The Rural Voice - February 2024

Rural Voice February 2024

The

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THE ‘PDQ’ MODEL From milking sheep to creating sheep cheese, Ellis Morris made the switch “pretty darn quick”.

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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

27

Publisher: Deb Sholdice

22 Columns Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Keith Roulston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Kate Procter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Jeffrey Carter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Mabel’s Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Woodlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Agrilaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

18 FEBRUARY 2024 • Cover Photo Ellis Morris of Oxford County Photo by Jeff Tribe

• Deadlines: March Issue –Feb. 06 April Issue – March 05

18 Red Dragon Dairy

Life takes its twists and turns but content is the man who finds new joy at each bend

22 Watch them Walking Locomotion scoring is key to dairy cattle with good feet

Departments 27 Unique Partnership Ruralite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Business Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Newsletters National Farmers Union . . . . . . . . . .50 Perth County Pork . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Grey County Federation . . . . . . . . . .52 Bruce County Federation . . . . . . . .53 Perth County Federation . . . . . . . . . .54 Huron County Federation . . . . . . . . .56

A beef farmer in Grey County and a cash cropper in Chatham are sharing their success story

31 Talk, Listen, Wait

Editor: Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot rveditorlisa@northhuron.on.ca Contributing writers: Keith Roulston, Kate Procter, Jeffrey Carter, Rhea Hamilton Seeger, Arnold Mathers, Donna Lacey, Melisa Luymes, Carolyn Crawford, Bonnie Sitter, Jeff Tribe Advertising Sales: Shelley Kroes rvads@northhuron.on.ca Production co-ordinator & Telemarketing: Joan Caldwell 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: $25 (12 issues) $45 (24 issues), includes HST Back copies $2.75 each.

Make cheques payable to: NORTH HURON PUBLISHING CO.

When succession planning, it takes practice to learn when to talk and when to be silent

34 Chocolate for Valentines!

Baker Carolyn Crawford delivers some tasty recipes using chocolate for the month of love

39 Dairy Code of Conduct

New rules for dairy farmers come into effect April 1

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.

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2 The Rural Voice

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Ruralite

He’s happy because he can put animals in his barn and I’m happy because I’ve got a good source of quality milk. ~ Ellis Morris, on finding sheep milk to make sheep cheese at Red Dragon Dairy.

See page 18

Fun With Words

”

●I tried to come up with a carpentry pun that woodwork. I thought I nailed it but nobody saw it. ● Did you know that muffins spelled backwards is what you do when you take them out of the oven? ● I was walking in the jungle and saw a lizard on his hind legs telling jokes. I turned to a local leader and said, “That lizard is really funny!”

He replied, “That’s not a lizard. He’s a stand-up chameleon.”

•

Scheduling “The best schedule is the one that gets done. Hoof trimming is something that has to be done on a regular basis and has to be adhered to. Do not let it slip. Having a schedule and sticking to it is critical.” ~ Professor David Kelton during a panel on dairy cattle lameness .

See page 22

February INSPIRATION

“For the sake of humanity it is devoutly to be wished that the manly employment of agriculture and the humanizing benefits of commerce would supercede the waste of war and the rage of conquest; and the swords might be turned into ploughshares, the spears into pruning hooks and as Scripture expresses it, “the nations learn war no more.”

— George Washington

•

Neil’s One-Liners (Wisdom from McGavin Files)

● You are in good shape if

you are too busy to worry

Prickly Pear Valentine

Prickly pear cacti dot the plains in hill country near Austin, Texas where one heart-shaped section was fruiting during a recent family vacation. ~ Photo by Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

in the daytime and too

•

tired too worry at night.

February 2024 3

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

Bosses with compassion It was a Dutch voice I heard yelling “are we still the boss on our own farms” after Steve Runnalls presented highlights from the new Dairy Code of Practice at Grey Bruce Farmers Week.

I was embarrassed but not surprised. I meet many farmers, steeped in independence, representing all different cultures, who are antigovernance and seemingly antienvironment.

But I meet more who are intentional about animal welfare and keen to drive the industry forward by with transparency about their best practices. Moreover, there are more and more farmers willing to sacrifice

short-term profitability for long-term gain to protect their soils, ensure clean water and farm in a way that aligns with leaving a farm behind that their grandchildren can be proud of. You can read about that in the beef partnership story where a cash cropper, eager to add cattle to his farm, is doing it for joy, for profitability, and to improve his soils.

I’m not the one milking cows anymore so I’ll put that out there first.

Being the one working with cattle makes for a different mindset than the person living in an “ideal-world” where emotion overrides practicality.

However, I was a dairy farmer most of my life and from what I can see, all changes in the new Dairy Code of Practice align with basic animal stewardship.

Should cows tied up in stalls be let out once a day to exercise and socialize? Absolutely. It’s going to make for happier cattle with better feet so it makes sense from a production standpoint anyway. Should you be using a cattle prod on a cow that physically can’t get up? No, you

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shouldn’t. It’s cruel and pointless.

Have some patience, surround her with bedding material, and give her a chance to calm down, collect her wits and encourage her. Jeepers, would you like to be zapped if you fall over and hurt your hips?

Exercise and socialization are mandated for dairy cattle in the new Dairy Code of Practice Pain medication for dehorning and sore hooves is also a no-brainer. These are sentient beings. They think. They feel. They can be bossy, submissive, empathetic, rammy and affectionate, depending on their personalities.

Anyone who has trained a 4-H calf will remember that connection to their project. That 4-H calf became the friendliest cow in the barn, easy to work with, docile to lead and always a barn favourite.

Dairy farming is a business and rightly so. Farms feed families via hard work and management. In dairying, all the profits to be had, and joy in the farming lifestyle, comes on the backs of those cows. They are the breadwinners and those bodacious beauties that deserve the best care possible.

So, yes, we are still the boss of our own farms. We are also responsible for best practices and living in the current climate of consumer awareness, social responsibility and animal welfare.

“They” are asking us to do our best by our animals but we shouldn’t need their prodding. I say “be a boss” and “be a man or woman” and do what we, from the beginning of time, should be doing: “take care of our ladies”! ◊

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Keith Roulston Keith is former publisher of The Rural Voice.

He lives near Blyth, ON.

We need to get together I talked to my neighbour this morning as we were both dropping off our Blue Boxes for pickup and he was preparing to go on to the barn to feed his cattle. I must admit it was the first time in a couple of months that we’d chatted.

From another of my neighbours I understand that I’m likely the shirker here. He speaks more regularly with our neighbours and knows what’s going on. It may be because he’s still farming while I live among farmers but don’t farm.

Still, in reading Lisa BoonstoppelPot’s story about Perth County farmer Tom Melady in last month’s Rural Voice, I realize we’ve

generally lost something. Speaking at a S.H.E.D. (Sustaining Healthy Farms Through Empowerment and Dedication) meeting, he said that 70 years ago there were 100 families on farms of 100 acres in a rural block of 10,000 acres. There were churches and community centres and card parties and church suppers and grocery stores. Neighbours talked to neighbours across the back fence.

Today, there are 10-15 active farmers each running about 1,000 acres. “The local church has closed, a community centre is less active, we shop at Costco and there is no back fence to talk over,” Melady said. “In fact, they are so busy, there isn’t time to talk.”

But as someone who grew up on a farm in the era Melady talks about, I’d say another thing doesn’t exist anymore – and is sorely missed.

When I was growing up, a part of social life on the farm was the Farm Forum. In the winter time our neighbours, like farmers all over Canada, would get together to discuss an important subject, with the staff at the radio program providing

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Following the radio broadcast, there would be a series of questions to discuss, a secretary would sum up the discussion, and write down the general feeling about each question to be sent to Farm Radio Forum and then people would get on to the real fun of the evening – card games – and everything ended with lunch.

I don’t know about Melady’s neighbourhood but we still have a family on every 100 acres in my neighbourhood – it’s just that only a few of them still farm. But maybe it’s even more important that farmers and non-farming neighbours discuss things and share conclusions.

Even though, because of my job, I kept up with many of the general trends in farming, probably more than my non-farming neighbours, the farm world has changed so much that there is much for all of us nonfarmers to learn.

When I was growing up, farms were still pretty much the same. We had one neighbour who had a larger dairy herd than the rest of us, but most people still milked cows. Most of us separated cream from the milk and took it to the creamery in Lucknow. We fed the milk to pigs which we either shipped or sold at the local auction (with the odd pig making roasts, chops and sausage for our table).

We raised cattle following the same process: most sold to men who shipped them to market in Toronto, some sold at the local auction with the odd one finding its way to the family table.

How things have changed. The rest of the farm my house used to belong to is now rented to a large cash-cropper who grows thousands of acres of corn, soybeans and wheat, often using equipment that my father would hardly recognize because it’s so big.

Most of the farmers, though they specialize, are older, now nearing retirement. They tend to specialize, one milking dairy cattle, one growing chickens and raising hogs. Several keep market cattle.

I think something like Farm Forum which brings farmers and non-farmers together would be educational to both sides.◊

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

On aging gracefully

F

or me, 2023 will go down as the year we lost my Uncle Charlie, about six weeks shy of his 100th birthday. He was doing his daily walking exercises in his residence when he fell, fracturing bones in his spine and hip. Taken by ambulance to the Alexandra and Marine General Hospital in Goderich, he never returned home.

Having been named as his POA for personal care, I have learned a lot about aging over the past couple of years. I had a lot to learn. While I felt honoured to have been entrusted with

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Because of this role, I had the opportunity to sit with Uncle Charlie through several trips to the emergency room. While spending a beautiful sunny day waiting to be seen, knowing that his age and his not-so-serious condition could put him at the bottom of the list, might seem like something I should be hopping mad about, that was not the case on that day.

We were there for seven hours.

They are seven hours I never had time for before. Uncle Charlie had lived an amazing life and I was amazed every day by his active mind and determination. On that particular day, he did not have his trusted Kindle with him, so he didn’t have access to any of the 200+ books he had downloaded. It was important to him to keep learning about quantum physics, how to cope with dementia in your loved ones, and world

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politics. So he talked. He told me stories I had never heard before.

Stories about his time spent as a soldier, training in Canada and then working in England. Thankfully, the war ended before he had to go to the front line, but he had his adventures too. I tried to envision him, a little younger than my sons are now – leaving home, flying across the ocean, preparing to battle an enemy who in reality, was embodied by a group of young men much like him.

Uncle Charlie had always been mechanically inclined and he worked for the local radio station, CKNX, before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was able to continue using these skills, helping with communication once in England. He told me some rather hair-raising stories of riding motorcycles and hitchhiking when he had days off.

He had kept a small package of documents from those days, which paints a bit of a picture of the life he lived at the time. His “Statement of War Service Gratuity” from the Department of National Defence detailed his payment for stepping up to serve his country. For 1063 total days of service, of which 318 qualified for a twenty-five cents per day bonus for “Qualifying Overseas Service”, he was paid a total of $387.01, in four monthly installments. While he didn’t know it would happen at the time, I am happy to report that he has continued to receive some financial support for bravely volunteering.

There were a couple of letters saved in the package as well – including one to his little sister, Ruth, who was not even 10 at the time. I tried to imagine him, across the ocean, living in a different country, preparing for the unknown, yet taking the time to write to his little sister.

After the war, Uncle Charlie worked for the Atomic Energy Research Facility located in Chalk River, Ontario, before moving on to help build early warning radar stations on the Pine Tree Line – a job that took him across Canada. He was also employed by the Burroughs Corporation, which at the time, was one of the largest producers of main-

frame computers in the world. All of this before 1963, when he returned to the farm and became a founding partner of Bodmin Limited, with my dad, George, and other brother, Ross.

Always an adventurer, he travelled around the world more than once.

His passports tell the stories – and the stamps provided an interesting way to imagine him travelling at a time when it wasn’t as common or easy as it is now. Perhaps one of his biggest adventures started in August 1976, when he quietly left on a trip to Scotland and returned with a surprise - his new wife, Grace. Together they built a loving home, enjoying antique car restoration, gardening, raising sheep, and entertaining friends and family.

Uncle Charlie embraced the changes he saw throughout his life, while holding onto his skills, interests, and talents. Having taken up the bagpipes as a young man, he taught countless students with his patient and quiet manner, and held the role of pipe major for many years. As a member of the Ontario Massed Pipe Band, he travelled to the UK and played for the Queen.

As I reflect on 2023, I am grateful for the time that I had with my Uncle Charlie. His mind, active and busy right up until the last day of his life, had him reading and doing his own online banking, which kept him engaged and learning. He loved coming up with ingenious solutions for pesky problems. He joined our Procter Rockets team in the Great Cycle Challenge and logged 500 km each August on his stationary bike during the past two summers.

In spite of the fact that his last few weeks were spent in the hospital, patiently healing, he never complained, never spoke of pain or suffering, but rather would ask us how we were doing. The last time I talked to him, he was teasing my sister and me about our ongoing house bat problems – and we discussed possible solutions. He will serve as an inspiration and an example of aging gracefully – adapting and continuing to be engaged in life in whatever way he was able. ◊

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Airplane!

A

few years back, a mom and her three children moved into the house next door. The youngest, a little girl who in a few months would be attending prekindergarten classes, embraced the idea of having become our neighbour from the start. We had introduced ourselves, Marie and I, soon after they had arrived.

For the girl, a diminutive creature topped with blonde curls and possessing seemingly boundless energy, Marie was simply Marie but I was ‘Neighbour.’

‘M’ would watch for our departure or arrival that summer, rushing over, shouting, “Neighbour!

Neighbour!” and grasp me about the legs, her older sister eventually arriving to pry her away, much to my relief. A handful of strawberries or raspberries, passed over the back fence were her delight and when the fruit was gone, she would settle for flowers, dandelions even, placing them in a little vase and, upon taking our advice, adding a bit of water.

Marie had M over for tea a couple times, served in wee cups, with a cookie on the side. Never did we let her out of our sight, fearing a fall from the elevated playhouse on our property or some other mishap.

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then months. Finding it difficult to make ends meet, the mom decided yet another move was in order and found another home to purchase a couple thousand miles away.

We had the family over on our back porch for the first time the evening before they left.

In thinking of M, I am reminded of my boyhood friends in Oxford County.

The boys from the farm on the hill worked hard and played hard, as did their cousins, all descendants of folks who managed to escape the poverty of the old world to better themselves.

I think of them often. The elder was known as ‘Moose’ in the neighbourhood and his brother, little more than a year the younger, was Rocky. You may well remember the cartoon that inspired the names.

Back then, small square bales composed of hay or straw were commonplace. We would build forts in our mow, the boys and I, and being of a calculating nature, I would create my own and dare the boys to find me.

They never did.

The trick was to create one hidden location and then, digging deeper, yet another below it, using a few boards for support, where one could lie undetected. It is a wonder no one suffocated.

