The Rural Voice - March, 2022

Rural Voice

The

March 2022

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

SHEEP MILK IDEAL FOR CHEESE New barn and sheep flock expansion at Ewe-Nique Dairy makes more milk for on-farm cheese store

SECRET PEST-CONTROL WEAPON Bat conservation touted as potential money-saver for farmers

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Contents The

Rural Voice THE MAGAZINE OF AGRICULTURAL LIFE

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

30

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

19 Columns Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Keith Roulston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Kate Procter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Jeffrey Carter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Mabel’s Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Agrilaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Woodlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Departments Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Ruralite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 News & Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Business Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

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

36 MARCH 2022 • Cover Photo Geneva Martin from Ewe-Nique Dairy Photo by Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

• Deadlines: April Issue – March 8 May Issue – April 12

19 Ewe-Nique Dairy The Martins raise sheep to make cheese and provide work for all their children

23 Touring the Maple Bush Getting outside is part of the purpose at Blyth Creek Maple Farm

27 Syrup and Supplies The Klein family have been tapping trees for decades and sell the equipment needed to make syrup

30 The Bat Guy Allan Kempert both catches and advocates for the conservation of bats to control pests

Contributing writers: Keith Roulston, Kate Procter, Jeffrey Carter, Rhea Hamilton Seeger, Arnold Mathers, Donna Lacey, Melisa Luymes, Anne Mann, Nancy Fisher, Carolyn Crawford, Bonnie Sitter, Jeff Tribe, Amanda Brodhagen and Hetty Stuart Mailed by: McLaren Press Graphics, Bracebridge, ON Advertising Sales: Shelley Kroes rvads@northhuron.on.ca Production co-ordinator & Telemarketing: Joan Caldwell 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.

36 Banker turned Gardener Family and holistic living ideals helped Jim Toth transition from office to field

40 Brownie Remake Recreating a recipe from childhood takes trial and error

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.

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ORTH URON

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A division of North Huron Publishing Company Inc.

Feedback

Farm to Table FARM TO CHEF Cooking Through The Seasons Chef Lynn Crawford celebrates the bounty of the seasons with over 140 recipes featuring farm-fresh produce for every occasion. $40.00 Shipping and GST apply Call to order your copy 519-523-4311

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

A poem to kill hawthorn trees

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The Editor, I enjoyed Donna Lacey’s woodlot article in the January issue of The Rural Voice about thorn trees.

We called them hawthorns and had a poem: cut them in May, they will come the next day; cut them in June, they will come again soon; cut them in July, they will likely die.

Now I will try Garlon. Thank you.

– A. Riehl, Desboro, ON

Barn fires are awe-ful The Editor, The Rural Voice is possibly the most read of farm publications that we receive. Thank you for the variety of columns, and a forum for some who may not be involved in main-stream agriculture.

The January issue prompts me to write particularly because of three columns.

Lisa Boostoppel-Pot’s editorial on The Barn Fire particularly struck a chord, as in December we had the (mis)fortune to be first on the scene of a neighbour’s fire, filling the often-heard role of the passersby who wakes the family to the event in their yard, this time close to the house where five people were sleeping. Fire is awe-ful. It was a misfortune for us, who witnessed the destruction and tried to help the family, but we were fortunate in being able to meet the demands of the moment. We sympathize with your brother and his family, with

Feedback others whose fires have been reported recently in local media, and with those who are helping to support the people who have had these terrible, life-impacting losses.

Rhea Hamilton Seeger’s columns are always amongst the first I read.

Thank you for this sentence: “There is a certain detrimental tidiness going on.” It’s perfect! We’ll all keep trying to spread that message, but I will happily borrow that quote, which sums up much.

Unfortunately, the viewpoint is not popular, and I often have to bite my tongue when confronted with “detrimental tidiness”.

I was interested in the letter that asked for advice re: buckthorn. Then I almost missed that Donna Lacey’s Woodlots article did cover the subject and thanked the reader for the suggestion. I appreciate the information and practical advice on dealing with this invasive tree. Just as I was thinking that the job seems impossible, Lacey concluded by reminding us that each stem killed has helped in the fight. Good reminder!

There were other very interesting articles in the January edition, so thanks to all – we look forward to the next. ◊ – Katherine Grieve, Embro, ON

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Within Ontario’s farm community, bat conservation gets “very little traction” among farmers, “even among organic growers.” ~ Allan Kempert, owner of BatGuy.org who humanely removes bats from dwellings and encourages farmers to install bat houses Might as well joke about it

• If you have to wear both a mask and glasses, you’re entitled to condensation.

• When you said life would get back to normal after June...

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• I ran out of toilet paper and have to start using old newspapers Times are rough

• Due to the quarantine, I’ll only be telling inside jokes.

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• Doesn’t expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?

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•

Neil’s One-Liners (Wisdom and humour from the McGavin files)

• If you try and please everybody, nobody will like it.

Division

•

With flags waving, the Huron County Freedom Convoy headed to Wingham on February 5 in a visually impactful photo showing how clearly some people have taken sides on the COVID-19 vaccine and government mandates. ~Photo submitted

• Nobody raises his reputation by lowering others

March 2022 5

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

Using the strength of others When I was in Haiti a few years back, I rode from the airport to our compound on top of the luggage in the back of an open, lumbering truck.

It was madness, really. No one seemed to follow any road rules there and I later learned when it came to running the roads, the bigger the better.

However much it seemed that big trucks ruled, it was the dirt bikes that could out-maneuvre everyone and squeeze their way through.

It makes me think of the big trucks parking in our nation’s capital.

In one way, I think it’s quite something that compared to our rioting neighbours to the South, this group of Canadians found a way to make a statement without looting and violence.

Truckers have found their strength by using their size to make a statement.

It’s ingenious really.

It could also be seen as bully tactics.

While I do believe it’s time we learn to live with this virus, I am not a fan of how truckers have gone about trying to force the hand of government. I think they are perpetuating the very economic disturbance they are rallying against and using bully strength to force an issue that is not quite ready to be resolved.

We are ALL learning about this virus, from epidemiologists, to scientists to laymen. It’s new. It’s smart. It’s changeable. I am 100 per cent vaccinated and 100 per cent on board with being cautious and careful against this mutating threat. I can wear masks and distance a little longer to make sure hospitals aren’t overwhelmed and our vulnerable populations are protected.

To me, that is also freedom.

Freedom to think of the collective, 6 The Rural Voice

not just my own self. I wasn’t super keen on having someone stick a needle of a new substance in my body either but I did it for my parents, who have health issues. I did it for all the little kids who are unvaccinated, the elderly with health issues and everyone in between.

So. There. Mine is just one tiny voice adding to the cacophony of opinions floating across my social media, office desk and the news.

We are all, I believe, finding our way through these challenging times, much like dirt bikes weaving through the crowded streets of Haiti.

Big trucks may think they own the streets but everyone has a path to take as we journey together to survive this virus.

••• Related, sort of, is the second part of this column. One wise friend told me once, when I was struggling, to “use the strength of others.”

This can be interpreted in many ways but I use it for learning.

Recently, I wanted to create a “wow” starter for a meal I was preparing for guests. Realizing my limitations, I turned to my nephew, Nathan Verburg, who is head chef at a restaurant in Kitchener.

He told me to bring mushrooms, a baguette, a bag of milk, lemons, garlic and a red onion.

From those basic ingredients, he showed me to make Mushroom Tartine with homemade ricotta cheese, lemon-infused mayonnaise and pickled onions (first time I’ve used coriander and fennel together). I didn’t even know you could make homemade ricotta cheese!

He taught me to slice green onions (shallots) in thin strips and dunk

them in ice water so they curl into a gorgeous garnish. So cool!

We ended up feasting on these delectable starters, tasting layer after layer of flavour. With this lesson and practice, I earned the skill and confidence to serve the starter for my meal.

I could have followed a recipe. I could have watched a YouTube video. Instead, I got to spend time with my nephew, learn new skills, laugh in the kitchen and honour his gifts at cooking.

These are the things that sustain me when that vocal storm gets too loud and senseless. Connections.

Family. Fun. Food!

I hope they do for you too, whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated. Whether you support the trucker-based blockade or don’t.

In that wish, I find my peace, and acknowledge that we all breathe the same air on this planet and share all the nasty viruses that float, unseen, between us. We share this road, even when our opinions differ. ◊

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March 2022 7

Keith Roulston Keith is former publisher of The Rural Voice.

He lives near Blyth, ON.

Fewer farmers/ more food It was while reading fellow columnist Jeff Carter’s column in last month’s issue of The Rural Voice that the subject for this column arose.

Jeff was writing about an on-line conference held by Oxford University about the demonstrations

by Indian farmers who were fighting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort to “modernize” agriculture by basically undermining millions of food producers who didn’t meet his idea of how modern farmers should behave.

The line that jumped out at me was by Oxford University economist Pritam Singh: “Agriculture is not about the past. Agriculture is about the future, Protecting agriculture is

very important in the viewpoint of protecting planet earth.”

The production of food to feed humankind is one of the few throughlines of the human story. We all need to eat. It was only when the producers of food began to grow or hunt more food than they needed for themselves that some people, who never enjoyed working with the dirt or dirty animals anyway, were able to to earn a living in other ways.

Little by little, with the help of new tools and greater knowledge of the needs of plants and animals, some children of farm families were able to free up their brothers and sisters to take up urban jobs: from millers to grind wheat or the flour for urbanites to priests and doctors.

Inventors came up with boats to transport food surpluses farther and inventions like the steam-powered tractor to increase the productivity of farmers still further.

For the last century, fewer producers of food were needed to feed more urbanites than ever before.

Cities have grown, and spread, even as the number of people living on

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rural concessions has dropped.

Despite the Canadian population quadrupling in the last century, we are still the fifth largest exporter of food in the world.

But though so many farm daughters and sons now work at universities and large companies that provide knowledge and new inventions that allow more food to be produced on the same land base than ever before, this isn’t good enough for some urbanites. For them, the whole idea of plants growing in dirt and animals being eaten by humans or producing milk, cheese, butter or eggs is simply too old-fashioned for our modern world.

And so I keep reading stories about how, in the future, food will be grown hydroponically on 50-storey buildings, not in dirt in the countryside. We’ll have cheese that’s made from plants and margarine instead of butter, so we won’t need animal agriculture. It’s all so exciting because it’s new and different.

And, of course, it’s more visible to the urbanite and the urban media than the thousands of food-growers who live outside of cities. Even those who have cottages on lakes that have them driving through farmland to reach, find it far more comforting to buy from smaller producers at farmers’ markets – while at the same time not dealing with the majority of farmers who produce food that leaves their farms by the truckload.

Given the price of urban real estate and the cost of building that has put the price of urban real estate beyond the reach of young urbanites, it’s hard to see how growing food in urban areas makes more sense, economically, than growing it in a field. Still, it re-emphasizes how important it is for people who live in cities to know where their food comes from.

As the urban population has grown, generation after generation, the knowledge of how food is produced gets lost. There are those in farming areas who understand this is a problem and that they need to build information bridges between the rural people who grow food and urbanites.

Let’s not get to India’s situation where the growers of food are seen as too old-fashioned to matter.◊

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

Should truckers be allowed to define “freedom” for all?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. While that old saying may not seem very appropriate during a pandemic when everything seems different, human nature does appear to be very much the same.

As I write this, everyone is very tired of living through a pandemic.

Passions are running high, and everyone, regardless of their position, is claiming the moral high ground.

Protests are fuelling protests, blockades are stopping businesses that are finally allowed to open, the City of Ottawa has even declared a state of emergency.

Ottawa police estimate there were between 5,000 and 18,000 protesters downtown on the first weekend of the protest, meanwhile during the first week of the protest, 323,239 people in Canada were vaccinated. In total, as of today, 30,373,364 Canadians have been vaccinated, (https://covid19tracker.ca/vaccination tracker.html). If you compare those two numbers, the number of protesters is less than half a percent of the people who have said yes to the vaccine. Should that number of people be allowed to define “freedom” for all?

Have we as a society decided that “freedom” means you are allowed to bully innocent people because you have a big truck? Or give you permission to disrespect the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or make Terry Fox into someone he never was?

Does “freedom” mean you have permission to target exhausted health care workers? It is difficult, in these dark winter days, not to feel some discouragement about all of that.

10 The Rural Voice

Pandemics are not new. I came across an interesting news story in between all the coverage of the protest. Some people who were working on demolishing a church in New Brunswick found part of an old newspaper from 1885. “The clipping details a push to get Montreal school children vaccinated against smallpox at a time when vaccine mandates were sparking violent riots, despite the disease killing thousands in Quebec.” In spite of the fact that the smallpox outbreak in Montreal killed 3,259 people in the city alone, the mandate made by the Board of Health led to a “howling mob” surrounding and destroying the East End Branch Health Office’s building. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new -brunswick/newspaper-smallpox1885-vaccine-1.6335345 John Geddes writes about the same event in Maclean’s magazine.

It is interesting to note that the city, divided by French and English, was also divided in their acceptance of the vaccine. The largely Englishspeaking west end of the city rushed to get the vaccine, which had been discovered 90 years before by Edward Jenner, who published work about vaccinating against smallpox in England. The French-Canadians in the east end resisted and “suffered 90 per cent of the deaths, overwhelmingly among children under 10.” Then, as now, the media played a role in this divide. “The French press, unconvinced that smallpox was serious, poured scorn on sensation-seeking English papers.”

Sound familiar? https://www.macleans.ca/society/heal th/when-the-plague-won-a-historyof-vaccine-hesitancy.

People in the early 1800s had some room for fear of vaccines – the concept being very new at the time.

The History of Vaccines provides WHO-verified information about vaccines through the ages. In England, Edward Jenner used cowpox to show that he could protect a child from smallpox if he scratched the child and infected the child with lymph from a cowpox blister. People at the time protested - using sanitary, religious, scientific, and political reasons.

“Some objectors, including the local clergy, believed that the vaccine was ‘unchristian’ because it came from an animal. For other antivaccinators, their discontent with the smallpox vaccine reflected their general distrust in medicine and in Jenner’s ideas about disease and disease spread.”

“Lastly, many people objected to vaccination because they believed it violated their personal liberty, a tension that worsened as the government developed mandatory vaccine policies.”

Two Vaccination Acts, one issued in 1853 and a second issued in 1867 made it mandatory to vaccinate children under the age of 14, with penalties imposed for those who refused. “The laws were met with immediate resistance from citizens who demanded the right to control their bodies and those of their children,” https://www.historyof vaccines.org/index.php/content/articl es/history-anti-vaccinationmovements.

The anti-vaccination movement was alive and well in the United States as well, almost 100 years later.

In 1902, Cambridge, Massachusetts board of health ordered all city residents be vaccinated against smallpox. Henning Jacobson refused and his battle went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the Court found in 1905 in the state’s favour, ruling “that the state could enact compulsory laws to protect the public in the event of a communicable disease. This was the first U.S. Supreme Court case concerning the power of states in public health law.” https://www.historyofvaccines.org /index.php/content/articles/historyanti-vaccination-movements.

So here we are – 200 years from the time someone first scratched a kid and infected them on purpose in order to save their life. Our vaccines, the testing, and the resources spent on developing them have changed in ways we can’t even imagine. But as people, we are still the same. A certain percentage of us will accept the science behind the vaccines while a certain percentage will resist – believing that personal freedom

Kate Procter trumps whatever measure is being imposed by a higher power. Religion, media, and politics still play a role in guiding the direction of these discussions.

But there is reason for optimism.

We no longer fear smallpox in spite of those who demanded the right to choose to let their children die from it. Jenner’s vision was finally realized when smallpox was considered wiped out worldwide in 1980 because of an unprecedented immunization campaign

(mayoclinic.org). Its eradication is considered to be the biggest achievement in international public health (cdc.gov). For some reason, we still have nurses, doctors, and caregivers, both paid and unpaid,who keep turning up and caring for all – regardless of the patient’s beliefs or public opinion. People of all descriptions are showing up and doing their jobs, in spite of the complications Covid brings – truckers,farmers, retail workers, janitors, teachers, restaurant servers,

police officers, builders, plumbers, electricians, all the folks delivering our every desire ... the list is endless.

It works – the supply chain works, our communities work, our education and health systems work, when everyone pulls together.

Everyone is tired of living in a pandemic. Thankfully, bringing an end to it will come from doing what the majority of people are doing: following health protocols, caring for their neighbours, and getting vaccinated. ◊

March 2022 11

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

Our breeches are down ... and they shouldn’t be Some months ago, well before civil disobedience had sprung up across the nation, we were short of gas on our way home to Dresden along Highway 401. We might have continued on but that yellow warning light suggested a stop at Moraviantown was in order.

The station attendant was behind plexiglass enclosed in a secure booth with a small sliding door through which transactions could take place. I noticed, too, a hand-painted sign nearby advertising what I could only imagine was cannabis, with the words “freakin’ high” or some such phrase.

I only needed gas, though.

Back in the car and starting to roll – the wheels – the attendant, equipped with a loud speaker, issued a warning. I could not quite make his words, so I stepped out. It turned out that the little door to which the gas cap is accessed was open.

I looked toward the booth, used my carrying voice, and uttered the words, “Good. I thought my pants were down around my ankles.”

The resulting guffaw from the fellow, whom I assumed was a member of the Delaware First Nation, was genuine. I could only be pleased at hearing it.

