The Rural Voice - January 2025

The

Rural Voice January 2025

THE MAGAZINE OF AGRICULTURAL LIFE

MILDMAY’S GOT TALENT Owen Riegling rises in the Country music scene

COMMUNITY AT A CROSSROADS South Bruce in the wake of the NWMO’s DGR decision

GENERATION TO GENERATION The Zehr family builds a barn to stand the test of time

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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

12

Publisher: Deb Sholdice

28 Columns Mel Luymes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Keith Roulston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Kate Procter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Mabel’s Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Woodlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Agrilaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Departments Ruralite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Business Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

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

21 JANUARY 2025 • Cover Photo

Owen Riegling at the Danforth Photo: Scott Stephenson

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

• Deadlines: Feb. Issue – Jan 13

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

12 Community at a Crossroads

Production co-ordinator & Telemarketing: Joan Caldwell

March Issue – Feb 10

South Bruce in the wake of the DGR debate and November’s NWMO decision

18 Advancing Women in Ag

Three lessons from the Advancing Women conference

21 Generation to Generation The Zehr family builds a barn to stand the test of time

24 Mildmay’s Got Talent Owen Riegling rises in the Country music scene

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

Make cheques payable to: NORTH HURON PUBLISHING CO.

28 Visionary Animal Welfare Dr. Temple Grandin speaks about her autism and insights into the world of livestock

32 Sprouts and Microgreens Rhea Hamilton-Seeger shares how to grow salad-toppers on your counter this winter

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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Winter Morning Roundup

by Mel Luymes

photo: Shannon Fitzgerald

I

t was a bright, white Monday morning at 7:30 when Shannon phoned, out of breath. The steers were out. All of them, a crew of Belted Galloways, had crossed the County road and were headed down SR6 towards our farm. I sent out the Bat Signal on the family WhatsApp chat and got some boots on.

In the few minutes it took to drive over, the herd had been turned around

by Peter, who just happened to be coming up the sideroad on his morning walk, wearing high vis like usual.

There were other neighbours yelling and running them back across the road of stopped cars. They went up the lane and back into the barn. By the time I pulled into the yard, Martin was already fixing the gate they had escaped through.

I thought I had missed all the fun, but it turns out it was just getting started. As I turned toward my vehicle, I saw a yearling poke its head out of the treed shelterbelt behind the shop, and then there was another. There was

only a brief moment of peace before it all went to heck. The calves took off in opposite directions with a handful of us running full tilt across the field. Simon was on his four-wheeler, Martin and Mark in their grey trucks tearing up in the snow like you’d only see in a TV commercial.

After 20 furious minutes, it ended with one calf back in the barn and the other diving headlong into the municipal ditch. Cold and wet, a crew brought it back into the barn. We were out of breath but still smiling.

Martin threw down some corn so they would line up for the count. Some mumbled about rewarding bad behaviour, but were all 27 there? Turns out we all came back with different numbers, but the general conclusion was that there were still two missing.

As we dispersed to look for two nine-month-olds, I walked back along that same treeline. I could make out a furry white belt through the giant spruce trees, having a secret picnic in the bushes.

I called Martin and Simon on their cellphones, hoping that a quiet proactive approach would lead to a better outcome. I was wrong. It went just about the same as with the other two, and another one jumped into the drain. Brittany brought down a halter and rope on the Arctic Cat side-byside.

And then a shot rang out, clear in the quiet morning. I wondered who was the wingnut that escalated the situation with a rifle, until I realized it was just the UTV back-firing.

A group of five pulled the 800pound calf out of the ditch with a rope and pure adrenaline. It took three grown men to pin her to the ground, tying her to the back of the UTV. We got a glimpse of the yellow tag in her ear; it said Hattie. “So, are you gonna breed her or eat her?” asked Mark. “Summer barbecue,” replied Martin. “And you’re all invited.”

For the next few days, until the next snowfall, there was evidence of a grand chase that spanned four properties.

January 2025 3

Mel Luymes Mel Luymes is the editor of the Rural Voice and hails from rural Wellington County.

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“You can’t handle the truth!”

Maybe it won’t seem like it, but I have never spent more time and involved more people in an article than I did for this month’s story about South Bruce in the wake of its DGR debate.

I was determined to get the facts straight and to write an article that was respectful to both sides. I interviewed seven community members that were at the heart of the issue and from across the spectrum of opinion, pored through press releases and Facebook posts from the last four years and the article was fact checked by nine people. Nearly all of them made corrections.

So, this month I’ve been thinking a lot about facts, about truth. In Teeswater’s DGR debate, both sides felt they had the best information and were working in the best interests of their community. They both felt the other side was being misinformed, with an ulterior motive. It all made my head hurt; it made my heart ache.

I didn’t think I could even write the article but, in the end, if both sides are equally unhappy with it, then perhaps I’ve done my job properly.

Truth is defined as “that which is in accordance with fact or reality,” but our perception of reality is shifty.

I wonder if our versions of reality have more to do with who we trust as the source of information. Because trust is deeply subjective, personal and ultimately, emotional, it would mean that we aren’t thinking with our brains anymore. In other words, no matter how hard we try, fear will trump facts.

Modernist philosophy proports that the world can be known impartially through science and

reason, that there is objective truth.

Post-modernism (as strange as that sounds, I know) rejected this idea and instead argues that truth is relative, that it is socially constructed. It rejects “meta-narratives” like religion or history because it argues that everyone has their own unique perspective on the world, so no single perspective can claim it is absolutely true. Post-modernism philosophy emerged in the wake of the Second World War, and I guess that kind of makes sense. It wasn’t reflected in the culture, however, until the 1960s, which I have been told were a good time for many people.

Here is the kicker though. While there are inevitably many perspectives about reality, the one with the most power or resources can start to dominate in the media. In 1949, the U.S. enacted the Fairness Doctrine which required news broadcasters to report controversial topics in a balanced way, providing equal airtime to opposing viewpoints.

However, it was repealed in 1987 on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment (the one about free speech) so now the news is allowed to say anything it wants, literally.

There doesn’t appear to be anything stopping media outlets (or individuals) from completely fabricating news to mislead, prank or create revenue. We now call this “fake news.” In Canada, we have journalistic standards as best practices and some laws that protect against the extremes of defamation, fraud or hate speech, while other countries have regulations about creating or perpetuating fake news.

While there are websites that exist simply to report their fact checks on Donald Trump’s statements, there are no laws in the U.S. that protect its citizens from misinformation.

And we, the unsuspecting people, now live in a time when we can’t trust the things we see, let alone read.

With digital imaging technology, we can see photos of things that didn’t even happen, videos of people speaking that aren’t even real. These are called “deep fakes” and it can be very difficult to identify if they are real or not.

To me, it feels like the foundations of reality are crumbling under our feet. What is the truth, and

would we even know it if we saw it?

I’m hopeful that we can turn things around. Perhaps we can’t influence the larger forces of the global media and digital technology at this stage, but we can start flexing our discernment here at home in our communities. It means questioning our biases, actively seeking out sources, and considering opposing views to our own. It will require all of us to take responsibility for the information we share with others.

And all of this is emotional, let’s not

kid ourselves that what we consider facts are not somehow influenced by our gut. It will require some soulsearching.

And when we get to a place in which there is no way of knowing what is true or what isn’t, especially when it comes to nuclear radiation and the long future or other things that are too big to fully understand … then perhaps we stop presuming we have any facts at all.

One of my most favourite quotes, especially when I’m overwhelmed by

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the complexity of (mis)information these days, is by Robert Brault: “Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.”

I took great care with the Teeswater DGR story, and I consider writing a tremendous responsibility to share the most accurate information I can with you all. But I’m a human, so I have my biases too. I will do my best, and will remain open to your feedback! ◊

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January 2025 5

Keith Roulston Keith is former publisher of The Rural Voice.

He lives near Blyth, ON.

Eye-opening discoveries ahead Recently, looking through one of the other farm publications, I was fascinated to read an article on how scientists in the United Kingdom have learned that soil microorganisms can be used to generate electricity for a soil-powered battery.

University of Bath researchers have developed a battery, branded as a “Bactery”, which is about the size of a baseball. They hope farmers can use the batteries to power sensors in their fields that are becoming more common in agriculture.

The Bacteries contain two

electrodes — the anode is buried in the soil while the cathode is exposed to the air. “Electrodes populate the surface of the anode and as they ‘consume’ the organic compounds present in the soil, they generate electrons,” says a report from sciencedaily.com.

“These electrons are transferred to the anode and travel to the cathode via the external circuit, generating electricity.”

At the moment, the most common types of wireless power for in-field sensors are single-use batteries and solar, according to Dr. Jakub Dziegielowski who founded Bactery to commercialize the technology. The Bactery is envisioned as a cheap source of power for in-field sensors where power delivery makes up 50 to 60 per cent of the costs of sensors.

The start-up expects to sell the soil-powered Bacteries for about $45.

It could be a significant market since batteries need replacing and solar panels are not ideal in a dusty field.

Will we soon see these types of soil-powered batteries in use in farm fields in our area? I have no idea, but

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I can’t forget how much power has changed on farms even in my lifetime. When I was a lad on a Bruce County farm, we had only installed electricity a few years earlier. The people who lived there only a few years previously would have been amazed at the difference.

Our current farmhouse, in which we’ve lived for nearly a half-century, was full of stove-pipe holes when we moved here, shortly after an oilfurnace had been installed. Today, our house is heated by geo-thermal heat, drawn from the ground even in the midst of a Huron County winter.

Much of the electricity we use comes from the Bruce Nuclear plant, which I remember being built as a young man; it caused all sorts of controversy when electrical lines carrying power from the station were built. It has taken us half a century to decide how to get rid of the waste from that plant – the decision only being made recently to bury the waste in Northern Ontario, 2,000 feet underground.

There was more controversy when a previous Ontario government decided to generate electricity from wind turbines, and nearby landowners complained that the turbines disturbed their health. After the current Progressive Conservative government originally stopped wind turbine development, the government has recently committed to new turbine growth.

I remember young entrepreneurs installing solar panels to generate power under the previous Liberal government.

We’ve also been big on finding alternatives to polluting gas-burning cars and trucks. Our federal and provincial governments have actually got together to subsidize companies that want to build batteries to power cars that work on electric power.

So much has changed in my lifetime when it comes to power.

When I was going to school there were relatively few people employed in research. Today there are thousands and thousands of scientists employed, not just in Canada but throughout the world.

No doubt there are more eyeopening discoveries not that far away. This is the power of what science can do to improve our world.◊

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January 2025 7

Kate Procter the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

OK, that quote might be a bit dramatic, but I still like it. 2024 did bring its share of struggles and lessons, but also hope, resilience, and gratitude. One of the things that has been on my mind a lot through the year is my community. This is partly due to some flags and a sign that have sprung up in my area that have made me angry and broken my heart a little. It is also partly due to the kindness and grace I see in action every day in this same rural Ontario community.

One of the flags that flies most days in Wingham directly attacks one of our local council members by name. I have known this council member first through our farming business, but also as a steady community volunteer. He coached and reffed my kids in soccer and has devoted more hours for community service than I will ever know. He has stepped up to take on a role in local government in a way that most people never do. It is a job that takes courage, patience, and the ability to

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

Reflections on Community For me, the turn of the year is often a time for reflection. The long, dark days, the damp weather, and the end of our cropping season all help to bring on sense of taking stock of the past year – the gains, the losses, the lessons, and a little forward planning for the future.

When I think of 2024, Charles Dickens’ famous quote from A Tale of Two Cities comes to mind: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was

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act in the best interests of the community, regardless of one’s own feelings. It also requires the ability to make very tough decisions that will never please everyone.

My experience fielding questions at our local All Candidates meeting ahead of the last municipal election, revealed the electorate had little understanding of the function of local government. People were woefully unaware of where local government has power or ability to make decisions, and where they don’t, holding “the government” to blame for general dissatisfaction in life.

There is much room for improvement at all levels of government, however we take for granted the courage it takes to step up and serve society as a politician. It is easy to become cynical about it, but the reality is that politicians always walk the fine line between making decisions that are needed but unpopular and making decisions that help them get re-elected. Attacking our elected officials in these ways further reduces the number of qualified people that would be willing to take on these roles.

On top of the disappointing flag in Wingham, there is a sign near Goderich directly attacking both federal politicians and immigrants. I heard the man who painted the sign interviewed on the news where he claimed that “white men built this country.” Interesting comment.

Setting aside biological ignorance, it does not take a very deep dive into history to realize that all “white men” are immigrants to North America, and that a lot of non-white people have given their lives to build this country too.

Our famous railroad that connects us East to West is notorious for the way lives were considered dispensable based on skin colour.

The Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial in Toronto, near the Rogers Centre, was constructed to remind people of the contribution Chinese workers made to constructing the railroad that brought British Columbia into Confederation.

Not only did thousands of these men die building the railroad, but they were paid less than half of white workers. After construction was finished, they were discarded with no

way to return home. But have a look, were any of them pictured in the famous photos of the last spike?

I don’t know if this Goderich man has tried to employ people but, from my experience trying to hire people to work in a pig barn, without new immigrants and temporary foreign workers, a lot of local businesses would grind to a halt. Has he needed health care? Or eaten in a restaurant?

A quick study of a population pyramid for Canada, especially in rural areas like Huron County shows that we need immigrants to work as

much as they need jobs.

We might all benefit from taking some time to read Carol Off’s new book – At a Loss for Words.

