective memory – serving as a guide to our gratefulness for what we have. Every year we remember. May this work serve as a new act of remembrance. I acknowledge my immense privilege in being able to share these narratives as part of my personal journey”.

On July 1, I enjoyed the first preview of the play developed from my co-authored book, Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz Memories of Ontario Farmerettes. The Rural Voice played a part in getting the story out into the community and looking back I thank Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot for accepting my submission. The June 2018 issue introduced readers to the Farmerettes.

Then my self-published book gained even more interest in this little known story of how teenage girls helped win the war by “lending a hand” in food production.

Now the play, developed by Alison Lawrence who is an award winning Canadian playwright, is finally on stage at 4TH Line Theatre, 48 The Rural Voice

Millbrook Ontario. It was delayed reaching the stage for two years because of the pandemic.

Farmerettes, most of whom are in

their 90s, are attending and reliving their teenage experiences in the fields and orchards during the years 1941 to the end of harvest 1952. I have been

Author Bonnie Sitter (second from left) poses with (left to right) Kim Blackwell, Artistic Director 4TH Line Theatre and three Farmerettes — Dorothy Yearwood, age 95; Joan Tovey, age 95; Doreen Jones, age 97 — and Playwright Alison Lawrence. ~Photo by Wayne Eardley

Actors (left to right) Rebecca Birrell and Reena Goze drive a truck in a scene from the play Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes which is currently playing at the 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook and soon coming to the Blyth Festival Theatre. ~Photo by Wayne Eardley

fortunate in being able to speak with them, before and after the production, and they are both emotional and delighted that their story has made it to the stage.

Inge “Moyer” Viau who was a child on the Ira Moyer farm that had its own Farmerette camp was brought to tears after enjoying the play. Her memories included the excitement of going to the Vineland train station in the farm “stake” truck with her father or older brothers, to meet the girls who were coming to their camp.

When she heard the announcement that the Farmerettes were coming she knew she would have a lot of teenage “sisters” for the summer. As a young girl, Inge became the one in charge of washing the sheets and pillowcases for the Farmerettes. The girls were responsible for washing their personal items and this subject makes its way into the play. Inge brought an old ledger with her so she could show me some history. It details how her mother kept track of the fruit picked and the wages paid.

Names recorded in the ledger bring back fond memories as Inge says things like “I remember her, she was from Timmins”.

Another night two sisters stopped by my book table before the play to tell me their mother was Miss Farmerette in 1942. They are seniors now and their mom has passed, but their pride in their mother’s service and her win over 17 finalists in the contest had them grinning from ear to ear. I knew exactly who their mother was. The photos of her “win” and the newspaper write up about the event are in my archives.

Act One of the play takes place in 1942 in the Grimsby area and Act Two is set in Thedford in 1945. The small picture that started my research for the The Rural Voice article, was taken at my father-in-law Bill Sitter’s farm near Thedford, about 1945 so it is appropriate that the area located in Lambton County was chosen as the location to tell some of the story.

Six young, but talented and experienced actors play all the parts including the farmers and a young

boy and a camp cook. Their lovely voices sing familiar music from the 1940s and for me, the music was a bonus. I secretly hoped there would be music.

I am biased, of course, but the play gets five out of five stars from me.

To say I am pleased is an understatement! The audiences are loving it and every night there has been a standing ovation.

Book your tickets and attend the play at Blyth Festival Theatre.

Previews begin August 14 and it closes with a matinee on September 7. Severn Thompson, well known to Blyth audiences, will be directing.

There will be different actors and sets at the Blyth production, so even if you have seen it at 4Th Line, have another evening with the

Farmerettes. You will undoubtedly fall in love with them.

I plan to be at all of them as I continue to meet Farmerettes and their families and learn their stories and collect their photos. Some of the 20 Farmerettes who have been interviewed for the upcoming documentary film plan on attending and you may have a chance to say “Thanks for your service” and shake their hand or give them a hug! For many it was the best summer(s) of their life. The aches, pains and sunburns have been forgotten, but not the camaraderie!

For more information about the documentary film and how you can support the process, please feel free to contact me. Bonnie Sitter at 519235-1909. ◊ 1563 Hwy#9 Mildmay, ON N0G 2J0 Ph: 519-367-3215 Fax: 519-367-3214 www.southbruceflooring.com

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August 2024 49

Advice

• By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

Five ways to master your money Founder of Cacheflo shares ideas on saving and investing with women at the Women’s Entrepreneur Summit

T

rying to distract yourself from distractions and licensing when buying while stopping using your credit card for day-to-day spending was some of the advice women watching the Women’s Entrepreneur Summit held in March received.

The summit was offered online by Farm Credit Canada and Stephanie Holmes-Winton, founder and CEO of Cacheflo was first online to share five ways women in agriculture can save their money.

“Licensing is the idea that when I do something good, I can do something bad, like buy something expensive…you need to catch yourself when that thinking comes up,” says Holmes-Winton, who is the creator of the Winton app to help anyone and everyone keep track of their money.

Winton believes a growing number of people need help managing debt and spending so that they can achieve their financial and lifestyle goals.

Understanding their spending behaviour is part of that. Simple ways to reduce spending include reducing frequency of trips to wholesale warehouse stores.

“They can seem so cheap but are an easy way to overspend,” she said.

She also offered a calculation to show that if you are paying an annual fee for your credit card of $150, you might need to spend $12,000 a year just to earn enough points to earn that fee back, much less have extra points for free merchandise. “It’s best to calculate how much you have to spend before you earn.” If you aren’t paying your credit card balance off monthly and are being charged 23 per cent interest on your spending, then you definitely aren’t saving any money with the 50 The Rural Voice

point systems.

Winton says controlling your credit score is another way to master your money. A credit score is a three digit number that helps you understand how creditors see you.

Some people can access their score via their online banking sites or by checking with Equifax or Trans Union. Higher credit scores generally result in more favourable credit terms.

“Also, make sure you always read your cardholder agreements when using credit cards and please, please check the rate. We have seen a lot of increases lately,” she said.

Knowing your debt to income number (also called a ratio) is the third way to understand and manage your finances. The simple way to calculate this for your personal income (do not include farm income) is to divide your debt by your income

Stephanie Holmes‐Winton

for a value. She provided the example of a $342,000 debt divided by a $134,000 income for a debt to income number of $2.55.

A debt-to-income number of $2.55 isn’t worrisome for younger farm women because they have plenty of time to pay it off. Having a debt to income for women 20 to 29 of $4 still wouldn’t be worrisome.

However, for women aged 50 and over, this would be considered a high number. She provided a chart showing that by age 60 to 69, a woman’s debt to income should be less than one dollar and preferably in the 50 to 75 cent range.

Automating your savings was the fourth bit of financial advice Winton offered. Within that, she said “you should treat savings for emergencies like a bill.” Transferring emergency money into another account or saving it monthly for four to six expenses means you will have money if the roof needs repaired or your car breaks down. “Even when you are retired, you need an emergency account because things break.

Your roof does not care if you are retired,” said Winton.

Lastly, Winton advised women to build some non-farm assets.

“This gives you diversification so that if something affects the cattle or the crops on the farm, you have another source of income,” she said. She encouraged women to invest in both registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and tax free savings accounts (TFSA) , understanding that both have a purpose.

RRSPs provide immediate tax relief but are taxed upon withdrawal. TFSA does not provide immediate tax relief but is tax free upon withdrawal. Both types of investments can be made into mutual funds, stocks, bonds or GICs.◊

Book Review

• By Melisa Luymes •

Phosphorus sustains and kills life Book about phosphorus hits hard at agriculture but encourages bringing phosphorus back into balance for future generations

P

hosphorus. Unless you’re farming, you might not think much about it. But phosphorus is something that we should all try to better understand, and if you read Dan Egan’s latest book, you’ll find out why.

