The Rural Voice - July 2023

July 2023

Rural Voice

The

THE MAGAZINE OF AGRICULTURAL LIFE ... $2.50 PM 40037593

DOWSING FOR GRAVES Mae Leonard uses her dowsing rods to find water and gravesites

DOGS WITH A JOB Better bylaws needed to allow working dogs to roam so they can protect their sheep

RAY’S RIGHT ATTITUDE A good attitude will get you far says new Hall of Fame inductee — Ray Robertson

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Contents

18

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 Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot rveditorlisa@northhuron.on.ca

26

22 Columns

Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Keith Roulston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Kate Procter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Jeffrey Carter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Mabel’s Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Woodlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Agrilaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Departments Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Ruralite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Business Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Newsletters

National Farmers Union . . . . . . . . . .58 Perth County Pork . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Grey County Federation . . . . . . . . . .60 Bruce County Federation . . . . . . . .61 Perth County Federation . . . . . . . . . .62 Huron County Federation . . . . . . . . .64

JULY 2023 • Cover Photo Mae Leonard, Norwich Photo by Jeff Tribe

Contributing writers: Keith Roulston, Kate Procter, Jeffrey Carter, Rhea Hamilton Seeger, Arnold Mathers, Donna Lacey, Melisa Luymes, Anne Mann, Carolyn Crawford, Bonnie Sitter, Jeff Tribe, Amanda Brodhagen and Hetty Stuart

• Deadlines: Aug. Issue – July 11

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

18 Dowsing for Gravesites

Production co-ordinator & Telemarketing: Joan Caldwell

September Issue – August 8

Using a skill inherited from her father, Mae Leonard dowses for more than water

22 New Rules for Working Dogs Municipal bylaws don’t reflect purpose and scope of working dogs

26 Ewes Return to the Mountain Sheep farming in Ireland is generational and keeps mountains safe from wildfires, believes farmer

30 Life of an Immigrant Cook

Maria of Maria’s Wok N Dine shares her food and story coming from the Phillipines

Advertising & editorial production: Dianne Josling PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40037593 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 429, BLYTH ON N0M 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca Subscriptions: $25 (12 issues) $45 (24 issues), includes HST Back copies $2.75 each.

Make cheques payable to: NORTH HURON PUBLISHING CO.

32 From Farm Plot to Long Rows Collecting seeds is a life-time hobby, business and skill

42 Branches into Furniture Willow whips and trees branches become furniture and works of art by new and experienced artists

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.

NH

ORTH URON

PUBLISHING COMPANY INC.

A division of North Huron Publishing Company Inc.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.

Feedback Letters to the Editor may be sent to The Rural Voice, P.O. Box 429, Blyth, On N0M 1H0

Try to think holistically about cattle and methane gas The Editor, I agree with Keith Roulston’s column in the April 2023 issue of The Rural Voice. Here is some context to help us all think more holistically.

1) Think about materiality. Mr. Roulston’s points about elephants and deer are true but immaterial. As of 2015, the mass (tonnage) of domesticated animals is now approximately 20 times that of the mass of wild animals (land mammals and birds). The future of this planet is what we make it and nature can do precious little to fix our excesses or mistakes.

2) Think in decades. Methane naturally dissipates after 11 years. The other greenhouse gasses persist for centuries. For example a stable herd of cattle does not create any global warming: the methane they burp today is offset by the dissipation of the methane their ancestors burped 12 years ago. Early measures of GHG emissions ignored this material difference, as does much of current discussion. (denoted GWP* in the literature), not GHG emissions. Past and current focus on the wrong metric has led to tremendously wrong thoughts and actions.

3) Think in systems. Our breathtaking consumption of Earth’s resources has pushed geological history from the Holocene into the Anthropocene (the age humans drive what happens to the planet).

Planet Earth sustains life through multiple interactive systems. Earth scientists measure the planet’s

2 The Rural Voice

carrying capacity along the following planetary boundaries. ◊ – Rob Campbell Better Together Farms, Chatsworth

Gordon Lightfoot was a great Canadian The Editor, I very much enjoyed Keith Roulston’s article on Gordon Lightfoot (June issue of The Rural Voice), I too am a huge fan. I first saw Gordon in the early 1960s at the Steeles Tavern on Young St., Toronto where the drinking age was 21 (maybe I cheated a little). He came in and borrowed the guitar from the player and sang a few songs.

When he left I asked the waiter, who was that and the answer was “Gordon Lightfoot”. I probably saw him a dozen times at Massey Hall. I still have numerous albums of his and I also spent a very memorable night at his house with him and Ian Tyson!

I recently read an article on Canada’s top singers and songwriters.

He was not included. Neither was Ann Murray, k.d. Lang, Stan Rogers, Murray McLauchla or Ian Tyson. The person who wrote the article didn’t know what they were talking about.

I hope if someone younger than us reads the article and maybe just listens to a few of his songs they will appreciate a great Canadian. “Did She Mention My Name” is my favorite.

Happy days.

– Don Vincent, Tara, ON

Cropping versus tree planting beside rural roads The Editor, First let me say how much I enjoy and appreciate The Rural Voice. You are indeed a voice for rural Ontario.

The articles in The Rural Voice are a

great source of information and inspiration.

As a retired municipal councillor and farmer I am always interested in the legal issues that arise between land owners, i.e. farmers and the municipality.

I was wondering if you might get Mr. Goudy who writes the Agrilaw column to provide some legal expertise on the following issues.

As you are likely aware, the rural road allowance is a hard boundary in fact but considerably more tenuous in practice at least until push comes to shove. The township does in fact own the road allowance but some farmers, because they pay taxes and have cropped strips of road allowance for years with impunity, think that they have some right to continue to use that land. It would be interesting to know if the farmer has any legal leverage in this situation. That part, I think, is pretty straight forward. But usually that isn’t the way things work.

Case in point: In the municipality where we currently reside a group of dedicated, environmentally concerned citizens, with the blessing and financial support of the local municipality, has taken it upon themselves to plant thousands of trees along the rural roads. Needless to say that in spite of the multiple benefits trees provide, not everyone is enthusiastic about this endeavour including some farmers who have been cropping township right-ofways.

Some of the issues raised are: • Even though the trees are planted two feet inside the township road allowance, they will eventually overhang with branches and roots will grow into the farmers field reducing workable land, impacting yield and damaging equipment.

• The previously tilled strip of land, in some cases, will be left to grow up in weeds which will infiltrate the farmers’ crops. Who will be responsible for the weed control?

• Right-of-ways also contain ditches whose purpose is to drain roadbeds, not necessarily farmers’ fields. If the farmer works the land inside the right-of-way to the ditch thus removing any grass buffer and water erosion fills the ditch with soil,

Feedback who cleans it out?

After reading Mr. Goudy’s article in last month’s Rural Voice, there is likely some liability around buried infrastructure such as gas lines, telephone and fibre optic lines for both the township, the farmer working the right-of-way and the utility owner.

That is the objective stuff. Then there is the subjective stuff.

It is a bit of a rural-urban standoff.

The farmers see themselves being told what they have to do and put up with by an urban crowd that have no understanding of farming and the township being sort of the referee trying to keep everybody’s gloves on while still getting some trees in the ground.

I have gone on a bit here but since the Federal government wants to plant two billion trees and municipalities see this as a way to improve their carbon footprint this little faceoff might happen in other jurisdictions. ◊ – Donald Jack Woolwich Township, Waterloo Region

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July 2023 3

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“

Ruralite You can receive the gift (of

•

dowsing). I was taught to ask for

Old Dogs

permission and give thanks.

“These are large breed

”

~ Mae Leonard on inheriting her dowsing skill from her

father and using it to find old graves. Story on page 18

Fun With Words ● I did not ‘object’ to the ‘object’ ● The insurance was ‘invalid’ for the ‘invalid’ ● They were too ‘close’ to the door to ‘close’ it ● The dump was so full it had to ‘refuse’ the ‘refuse’ ● Upon seeing the ‘tear’ in the painting, I shed a ‘tear’

July Inspiration “Black soil produces white bread” ~Norwegian Proverb “Agriculture is a fundamental source of national prosperity.” ~J.J. Mapes

dogs. They don’t have a long life expectancy. In eight to 12 years they will be senior citizens and retire.” ~ Mike Swidersky on using working guard dogs on his farm to protect the sheep from predators See page 22

Humour • My wife claims I am the cheapest person she ever met.

I am not buying it.

▪ My cross-eyed wife and I just got a divorce.

I found out she was seeing someone on the side.

•

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

• The problem with being

Home Grown

In 2016, Lucknow-based photographer Hannah Dickie began documenting life at her home, small-scale farm as part of a project she called “Home Grown” for her studies at Sheridan College. Now, that project is leading a Blyth Festival Art Gallery season three years in the making. The exhibition closes on July 15. Dickie is seen on opening night, June 9, with her parents Walter and Janet. ~Photo by Shawn Loughlin

a leader is that you cannot know if you are being followed or chased.

•

July 2023 5

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Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

T

ravelling isn’t without guilt, these Lisa B. Pot is days. One of the things I remember editor of The from COVID-19 was how the canals Rural Voice, in Portugal had cleared to the point where and farms in locals could see fish in the water, something Huron County not possible when an influx of tourists pay to ride Rabelo boats through the towns.

I was thinking of this as we paid an Irish engineer/boatman to motor us to Innisfillen Island to wander the Innisfillen Abbey ruins near Ross Castle in County Kerry, Ireland. I wondered how much pollution tourism is creating in Ireland when I noted in our AirBnB guestbooks how people come from all over the world to this gorgeously green country on exhaust-spewing airlines.

And yet, I joined their ranks, depleting my travel fund to the bare minimum to fill our senses with castles, ruins, dramatic cliffs, sheep farms, nature centres, horse-riding and that fantastic Irish accent. Though I was called a “bleeding eejit” when I turned into the right lane versus the left (only once!) being called that in an Irish accent made it less a taunt and more a delight. It was an eejit/idiot move anyway. Ireland was a spectacular vacation and I cannot regret chatting with sheep farmers, gorging on seafood and being “wowed” by the coastal scenery.

They say memories are all we are left with when we reach the end of our lives and that’s what vacations create... colourful, life-changing memories that replace regret with wonder. A life lived!

But there is a cost ... a cost the planet has to bear the brunt of as we fill those seemably endless skies with gases and disturb the waterways with noise and emissions.

I have a friend who has never left the country. Is she any unhappier than myself? I would say not. Will her final years be filled with regret? Judging by her joy camping with family and friends, I don’t think that is true either.

So. Once again, I have no answers except to try and even out my need to SEE the world with protecting it by doing the best I can when I am at home.

Planting trees, composting, buying less, creating a smaller footprint. Will it compensate? I do not know. ◊

The price of perfect memories

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July 2023 7

Keith Roulston Keith is former publisher of The Rural Voice.

He lives near Blyth, ON.

Where manure has value you can easily appreciate I had to kind of chuckle at myself this spring when I, an old farm boy who edited this farming publication for many years, went to the local coop store and bought several bags of composted cattle manure for my garden.

I live on a rural acreage surrounded by some the world’s best farmland. A beef cattle producer lives across the way and another just down the road in one direction and yet another just up the road in the other. We have a dairy farmer about a mile away. Hog and chicken barns are on the nearby sideroad. And I

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There’s humour, too, in that composted manure when you think that so many protesters would prefer to get rid of all livestock because they see it as polluting our atmosphere with the ammonia that cattle burp or that manure from other livestock emits.

They ignore that manure is the forgotten ingredient in successful modern farming. When carefully applied to a field, it replaces more expensive commercial fertilizer and adds structure and essential ingredients to the soil. We had a couple of unpleasant days this spring when the cashcropper who farms the rest of the original farm on which we’ve lived for nearly half a century, had our poultry-raising neighbour

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spread manure on the ground where he was preparing to plant corn. Yes it smelled, but we survived.

I’m so glad that the Ontario provincial government backtracked on the plan, mentioned by so many of our columnists last month, to allow two additional homes to be built on each of our farms in rural Ontario. I can imagine in many farming neighbourhoods that at least a few of such new neighbours would have protested the smell from the spreading of that chicken manure. It would even be difficult building a new barn in an area where there are so many non-farm homes.

It is us, and non-farming people like us, who are the problems in the countryside. On the plus-side, we have kept a beautiful farmhouse alive and up to date instead of it being torn down when our neighbour needed this farm for his crops.

Still, we are residents in a house set 1,000 feet from the road. In the day when our house was subdivided from the farmland, the object was to make the process simple. The result was a property that’s 150 feet wide back to behind our house, nearly five acres. A farmer grows hay on some of that, but we also have a huge lawn which is a total waste if you value growing corn, beans and wheat.

Some people see manure as a polluting problem. Those who appreciate modern farming see it as a smelly blessing. My neighbours who have cattle, have fields dedicated to pasture and growing hay, where deep roots of the plants take the nutrients dropped by the cattle deep down into the soil. Years in pasture or hay, add nutrient structure to that land.

Manure is important for many organic farmers who avoid applying most commercial fertilizers in growing their crops. Manure, composted to seal in the valuable ingredients, is an important asset to their farm balance.

And – I chuckle at the thought – some corporation makes money while employing people to compost, bag and sell that manure to my co-op so people like me can buy it. Manure has even greater value to my neighbouring farmers but it’s not as evident as this. ◊

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July 2023 9

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

Home makeover for Wawanosh’s Little Brown Bats

W

hat local creatures eat up to 600 insects per hour, act as pollinators, and have seen their populations decimated by “one of the most destructive wildlife diseases in recorded history”? If you guessed “bats” - you’d be right!

Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) and the Toronto Zoo have recently joined forces to help save and protect some Little Brown Bats at the Wawanosh Valley Conservation Area (WVCA).

Many people who have grown up

in this area have fond memories of school trips to WVCA. The old bank barns served as a place to learn about nature – from frogs and snakes to insects and birds. Owl Prowls and winter snowshoeing events also bring families and outdoorsy folks to the conservation area to learn and experience its natural beauty.

Unfortunately, the big bank barns have become structurally unsound in the foundations and footings and are scheduled for demolition and salvage starting in October 2023. While this is sad for humans with fond memories of the barns, it could prove catastrophic for the Little Brown Bats who use the structures during the summer for a maternity roost. The bats leave in the fall and overwinter in caves or underground sites.

The Toronto Zoo’s Native Bat Conservation Program was studying bats in the area, which led to discussions on the roost at WVCA. The Toronto Zoo’s Native Bat Conservation Program is part of a commitment the Zoo has made to help conserve Canada’s native

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wildlife. This program is also a part of the Zoo’s larger mission: “Connecting people, animals, and conservation science to fight extinction”. Working with the MVCA on this project provided a great way to put the mission into action – providing both a way to help the bats and also help people in the local community learn about this important, endangered species.

The Toronto Zoo was interested in providing advice, research, and support to MVCA so that bat structures could be installed for the bats. MVCA staff have constructed bat structures in April 2023 before the bats returned, close to the existing barns.

Stewart Lockie, MVCA Conservation Areas Coordinator, explains that a couple of different structures have been built. One “mini condo” can hold up to 3,000 bats and was built on 16 foot posts in order to elevate the structure as high as possible. The larger size of this structure provides thermal variation, which would be similar to their former home in the barns.

In addition, eight bat houses were also constructed. These have a fourchamber design and can hold approximately 200 bats each. These structures are spread throughout the property and will be monitored for temperature and use. Some have been placed in the shade and some in more sunny locations to determine which the bats prefer. Once the barns have been removed, Toronto Zoo staff will continue to monitor the structures to determine how effective they have been at providing an alternate home for the bats over the summer.