The Moravians, or perhaps more correctly the Delaware or Leni Lenape, have a long history in Southwestern Ontario, dating back 1792 when the place was still known as Upper Canada. Their legacy has long been associated with Moravian missionaries of European descent who accompanied them from their Atlantic coast homeland across much of Northeastern America as the relative newcomers to this land and perhaps even some of their indigenous brethren did their best to have them wiped from the face of the earth.

Even the shield of British rule was not enough to provide a safe haven.

During the War of 1812 American forces burnt their thriving little settlement to the ground and further injustices would follow.

It was a transitional time. People were on the move and not just indigenous peoples. Americans, who by then had become a distinct society, were making their way to Upper and Lower Canada. There were also settlers from the British

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Isles arriving in increasing numbers.

Most were of modest means but others saw the colonies as a place where the rule of the British elite could be extended.

That type of governance, based on nepotism, was embodied by a group known as The Family Compact in Upper Canada and only lasted a few decades. The Rebellion of 1837-38 resulted, an inept affair but not without bloodshed. More than 300 died, mostly rebels, in Lower Canada. The same might have occurred in what is now Toronto had the several hundred, armed men marching down Yonge Street not fled in confusion after a short exchange of gunfire with a smaller group of militias loyal to the crown.

Discontent is again simmering in what is now still referred to as the Dominion of Canada, a curious place of privilege layered upon division.

The words author Salman Rushdie come to mind, “It shouldn’t be this way.”

Privilege, in this era, is often construed as somehow being connected to things like race, gender and sexual orientation and automatically assigned, whereas the concept is merely a human construct, a tool that when applied intelligently or otherwise, simply divides.

The civil disobedience, some might call it the Rebellion of 2022, is about no single issue, something the leadership of this country – regardless of stripe – has yet to acknowledge, preferring instead to cling to their false narrative. Yes, it’s true, many of the protesters are unvaccinated but many are fully vaccinated, a point that was brought to the forefront – of all places – by the Al Jazeera news network.

There are issues more pressing than the pandemic: the lack of transparency in governance, the failure to address in any substantive way the environmental crisis, hunger, homelessness, the rural-urban divide, seniors held captive in retirement homes, the disintegration of a health care system focused on profit and, yes, the continued failure to fully engage the indigenous communities in this nation, this nation of privilege.

It shouldn’t be this way. ◊

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

“I think I’ll work on the tractor this afternoon – make sure it’s ready for planting season,” Dave Winston mentioned to the others when they settled in at Mabel’s Grill for the morning coffee session the other day.

“You’re gung ho, aren’t you,” said Cliff Murray. “I figure preparing for planting can wait until it’s a little warmer so my fingers aren’t cold.”

“What can I get you boys,” Molly Whiteside asked as she approached their table, pulling out her order pad.

“Mabel has a special on pancakes since she likes making them and they weren’t exactly a ‘hot’ item on her takeout menu when things were closed down.”

“I’ll take my usual bacon and eggs,” said George Mackenzie. The others also ordered their usuals.

“Glad to hear you’re so

adventurous,” grumbled Molly, putting away her pad.

“I hadn’t realized how much I liked these climate-change winters until we had an old-fashioned winter this year,” said Cliff.

“Ha!” said George. “Everybody claims the climate is changing, then we get a winter like this that brings the average down and they grumble about the cold!”

“Well it must be great for all those people who have snowmobiles,” said Dave. “I’ve been hearing people roaring along the trail behind our place day and night for months.”

“Well it’s got to be better for them after the last couple of years. I mean back in my day we paid $4,000 for a snowmobile and used it from November until March. Now they get to use theirs far less and they pay – what, $8,000 or $9,000 for it?” said George.

“Uh, you’re just a little behind the times,” said Dave. “My brother-inlaw from Guelph paid over $13,000 for his machine – plus insurance, plus trail permit!”

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want to be out in the cold riding a snowmobile saves me a lot of money!”

“You talking about snowmobilers?” asked Molly as she delivered the guys’ plates. “I gotta say those guys have helped save Mabel’s bacon. They tip well, too!” she said pointedly to George.

“Well they make my new extravagance of getting a subscription TV channel look cheap by comparison,” said Cliff.

“I had to let my subscription drop when I was living on EI, without tips!” grumbled Molly.

“Okay, you made your point.

We’ll leave tips!” said Dave.

“I’m hoping for more than a fuzzcovered dime from the bottom of your pocket,” said Molly as she headed back to the kitchen.

“Maybe eating in your machinery shed wasn’t so bad after all,” smirked Cliff.

“So how come you finally broke down and subscribed to one of the streaming services?” wondered Dave.

“Well it just got too depressing listening to the news!” replied Cliff.

“All they ever seemed to cover was bad news and I finally couldn’t take it any more. I had to watch something else!”

“You could have got your machinery ready for spring like me,” said Dave.

“I enjoy escaping the cold weather while I can,” said Cliff.

“So what are you watching on your subscription service?” wondered George.

“Well there are some of the movies and series they make especially for the streaming service that are okay but I gotta admit I kind of like the old TV series they have on there,” said Cliff.

“Didn’t you watch them when they were on regular TV?” wondered Dave.

“Not some of them,” said Cliff.

“Back then they were often on when I was out harvesting corn or helping a sheep give birth,” said Cliff.

“You know, sometimes I wish they had channels that showed old newscasts,” said George. “Then you could see that sometimes things you thought were so important way back when hardly matter anymore.”◊

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March 2022 15

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

about the next 40 years, across Canada, over 2.2 million acres were converted from farmland to concrete (https://bit.ly/3Auhbkf ) in a fog of auto-piloted growth and unchecked aspirations for excess living space.

In John Ibbitson’s Globe and Mail article “There may be an answer to the housing crisis - Let cities sprawl” he wrongly assumes that “increased agricultural productivity compensates for land taken out of use for housing.” There is a growing awareness among agriculturalists that as the climate shifts with a subsequent increase in heat waves, droughts, fires, floods and storms, farm yield stability is becoming more precarious. Up to 1/3 of food production is expected to be outside the safe climate space within 60 years, especially in Asia with high populations (https://bit.ly/3n VXUTK).

The market for Canadian food will grow and Canadian farmland will increasingly become a global oasis. It is our reasonable service to protect it.

Yields will drop when climate

We need all the prime farmland we can preserve

I

n the early 1970s, I was driving cautiously through a most unseasonable fog on the 401 as I returned home for Christmas.

Suddenly a sign appeared declaring that I was in the city of Cambridge.

My first reaction was that I was lost and then I pondered the possibility of a new city sprouting within a year. I later learned about the amalgamation of Preston, Galt and Hespeler. In

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perturbations cause local weather variations of too much or too little moisture, at the wrong times or temperatures that are too high or too low, at the wrong times. The Holocene was a 10 – 11 millennia epoch of unusually benign climatic conditions for agriculture. Now that we have tumbled into the rabbit hole of the Anthropocene, crop production realities will shift.

In the four decades prior to 2007, applications of synthetic fertilizer increased five to seven times, while global food production only doubled (https://bit.ly/3rHkP6g). Nitrogen (N) fertilizer use, the main driver of high yields, has gone up at least eight times since 1960. Some argue that about half the global population depends on N fertilizer for food. In the last few months natural gas prices have escalated (https://bit.ly/3IBXidS). Natural gas is the source of hydrogen to manufacture N fertilizer with added costs of energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to achieve high temperatures and pressure for the process.

Fritz Haber discovered how to make N fertilizer in a lab in 1908 and his buddy Carl Bosch scaled it up a few years later to fertilize German crops in WWI. Since then, many farmers around the globe have been dependent on it. N fertilizer was the engine of the Green Revolution in the 1960s. By 2015, Steffen and his colleagues demonstrated that within a century humans raced toward and then crossed the planetary boundary into the high-risk zone of excess reactive N in our biosphere (https://bit.ly/3fYGaCN ).

Given increasing economic, energy and GHG costs to manufacture N fertilizer and the high-risk of continuing to flood our biosphere with nitrate, nitrous oxide and ammonia, humans should not rely on the elixir of N fertilizer to increase agricultural productivity even more.

Furthermore, it is not ecologically nor economically responsible to “let developers flood the market with cheap housing and to lay down the highways – such as the 413 and

Bradford Bypass” as Ibbitson proposes. Prime agricultural land is the most resilient to climatic disruptions and the most dependable for maintaining at least some production under extreme conditions.

We need all the prime farmland we can preserve, including in areas surrounding the main urban centres in Canada.

The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario is clear about their position. “Defined prime agricultural areas are where development should not occur.” Similarly, “the Ontario Federation of Agriculture believes that the Ontario government should designate all lands in Ontario that are outside of current urban boundaries as Greenbelt.” According to Ontario Farmland Trust, Ontario loses 175 acres of farmland and productive agricultural soil every day. Stop already! We’re not in the Holocene anymore.

Even if global population peaks at 9.7 billion people in 2064 and declines to 6.9 billion by 2100 (https://bit.ly/3fS0NR4 ), 1 billion less than today, every acre of prime agricultural land will be needed. To prudently prepare for wonky weather and swings in yields, with fewer fossil fuel inputs, the necessity of dependable agricultural land will become increasingly apparent.

After land is sealed by construction, its roles of providing oxygen, clean water, food, resilience based on biodiversity and sequestering carbon will cease. As creatures of Earth, we have strained her forgiving sustenance as far as we dare. ◊

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Dairy

Consumers just need to sample it Customers are wary of sheep cheese but once they try it, they love it say the Martin family, owners of Ewe-Nique Dairy • By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

S

heep farming is a family affair at Ewe-Nique Dairy owned by Mark and Rosena Martin and has grown with a new barn and cheese store so that each of their six children could have work on the family farm.

“Milking sheep is labour-intensive but family friendly,” says Rosena, before showing the cheese store, a separate room inside the new sheep barn. She then heads out to go

quilting with her friends in the Mennonite community near Drayton in Wellington County. Daughter Geneva is home because she is responsible for the lambs while Connor is schooled at home and is in charge of the feeding.

Four other children — Kurtis, Kendra, Delmar and Heather — also have specific roles on the farm while also working off-farm or going to school.

There’s a lot going on at Mark Martin Dairy Sheep farm, as it is formally called. The new barn is something to see. I haven’t been in a new dairy sheep barn before and it looks much like a dairy cow barn but with smaller animals, of course. It’s very clean and since it’s lambing time, a large pen has been divided into many lambing pens filled with day-old lambs.

They stay with the ewes for a day or two before being transferred to the heated lambing room. The little lambs are allowed to get a little hungry before being introduced to the nipple feeder.

Some catch on easily and others, well, they need to get a little hungrier before they latch on. In the end, all the lambs soon adapt and wag their little tails at the feeding station.

Across from the lamb room is the parlour and further down the alleyway is the old barn where the dry ewes live until it’s time for lambing. This barn is steamy on a cold winter day with a herd of beef cattle in it as well. Turkeys are also raised on this farm as part of a wide-spread operation involving an additional partnership with Martin’s brothers, who share machinery.

The sheep, however, came about 11 years ago after discussions with Rosena’s sister’s family, who were also dairy sheep producers.” She said there was a need for more sheep milk in the market and we thought our experience Mark and Rosena Martin expanded their dairy sheep herd so that each of their six with pigs would help,” said Martin. children would have work and leadership opportunities on the farm. Daughter Both commodities require large Geneva (front, right) is in charge of the lambing which was well underway in numbers and similar record keeping in January while son Connor is responsible for feeding in the new, light and spacious terms of breeding and production. barn on their Drayton‐area farm.

When the sheep arrived, the Martins

March 2022 19

discovered sheep were more friendly than pigs and would follow and connect with the family. Plus, sheep are much cleaner, lending themselves to a more beautiful work environment which is something that was appealing to the whole family.

Originally, the sheep were housed in the old cattle barn or hay shed but the family realized they wanted to expand this side of the farm business. Replacements were kept from the original 120 head of milking sheep that came from Alberta with the goal to reach 250 milking sheep, for a total herd number of around 400. “We feel at that point, we can make the dairy

Clockwise in the Martin barn: Connor catches up on paperwork in the barn office; Mark sweeps in feed for the ewes in the new barn; Rosena shows a brick of sheep cheese they sell under the Ewe‐Nique cheese label; Rosena trains lambs on the milk feeder in the lambing room.

20 The Rural Voice

sheep operation a viable business for sort and they require fresh feed As the herd expanded and there the next generation,” said Martin. which is why Martin likes to keep his was more milk, the family decided to Any larger, and the family would beef herd. “With the cattle, I can feed market their own cheese brand under require additional labour. out of the silo faster and keep the the Ewe-Nique label. They partner This required more space and feed fresh,” he said. with Cleon Shantz, owner of the St. plans for a new barn Clement’s Goat Dairy who handwere drawn. Martin crafts cheese in small batches. The admits he has a Martins then sell it at their own weakness for wood on-farm store as well as 30 and incorporated it different stores in southern into the architecture, Ontario. They market four which has resulted in varieties — white cheddar, orange a simple but beautiful cheddar, chive cheddar blend and barn. The barn is a cheddar Italian blend. based on the Wolfe “There’s a good response to the design, which is cheese. The only issue is getting actually a cow dairy people to taste the product for the barn model which first time. Many times they are was remodeled for apprehensive because they do not sheep. Long pens know what it is,” said Martin. The with swinging gates family wants to offer storefront make moving animals samples but that is not feasible and cleaning pens during a pandemic. easy. The sheep have Ultimately, the family really to travel down an enjoys both the product and the alleyway to reach the animals themselves. “Our goal is milking parlour and a The new barn is light, airy and clean at Mark Martin Dairy to make dairy sheep farming a feeding of pellets in Sheep Farm near Drayton where the Martin family milks profitable industry,” said Martin, the parlour has them sheep for sale to Sapota and to create their own cheese while promoting their own sheep running for their treat brand, Ewe‐Nique Dairy. cheese brand. ◊ at the twice-a-day milkings.

The Martins milk two breeds of Celebrating Over 75 Years sheep — East Friesian and Lacaune which are crossbred as well. The top performing animals get artificially inseminated with semen from France.

The milk is sold by contract and the Martins are part of a larger circle of dairy sheep producers that have been shipping to Saputo Inc. for over 10 years now. A committee from this group meets with Saputo on a monthly basis to maintain a strong partnership and regulate future expansion of the sheep dairy within their group. They have a waiting list of farmers wanting to join the informal collective. Much of the sheep milk is made into yogurt, feta cheese and sheep cheese. Sheep milk is very creamy with a seven per cent DRILLED WELLS BORED WELLS milk fat content and 5.5 per cent protein content. “It’s naturally IRRIGATION WELLS WATER GUARANTEED sweet,” said Martin, which makes up Call us FIRST for great deals on new wells & pump systems for lack of volume as sheep produce one to three litres of milk a day.

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Maple Syrup

Promoting family time outdoors Making maple syrup is sweet but the Bachert family encourages kids to taste sap, saw logs and muck in the mud during their tours into the bush

F

aith, family, farmland: a perfect trio to which both Steve and Val Bachert of Blyth Creek Maple Farm have dedicated themselves fully. And by farmland, in particular, there are the 1,000 or so maple trees that produce the sugary goodness that they harvest and process each spring: maple sap.

A busy couple, Val is a part-time nurse, and Steve owns and operates a fencing company, in addition to farming and making maple syrup. Their children are involved too Courtney has done a great job working on the website, photos, and marketing while Nathan and his wife Sarah are involved in the day-to-day process of work. When Steve’s father owned the farm 59 years ago, he dabbled in harvesting maple sap, and Steve furthered his work by producing the syrup commercially ten years ago.

“The bush where sap is harvested is gravelbottomed, and the trees grow lower in the area,” explains Steve. “The syrup is more amber and golden in colour, and the flavour is more distinctly maple, a flavour that is stronger than it is sweet.”

We taste the various samples of smooth goodness and nod in agreement. His eyes twinkle, as he declares, “Granite bedrock makes the most winning syrup.” We quaff another sample and keep agreeing — the stuff is absolutely delicious!

Restrictions placed upon the farm due to COVID-19 allowed only about a third of guests to come through the farm and the tour. “But, it was still better than the first year that Covid became a reality, right at the opening of the season. That year, we had less than 100 guests,” he states matter-of-factly.

The idea to tap trees and sell maple syrup was hatched 10 years ago, and a couple of years later, Steve hooked the wagon to his tractor and drove to the sugar bush with students from a few local schools, to check out the sugar-making process. In speaking to Steve, there is an instant connection of joy when he speaks of the kids on his tours. His previous experience with winery tours enabled him to easily transition to maple syrup tours: Steve is a natural speaker who makes life-long friends with his patrons.

“We promote family, providing an outside experience to discover our roots,” he says. “We show how sap was collected by pioneers and how it was boiled down, right in the back bush. The kids are allowed to taste the sap, attempt bow and Steve and Val Bachert keep upgrading and expanding their maple arrow target shooting, try their hand at sawing a syrup business at Blyth Creek Maple Farm which recently included a reverse osmosis system to remove water from the sap prior to boiling. log, muck around in the mud… mostly, they are city kids who have not done much of these They love doing tours on the farm, as pandemic restrictions allow, and believe being in the woods helps students — and themselves — think • By Hetty Stuart • better.

