The Rural Voice - May, 2021

May 2021

Rural Voice

The

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

AUTISM AND A2 MILK The Van Dyke family switches to A2 beta-casein dairy genetics to process milk products for autistic and sensitive children

SNOBELENS AND SEEDS Snobelen Farms launches new seedprocessing and soybean receiving facility in Palmerston

SHUTDOWN STRESS Jakeman’s survives shutdown three weeks after opening three million dollar processing facility

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Contents

16

The

Rural Voice THE MAGAZINE OF AGRICULTURAL LIFE

20

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 Editor: Lisa B. Pot rveditorlisa@northhuron.on.ca Contributing writers: Keith Roulston, Kate Procter, Jeffrey Carter, Rhea Hamilton Seeger, Arnold Mathers, Donna Lacey, Melisa Luymes, Anne Mann, Nancy Fisher, Dorothy Henderson, Bonnie Sitter, Gary Kenny, Jeff Tribe, Amanda Brodhagen and Bob Reid.

28 Columns Lisa B. Pot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Keith Roulston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Kate Procter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Jeffrey Carter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Mabel’s Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Woodlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Agrilaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Departments Ruralite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Financial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Business Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 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

MAY 2021 • Cover Photo Anna, Jeron and John Van Dyke Photo by Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

• Deadlines: June Issue

Mailed by: McLaren Press Graphics Bracebridge, ON

– May 11

July Issue – June 15

16 Producing A2 Milk The Van Dykes produce A2 beta casein milk for sensitive son

20 Snobelens Celebrates 50 years A new seed handling facility is set to open as Snobelen Farms reaches 50 years in business

24 Expansion Hits Snag during COVID Jakemans invested in a $3 million processing plant just before the lockdown

28 Taking Best Care of Seniors Seniors struggle through COVID but ONE CARE shifts programs to meet their needs

Sales representative: 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: $20 (12 issues) $35 (24 issues), includes HST Back copies $2.75 each,U.S. rates, $65.00

33 Hooked on Mushrooms Mushrooms Inc. offers grow kits to grow your own mushrooms

36 Chugging Around the Garden Garden railways are a real hit with grandchildren say train enthusiasts

All manuscripts submitted for consideration should be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs, although both are welcome. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publisher. Editorial content may be reproduced only by permission of the publisher.

The Rural Voice makes every effort to see that advertising copy is correct. However, should an error occur, please notify The Rural Voice office within 30 days of invoicing in order to obtain a billing adjustment.

NH

ORTH URON

PUBLISHING COMPANY INC.

A division of North Huron Publishing Company Inc.

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Ruralite

“

•

It was a lot of stress. A lot of

No Regrets

sleepless nights. We were pretty well chewed up and spit out at that point ... and then they

”

shut down all our retail streams. You’ve just got to figure it out somehow.”

~ Chad Jakeman of Jakeman’s maple syrup products on the stress of launching a three-million dollar processing facility right before a COVID-19 shutdown. Story on page 24.

“As dementia progresses, it’s really hard to provide support.

Many wander. They have behaviours. It really helps caregivers to have a day to themselves to rest and recover to have the energy they need to provide support to their loved one.” ~ Kathy Scanlon of ONE CARE Home and Community Support Services on the need for adult day programs to provide a stimulating day out for seniors and respite for their caregivers. Story on page 28. ~

Well Stated • Committee: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours • Handkerchief: Cold storage • Secret: A story you tell to one person at a time • Toothache: The pain that drives you to extraction

{ } FARMING IN MAY

“We hit a 40-hour work week

by Tuesday at noon.”

~Anonymous farmer during spring planting

On this farm the white hens lay white eggs and brown hens lay brown eggs. Yet brown cows produce white milk. It’s a confusing truth for all the cute, little, farm visitors who ask if Jersey cows give chocolate milk. #it’sanhonestmistake ~Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

•

Neil’s One-Liners

(Wisdom from the McGavin files)

• The best way out of a problem is through it.

•

May 2021 3

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

When dealing with roosters, don’t put off ’till tomorrow what you can do today The expression “don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today” proved itself very wise when I locked myself in the chicken tractor (chicken coop on wheels) with an angry rooster behind me and a solid cage around me.

It was time for morning chores and when I can, I like to take my time because this is such a good part of my day. On this day, however, I had so much to do: interviews, cottage renovations and driving daughters to their jobs after school. It’s fair to say my head was too full and I was rushing through tasks I normally relish. The cats got a hurried scoop of cat food, the horse pen was mucked out in record time and the hens in the big pen didn’t appreciate my cold hand grabbing for eggs.

The final task during chores is to check the banties and brown hens in the chicken tractor outside. These lucky hens get moved to new grass every day but the night before had

4 The Rural Voice

been cold and snowy so I’d rolled them into the shed. When I looked inside the cage that morning, I noticed a dead hen in the corner. She was old and didn’t lay eggs anymore (though she ate like she did) so it wasn’t a production loss. Still, it’s sad to see an animal die of natural causes. To get her out, I opened the latch and walked in the built-like-a brick-house cage to remove the old hen. I heard the door “click” behind me.

Dead hen in hand with a rooster getting fussy behind me, I realized I was locked in. The designer of the chicken tractor had sold it with a string inside the cage to pull the latch and open the door from the inside.

That string rotted off a few months ago and I kept meaning to replace it.

When I heard that click, I thought, “no worries, I’ll call my partner Jason and he can drive over and get me out.” I reached into my pocket.

NO PHONE. That’s when I started to get a little worried. The girls had already left for school and there was no one at home.

The first daughter wouldn’t return home until 4 p.m. and who’s to say she’d go straight to the barn? She often did to check the horses but not always. It was just after eight a.m ... I might be in that coop for 12 hours if I didn’t figure something out.

Indeed, I was starting to feel quite desperate. I had interviews for the magazine booked! And that rooster has spurs at least three inches long ... how long before he tried to rule the roost? Would I have to flog him with the dead hen in order to survive?

I checked for options. Could I lift the coop and crawl underneath? I

tried but this coop takes effort to roll on wheels. I have some muscle but even if I could lift it, how would I shimmy out underneath? Could I kick through the wire? Nope, this coop wasn’t built with flimsy chicken wire. It was thick, metal wire, embedded between the wood structure. Could I crawl out the back hatch where I collect eggs? Not with this ass. Was there a stick in the coop I could press through the wire and toggle the latch? Only straw.

There was only one thing to do – bust that door down and hope I could fix it later. Thankfully I have a pair of powerful legs thanks to my triathlon years and with hens flying in the air, the rooster crowing and the dog running around barking from all the drama, I sat on my bum and kicked with all the force I could muster. It took five solid kicks and the force found its weak point – the latch. The metal latch and bolt twisted and bent until they separated from each other and the door flew open! I was free!

The latch will need to be replaced but I was able to hammer it back into shape just enough to shut the door once I got out.

Then, before I put it off for even another second, I got a piece of fence wire that WON’T rot. I measured and cut the right length to replace the trip rope inside the cage. Then I carefully made sure when pulled, it lifted that banged-up latch to open the door of the cage from the inside. Never again will I end up with feathers in my hair, a red-eyed rooster ready to draw blood and hens that wouldn’t lay eggs for a week after the fright I gave them. ◊

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Goderich

May 2021 5

Keith Roulston Keith is former publisher of The Rural Voice.

He lives near Blyth, ON.

Real beef can fight climate change Unless we’re setting out to study an issue by reading a book or article, most of us pick up casual information in bite-sized bits.

So when TV viewers see the A&W restaurant chain’s saturation campaign about its hamburgers made with beef from grass-fed cattle, they probably have just a simple reaction.

The restaurant chain, of course, wants people to think about burgers made extra tasty because the secret ingredient is that the cattle eat grass and hay. They also hope people will absorb the halo effect of the meat seeming natural.

I’m sure when many urban customers see the images of cattle

6 The Rural Voice

wading through waving fields of knee-length grass (not exactly prime fodder but it makes better pictures than a properly trimmed pasture) they think that at least cattle are being raised the way they were meant to live rather than part of some “industrialized” feedlot process.

Even though some of the ads in the series make a point, while talking to supposedly typical ranchers, that there’s a recycling process as the cattle eat grass then fertilize the ground to grow more grass, I’m not sure the message will get through about the invaluable role cattle in particular, but all livestock, play in reducing climate change.

That’s not the usual message they get, of course. Usually livestock farming is portrayed as part of the climate change problem. Cattle in particular get a bad rap because they burp methane while digesting roughage. Those who don’t think animals should be raised for food zero in on this to try to widen their support among people who worry about the environment.

Speaking during a webinar, part of

the Horizon series presented by the Livestock Research Innovation Corporation, the University of Guelph’s Dr. Claudia Wagner-Riddle noted agriculture accounts for 10 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, with livestock contributing half and crop production onethird. But cattle, she reminded viewers, “convert the food we can’t eat into nutritious food we can eat, plus methane as a side product”.

What’s more, agriculture can actually contribute toward the solution to climate change, she said as she presented an estimate that showed how if perennial crops like pastures remain at their current levels and are not converted to growing annual crops, 62 per cent of the carbon emissions produced by Canada’s beef sector could be offset.

What’s more, Dr. Wagner-Riddle said, many big companies like Microsoft are turning to agriculture to make up their carbon offsets to reach their goals of becoming carbon-neutral or negative.

The anti-animal agriculture crowd loves to claim we can get all the nutrition we need from plant-based products imitating meat, milk and eggs. But if your concern is for the climate, annual crops don’t sequester carbon in the soil as wells the roots of perennial crops. Corn, for instance, may take in 10 tonnes of carbon per hectare but half of that is removed as food or feed and remaining half only stores carbon for a year or so. Many growers of annual crops counter that, of course, with cover crops that help build the soil.

The ways carbon can be buried are through regenerative agriculture principles, she pointed out: having pastures and grazing animals; diversifying crops, using cover crops, increasing crop yields and returning residues to the soil.

A year or so ago A&W riled many beef farmers when it mounted a massive ad campaign for its plantbased burgers. That campaign prompted McDonalds and Tim Hortons to also hop on the plantbased meat bandwagon.

Imagine if you could get the message across to environmentalists that they’d be doing more to combat climate change by eating grass-fed beef than plant-based burgers.◊

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May 2021 7

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

Spreading manure is more complex than you imagine This year, it seemed as if we launched from a great winter straight into summer, with about one day of spring in between. Snow banks disappeared under a blast of warm air and sunshine, leaving behind drying fields, blooming spring flowers, and the kind of optimism that only a strong shot of sun can bring. One of our input suppliers quite accurately commented that he thinks farmers must be solar-powered.

We feel cautiously ahead of the game – after the past two wet, cold springs, we got all of our liquid manure out almost a month ahead of some years. Spreading liquid manure is a funny thing. People whizzing past in their cars probably don’t even notice, neighbours are inundated with the unmistakable odour, but out in the field, it is possibly one of the most complicated tasks that we do.

We have a relatively small drag line manure spreading set up compared to some of our neighbours.

If everything goes right, we can get 750,000 gallons of liquid spread in two days. But, there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle that practically ensure you won’t finish in two days.

I always breathe a huge sigh of relief when it actually is finished, and it is never finished until the last hose is safely rolled up on the reel and all the equipment is back in the yard.

Using a drag line to spread liquid manure has a few advantages over using tankers. It causes less compaction, takes less time to spread, provides more nitrogen to the plants, reduces odour, can require fewer employees depending on the number of tankers, and can eliminate travel on the road. It does take some management and if things go wrong, 8 The Rural Voice

they can go wrong in a hurry.

The drag line consists of a hard plastic pipe that winds up on a big metal reel – one you can see from the road as you whiz past. The tractor pulls the manifold and an applicator, which is attached to the drag line. In addition, there is a supply line that brings the liquid from the tank to the applicator. At the tank there is a pump, run by another tractor, and an agitator to keep the solids stirred up and flowing out with the manure.

Added all up, we have 990 feet of drag line, roughly 3,500 feet of supply hose, two reels, four tractors, an applicator with a manifold, three PTOs, one pump with a primer, a suction hose, and an agitator. These pieces of equipment have gaskets, connectors, bearings, chains – some require lubrication but some can’t be lubricated, grease fittings, and about 30 tires. A pin hole in any of that hose requires immediate repair. What could go wrong?

So far, I’ve just described some of the equipment required to make this operation happen. One part of my job is to stay at the pit moving the agitator and watching the pump. If anything goes wrong in the field, the pump must be shut down immediately, so having a reliable system of communication is vital.

Placing the agitator requires backing the tractor up as close as you can to the edge of the tank, setting it in, running it for about 20 minutes at a time and moving it regularly to keep the entire tank mixing properly.

Without moving the agitator adequately, you end up with the dreaded island of solid that cannot be removed.

Out in the field, correct placement of the drag line reel and supply hose is vitally important to make sure the field is covered properly and that the hoses do not cross. And while they may look rugged, driving over a supply hose or the drag line is a big no-no! Now we use GPS and autosteer to actually steer the tractor, so once that line is set up, driving the tractor is the easy part.

We can cover about one third to one quarter of a 100-acre field before everything needs to be moved.

Moving equipment and resetting

requires detaching the applicator, winding up the drag line, wrapping up supply hose and shifting everything to another part of the field. In order to wind the drag line, the reel must be repositioned so that the line feeds in as straight as possible and wraps tightly around the reel.

I have been helping with this job for about six years, which sounds like I should be an expert, but in reality, adds up to about a total of 17 days spread over that time. Every year, I think I’ll have a better idea of how things need to be placed and angled and set up – but every year it is a struggle. I’ve been doing it long enough to have an idea of some of the things that can go wrong (although there is always room for surprises), but not long enough to feel confident to take it on by myself.

I’m very thankful for our long-term expert at manure spreading and try to learn as much as I can, hoping eventually that knowledge will sink in and still be there next year.

As with most jobs, there is a complexity that can’t really be appreciated from the outside looking in and I always think it is a small miracle every year when it is completed. It is one of those jobs that takes practice and people new to the job, who haven’t seen what can go wrong, sometimes approach it with more gusto than I do. The 4-H motto of “learn to do by doing” always pops into my mind at some point during the process, and I am especially grateful for the patience, skill, and knowledge of the people I work with. ◊

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May 2021 9

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

Portraits of hunger in Canada Hunger is something all too familiar to the peoples of Northern Canada. Hunger of the belly or worse – hunger of the spirit. I touched briefly on this last month, recalling my experiences in and around the Town of High Level in Northeastern Alberta four decades ago.

Today, the community located in the midst of the Dene Tha First Nation has both a foodbank and kitchen program operated through the local Native Friendship Centre, a positive development.

Yet the problem of hunger, physical and spiritual, persists and not just in Canada’s northern communities. Similar challenges exist throughout our nation including the south. In cities, it’s often due to the combination of inadequate food distribution and the excessive cost of housing. For the working poor, the choice all too often is between food and shelter and the situation is aggravated further by the existence of food deserts, areas underserved by the large grocery retailers.

However, it’s on the hunger of rural Southwestern Ontario, where a large percentage of Canada’s food production takes place, that I’d like to focus my remarks.

Here in Chatham-Kent, there are foodbanks in most of the little communities, several in Chatham along with soup kitchens, and the newer Mobile Food Market which makes weekly stops in 12 different locations.

The portrayal of Canadian food system as being resilient and an important economic driver for Canada with its export focus is at best ironic, an irony that is perhaps best exemplified when hunger occurs among members of the farming community.

About 15 years ago, I was invited 10 The Rural Voice

to meet with a group of Thai women who were being temporarily housed in a Leamington motel as they were beginning to work at a nearby mushroom farm.

Hospitality, it would seem, is second nature to the Thai people. My wife and I, along with two worker advocates who provided translation were invited to join the workers for lunch, a meal that they had evidently taken some time to prepare.

Afterwards, I had an opportunity to learn more of the workers’ brief Canadian experience. They had been brought to Canada by a farmer through the low-skilled component of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program that had been introduced federally when a Liberal government was still in power. It was subsequently popularized by the succeeding Conservative government led by Stephen Harper and such questionable characters as Jason Kenney who at the time served as the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration The program at that time offered little in the way of worker support or protection. Participants were essentially left to their own devices and whatever integrity their employer might possess.

The group had arrived late in the summer, ostensibly for spring planting, but were not offered any immediate work apart from some nightcrawler harvesting and, from what I was told, entertaining their employer. With winter in the not-toodistant future, they had inadequate clothing and too little to eat. Worse, each of the women had paid many thousands of dollars – often borrowed – to unscrupulous labour contractors for the privilege of coming to Canada to labour within the food system only to be faced with hunger and despair.

Only through the intervention of the worker advocates and members of The Ursuline Sisters of Chatham were the women rescued from their plight. Jobs with the mushroom farm were secured and transportation arranged with frail sisters standing guard as the move was made.

Hunger is not just a concern for farm workers but for farmers themselves.

A number of years ago I interviewed the people operating a food bank in Petrolia who told me that among their patrons were farm families. In times of poor commodity pricing, income can fall to the point that putting food on the table becomes an issue, especially for families reliant only on farming as their sole source of income.