Rocky, a solid little square of a boy, fell one day, an incident I remember well having watched his descent. He was attempting to navigate the second beam in our barn, a tricky maneuver for a young fellow, and lost his grip. Down he went, first bouncing off the top of the henhouse, then off the hay chute and finally landing on the planks below.

Had he rolled then in the wrong direction at that point, he may well have made it all the way down to the mangers below.

No bones broken, but perhaps a bit shaken.

Rocky and Moose and their cousins seemed fearless to me, or perhaps a bit reckless. They told me of the incident at the bottomless pool along the creek. Rocky somehow found himself in the dead of winter all but submerged, clinging to roots at its edge. Moose hadn’t the strength

to lift him out and so he called their mom, who charged down the hill to the rescue.

She was a sensible woman, so no punishment was meted out, only hot chocolate, a warm quilt next to the stove in the kitchen and a prayer of thanksgiving.

Being a bit of a know-it-all, the boys from the hill would tell me of adventures in which I had not participated, hoping to stir a little jealousy in my being. One involved a game they had named Airplane! They played it with their cousins who, if anything, were a bit rougher around the edges than themselves.

It took place in the upper level of their barn, starting above the second beam. Down below was pile of hay – “hardly any hay at all,” according to Moose.

One bale represented the fuselage of the plane and a second, laid across lengthwise, the wings. Then the pilot, co-pilot and passengers would all climb aboard and the plane would take flight, or so they imagined. No smooth landing. Only a tangle of limbs and laughter.

Thinking upon the escapade, perhaps it was the weight of the bales that helped absorb the shock.

M would no doubt have relished such fun. On the evening of her family’s departure, she was nearly frantic with excitement, rushing in and out of our house from back porch as we chatted with her mom and elder sister and the mom’s boyfriend who was to be left behind. At one point, I slid the screen door shut and the girl, unaware, ran full force into it, flying back 10 feet.

She lay there, dazed for a moment and, determined not to cry, swallowed her tears.

I laughed, inappropriately perhaps, but laughed I did, long and hard. The next morning, when the large moving truck was fully loaded and the family van in tow at the rear, I watched for their departure.

M and I exchanged a long glance, something akin to anger in her eyes, sadness in mine and then, they left.

Children are resilient, which is a blessing these days, though scars can still accumulate, and some hurts ever go away. ◊

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“In case anybody’s interested,” Molly Whiteside told the guys at Mabel’s Grill as she delivered the menus to their table the other morning, “Mabel’s made up some cupcakes decorated for Valentine’s Day for customers to take home.”

“I’ll warn my neighbour, the teacher,” Dave Winston said. “She has some kids who bring her cupcakes every Valentine’s Day .”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Molly said.

“I’ll remember for my kids when Valentine’s Day comes around.”

“Yeah, maybe Mabel will have some cupcakes left over that you can get cheap,” Cliff Murray joked.

“Oh you are nasty,” Molly said, playfully slapping his shoulder.

“Sometimes that would come in handy,” observed George Mackenzie.

“I remember I was in about Grade 4

when there was a big winter storm that was a surprise and we got stuck at school for three or four days with nothing to eat until some neighbours brought food on snowmobiles. Of course that was in January, well before when kids would have cupcakes for the teachers.”

“I don’t imagine kids took cupcakes for the teacher way back then anyway,” Dave said.

“It wasn’t that long ago,” George objected.

“Yeah, I remember when we used to buy those packaged Valentine’s cards and take one for every kid in the class,” said Cliff.

“Wendy, my neighbour, tells me kids grow up fast these days and by about grade five or six they skip the whole Valentine’s card-giving bit,” Dave said.

“Valentine’s Day isn’t a real holiday anyway,” George said. “It seems like such a long month, even if it is the shortest month of the year,” “And it’s a day longer this year because it’s a leap year,” Dave said.

“Oh no!” exclaimed George, “I can’t find the energy to stagger to the

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end of February, let alone leap.”

“I guess that’s why they came up with Family Day on February 19,” said Cliff.

“I forgot about that,” George said.

“Do I still get it when my family’s all grown up and away?”

“Or you can go to Manitoba,” Cliff said. “They have a holiday for Louis Riel Day on February 19. “ “Louis Riel? Wasn’t he a bad guy back in history? Didn’t they hang him?” George wondered.

“Yeah but that was back in the days before they rewrote history,” Dave said dryly. “Now he’s a hero!”

“Well the Americans know how to celebrate their history,” Cliff said.

“They have a holiday for George Washington’s birthday on February 22,” “Yeah but they also have Donald Trump!” Dave said.

“Now let’s not forget Mabel’s rules about not talking politics,” Molly scolded.

“Heavens, I may move in here for all of 2024 if it makes Trump go away,” Cliff chuckled.

“I feel the same way about Justin Trudeau,” George snarled.

“When it comes to Donald Trump I wish Mabel could extend her rules to the entire U.S.,” Dave grumbled.

“There’s entirely too much about him on television every day.”

“I guess you watch too much American television,” Molly said.

“I don’t know: between the U.S. election and all Trump’s trials I suspect we’re going to hear far more than we want to, even on this side of the border,” Cliff sighed.

“Yeah, it sort of ruins your appetite,” grumbled Dave.

“Which is one of the reasons Mabel forbids discussions on politics,” Molly said. “So I better get your orders before you lose all interest in food.

Despite their distaste for American politics, the guys ordered full breakfasts.

“It’s not fair,” Dave argued when she left. “I’ve been down to Florida for a break and people down there only have to see politics from one side of the border. They don’t even know who Justin Trudeau is.”

“Gee, the U.S. isn’t all bad”, George chuckled.◊

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

Thoughts are not facts Over the last few years, my February columns have been the hardest to write, both because I’ve written about mental health and because I’m writing from the middle of my own winter slump. But let’s just continue the tradition, shall we?

I’ve been getting some projects done around the house and one evening I cut and installed chair rail trim alone, and in an old house without square corners. It was immediately obvious that this was a job for two people, but I persisted even as my patience with myself grew thinner and the cursing got

louder. When I cut an eight-foot piece too short by a quarter inch, it was the last straw and I just lost it on myself.

After a few moments I sat on the floor and started to tear up. “You’re so mean,” I replied quietly to myself.

I could feel there were at least three parts of myself having an argument on the floor. There was a perfectionist part needing the trim to look good, an impatient part that just wanted the job done and an independent part that didn’t want to ask for help. And they all had a point.

But even more interesting was the fact that I could take a step back and just watch my thoughts, observing the three (or more) characters fighting it out, not even sure which one was me.

Many years ago, a therapist had explained to me how we have many parts to ourselves and, like actors on a stage, they come out for their roles as required. Sometimes a certain actor can dominate a scene or go off script and ruin the whole show.

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“So, I have multiple personality disorder,” I joked. My therapist didn’t laugh. (No, that is serious.)

People naturally have these different parts or archetypes within us. And none of these characters are really us.

If anything, the real us is the director of the play, the one that can observe the thoughts.

“Don’t believe everything you think,” someone once told me (and it’s the title of a great book too!) Our minds are not reliable narrators. How we see the world is not how the world really is. And goodness, isn’t that a relief?! Because our thinking is the main source of our suffering.

This isn’t a new philosophy, and I recently went down a wee rabbit hole about Eastern philosophy on YouTube, with comedian Jim Carrey of all people - and if anyone knows about playing characters, it is Jim Carrey. He talks a lot about letting go of the ego, the internal character that tells us we’re not good enough, that won’t let us rest. In a podcast, Carrey said “depression is caused by your body saying ‘eff’ you, I don’t want to be this character anymore, it is too much for me.” He then borrows from Jeff Foster that reframed the word ‘depressed’ into the need for “deep rest” from the exhaustion of our false narratives.

But OK, wait. If suffering comes from our thoughts, then the quickest way to end our suffering is to just stop thinking! And yes, that’s what Lao-Tzu meant by “stop thinking and end your problems.” Mindfulness is meditation focusing only on your breath and on the present moment, without any thoughts. With practice, we can train our monkey minds to rest for more than a few moments at a time.

Another powerful way to get relief and freedom from one’s thoughts is to ask yourself some questions, from ‘the Work’ by Byron Katie. First you need to catch the thought and name it. Our painful thoughts are often exaggerated; sitting on the floor with the trim, some of the thoughts of my perfectionist, impatient and independent parts were “you’re no good at anything”, “you always take

too long doing things”, and “no one wants to help you”. Let’s use the last one for an example.

Once you’ve identified the thought, one by one, Katie has four gentle questions. 1) Is it true? and 2) Can you absolutely know it is true?

(In this case, none of my thoughts were true, and spoiler alert, the answer to question 2 is always no.

We simply cannot know if our thoughts are true or not.) Then 3) What happens when you believe that thought? (I don’t ask for help) And 4) Who would you be without that thought? (I would have asked for help and could have been having a good time trimming with a friend.

Wouldn’t that have been nice?)

Whoa, I just crammed a lot of self-help books into one column.

Reading about it isn’t enough though, we must practice getting better at living well, even in February. And I still have a lot more projects around the house this winter, so if anyone wants to help me, please get in touch!◊

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Food

Sheep milker turns sheep cheese maker • Jeff Tribe •

Ellis Morris came to Canada with a dream to farm.

The dream changed to becoming a cheesemaker and retailer, a career which has “exceeded expectations”.

Sheep milk‐based products are featured at the Red Dragon Dairy located near Salford in Oxford County. A 60‐by‐30‐ foot retail outlet is the brainchild of founder Ellis Morris, who used to milk sheep before his heart decided differently.

N

ecessity truly was the mother of invention for Red Dragon Dairy. Its pivot from sheep and goat milk production into sheep cheese-making and retail was driven initially by the ‘PDQ’ (pretty darned quick) need to do something with 2,500 litres of sheep milk a dairy unexpectedly indicated it did not want.

“I had to find a home for it,” explained Red Dragon founder Ellis Morris.

Morris’s dairy roots reach back to a registered Holstein milking and breeding herd on 90 rented council holding acres (land vacant after the war purchased by municipalities and leased to young, beginning farmers) near Narbeth, Wales. Eighteen years into the venture his herd reached 60, but stepping onto the owner/operator ladder remained financially remote. Encouragement from friends who had emigrated to Canada opened his eyes to potential here, investigated further during a visit with an Irish couple living north of Woodstock.

“I knew after day one or day two this would be my future,” said Ellis, who was 50 at the time.

18 The Rural Voice

He checked out a 125-acre property at 382723 Salford Road, west of the hamlet in February, 2007, purchasing it for a family (wife Hazel and children Catrin and Sion) move in August of that year, ‘just before land prices went crazy.’

“Basically, inflation put me on my feet.”

Morris began milking goats and sheep as an affordable dairy industry entry point, building to twice-daily four-hour milkings of 450 goats and 250 sheep.

The process is similar to cattle Ellis said, although on two rather than four teats. Sheep have smaller teats, producing up to three litres of five-point-five per cent protein and six-point-five per cent fat milk daily, while goats can produce six to seven running around three-pointfive per cent protein and four per cent fat. He shipped goat milk to the co-op in Teeswater, selling sheep milk on the open market.

Heart issues intervened three years ago, challenging not only Morris’s innate sense of invincibility, but his business model.

“At that time, I didn’t think I’d be alive today,” he Morris, accepting the harsh reality life had to change. “But I didn’t want to throw the towel in completely.”

His answer came via cheesemaking experience beginning with having to find a home for that tanker truckload of sheep milk in 2010. Another dairy offered to make cheese for him out of it, ultimately resulting in the creation of Quality Sheep Milk, a wholesale sheep milk cheese business based around contracted production.

“The whole idea was we’d build this and make the cheese ourselves,” Morris explained.

Selling most of the livestock and acreage, he retained a severed three acres including their house and space to construct a 60-by-30-foot retail building, backed by cheese production facilities. Morris sources sheep milk from a local farmer, paying $2.25 a litre, which represents a significant premium over market rate.

“That’s picked up in the yard,” said Morris of a mutually-beneficial replacement opportunity for a former goat operation. “He’s happy because he can put something in his barn and I’m happy because I’ve got a good source of quality milk.”

Morris had experimented with making water buffalo pizza mozzarella at the behest of a neighbourhood farmer, upgrading his expertise as cheesemaker through formal courses in Vermont. The parent company name was changed to Red Dragon Dairy. It covers product diversity and honours the family’s heritage with the Welsh flag’s emblem.

Morris was “disappointed” at his lack of success sourcing anticipated grant support for the broader operation, however continues to expand in stages.

Used to meeting the public as a former district sales manager and ruminant advisor with Bibby Agriculture in Wales, Ellis had “absolutely zero” retail experience, opening with the theory of surrounding Red Dragon cheese with additional appetizing options.

“We want to make the journey here worthwhile.”

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The Red Dragon Dairy features a wide variety of sheep milk cheeses, cheddar, gouda, feta, pecorino romano (similar to parmesan), gruyere (a Swiss-style cheese grated onto French onion soup), cearphilly (a Welsh cheddar, drier and crumblier than its Canadian counterpart), manchego (Spain’s national sheep milk cheese), cream cheese and a smoked feta which Morris says is potentially unique in Canada.

“When you crumble that one onto a salad it’s like adding bacon, that smokiness.”

The dairy also creates sheep milk yogurt and extremely popular cheese curds, original and in flavours including chilli, herb and garlic, dill and taco.

“People love them.”

Initially, there may be some trepidation around trying cheese sourced from creatures better known for wool and meat production.

“We call it the sheep milk shudder,” Morris smiled.

Red Dragon curds tend to be a gateway he says, an opportunity for a gentle reminder they are made out of sheep milk too. That base product also seems to provide an avenue for those who love cheese but are lactose-intolerant Morris said, willing to give samples a try during shows.

“They end up being a full-time customer.”

The Red Dragon Dairy also offers fresh homebaked sourdough bread two or three times a week, Brubacher sausages, Carmichael’s pepperettes, local produce and canned goods, and maple syrup and imported European and up to 20-year-old aged Canadian cheeses. This spring, Morris hopes to add a picnic area along with expanded ice cream choices including soft, traditional hard scoop and sheep milk options.

“Some things work, some don’t, but if you don’t try them, you don’t know,” said Morris.

He has a tracking program which minutely identifies sales and inventory.

“But if you think that’s going to be the same next week, forget it,” he laughed. “It’s a guide - it’s only a guide.”

The Red Dragon Dairy’s approach 20 The Rural Voice

As well as making his own sheep milk cheese, Red Dragon Dairy founder Ellis Morris offers a variety of products including Brubacher sausage (above). At top, Mason Larose prepares sourdough bread for baking at the Red Dragon Dairy near Woodstock. There are many varieties of cheese available for sale including cheese curds and sheep milk cream cheese (top, right).

represents confluence of concept, starting with fulfilling a back-ofmind field-to-fork dream. Secondly, retailing one’s own produce inside an identified niche promotes more control and healthier margins over wholesaling.