In 2023, Egan published The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance and it is a must-read, especially for farmers. It outlines the alchemy of the chemical element in the seventeenth century, to the discovery of phosphate deposits off the coast of Peru, in Florida and the Sahara Desert, with an emphasis on the geopolitical conflicts related to its mining. He also discusses the regulation of the laundry detergent industry and, of course, current phosphorus concentrations in lakes and algal blooms.

Phosphorus sustains life. It is a mineral that is essential to our flesh and bones, literally at the heart of our DNA, and it pulses through the planet in an intimate cycle of growth, consumption and excretion, of death and life. Phosphorus cannot be created or destroyed, and it has cycled for millennia. Egan argues that it has only been more recently in our history that humans have thrown our phosphorus cycle out of balance.

Whether bound to soil, or dissolved in water, excess phosphorus is turning freshwater lakes around the world into stinking green messes. It is the limiting nutrient for algae and cyanobacteria, and in Lake Erie it is feeding a particularly toxic strain that would kill an animal or human that dared to swim in it. It has destroyed properties and livelihoods in many places around the Great Lakes, and around the world.

Yes, this book comes out hard

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A new book by Dan Egan investigates the life and death of the Great Lakes and the role of farmers and phosphorus in that life cycle. against agriculture, but all the more reason that we should be reading it here in rural Ontario. We have an opportunity and a responsibility to future generations to bring phosphorus back into balance. The responsibility is shared with eaters and regulators, and it starts with a better understanding of the past and present story of this nutrient.

Egan is an award-winning journalist, so the book is a pageturner, reading like an epic saga, spanning history, and crossing the globe. The story is made even more riveting because the next chapter is ours to write. Egan explains why we are living at a critical point of the phosphorus story and how our decisions will impact the future. The Devil’s Element, by Dan Egan - find it at your local library or bookstore, and please, pass it on. ◊

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Markets Scott Krakar is a Grain Merchandiser with LAC Inc., Hyde Park, 519‐473‐9333

Prices change when knowledge changes and right now it means lower prices

T

here is an economic principle which states that the market discounts everything. This term does not mean that the purpose of the market is to lower prices, such as understood with the commonly used retail term “discount”, but rather that the market accounts for all available information to determine the fair value of a particular good.

Open markets determine prices

with the collective knowledge of all market participants including both buyers and sellers, each working independently and in their own interest. The reason prices change is that knowledge changes; new information comes to the market that hasn’t been integrated and therefore as market participants learn of the new information, they respond accordingly. This collective of all participants determines market value.

This isn’t to say that the market always discounts the given information correctly at any given moment for the long term. It merely discounts the information for what is known today and anticipates for the future. Today’s anticipation can be much different than the future’s reality. John Maynard Keynes summed this up well, “When the facts change, I change my mind.

What do you do sir?”

The result of changing information is volatility – changing prices. In times of great uncertainty, the market can change substantially, as the collective is swayed with the

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52 The Rural Voice

emotions that influence behaviors and fears. This conversation leads us to the grain markets, where talk of emotion and changing information and fear all come together often to drive market prices. We have seen this situation in the grain market recently, with wheat prices very active and changing.

Last month, we considered the possibility of a declining Black Sea wheat crop. Remember that the market watches this region’s wheat production, especially Russia’s, very closely as Russia accounts for almost 25 per cent of world wheat exports.

When reports of frost damage, coupled with drought and extreme heat in Russia became widely known, the market responded in a big way.

Russia is not only the biggest export shipper, it is also often the world’s cheapest seller. If their wheat crop was greatly reduced, the ceiling price of world wheat would be higher.

Buyers came aggressively into the market securing supply and covering the price risks that seemed apparent at the time. This rally occurred for a five-week period and resulted in Chicago wheat prices $1.70/bu higher. This increase in price in such a short duration of time is very dramatic, and represents the sentiment at the time, that wheat supplies could have become tight, and the market needed to ration what would potentially be a scarce product. So what happened from here?

The market began to discount reports that Russia received some rains. The crop looked to stabilize from the stress and appeared that it would yield better than the collective once feared. From this realization, as the facts changed, the collective changed their mind also … and prices fell sharply. Currently prices are now below the value they were prior to the Black Sea induced panic.

The market is considering these facts today: Russia is expected to have a reduced crop from last year, but it’s not the disaster that was once expected. In fact, Russian prices are once again cheap in the world market – representing the volume of crop that they have to move and limited

Markets capacity to store.

The U.S. wheat crop is moving along to completion and harvest is wrapping up well in Kansas, the largest U.S. producer. Yields have been solid and U.S. wheat has been priced out of the world market. Also, U.S. row crops are seen as doing well, with the weekly U.S. crop condition report showing the soy and corn crops progressing well.

Hurricane Beryl is bringing much needed moisture to the drier areas of the eastern U.S. corn belt, bringing satisfactory conditions for crop development. With good conditions through the July pollination period you can expect a decent corn crop to be made. Currently the USDA expectation is for a 15.06 billon bushel corn crop, second only to last year’s record of 15.34 bbu.

Old crop inventories are huge.

American farmers hold the largest corn inventory since 1988, squeezed by high production costs and declining prices. As a result, farm stocks are vast. It’s a similar situation with soys, where farm bins hold 44 per cent more stocks than last year.

It’s not just growing inventories and big crops that the market is discounting too. Interest rates remain stubbornly high as the U.S. Fed waits to see evidence that inflation is cooling sufficiently before making rate cuts.

There is also the political situation around the world.

Governments are changing as people show dissatisfaction with the current status quo. The U.S. has an uncertain election ahead with the possibility of tariffs and trade wars being enacted.

And finally we have the prospect of changing biofuel narratives and expectations that I hope to talk about at a subsequent time.

These are the facts facing the grain markets today – and they point to lower pricing. The market is viewing these facts and participants are selling, making a disappointing situation for growers both here and abroad. The only good news in all of this, is that reality does not always match expectations as we have discussed. If the facts change, the market will change its mind too. ◊

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August 2024 53

Woodlots Donna Lacey is a forester with the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority

Dead leaves.

Dead branches.

Dead trees.

A

t this time of year, it is the easiest to see trees that are under stress. The spring rains following interesting winter conditions helped these specimens put up a good front and look like they may be around for the long haul.

Then the hot dry summer conditions move in. Almost suddenly, there are dead leaves, dead branches, dead trees. While these trees put up a good fight, this summer may be their last.

One of the most famous diseases that manifests itself in this manner is Dutch Elm Disease. Typically, in summer trees that are starting to falter due to Dutch Elm Disease will have one branch die-off when in leaf.

This dead branch is often high in the tree and turns a red or brown colour which is in sharp contrast to the rest of the green-leaved tree. This is referred to as “flagging”.

Occasionally, in the first year that

you notice the flagging the entire tree will die. Typically, the tree will die over a period of two to three years.

Leaf scorch is another issue that is fairly common, more often in planted trees, in both deciduous and coniferous trees. Leaf scorch can be the result of a few different conditions. Most importantly, leaf scorch causes irreparable damage.

Leaf scorch could be the result of excessive wind and heat, improper watering, lack of root growth, root damage, and possibly overfertilization. If you have leaf scorch on your tree, you may want to consider corrective pruning and remove the damaged portion.

Damage from leaf-feeding caterpillars and other insects can be visible, and we should all check for egg masses, caterpillars, adults, and cocoons. While trees can handle light amounts of damage, or even heavy damage for one or two years, longer periods of defoliation or heavy feeding can cause tree decline or death. A tree that is not growing in the right location has a better chance of succumbing to stress.

We are all nervously waiting for this season to show us where oak wilt has spread its nastiness. I mention this one as it is important to remember not to prune or otherwise wound oak trees between April and November. This period is to be

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A number of issues can create brown leaves including excessive wind and heat, improper watering and lack of root growth, among others. observed to help avoid exposing trees to the fungal spores that may be present in the air. At the time of writing, there have not been any new finds announced in Ontario.