Conversation in an Age of Rage. In it, Off uses her experience gained from 25,000 interviews spanning 15 years in radio to get curious about six words: freedom, democracy, truth, woke, choice, and taxes. She explores how the meaning and impact of those six words is changing and what it means for us as a society. “If our language doesn’t have a means to express an idea, then the idea itself is

gone—even the range of thought is diminished,” she writes.

As much as I was disheartened by the flags and the sign in my community last year, I am hopeful that kindness and grace will prevail.

In a society that is becoming more complex every day, it is crucial that we remember we are all in this together. The hard work comes from finding better ways of communicating and understanding each other to keep our communities working together and moving forward in a positive direction. ◊

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January 2025 9

Mabel’s Grill The world’s problems are solved daily ’round the table at Mabel’s Grill.

“I’ll just have toast and coffee,” Cliff Murray said when Molly Whiteside was taking their orders one morning after Christmas at Mabel’s Grill.

Molly almost dropped her order pad. “No bacon and eggs? No pancakes and maple syrup?” she wondered.

“No, I ate too much over Christmas and I have to lose weight,” Cliff admitted sheepishly.

“No self control, huh?” Dave Winston wondered.

“Well all the wives, and a few of the husbands, cooked all these goodlooking – and tasting – desserts for all of the Christmas parties and a guy just doesn’t want to insult them by refusing to try them,” Cliff said.

“Well I’ll have bacon and eggs and toast – and don’t forget that good

strawberry jam Mabel makes,” said George Mackenzie, “Mabel will thank you,” Molly said. “Too many people are eating less since Christmas and it’s hard to pay the cost of running this place.”

After Dave ordered his normal breakfast, Molly headed back to the kitchen.

“I wish I had your self-control,” Dave said to Cliff. “I’ll have to put in a couple more hours in the hog barn for a while to wear off the Christmas weight.”

“I’m afraid feeding the cattle indoors isn’t going to do it for me,” George said guiltily. “I’ve got a doctor who’s having me weigh myself every day and write it down on this sheet she gave me and when my wife sees how much my weight has gone up over the holidays, she’ll blow a gasket!”

“But it didn’t keep you from ordering bacon and eggs and toast with strawberry jam,” Cliff smiled.

“Hey, what’s a few extra calories at this point?” George sighed.

“I’m getting a little extra exercise taking the kids outside to sleigh

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down the hills on weekends,” Dave said.

“Yeah, well I don’t have kids anymore and, besides, it’s play-off time in American football,” George said.

“I wonder if you could add up all the pounds that are gained by people watching U.S. football what it would come to?” Cliff wondered. “And then there’s the foodfest that comes with the Superbowl in – where is it this year anyway?”

“New Orleans,” chirped in George.

“Holy mackerel, even more tasty food!” Cliff added.

“Tempting to go but with the Canadian dollar so low, who can afford a 30 per cent penalty?” George wondered.

“Well I’m sure plenty of people will still go south for the winter – and grumble about how much it costs, while some people back home have to sleep in tents because they can’t afford to rent the houses they leave behind,” Cliff said.

“Man!” George growled, “Mister perfect complains again!”

“I guess at least Taylor Swift will be free to watch her boyfriend, if he makes it to the Superbowl this year, now that her tour is over,” Dave said, trying to change the subject.

“Luckily he’ll get her a free ticket, after all she hardly can afford it,” George said ironically.

“Yeah, I saw she had her birthday in December on Friday the 13th,” Cliff put in. “She was 35 and I see on the internet the poor girl is only worth 1.6 billion dollars.”

“Man, she could keep my farm going for years with that much,” George said in wonder.

“But that Travis Kelce bum she’s hanging out with is only worth $105 million,” Cliff smirked. “Must be embarrassing to be seen with her.”

“And that’s in American dollars,” Dave said. “Imagine if you transferred it into Canadian dollars.”

“Now she wouldn’t be holding back on ordering breakfast,” Molly said as she overheard them when she brought their orders.

“Yeah, but have you seen those skimpy costumes she wears?” Cliff wondered. “She can’t afford even one extra pound in those.” ◊

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Community at a Crossroads

• By Mel Luymes •

South Bruce in the wake of November’s DGR decision

O

n November 28, 2024, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announced that it would be moving forward with its plan to create a Deep Geological Repository (DGR) for high-level spent nuclear fuel in the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway NationIgnace region just north of Lake Superior.

While that may not mean a lot to some readers, it meant an awful lot to the community of South Bruce. For more than a decade, our neighbours near Teeswater and the surrounding areas have been wrestling with several important issues about their safety, economy and community priorities, all while learning much more about the nuclear industry than the average rural citizen.

In late October, the community of South Bruce took to the polls for a referendum to decide whether they would be a willing host for the DGR. Nearly 70 per cent of the 4525 electors voted, and 51 per cent voted yes. Such a close vote demonstrated the growing tension and division that the community was no doubt feeling over the last four years.

In some ways, it was like the wind, development, or pipeline projects that have divided other rural communities in this area. But it differed in many other ways because it involved a community vote that would impact generations not yet born. As well, community engagement took place during a global pandemic, making it difficult to separate the two issues, both of which involved personal safety and mistrust of the government.

Background In Ontario, approximately 60 per cent of our electricity is generated by nuclear power and we’ve been using it since the 1960s. The largest plant is Bruce Power, near Kincardine, with eight CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactors, and there are others in Ontario (Pickering and Darlington), Quebec and New Brunswick.

While nuclear energy is much cleaner for the environment in many respects, we are left with bundles of spent uranium in small ceramic pellets, bundled into rods the size of fireplace logs. These will remain radioactive and hazardous for tens of thousands of years, long after we are gone.

Currently, Canada has over 3 million of these bundles in interim storage at various sites, above ground and closely monitored, and this number is only increasing.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is a non-profit organization made by federal legislation in 2002, tasked with finding a long-term solution for Canada’s spent nuclear fuel. They spent years consulting with experts and communities to review all the options. Several options were considered, and they decided that the best plan was to encapsulate the bundles in a multibarrier system which includes copper-coated steel containers and bentonite clay emplaced in a rock geosphere and buried deep (approximately 2000 feet) in underground tunnels in the bedrock. This would be a permanent storage, capable of withstanding several future Ice Ages, but the 12 The Rural Voice

Top: Many of the Anti­DGR group’s yellow signs were torn down overnight in April 2021. From POW Facebook page Middle: The Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s proposed multi­barrier system in copper, clay and rock, stored deep in bedrock. Courtesy of NWMO. Bottom: Proposed site for Deep Geological Repository northwest of Teeswater, announced in January 2020.

bundles would be retrievable in the case that better technology or solutions were found in the future.

The NWMO’s next step was to find a willing host for this Deep Geological Repository (DGR) and it would need to be a place that had the proper bedrock, potential for transportation infrastructure and willing host communities. Once a site was selected, a multi-year regulatory process would begin and, after it was licenced, the DGR would take approximately 10 years to build.

Followed by another 50 years of transporting, repackaging and storing the fuel rods into the DGR, followed by ongoing monitoring.

When the NWMO put the call out, 22 communities expressed interest by 2012, including South Bruce, HuronKinloss, Saugeen Shores and Brockton, among others.

It was critical for the NWMO that a host community be both informed and willing, in order to proceed.

Community Liaison Committees (CLC) were formed in the interested communities in 2012, appointed by their local councils. For South Bruce, the mandate of the CLC was threefold: to engage, educate, and listen to the community, to gather technical and social research and information, and to provide advice to Council regarding the NWMO’s Site Selection Process.

Several local citizens applied to volunteer for the CLC in South Bruce. There were 12 members of the CLC, including two student representatives and two representatives from South Bruce Council. Meetings were announced two weeks in advance, were open to the public, accepted delegations, included information sessions from experts about the entire value-chain of the nuclear industry and had regular updates by the NWMO about their study results. Another task of the CLC was to distribute $30,000 per year of NWMO funding to community applications to the Early Investments in Education and Skills (EIES) program.

Despite the notices mailed to all residents each month, there were only a handful of people – besides the committee – that attended for the

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first eight years. Perhaps the community just didn’t see the urgency at that time, with any decision still being years in the future.

During this time, the South Bruce Nuclear Exploration Team was also developed as a new department of the Municipality of South Bruce. While these staff worked for the Municipality, their time and expenses were submitted to the NWMO for reimbursement.

Community engagement, assessments and other tasks related to the proposed DGR was an extra burden on Municipal staff in many other departments as well, and to ensure the Municipality had the necessary resources, these staff expenses were also reimbursed by the NWMO. Between December 2019 and February 2020, a series of Visioning Sessions took place in the community. Facilitated by AECOM, 144 community members participated and shared their expectations and aspirations for the DGR if it were to be held in South Bruce. The result was 36 Guiding

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Principles that would promise safety for people and the environment, ensure meaningful community benefits, and guarantee community involvement in decision-making processes.

One by one, interested host communities dropped off and by 2020, it was only Huron-Kinloss and South Bruce still in the running from Southern Ontario, along with Ignace in the North.

Site Proposal and Response On January 24, 2020, the NWMO announced that they had secured enough land in South Bruce to proceed, and Huron-Kinloss was no longer considered. The land access process had begun in both municipalities in May 2019. The NWMO had not disclosed the purchase and optioning of 1300 acres of land northwest of Teeswater to the public until the announcement was made.

When the land was announced, the community responded in a big way.

Michelle and Gary Stein farm sheep and beef cattle next to the proposed 1300 acres and were quite concerned.

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Michelle attended a meeting of other concerned citizens hosted by her neighbours on February 8, and there were about 45 people there. Michelle went on to express her concerns as a delegation to the CLC on March 5 in Formosa, and some estimate there were about 200 people at that meeting.

The March CLC was the last meeting before the pandemic lockdown. The meetings moved to Zoom, an online platform, where the CLC continued to meet monthly until November 2024 for a total of 110 meetings.

An anti-DGR group had quickly organized, calling themselves Nuclear Tanks, No Thanks (NTNT) when the media asked them, but eventually became Protect Our Waterways – No Nuclear Waste (POW) when they later incorporated as a non-profit organization. In April 2020, the community began to see a slew of hand-painted yellow signs along the road that were made by POW member, Rita Groen. The group went door to door, getting 1600 signatures on a petition that they presented as a delegation to South Bruce Council in June 2020.

Through the pandemic, the group organized parades, delegations, and had countless Zoom meetings, consulting with other groups like Wellington Water Watchers and Northwatch. They hosted a local Water Walk with Indigenous women walking from Neyaashiinigmiing (formerly Cape Croker) to the proposed DGR site. Michelle Stein and Rita Groen also participated in a northern Water Walk in solidarity with the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (Ignace) in June 2021.

From the start, it was made clear that the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) would have a separate consultation with the NWMO and a separate decision to be made after the South Bruce community had made its decision. The SON had previously voted an overwhelming “No” in 2020 to a DGR for low- to intermediatelevel nuclear waste disposal on-site at Bruce Power.

As POW got more vocal, so did an alternative voice in favour of hosting the DGR. In May 2020, Sheila Whytock, started a Facebook group, Willing to Listen – South Bruce

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Sheila Whytock took to social media with “Willing to Listen.”

Proud, and connected with likeminded community members.

Originally a beef farmer from Orillia, Sheila has been an operator at Bruce Power since 2013 and felt that POW was not accurately describing the nuclear industry. She hosted 36 podcast episodes with several nuclear professionals from 2021-2023, including representatives from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico and others from around the world, exploring issues of safety, impact on agriculture, and more. The Willing to Listen group also created newsletters, videos and held community events.

Referendum for South Bruce In the summer of 2021, the municipality hosted a series of Willingness Workshops that gathered the community’s opinion about how they would determine if they were willing to host the DGR. Despite there being several ways to participate online and remotely, only 229 residents participated, discussing the pros and cons of various options.

While a referendum was the most liked option as a determination of willingness, it should be noted that it was also the most disliked.

POW made a separate campaign calling for the DGR referendum to be held in 2022 as part of the municipal election that October. Because many of the geological and socio-economic studies were still ongoing and wouldn’t be done until 2023, it was decided a referendum would be held separately, after the studies were completed.

The group instead ensured there were vocal opponents to the DGR

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running in each Ward for the October 2022 election, including Michelle Stein who ran for her ward and Rita Groen who ran for Mayor. The election saw only one of the group, Audrey Bross, elected by acclamation to Mildmay-Carrick Ward. Audrey resigned in February 2023, citing personal reasons.

As the results of several thirdparty socio-economic studies and the borehole and geological studies were released, it was looking favourable that South Bruce would be a suitable host for a DGR. In July 2023, a small delegation of representatives from Council, the CLC, staff and both the Willing to Listen and POW groups went to Finland to see firsthand the Onkolo Spent Fuel Repository, which is the world’s first DGR for highlevel nuclear waste and hopes to receive spent fuel rods in the near future.

While the DGR debate never really subsided in the community, it ramped up in earnest in May 2024, when a hosting agreement was signed with NWMO that, if selected, would entitle South Bruce to 418 million dollars over the next 138 years.

At this time, the community referendum date was announced for the end of October. It was made clear that a referendum, as outlined in the Municipal Elections Act, required over 50 per cent of community to participate and over 50 per cent to vote “Yes” to be considered a willing

host. If voter turnout was under half, the decision would be made by the South Bruce council. The vote was to be run with an online platform, Simply Voting, that had been used in the previous municipal elections with no concerns. It would allow for students or others out of town to participate; however, POW argued that a paper ballot would be more verifiable. When the voter cards were mailed out, they also expressed concern that not all residents received a card.