“There’s too many people taking that middle cut, doing nothing, but adding 20, 30 per cent every time it’s being handled,” Morris added. “What we sell, we get a fair price on.”

COVID-19 was an uninvited guest to the dairy’s grand opening.

“That was a joy, I can tell you,” said Morris with a wry smile. It wasn’t easy because people were encouraged to stay home. Having said that, he continued, those in the surrounding rural community or supportive customers from nearby Tillsonburg, Ingersoll and Woodstock wishing to avoid big box urban outlets were presented with an option.

“They could come into a small, private market to shop.”

Despite that timing, Morris can’t believe how business has mushroomed, starting from nothing, at the beginning of COVID, to sales which have almost doubled annually.

Beyond “one ugly old man who doesn’t take a wage”, he laughed, the Red Dragon has one enthusiastic fulltime employee sourced from a neighbourhood farm, as well as a bookkeeper. The learning continues Morris emphasized, and while what he’s doing isn’t what was planned, he has few complaints.

“You don’t have time to think if you’re doing the right thing, just keep your head down and go,” Morris concluded. “But this has exceeded expectations.” ◊

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Dairy

Keep them clean and watch them walk An American master hoof trimmer taught locomotion scoring and other tips to recognize and fix lameness in dairy cattle at Dairy Day in Elmwood ● By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

Mark Gerber (far left) was the keynote speaker at Dairy Day during Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week to teach producers about lameness.

Joining him afterwards for a panel discussion on lameness were (left to right) Christian Nagel, Matt Groen and David Kelton.

A

dairy producer watching his herd may only notice a quarter of the cows that are actually lame in his barn due to familiarity and limited practice using locomotion scoring.

However, finding and treating lameness can save dairy producers tens of thousands of dollars so understanding hoof health, hoof trimming and early detection are keys to a successful dairy, says Mark Gerber, a master hoof trimmer and salesperson with Zinpro Performance Minerals. He was the keynote speaker at Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week Dairy Day held in Elmwood January 4.

Later in the day, a panel also addressed dairy lameness and discussed overstocking, barn hygiene and early detection giving dairy farmers in attendance lots of valuable material to think on when they went back to milk their cows. See that story next.

Gerber said “lameness is the one disease that can put a dairy producer out of business if not property managed”, stealing the quote from Dr. Jan Shearer. “I really believe that,” he said, crediting skills at locomotion scoring as the best way to recognize the problem in a dairy herd.

“I look at the cow’s back posture, her foot placement and her head movements,” said Gerber. An arched back is a sure sign of hoof pain. Next is watching to see if the cow’s rear legs land right in the spot where the front leg just left. A shortened stride is indicative of lameness.

Finally, when a cow walks with her head bopping down, she has back foot problems. When her head bops up, it’s a front hoof issue. Locomotion scores range from 1 (perfect) 22 The Rural Voice

Mark Gerber, master hoof trimmer to 5, which are “hard to fix’’ meaning that cows won’t last long in the herd.

Gerber encouraged farmers to have fresh eyes come into the barn to do the location scoring. Farmers tend to get used to how their cows look and can miss the locomotion scores of two and three, which is where a hoof trimmer can be most effective. He likes to see herds with 75 per cent of the cattle scored one, 15 per cent scored two, five per cent scoring three and the remainder scoring less than that. “It’s a good target but it’s hard to get to,” he admits.

Understanding foot anatomy is also wise, particularly in terms of how short and angled a hoof should be after trimming. Gerber likes to see a short foot at 3.25 inches that is steeply angled at 50-52 degrees. The goal of hoof trimming is to slice out any lesions and ulcers, treat for digital dermatitis and trim the bottom of the hoof so the cow walks on her toes, not her heels.

“If the hoof is less than three inches, we do not put a grinder to the foot,” he said.

So what makes a cow lame in the first place? The first problem is concrete. Cows were never meant to live on

concrete. Since most dairy cows in North America do, he is a fan of pasture time to give cows a break.

Inside the barn, stalls should be so comfortable that cows want to lay in them 12 hours a day. “When they are laying down for nine hours or less, they are lamer than heck,” he said Farmers often blame nutrition for lameness but Gerber said with the advent of total mixed rations, he believes nutrition only accounts for five to six per cent of lameness. “The rest is caused by management on the dairy,” he said.

Dairies where cows stand too long in wet manure, where they have to make too many sharp turns, where cow comfort is lacking and where cows are fighting for space at the bunk are all contributors to cow lameness.

Hoof diseases are divided into infections and noninfectious. In the non-infectious category, are sole hemorrhages and sole ulcers (when the hemorrhage breaks through). In these cases, the hoof has to be thoroughly cleaned and any tissue not connected to the hoof has to be cut away. It can be a daunting process and Gerber says most farmers do not go far enough. He stressed that sometimes you have to cut a lot of claw to get rid of it or else the cow will soon be lame again.

These heavily-trimmed hooves require a block to take pressure off the sensitive claw and allow it to heal. Blocks can stay on for 90 days but no longer.

White line disease is another hoof issue caused from too many 90 degree turns. “We say from pen to parlour, no more than six 90 degree turns,” said Gerber.

Amongst the infectious hoof disease, digital dermatitis (otherwise known as strawberry foot rot) is the one Gerber gets asked the most about in Ontario. It is highly contagious and can run rampant through dairy barns, creating severe lameness issues.

Gerber recommended long, deep foot baths treated with formaldehyde or copper sulfate. He prefers formaldehyde but said “if you don’t wear a mask, you might not be

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vertical in a few years.” He liked baths to be 12 feet in length and five inches deep so the back hooves get dunked at least twice and recommended a permanent bath, as temporary baths are problematic.

How often you change the solution depends on how many cows are going through and how dirty they are. “If your hygiene score is a two (hygiene scores range from 1-clean to 4-manure up to hock) you can run the

bath a couple of times a week but if your hygiene score is a four, you need to run a foot bath everyday,” he said.

It’s critical to get on top of strawberry foot rot because it cycles every 45-60 days, leading to constant reinfection when not treated. Gerber also recommends treating heifers and dry cows with tetracycline sprays and foot wraps so they don’t infect the milking herd when they enter it.

In terms of trimmers, Gerber said there are good ones and terrible ones.

The terrible ones tend to take their grinder and go heavy on the hoof, leaving the cows with too little cushion. Or they don’t angle the grinder right, so the cows walk more on their heels than their toes. His rule of thumb is no trimming close-up or fresh cows. “Neither do we trim early lactation cows,” he said. The best time is during the dry-off period. ◊

You can’t blame nutritionists for cattle lameness

C

ow comfort is the key to getting cows off their feet and improving hoof health but barn cleanliness will also help, said Matt Groen a Dairy Technical Service Specialist with Cargill Animal Nutrition.

Groen was one of four panelists discussing dairy lameness at Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week Dairy Day held January 4 in Elmwood. As a nutritionist, he says he gets tired of taking the blame for dairy cow lameness but admits poor nutrition can lead to acidosis, which leads to inflammation which can lead to lameness.

Groen’s fellow panelists were Mark Gerber, a master hoof trimmer and salesperson with Zinpro Performance Minerals in Michigan and Ontario; David Kelton, professor emeritus at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph and Christian Nagel, owner of Nagel Hoof Care in Grey County. They answered questions from the audience and moderator Cynthia Miltenburg, Lead Veterinarian, Animal Health and Welfare, OMAFRA. How often should I run foot baths and should I chase the dry cows and heifers too?

Gerber: Basically you can do three head per gallon in the U.S.. So that’s three head per four litres. Then get your chemical calibrated right and make sure you don’t get too many passes in that foot bath because once they put dung in it, that reduces the effectiveness.

How much more emphasis should be placed on designing barns for 24 The Rural Voice

hoof trimming and hoof health?

Nagel: As a good trimmer, I can tell you that if you have a nice spot for me to work, you will get a hoof trimmer out way faster.

Groen: Yes, in a new barn plant for an auto foot bath, perhaps at the robotic milker exit.

Gerber: If you were a trimmer, you would like a nice environment. I was asked to trim outside in Idaho and boy was it cold. You would not want to trim there so why would anyone else? As to a foot bath, you need an easy-flow, low-stress environment for cows. For good ideas, check out The Dairyland Initiative website put out by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In an existing barn, what would you do with the floors? Groove them, mill them or put in rubber/ rubber mats?

Gerber: With rubber, it has to be even. If it is uneven, you’ll have to plane the floor. The newer barns are using parallel grooving and I think that is the floor of the future. If you have older concrete, be aware that aggregates can start poking up through the concrete which are traumatic to hooves. They will need to be planed flat. Also, you can look at feeding your cattle biotin or complex zinc which, when fed at high levels, can make hooves more durable.

Kelton: We have learned a lot about rubber flooring over the years and not all rubber is created equal. A lot of rubber surfaces can get really slippery and we are seeing cattle slipping and sliding and getting nasty knee and hock injuries. We are

Matt Groen, Dairy Technical Service Specialist, Cargill Animal Nutrition rethinking rubber in terms of where it should go and what type we should use.

Gerber: Ontario makes the best rubber. I think Legend Rubber is the best. However if rubber is not anchored it is useless. I do think there needs to be some rubber in certain strategic areas.

Nagel: Concrete guys have been doing a better job with concrete floors but I definitely don’t do any hoof trimming before new flooring.

How do housing styles influence lameness?

Kelton: What surprised us is that the data suggests there are similar results in lameness across freestall and tie stall barns on average. The least amount of lameness is in bedded pack barns.

Nagel: Bedded packs are the best, then sand-bedded freestalls…that is

then sand-bedded freestalls…that is what I see around here.

Gerber: Sand is the top for cow comfort, then recycled manure, then rubber mattresses.

Groen: I agree with all of that.

One key is maintenance. Reflooring is timely. Just because you designed a new barn and put sand in 10 or 15 years ago, it will not be the same as it was on day one. So regroove your floors, dig out the back of your sand stalls, and reposition neck rails because cow size has changed over the years.

What is the relation of cow comfort to lameness?

Nagel: Shade curtains are huge.

What I’ve seen in the summer, is sun beaming into the barn and it’s like an electric fence is up – no cows are there. That leads to overstocking at certain parts of the day.

Gerber: In a pasture, cows like to lay uphill. You need to look at your brisket boards and see if they are in the right place. Or rip them out. You might need to reposition your rails.

Also, it’s fair to say most barns are underventilated. People cheat and don’t put in enough fans and you won’t feel a breeze at the other end of the barn.

Kelton: Stocking density is part of this. In the new Dairy Code of Practice, they are moving the industry back to a stocking density of one and part of that is having sufficient space for cows to lie down.

David Kelton, professor emeritus at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph

They need a minimum of 12 hours of lying time for productivity and cow comfort.

What about barn hygiene and preventing lameness from that perspective?

Groen: Hygiene dictates how often you have to run a foot bath. If your foot bath has to get through a great pile of manure, you will have to run that foot bath more often. If you have a manure scraper running that creates a tsunami of manure over their hooves, you will not break digital dermatitis. We beat stall maintenance to death but the cleaner those stalls are, the less time cows are standing in a wet and dirty environment.

Nagel: You have to run manure spreaders more than you think. Some of these barns are so long that by the time that scraper gets to the end, there is a flood of manure. Go to the controller and dial it up.

What can we do to improve lameness detection?

Nagel: Robotic milkers are good indicators because if a cow is lame, she will not go in there. As a hoof trimmer, I can easily detect lesions and farmers have more troubles because they see those cows everyday and don’t see the small progression from healthy feet to lameness.

Groen: Work with a team of advisors and use them as an extra set of eyes to score your cows. Do this once or twice a year.

Kelton: In a freestall operation, return alleys seem to be the best place to score cattle because her udder isn’t full. Unfortunately, that’s the time farmers are most busy. I recommend asking your veterinarian to come at milking time and score the cows walking back so it becomes a routine process. We promote a team approach. Keep records because without records, experts cannot help you.

Gerber: I agree that return lanes offer the best vision. You can use technology such as Step Metrics. But you don’t want to be 100 per cent reliant on a computer program. The human eye is still more accurate.

Other Comments: Groen: No matter what your hoof

Christian Nagel, Nagel Hoof Care in Grey County trimming schedule is, just avoid trimming cows in the transition period. You do not want to put those cows under additional stress when she’s losing weight.

Kelton: The best schedule is always the one that gets done. Hoof trimming is something that has to be done on a regular basis and has to be adhered to. Do not let it slip. Having a schedule and sticking to it is critical. ◊

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Beef

Cover crop grazing key part of new partnership

Purebred Hereford cattle raised by Kevin Aitken of Grey County graze on new pasture and cover crops at Blake Vince’s farm near Chatham as part of a unique partnership between the two farmers. ~Photo supplied by Blake Vince

K

evin Aitken of Grey County wanted to expand his beef herd but couldn’t find more land to rent. Blake Vince of Kent County wanted cattle to improve his land without purchasing an entire herd or building a barn. The like-minded duo formed a partnership so they could both get what they wanted.

Aitken shared his story at the Grey County Soil and Crop Winter Meeting in Rocklyn in December and Blake Vince chatted with The Rural Voice over the phone to share how the partnership works and why it can increase productivity, improve the land and create community.

Kevin Aitken itken explained he has been rotational grazing since 2011. “My whole farm is grass,” he said. He’s always trying to get more grazing days on the fields because having cattle on grass costs less than bringing in stored feed.

During the winter, he does feed purchased hay.

The cost-savings of grass led him down the path of looking at core crops and pondering if he could work with a cash cropper. It made him think way back to 2016 when he met Blake Vince of Merlin, near Chatham, at an innovative farmer’s conference. “He is a big proponent of cover crops and is no-till,” explained Aitken, who started following Vince on social media.

“I saw amazing pictures of his cover crops growing and I talked to him a few times. A few years went by and then I saw a tweet from him that said, ‘I have the forage, who has the cows’?”

Blake Vince

Kevin Aitken

Beef partnership is a win/win for

beef farmer and cash cropper ...

A

and the soil wins too • By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot That spurred Aitken into action. He travelled to Vince’s farm and the two came up with a plan. Vince would put up fencing, install a water system and would become an investor in the cow herd, essentially owning half the herd.

The two would split the considerable cost of transporting the cattle from Holstein to Merlin and back again.

The evolving partnership is a way for Aitken to grow his herd without buying land. Surrounded by expensive farmland and the Mennonite community, Aitken said it’s hard for beef farmers to compete with cash croppers for renting land. “I thought this idea would allow me to expand my herd,” he said.