March 2022 23

activities. It is time to stop pressing buttons with thumbs, and engage in some normal play, be in tune with nature, sit back and smell the woods.

It helps them to think better….”

Whether Steve is prodding the students’ minds to think about where their food comes from, sloshing

and a balsamic hint of flavour. “The possibilities are endless with this newer syrup – salmon, baked beans, ginger cookies,” states Val proudly.

She is the right-hand person, managing the cafe, serving patrons as they sit in the sunshine, warming toes at an open fire-pit.

Val sells much of their syrup, fudge, and other sweet savoury treats in their little sweet shop which is a renovated grain bin-turned Sugar Shack, where a seating area has been opened for inclement weather. Along with her chef, they concoct such delicacies as maple milkshakes, as well as sausages, waffles and pancakes from scratch, all served with their healthy maple syrup.

Not only is the caramel-like syrup delicious, but pure maple syrup has also become known as a superfood.

The great health benefits that come in maple syrup are antioxidants and other nutrients such as riboflavin, zinc, magnesium, calcium and potassium.

Beyond the cafe is a sandy horseshoe pit where kids can blow off some steam. There is usually a newborn lamb to see in the barns as well. Patrons come from as far away as Toronto, St. Catharines, and Windsor. “We give them as much opportunity as possible to be outside and relax. We give them permission,” says Steve.

Amazingly, 85 percent of the world’s maple syrup is produced right here in Canada. The Indigenous poeple had first discovered maple sap, and began to tap and boil it into syrup. The sap that comes from a tree is a watery substance with about two percent sugar content. It takes 40 litres of sap to go through the process of boiling down to make one litre of maple syrup. The sugar The Bachert family run the maple syrup business as a family with parents Steve and Val and grown content is finished within children, Courtney and Nathan (top photo) all playing a role in the success of the business. A new one or two degrees of the reverse osmosis system (above, right) has improved their productivity and while maple syrup required 66.6 Brix sugar molecules, which is the (above, left) is the focus on their business, they are also making syrup out of birch tree sap.

24 The Rural Voice

through the mud with them, or using his time to speak into their souls about real life issues, Steve is always busy – always thinking about his next steps and new projects. Nathan, the next generation, has been delving into making birch syrup, a savoury dark sap with a deep molasses taste

industry standard. Each tree will provide approximately one litre of maple syrup per tap.

Steve says of last year’s harvest: “It was the worst yield ever last year — we needed a 10 degree swing in temperature for a good run — five degrees above zero, and five degrees below. That is perfect conditions to obtain the ratio for good syrup. But, with the exceptionally early, warm spring, the season was short.”

However Steve has a lot more optimism for the future. “We are building progressively. Every year there is something more to add to the process. Last year, we bought a reverse osmosis system, which helps to get rid of 40 percent of the water in the sap. That’s huge,” he admits.

“Before the reverse osmosis equipment, the evaporator was used to boil down the sap. That would require up to 45 cords of wood, as opposed to 18 now, and a lot more time. The maple syrup then goes through a filter press and into the bottler in the bottling room. The whole ordeal of making maple syrup has been cut in half with the new reverse osmosis process.”

The season for making maple syrup begins with the caw of the crows, and ends with the croak of the bull-frog in the swamp. As the season winds down, Steve cleans the lines in the bush that attach the maple trees together, with an alcohol solution, leaving the lines on the trees all year. The lines need to be checked throughout the summer, as Steve states, “Squirrels are our biggest predator, not deer. They love the sweetness of the sap too, and chew right through the lines. They are the biggest pain in the whole process.”

The Bachert’s on-line store sells the products during the summer, and is usually sold out by December. It is a long wait ’til the new sap starts trickling again but as soon as the tours begin, people start pouring into their laneway. “People are sick of being inside, after a long winter, they want some fun. And we are ready to provide for them.” This sweet couple prepares to spread their love to others by sharing the bounty from their beautiful farm. ◊

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Maple Syrup

Forty years and still sweet on each other The Kleins have been making maple syrup together for 40 years and grown from 60 to over 1,200 taps on their Mildmay farm

D

arryl and Marylou Klein have a maple syrup operation near Mildmay in Bruce County which has evolved into a maple syrup equipment dealership allowing Darryl to talk “maple syrup” all he likes!

When I visited Klein’s Maple Syrup Supplies, Darryl drove into their 20-acre bush which has never been harvested for wood. Seventy five percent of the bush is maple with the rest a mixture with some beech and ash.

The bush sits at an elevation of approximately 335-340 meters above sea level creating a beautiful view.

Darryl explains that elevation affects the boiling point

• By Bonnie Sitter • when sap becomes syrup. At their bush elevation on a perfect day, when no storm is approaching (because barometer pressure also affects the boiling point of sap), the boiling point to make syrup is 103.889 °C or 219°F. Fallen trees and ash that have been cut down because of the damage done by the emerald ash borer supply the necessary wood to heat the sap.

The building where the evaporator, reverse osmosis equipment and bottling station are housed is slightly downhill from the main part of the bush, which allows sap to gradually flow downhill through the plastic tubing. It is a nice setup and the Kleins enjoy working in both the bush and the building.

How did the maple syrup business begin for the Kleins?

Like a great many producers they started out small. In 1981, when Marylou discovered sap pails that had been stored for many years, it sparked an interest and they decided to “give it a try.” The first year they only tapped 60 trees. They joined the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association as they were determined to learn more.

While Darryl’s grandfather tapped some trees, his father did not, so Darryl didn’t grow up helping in the maple syrup process. The Klein farm was established in 1868 by Darryl’s great-great-grandfather and I can only imagine how much the generations of Kleins living on this rural property have enjoyed the view from the sugar bush just like I did that day.

The Kleins expanded gradually and installed the original plastic tubing system in 1989. It was replaced in 2010. The

The bush at Klein’s Maple Syrup near Mildmay is filled with mature, productive trees, which has allowed Darryl and Marylou (above) to collect sap and make maple syrup for over 40 years. They also sell maple syrup equipment.

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hope is that it will last a good 15 years. Occasionally deer cause some havoc as do wild turkeys and falling branches but with the removal of the beech trees in 2007, the squirrel problem has lessened. No nuts, no squirrels! The Kleins pretty much do the maple syrup on their own with help from one son (after he finishes his full-time job) and from Darryl’s brother. The farm gate store where they sell their products can be busy and although they are missing the Maple Syrup Festivals at Elmira and Elmvale, business has been good and they will likely be sold out of last year’s maple products by the time the new crop is bottled and the maple sugar candies are made.

Marylou and Darryl think that because people have been spending more time at home due to COVID-19 restrictions, they are cooking more.

Perhaps cold cereals are being replaced with warm oatmeal, pancakes and waffles topped with warm maple syrup. Maple sugar in the granular form has been added to the syrup and candy products they offer. Now you can put the maple sugar into a shaker and sprinkle maple on your oatmeal!

The Kleins supply some markets and bulk food stores but farm sales have grown. Customers like to visit the farm and meet the people who are maple syrup producers. Word of mouth advertising about the quality of Klein’s syrup continues to spread.

This spring the Kleins will have 1,225 taps with a probable average of 1.3 litres of syrup per tap. Every year is different. Many things can affect production. Drought is one example.

Defoliation by insects is another. I asked if climate change appeared to be affecting production. So far they are not seeing any noticeable effect of climate change but Darryl’s records show that 2012 was their poorest season with temperatures reaching 20°C that spring. No sap ran that April. Each year he records the dates when they tap, the number of taps, when boiling begins and ends, litres produced and whether there is snow or not. As an added feature he writes down the first sighting of a robin. His chart shows a record number of litres produced in 2019.

There were 1,700 litres that year. In 2021, with the same number of taps, only 1,051 litres were bottled.

Darryl and Marylou are committed to continually improving their operation and in 2012 they became dealers for maple syrup equipment. They had sold their dairy business and “dived in” so to speak when offered the opportunity to represent the company from Vermont where their equipment was purchased. They no longer import from Vermont and instead represent a company based in Quebec.

Are people getting into the maple syrup business? You bet they are.

Last year the Kleins gained 50 new customers. While I was visiting them, a new customer called and needed an essential piece of equipment that Darryl was able to sell her. They have the filters, testing equipment, containers, tubing, spiles etc. Customers also get a lot of free advice. Darryl is willing and happy to share his knowledge. He says he doesn’t mind spending the time with customers because he remembers being in that position not that many years ago.

January and February are busy, not only with new customers dropping by and asking questions about maple syrup production, but

with business itself. The Kleins make sure their wood and equipment is ready when the sap starts flowing.

Having the containers and labels and testing equipment at the ready and not getting caught short is a must.

Marylou and Darryl work together to make all their maple products “winners.”

In the past, they have won red ribbons for their maple syrup at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. ◊

Dead ash trees provide lots of wood (above) to boil sap for maple syrup at Kleins Maple Syrup Supplies and detailed records, including this production chart (below) reveal 2019 was their top‐ producing year

March 2022 29

Bats

Nocturnal pest control on the farm Bats are vital for ecosystem integrity and on a practical level they eat pests, create fertilizer and pollinate crops Native bats such as the Little Brown bat (above) are declining in numbers for many reasons and bat expert Allan Kempert is a crusader for bat survivability and has added bat conservation and education to his work as a bat and bat guano removal expert. ~ Photo supplied by Allan Kempert

B

ehold: bats, mammalian order Chiroptera, one of nature’s most remarkable yet misunderstood, undervalued and sometimes maligned creatures.

In existence since the time of dinosaurs, bat species number more than 1,400 worldwide, 40 in North America.

They rank the second largest group of mammals on the planet. Except for extreme desert and polar regions, bats dwell in every kind of habitat on earth.

And they possess some amazing attributes. Among them, of course, is flight. Bats are the only mammal that can truly fly. One species, the Mexican Free-tailed Bat, can climb to 10,000 feet.

The Fishing Bat possesses an echolocation system so sophisticated it can detect a minnow’s fin as fine as a human hair. The African Heart-nosed Bat can hear the footsteps of a beetle walking on sand from more than six feet away.

But in many parts of the world, Ontario included, this amazing creature is in decline, with some species facing extirpation or even extinction. In 2020 the International Union for Conservation of Nature identified 77 species of bats as officially endangered.

Bat decline should be a concern for anyone who cares about biodiversity, species preservation, and general ecosystem integrity, says Hanover-based bat specialist, Allan Kempert. And that includes agricultural policymakers and farmers. Because bats, Kempert adds, “are one of the most natural agricultural pest-controls you 30 The Rural Voice

could ever wish for.”

Kempert, known locally as the “BatGuy,” is passionate about bats. Unlike the Batman of TV, movie and comic book fame, he doesn’t live in a Victorian mansion, employ a butler named Alfred, nor drive a turbine-powered armoured car capable of anti-tank warfare.

Kempert’s batmobile is a Chevy Silverado, equipped only with the basic tools he needs to do his job – ladders, sealant, one-way bat exit chutes, and a respirator to name a few.

When he started his business BatGuy.Org 20 years ago, the main service offered was the humane removal of bats from private homes, commercial buildings, churches, and other human-built structures. Evicted bats are freed in warm weather or sent to Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge near Nanticoke if they are injured or appear in people’s homes during their winter hibernation period. Sealing entry points for bats and vacuuming up bat guano (poop) is also part of the job.

An evolving appreciation of the ecosystem services provided by bats as well as their potential economic value led Kempert to integrate bat conservation and education into his work. He will talk about things batty to just about anyone who will listen, and sometimes offers presentations during “his own hibernation” December to February.

Kempert especially likes to talk bats with farmers who

• By Gary Kenny •

are open to learning about the potential economic value of bats to their farming operation, and typically recommends the installation of agricultural-standard bat houses to attract bats to their fields.

Bats are essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems. They provide crucial ecological services in most biodiverse regions of the world and are a keystone species in some. They pollinate many species of plants, disperse seeds and distribute natural fertilizer through their nutrient-rich guano.

Eating more than half their body weight in insects each summer night, bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects. And farmers and foresters take note: many of those insects are known to damage crops and forests and can also spread disease to humans or livestock.

Eight species of bats live in Ontario, but only Big Brown and Little Brown bats – the kind that occasionally find their way into our living spaces – overnight in attics, barns and abandoned buildings as summer maternity colony habitats.

Sadly, bats today face a multitude of threats – habitat loss, disease, wind turbines, negative public perception and more.

In the last decade or so a disorder known as White Nose Syndrome (WNS), so called because of the telltale white fuzzy growth on the nose, ears and wing membranes of affected bats, has taken a massive toll.

WNS was first identified in New York State in 2006, and in the winter of 2009-2010 was found in Ontario and Quebec hibernacula – the formal name for the caves, mines and attics where bats like to roost.

Transmitted primarily from bat to bat, WNS is a fungus that thrives in cold, humid environments and disrupts bats’ hibernation cycles, causing them to prematurely burn essential body fat supplies before the spring when they begin foraging again. They die of starvation.

The U.S. Center for Biological Diversity considers WNS to be North America’s worst-ever wildlife disease outbreak. Continentally it has killed more than six million bats since it was first discovered, says the

Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative.

“Loss of natural habitats, together with [WNS] disease, has had a devastating effect on native bat species across North America, especially Little Brown Bats,” said Dr. Brian Hickey, lead scientist for the St. Lawrence River Institute.

With provincial funding, the Institute is currently hosting a two-year project to study and monitor the restoration of the Little Brown Bat population in eastern Ontario.

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According to Bat Conservation International, significant numbers of tree-dwelling bats are being killed by the blades of wind turbines across the continent. Why isn’t conclusively known.

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hearing the conjecture, inhabitants of the village of Culden, Peru burned a nearby large colony of mouse-eared bats intent on their extermination, Mesa says.

An irrational apprehension of bats by humans, leading to negative attitudes and hostility toward most bat species, also contributes to their decline. For millennia, bats have been feared and loathed as sinister creatures of the night.

But as the Canadian Wildlife Foundation puts is, “Bats aren’t scary – but their extinction is.”

Large-scale industrial agricultural practices including eliminating fence lines and hedge-rows and draining wetlands to enlarge crop fields also has a harmful impact on bats. Studies carried out in rural eastern Ontario have demonstrated that bat activity increased with farmland heterogeneity – when forests, fence lines, hedgerows and wetlands were left intact and where crops are diverse and fields smaller.

Estimating bat losses is Top: Allan Kempert of difficult. They are mobile, BatGuy.org is a bat specialist nocturnal and hard to count. from Hanover who is trained in But “so many have died in bat and guano removal (right) North America,” says Craig but is also a champion of the Willis, a biologist who runs Little Brown and Big Brown bat the Willis Bat Lab at the (below) species saying they University of Winnipeg, have a ravenous appetite for “that scientists have given insects. He believes farmers up counting.” should install bat houses every Kempert is convinced year to build up a colony on that bat conservation undertaken by farmers could their farms and benefit from be a win-win situation for the natural pest control. farmers and bats. Robust ~Photos supplied by Allan on-farm populations of bats Kempert could save on the cost of pesticides, he says, a belief supported by published studies.

The North American Bat Conservation Association (BATCA) once estimated that a single colony of 150 big brown bats in Indiana consumed nearly 1.3 million pest insects each year, likely contributing to the disruption of population cycles of agricultural pests.

March 2022 33

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Recent studies by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) estimate that bats eat enough pests to save more than $1 billion per year in crop damage and pesticide costs in the U.S. corn industry alone.

A 2011 study published in Science, focusing on the cottondominated agricultural landscape of south-central Texas estimated that the value of pest suppression services provided by bats ranges from about US$12 to US$173/acre (with a most likely scenario of US$74/acre). The study said the data provides a first assessment of how much the disappearance of bats could cost the agricultural industry.

Just the disappearance of bats is costing farmers money. The study published in Science also suggests that the dwindling bat population in North America could lead to agricultural losses estimated at $3.7 billion/year and possibly billions more. FWS says it could also cause an increase in insect pests, resulting in damage to crops and forests, and an increase in pesticide use.

Sadly, Kempert says, within Ontario’s farm community bat conservation gets “very little traction” among farmers, “even among organic growers”.

Among those farmers who do seem to understand the potential economic benefits of having large numbers of bats on night-time insect pest patrol, are orchardists.

Filsinger’s Organic Foods, located near Ayton, makes apple cider vinegar, sweet apple cider, apple sauce and pear sauce. About 10 years ago they engaged Kempert’s services to install two bat houses in their orchards. Co-owner Shaun Becker says he noticed a definite increase in bat numbers in subsequent years.

But in recent years there’s been a drop off, he says. WNS disease is suspected. To compensate for the loss of insect pest control – being organic Filsinger’s uses no pesticides - 60 bird houses were installed to attract insect-eating birds including tree swallows.

“There’s no way of quantifying it,” Becker said of the impact bats actually have on insect reduction, “but we could definitely tell, when

they came out at dusk, how many (bats) there were and how active they were.”

“I would love for the bat population to come back,” he added.

At Smith’s Apples and Farm Market located near Port Elgin, several bat houses were on the property when it was purchased in 2016. They have a “nice bat population,” said Katie Smith, but she was reluctant to comment on the bats’ impact saying it would only be a gut feeling.

But “We know that having natural predators in our orchard is an important part of sustainable farming,” she added.