POW hosted an event on October 5, just a few weeks before the referendum. They brought in Dr. David Suzuki over Zoom, who prompted applause as he suggested that the DGR be instead put under the largest concentration of beneficiaries of nuclear energy, that it be buried under Toronto. A panel of speakers included Dr. Gordon Edwards, cofounder and President of Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, whose information they had trusted and relied on for the last years.

There was concern expressed that the group should not be promoting misinformation, especially at the 11th hour. POW argued that their information was not misinformation, believing that a DGR would pose significant risks to their community that the NWMO and other community members were simply ignoring.

Decision Time At the time of South Bruce’s decision week, it was still uncertain if the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation would be a willing host. On July 10, 2024, Ignace Council had voted that they would be willing. They had not had a referendum; instead, they had agreed to a door-to-door survey in their community of 1200 people.

Still, just like in South Bruce, the Indigenous group would have a separate vote of willingness.

By the end of the day on October 28, 2024, the referendum results were posted on the South Bruce website.

3038 of the 4525 electors voted (69.3 per cent); 1604 voted “Yes” (51.2 per cent), 1526 voted “No” (48.8 per cent) and eight people declined their ballot. While the POW group was not surprised that South Bruce got a “Yes” vote, they were surprised that it was so close. Still, the next decision would be up to the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) and, and they had indicated in May that it would be unlikely that they would vote on the DGR before the end of the year.

On November 18, the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation voted “Yes,” that they were a willing host for the DGR in Ignace.

Ten days later, on November 28, the NWMO announced that they had pulled the trigger and would move forward with Ignace, no longer considering South Bruce as a potential host for the DGR. The Municipality of South Bruce received

Left: Michelle Stein (L) removes signs from the end of her driveway, with the help of friend and fellow POW organizer, Anja Vandervlies. Right: October 5 information event in Teeswater brought in Dr. David Suzuki via the web.

16 The Rural Voice

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four million dollars from the NWMO for indicating it was a willing host and will receive another four million now that NWMO has selected another site.

While the POW organizers are relieved that the DGR for high-level spent fuel will not be near Teeswater, they say they are continuing to work in solidarity with their counterparts in Ignace. They also remain suspicious of the 1300 acres of land and if the NWMO has an alternative plan for it.

On December 2, Sheila Whytock posted a heartfelt message on the Willing to Listen Facebook page about the “slap in the face” from NWMO, that expressed regret, anger, hope and pride in her community.

“Our community has so many strong, resilient and relentless individuals who want to see great things for South Bruce,” she writes. Perhaps she could have been writing about the individuals on either side of the DGR issue; both felt they were fighting in the best interest of their community.

The community of South Bruce has changed, but not only from the DGR debate. Back in 2012, when it first volunteered to engage with NWMO as a potential host site, there was concern that the community was struggling economically, and perhaps many saw the DGR as an opportunity to bring new, high-paying jobs to the area. Since then, the town has been growing, with a 60-million-dollar investment that Gay Lea put into its Teeswater plant, the Kinectrics laundry plant for Bruce Power, and 800 new homes proposed for the municipality. With more remote work opportunities, dreams of rural living will be within reach for many more people.

Perhaps all communities and families in our Rural Voice readership area have found themselves at a crossroads at some point, have experienced difficult changes and divisions over proposed development, during the pandemic or for other reasons. In many ways, we can relate to the pain of strained relationship and the difficult conversations that residents of South Bruce had over the past years. Maybe it is true that time heals a community, but only time will tell. In the wake of the DGR issue, our thoughts are with the community of South Bruce. ◊

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Julie Wynette

Lauren Van Ewyk

Anne Miner

Agriculture leaders talk patience, communication and personality styles at Advancing Women conference

W

earing a yellow sweater to advertise her “brand”, Julie Wynette took to the stage to speak to hundreds of women at the Advancing Women Conference held in Niagara last November.

Wynette was one of 40 speakers at the conference, which is held annually in Eastern and Western Canada. The conference is designed for women in agriculture to learn from one another, develop leadership skills and build beneficial relationships to grow their career, stated Iris Meck, founder of the Advancing Women conferences.

This year was its 10th anniversary.

“My dad had three daughters and he never made us feel that we couldn’t be farmers,” said Wynette. President of Brenwyn Farms Ltd. in Tavistock, she was part of a farmer panel with three women from the Maritimes, sharing what it means to a farmer, a farm woman and an advocate for agriculture.

Wynette says she wasn’t entirely sure she was going to be an egg producer in her twenties, as she worked in the city and travelled. “We were tied to the farm when I was young and that was a turn off for me,” she admits. “But as I travelled and met other farmers, I realized it didn’t have to be that way.” She credits her dad’s patience for allowing her to experience life and gain some wisdom before she returned to the farm. “He gave me the opportunity to take the time I needed to make decisions and when I was ready, I knew 100 per cent this was the right choice for me.”

Wynette came back to become a third-generation egg producer, managing chickens in an enriched colony system.

Besides managing the barns, she is keen to be an advocate for agriculture. “People want to know where their food comes from. Egg farmers are launching a program to 18 The Rural Voice

By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot go into classrooms and teach kids about eggs and how food gets from the farm to the table. That is important and I’m so happy to do that,” she said.

One of her thrills is when she goes to town and one of the kids calls her the “egg lady”. “That really touches my heart,” she said.

Being a woman in agriculture has never phased her or anyone else she has met. “Egg farmers have always done a great job including women…we have women on the board,” said Wynette. “I do think there are still pink and blue jobs on the farm. For instance, I do clean manure on the farm but I do not enjoy running the manure spreader. I have no problem calling in that strength when I need it. I know my strengths and weaknesses and my dad and husband know those as well.”

Still, it didn't stop her from fixing the stable cleaner in the new chicken barn the other day, she said. “I grabbed a screwdriver, climbed up the poop chute and was able to fix it myself. My dad asked me how I knew to do it and I told him he had taught me eight years ago! The fact that he was proud made me proud.”

Communication Another speaker at the conference was Lauren Van Ewyk, who gave the audience advice on communication as the means to creating meaningful relationships. Van Ewyk is CEO of the National Farmers Mental Health Alliance and raises sheep with her husband in Lambton County.

“When we have healthy relationships, we have a better sense of well-being,” said Van Ewyk. “Health relationships are a protective factor -- we do better together.”

Communication is the key to unlock and retain those relationships and it starts with curiosity, she said.

“Use open-ended questions and listen with the intent to understand their perspective,” Van Ewyk advised, adding the goal should always be to “seek to know, not seek to be right.”

Asking for clarification and repeating back phrases lets your friends, work associates and partners know you are listening and also helps you pay attention and really hear and understand what they are saying.

Validation is also key to successful communication.

“Validation does not mean I agree with everything you say. It means I come to a form of agreement with you,” said Van Ewyk. When Van Ewyk started farming with her husband, she said there were two different ways to carry a gate, to spread straw, or to care for the sheep -- her way and his way. “We got to the point where we started hating farming together, honestly,” she said.

“When I realized what we both wanted was validation, I was able to tell him that he was doing this farming thing really well!” They learned validation was more important than being right.

Boundaries also go a long way to preserving relationships and reducing conflict. Van Ewyk shared the story of a friendly neighbour who came over to borrow a rototiller. Finding no one home, the neighbour (who had used the machine before) decided it would be okay to unscrew the locked doors to the garden shed and help herself. This was part of a long list of things said neighbour was happy to borrow. Van Ewyk felt this was too far so in a friendly way, she firmly stated to the neighbour that she would no longer be allowed to borrow anything. It wasn’t easy and there was a time when they didn’t visit, but they recently went blueberry picking together and the neighbour has respected the boundary.

“Boundaries are about what you need to thrive,” said Van Ewyk.

“They are also like fences which keep some things in and other things out. They encourage people on the other side of the fence to get resourceful.”

Ultimately, relationships need authenticity, vulnerability and trust, concluded Van Ewyk.

Power of the Platinum Rule The platinum rule is different from the golden rule, says Anne Miner. It states: “Treat others how they like to be treated.”

Miner is President of the Dunvegan Group in Woodstock, a consulting firm focusing on customer and employee retention. In her work, she often uses a questionnaire to help identify whether a person is one of four types: Directors, Thinkers, Relaters or Socializers. Each “type” has their own communication style, and understanding this can reduce conflict and encourage creativity in the workforce.

Miner began with Don Miguel Ruiz's Four Agreements that form the foundation for her relationships. The four agreements are Be impeccable with your word, Don't take anything personally, Don't make assumptions and Always do your best.

The “Director” type tends to think and decide quickly and are guarded, passive and reserved, explained Miner. “Socializers” think and decide

quickly, like directors, but are more outgoing, active and open. “Relaters” make up the largest type of people and are active, outgoing and open but indirect and slower in processing information while “Thinkers” are slower, more deliberate, reserved and less outgoing than the other profiles.

Adapting to other people's profile types and behaviour patterns isn’t about changing your values, beliefs, personality or ideas, she says. “You do not have to submit, but you have to understand what drives people,” said Miner. For instance, “Directors” are very focused on results while “Socializers” want to be recognized and get appreciation. “Relaters” are concerned about relationships and “Thinkers” want to be right.

Using herself as an example, Miner said she is a “Director” while her husband is a “Thinker.” Instead of getting frustrated when he needs to process all the information before making a decision, she makes her quick decisions and hands the idea to her husband. He thinks it all though, solves all potential problems, and doesn’t skip the details. “It works really well for us,” she said. ◊

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ehicles parked up and down Perth Road 121 near Milverton, just south of Poole on Thursday November 21st for the Zehr family’s Open House of their dairy barn. It was a brisk sunny day, and it was estimated that nearly a thousand people came through the barn, based on the number of boot covers they used and the amount of Schmidtsville Restaurant’s chili that was eaten.

The hallway through the milkhouse and office space (37 x 36- foot) opens to a bright freestall barn (97 x 316-foot), filled with natural light, natural wood trusses and 82 peaceful cows on sand bedding. Bryan Zehr, his wife Heidi and their eight children are mingling with their many interested guests, along with Bryan’s parents, Gerald and Alice Zehr. They are joined by a host of suppliers and retailers, with booths along the alleys that circle the perimeter of the barn.

Avonbank, the local Lely dealership an organizer of the event, assisted with the facility’s design and equipment installation in 2023. The barn is a unique 4-row perimeter feed layout that provides optimal feed bunk space for the cows. There are two Lely Astronaut A5 Milking Robots in a head-to-head configuration, providing the Zehrs an efficient way of managing their herd. The Lely Juno Feed Pusher and Cow Brush are now common in barns, but Bryan also opted for two Lely Discovery 120 Manure Collector Robots that use a vacuum pump to collect

manure and deposit it to the dumping station in a far corner.

Bryan went with Canarm AgSystems’ stabling solutions including their new bolt-together fencing and gates with stainless steel hardware. The bolt-together option made them easy to install and customize, it also eliminates the potential for rust, unlike welded areas. The panel fans in the barn were also supplied by Canarm.

Opting for sand bedding, they installed Agri-comfort Sandsaver Mats to improve sand efficiency and cow comfort. A few add-ons that Bryan wanted were stainless steel manger liners and grooved rubber Diamond Alley mats at the manger to improve traction save the cows from standing on concrete. The concrete was recessed for the mats, so the floor remained level for the manure collector robots.

As for automation and remote monitoring, Bryan went with the AP Edge Controller to regulate ventilation, heating, cooling, lighting, water meters, manure pumps, and the Flex-Flow auger feed delivery, all from a control panel in the barn or from his mobile phone.

As for the barn itself, it was built by G.L. Carpentry, and it is a Wolf pre-engineered barn that came from Germany.

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“This is a 100-year barn,” says Gerald Lichty, who has built over 15 Wolf structures now and is their dealer for Southern Ontario. It started in 2016 when one of his customers, Sjaak Kappers, had seen Wolf at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show and asked if Lichty would build it for him. After that build, Gerald says he was hooked.

“A Wolf Barn can be built in less time with only about a third of the labour,” he says. “A three or four man crew is all that’s needed to put up the frame, with an extra man for a day or two to install roof panels.”

This barn also complies with the new updates to the 2024 Ontario Building Code, says Lichty, which has now created standardization between provincial and national building codes, incorporating farm buildings under Group G Agricultural Occupancies and coming into effect January 1, 2025.

Working with the Canadian Farm Builders Association and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the new code puts more emphasis on access and exits for safety, compliance with fire codes and provides more clarity and consistency for farmers and barn builders. (In case you are wondering, Ontario’s barns will generally be “grandfathered” into compliance unless there are major safety concerns that would require a retrofit.)

Barns are engineered for the snow load in Ontario but built to design in Germany. The wood is European pine, and all the necessary parts are packaged into shipping containers.

The fire-rated laminated wood will outlast steel exposed in a barn environment, says Lichty, and these days it has been cheaper than steel as well. The open-truss design means no attic and related hazards, and very few spots where birds could make a nest. But primarily it is designed for optimal ventilation, with more height and air volume, he says.

“This barn is a big part of the farm’s succession plan,” says Bryan, who is the third of five children, all of whom are still farming with their own families. His father, Gerald, grew up milking cows on this farm and then left to start another dairy farm nearby, returning to take over

the home place in 1982. His youngest son now farms on that nearby property, and Bryan also started on his own farm, Hyden Holsteins, just down the road in 2002. Another of Gerald and Alice’s sons raises hogs nearby, while the remaining son and daughter run dairy farms with their families in the Grey-Bruce area.