Little Brown Bats were once one of the most common bats in this area, and are widespread across Canada.

Our local populations have declined more than 90 per cent, largely due to a disease that was first observed in New York State in 2006. White Nose Syndrome, which is a fungal disease, damages the wing and skin tissues. It interrupts bats’ hibernation, when they are most vulnerable. They use up precious fat reserves and emerge from hibernation too early, before their food is available. This causes many of the bats to die due to

freezing and starvation.

“White Nose Syndrome mortality rates in caves can approach 100 per cent, making it one of North America’s most destructive wildlife diseases in the past century,” (https://www.torontozoo.com/!/pdfs/ Bats-ConservationGuide.pdf). “It is estimated that loss of bats due to white-nose syndrome in North America could lead to agricultural losses estimated at more than $3.7 billion/year,” states a website called Batwatch.

While Little Brown Bats naturally roost in tree cavities, they have adapted to live with humans and can occupy our structures as well. For those of us who live in old farm houses, summer evenings would not be the same without the swooping of these tiny creatures as they eat their weight in insects in a night. Newer construction does not offer the same opportunities for bats to enter, reducing their habitat options. Bats overwinter in caves or underground, often within a few hundred kilometers of their summer homes.

Bats are highly vulnerable to challenges because they breed slowly, with many species producing only one offspring per year. They can live for multiple decades, but their populations take a long time to recover from losses. The Little Brown Bat has been known to live up to 39 years, but faces risk of extinction due to the decimation caused by White Nose Syndrome; habitat loss also takes its toll.

You can learn more about bats and contribute to a better understanding about them at the website – Neighbourhood Batwatch at https://batwatch.ca. General information about bats and building bat houses can be found on the Toronto Zoo website.

Humans have also been considered with the demolition of the WVCA barns, however the Toronto Zoo is not a part of this project. An accessible picnic shelter will be constructed for community use once the barns have been removed. The Maitland Conservation Foundation is currently fund raising for this initiative with more details available on the MVCA website. ◊

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July 2023 11

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

New York state to ban neonics I’ve been following the neonicotinoid saga ever since a group of Ontario beekeepers decided more than a decade ago to take on both the pesticide industry and its partners within the Canadian government.

The neonicotinoids – they’ve been around for decades – first became an issue in Eastern Canada when they began being used as a seed treatment for corn, soybeans and wheat.

Widespread honeybee deaths in Ontario and Quebec were attributed to the neurotoxins in 2012.

They continue to be used as seed treatments throughout North America (they have long been banned in the European Union) but that is about to

change. In late spring New York State legislators approved legislation – the Birds and Bees Protection Act – that will ban their use as a seed treatment and for certain other purposes as of January 1, 2025.

The legislation, interestingly, speaks to the approach taken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the problem. Under its regulatory regime, neonicotinoids when used as a seed treatment are not viewed as insecticides at all even though they’re the most widely used of all the chemistries.

Ironically, the EPA recently issued a report outlining the neonic threat. It impacts not just honey bees but upwards of 200 terrestrial and aquatic species, according to the agency. There has even been speculation that insecticides can have a negative impact on human health.

Here in Canada, the neonicotinoids are regulated through Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency. Despite all the evidence of environmental harm that’s been accumulated, the PMRA remains content to remain mired

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12 The Rural Voice

within its review process which might better be described as thumb twiddling although even more graphic images come to mind.

Neonicicotinoids are not the only challenge facing beekeepers but New York is eliminating this one.

They are a sore point for the PMRA it would seem. I remember some years ago being told by a senior manager I had cornered at a meeting of the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association that I would be blacklisted in the federal government circles if I persisted in my line of questioning.

“Go ahead,” I said, seeing the threat for what it was.

In the defense of the PMRA, steps have been taken in Canada to reduce the harm caused by the neonicotinoids. Improvements were introduced to improve delivery mechanisms and other changes made to limit the harm.

What is particularly galling, however, is the relative benefit of the neonicotinoids for farmers compared to the environmental harm they cause.

That has been the subject for a large number of scientific reports including a Cornell University study commissioned by New York State which is the basis for the legislation action to ban the products. It found that neonicotinoid seed treatments had “inconsistent benefits” for growers in terms of yield and financial returns. “In paired trials of neonicotinoid-treated corn seeds from New York and surrounding states, just 12 of 132 trials found a significant yield benefit relative to untreated seeds.”

In other words, corn growers have been paying for seed treatment products that deliver no benefit most of the time.

The results for soybeans were marginally better but still inconsistent, according to Cornell assessment.

Benefits from neonicotinoid sprays and soil treatments when used in fruit and vegetable crops were significantly greater and more consistent.

Neonicotinoids are, unfortunately, not the only challenge facing North America’s beekeepers and, more broadly, what remains of the natural environment in which we all live.

Loss of habitat, especially within areas of the landscape that are farmed intensively, is a concern and so are the many other chemical products being used.

In Upstate New York, not far from Rochester, 82-year-old Judy Doan has been part of a beekeeping family for most of her life, at one point part of a 12,000-hive operation. Her son, Jim, gave up on honey production and now focuses on the production of queen bees.

Doan said that the agricultural industry has intensified over her lifetime. Where once there was a network of 200 to 300-acre farming operations interspersed with hedgerows and forested areas, fields have grown in size and the trees and natural greenspace have disappeared, the places where pollinating species and other creatures of the natural world once flourished.

“Do these people think at all; do they look at the long term,” she said.

“We’re making it impossible to keep any of the insects alive.”

Back in Canada, neonics are off the radar, though they continue to be the subject for review for the PMRA. Beekeepers here have found ways to manage their way around many of the challenges they face, although overwintering losses continue to be a problem.

The issue is not about a single group of chemicals but the wider environment in which they tiny livestock persist. Honeybees are not a species native to North America but they are an important indicator of the relative health of our environment. ◊

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

“Ah, yes, summertime,” said Dave Winston, as he sat down at the table at Mabel’s Grill on a recent morning.

“I see by the parking lot the American tourists are already invading the country. Did you see out there was a car with a New York licence plate right next to a crew-cab pick-up with a Michigan licence.”

“It’s great to see,” said Molly Whiteside as she delivered their menus. “Those people know how to tip – and the fact they leave American dollars is even better!”

“Must be nice to get away on vacations!” grumbled George Mackenzie as he opened his menu.

“Huh! You’ve got cattle on pasture that feed themselves. I’ve got pigs in a barn that need to be fed every morning and cleaned out and have a whole lot of chores to do

everyday,” said Dave.

“And a few hundred acres of corn, wheat and soybeans which grow whether you’re in the field or not,” slipped in Cliff Murray with a sly smile.

“Yeah, well I have to worry if we were going to get enough rain to keep crops growing,” Dave said sourly.

“Yes, I keep an eye on my sheep pasture,” sighed Cliff.

“At least you don’t have to worry about forest fires,” said Molly. “All those people up north are worried about towns burning down because they’re surrounded by trees.”

“Thank heavens my greatgrandparents cut down so many trees so they had land to farm,” said George. “I’m sure glad they didn’t have any of those tree-huggers around back then so we had a lot more trees to burn.”

Molly had taken their orders and was on her way back to the kitchen when a man at a table halfway across the dining room stood up to leave. As he did so, he slipped on a red hat with the Make America Great Again logo on the front. He was about to

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pass three guys at another table when one of the guys said something to the other guys who shared his table, not loud enough for our local guys to hear but obviously the guy in the hat did. The other guys laughed “What’d you say!” he barked at the guy in the MAGA hat, loud enough that Don, George and Cliff looked up.

“I said one of the good things about coming north of the border is that we leave all the Trump stuff behind,” the other guy said.

“Are you saying Donald Trump is wrong?” the MAGA guy said, standing in front of the other guy while his wife tugged at his sleeve and pushed their kids to the door.

“I’m only saying he broke the law,” the seated man said.

Hearing all this Molly turned back from the kitchen and headed toward the two men.

“Just because Joe Biden and the Democrats are trying to keep him from winning the next election doesn’t mean he deserves to be harassed,” the MAGA guy said, grabbing the other guy’s shoulder.

By now Molly had reached the table. “Now fellas, we have rules against discussing politics in Mabel’s so . . .” but that was as far as she got.

The seated guy stood up and the MAGA guy pushed Molly aside.

Dave, as the youngest, was the first on his feet and headed for the dispute as quickly as he could. Cliff and George weren’t far behind. By this time the two men were facing each other but Dave stepped in front of the MAGA guy and George and Cliff confronted the others.

“Okay, fellas, let’s calm down,” Dave said quietly. The MAGA guy’s wife tugged him away and he grudgingly backed out the door.

Things calmed down as they left.

The other three guys, already on their feet, decided to leave. They were at the counter paying when one looked out the window and saw the MAGA family with their big red pick-up leave a scrape all down the side of their car. They were in the parking lot as fast as they could but the guy was gone.

“I wonder if they left tips Molly thought were big enough?” Cliff chuckled.◊

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July 2023 15

Viewpoint Ralph C. Martin is an author and a retired professor from the University of Guelph

Consume like your kids live here

One of the road signs that inevitably grabs my attention is “Drive like your kids live here.” Last week, this sign pulled me out of my distracted mental meanderings about how pandemic easing may lead to pent up excess consumption. I slowed down, paid attention to my surroundings and then it hit me.

“Consume like your kids live here.”

It seems we’re consuming faster than 100 km/hr when the safe speed is 30 to 50 km/hr.

J.B. MacKinnon, in a Globe and Mail article, referring to his book, The Day the World Stops Shopping, noted that overconsumption surpassed overpopulation as the greatest driver of our eco-crises in

16 The Rural Voice

about 2000. Even if population peaks and declines to seven billion by 2100, as Vollset and colleagues propose in a 2020 Lancet paper, a decrease of onebillion from today, overconsumption is racing to trump any ecological gains from slower rates of population increase.

MacKinnon calculated that an average person in a rich country now consumes 13 times as much as an average person in a poor country. To bring it home, he asserts that if everyone lived like an average Canadian, we’d need four Earths worth of resources to sustain the global population. Are we so addicted to the human construct of economic growth that we will literally consume ourselves out of house and home?

Energy use continues to multiply.

Eric Reguly in his May 28, 2021 Globe and Mail article said that “percapita energy consumption has climbed by a factor of eight since the Industrial Revolution.” Green technology and clean energy will reduce fossil fuel use and improve efficiencies, but efficiency is not

enough and every technology carries some ecological cost. Total demand must decrease.

Years ago, Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, emphasized that the most effective way to reduce energy use is to consume less. Like President Carter, he recommended putting on a sweater and turning down the thermostat.

Overconsumption of food is an ongoing habit. In 1965, when the global population was 3.3 billion, the average consumption of food energy across the world was 2358 kcal/ person/day, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. However, by 2017, consumption of food energy had increased 123 per cent to 2908 kcal/person/day, even though the number of consuming people had increased 227 per cent to 7.5 billion. I acknowledge that the striking trend in this data set, does not tease out shortages in some parts of an inequitable world and that food energy does not account for vitamin, mineral and other requirements of a healthy diet.

Although chowing down is unusually high today, it is still not keeping up with how much food is wasted. Kummu and colleagues asserted in 2012 in a paper in Science of the Total Environment that if the best methods of the time were applied to reduce wasted food across the world, then one billion extra people could be fed. In Canada, the value of wasted food per year is $49.5 billion (with associated costs it is 2.5 times higher) and the total of avoidable and unavoidable wasted food is tallied at 58 per cent of all food according to a report of Second Harvest by Martin Gooch and others in 2019.

Today as our changing climate descends into wonky weather and global species numbers plummet, humans have the responsibility to assess our excess consumption in the context of our ecological impact.

How much available food does each person really need? Are all our flights necessary? How many square feet per person of living space does each person need? How might fashion preferences be subdued in order to buy less? A car salesman

once advised me, “buy more car for your buck” and I wondered how much vehicle heft is required, when so many trips are in bicycle range.

How often does our lithium laden electronic gadgetry need to be updated?

Billionaires blowing bundles to boost space tourism are among “the richest 400 Americans, owning more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined” as reported in the Guardian. Furthermore, “the wealth imbalance is now more extreme than it’s been in over a

century.” Ecological systems do not have a sense of humour about catapulting consumption. Taut social systems are prone to violence as our planet’s poorest people scramble for food, water and relief from extreme weather.

Dr. Gray Merriam, my Ecology professor decades ago, writes with clarity in his recent book, Caring for Our Homeplace, “The excessive emphasis on human comfort and profitable economic outcomes at the expense of ecosystem processes and structures is immoral, unworkable

and the root of many of our major problems.”

Citizens have a responsibility, proportional to their income and wealth, to consume not only like our kids live here but like all our all relations will live here for millennia.

There are real limits. Social systems will only thrive if we apply political pressure to act (not pretend) like we are all in this together. Ecological systems are designed with roles of resilience for all species. Life increasingly depends on reducing human consumption. ◊

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July 2023 17

People

“Modern”dowser uses steel rods Mae Leonard’s husband took some convincing that women could be dowsers but she has proven her skill and also uses it to find graves

A

Eighty‐three‐year‐old Otterville resident Mae Leonard was taught the art of dowsing by her father John Barham, who took her along as an assistant while she was still a young child. She now uses her talent to identify individual gravesites at such cemeteries as Otterville’s African Methodist Episcopalian cemetery.

18 The Rural Voice

• Jeff Tribe •

centuries-old art backed up by physical results was playing out in Otterville’s Woodlawn Place parking lot.

As Mae Leonard slowly walked across its gravelled surface, the steel rods she delicately held between raised hands pointed and crossed, indicating water below.

“When I get past the aquifer, they come back up.”

To discern depth and flow, Leonard switched to a pendulum. Her father John Barham would instead hold his witch hazel Y-stick over the spot and see how many times it flipped for both depth and flow calculations.

“I’m a little more modern,” she smiled.

Beginning by swinging side-to-side, its motion switched to circular, continuing through 20 rotations.

“I’d go down about 20 feet,” Leonard reported, repeating a process which resulted in a secondary sequence of seven revolutions. “About seven gallons to the minute,” she added.

If you poke around on the Internet, you will find reports of cave paintings indicating some form of dowsing, divining for water, metals or other objects has been practiced globally for thousands of years.

That both the Catholic church and Martin Luther frowned on the practice in the 1500s under the theory it was linked to the occult. You will see skepticism featuring terms like “pseudo science” or “ideomotor phenomenon”, which suggests rods or other dowsing devices move in response to dowsers’ unconscious muscular action.

However, even as scientific alternatives such as ground penetrating radar have been developed, dowsers like Leonard continue to be in demand for a range of services including identifying the best spots to drill a well or identifying buried objects including gravesites.

The 83-year-old Leonard was born on a small market garden and poultry farm near Delhi, Ontario.

Graduating from high school in 1958 at a time “they were crying out for teachers,” she went to Toronto for six weeks of training, “And from there, right into a classroom.”

Leonard taught 5,000 children during her 37-year career, eight years in Norfolk County and one in Brant before moving to Otterville in 1962 and settling in and retiring from Norwich Public School as a muchbeloved educator. Admittedly “old school”, Leonard both gave and expected a lot, recalling how one student called her “an old witch” in a moment of frustration.

“He didn’t have any idea of the half of it,” she laughed, referencing the term “water witch” some may employ for dowsers.

Mae’s grandmother, a seamstress, was also a renowned healer, on call to local physicians from 1880 to 1910 when she moved. Today she would also be called a doula, who delivered many babies in the area.

Mae’s father John was a dowser, sought by area farmers considering sinking wells.