Allan Kempert stands beneath a large “bat condo” featuring his company logo. Installing bat boxes is a simple and effective frontline conservation intervention to restore Ontario’s bat population.

So, what’s the long-term outlook for bats? “I alternate between hope and despair,” Willis said. “We’re in the midst of this period of (the Anthropocene) human-caused decline of thousands of species.

We’re losing songbirds. We’re losing amphibians. We’re losing insects.

We’re losing bats. We’ve got to hold the line wherever we can,” he added.

Like Kempert, Smith advocates installing bat boxes as a simple and effective frontline conservation intervention to help restore Ontario’s bat population. “Bat boxes are great,” she says. “People tend to get discouraged if the bats don’t appear within a year, but doing your research into where the best spots are and the size of the chambers can make a difference.”

“If I had farmland, I would be erecting a bat house every year…in different locations, until I started to see a significant colony – 300 to 400 bats on say 20 acres,” Kempert says.

Calculating the economic impact of bats on agricultural systems is challenging to say the least, because establishing a link between the number of insects consumed by bats and how that translates into savings or costs for farmers is itself a challenge.

But published impact studies and the on-the-ground experience of bat enthusiasts like Kempert, seem to leave little doubt that the effect is substantial.

It’s simple math. Bats are ravenous insect eaters. Large numbers of bats add up to continuous massive daily night-time feasts during warm weather months. Surely common sense suggests, then, that bats are indeed a farmer’s best friend.

Allan Kempert (BatGuy.Org) takes orders for agricultural-standard bat houses, and instructions for DIY two-or-four chambered (recommended) bat houses can be found at BatCon.Org. Farmers or property owners wanting to install bat houses can apply for cost-share funding from The Species at Risk Farm Incentive Program (SARFIP) hosted by the government-funded Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association. ◊ March 2022 35

Food

Banker turned market gardener • By Jeff Tribe

Garlic has been the profitable mainstay for a market gardening business for a former banker with rural roots Jeremy Toth has gone from counting cash to maximizing productivity on a five‐acre holding he bought with wife Angela Langlois to pursue a holistic family living.

I

t could be seen as the most rural of mid-life metamorphosis. Jeremy Toth did turn in his banker’s suit for blue jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, but rather than speeding down the highway in a shiny new convertible, he’s slowly rolling through the five-acre Braemar Hills Farm on a venerable 1965 Massey-Ferguson 135.

“My mid-life crisis could have been I go out and buy a Corvette, or I go out and grow vegetables,” laughed the Embro-area producer.

Toth has very much returned to his rural roots, however lessons imported from the vault of his former career continue to stand him in good stead.

He and wife Angela Langlois experienced a “storm of events” seven years ago around the September birth of their youngest daughter, culminating a four-year search for a country property that April, bookended the following spring by severance from his banking position. Toth would make a subsequent one-year return as a financial planner, however a joint decision ultimately favoured the holistic family benefits of pursuing a home-based option while Langlois stuck to her career as a school teacher.

“We decided it would be better for one of us to stay home if we could.”

Toth grew up on a former tobacco farm in the Princeton area, his father, uncle and grandfather cash cropping 300 acres. His career path was steered by academic proficiency 36 The Rural Voice

in math, accounting and economics and the early 2000s sale of the family farm.

“Commodity prices were garbage,” said Toth, who was working in a factory at the time and considered buying the farm. “But it would have taken my entire wage to cover the mortgage.”

Tipped off to their current property’s sale by Langlois’ parents who farm in the neighbourhood, its purchase included a structurally-sound 40-year-old house and three acres of workable land.

“What can you do with that?” Toth questioned before arriving at Ontario garlic after two years of simply renting it out.

“Profit per acre, it’s pretty decent,” he explained, particularly without wholesaling. “Especially at this size.”

Garlic remains a core crop for Breamar Hills, whose three-acre “garden” expanded to include 18 different crops in 2021 including onions, shallots, carrots, kale and lettuce.

A 80-by-18-foot drip irrigation hoop house extends the growing season for one early crop of radishes, carrots and lettuce along with tomatoes and pickling and English cucumbers. Toth has also added dehydrated garlic, garlic and onion, garlic scapes and sea salt, and garlic-infused olive oil, representing 10 per cent of income in 2020 and 40 in 2021.

“The nice thing is, it gives us sales all year.”

Braemar Hills is committed to sustainable production

including glass bottles over plastic, compostable bags and fibre planting trays.

“It increases our costs but most consumers recognize that these days.”

A hen house hosts 28 layers which is not enough for stand-alone sales, but eggs do occasionally enhance weekly veggie baskets.

Crops are grown in raised beds 30 inches wide and 130 feet long, an additional 30 feet over standard due to his property’s profile. The Massey carries a two-row scuffler, cultivator and two-furrow plough.

“They get used less and less every year because we are switching to permanent beds,” says Toth, who leans heavily on an old Honda reartire rototiller sourced at auction for $300 he calls “the best thing I’ve ever purchased.”

Braemar employs Emma, a “fantastic” summer student from a nearby dairy farm who typically puts in seven-hour days. Emma’s farreaching contributions extended to covering during a two-week Toth/Langlois family camping trip last summer, part of an effort to find work/life balance.

“She just held down the fort.”

The couple’s four children are involved, each owning a raised bed section from planning through planting, weeding and harvest; and also are paid for garlic piece work.

“They have a better idea of how much work is involved in making money, especially hard work,” says Toth.

Every child controls earnings destinations, part of far-reaching benefits including encouraging a work ethic, horticultural experience, financial literacy, avoidance of excessive screen time, and responsibility.

Each child approaches their finances a little differently, says Toth from spender to “hoarder”, a category occupied by their middle daughter.

“She’s got more than the other three combined,” he laughed.

Toth also lists Bob, a 13-year-old border collie as part of the team “definitely a help out there, keeps me company,” and credits his father and organic cash cropping father-in-law for valuable agricultural advice, other

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friends and family for ongoing support, and crucially, a “patient, supportive wife.

“You kind of need that if you are changing careers on a dime.”

The how and the who are undeniably important, however it doesn’t take a former banker to understand the vital nature of an adequate bottom line.

Braemar Farms does feature a traditional farmgate stand, however a growing majority of product is moved through a web-based virtual storefront powered by Local Line.

Drag and drop capability includes live inventory updates and customer management software which displays inventory and processes credit card payments.

The virtual storefront also hosts Braemar’s Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) option.

Traditional CSAs typically require shareholders to pay upfront for a season for a produce box of varying sizes, whose seasonally-based contents often present a weekly surprise. Toth’s interpretation is a CSA fee which translates into store credit plus ten per cent bonus across his 10 to 12-week harvest season.

CSA clients can simply receive a small or regular weekly box assembled by Toth, or select individual items from what’s available against their credit total.

Credit carries through the season and onward if not fully used up. The approach adds personal choice and variety he believes to a mutuallybeneficial concept.

“Nobody wants a pound of garlic every week in their box.”

When he left banking, Jeremy Toth embraced the rural roots he remembered from growing up on a tobacco farm and decided to become a market gardener. With help from a 1965 Massey‐Ferguson 135 (top) he works the land to farm with his wife, Angela Langlois (bottom pic) and their four children. Each child, such as Alex (middle pic) manages their own raised bed from planning to production and produce is sold via their Community Supported Agriculture model.

38 The Rural Voice

He updates store inventory every Sunday, allowing time for CSA clients to consider their selections by Wednesday, for fresh-from-the-field pick-up or delivery Saturday.

“It will get picked that morning.”

Toth does deliver weekly into Woodstock and more regularly in and around Embro, but a majority of clients (85 per cent) pick up their provender, “especially CSA,” who seem to enjoy a weekly connection with their food’s production source.

The online virtual storefront was instituted part-way through 2020, representing between 30 and 40 per cent of (credit card) sales that season, totals rising to 80 per cent in 2021.

The software tracks sales and can produce weekly or monthly reports, allowing Toth to study trends and make data-supported decisions given customer preference along with factors including input versus return.

“I love reports,” he admitted with a smile. “I guess that’s my banking background.”

Marketing is extremely important says Toth, particularly given they do not attend a farmer’s market. Apart from their dedicated Braemar Hills Farm website (braemarhills farm.com) they are featured in Oxford Fresh, a printed tourism map, website and Facebook page highlighting farmgate sites, and are active on Instagram and Facebook, posting daily in-season and weekly or bi-weekly in the off-season.

“If people don’t know who you are or where to find you, you won’t have sales.”

It’s also important to be a “good citizen” amongst one’s agricultural peers, Toth emphasizes.

“Absolutely we compete with each other. But it doesn’t do anyone any favours to try and steal business from each other or undercut each other.”

He occasionally misses his former life, in particular clients and co-workers.

“I could do it, but it was always banker me, not me. I’m definitely happier in my current environment.”

Comparing income over the first couple of years to his banking salary was admittedly something of a shock.

“You scratch your head and think oh my gosh, what was I

thinking?” Toth laughed.

But apart from the very real distinction between what you make and what you are able to keep, the business has continued to grow amidst undeniable benefits. His enhanced presence has been timely for their children and their educational journey during the pandemic, as well as providing better food options and time to work and play alongside them.

“We definitely eat better as a family because I’m home,”

admits Toth.

And in a very real sense, the statement extends to Toth himself, his weight and blood pressure both went down significantly while embracing a challenging yet fulfilling “mid-life vegetable growing crisis.”

“Getting back to where I originally started growing up is probably the best part of it all,” he concluded. “It’s not just living in the country and still doing the nine-tofive job, but actually living a country lifestyle.” ◊

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March 2022 39

Recipes by Nancy Fisher

Recreating a favourite brownie recipe

I

about this for quite some time, and for the base and the chocolate portion think many of us have memories back at Christmas I pulled out an of the marbled brownies. They were of certain foods or meals that stay good but too gooey — I wanted a ancient recipe book and made a twowith us. Great meals we had on a layer brownie that I remembered cake brownie. vacation, or the way Grandma’s being one of my most frequently Also my first attempt with the stuffing was way better than anything used recipes when my kids were sugar cookie was wrong for the base you have tasted in years or walking small.

It is a marbled layer. It was too brown in colour and into your childhood home to smell chocolate/blondie brownie that takes too caramelized sweet. I had used your favourite meal on the stove. brown sugar, so I knew in future a surprisingly large number of eggs.

Food is tied to so many pleasurable They were delicious and even better attempts I had to go for a more sensations. after a few days. We worked our way shortbread than sugar cookie recipe.

I think I enjoy cooking and Next, I did a deep dive on the through that pan, but I also had to spending my time hunting recipes in difference between “cakey” and figure out the rest of the layers. old cookbooks because I like the I decided to jump right in after “fudgey” brownies. There are a challenge of getting to that certain Christmas and tried to recreate my couple of differences: the amounts of flavour, sparking a particular memory using a basic sugar cookie butter, sugar and flour are higher in memory. It turns out that there are fudgey recipes, and the studies that have method of incorporating discovered how taste and the fat (butter, memories are linked. No margarine,or oil) varies as surprise that sweet foods well. Cakey style have the are remembered because butter creamed with the they are tied to the reward sugar while fudgey tends centres of our brains. One to melt the butter or oil of the many foods I with the chocolate. Most remember fondly are what brownies don’t have any I call cookie bottom leavening agent in them brownies. I hope by the (aside from the eggs) but end of this article I can some cakey ones add a bit come up with a better of baking powder, and name. there is a debate between They were built like using cocoa powder or this – a thin white cookie baking chocolate. For my base, a layer of tart next few batches, I tried raspberry puree, a rich making brownies alone, “cakey” brownie, with no other layers, no walnuts, and a smooth walnuts until I got what I chocolate icing. I have thought was a good cakey described this to many mix. friends and none of them Finally, I pulled all this remember them. together and tried a full Sometimes I think I must layer recreate again, and I have made them up. I think I’m close to what I believe they were made remember. I shared them locally, and my brain says with a few family taste Culberts, but anyone I ask testers. Overall the about that always answers response was thank you, – “cream puffs”. can I have another one?

So, for this month's My brother suggested I article, I am attempting to use butter in the base to recreate a recipe entirely make it even more based on memories of how shortbread-like. I had used something tastes.

I margarine. Noted. I’m thought I would let you Creating a new recipe involves a lot of trial and error ...and follow along on my recipe mess. Nancy shared this photo to reveal the brownie attempt in impressed, but not development journey. progress as she strived to create a “cookie‐bottom brownie” like surprised by, his expertise in confectionery.

I have been thinking the ones she loved as a kid.

40 The Rural Voice

Recipes eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

Mix in walnuts.

This should be a fairly thick batter.

Spread across jam covered cookie and carefully flatten with a spatula. Bake in a 350°F oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before icing with chocolate icing. hen writing this column I often find myself having to put down into words things The final result was a cakey brownie that tasted that I do without delicious and was almost like the one Nancy measuring. Someone once asked for my remembers from her childhood. apple crisp recipe and I Today I am going for the final simply had no idea what amounts I attempt (deadline looming) used for the topping. Much of the Multi layered brownie (I have yet time it depends on the size of to come up with a catchy name) something you are making, or how • Preheat oven to 350°F thick you like your crisp topping or Plain cookie base icing layer. But for the sake of this Ingredients: ½ cup unsalted butter softened (I thought it was fine with margarine) ½ cup icing sugar ½ tsp vanilla ½ cup flour Directions: Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9” X 9” square pan.

Bake at 350°F for about 5 mins to just set the cookie. Remove from the oven and put aside to cool slightly.

When cool, carefully spread with approximately ⅓ cup of seedless raspberry jam.

Cakey brownie layer (also very good without other layers) Ingredients: ¾ cup white sugar ½ cup unsalted butter softened (could use margarine) 1 cup flour 5 tbsp cocoa powder ½ tsp salt 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional) Directions: Cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer, add cocoa, flour, salt,

W

column I did measure out my ingredients for the icing.

Chocolate icing for a 9 X 9 pan of brownies Ingredients: ½ cup of soft margarine 1 ½ cups icing sugar and add more if it gets too thin or you like thicker icing 2 tbsp cocoa powder ½ tsp vanilla Milk - this you have to do by eye, so add in small amounts to get to the consistency of icing you like.

Directions: Place the first four ingredients into a bowl and mix vigorously and add enough milk to get to the right consistency. This is trial and error but if you make too much and have some left over, you get to lick the spoon!

Spread the icing on the cooled brownies and enjoy.

I do feel like I have recreated as close to the taste as I can. If anything, I might try to get the brownie layer even more cakey but they are still delicious, even if they have a dumb name. ◊

March 2022 41

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

Use compost instead of peat moss

M

arch is the month that teases us with warm days amid snow and the occasional rain. We are so close to spring that we can smell it on a good day! It is also the best month for starting your seeds and checking out the plants you have carefully stored over the winter. I know the cannas are sprouting in my boxes amid the newspapers, and damp sheets. We are all just as excited about the approaching season.

A few years ago I listed popular seed-starting mixes and when I looked back to review I was surprised at how many called for a bit of peat moss.

There is a much greater awareness of the value of our peat bogs and the detriment we are causing by our gardening demands for more peat moss. The bulk of peat moss is actually dead sphagnum moss harvested from peatlands which feature a variety of mosses, sedges and woody plants which all combine to form peat. The Canadian Wildlife Federation website has a very informative section on peatlands; what makes up a peat land, where are they in Canada (apparently all across the country) and what a diverse eco system is supported by these unique landforms. I have read murder mysteries where the body was found on the fens, or people getting stuck in a quagmire. We even took pride in living on the south edge of the Saratoga Swamp and walking through it during every season to see what was growing and what tracks we could identify.

These valuable wetlands have names that reflect the water source.

42 The Rural Voice

Bog is a Gaelic word meaning soft ground and the water comes exclusively from rain, fog and snowmelt. On the other hand a fen gets its water from groundwater or sometimes a stream feeds them. By their very nature, bogs are more acidic and biodiversity is limited to specialized species. A fen supports greater diversity with the influx of fresh water. They are richer in nutrients, decomposition is faster and peat is not as thick as in bogs.

Harvesting of peat moss has been an issue for quite some time. I have a fact sheet from Kew Gardens, London, England, which was promoting the protection of peat bogs by advocating that one not buy peat in any form. They suggested looking for “peat-free, multi-purpose composts included coir-based mixtures. Also avoid buying container-grown plants in peat-based medium. Always ask when buying as outlets will respond to consumer pressure.” This was in 1999!

We hopefully understand so much more now. Disturbing peat lands releases their carbon stores into the air, and impedes the retaining of new carbon until restored. Some areas in Canada were untouched until massive hydroelectric developments

flooded whole areas. Forestry and mining operations disturb the water flows affecting the health of the peatlands. The early colonizers saw these areas as a challenge, and proceeded to drain and utilize the land for farming. The peatlands in our area of southwestern Ontario are still threatened today with urban development and more are drained to make way for more farmland. While we don’t heat with peat anymore we do threaten the peatlands with demands for the growing medium.

Peat does not add any nutritive value and once dried out is a challenge to moisten. So let’s talk about what else is out there. At the top of the alternative list is compost.

We can make compost in our yards for free and that reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill sites. But sometimes your composter does not supply enough for your garden projects.

The next alternative is leaf mold.