Gerald continued to milk 40 cows in the bank barn as he had always done. Blessed with good health, perhaps he and Alice weren’t planning on slowing down, but it was after a talk with one of their farm advisors that they were able to have a conversation with Bryan and Heidi about succession for the home farm.

Above: About 1000 visitors came through the barn in late November. Below: GL Carpentry built the barn, a Wolf pre­engineered structure from Germany.

(L­R) Chris Huberts, Cleon Lichty, and his brother, owner Gerald Lichty.

With Bryan milking nearly double the cows in his tie-stall barn at Hyden Holsteins, they made plans to switch the quota between the farms and build new, more efficient barn that would set up the next generations of Zehrs on the home farm.

“I’m just a link in the chain,” says Bryan, who feels blessed to be a part of a long legacy of faith and farming on this property, something he hopes will continue for many more generations.

Hyden Holsteins has been focused on building great genetics over the years. In 2022, one of their cows, Hyden Blitz Pizza, joined an exclusive club of Holsteins that have produced over 200,000kg of milk during their lifetimes, as tracked by Holstein Canada. She had a total of ten lactations, producing 214,000kg of milk and 7,383kg of butterfat; she is ranked sixth of all time in the world. Her genetics still run through Hyden’s herd and a few of her offspring were on display at the Open House as well.

Barn construction began in June 2023, and the cows were brought over from Hyden that December. It was a difficult adjustment for some of them to get comfortable with the robots and for those that couldn’t do it, Bryan simply brought them back to the tie-stall barn where they continue to be milked.

The next generation is looking forward to decades working in this barn. After a long day hosting the Open House, three of Bryan’s sons, Isaac (20), Nigel (15) and Adam (14) look on at the Lely manure collector robots cleaning the barn. They don’t have any special names for them, but they did name the milking robots.

“They are Apollo and Armstrong,” says Isaac. “Because they are astronauts,” his two brothers exclaim.

They also have names for their two tower silos, the 20 x 82-foot silo is “Little Sister” and the 24 x 85-foot one is “Big Brother.” Keeps it simple.

Congratulations to the Zehr family on a beautiful barn, as well as to Avonbank, G.L. Carpentry and all the sponsors for a successful Open House. We’re sure that it inspired many farmers and that we’ll see several parts of this barn reflected into future builds in the area. ◊ January 2025 23

Mildmay’s Got Talent I grew up wild and I grew up true / a town most folks just drive through Opening lines to Riegling’s 2024 break-out hit, Old Dirt Roads

By Chelsea Gamble

O

26­year old local is on the rise in the Country music scene. Owen Riegling (a literal rural voice!) connects with his audience at a recent show at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. Photo: Scott Stephenson 24 The Rural Voice

wen Riegling is a man with momentum. It has only been two and a half years since he won the Emerging Artist Showcase that kicked his Country music career into high gear, and a whole heck of a lot has happened since then. Riegling signed a record deal, had a song go platinum, won a few CCMA Awards, performed at the Grey Cup, released his first EP, and headlined his first national tour, among other things.

26-year-old Riegling grew up on a farm near Mildmay, and he wears his hometown pride on his sleeve.

Mildmay is the inspiration for many of the songs he’s been bringing to the world, including his smash hit “Old Dirt Roads.” He played gigs all over Bruce County to raise the money for his first real guitar – a Gibson J-45 that is still his weapon of choice on stage.

Everywhere he goes, Riegling makes sure that the audience knows where he comes from.

He’s the unofficial ambassador of Bruce County - a polite, charming country boy keeping his wits about him in a wild world. He only wants to write about the things he feels are true, and that truth is connecting with rural and urban people wherever he goes.

Riegling has been doing interviews with The Citizen (our sister publication) since before he was famous, and was happy to squeeze in a chat with The Rural Voice during an Ontario tour at the end of November, the day before a show at the London Music Hall.

“I went to school in London,” he explained.

“I always dreamed of, you know, even just getting to step on stage at the Music Hall.”

After London, he was heading to Toronto to play the Danforth Music Hall.

“But this is the real deal. We get to do 90 minutes, headlining, sold out. Which is like, insane to me. Those are both legendary venues. I can't believe that I get to do that. So, yeah, they're going to be some of the best shows on this tour, I guarantee it.”

Venturing out from the reliable love and support of his hometown crowd was a risk Riegling wasn’t sure how his simple country

tunes would go over in the bigger cities, but he took the risk, and it paid off. “It has surpassed all my expectations of what I thought could be possible. You know, people show up in Vancouver, and Edmonton, and Calgary and Winnipeg and they're singing every word to these songs.

It's just - it's a dream come true. Like, it's something that I never thought would be possible.”

He may be on the move a lot more now, but he knows how to hold on to the things that really matter. He rescued the old Mildmay town sign when it was slated for demolition, fixed it up, and brings it everywhere.

And they’ve been going all over the place these days. The sign has been across the country three times this year, and isn’t at risk of falling apart anymore.

“I got it retrofitted into a nice rolling road case. It’s reinforced, and it comes apart into three pieces now,” he explained. “I got a stand for it now. So, it’s doing well - I wouldn't say it's in any worse shape than it was when I picked it up off the side of the road.”

When The Citizen first interviewed Riegling, it was at the Music in the Fields festival in Lucknow in 2023 and there was no manager to go through. To interview him back then, you just had to stand by the fence after soundcheck, yelling “Owen!”’until he came over. That was his first time performing on the festival’s main stage, and his obvious excitement was infectious.

Back then, Riegling still had some free time. “I used to play hockey in Blyth all the time. I stopped when I went to college, cause I didn’t want to keep driving back and forth. I would love to play men’s league or something, but it’s always on Friday nights, and those are usually gigging nights,” he explained.

Momentum soon began to build around this polite young man. Little groups of Owen fans were forming locally. People set up lawn chairs in the hot sun, waiting for him to do soundcheck and a long line wound around the merch table, made entirely out of people willing to wait 20 minutes for a photo with him or his autograph. A woman in line boasted that Owen’s uncle did her

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It took a long time for Riegling to hug and chat with everybody in the line, but he got it done. No fan left behind.

Now that he has thousands of fans instead of dozens, it isn’t really feasible or safe for Riegling to hang out by the merch table. Instead, the audience can sign his denim jacket as a surrogate. He still finds little ways to connect with people during shows.

In Toronto, he searches the crowd for people with blue collar jobs, and chats with them about what they do for a living.

Staying grounded can be tricky when your life feels like it’s constantly expanding in every direction. “My wife Liv, who’s

always on the road with us, she makes sure to, you know, put me in my place and keep me humble. And I got all kinds of good friends and stuff out here. I don't see myself ever, you know, becoming an a**hole, but I mean, I'll do my best to always try to stay myself.”

He also finds that nothing is more calming than being on the family farm in Mildmay. “I always like winter wheat. When you got a nice field of winter wheat, and it's blowing in the wind, it looks kind of like the ocean.”

If he could give one piece of advice to himself from 12 months ago, he’d tell himself to rest up. “I think what I would tell myself back then is to enjoy this time that you

have to sleep, and don't take it for granted, because you're not gonna be sleeping much for the next 12 months! It has been a crazy year. I think it all comes down to just loving what I do, and feeling very driven to keep going. So I’d just tell myself to keep doing it.”

This is going to be a big year for Owen Riegling. “We’re playing a ton of festivals, which I’m super excited about. Liv and I are living in Nashville for the first four months of the year. And I’ll be doing a whole bunch of writing. I'm going into the studio. I'm gonna make a new record.

So there will be tons of new music in 2025, lots of new shows and outside of that, I mean, we’ll see what happens. Anything could happen.” ◊

The Citizen’s Scott Stephenson captures the vibe of Riegling’s sold out show at the Danforth Music Hall in December.

January 2025 27

Visionary Advocate for Animal Welfare Dr. Temple Grandin inspires the agricultural industry with keen insights on animal behaviour and handling during her latest speaking tour to Ontario

By Mel Luymes

I

Grandin begins her lecture. Photo: Farm & Food Care Ontario

n early December, 77-year-old Dr. Temple Grandin made a trip from Colorado to Ontario, a visit to Conestoga Meats, and a short speaking tour. She was hosted by Farm & Food Care Ontario and by Grand River Agricultural Society at their GrandWay event space in Elora on the evening of December 4th.

Despite the snowy weather, the room was packed and buzzing with Temple Grandin fans, chatting and grabbing a hot drink before they sat down. Meanwhile, Grandin was sitting in the front row, staring at the floor, waiting for her presentation to start. She was wearing one of her now iconic cowboy shirts, black with beautiful floral embroidery and a red kerchief tied on the front.

If you’re not familiar with her, Temple Grandin is an autistic savant who revolutionized the livestock-handling industry, as well as our understanding of both animals and autism. She has traveled around the world, speaking and designing systems, was named by Time Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World and is the subject of an Emmy-winning 2010 biopic film, Temple Grandin, that was based on her life.

“Animals live in a sensory-based world,” she begins.

For them, their world is about what they can see, smell, hear and touch, so it can be difficult for us humans to understand them, because we live in a thinking world, a world of language. However, Grandin’s mind is hard-wired to think in pictures and so she can connect with the world of animals in a unique way. She says that words are only her second language.

Born into a wealthy family in Boston, Grandin’s mother fought for her daughter to get the support she needed to 28 The Rural Voice

learn language. The time that Grandin spent on her aunt’s farm in Arizona developed her interest in animals and, with the support and encouragement of a teacher, she went on to university, eventually graduating with a PhD in animal science. She became a professor and much sought-out livestock consultant, and she has published several dozens of books and articles on both livestock and autism.

Grandin’s presentation was quite visual, helping the audience to better see what animals see. In general, she says that novelty is attractive to an animal, but only if they are allowed to approach a new object on their own terms and in their own time. If an animal is forced to interact with a new object, it can become stressed and upset. Once an animal is upset, it will likely take 20 to 30 minutes for it to calm down enough for you to work with it again, she says.

She encourages people that work with animals to get on the animal’s level to go through handling facilities themselves, looking for shadows or reflections at different times of the day, waving flags, swinging chains, etc. that would make them balk. As well, she says that yelling or hitting an animal will only make them more upset and difficult to handle because they understand people’s intent.

Understanding an animal’s flight zone, their personal space, will help a handler know how to approach the animal to get it moving in the right direction.

Grandin began designing cattle facilities in the mid1970s and they were based on understanding the natural tendency of herds. She noticed that cattle calm down from the side pressure in a squeeze chute and that they crowd together for safety, walking together in a circle. She

designed a narrow, curved chute with high walls that blocks livestock from seeing anything scary ahead of them or beside them. Grandin says that cattle prefer a curved chute because they think it will lead them back to where they came from, but the curve can’t be too sharp or have a dead end because cattle need to be able to see a way in front of them.

As well, Grandin believes it is critical for all animals to have good traction on their feet to feel safe. She showed a photo of a puppy at the vet, looking terrified on the stainless-steel counter as it struggled to get its footing. Trips to the vet can be improved if an animal’s first experience with someone in a white coat is a positive one, adds Grandin.

She suggests that the first trip be calm, with plenty of treats.

Similarly, she says that cows moving to a robot milker would have an easier time if there were a “dummy” robot with them in the pen that gave them feed without a milking. If they had time to explore the new object on their own, they might take to it better going forward.

Ultimately, Grandin believes that animals should have good lives that are free from stress and involve good interaction with other animals. She believes calves should be started in paired housing, and that bulls should be raised in a herd to develop socially, until they need to be removed. She advocates for environmental enrichment, including brushes for cows, balls for horses, ramps for chickens, even simple cardboard boxes for pigs.

She took a hard stance about breeding and animal welfare. She was angered by the cases of congestive heart failure in cattle that have increased in the last decade. We can’t be breeding for production alone, this is not OK, Grandin argues. She likens it to a country that only develops the economy, without any focus on infrastructure (skeletal, organs) or military (health, immunity).

She showed photos of hoof and leg issues in livestock, with a stern warning to the industry to improve breeding that will result in less pain for animals. She went on to explain that prey animals often mask their

pain to not appear vulnerable, and studies show that farmers underestimate lameness in their herd by half, she said.

After a question about stray voltage, Grandin got a big laugh from the audience when she suggested that farmers walk their barns in bare feet and put their tongue to water bowls. The most common symptom of stray voltage in a barn is a reduction in water consumption, she says. She has seen several examples of the issue that comes only when a certain machine or combination of machines are running, so she says it can be quite difficult for a farmer to understand if and how they have an issue with stray voltage.

Farm & Food Care Ontario worked with local industry partners to bring Dr. Grandin to Ontario. The organization is a coalition of farmers, agriculture and food partners proactively working to increase public trust and confidence in food and farming. They have hosted hugely successful Breakfast on the Farm events for the public and are

eager to partner with farms in the Rural Voice area. Most recently they added 360-degree virtual reality videos of egg production and a sheep barn, available at FarmFood360.ca. or find them at farmfoodcareon.org to connect.

When Dr. Grandin’s presentation and question period were over, she promptly grabbed her book bag to go to the back of the room for the book signing portion of the evening.

Janelle Cardiff, the moderator and Vice Chair of Farm & Food Care Ontario, nearly had to hold Grandin back at the front of the room to thank her. Cardiff gave a heartfelt expression of thanks, describing the impact that Grandin had on her life and her career in agriculture.