“There were others in the family too,” said Leonard, who was invited to accompany her dad one memorable day as a child.

“I think he was giving my mom (Evelyn) a break,” Leonard laughed.

Mae would become a regular companion, carrying the basket containing the wooden marker blocks and rags her dad defined an aquifer’s parameters with.

“Now they use fancy flags,” she smiled.

She also went to the woods when her dad cut Y-sticks for dowsing, either witch hazel or willow. Holding her hand to show her how to hold a Y-stick also created a connection helping instruct her in its use.

Leonard’s training is to hang to the top ends of the ‘Y’, pointing its base downward and then inverting it to leave her palms up, open-handed, thumbs extended, the posture of a supplicant.

“So you can receive the gift,” she explained. “I was taught to ask for permission and give thanks,” Leonard added.

Leonard says thanks are directed to the religious or spiritual deity of the dowser’s choice. Her father’s dowsing friend was an Indigenous man from Michigan who always thanked the Great Spirit. This tradition of appreciation has persisted

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through to a Leonard water dowsing proved unsuccessful, one of the session on Six Nations, capped by archeologists mentioned contacting a cedar and tobacco being burned in a dowser. Agreeing to try, Leonard small fire. practiced that evening on pet burial “We held hands and gave thanks sites in her backyard, identifying for what had happened on the day.” gravesites at a deeper-thanLeonard says she could dowse by anticipated depth the following day. the time she was “eight or nine,” “I said ‘Dig until I tell you to surprising her uncle Fred during a stop,’” she recalled. “And that’s visit from the west. where they found them.”

“He was totally shocked - it Leonard has subsequently worked just as well for me as it did identified gravesites in the for him.”

Tillsonburg Pioneer Cemetery, Port Back in the 1950s and 60s, she Burwell Pioneer Cemetery and was a rare female dowser. Her Woodlawn’s Pine Street Burying husband Gord was among those who Ground. She uses brass rods, thought “It was only men who did grounded by touching a rubber tire or that,” when, 20 years into their running under water, which rotate marriage, she dowsed an aquifer in toward each other at the beginning of their backyard in order to water a gravesite. newly-planted shrubbery during a dry “When they flip back out, I’m out year. of the grave.”

Faced by Gord’s skepticism, one “I know very well this of Mae’s dowsing brother-in-laws is a child,” Leonard was called in, identifying the precise continued during a brief spot she had indicated earlier. demonstration.

“The “He said, ‘If I was putting a well coffin is only about this in, I’d put it there,’” she recalled. long,” she continued, “That’s when Gord learned women holding her hands a little could dowse.” wider than shoulder width Leonard believes dowsing is a apart. combination of natural ability and Scientists may be practice. Once, she informally tested skeptical and there is a a 30-member group and discovered growing preference for roughly half seemed to have some affinity, one being a natural, while the remainder did not take to it.

“Some, well I don’t know if they’ll ever master it.”

She currently uses metal rods for dowsing water instead of traditional witch hazel or willow Y-sticks, given rods seem to work better for her.

Dowsing extends well beyond searching for water.

“There are doctors in Europe who still use dowsing.”

Leonard dowses mainly water but added gravesites in 2007, present as a member of the Mae Leonard illustrates a classic South Norwich Historical dowser approach (above), holding Society during an attempt to a Y‐stick, often witch hazel or identify sites in Otterville’s willow, which she was taught to African Methodist Episcopal invert and hold palms up, thumbs Cemetery. The initial plan of extended. Leonard now uses steel scraping back six or eight inches rods (right) and was taught to of topsoil to expose where always ask permission and give ground had been disturbed thanks before and after dowsing.

modern machinery. But Leonard has seen an employee of a local utility company pulling a couple of copper rods out from inside his pickup truck, and a telephone company worker fishing out a set of coat hangers to do the same.

“This was an older man,” she smiled.

Some claim dowsers find water by chance, says Leonard, but both she and members of the fraternity disagree. As might the roughly guesstimated 200 people who have sought her services to locate water sources on their properties.

“I’m sure there are people who think I’m off my rocker,” Leonard concluded with a smile. “But I do get a lot of calls from people who want help.” ◊

July 2023 21

Sheep

Working dogs are like farm staff Guardian dogs require canine control exceptions to protect flocks says sheep farmer

With his flocks of sheep always outdoors, Mike Swidersky of Riverview Ranch Meat Co. near Shelburne relies on his Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherd‐cross guardian dogs to protect his sheep from predators.

A

review of your local municipal canine control bylaw may be in order if you plan to use working dogs for herding or guarding livestock on your

farm.

Despite the advice of Ontario Sheep Farmers (OSF) in correspondence sent to municipalities across the province last fall, many municipal rules do offer special provisions for working dogs.

“The happiest dog you’ll ever see is a dog with a job,” says sheep farmer Mike Swidersky of Riverview Ranch Meat Co. near Shelburne, who has guardian dogs living full time with his flock and herding dogs he uses when he moves his sheep from pasture to pasture. ‘It’s like having an employee, you are always trying to set them up for success.”

But not all municipalities set up sheep farmers for success, with many canine control bylaws defining “working dogs” as livestock protection animals, but not providing exceptions to rules appropriate for livestock guardian dogs.

“My dogs can run at large but the dogs are still supposed to be under one roll number,” explained Swidersky of the challenges he finds with the local bylaw in Melancthon, where an exception is provided to let his dogs live with the flock, but has not kept up with the times.

He pastures his sheep on multiple properties, so can’t meet the provisions even with an exception. “My sheep graze on at least three properties, I can’t come close to that rule.”

In reviewing bylaws, OSF’s letter to municipalities 22 The Rural Voice

•

By Kate Russell •

notes the organization found multiple concerns, which apply to livestock guardian dogs. These include the prohibition for “running at large”, proper definitions of livestock guardian and herding dogs, license and kennel fees, requirements for dog tags, restrictions to numbers of dogs allowed per property, barking restrictions and aggressive dog designations.

OSF offered suggestions and is willing to work with municipalities to develop better bylaws. It said dog collars and tags can get snagged on branches or fences and become a skin irritant for outside dogs in hot or wet weather.

“We suggest that municipal bylaws allow owners to remove the collar and license tag (if applicable) from a guardian or herding dog while the dog is being actively used in farming practices,” the letter reads, “provided that the owner uses an alternative means of identification linking the animal to the name and address of the owner, e.g. either a tattoo or microchip containing the required information.”

The letter also notes guardian dogs bark as part of keeping predators off and may appear aggressive when they sense a threat to the herd or flock they are protecting.

In a fact sheet on barking, OSF suggests the use of livestock guardian dogs is a “normal farm practice” and as such falls under Farm and Food Production Protection Act as administered by Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

“Old Penny gives direction through her barks,”

explained Swidersky, pointing to the leader of his livestock guardian dogs.

“They set up a bit of a community amongst them. Their presence and barking keeps the coyotes off most of the time. Everything works well until it doesn’t.”

About six years ago, Swidersky lost 12 lambs to coyotes. He said those coyotes jumped the fence, even with the dogs in there. He said sometimes predators adapt a special skill set, wait for the dogs to be sleeping or coax the dogs away from the sheep while other coyotes raid the flock.

This is why the OSF correspondence suggests multiple dogs are often required as livestock guardians, as one may repel predators while the other stays with the flock.

Many bylaws require kennel licenses for multiple dogs, but those require restrictions sheep farmers can’t meet.

“I went to council a few years ago about that,” said Swidersky, who was concerned about the rising costs of his dog licenses, which basically scale up per dog. He said the municipality suggested he get a kennel license, but he can’t meet the criteria which say the dogs must be kept enclosed. “It’s basically a tax on a farmer. If we didn’t have predators it would be a whole lot cheaper and easier.”

While he may have reached a compromise with his local municipality, Swidersky admits keeping livestock guardian dogs is still expensive. With the cost of the dogs themselves, their vet care and the dog food he buys by the pallet, his livestock guardian and herding dogs are a cost of doing business, so he needs them working.

“The larger the farm the more of those assets you’re going to need,” he said, adding he also ensures he has multiple generations of dogs on the farm, so they are always available.

“These are large breed dogs. They don’t have long life expectancy. In eight to 12 years they will be senior citizens and retire.”

Swidersky grew up in the Alliston area and had sheep as a teenager.

Some 19 years ago, he and his wife Amber bought their farm in Melancthon. They began with cattle

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JD Gear Box for 35 Forage Harvester, forward, reverse..................$475.

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then brought in sheep to add value to Texel, North Country Cheviot and the use of their pasture land.

Ile-de-France, with flocks on his own “They eat different things,” he and nearby leased property. They are explained during a walk through his always in the pasture and were abundant grassland. He also manages actively lambing during a recent the Grey Dufferin Community interview.

Pasture, so knows about managing “Some lambed this morning,” he livestock on the land. “Having cattle said, pointing out a few very young and sheep brings different benefits to lambs, watched over patiently by his grazing.” guardian dogs as the mother ewes With his flocks of sheep always headed out to a newly-opened pasture outdoors, Swidersky relies on his area. “We lamb right out by the road, Great Pyrenees and Anatolian so our neighbours are used to seeing Shepherd-cross guardian dogs to our dogs.” protect his sheep from predators. His Mostly, Swidersky has good dogs then live full time outdoors with relations with his neighbours about the flock, to watch over them. his dogs. They understand the bark of “I want these dogs to be bonded a working dog in the field is warding with the sheep,” he said, noting a off predators. But still, some people couple of young puppies in the field, think all dogs should be pets and kept which are learning their role from his inside. adult working dogs. “We want it so “Our dogs are raised with outdoor they want to stay with the sheep. I conditions, they are used to living don’t want them to run to the house outdoors,” he explained, pointing out or run all over the township.” his “old girl” Penny, who barks the The puppies are not handled a lot, orders for the other guardian dogs are fed and told they are good dogs, and always stays with the flock. The but are not treated like pets as they adult male, Willie Jack, keeps a close are working dogs. Petting guardian watch and will chase away predators. dogs is frowned upon as this can The puppies are yet to be named. “wreck” the dog for his intended They come from a nearby farm from purpose. other experienced Great Pyrenees “I want them to not have a fear of guardian dogs. “Depending on the humans,” he suggested, so his guardian dogs can receive Mike Swidersky (right) will veterinary attention and their play with the border collies required vaccinations, who are also working dogs castration and neutering, but but the dogs who guard they bond with the sheep, not the sheep are to bond with with the farmer. “You don’t want them overly adjusted to the sheep, not humans. people or they won’t succeed Below, a pair of sheep herding puppies are placed as a sheep dog.”

Swidersky raises a mixed in the field to learn their bunch of sheep for meat roles from the adult production, including Dorset, working dogs.

predator pressure, you need to have more than one dog. Some dogs like a companion. Sometimes they will be single, some dogs don’t mind being on their own.”

He also uses herding dogs, collies who he gives jobs to every day.

“I keep the border collies tied up or they will get into trouble,” he said of his active herding dogs who help him move his flocks every day.

“Most farmers are doing a lot of things to take care of their livestock: fences, dogs, general management.

My dogs are my staff. They need something for their brains.”

Swidersky hopes municipalities will give due consideration to their bylaws and seek assistance from the OSF when modifying them to suit local sheep and livestock farmers who use livestock guardian and herding dogs.

“For some municipalities this is kind of a new thing so they’re not sure how to handle them,” he suggested, knowing not all areas will have sheep farmers with guardian dogs. “I’ve got these guardian dogs and they’re doing what they’ve been doing for hundreds of years. They have that natural instinct. I could not do what I do without these dogs.” ◊

July 2023 25

Sheep

Beneath the MacGillycuddy Reek mountains:

“It’s a good, healthy life”

Border Collie Rover (left) got run over so he’s retired but sheepdog Rose (right) is uber eager to obey Mike Dennely’s commands on his sheep farm in County Kerry, Ireland.

I

• By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

t’s a “good, healthy life” raising sheep in the Gap of Dunloe in County Kerry, Ireland says sheep farmer Mike Denelly.

Said to be one of the most famous tourist destinations in Ireland, the Gap of Dunloe is a narrow mountain pass that separates the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks mountain range in the west, from the Purple Mountain Group range in the east. It’s a stunning piece of green gorgeousness and Michael Dennely of the Gap has rights to graze his sheep on the mountainside. Like his father and his father before him, Dennely is a sheep farmer whose son will take over that right along with the family farm in the future. They currently farm together, grazing 400 sheep for market and breeding stock, though the son works full-time off the farm in a factory.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dennely because my partner, Jason, and I stayed in the farm’s former sheep shearing shed which has been transformed into a vacation cottage for travellers. It’s Dennely’s daughter-in-law who runs the rental business and she set up this interview with Dennely and his sheepdogs Rose and Rover, who are eager to work.

We talked in the pasture and while I love the fast, lilting accent of the County Kerry farmer (speedy compared to the distinctive Donegal accent we’d heard earlier in the week) I have to admit I was getting a bit lost between the “don’t you know” and “all rights.” However, Dennely is patient and kind as I get used to his manner of speaking.

26 The Rural Voice

Mike Dennely has been mountain grazing sheep in the Gap of Dunloe for over 50 years, as did his father and grandfather Dennely has been breeding Scottish Blackface sheep to Suffold and Texel breeds for over 50 years now. The ewes are brought down from the mountain for lambing in the shed then allowed to graze on the low farm pastures, worth an estimated 20,000 euros an acre. He has good land (about 70 acres) and most of his neighbours are dairy farmers but Dennely didn’t want to milk cows. He did raise beef cows for 20 years but says his heart is with sheep. After weaning, the ewes are returned to the mountain pastures where they spend the winter.

We’ve seen sheep on every mountain as we’ve travelled around the country from Dublin to Donegal, Galway and down to County Kerry, Cork and Wicklow. We met a mountaineer in a seafood restaurant (delicious seafood chowder) who believes the mountains are overgrazed.

Dennely says that was true in the 1980s. Then the government changed the subsidy structure from a payment per ewe to one “per acre.” Sheep farming instantly became

less profitable and sheep numbers declined. Dennely believes the mountains are now undergrazed, leading to a profusion of fern and shrub growth. As this vegetation dies down and dries in March and April, it increases the risk of wildfires.

This issue has probably been long debated between farmers and conservationists. As a tourist, seeing sheep graze high up in the peaks of Slieve League and the Gap of Dunloe is incredibly picturesque.

The price for lamb is pretty good in Ireland but wool is worth nothing, says Dennely. “It doesn’t even cover the cost of the shearing,” saying it costs 2.50 euros per ewe and he makes 50 to 60 cents from that wool.

“We shear for animal welfare purposes.”

There are no wolves left in Ireland so the only predator he worries about is foxes but they aren’t a major concern. He loses maybe five to six lambs a year due to predation.

The grass is lush and abundant in County Kerry but Dennely supplements with “sheep nuts” to provide energy and minerals. All the ewes are vaccinated, with fluke and worms being the biggest concerns.

Like many farmers, Dennely loves his job and his life. He says he has a lot of job satisfaction and likes being his own boss. Some of his grandchildren live close by and they come to see the lambing to begin their connection with this generational farm.

With the Gap of Dunloe being close by, there are many tour buses driving the local roads. Does he mind? “No, I think it’s great for the local economy. I like to see the profits being reinvested here,” he said.

As a farmer myself, it was a real thrill to meet with Dennely. In fact, it was one of the highlights of our vacation. We got a real show watching the border collie Rose herd the sheep. Rover was run over by a car so he stays behind while young Rose listens as Dennely calls “over there Rose” and brings the flock to the gate. We admire her devotion to Dennely and her keen sense of duty and eagerness to work. We thought she was very skilled and Dennely said she was a good dog “but not for

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the show.” In the past, he brought home the red ribbon in the sheepdog trials. We were also impressed with the curly horned rams he had in a special pasture for sale as breeding stock.