This disease was first discovered in Ontario in Niagara Falls, then in the Barrie area, and finally in Niagara on the Lake. Oak wilt is known to affect all of the oaks, but red oak is the most susceptible. We have quite a bit of red oak, white oak, swamp white oak, and bur oak, many of the largest specimens are historical plantings and are of significance to many.

In the largest forested wetland in southern Ontario, the Greenock Swamp, there are pockets of red oak and swamp white oak. The wildlife that depends on the mast (acorns/seed) from these trees as well as the shelter that is provided would likely have to relocate as the habitat would be vastly different should these trees be lost in a short period of time due to a disease. A slow or gradual loss of trees would permit the

wildlife to adjust and possibly remain.

From the spring forward many cedar trees have been an interesting brown colour. This browning is caused by the larval stage of the cedar leaf miner that likes to tunnel out the inside of cedar leaves. This insect would have been out in large numbers of small white moths in late June or July. Eggs are laid from July through August. Again, heavy feeding or repeated years of heavy feeding may cause mortality. The only effective control measure for this insect is pruning in the winter to remove dead portions and egg masses.

Another common sighting involving cedar at this time of year is complete mortality due to water level changes. Some cedars are almost red – they die that quickly. Reasons for the fluctuations in water levels can be quite varied. Many times, it is either caused by the actions of humans or beavers.

Newer to our area in the last couple of decades, there has been some damage caused by the larch casebearer which results in the appearance of light brown trees. As the name indicates, this insect lives within a larval case during one of its life stages. The trees take on a brown colour as the larval stage of this insect feeds inside of the needles of the larch which leaves a dying brown skeleton of each needle. The cases of the matured larvae are also brown.

Insecticides may be effective against this pest. There have also been two biological controls introduced to help control this pest. Our native tamarack lives in some pretty sensitive wet areas and provides ecosystem services that few other species offer.

We are on the lookout for many other pests including beech leaf disease, hemlock wooly adelgid, and a possible upsurge in pine false webworm. I sure hope the list doesn’t grow. If you have any forest or tree health concerns, please reach out to a trusted professional as we are all happy to help!

Also, the earlier infestations are noted, the better chance of limiting the spread. ◊

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Agrilaw John D. Goudy is a partner in Scott Petrie LLP Law Firm, and also farms north of London.

Supreme Court talks de facto expropriation again

T

he concept of “de facto” expropriation was the focus of another decision of the Supreme Court of Canada earlier this year. In certain cases, government action outside of expropriation legislation may effectively result in a taking of property, which may entitle a property owner to compensation for the taking. This is known as a “constructive” or “de facto” taking.

There is a presumption that there will be no expropriation without compensation. If government action (often in the form of regulation) removes all reasonable uses of a

property, then the property has been effectively expropriated and compensation may be payable.

Importantly, though, “compensation for the compulsory acquisition of land cannot include an increase in value which is entirely due to the scheme underlying the acquisition.”

This “Pointe Gourde principle”, taken from a 1945 case of the same name heard before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the U.K., flows from the rule that compensation is to be based on the value of property to the owner, not the value to the taker. An owner who suffers expropriation, de facto or otherwise, is entitled generally to be compensated for the market value of the property based on its highest and best use before the taking. If the expropriating authority’s reason for taking the property actually enhances the market value of the property, the property owner does not get to rely on the enhanced value in the calculation of compensation payable.

The Pointe Gourde case involved the expropriation of land in Trinidad for

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use as a quarry from which stone would be taken to construct a nearby naval base. The compensation owing to the owners was to reflect the “value of the quarry as a going concern”. The quarry owners argued that the value of their quarry should include consideration of the higher profits they would make because their stone was to be used for the naval base. The Judicial Council, which was the highest court for cases from Trinidad (as it was at one time the highest court for Canadian cases), decided against the quarry owners.

The increase in the market value of the property was due entirely to the expropriating authority’s plan to build the naval base. The expropriating authority benefitted from a nearby and accessible source of a large quantity of stone, but without the plan for the naval base construction this did not increase the value of the quarry to the owners.

Value to the owner, not value to the taker.

The Supreme Court of Canada addressed similar issues in the recent Canadian case, which originated in Newfoundland. In 1917, a landowner was issued a Crown grant for the purposes of harvesting trees to produce barrels and for firewood.

The grandchildren of the original grantee still own a 7.36-acre portion of the original Crown grant. This remaining land is in a natural state, covered in trees and shrubs, and is located within a watershed area that drains into a river used by the City of St. John’s for its local water supply.

For decades, the land has been made subject to a series of by-laws and regulations prohibiting development in the watershed area.

Since the 1990s, the grandchildren landowners have attempted to obtain permission to develop their property.

In 2011, they asked the City about the possibility of residential development and also other activities such as tree harvesting, farming, saw milling, and the installation of solar panels and wind turbines. The City advised that those uses were not permitted and that the land must be kept “unused” in its “natural state”.

The landowners went ahead in spite of this and applied for permission to

develop a 10-lot residential subdivision. Their application was rejected, in part on the basis of the watershed zoning that prohibited most if not all forms of development on the landowners’ property.

The landowners sued the City of St. John’s in court and obtained a declaration (upheld by the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador and not contested before the Supreme Court of Canada) that their property had been “constructively expropriated”. The Court of Appeal ruled that the City had acquired a “beneficial interest” in the land that consisted of “the right to a continuous flow of uncontaminated groundwater downstream to the City’s water facilities”. While the grandchildren landowners had acquired the land their grandfather had received through the Crown grant, all they had now was a right to keep the land “unused in its natural state”. The Court of Appeal concluded that this was a taking of “virtually all of the aggregated incidents of ownership” and that the

landowners had no remaining reasonable use of the property.

The case that came to the Supreme Court arose from a legal question posed to the lower court in Newfoundland by the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities, the authority tasked with determining the amount of compensation owing to the landowners. The landowners were arguing that compensation should be based on land value as if the watershed regulations were not in place and a medium-density residential development were possible. The City contended that value should be based on a highest and best use of agriculture and forestry that would be acceptable to the City and would not cause adverse impact to the watershed (something possible within the watershed zoning). The lower court in Newfoundland relied on the Pointe Gourde principle and sided with the City. The Court of Appeal in Newfoundland reversed this decision.

The Supreme Court of Canada restored the decision of the lower

court on the basis of the actual finding that the watershed zoning “was an independent enactment and not made with a view to expropriation”. If the city had enacted the zoning specifically for the purpose of reducing the value of the landowners’ land so that it could then take the land for a public use, the value of the land could be determined as if the the land were not subject to the zoning and was eligible for subdivision development.

However, as it was found that the zoning was enacted independent of any plan to “take” (constructively) the land, the landowners were only entitled to compensation based on the value of the land with the watershed zoning regulations in place. ______________________________ John D. Goudy’s law practice includes real property and environmental litigation, expropriation law, energy regulation, and regulatory offences. Agrilaw provides information of interest to the farming community, not legal advice. Readers should consult a legal professional about their particular circumstance.

Hammermills • Blower Systems Automatic Feed Systems Shaving Spreaders

Brian Martin (BJ) 1 (226) 622-8214

nu-maticbrian@outlook.com numatic.ca August 2024 57

People

• By Gary West •

Over 500 dairy farmers attend Twilight Social

T

he directors of the Perth County Holstein Club, and the Schapendonk/Slits family of

Sandy Peaks Dairy, the Perth County annual summer Twilight Social was held June 27 near Brunner Ontario.

Sjoerd Kemmere and TJ Dewit (Perth Holstein Club Directors), present Maik and Bianca Schapendonk of Sandy Peaks Dairy, with artwork, for hosting the Annual County Twilight Social on their Farm in Perth County north of Sebringville, near Brunner.

With over 500 in attendance, the night included a Perth County Pork Producers Pork Chop BBQ and a variety of activities that included a barn tour of this new state-of-the-art dairy facility.

Sandy Peaks Dairy was established in 2018 as a linked facility with Slits Dairy Ltd., as part of their succession plan.