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Aitken got his cows down to Merlin in May and things were “looking good”. There are no trees down there so shade was an issue but Aitken was impressed by the “tremendous amount” of feed in May and June. However, the summer was dry and Vince’s summer cover crop did not germinate. The lush feed in May and June was non-existent in July so the pair had to enact a contingency plan.

“Unfortunately, all the cows had to come home. Luckily I had a cover crop growing at home so the first of September, the cows were put into sorghum and some winter yards.”

Aitken had originally intended to take it off for feed to be followed by grazing. Luckily, he had some extra stored feed. “Having a plan at home really paid off,” he said.

In his winter yards, he had sorghum, turnip, oats and forage brassicas. The cows really enjoyed it, even pulling up the turnips and chewing on them. “They also trampled some, putting it back into the ground for the soil health component.”

In early November, the calves were on stockpiled grass and Aitken fed the first bales of hay in midNovember.

Aitken will meet with Vince soon to discuss plans for next year and how they can do better. “We need to discuss contingency plans,” said Aitken, adding Vince has been “really great” to work with.

He is very proud and pleased with this new partnership but admits finding a “like-minded partner” who is willing to work outside the box can be a challenge. Trust is a big factor.

“The cattle go down there and I have to trust he is moving them, giving them lots of feed and looking after them health-wise.” It all went well, despite the drought, with the major negative being the four-hour driving distance between them.

When entering a partnership like this one, communication is key.

“You have to work through challenges and understand what each other wants out of the partnership.”

Both Aitken and Vince are united in wanting to make sure the cows do well.

Blake Vince lake Vince had been custom grazing for a nearby farm since 2021 when Aitken approached him about the plan to coown cattle and transport them from one farm to the other to maximize pasture and cover crop forage. A cash-cropper who’d been called a regenerative farmer before he was ready to claim the title, Vince was eager to add more cattle to his farm and truly farm in a regenerative way.

“We need the incorporation of ruminants,” says the Nuffield Scholar, inter-generational cash crop farmer and international speaker who has been experimenting with cover crops for years. “I saw this as a huge opportunity to do something different. Even though yields are increasing with seed technology, our profit was declining. We were in a spiral … a slow bleed.”

Moreover, as he ages, he’s becoming more and more eager to protect the environment and farm in a way that honors soil and water.

Vince remembers way back to his University of Guelph years when students were forced to take “Land Resource Management” class. “We called it Tree Hugger 101,” he remembers. “Now I find myself more in line with tree huggers and want to farm in a way that improves the environment we collectively share.”

Vince believes adding ruminants is the way to do that because it encourages planting of cover crops to feed the cattle. Cover crops help reverse effects of soil compaction while improving water infiltration, weed control and soil health. Cover crops in the rotation reduce the need for synthetic inputs. The beef cattle then feed on his cover crops, fertilizing the field as they go.

Planting pastures creates carbon sinks and lets land rest between periods of grazing.

Having a role in raising cattle makes him feel more like a producer.

“When my corn is going to make ethanol and my soybeans are going to make plastic and my wheat is going to make pie dough and crackers (which are unhealthy) it doesn’t really make me feel proud as a producer,” he said. Vince said he started to feel odd realizing of the

B

thousands of people who pass his his pasture attracted a slew of birds, farm (which butts onto Highway which attracted birders. “I didn’t set 401), “I do not sell a dime to those out to attract people to the farm but it potential consumers.” was one of the spin-off benefits,” Beef, on the other hand, is a said Vince. He remembers a nutritious, stable protein. It can be conversation with a total stranger, sold and marketed from the farm as a who was hoping to photograph a way to make money, but also to Dickcissels. It just so happened that connect with consumers. Vince very bird was perched on the fence believes he will be able to “sell his wire and when Vince pointed it out, story” and that will create the market the birder “looked like he’d seen for beef raised on his farm.

Santa Claus.” It was a meaningful Bringing beef to the farm did moment for both, as Vince “never require some infrastructure. There expected to have such a real impact were no fences and no trees in his on the environment in such a short part of the county so he had to wire time.”

In terms of working with another around 150 acres of cropland as well farm, Vince says it’s important to as the permanent, rotational-grazed, find a like-minded person whom you pastures he planted. “Putting up trust, and who is willing to “think fencing is not a one-year return. It’s differently” or have a vision of what similar to tiling in that it will be there could be. “Kevin and I are not for years,” he said. Indeed, this whole partnership is not a get-rich-quick scheme.

It requires a vision, a purpose and a willingness to wait until the product is ready to sell. Their first calves were only born in 2023 so it will take time before they can sell animals into the meat trade.

Vince has also examined what is important to him in his farming career. Taking Kevin Aitken’s hereford cattle are immersed in lush risks is important, as cover crops at Aitken’s Grey County farm. ~Photo well as analyzing the supplied by Kevin Aitken value of partnership micromanagers either. I’m not there versus ownership. “I feel I would in his backyard looking over the rather put up fences and take land out cattle and neither is he looking over of production to improve my lot in my shoulder.” life; take a calculated risk to Vince believes farmers have many differentiate myself and spread out such opportunities but they choose to my risk load, than buy land at an ignore them because “we are such an overvalued price, which offered little independent lot.” Instead of looking return on investment. Plus, this at neighbours as competition, he opportunity allows me to contribute thinks farmers should pursue ways to positively to the environment which partner in business. An additional for me is a win/win.” benefit is the creation of community, Neither is he afraid of partnership. something being encouraged in Like Aitken, Vince says it’s mental health advocacy. He also important to be flexible. Low rains thinks these kinds of partnerships are meant one of his pastures, a tall-grass ideal for farmers who don’t have a prairie, didn’t see cattle this season successor for their farms. “They so adjustments had to be made where could introduce themselves to a the cattle would stay and feed. This, young person looking for an however, was an unexpected bonus opportunity to grow their business.”◊ for Vince. The grasses and flowers in February 2024 29

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Succession Planning

Know when to talk...and when to be silent

Geena Luckett is now co‐owner of Luckett Vineyards after a succession plan with her father, Peter, which is an ongoing process. She shared how it worked with young farmers at Farm Credit Canada’s Young Farmer Summit held in November. ~Photos submitted

G

eena Luckett rarely makes a big decision without doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) but you can never eliminate emotions, admitted the Nova Scotia wine producer.

“My dad and I have had blow-ups,” said Geena. “We had to ask how the conflict started, how we are contributing to it and could we collaborate on a solution.”

Her dad would explain that he spends a lot of his time “putting out fires” but Geena felt she needed to know why he makes the decisions he makes.

“A lot of time, I zip my mouth in the moment and let it go. Then at the end of the day, I tell him we need to be more collaborative and communicative to prevent confusion.”

Speaking at Farm Credit Canada’s Young Farmer Summit on November 28, Luckett gave an honest, relatable, encouraging portrait of how she and her father are working out their farm transition. She expressed praise and exasperation at merging the “old and new” ways of doing things, while she tried to find her footing as a young farmer.

Luckett said her father, Peter Luckett, was a “trailblazer” who went from managing a line of boutique grocery stores to pulling stakes so he could grow vegetables on a farm outside of Halifax. Next, he met the owner of one of the oldest wineries in Nova Scotia and quickly traded vegetables for grape vines. In 2010, the first

Geena Luckett of Luckett Vineyards in Nova Scotia told farmers at the Young Farmer Summit that communication and knowing your negotiables and nonnegotiables are key when transition planning • By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

vintage wine was made at Luckett Vineyards in Wallbrook Nova Scotia and the next year, production reached 3,000 cases. Now, the vineyard produces 60,000 cases of wine a year, employs 90 part-time workers and welcomes over 250,000 guests to the winery for a full tourism experience.

“I am one of six children and a few have dabbled in the business but I am the only one still standing,” joked Luckett. She never expected to join the family business as her passion was horses. She followed her own path, earning a Bachelor of Management from Dalhousie University then finding her business feet at Road Apples, a family-owner tack shop.

However, she would work at the winery on her days off, doing “whatever needed to be done” and quickly realized why her father was so passionate about growing grapes and producing wine.

“In this space, we are farmers, restaurateurs, storytellers, marketers and managers,” said Luckett. She quickly advanced in the company starting as an events manager in 2012, a harvest hand in 2014, a research year spent abroad in 2015, general manager in 2016 and co-owner in 2018.

Each time, she was interviewed by her father and had to earn the position.

Looking back at becoming general manager, Luckett said the struggle was real. “I had impossible shoes to fill,” said Luckett, following the path of her entrepreneur father who had a big personality, innumerable connections and February 2024 31

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huge drive to succeed.

“Plus, I had imposter syndrome,” said Luckett. “I did not grow up in the restaurant scene, I wasn’t a sommelier, vintner, nor did I grow up in wine culture.” However, her father always said “If you have a willingness to dig in and do what needs to be done, an open mind plus adaptability to pivot and change, that will exceed other qualifications.”

Luckett realized she DID have that. She began to shape her own definition of success which focused on having her team “have confidence in me”. She saw she had skill in implementing policies and procedures to formalize areas the business was weak in. She created an open door policy to create communication between all levels of business.

Then, she made strides to establish herself in the industry. “I did everything I could to get my name out there,” said Luckett. That included joining community events, wine tastings and boards of other organizations. Her goal was to make her own connections but also align herself with leaders in similar positions to learn from.

She admits she erred too far on wanting to have her own connections and said it was smart when she realized she didn’t have to burn bridges with her dad’s vast network because it was hugely beneficial to the business. “Evaluating all the partnerships and collaboration was important to both make drastic changes and to realize what didn’t need to change. Maybe I just needed to nurture relationships my dad has created,” said Geena.

However, boundaries needed to be set. Though her dad was encouraging and empowering, he had his own idea of how things would go and sometimes, after telling employees to do one thing, she would see them doing another. “I’d go up to them and ask what they were doing and they would say ‘Peter told us to do this’. It was frustrating and definitely not empowering. There was still too much father/daughter relating versus business partner communicating.

“I realized there were Three C’s I needed to implement to deal with my dad,” shared Luckett

● Communication: “We had to keep talking things out instead of assuming,” she said. ● Collaboration. “We had to figure out when and how we would do things solo, or when we would do things together.” ● Compromise. “This is the one I utilize the most. If you are in a family business, 70 per cent is knowing when to take, when to give and when to stand your ground or let it go.”

Luckett wasn’t general manger long before entrepreneurial Peter travelled to Portugal, was inspired by agritourism and purchased a farm to launch another business. That precipitated a transition time at Luckett Vineyards where Geena decided to buy in as a co-owner.

Thankfully, they had been having transition conversations and Geena had created her own list of negotiables and non-negotiables after doing several self-audits every few months.

“I listed what I brought to the business, when I had gone above and beyond and when I had been weak.

That helped me see where I could improve but also helped me determine my non-negotiables,” said Luckett. All this preparation gave her confidence when the transition conversations got serious.

So what were her nonnegotiables? The main one was that she wanted to take over the business solo, without involvement of all family members. “I know, it sounds harsh, but that is important to me.”

Also, there had to be a shift in mindset from a father/daughter relationship to a business partner relationship. “We had to take it to a more professional level and remove the family component,” said Geena.

Moreover, she wanted the team to be included in the conversation so they were aware of what was happening. “I mean, not every detail or meetings with lawyers and accountants but I wanted to keep them up-to-date because it helps team buy-in to the business. Geena created a forum for employees to share concerns, offer ideas and suggestions, and ask questions and to hear about the successes and

challenges of the business. “When you do this, they want to see the business succeed,” said Geena.

As she became a co-owner, Geena learned other businesses and self-care strategies which she shared with the young farmers: ● Lead by example – “Everyone needs to be willing to dig in, dive in and do what needs to be done. We say in our company that no one is above anything. No matter what your role is, if someone needs help, you go help.” ● Creating alignment – “I wanted to surround myself with like-minded people. Also, times are changing and my dad is a different age demographic so I wanted to evaluate all our partnerships and collaborations.” ● Power in community – “I am not the first, last or only person to feel what I am feeling,” said Geena.

“Leaning into community was huge for me.” It gave her resources, involvement and learning opportunities. One of the best places she learns is during “Tuesday Night Tastings'', a monthly event amongst wine makers in Nova Scotia where “we talk about the industry, come up with new ideas and create events.”

Geena also sits on the wine board of her province and said, interestingly, that most of the board is made up of second-generation females. ● Old versus new – Old versus new was becoming a competition between herself and her dad. “I realized if I reference anything as old, dad took it as a negative that it was outdated.” Once her dad accepted that old and new are both valuable pieces of the business, they could merge his tried and true policies with her new ideas.

“Bringing the best of both experiences means we can challenge the ‘old’ ways of doing. They might then stay the same or be totally brand new.” ● SWOT analysis – Reading from cards of the SWOT analysis she did before becoming co-owner of the business, Geena said a strength was feeling fully supported by her father; bringing a female perspective to the company; her strength with technology and adaptability to social

changes. For weakness, Geena felt her “Type A” personality could be too rigid. Also, acting like partners versus father/daughter is something they both struggle with. “We talk about it weekly and it has been one of the most daunting parts of this process.” For the opportunity part of the analysis, Geena said having her dad as a mentor allows her to learn from his expertise. “Having access to that is HUGE,” she said. In terms of threats, Geena listed her father’s agritourism business in Portugal as a threat because the more time her father spends at that business the less time he has for Luckett wines. She also views the desire of other family members entering the business as a threat because it does not align with her non-negotiables.

Geena advised young farmers going through a transition that it's never too late to start. She believes it's vital to treat transition as an ongoing process. “I want to make sure things stay in the lane, but also have the ability to change as needed.”◊

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Recipes by Carolyn Crawford

It’s okay to love chocolate on a winter day

I

f you are like me, chocolate is near and dear to your heart. I love the aroma of a chocolate cake baking in the oven. There is nothing like the scent of chocolate rising into your nasal passages while slurping a sip of hot cocoa.

Chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, appears to have some health benefits when used in moderation. But the Heart and Stroke Foundation cautions the following on their website: “There is no real reason to eat chocolate for heart health. Vegetables are a better choice. Enjoy chocolate occasionally as a delicious treat, but not because it is going to ward off heart disease or reduce blood pressure levels.”

The Indigenous peoples of Central and South America were among the first to roast and use cocoa beans, pulverize them into a powder and make a beverage out of it. They drank it cold, in water with spices and with nothing to sweeten it.

Hernan Cortez was one of the first to describe it to the people of his native Spain in 1556, “This drink is the healthiest thing, and the greatest sustenance of anything you could drink in the world, because he who drinks a cup of this liquid, no matter how far he walks, can go a whole day without eating anything else.”