“I would not change anything,” said Dennely when asked about his life as a farmer in the Gap of Dunloe. He stands with the sheep before him and the mountain range behind him on his farm, an area so beautiful, people travel here from around the world. The guest book in the sheep shed has names from all over Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. He realizes it though. He knows he’s blessed. Dennelly looks out over his sheep, his old cap flecked with manure. “Dublin,” he says, shaking his head. “Wouldn’t want to live there. This here is a good, healthy life.” ◊ Michael Dennely (above) of County Kerry, Ireland, has been farming his whole life as did generations in his family.

His farm is minutes from the Gap of Dunloe, a gorgeous pass between two mountain ranges and he has a “share” of the mountain range where the ewes overwinter after lambing home on the farm. A young border collie named Rose is very eager and proficient at herding the ewes, lambs and rams (bottom right).

July 2023 29

Eateries

East meets west in Seaforth Maria’s Wok N Dine offers Chinese, Thai and Filipino food and “beef pares” is a must try

I

t might be easy to miss Maria’s Wok N Dine, along the south-west side of Seaforth’s downtown, but if you like Asian cuisine, it really should not be missed. The menu includes Chinese, Thai, and Filipino food, along with sandwiches and a roast beef dinner option for those less adventurous eaters. The restaurant has been open for five years and it has become a destination for rural Ontarians who like to travel with their taste buds.

Though she’ll probably be bustling around in the kitchen when you visit, it is a treat when Maria comes out to meet her customers. Cooking, hospitality and throwing parties is a big part of Filipino culture and Maria is gloriously Filipino: warm and generous, with a strong, beautiful energy.

During my interview with Maria, I sampled the spring rolls, egg rolls and the Thai curry puffs. This was followed by perhaps the best soup I’ve ever tasted — Beef pares — which is a special menu item from time to time. Beef pares is marinated tender brisket in a beef broth, flavoured with anise and spices, with thin rice noodles and topped with hard-boiled eggs. I continued to order from the Filipino side of the menu. Filipino food is packed with sweet and sour flavours, not spicy like Thai or Korean food. Tapsilog is a popular all-day breakfast in the Philippines and consists of tapa • By Melisa Luymes • (marinated fried beef) sinangag (garlic fried rice) and itlog (fried eggs). It is a masterpiece of flavours and Maria’s tops hers with cucumbers and carrots. Adobo is a variation of the Spanish word for marinade and the meat (pork or chicken) is marinated in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns, served over rice. It is simple and saucy. Pancit canton is a dish with thick, long lo mein (flour & egg) noodles in sauce with veggies and is a traditional birthday meallong noodles, long life.

For dessert, Maria has a few options including bubble tea, a sweet milk tea filled with pearl-sized balls of tapioca that you slurp up through an oversized straw. She also serves a Filipino dessert, called Halohalo (“mix mix!”) and while it is served in a cup, you’ll definitely need a spoon. It is crushed ice with a sweet milk filled with sweet red beans, colourful fruit preserves and purple yam purée, topped with mango ice cream. It is the perfect treat on a hot day and passersby can order it from the ice cream window on the main street.

If you’re wondering how in the world this delicious experience came to Seaforth, Maria’s own story is just as fascinating as the food. “Cooking is my passion,” says Maria. Her passion for life and her openness to new experiences has led her around the world and here to rural Ontario.

Maria Elisa Rebuldela was born in the north most of the Philippine islands (Luzon) in a small village on the west coast near Vigan City. She jokes that her hometown is so sleepy that it makes even Seaforth look busy and interesting.

The Philippines itself is a fusion of various Maria Rebuldela is the cook and owner of Maria’s Wok N Dine in influences. For readers that don’t know, the Seaforth. Inspired by her sister Lilia of the former Lil’s Kitchen in Philippines is a group of islands between Australia and China, with a population three times that of Clinton and husband John Staffen, she decided to open her own Canada. Though it was relatively isolated, it had restaurant offering Chinese, Thai and Filipino food.

30 The Rural Voice

Chinese and Muslim influences, followed by 300 years of Spanish colonialism until 1898. If that wasn’t enough, they were occupied by Japan during World War Two. As for Maria, she is the second youngest of five children. Her father passed away when she was very young, and she was raised by her mother in the village, attending school in the area. Maria left her village for college but before she could finish, she met her first husband and she had three children: Ivy, Patrick and Justin.

The marriage didn’t last, and Maria had to leave her children to be raised by her mother in the Philippines while she worked overseas to support her family. She found work in Hong Kong and moved there in 2000. She worked for a Chinese family and cooked for them, developing her knowledge of Chinese food. There she met her second husband and moved with him to mainland China for a year before moving to Australia in 2007. She worked in the hospitality industry in Australia, meeting the many Vietnamese residents of a Catholic seminary she worked for. Maria made many Thai friends as well, so it is easy to see all the influence of her travels on the menu.

Maria wasn’t the only one of her family who left, and it is quite common in the Philippines to leave the islands for work. Her two brothers are now pastors, one in the Philippines and one in Dubai. Her oldest sister stayed and took care of their mother until she passed away in 2020 at the age of 91. At the height of pandemic lockdowns, Maria couldn’t see her mother before she passed. But Maria goes back to the Philippines often to see her children and her now two-year-old granddaughter, though her daughter Ivy is currently working in Saudi Arabia.

Maria’s other sister is Lilia, and she is the main reason that Maria is here in Seaforth. Lilia moved to Clinton many years back to marry a man she had met through an international dating service. She opened a restaurant in Clinton, Lil’s Kitchen, and when Maria’s second marriage ended, Lilia invited her to

come and work there. Maria came to Canada in 2011 and she worked with her sister and found other work as well. In 2015, Lil’s husband passed away and she closed the restaurant.

But that was also the year that Maria met John.

John Staffen and Maria have been married for seven years. He has a successful landscaping and snow removal business, and when Seaforth’s Midtown Bistro came up for sale, he encouraged Maria to start a restaurant. The grand opening of Maria’s Wok N Dine was June 21, 2018 and they continued to serve take-out during the pandemic lockdowns, much to the delight of their community. As for Lilia, she has moved to Sault Ste. Marie and opened Lil’s Asian Cuisine, in case you happen to be in the area.

I want to give a shout out to my friend Murray Whyte who introduced me to Maria’s Wok N Dine and is a regular there. If you’ve got a group of five to six people, you can order the “Murray Whyte Happy Family Meal”, which is not on the menu but is popular in the neighbourhood around Kinburn, so it is written down in the kitchen. It includes mango salad, beef pho, special noodles and beef & broccoli.

“In the Philippines, if you eat three times a day, you’re happy,” says Maria. She still visits her home country often and hopes she’ll retire to her farm there someday to enjoy the simple life under a moringa tree with some chooks (chickens). But until then, be sure to stop to Maria’s Wok N Dine and enjoy some of her fusion Asian cooking! ◊

Egg dishes such as tapsilog (above) is a popular all‐day breakfast in the Philipines and consists of marinated fried beef, garlic fried rice and fried eggs. For dessert, Melisa tried Halo‐ Halo, which contains sweet milk, sweet red beans, fruit preserves and purple yam puree and is topped with mango ice cream. Filipino food is packed with sweet and sour flavours, not spicy like Thai or Korean food.

July 2023 31

Gardening

From farm to town, taking wisdom with her Agrestal seeds is revived from a farm plot to long rows behind a new house in Port Elgin as owners will never quit collecting seeds

M

• By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

oving off the farm to a place in Port Elgin has made Lauri-Ann Attenborough’s heritage seed business more compact, but no less experimental and committed.

“I think we are at 25 rows for planting right now,” said Attenborough. “We have a third of an acre with this house and every piece of our backyard is a berm.”

Attenborough prefers berms over raised beds, saying raised beds help increase heat but can require a lot of care and watering. “The next best option is berms,” she says.

They provide a dense, thick layer of soil that isn’t

Lauri‐Ann Attenborough and her husband “Farmer Bob’ ran Agrestal Seed for years before taking a break to take care of family. Now, off the farm but eager to resume growing gardens and collecting seed, Agrestal Heirloom seeds has been reborn in Port Elgin.

32 The Rural Voice

compacted, allowing roots to easily reach down. Berms can also be planted with cover crops and are easily mowed when needed. Attenborouh brought in soil to create her berms, with some being sandier and other loamier for different vegetable crop needs.

Gardening and collecting seeds has been a lifelong passion for Attenborough whose business — Agrestal Organic Heritage Seed Co. — has recently been revived after taking several years off to take care of family. Now, with a new location, Attenborough and her husband Bob (she calls him Farmer Bob) are rekindling their passion for growing plants even though “we are not in our 20s, 30s, 40s or even 50s anymore.”

“Whatever I do, I do in a big way,” says Attenborough who studied historical geography in nature agriculture which had her growing corn, beans and squash in traditional ways. She became a high school teacher and still works as a supply teacher with the Bluewater and Bruce Grey school boards. Her first years growing Agrestral seeds was on 10 acres in Gormley. She and Bob moved to Port Elgin in June 2022, built a new house and immediately started gardening.

Attenborough only grows heritage seeds. “I do not grow any hybrids,” she confirms. Anything that has been around for 50 years or more is up her alley. She also enjoys growing vegetables from around the world and testing how they thrive in the Lake Huron climate.

Picking favourites is hard for her, but when pressed, Attenborough admits she likes “unusual greens.” She grows quilquina, known as Bolivian coriander which we would use as a sort of spinach or green to enhance the flavour of food. “It looks like a long dandelion gone to seed except that it is three feet tall. It’s pretty cool, with a reddish/burgundy tinge.” She also enjoys Bausin mustard green, which is a Vietnamese type of mustard that is very mild. “Not like southern collard greens,” she says.

Different varieties of corn also pique her interest. She speaks of Choclo corn, a Chilean corn which is more savoury than sweet. “You get this lovely corn flavour – not at all tough – with a touch of sweetness.” She eats it roasted on the barbeque, adds it to tacos, or mixes it into salsas.

Peas, tomatoes and anything that makes for good eating on a plate are what she grows to harvest seeds from.

She always plants a Blue Hubbard squash plant as a “trap plant” for insects that would otherwise go for her cucumber and squash vines. Companion planting is key and she uses marigold, nasturtiums and cosmos to help

Gardening is a family affair for the Attenboroughs as Lauri‐Ann starts seedlings indoors while Robert (above) who is better known as Farmer Bob, is always willing to work the soil to grow heirloom vegetables for the business.

taste test…if you like it, save it!”

Seeds, she says, can build civilizations. “The whole evolution of who we are is based on what comes out of the ground,” says Attenborough.

Being a teacher, Attenborough says having a little seed company is as much about business as it is about teaching. “I am half-teacher, halfbusiness owner and sharing knowledge is a good place for me.”

Gardening is full of successes and failures and she wants gardeners to know that. “Whatever you plant, it likely won’t look like the picture from the seed company you bought it from. Just enjoy the thrill of watching them come out of the ground and how many germinated,” she says. Gardening is fun and great for mental health. “Instead of planting orange carrots, plant dark purple ones and get some excitement out of it!”

Agrestal Heritage seeds is an online business and is easily found with a Google search. ◊

with insect issues.

Attenborough fertilizes with compost which she finds easier to regulate as she pursues her organic certification. “Manure has never been a part of gardening for me.”

Plants from which she will harvest seeds are carefully selected and isolated from other varieties to prevent cross-pollination. She nets some for further protection.

Collected seeds are then tested to make sure they produce what they are supposed to produce. For gardeners who want to collect seed, remember to choose for flavour.

“You need a few plants and then a July 2023 33

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34 The Rural Voice

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www.steckles.ca July 2023 35

Recipes by Anne Mann

Pack a summer picnic with salads and cookies

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he weather is gorgeous and we live in a beautiful country so make a couple of salads and get some cookies out of the freezer or pick up some ready-made treats and find a park or a friend’s backyard and have a picnic! If you are not sure what direction to set your compass for, have a quick search online for ideas from your local county. We have enjoyed some wonderful day or afternoon trips inspired by Explore the Bruce over the years and I recently picked up a brochure from Taste of Huron for the AshfieldColborne-Wawanosh Grassroots tour and am looking forward to a day to stop for some flowers and coffee this summer. If you still like to travel with an old-fashioned map instead of a cell phone (guilty!) visit your local tourism office where you are still able to get brochures with maps and enticing photos of places to go.

Having a keen interest in food, as you all know, I tend to look for Eat Local suggestions when I am on the road so I do not miss out on the smaller establishments offering you a taste of their community.

Rolled Oatmeal Cookies ake a batch of these delicious, packable, shareable oatmeal cookies and throw them in the freezer so they are ready when the opportunity for an outing comes along. These cookies made the transition to gluten-free beautifully but you can switch it back to regular flour and leave out the xanthan gum. The vegan version is equally good and adapted seamlessly because they have no eggs.

Margarine can be substituted for the butter and what little bit of milk there is can be easily replaced with a non-dairy alternative (I used coconut milk).

These are great road trip cookies because they keep really well for several weeks.

Ingredients: 1 cup butter or

margarine 1 cup brown sugar, packed 2 cups GF all purpose flour* 1 tsp xanthan gum* 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups GF rolled oats, quick cooking, may include some large flake 1/4 cup buttermilk, yogurt or coconut milk *If using wheat flour omit the xanthan gum

Directions: Beat butter with brown sugar until beginning to lighten. This is one cookie you may beat a little more at this stage because there are no eggs.

Sift flour with xanthan gum, baking soda and salt then stir into butter and continue beating until combined.

Add buttermilk, mixing until evenly distributed then beat in oatmeal until dough starts cleaning the sides of the bowl.

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36 The Rural Voice

Cold salads make for a refreshing and delicious selection for a summer picnic including a tuna pasta or beet salad (above). Creating a picnic board (below, left) is also a great option and rolled oatmeal cookies (below) will satisfy those with a sweet tooth.

Form dough into 2 discs and chill for 1/2 an hour if rolling. Roll chilled dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper to about an 1/8 inch thickness and cut into circles.

Carefully lift onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Alternately you can drop by dessert spoon or 7/8 oz scoop onto a greased cookie sheet and flatten with a glass dipped in GF flour. This is much quicker but cookies are not as uniform in thickness or size when made this way.

Bake at 375°F for 15 minutes, until firm and beginning to brown.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies Peggy’s Beet Salad have had a lovely beet salad made simply by mixing cooked and cooled beets with mayonnaise but have decided to include this salad with a vinaigrette dressing because it is a bit more versatile. A friend from Ottawa prepared this delightful salad when I was visiting and I thought it would be a great addition to my summer favourites. She used a lovely orange and cranberry goat cheese but I was unable to find it locally so I used regular goat cheese and added the cranberry and orange flavour to the vinaigrette. This salad can be eaten as is or over a bed of arugula. If using greens, toss them with a little of the vinaigrette before setting beets and toppings on top. The beets will colour everything in a short time when mixed so the colours will be nicest if it is arranged just before eating. Multi coloured beets look lovely in this salad but also need to be cooked and kept apart until serving if you want the colours to remain distinct. Any leftover dressing will brighten up your next green salad.