Unphased by the gratitude and uproar of applause, Temple Grandin walked to the back of the room to sign books and pose for photos for the next hour as the crowd mingled over desserts. She sported new OFA and DFO pins on her cowboy shirt – just a few to add to a large collection of flair that she has received during her long and revolutionary career. ◊

January 2025 29

Carolyn’s Recipes Carolyn Crawford is a farmer, culinary historian and proud grandma living near Caledon.

Savoury biscuits: a change is as good as a rest My Dad has always said, “A change is as good as a rest!” During the winter blues, it is hard to keep things bright and cheery. It is also great to have a nice hot beverage while wishing those blues away.

What is even better is to have a “little something” with that tea, coffee, hot cider, or hot cocoa, maybe while poring over a seed catalogue and dreaming of gardening in the spring!

This is how my mind works at least.

I often feel that I do more sweet recipes for the Rural Voice recipe column. So for this one, I am sticking with savoury bites, but with a bit of a twist!

In March of 2019, the Culinary Historians of Canada group that I

Grandma Cook’s biscuit recipe and biscuits in a jar, like she kept them.

30 The Rural Voice

belong to went on a field trip to Richter’s Herbs near Goodwood, Ontario. That particular day, yours truly was responsible for providing a refreshment — “a little something” for the group as we travelled to our destination. I made a few savoury choices with an old favourite, tea biscuits. I likely said this before, but my Grandma Cook and my mother both could make light and airy biscuits. I included Grandma Cook’s recipe back in the November 2021 edition of The Rural Voice, and I will post Mum’s here today. I do my best to hold up the standard, but I also take creative licence to embellish the recipes. On this occasion, along with the traditional family recipes, I baked a selection of various biscuits with herbs to highlight some of the many products that Richter’s offers to its customers.

I also made some different butters to serve with them. With the plain biscuits I served Maple Butter: 1 cup butter, ½ cup maple syrup, ¼ tsp cinnamon, 1 pinch salt.

Tea Biscuits with Variations This recipe was submitted by my mother, Barbara Cook, to the Home United Church cookbook published in October 1986, entitled A Treasury of Community Recipes.

2 cups all purpose flour 2 tbsp white sugar 1 tsp salt 4 tsp baking powder 4 tbsp butter or shortening (Mum used butter) 1 cup whole milk (Mum would use raw unpasteurized milk even if it was sour. Buttermilk would work, too!

See variation below.)

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Add butter or shortening and work in with pastry blender until coarse meal stage.

(Make a well) Add milk. Stir quickly (only) to combine. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead gently but sparsely and form into balls Gently roll out with a rolling pin about ½” to ¾” thick. Place on baking sheet, touching for soft-sided biscuits or separately for crisp sides. (For even browning, brush top of biscuits with whole milk.) Bake at 450°F for 12-15 minutes.

Variations: For Cheese Biscuits: Add ½ to 1

cup grated cheddar cheese after blending in the butter/shortening.

Bacon & Cheese Biscuits: Add cheese like above and 8-10 slices bacon cooked crisp and broken into small pieces. (l cut my bacon before cooking and cook it a little on the softer side—just cooked) Cinnamon & Raisin Biscuits or Pinwheels: Prepare tea biscuit recipe and roll into a rectangle about ½” thick. Spread with ½ cup butter, ¾ cup softened raisins (soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes), cinnamon, and brown sugar. Roll into a log. Slice about ½” thick and place on greased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Cranberry Orange Biscuits: Same as cinnamon raisin but substitute dried cranberries and add candied orange peel (1/4 cup).

Buttermilk Biscuits: Decrease baking powder to 2 teaspoons; add ½ tsp baking soda. Substitute 1 cup buttermilk (or sour milk) for whole milk.

Smoked Salmon ‘n Dill Diamonds (my own name for this creation!)

Entitled “English Cream Scones,” this recipe for biscuits came from the 1967 edition of the Five Roses Cookbook (FRC). The FRC editors note that “Richer than tea biscuits, they are ideal for luncheon and snacks.”

2 cups FR all purpose flour 3 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 2 tbsp sugar ¼ cup butter or shortening 2 eggs 1/3 cup whole milk or thin cream Topping: 2 tbsp granulated or coarse sugar For Salmon and Dill Biscuits: add 1 (600g) pkg frozen smoked salmon,

thawed and 3-5 sprigs of chopped fresh dill, sprinkle very lightly with coarse salt.

Stir FR flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. Cut in butter or shortening with two knives or pastry blender until mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Beat eggs until light, reserving a little of the egg whites to brush over the top of scones; stir in milk. (I added smoked salmon and chopped fresh dill here.) Make a well in centre of dry ingredients; add liquid slowly to make a soft dough. When all liquid has been added, stir dough rather vigorously until it comes freely from the side of the bowl. Pat to ¾” thickness; cut into squares or triangles. (I pressed the dough gently onto a cookie sheet and cut it into diamond shapes.) Brush over with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake on greased cookie sheet in a hot oven 450°F for 12-15 minutes. Yield: 10-12 (3” x 2”) rectangles or 16 (2”) triangles.

For Whole Wheat Scones: Substitute whole wheat flour for allpurpose.

Rosemary and Ham Biscuits: I used the same recipe as above to make these. You can use fresh or dried rosemary, chopped, and very finely cube the ham. I did not include it at the time, but you could add cheese—Swiss, finely grated—would be nice with this!

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

Growing sprouts and microgreens Despite there being a foot (or three) of snow on the garden, I am already excited about veggies to plant this spring.

But why wait? A friend and I were talking about micro greens and I immediately thought of my Nana who grew bean sprouts in a wee lidded crock. She rinsed them a couple of times a day and when the seeds split and a white sprout with a green tip emerged, they were deemed perfect for consumption. She would put them in salads or on omelets. A better way to sprout seeds is in a quart jar so you can see them easily and that bit of light helps encourage them. Sprouts are the first shoots of a lovely wee plant that are great to eat.

Mung beans and alfalfa are the most commonly used but you can try adzuki, garbanzo, pea and lentils.

Purchase your seeds/beans from a food source, like your local grocery or health food store, and take some time to read the labels to make sure they are designated for sprouting and not just cooking. Some seed companies test their sprouting seeds to be free of nasty food pathogens.

Seeds used for garden purposes may not be as safe to eat as sprouts, so it pays to source a clean supply of food-grade seeds.

You can start out with a couple of tablespoons of seed in a clean sterilized jar, think canning jar. Rinse them well and cover with approximately two inches of warm water. Since you are eating them as sprouts, they don’t actually need sunlight at this stage. Still, you can 32 The Rural Voice

Extra long bean sprouts, mung beans and the jar for sprouting them, with Nana’s sprout crock on the right. leave them on the kitchen counter to remind you to rinse them two to three times each day. Once sprouted, rinse again and thoroughly drain them.

Depending on the choice of seeds, the hulls usually rinse off. The sprouts should be dry to the touch. A salad spinner comes in handy here.

You can refrigerate them like you would for tender greens, using a special produce bag, a glass, or plastic container. Enjoy them within two or three days. They will last longer if dry when refrigerated.

Like all foods, we have to make sure our containers are clean or sterile. Wash well between sprouting sessions, sanitizing should be part of your routine.

Microgreens are another option for winter growing. They are actually a safer way to get those wonderful vitamins, but take a bit more time and care. With sprouts you are basically eating naturally exploded seeds; microgreens, on the other hand, are the perfect first and second leaves, no seeds. You harvest by simply snipping off the seedlings at the soil surface once you see the first set or second set of true leaves.

There are so many seed choices available. My thought would be to start with one that sprouts sooner rather than later.

You will need a shallow planting container. I always save clear

produce containers when I cannot avoid a packaged product. A lid helps keep seeds and soil from drying out too quickly. Once seeds have started to sprout, they will no longer need the lid on all the time. Use fresh potting mix, about an inch or so deep.

It is lighter and easier for seeds to settle in and you also reduce the risk of fungus diseases.

Watering will be a challenge. You don’t want them to dry out and you certainly don’t want to over-water. A water mister works well as long as you don’t blast the new seedlings and knock them over! The best solution would be to set your tray in a shallow pan to have water wick up from the bottom, so planting in smaller containers makes it easier to find a tray to set them in.

And, like all seedlings, you need to ensure there is a certain amount of air circulation to prevent damping off, a fungus-like organism that causes new seedlings to simply collapse. Very disheartening and damping off can happen to any new seedlings, even assorted vegetables or flower seedlings slated for the garden.

Sowing for microgreens is not unlike sowing for seedlings to set out in your garden. The big difference is that you are going to harvest the greens with scissors when they are only a couple of leaves or so and,

therefore, you can sow quite thickly.

Bright light will keep the seedlings from stretching; yes grow lights would be good, but a good bright window will do just as well. I don’t think I would mind if my microgreens are a tad long. They will still taste great. You can harvest them and pop them in the fridge, but they should be dry. Because they are so delicate, they won’t last long. Eat and enjoy sooner rather than later.

Now, what to plant for your microgreens?

Vesseys has several seed mixtures.Their mixture of kohlrabi, red cabbage, tatsoi, mizuna, blue kale, red kale and red giant mustard seems delightfully spicy. They also have all these seeds as individual packages, along with standard microgreens like pea shoots, peppery nasturtium, and sunflower shoots.

Besides having fresh greens for a reasonable price, microgreens are also highly nutritious with intense vitamin content.

Amid my research I found SproutPeople.org, a comprehensive website that covers the wonderful world of both sprouts and microgreens in greater depth. It is well laid out and easy to navigate.

I think I will get some sprouts going, in memory of my Nana, who loved her Mung bean sprouts.

It is a healthy start to the New Year and, while munching your sprouts and microgreens, you can bury yourself in catalogues and dreams of gardening when the last snowflake melts. ◊

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January 2025 33

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

Global instability puts markets in a holding pattern We are currently living in an unsettled world. There is a general sense of dissatisfaction with what has been the status quo amongst many people throughout many nations.

In the developed world much dissatisfaction can be found within personal finances. Inflation has been sharply higher in the past few years, bringing about a cost-of-living squeeze for average households. To combat inflation, interest rates approximately tripled, with the intent of preventing inflationary spending as people pay more to borrow money, predominantly in mortgage debt. And while higher interest rates have aided greatly in bringing down inflation, it doesn’t seem to make folks any more satisfied with their finances.

As a result, we see labour disruption, like rail strikes, port

strikes, postal strikes, and seaway strikes, to name a few. This happens because workers strive to capture more of what they feel they have lost through the recent inflationary period. Amongst all these labour strikes, there are real ramifications to other participants in the economy, those who rely on these industries which are essential to the workings of the general economy. With critical infrastructure being curtailed, more participants become dissatisfied with the effects of these strikes. And the general population becomes more dissatisfied, as they are collateral damage in the labour disputes.

There is certainly political disruption. The U.S. election result has a wide range of passionate opinions. Trading partners with the U.S. face potential disruption in light of the tariff announcements of incoming President Trump. Nations such as Canada and Mexico have seen threats of 25 per cent tariffs on all U.S. exports. Other nations have been threatened with tariffs up to 100 per cent.

Here at home, consensus among economists would suggest there could be a 2.5 per cent decline in the Canadian economy as a direct result of the U.S. tariffs, with further reciprocal tariffs potentially compounding negative effects.

Canada is the U.S.’s third largest trading partner, shipping 12 per cent of the nation’s imports, next to Mexico at 15 per cent and China at 14 per cent. Canada’s largest export

to the U.S. is crude oil, while Mexico’s largest is vehicles, machinery and electrical equipment.

Financially, the U.S. imports far more from its biggest three suppliers than it exports. The U.S. trade balance with these nations is deficit, with the U.S. selling approximately 42 per cent of the value of goods they purchase. Specifically to grain, Mexico is the largest buyer of U.S. corn and questions remain as to whether tariff measures will be reciprocated by Mexico if enacted.

Other countries see difficulties in the political scene as well. The French president has been ousted.

Romania is having a rerun of their Presidential vote ordered by the courts due to Russian meddling in the prior election only days before.

Russia is accused of meddling in neighbouring Georgia. South Korea has seen their leader declare martial law in an astounding grasp for control, just to see Parliament revoke the measure later that day, and potential criminal charges forthcoming.

And while all of this is anguish to so many and a cause for discontent, there are still many worse off. The world is full of armed conflict and wars are widespread.

The Russian/Ukraine war continues, with new weapons and escalation at present. The Middle East has great conflict, with Iranian proxy wars occurring with Israel. And, recently, an earlier civil war in Syria has started once again. The rebels, which

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34 The Rural Voice

had been suppressed by the hand of Iran and Russia in support of the Assad government, have seen the support of Turkey. This caused Assad to flee Damascus, after an almost 14year battle. Syria’s discontent is not alone among the Arab nations; every Arab republic has seen large protests in recent times, since the Arab spring in 2011. This discontent has been hastened by lagging economies and lower per capita incomes over the past decade.

As for agricultural commodities, the South American crop has generally been progressing well after its late start. Rain has been sufficient for crop development in most places, while others in the region would like to see more precipitation. The Russian crop is reported to be in tough shape to start the winter and Russia has been raising export taxes aggressively to slow exports. But the wheat market is in wait-and-see mode for a later date, when more information is available, and some uncertain outcomes are settled. It is hard to be too concerned about the development of the wheat crop when it is dormant, awaiting the development of a new year.

Of course, wars are not directly related to grains. But as we have discussed many times over, markets do not exist independently from world events and global sentiment.