We know today that chocolate in its purest form contains a lot of caffeine, which explains Cortez’s bursts of energy! We have adapted original recipes by enjoying cocoa hot. We add various kinds of sugar, sweeteners, flavourings (like coffee/mocha, mint, or caramel), spices, whipped or other creams, milk, or milk powder (dairy or nondairy), add marshmallows and other candy type toppings, and froth it with a machine!

Fry’s Cocoa, a company founded in 1761 in Bristol England, after many partnerships with other chocolate and cocoa manufacturers, merged with Cadbury’s in 1919.

Fry’s and Cadbury’s were taken over

by Kraft Foods as recently as 2011.

34 The Rural Voice

Like Nestle’s takeover of Rowntree Chocolate (who previously acquired Cowan’s Cocoa Company of Toronto), two other well-known twentieth century companies in Canada, Kraft has retained some of the original brand labels one of them

being Fry’s Cocoa. On the Fry’s Cocoa container sold in grocery stores today, there are two recipes I use, one for Hot Cocoa and one for Brownies.

Emergency Chocolate Cookies Whether you call them haystacks,

Chocolate Cream Pie (above, top) can be dressed up with sliced bananas, coconut or sliced almonds. There are two recipes on the back of the Fry’s Cocoa can that make good hot cocoa and brownies. Add marshmallows for an even better treat (above).

quick hurry cookies, cow patties, no bake chocolate drops, these cookies are an easy to make no bake stovetop cookie. Their fudge-like chewiness is matched by the efficiency of making them. In our house they were called “Emergency” Chocolate Cookies.

This particular version has no peanut butter which suits me just fine! Ones made with peanut butter often use chow mein noodles.

Ingredients: 2 cups granulated sugar ½ cup milk ½ cup butter Bring the above 3 ingredients to a boil and pour over the following which you have stirred together: 3 cups rolled oats (quick cooking/one minute) 1 cup flaked coconut 6 tsp cocoa Pinch of salt Directions: After mixing thoroughly together, stir in 1 tsp vanilla or ½ tsp almond flavouring.

Drop on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper or parchment paper with a teaspoon or cookie scoop.

Before cooling, a red or green maraschino cherry or whole almond may be pressed in the centre. One could also do these with peppermint flavouring and candy cane, orange flavouring with candied peel, and with rum as a flavouring.

Chocolate Cream Pie Every Easter, my Grandma B. would make chocolate cream pie. We loved it by itself (with whipped cream) but there are many ways to dress it up. Add sliced bananas, coconut, or sliced almonds. You can also play with the flavourings: almond, peppermint, or orange flavourings are a nice addition. Of course, you could always add Kahlua or instant coffee to make it mocha.

But I digress, it would not taste like Grandma B.’s if I did any of that!

Dairy farmers are blessed by being able to use their own “fresh from the tank milk” here. I have always found that cream pies turn out especially well with barn milk. If you do not have access to this richer milk, then you can sub in some cream for some of the milk.

Ingredients: 9 tbsp all purpose flour 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1/8 tsp salt 2 ½ -3 cups homo milk (start with 2 ½ cups and add more if it is too thick. You can also sub in cream— half and half cream works nicely subbed in as half of the milk) 2 egg yolks 2 squares, chopped or 2 ounces semisweet chocolate chips 1 tbsp butter 1 tsp vanilla extract or other flavouring 1 8” or 9” baked pie shell Directions: In a medium bowl, stir flour, sugar, and salt.

Scald milk/cream in the top of double boiler. Add hot milk to flour mixture a little at a time, stirring until smooth after each addition. (You can use a whisk to beat out any lumps.)

Return to double boiler and cook over boiling water until thickened, stirring constantly to avoid scorching.

Beat egg yolks in a custard dish.

Stir 2-3 tbsp of hot mixture into yolks. Add to mixture in double boiler stirring quickly. Cook another 5-10 minutes for yolk to be cooked.

Add chocolate pieces and stir in thoroughly.

Stir in butter and vanilla.

Cool mixture for a bit before pouring into baked pie shell. Use the whites of the eggs to make meringue or top with whipped cream.

Five Minute Chocolate Fudge Grandma B. made delicious fudge both chocolate and maple, at Christmas and Easter. Her chocolate fudge recipe is one from the Carnation Evaporated Milk label of the 1960’s. It says five minutes because it gets too hard if you cook it longer—set the timer on your stove like my Grandma did!

Ingredients: 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar 2/3 cup Carnation’s Evaporated Milk 2 tbsp butter 2 cups miniature marshmallows (I melt in the microwave first for easier mixing in) 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I melt these in the microwave, too)

1 tsp vanilla extract or other flavouring—orange, peppermint ½ cup pecans or walnuts (optional) Directions: Line a greased with butter, 8” square pan with waxed or parchment paper.

Combine sugar, evaporated milk, and butter in saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat stirring constantly; (this is when you set that timer!) boil four minutes (no more than five) or until mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and quickly stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips, and vanilla.

Add nuts, if desired.

Pour immediately into prepared pan. Chill until set.

Chocolate Equivalents Last time I went down the baking aisle I could not find baking squares.

I had not missed them up until now.

Here is a guide you can use to substitute different forms of chocolate.

1 (1 ounce) square unsweetened chocolate = 3 tablespoons cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon melted butter 1 (1 ounce) square semi-sweet chocolate = 3 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips or 1 (1 ounce) square unsweetened chocolate (or equivalent from above) plus 1 tablespoon sugar.

1 (6 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips = 6 (1 ounce) squares semi-sweet chocolate or 6 tablespoons cocoa powder plus 7 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons melted butter.

1 (4 ounce) bar sweet baking chocolate = 1/4 cup cocoa powder plus 1/3 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons melted butter. ◊

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

Sacred medicines

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any years ago I ordered some Sweetgrass plants from Richters Herbs in Uxbridge. I love the fragrance and thought I could plant them along the outside edge of a garden.

After my first year, I cut some and carefully braided it into two bundles and used one in my linen cupboard and another one I saved for the fireplace. The patch was young and I had not located it in a moist area where it would flourish. So it grew a bit and simply tolerated the location.

Every once in a while the kids got close to it with the lawn mower and were surprised when I could tell without looking. It was the heavenly fragrance that was the give away. It soon died out and I never replanted.

Last summer we took visiting family to the Three Fires Homecoming Pow Wow at Hagersville. It was an amazing day of dancing, beautiful regalia and lots of good food. Among the vendors was a young couple selling Indigenous gardens. The woman made lovely fragrant creams and her partner was a biologist studying healing medicinal plants. The gardens were neatly packaged in clear-topped metal containers that would act as mini greenhouses. In each container a wooden divider created four compartments. In each compartment was a packet of seeds tucked in with a biodegradable bag of soil. Each soil bundle was selected to provide the right alkalinity, acidity, and drainage.

You plant the seeds in their respective soil bag which will then assist with root development and help when you transplant the seedlings as they outgrow their wee greenhouse.

The four sacred medicines in my box were cedar, tobacco, sage and, of course, sweetgrass. All had their

indigenous name included.

Cedar, ghiziigaandug, (gi’jikandug, Ojibwa) is also called the Tree of Life. We might know it better in our language as white cedar.

Different populations used the bark in a variety of ways; steeped as a tea, steamed to breathe in, powdered and mixed with water to create a poultice or fat for an ointment. The tag reads “used for lung ailments, and pain as well as for baskets, canoes, clothing and ceremonial masks”.

There are a number of tobacco species. I love the English garden variety nicotiana sylvestris and its fragrant flowers that scent the evening air. My new garden seed is called asaema or semah in the indigenous language, the first sacred medicine. Unlike commercial tobacco it is grown and dried without additives. You are required to register under the Tobacco Tax Act if you produce over 15 kilograms of raw leaf tobacco in Ontario in a calendar year. Who knew?

The third packet is for white sage, bashkodejiibik, which is a healing medicine with a warm fragrance. I had a bit of a search for a Latin name and found it is a member of the salvia

A metal container from Indigenous Gardens contains seeds of white sage, cedar, tobacco and sweetgrass along with a biodegradable bag of soil to help get them started.

family, salvia apiana, and is one of the most popular sacred herbs used for ceremonial purposes. It is a key ingredient in bundles used for smudging or burning to help purify the surroundings of negative spirits.

It is also used in teas and steam baths.

I have a lovely patch of woody sage in my garden that I vigorously cut back each spring. It has a distinctive fragrance that I find nice in small whiffs. I have seen it fried to garnish a variety of dishes. It was one of the only herbs my Dad would cut and hang in the kitchen to use every time he cooked chicken.

The last seeds are for sweetgrass, wiingash, also known as holy grass.

It is used in ceremonies to promote peace and healing. I love the faint vanilla-like fragrance and it has also been used to scent candles and bath salts. Its true power is when it is used in smudging. It grows quickly when planted in fertile, evenly moist to damp soil. While the seeds have a low germination rate, it spreads quickly by rhizomes. Harvesting can be done twice a year or more in a season by cutting, and never pulling up from the roots.

How do these different seeds manage to grow in one wee green house? They all share some common needs: indirect light; evenly consistently-moist achieved by taking the lid on and off by rotating every day; and covering the seeds lightly. The only seed that needs a bit more help is that of the Sweetgrass.

Placing them in damp paper towel and then into the fridge for two to four weeks stratifies the seeds. They are heading to the fridge tomorrow, carefully double-bagged in wee plastic bags to sit alongside my paw paw seeds.

Once true leaves are set they can be transplanted into small pots, slowly acclimatizing them to full sun.

From what I have read germination on all of them is low so we will see what happens.

I don’t want you to get excited and start vegetable seeds too soon.

There are a number of quick easy charts available on-line to help you set a schedule and avoid those long leggy transplants. Many of the seed companies are quite helpful with

information and charts. I like Heemans, located in Thorndale, near London, which has a great site that not only has a chart but a monthly what-to-do-next list. Set up for Ontario frost dates so you don’t get caught!

I have my Mel Bartholomew’s book, All New Square Foot Gardening out to start calculating how many seeds I need. We don’t plan for a big garden as we also support a rabbit population! Have fun this month reading and dreaming! ◊

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• By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

New dairy code of practice starts April 1 New code of practice dictates all dairy cows in tie-stall barns get time to exercise and socialize big deal but if you're milking 100 cows, it’s much harder,” said Runnalls.

He believes new expectations in the code will encourage most new dairy barn builds to be freestall, admitting there were very few tie stall barns being built anyway.

However, 54 per cent of Ontario dairies are still tie stalls.

Before diving into other changes within the code, Runnalls explained Steve Runnalls of Dairy Farmers of Ontario presented key the new Dairy highlights of the new Dairy Code of Practice which goes Code will come into effect April 1 at Grey Bruce Farmers Week in into effect April 1 Elmwood in January. of this year. It replaces a code that espite one farmer yelling “are was created 10 years ago and as with we still the boss on our own codes of practices for all other farms”, the revelation of livestock associations, it was changes to the Dairy Code of developed by the National Farm Practice was met with calm Animal Care Council with input from acceptance when presented at Dairy a wide range of sources. Runnalls did Day during Grey Bruce Farmers’ say there were many comments from Week in Elmwood on January 4. animal rights activists during the “Having this code allows you to commentary process and said they be the boss of your own farm as long were flagged. He encouraged the as you follow regulations,” said crowd that during the next revamp of Steve Runnalls, a board member with the code (in five or 10 years) it is Dairy Farmers of Ontario. He added vitally important that actual farmers that the code can also protect comment on the process so that the farmers if they’ve been targeted by input isn’t skewed by activist groups. animal rights organizations. As long Highlights of the new code are: as farmers are meeting the code, ● Stocking density has changed inflated charges can’t stick. from 1.2 to 1.1 cows per stall and Major changes with the new code will move to one per stall by 2031 centred on tie-stall barns where dairy ● Dry cows need to be untethered farmers are now required to let their and free to move around, to allow cows out at least once every day. “If social interaction you are milking 20 cows, that is not a ● Milking cows can be tied but

D

have to be let out every day for exercise and physical contact with other cows ● Abusive handling is unacceptable but for human safety, handlers can still use a prod ● Dehorning must be done by two months of age and only in “exceptional circumstances” can animals be dehorned after two months ● Downed cows cannot be lifted with a hip lifter to be brought to another pen. Neither can a cattle prod be used more than twice to get a downed cow to stand up ● pro Action (required on all Canadian dairy farmers) is already underway for animal health and the new code reinforces that by requiring farmers to keep records on herd health by observing cows and signing the day and time. They can also create a standard operation procedure (SOP) about observing cows for lameness, etc. ● Euthanasia by means of manual blunt force trauma is not acceptable for any animals of any age. When using gunshot or drugs, the animals has to be assessed to confirm they are dead immediately after application ● Pain medication needs to be applied for cattle with severe health foot issues.

When it comes to preparing cattle for transport to the stockyards, Runnalls said it would be wise for dairy farmers to make note of the condition of the cows either with a document or photography. “If she is on the truck for a long time and cannot walk when she reaches the stockyards, it might come back to you,” said Runnalls. “But if you do due diligence and keep track of it, it will go better for you.”

The new Dairy Code of Practice can be read in its entirety by visiting https://www.nfacc.ca/codes-ofpractice/dairy-cattle ◊ February 2024 39

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

Decrease in war

worries and rains in South America are contributing to low grain prices Grain prices are currently less than thrilling for growers. As we moved through the fall harvest period and into winter, producer selling has been generally light. Growers are disappointed with prices that seem to fade continually, with some major crops making new recent lows on the

charts. Unsurprisingly there is little farmer interest in selling with decreasing values.

Last spring, growers planted an expensive crop. Crop inputs were high priced, coinciding with an expectation that grain prices would also be strong. While prices were strong, many were expecting or hoping that grain prices would rally further, given the cost of production and various perceived production risks around the world.

A large concern that has been voiced all over the world, is the potential ramifications of the continuing Ukraine/Russian war.

Both nations are major producers of grain and both are key exporters.

There are many nations of the world that depend on this bread basket region for their daily bread. We remember the early outset of the conflict, fear reverberated in the grain markets, and prices roared higher. Recall the exuberance of fear at the time: Will Ukraine be able to plant? Will the region be able to ship? Many fears such as this

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brought strong buying interest from countless players and markets were elevated to extreme levels. The market narrative was strongly onesided; and this narrative was widely discussed, convincing many that grain supplies were going to be jeopardized for an extended period to come. But after enough time, market participants started to realize that the situation (from a grain growing/shipping perspective) wasn’t nearly as bad as once collectively worried.

Which brings us to today, with grain prices extremely weak relative to what was once widely expected.

The market sentiment has completely changed. The former production worries have been dumbfounded.