Yup all that material that is hauled to the municipal waste site or off to the bushline. I know I was hoping to mulch the leaves from our back boulevard but instead decided to leave some for the hibernating insects and creatures. One of the big fans of leaf piles is our favourite, the bumble

An impatiens cutting thrives in a growing medium made of soil and compost.

Gardeners recommend not using peat moss as it is derived from peatlands which need to be protected from being disturbed.

Gardening bee and of course numerous larvae and pupae stages of butterflies. The winds around here scoured the lawns clear and deposited some along the garden and shrub line where they will lie till spring, and then disappear into the soil. Easy peasy!

One of the suggested growing mediums is coir. It is the protective fibrous layer surrounding the coconut fruit. The fibre is stripped out and made into mats and roping leaving a lot of waste, which is left in heaps covering valuable land. The waste or coir is crumbly and when used in potting media increases moisture retention and porosity. As with any new material you will have to monitor the watering and fertilizer schedule carefully.

If you are looking for soil improvers, to alter your soil structure to retain more moisture, change acidity, or nutrient content then any bulky organic material can be used.

Garden compost and leaf mold are among the best but bark products and manure can also be used.

At Kew Gardens they mix the waste from the gardens with horse manure and once composted down, it goes onto the gardens.

Here we can buy composted manure often mixed with compost from municipal yard waste sites.

Again it pays to do a bit of homework and read the labels.

One last comment on compost — we gather several large garbage pails of leaves in the fall and as we throw our kitchen waste into the composter, we throw two or three large handfuls of leaves to keep the balance just right. It can be hard in mid-winter if the leaves are not kept dry and become lumps of ice. I read of a helpful tip for making sure the balance of kitchen scraps and dry organic matter is maintained if you don’t have a supply of leaves. Simply wrap up your veggie peelings into a couple of sheets of newspaper. Fold in the ends and roll it up burritostyle. You can place in your compost bucket or directly into your composter. Now that we use vegetable-based inks, newspaper makes an ideal non-toxic compost addition. Happy seeding! ◊

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Advice

One Health for watersheds, wildlife and well-being Water connects us all, and watersheds may be the ideal way to think about One Health, says Dan Kraus

By Dan Kraus, Director of National Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society The forest we stood under was magnificent. Sugar Maple, Black Cherry and Hophornbeam were at their best during a warm autumn day in the Maitland River watershed near Goderich, Ontario. Forest monitoring by the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) ranked it one of the best woodlots remaining in the watershed.

Despite its magnificence and pedigree, this forest was not at peak health. American Elm were reduced to a few stragglers by Dutch Elm Disease. American Beech were showing signs of decline from an introduced pathogen called Beech Bark Disease. White, Green and Black Ash were the standing dead, killed by invasive Emerald Ash Borer.

The lands around this forest had also changed dramatically. Over the last two centuries the thick blanket of woodland that once laid upon these gentle rolling hills had become patches of isolated woodlots that now covered just 13 per cent of the watershed. What had been a landscape dominated by family farms with a mosaic of crops, hedgerows, pastures and orchards just a few decades ago had now largely transformed to vast fields of corn and soy.

Fragmented forests in a landscape of increasingly intensified agriculture impacts more than just trees. Rain and snowmelt once held by that forest blanket slowly percolated into the soils to provide continuous and cool baseflow to streams. But water now moves faster and warmer in this landscape. Streams and creeks swell from trickles to torrents during heavy rains and carry runoff laden with sediments from towns, roads and farms downstream to the Maitland 44 The Rural Voice

River and Lake Huron. Water sampling has found disease-causing bacteria with ominous names like Salmonella, Yersinia and Campylobacter. This downstream flush can expose swimmers along Lake Huron’s sandy beaches to bacteria that may cause diarrhea or infections of the ears, nose, throat, eyes and skin. In the worst-case scenarios, these contaminants make their way into our drinking water.

This new ecosystem also impacts wildlife. Birds that need large areas of intact forests such as Wood Thrush and Scarlet Tanager are now rare. Tens of thousands of insecteating bats have disappeared because of White-nose Syndrome and many pollinators have declined or disappeared. White-tailed Deer thrive in these fragmented forests with an all-you-can-eat buffet of corn and soy. Their high numbers contribute to the spread of Lyme Disease and now they may be catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from us.

Around the world, our actions that push the boundaries of nature are changing our climate and putting up to one million species at risk of extinction. Our broken relationship with nature is also impacting our health. There is growing evidence that being in nature and having a connection with the natural world improves the mind and body.

Nature and people are inextricably linked. This is not new knowledge – it’s still held within the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples and it’s the wisdom of your grandmother telling you to get some fresh air. It’s why I feel really good standing in a forest in the Maitland Valley and less good sitting on a subway in Toronto.

In our modern world we’ve largely separated environmental health and human health.

Unfortunately, in our efforts to pull

Dan Kraus Wildlife Conservation Society apart the well-being of people from well-being of the natural world, we’ve also created cracks in our ecosystems that both nature and people fall through. But there is growing recognition that reuniting the health of nature, wildlife and people benefits everyone. Through a new One Health approach we can help nature and people to thrive.

In 2021 the Wildlife Conservation Society introduced the Berlin principles on One Health to rebuild bridges between the well-being of people and nature. These 10 principles strive to unite health care and nature care. One Health integrates information and institutions to look at the health of nature, people, wildlife and livestock through a single lens and discover connections that cannot be found by looking at the world in separate silos.

It recognizes that many of the issues impacting nature and our wellbeing — and most importantly solutions we need — can only be found by looking at our ecology and society as

Advice a whole system.

The pieces and partners for a One Health approach are waiting. The MVCA, like many of Ontario’s Conservation Authorities have been monitoring and reporting on forest health and water health. Regional health units monitor our sickness and health. Provincial ministries collect data on wildlife health, livestock health and crop health. Our challenge is to bring these practices and practitioners together and connect the dots between disciplines.

And there is progress. The World Health Organization identifies the protection of nature as an essential strategy in our recovery from COVID-19. Conservation Ontario promotes EcoHealth and the benefits of visiting conservation areas. Family doctors in Canada are now prescribing nature.

Our biggest challenge might be reimagining a world where people and nature are integrated; where lines between traditional departments and disciplines fade; where family doctors, farmers, ecologists and vets work together and share ideas to keep people and nature healthy.

The farm we visited that autumn day provided a glimpse of the world that could be. The farming family that owned and managed that woodlot was connected to the land and took pride in their stewardship.

They had restored the municipal drain to a brook trout stream and created buffers around fields to slow run-off and hold nutrients on the land. These actions helped nature on their property, but also cascaded downstream to other properties and eventually to Lake Huron.

Water connects us all, and watersheds may be the ideal way to think about One Health. The actions of each landowner cascade to neighbour and community. What makes nature healthy on one property, contributes to watershed health, wildlife health and the wellbeing of people.

We are all downstream of nature.

One Health is a way to recognize our reliance and rebuild our relationship, rediscover the connections between people and place, and to help us all thrive in a thriving natural world. ◊

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News

Eat Local Huron re-opens in Bayfield after fire destroys warehouse in Westfield

E

at Local Huron (ELH) is delivering local food again from their new warehouse near Bayfield. The non-profit company delivered for only three weeks last summer when an electrical fire destroyed the warehouse they were renting in Westfield.

County residents rallied in support of ELH after the fire, raising more than $8,000 through a GoFundMe campaign which covered some losses and kept the budding local food initiative afloat while they looked for a new home.

“Everyone’s kindness after the fire was incredible,” said Gemma-James Smith, ELH Warehouse Manager. “I cried so many times when people were donating. I was just speechless. You can really see people appreciate what we’re doing here.”

ELH hasn’t been idle — they spent the downtime between warehouses signing-up Huron County producers, and sourcing food that isn’t produced in Huron Eat Local Huron County from across Ontario. They are now Warehouse Manager working with more than 45 local producers.

Gemma James‐Smith is Huron County residents can shop the store at back in business filling EatLocalHuron.ca from 9 a.m. Wednesday orders in a new morning until 9 p.m. Sunday nights and have their groceries delivered to their homes the next location week.

For more information, check the ELH website, follow @eatlocalhuron or email info@eatlocalhuron.ca ◊

Conservative M.P. tables bill to exempt farmers from carbon tax

B

en Lobb, Conservative Member of Parliament for Huron -Bruce, tabled Bill C-234, Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (qualifying farming fuel).

This legislation would exempt farmers from paying the federal carbon tax on natural gas and propane used for farming operations.

The federal carbon tax will reach $170/tonne by 2030. Bill C-234 provides farmers with relief by

extending the exemptions to include grain drying and housing livestock.

This is a crucial change, as these activities are not optional for farmers.

In January, the Parliamentary Budget Officer found that Bill C-234 will save farmers over $1.1 billion over the next 10 years.

For farmers that have dealt with unpredictable weather conditions and global trade wars, this will be a muchneeded relief and a necessary change

for our farmers and food producers across Canada.

“Many farmers in Huron-Bruce and across Canada grow crops that must be dried in a grain dryer. Many raise livestock that must be kept warm through our country’s harsh winters,” explained Lobb. “These activities are crucial to farmers’ ability to keep food on Canadian’s tables. They should not have to pay a carbon tax.”

Bill C-234 was tabled February 7. ◊

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News

• By Shawn Loughlin •

Junior Farmers launch century farm web series Show creators have already secured footage for nine episodes and hope to feature more century farms

T

he Huron Perth Junior Farmers are working to tell the story of century farms in the two counties by way of The Century Farm Show, which broadcast its first episode in February.

The show will focus on one of the area’s century farms once a month for the course of the year with a total of 12 episodes. Creator Nick Vinnicombe of Walton and hosts Lauren Bos and Jolande Oudshoorn, both of the Auburn area, have already done interviews and secured footage for about nine episodes, Vinnicombe says, with more work to be done later this year.

The century farm program was established by the Junior Farmers of Ontario as part of Canada’s centennial celebration in 1967. It remains the only centennial project that has persisted to the current day.

(The Junior Farmers of Ontario now even offer add-on signs that signify 125, 150 and 200 years for farms that have remained in the same family for that period of time.)

Supported by the Huron County Museum’s Heritage Fund and the Huron County Federation of Agriculture, the show can be viewed on the Huron Perth Junior Farmers’ Facebook page, as well as on Vinnicombe’s Lake Affect Media site and FauxPop Media’s The Staysh. It can also be viewed on LocalOne via Hay Communications.

The first 15-minute episode focuses on the farm of Tom and Bev Prout, who live in the Exeter area. The hosts are Bos and Oudshoorn, who are the president and vice-president, respectively, of the local chapters of the Junior Farmers.

Vinnicombe, in an interview with The Citizen, said the project stretched back more than a year ago when he first joined the Huron Perth Junior Farmers in the fall of 2020. In his 48 The Rural Voice

The Century Farm Show is a new web series created by the Huron‐Perth Junior Farmers which features stories of century farms and their owners. The first episode features Tom and Bev Prout (middle) with show hosts Jolande Oudshoorn (left) and Lauren Bos (right). first few months with the organization, members were looking for ways to further promote the organization and the work it does.

Focusing on the century farm program and its local supporters, he said, only made sense and planning then began about a year ago.

In that time, Vinnicombe, Bos and Oudshoorn have conducted a number of interviews and have material for nine episodes of the show, which will be released monthly throughout 2022. They are still on the hunt for more century farms to feature.

In addition, Vinnicombe says they are actively working to present a variety of farms as well. For example, they will feature cash crop and dairy farms in the early episodes, but are on the hunt for pork and chicken farms to highlight in the later episodes.

Not only has the experience been educational in regards to the

agricultural history of the area, Vinnicombe says, but many of the participants in the program are former Junior Farmers members themselves, so it has proven to be a great showcase for the organization.

Vinnicombe says that, while the show is definitely a Junior Farmers project, it fits in well with both his business and FauxPop, which is always working to produce local content when possible. As a result, it was a pretty good fit for all.

On a personal note, being part of the Huron Perth Junior Farmers has been a very positive experience for Vinnicombe, he says, and he’s learned a lot through working on the series.

He joined in October of 2020 and once he got started as a volunteer with the organization, he wished he had joined sooner.

Oudshoorn, in an e-mail to The Citizen, said the whole experience

News has been new to her, but that she’s enjoyed working on it immensely.

“This was a new experience for me, interviewing farm families and being on camera. I’ve found it interesting, learning about what all goes into doing a small documentary,” she said. “It’s been neat meeting with farm families in both Huron and Perth Counties these past months, learning about how farming has evolved in each generation. I was surprised about how open everyone has been, telling us about their hardships, but also about the good times.

“This project has allowed some of the farm families who weren’t aware of the project to learn about the Century Farm program with the Junior Farmers Association of Ontario, which has been great, as we are doing this project to help promote the Century Farm program too,” she said. “We’ve had good feedback from the families so far, being honoured to be part of our project, but also thankful as they looked through some of their own history, bringing back old memories. I am looking forward to each episode airing and seeing where the show goes.”

“In the second episode, which aired in February, The Century Farm Show featured Hugh and Rhonda Love.

Their 125-year-old farm has seen different operations on it, but is known as the home of many awardwinning Clydesdales."

To connect with the Huron Perth Junior Farmers, e-mail the group at huronperthjf@gmail.com. To watch the first episode of the show, find the organization on Facebook. ◊

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Advice

• By Jolande Outshoorn •

Huron-Perth Junior Farmers had a jam-packed year

A

lot has happened with Huron Perth Junior Farmers this past year!

In January 2021, Huron Perth Junior Farmers held our AGM where we voted for our annual awards.

Congratulations to Nick Vinnicombe for winning the New Member Rose Award, Lauren Bos for winning the Current Member Rose Award, Crystal Blake for winning the Retiring Member Rose Award and the Margaret Keith Pletsch Outstanding Member Award, and Amanda Bos and Joleen Otten for winning the Darryl Vorstenbosch Spirit Award. Members were also able to attend a virtual Past President’s Roast and Toast for the JFAO President, Nic Weber.

Clubs were invited to participate in a the provincial-wide Winter Games which was held virtually and included both virtual challenges over the month of February and scheduled challenges over Zoom. Members had a great time participating in a variety of events, earning us a second-place finish in the competition.

March was a big month for our club! We held a “Covid Fairies” Zoom social where members and alumni delivered a gift ahead of the meeting to another participant, and then we took turns unwrapping and guessing who sent us the gift. Later that month, we held a “Tire’d of Being at Home?” event where we were able to socially distance and play some games with tires.

JFAO held the provincial March Conference and members enjoyed a variety of sessions including baking, balloon making and line dancing over Zoom. At the JFAO AGM, Lauren Bos was elected 4-H Rep for the province. We ended the conference with an at-home banquet and learned we won Agriculture Club of the Year, as well as five out of the seven communication awards! A big congratulations to Lauren Bos and Jolande Oudshoorn, who won the President’s Rose Award for Outstanding Member of the Year,

The Huron‐Perth Junior Farmers held a roadside cleaning event near Stratford with helpers (back row, left to right) Amanda Bos, Nick Vinnicombe, Jolande Oudshoorn, Cam Smith and (front row) Lauren Bos and Joleen Otten filling up bags. which was the first time in JFAO history for two people to share this award!

In May, we re-launched our “Who Let the Hogs Out?” fundraiser and were able to raise over $1,500 for the Huron and Perth Food Banks and mental health organizations. We will re-launch this fundraiser next spring.

As the weather began warming up, Huron Perth Junior Farmers cleaned up a portion of Road 119 outside of Stratford, followed by an ice cream social.

In July, we held a campfire meeting and helped out at Lucknow’s Ag Society Movie Night with helping to park cars, and were able to enjoy the movie afterwards. In August, we toured Koskamp Family Farms near Stratford, learning about milking water buffalo and biogas operations. We followed the tour by canoeing and kayaking down the Thames River in St. Marys with some members from Waterloo JF and Oxford JF and alumni. We ended August by holding a mini-golf tournament at Point Farms near Goderich.

In September, we tried our hand at

processing some honey from member Sam Knetchel’s honey hives.

October became a busy month. It started with organizing and running a 4-H Sheep Show in Dungannon. The weekend following we carved pumpkins with our club. The next weekend, we played outdoor sports, competing against West Zone clubs.

We ended the month with the provincial Autumn Profile, playing the Amazing Race in Meaford.

In November, we hosted a movie night and joined Middlesex JF for some line dancing lessons. Members also attended the Ontario Young Farmers Forum, enjoying weekly webinars and a few farm tours. In December we held our annual holiday get together, enjoying a gift swap and lots of snacks. We also organized a well-attended skating night with some of the local clubs.

To learn more about Junior Farmers, look for them on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok @HuronPerthJF. ◊ ~ Jolande Oudshoorn is the President and Social Platforms and Media Representative for Huron Perth Junior Farmers March 2022 51

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

Be careful about whose trees you cut down Part 2: Damages Last month, I wrote about a case in which it was found that a farmer who cut trees down on a neighbour’s property as part of drainage improvement work had done so without permission. Madam Justice Hebner of the Superior Court of Justice granted a motion for summary judgment finding the farmer liable for trespass and her decision was recently upheld by the Ontario Court

of Appeal. Although the farmer contended that he had cut the 300 or so trees down with his neighbour’s agreement, Justice Hebner determined that the discussions that took place between the farmer and his neighbour were incomplete and never reached the point of “leave and licence” being granted to the farmer for the clearing of trees.