Large scale world events such as war, political disruption, and economic challenges do not give money managers an interest in extending risk. Wars, political instability and threats of tariffs do not build confidence in terms of economic growth and stability, so investors are cautious to put money into market uncertainty. This leaves the market generally quiet and with little engagement. ◊

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January 2025 35

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

Natural asset management planning I recently attended a few information sessions on Natural Asset Management and Planning. In my recollection this term hasn’t been around for more than a decade, but it has now become a requirement for all Ontario Municipalities to have included green infrastructure in their asset management plans.

For many years, ecosystem services and green infrastructure have been a topic of discussion around many tables. Personally, I have never really cared for either of these terms, as they both kind of remove nature from natural species and only acknowledge the ways in which humans more directly benefit from natural spaces. It is hard for us to remember that the world around us is about more than just us and our desires. In fact, the term stewardship

has recently been used to recognize our short term on the planet and temporary ownership of land. With this in mind, we are to try to leave the planet, or our space in it, better than how we received it.

So what is green infrastructure?

According to the Provincial Policy Statement, “green infrastructure means natural and human-made elements that provide ecological and hydrological processes. Green infrastructure can include components such as natural heritage features and systems, parklands, stormwater management systems, street trees, urban forests, natural channels, permeable surfaces, and green roofs.” Another definition that can be found in many publications, including the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition website, is “natural vegetative systems and technologies that collectively provide society with a multitude of economic, environmental, health, and social benefits.”

As I am sure you can guess from the definitions of Green Infrastructure, the items that could be included are quite vast. Some of the items that you may not think of are: rain gardens, soil, rain barrels, cisterns, naturalized stormwater ponds, and green walls.

Ecosystem services are basically

defined in the same way throughout government and other sources to be “benefits provided by nature to humans” or “naturally occurring systems that support humans.” Some of the items that are included in the list of ecosystem services are food, fiber, and fuel.

Clearly, looking at these two definitions and what they mean to our survival, it makes the most sense that we plan for their management and account for them as assets.

Accounting for these natural systems forces us to plan for their maintenance, budget for their needs, and forecast potential need for replacement to ensure risk management is mitigated.

If those making decisions recognize natural assets as another piece of infrastructure, like a bridge for instance, they will plan a timeline of usefulness and budget accordingly.

For example, if an urban forest became inundated with an invasive species that threatened its survival, a budget would exist to either eradicate the species or manage the forest back to health, with interventions such as tree planting. Or to a greater extent, if the location of the forest is determined to be the most suitable place for a housing complex, the asset management document would hold the information on the services

In the Greenock Swamp, an upland forest (L) compared to a lowland forest (R) with different “ecological services”.

36 The Rural Voice

provided by that forest. This information could guide the acquisition of a forest to fill the need for the services provided.

When I look at the lands that I am responsible for managing, it is so easy for me to see and appreciate their value; no documentation is required. Proper business decrees that the paperwork must be created and updated on an ongoing basis. It is an interesting challenge to force yourself to envision the same items in a different way, the paperwork part is difficult. Our forests provide people with fiber, fuel, food, some air and water filtration, shelter, and soil cycling. While providing all of these items, humans also gain the pleasure of being among trees, seeing trees, and the climate moderation of trees. All of these benefits are quite difficult to quantify. The challenge in quantifying gets even greater when you consider all of the various forest types that we have in this area. A hardwood forest offers completely different opportunities than a coniferous plantation. These different opportunities would need to be assigned appropriate values and replacement requirements.

The next question that needs to be considered in asset management planning when we look at a forest is whether we require that forest or if our resources should be focused on a different type of green infrastructure that could provide greater value.

Wow, what a different way of seeing the world! When looking at our natural assets, with all perspectives in mind, we may find that there is a greater benefit or need to retain different types of green infrastructure than we historically have.

As stewards of land, it should be our mission to leave the land better than when we acquired it. Even working through natural disasters and invasive pests, we must do our best.

If we create our natural asset plan with this in mind, the people that conduct future stewardship should have a well-worn roadmap and history book all in one place. First step in achieving this amazing document, list your natural assets.

For me, I will be a while. ◊

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January 2025 37

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

Resulting trusts and beneficial ownership of property

T

here is a common law presumption that a transfer of land grants to the transferee an absolute right and title in the land (“beneficial ownership”).

However, there is also a presumption that a “resulting trust” arises when property is held in the name of a party who provided no value for it. For instance, where a parent provides the purchase money for a property held in the name of an adult child or adds the child to title for no consideration, it is presumed that the child is not a beneficial owner and only holds title to the property in trust for the parent. To rebut this presumption, the burden of proof rests on the child to demonstrate on a balance of probabilities that the property was received as an outright gift rather than being held in trust for the parent.

Under Ontario law, real property can be held personally or in trust for someone else. When property is held in trust, the trustee is the legal title holder while the beneficiaries hold an unregistered beneficial interest in the trust property. As there is no mechanism under Ontario’s Land Titles system of land registration to identify trust interests, the Land Register may not provide the full picture to those who are investigating property ownership. Creditors looking to collect on debts are tasked with determining whether a registered owner holds a beneficial interest in a property or is merely holding title in trust. A creditor who does not pay close attention risks

pursuing a claim against a debtor who appears to own property only later to discover that the debtor has no real ownership interest in any property. Just because a debtor is shown on title to be a registered owner does not mean that there is property against which to collect on a debt.

In a recent case, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice determined that a trial would be necessary to determine whether a registered owner of property held title in trust, thereby postponing the possible enforcement of a judgment against the registered owner’s recorded interest. A creditor was seeking to enforce a judgment against a property held jointly by the judgment debtor and her mother.

The mother, seeking to avoid enforcement against the property, applied to the Court for a declaration that her judgment debtor daughter only held an interest in the property in trust for the mother. The Court ultimately determined that the matter could not be decided on the basis of a paper record as a court application and that a mini trial would be necessary.

Between 2016 and 2017, the mother and her late husband had added the judgment debtor to title of three properties they owned based on “natural love and affection”. The Land Transfer Tax affidavits sworn in respect of the transactions stated: “Transfer from parents to themselves and their daughter for natural love and affection.” In 2023, the creditor obtained judgment against the daughter for nearly $1.8 million. The judgment debtor daughter was found to have made false representations to the creditor in a transaction involving the supply of food products on credit.

The daughter had failed to pay for these products and it was determined that a fraud had been committed. The creditor wanted to enforce its judgment against the properties owned (or apparently owned) by the daughter.

There were two issues examined by the Court in its ruling. The first issue was whether the transfer from parents to daughter was a gift, in which case the daughter was a beneficial owner of the properties, or created a resulting trust, in which case the daughter was only holding

title in trust for her parents. The Court referred to the seminal Supreme Court of Canada case of Pecore v. Pecore, which held that a transfer of property from a parent to an adult child without consideration leads to the rebuttable presumption of a resulting trust for the benefit of the parent. In this case, the onus was on the judgment creditor to prove that the transfer of title was a gift and did not give rise to a resulting trust (so that the creditor could collect its judgment debt against the property).

The Court found that this issue could not be resolved unless a mini trial was held.

The second issue was whether the entry of the daughter’s name in the Land Register as a registered owner in and of itself meant that she had a beneficial interest in the real estate properties (rather than just holding the property in trust for her parents).

Here the judgment creditor relied on a case called Bao v. Mok to argue that the Land Titles parcel register is definitive and makes the judgment debtor daughter a beneficial owner.

However, the Court found that the circumstances in the Bao v. Mok case were distinguishable. There, land had been transferred to a bona fide purchaser for value without notice that the transferor (the registered owner on title) was not actually the beneficial owner of the property but was holding it in trust for someone else. The bona fide purchaser for value was entitled to rely on the Land Register and didn’t have to investigate behind it to see whether a trust interest was present. The Court found that the situation of a judgment creditor seeking to enforce a judgment against property is different. The Land Titles Act doesn’t protect the creditor in the way that a bona fide purchaser for value without notice is protected.

Creditors beware!

I thank our law student Lauryn Miller for her assistance in preparing this article. ◊ ______________________________ 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.

January 2025 39

People

Another successful Perth Harvest Gala • By Gary West • Perth County Federation of Agriculture hosts their annual dinner and awards banquet in Stratford

Top left: Julie McIntosh (VP, PCFA), Scott Graham, winner of the 2024 Agricultural Recognition Award, with PCFA Directors, Inge Koskamp and Sam Knechtel.

Top: Greta DeWetering (L) and Ian Egger (R) each received a $1000 scholarship award.

Left: Over 200 guests dressed up for the annual Harvest Gala in Stratford.

Photos: Laura Good

T

he Perth County Federation Of Agriculture (PCFA) held their Harvest Gala in Stratford in November at the Arden Park hotel in Stratford. Over 200 people attended the annual dinner, to celebrate the end of the season in style.

The evening program included presentations of two scholarships to young Perth County university students, Ian Egger and Greta DeWetering, both at the Ontario Agriculture College (OAC). Ian is from the Egger Dairy Farm family of Gadshill and is working towards his degree in agriculture. Ian immersed

40 The Rural Voice

himself in many clubs, including the dairy science club, the Student Federation of OAC, and the square dancing club. He also enrolled in 4-H and spent time at Agrama in Switzerland. Last summer he worked at Perth Ag Partners and Ian says he would like to take over his family farm some day.

Greta DeWetering comes from a family farm outside of Sebringville, raising swine, beef, and growing certified organic grains. She is studying at the University of Guelph and is working towards becoming a large animal veterinarian. For the past eight years, she has been an active

member of the Perth County 4-H program and has been President of the Perth County 4-H beef club for the past three years. She is also the Vice-President of her OAC class.

At the end of the evening, PCFA recognized an outstanding local farmer for the 2024 Agricultural Recognition Award. The winner was Scott Graham, who had attended with his family. They had all known about his receiving the award, but kept it a surprise for the evening.

Scott Graham is not only an egg farmer but is part of the alumni of the St. Mary’s Lincoln hockey team. He

Gary West one of several local honourees of the King Charles III Coronation Medal Several local residents were honoured with a commemorative medal issued to notable individuals across the Commonwealth, to mark the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023. In Perth County, Mary McIntosh was presented by Perth-Wellington MP John Nater in October and our own Gary West was presented by Senator Rob Black in November. Many local recipients of the medal are strong advocates for agriculture, including Kelly Daynard, Cathy Lennon, Don Lobb and Lillie Ann Morris from Wellington County. ◊ To the right, Gary West (L) is presented with the award by Senator Rob Black (R) in the Stratford council chambers. Gary has had a long career in community service in Perth County, with the egg farmers, the Rotary Club and more. We are lucky to have him!

CORNER

CRAFTER’S

comes with a wide and varied resumé of contributions to agriculture, his greater community and even overseas. A graduate from one of the early cohorts of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program, Graham has used those skills for the advancement of the egg and pullet industry and agriculture in general.

He was elected as President of the Egg Farmers of Ontario board for a total of eight years and also served as Chair of the President’s Council, a group of 42 commodity organization presidents. He served as a Director on the Agricultural Adaptation Council for 10 years and Graham is currently a board member of the St. Mary’s Healthcare Foundation.

He has coached various hockey teams over the years; he is Past President of the St. Mary’s Minor Hockey Association and has been involved with the St. Mary’s Lincoln Hockey Organization for years.

Internationally, Graham has worked extensively with Egg Farmers of Canada in the area of international development through the “Project Canaan” program in Eswatini, Africa. Through the program, in 2015, two egg barns were built to provide food and lasting jobs to the community. Not only a strong proponent of the program, but Graham has also travelled to the area to see the community firsthand and to offer his support and knowledge.

He operates Graham Farms Ltd with his wife, Laurie, his son Brett, and his wife Jess. He also managed a successful herd of Red Angus cattle for a number of years and organized the autumn colours Red Angus sale.

In 2006, he purchased a section and a half of pastureland in Saskatchewan, where 60 head of the cattle were shipped and they still have cattle there today.

Graham was nominated by the Perth-Waterloo Egg Farmers who would like to congratulate him on winning the 2024 Perth County Federation of Agriculture recognition award. They thanked Scott for all his work to better this great farming industry, here at home and around the world. ◊

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January 2025 41

Holly Gross leads family to Sheep Show victory

By Scott Stephenson

Holly (L) and Loralei (R) with their sheep Marlee and Maisy, and two younger brothers Gavin and Logan outside the barns at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto after the big win. Photo supplied.

A

t this year's Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, a Southdown Lamb named Marlee, owned by Auburn's own Holly Gross, was named the Grand Champion Lamb in the Junior Sheep Show. It’s not every day that a Grand Champion Lamb hails from Huron County, so The Citizen swung by the Gross family farm on a snowy afternoon to hear a little bit about how it feels to be a champion.

In a nutshell, Gross is feeling good about her historic win. Even though there were a lot of impressive animals in the highly-competitive Junior Sheep Show, Gross was confident that Marlee would do well - she’d spent the summer training her stately animal using a combination of tried-and -rue methods that they teach in 4-H along with techniques she’s been developed alongside her sister, Loralei.

While the girls insist that the specifics of their sheep-rearing techniques remain top secret, they did admit that there is a real advantage to raising their lambs together. From the moment they pick up their lambs from a farm in St. Helens, the sisters put the two young ewes through the training process together. Loralei’s sheep, Maisy, may have placed a little bit lower than Marlee in the competition, but 42 The Rural Voice

without training alongside Maisy, Marlee may not have had the right attitude to take top prize. Even though it’s technically a competition, the girls prefer to work in tandem to

make both their sheep the best sheep they can be.