Unlike times past, when farmers combined sales of their production with a component of self-sufficiency, most of today’s farmers are specialists, focusing on production of a relatively small number of crops or a single species of livestock. When incomes fall, food security becomes an issue.

Hunger within the farming population is not just restricted to those who have embraced the modern approach to agriculture, however.

A year ago, just before the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in Canada, I made a stop at a little farm I had been to before hoping to purchase some butter or milk. The woman of the household was there, a thin person with young children and a tired, drawn demeanor. With a look of admonishment, she replied, “The people are hungry!”

Without even the benefit of even paper and ink, I remember those words well and, upon reflection, what may have been their intended message: you think you know so much about the food system but in fact you know very little.

Early spring has traditionally been the hungry time, a time when winter stores have been depleted and new growth still lies ahead. Asking for butter or milk was a most foolish request. ◊

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

“You bring the coffee. I’ll cook the breakfast,” George Mackenzie had told the boys.

They had been getting takeout from Mabel’s Grill since the beginning of the latest lockdown but when the styrofoam containers filled the garbage bin so much she couldn’t put the bottle cap from her bottled water in, George’s wife got fed up.

“Why don’t you just cook breakfast here,” she’d said. “You’ll save the planet and your pocketbook.”

So George had the table set on his back porch when Dave Winston drove into the yard and Cliff Murray arrived with coffee from Mabel’s. As they sat in the warmth of the spring sunshine, George elbowed the screen door open and delivered plates of fried eggs and sausages.

“Where’s the toast?” Dave wondered.

“I got outsmarted by a smart toaster,” George admitted sheepishly.

“A smart toaster?” Cliff said.

“What the heck is that?”

“My wife likes gadgets,” sighed George. “She saw this toaster on TV so she went out and bought one. I gotta admit it makes perfect toast, changing the toast time according what kind of bread you’re using, but she controls it with an app on her smart phone and I don’t have the app or a smart phone.”

“Maybe you could have called her at the work and she could turn it on for you from there,” Dave laughed.

“Maybe, but she hates me calling.

Says it interrupts her. She likes people to text her so she can get it whenever she wants.”

“And you only got a flip phone that’s hard to text on,” said Dave.

“I like things simple,” George grumbled. “I want a phone that’s just a phone.”

“It’s hard to get anything that’s just plain and simple these day,” sighed Cliff. “We got a new washing machine that’s got all the bells and

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whistles. But if my wife’s washing sheets and they get twisted, the thing bogs down between the wash and rinse cycles. So she sorts out the sheets and starts all over at the beginning but it gets stuck again. It’s like something from Groundhog Day. I’ve got so when she heads for the laundry room, I head for the barn. A man shouldn’t know his wife knows that sort of language.”

“Anyway, I can’t wait for Mabel’s to be open again so we can have breakfast there,” George said.

“I’ll bet Mabel is even more impatient,” said Dave. “It’ll be even better when we all get vaccinated and she can be full capacity.”

“They finally got down to my age group the other day so I got my shot,” Cliff said. “I’d thought all along that the first thing I’d do when I got vaccinated would be to get a haircut, but then they closed the barbershops.”

“See, that’s where I’m ahead of you,” said George. “The wife told me the other day that I needed a hair cut and I asked her ‘Which one: the one on the left or the one on the right.’”

“Some of the politicians must be waiting until we all get vaccinated before they get a hair cut,” Dave said.

“People like the Mayor of Toronto and the Prime Minister are a pretty hairy lot.”

George snorted. “Politicians are always a hairy lot!”

The conversation was interrupted as Cliff deftly swiped a fly out of the air that was eyeing his sausages.

“Damn flies,” he grumbled.

“Hey, my wife got excited when she read the article in the last Rural Voice about farming flies,” said Dave. “She figured with all the cluster flies we’ve got we had a head start. But then she read it was a special sort of fly.”

“Yeah, big suckers, weren’t they,” said Cliff. “I hope none of those get out into nature or I’ll need a bigger fly swatter.”

George shook his head. “Farming flies. What will they think of next?”

“I wonder if it will ever get like regular farming where you’ll listen to the market report on the radio in the morning and they say “Choice flies sold in a range from $5 to $6 a pound”, Dave wondered.◊

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Mel Luymes Mel Luymes works in agriculture and conservation and blogs at headlands.ca

Overwhelmed by the bigness of the issue and smallness of me This week, I gave the land acknowledgement to kick off an online event. I spoke about the history of Luymes Farms land, just outside of Moorefield.

And it was uncomfortable.

The history of First Nations is … wait, before I start, is First Nations the right word to be using? Is it politically correct these days or will I get flak? First Nations doesn’t include Metis or Inuit, so is there a better word? Some have told me I should speak of the individual bands themselves (oh shoot, can I say bands?) and not make sweeping generalizations about all the nations that lived (and still live!) here.

I guess the first reason I was uncomfortable is that I said it wrong.

But whatever. This is too important to stop just because I have some awkward feelings about it.

Anyways, what I was saying is that history of First Nations is … sad.

As a warm-blooded human and proud Canadian, it is alarming to learn about our history and what treatment the British and then Canadian governments gave to Indigenous peoples through the years, how we “depopulated” North America with guns, germs, and laws.

This history is not theirs, it is ours.

It is our history to own. And when I start to think that my Dutch heritage gets me off the hook here … darn it, the Dutch were doing all this too, in what would later be called New York, Suriname, South Africa and Indonesia … just to name a few.

The next reason I’m uncomfortable is that when I’m looking for information on this 14 The Rural Voice

history, most of what is easily sold 99 per cent of the land to the accessible was written by white Crown for 1100 pounds a year people. I wade through the bias about (which was $10/person for the 440 First Nations written into every people left), and the remaining land paragraph of our history books: was for four reserves: Kettle Point, either demonizing them as savages or Stony Point, Aamjiwnaang (Sarnia) idealizing them as peaceful victims. and the last was in Moore Township.

I dug deeper and I found some After two decades of settlers excellent books written by squatting on the Moore land, it was Indigenous authors. Much of their ceded in 1843. narratives describe their lived In 1911, the Indian Act was experiences and recent history, changed to allow for reservation land revolving around the trauma of the to be expropriated for the greater federal residential school system good of the area or if it was near a (1876 -1970s), which took 150,000 city of more than 8,000 people. The children from their homes and City of Sarnia threatened to attempted to erase the histories and expropriate Aamjiwnaang in 1919… cultures of this continent. but it is still there.

But I finally found it – an In 1942, the Canadian government interactive map of the province from used the War Measures Act to Indigenous Affairs Ontario broken expropriate part of the Stony Point out by treaty area, with a typed reserve (including an ancestral grave transcript of each treaty. (See site) for a military training base, with Ontario.ca/page/map-ontario-treatiesthe promise to return it after the war and-reserves to find your area!) was over. After the war, the The treaty areas of The Rural Chippewa petitioned to have it back.

Voice readership look like five pieces In 1993, they marched to Ottawa, and of a pie that all come to Arthur. their 1995 occupation of Ipperwash Wellington North is (generally) the resulted in the shooting of Dudley headwaters of a few major George. After an inquiry from 2004 watersheds. I once heard that, since to 2007, the Canadian government rivers were the highways of old, the agreed to transition the land back to headwaters areas were strategic for the Stony Point First Nation, which it trade but vulnerable for settlement finally did in 2016. and agriculture. The area we now I’m writing this here because I farm was a neutral area for hunting (and portages) while the protected settlements were further downstream in the Grand (or, as the Mohawk called it, O:se Kenhionhata:tie, Willow River).

That’s why I won’t find much more than arrowheads in our fields.

I live within the Huron Tract (Treaty 29) which was 2.2 million acres of Aamjiwnaang land (whom the British called Chippewa) that was sold and signed by Anishinabek chiefs in Amherstburg in 1827. Chief Joshua Wawanash was one of them (that name might sound familiar). The tract is a triangle (ish) from Goderich down to Sarnia, then north of London to Arthur; it generally includes the St. Clair, Upper Thames, Ausable The Huron Treaty within the Southern Bayfield and Maitland Ontario Treaty Land map represents 2.2 watersheds. million acres of former Aamjiwanaang land The Huron Treaty effectively sold to Britain in 1827.

Mel Luymes don’t recall ever hearing this story when people talk about Ipperwash.

This part of Canada’s history isn’t told when we complain about protests or free university tuition.

“How do we live and farm as good treaty people?” the Ecological Farmers of Ontario ask. The question still makes me uncomfortable. I’m still overwhelmed by the bigness of

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the issue and the smallness of me.

As I pulled this land acknowledgment together, I was disappointed at the amount of research I had to do for it (so much!).

And this is just the beginning of learning. I’m grateful to the First Nations who are working to recover their history, language and culture. I love this land and I want to restore

the health of it and all the relationships with it. I finally see the relationship I have with the Chippewa nation and want to make sure that all of us in the Huron Treaty area keep our promises to them.

I believe it is important to go out of our way to learn and tell these histories and that is why land acknowledgements are important. ◊

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Dairy

Chocolate A2 milk is Jeron’s favourite • By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot • Anna, Jeron and John Van Dyke take a walk in the riding arena they built on their Stratford-area farm called Spectrum Acres. It’s a place where Jeron and other sensitive and autistic children can enjoy riding a horse, jumping on the trampoline or swinging in a bright environment without too much overwhelming stimulus.

The Van Dykes have been on a journey to make the best life for Jeron since he was diagnosed with autism at 21 months of age.

O

f all the A2 beta casein dairy products Jeron Van Dyk can now eat, chocolate milk is by far his favourite. Jeron tells me this inside Spectrum Acres, a riding arena designed as a bright, safe, calm place with a trampoline and swing chairs for Jeron and his friends to connect.

This story is about Jeron, autism and beta-casein in dairy milk and how Jeron’s parents, John and Anna VanDyk of Perth County, have completely altered their dairy farming goals to provide milk that sensitive children like Jeron can thrive on.

John and Anna were already parents to five girls when Jeron came along 14 years ago. Three more children were to follow; another girl and a set of twin boys. Jeron was breastfed before transferring to whole store-bought milk at 14 months of age. While the other children fared well drinking regular milk, Jeron did not. Though he’d been thriving as a baby, meeting pediatric milestones and sleeping through the night, everything changed in a few 16 The Rural Voice

The Van Dykes breed for A2 beta casein genetics in their dairy herd to produce milk their autistic son can thrive on short months.

“We lost eye contact, he was not sleeping through the night and he started retreating into his own world,” recalls Anna. Strangely, he also seemed “addicted” to his bottle of milk, crying and demanding it throughout the night. He was soon diagnosed with autism and the journey of discovering how to care for an autistic child including what he could, and could not eat, began.

Doctors, nurses, research studies and autistic organizations were consulted as John and Anna learned to care for a child with special needs. Experts recommended immediately taking Jeron off gluten and casein and if he was to have dairy it should be A2 beta casein dairy.

Unfortunately, at the time of his diagnosis there wasn’t that type of dairy readily available. A1 and A2 refer to betacasein proteins in the milk. Many milk drinkers can tolerate both kinds of proteins but others can only drink milk

containing A2 proteins. Breastmilk, goat milk, and milk from cow breeds such as Jerseys and Norwegian dairy cattle are mostly A2 milks. Other breeds that have focused on milk volume, such as Holsteins, produce milk with both A1 and A2. However, by choosing A2 genetics, dairy cattle can be bred to produce milk with only A2 Beta-casein.

Realizing that Jeron and other kids like him could benefit from A2 milk and eat A2 dairy products without stomach upsets and exacerbating autistic behaviours and learning struggles, John decided to start crossbreeding the Dykcroft dairy herd with Jersey and Norwegian bulls that offered A2 beta-casein genetics. The first generation offspring were 50/50 either way but consistent breeding using A2 Jerseys to increase milk fat and A2 Norwegian genetics to maintain larger-framed cattle (Norwegians are larger so that cattle don’t get too small for a barn designed for Holsteins) have created a herd that is now 80 per cent capable of producing A2 milk.

Jeron thrives on the A2 milk. The Van Dyks do not say A1 beta-casein in dairy milk caused the autism but they do believe it is connected to Jeron’s symptoms and behaviours, as well as overall gut health. In fact, his parents have seen remarkable improvement in a boy they describe as very caring, with a great sense of humour, who loves to connect with people. When I ask Jeron what his favourite part of Spectrum Acres is he points out “host” on his Spell to Communicate (S2C) letter board. He likes to welcome his friends to this fantastic space and connection is a big part of Jeron’s skillset, says Anna.

Jeron is a non-reliable speaker but as he grows older, receives therapy and eats foods that don’t stress his body, he is able to express himself verbally on good days. He used to be completely non-verbal and communicated via YouTube videos.

“He’s so smart...he would play a particular video on a loop until we figured out what he was trying to say,” says John. For instance, he would play videos of crying babies wanting bottles, the parents realized

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Jeron was telling them something. from New Zealand has partnered They realized that Jeron was telling with AgriFoods out of British them that all babies need A2 milk in Columbia and has A2 fluid milk their "bubbas" as it is what nature products on the shelves. intended and it is a precautionary “For us, it’s about awareness,” principle. says John. “We want families to have Then one day, while shopping in a choice.” Anna agrees. She wants CostCo, John and Anna found a kefir families to know that sometimes a and thought this needs to be made sensitive person who cannot digest from A2 beta-casein milk! They cow milk believes they have lactose knew kefir to be a superfood for its intolerance when in fact, they have probiotic and beneficial bacteria and an A1 intolerance. They want their were keen to add this to Jeron’s diet. story to be made known for other They noted the product was created families autistic children who may in Etobicoke by M-C Dairy. Not benefit from their experience and are wasting any time, they contacted Msearching for dietary alternatives for C Dairy owner, Borys, who was their children. “Food is a piece excited about the idea of creating a of the puzzle to make life a whole line of products from Van little easier for these kids,” says Dyk’s A2 beta-casein milk. Under John. the umbrella of Dairy Farmers of For the VanDyks, Jeron’s Ontario, the Van Dyks began autism diagnosis has been lifeshipping A2 milk (separating cattle altering. Anna and John have who still have A1 proteins in their changed how they farm and milk) to M-C Dairy which now markets four percent fluid milk, four per cent chocolate milk, kefir, sour cream, cream cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese. The Van Dyks earn a five cent premium for milk shipped to M-C Dairy.

Labelled with colourful Polishthemed decorations (Borys’s parents were Polish immigrants), the Jeron’s favourite thing A2 beta-casein milk to do at Spectrum products are available in Acres is swing in the a select number of hammock swings specialty stores in the inside the bright, airy, GTA area. The Van riding arena. Below, Dyks travel to Etobicoke John and Anna show regularly to stock up and some of the A2 Bdeliver the dairy casein milk products products to their older (kefir, yogurt, sour children’s homes as well. cream, cream cheese, The whole family has cottage cheese, four switched to A2 betaper cent milk and casein milk products and chocolate milk) that Mbelieves in its benefits C Dairy out of for gut health because Etobicoke creates with they’ve seen how well the A2 milk the Van Jeron does on the Dyks produce from products. Since that their herd of crossbred launch, they’ve noted Holstein/Jersey/ that A2 Milk Company Norwegian dairy cattle.

18 The Rural Voice

how they raise and feed their children. Family is everything to the couple and now, life has become more focused and purposeful as they strive to make a great life for Jeron and others on the spectrum. Breeding dairy cattle for A2 milk is one part of that as is the riding barn for families with special needs children, a place they allow certain groups to use freely.

In fact, Anna says the barn was Jeron’s vision. He kept playing the songs Home, by Philip Philips and Lead Me, by Sanctus Real, and with words and gestures, encouraged his

parents to create a place where people like him could feel at ease in their body. Just as Jeron loves connecting people, Anna and John have witnessed amazing connections and partnerships along their journey.

For instance, Borys of M-C Dairy, who processes and sells their A2 Beta-casein milk, also donates ten cents per unit sold to help cover costs at Spectrum Acres.

There is joy here at Spectrum Acres, along with faith and purpose and so much respect for Jeron and his needs. Jeron wanted to be present for the interview and participate which he did. And when it got too much and he was overwhelmed, his older sister happily picked him up. He has agency in his story and his journey and it was emotional, educational and heart-warming to meet the Van Dyk family and witness it.

For more information on the Van Dyks and what they are doing with their dairy herd and at Spectrum Acres, you can visit their website at https://www.spectrumacres.org/ or follow Spectrum Acres on Facebook.◊

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Business

Snobelen Farms grows as it turns 50

T

he family business began in 1971 by Mike and Judy have specializations. All of the elevator locations receive Snobelen. Mike Snobelen saw an opportunity to commercial grain and IP soybeans with the exception of build a grain elevator business when he started their Tiverton elevator, which doesn’t receive IP soybeans farming on the fourth concession of Huron-Kinloss and the Palmerston location, which doesn’t receive Township. While farming in the area was booming, commercial grain at this time. farmers would often have to go quite a distance to sell their The Lucknow and Palmerston Seed locations have grain. cleaning, treating and packaging equipment for the seed According to the company’s website where the business. Winter wheat, conventional soybeans and treated business’s history is highlighted, Snobelen saw a problem: soybeans as well as spring grains and cover crops are large elevators where roughly an hour away and that meant offered. The Lucknow facility also processes, and packages hiring trucks, which were expensive with 24-hour waits to food grade soybeans destined for export mostly to Japan, unload. He did what most farmers would do – look for a solution. He decided to build a grain handling system on his home farm outside of Ripley.