This month I am reporting on the damages decision in the case. Justice Hebner ordered the farmer to pay $213,471.27 as damages for the trespass, a decision that was also upheld by the Court of Appeal. In actual fact, the appeal by the farmer from Justice Hebner’s decision was only with respect to her damages decision; the farmer did not challenge the finding of liability for trespass.

In order to succeed on the appeal, the farmer was going to need to show that Justice Hebner made an error of law, that she misapprehended the evidence, that there was no evidence on which she could have reached her conclusion, that she failed to consider relevant factors (or considered irrelevant factors) in her assessment

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52 The Rural Voice

of damages, and/or that she otherwise, in the result, made a “palpably incorrect” or “wholly erroneous” assessment of damages.

The farmer failed to convince the Court of Appeal that any of these reasons to overturn the damages decision were present.

At the time of the hearings before Justice Hebner, the neighbour who had sued for trespass lived in Michigan. Although her Ontario property had been in her family for generations, no house had stood on the property since the 1870s.

However, the neighbour intended to build a house there close to the tree line (the one removed by the farmer) and to retire to the Ontario property.

Justice Hebner found that the trees were important to the neighbour; the tree line had provided a barrier from sound and light coming from a nearby residential subdivision and local fairgrounds to the west of the property. The tree line was also a habitat for wildlife, a windbreak and a visual screen between the neighbour’s property and the farmer’s property.

In assessing damages, Justice Hebner noted that determining compensation for loss of trees depends on multiple factors and is a fact-dependent exercise: Generally, the court will try to place the plaintiff in the same position as they were before the trespass was committed as far as having privacy restored or aesthetic beauty replaced, but not necessarily the replacement of the exact tree lost. If replacement is possible but not practicable, the court will look at what is reasonable in the circumstances.

Justice Hebner adopted the approach to damages of the British Columbia Court of Appeal employed in a case called Kates v. Hall: the amount to be awarded should be “sufficient to pay for the remedial work which a reasonable person without monetary constraints in the plaintiff’s position would have implemented had the loss been caused without fault on anyone’s part.”

She rejected the farmer’s argument that the trees were going to have to be removed in any event on

Agrilaw account of the municipal drain that was eventually installed along the property boundary. Had the farmer not eliminated his neighbour’s tree line and ditch through the trespass, the neighbour would likely have opposed the removal of the trees for the municipal drain and it was not a given that the drain would be installed in the same position requiring the removal of the trees.

Justice Hebner awarded the neighbour approximately $74,000 for the cost of replacing one-third of the tree line using 8- to 10-foot-tall replacement trees, $20,000 for irrigation of the replacement trees, and $13,000 for fencing to protect the trees. She also awarded the neighbour the almost $25,000 in costs assessed to the neighbour’s property for the municipal drain that had been petitioned by the farmer (after he determined that the neighbour was upset about the removal of the trees and would not allow him to continue with his planned private drainage work) and the sum of $75,000 for “loss of amenities”. The “loss of amenities” was to compensate for the fact that the neighbour would now have to wait at least 20 years before having mature trees in the area where she intended to build a house and would likely never have trees along the full length of the property line as had been in place previously.

On appeal, the farmer submitted that he could not be expected to pay damages based on the unforeseeable situation of a neighbour who happened to have plans to build a house, happened to have an affinity for trees and happened to want to use land that could otherwise be cultivated as a tree line. The farmer also submitted that it should have been assumed that the neighbour would have used her land “in the usual way such land was used at the time of the trespass” – as farmland, not a house lot. The Court of Appeal rejected these arguments, referring back to Justice Hebner’s observation that her task was to determine “what a reasonable person in [the neighbour]’s position, without monetary constraints, would pay to restore the property had the loss been

caused without fault on anyone’s part.” The Court of Appeal could find no reason to disturb Justice Hebner’s application of that test to the case or any other of her findings. ◊ ______________________________ John D. Goudy’s law practice

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March 2022 53

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

Drought and fear of war affects grain prices Grain prices continued to climb through the first few months of the year.

Many elements have converged together to support these prices. Even individually, each factor would be considered bullish and each of these situations would have an ability to push grain prices higher.

54 The Rural Voice

Collectively, these factors combined simultaneously, have caused an extremely strong rally. These bullish elements are namely: South American drought, the Russian military build up at the Ukraine border and inflation (especially energy inflation).

The drought in South America is greatly affecting crop production estimates from the region. Lack of rain coupled with extreme heat has been ravaging the crop and expectations for crop yields continues to fall. In some regions of Brazil, soy yields are expected to be 50 per cent of normal and some estimates expect greater than 70 per cent losses in the most affected areas. By some estimates South American soy production could fall by as much as 30 million metric tonnes from initial expectations.

Even if the losses in the region are not as substantial as some fear, there is little doubt that world ending stocks will continue to decline. Given these losses, it is likely that world soybean stocks could fall to the lowest level seen since 2013/2014. Fears of further crop reductions continue to

mount, and at the time this is being written, the majority of the grain producing regions of South America are dry in the two-week forecast with little, if any, moisture relief predicted.

The Russian military position on the Ukraine border has continued to strengthen, with a recent media report indicating that as many as 130,000 troops have been amassed. This major world geo-political event is involving many international heads of state, as efforts are made to prevent escalating tensions, in the hopes that negotiations prevent war. The potential impacts toward the world grain trade are significant. In recent years Russia has become the predominant wheat exporter in the world. The Ukraine is also a major shipper, currently projected to be the world’s fourth largest wheat exporter.

Therefore fears of a military conflict in the region greatly impacts wheat pricing around the world.

In looking at the numbers, Ukraine is forecast to export 24.5 million tonnes of wheat this crop year and Russia is expected to ship 35 million tonnes. This compares to the U.S. with expectations of shipping 22.5 million tonnes to world destinations.

Combined, Russia and Ukraine are key shippers and dominant exporters to numerous countries. Many African nations, along with Middle Eastern markets rely on Ukrainian shipments for their grain supply. Greater than 40 per cent of Ukraine’s grain exports are destined for these regions. It’s not only these importers that rely on receiving grain, but Ukraine itself is reliant on grain exports for their economy, as grain is a cornerstone of their nation’s finances. Ukraine exports the majority of their grain production — about 75 per cent. In contrast, the U.S. exports about 20 per cent of their wheat production. Not only do they export wheat but they are also the world’s fourth largest exporter of corn. To put it into a world corn perspective, the U.S. exports almost 62 million tonnes, Brazil 43 million, Argentina 39 million and the Ukraine at 33.5 million tonnes.

Not only is trade destabilized potentially with the limitations in shipment if armed conflict were to ensue, but there are also other effects

Markets that occur with this even being a possibility. Financial markets flee risk, and invest in safety. As a result the Ukrainian currency has fallen sharply recently due to the destabilizing fears present. As the Ukrainian currency falls, growers see inflating prices for inputs, and major constraints in borrowing. These issues may affect the ability for growers to maintain yields and crop production.

As a result of the potential conflict, some world leaders have threatened to impose further sanctions against Russia if they were to carry out an invasion. The purpose of these sanctions would make it harder for other nations to buy Russian goods. In summary, the sanctions proposed would make it difficult for Russia to link payments to other financial institutions in the world. The sanctions, if enacted would make it impossible for Russia to trade in U.S. dollars or Euros. This would make trade with Russia cumbersome and difficult. With these obstacles, nations that do go through the difficulty of trading with them would now be looking for “a deal”, lowering the prices buyers would pay for Russian shipments.

But not all nations are in agreement for the need of sanctions against Russia. On a recent visit to China for a state visit at the beginning of the Olympics, Russian president Putin was able to make a deal with the Chinese government for wheat and barley shipments, along with energy commitments. This deal is a major win for Russia, who has been advocating for their wheat to be able to sell into China. The largest exporter now has access to one of the largest markets. Russian wheat will now likely have the edge over European, Australian and Canadian wheat. The wheat market did not like this trade announcement, as U.S. futures sold aggressively lower after this deal was announced. ◊

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Deadline for the April issue of The Rural Voice is March 8, 2022 March 2022 55

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

The benefits of wrapping trees While the winter winds keep blowing and the snow has sheltered many trees throughout the winter, a big surprise is coming in the spring for some unwrapped soft-needled trees.

Traveling along our wonderful county roads, sideroads and town streets, I am often surprised by the number of trees and shrubs that people have lovingly wrapped or covered for the winter. These kind hearted shelter providers should benefit greatly from the relatively short amount of time that they spent

protecting their trees from the harsh winter.

Most often, when we are developing tree planting plans, we try to encourage landowners to plant the harder-needled coniferous (conifers) trees closest to the windward side.

Soft-needled conifers, like white pine, will often windburn while the harder needled trees are less likely to windburn. This windburn tends to go unnoticed until the snow recedes in the spring and the lush green needles that were protected by the snow are exposed, in contrast to the dull green and often red needles that weren’t sheltered by snow cover. In the spring, this situation typically results in a few panicked landowners calling for advice full of concern that their trees are dead or dying.

It is important to remember that coniferous trees, which are also referred to as evergreens, do lose their needles. Depending on the species of tree, conifers may lose their needles anywhere from two to five years after breaking bud. These needles will most often fall sometime

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around the end of summer or beginning of fall.

I like to compare the needles of spruce and white pine to going out for a day in winter with or without wearing lip balm. The wind and sun will cause drying, cracking and an all-around unpleasant situation.

While all needles have a waxy coating, some are more thickly coated (spruce) than others (white pine). This waxy coating serves a few different purposes for the tree and one function is similar to my lip balm, in that the wax protects the needle surface from the drying wind and burning sun. This coating saves both the needles and the entire tree from moisture loss. Lastly, this special coating protects against pollutants. If needles didn’t have the waxy coating, the moisture loss would result in tree mortality.

Similarly, if a deciduous tree did not form an abscisson layer to close off the opening where the leaf stem met the main stem, the deciduous tree would lose an abundance of moisture.

There are many deciduous trees that hold on to at least a portion of their leaves through to the following spring. These species include oak, maple, beech, and ironwood. The term for this feature in trees is marcescence. In these species, these brown and often shriveled leaves are often pushed off of their branch by the newly emerging leaves. One of the differences between these deciduous trees and coniferous trees is that the leaves that are retained throughout the winter do not provide nutrients to the tree.

A chemical which is frequently used in the winter that is not often seen as a pollutant is salt. Arguably, salt is necessary in many situations during our winters. Unfortunately, salt harms and kills many trees each year. When planning for tree planting, it is important to plant salt tolerant trees along roadways where salt is used. It has been said that salt spray can harm trees over 100 feet or 30 meters in from busy highways where vehicles travel at a high rate of speed. Keeping this in mind, trees that are planted within this zone

Woodlots should be either deciduous or hardneedled conifers. This salt spray will not directly cause mortality but will cause stress which may result in a weakened state which causes increased susceptibility to insect, disease, and other harmful elements.

Salt spray effects are different from those of salt that accumulates on or in the soil. The concentrated salt that accumulates in soil often kills at least a portion of the tree. Salt spray will only affect the windward side of the tree. On numerous occasions I have been called to look at trees that have died for no apparent reason. In conversation, it is noted that snow clearing resulted in piles being created near the tree. While the maintenance staff were careful to not push the snow into or against the tree, their work resulted in the death of the tree. As the snow melted, the salt water flowed slightly downhill to the tree.

When wrapping trees to protect against the winter elements, it is important to consider whether salt is used on any nearby roadways. If there is a salt spray wafting to the tree, the wrap can become soaked in salt and the tree may suffer more dire effects. When a salt spray is present, a structure built over the tree may be a better option. Wrapping and covering trees will not only protect against the elements, but it will also prevent the fracturing of branches due to snow load.

I am a big believer in planting the right tree in the right place, or if you choose to push tolerance, the tree needs to survive on its own. Yes, it may be harsh, and may have resulted in the loss of a few trees, but that is my approach. If you wrap or cover your trees to maintain their appearance, or to treat them like they need a winter coat, it is best to wrap them every year without fail. One reason for wrapping that I have not mentioned is to save the trees from those pesky bark chewers. Please do not forget that there are many rodents that travel under the cover of snow, and some larger creatures that travel on the snow that cannot wait for us to leave our juicy stems for their feast. ◊ March 2022 57

ENVIRONMENT TA AL BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE ES We are recruiting. We are looking for farmers to volu unteer for a survey into adoption of environmental best management practices, e such as buffer strips, windbreaks and farm woodlots. We are interessted to survey both farmers who adopt best management practices as well e as farmers who do not adopt best management practices.

All farmers are eligible to participate in the study no matt m er the farm size, or whether they own or rent the land they farm, as long as they use at least part of the farmed land for crop, livestock or haying.

PARTICIPATE TODA AY Y! For more information and to access the online survey y,, simply scan the QR code or use the following link: https:////uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_djzy yecIsvf55bVk

What is involved? Farmers who volunteer to participate in this study will fill an online survey which will take approximately 15 minutes. Participants will be asked questions about their farm, operations, and resources.

If you have any questions or would like more information about this study, please contact: Michael Drescher, School of Planning by Phone: 519-888-4567 (ext. 48795) or E-mail: mdresche@uwaterloo.ca This study has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board.

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Tavistock Agricultural Society reports healthy bank balance

T

he Tavistock Agricultural Society held its annual meeting virtually in February with most directors present.

President Julie Kimpel said the society had a successful year, despite not being able to host an “in person fair” for the second year in a row.

She said they were happy to host a much smaller scale of the fair in September and saw many happy faces in the park as they enjoyed some aspects of the fall event on what was a beautiful weekend of weather.

In treasurer Keith Heinbuck’s financial statement, an income of $18,930 was reported with expenses of only $6,037 resulted in a net profit for the agricultural society of $12,893. The agricultural society received grants from OMFRA for issues surrounding COVID-19 of $9,968. Bank and term deposits now total $62,968.

President Kimpel and her Board of Directors wish to thank the community sponsors and the government assistance they were able to secure to make the agricultural society financially stable. They look looking forward to hosting an inperson fair in 2022.

The committee has already begun to plan their events for this fall in person, and more details will be coming closer to the fair. This year’s

Pictured at the Tavistock Agricultural Society fall fair is President Julie Kimpel with three members of the Ken Mogk family presenting the trophy for Grand Champion Halflinger to David Johnston from Middlesex County. theme is from “farm to table”.

The newly-elected president is Kaitlin Keller, first vice president is Kim Urlando, secretary is Chris Wiffen and treasurer is Keith Heinbuch.

The board also wanted to remind everyone of the crochet square project. This community project is to encourage artistic flair, crafting

talent, and involvement in supporting the fair event of 2022. The board states that if you can crochet they would ask that you crochet a 12-inch acrylic square from worsted weight yarn in any colour by March 31 of 2022. The squares will then be assembled into an afghan to be sold in the silent auction as a fair fundraiser. ◊

Hockey night in Shakespeare

J

eff and Melissa Fuhr on Galt Street in Shakespeare constructed this year’s ice rink for their two kids to enjoy and learn how to skate. Once they are put to bed after dark, the neighbours come over and the lights come on to enjoy a shinny hockey game. In this case it was goaltender Tonya Bowles keeping the puck out of the net from Maple Leaf fan Jeff Fuhr (left) and her husband Jordan Bowles (right).

March 2022 59

The Rural Reading Room

March

Rural Living & Local Authors

101 Things For Kids To Do Outside Let them go outside and play! 101 Things For Kids To Do Outside is ideal for parents, teachers, and all those working with youth.

This book is ideal for the children who like gaming, TV and movies. Even kids who believe "there's nothing to do outside" can learn and be encouraged to experience the joy of outdoor play. Perfect for rainy days, sunshiny days, even snowy days. $19.95

THE FOOD SUBSTITUTIONS BIBLE Discover thousands of alternatives that can solve cooking dilemmas in one comprehensive, easy-to-use guide. Contains a wealth of ideas about substituting a key ingredient or utensil or creating a new flavour. $27.95

EXPLORING THE WORLD OF RACCOONS The common raccoon is among the most recognized animals in North America. Learn how native intelligence, anatomy and natural skills combine to make the raccoon one of our most successful inhabitants. $6.95

THE HOME BREWER’S ANSWER BOOK Dreamed of creating your own beer? Ashton Lewis, head brewer with Springfield Brewing Company in Missouri and columnist with Brew Your Own magazine provides answers to every question. $18.50

CURING & SMOKING MADE AT HOME Cure and smoke your own food, save money, and have fun. The book explains what is possible and offers practical instructions on how to transform fresh meats, fish, seafood and even eggs and cheese. Includes tips and recipes. $19.95

THE HOMEBUILT WINERY Complete building plans for 43 wine-making projects that facilitate the entire project of turning grapes into wine – from crushing and destemming to bottling, labeling and racking.

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60 The Rural Voice

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Specializing in

$19.95 $6.95 $19.95 $25.00 $27.95 $18.50 $23.95 $13.99 Total for Books Shipping & Handling $9.00 Add 5% GST on subtotal Order Total

ON THE WRIGHT TRACK Memories from C.P.R. School Car #2. William “Bill” Wright, was a teacher hired by the Department of Education and he and his wife Helen, raised four children on the C.P.R. School Car #2. These are their memories. $25.00

GRANDPA’S WISH LIST A grandpa has lots of special wishes for his new grandchild.