It also helps that the Gross clan are, collectively, a 4-H-loving family.

Their mother, Mary Ellen, has a special training secret of her own: if you want your children to fall in love with 4-H, just get them into it before they are old enough to remember a time when they weren’t in 4-H. Gross children typically start learning to show dairy calves at around three years old, and are pretty much expected to find their own path through 4-H from that point onward.

Her win has made Holly even more passionate about the wild and wooly world of competitive sheep showing, but the rules state that she has to take next year off so someone else’s animal can take a shot at the title of Grand Champion Lamb.

Holly, however, is not deterred by the temporary ban. “I can show at the local fairs, just not the Royal.”◊

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Press Release

Farmers and ranchers see climate change as a top challenge in new poll Ottawa, ON, December 11, 2024 Climate change is one of the top challenges facing agriculture over the next decade, according to a recent poll of farmers and ranchers across Canada. Producers across the country worry that climate change and severe weather events will reduce their profits and yields, and are interested in adopting new practices that will make their operations more resilient.

The phone poll of 858 farmers and ranchers was conducted by polling firm Leger between August 8 and September 4, 2024 and commissioned by Farmers for Climate Solutions.

When asked an open-ended question about the main challenge facing agriculture in the next 10 years, 18% of respondents identified climate change as a top response, with input costs for seed, fertilizer, and other expenses coming in close behind at 17%. More than threequarters of respondents said they were concerned that climate change would reduce their net farm income (79%) and reduce their yields (76%).

“Farmers and ranchers across Canada are living the reality of severe weather and understand that climate change puts our livelihoods at risk,” said Brent Preston, President of Farmers for Climate Solutions. “The results of this poll provide valuable insights into the challenges we’re facing and show that farmers are ready to adapt.”

Seventy-six percent of producers stated that severe weather has impacted their operations over the past five years, with 34% saying they had been significantly impacted.

Farmers and ranchers are interested in adopting new practices to increase resilience and reduce their emissions with improved nitrogen management, no-till/reduced tillage, wildlife habitat conservation, cover cropping, and rotational grazing topping the list. Profitability and productivity are seen as key drivers for implementing new practices, so highlighting the proven economic benefits of new practices and developing policies that incentivize their adoption will be vital.

“Bold climate action in agriculture is possible,” said Preston. “Farmers

and ranchers see the challenges ahead, want to help develop effective solutions, and are clear on the support they need to move forward.”

To increase the adoption of practices that build resilience and reduce emissions across Canada, all levels of government should invest in policies and programs that support producers with training, financial incentives, and risk management tools—the most important types of support when trying a new practice,

according to farmers and ranchers.

Having new policies and programs in place for the next growing season will be vital for addressing the climate-related challenges faced by producers across Canada.◊ Farmers for Climate Solutions (FCS) is a national farmer and rancher-led coalition advancing practical solutions that support farmers and ranchers in making the transition to low emissions, high resilience approaches to agriculture.

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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.

The

Rural Voice

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Spike’s Auto Parts

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

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

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

DL Distributing

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

REAL ESTATE

Dave Mustard 519-794-3334

• Farm, residential, country, cottages, condominiums.

• Thinking of Buying or Selling? Rightsizing? Relocating?

• Market value analysis on your property.

Authorized Dealer

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

Tough on Winter, Easy on You

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

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

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

CROSSHILL Sawmill Inc

519-503-6237 519-503-6237 Crosshillsawmill@gmail.com

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

46 The Rural Voice

White pine & spruce Custom cutting to White pine & spruce

your specs available.

•1x12• 1 x• 12Custom cutting to your • •1x101 x 10 specs available Rough Cut pine •1x8 • 1 x 8 &Cut spruce • Rough •1x6 •1x6 • 1 x 4 pine & spruce Timbers • Timbers •1x4

GROWERS MINERAL SOLUTIONS 10-20-10

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

Balance Nutrition “Trace Minerals” in producing healthy, quality produce.

www.beloretrailers.ca

For local sales rep’s

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

1-800-437-4769

Jamie Belore

Your our lives vestoc ock and an customers cus omers will ll no notice ce

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

Growersmineral.com

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

Full service to all boats and marine engines

ARGYLE Marine & Small Engines Inc.

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

Licensed Plumber Are Hard Winters or on Staff High Fuel Prices Draining The ECO Store your Bottom Line?

559 Bervie Sideroad RR #4 Here is the Answer!

Kincardine N2Z 2X5 Way More Affordable then you Think

Commercial 4 Million BTU Gassifier • 1800 Gallons of Water • Green Houses • Dryers • Farms • Resorts • Gassifier • Wood or Wood Chips • Like Buying Propane at 8¢ a Litre!

Various Units

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

rvie Supply Be Energy Unlimited

Installation • Energy Audits Feasibility Studies • Training

CG Blast • 450,000 BTU approx.

• Green House • Economical • No Plumbing!

• Indoor/ Outdoor • CSA • High Efficiency

Boilers

Pellet Stoves • Ecoflex® & Boilers Thermal Pipe Are you dreaming of...

Solar Panels

?

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

• Many Sizes • Home RV DC Well and Pool Pumps

• Largest showroom in Ontario • In stock • Ready to ship • CSA Appproved!

Sun-Mar Composting Toilets

• energy independence?

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

• Batteries • AGM • Flooded • Surrete • Solar January 2025 47

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

-------------------------------------------COMING EVENTS -------------------------------------------South Western Ontario Dairy Symposium, Thursday, February 20, 2025; Woodstock Fairgrounds from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. www.dairysymposium.com -------------------------------------------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.

-------------------------------------------FIELD CROP SEED -------------------------------------------Soybean seed for sale - Altitude R2, Ridley XF, 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, Ripley.

Phone 519-395-2972. Ask for Carmon, Mitch or Helen.

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

-------------------------------------------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.

Happy New Year!

48 The Rural Voice

-------------------------------------------GARDEN SEEDS -------------------------------------------• Heirloom flowers • Vegetables • Herbs • Wildflowers • non-GMO, untreated seed Ph: 705-295-6440 www.florabundaseeds.com

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

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

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

Sittler Grinding Inc. Rick Sittler.

-------------------------------------------LIVESTOCK FOR SALE -------------------------------------------LIMOUSIN breeding bulls, quiet, thick, semen tested, guaranteed breeders, delivery included. Quality breeding heifers available. Posthaven Limousin, John Post, 519-766-7178; John Jr. 519-831-1869. www.posthavenlimousin.com -------------------------------------------Red Angus, Simmental and Red Angus Simmental bulls. Bred for calving ease, growth temperament and muscle. Google Ontario bull evaluation to see how our bulls are doing at Silver Springs Farms this year. Come visit to select your bull or heifers early. James, Joan and Robert McKinlay 519-599-6236, 226-668-0775.

-------------------------------------------Limousin - Bred heifers and cows available for sale. Come pick your new herdsire prospect. Smart Limousin, Meaford, 519-372-7459, smartlimousin@gmail.com, www.Smartlimousin.com

-------------------------------------------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, oldetymeradiocentre@gmail.com -------------------------------------------RETAIL & GIFTS -------------------------------------------Little Falls Artisan Market - Over 100 Artisans to choose from! Large, varied selection of interesting gift ideas. Headquarters of popular 18 inch doll clothes. 83 Queen St. East, St Mary's; www.littlefallscraftersmarket.com -------------------------------------------Maple and Moose is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11am 4pm for January through March for your unique shopping experience.

398 Queen St Blyth (519) 5234276 -------------------------------------------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 -------------------------------------------Tax Quest Certified Tax Preparation. Twenty plus years experience. Personal, farm, investment and business returns.

Flora Becker 177975 Grey Rd. 18 Owen Sound, ON N4K 5N5 519447-0922.

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

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

Call Shirley in Wingham.

Cell: 1-705-434-8187.

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

519-692-4232 www.sgspestmanagement.ca

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

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

Ph. 519-528-3019

-------------------------------------------WANTED -------------------------------------------Looking to rent organic farmland or land to transition to organic cropping in Huron and Bruce Counties. Contact Trevor at Triple T Farms, 519-357-8350.

-------------------------------------------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.

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

Deadline

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

for the February Rural Voice is January 13

SURFACES • Metal (inc. galvanized & aluminum) • Wood • Concrete • Manure Pits • UV Resistant

Find Your

Due to the Canada Post Strike we are extending our “Pefect Match” issue deadline to the Spring Watch here for details!

Seeking single farmers, rural dwellers, and more from The Rural Voice readership area.

Submit your “personals” listing under our “Perfect Match” word classified heading FREE to run in our spring issue. Contact us to learn more or to include your ad!

The Rural Voice 405 Queen St PO Box 429 Blyth ON N0M 1H0 Phone: 519-523-4311 Email: info@northhuron.on.ca

Editor’s Note: Have a “love story” you’d like to include in our February issue?

Reach out to mel@northhuron.on.ca

SERIES www.martinwagons.com

Trailblazer Wagons

Hay Racks

Available in different sizes

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

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

Gravity Bins Call or email for a quote today!

714 Arthur St. South, RR#2 Elmira ON N3B 2Z2

519-664-3383 Fax: 519-664-1668 sales@martinwagons.com

January 2025 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

Cultivating Best Human Resource Practices on Small and Mid-Scale Farms The NFU-O’s free on-line Human Resources training for farm operators is back by popular demand!

Are you looking for advice and support on how to train and manage your staff next growing season? Maybe you have management tricks and tips for a healthy, fair, and energized work environment that you wish you knew before you hired your first employee? By sharing our on-farm management insights we can improve our operations and help small and mid-sized farms across the province become more resilient and more attractive to job seekers.

“I didn’t know the first thing about hiring” said one anonymous participant of the NFU-O’s 2024 HR offerings.

“These sessions gave me all the resources and tips I needed to ensure my first successful hire!”

“I’m often shy and tend to avoid conflict. These sessions gave tips on how to address conflicts constructively and collaboratively. I’m excited to apply these tools this growing season,” said a seasoned farm manager.

Join us for the 3rd year in our series of five 2-hour free on-line H R training modules, where our team of agricultural HR experts will provide a crash course on best management practices. Sessions are to the right.

Join us for one session, or for all.

In addition to hearing from our expert panelists, participants will receive a variety of HR materials, including: job advertising and recruitment method tips; how-to-write job descriptions, employee handbooks and orientation templates, payroll and wage templates, scheduling and time-tracking templates, grants and cost-sharing tips, and more! These sessions will help your farm become more resilient and more attractive to job seekers.

If you have any questions and/or would like to participate in our HR programming, please contact David Thompson (david@nfuontario.ca) or call 705-738-3993 ext.102.

Hiring and Incentives – Wed, January 29, 2025, 7-9pm Find out how to hire effectively! This session will include a discussion on deciding what type of employees will work best for you, how to develop a job description and interview questions, job advertising options, and building an incentives package.

HR Fundamentals – Wed, February 5, 2025, 7-9pm Scared of the paperwork? Not anymore! Learn about employment standards and legislation, health and safety and WSIB requirements; payroll and wages, grants and cost-share programs, and other general logistics.

Interpersonal Dynamics, Training, and Retention – Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 7-9pm Want to create a friendly and co-operative work environment? You’ve come to the right place! Experts will share employee handbook and orientation designs, training and development tips, equity and discrimination policies, stress and wellbeing measures, staff retention strategies, and more.

Planning, Task Management, and Delegation – Wednesday, February 19, 2025, 7-9pm Being a good manager means staying organized! Learn successful time-tracking, strategic management and planning tips. Explore a variety of staff management approaches and how to motivate and evaluate staff. Learn how you can you support employee routes to equity, coops, and/or other partnership. *Bonus * NEW! Farm Grants, Loans, and Financial Tools – Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 7-9pm Is there a government or non-profit grant, loan, or financial tool to help support your farm business, protect your property’s natural heritage, or help you meet your HR needs? Learn about a variety of financial supports and receive grant writing tips from our experts!

This Employment Ontario project is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.

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

Henry Groenestege, President

Perth County

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

Pork Producers NEWSLETTER

T

The Pig Genome: From DNA to Dinner

he pig genome consists of 28,164 genes. It was only in the late 1990s with the technology developed for the human genome project that we started to sequence the pig genome. The study of swine genetics literally bent the curve of genetic progress to develop better pigs faster. Swine genetics companies became much more efficient at separating the wheat from the chaff.

But this took a big investment in the technology and people needed to implement this new science. For example, one genetics company uses an MRI to scan their boars as part of their genetic selection process. Now there are only a few global players left competing for a spot in the pig barns of the world. Like farm equipment, pig farmers have their brand loyalty. But we all realise the importance of good genetics to our bottom line, and are willing to change when a brand’s problems stack up in our barns, or someone develops a new feature we don’t want to live without.

Like the tractor business, some brands push the envelope and promise a superior pig, with a price to match.

Other brands reproduce someone else’s greatest hit from last year, at a better value. And in a global genetics market, some farmers are still loyal to

their local favourite. But, despite the different strategies, it all comes down to the genes that make a pig.

Pigs are a genetically malleable animal. In genetics, every generation is an opportunity for improvement.

Pigs are able to go from being part of a litter to having their own litter within a year, so there are a lot more opportunities for improvement, especially when compared to something that matures more slowly, like cattle ... or trees. Pigs also have more than 10 pigs per litter, so they can produce a lot more candidates for selection than other mammals.