The market is now focused on shipping performance realities, versus worse-case imagined fears and worries, such as existed at the outset of the conflict. The market became comfortable, even with the ongoing potential of an escalation in the region over time. This led to the realization that grain from the region is not only being produced in large scale quantities, but also that it is moving to market in an orderly and large-volume trade. Because of this demonstrated shipping capability, grain markets will continue to discount events in this conflict, keeping prices under pressure, until proven otherwise.

What else has been impactful to grain prices? As we moved through the fall, grain market news was centered around South American production risks. Prices rallied on poor growing conditions in the region, primarily affecting the earliest planted portion of the crop.

The growing crop in the field was suffering predominately from drought and high temperatures, although some regions also had issues arising from excess moisture as well. Market watchers began to be concerned that a greater drought may have been forming. A further drought would impact later-planted crops also, that represent a larger portion of the total South American production.

South American production is very important to the world balance sheet and therefore markets took notice of the growing production risk.

As a consequence, soy prices rallied sharply as forecasts became more threatening.

Recognizing the potential losses in South America, and the potential delays in South American production coming to market, China began to enter the U.S. market for old crop supplies, ensuring adequate product procurement for their domestic needs.

The combination of potential South American losses and increased demand created a strong increase in soy prices.

Strong prices remained until South American rains came. The received rains came at a critical time for the majority of the crop. With crop fears subsiding, the prices also faded with more confidence in the stabilization of the growing crops. While the South American crop is not yet made, the market is confident (at this time) that they will grow a sufficient crop to meet expected world demand. At this stage of the production cycle yields are difficult to predict, but as long as there are sufficient rains the market assumption is that the yields will be there. Currently grain prices point to this being the situation, as Brazilian beans are offered cheaper than U.S. beans.

Fund managers have taken notice of the sufficient grain inventories world wide and have been selling grain futures. Fund managers continue to grow their net short (selling) positions as they see supply exceeding demand. Currently the funds are short futures in all grain commodities, with the exception of soymeal. It is rather rare for funds to be short soy futures, as they are today. The last time the funds were short soys goes back to April 2020.

The funds position is very impactful to prices and this information tells us a story: The grower doesn’t have lots of crops sold, choosing rather to store their grain. This market structure gives the market little incentive to rally with the current production expectations worldwide. ◊

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42 The Rural Voice

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

Wedges and back cuts help direct tree fall I would like to start this column with an apology. In my last column there were a few typos, sorry. I know that reading something with typos or the improper spelling of a word (there, their) can sometimes make it hard to continue reading and keep your mind on track. Please remember my background is Forestry not English. I will try to do better.

I know that I have written previously about the importance of not working alone in a forest. This is especially important when felling trees or using a chainsaw. Obviously, it is great to have some help. It is likely safer. It is also great to have a second opinion if your helper has felling experience.

We all know that it is easiest to drop a tree where it naturally wants to go unless there are other trees in the way. For safety, we are all encouraged not to try to force a tree in a different direction than its natural lean. In actual fact, trees do not always want to go where we want or need to drop them.

When looking at which direction a tree would like to naturally fall, two people can have two totally different opinions. Being able to talk through what each of you is seeing can set you up for greater success by being prepared for all possibilities. If the tree leans to the right and there are no obstacles in that direction, obviously you would just fell the tree to the right. If the same tree has a lean to the right, but you have infrastructure or other quality trees in that direction, you will need to force the tree out of its natural path. Many cutters will simply pound a bunch of wedges in and try to force the tree. It’s not that wedges won’t work, but there is a

better way since using wedges may tree. Now, on the other side of the cause you to work harder and not be tree, start a second back cut, which is in as much control. also a bore cut, lower than the first to In college, we had to purchase a ensure that you don’t cut the wedge. copy of The Cutting Edge which was Once finished the second back cut, printed by the Forest Products which should overlap the first back Accident Prevention Association. My cut, drive the wedge in and finish 1992 copy cost me $16.40 and is a felling the tree. As this is probably very easy read of 106 pages with lots difficult to envision without a of pictures. I have seen the modern diagram, I have included the image version which is now 287 pages and from my book. sells for $25.00 from Workplace There are so many variables that Safety North. This book is a great must be considered when dropping manual for beginners or even trees. There are also many methods experienced operators. It’s full of to help yourself be successful and easy-to-understand descriptions of safe. A felling bar is a great way to actions to be taken and lots of assist trees in heading in the direction diagrams to further explain methods of fall. Sometimes this assistance described. helps the tree fall faster which may I can imagine many readers rolling their eyes thinking about how ridiculous it may be to suggest that you can learn cutting from a book.

I am not suggesting that the book teaches everything one needs to know, that would be silly. This book, along with time spent running a saw felling and bucking trees with an experienced operator are necessary to be at your best.

Going back to the tree that is leaning to the right and needing to fell it In a diagram from The Cutting Edge, 1992, issued by the in a direction other Forest Products Accident Prevention Association, than to the right – showing how to use wedges and a back cut to get the my old book lists the tree to fall where you want it. best method beyond just inserting a couple of wedges into avoid it getting hung up. Winching, your standard notch and back cutting. using pulleys, cant hooks, and It is recommended that a typical pushing with equipment works great notch is used but the back cut is done when the tools are available. Not in two separate cuts. The first half of everyone has all tools with them, or the back cut is made by boring into remembers to use them when the centre of the back cut halfway necessary. through the diameter of the tree on So that this isn’t all seeming like the opposite side of the desired a sales pitch for a book, which is not felling direction and rotating the saw my intent, a quick search on the to complete the half back cut. Next, internet may reveal similar guidance. you should drive a wedge into that Also, most chainsaw manufacturers back cut so it is tight. This wedge may offer similar guidance for free in should be towards the centre of the their informational booklets. ◊

February 2024 43

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

Court is not convinced that area is a wetland— farmer is acquitted Conservation Authorities in Ontario are authorized by the Conservation Authorities Act (the “Act”) to make regulations “prohibiting, regulating or requiring the permission of the authority for straightening, changing, diverting or interfering in any way with the existing channel of a river, creek, stream or watercourse, or for changing or interfering in any way with a wetland”.

Authorities can also make regulations “prohibiting, regulating or requiring the permission of the authority for development if, in the opinion of the authority, the control of flooding, erosion, dynamic beaches or pollution or the conservation of land may be affected by the development”. There is almost no area within Southern Ontario that is not subject to a regulation passed by a local or regional Conservation Authority.

However, generally, these regulations can only apply to river or stream valleys, hazardous lands or wetlands – “regulated areas” or “zones”.

What constitutes a regulated area or zone is not always obvious. For instance, a river or stream valley doesn’t actually have to contain a watercourse – the regulations can apply to areas with “depressional features associated with a river or

44 The Rural Voice

stream”. The Act defines “hazardous land” as “land that could be unsafe for development because of naturally occurring processes associated with flooding, erosion, dynamic beaches or unstable soil or bedrock”, but doesn’t define what might be unsafe.

To be considered “wetland” under the Act, land must meet the following four highly technical requirements (and not fall under the exception): (a) be seasonally or permanently covered by shallow water or have a water table close to or at its surface, (b) directly contribute to the hydrological function of a watershed through connection with a surface watercourse, (c) have hydric soils, the formation of which has been caused by the presence of abundant water, and (d) have vegetation dominated by hydrophytic plans or water tolerant plants, the dominance of which has been favoured by the presence of abundant water, but not be periodically soaked or wet land that is used for agricultural purposes and no longer exhibits a wetland characteristic referred to in clause (c) or (d). [emphasis added] The regulation of development also applies to “other areas where development could interfere with the hydrologic function of a wetland, including areas within 120 metres of all provincially significant wetlands and areas within 30 metres of all other wetlands.”

In a prosecution by a Conservation Authority for development in a regulated area without a permit or for interference with a wetland, the Authority must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the activity carried out by the party charged occurred within a regulated area. The Ontario Court of Justice recently dismissed charges against a farmer related to clearing work carried out in 2019 because the Conservation Authority failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the area cleared was a wetland, as was alleged by the Authority. The

farmer had removed trees and vegetation from a “wooded area” located between tile-drained cultivated land to the north and east and intersecting drainage ditches to the south and west. The land was cleared to extend the tile drainage system and bring the land under cultivation. After receiving an anonymous complaint about trees being removed from the farmer’s property and conducting a further investigation, the Conservation Authority laid various charges, including a charge for interference with a wetland.

At trial, both the Conservation Authority and the farmer called expert witnesses to testify on the question of whether the area cleared was, in fact, a wetland. The Authority called one of its employees who had taken soil samples from the cleared area a few months after the clearing work was completed and took photos. She confirmed that on her visit to the site in the midst of the spring thaw in April, 2020 she did not observe water on the cleared area.

She confirmed that she did not encounter the water table in any of her examinations of the area.

However, the Conservation Authority’s expert witness did say that the clay soil and “orange soil” she encountered could be indicators of hydric soils. Also, she observed vegetation that she considered to be “hydrophytic plants” adjacent to the cleared area and in the piles of cleared vegetation or “slash piles”.

The Authority’s expert’s opinion was that the cleared area met the statutory definition of a wetland.

The farmer’s expert witness dug two 1-metre-deep pits just outside the cleared area to assess the soil in the cleared area. His opinion was that hydric soils must contain gley soil, a rich grey clay-like soil. The farmer’s expert did not encounter any gleys.

While he did find that the soils were imperfectly drained and opined that imperfectly drained soil could be considered hydric soil depending on the vegetation present, his conclusion was that the cleared area was not a

wetland within the meaning of the term used in the Act. The Justice of the Peace presiding over the case observed that there was no evidence that the cleared area was seasonally covered by water, that any hydric soils present were caused because of an abundance of water in the area, or that hydrophytic or water tolerant plants dominated the area (as favoured by an abundance of water).

As such, three of the four requirements for a “wetland” under the Act were not met and the wetland interference charge had to be dismissed. ______________________________ 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.

Marvin L. Smith B.Sc.F. (Forestry), R.P.F. Farm Woodland Specialist 570 Riverview Dr. Listowel, Ontario N4W 3T7 Telephone: (519) 291-2236

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Specializing in Farm Drainage, Backhoeing & Excavating, GPS includes: mapping grade control & surveying Where Schmidt’s go, the Water Flows!

GPS Grade Control 519-338-3484 • Cell 519-323-6335

?

90-DAY, RISK-FREE PURCHASE No-Return, No-Exchange fees.

PRICE MATCH GUARANTEE** If you are quoted a lower price on an identical hearing aid with the same features, options and services, we will match that price.

Get started with a FREE hearing test today!* Visit your local clinic in the communities of: Owen Sound, Hanover, Wingham, Listowel, Clinton, Exeter, Kincardine, Goderich, Stratford, Fergus & Collingwood

1-888-285-4075 Mention code:

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Book online

HearingLife.ca/FreeTest *A comprehensive hearing assessment is provided to adults ages 19 and older at no cost. The results of this assessment will be communicated verbally to you. If you request a copy of the Audiological Report, an administrative fee will apply. Child hearing tests are conducted at select locations for a fee, please contact us for more information. This limited-time offer is valid for private sales of select hearing aid models and accessories and is subject to change without notice. For Government funding, the discount is after the grant is applied. **Conditions Apply. Ask our hearing care professionals for more details.

February 2024 45

The

Rural Voice

Business Centre To place your ad call: 519-523-4311 or email: rvads@northhuron.on.ca

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

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

www.beloretrailers.ca

Full service to all boats and marine engines

324025 Mount Elgin Rd. Mount Elgin, Ontario N0J 1N0

ARGYLE Marine & Small Engines Inc.

Jamie Belore

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

DL Distributing Dave Mustard 519-794-3334 Authorized Dealer

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

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

Tough on Winter, Easy on You

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

REAL ESTATE

Non-GMO & Organic Seed sales, seed cleaning, drying & licensed truck scale

• Farm, residential, country, cottages, condominiums.

• Thinking of Buying or Selling? Rightsizing? Relocating?

• Market value analysis on your property.

“Welcome to connect with me anytime.”

A complete line of nutritionally balanced Non-GMO feeds

Gladys Munro

Roasted soybean sales and custom roasting

Realtor®

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

46 The Rural Voice

Jonathan Zettler CCA-ON, 4R NMS 519-323-7505 jz@fieldwalker.ca fieldwalker.ca

Steven: P/F: 519-363-0152 Jeffery: P: 519-363-5933

701234 Side Road 5 RR #4 Chesley, ON N0G 1L0

Choose from: Hazelnut, heartnut, Persian and black Walnut, chestnut, hickory, pecan, pawpaw, persimmon, mulberry, fig and more.

979 Lakeshore Rd, RR3 Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario L0S 1J0 Tel: 905-YEH-NUTS (934-6887) Fax: 905-YEL-NUTS (935-6887) E-mail: nut.trees@grimonut.com Catalogue Site: www.grimonut.com

QUALITY METAL ROOFING, SIDING & TRIMS

519-363-3757

2051 Bruce Rd. 19, R.R. 1 Chesley, ON N0G 1L0

The Better Choice, Plain and Simple

SALES & SERVICE INSTALLATION & PARTS

Rissler KEITH SIEMON FARM SYSTEMS LTD.

81987 Perth Rd. 180, R.R. 4, Walton 519-345-2734 (anytime)

www.keithsiemonfarmsystems.com email: keithsiemon@tcc.on.ca For Free Planning and Estimates

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

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

519-531-0355 TEESWATER, ON

Tel. 519-529-7212

mike@steffenwelldrilling.ca

Snowblowers, Quick-attach Buckets, Sweepers, Woodsplitters, Crimper Rollers, Land Rollers, Stone Windrowers, etc.

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

smythwelding.com info@smythwelding.com

B PACKERS: WE BUILD U RUBBER S TIRE PACKER I SPECIALISTS Order Now N Also large fold-up steel drum packers, lawn & estate rollers, E custom manufactured S RR #2, Arthur, Ont. (519) 848-2799 S

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

February 2024 47

C E N T R E

MarCrest Backhoe Septic Installations • Tile Repairs Small Footings • Silo Footings

Maynard Martin

WE WANT YOUR GRAIN! Download the London Ag App for FREE (Real-time scale tickets, contracts, cash bids and more.)

• Corn • Wheat • Soybeans • Feed Grains • Feed Ingredients • Food Quality Soybeans

2512 Kressler Road RR 1 St. Clements, ON N0B 2M0

Tel. 519-699-0507

CASH & FORWARD CONTRACTS Call us today for Quotes Scott Speers Richard Smibert Scott Krakar Matt McKillop Alex Kissler 1615 NORTH ROUTLEDGE PARK UNIT 43 - LONDON, ONTARIO, N6H 5L6 519-473-9333 Toll-Free 1-800-265-1885

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.

-------------------------------------------DAIRY -------------------------------------------Screened bedding sand, delivered.

Call 519-625-8242 or 519-2741490.