Ingredients: 4 large beets, cooked and cooled 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar 2 Tbsp orange juice 1 tsp maple syrup 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup olive oil 2 Tbsp scallion, red or green onion, finely chopped freshly ground black pepper to taste 1/4 cup soft, unripened goat’s cheese Arugula or other greens, optional

I

salted pistachios or pecans, optional Pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries, optional Directions: Wash and cut off tops of beets about an inch above the root. Wrap in foil and bake at 400°F for an hour or boil roots until tender. When cooked, rinse immediately under cold water, cut off ends and slip off skins.

Prepare vinaigrette by whisking the vinegar, orange juice, maple syrup, mustard and salt with 2 Tbsp of the olive oil until emulsified.

Whisk in remaining oil slowly so dressing is homogeneous. Add pepper and other seasoning to taste.

Dice beets in 3/4 inch chunks and toss with some of the dressing.

To serve, toss greens with a little dressing and top with beets. Crumble goat cheese over beets and sprinkle with nuts and cranberries if using.

Drizzle with as much dressing as you like and a little more salt and pepper if desired but do not toss.

Serves 6 Tuna Pasta Salad y husband loves tuna pasta salad and buys it regularly at the bakery when he is needing lunch on the run. The amount of mayonnaise used to make this salad means it is not on the menu every week around here but it is a nice change from a sandwich for lunch and if you pair it with some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers it balances out. You do not need a recipe to make this because it is just mayonnaise mixed with cooked pasta and tuna and how much mayo depends on your taste. I would not make it without the crunch from some sweet pepper, celery and onion but that is a personal preference. This recipe is an approximation of how I make it to serve 2 – 3 for lunch. We love onions so I might use both red and green onions if I had them.

Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked macaroni 1 can (120-150 g drained) tuna in water, drained 1/3 -1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 tsp celery seed (optional) 1 Tbsp dill relish (optional) 1/4 tsp salt 2 - 3 Tbsp green or red onion, chopped

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1/2 coloured sweet pepper, chopped 1 or 2 ribs celery, chopped freshly grated black pepper to taste Directions: Cook macaroni according to package directions with salt. Drain and cool to room temperature.

Whisk together mayonnaise, relish, celery seed and salt. Add onion, sweet pepper and celery, drained tuna and pepper and stir until combined.

Refrigerate for several hours before serving. Taste and adjust mayonnaise and seasonings. Serves 2 - 4 depending on what you serve with it Picnic Board hen there is no time to make a salad, create a picnic board with an assortment of cheese, breads, cured meats, fresh produce, antipasto and dips! There are so many possibilities of packable snacks for your board.

Some of the items may already be in your refrigerator or maybe you need to make a stop at the deli or grocery to pick some up.

Better yet, make a detour to your favourite cheese house or bakery and create your portable feast around what you find there! I like to have a piece of gouda from Mountain Oak Cheese near New Hamburg or a cheddar from Pine River. Let your own taste dictate the cheese you choose but consider adding a flavoured spreadable cheese or unripened bocconcini for variety. An unripened cheese may be drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh herbs and salt and pepper and paired with sweet, fresh tomatoes.

Antipasto - A friend of mine loves to entertain with an Italian inspired antipasto selection and thanks to Linda, I have expanded my selections from the olive counter to include items like stuffed peppers, marinated sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and artichokes. If you cannot source these items from a specialty counter or shop you can find them in jars at the grocer which is really handy when you are travelling! Roasted red pepper and garlic spice mix with a little good olive oil can be used to brighten up any marinated vegetables if they need a little boost. ◊

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July 2023 37

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

Herbs are for humans and insects

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here is a buzz in the garden and our natives are enjoying a feast.

We try new plants both native and non-native each year; some come back and some simply disappear after what we think is a good summer.

One was a truly lovely pair of Blue Giant-Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) waving in dappled shade at the back of the garden. As the name implies, blue flowers on a square stemmed spike. As a member of the mint family I was more concerned about how fast it would spread!

Apparently it had a bit too much shade and they failed to return this year. But I am game to try again in a new spot, full sun this time. I’ll be ordering seeds from Richter’s, the best source for herbs.

The other interesting mint plant member I had was called spotted beebalm (Monarda punctate) which made a big splash with the bumblebees. It had lovely pastel pink bracts, green underneath, with dark smudges or spots on the petals. I had it in front of a sandy sunny border, a seemingly perfect spot. It looked healthy and unstressed. Yet it, too, was a no show this spring. I have researched that it can be a bit fussy, and then I learned it is a biennial, but will seed out. So there are some wee seedlings I am keeping my eye on.

This summer I am on the lookout for more hyssop and spotted beebalm. If you see them they are well worth the effort.

We are moving some large New England aster and have paired it with the lovely grand goldenrod behind the new pond. It will be a striking pairing. Rich purple and brilliant yellow gold! Both love full sun and 38 The Rural Voice

attractive, and is a great draw for tolerate dry conditions. I love swallowtail butterflies. It can be watching the birds through the fall started in cool weather if the soil has picking away at the seeds! warmed up to about 70 degrees F., Last fall we scored some plants and if you trim the flowers it will from a friend’s place that looked like continue to leaf out and provide tasty first year verbascum (mullein) plants. additions to your salad and sauces.

I was surprised in June with a Sow seeds in loose ground as they wonderful swath of brilliant blue have a taproot and compacted soil borage, Borage officinalis, also could pose a problem. Full sun, and known as bee bread, bee plant, cool consistent moisture without having tankard, ox-tongue and star flower. It soggy soil will ensure a healthy is a hardy annual/biennial that starts patch. I am planting it on the sunny as a soft swirl of fuzzy leaves the side behind our new wee pond. Its first year and in the spring, up comes nectar is great for butterflies and the the stalks with branching leaves and leaves a great food source for drooping flowers. It has been well butterfly larvae. I can easily snip a attended by the bees that enjoy the few branches for some meals and let high nectar content. Both the flowers it seed down for next year. and leaves have a cucumber-like taste and can be added to salads. Borage And as always when something is tolerant of many soils, prefers full appears to be eating your plants, the sunlight but will grow in partial first step is to identify it and maybe shade, and can withstand dry encourage it if it is a hungry native conditions although it does best with pollinator. We often forget that to average moisture. Known more as an have the butterflies in the garden we herb, it makes a colourful addition to need to ensure there is food for their your garden and a tasty treat for the offspring. bees.

We all have surprises in our This reminds me that we can grow garden. A bulb peeks up where we herbs in our perennial gardens for did not plant it, seeds sprout in new both our own places, and much consumption and awaited blooms visual enjoyment, and show up on new for the insects and perennials and pollinators. shrubs.

Our O r e g a n o , surprise this month Origanum vulgare, was lovely blooms can be found in the on our young wild as well as our fringetree, gardens. It has lovely Chionanthus mauve blooms on 12 virginicus. It is to 18 inch stems (30 to only four years old 45 cm) and tolerates (three in our neglect. What a great garden) and I was characteristic! It does not expecting any well in dry, wellblooms for a few drained soil and years. Normally blooms in early July in Gardens are full of surprises as native south of time for the local some plants die, others pop up here, it is a relative skipper and hairstreak in unexpected places and others of the olive family butterflies. The wee bloom before their time, such and the small fruits round holes in the can be pickled. But as this young fringetree leaves could be from it needs both male leaf-cutting bees, and (Chionanthus virginicus) and female plants syrphid and tachinid flies who also love this plant.

Another herb to consider in your perennial border is that tasty herb dill, Anethum gravelolens. I think a swath of dill is both visually

for that to happen.

Its natural shape is bushy but it can be trained to be a small tree. Loves full sun to part shade. Our flowers are small but it is a first bloom and we are still excited! ◊

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July 2023 39

D a y Tr i p s & D e s t i n at i o n s

Armstrong’s Home Bakery Made Fresh Daily

• Honey baked bread • Assorted rolls • Assorted baked good trays • Cookies and squares • Soups and sandwiches • Pies • Cakes made-to-order • Gluten-free goods

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Imagine a wheel of cheese weighing over 7000 pounds!

Learn about this & other stories when you visit this award winning museum

Stunning wood carvings by world renowned artist Wilson Johnston

Antique Implements, Blacksmith Shop Replica 19th century Cheese Factory Oxford County Museum School Ingersoll Community Cruise July 15 Live outdoor theatre Aug 19-20

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Kiwanis Harvest Market - Aug 26

-Local Produce, Vendors, Food Trucks, Demos

Shedding light on the Past

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40 The Rural Voice

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42nd Annual Tractor Pull Saturday, July 22, 2023 ­ 3:00 pm Palmerston Agricultural Fairgrounds (Beside Arena) Contact: Simon Signer ~ 519­588­0670 or Paul Schneider ~ 519­504­5896 Please see website

www.palmerstonfair.ca for complete list of weight classes.

Entry fee to pull is $10 per class.

Cash prizes 1st through 4th Weigh in on grounds after 2:00 pm Tractors must have original manufacture engines.

No Loaders allowed on Tractors.

No Clevis — No Pull. Helmets required while pulling. Judges decision final.

Classes 10 through 13 are qualifier classes for the King of the Pull.

Spectators: $10.00 admission, children under 12 free.

Food Booth Available

July 2023 41

Homemaking

Transforming branches into art

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n the Georgian Bluffs of Grey County lies the homestead of Clark & Annelies (Ann) Schneider. A joy for creating and growing shines from the couple and is evident at their homestead, indoors and out.

Annelies has designed and built works of art using branches that are also functional. She uses branches within the osier family (peach willow, pussy willow, among others) which grow native in their wetland. I was keen to see her creations as I have also started creating baskets and structures with willow branches.

Annelies’s designs in her custom work are original, under the Keppelstone Willow Works name. She has built furnishings using the osiers (willow) plant family, but also maple, cedar, dogwood and birch. Since osiers are less resilient to Canadian winters, outdoor furnishings were built with cedar.

The cedar • By Shelley Kroes • branches were harvested from a large section of them belonging to their acreage, and not clear cut. Annelies designed and built cedar trellises and arbours with the bark on or off. Bark is stripped in the spring - after maple syrup season until early summer while the tree sap was up. If it is late in the season, a draw knife is used to pull back the bark to strip it off the branch. Cedar bent for curvature pieces in the furnishings, is bent/curved and fastened on the day of harvest, as branches have a “memory” for a straight formation and try to spring back to straight upon drying.

Indoor furnishings are designed and built with willow, birch, and dogwood.

Annelies harvests branches green; again from spring to early summer while the sap is up. The branches or “shoots” collected are cut back to the base or stump level in their wetland. This method of harvesting is called coppicing. Both willow and dogwood are regenerative plants, and upon “coppicing” will send up new shoots from the base or stump the next spring.

For willow mosaic work or “inlaid” tables, Annelies assembles in a restored log house; next to their restored

42 The Rural Voice

Touring Keppelstone Willow Works inspires beginner artist by all that can be made with branches

Shelley Kroes (top) stands with an obelisk she made from willow branches after taking a beginner course in willow basketry. She has found further inspiration in the works of her dad’s cousin, Annelies Schneider (bottom, left and right) of Keppelstone Willow Works who creates art and furniture from branches in Grey County.

log home. Larger furnishings are assembled outside.

The restored log house studio space is now filled with floor looms for weaving rugs. A completed rug from within Annelies’ studio is shared on YouTube under “Warming Stripes: Weaving with the Weather”.

The purpose of the rug and video is to educate and share with others about climate change.

I also toured Clark’s garden which provides ample fresh produce for their own use and the local foodbank.

The garden is nearly half an acre. A recently started tree plantation made up of native trees is also a part of the property’s landscape. Clark says that if one 40-year-old tree is cut down it takes 100 one-year-old trees to sequester the same amount of carbon as the 40-year-old tree. The plantation is to sequester carbon and be for future enjoyment.

With the visit and tour Annelies encouraged me, and perhaps for anyone new to the idea of creating indoor and outdoor furnishings, that “your creativity is your limit” and also to work with what you have. ◊

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July 2023 43

Advice

44 The Rural Voice

Paperwork to hire foreign workers is complicated

• By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

The process is now online but many farmers hire consultants to help them create a Labour Market Impact Assessment for their application

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he process of hiring temporary foreign workers has gone completely online for farmers needing employees from outside Canada.

However, it may not make the complicated process any easier, admits Joanne Fallis, an immigration consultant who started her own company to help farmers wade through the multi-level process of hiring foreign workers. Speaking at the Southwestern Ontario Dairy Symposium on February 22, Fallis said the process begins by proving there is no one in Canada who can fill the position.

The process to hire workers under the Temporary Foreign Worker program is largely dependent on a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) and advertising for help is one of the key components.

“Advertising is necessary to prove there are no applications to fill the position,” said Fallis. Advertising is to be placed in the Canadian Job Bank and two other areas, such as the local newspaper or social media. The ads must clearly state the job title, duties, wages and must be within three months of the job position start date.

“You have to try to recruit Canadians and permanent residents,” said Fallis.

If that doesn’t work, and your LMIA is approved to hire foreign workers, a whole new process of preparation begins. Employers have to supply suitable housing on or off farm, which is inspected by the local health unit to make sure it meets standards for running water, fixtures, bedding and safety systems such as smoke alarms. The health unit will take a water sample and release a report revealing any findings that

Joanne Fallis need to be addressed.

“The maximum you can charge for rent is $30 per week,” said Fallis.

Employers are also responsible for paying and providing transportation, including the cost of flights, getting to the farm, and travelling from their housing to the farm. The employer is also responsible for travel to meet their health needs. Workers need proper workplace insurance and health insurance, as they are eligible for OHIP while working in Ontario.

A work agreement must be in place, translated into the foreign worker’s language if they cannot speak English.

There are many more steps and Fallis says the process is complicated and “generally overwhelming.”

Farmers turn to her when they need help and she meets with farmers on the farm, to make sure they understand the program and check if it is the right step for them and their business. ◊

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

Dry weather in the United States has upped grain prices As we move into summer, grain prices have many headwinds ahead of them. Interest rates, recession fears, large world inventories, and poor demand all weigh on the sentiment in the grain pits. Central banks continue to push for inflation control measures, as evidenced by another recent rate hike by the Bank of Canada. The purpose of higher rates is intended to prevent prices of goods from moving higher and accordingly higher rates fight against higher commodity prices also.

The desired effect of higher interest rates is to slow economic growth, however some fear an overtightening of the economy, leading to the possibility of recession. At this juncture, the only thing supportive of grain prices could be weather issues that affect the production outlook of U.S. crops this year, such as if weather is not supportive of crop growth. The U.S. has been experiencing dry weather in a wide region of the country and early June has market watchers concerned about early season dryness.

Recently this dryness in the U.S. has been supportive of grain prices.

We’ve seen extreme drought in the U.S. plains greatly impact the U.S. Hard Red Wheat production. Parts of the Northeast U.S., the corn belt and also here in Ontario, have experienced what is considered a flash drought, and this has arisen throughout a widespread region.

Some areas including northern Illinois and Michigan as examples, have seen the driest May in more than a century, with some areas

receiving only about 10 per cent of normal May rainfall. Along with the lack of precipitation, comes an increase in drought stress throughout the affected regions.

In early June, 45 per cent of the U.S. corn area and 39 per cent of the U.S. soybean area were in drought conditions. These factors have caused grain markets to enter what is typically called “weather markets” as weather concerns bring buyers to the market. Weather markets are notorious for wide volatility and fast moves in pricing. The market can move sharply higher quickly as concerns grow, and shortly thereafter can fade dramatically lower as crops see better weather, or the weather appears to be forecast to be better in the near-term future.