“Snobelen Farms got its start at our Ripley location with just two bins and a commitment to grow and service local farmers producing grain,” said Jason Zondervan, Regional Operations Manager.

• By Amanda Brodhagen • From two grain bins and two employees to today boasting eight elevator locations located across Southwestern Ontario: Lucknow, Dungannon, Snobelen Farms new Ripley, Tiverton, Blyth, seed elevators in Brantford, Palmerston and a Palmerston are at the satellite location in Listowel former Bramhill Seeds which is a partnership with location (above) which Berlett Farms all of which allows the company to require about 60 employees manage growth in their to operate. seed and export Snobelen Farms is a soybean business. family-owned business that The tower design has stood the test of time over the last half a century. decreases the number Farming has evolved and of elevations required changed throughout the to process and treat years and so too has the seed while a new Snobelen Farms. Snobelen seed treater allows the Farms has grown over the company to apply years to include three multiple products divisions: commercial grain, simultaneously. At left, food grade soybean export employees stack bags and the seed business. of soybeans at the While each location new plant. provides farmers in that area with much of the same services, some locations

Snobelens celebrates 50 years in business with a new seedprocessing plant in Palmerston

20 The Rural Voice

and the European market.

“Our goal has always been to provide exceptional products and service to our local farmers, local customers, as well as our customers abroad. Our employees have always been the foundation of our business and our great people allow us to provide our customers with unsurpassed service,” Zondervan said proudly.

Palmerston Project It is a big year for Snobelen Farms marking a milestone of 50 years in business and the near completion of their state-of-the-art facility seed processing facility located in Palmerston which is awaiting a few final touches that will be completed soon.

Planning for this project began in November of 2018 when Snobelen Farms took over ownership of Bramhill Seeds in 2018. The location is strategic, with a large segment of their customer base located in the area with room for growth. The expansion is a result of recent growth in the company’s seed and export soybean business. Construction began summer of 2019 with the help of local contractors. Supporting local businesses and sourcing local supplies wherever possible, was important to the Snobelens.

“Being part of the design process from day one was exciting. I fondly remember Troy drawing on our whiteboard his ideas to how to move product throughout the plant while minimizing elevations. I think he would be proud of what we built here,” said Jodie Eadie, Seed Business Manager.

Mike’s son, Troy Snobelen, then president of Snobelen Farms passed away in a snowmobile accident February of 2019. Seeing the new Palmerston facility was part of his long-term vision for the company.

The world-class seed facility features a tower design to limit the number of elevations required to process and treat the seed. The industry-leading seed treater allows them to apply multiple products simultaneously with limited handling. The facility can simultaneously tote, bag and unload product through the bulk unload system. Reducing unnecessary

handling was key in the plant design.

The facility also has a new warehouse with two loading docks.

IP growers in the Palmerston area can look forward to a new elevator leg and bins which are scheduled to be installed this summer.

“Most recently we completed the installation of our new automated packaging line in Palmerston,” said Jodie Eadie. “This piece of equipment was manufactured in Manitoba by the great folks at Ezratek. As with all other pieces of equipment we installed in the

Palmerston facility, the automated packaging line will allow us to provide a quality bagged product for our customers more efficiently,” Eadie explained.

The Rural Voice had the opportunity to tour the Palmerston facility while taking the necessary safety precautions. The facility is bright with tall ceilings and a modern feel. Perhaps what was most impressive was witnessing the first skid be stacked by the new palletizer.

The machine stacks bags in a forming cage to make a square pallet.

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“Peace of mind” for stored crops When Jeff Drudge looks out at the dozen or so grain bins that make up his elevator operation, he knows that they house a treasure worth millions of dollars and countless hours of work. That’s why he feels good about installing a BIN-SENSE® system that continuously monitors the bins and ensures the grain is safe from spoilage.

“I look at this as insurance. It’s a good investment because it gives you peace of mind, knowing if the grain is cool it’s probably fine – if it’s hot, it’s not,” says Drudge, who co-owns the business and also runs a 2,000 acre cash crop farm with his two brothers.

Drudge Elevators was founded in 2013 in Huron County in southwestern Ontario. He bought the property in 2003, though he has been farming in the area all his life as part of a multi-generational operation. New grain bins were steadily added to expand the capacity to 650,000 bushels.

Drudge Elevators serves producers between Wingham and Listowel and functions as a satellite operation of Hensall Co-op, one of the largest non-financial co-ops in Canada.

Drudge says that when producers from his area drop off their grain, they can breathe a sigh of relief — but then it becomes his responsibility. If there is a problem with stored grain, Drudge says it comes out of his pocket.

Heating and moisture in the stored grain can cause a costly disaster if left unchecked.

“When you dry down that grain and it’s not cooled properly, sometimes it can spring back and you can get hot spots. We want to ship

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out grain that’s as good as what we brought in and BIN-SENSE® gives us that management tool,” he said.

In a BIN-SENSE® installation, cables suspended in the grain bins relay information on heat and moisture levels to a central wireless unit that transmits data through a webbased desktop program or mobile app. Drudge receives a colour-coded alert if there are any problems in the bin, allowing him to take remedial action by removing or redistributing the grain.

Drudge really appreciates the remote monitoring capability because he is a busy guy. In addition to the elevator and the farm, he also sells seed and fertilizer, and even runs a maple syrup operation. “It’s one less management chore for us. We are busy, so we can’t go out and check the bins as much as we should.”

Drudge said grain monitoring equipment really proved its worth in the 2019 crop year when a cool, wet spring delayed planting. “It was a challenging year. The corn was planted late and harvested late and there was some poor quality — for an elevator operation it’s harder to dry and store.”

As farms become larger and agriculture becomes more complex, Drudge said BIN-SENSE® offers technology that works.

“Like every industry, we are forced to go big or get out — welcome to the 21st century. It’s pretty hard to make it if you don’t keep up with the times.”

The unit is operated by a touch screen display, which allows operators to switch up stacking recipes and can stack up to 10 bags per minute. Up until then, all the skids where stacked by hand, which is hard work.

“Our continued success in the agriculture industry is a testament to the vision and commitment the Snobelen Family has shown to sustainable growth, providing exceptional customer service and producing a quality product,” said Eadie.

Due to the pandemic, the anniversary celebrations will look a little different, but Snobelen Farms wants to give a nod to their customers that have been loyal over the years.

To give thanks, they plan to provide all customers with one of a kind 50th anniversary hats and jackets.

Snobelen Farms continued to operate as an independent, familyowned business specializing in the production, processing and sales of food grade soybeans, commercial grains and seed for markets locally and internationally.

Sam Snobelen and Tanya Leppington continue the family legacy alongside their employees.

When asked about the 50th anniversary Sam Snobelen, President of Snobelen Farms. said “he was proud for Snobelen Farms to celebrate 50 years in business. Great customers and a solid vision to serve those customers has brought us here today and will help us to continue to grow in the future”. ◊ The new Palmerston facility is open, with tall ceilings and white walls, makiing it a bright space to work in for Snobelen Farms employees (at right). The new EzraTek palletizer efficiently stacks bags to a uniform square on pallets which makes for easy loading and unloading.

May 2021 23

Maple Syrup

Jakemans ramped up...then came COVID Now running full force, the Jakemans took on the challenge of doing business during COVID-19 when their multi-million-dollar processing plant opened and markets dried up.

F

ive generations of Jakemans spent a century and a half growing, building and adapting passion centred around the seasonal sweetness of pure Ontario maple syrup into a sustainable family business.

The effort arguably reached a milestone just over a year ago with the completion of a state-of-the-art $3,000,000 processing facility, a significant investment designed to allow growth into an existing sixth generation.

Then along came COVID-19, effectively shutting off

Jakeman’s CEO, Chad Jakeman, illustrates the two elements of a classic Canadian breakfast outside the family country store, near Sweaburg.

24 The Rural Voice

the tap on Jakeman’s maple syrup products flowing to airport duty free and other souvenir shops and restaurants.

“We opened the building March first and three weeks later, all our markets shut down,” recalled Chad Jakeman.

Syrup was flowing in, but there were no sales going out.

“It was a lot of stress, a lot of sleepless nights,” continued Jakeman, who had found building construction and completion enough of a challenge. “We were pretty well chewed up and spit out at that point – and then they shut down all our retail streams. You’ve just got to figure it out somehow.”

Challenge is nothing new for a family which first learned the maple syrup-making craft from First Nations people. George and Betsy-Anne Jakeman began production in 1876 after emigrating to Oxford County from Oxfordshire, England. Their son Ernest continued the business, as did Chad’s grandparents George and Ann, and he and brother Devin’s parents Bob and Mary. ‘For the longest’ time it was based simply on maple syrup production, farm market and roadside sales.

But looking to expand within the industry, Bob began selling production equipment, and during the ’70s and ’80s, set up evaporators in “half the woodlots in Ontario,” says Chad. But that market dried up due to a lack of syrup market, so the resourceful Bob developed a pure filtration system whereby product bought from other producers could be blended.

“And still stay consistent,” said Chad. “We still use that same system, although on a larger scale.” Both he and Devin were well versed in the syrup-making arts by the time they were teenagers, via a familiar rural apprenticeship program. Laughing, Chad recalls how much fun syrup-making was for the first few days.

“And then you’d realize it’d be another month,” he smiled. “Come home from school, they’d be waiting to put us in the woods,” added Chad, who experienced his fair share of cutting and splitting wood. “Luckily now, we have natural gas.” By the time the brothers were ready to join the business in a permanent role, what was originally 600 acres had been transformed into 60 by family succession.

“Everyone kind of took a chunk,” said Chad, whose uncle Bruce still produces syrup next door. “We were left with the business.”

COVID is unprecedented, but crisis is nothing new.

Chad cited 2008 when a veritable avalanche of snow in Quebec prevented producers there from harvesting, leading

• By Jeff Tribe •

to buying up a significant percentage of the Ontario crop.

“We had no supply for our own markets,” said Chad, recalling desperately driving around in a pickup truck seeking farmers selling syrup at the end of their laneway. “It comes full circle – here we are in another crisis year: 2020.”

What also came full circle was how challenge transformed the family business. Many of the farmers who filled the gap during the 2008 shortage have become among the 200-plus Ontario-based producers Jakeman’s sources syrup from, for a growing business. It’s a symbiotic relationship, says Chad, his family relying on their production, the producers who do not have their own scalable business model, gaining access to guaranteed sales.

“They rely on us to grow the market,” said Chad. “Economics works that way,” he added. “You’ve got to have demand, or the product won’t be made.

The relationship has allowed both partners to expand operations. “Some come with two or three drums in a pickup truck, and then there’s guys who come with a whole 53-foot truckload.”

Jakeman’s employs its own quality assurance inspector, and each producer must be inspected and approved before being accepted.

Many are also federally inspected says Chad, with syrup regularly sent for laboratory testing to ensure safety and quality. All syrup is also pasteurized to 217 degrees Fahrenheit. “And then we filter it and do a blend.”

Syrup tends to darken over a season, with for example, old-timers talking in hushed tones about some particularly light product coming off a sandy knoll on the first run, or denigrating the darkness of a lateseason draw as fit only for sugar.

Jakeman’s do produce light or dark syrup for special occasions says Chad, but a blended amber grade is not only the most popular but also, in his opinion, offers the most balanced flavour. “It’s a realistic approach,” he says.

Jakeman’s maple syrup and maple products are available in every airport in Canada, save ironically

Pearson, and at many tourist areas including Niagara Falls, Vancouver and Banff.

“It’s like a post card from Canada,” says Chad.

Jakeman’s products are also shipped internationally to China, Australia, South Africa, more recently into Viet Nam, as well as long-term into various health food stores in the United Kingdom, and Ireland, where it is the number one maple syrup. “And has been for 10 years.” Jakeman’s is also making inroads into United States grocery chains.

The new production facility was five or six years in the making, says Chad. “It’s been a long struggle to get it,” with completion coinciding with COVID’s unwelcome arrival and elimination of their marketplace, leaving the family “beside themselves.”

3.99%

“We had to pivot in a hurry.”

Since Chad and Devin’s arrival in the business, gaining grocery store market share had been a goal, and Jakeman’s had made it into Farm Boy. Apart from the size of the potential market, there are advantages versus souvenir sales, says Chad, which have less emphasis on quality, more on price, compared to grocery or food services products.

“You want to buy something for your home, you are going to eat it and you want it to be good.”

As they looked around last March, desperate to see who was open, who they might sell to, they decided to pursue the possibility of expanding that bridgehead, an effort assisted by the new production facility’s capacity to achieve BRC (British Retail Consortium) food standards. A friend at Tremblett’s Independent in Ingersoll connected Chad with a

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May 2021 25

district manager, who then put him in contact with a category director for Loblaw’s, which it turned out, was open to sourcing additional maple syrup.

“It was like toilet paper,” says Chad. “It was flying off the shelf.”

Consumers may see Jakeman’s maple products in branded, standalone shelving produced by Holbrook-area craftsman Mike Dennis.

One step up is “planogramming”, whereby existing retail shelf space is available, but suppliers have to make individual deliveries.

“He (the category director) said ‘I’ll do you one better, I’ll put you in the warehouse,’” said Chad, thrilled to hear he’d be shipping to just one, rather than multiple, locations. It has meant learning new data merge software programming, however skids of products go comparativelyconveniently to Pickering. “For a person like me, that’s like winning the lottery.”

From there, branded Jakeman’s maple syrup products are now available in a wide variety of grocery stores across Canada. “The more you are seen, the easier marketing gets,” said Chad. “And I think we’re seen as a market leader, now.”

Concurrently, Jakeman’s has connected with 80 Sunset Grills and are also diversifying into the food services industry with Sysco and Gordon’s Food Service. New maple sugar creation, granulation, mixing and packaging equipment allows Jakeman’s to convert 40,000 pounds of syrup into granulated sugar.

“We are going to run that into sugar packets,” says Chad, who has been a lifelong test subject for the benefits of combining the richness of coffee with the richness of maple sugar. “They go really well together.”

The latter statement is one which could apply to maple syrup and the Jakeman family, through 140-plus years of hard work, evolution, 26 The Rural Voice

Chad Jakeman (right) shows off a classicallyshaped bottle of syrup, inside the new production facility’s warehouse while below, he fronts a steamjacketed paddle mixer, an integral component of the company’s diversification into maple sugar production.

Above, left: Liz Dougall shows off a variety of fare on offer at the Jakeman’s Oxford County country store, near Sweaburg while Devin Jakeman holds up a jar of maple butter, or spread. At right, the Jakeman label reveals the family has been producing maple syrup since 1876.

business savvy, challenge and crisis.

Nationally, a First Nations practice of boiling down 40 gallons of sap into one of maple syrup has created a $500-million industry. Jakeman’s processes around a million pounds annually says Chad, which pales in comparison to some massive Quebec counterparts.

“We’re big around here, but a little business dealing with big business in the grand scheme of things.”

Devin and spouse Danielle have two children, as do Chad and wife Fernanda, with a third on the way.

Providing them an opportunity to continue a family tradition will require continued evolution within a dynamic marketplace and against unforeseen future challenges. But Chad appreciates the fact it will be based on tradition stretching back through five previous generations.

Trees George and Betsy-Anne first tapped 150 or so years ago are still producing sap, Chad says. This is enviable sustainability compared to, for example, cane sugar, which may require clear-cutting rainforest and ultimately produce effluent and waste.

“With ours, the by-product is water,” he said, pointing to a reverse osmosis process which removes a lot of water from sap, finished into syrup with natural gas-fired boiling. “It’s a really environmentally-sound plan.”

Admittedly, Jakeman's business plan for their own sustainability was not a major financial outlay in advance of a global pandemic closing existing markets. “It happened at the worst time, but we did it,” said Chad, admitting that while it was an incredibly stressful transition, COVID-19 may actually have contributed to their entry into the Loblaw’s group. “It did open a door.”

Ten years ago when he joined Jakeman’s, the family business employed 10, including him, Devin, Bob and Mary. Last year the company issued 29 T4’s including 25 for full-time employees.

“It’s come a long way,” concluded Chad, pleased to see 2020 behind them, and this year’s run beginning with considerably more promise.

“The future is looking bright now.” ◊

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May 2021 27

Community

Home is good but not in isolation, say seniors ONE CARE serves seniors and their caregivers by providing meals, programs and respite for families

T

he most frightening demographic for COVID-19 has been the senior population who want to live at home, but not completely isolated.

Social agencies such as ONE CARE Home and Community Support Service, a charitable, not-for-profit health care orgainization based in Clinton, recognize the need for balance and have been struggling through lockdowns to help seniors live in their homes, without losing services such as Meals on Wheels and adult day programs to provide stimulation and relief for caregivers.

It’s been a tricky balance.