-------------------------------------------FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Soybean seed for sale - Altitude R2, Beliveau R2X, Ramage XF, Savage R2X and Orr R2X Roundup Ready varieties.

Treatments and inoculants available. Call Mitch at Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd. 519-440-6712 -------------------------------------------For prices on forage peas, forage pea mixtures, barley, oats, spring wheat and mixed grain seed.

Contact Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd., 225 Hwy 21, RR 1, Ripley. Phone 519-395-2972. Ask for Carmon or Mitch.

-------------------------------------------Alfalfa hay mixtures, pasture mixtures, top dressing for pastures, and a selection of organic grass seeds. All mixed to your personal needs.

Also red clover for plowdown. Available at Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd., 225 Hwy 21, RR 1, Ripley. Phone 519-3952972. Ask for Carmon or Mitch.

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

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

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE -------------------------------------------LIMOUSIN breeding bulls, quiet, thick, semen tested, guaranteed breeders, delivery included. Select now for spring deliver. OPEN HOUSE Saturday, April 6, 2024.

Posthaven Limousin, John Post, 519-766-7178. John Jr. 519-8311869. www.posthavenlimousin.com.

-------------------------------------------Bulls on test. Watch them grow by Googling Ontario Bull Evaluation, Silver Springs Farms. Heifers developing. Contact us at 519599-6236 to reserve yours for 2024. James, Joan and Robert McKinlay --------------------------------------------

48 The Rural Voice

• Tree Seedlings • Nursery Stock • Shade Trees • Native Species Order for Spring 2024 Now

905-797-2801

www.hrichardsonfarms.com

-------------------------------------------GARDEN SEEDS -------------------------------------------Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds vegetable, herb and flower seeds, 6923 Sideroad 2 West, Mount Forest ON, N0G 2L0. 519-3433375, hawthornfarm.ca; sales@hawthornfarm.ca -------------------------------------------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.

-------------------------------------------LIVESTOCK FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Purebred yearling lambs. Born in Feb/Mar. British blood lines, GenOvis tested, M-V Negative, closed flock. Florence Pullen, Clinton. 519-233-7896.

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

Limousin BULLS and Open and Bred FEMALES

26th Annual Open House & Private Treaty Sale ~ Sat., April 6, 2024 At the farm 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Please call to arrange a private viewing

Smart Limousin

137606 Grey Rd. 12 Meaford 519-372-7459

www.smartlimousin.com or Follow us on Facebook

-------------------------------------------RESTORATION -------------------------------------------The Olde Tyme Radio Centre antique radios, clocks, gramophones, telephones; sold/restored. (vintage autoclock radio repairs). Golden Oldies Antiques For Sale. Belgrave 519357-4304, www.oldtymeradio.ca --------------------------------------------

Rural Voice Deadline for March is February 6

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

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

-------------------------------------------SERVICES -------------------------------------------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 -------------------------------------------Income Tax Filing for Corporations and late filers - for farms, small business, truckers and individuals.

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

Call Shirley in Wingham - cell No. 1-705-434-8187.

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

-------------------------------------------WANTED -------------------------------------------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.

-------------------------------------------Dion threshing machine 22x32 or 22x38. International or John Deere grain binder. 905-983-9331 -------------------------------------------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 -------------------------------------------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.

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

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

Ph. 519-528-3019 Specializing in on Farm Pest Management Serving Southwestern ON, Golden Horseshoe, GTA Email: info@sgsltd.ca

519-692-4232

www.sgspestmanagement.ca

DANNY’S

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

SCHOOL OF DE DELL REPORT CARD

Hybrid: DL 3905 – 2850

CHU, 95 RM MARK

SUBJECT land Topping plot at Court Top 3 hybri ds across

and Avon.

all teste d locations.

etition Outperfor med ALL comp Avon and Brunner.

at Ilderton,

.

Excellent agronomics ce in Excellent performan provincial trials!

OCC & RGCQ

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COMMENTS plot. High this year plot after DL 3905 prove d itself . with solid agronomics yielding new genetics

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4 LOCATION SUMMARY DL3905

P9946AML

A6757G8 RIB

A6015

A6016RR

DL 3146

Moisture (%)

27.3

29.4

28.4

26.0

26.7

25.8

Yield (bu/ac)

243

221

206

186

208

207

Test Weight (lbs/bu)

52.2

52.3

51.5

51.6

51.8

53.3

Average

De Dell Seeds The Leaders in Non-GMO Corn De Dell Seeds • 7095 Century Drive • Melbourne, ON • N0L 1T0 P: 519-264-CORN (2676) • F: 519-264-2672 • 1-833-436-CORN (2676) info@dedellseeds.com • www.dedellseeds.com

February 2024 49

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

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

NFU-O to release report on sustainable nutrients management practices

T

he actions and opinions of 246 commodity-diverse farmers are helping the National Farmers Union – Ontario (NFU-O) develop and refine policy recommendations to support ecologically and economically sustainable nutrient management practices in agriculture.

This study was driven by a group of Ontario-based conventional farmers who wanted to better collectively understand, address, and reduce agricultural non-point sources of phosphorus, known to be a driver of the re-eutrophication of Lake Erie and the most recent spikes in toxic algal blooms.

Ecological, fiscal, risk, and efficacy concerns regarding the excessive and/or inefficient use of fertilizers were raised by many farmers who participated in the survey. Many raised alarms that excessive fertilizer inputs have not only polluted watersheds, but are a leading contributor to climate change.

Their input prompted us to expand this study beyond the purview of the impact of agricultural phosphorus in the Lake Erie basin to study nutrient use, and its misuse, more broadly.

Over 78 per cent of farmer respondents believe they have an important role in protecting water quality and more than two-thirds were very concerned about Lake Erie’s algae blooms. Many, however, shared that they believe that point sources (e.g., sewage treatment plants) and/or urban practices are also part of the problem, even though numerous peer-reviewed studies have calculated that between 88 per cent and 93 per cent of the phosphorus causing the re-eutrophication of the Lake Erie basin is directly linked to agriculture and food production.

The majority of crop and livestock farmers surveyed indicated they have adopted some of the most common best nutrient management practices.

Of the surveyed participants, 81 per

cent of conventional crop farmers followed the 4Rs of inorganic fertilizer application (right amount, rate, time, and placement) and 85 per cent of livestock farmers avoided winter manure spreading.

However, the survey results also indicate numerous opportunities for improvement. For instance, less than two out of every three farmers reported soil testing for baseline nutrient levels every one to three years even though having accurate and up-to-date soil nutrient levels is crucial to determining fertilizer amounts. And, only one in every two livestock farmers acknowledged adherence with Ontario’s Nutrient Management Act and have completed the required nutrient management strategy or nutrient management plan.

Crop farmers shared how they felt trapped within what the N F U researcher, Darrin Qualman, has called the “yield-maximization treadmill.” This circular chase for maximum yields has not led to increased profits and instead has damaged soil quality, polluted waterways, and increased agriculture’s greenhouse gas

emissions.

Two-thirds of crop farmers wanted to learn more about “least-cost crop production” and would “prefer to farm for profit, not yield.” A significant barrier to achieving this goal is the fact that most crop farmers (63 per cent) rely on an advisor/agrologist associated with an agri-retailer, dealer, or manufacturer when making decisions about their fertilizer use. These corporate advisors have little to gain and a lot to lose from farmers getting off the yield-maximization treadmill.

Save the Date for our Annual Meeting and Convention We are excited to invite you to be a part of our Annual General Meeting and Convention on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20, 2024 virtually or in-person at the University of Guelph’s Arboretum.

We think you’ll agree that our theme this year, “Soil: A Matter of Biology”, holds paramount importance to our farming community.

For more information and to register visit: https://nfuontario.ca /events/annual-general-meeting/ ◊

A subscription to The Rural Voice is one of the benefits of being an NFU-O member 50 The Rural Voice

Henry Groenestege, President

Perth County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER

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

This place is best...in memory of Matthew Peters

By Craig Hulshof hen I was starting my career in pork production, I had an interesting conversation with Matthew Peters about what makes Ontario such a great place to raise pigs. Matthew had farmed in France, the Netherlands, Ontario, and toured farms in many different countries while on vacation.

His well-informed opinion was that Ontario is the best place in the world to raise pigs. The reasons are easy to take for granted, but I couldn’t imagine farming in Ontario without them. Matthew Peters passed away after Christmas in 2023. This article is in memory of him.

Corn The I states, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, are famous for their prolific corn production. I have heard that the vegetative index of these states during the growing season is greater than the rain forest! But with our steady precipitation from the Great Lakes, Ontario easily grows more corn than our livestock can consume.

Our corn yields in western Ontario are competitive with production in Iowa, especially when you fertilize with hog manure!

Conestoga Conestoga Meat Packers is a producer-owned pork processing cooperative based in the Waterloo Region. Matthew Peters was a founding member of Conestoga, and served on its board. Conestoga is the only federally inspected pork processor in the province that has increased its processing capacity in the past two decades. They currently process about 40 per cent of the hogs raised in Ontario. Conestoga pays its producers based on the meat price, rather than the market value of live hogs. This leads to members of Conestoga being paid a price that is more stable and profitable than the open market. This provides businesses that support pork producers with a more stable cash flow. It has also given producers in

W

Ontario a better understanding of the latest farming practices. Every how on-farm production practices year the agricultural college at the affect meat quality for the consumer.

University of Guelph trains another Stable Regulation crop of 500 graduates with another Farmers in Ontario still hold the 250 coming from the Ridgetown public’s trust. As a result, we are able Campus. The Ontario Soil and Crop to operate in a fairly stable regulatory Association produces the Ontario environment. As farming intensified Agriculture Conference, OPIC the Nutrient Management Act, and organizes the London Swine Minimum distance separation Conference, and OMAFRA produces regulations were introduced to ensure the South West Ontario Pork that barns had enough land to Conference. All of this education is properly dispose of the manure they built on a solid foundation of generate, and that new barns were not researchers and extension personnel built too close to neighbours. Recent who are tuned into the challenges that free trade agreements opened new the pork industry is facing. markets to Ontario Pork, and By-Products recognized the integrated nature of Pigs are known for their insatiable pork trade between Canada and the appetite for just about anything they US. Our welfare regulations are can stick their snouts in. Other than based on science, not activist corn, Ontario has a few other rhetoric. No, it isn’t perfect, but we important feed stuffs to offer. With a have organizations to represent our wide variety of foods grown and interests to the government, and we processed in the province, there is all know someone who immigrated to also a steady stream of by-products Ontario to escape an unforgiving flowing into pigs troughs. Dried regulatory environment elsewhere. distillers grains from the ethanol Capital industry; tallow from meat Canada is a net exporter of food. processors; whey from dairy Our government’s policy is to processors and even bakery increase agrifood exports, and they byproducts from the province’s ensure capital is available to bread, cookie, and doughnut Canadian agriculture to make this manufacturers. Feeding these happen. Farm Credit Canada is a byproducts to pigs keeps them out of crown corporation that is in the landfill and provides value for the business of investing in the future of farmer.

Canadian agriculture. Governments Matthew and his wife Mieke were have also made commitments to able to leverage the assets of Ontario invest in increasing the capacity of pork production so that all five of Ontario pork processing plants. In their children are farming today. ◊ Ontario, sound investments in p o r k production can Fill your freezer with local pork products get capital.

Education Order today from: There is no Tanya and Darryl Terpstra (519-291-7603) shortage of or visit Leis Feeds in Milverton – Open Monday to Friday educational from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon opportunities to bring Ontario Pork supplied by: Perth County Pork Producers farmers up to BBQ services for large groups are also available, contact: speed and keep perthcountyporkproducers@gmail.com for more details. them there with

LOCAL PORK PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

February 2024 51

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

So God Created a Farm Wife

In the late ‘70s the Broadcaster Mr. Paul Harvey delivered his speech called “So God made a Farmer”, it was meant to profile the strong character and high importance of an often unsung and low profile player……. The Farmer. Of course, much about farming has changed in the past 50 years, in many cases; technology, politics and culture look different today but the words from Mr. Harvey still ring true in 2024; the family farm dynamic where all have responsibilities and pitch in on chores to make the operation work remain paramount. Last month we published the speech and this month we are following up with a related piece.This echo piece written with the farm wife as its focus is a less famous but no less poignant reminder about one other very significant role on the farm.

On the 9th day God looked down on his creation and said “this is good, but Farmer needs a helper”.

So God created a farm wife.

She needs to be able to rise before dawn to feed the farmer to start his day. To care for the kids, make her house a home, run the farm office, teach Sunday School and VBS during summer vacation.

She will make a meal for 10 extra field hands out of leftovers from Sunday dinner. She can plan, cook and deliver meals to the field during harvest without spilling a drop. The back of the pick-up doubles as her dining room on wheels.

God had to have her able to jump in the tractor, feed calves, milk the cows while the kids are in school. Then be dressed, pressed, powdered and perfumed for the school PTA meeting that night.

She will stay up late waiting for Farmer to make it in from the fields. And, if he is late she will pull the kids from bed and drive out to find him in the back 20 acres broken down trying to fix the problem with the few tools in the cab. She grabs the flashlight, leaves the kids sleeping in the truck and acts as his extra hands.

She turns down a lunch date with her girlfriend because the cows need the medicine from the vet and the part they are waiting for is in at the implement dealer.

She checks the market prices and helps make decisions on selling and buying.

God wanted her to teach her sons to throw a ball, load a gun and change a flat tire when Farmer is too busy getting that last load of hay.

She cries over a calf that didn’t survive birth, sits on the barnyard floor with the cow’s head in her

lap praying the good Lord will stop the bleeding and that her favorite cow will survive.

Her cookies, cakes and crock pots full of Bar-B-Q replenish the hired hands. Her extra garden produce lines the table in the work room for the employees to take home.

God needed a medical assistant. So she washes, sanitizes, medicates and wraps the cuts of those working for her. The decision to go for stitches is hers. She also assists with IVs, births, vaccinations and other procedures the critters need. Her tools of the trade belong to man and animals.

God needed a farm wife to referee the kids, wrangle the mud covered dogs before they ran in the back door and scatter feed to the chickens.

She clucks over her own children and feeds them from the Word of God. God said, “I need a woman who is strong enough to hold the gate while Farmer welds it yet gentle enough to cradle the newborn lamb. She will make a bed near her stove to keep the fragile sheep alive”.

This woman will show no fear and walk the fields in drought praying for rain with confidence.

And when asked if she is worried about a flood washing away her field she will smile and say “No, not really. We’re just taking care of God’s land. It’s his to flourish at his will.”

And after a stressful week when the sons and Farmer collide with heated words and disagreements she gathers them and all the family together around the Sunday dinner table and cultivates love, laughter and harmony.

God knew what he needed. So God created a farm wife.