It is early in the growing season for dryness to be so widespread and concerning already. Rains that have come through in many areas have been disappointing relative to forecast expectations. Many think that the rain events recently may only be enough to stabilize the crop for a short time, rather than improve moisture conditions prior to the beginning of summer. From this observation, some analysts are beginning to lower yield expectations for the U.S. corn crop this fall. It is still relatively early in the crop year, and therefore sharply lower yield expectations may be premature. But if conditions do not improve with increasing precipitation amounts, this early expectation may prove to be correct. It seems the U.S. crop is coming to a juncture in the next few weeks which will provide clearer crop expectations as we head into July.

Wheat harvest is ongoing in the southern U.S. and is moving northward. The U.S. HRW crop, even though it is greatly reduced from the traditional crop size, is finding limited demand. U.S. hard wheat has essentially priced itself out of the world wheat market with high prices rationing buying interest.

Further cuts to U.S. HRW demand have recently occurred as the U.S. government has withdrawn food aid to Ethiopia. This withdrawal of food aid has occurred because of the

widespread corruption of many who are diverting and selling the donations, rather than distributing the food as food aid to their vulnerable and impoverished. This corruption is described by U.S. Food Aid authorities to be a “widespread and coordinated campaign.” The incentive for corruption is huge. In the last 10 years the U.S. has donated over 10 million bushels of wheat per year to the nation. Last year alone, donations were over 23 million bushels – with an estimated value of over $230 million dollars.

I’m reminded of a quote from American author Laura Ingalls Wilder from one of her novels, “Where there are deer there will be wolves, and where there are horses there will be horse thieves.” It seems this sentiment holds true for wheat donations as well.

U.S. Soft Red Wheat yield expectations have recently been reduced. There have been great expectations that the Soft Wheat crop would yield extremely well this year.

After all the crop was planted timely last fall in great condition, the winter was not detrimental, and the spring was generally well suited for the crop. That is until the heat and dryness came, and record yield expectations fell rapidly along with the condition of the crop.

Here in Ontario, we are seeing the crop appear to be more disappointing than it once had potential for. Some fields, especially fields with light soils have experienced drought damage, that will greatly affect yield in some fields. While this is the case in some spots, overall widespread rains did fall just after many fields pollinated. The hope is these rains will support the crop as the wheat enters the grain fill period. ◊ The Rural Voice welcomes letters and will publish as many as space permits.

Write to: The Rural Voice Box 429, BLYTH, ON N0M 1H0

July 2023 45

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

Dragonflies, tadpoles, and ... snakes!

A few weeks ago, the Bruce Grey Woodlands Association advertised that there was an opportunity to join Saugeen Field Naturalist John Reaume for a hike to look for and learn about reptiles and amphibians at the Kinghurst Nature Reserve.

Like many of the Saugeen Field Naturalists, John is an excellent leader so I attended. John openly shares his knowledge, which just continues to flow out, fact after fact without any hint of arrogance or noit-all attitude.

As I am driving to the site on a nice sunny Saturday morning, I really

start to question why I signed up for a hike that included looking for reptiles. I don’t like encounters with all varieties of reptiles. In fact, I usually do my best to avoid seeing certain reptiles. Maybe my quest for learning overwhelmed my irrational fears while I was sending my request to join in on the hike.

As the group of us stood at the roadside and listened to John sharing the plan for the trip, he said we would be doing a critter dip in the pond, hiking into the meadow, looking under the snake board and searching under woody debris for salamanders. I almost missed the mention of lifting a snake board to look for snakes. Why would anyone want to do that?

At the critter dip John caught damselfly larvae and tadpoles. John explained that the damselfly larvae can be easily identified by their three flat tails and their more slender body.

The dragonfly larvae doesn’t have much of a tail, more of a stubby, somewhat pointed behind. Most certainly, adult damselflies are called

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46 The Rural Voice

dragonflies by casual observers.

Realistically the difference between the two is quite obvious. Damselflies hold their wings folded up behind or on top of their backs when at rest. In contrast, dragonflies keep their wings wide open or flat for all to see their beautiful lacy or stained-glass appearance. The tadpoles that were caught lead to a discussion over the different behaviours of our native frog species. While the green frog, leopard frog, pickerel frog, wood frog, spring peeper, and tree frog all remain as tadpoles for a period of months, the bullfrog can remain as a tadpole for up to three years. I don’t remember ever learning the difference between a pickerel frog and leopard frog adult being as simply described as John had shared.

While both frogs’ backs are mainly green or brownish, the leopard frog has spots that are more round and the pickerel frog has spots that are largely rectangular. If you do get to see the pickerel frog’s belly, it is a fairly bright yellow.

While at the pond, we were encouraged to use our binoculars to search the logs for turtles and snakes that might be sunning themselves. I was very happy to look for turtles.

While we were all scanning the logs John handed out another fact that in some ways, I wish I didn’t learn. I have always enjoyed seeing turtles sunning themselves, sometimes heaped on logs. Occasionally, I have been lucky and spotted a turtle that was so comfortable sunning itself that it was just stretching out its legs and relaxing. Well, that was my happy thought. Apparently, turtles aren’t immune to parasites. The turtles were in fact stretching out their appendages to force water bound parasites to drop off due to the drying sunlight. Some much for cute and relaxed – they are trying to get blood suckers off.

We head to the meadow. I followed the group staying at the back of the pack so that all of the others would get the enjoyment of seeing any of the slithering reptiles that would be out enjoying the sunshine. The group was looking for any of our meadow-loving snakes — garter snake, smooth green snake,

red-bellied snake or ribbon snake. All of these species are known to reside on the property. We found leopard frogs, but no snakes (darn). Then came the time to venture over to the snake board. As John lifted the board, I was filled with dread though I am certain others filled with excitement. Lucky for our group, there was a garter snake that had taken up a space under the board.

John explained that while the garter snake and ribbon snake look very similar a great way to tell them apart is that the garter snake looks a bit dull while the ribbonsnake is shiny and more brilliantly coloured, like a fancier version of a garter snake.

Finally, we left the area where we had been hopeful to find snakes and entered the forest. We chatted as we walked. Everyone in the group had something interesting to share about what they have observed, either on this walk or other experiences. It is always so enjoyable to venture out with people that appreciate nature.

We moved some debris off the forest floor with no luck. John explained that the extremely dry conditions that we had may have forced the salamanders to go underground for cool moist conditions. Further down the trail, John rolled a piece of wood and exposed a red-backed salamander. On this property we had a chance of seeing the red-backed, four-toed, eastern newt, or spotted salamander. A pretty neat feature of the red-backed salamander is that it doesn’t have an aquatic larval stage.

Instead, the larvae develop into miniature adults inside the egg. The eastern newt actually has three life stages. The first is an aquatic larva, second is a terrestrial larva known as the red eft, and finally the eastern newt becomes an aquatic adult. The red eft is very bright in colour, and as with other species, this colouring is a warning to all that the critter is poisonous to anything that tries to eat it.

This tour was so great. I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to join in on any of the hikes offered by local field naturalists. These people are so incredibly knowledgeable, you won’t be disappointed. ◊

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

Farm land used only for farm purposes or just a hobby farm?

According to the Assessment Act (the “Act”), the legislation that governs property taxation in Ontario, the Assessment Review Board (the “ARB”) has authority to determine whether lands are “farm lands used only for farm purposes by the owner” for purposes of valuing property.

Section 19(5) of the Act provides that in valuing “farm lands used only for farm purposes by the owner”, consideration must be given to the current value of lands and buildings for farm purposes only (i.e. not their value for any other purpose) and consideration must not be given to any sales of lands and buildings to “persons whose principal occupation is other than farming”. Generally, lands valued as “farm lands” will be assessed a lower value for property

tax purposes than lands valued as residential, commercial or industrial lands because of the restrictions in Section 19(5).

The ARB has previously identified several factors to be considered in determining whether lands are “farm lands”, including: physical characteristics of the land, including soil quality and its capacity to support crops if the activity is raising crops; use of surrounding lands, to the extent that activities in the immediate vicinity suggest that the land on the property will support a farming activity; the history of the use of the property, including whether the land has previously been farmed; whether activities on the land are undertaken with a legitimate intention to “farm”, as opposed to activities intended to create the appearance of “farming” for purposes of obtaining favourable tax treatment; the scale of the farming activity in the sense that the activity must not be too limited to indicate that farming is taking place; permitted use of the land, including zoning; the general nature of the locality; whether the lands have physical characteristics of a farm; and, whether the lands involve a bona fide farmer. The ARB’s focus is on the use of the land – a factual issue to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The ARB recently considered an appeal by a landowner in the

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Kingston, Ontario area who claimed a reduction in the assessed value of his property because it should be considered “farm lands used only for farm purposes”. The subject property was assessed at $428,000, with $121,500 apportioned to “Conservation Lands” and $306,500 apportioned to lands in the “Residential” property class. The appellant landowner also contended that the property should be classified in the “Farm property class”. In response to the appeal, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (“MPAC”) took the position that the subject property was properly classified as a combination of “Conservation Lands” and “Residential” lands, but offered that the proper value to be assessed was $368,000. The appellant landowner agreed with this proposed value.

It should be noted that while the ARB has authority to determine whether lands are “farm lands” for purposes of assessing the value of the lands, it does not have authority to classify lands as “farm lands”. The General Regulation made under the Act says that, where the ARB has determined the value of “farm lands used only for farm purposes” but there is still a question as to whether the lands should be included in the “Farm property class”, the ARB must refer the question to the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal. So, in this particular appeal proceeding before the ARB, there was the odd circumstance of two parties who agreed on the number to be decided (the practical issue that the ARB did have authority to determine) but disagreed on how to get to the number.

Although the ARB could not determine the property classification issue, it did proceed to determine that the appellant’s lands were “farm lands used only for farm purposes by the owner”. The subject property was over 90 acres in size, with a onestorey single family detached residence built in 1981 and outbuildings including a barn and goat pen. The appellant landowner testified that he used roughly 80 acres for farm activity, including some of the lands classified as

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“Conservation Lands”. He cited activities such as: renting part of the property for horse grazing and boarding; gathering and processing maple sap from trees on the property; keeping laying hens and selling their eggs for cash; raising and harvesting goats; raising and harvesting cattle; clearing pasture land; adding new fences and gates; etc.

MPAC’s assessor testified that he saw four cattle, two goats and 40 chickens onsite when he visited the farm. MPAC submitted that the appellant’s activities did not constitute a bona fide farm operation but only a small hobby farm.

However, the appellant’s evidence about his activities on the property was uncontested and the ARB accepted that, while the appellant’s operation was small, it was still farming: growing hay, using pasture to raise livestock; harvesting livestock; and, selling eggs. The ARB rejected MPAC’s argument that the subject property was a “hobby farm” and could not qualify as “farm land used only for farm purposes”.

The ARB concluded: “The Board finds that the term ‘hobby farm’ is imprecise in this instance, and the exact parameters of what constitutes a ‘hobby farm’ as compared to ‘farm land used only for farm purposes’ is unclear in the evidence and submissions before the Board. No single factor is determinative of whether a property is, or is not, farm lands used only for farm purposes.

Taking a purposive approach to interpreting s. 19(5), considering the entirety of the evidence, and weighing the factors … above, the Board finds that a portion of the Subject Property is farm lands used only for farm purposes within the meaning of s. 19(5) of the Act.” ◊ ______________________________ 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.

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20

YEARS ANS

People • By Gary West •

It’s a dirty job but a great one, says hoof trimmer

T

here are many jobs on livestock farms today that require specialized skills. One such task on dairy and beef farms is hoof trimming, to prevent lameness and ensure top milk and beef production.

Brian Cook is a hoof trimmer who, along with his wife and two young children, live in Tavistock, on the northern border of Oxford County, the dairy capital of Canada.

Brian was raised on the beef farm of his father and mother, Owen and Carol Cook, south of New Hamburg in Wilmot Township.

He started working on dairy farms in 1997 while still in high school then attended the University of Guelph while still doing milking and chore duties on weekends. After graduating, he worked full time for the Don Myers family dairy farm south of New Hamburg, and later at Faromor Inc., a ventilation company near Shakespeare.

After working at the Nestle Waters Company south of Guelph, he quickly learned that factory work was not for him and in September 2003, got a job working on another Dairy Farm in Oxford County, for Steve and Teresa MacKay near Embro.

Brian states that it wasn’t long until he was the dairy herdsman, looking after everything herd related including the breeding program. Still today he credits Dr. Wayne Shewfelt, the award-winning veterinarian from Tavistock Veterinarians, in teaching him more than he ever learned in university about animal care and treatment.

At first, the McKays were milking 120 cows. When he left years later, the milking herd grew to 230 milking cows. As the herd grew so did the foot troubles, and that’s how he got started hoof trimming. He would trim hooves between visits from the official hoof trimmer.

As time evolved, Brian married Elysia Haid, who, along with her father, pushed him to find a business opportunity of his own. In 2015, with their family growing, they were

Brian Cook is seen trimming feet on a Holstein cow at Wim Scherpenzeel’s 340‐cow dairy farm west of Woodstock. motivated to start their own hoof trimming business.

He took a hoof-trimming course with the experienced and well known Vic Daniels, to ensure he was trimming correctly and to correct any wrongs he might have been doing during the shaping of the hoof, with the correct depth of heal etc.

Brian and his wife travelled to Michigan in March 2017 and purchased a used Appleton steel hoof-trimming chute, and “Cookhaven Hoof Care” began.

He would do chores at the Mackay’s dairy in the morning and then rush off to trim cows during the day before returning for evening chores. At that time he was only trimming cows one or two days a month while working part time at the dairy.

Timing is everything and when the regular hoof trimmer at MacKay’s wondered if Brian wanted to take over his business, he jumped at the chance. By fall of 2019, Bryan was working full time trimming cows.

Brian states that after trimming 40-50 cattle a day for five days straight, his wrists were so sore that he wasn’t sure if he was going to continue the next week. But he did and he is glad that he did. He states it’s sometimes a dirty job and cows don’t always co-operate, but he loves the job and working in agriculture with farmers is something he has always appreciated.

In summary, Brian says he’s very thankful for the love and support of his wife. Most days she has to get the kids up, fed, and to school before she heads off to work at Stratford General hospital or at the Woolwich Community healthcare clinic. He said it’s not easy juggling running a business, family time, and serving on the board at Grace United Church in Tavistock, but he is very thankful for the many blessings bestowed on him and his family, throughout the last number of years in the Tavistock area.

Brian can be reached at cookhavenhoofcare@gmail.com ◊

July 2023 51

People

• By Kate Russell •

Long service to agriculture honoured Ray Robertson began as a farm appraisor and has been using his leadership skills in agriculture ever since

W

hen Ray Robertson graduated Northern Business College in Owen Sound in 1967, little did he know his schooling would lead to a career in agricultural program administration to last most of his life.

Inducted this year into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame, Robertson offered a glimpse into his many years serving the farming community in a recent interview. He began as a farm appraiser for the provincial ministry of revenue just out of school. He studied economics to gain all the knowledge he needed to help farmers get the most out of their agricultural business.

“If you have the right attitude, you can do most anything,” he said, offering his own career as evidence.

Through the years he has managed Land Stewardship Programs, coordinated Environmental Farm Plans and founded the Grey County Agricultural Service Centre when OMAFRA closed regional offices across the province in 2000.

“Anything I can do for people collectively, I will do.”

Nominated by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA), who he has worked with since the land stewardship program began in 1988, Robertson was a founding member of the Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association, where he served as chair from 2015 – 2019.

“He secured financial support for grower seminars on production and equipment,” says a nomination brief of his long career. “He instituted hay marketing discovery missions to identify national and international demands for quality Canadian hay.

These efforts opened up many new markets in places as far afield as China, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.”