The dairy barn itself was newly built in 2018, with an addition added in 2023 to house dry cows, calving cows and calves, in order to be selfsufficient and run on its own. All cows and heifers are housed in a naturally ventilated barn, and the calf barn has insulation underneath the steel roof and an insulated attic to supply cooler air during the summer months, and warm air in the winter months. To avoid big temperature swings, it is completely mechanically ventilated.

The high production milking herd is housed in a sand-bedded freestyle barn, and they are milked twice a day in a double-12 parallel milking parlour.

Campers learn about gardening and pioneering at day camp

F

or the 4th consecutive year, kids ages 6-12 have been having fun at the Fryfogel Inn/Tavern and Arboretum camp east of Shakespeare, while at the same time, learning crafts of pioneering days, like candle and soap making among others.

Camp leaders Rachel Bedic and Emily Coyne, who also live in the area, say the object of the camp is not only for the young campers to create new friends, but also to learn the way of life in years from the past, the way generations before them lived.

The leaders also say kids are taught ways of gardening and do take home some of the beans and vegetables that are grown from the Tavern’s back yard area, beside the well manicured arboretum. ◊ Photo: Camp leaders Rachel Bedic and Emily Coyne have some fun on Tuesday with their youth group on the lawn beside the Fryfogel Inn east of Shakespeare.

58 The Rural Voice

Field crop competition convenor honoured for volunteerism

By Gary West longtime member of the Tavistock Agricultural Society, was recently honoured by members of the organization at his home in Tavistock.

Doug Shirray joined the Society in 1988 and took on the convener role for the field crop competition in 1991.

According to Society President Kim Orlando, “Doug has always worked very hard at getting competitors, sponsors and judges, as well as adding categories, such as standing hay, coloured beans, and soybeans to the original grain, corn silage and corn classes for the fall fairs’ annual competition”.

“Over the years, he has always taken great pride in driving the judges to view and judge the fields, as well as creating a customized scoreboard for the judges which stream-lines the judging process”.

Acknowledging that giving

A

recognition is the backbone of any cause, Doug also organizes an award dinner for the winners, sponsors, and judges.

President Orlando on behalf of the Tavistock Agricultural Society said “they would like to express their gratitude and thanked Doug for his years of dedication in presenting him

with an honorary plaque in his name”.

The award is given out through the Ontario Association of Agriculture Societies (OAAS) and is called the Years Of Service Award, recognizing individuals who have volunteered their time in support of their local Agriculture Society. ◊

Left to right: Kim Orlando (Agricultural Society President) stands with Doug Shirray, the OAAS‐years of service award winner. Also congratulating Doug was Bill Brown (new convenor of field crop competition) and Chris Wiffen (Ag.Society Secretary)

REBUILD YOUR NATURAL CAPITAL  Nutrient Management Plans  NASM Plans

 Feasibility Studies & MDS  Soil Health

August 2024 59

Schmidt’s Farm Drainage

Drilled Wells, Bored Wells, Pumping Systems

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Specializing in Residential, Agriculture, Irrigation and more Follow on social media @mcleodwaterwells

Specializing in Farm Drainage, Backhoeing & Excavating, GPS includes: mapping grade control & surveying

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Enjoy the best of August Licensed Plumber Are Hard Winters or on Staff High Fuel Prices Draining The ECO Store your Bottom Line?

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Installation • Energy Audits Feasibility Studies • Training

CG Blast • 450,000 BTU approx.

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60 The Rural Voice

• energy independence?

? • reducing your hydro bill? ? ? • reducing your fuel bill?

Sun-Mar Composting Toilets

• Batteries • AGM • Flooded • Surrete • Solar

? • building an off grid home? ? ...then you Better talk to us!

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Rural Voice

Business Centre To place your ad call: 519-523-4311 or email: rvads@northhuron.on.ca Brad Doney Independently Owned & Operated by

B&B Reglazing & Liners Call: (519) 440-3799 Full service to all boats and marine engines

ARGYLE Marine & Small Engines Inc.

33973 Church Camp Rd., Goderich 519-524-5361 Email: argylemarine1960@gmail.com

35642 Huron Rd. Goderich, Ontario N7A 3X8 brad.doney@bathmaster.com www.bathmaster.com

►Quality bathtub reglazing ►Acrylic bathtub liners ►Custom wall surrounds ►Clawfoot tub restoration ►Free in-home estimates ►Tub cut to shower conversion

Horse & Livestock Car, Utility & Recreational any design, hitches trade-ins welcome super after sales service

www.beloretrailers.ca 324025 Mount Elgin Rd. Mount Elgin, Ontario N0J 1N0 Jamie Belore

Profitable, Actionable, Advice Crop Planning SWAT Maps/VR Scripts Soil Sampling Cropwalker Newsletter

phone: 519-485-5358 toll free: 1-877-247-7227 fax: 1-519-485-6129 jbelore@gmail.com

• Farm Lanes • Campgrounds • Driveways • Horse Riding Arenas Brent Pryce 519-525-6295

DL Distributing Dave Mustard 519-794-3334 Authorized Dealer

Tough on Winter, Easy on You Jonathan Zettler CCA-ON, 4R NMS 519-323-7505 jz@fieldwalker.ca fieldwalker.ca

Email: dlmustard2@gmail.com 556735 Strathaven Road, Chatsworth, ON

August 2024 61

B U S I N E S S C E N T R E

WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? I can help with...

REAL ESTATE • Farm, residential, country, cottages, condominiums.

• Thinking of Buying or Selling? Rightsizing? Relocating?

• Market value analysis on your property.

Gladys Munro Realtor® “Welcome to connect with me anytime.”

Direct: 519.389.8242 Office: 519.396.3300 gladysmunro21@gmail.com 926 Queen St. Kincardine, ON

B U S I N E S S

TREE TRIMMING & REMOVAL Any Size. Any Place • FULLY INSURED • FREE ESTIMATES • OVER 18 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

5554 Highway 23 Harriston, ON Office: 519-638-0121 Cell: 226-885-0045 FULL SERVICE: Tree Trimming • Tree Removal • Stump Grinding • Brush Chipping •Thorough Cleanup • Fire Wood & Wood Chips Sales Monday-Friday 7:30 am - 6:00 pm Saturdays on request We accept payment by cash, cheque or E-transfer

C SALES & SERVICE INSTALLATION & PARTS E N T Rissler KEITH SIEMON R FARM SYSTEMS LTD. Perth Rd. 180, R.R. 4, Walton E 81987519-345-2734 (anytime) www.keithsiemonfarmsystems.com email: keithsiemon@tcc.on.ca For Free Planning and Estimates

Also large fold-up steel drum packers, lawn & estate rollers, custom manufactured

RR #2, Arthur, Ont. (519) 848-2799

Also available in 2024 : production contracts for Soybeans, Edible Beans, Sunflowers, Peas contact: Wehrmann Grain & Seed Ltd

RR 1 Ripley, Ontario N0G 2R0 Cell: 519.955.0386 • Office: 519.395.3126 • Fax: 519.395.2935

e-mail: ingasven@hurontel.on.ca

519-531-0355 TEESWATER, ON

Tel. 519-529-7212

mike@steffenwelldrilling.ca

• Agricultural & domestic water wells • Well Cleanouts • Pump Testing • Camera Inspection • Irrigation Wells • Dewatering Services

62 The Rural Voice

Order Now

Organic Growers Wanted

Snowblowers, Quick-attach Buckets, Sweepers, Woodsplitters, Crimper Rollers, Land Rollers, Stone Windrowers, etc. smythwelding.com info@smythwelding.com

RUBBER TIRE PACKER SPECIALISTS

Long term production contracts available for HR Winter Wheat, Winter Barley, Winter Spelt and Winter Canola

STEFFEN WELL DRILLING 37452 Glen’s Hill Road, RR 2, Auburn, Ont. N0M 1E0

PACKERS: WE BUILD

www.wehrmanngrainandseed.ca

Lucknow Auto Parts Supply 37521 Amberley Rd., Lucknow 519-528-2220

Spike’s Auto Parts

252 Queen St., Kincardine 519-396-1515 Email: lap@porters.ca

Your Source of Trees Year Round Explore this year’s inventory of potted trees and larger trees in wire baskets. Stock will become available in April.