Most of all, he wishes to share moments and make memories together. A wonderful keepsake from grandfather to grandchild.

Padded hardcover. $13.99

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

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

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

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

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

Rural Living

Fabrics, Quilts & Much More 519-392-6046 3855 Bruce Rd. 4, 5 kms. N. of Teeswater

March 18th National Quilt Day at Sanity Hill

A Country Guide for the Rural Homestead

March 25th ~ Fabulous Friday ~ “S” Day 20% off Eg. Skating, soldiers, silk, soft, sewing supplies, etc.

Check Facebook for store updates or visit our website sanityhill.ca

Piece a quilt you love, we can quilt it! ** Custom Machine Quilting ** For the quilting enthusiasts, we have everything you need.

Cottons, flannels, fleece, wools, books, patterns 84849 Ethel Line, Brussels, ON

519-887-9456

www.countryquilting.ca

PURRSONALLY YOURS Fabric and Wool Shop 519-538-4283 519-538-3955 35 Sykes Street N., Meaford, ON

Fabric, Quilting Supplies, Ready & Custom Made Quilts 519-625-8435 heather@thequiltplace.ca www.thequiltplace.ca 3991 Perth Rd. 107, Shakespeare, ON

Armstrong’s Home Bakery Made Fresh Daily

Long Arm Machine Quilting Services 519-392-6591 Teeswater By appointment only yscott@wightman.ca ~ Yoka Scott

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

Lucknow

Bulk Food Store • Baking supplies • Gluten-free products • Candy • Popcorn

Take-out Available

519-528-2211 March 2022 61

Rural Living

Country Quilting

The

Rural Voice

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

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

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

Full service to all boats and marine engines

ARGYLE Marine & Small Engines Inc.

33973 Church Camp Rd., Goderich 519-524-5361 Email: argylemarine@cabletv.on.ca

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

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

MANUFACTURING STEEL ROOFING SIDING & TRIMS

519-363-3757 2051 Bruce Rd. 19, R.R. 1 Chesley, ON N0G 1L0

Also Supplying Other Building Accessories

STEFFEN WELL DRILLING 519-531-0355

DL Distributing Dave Mustard 519-794-3334 Authorized Dealer

TEESWATER, ON

mike@steffenwelldrilling.ca

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

62 The Rural Voice

Tough on Winter, Easy on You

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

PACKERS: WE BUILD RUBBER TIRE PACKER SPECIALISTS

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

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

ROTH DRAINAGE LTD Quality Workmanship Since 1948 * Farm Drainage * Excavator & Backhoe Service * Municipal Drainage * No Obligation Quotes

Gads Hill 519-656-2618

Blyth 519-895-6367

1-866-494-2618

STEVEN NIXON

Serving the area since 1999

Broker WILFRED MCINTEE & CO. LIMITED

Bus: 519-357-2222 Cell: 519-531-0252 Email: nixon@execulink.com Web: www.stevennixon.com

It’s a Seller’s Market Need listings for houses and farms

318 Josephine St., WINGHAM, ON N0G 2W0

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CONSTRUCTION -------------------------------------------WE POUR: liquid manure tanks, bunker silos, foundations and pads.

All are 100% engineered. Serving Ontario since 1968. De Jong & Sons Ltd. 519-348-0523.

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

Call 519-625-8242 or 519-2741490.

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FARM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Four-row Kongskilde scuffler and track scratcher. 519-357-2509.

-------------------------------------------Six-section diamond harrows.

519-357-2509 -------------------------------------------Reist, 3 point hitch, pto driven gear box pulley. 519-357-2509.

-------------------------------------------Augers, 3 - 10 ft sections, 6 inch diameter. 519-357-2509.

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Plastic Tile Installed, GPS Surveying, Excavator, Backhoe, Dozer Work, Weeping Beds Installed

FAMILY BUSINESS SINCE 1949 Mark Cook Main 519-393-5656 Cell 519-276-7402 4283 Line 42, Sebringville, ON N0K 1X0

CLASSIFIED FARM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Vink calf puller. 519-357-2509.

-------------------------------------------New Holland 316 baler with thrower and hydraulic drive, electric controls, good shape, $6,000. 519502-5511.

-------------------------------------------Advertising in The Rural Voice – A Wise Choice!

Call Today! 519-523-4311

March 2022 63

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

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FIREWOOD -------------------------------------------FIREWOOD FOR SALE - Seasoned hardwood. Cut and split in 12" pieces. Delivery available. Call 519338-5439.

-------------------------------------------Screened hardwood slabs – 16" cut $30 face cord, 10 cord deliveries or pick up in Auburn. huronfirewood.com Call 519-5243493.

-------------------------------------------FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Lucknow 6 ft. front mount snowblower with mounting frame.

Call for details, Dennis 519-5240156.

-------------------------------------------Certified Organic Seed Corn from Blue River. Most maturities available. Volume and prepayment discounts apply. For information call 519-575-5239 or email dshirray@gmail.com -------------------------------------------For prices on forage peas, forage pea mixtures, barley, oats, and mixed grain seed. Contact Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd., 225 Hwy. 21, RR 1, Ripley. Phone 519-395-2972. Ask for Carmon or Mitch.

-------------------------------------------Alfalfa hay mixtures, pasture mixtures, top dressing for pastures, and a selection of organic grass seeds. All mixed to your personal needs. Also red clover for plowdown. Available at Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd., 225 Hwy. 21, RR 1, Ripley. Phone 519-3952972. Ask for Carmon or Mitch.

-------------------------------------------Soybean seed for sale – Altitude R2 and Beliveau R2X Roundup Ready varieties.

Treatments and inoculants available. Call Mitch at Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd. 519-440-6712.

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FOR SALE -------------------------------------------First-cut alfalfa timothy hay, second-cut alfalfa timothy hay, 3x4 and 3x3 large square bales. No rain. Third-cut alfalfa timothy individually wrapped baleage, 4x6.

Call 519-369-4703.

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

-------------------------------------------Martin’s Nursery & Bee Supplies Etc. Large selection of flowering trees, shade trees, fruit trees and hydrangeas and other shrubs. We have the plants you need to make a living “privacy hedge” or snow fence or windbreaks. Blue Spruce, Norway Spruce, White Spruce, Pine and Cedars. Also… a Complete line of Bee Supplies for the commercial or hobby beekeepers. Order your (Nuc) Bees for spring 2022. We now sell select Queen Bees raised under ORHBS program on a weekly basis. Order by Monday evening for Wednesday pick-up – during season. We stock all wooden-ware (bee-hives) foundation, assembled and unassembled frames, smokers, suits, jackets, gloves, mite treatments and some extracting equipment. Honey containers, jars, pails, custom built wooden-ware.

Come visit our nursery and bee supplies store Monday to Saturday at 42661 Orangehill Rd., RR 1, Wroxeter, ON N0G 2X0, one concession north of Wroxeter.

-------------------------------------------IRON & STEEL -------------------------------------------DISCOUNT STEEL: New second grade steel sales; 1" - 8" square tubing; 7/8" - 14" round tubing; Rectangle tubing, discount plate; New and Used I-Beams; Bar grating, rebar, angles; Custom cutting, welding, punching.

Listowel. Phone Aden 519-5957775.

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LIVESTOCK BEDDING -------------------------------------------MIRACLE FIBER 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. 1-877-773-8004.

Sittler Grinding. Rick Sittler.

-------------------------------------------LIVESTOCK FOR SALE -------------------------------------------Rabbit breeding stock. High quality genetics available in Ontario. Order your PS40 bucks and PS19 does today. CuniON@tcc.on.ca -------------------------------------------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 breeding bulls, quiet, thick, semen tested, guaranteed breeders, delivery included.

Select now for spring delivery.

OPEN HOUSE Saturday, April 9, 2022. Posthaven Limousin, John Post, 519-766-7178. www.posthavenlimousin.com -------------------------------------------Suffolks - purebred yearling rams.

British bloodlines M-V negative, closed flock. Several bloodlines available. Taking orders now for 2022 ewe lamb crop. 519-2337896.

-------------------------------------------Smart Limousin – yearling and twoyear-old bulls and open and bred females available. Contact us for details and to pick your next herd sire. 519-372-7459.

Open House April 2, 2022.

Smartlimo@bmts.com www.smartlimousin.com -------------------------------------------McKague Charolais Bulls, registered purebred yearlings and two year olds, polled or dehorned.

Open females available. Wingham 519-357-3808.

-------------------------------------------Yearling Full French Charolais bull, extra age, smaller framed with heavy muscle. Harlan Brubacher after 8 p.m. 519-323-3846.

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• Tree Seedlings • Nursery Stock • Shade Trees • Native Species Order for Spring 2022 Now

888-226-6344

www.hrichardsonfarms.com

64 The Rural Voice

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LOCAL FOOD -------------------------------------------The Market Shoppe – Your source for local since 2013, 7 Toronto Street South, Markdale 519-9864144. Find us on Instagram and Facebook.

-------------------------------------------REAL ESTATE -------------------------------------------Selling or buying farmland, residential or commercial. All properties needed. Call Greg or Dwaine Nicholls, Brokers for GA Nicholls Realty Ltd. Greg 519-2910507, Dwaine 519-492-2002.

-------------------------------------------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 -------------------------------------------RETAIL & GIFTS -------------------------------------------Stitches with a Twist – 404 Queen St., Blyth, 519-523-9449. Yarns, needles, notions, patterns, books and lots more yarn.

-------------------------------------------SERVICES -------------------------------------------INCOME TAX FILING FOR CORPORATIONS and late filers – for farms, small business, truckers and individuals. Will make house calls in the North Huron, Perth and surrounding area. Call Shirley in Wingham – cell No. 1-705-4348187.

-------------------------------------------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, 519-3489062.

Cell 519-274-5000. www.croninpouredconcrete.ca -------------------------------------------Custom clover seeding with GPS, $2.50/acre or $3 for pasture. Seed available. Call Kurt Beuerman 519525-0538 or 519-523-9234 (home).

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

WANTED -------------------------------------------Farmland in Belmore area – rent or sharecrop. We work with manure and cover crops that will keep your land in excellent condition. Please contact Wim Feddes 519-525-5853 or wikafeddes@hotmail.com -------------------------------------------Round bales of horse or cattle quality hay picked up. Wanted to buy: small square bales of wheat straw, conventional or rotary. Call Riley Gorman 519-321-1012.

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

-------------------------------------------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 -------------------------------------------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 -------------------------------------------Dion threshing machine 22x38 or 28x48, 7 ft. International or John Deere grain binder. Phone evenings 905-983-9331.

-------------------------------------------Cash crop land wanted to rent or share crop. Contact Peter Rastorfer 519-276-9405.

Email: rastorferfarms@gmail.com --------------------------------------------

DONALD A ANDREW ACCOUNTING

Accounting & Income Tax Services for FARMS, BUSINESSES & INDIVIDUALS 296 Ross St., Lucknow

Ph. 519-528-3019

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

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

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

519-692-4232 www.sgspestmanagement.ca

The Rural Voice welcomes letters and will publish as many as space permits.

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

March 2022 65

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 Pig, the whole Pig, and nothing but the Wild Boar It is common to see good articles written about the wild boar problem in Canada, with the words feral and pig thrown in, confusing the issue.

We are talking about a type of pig, but the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is not recommending that all pig farming be phased out in Ontario; they are talking specifically about wild boar, and we should too, when writing about the ban on wild boar that is being phased into Ontario right now, making it illegal to raise wild boar, or any cross breeds of wild boar, after Dec. 31, 2023.

In the United States, with hurricane landings and more frequent tornadoes, they have a bigger problem with feral pigs – the truly domestic breeds of pigs that escape from the barn to find freedom in the wild. Feral pigs adapt to the environment, and look much like wild boar in a few short months; except that they grow a lot bigger, faster, and are more aggressive when cornered. Over use of selective breeding has done some funny things to animals, like the overly aggressive roosters who lost their instinctive courting dance; triggering an adaptive crouching response in the newer breeds of laying hens when they are approached, by anyone, too quickly.

There are a few isolated incidences of actual wild boar sightings in Ontario, and so far as we know, there is no endemic population established because of the careful monitoring and control of any accidental escape. The MNR compensation program in place (deadline to register for it was Nov. 19, 2021) covers maybe half of the cost per animal, and is counted at a time when herds are at their lowest numbers, because they breed in October.

The established wild boar populations from the Prairies, slowly migrating across the country, are a different kind of problem, one that

fuels much of the concern in Ontario.

If it was the global markets that led to massive price instability, the unsustainable cost of keeping the wild boar fed and happy, and ultimately, to the release or escape of wild boar en masse in the prairies in the 1990s, why do we want to create more global and non-local markets by banning wild boar farming in Ontario?

Of the handful of wild boar farmers in Ontario, most have figured out how to keep them happy, so that they are not driven to escape. They’ve often exceeded the regulations that are already in place around wild boar farming, because they have a good market for the meat that keeps the operation profitable. There is also a lot of data from the U.S. on how to trap wild boar, with products like the “BoarBuster” available, that can be operated from a cell phone. There is a well-established, local and stable market in the GTA for wild boar meat, which is incredibly flavourful and sought after.

Ontario Pork Producer, Fred DeMartines, notes the change in these animals when they are raised in comfortable captivity and have been given no reason to fear humans. They are much easier to trap, as the ones in Pickering were – they’d practically eat out of your hand. Just like goldfish are harmless in an aquarium

tank, but destructive in the Hamilton Harbour, wild boar are certainly a problem in the wild and they do a lot of damage to crops and gardens and natural ecosystems. Yet, we still don’t have a specific problem of wild populations in Ontario, and wild boar have been raised here since 1992.

It would be relatively easy to continue to regulate wild boar farming in Ontario, as there are only about five to 10 producers in the whole province. Nevertheless, the MNR consulting period, where these concerns were aired by the National Farmers’ Union and others, has passed, and the ban on wild boar trots along as planned.

– Submitted by Julie Fleischauer, Perth County farmer

Local News/Events Local 341 Perth/Oxford - Local 341 will be holding their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wed., March 23 at 7:30 pm on Zoom. Tim Dowling, Chair of the NFU Livestock Committee will speak on the NFU's 2021 Taking Stock of Abattoir Regulations Report and provide an update on the NFU's plans to advocate for small abattoirs. All NFU members and guests are welcome. Local AGM business and reports will follow Tim's presentation.

Contact Ann Slater at aslater@quadro.net to get the zoom link!

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

Stewart Skinner, President stewart@stonaleenfarms.ca / 519-492-2990

Perth County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER

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

Can you describe the state of the world in one word?

Any opinion expressed is that of individual County Directors or Representatives and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Perth County Pork Producers.

On February 2, 2022 the delegates of Perth County Pork Producers Association gathered with fellow producers and industry participants for our Annual General Meeting. A big thank you to the Ellice Township Optimists for making investments in the Rostock Hall that give organizations like ours the opportunity to utilise technology that enables all to participate, no matter in person or virtual. Our group was excited to welcome Hon. Lisa Thompson, Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. It was nice to be able to say thank you directly to the Minister for the work OMAFRA has done in providing targeted programming that enables smart investments on Ontario pig farms that improve our readiness for African Swine Fever.

Beyond the greetings from officials and delegate elections, meeting participants received a presentation from the PCPPA Processing Committee. In December PCPPA appointed a committee to explore the processing sector following Olymel’s announcement to reduce their harvest, a move that has now displaced approximately 15,000 Ontario hogs a week and many families in Perth County. Throughout December and January the committee interviewed multiple parties from Ontario and beyond in an attempt to better understand the pork value chain and where we fit in it as producers in Ontario.

Something that has been true for some time, and remains true, is that Ontario has one of the highest proportion of independent pig farmers in North America. The ability for small independent families to survive in what has become a global industry dominated by large scale integrators is good ol’ fashioned

microeconomics. There are few regions that enjoy the convergence of good climate, plentiful rainfall coupled with high quality groundwater, and rural areas with close proximity to almost 200 million people. Ontario still is a place where families can raise hogs competitively with Billion dollar multinationals.

Much of that advantage was already being given away by hauling Ontario pigs to Quebec for harvesting only to have the meat travel back to the GTA for further processing. With Olymel’s decision to cut back, those surplus pigs are now going to travel to further places like Maple Leaf in Brandon, Manitoba and U.S. Midwest processors. With every load that leaves the province, so goes the jobs that could be generated by keeping all of that economic activity here in Ontario and now the longer transportation distances means less farmgate revenue.

In theory it makes sense to pursue expansion of processing here in Ontario; competitive hog pricing and sustained global demand for pork can make a glowing business case.

Unfortunately we live in the real world and our reality is there are extreme labour shortages plaguing every single layer of the supply chain already. Like every other goods producing sector in Canada, the vacant labour pool hangs like a cloud over any positive thinking.

The Ontario hog industry is like many resource-based industries in

Canada. We enjoy strong natural comparative advantages over global competitors, we produce a commodity that is easily traded and in demand across multiple regions of the globe, and yet potential is limited by issues like labour that have regulatory solutions.

The work of the PCPPA processing committee was another of many that have identified labour as the single most important issue.

There is the passion and creativity to meet this challenge on the part of farmers. Already we are seeing people willing to build high quality housing for farm employees, not to mention pent up demand to do more if regulatory allowances were made for multiple dwellings on farm properties. At a higher level, this report reiterated that we are on the brink of a national crisis in our goods-producing and resource industries if our Federal and Provincial governments do not start tackling labour supply with more urgency.