• By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

“People always want to be at home. They feel safe at home and if they can be supported in their homes, it allows people to be healthier and surrounded by family, friends and community,” says Kathy Scanlon, Executive Director of ONE CARE for Huron and Perth Counties. “It’s also so important for the health of our communities for seniors to be a part of it.”

A valuable programs that is difficult to offer during this COVID-19 pandemic are adult day programs. Locations in Clinton, Goderich, Exeter, Wingham and Grand Bend had to be closed during lockdowns but that means seniors lost out on valuable social, learning and peertime. For instance, the Clinton location offers a stroke program and staff teach special exercises and activities that benefit seniors recovering from strokes. Another vital aspect of the adult day programs is the respite it provides to caregivers.

“In many cases we have seniors, maybe 85-yearsold, providing care for an 84-year-old spouse who has dementia,” explains Scanlon. “As dementia progresses, it’s really hard to provide support. Many wander. They have behaviours. For the caregiver, it’s really hard to keep a loved one with dementia at home and one thing that really helps is to have that day where their spouse is in a program and they can have a day to themselves to rest and recover to have energy to provide support to their loved one the rest of the time.”

Some adult day programs were cancelled and others have to limit numbers to maintain physical distancing requirements. “Prior to COVID-19, we had 12-15 people coming during the day but with COVID19, we had to reduce that to six,” says Scanlon. ONE CARE was given additional funding in 2020 to provide extra days of service to meet the needs of more people but it’s a new year, with new budgets and new funding allocations. It remains to be seen whether ONE CARE can access that funding again or not.

It’s part of the reason Scanlon wanted this story to reach the broader community. “Many services like this, which are preventative, are not noticed until they are gone. But these needs are acute,” says Scanlon.

Doug Harding agrees. Doug has been a ONE CARE volunteer for six years, his wife Darlene over 20 years and his mother was also a dedicated volunteer.

ONE CARE client, Violet Connor of Lucknow, is helped getting Doug and Darlene volunteer with the Meals on Wheels program to clients in Howick Township. “Right now we into the ONE CARE van by staff member Mike Dupuis. The are out delivering twice a week but it has been as much home and community support services provides programs for as three days a week or down to one day a week,” says seniors which also gives respite to caregivers.

28 The Rural Voice

Doug, who also serves as the Reeve of Howick. “The seniors really look forward to seeing us and while we can’t go in the house anymore, we chat through the door. We keep our masks on and keep our distance as we really want to follow the rules and have a clean record.”

Doug says the seniors are very eager for news about what is happening in their community.

“They have lots of questions for us and we Cathy Scanlon, appreciate being Executive Director, able to chat and ONE CARE Home be a break in and Community their day. We Support Services leave them a meal and we leave with a smile on our face.”

He says volunteering has many perks but when delivering meals to seniors, one always has to be prepared for what might be on the other side of that door. Doug got emotional sharing an incident where a senior didn’t come to the door because they needed immediate medical help. “We were able to get that person the help they needed and after a stay in the hospital, they were able to come home and we could resume bringing them Meals on Wheels,” shared Doug, his voice thickening as he held back tears.

“You get attached to these people and it feels really good to be able to help.”

Other services ONE CARE provide to seniors and the greater community are: • Transportation: “This is a really important one in a rural area. We definitely had to adjust our transportation program during COVID-19,” says Scanlon. ONE CARE provides staff drivers and has a base of volunteer drivers to get seniors to church, to social events, to weekly grocery shopping trips and also medical appointments.

• Friendly Visiting: These one-onone visits had to be revamped to phone call visits but their value was May 2021 29

unaltered. “This program has been more important than ever because people are feeling lonely and isolated,” explains Scanlon.

Volunteers are given training to encourage talk about the senior’s interests to keep seniors’ minds healthy and engaged. This is one program that is always looking for more volunteers.

• Meals on Wheels: This program has increased tremendously and during COVID-19, has added a grocery delivery program. “When it first hit, a lot of people did not want to go out so we offered grocery delivery and that has been very successful for people,” says Scanlon.

This program was also supported by additional government grants • Night Away: New this year, the Night Away program provided support for groups of individuals to stay in a hotel to provide overnight respite service. It has since been cancelled due to lack of funding.

• Bundle Services: ONE CARE partnered with local hospitals to provide a more comprehensive care pack that included meals, phone calls with doctors and in-home support to help seniors who have been in the hospital get settled back into a home routine. “A lot of time when people leave the hospital they feel insecure, so this extra support when they are

Seniors need stimulation and carers need a break

By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot

A

fter a slight stroke and diagnosis of vascular dementia, Violet Connor sold her home in Acton and moved in with her daughter and son-inlaw, Donna and James McIsaac of Lucknow.

The arrangement is something everybody wanted but it hasn’t been without its challenges so the McIsaacs turned to ONE CARE for support.

“Someone needs to be here 24/7 so when a caregiver comes, we have a couple of hours to ourselves to get groceries without worrying about her falling,” says Donna. With no other siblings, care falls directly to Donna and James.

Violet uses a walker for mobility and requires extra care for bathing and physical care so ONE CARE helpers come twice a week to support her. Violet also receives weekly calls from the Telephone Assurance program to check in and see how she is doing. Previously, Violet had support workers come for therapy and she remembers enjoying the games quite a bit. “They helped me and I enjoyed the games and everything,” says Violet.

Donna explains that the Alzheimer's Society sent the family a package with games which the support worker played with Violet to stimulate her brain.

They also did word searches and identified birds. Donna and James think she would also benefit from the Friendly Visiting program (done over the phone during COVID-19) because mental stimulation and conversation with peers is something Violet really lacks when she spends all day, everyday, with family.

Respite will be coming soon via the adult day programs and potential overnight stays and everyone is looking forward to that. “Violet needs to spend an evening with people her own age. Someone she can talk to,” says James. Violet really needs the stimulation of getting ready to go somewhere, being on time, seeing new things and having experiences separate from her daughter so she can share stories with the family. Or else it gets too easy for her to get cleaned up, sit down and watch The Price is Right on television admits Donna.

“Everybody needs a break. Like if you’re working you need a weekend at the cottage or day at the beach to rest and go back to work with something to share,” says James. “Or else you’re likely to sit back and let the world go by.”

James reveals he and Donna need alone time too. Being caregivers has been stressful and while they love having Violet, they also have their own children and grandchildren they want to visit.

Just having a night to themselves without worrying about caring for someone else would feel like a real treat. Moreover, both Donna and James had surgeries last year so rest and recuperation are needed as well.

“It will be nice for everyone if Violet can attend an adult day care program. Violet can have a good time and we can focus on ourselves for a bit,” says James.

When asked about community involvement, James and Donna said there used to be programs and clubs seniors could join but everything has shut down with COVID-19.

Sometimes seniors get forgotten in the busyness of life and communities need to remember that many elderly people at home are lonely. They need attention, care and support.

It’s why they are so thankful for all the Playing games with ONE CARE staff members such as Sarah Shiels services ONE CARE provides that helps meet the needs of both seniors and their caregivers. (left) and attending Adult Day Programs is vital for seniors like Violet “Without ONE CARE we would be lost,” Connor (above, right) who, after a stroke and diagnoses of concludes Donna. ◊ dementia, now lives with her daughter and son-in-law in Lucknow, in Bruce County.

30 The Rural Voice

first discharged gets them settled and back on their feet again,” says Scanlon.

In rural areas, oftentimes community members aren’t aware of all these services. Losing the ability to drive can be particularly detrimental in rural areas. Also, rural seniors tend to be very independent people and sometimes wait too long to access services. “In general, as we age, we don’t want to ask for help because we are fighting the decline.

But the thing is that help is what PREVENTS the decline,” says Scanlon. “Getting help earlier helps you to be healthier.”

With more than 800 volunteers, ONE CARE is a charitable non-profit organization. It is entirely local with a focus on community and works very hard to adapt programs to meet the needs of gaps in senior care.

“Our vision is to offer a wide range of services to enhance people’s quality of life, to keep them healthy and to keep them at home in a caring community,” concluded Scanlon. ◊

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Food

Hooked on mushrooms (in a good way!)

A search for morels has spawned a fascination with fungi for Joanne Anderson • By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

W

hen Joanne Anderson and her husband bought their property outside Hanover eight years ago, a backhoe operator looked around and said, “I used to live down the road when I was a kid and we used to hunt for morels on your property.”

“Morels”, thought Joanne, “What are morels?”

She looked it up and learned morels are a A hunt for morels has led to a fascination with all fungi which has now tasty wild mushroom that grows in wet areas in turned into a business for Hanover’s Joanne Anderson. early spring which are highly prized by Etc. markets mini-mushroom and large mushroom grow mushroom gatherers. So she went hunting. kits (plastic bags of growing medium inoculated fungi “I went into the conservation area next door and hunted mycelium) with which people can set up in their kitchen to for hours,” remembers Joanne. “It was so enjoyable and I grow a variety of mushrooms including: oyster wondered why I had never done this before.” The fact that mushrooms, nameko (pholiota microspora), reishi she didn’t find a morel didn’t dim her spirits. She went (Ganoderma lucidum), and Lion’s Mane (Hericium home, took off her boots, and sat on the back deck. As she erinaceus) mushrooms. She also markets grow supplies, scanned the property she saw this “thing” popping out of wellness and beauty products and “wild side” cuisine the ground so she popped her boots back to investigate. featuring mushroom soups, sauces and risotto.

Goodness gracious, it was a morel!

She’s expanding to outdoor mushroom grow kits as well “I was laughing tears of joy for there was a beautiful, for people to grow Wine Caps (Stropharia rugosoannulata). blonde morel,” she remembers thinking. “How could Wine caps are native mushrooms that can be found in the anything be so beautiful and perfect.” wild and will grow happily in the shade of tall vegetables So began Joanne’s journey into mushrooms which now like tomatoes or in shady beds where perennials like hostas entails trips to the Muskokas every fall to forage for thrive. Joanne explains the process on her website’s learn mushrooms and foraging locally on weekends. She became page, which includes tutorials on log inoculation and totem so fascinated with fungi, she quit her job to launch all her cultivation. energy and enthusiasm into teaching, encouraging and As Joanne delves more and more into the world of selling mushrooms and mushroom kits. mushrooms, she is investigating their medicinal properties It was two years ago when Joanne wondered if she and uses her own, home-made mushroom tinctures for could grow mushrooms inside. “It was totally trial and physical and mental health. error with lots of disappointments,” remembers Joanne.

“Lions Mane mushrooms changed my life,” says She fine-tuned the system to create a colonization room Joanne. “I’ve had really bad seasonal depression all my in her basement (heated and enclosed because mushrooms life. I started taking powdered mushrooms in my yogurt are highly susceptible to contamination) and soon, she was and now add tinctures to my coffee every morning and I growing her own. She wasn’t sure if she should become a have not felt depressed since I started taking it.” In fact, grower and sell specialized mushrooms to restaurants or she takes 11 mushroom supplements every morning and sell mushroom kits. When COVID-19 hit and so many has her husband and son on them as well. “My son says it restaurants closed down, she had her answer. Mushrooms May 2021 33

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cures brain fog and my husband has more energy,” says Joanne.

Her next goal is to create a line of mushroom supplements for pets.

Joanne is busy these days preparing kits and answering questions about mushrooms. She does want to warn new foragers to be careful what mushrooms they eat

because some are poisonous. Once educated, both foraging for wild mushrooms and growing gourmet mushrooms can be an enjoyable hobby. For Joanne, it has been completely transformative, giving her a purpose and passion, improving her health and allowing her to make a career change in her 50s. ◊

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May 2021 35

Gardens

Paradise Railway chugs around garden

Pat and Jim Campbell have taken the hobby of toy trains to a new level by creating Paradise Railway in their Perth County farm garden.

P

at and her husband Jim Campbell live on a farm in Perth County which provides the space to show off their hobby and passion which they call Paradise Railway. How do you begin to build your very own garden railway?

Jim and Pat joined not one, but two, Garden Railway Clubs in 2005 and began the process of listening and taking advice from club members who offered encouragement and ideas about how to make a garden railway The year was 2007 when “things” really started to move ahead. Having studied the layouts of other garden railways, the Campbells felt they were ready to begin to transform their backyard garden. Out came the graph paper and an oval area was designed measuring 45 feet long and 25 feet wide.

A G-scale or Garden Railway Scale ranges from 1:24 to 1:32, which is the proportion of their model engines and cars to the real items. The scale used for the buildings which are an important part of their display is 1/2 inch equals one foot.

The track measures two inches wide and some of the train cars are 30 inches long.

Choosing a Western theme meant they needed mountains. They brought in large fieldstones, mostly from their own farm, to outline the site. One very large grey stone weighed over a ton! The area inside the fieldstone needed to be levelled so topsoil was added and then they waited and waited until it finally settled. They cut two-by-four-inch Baleboard plastic lumber in order to make the base for the track.

The tracks were ordered and placed on the bases that Jim had worked so hard to prepare. As the layout was coming together the Campbells purchased the LGB Canadian National Starter Set and set it up in the basement to see how it looked 36 The Rural Voice

Pat and Jim Campbell built their own miniature railroad in the garden and are members of two Garden Railway clubs • By Bonnie Sitter •

and ran. Of course one engine pulling a few cars is never enough. The next purchase was the Aristo Canadian Pacific Steam Engine and all seven cars. This limited edition set is a replica of the train that the royal family used when they visited Canada in the 1950s.

A friend and fellow garden railroader, Jeff, assured them that he would be their electrical engineer when the set up was ready for power.

When Jeff completed his job and the trains started to roll, Jim and Pat were thrilled with how the trains ran.

More engines were added to their setup because you can never have too many engines!

Pat had her steam engine purchased and Jim wanted a diesel engine, so a model of the White Pass and Yukon engine that runs between Skagway and Carcross was purchased.

Eventually their engine total reached six. Each engine has its own electric motor and the low voltage current comes from the track. Most of the engines have their own sound (whistle), but one particular engine has the unique train sound of the South Simcoe Railway that runs out of Tottenham to Beeton Ontario. At any one time there are at least four engines running on the tracks pulling a variety of box cars, tankers etc.

The landscaping was designed with a variety of trees, mosses, miniature ferns, succulents etc. and they were planted throughout the display. There are 18 dwarf Alberta spruce and five maples that they keep well trimmed. Rocks and trees have been carefully placed to hide and then reveal the trains as they navigate the curves, tunnels and pass the variety of buildings with people, vehicles, wild animals plus of course horses and cattle in the farmyards.

Jim and Pat are very proud of the buildings in their set up as they were all designed by Pat. Together they cut the cedar shingles that were needed. Their friend Jerry from Stratford loves to make things out of wood and he volunteered to make the buildings. Jerry’s wife Bernice also got involved and made tiny lace curtains for the log cabin and stainedglass windows for the church. A service station with a service garage is included in the layout and is

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dedicated to Jerry because he owned and operated such a business in Stratford for many years.

There are special places in Western Canada where Jim and Pat have visited that are depicted. One is Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump which is a World Heritage site.

Local Perth County landmarks are also included. The one room school called Brocksden, that Jim attended and is now a country school museum, is in the garden layout as is a local stone church and a log house where a friend lived as a child.

The trains also pass by the house and barn from the “Little House on the Prairie” series. So many interesting things to enjoy as the trains come and go.

The Sloman School Car is a feature that gains attention. It is painted in CNR green and is pulled by a CNR engine just like it was when it travelled from Capreol to Foleyet. Fred Sloman taught the children in the School Car for nearly 40 years.

There are so many special features it is obvious that the Campbells have a passion for trains. Have they ever had a train wreck? Yes, they have!

Pat described it as a dandy, just like in the movies.

The pathway around the layout allows for close up viewing and their grandchildren especially love it. It would be difficult not to be impressed with the work that has gone into this garden railway.

Each summer it takes them about four and a half hours to set up the layout. Only the engines are brought indoors overnight and the rest of the layout is covered. In the fall, they carefully store everything, except the tracks, inside.

The garden train project stems from wonderful memories Jim and Pat have of their travels on more than two dozen famous trains in countries including the U.S.A. ( Eastern States, Pennsylvania and Colorado), France, England, New Zealand and Switzerland. Rail trips in Canada include Ontario, Yukon, Labrador and British Columbia. A special train

ride took them from Stratford to Kamloops, B.C. on Via Rail.

They love trains so much, they built their own railway in their garden. ◊

Pat Campbell (above and middle with husband Jim) holds up a model of the Sloman School car which makes the rounds on the garden railway at their farm in Perth County. The garden railway’s scale ranges from 1/24 to 1/32 and special places from their travels were replicated in the layout including Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and local Perth County landmarks.

Designed with a Western theme, the railway incorporates field stone to mimic mountains.

The Campbells say their grandchildren love coming to visit to watch the trains.