Designing, Planting and Tree Spading Available

CUSTOM PROCESSING ———— CUT & WRAP

Tim & Christine Diebel Phone 519-291-4754 Fax 519-291-3968 Email tcdiebel@outbacktreefarm.com 5290 Line 86, R.R. #3 Listowel, ON N4W 3G8 www.outbacktreefarm.com

Howard & Rosanna Brubacher 7335 12th Line RR2 Alma ON, N0B 1A0

519-846-1319

Leadership in energy and environmental design

Devon Henry 519-505-2473 84772 McDonald Line • Box 616 • Brussels

devonjhenry@hotmail.com

Deadline for the September issue of The Rural Voice is August 6

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

-------------------------------------------CONSTRUCTION -------------------------------------------Liquid manure tanks, bunker silos, foundations and pads. All are 100% engineered. Serving Ontario since 1968. De Jong & Sons Ltd. 519-348-0523.

-------------------------------------------FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Available for cover Crops after winter wheat we have forage peas, oat/pea mixes, pure oats and special mixes with radish and brassicas. For pricing contact Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd., 225 Hwy. 21, RR 1, Ripley. Phone 519-395-2972. Ask for Carmon or Mitch.

-------------------------------------------Rosco grain bins for sale - 19' and 14' diameter. Parts available. Used grain bins wanted for parts or reuse. Closed Sundays, 519-3383920.

--------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Glenlee Gardens - strawberries, raspberries, peas, beans, corn, garden greens and colours.

Palmerston Farmers Market every Saturday, call to order or visit the farm Monday to Saturday 8:00am to 8:00pm. 6466 6th Line, Harriston, 519-338-2691.

-------------------------------------------Shade trees, Spruce, White Pine, Cedars, windbreaks and privacy hedges, Shrubs, Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Sweet and sour Cherry Trees at (Emanuel E.M. Martin) Martin's Nursery. 42661 Orangehill Rd Wroxeter ON N0G 2X0.

--------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------HELP WANTED -------------------------------------------Experienced A/Z licence driver, loader/ Excavator Operator - Fulltime position for A/Z driver, experience running heavy equipment an asset; position will include duties around yard/ on job sites as needed. Competitive wages, benefit package. Please email resume to rick@sittlergrinding.com. Office: 519-669-2456 cell 519-588-8400.

-------------------------------------------LIVESTOCK BEDDING -------------------------------------------MIRACLE FIBRE Livestock Bedding.

Also, coarse wood mulch for horse and cattle walkways, wet areas around water troughs and bush lanes. Also available is dairy pack starter bedding. 519-669-2456.

Sittler Grinding Inc. Rick Sittler.

--------------------------------------------

DEADLINE FOR THE SEPTEMBER RURAL VOICE IS AUGUST 6

August 2024 63

-------------------------------------------LIVESTOCK FOR SALE -------------------------------------------SUFFOLK SHEEP - Taking orders now for 2024-born breeding ram lambs and ewe lambs. Several British bloodlines. MV Negative closed flock. Florence Pullen, PO Box 715, Clinton, ON N0M 1L0 519233-7896.

-------------------------------------------LIMOUSIN breeding bulls, quiet, thick, semen tested, guaranteed breeders, delivery included. Posthaven Limousin, John Post, 519-766-7178; John Jr. 519-831-1869. www.posthavenlimousin.com -------------------------------------------Limousin - Yearling and 2-year old Limousin bulls. Semen tested; will deliver.

Smart Limousin, Meaford.

519-372-7459, smartlimo@bmts.com. www.smartlimousin.com -------------------------------------------Red Angus/Simmental bulls for sale. Completed test results available by googling Ontario Bull Evaluation, Silver Springs Farms.

Heifers available bred to an easy calving bull for spring 2025 calving.

Contact us at 519-599-6236 to reserve yours. James, Joan and Robert McKinlay.

-------------------------------------------MARKETS -------------------------------------------Flesherton & District Farmers' Market. A "true farmers' market".

Locally grown, produced, and handmade. 9 am to 1:00 pm.

Saturday's until Thanksgiving. 101 Highland Drive, Flesherton. (Email: market.manager.fdfm@gmail.com) -------------------------------------------RESTORATION -------------------------------------------The Olde Tyme Radio Centre antique radios, clocks, gramophones, telephones; soldestored (vintage autoclock radio repairs). Golden Oldies Antiques For Sale. Belgrave 519357-4304, www.oldtymeradio.ca, oldetymeradiocentre@gmail.com --------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------RETAIL AND GIFTS -------------------------------------------Little Falls Artisan Market Over 100 Artisans to choose from!

Large, varied selection of interesting gift ideas. Headquarters of popular 18 inch doll clothes. 83 Queen St. East, St Mary's; www.littlefallscraftersmarket.com -------------------------------------------SERVICES -------------------------------------------Farm buildings, homes, cottages repaired, remodeled, restored and jacked up. Also roofing, siding, doors, windows, cement work, foundations, piers, framework, decks, doors, fencing, beams, eavestroughing - repaired, replaced or installed. Brian McCurdy 519375-0958/519-986-1781 ------------------------------------------Cronin Poured Concrete Ltd. Since 1976. Liquid manure tanks to 200'. Heights of 8'- 14' (1-pour). All jobs engineer specifications/ inspections guaranteed.

Best firm quote in Ontario.

Mark Cronin. 519-274-5000. www.croninpouredconcrete.ca -------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------SERVICES -------------------------------------------Scrap Metal Recyclers in Perth and Huron Counties.Secondary Resources (Perth) Ltd. The Joyes Family Scrapyards - 62 Years in Recycling Business,Perth East Location: 4546 Line 42, R. R., 1 Sebringville, ON(519) 3935390.Huron County Location: 205 Nelson Street, Goderich, ON(519) 524-7024.Call for Lugger and Rolloff Bin Service for Metal Recycle. Visit our website at www.secondaryresources.ca.Thank you for Recycling!

------------------------------------------Income tax filing for farms, small business, truckers and individuals.

Will make house calls in the North Huron, Perth and surrounding area.

Call Shirley in Wingham.

Cell: 1-705-434-8187.

-------------------------------------------

DONALD A ANDREW ACCOUNTING Accounting & Income Tax Services for FARMS, BUSINESSES & INDIVIDUALS 296 Ross St., Lucknow

Ph. 519-528-3019

GLAVIN BARN & COMMERCIAL PAINTING FARMERS repaint your faded coloured steel FREE QUOTES ~ FULLY INSURED

RR 1 Crediton, Ont. N0M 1M0 (near Exeter)

Call: Jim Glavin 1-800-465-4725 519-228-6247 Eugene Glavin 519-228-6801 Specializing in on Farm Pest Management Serving Southwestern ON, Golden Horseshoe, GTA Email: info@sgsltd.ca

519-692-4232

RESISTS CRACKING & PEELING Water based, solvent free, Liquid Rubber Seal Roof creates an adhered, flexible membrane.

www.sgspestmanagement.ca

EGGER FARMS CUSTOM BALING

SURFACES • Metal (inc. galvanized & aluminum) • Wood • Concrete • Manure Pits • UV Resistant • 3x3 Bales Automatic Acid Applications, Roto Cutter.

Individual Bale Wrapping 6' bales

Call Fritz: 519-292-0138 64 The Rural Voice

-------------------------------------------SERVICES -------------------------------------------

Poultry Labourers Brian's Poultry Services provide professional labour services for the turkey industry for load outs (hand catching or auto loads) and poultry transfers.

Services for pullet / layer growers - vaccinations, pullet loads / placements and spent fowl removal.