Every genetics salesman will tell you that there is no such thing as a perfect pig. The gene MC4R is a great example of this. In the pig business, we are obsessed with how fast a pig can grow. This is driven by how much it eats and how efficiently it converts that feed into muscle. There are two different versions of the MC4R gene: one gives you a pig that is more feed efficient, and the other gives you a pig that just eats a lot.

That is right, you can have one or the other, but not both. This is not the only case where you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Genes that are associated with how lean a pig is will also affect the foot and leg structure of the animal. The more lean a pig is,

the worse its legs are — it is a terrible trade-off for farmers.

Just because we have the pig genome sequenced, doesn’t mean we know what every gene does. It is kind of like having a picture book written in another language, and trying to decipher the meaning of the story.

My favorite story about this deciphering process comes from Dr. Max Rothschild who was a geneticist at Iowa State University. While at a cocktail party he was told about an estrogen receptor gene that had been discovered in Brazilian possums. Dr. Rothschild found the analog of this gene in the pig genome, and this contributes to the prolific sows that we have today. At the start of Dr. Rothschild’s career, pigs had eight pigs per litter. Today they can average 15. Did you know that pigs don’t have a set number of vertebrae?

Genetics companies have been using this to their advantage and selecting longer and longer sows. The aim is for sows to have a larger udder and more teats to support a larger litter.

Genomics is such a vast field, unwound from the microscopic nucleus of a cell. With 28,164 pig genes, I'm sure this won't be the last article I write about it.

Submitted by Craig Hulshof

LOCAL PORK PRODUCTS Fill your freezer with local pork products Order today from: Tanya and Darryl Terpstra (519-291-7603) or visit Leis Feeds in Milverton – Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon

Pork supplied by: Perth County Pork Producers BBQ services for large groups are also available, contact: perthcountyporkproducers@gmail.com for more details.

January 2025 51

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

Program allows students hands-on experience in agriculture

Bluewater District School Board’s Agriculture Specialist High Skills Major is entering its second year at its location at Grey Roots Museum & Archives. A Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) is a specialized program within Ontario’s secondary schools that allows students to focus their studies on a specific industry - in our case, Agriculture. The Agriculture SHSM emphasizes essential skills like teamwork, communication, and problem-solving, preparing students for future success, whether it be in postsecondary education (both college and university), an apprenticeship, or the workforce. Last semester, students got hands-on experience raising livestock from ducklings to piglets, tapping trees and making maple syrup, taking a beekeeping course, and spending the day down at the University of Guelph touring their state-of-the-art research barns, to name a small selection. Field trips to local farms, sugar bushes, foodproduction facilities, and participating in Roots of Bruce and Grown in Grey offered leadership and reach-ahead activities for the students.

One of the cornerstone experiences that students of the Agriculture SHSM receive is the many connections that they make with members of the BruceGrey agricultural community, whether it be by farm visits, volunteering at

fairs and expos, or opening our doors to guests. The hope is that over the years, the Agriculture SHSM can continue to become further integrated into the local agricultural community, and students can form lifelong bonds with the people and land of BruceGrey. Additionally, a highlight of the SHSM is the close contact students have with livestock, with many animals such as cattle and swine being donated by community members. This hands-on experience, where students take the care of animals themselves, demonstrates the high levels of responsibility that youth are capable of when given the opportunity to test themselves.

The Agriculture SHSM program was based in Chesley until the 2023/2024 school year, when it relocated to Grey Roots Museum & Archives. The museum, located just outside Owen Sound, showcases the history of Grey County. Adjoining the museum is Moreston Heritage Village, which includes historical buildings and artifacts highlighting rural life in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Students in the Agriculture SHSM utilize the schoolhouse, barn, and chicken coop within the village to serve as learning spaces, and to hold livestock. In addition to these village buildings, BWDSB has constructed a greenhouse,

sugar shack, and storage shed to the west of the museum on land generously made available by Everett and Marolyn Hall.

Going into the second year of the Agriculture SHSM at Grey Roots, BWDSB would like to extend many thanks to those who have helped get this program to where it is today, and to those who will help to develop it further. The future is bright for agriculture in Bruce-Grey. Keep an eye out on BWDSB and Grey Roots social media for opportunities to visit both the museum and the Agriculture SHSM. If you are a student in grade 11 or 12 at a BWDSB school and are interested in the program please reach out to the guidance department at your school for more information.

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

52 The Rural Voice

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

Fundraising efforts continue Happy New Year

Meeting dates 2025

As our fundraising efforts continue, we are close to reaching our goal. The barn is projected to be build in early 2025. Our next fundraising efforts will happen during Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week. Please stop by the Federation booth to discuss with our directors the project and any other concerns you might have that we can help you with.

January 8 - Zoom February 12 -Zoom March 12 - Zoom April 9 June 11 August 13 September 10 October 17 (AGM) November 12 December 10

Annual Curling Bonspiel

February 8, 2025 Williamsford Curling Club

9am 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 * The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Grey County by the GCFA.

January 2025 53

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

OFA AGM - Ontario agriculture is always in season

By Sara Wood OFA Vice President and PCFA Director At the end of November, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture hosted its Annual General Meeting in Toronto with over 400 members, member organizations, partners and government staff in attendance over the two-day conference. The Perth Federation had a great showing with 12 farm members attending on your behalf to raise concerns, hear issues from other areas and network with farmer peers across the province.

The meeting hosted two main panels, along with a keynote speaker.

The first panel was entitled, “Turning advocacy into action: how to deliver powerful municipal delegations.” It focused on the do’s and don’ts of lobbying municipal councils in particular. It was moderated by Drew Spoelstra, OFA President, with panelists: Mayor Robin Jones, Westport & Chair of Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO); Mayor Cathy Burghardt-Jesson, Lucan; Regional Councillor Albert Witteveen, Niagara Region; and Jenny Leblond, CAO Clerk-Treasurer Township of Chisholm. One takehome message I got was to assume that a council doesn’t actually understand the details of the topic of your delegation. Many times they understand the high-level details but not the small ones.

The next panel “Powering agriculture: the critical role of energy affordability on the farm” focused on energy with Minister Lecce sending video greetings and MPP Sam Oosterhoff addressing the room before the panel. It was moderated by Ethan Wallace, OFA Executive Member, with panelists: Eric Muller,

Ontario Director Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA); Jennifer Green, Executive Director, Canadian Biogas Association (CBA); Jim Redford, VP Energy Services, Enbridge; Chris Crawford, Vice-President, Government Relations, Ontario & Manitoba, Canadian Propane Association (CPA); and Sonny Karunakaran, Vice-President of Strategic Projects and Partnerships, Hydro One. It was positive to hear that there was willingness to work with farm members in the future procurement of energy.

This year's keynote speaker was Jeremy Miller, of Sticky Branding.

He spoke around branding our businesses and the wins and struggles of branding. It was a good reminder that branding is a marathon and not a sprint.

Ministers from all provincial parties brought greetings to the OFA, from Liberal MPP Ted Hsu, NDP MPP John Vanthof, Green Party MPP

Mike Schreiner, and Conservative MPP Minister Rob Flack, with many others joining for the evening of the Harvest Dinner.

The business portion of the meeting involved voting on resolutions from different local Federations for OFA board consideration. Resolutions related to municipal drainage, Bill C-293 and many others. Perth Federation put forward a resolution for the OFA to work with meat and poultry groups to lobby the provincial government to include rail butchering in its list of skilled trades, while also investing and developing related courses in post secondary institutions. Our resolution was passed.

The Annual Meeting is always a great opportunity to engage with the OFA board and local Perth Federation delegates; I encourage you to get in contact with the PCFA board if you are interested in attending in the future and having a voice in the future of agriculture. ◊

Perth Federation delegates at the AGM in November. The majority of delegates attended in person, with two joining remotely online.

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

54 The Rural Voice

Index

Armstrong’s Home Bakery ..........31 Bernie McGlynn Lumber ............35 Bervie Supply Energy ................47 Britespan Building Systems Inc ...... ........................................7, Cover 4 Business Centre ....................45-47 CFFO ..................................Cover 7 Chalmers Fuels ..............................4 Crafter’s Corner ..........................41 Creative China Decorating ..........31 Crop Quest Inc ............................43 Cross County Eavestrough ..........4 DeDell Seeds ..............................35 Design & Build ..........................5, 9 Easy Lift Doors ..............................8 Farm To Table ............................38 Gaia Organic Seeds ....................33 GL Carpentry ..............................22 Goderich & Area Ag Show............2 Green Valley Heating Inc ............22 Grey-Bruce Farmers’ Week..........11 Hanover Honda ............................13 Hayden Water Wells....................26 Hayter & Associates......................6 Highland Fuels & Supply ............15 Hub Capital ..................................15 Huron County Forestry Services..37 Kenpal Farm Products ................17 Kia of Owen Sound ....................34 Kingwood Bins....................Cover 3 LAC ..............................................47 Lakeside Shelving & Racking ....31 Legge Fitness ................Back Cover Linwood Veterinary Services ........22 Lisa Thompson MPP ....................19 Live Landscape ..........................33 Maitland Valley Cons. ................42 Marquardt Farm Drainage Ltd ....14 Martin Farm Wagons ..................49 Martin’s Nursery ..........................33 Matthew Rae MPP ......................19 May Apple Financial ....................13 McLeod Water Wells Ltd ............15 Morris Sachs Silo Construction ..33 Nature’s Wave Inc ......................29 Nuclear Waste Organization ......55 OFA ....................................Cover 5 Riverside Welding & Mfg ............10 Rural Voice Books ......................44 Saugeen Valley Cons. Auth. ......37 Schmidt’s Drainage ....................26 Schweiss Doors ..........................25 Serval Canada ..............................11 Silver Creek Nursery ..................33 Small Homes ................................31 St. Lawrence Cruise Lines ..........33 Steffen Well Drilling ....................43

Superior Barn Painting ......Cover 6 Syngenta ....................................26 SWO Diesel Inc ..................Cover 6

Usborne & Hibbert Ins. ......................17 Varna Grain/Hill & Hill ..............Cover 2 W.D. Hopper & Sons Ltd ............25

Warm Wishes from our NWMO family to yours @nwmocanada /company/nwmocanada nwmo.ca

January 2025 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

Upcoming Events

Huron County well represented at OFA General Meeting

January 1 Happy New Year January 8 to 14 Grey Bruce Farmer’s Week 2025. Full details at www.greybrucefarmersweek.ca January 14 District 8 Huron Grain Farmers meeting at 9 am, Holmesville Community Centre.

January 15 Huron County Beef Producers Annual Meeting, Brussels - 6:00 meal and 7:00 meeting. 4H members are free.

February 19 and 20 Goderich and Area Ag Show 2025 Memorial Arena, Goderich.

February 18 Ontario Fruit and Vegetable 166th Annual General Meeting, Niagara Falls.

Upcoming Agricultural Conferences

Huron County was well represented at the OFA Annual General Meeting. Back row, from left: Ethan Wallace Huron/Perth OFA Zone director, Carol Leeming, Matt Denys, Arletta Hallahan, Mike Eckert, Shawn O’Rourke, Annette Mackenzie, Dave Frayne, Joanna Wallace. Front row: Erica Murray, Teresa VanRaay OFA director at large, Murray Workman, Neil Vincent, Rob VandenHengel. Absent from picture was Lori Gordon who joined remotely.

Congratulations to Jamie Heffer who has been appointed the Warden of Huron County.

We look forward to working with you.

Thank you to Glen McNeil who served as Huron County Warden for the last 4 years.

Congratulations to Don Dodds on being awarded the North Huron Publishing Huron County Citizen of the Year Award.

Congratulations to OFA Zone 7 director Ethan Wallace on his election as Vice-President of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for the 2024/2025 year.

Congratulations to Sara Wood on her election as Director at Large to the OFA.

Snowmobilers 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.

Southwest Agricultural Summit Details and registration: southwestagconference.ca, Ridgetown Tuesday, January 7th & Wednesday, January 8th, 2025 Midwest Ag Conference Details and Registration: eocc.eastontcropconference.ca Rim Park, Waterloo Friday, January 17th, 2025 Eastern Ontario Crop Conference Details and Registration: eocc.eastontcropconference.ca Kemptville Tuesday, January 21st, 2025

HCFA Board Meeting

Monday, January 27 8:00 pm Vanastra Office

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

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

56 The Rural Voice

Working for you in 2025 We are proud advocates for the betterment of Ontario’s agriculture sector on behalf of our 38,000 farm family members across the province. As the leading voice of Ontario’s farmers, we work hard to bring your concerns to the attention of decision-makers at all levels of government.

Looking ahead to 2025, our advocacy will focus on the issues you’ve told us matter most: Reducing the farm tax burden Dealing with rising energy costs Encouraging Ontarians to buy local food (southern Ontario) Providing compensation for wildlife crop damage (northern Ontario) We will also continue our work on other priority issues, including: Land use and farmland preservation Infrastructure investments Environmental stewardship Stormwater management, railway crossings, drainage, hydro corridor expansion and more As a grassroots organization, we value your input, and we welcome opportunities to collaborate with partners and stakeholders to address our industry’s needs.

Thank you for choosing OFA as your general farm organization! Stay up to date on what OFA is doing for you at ofa.on.ca or through our social media channels.

As an OFA member in Bruce, Grey, Huron and Perth you are also a member of your local county federation of agriculture. These county organizations provide a complimentary subscription to The Rural Voice, which includes local federation newsletters, for their members.

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