May 2021 39

Recipes by Nancy Fisher

Smart people know to eat fish

D

oes eating fish really make you smarter? In a study smaller fish, the fillet you buy is an entire side of the fish, published in The American Journal of Preventive the upper body portion being thicker than the lower. It Medicine, Dr. Cyrus A. Raji, at the Ronald Reagan requires only 2-3 minutes cooking per side to pan fry to a U.C.L.A. Medical Center, described how eating fish once a golden brown, even less for the thinner part of the fillet. To week — there was no additional benefit in eating more — avoid overcooking the thinner part (this makes it dry) and living a generally healthy lifestyle were enough to simply cut apart the fish, using the seam running down the increase brain volume. centre of each fillet as a guide and cook the thinner part for Dr. Raji used data from 260 cognitively normal people, only 1-2 minutes per side. average age 78, and found that weekly consumption of If desired, top with this tasty chive-lemon miso butter. baked or broiled—but not deep-fried —fish increased Chive-Lemon Miso Butter blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, the grey 2 tbsp miso brain matter responsible for memory and cognition was 1 tsp lemon zest plus 2 tsp lemon juice larger, including areas where amyloid plaques, a sign of 2 tbsp soft butter Alzheimer’s disease, first appear.

2 tbsp minced The doctor wisely cautions that in addition to eating fish fresh chives at least once a week, physical activity, weight and stress Pepper to taste control are key ingredients to a healthy lifestyle.

Stir all together.

It is doubly smart to add fish to our weekly shopping Dot on hot cooked list. Fish is reasonably inexpensive, quick to cook and can be prepared in many interesting ways.

Marinated Scottish In our local grocery stores, many varieties are always Salmon (right) available: cod, haddock, halibut, tilapia and salmon. is perfect with lemon Sometimes fish is fresh, but always it is available frozen and asparagus while (plain, not breaded). Thaw frozen fish in the refrigerator Lori’s Salt Fish Cakes for several hours or in a bowl of ice water. Pat dry with (below) can be made paper towel before cooking. with fresh or The standard rule for cooking fish is to allow 10 frozen salt cod. minutes of cooking per inch of fish thickness, five minutes per side if pan-cooking or 10 minutes in a 375°F oven.

Almond and lemon butter-braised fish 4 serving sizes of fish of equal size (cod or haddock) 2 tbsp butter 1-2 tbsp slivered almonds 1 tbsp lemon juice Pinch of parsley (fresh or dry) Directions: Pat the fish with paper towel until very dry.

Melt butter in a fry pan over medium heat. Add the almonds, stirring for a minute until lightly browned, then push off to one side of the pan.

Set each piece of dry fish into the shimmering butter and, if an inch thick, allow the fish to cook on one side until it forms a crispy bottom (about 5 minutes). Using a metal spatula, sharply slide it under the fish and, holding the top of the fish with a fork, turn it over and continue cooking the other side.

In the last minute of cooking, sprinkle the lemon juice over the top of the fish. Stir the parsley into the browned almonds.

Plate the fish and top with parsley-almond-butter mix.

Serves 2-4.

Tilapia is one of the most under-rated and mild fresh water fish. It has adapted well to sustainable fish farming and is often half the price of other fresh fish. Because it is a

40 The Rural Voice

Recipes fish. Enough for 4-6 servings.

Steamed or poached fish is common in classical Chinese and French cooking. This method steams over a dry aromatic vegetable mixture, resulting in a firmer fish.

This method is slightly more time consuming but delicious.

Oven-Steamed Fish with Green Onions and Ginger Ingredients: 1 cooking onion, peeled, chopped 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, cut into matchstick-size, divided 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin 4 1-inch cod or haddock fillets, patted dry 3 tbsp soy sauce or chicken or fish stock 2 tbsp dry sherry or red wine 1 ½ tsp sesame oil 1 ½ tsp sugar ¼ tsp each salt and pepper fresh cilantro leaves and/or snipped green onions (for garnish) Directions: Pre-heat oven to 450°.

In a 13 x 9-inch baking dish, spread the onion, most of the fresh ginger and the sliced garlic.

Spray a piece of foil wrap (slightly longer than the baking dish) with cooking oil. Set it atop the onion, ginger and garlic. This forms a slinglike pouch to hold the fish. Set the fish fillets on the sprayed foil.

Combine the liquid (soy sauce or stock), sherry, oil, sugar, salt and pepper and pour around and over the fish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

To serve: carefully lift fish fillets onto a serving plate. Tip the braising liquid into the vegetables in the baking dish, stir together, then strain over a small bowl, reserving the liquid. Spoon some of it over the fish.

Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a small fry pan over medium heat and add the reserved ginger, cooking until ginger is brown and crisp (about 1 minute). Drizzle this crackling oil over the fish.

Top with chopped green onion and cilantro. Serve with rice, topped with the remainder of the braising liquid.

Lori’s Salt Fish Cakes In the midst of our covid-19 social isolation our daughter, Sonya, gave

our separated families a wonderful gift. She arranged for Lori McCarthy (lori@codsounds.ca), a talented chef and storyteller from St. John’s Newfoundland, to spend a Zoom hour with our four respective households learning to make salt fish cakes. This experience was like a breath of fresh Atlantic breeze, and the cakes were delicious served with home-made mustard pickle made by Lori’s mother. (Lori shipped us salt cod for this cooking class, but she said that you may also substitute fresh or frozen cod.) If using salt cod, soak overnight and drain to remove salt.

Ingredients: 3 tbsp butter or fat back (if you’re a Newfoundlander) 1 medium onion, finely chopped 3 tbsp butter ¾ cup cod (salted or fresh) 1 cup cooked mashed potatoes (about 4 medium) 1 tsp savory Pepper to taste Flour to dust, spread on a dinner plate Oil, for frying Directions: On low to medium heat melt butter or fat back in a large fry pan.

Add onion and cook until softened. Add savory and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a small pan, bring the fish to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and shred with a fork.

Place in a mixing bowl.

While the fish is cooking, peel and slice the potatoes, then boil until softened (about 5 minutes).

Drain and mash the potatoes and add fish to the hot potato. (Having the potato hot is very important.)

Stir in the onion and savory. Mix well and when the mixture is cool enough to handle, scoop out about a half cup and shape it gently into a flattened disk in your hand, then dip each side in flour.

Fry in a 50/50 mix of oil and butter until golden brown.

Makes about 8-10 fish cakes. here are many ways to serve salmon but this one, adapted from Lucy Waverman’s cookbook A Year in Lucy’s Kitchen (Random House, 2009) is excellent.

T

Marinated Scottish Salmon 6 salmon fillets 3 tbsp mustard 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp dry crushed rosemary 1 tsp garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tsp grated lemon rind Salt and pepper Directions: Preheat oven to 400°. Place salmon fillets skin-side down on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Combine the remaining ingredients to create a marinade and brush it over the salmon.

Season with salt and pepper and cook for 12 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

Serves: 6.

Fish Chowder This fish chowder is made more fragrant with coconut milk. With bread and salad, it makes a satisfying meal.

Ingredients 2 tbsp oil 1 medium cooking onion, peeled and chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 3 cups chicken or seafood bouillon 3-4 pieces of fish cut into 1” chunks 2 carrots, peeled and diced 1 cup corn niblets ¼ cup parsley (fresh or dried) 2-3 tbsp corn starch, dissolved in ½ cup water 1 cup coconut milk 1 cup milk or light cream 1 tbsp butter or margarine Directions: Heat oil over medium heat, add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic, cook and stir for 10 seconds.

Add potatoes, fish, bouillon, carrots, corn and parsley. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes until everything is soft.

Raise heat until the chowder is boiling a little harder, then stir in dissolved corn starch until the soup is quite thick. (If you want a thick chowder, use 3 tbsp corn starch.

Otherwise, use only 2,) Remove from heat and whisk in the coconut milk/milk/cream and butter. Serve sprinkled with parsley or green onion. Serves 6. ◊ May 2021 41

Gardening Rhea HamiltonSeeger is a skilled cook and gardener who lives near Auburn.

It’s always about the soil Things are happening in our yard!

I cannot say in the garden because we are in the throes of planning new gardens and of course dealing with excessive lawn. Like a lot of firsttime gardeners and some who simply need to expand, dealing with lawn is the big first step.

I was going to start this column off with the heading, “How To Kill Grass!” but a friend of mine, who is a long-time retired farmer, suggested Roundup as the first step. He knows that is a word not in my vocabulary when talking about making changes in the wee environment around our

home. I am reminded of that simple fact when I see Mourning Cloak butterflies drifting through the garden in April and hungry bees seeking out early blossoms found in “natural” lawns and back areas of the garden.

So where does one begin if no spraying is allowed? If you have time, you can smother the grass with layers of wet newspaper, light cardboard and top it all with black plastic to increase the heat and decomposition.

If you are like me and you find yourself too impatient, then sharpen your shovel and skim off the top half inch/one centimeter of lawn. You can then stack the layers upside down and compost them. We did that last fall in our haste to get some plants into the ground before freeze up. It worked rather well. We made a pile about 12 to 14 inches high down the centre of the new garden. When good and dry this spring we started to shake out the soil and throw the remains in the compost proper. I say started as we are not all done yet. We cut a fair bit of lawn out!

If you have a truly large area and spading is not in the cards, book a sod lifter. I saw one in action a couple of years ago when we were creating the Blyth Garden. We had a lovely intricate mandala design to cut out of the lawn. A grid of stakes and string were set up, a painted guide for the pattern and in came the sod lifter.

I fell in love with this machine. It runs along like a lawn mower with wheels on the back and a long slender blade that runs parallel to the ground. You set the depth and it slides under the grass cleanly cutting a 12-to-14 inch wide strip. You can them come along behind it and carefully roll up the sod. Voila! Soil exposed and ready for amendments.

So we booked a sod lifter and widened gardens in the front before creating two new gardens in the back.

We rolled up the better strips to use in lawn repair.

In this stripped area, bags of compost and animal manure, as well as the contents of last year’s planters where tilled in. We let it settle for a few days and then planted perennials

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Gardening that had been potted up from last fall.

We also made use of the space to insert hostas that were lifted and divided.

Some of the sod we simply turned over exposing the underside and applied a healthy layer of semi-fresh manure and then chopped leaves over all. This area will decompose slowly until later in the summer when we will till it all up in preparation for early fall planting. The fresher manure will help kill some weeds and along with the chopped leaves, will break down to create a “fat” soil; as the name implies, a rich medium to plant into. I cannot get too impatient with this spot. Time is needed for the magic to happen.

Any sod that was not utilized in lawn repair was flipped over and piled in a shady area out of sight to decompose. We threw some manure on it as well to speed up decomposition a bit so in the fall we can top dress the older gardens and a few low spots in the lawn.

If you manage to secure a supply of lumber this spring for your garden, you can utilize the sod in the bottom of raised gardens built on the ground, not the ones where the gardens are in frames at waist height. The sod will break down and provide some nourishment for your plants.

I have to tell you about the fat white grubs we saw after the sod was lifted. My brother noticed the robin first and carefully put a couple of grubs at the end of the newly exposed soil area. Immediately they were consumed and then there were several robins bobbing all over the area eating the grubs.

Making your soil healthy with compost, and other healthy additions like chopped leaves, is a win/win.

First it will nourish your plants and secondly it will hold moisture better.

A healthy soil retains far more moisture, without being waterlogged, than soil that is poor or starved.

I think of you all and the excitement for the gardening season.

Isolation has made this a long winter.

So keep your hands dirty, your water glass full and don’t forget to smell the flowers and nibble on the fresh bounty from the gardens. ◊

Local Reads by Dorothy Brown Henderson

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Advice • By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot •

Know your calves’ birth and weaning weights Raising a high-producing milk cow starts with prenatal and postnatal programming, says dairy nutrition expert

I

t was having kids that shifted Dr. Michael Steele’s focus from cattle physiology and nutrition to early life programming and how prenatal and postnatal nutrition turns a calf into a cow that produces more milk.

Steele has two children and of the two, it was the younger one he routinely took to the barn. “She has been exposed to cows every week and now she wants to be a farmer,” said Steele. “It’s an example of real life programming.”

Dairy farmers can apply the same principle for their calves and it starts with prenatal programming. The most developmental plasticity occurs prenatally and the dairy herd’s nutrition program affects it, especially as it fluctuates during the lactation and dry cow cycle.

Typically, farmers tend to oversupply energy during the cow’s dry period which crashes into an energy deficit in early lactation and evens out during the time of conception.

Scientists are learning that cows that were not metabolically stressed during pregnancy have offspring that produce more milk. A lack of nutrients causes methyl groups to bind DNA which blocks certain genomes from being expressed. Sort of like some switches get turned on and others do not, explained Steele.

Heat stress also affects the prenatal calf. “We have found that in cows with less heat stress, their offspring absorb more immunoglobulin from colostrum,” said Steele. This, in turn, impacts growth and lifetime performance.

Scientists are still learning more about this process but given what is known, Steele said it’s a wise investment to feed pregnant cows really well.

Once the calf is born, the colostrum regimen begins. Steele knows farmers have heard this over

Heat stress during pregnancy can affect the prenatal calf, states University of Guelph professor, Dr. Michael Steele, who spoke about raising health calves during Dairy Day at Grey Bruce Farmer’s Week held virtually in January.

and over again but he wanted to stress that it does not matter how the calves receive it -- bottle or tube feeding works just as well. The goal is to feed the calf three to four litres within the first hour of life and feed a second dose of colostrum at 12 hours.

Farmers tend to feed these two meals of colostrum and switch directly to milk replacer but Steele cautions against this approach.

Ideally, the transition should occur over four days. Research into calf intestines has revealed calves develop more villi (which increase surface area for food absorption) when colostrum feeding is extended.

Calves with an abrupt transition have depressed intestinal growth.

Measurement of colostrum quality

will become more commonplace on farms as dairy calf specialists move beyond just measuring for immunoglobulins to other bioactives on colostrum. Refractometers are coming down in price and data collection is becoming easier to analyze thanks to dairy software programs.

Don’t underfeed the calves either.

In a study comparing calves fed five litres a day compared to calves fed 10 litres a day, the calves which drank more milk had significant growth compared to their counterparts. Also, in winter, calves require more energy to stay warm so milk or milk replacer volumes should increase.

In terms of the value of milk versus milk replacer, Steele said he is a fan of both. However, he thinks it is May 2021 45

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important to look at the ingredients of milk replacers in more detail. Milk replacers tend to have more lactose and ash, and less protein and fats.

“These higher-level lactose replacers can decrease insulin sensitivity in the first week of life, so, in effect, the way the animals use energy is changed by feeding milk replacer,”said Steele. hat you really want to pay attention to is the osmolality in milk replacers. The osmolality of cow's milk is close to 300mOsm/kilogram which is optimal for the absorption and digestion of nutrients by calves.

However, many milk replacers have levels above 400mOsm/kg with some closer to 600. A rating of 600 is not allowed in baby formula and Steele believes that level is also too high for dairy calves because it can cause leaky gut in calves. More research is being done to determine how milk replacers affect calves through their lifetime.

The next step is weaning and having watched the process of weaning dairy calves versus beef calves, he believes the process for dairy calves is really unnatural. “We wean very early and very abruptly,” said Steele. Weaning at six weeks of age is too early and calves should be drinking milk until eight weeks of age, when they transition better, averaging daily gains of 650 grams per day.

“Under eight weeks, calves are not physiologically ready to consume dry matter feed and will dip in growth. If you wait until eight weeks, the calves are ready to consume calf starter,” explained Steele. He also recommended making sure calves have enough water because water and starter intake are closely related.

As the calves age, some dairy farmers feed them a lot of hay.

However, with a rumen the size of a basketball in younger calves, you can only stuff so much hay in that space.

He has been following some dairy farmers who feed a 15 per cent straw mixture with 70 per cent concentrate and said these calves consume more and weigh in with high average daily gains.

Which leads to Steele's main

W

Advice point. He wants every farmer to weigh their calves to know their average daily gain. Record the birth weight. Then record the weaning weight. With this information, you can almost predict how much milk that calf will produce later in life. “It is possible to reach one kilogram of average daily gain,” said Steele. Next level is getting an automated scale and weighing calves routinely.

“I go to so many farms where the farmer says the calves are doing great but they have no associated data to support it,” said Steele. He hopes the dairy industry will follow practices already in place in poultry and swine barns where feed is measured daily.

Moreover, automated feeding could program each calf’s nutrition instead of hand-feeding calves of different ages the same thing. Automation results in a lot of data, but with the right program, farmers can then use this information to come up with the ideal management strategy for their dairy calves. ◊

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May 2021 47

Financial Management Kurt Oelschlagel is a tax partner in BDO’s Hanover office

Multiple capital gains exemption The lifetime capital gains exemption (CGE) for qualified farm property allows for significant tax savings when selling assets and can be an important part of retirement and farm transition planning.

Although the CGE rules are quite technical, they’re also very generous, particularly with farm real estate.

With some smart planning, the CGE can save you literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, especially if you can access multiple individuals’ CGE limits.

If you’re thinking of selling assets, it’s important to have a detailed discussion with your

48 The Rural Voice

accountant about the rules and determine if your property qualifies as farm property for the CGE. A plan should consider all implications and opportunities. Here’s an overview of four ways to multiply CGE. 1. Create a partnership – A simple technique to take advantage of multiple CGEs is a valid partnership, where the parties contribute their time and effort to the farm operation.