For more info call 226-256-7891

DANNY’S

Custom Painting & Sandblasting

-------------------------------------------WANTED -------------------------------------------Dion threshing machine with straw cutter, any condition. McCormick grain binder in good condition.

Phone evenings 905-983-9331.

-------------------------------------------Young farmer looking for land rent, sharecrop, or custom work opportunities. Good environmental stewardship and professionalism.

Short and long term. 519-200-7845 or hundt.chris@outlook.com.

--------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------WANTED -------------------------------------------Farmland - Long or short term.

Cash rent, share crop. Contact Paul at Hill & Hill Farms, 519-233-3218 or 519-525-3137 or email: paul.hill@tcc.on.ca --------------------------------------------

86362 Harper Line RR 1 Lucknow N0G 2H0 (just north of Zion Road)

-------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS --------------------------------------------

Ontario Antique Trucks presents 2024 Seaforth Show at Seaforth Ag Hall, 130 Duke St., Seaforth.

Hosted on Saturday, September 7th, starting at 10:00 a.m.; alongside Seaforth Lions Club hosting “Touch A Truck” event.

Show vehicles free to enter; old pickups welcome. Free admission, food booth, camping, (hydro + water) available, displays, Diecast truck vendors and craft vendors.

RC trucks weather permitting.

Everyone welcome! For more information contact Verdun Zurbrigg, 519-444-8551; Dave Dettmer, 519-808-0965 or Dan Davison, 519-999-4706. Follow us on Facebook for details and updates.

-------------------------------------------WANTED -------------------------------------------Scrap Cars Wanted. 20, 30, 40 yd. scrap metal bins available. We sell quality used auto parts. Wanted to buy - scrap cars, trucks, farm machinery, heavy equipment.

Kenilworth Auto Recyclers. 519323-1113.

August 2024 65

National Farmers Union – Ontario NEWSLETTER ● Strong Communities ● Sound Policies ● Sustainable Farms

H

Phone: 1-888-832-9638 E-mail: office@nfuontario.ca Website: www.nfuontario.ca

Even green thumbs require cultivation ands-on and in-depth agricultural knowledge from seasoned farmers is invaluable and Ignatius’ New Farmer Training Program (NFTP) offers it for

free!

Whether you are new to farming, wanting to branch out into new fields, in need of a refresh, have employees who want to expand their knowledge and/or you’d like to make connections with Ontario’s ecological agricultural community, Ignatius’ on-line NFTP webinars are designed by farmers for you.

“I joined the Ignatius’ NFTP because I aspire to become an organic farmer. I have volunteered at other farms [but] my farming knowledge and experience is very limited…

Ignatius’ NFTP program gives participants a great start in their journey to becoming farmers and I would recommend the program to anyone who has such aspirations.” ~ Fred Khalichi, 2024 NFTP participant If you missed terms 1 & 2 (April to July), not to worry, you can register and catch up on the first 24 webinars, or just handpick the ones that appeal to you most. Participants who complete all four terms (that could be you!) receive a certificate in the Ignatius Farm New Farmer Training Program.

Term 3 (Monday and Wednesday afternoons (September - October) takes a deeper dive into a number of agricultural topics over seven webinars, with potential sessions on medical herbs, advanced composting, seed-saving, cropplanning, and what to look for when buying/renting land.

Term 4 (November 4-20) offers 12 webinars on farm business and entrepreneurship training and will cover everything from farm design, financing, budgets and record keeping, and marketing and distribution, and more.

You also won’t want to miss the virtual and in-person field trips, including an in-person visit to Everdale and Heartwood Cidery on October 2nd.

“I am really enjoying all the learning in the program, especially in the horticultural area. I have enjoyed learning about how to grow crops organically and address specific issues like disease and weeds. The optional, in-person workshops and farm visits have helped cement this learning.” – Andy Marshall, 2024 NFTP

participant To register go to www.efao.ca/ifnftp/ and follow the links. For specific inquiries, please contact farmeducation@ignatiusguelph.ca This programming is a collaborative project with the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, Everdale, and the National Farmers Union – Ontario. Ignatius’ NFTP is an Employment Ontario project funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. ◊

A subscription to The Rural Voice is one of the benefits of being an NFU-O member 66 The Rural Voice

Perth County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER

Henry Groenestege, President * The Rural Voice is provided to Perth County Pork Producers by the PCPPA perthcountyporkproducers@gmail.com

Pork producers use robotic washers to clean pens

By Craig Hulshof t’s not just dairy farmers who have a robot to make life easier for them anymore. Sure, poultry and pork producers have had chain disk and liquid feeding systems to take care of the mundane task of feed distribution, but that isn’t as cool as a robot! Now pork producers have a few different robots available to lighten the load when it comes to pressure washing.

I have been dreaming about having a robotic pressure washer for over a decade. I was picturing a welding robot on wheels that could navigate it’s way around a pig barn using an indoor version of GPS, and a vision system that was smart enough to know when a surface was clean.

It’s a good thing that I never pursued this dream, because today’s robots are a lot more practical and affordable than what I was imagining.

Instead of navigating their way in and out of pig pens, the robots simply drive down the aisle the farmer puts them in, reaching over the gates to access the dirty pens. Instead of a vision system that tells the robot when a surface is clean, a wash speed is programmed by the farmer and adjusted based on experience. Rather than a welding robot with four programmable joints, two is enough to get the job done.

The first wash “robot” that I became aware of was called the wash hand. It was a purely mechanical machine that used the flow of the wash water to drive the motion of the washing arms. Adjustable hard stops were used on the arm joints to limit the range of motion on the wash arms. The robot started at the back of the room and pulled itself to the front by reeling in its hose. The latest version of the wash hand has electric motors to drive its motion with batteries on-board to supply the energy. The speeds of the individual motors can now be set independently.

The wash hand 1.0 cost about as much as half a year’s salary for an

I

employee.

The second wash robot I saw was the EVO cleaner. It is by far the most sophisticated cleaning robot. It has as many programmable joints as an industrial robot, plus it is able to drive down an aisle, read positioning markers, and manage a hose. The farmer records motions as he manually controls the robot with the joystick. These motion recordings are compiled to create a program to clean an entire room. This makes it possible for the robot to clean around obstacles. This robot also has batteries on-board to provide its energy. The EVO Cleaner costs about two years salary for an employee.

The latest pressure washing robot on the Ontario Market is the Wash Power robot. Danish farmers got together with their local welding shop to develop a washing robot that was simpler than the EVO cleaner, but still effective. The Wash Power machine has two programmable joints plus the drive axle which also controls the hose reel. The robot drives up and down the aisle twice (four passes) to wash a room that has pens on one side of the aisle. The motion of the robot is’t programmed, but parameterised. The speeds of the motion of each joint can be controlled, as well as the limits of the range of motion for the spray nozzles, and the angle of the spray nozzles for each pass. This means that any obstacles such as feed tubes and water lines that come down from the ceiling need to be moved out of the robot’s way. The robot’s umbilical cord supplies pressurized water and AC power to the robot. The Wash Power Robot costs about as much as the salary of an employee for a year.

Our farm bought the Wash Power Robot at the end of 2023. Here is what I have learned from our experience with the machine: ● I highly recommend soaking a room with sprinklers for at least three hours before the robot goes through a room, it makes a big difference on the

amount of manual touch-ups that are required afterwards. ● The Wash Power Robot uses a jet of water to remove water from surfaces. This means that it has different flow and pressure requirements than a conventional rotary or fan nozzle that other robots and manual washing uses. We found the jet is sufficiently powerful for doing smaller rooms such as farrowing, nurseries, and finishing pens of 13 pigs using a standard pressure washer. But if you want to cover more area in a large finishing barn, you will need to invest in a high flow, pressure washer. ● Because the wash nozzle of the robot is pivoting back and forth from a single point at a fixed distance into the pen, the Wash Power misses anything that is in a "spray shadow" created by pipes or equipment inside the pen. We do not use the robot in the nursery for this reason. The robot is only able to wash one side of the supporting web of the weaner slats below the surface of the pen which saves no time. If you want to use this type of robot in your nursery, the slats need to be oriented so that the web of the slat is perpendicular to the aisle of the room. ● You also cannot expect this robot to get rid of built-up manure in corners. ● Time savings are not guaranteed. If the finishing room is not presoaked, touch-ups can take just as long as washing a room pre-robot. If your employee thinks it’s their job to spend the afternoon washing a room, they will. It can take time to adjust to doing touch-ups rather than thoroughly washing every surface.