As part of setting up the Grey Ag 52 The Rural Voice

Services, while still running his own dairy operation, Robertson brought in contracted administration for organizations to support the regional work he and his staff were doing. This included taking on a role as general manager of the Ontario Forage Council (OFC), where he grew the membership and profile of the organization.

“The OFC initiated the Ontario Hay Listing Service on its website to bring buyers and sellers together,” notes his nomination form. “The Ontario Hay Marketing Forum was developed as OFC’s marketing arm. In 2015, under his leadership and networking connections, the Ontario Hay and Forage Cooperative (OHFC) was incorporated.”

His business approach to crop management allowed for the development and acquisition of commercial scale harvesting equipment, big bale hay driers and compactors, which allowed the members of the OHFC to produce the necessary hay supplies to ensure a reliable overseas supply chain.

“The economics part just came to me,” said Robertson of his early schooling, which helped him in his later life to manage product marketing and collaborative commercial efforts. “It was almost a common-sense thing.”

Going further than working with existing farmers to market their products, through Grey Ag Services Robertson developed fee-for-service extension programs and a communications hub to provide training and information resources for agriculture of all kinds.

His encouragement of local farmers to take up the OSCIA’s Environmental Farm Plan initiative

Ray Robertson saw Grey County farmers become early adopters of the program.

Through Land Stewardship programs he “encouraged farmers to reduce soil tillage, erosion and compaction” for better crop and adjacent land management.

“It far exceeded what I expected,” he admitted, suggesting as many as 300 farmers participated in programs along the Bighead and Beaver Rivers. “It was my specialty. We did some really unique things there.”

Still working on many projects, Robertson suggests the field demonstration he coordinates every year is one of his favourites. This year’s event will be held near Paisley on July 5. He believes farmers should witness working equipment before they purchase it.

Robertson’s recognition by the Hall of Fame bears witness to the harvest he has brought to Ontario agriculture. ◊

The

Rural Voice

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

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COMING EVENTS -------------------------------------------ZURICH COUNTRY FAIR July 21-23, 2023 – Fireworks at dusk (at the ball diamond) on Friday July 21; Saturday, July 22 - parade at 11:00 a.m. followed by the opening ceremonies. Exhibits, horse shows, children's entertainment, evening dance and elimination draw; Sunday, July 23 - garden tractor pulls. www.zurichcountryfair.com --------------------------------------------

COMING EVENTS -------------------------------------------Kettle Valley Pioneers Elgin Historical Show. Saturday, August 19 and Sunday, August 20, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission: adults $5, children 12 and under free.

Friday, August 18, Beef and Pork Barbecue, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. $25.00, under 5 free. Sunday Breakfast, 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Adults $12, children under 12 $6, under 5 free. Ice cream booth, car show, antique tractors, chainsaw carver, face painter, dunk tank, steam engines, flea market and trading post, petting zoo, fire safety with a visit from “Sparky”.

Entertainment Saturday and Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Dan Patterson Park - Old Farm Equipment 519-269-3977, 519631-5446.

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

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-------------------------------------------FARM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE -------------------------------------------New Holland 1030 bale wagon pull-type stacker, loads 70 bales with chute, been stored inside, in working condition. Asking $2,500.

Call Don Morden, 519-638-2525, Rothsay, ON -------------------------------------------FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Fence posts, various sizes and fence stakes 6 feet long. Firewood for sale. 519-364-3303.

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FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Farm buildings, homes, cottages repaired, remodelled, restored and jacked up. Also roofing, siding, doors, windows, cement work, foundations, piers, framework, decks, doors, fencing, beams, eavestroughing - repaired, replaced or installed. Brian McCurdy, 519375-0958/519-986-1781.

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

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

-------------------------------------------Webwood Truss – We manufacture roof trusses and floor joists, and supply steel roofing, siding and trims. Come visit our shop at 382 Whitechurch St., RR 5, Lucknow, N0G 2H0.

-------------------------------------------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 -------------------------------------------Suffolk Sheep – Taking orders now for purebred breeding ram and ewe lambs. Born in February/March.

GenOvis tested, M-V negative, closed flock. Florence Pullen, Clinton, 519-233-7896.

06-W -------------------------------------------Cuni-ON – Supplying Europe’s best breeding stock for the commercial rabbit producer. Bucks and does available year-round. 519-4508308. CuniON@tcc.on.ca 06-1W --------------------------------------------

Southampton 51st Annual

Craft Show Thursday, July 6, 2023 10 am - 4:30 pm Southampton Coliseum

56 The Rural Voice

Entry Fee: $5

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE -------------------------------------------LIMOUSIN breeding bulls, quiet, thick, semen tested, guaranteed breeders, delivery included.

Posthaven Limousin, John Post, 519-766-7178. www.posthaven limousin.com 06-W -------------------------------------------Red Angus, Red Angus-Simmental and Simmental bulls on test. Watch them grow by googling “Ontario Bull Evaluation” Silver Springs Farms. James, Joan and Robert McKinlay, 519-599-6236.

-------------------------------------------Limousin bulls – ready to work for you; semen tested. Open and bred females available. S m a r t Limousin, Meaford 519-372-7459. smartlimo@bmts.com www.smartlimousin.com -------------------------------------------McKague Charolais bulls, registered purebred yearlings, polled and semen tested. Heifers available.

Wingham, 519-357-3808.

-------------------------------------------MARKETS -------------------------------------------Glenlee Gardens berries, vegetables, preserves. Palmerston Farmers’ Market every Saturday.

On-farm market every Monday 3-6 p.m. at 6466 6th Line Harriston.

Pre-order to pick up Monday to Friday 9-6. 519-338-2691.

-------------------------------------------Flesherton & District Farmers’ Market – A “true farmers’ market”.

Locally grown, produced and handmade, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Saturdays until Thanksgiving. 101 Highland Drive, Flesherton, 519924-0777.

-------------------------------------------RESTORATION -------------------------------------------The Olde Tyme Radio Centre – antique radios, clocks, gramophones, telephones; sold/ restored. (vintage autoclock radio, speedometer, tachometer repaired). Belgrave 519-357-4304, www.oldtymeradio.ca --------------------------------------------

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

SERVICES -------------------------------------------Langside Chainsaw & Small Engine Sales & Service – chainsaws and accessories, string trimmers, power cutters, small engines, v-belts, lawn mower sales and service. Isaac M. Martin, 378 Langside Street, RR 5, Lucknow, ON N0G 2H0.

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

DANNY’S

Custom Painting & Sandblasting

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

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

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

Ph. 519-528-3019

EGGER FARMS CUSTOM BALING

• 3x3 Bales Automatic Acid Applications, Roto Cutter.

Individual Bale Wrapping 6' bales

Call Fritz: 519-292-0138

519-692-4232 www.sgspestmanagement.ca

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

Short and long term. 519-200-7845 or hundt.chris@outlook.com -------------------------------------------Hereford or Hereford Black Angus cross cows with calves. Phone evenings, 905-983-9331.

-------------------------------------------28” Metal Robert Bell threshing machine with straw cutter; John Deere or International grain binder.

Phone evenings 905-983-9331.

-------------------------------------------Farmland – Long or short term. Cash rent, share crop. Contact Paul at Hill & Hill Farms, 519-2333218 or 519-525-3137 or email: paul.hillhill@tcc.on.ca 03-6W -------------------------------------------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.

04-6W --------------------------------------------

JJM CONCRETE GROOVING

Deadline for the August issue

R.R. #1, ARTHUR, ON

of The Rural Voice is

PHONE: 519-827-6763 CELL: 519-827-5188 EMAIL: RSTRAUSS56@GMAIL.COM

July 11, 2023 Call Joan at 519-523-4311 to place your classified ad

July 2023 57

National Farmers Union – Ontario NEWSLETTER Phone: 1-888-832-9638 E-mail: office@nfuontario.ca Website: www.nfuontario.ca

Strong Communities.

Sound Policies.

Sustainable Farms.

The fight to protect Ontario’s finite farmland continues: We need you to join the fight!

Once again, farmland is under attack in Ontario. On April 6, 2023, the Ford Government announced another round of legislative changes that prioritize irresponsible growth and development.

The changes are proposed in Bill 97 (the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act) and in a new Proposed Provincial Planning Statement (PPS).

Much like Bill 23 and the legislated amendments to the Greenbelt Plan passed in late 2022, these new changes will line the pockets of developers and land speculators, at the expense of all Ontarians.

Included in the proposed PPS is a policy that would allow farm lots to be subdivided up to three times and lead to significant fragmentation of Ontario’s already scarce remaining agricultural land base. Currently in Ontario most municipalities with an approved official plan have specific policies and requirements for land severances to prevent the indiscriminate division of land without planning review and approval and to avoid any long-term, negative impact on the community. By abandoning the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the current Provincial Policy Statement (2020), and weakening regional planning, these changes will undermine essential policies designed to reduce urban sprawl and protect natural heritage and agricultural lands.

The National Farmers Union – Ontario (NFU-O), Ontario Federation of Agriculture (O F A), and the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO), along with numerous commodity and agricultural organizations, are united in their opposition to Bill 97 and the proposed PPS. Together, we are encouraging our farmers and supporters to add their voice and speak up against these short-sighted legislative proposals by sending letters and submitting comments on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (E R O). Our

unanimous opposition is working.

On May 24 and 25, one week after we launched our collective letterwriting campaign, the Premier’s office met with farm leaders to discuss farmers’ concerns around the proposed PPS. In response, the Government sent a letter to all of the agricultural organizations that promised that Bill 97, if passed into law, would not automatically initiate the changes outlined in the proposed PPS. The Government promised to “continue working with the agricultural sector to look at alternatives that would assist farm families in succession planning, but that do not involve additional severances”. The Government’s concession is not insignificant. It proves that the Government heard Ontario farmers. By continuing to stand together, we can produce real results; we must continue to fight to protect Ontario’s dwindling farmland.

To date, over 600 members and supporters have used the action tool on the NFU’s website to send a letter in opposition to Bill 97 and the policies outlined in the proposed PPS. While we celebrate the early successes of this opposition campaign, the fight is far from over. We must continue to push the Government to abandon its proposal to allow for the severing of farmland parcels, in recognition of the current and future value of agriculture to the province’s economy, to our long-term food security, and to long-term vibrant rural communities.

Our united opposition campaign also successfully extended the comment period for the proposed PPS on the Environmental Registry of Ontario to Friday, August 4, 2023.

This is a promising window of opportunity that will allow more consultation with the farm community.

But it will only be a victory if that extended time is used by farmers like you to speak up and oppose these shortsighted legislative proposals.

Residential lot creation in

agricultural areas has long been controversial and the detrimental impacts for agriculture are well demonstrated, including fragmentation of the agricultural land base, increased conflicts between neighbouring land uses, risk of inflating farmland prices and increasing costs to municipalities.

In addition, we have significant concerns regarding the speculative investment that this proposal will drive, resulting in farmland values that make farming even more unattainable for the next generation.

We encourage you to voice your opposition to these proposed changes before August 4. You can do so by calling or sending a letter to your MPP, to Housing Minister Steve Clark, or submitting an online comment on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

A template letter is available on the N F U website or can be requested from the office by emailing office@nfuontartio.ca.

Ontario boasts of having some of Canada’s richest and most fertile farmland and these policy changes put the sustainability of that land and our local and long-term food security at risk. The Government wants to hear from farmers. Tell Minister Clark and Premier Ford, that neither farmers nor their land will be divided.

Local News/Events Local 320 (Bruce) will be hosting our Annual Summer BBQ on Sunday, July 9, 2023 at noon at the Saugeen Paddlers Club Trailer (Saugeen River Access Site 9B). All NFU members and their families are welcome for a time of local food and fellowship! Food, drinks, and dessert will be provided. Please bring your own chairs (and bathing suits if you’d like to swim in the river!)

PLEASE NOTE: Children must be supervised at all times. For more information and to RSVP, please email local320@nfuontario.ca by July 7, 2023.

A subscription to The Rural Voice is one of the benefits of being an NFU-O member 58 The Rural Voice

Perth County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER

Polly Hoekstra, President phoekstra@hotmail.ca / 226-580-0174 * The Rural Voice is provided to Perth County Pork Producers by the PCPPA perthcountyporkproducers@gmail.com

Vegetable oil for pigs is too expensive thanks to renewable diesel

Steve Meyer gave an excellent presentation at Ontario Pork’s 2023 AGM. He discussed the current and short-term trends that are influencing the economics of the pork industry.

His slide deck is available on Ontario Pork’s website.

This renewable diesel boom is being driven by California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The LCFS has been amended twice since it was originally adopted.

Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia have adopted similar legislation. This is why all of the new anaerobic digesters in Canada are selling their natural gas to the gas utility in British Columbia.

The LCFS sets annual carbon intensity (CI) standards, or benchmarks, which reduce over time, for gasoline, diesel, and the fuels that replace them. Carbon intensity is expressed in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule of energy provided by that fuel. CI takes into account the GHG emissions associated with all of the steps of producing, transporting, and consuming a fuel – also known as a complete life cycle of that fuel. The goal of the LCFS is to decrease the carbon intensity of transportation fuel by 20 per cent by 2030.

I want to focus on this graph from Mr. Meyer’s presentation — it astounds me. Renewable diesel is made by refining animal fat and vegetable oil. This one graph explains why my initiative to increase production on our farm by including vegetable oil in the swine diet failed.

From April to June of 2022, the price of vegetable oil used in pig feed climbed from $1,650 to $2,100/ton making it too expensive to grow pigs with. The graph also foreshadows the profound effects low carbon energy policies could have on agriculture in the near future.

The LCFS was passed in 2009, four years after the Renewable Fuel Standard that required adding 10 per cent ethanol to gasoline. When the

RFS was passed, there was a food vs. fuel debate where we worried about the effects that this policy would have on the price of food. The RFS increased the price of corn, but it also provided some economical byproducts for livestock rations. The RFS policy uses 40 per cent of corn produced in the U.S. to replace 10 per cent of gasoline consumed in the U.S. Now the LCFS is going to use 60 per cent of U.S. soybean production to replace five per cent of U.S. diesel consumption. At a time when we are seeing food inflation and acres being taken out of production due to war, the food vs. fuel debate is not being re-interrogated. I once read that when we were dependent on literal horse power for tillage and transport, half a farm’s acres would be dedicated to growing forages to power the horses.

Considering the above numbers, with

a fraction of our energy consumption consuming almost half of our crop production acres, it is obvious that food winning the debate is a necessity!

Luckily for pork and poultry producers, soybean meal, our second greatest cost of production, is a byproduct of making vegetable oil as a feedstock for renewable diesel.

Unfortunately, soybeans compete for acres with our greatest cost of production, corn. Mr. Meyer predicted that the price of soybean meal could drop by 50 per cent once we hit peak renewable diesel production in 2025. However the price of corn could also increase by 30 per cent. This would decrease the cost of a swine diet by about 10 per cent. You have to love pig farming! ◊ – Submitted by Craig Hulshof

Local Pork Products Available 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 BBQ services for large groups are also available, contact: perthcountyporkproducers@gmail.com for more details.

Pork supplied by: Perth County Pork Producers July 2023 59

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

GCFA (OFA) Membership Appreciation Day

August 20, 2023 Bring your family for a fun-filled day at Story Book Park - Owen Sound

GCFA 2023 Events JULY 8 - Ag Night at the Races AUGUST 9 - Directors’ Meeting 20 - Member Day - Story Book Park SEPTEMBER 13 - Directors’ Meeting 22,23 Gord Bamford Concert Series (tickets are on sale now at gordbamford.com) OCTOBER 13 - GCFA AGM

Receive $5 off your admittance fee with your membership card

NOVEMBER 8 - Directors’ Meeting

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

60 The Rural Voice

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

519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551

* The Rural Voice is provided to NEWSLETTER OFA Members in Bruce County by the BCFA Rural Medicine Discovery Week

For more than 10 years now, the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture (BCFA) has had the opportunity to tour first year medical students in Bruce County. Annually Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, hosts a Discovery Week as an opportunity for medical students to work alongside health care practitioners and physicians in rural and remote areas to better understand what it means to practise there.