For example, when the farm partnership sells real estate used in the farming operation, you can split the capital gain among the partners and each partner can use their CGE. The partnership must exist for a minimum of two years before the disposition. Many farm families across the country already operate in partnership, most commonly with spouses and children. While planning, be cautious of the income tax rule requiring allocations of income from the partnership be “reasonable” in relation to the capital invested or work performed.

Simple, quick fix solutions can be fraught with issues, so proper planning needs to be done in advance

to avoid problems. For example, a farmer operating as a sole proprietor and owning land is thinking about retiring and selling the farm. The farmer wants to transfer the farm or part of it to a spouse to allow for access to another capital gains exemption. When a person transfers capital property to a spouse there’s an automatic rollover at cost, which avoids triggering capital gain.

However, when the farm is sold a capital gain, the “spousal attribution” rules require the spouse’s share of the capital gain be reported on the farmer’s tax return and not on the spouse’s return. A better approach in some cases, might be simply having a personally-owned farm used by a family farm partnership from the date of purchase. Transferring a personally-owned farm to a partnership with a spouse does not necessarily avoid the spousal attribution rules.

2. Transfer land to children – Another option might be to transfer all or partial ownership of farm real estate to your children to allow access to their CGE on eventual sale – basically multiplying the farm capital gain exemptions that can be claimed. Subject to certain conditions, farm real estate used in your farming business can be transferred to your children at its cost. Then the children could sell the farm and access their farm capital gains exemption. However, if there’s a plan to sell the farm property, or an arrangement to sell the farm property, within three years after you transferred it to the children, the plan will not work as desired: The parent will be considered to have transferred the property to the children at the full fair market value. Furthermore, the parent has to report the full capital gain on their personal tax return in the year the farm was transferred.

3. Create a corporation – Using a family farm corporation can also allow for income splitting and multiply access to the CGE. If properly structured, other family members such as a spouse and children can own shares of the family farm corporation. If their shares are sold for a gain they would be able to use their capital gains exemption.

Financial 4. Use a trust A family trust, established while you are alive, is another common technique for multiplying access to the CGE. A properly structured trust will allow you to control the property owned by the trust while at the same time the income and capital gain on the property will belong to the beneficiaries, which could include your spouse, children, and grandchildren.

For example, let’s say you plan to transfer your farm operation to a corporation. One option would be to establish a family trust where you and your spouse could be the trustees (control the trust and trust property) and the beneficiaries include you, your spouse and your three children.

The common shares of your new family farm corporation are issued to the family trust. Common shares are the type of shares that grow in value.

After many years the shares held by the trust have a significant capital gain, and exceeds $5 million. The shares are sold and the trust has a significant capital gain. The trust then pays or makes legally payable the taxable portion of the capital gain (50 per cent of the capital gain) to each beneficiary so we can use each beneficiary’s $1million capital gains exemption. $5million of capital gain has been sheltered from regular income tax. However, even with this plan other income tax consequences could result, such as alternative minimum tax, so make sure your accountant has a comprehensive review process.

Another way to multiple the CGE, is to have a family trust purchase and own the farm real estate used in your farm operation. If properly structured, when the farm real estate is sold the taxable capital gain can be allocated to the beneficiaries and they would be eligible to use their CGE. Using partnerships, corporations or trusts to multiply CGE has a myriad of other tax rules and implications that need to be considered, such as the “tax on split income” (known as TOSI in the tax world). For the plan to be successful many technical details must be adhered to so proper tax advice is a must. ◊

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May 2021 49

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

Corn and soybeans running neck and neck Each year at the end of March the USDA releases its Prospective Plantings report. This report is widely followed as it is the first glance at the planting expectations of farmers for various commodities.

Prior to the release of the report, various surveys are made showing the estimates of several private analysts, to provide a benchmark of general market expectations. Some years the average trade guess lines up with the USDA release and

50 The Rural Voice

sometimes it doesn’t. This year was a big miss between market expectations and the USDA data.

The market outlook was for acreage expectations for corn and soys to both be over 90 million acres each. Never in history have corn and soy acres both planted 90 million acres each in the same year, but this year with the high prices it seemed this was the year for it to happen.

The USDA survey data didn’t meet these record planting expectations, and total plantings between both commodities was over four million acres lower than the average thought. As a result of this lower printed acres, almost immediately after the report’s release, markets traded limit up, as the market responded to incentivize larger plantings than suggested in the report. It has been a long time since both corn and soys both held bids higher than the limit into the close of a trade day. Without higher plantings the market is very vulnerable to shortages next year, especially if a poor growing season is experienced this summer.

In following the corn market, we have long discussed the difficult growing season experienced in South America. Brazil has had delays in planting their second crop corn, with much of it being planted later than the ideal planting window, leaving the crop vulnerable to late season drought. Similarly Argentina has had extreme crop stress and lower yield expectations. Therefore the focus has turned to the U.S. producer, and the need for record acreage and record yields. With the market’s reaction to the lower planting expectations reported, expectations are that final corn plantings will be higher than reported, as there is time for the producer to increase corn plantings, and thus far the weather has been supportive for higher plantings. But even with higher plantings the market will be very watchful of the growing season and will not hesitate to add weather premiums as crop threats arise.

In the prospective planting report, it is interesting to note that the major corn belt states all showed lower corn acres, collectively down 1.75 million acres. Notably North Dakota was up 1.35 million acres and South Dakota up 650 thousand acres. The Dakotas were also responsible for a two million acre increase in soy plantings. With such large acreage in the Dakotas the market is left with a dilemma going forward.

The problem with such a large reliance on this area is that the region is almost entirely in drought to severe drought conditions. While it is too early to write off the crops this year due to drought, it seems the area will have difficulty with production, unless good rains come soon.

But the producers in these states are worried about the season.

Already cattle producers in North Dakota are reported to be culling back herds with expectations of feed shortages, and furthermore both states have declared fire emergencies due to extreme drought – this all occurring in early spring before the summer heat comes on!

This extreme dryness brings into question the germination and establishment of planted stands of crops this season. Not only are the corn and soy yields in jeopardy, but

Markets the U.S. spring wheat crop is also of concern, as the Dakotas are big spring wheat growers. This region is not alone with its dryness as the Canadian prairies are also in need of rains. Drought maps show that the prairies are the driest they’ve been since 1980. When examining historical data, in years that started off similarly dry, half of the time the season turns wetter through the season, while the other half of the time it remains dry. In the years that the weather turns wetter spring wheat yields come in pretty close to normal, however in the years that it remains dry, yields fall 10 to 30 per cent from normal. From this spring wheat prices have also rallied significantly as the market is concerned about production risks.

The Ontario wheat crop is looking great, and appears to have extremely good production prospects this season. Most areas had good snow cover through the winter and the melt was slow enough to allow water to get away from the fields and therefore there was little loss from standing water. The dry spring weather has allowed producers to get timely fertilizer applications on and temperatures have been warm enough to produce Growing Degree Days about a week ahead of normal. Many fields are reported to have high tiller counts, leading some growers to be concerned about potential lodging later in the season. Given this, Ontario should have lots of wheat this summer. High wheat yields should be met with high prices, especially if much of the U.S. crop continues to struggle. ◊

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May 2021 51

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

Treasures arise in the woods There is more to a forest than trees and there is no greater time to notice that than when the spring flowers are showing off their beautiful colours.

The leeks are popping up and trilliums are in their glory.

When you walk through a forest in early spring there is so much to see, as your view is uninhibited by tree and shrub leaves. Before the buds start to break on the majority of trees, plants and creatures of the forest are easiest to spot. My favourite spring flower to spot is the Jack-in-the-Pulpit. It’s name aptly describes the flower and I remember it fondly from my childhood as the coolest plant. Little did I know that the Jack-in-the-Pulpit was also a very interesting plant.

I believe it was an article in Seasons magazine that revealed information on the Arum family, to which the Jack-in-the-Pulpit belongs.

That article included facts such as: if a Jack-in-the-Pulpit plant has a really great year, it will produce berries; if it has a good year, it will flower; if it had an okay year, it will produce leaves without a flower; if it has a rough year, in may lay dormant under the soil for a year.

What an amazing plant. It is important to mention that any part of the Jackin-the-Pulpit plant may cause skin irritation and should never be ingested unless properly prepared by a knowledgeable native plant specialist.

As I write that statement, I am thinking of how many readers will be remembering picking the flowers without any issues and thinking that I must be mistaken. I can 52 The Rural Voice

assure you that there is a possibility that we were lucky in the past and may not be as lucky in the future.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants are most often found in moist or seasonally wet hardwood forests.

Another interesting member of the arum family is Skunk Cabbage. This is a plant that I first learned about when I was working as a co-op student at the Wawanosh Nature Centre. What a shock it was to me that this plant actually smelled like a skunk when its leaves were broken.

Not only does it have the unusual strong odour but it has a really interesting flower. This flower, in my opinion, looks artificial. It’s like a strange vase. This flower also gives of a pretty foul smell, like that of rotting meat. Skunk Cabbage is most often found in wet areas with rich dark soils.

Both the Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Skunk Cabbage have flowers that are shaped like insect trapping devices and look like something that is carnivorous, but in fact they are only attracting insects to aid in pollination.

I mentioned above that the Jackin-the-Pulpit should never be ingested. In fact, none of the members of the Arum family should be consumed. I will add, as an aside, the common houseplant Dieffenbachia is in the same family.

Plants in the Arum family contain calcium oxalate crystals. It is said that chewing a portion of the plant is like chewing hundreds of needles, or

crushed glass, as these tiny crystals jab into your mouth, throat, and anywhere else the ingested portion travels. For this reason, wildlife typically do not eat these plants.

The jewels of the forest are orchids.The Showy Lady’s Slipper, Moccasin Flower, and Yellow Lady’s Slipper are incredibly beautiful, and I take a photo of most that I see.

There are many wildflower guides available both on-line and in books.

Typically, the guides in book form are arranged by either colour or family of plants. Plant lists by season can be easily found on-line. As I was taught plant identification by book, I still have a better knowledge of the most informative books than the best websites.

It is easiest to identify plants within a forest when they are in flower. If the plants are not in flower, it may take multiple guides to determine the species. My favourite guide for plant identification is Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide.

Within the spring plant list there are another few of my favourites. Wild Ginger, Indian Paintbrush, Trout Lily, Anemone, Marsh Marigold, Bloodroot, Herb Robert, Gaywings, Spring Beauty, and Gold Thread.

Really, as I list my favourite spring flowers, I realize that almost every one of those plants take me back to the time I first learned about them. Like every country song tells a story, so do the plants that I look

Jack in the Pulpit (left) and showy lady’s slipper (above) are two perennialstreasures explorers can discover in the Spring woods.

Woodlots forward to seeing. Wild ginger was definitely one of the plants that I learned as a young child on a field trip to an outdoor education centre. I remember that we learned that the root was something that people commonly cooked with, and that it had a nice smell. Funny, I can’t remember things from last week but I can remember that experience with a plant. Interesting note on that memory, the truth is that Wild Ginger isn’t even related to the ginger that most cook with.

As I look at the forest floor for large patches of leeks, so I can take a few, I am always a little reluctant to look down as it is also this time of year that the snakes start to reappear.

While they bathe in the sunlight that is available almost everywhere across the forest floor, they are very well camouflaged. Until you get too close, then they move to show off their beautiful colour and amazing camouflage. I watch them partially out of interest, but mostly just so I know where they are headed so I know to go the other way. ◊

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May 2021 53

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

Beekeeping and property taxes – how many hives are enough?

Beekeeping, not bookkeeping.

The Assessment Review Board (“ARB”) recently issued a decision in which the number of beehives kept by a property owner was the deciding factor in denying him farm classification for his property.

The ARB agreed with the position taken by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (“MPAC”), the not-for-profit corporation mandated to classify and assess the value of land in Ontario for property tax purposes, that a property must have no fewer than 50 beehives to be assessed as “farm land” where beekeeping is relied upon as the relevant farming activity.

Land in Ontario can be used for farming purposes without being classified as farm land for property tax purposes.

The default classification for property is residential. In the beekeeping case before the ARB, the property at issue consisted of 73 acres of land. The owner contended that 1 acre, on which his residence was situated, should be left in the residential property class. The remaining 72 acres, he argued, should be placed in the farm property class because he carried on a commercial beekeeping operation on the property. In 2019, the tax year under appeal, the owner had kept 20 beehives.

The requirements for classification in the farm property class are set out in the General Regulation made under the Assessment Act (the “Act”), the legislation that governs property 54 The Rural Voice

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taxation in Ontario. The Act does not define “farm land”, but one of the prescribed requirements is that Section 19(5) of the Act applies to the land. Section 19(5) provides special rules for valuing “farm lands used only for farm purposes”. The ARB has previously identified several factors to be considered in determining whether a property is “farm land” including: whether the land has physical characteristics of a farm; whether there is a farming operation being carried out by a bona fide farmer; the surrounding uses of the land; and the history of uses of the land.

This was not the first time the ARB had been asked to find that beekeeping supported a classification of property as farm land. In fact, as recently as 2020, the ARB had denied an appeal where the owner argued that the presence of two beehives made a one-hectare area on the property at issue “farm land”. In that case, an expert witness testifying for MPAC explained that: … land has to have “50 or more hives” before MPAC will assess it as a commercial bee keeping operation. Keeping less than 50 hives is not considered a bona fide farming operation and is considered to be recreational or hobby farming. He advised that the 50 bee hive limit is not arbitrary as it is consistent with the bee keeping industry, which includes the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association, the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists, the Canadian Honey Council and Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Agricorp.

The ARB acknowledged that keeping two beehives may well be a farming activity or purpose, but concluded that it only rises to the level of a “recreational or hobby farm”.

In the more recent case, the appellant owner argued that both the ARB, in its 2020 decision, and MPAC, in its policy, focused on the wrong factor. The relevant factor should not be the number of beehives kept, the owner argued, but gross farming income. He submitted that

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56 The Rural Voice

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M05336 (1018)

Agrilaw the provincial laws governing the classification of farm land and regulation of farm businesses “state they are determined by meeting gross farming income requirements.” In order to qualify as a farming business within the meaning of the Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act, a farm operation must have gross farming income of at least $7,000. As the appellant owner’s beekeeping operation had grossed $7,500 in 2019, he argued that his operation was a bona fide farm operation that made his property “farm land”.

The ARB rejected this argument.

While gross farming income may be an essential factor in eligibility for registration of a farm business in Ontario, farm income alone is not the relevant measure of a farming operation for property tax classification purposes. The ARB came back to the 50-beehive threshold, which it agreed was a rational and not an arbitrary dividing line for the purposes of property classification between a bona fide farming operation and farming activity only to the level of recreation or hobby farming. The ARB referred to a 2017 decision of the Federal Court citing evidence that at least 50 beehives (colonies) are required to augment a person’s income significantly, elevating an operation beyond a hobby to a commercial enterprise.

All was not lost for the appellant owner, though. While he had only 20 beehives in the period relevant for the 2019 tax year, he had increased his hive count to at least 50 in the time period relevant for the 2020 tax year. As such, MPAC agreed that a portion of the property was “farm land” in 2020, resulting in a reduction in the assessed value of the property by $46,000. ◊ ______________________________ John D. Goudy’s law practice includes real property and environmental litigation, expropriation law, energy regulation, and regulatory offences.

Agrilaw provides information of interest to the farming community, not legal advice. Readers should consult a legal professional about their particular circumstances.

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People

Caroline Vivian named 4-H Milestone winner Volunteer leaders were honoured for commitment to 4-H

Caroline Vivian 40 years volunteer service 4-H Ontario

C

aroline Vivian of Perth County has been honoured as a Milestone Award Recipient for her 40 years of volunteer service with 4-H Ontario at a Virtual Volunteer Gala held March 26.

“Volunteers are the heart of the 4H program,” says Evelyn Chambers, Senior Manager, Volunteer & Community Engagement, 4-H Ontario. “The knowledge, skills, time and dedication they bring to the table is truly amazing. 4-H Ontario is proud of the long-standing commitment made by these milestone recipients.”

4-H Volunteers are recognized at local awards and recognition events for milestone achievements starting after the first year of volunteering and continuing every five years.

“Congratulations to the 2021 Milestone Award recipients for their many years of volunteer service to Ontario 4-H,” said Trish Jordan, Government & Industry Affairs with Bayer Crop Science. “Bayer is proud to support the Milestone Award and recognize your dedication and passion to volunteering, supporting youth and building strong future leaders through 4-H.” Due to COVID-19, the 2021 recipients were honoured

provincially, alongside the 2020 recipients at the 2021 4-H Ontario Virtual Volunteer Gala.

Other Milestone Award recipients from The Rural Voice readership area include: • 35 years: Geoff Innes, Oxford • 30 years: Ken Bridge, Bruce; Lesley Chapman, Perth; Cathay Dobben, Wellington; Marian Sterk, Oxford and Nellie VandenHoven, Perth.

• 25 years: Gayle Milliner, Grey; Jennie Nichol, Perth; Charles Twiss, Wellington and Karen Witmer, Oxford.