The Wash Power robot cut our manual washing time in half. This has freed up enough time so that our employee who did all the washing can now pitch in and do chores for us on some weekends. We are very happy with the performance of this robot in farrowing and finishing rooms. ◊ August 2024 67

Email: bruce@ofa.on.ca website: brucefederation.ca

NEWSLETTER

519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551 * The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Bruce County by the BCFA

BCFA shares agricultural experience with future doctors

Medical students at University of Western’s Schulich School of Medicine are required to spend a week in rural Ontario to get an understanding rural medicine. BCFA understands the need for farm families to have local family doctors so they take the opportunity to be part of exposing them to rural Ontario. Recently, BCFA hosted six promising students for an agricultural learning day.

The day began with education regarding the dairy industry and information regarding quality milk and the regulations Ontario dairy farmers follow to ensure the highest quality milk to the consumer. Local experts answered questions from the students about cows, calves, balancing rations and various ways cows are milked.

We then traveled to Lang Farms and were toured through the elevators, chemical shed and seed barn. Andy Dales did a great job explaining how the elevator works and discussed chemical storage and handling.

Next stop was Huron Tractor to see

the size of equipment and learn about the hazards, each of the student were able to have a turn driving one of the tractors. Thank you to Todd Wilkie for his time educating the students on the various pieces of equipment, the possible hazards and costs to farmers of equipment.

At the Walkerton Fire Hall, after we had lunch supplied by Harley’s Pub in Mildmay, we had a brief discussion regarding the media and accidents. A list of possible questions the media might have and how best to interact when questioned especially during crisis situations. Also, Clayton Stinson a veterinarian from HanoverWalkerton Veterinary Clinic gave an information presentation on animalinduced injuries and zoonotic diseases that the students might face in their future. Discussing how the human medical professionals can work with animal professionals.

A brief hands-on presentation was made by BCFA/OFA reps regarding PTO’s and how quickly an accident

can happen if safety shields are not used properly.

For the conclusion, local firemen discussed response times and what to expect after an accident. The students were able to tour the facility and test much of the equipment to get a feel for a firefighter’s role in the community.

It was an excellent learning day for our future doctors, and they were impressed with everything that Bruce County has to offer.

Bruce County 2024 Directors Meetings August 26 October 4 - Annual Meeting September 23 November 11

* The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Bruce County by the BCFA.

68 The Rural Voice

519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551 Grey County Federation Email: grey@ofa.on.ca Website: greyfederation.ca of Agriculture * The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Grey County by the GCFA

Sponsors The Building Careers and Futures in Agriculture Bursary (The Bursary) is a charity in support of our future leaders.

The Building Careers and Futures in Agriculture is a financial assistance program for students entering or currently pursuing a post-secondary education with an emphasis on agriculture.

Please support the Future Agriculture Leaders in Grey/Bruce !!

STUDENT APPLICATIONS OPEN UNTIL AUGUST 31 Grey/Bruce residents, entering Documentation required: post secondary education - One page cover letter, and who are interested in explaining education goals careers directly related to and their plans for their agriculture or related future in agriculture. occupations who show - Résumé including a list of leadership and community community and agricultureinvolvement while maintain related involvement and academic achievement. accomplishments.

Applications can be made - Most recent transcript (high school or college/university). until August 31, 2024 by Proof of enrollment completing the application (letter of acceptance or found online with all supporting timetable if current student). documentation.

- Letters of recommendation Winners will be notified on or (from a mentor, employer, before October 1, 2024. They volunteer organization will receive their award at the community leader, etc.)

Annual General Meeting of (maximum of three their respective county to be references please. held in October 2022.

Through support from agricultural entities (individuals, organizations and businesses) we support successful applicants.

Each student can qualify for one bursary in the amount of $1,000 paid out in two installments.

The Bursary is currently solicitating for sponsorship for the 2024 year. If you are interested in financially supporting this initiative (receipts will be provided for all donations) please go to our website bcfabursary.ca or call our office at 519-364-3050 We look forward to your support !

2024 Directors Meetings August 14 September 11 October 18 - AGM November 13

If you require a new SMV sign for your equipment before heading out on the road, contact our office we have some available to members.

* The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Grey County by the GCFA.

August 2024 69

Perth County Federation of Agriculture Office: 1-833-229-6834 Email: perthcountyfedofag@gmail.com Website: www.perthcountyfarmers.ca Derek Van De Walle, President

Leading by example leads to opportunity on a trade mission

By Sara Wood OFA Vice President and PCFA Director any people look at leaders as the person who is standing at the front of the room or the board table when in reality some of the best leaders lead from behind. They are the ones encouraging new people to join the community group or local federation or they encourage new members to speak up and express their opinions.

So often this is vital in ensuring that they feel welcome and allow us all an opportunity to learn and grow.

In the past many years, Perth Federation of Agriculture has had some really strong leadership who have encouraged new members such as Brent Royce and Darryl Terpstra; the list could go on and on.

At the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, we have made a concerted effort to bring along young leaders who have been identified by

M

their community as leaders to learn and grow. These events can be at Queen’s Park with our lobby day, provincially, or to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture meeting.

They allow emerging leaders to be immersed in the board group, create connections for the future and ask questions to further their learning.

Opportunities like this ensure that our emerging leaders feel supported when taking the next step. If it was not for leaders around the Perth table I would not be where I am.

Through encouragement from many in the community, I was honoured to be asked to join in the first-ever United States and Canada trade mission focused on Indigenous and Women in Agriculture. It started with a very casual meet and greet at the U.S. Consulate and continued the next day with a farm tour and open discussion about the challenges and opportunities.

Around the table were farmers,

educators, government officials and industry leaders from across Canada and the United States. Many times, as a leader, it feels that our issues are local. However, listening to others around the table reminded me that we are a small part of the population but our issues are common across many areas.

Opportunities like this do not come often and I am grateful for those before me who have helped to pave the way for future generations to have these conversations.

While many community groups are struggling to have emerging leaders, I would encourage you to reach out to people in your community and encourage them.

Sometimes all it can take is someone reaching out to help them take the step. Find a friend and take them to a community group or local federation meeting or event. Even if they don’t partake right away you can always sow the seeds for the future. ◊

Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s vice president, Sara Wood (second from left) recently took part in a women’s roundtable as part of the first U.S./Canada trade mission with a focus on Indigenous and women in agriculture. * The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Perth County by the PCFA.