Discovery Week is a unique learning opportunity that provides medical students with the chance to be embedded into the health care environment in communities across the region for a week, providing a first-hand look at the diverse experiences which impact health and wellness.

This year’s BCFA tour day included multiple locations, in addition to various speakers on topics related to agriculture. The day began early at Ikendale Farms dairy operation where the students had the opportunity to try their hand at milking, witness a recently born calf, while learning more about the animals, care, and how important of role technology plays on farm operations. Next the group continued on to Lang Farms Limited to learn more on field crop and grain elevator operations, and the science used for growing field crops. Huron Tractor was the next stop for the students to learn more on farm machinery/equipment. Potential hazards, the size and speed of equipment in addition to timing of use, and the value of equipment were all touched on prior to the students gaining their first opportunity ever to drive a tractor.

Post lunch break, the students heard from Tammi Ribey D.V.M regarding experiences and considerations for human health related to animal health, and related science. Scott Miller of CTV News

London rejoined the group to share his media and community experiences in rural Ontario. This was in addition to having interviewed the students at earlier locations. To see Scott’s News Story go to: https://london.ctvnews. ca/prospective-doctors-milk-cowsduring-rural-medicine-discoverytour-1.6413430 The students learned more regarding Farm Safety and Children’s health resources from Dianne Atkinson, who included past examples for the students to learn from. The final presentation of the day came from the Brockton Fire Department – Walkerton Fire Prevention Officer Dave West and Fire Chief Chris Wells. The students

BCFA 2023 MEETINGS • August 28 • September 25 • October 27 • November 13

had the opportunity to see and handle different tools and learn more on various resources used when responding to emergencies. Certain differences between urban and rural fire fighting set ups such as full time and volunteer fire fighters were also explained.

The day was an opportunity to showcase our local Agricultural community to several medical students. By giving them a small glimpse of what Bruce County has to offer them, it is hoped that the students could be enticed to return to practice medicine in rural Ontario. ◊

SMV SIGN If you require a new SMV sign for your equipment before heading out on the road, contact the BCFA office, there are some available to members.

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

July 2023 61

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

Agritourism in Perth County Tourism has always been prevalent in Perth County through Perth County Flavours as well as what can be seen through the Festival Theatre. With the growing distance between consumer and producers and processors of food products, we are seeing that there is more interest specifically in farm tours and in the agriculture industry as a whole.

Several local processors have started jumping on this train to show the consumer how food is produced.

Examples of these connections with consumers can be seen through the regular tours at Mountain Oak Cheese, Haysville and Gunn’s Hill Cheese in Norwich Township as well as featured specialty date tours by Stonetown Cheese, St. Marys and Koskamp Family Farms/Kampkreek Dairies of Stratford.

The Perth County Federation of Agriculture has partnered with the County of Perth economic development team, and supported by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture to run a “Mystery Farm Hop” bus tour. The goal is to help connect with consumers and show them some of Perth County’s agricultural industry and farms firsthand, all the while providing a family experience.

On July 8, the “hop on, hop off” farm bus tour will allow individuals to see a water buffalo farm, flower farm, maple syrup and farm market and on-farm cheese processing facility. They will have the chance to tour the facilities, try samples, and purchase products at their leisure. This may be one way to continue to drive tourism and promote the agriculture industry within the urban communities both locally and further away. The buses will be provided by PC Connect, another partnership.

Could this increase in presenting the farming industry be as a result of new energy and drive from the next

Local fair ambassadors on their district competition day seeing water buffalo at Kampkreek Dairies. They always do local farm tours on their competition day and try to find at least one unique farm that they likely haven’t seen before.

generation of young farmers looking to continue growing the agriculture industry? It is definitely a possibility, as with the ever-changing world around us, we are constantly needing to pivot and expand our thinking to keep up.

One platform that is starting to move into Ontario for booking agricultural experiences is Farmzy (Real Adventures Made Eazy). Farms can feature themselves with regular or selective tour dates, provide detailed information for those

booking, and accept bookings and payments for their tours as well. This online booking platform is being seen more frequently in Western Canada, specifically British Columbia and Alberta, and is moving its way into Ontario now as well. This may be one platform that is the future of what we consider agriculture tourism, but there are sure to be more unique ideas with the great minds that we see in agriculture in Perth County. ◊ – Submitted by Inge Koskamp PCFA Director

New MSR for OFA Zone 7 Huron-Perth Welcome to our New Member Services Representative Loni Elliott Mobile: 519-803-0419 Toll free: 1-800-511-1135 Email: loni.elliott@ofa.on.ca

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

62 The Rural Voice

Index Argyle Marine ..............................53 Bau-Tec Industries......................27 Bernie McGlynn Lumber ............47 Bervie Supply ..............................20 Bester Wood Products................47 Bio-Ag Consultants ....................48 Blossom Valley Electric ..............53 Blyth Festival ......................Cover 4 BP Dust Control ..........................53 Canadian Co-operative Wool........6 Chalmers Fuels ..............................6 Cover Crops ..............................7,9 Crafters Corner ..........................43 Crop Quest Inc ............................13 Cross Country Eavestrough ......20 Danny’s Custom Painting............57 Day Trips & Destinations..39,40,41 DJ Henry Homes & Renos ..........53 DL Distributing ............................53 Donald Andrew Accounting........57 Easy Lift Doors Ltd ......................14 Egger Farms ................................57 Farm To Table........................34,35 Fieldwalker Agronomy ................54 Food Day Canada ..................15,17 Gerber’s Workwear ....................44 Gladys Munro ..............................54 Green Valley Heating Inc ............23 Grey Agricultural Services ............3 Grey-Bruce Construction ............15 GRK Products ..............................12 Hanover Honda..............................8 Hardi North America Inc ..............19 Harold Jones Enterprises ..........54 Hayden Water Wells....................20 Hill & Hill ............................Cover 2 Huron Hauling & Excavating ......24 Huron Motor Products ................16 Huron Perth Public Health ..........47 JA Porter Holdings Ltd ................13 JJM Concrete Grooving ............57 Kenpal Farm Products Inc ..........49 Kingwood Bins....................Cover 4 Kraemer Concrete ......................54 Lakeside Radio Broadcasting ....54 Lakeside Shelving & Racking ....43 Listowel Agricultural Society......23 Live Landscape ..........................43 Lucknow Auto Parts Supply ......54 Lucknow Kinsmen ..............Cover 3 Mapleview Agri ..............................4 MarCrest Backhoe ......................55 Marquardt Farm Drainage ..........19 Martin’s Nursery ..........................63 McLeod Water Wells Ltd ............13 Mike Boven Carpentry ................54 MNP LLP......................................46 Moore Hemsworth Insurance ....43 Morris Sachs Silo Construction ..15 Nature’s Wave Inc ......................24

North Huron Carpentry ..............50 Nuclear Waste Management ......50 Nuhn Forage Inc ............................3 Ontario Forage Council ..............27 Outdoor Recreation ....................28 Preserve & Store ..........................11 RBC Ag West ................................9 RCS Forestry Mulching ..............63 R&M Gorman Hay & Straw ........54 Ridgeway Metals ........................55 Schweiss Doors ..........................33 Seifried Farm Equipment ............24 SGS Pest Management ..............57 Sharp’s Creek Forge ..................50

Southampton Craft Show ..........56 Steffen Well Drilling ....................55 Stratford Crane Rental ..............28 Superior Barn Painting ......Cover 7 SWO Diesel Inc ..................Cover 5 Townsley Barn Painting ..............55 Triple P Consulting......................49 Trouw Nutrition ............Back Cover Varna Grain ........................Cover 2 WD Hopper & Sons......................10 Waddell Engineering Ltd ............50 Wehrmann Grain & Seeds ..........55 Western Ontario Steam Threshers 56 Wideman’s Bee Supply ..............55

Martin’s Nursery

Hydrangea Shrubs & Trees

Large selection of shade trees, including... MAPLES.... Royal Red, Sugar, Autumn Blaze, Autumn Fantasy, Morgan, Native Red, Silver X Red Maple Emerald Queen, Maple, etc., Oaks, Crabapple, Ornamental Pears, Ivory Silk Lilac, Ginkgo, Kentucky Coffee Trees, Lindens, Hydrangea Tree, Service berry, Saskatoon Tree, Globe Maple, Umbrella Catalpa, Birch, etc.

FLOWERING SHRUBS... Hydrangea, Spirea, Smoke Bush, Globe Cedar, Boxwood, Ninebarks & much more.

FRUIT TREES.... Apples, Pears, Peach, Plum, Cherry, Apricot, Nectarines, Blueberry, Black Chokecherry, etc., Grapes.

Lots of Spruce and Cedars, create your own privacy hedge, windbreak or boundary line with a row of healthy Black or White Cedars, 3-6+ feet tall.

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

Call or or text text for for a a quote quote 519-521-3482 519-521-3482 Call

RCS specializes in forestry mulching services such as tree & stump removal, lot & land clearing, subsoiling, grading & excavation, armour stone installation and design, industrial & commercial vegetation management, tree & fence line clearing, headland clearing, trimming back over hanging limbs and trail maintenance.

33267 Coursey Line, Lucan, ON N0M 2J0

rcsforestrymulching.ca

July 2023 63

HURON

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

County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER

Robert J. Scott inducted to Hall of Fame On June 11, 2023, the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame (OAHF) inducted 11 individuals who have made significant impacts on Ontario agriculture and beyond. One of these inductees was posthumously nominated by the HCFA: Robert J. Scott, who was from the Belgrave area.

Pictured (left) is Mary Eccles, daughter of Robert J. Scott with the citation. Bottom picture includes some of Robert J. Scott’s descendants who attended the induction with Huron Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson and HCFA Board Member Joan Vincent.

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

Farmer Wellness Initiative

24/7 counseling to farmers and farm family members, free all year round 1.866.267.6255 https://farmerwellnessinitiative.ca/; and frequently asked questions about FWI: https://farmerwellnessinitiative.ca/faq/

Huron County Federation of Agriculture

JOINT HCFA AND PCFA BOARD MEETING Thursday, July 13 Brodhagen Community Centre

SAVE THE DATES! HURON OFA REGIONAL MEETING August 30, 2023 Exeter Golf Course (Election of OFA Convention Delegates and OFA Policy Advisory Council Representatives will be held at this meeting) Social time: 7:00 p.m. with sandwiches and wraps

Huron-Perth MSR We are pleased to announce Loni Elliott as the OFA MSR for OFA Zone 7, Huron-Perth.

Loni was raised near Dublin and now resides near Staffa on a small farm along with her husband Trevor and two children aged 11 and 8.

Loni attended St. Lawrence College in Kingston graduating from the Veterinary Assistance Program.

For the past 20 years she has worked in small animal medicine in London and Seaforth.

Loni loves to take advantage of the seasons and enjoys family time with activities such as fourwheeling, fishing, kayaking, hiking/running/ general fitness. loni.elliott@ofa.on.ca Cell: 519-803-0419 or 519-821-8883 ext. 256

Huron County

Huron County 4-H Leaders Association Board Opportunity

Guest Speaker: Maranda Klaver Ontario Queen of the Furrow Contact the office for tickets Huron County Federation of Agriculture

ANNUAL MEETING October 27, 2023

Do you have fond memories of 4-H? Would you like to contribute to a local youth-centered hands-on program? The Huron County 4-H Leaders Association is seeking board members of various experience and interests to help maintain and enhance this important youth program. Approximately six meetings per year and help with county events, if possible, is appreciated – and guaranteed fun!

Learn to do by doing!

For more information on how you can make a meaningful contribution to your community please e-mail Mary Lynn MacDonald, Volunteer Screening Coordinator, at projects@hay.net.

Social time: 6:30 p.m.

Meal: 7:00 p.m.

Clinton Royal Canadian Legion Contact the office for tickets

HCFA OFFICE The office is open on Mondays and alternate Fridays 9 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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

64 The Rural Voice

See what’s happening in Huron County!

Hidden Gems of Huron County See our Summer issue featuring: Folk Art Tour Mural Trail Things to See and Do Flavours of Huron ...and much, much more!

Our free summer issue print version is now available at tourist information booths, town halls, retail outlets, accommodations, and restaurants throughout the county and beyond!

Or online at stopsalongtheway.ca

The Rural Reading Room Specializing in Rural Living & Local Authors

CANADA FOR KIDS In this patriotic celebration of Canada’s superlatives, complete with 300 colour photographs, kids are presented with thousands of unique facts, figures and feats that make the country unique. From inventions to statistics to amazing geography, this book will keep the whole family flipping pages for unique Canadian trivia. $17.95

110 NATURE HOT SPOTS IN ONTARIO Informative introduction to some of the province’s best-kept secrets. A fresh look at destinations that have made Ontario famous. If you’re looking for a day trip or a weekend getaway, this book will appeal to you. $29.95

CANADA’S SLOW COOKER WINNERS Here’s a collection of 300 easy slow cooker recipes developed with busy schedules and convenience in mind. Whether you’re cooking for two or serving a crowd, this book makes easy work of creating delectable meals. $27.95

THE OLD FARMER’S 2023 ALMANAC This 231st edition aims once again to fulfill your expectations with its fun facts and forecasts.

Also includes news, novelties and a little nonsense to carry you through another year. $9.99

CANADA FOR KIDS CANADA’S SLOW COOKER WINNERS CANOECRAFT ONTARIO’S GHOST TOWN HERITAGE 110 NATURE HOT SPOTS IN ONTARIO THE OLD FARMER’S 2023 ALMANAC 150 BEST GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC BIGGEST & BEST OF CAN

CANOECRAFT Ever dream about building your own woodstrip canoe?

Ted Moores gives comprehensive plans and tips on how to make it work. $22.95

ONTARIO’S GHOST TOWN HERITAGE Ron Brown, chronicler of Ontario’s history, tells the tales of ghost towns across the province including western Ontario communities like Sunshine, St. Joseph, Rogerville, Newbridge and Balaclava. $24.95

150 BEST GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES Make grilled cheese sandwiches into an exciting meal with combinations of different cheeses and additional ingredients, both meats and meatless.

Recipes for breakfasts and brunches, appetizers, even desserts. $24.95

Canadian Geographic BIGGEST AND BEST OF CANADA This patriotic salute to Canada’s superlatives offers more than 300 facts and photographs celebrating our firsts, records, achievements and spectacular geography. $24.95

Qty.

$17.95 $27.95 $22.95 $24.95 $29.95 $9.99 $24.95 $24.95

Total

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The Rural Voice Magazine PO Box 429 405 Queen St., Blyth, ON N0M 1H0 519-523-4311

 House & Barn Painting

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

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Contact your local Shur-Gain dealer for more information HENSALL CO-OP Londesborough 519-523-9606 / 800-265-9000 Zurich

HOLSTEIN FEED MILL (2015) LTD.

MCBRAYNE FEEDS & NEEDS LTD.

THE HITCHING POST (2019) LTD.

TROUW NUTRITION CANADA INC.

Holstein 519-334-3424

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519-236-7155 / 800-565-7155 Ripley 519-395-5955 / 855-895-5955 Ailsa Craig 519-232-4449

St Marys 519-284-2360

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