• 20 years: Darrell Bergsma, Huron; Penny Hawthorne, Perth; Holly Holyoake, Huron; Carol Pollok, Wellington and Jeff Willows, Perth.

4-H Ontario is a non-profit, positive, youth development organization that builds youth as leaders within their communities to be assets to the world. With roots in rural Ontario, today it is open to youth of all backgrounds across the province. 4-H youth ages 6–21 and screened, engaged volunteer leaders come together to learn about selected topics through fun, hands-on activities and mentorship. There are also provincial camps, conferences, competitions and travel opportunities available to further develop skills in leadership, business, self-confidence and more.

4-H provides youth with a place they can be involved, accepted, valued and heard while developing valuable skills for leadership. ◊

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May 2021 59

Shop o local. buy stihl. ƒ MS 170 GAS CHAIN SAW

SAVE $ 80

20995

$

30.1 CC • 1 . 3 K W • 3 .9 KG/8 .6 LB ①

MSRP $289.95 with 16" bar

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M S 1 8 0 C- B E GAS CHAIN SAW

31995

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31 . 8 CC • 1 . 5 K W • 4 . 2 KG/9. 3 LB ①

②

MSRP $ 379.95 with 16" bar

M S 2 50 GAS CHAIN SAW

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42995

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4 5 . 4 CC • 2 . 3 K W • 4 . 6 KG/10.1 LB ①

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MS 261 c- m GAS CHAIN SAW

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69995

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59.0 CC • 3 .0 K W • 4 .9 KG/10. 8 LB ①

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SAVE $ 40

M S 27 1 GAS CHAIN SAW

52995

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50. 2 CC • 2 . 6 K W • 5 . 6 KG/12 . 3 LB ①

MSRP $569.95 with 16" bar

M S 39 1 GAS CHAIN SAW

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57995

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64 .1 CC • 3 . 3 K W • 6 . 4 KG/14 .1 LB ①

MSRP $7 79.95 with 16" bar

STIHL MOTOMIX® — THE ULTIMA AT TE PREMIXED FUEL! avaiLAble exclusively at your local stihl dealer!

Dealers may sell for le ess. Pricing on all chain saws and blowers will remain in effect until June 30, 2021. Pricing on all other power tools and accesssories will remain in effect until July 30, 2021. Illustrations and descripttions are as accurate as known at the time of publication n and are subject to change without notice. STIHL Limited is not respon nsible for a printing error, the local STIHL Dealer has the final authority to set product pricing. Pricing valid at participating deale ers only while supplies last. ① Weight with powerrhead only. ② Price shown with 61PMM3 chain.

WWW W..STIHL.CA

STIHLCANADA

MITCHELL

FORMOSA

BLUEVALE

Wighty’s Repairs Inc.

Schmidt’s Power Equipment

Lloyd Kuntz Sales & Service

519-357-3877 schmidtspower@gmail.com

519-367-2913 lloydkuntz@wightman.ca

Highway 8 West

www.wightysrepairs.com 519-348-0404

DUNDALK

CHESLEY /HANOVER

LUCKNOW/MT. FOREST Robert’s Farm Equipment

Highland Supply

Bruce Service Sales /APC

1634 Cty. Rd. 86/435 Sligo Rd. W. 519-529-7995/519-323-2755

519-923-2240 / 1-800-265-9154 www.highlandsupply.ca

390 1st Ave. S. / 450 10th St.

519-363-3811 / 519-364-6345

GODERICH

Albrecht’s Chain Saw Service

3 kms. N. on Hwy. 21

R.R. 1, Milverton (Line #67 Lane 4158) 519-595-2579

519-524-5361

60 The Rural Voice

MILVERTON

Argyle Marine & Small Engines Inc.

②

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

Wa n t e d to buy

Unique Ironwork Benches, railings, gates, furniture and more One-of-a-kind functional art Visit our website at

www.workingiron.ca allan@workingiron.ca 36854 Dungannon Road, Dungannon

O L D BA R N S FOR SALVAGE CALL STEVE

519-440-7384

Galvanized Roofing For Sale

519-529-3434

Farm Drainage

• GPS • Plastic • Bron Plow • Surveys • Maps Glen 519-291-0709 cell Dennis 519-276-9292 cell

Newton, Ont. 519-595-4545

Est. 1991

KRAEMER CONCRETE LTD. Two Locations to Serve You! 5595 Road 130 Brunner N0K 1C0

220 Industrial Park Dr., Brussels N0G 1H0

Fax: 595-4903

Fax: 887-8764

519-595-2343

519-887-8763

Toll Free at 1-888-RING-KCL

Maitland Welding & Machining

• In-shop & on-site millwrighting • Custom fabrication • Steel & industrial supply sales

63 North St. Wingham

Ph: 519-357-2727 Fax: 519-357-4769 www.maitlandwelding.com rstute@maitlandwelding.com

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

May 2021 61

C E N T R E

MANUFACTURING STEEL ROOFING SIDING & TRIMS

519-363-3757

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

Also Supplying Other Building Accessories

B U S I N E S S

Leadership in energy and environmental design

Devon Henry 84772 McDonald Line • Box 616 • Brussels

devonjhenry@hotmail.com 519-505-2473 AGRICULTURAL

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

RESIDENTIAL

STEFFEN WELL DRILLING

C E N T R E

519-531-0355 TEESWATER, ON

mike@steffenwelldrilling.ca

NEW CONSTRUCTION RENOVATIONS

519-524-0253 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

62 The Rural Voice

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

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

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

AUCTION -------------------------------------------------Elmira Produce Auction – Hay and Straw Sales every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Consignors and buyers welcome. Call Lloyd Martin 519-6643356, 7400 Reid Woods Drive, Elmira.

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

-------------------------------------------------CUSTOM BALING -------------------------------------------------Custom round baling. Paul Buttar 519-441-3067.

-------------------------------------------------Custom big square baling, rotocut, $1.15 per foot, no knives; $1.25 per foot with knives. 519-377-2303.

-------------------------------------------------CUSTOM WORK -------------------------------------------------Get your fields ready for spring!

Dudgeon Enterprises offers seedbed prep, tillage and air seeding. Call Jeff at 519-375-7235 for quotes and inquiries. Dudgeon Enterprises, your environmentally-friendly tillage provider.

-------------------------------------------------Custom Stone Picking – Let us harvest rocks so you can harvest crops. Servicing Grey, Bruce, Dufferin and Wellington Counties. Call Brendan Martin 519-503-1101 brendan.martin870@gmail.com -------------------------------------------------Barnhem Farm Services – solid manure spreading; variable rate precision application (optional).

Serving Bruce, Grey, North Huron and North Wellington. Contact for information: Herman Vinckx at 519881-7663 or Dylan Vinckx at 519-8818957.

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

Call 519-625-8242 or 519-274-1490.

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

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

-------------------------------------------------FOR SALE -------------------------------------------------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 519-395-2972. Ask for Carmon or Mitch.

-------------------------------------------------For prices on forage peas, forage pea mixtures, barley, oats, spring wheat and mixed grain seed. Contact Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd., 225 Hwy. 21, RR 1, Ripley. Phone 519-395-2972. Ask for Carmon or Mitch.

-------------------------------------------------Soybean seed for sale – Absolute RR, Altitude R2, Extent R2X and Beliveau R2X Roundup Ready varieties. Treatments and inoculants available. Call Mitch at Courtney Grain & Seed (2015) Ltd. 519-4406712.

-------------------------------------------------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 2021. 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 km. north of Wroxeter.

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

FOR SALE -------------------------------------------------CORN SEED pricing starting at $129/bag (before discounts). De Dell Seeds, the Leaders in non-GMO corn.

519-264-CORN. -------------------------------------------------Rosco grain bins for sale – 19' and 14' diameter. Parts available. Used grain bins wanted for parts or reuse.

Closed Sundays, 519-338-3920.

-------------------------------------------------Rebuilt water pumping windmills Beatty, Aermotor, etc., parts, repairs and sales. 519-357-3621.

-------------------------------------------------Double cut red clover seed, 55 pound bags, James McKinlay 519599-6236.

-------------------------------------------------1972 384 Leyland tractor, recent four new tires and clutch; 8 ft. 3 pt. hitch spring toothed cultivator; in excess of 500 lbs. of electric fence wire, in good shape; 2 farm wagons; weigh scale for bags; many miscellaneous articles. Call Kelly 519373-6521 or Carl 519-534-3988 (Wiarton).

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

Tell them you saw their ad in The Rural Voice

Discount Steel Great for barn posts, stabling or other build-your-own projects

Custom Welding & Machine Shop Custom Stabling Mfg. Open Tues. & Thurs. ~ other days by chance John A.M. Martin 1467 Grey Ox Ave., Lucknow

CAMPER FOR SALE 21 1/2 ft. 5th wheel, 1996 model, air, awning, microwave, good condition. Asking $5,000

519-527-1866 ------------------------------------------------GARDEN TOURS -------------------------------------------------Visit the largest Botanical Gardens, Garden Centre and Home/Garden Décor Shop in Southwestern Ontario.

Explore 30 acres of manicured gardens within natural rock outcroppings, wetlands, meadow and forest. Shop for rare and unusual plants, unique garden pieces and quality home décor. www.folmergardens.com --------------------------------------------------

May 2021 63

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CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

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 519595-7775.

-------------------------------------------------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 -------------------------------------------------Limousin bulls, open and bred females available. Smart Limousin, Meaford 519-372-7459. smartlimo@ bmts.com www.smartlimousin.com -------------------------------------------------LIMOUSIN – quality breeding bulls for sale. Delivery included. Posthaven Limousin, John Post. 519-766-7178. www.posthavenlimousin.com -------------------------------------------------Red Angus, Simmental and Red Angus-Simmental bulls are finished test. See their results at AgSights Ontario. Bull Evaluation, Silver Spring Farms. James and Joan McKinlay 519-599-6236.

-------------------------------------------------Rabbit breeding stock. High quality genetics available in Ontario. Order your PS40 bucks and PS19 does today. CuniON@tcc.on.ca -------------------------------------------------Gelbvieh Bulls – reds and blacks, 15 months old. Ready to work and fully guaranteed. Mike Klages 519363-6307.

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

LIVESTOCK FOR SALE -------------------------------------------------20 bred cows, bred to purebred Charolais bull Hicks breeding. Due April-May. Mostly Herefords. Call 519502-7294, no voice message please.

-------------------------------------------------McKague Charolais Bulls, yearlings and two year olds, registered purebred, polled or dehorned. Some heifer approved.

Also heifers bred Charolais (calving ease), Wingham 519-357-3808.

-------------------------------------------------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 519357-4304, 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 -------------------------------------------------TOWNSLEY BARN PAINTING – All farm buildings and houses, seamless eavestroughing, liquid rubber coatings, waterproofing, metal, concrete, wood, foam and bin flooring sealing. Serving Ontario since 1955.

Call 519-859-0097 or 519-871-0300 townsleypainting@hotmail.com -------------------------------------------------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, 519-348-9062.

Cell 519-274-5000. www.cronin pouredconcrete.ca --------------------------------------------------

SERVICES -------------------------------------------------INCOME TAX FILING – for farms, small business, truckers and individuals. Will make house calls in the North Huron, Perth and surrounding area. Call Shirley in Wingham – cell No. 1-705-434-8187.

-------------------------------------------------Firearms and hunting training.

PAL & HUNTER ED. Ongoing courses available.

Certified instructors. Call Greg 519-887-9622 or 519-291-0507.

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

Canada's Own Dual Purpose Chicken White Chantecler Chicks available now!

226-222-1469 dandhnewman@gmail.com http://dandhnewman.ca/chantecler-chickens/ Pick up in Ripley, ON Beltsville Small White Turkey Poults also available

64 The Rural Voice

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

Ph. 519-528-3019

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

519-692-4232 www.sgspestmanagement.ca

CLASSIFIED

CLASSIFIED

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

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

Short and long term. 519-200-7845 or hundt.chris@outlook.com -------------------------------------------------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. 519-3231113.

-------------------------------------------------DEALERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES are available in many areas with the Leader in Non-GMO corn. De Dell Seeds 519-264-CORN. -------------------------------------------------Cropland, very competitive rates or share crop. Long or short term.

519-276-9405. rastorferfarms@ gmail.com --------------------------------------------------

WANTED -------------------------------------------------Round bales of horse or cattle quality hay picked up. Call Riley Gorman 519-321-1012.

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

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 -------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS -------------------------------------------------Exeter Saddle Club 2021 – Horse Show dates: June 6, 27, July 18, August 22, Sept. 5, 19. Behind South Huron Recreation Centre, Exeter, starting 9:30 a.m. For more information call 519-393-5051.

-------------------------------------------------McQuail’s Annual Meeting Place Organic Farm Seedling Sale revised for contact-free pickup. Pre-order (online/phone/email) flower, herb, vegetable and heirloom tomato seedlings, freezer beef and pork, maple syrup, honey, apple butter and lamb skins. Please check website for details and information. Pick up May 8 and 9 by appointment. See website and social media for virtual farm tour.

86016 Creek Line, east of Lucknow.

519-528-2493. www.meetingplace organicfarm.grazecart.com -------------------------------------------------Grey Roots Museum & Archives shares the unique stories of Grey County through programming, special events and original and travelling exhibitions. During the summer months, explore Moreston Heritage Village, Grey Roots’ picturesque tenacre living history site. For more information, visit greyroots.com --------------------------------------------------

The deadline for the June issue of The Rural Voice is May 11, 2021

South Bruce Tourism’s Annual Father’s Day Vintage Tractor Tour Sunday, June 20 from 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

“A Daytrip Back in Agricultural History”

On-farm displays of tractors, automobiles and other vintage pieces.

Throughout South Bruce - Mildmay, Formosa & Teeswater, Ontario

More info and maps available at: www.visitsouthbruce.ca

May 2021 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.

NFU-O members weigh in on Ontario’s Greenbelt: to grow or not to grow?

Ontario’s Greenbelt is the world’s largest with two million acres of protected farmland, forests, wetlands, rivers, and lakes. Our Greenbelt provides us with fresh air, clean water, local food and drink, and world-class outdoor recreation and tourism experiences. The Greenbelt is home to much of Ontario’s vital environmental, groundwater and agricultural resources.

In March, the NFU-O was awarded a grant, through the Greenbelt Expansion Consultation Fund, to consult with farmers across the province and mobilize them to participate in the provincial consultation process as farmers. Our goal is to produce a high-quality and well-researched public response to the proposed Greenbelt Expansion.

In April, we did just that.

Our approach to policy has been, and will always be, based on input from our locals and our grassroots membership and the Greenbelt project was no exception. As part of our engagement strategy we launched a public survey to capture the needs and perspectives of the agricultural community. In only a few short weeks, we heard from more than 100 of our members. As of April 9, over 90 per cent of survey respondents advocated protection and maintenance of all water resources and agricultural land in the Greenbelt, and 84 per cent believed all greenbelt land should be protected for agricultural use or nature preservation until sustainability studies have been completed and selective use can be determined.

“I actually don’t agree with the ‘Greenbelt’ designation per se,” said one member, “but prefer ‘natural preservation’. We need to find a way to stop developers from owning farmland [...] and receiving tax rebates... Agricultural tax designation

should be for true farms.

Speculation taxes should be levied for holding land captive. I have 10 acres and would like more to graze my sheep on, but I can’t get land, because developers are holding it and renting it to big farmers in order to get agricultural land tax rates. They don’t care how it is being used... Let’s be smarter. We need ways to keep politicians [...] from re-zoning wetlands and protected lands for so-called ‘economic’ benefit when it suits them.”

In 2018 the NFU-O requested that all farmland be “greenbelted” until further studies are done. We stand by this as farmland continues to disappear. Greenbelt protections also help to address other issues like skyrocketing farmland prices.

Without this protection, industries will simply move outward instead of planning for long-term viability.

Short-term, nonrenewable land use, such as gravel pits, will destroy farmland and rural communities. The potential economic benefits of extractive industry and highways do not matter when farmland and ecosystems do not exist. One member felt that “[there] must be a moratorium on any further expansion of the aggregate industry, as well as safeguards against speculative

purchases of lands deemed as agricultural and/or natural preservation,” concluding that, “Ontario must stop selling its future to the highest bidder.”

The NFU-O also held two virtual member consultation sessions on April 7 and April 8, that featured a short presentation followed by an opportunity for the membership to ask questions, learn about what they could do in their own communities, and, most importantly, share their thoughts on the proposed Greenbelt Expansion plan. In addition to completing the survey, the membership was encouraged to contact their local government, expressing their concerns and opinions, and a template letter was provided urging the extensions of strong protections to farmland in and around the Greenbelt.

Feedback on ways to grow the size and further enhance the quality of the Greenbelt were due to the The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing on April 19, 2021.

We eagerly await the announcement of the Greenbelt Expansion plan, and maintain the belief, as one member succinctly put it, “Nature, water, and food security through preservation of farmland should come before everything else.”

Coming Events Local 312 Middlesex – Local 312 will hold a monthly “InfoHour” (Zoom meeting) on the second Tuesday of each month from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Upcoming “InfoHours” will cover topics on access to local abattoirs, farm tax planning, grants for farmers, agritourism, and more! Future topics will be announced in the weekly NFU-O e-newsletter. InfoHours are open to all NFU-O members. To participate, and for more information, reach out to Bill De Young at deyoung_bill@outlook.com.