70 The Rural Voice

Index

Bautec Industries Inc ..................55 Bernie McGlynn Lumber ............49 Bervie Supply Energy ................60 Bester Forest Products ..............55 Britespan Building Systems Inc....9 Bruce County Heritage ......Cover 4 Bruce County Plowing Match ....43 Canadian Co-operative Wool ....59 Chalmers Fuels............................33 Clinton Skating Club ..................45 Creative China Decorating ........47 Cover Crops ................................26 Crafter’s Corner ..........................38 Crop Quest Inc ............................59 Cross County Eavestrough ..........7 Daytrips & Destinations........34, 36 Easy Lift Doors Ltd ......................14 Egger Farms ................................64 Fairs ................................40, 41, 42 Farm To Table ............................36 Feeney Design Build ..........Cover 3 Green Valley Heating Inc ............21 Grey-Bruce Construction ..........34 GRK Products ............................33 Hanover Honda ............................10 Hardi North America ..................56 Hayden Water Wells ....................16 Hidden Home Wood Products ....19 Highland Fuels & Supply ............54 Hill & Hill/Varna Grain ........Cover 2 Hoffmeyer’s ..................................6 Honey ....................................2, 3, 4 Huron Cty Plowing Match ....28, 29 H-P Public Health ..................19, 27 Huron Pioneer Thresher’s ..........43 JA Porter Holdings Ltd ................19 Kenpal Farm Products ................71 LAC ................................................7 Lakeside Shelving & Racking ....47 Legge Fitness ..............Back Cover Live Landscape ..........................47 Mapleview Agri Ltd ....................49 Marquardt Farm Drainage Ltd ....53 Martin Farm Wagons ..................52 Martin’s Nursery ..........................47 May Apple Financial ....................11 McLeod Water Wells Ltd ............60 Moore Hemsworth Insurance ......13 Morris Sachs Silo Construction ..34 Nature’s Wave Inc ........................12 Nu-Matic Systems Inc ................57 Nuclear Waste Mgt ....................65 Nuhn Forage ................................11 OFA ....................................Cover 3 Perth Cty Plowing Match ......13, 17 Port Maples ..................................21 Preserve & Store..........................15 Progressive Ag Safety ..................7

RCS Forestry Mulching ..............53 Riverside Welding & Mfg. ..........25 Rural Voice Books ..............Cover 6 Schmidt’s Farm Drainage............60 Schweiss Doors ..........................38 Seifried Farm Equipment ............51 Shetler’s Garden Centre ............47 Snobelen Farms ..........................23 Stones ‘n More ............................47 Superior Barn Painting ......Cover 5 SWO Diesel Inc ..................Cover 5 Townsley Barn Painting ..............64 Varna Grain/Hill & Hill ........Cover 2 WD Hopper & Sons ......................8 Waddell Engineering ..................23

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James Cotton Navan, ON 613.835.2780

Greg Knops Spencerville, ON 613.340.1045

Brian Bradley Oshawa, ON 905.576.5286

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Jason Teeple Emo, ON 807.275.8467

Doug Eidt Mitchell, ON 519.301.0794

Stephen Hamilton Clarendon, QC 819.647.8230

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August 2024 71

HURON

42 First Avenue, Clinton, Ontario N0M 1L0 519-482-9642 or 1-800-511-1135

County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER

Website: www.hcfa.on.ca Email: ofahuron@tcc.on.ca

Upcoming Events

Congratulations to our 2024 Scholarship winners: Kaitlyn Rylaarsdam (F.E. Madill), Roy VanBeets (CHSS), Megan Govier (St. Anne’s) and Niah Dawson (G.D.C.I.).

Good luck to all in your studies.

We are collecting nominations for the annual Huron County Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture Award.

Please include in the nomination the name, address, phone number of your nominee. Your nomination should include an explanation for the nomination such as the person or groups contribution(s) to agriculture and rural life in Huron County. Please send nominations to the HCFA office - deadline is October 4th.

Get Your Tickets!

The Huron County Federation of Agriculture is hosting its Annual/Regional meeting on Friday, November 1st at the Clinton Legion. The Guest Speaker will be Sara Epp, Assistant Professor School of Environmental Design & Rural Development at the University of Guelph. Tickets are $20 per person.

Contact the HCFA for tickets.

August 3rd Food Day Canada - A day to celebrate and show appreciation for Canadian food all the way from the field to your fork.

August 5th Civic Holiday August 5th 4-H Dairy Show at Lucknow August 15th Junior Plowing Match August 16th Huron County Plowing Match hosted by Warden Glen McNeil at the Vermue Family Farm 36118 Bayfield River Road, Bayfield August 16-18th Bayfield Fair bayfieldfair.ca August 24th Zurich Bean Festival For details visit beanfest.ca

HCFA Board Meeting

Monday, August 26th 8:00 pm Vanastra Office

OPP Non-Emergency Line 1-888-310-1122

Room for Rent

It’s Harvest time so let’s make FARM SAFETY a priority. A dedication to farm safety will hopefully ensure a safe harvest season for all. Farm safety practices and awareness apply to those on the road, in the field and anywhere farm equipment can be found. The HCFA continues to distribute new slow moving vehicle signs to farmers in Huron County to replace faded, damaged or missing signs. We have a limited number of signs available so please contact us if you are interested in a new sign.

The HCFA has a board room available for rent for $40 including HST. Call the HCFA office at 519-482-9642 ext 2 to book your meetings.

Huron Federation Office Hours Monday 9­12 and 1­4 Alternate Fridays 9­12 and 1­4

The Rural Voice is provided to all OFA members in Huron County by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture

72 The Rural Voice

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GLUTEN-FREE BAKING CLASSICS These recipes use precise mixes of nonwheat-based, gluten-free flours that only the baker need know are allergy safe.

Gluten-Free Baking Classics is designed for all skills levels, from beginner to seasoned. The book also explains why baking wholesome and delicious breads, muffins, cakes, and other items is so important for emotional and physical wellbeing $30.50

THE BACKYARD GOAT This is the complete beginner's guide to raising goats at home.

Whether you want to raise goats for their milk and fiber or keep them as pets or companion animals, this book covers all the essentials.

You'll also learn how to milk, shear, breed, raise newborn kids, and more. $22.95

PIES, PIES & MORE PIES This book features nearly 80 recipes for everything from a cherry tomato pie with basil and mozzarella to a classic French tarte tatin to a decadent chocolate cheese pie. Also includes sweet potato pie with thyme and blue cheese, vol-au-vent, chicken pot pie, and rustic double-crust apple tart, to name just a few. $12.95

POCKET BOOK OF MACRAME Everything you need to know about macrame: how to choose a support, how to keep an even tension and how to introduce extra embellishments such as beads, shells and charms. It is structured as a simple 3-step course that will help you progress from bronze to gold as your skills and confidence grow $19.95

GLUTEN-FREE BAKING CLASSICS THE BACKYARD GOAT JOHN DEERE WORD SEARCH LETTERS TO A YOUNG FARMER PIES, PIES & MORE PIES POCKET BOOK OF MACRAME THE LIVING GREAT LAKES THE CROCHET ANSWER BOOK

JOHN DEERE WORD SEARCH Stimulate your mind and test your skills with more than 250 word search puzzles celebrating all things John Deere. This collection contains a fantastic variety of puzzles to satisfy beginner and expert puzzlers alike and offers a much-needed brain boost for hours of entertainment. $16.95

LETTERS TO A YOUNG FARMER This book is for everyone who appreciates good food grown with respect for the earth, people, animals, and community. Three dozen esteemed writers, farmers, chefs, activists, and visionaries address the highs and lows of farming life—as well as larger questions of how our food is produced and consumed—in vivid and personal detail. $32.95

THE LIVING GREAT LAKES The most complete book ever written about the history, nature, and science of these remarkable lakes at the heart of North America. It is also the narrative of a six-week voyage through the lakes and beyond as a crewmember on a tallmasted schooner, and a memoir of a lifetime spent on and near the lakes. $27.00

Qty.

$30.50 $22.95 $16.95 $32.95 $12.95 $19.95 $27.00 $22.99

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Total for Books Shipping & Handling $9.00 Canada Post Fuel Surcharge $4.00

Subtotal 5% GST on Subtotal Order Total

THE CROCHET ANSWER BOOK From beginning basics like yarn styles, stitch types, and necessary tools to detailed outlines of more advanced techniques this book delivers straightforward guidance and plenty of encouragement. $22.99

Send cheque or money order for full amount to: Books: North Huron Publishing P.O. Box 429, Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 or call and pay by credit card 519-523-4311 MAIL BOOKS TO: Name:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Address: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ______________________ Code _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Phone: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Prices subject to change with increases in wholesale prices, postage, taxes, etc.

Please refer to current issue for correct figures. Incorrect payment will delay delivery.

Let us help your business reach the height of efficiency Our team can help your business reach its true potential.

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