On a positive note, PCPPA has a full slate of 16 delegates as well as six active substitutes, the most engagement our group has had in some time. PCPPA has worked hard throughout the pandemic to try and keep folks engaged through a blend of local community service and continued political advocacy. Best of luck to the new folks in the year ahead. ◊ – Submitted by Stewart Skinner

Fill your freezer with local pork products. Order today from Tanya & Darryl Terpstra (519-291-7603) and Dave & Ruth Kloostra (519-347-2619) or visit Leis Feeds in Milverton, open Monday to Friday from 8 to 5:30 and Saturday from 8 to 12.

BBQ services for large groups are also available, contact perthcountyporkproducers@gmail.com for more details – Pork supplied by Perth County Pork Producers – March 2022 67

St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9 Grey County Federation 446 10th519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551 grey@ofa.on.ca Website: greyfederation.ca of Agriculture * The Rural Voice is provided toEmail: OFA Members in Grey County by the GCFA

GCFA – Meet a Director Lindsey Coles Ridgetown - University of Guelph Campus Graduate Lindsey was born and raised on a beef farm in Wellington County and is married to Bob Coles who was born and raised on a dairy farm in Halton County. They moved to beautiful Grey County in 2003 and after 15 years of milking registered Holsteins with their four boys in Meaford, they left the dairy industry for beef.

Since 2017 they started breeding and purchasing registered Speckle Park beef cattle, some other breeds and commercials.

She is a 4-H leader in the Rocklyn club, Rabbit Club, Life-skills and Go for the Gold, as well as co-competition Leader for Grey County.

Karen Gorman Hi, my name is Karen Gorman.

My husband and I along with our family of six daughters own and operate a dairy goat farm just outside of Dundalk.

I love that we are able to share our passion of farming with them.

I'm enjoying being involved in the federation and looking forward to helping out.

Students!

Remember to play Ag-ucation Trivia each week at greyfederation.ca Thank you to Chapman’s Ice Cream for their sponsorship of this initiative

Grey County Federation of Agriculture

2022 MEETINGS • March 10 • April 14 • June 9 • August 11 • September 8 • October 13 • November 10

Grey County Federation of Agriculture is proud to support

Grey County 4-H and its members For 2022 GCFA will be sponsoring every 4-H member in Grey county with a donation of

$10

towards their annual membership fee If you have any questions, please contact grey@ofa.on.ca or greycounty4hsecretary@hotmail.com

GREY COUNTY 4-H ASSOCIATION www.4-hontario.ca greycounty4hsecretary@hotmail.com Secretary/Treasurer: Dianne Booker – 519-377-3573 Co-ordinator Volunteer Support: Stephanie Richardson region5@4-hontario.ca

DUE TO COVID­19 GCFA Board Meetings have become conference/video call format.

Please contact the office if you are interested in taking part.

Grey Federation of Agriculture

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

68 The Rural Voice

@ GreyFedAg

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

NEWSLETTER Send in nominations for Tommy Cooper Award The Tommy Cooper award has been presented annually since 1959 to the person making the greatest contribution to agriculture and rural living in Grey and Bruce Counties.

Tommy Cooper was the Grey County Agriculture Representative from 1920 to 1959 and dedicated his life to agriculture.

Anyone or any organization in Bruce or Grey County can nominate someone they feel has contributed significantly to agriculture over the years. Nomination forms can be obtained by calling 519-364-3050 or emailing bruce@ofa.on.ca. The deadline for submitting will be April 1, 2022.

Mental wellness support for farmers and families A telehealth line to provide mental wellness support to all Ontario farmers and farm families is now live.

Through the Farmer Wellness Initiative, the provincial and federal governments are funding access for up to four free counselling sessions with a mental health professional for all farmers across Ontario including members of their family. The mental health professionals have received training to understand the unique needs of Ontario farmers.

This service is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, in English and French, farmers can call 1-866-267-6255 to speak to a counsellor. Developed and launched by the Canadian Mental Health Association – Ontario Division in partnership with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, this service is provided by LifeWorks. ◊

446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9 519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551 * The Rural Voice is provided to OFA Members in Bruce County by the BCFA

Bruce County Federation of Agriculture

2022 MEETINGS • March 28 • April 25 • May 24 • June 27

• August 22 • September 26 • October 24 • November 28

DUE TO COVID-19 BCFA Board Meetings have become conference/video call format.

Please contact the office if you are interested in taking part.

NOMINATION FOR THE BCFA AWARD OF MERIT “For Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture” Each year the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture presents an award to a person in Bruce County who has made a significant contribution to the agriculture industry. If you have someone you would like to nominate, please complete this form and return to our office in Hanover

by April 1, 2022.

I nominate: ......................................................................................................................................

Reasons for nomination ............................................................................................................ .......................................................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................................................

Signature:........................................................................................................................................

Please return to: Bruce County Federation of Agriculture 446 10th Street, Hanover, ON N4N 1P9 Email: bruce@ofa.on.ca

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

March 2022 69

Perth County Federation of Agriculture Email: perthcountyfedofag@gmail.com Website: www.perthcountyfarmers.ca Office: 1-833-229-6834 Sara Wood, President: 519-272-5525

Perth County unifies to “Agvocate” on behalf of farmers

By Derek Van De Walle Well it’s been your typical Canadian winter here so far in Perth County with plenty of snow to boot! Whether you’ve been escaping the cold in your heated shop, or forced to face it thanks to a frozen water bowl or two, we hope you’ve found some time to reflect on this past year, while looking forward to another growing season around the corner!

Here at Perth County Federation of Agriculture (PCFA), we’ve been doing just that. As we look back on another year, there are a number of projects that we’ve been a part of.

Many of these have involved advocating for agriculture here in Perth County and beyond, and we plan to grow that outreach further.

For example, in 2021, PCFA was eager to team up with Fields to Forks and various commodity groups (beef, chicken, dairy, egg, grain and pork) to sponsor a 60-second ad promoting farm families within agriculture. The ad was shot at farms across Perth County and aired on CTV News London. On top of this, we were able to use audio clips from this project and create radio ads which were made public on local radio stations.

To see some friendly faces you may know, check out: london.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=226 5794 As the year progressed, we purchased and ordered a number of “The Real Dirt on Farming” magazines which will be distributed to schools across the entire county.

For those unfamiliar, there have been five issues released to date. Like past issues, the newest 2020/2021 edition tells the stories of farmers, through educating readers on the crops they grow and animals they raise, while touching on issues such as food

security, sustainability, and consumer trends.To view the latest issue, check out www.realdirtonfarming.ca/.

Arguably the biggest project we supported in 2021, was contributing to the construction fund of an educational agriculture exhibit at the new London Children’s Museum.

Along with various other county federations from Southwestern Ontario, we felt that this was a unique opportunity to tell the story of food production to the more than 80,000 children and their families visiting the museum every year. The planning committee has allowed us to make recommendations on what this exhibit would look like and how it would be portrayed. We were fortunate to have Amanda Conlon, the Museum Executive Director, attend PCFA’s annual general meeting on February 17 to speak on this project.

Moving forward, PCFA has no plans to stop “agvocating” on behalf of farmers. Already in 2022, we are

investigating more opportunities to accomplish that.

While the rural-urban divide grows, and increasingly less people are directly involved in agriculture, we recognize the importance of educating and connecting with those at every level of the food chain especially the consumer.

To bridge that gap, a new initiative called “Source Local” has been brought forward by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) in partnership with Farm and Food Care.

PCFA plans to support this cause and offer those with questions about their food with real, honest answers.

Having said that, be sure to watch for these upcoming local community activities in the months ahead!

In the meantime, if you have any ideas of how we can promote our industry within our communities, please feel free to reach out to PCFA or consider joining us as a board member! ◊

Fields to Forks gives viewers an inside look at the industry that feeds people by highlighting farmers and their stories.

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

70 The Rural Voice

Index AgLinks ..........................................17 Ag Safety ..................................4,7,9 Allied Associates LLP ......................3 Argyle Marine & Small Engines ....62 Beekeeping ................................3,22 Belore Trailers ................................62 Bernie McGlynn/SB Flooring ........47 Bervie Supply ................................58 Bill Walker MPP ..............................34 Bio-Ag ............................................46 Boonstoppel, Dave & Elly ..............45 Buddsteel Architectural Products..16 Canadian Co-op Wool Growers ....28 Chalmers Fuels ..............................34 Cliff’s Plumbing & Heating ............45 Crop Quest Inc ..............................37 De Dell Seeds ................................39 Design & Build ..........................25,26 DL Distributing................................62 Easy Lift Doors................................14 Farm to Table....................................2 Gerber’s Workwear ........................62 Greenville Liquid Plant Food ........53 Hanover Honda ................................8 Hardi ..............................................56 Harold Jones Enterprises ..............63 Hayden Water Wells ......................21 Heritage Resources Centre ..........58 Hill & Hill Farms ....Inside Front Cover Hunter Steel Sales ................Cover 6 Huron Commodities ......................37 JJM Concrete Grooving ................71 Kingwood Bins ..............................54 KMM Farm Drainage ......................55 Kuepfer’s Firewood ........................63 LAC..................................................61 Lakeside Shelving & Racking........28 Lambton Heritage Museum ..Cover 3 Live Landscape ..............................43 Maple Leaves Forever ..........Cover 7 Maple Syrup ..............................13,15 Mapleview Agri ..............................32 Mark Cook Drainage Inc ................63 Marquardt Farm Drainage Ltd ......53 Martin Farm Wagons......................55 Marvin L Smith ..............................47 McConville Omni Insurance ..........26 McIntee Real Estate - S. Nixon......63 Michael’s Stabling Developments 49 Midwestern Ontario Bull Sale ........18 MNP LLP ........................................52 Moore Hemsworth..........................28 Nature’s Wave Inc............................11 New Life Limousin..........................49 Nuclear Waste Management ........28 Nutrient Management ....................31 Ontario Mutual ......................Cover 5 Parker & Parker ....................Cover 4 Raynbow Signs ..............................63

RBC Ag West..................................46 Ridgeway Metals ............................62 Roth Drainage ................................63 Rural Living ....................................61 Rural Voice Books..........................60 RV Kid’s Corner ....................Cover 6 Sauble Beach Motorsports ....................12,17,34,37 Schmidt’s Farm Drainage ..............34 Schweiss Doors ..............................18 Seebach & Company ....................49 Sew & Save Centre ........................43 Silver Creek Nursery ......................61 St. Lawrence Cruise Lines ............28

Steffen Well Drilling ......................62 Steve Thompson ............................43 Stihl ................................................50 Stratford Agri Analysis ..................18 Superior Barn Painting ..........Cover 7 SVCA - Forestry Services ..............57 SVCA - Grey Bruce Woodlot ........57 SWO Diesel ............................Cover 3 TD Canada Trust ............................41 Townsley Barn Painting ................65 Triple P Consulting ..........................6 Trouw Nutrition................Back Cover Usborne & Hibbert Mutual..............17 WD Hopper & Sons Ltd..................34

Building a New Barn?

1-800-837-0246

We offer special pricing for new barns!

Based in Arthur, Ontario

Slippery Concrete Floors?

Protect your cows from injuries and increase livestock longevity Our concrete grooving is proven to: • Increase traction • Increase milk production • Reduce nervousness • Better heat detection

Contractors & Farmers JJM has constructed a “HEAD” for Stable Cleaners.

• No more double pour on new barns.

• Can cut 3-1/2" deep and up to 4" width.

Benefits to grooving: • Ensures footing for walking, mounting and moving around • Decreases nervousness and injuries Groove size A lot of free stall barn floors have not 3.5 centre to centre, been cut, they’ve been stamped when 3/4 cut one-way 3 1/4 inch centres, poured. This lasts only 3 or 4 years.

3/4 diamond 4 inch centres

Rick’s Cell: 519-827-6763 Email: rstrauss56@gmail.com

Office: 519-848-3184 Fax: 519-848-3863 March 2022 71

HURON

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

County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER

Renew your Farm Business Registration online In 2022 farmers have the opportunity to renew their Farm Business Registration (FBR) online.

For the last year, OFA has worked with Agricorp to make it easier for members to register their farm business online.

Farmers have the ability to select their general farm organization and submit payment directly through Agricorp’s new online registration site.

With immediate proof of registration, farmers can begin applying for their farm licence plates in no time at all.

All farmers will also have access to their account information to quickly confirm or update their farm information all in one place.

It’s important to note that for 2022, the annual FBR fee has increased to $255 plus HST. The OFA encourages all farmers to visit the Agricorp website today and complete their FBR form by selecting OFA as your farm organization of choice to advocate on behalf of you, your farm family and your business.

We are proud to represent 38,000 farm business members and will continue to work tirelessly for the betterment and growth of the agriculture industry and our rural communities.

Renew your farm business registration online today at www.agricorp.com What does your Farm Business Registration fee to OFA do?

• Lobbying: The board and staff of the OFA continue to work for farm members on numerous issues faced today.

• Member Assistance: Staff from both the OFA head office and in the field work to assist members on a variety of topics.

• Farm Property Tax Rate: By having a FBR number tied to your farm properties you keep a “farm tax rate” on your farmland. The rate is currently 25 per cent of a residential rate • Local Level Federation Support: A portion of your membership is shared at the local level for projects. Your local federation also works on your behalf for area specific issues.

• Benefit partner opportunities: Not only do these partnerships help save you money, they earn money to further support the activities of the OFA. These features among others cost you $0.79 per day in 2022 per membership.

For more information please contact your local Member Service Representative Margaret Vincent at 1-800-511-1135. ◊

HCFA Director profiles: Mike Colclough Mike Colclough is a current HCFA Vice President. Mike has sat on the HCFA board for several years. Mike is a cash crop farmer and has been interested in farming since before he could reach the tractor pedals. Mike and his wife Leanne have three children and farm near Holmesville. Mike is the current Huron Grain Farmers of Ontario District 8 President and has been a Huron GFO delegate since 2010.

Erica Murray Erica served as president of HCFA from 2016-2018.

Erica grew up on a pig and cash crop farm near Seaforth, and continues to be involved in the family operation today.

Erica works off farm in the agriculture equipment industry.

Over the years, she has spent countless hours volunteering for many boards, committees, 4-H and her church.

Erica currently serves as a director with 4-H Ontario. Erica and her husband Blair are proud parents of one son who arrived in February.

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

Upcoming Events March 1 - Farm Succession webinar, with OFA benefit partner Farm Life. Visit the OFA website to register www.ofa.on.ca March 18 - MP/MPP Local Politician Forum. If you have any issues you would like presented at this meeting let the HCFA know.

March 22 - GFO March Classic.

Visit https://gfo.ca/about/marchclassic.2022/ for details.

March 31 - OFA Research Day 2022. Visit the OFA website to register www.ofa.on.ca Huron County Federation of Agriculture

BOARD MEETING March 28, 2022 8:00 p.m.

If you are interested in joining this meeting – please let us know.

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

HCFA OFFICE During the winter months please call before visiting the HCFA office to determine if the office is open.

Please be assured that we are still available to address your concerns by telephone: 519­482­9642 or email: ofahuron@tcc.on.ca Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/huronfedofag and Facebook at Huron County Federation of Agriculture

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

72 The Rural Voice

Supplying the agricultural industry needs since 1977!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Angle Channel Hot and cold rolled bars Tool steel Beams Rebar Concrete reinforcing mesh Mechanical tubes Black pipe Galvanized pipe Sheet and Plate Bar grating Welded wire mesh Grip strut Precision ground shafting

* NEW * Now Stocking • Hog & Cattle Panels • Various livestock penning sizes available Services offered: • Saw cutting • Punching • Rebar cutting and bending • Custom welded columns and beams • Priming • Galvanizing OPEN: Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

www.huntersteel.ca 519-273-3151 500 Lorne Ave. E., Stratford

Answer: SOPRANO

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House & Barn Painting Pressure Washing Asphalt Coatings Sand & Air Blasting Roofs & Walls Elevator Legs Lightning Rod Systems Heavy Duty Seamless Eavestroughing Fully Insured Free Estimates

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

We’re also certified applicators of Liquid Rubber

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

Waterproof Adheres to almost any surface Resists Cracking & Chipping Flexible in all weather

www.barnpainting.ca DORCHESTER

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Visit MapleL LeavesForever.ca to learn more and apply Follow Us s for year-roun nd tree care tip ps

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TALK TO YOUR LOCAL SHUR-GAIN® DEALER FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Dauphin Feed & Supply

Hensall Co-op

Nieuwland Feed & Supply Ltd.

Dungannon 519-529-7951/1-800-665-5675 Walton 519-887-6023

Londesboro

Listowel 519-291-5795/1-800-265-3229 Drayton 519-638-3008/1-800-263-9818 Elora 519-846-5354/1-800-265-5354

519-523-9606/1-800-265-9000 Zurich 519-236-7155/1-800-565-7155

Trouw Nutrition Canada Inc.

Ripley

Tavistock 519-655-2033

519-395-5955-1-855-895-5955

Holstein Feed Mill (2015) Ltd.

519-232-4449

Holstein 519-334-3424

519-291-2220

Ailsa Craig Kurtzville

The Hitching Post (2019) Ltd. St Marys 519-284-2360