The role of family on the farm has always been and remains key to success through plant, harvest, livestock management, processing, business planning and on and on. The Grey County Federation celebrates and advocates for all of the stakeholders on the family farm.

Next GCFA Meeting February 14 via Zoom Call our office for details

We want to hear from you...

Do you have any questions, concerns, comments, suggestions for the GCFA? Or even an agriculture-related event that you would like to see promoted on the Grey County page?

Please send them to grey@ofa.on.ca Or call 519-364-3050 Ext 1

Annual Curling Bonspiel February 17th

at Williamsford Curling Club

9 am and 11 am Draws Two 8 end games (lunch included) Prizes for all players Please call 519-364-3050 Ext 1 to register a team

Submitted by: Hugh Simpson, Director GCFA * The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Grey County by the GCFA.

52 The Rural Voice

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

Food Freedom Day in Canada: February 6 Every year Canadians celebrate Food Freedom Day, an event that is organized by Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). This day celebrates the efforts of those people, who ensure that Canadians have enough food to eat.

This date is annually calculated by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). It can fall on any day of the year, representing the time, when the average Canadian earns enough money to pay for his or her own grocery bills for the full year.

On this day Canadians get freedom from food.

Every year CFA chooses a special theme to organize the event and highlight the main issues of food supply and nutrition. For instance, these can be problems of soil, value chain, food waste etc. CFA also provides quick facts on consumption

of food and special tips on eliminating the existing problems and make Canadians save some money and spend less.

On February 6th join BCFA, OFA and CFA on celebrating this day; more information can be found on social media or one of our websites.

Farmer Wellness Initiative

2024 Directors Meeting February 26 March 25 April 22 May 27 June 24 August 26 September 23 October 25-Annual Meeting November 11

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

February 2024 53

Perth County Federation of Agriculture Email: perthcountyfedofag@gmail.com Website: www.perthcountyfarmers.ca Office: 1-833-229-6834 Julie Danen, President: 519-801-9200

T

Take part in Canada’s Agriculture Day 2024

his year, Canada’s Agriculture Day falls on February 13. It is a day where our vibrant agricultural community engages in food and agriculture conversations and helps spread the word across Canada with the hashtag #CdnAgDay. The idea is to celebrate the hardworking people who bring us the food we love and the essential contributions of agriculture to our nation’s prosperity and well-being!

What can you, as a Perth County farmer, do to help recognize Canadian agriculture and food alongside other Canadian farmers, ranchers and food processors?

Here are some ideas: ● Take and post a photo or video of your farm/farm family celebrating and post it on social media and use the hashtag #CdnAgDay ● Cook an all-Canadian ingredient meal and share a photo ● Post up a “forks up” selfie ● As a farmer, tell your farm story and answer questions about your farm/agriculture ● Share credible agricultural resources such as Farm & Food Care Ontario (https://www.farm food careon.org/) with your contacts You will see that social media plays a huge component in this campaign organized by AgMoreThanEver.ca. In 2022, #CdnAgDay trended on Twitter all day, reaching 42 million people! It has 96,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Originally launched in 2012 by Farm Credit Canada, it is now led by the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity.

For more information, please visit: https://agriculturemorethanever.ca/cd n-ag-day/ ◊ ~Submitted by Julie McIntosh, PCFA Director

T

he Canada’s Agriculture Day website shares a delicious recipe that looks to be perfect for a cold February Day! Enjoy!

Chicken Lasagna Soup A rich, creamy tomato broth envelopes this hearty chicken lasagna soup filled with ground chicken, peppers, mushrooms and broken lasagna noodles. Top individual servings with mozzarella and broil for an extra gooey finish, it’s total comfort in a bowl.

Total Time: 50 minutes Servings: 10 Ingredients 1 1/2 tbsp (20 mL) vegetable oil 1 onion diced 1 green pepper seeded and diced 8 oz (250 g) mushrooms sliced 1 lb (500 g) ground chicken 1 tbsp (15 mL) dried oregano 1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar

1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt 1/2 tsp (2 mL) chili flakes 28 oz (796 mL) can crushed tomatoes 4 cups (1 L) sodium-reduced chicken broth 3 cups (750 mL) water 12 dry lasagna noodles broken into 2inch pieces 3/4 cup (175 mL) 35% cream 1 1/4 cups (310 mL) grated Parmesan cheese 2 cups (500 mL) shredded mozzarella optional Directions 1- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook onions, peppers and mushrooms until onions are translucent and peppers are softened, 6 – 7 minutes. Add chicken, stirring to break up and cook until no pink remains, about eight minutes.

2- Stir in oregano, sugar, salt, chili flakes, crushed tomatoes, broth and water. Bring to a boil. Stir in lasagna pieces; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, 17 – 18 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.

3- If broiling, ladle soup into ovensafe bowls and top with mozzarella.

Broil until golden and bubbly.

Visit the Canadian Food Focus website for even more recipe ideas! ◊

Chicken Lasagna Soup

* The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Perth County by the PCFA.

54 The Rural Voice

Index Allied Associates ..........................5 Argyle Marine & Small Engines..46 Ausable Bayfield ........................45 Bautec Industries Inc ..................41 Beekeeping ............................11, 13 Belore Trailers ............................46 Bernie McGlynn Lumber ............41 Bervie Supply ..............................38 Bridal Showcase ..............15, 16, 17 Canada’s Ag Day ......................2, 5 Canadian Co-operative Wool ....36 CFFO ..................................Cover 3 Chalmers Fuels............................25 CMHA Ontario ..............Cover 7, 32 Crafter’s Corner ..........................38 Cottrill Heavy Equipment............26 Crop Quest Inc ............................23 Cross County Eavestrough ........30 DeDell Seeds ..............................49 Design & Build ..........................7, 9 DL Distributing ............................46 Easy Lift Doors Ltd........................8 Farm to Table ..............................42 Feeney DesignBuild ..........Cover 4 Fieldwalker Agronomy ................46 Five Star Seeds ..........................46 Gaia Organic Seeds ....................35 Gladys Munro ..............................46 Goderich Ag Show ......................26 Green Valley Heating Inc ............28 Grimo Nut Nursery ......................47 Hanover Honda..............................6 Harold Jones Enterprises ..........47 Hayden Water Wells....................30 Hearing Life Canada Ltd ............45 Highland Fuels & Supply ............55 Hill & Hill/Varna Grain ........Cover 2 Hub Capital ........................................21 Keith Siemon Farm Systems ......47 Kenpal Farm Products ................28 LAC ..............................................48 Lakeside Shelving & Racking ....37 Legge Fitness Superstores ..Cover 8

LEON BRUBACHER 9539 AYTON ROAD, RR#4 HARRISTON, ON N0G 1Z0 519-338-5497 T GENERAL REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS OF EQUIPMENT T T CUSTOM WELDING MIG & TIG T T SHEET METAL FORMING T

KEY STOCK T KEY WAYS

Leon Brubacher ..........................55 Live Landscape ..........................36 Lucknow Auto Parts....................47 Mapleview Agri Ltd ....................23 Marcrest Backhoe ......................48 Marquardt Farm Drainage Ltd ....42 Martin Farm Wagons ....................4 Martin’s Nursery ..........................37 Marvin L Smith Forestry..............45 McLeod Water Wells Ltd ............32 Moore Hemsworth Ins..................21 Morris Sachs Silo Construction ..10 Nature’s Wave Inc ........................19 Nu-Matic Systems ......................30 Nutrient Management..................21 Ontario Pesticide Training ..........23 R & M Gorman Hay & Straw ......47 RCS Forestry Mulching ..............12 Ridgeway Metals ........................47 Riverside Welding & Mfg ............40 Rural Voice Books ..............Cover 6 Schmidt’s Farm Drainage............45 Schweiss Doors ..........................37 Seebach & Company ....................5 Silver Creek Nursery ..................32 Smyth Welding ............................47 SW Ont Dairy Symposium ..........19 Spruce Green Tree Service ........47 St. Lawrence Cruise Lines ..........15 Steffen Well Drilling ....................47 Stephen Thompson Accounting ..33 Superior Barn Painting ......Cover 5 SWO Diesel Inc ..................Cover 4 Townsley Barn Painting ..............49 WD Hopper & Sons Ltd ..............14

DEADLINE for the

MARCH issue of

The Rural Voice is February 6

Family owned and operated, check out our website www.highlandsupply.ca for updated equipment pricing throughout the year!

92 Main St. W., Dundalk, Ontario Tel: 519.923.2240 ~ Toll-Free: 800.265.9154 email: sales@highlandsupply.ca

February 2024 55

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

Robert James Scott inducted into the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame

Robert James Scott's contribution to Ontario agriculture was recently acknowledged when he was inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame. Scott joins a large number of Huron County inductees on display at the Huron County Museum. Scott's grandson, David Eccles, and his daughter, Mary Eccles, are pictured with HCFA director Joan Vincent, and Elizabeth French-Gibson, Senior Curator for the Museum. To learn more about Huron County Ag Hall of Fame visit the Huron County Museum in Goderich.

Upcoming Events February 2 Ground Hog Day February 13 Canadian Agriculture Day. A day to celebrate Agriculture, Farmers and Food.

February 14 Valentine’s Day February 19 Family Day March 1 Farm Business Registration Deadline with Agricorp

HCFA Monthly Board Meeting Monday, February 26, 2024 8:00 pm Vanastra Office

MP MPP Local Politician Forum The HCFA is currently making plans for our 2024 MP MPP Local Politicians Forum on April 5.

If you have specific concerns you would like the HCFA Board to present to our politicians please contact the HCFA office or a director to state your concern.

Snomobiles

Please remember that some crops in the field are vulnerable to damage from snowmobiles. Please ensure there is adequate snow cover before you enter a field and always ensure you have landowner permission to ride your snowmobiles on farmland and off the groomed trails.

Room for Rent

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.

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

56 The Rural Voice

 House & Barn Painting

Liquid Rubber Sealant Uses:  Roof Maintenance & Restorations  Foundations  Bins

 Pressure Washing  Asphalt Coatings  Sand & Air Blasting  Roofs & Walls  Elevator Legs  Lightning Rod Systems  Heavy Duty Seamless Eavestroughing  Fully Insured

We’re also certified applicators of Liquid Rubber

 Free Estimates

Liquid Rubber Features:  Waterproof  Adheres to almost any surface  Resists Cracking & Chipping  Flexible in all weather

Towson Bailie 519-878-1273 Office 519-268-8500

www.barnpainting.ca DORCHESTER

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

Advertising in The Rural Voice each month will allow your business to be in front of over 11,000 readers.

With ads both in print and on-line, reach a wider audience.

Getting started is as easy as calling 519-523-4311

The Rural Voice Magazine rvads@northhuron.on.ca • 519-523-4311 www.ruralvoice.ca

Sweet Reads For Your Valentine

THE OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC GARDENING CALENDAR 2024 The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Calendar spreads gardening joy at every turn of the page. Each month of this 2024 edition features the stunning illustration of an edible or ornamental accompanied by minifeature captions that include growing guidance and fun facts about the plant shown. $12.99

A GUIDE TO WILD FOOD FORAGING Whether you're looking for ways to become more self-sufficient, save money, or develop healthier habits, A Guide to Wild Food Foraging is an extensive on-the-go directory of more than 100 profiles for wild plants, herbs, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, seaweeds, and shellfish. Also, includes recipes. $18.99

The Old Farmer’s 2024 The Old Farmer’s Almanac Almanac for Kids 2024 This 232nd edition aims This all-new Old Farmer’s once again to fulfill your Almanac for Kids has even expectations with its fun more of what you’ve always facts and forecasts. Also loved. Cool creatures, includes news, novelties and fuzzy farm friends, wild a little nonsense to carry you weather, puzzles and so through another year. $9.99 much more. $13.95

The Rural Reading Room Specializing in Rural Living & Local Authors

BEST OF BRIDGE HOLIDAY CLASSICS 225 Recipes for Special Occasions This new collection will meet all of your holiday entertaining needs, from casual potluck gettogethers to festive brunches and buffets to elegant sit-down dinners and cocktail parties. $29.95

BUSY TRACTOR With lots to see in Busy Tractor, children can help out on the farm, pulling and turning the tabs. See the big tires turn, drive the tractor through fields, and harvest a crop of tasty vegetables. Children will love playing with this bright and colourful board book with gentle rhyming text $13.99

ALICE MUNRO WRITING EXPLORING THE WORLD OF FOXES HER LIVES Foxes the world over share many Author Robert Thacker takes us on a characteristics, but only the graceful, fascinating journey of Munro’s life intelligent and adaptive red fox has including growing up poor in Wingham managed to make much of the planet its and following through all her life stages home range. Discover where the red fox including the slow but steady rise in her lives, its hunting strategies and how it raises writing career. $24.95 its young. $6.95

THE OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC GARDENING CALENDAR A GUIDE TO WILD FOOD FORAGING BEST OF BRIDGE HOLIDAY CLASSICS BUSY TRACTOR THE OLD FARMER’S 2024 ALMANAC THE OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC FOR KIDS 2024 ALICE MUNRO WRITING HER LIVES EXPLORING THE WORLD OF FOXES

Qty.

$12.99 $18.99 $29.95 $13.99 $9.99 $13.95 $24.95 $6.95

Total

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

Subtotal 5% GST on Subtotal Order Total

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.

Join the Guardian Network today!

The Guardian Network is a volunteer, peer-driven community of mental health advocates that supports Ontario’s farming community.

Learn more, join a monthly training session, or book a private training session for your group today: GuardianNetwork.ca Funded in part by the Governments of Canada and Ontario under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), a 昀ve-year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

What are your well-being goals for 2024?

Reaching your potential is as simple as ABC...

Achieve Fitness with our quality cardiovascular products including Treadmills, Ellipticals, Bikes and Rowers, as well as Strength Systems, Functional Trainers, and Free Weight Equipment. Fitness benefits include improving heart and lung health, burning calories, building muscle and skeletal strength and boosting mood!

LeggeFitness.com 1-800-695-7338

Boost Youthfulness with a wonderful deep muscle Massage Chair and the famous Softub Therapy Spas handmade in Sudbury, Ontario. Melt away tension and stress naturally, boost feel good hormones, reduce pain and decompress and stretch.

Create Wellness with the benefits of total body detox, increasing flexibility and naturally lowering pain in one of our Canadian Made Saunas. To help people with healthy nutrition, we carry the Solexx Infrared Greenhouses, so that you can grow your own produce year-round. We are also a dealer for Pfenning’s Organic Farms from New Hamburg, Ontario and we receive fresh weekly shipments.

Remember, what we eat either contributes to illness or creates wellness!

202 Main St. W., Listowel 105 Queen St W., Fergus

Our Family Fitness, Wellness and Mobility Store Since 1988!