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

Perth County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER

Stewart Skinner, President stewart@stonaleenfarms.ca / 519-492-2990 * The Rural Voice is provided to Perth County Pork Producers by the PCPPA perthcountyporkproducers@gmail.com

Exporting opportunity The last week of March saw my car headed south for the first trip to the United States in COVID times. A few days to check in with contract barns and do audits for our specialty programs while meeting some folks I’ve chatted with on Twitter for years but never met in person. It was a great trip, getting out and exploring new small towns is good for the soul.

On my way home a news alert popped up on my phone, “Canada’s Sofina Foods buying Eight Fifty Food Group.” A headline that Ontario’s largest pork processor is expanding in a significant manner would normally be good news.

When the transaction includes a significant pork processing network it is getting downright heavenly.

The fact that the pork processing, and the other seven protein companies that make up Eight Fifty Food Group are all based in the United Kingdom and European Union really takes the air out of the balloon.

Our pigs being raised in the U.S. are a very small part of the over 40,000 pigs that leave Ontario every week as weaners, feeders, and live market hogs to other provinces and the U.S. Instead of raising and processing them here in Ontario, a place with strong comparative production advantages compared to competing hog regions, they get shipped somewhere else. There is one major reason so many hogs leave Ontario... we don’t have enough processing.

We are not the first to venture south of the border in search of greener pastures and nothing is easy in the hog business but at least there is more competition among processors. When feed costs skyrocketed and cash hogs remained very weak I did something that I assumed had a zero per cent chance of working. I sent a simple email to one of our customers that said, “I just

opened my feed bill and am not sure how this can keep working.” I got a simple response, “what do you need?” I almost fell out of my chair, not only did they respond, they were willing to work with us and gave us a raise.

2020 was a good year to be in the business of processing pork.

Hogs were plentiful and cheap while meat prices stayed strong. No plant was immune from the additional stressors of operating a large scale factory in a pandemic and everyone had some road bumps... but it was a profitable year nonetheless for the processing industry. The decision of Sofina Foods to export those profits they made as Ontario’s largest pork processor to an international jurisdiction feels like a gut punch for the Ontario producer.

Perhaps it sounds a touch hypocritical for a producer raising pigs

somewhere else to be complaining about a processor investing in an international market but we would far rather be doing all our business here at home... there just doesn’t seem to be opportunity.

The signal that Sofina Foods, our largest processor, doesn’t see opportunity in investing in pork processing here in Ontario despite making healthy profits doesn’t help that feeling. Ontario is leaving economic activity on the table by not developing the processing sector.

Investment in processing will spur more production given the strong competitive advantages we have as hog producers while creating jobs in urban areas and bolstering the federal trade surplus. Solving the riddle to getting plants built is not easy but it is not the producer holding up the process. ◊ – Submitted by Stewart Skinner

With BBQ season just around the corner 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

May 2021 67

Grey County Federation of Agriculture

446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9 519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551 Email: grey@ofa.on.ca Website: greyfederation.ca

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

GCFA and BCFA host a joint politicians meeting Annually, Bruce County Federation of Ag (BCFA) and Grey County Federation of Ag (GCFA) host a Politician’s Meeting to educate and inform their local representatives about agriculture in their local region.

The local federations have been doing this information session for several years, however this year marked the first virtual event they have hosted. The event held on Wednesday, March 24 ended up being a huge success with over 50 local representatives.

BCFA and GCFA feel it is important to take time to provide their elected Municipal, Provincial and Federal government representatives with constructive input from grassroots organizations.

Their goal is to enhance communication between the agricultural industry and all levels of government so they might create a better understanding of issues creating barriers to successful rural communities and profitable farming families.

This year’s agenda included Federation-chosen topics such as Carbon Tax which was delivered by the OFA policy researcher Peter Sykanda and the Seasonal and Temporary Foreign Worker Program

which was delivered by Stefan Larrass and Ken Forth from the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. The Federations also reach out to all local commodity groups and Organizations to update their local representatives about commodity and organizational specific topics.

This year the elected officials heard briefs from the local pork, dairy, beef, sheep commodity groups as well as Saugeen Valley Conservation and ALUS. The Federations look forward to working with government officials not only at this yearly event but throughout the year. ◊

Grey County Federation of Agriculture

ShedTalk 2021 GCFA is continuing to host member forums throughout 2021.

If there is a topic you would like to have covered at one of these events, please email grey@ofa.on.ca with your suggestions. We look forward to hearing from you.

2021 MEETINGS • June 10

• October 14

• August 12

• November 11

• September 9

• December 9

DUE TO COVID-19 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

446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9 519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551

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

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

NEWSLETTER

Security from Trespass legislation offers new tools to protect farms and food Any opinion expressed is that of individual County Directors or Representatives and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture or Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

With the enactment of Ontario’s Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act in December, police and prosecutors in Ontario have new tools at their disposal when animal rights activists cross the line from peaceful protest to illegal activities.

In recent years, there has been a steady escalation of protests by individuals seeking to end animal agriculture, using extreme tactics including farm break-ins and theft, processing plant invasions, and interference with moving livestock transport vehicles.

To reduce the risk of being targeted, keep buildings and vehicles locked, be alert to unusual activities and consider adding yard lighting or security cameras. Suspicious activity at or near your farm should be reported to your local police detachment, as well as to your livestock commodity group.

The Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act – widely known as Bill 156 – was introduced to better protect farm animals, the food supply, farmers and others in Ontario from risks including exposing farm animals to disease and stress, introducing contaminants to the food supply, and injury to people and animals.

It is complementary legislation to the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, which enshrines high standards of animal care. Ontario farms, livestock truckers and food processors are highly regulated, with several levels of validation and inspection ensuring compliance.

The new Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety legislation respects the right to peaceful protest, while giving the justice system the tools it needs to address trespassing and harassment at farms, abattoirs, meat processors and in transport. The legislation also prohibits interference with livestock transport vehicles, removes assumed consent to enter a property if the consent was gained under false pretenses.

Acts that are considered prohibited interferences and interactions with farm animals include: • Directly or indirectly having physical contact with a farm animal, whether the farm animal is dead or alive, • Providing any substance to a farm animal, including spraying or throwing any substance on or at a farm animal, • Releasing a farm animal from an animal protection zone or transport motor vehicle,

• Creating conditions in which a farm animal could escape from an animal protection zone or transport motor vehicle, • Any activity that causes or is likely to cause harm to a farm animal or harm with respect to food safety.

Animal protection zones are clearly defined in the supporting regulations, including barns, pastures and other locations where animals could normally be expected to be found. The need for new signage for animal protection zones is expected to be minimal, with signs required only in a small handful of locations where animals might not normally be found.

To learn more about the legislation, animal protection zones and signage, visit www.AboutBill156.com/info, where you’ll find a new interactive tool to help determine whether a sign is needed for your property. ◊ – Submitted by Stacey Ash Ontario Pork

Bruce County Federation of Agriculture

2021 MEETINGS • May 24

• August 23

• October 25

• June 28

• September 27

• November 22

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

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

Bruce Federation of Agriculture

@ BruceFedAg

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

May 2021 69

Perth County Federation of Agriculture Email: perthcountyfedofag@gmail.com Website: www.perthcountyfarmers.ca Sue Shafer, Office Administrator 1-833-229-6834 Tim Halliday, President: 519-292-9533

PCFA holds election at AGM Perth County Federation of Agriculture held its Annual General Meeting virtually on February 16, 2021. This year we had guest speaker Wayne Caldwell who is a Professor in Rural Planning and Development at the University of Guelph. He had a very timely presentation on land preservation and the use of Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs).

There has been a lot of talk across the province over the use of MZOs and locally with the Stratford glass plant. He also touched on topics including rural land use and the environment as well as surplus farm severance within Perth county.

Wayne’s presentation was very well received by participants.

Along with the presentation we held elections for directors on the board. This year after receiving a couple of resignations from directors there were seven positions available for election. Each year there are four positions for a three-year term available. Returning directors to the board for a three-year term are Tim Halliday, Sara Wood and Julie Danen. New directors joining the board are Derek Van De Walle for a three-year term, Julie McIntosh for a two-year term and Tyler Denham and Chris Tegenbosch for one-year terms.

I would like to thank the following retiring directors for their time and effort serving on the PCFA board – Kirk Rankin, Joanne Innes and Jason Follings.

Perth County Federation of Agriculture

BOARD MEETING Thursday, June 17 8:00 p.m. via Zoom Call Sue at 1-833-229-6834 to get information about or to participate in the upcoming Board of Directors’ Meeting.

At the first directors’ meeting following the Annual General Meeting, the board elected our new executive. For 2021, the President is Sara Wood, Vice-President is Julie Danen and the two other executive members are Chris Tegenbosch and Darryl Terpstra.

On March 19, 2021 PCFA held its annual Spring Forum. Spring Forum is a meeting with our local MP, John Nater and MPP, Randy Pettapiece.

This meeting gives the federation and other local commodity groups the opportunity to bring their concerns to government officials and to discuss them with other commodity and farm groups. This was the first time this event was held virtually and although there was not as much discussion as

in past years, it worked really well in this format and was a successful event.

Not surprisingly, the areas of concern overlapped commodity group reports in many cases. Some of the main topics were: Processing Capacity, Reliable Energy for Rural Ontario, Rural Internet and Business Risk Management and AgriStability Coverage. As well as our own members, we had participants registered from eight different Perth County commodity and farm groups as well as representation from West Perth, North Perth, Perth East and Perth South in attendance.

– Submitted by Eric McLagan, PCFA Director

PCFA DIRECTORS 2021 Tyler Denham farms with his parents in Perth South near Kirkton, where they cash crop and run a grain elevator, in addition to working off farm in the grain industry. He moved back to Ontario in 2018 after working in Minnesota and Alberta the previous seven years. He joined the board to be more involved in his community.

Julie McIntosh grew up on a dairy farm in Oxford County where her passion for agriculture bloomed. She now farms with her husband on a layer operation north of St. Marys. She works in marketing and communications, specializing in agriculture and has volunteered for many boards and committees over the years. She and husband Mike Ready are proud parents of daughter Ellie.

Derek Van De Walle has an organic cash crop and dairy farm. He farms west of St. Marys and is also a practicing vet. Derek has strong ties to agriculture in both his personal and professional life and says that he became involved with the board to stay up to date on the issues facing the industry. "I want to be a voice for those who are a part of our rural communities and ensure that agriculture continues to advance and be viable for generations to come.”

Chris Tegenbosch farms with his wife and daughter in North Perth near Atwood. Four years ago they sold the family dairy farm and got into broilers. They also have 300 acres of crops. With the dairy farm gone, Chris has a lot more time so was looking for something to do. He is on the Listowel Ag Society but feels like he has time to help the PCFA and is hoping to help address issues of concern to local farmers.

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

70 The Rural Voice

Index Argyle Marine & Small Engines ....61 ATVs & Side by Sides ..............15,57 Backyard BBQ ..............................7,9 BDO ..............................................49 Bernie McGlynn/SB Flooring ........53 Bester Wood Products ..................53 Bio-Ag ............................................55 Boonstoppel, Dave & Elly ..............29 Brough & Whicher Limited ............61 Brown-Henderson Dorothy ............43 Buddsteel Architectural Products ....6 Bushell’s Auto Sales ......................34 Canadian Co-op. Wool Growers ....56 Chalmers Fuels..............................35 Cliff’s Plumbing & Heating ............51 Crop Management ....................11,13 Cross Country Eavestrough ..........58 DJ Henry Homes & Renovations ..62 Donkers Agri ..................................17 Easy Lift Doors Ltd ........................46 Gerber’s Workwear ........................62 Greenfield Global Inc ....................21 Grey Sauble Conservation ............19 Grey-Bruce Construction ..............34 GRK Products ................................47 Grober Nutrition ....................Cover 3 Hanover Honda..............................37 Hardi ..............................................31 Harold Jones Enterprises ..............62 Hayden Water Wells ......................27 Hill & Hill Farms....Inside Front Cover Hunter Steel Sales Ltd ..........Cover 5 Huron Commodities ......................25 Huron Hauling & Excavating ..........49 Huron Perth Public Health ........29,42 Intragrain Technologies Inc ..........22 JA Porter Holdings Ltd ..................56 Jennifer Cook & Associates Inc ....48 Kingwood Bins ..............................50 KMM Farm Drainage ....................56 Kraemer Concrete Ltd ..................61 Kuepfer Farm Drainage ................61 LAC ................................................62 Lakeside Shelving..........................38 Lambton Heritage Museum ..Cover 3 Layton Steve ..................................61 Live Landscape..............................42 Maitland Welding & Machining ......61 Mapleview Agri ..............................44 Marquardt Farm Drainage ............46 Martin Farm Wagons ....................71 McConville Omni Insurance ..........51 McIntee Real Estate ......................62 Metzger Meats ..............................56 Michael’s Stabling ....................19, 38 Mike Boven Carpentry ..................62 Morris Sachs Silo Construction......10 Nature’s Wave Inc ........................37 North Huron Carpentry ..................53 Nuclear Waste Management ........58 Nuhn Forage ..................................54 RBC Ag West ................................31 Ridgeway Metals ..........................62

Royal LePage - Steacy DenHaan ....4 Royal LePage - Steven Michie ......59 Rural Living ....................................38 Rural Voice Books ................Cover 6 Sauble Beach Motorsports 12,25,27,55 Saugeen Valley Conservation ......53 Schmidt’s Farm Drainage ..............58 Schweiss Doors ............................54 Sew & Save Centre ......................43 Sharps Creek Forge ......................35 Signature Crane ............................21 Silver Creek Nursery........................8 South Bruce Tourism ....................65 Spring Gardening..........................2,5 Steffen Well Drilling ......................62

Stihl Ltd ..........................................60 Superior Barn Painting ..........Cover 4 SWO Diesel Inc ....................Cover 4 TD Canada Trust ..........................56 Townsley Barn Painting ................64 Tree Planting/Maintenance ............32 Triple P Consulting ........................47 Trouw Nutrition ................Back Cover United Way Perth-Huron................65 Usborne & Hibbert Insurance ........58 Waddell Engineering......................47 WD Hopper & Sons Ltd ................55 Williams Drainage ..........................29 Willits Tire Service ........................47 Working Iron ..................................61

May 2021 71

HURON

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

County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER

From the HCFA historical files As we celebrate our 80th anniversary we have taken the opportunity to review the historical documents of the HCFA, Minutes from the early 1940s showed family names that are still common in Huron agriculture now such as: W.L. Whyte, Seaforth; Simon Hallahan, East Wawanosh; R.S. (Bob) McKercher, Dublin; Russell Bolton, Dublin; Hugh Hill, Goderich; Wm. J. Dale, Clinton; Russell Colclough, Varna; Bert Klopp, Zurich (grandfather of Paul Klopp who is on our current Board); Norman Radford, Blyth; Robert Archibald, Seaforth (Past President Ethan Wallace’s great-uncle); Bert Lobb, Clinton; W.R. Jewitt, Londesborough; Chas.

Coultes, Belgrave; James Michie, Brussels; Harold Gaunt, West Wawanosh; Earl Shapton, Exeter; Geo. Feagan, Goderich and Gordon McGavin, Walton.

Some issues and concerns regarding volunteers, farmers and recruitment are still applicable today.

“Doug Miles brought some interesting views about getting information across to farm people about Hog program and about

extension men and how discouraging it is that no one turns up to meetings because they don’t wish to have extra work. Also, how do we try to educate people to do something to help themselves and to help prevent the crazy things they do in financing and to apply for help before they are really forced into it.” June 19, 1962 HCFA minutes. ◊

Upcoming Election Huron and Perth OFA members will hold an election for the OFA Board Zone 7 Director position this year.

Nominations for this position will be in June and details will be provided in the coming months.

If you are interested in further details about the process or for answers about the director position please contact OFA Member Service Representative Margaret Vincent at margaret.vincent@ofa.on.ca or 519 482 9642 ext 1. ◊

HCFA encourages members to participate in the 2021 Census of Agriculture Statistics Canada will release the 2021 Census of Agriculture in May, covering topics such as land use, crops, livestock, agricultural labour, machinery and equipment, land management practices, and farm finances.

The OFA encourages all members to take the time to complete the 2021 Census. This Census is conducted every five years to highlight relevant opportunities, challenges and emerging issues in the Ontario farming community.

The data collected is used to make informed policy recommendations and decisions to best support our farm families. ◊

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

Upcoming Events May 9 – Mother’s Day May 24 – Victoria Day May 28 - June 6 – Clinton Virtual Spring Fair. For more details visit: www.clintonspringfair.com/

Huron County Federation of Agriculture

BOARD MEETING June 28 – 8:00 p.m.

We anticipate this will be a virtual meeting. Please contact the office if you are interested in joining this meeting

Congratulations!

The Huron County Federation of Agriculture is celebrating its 80th Anniversary by doing a monthly draw among its membership.

Winners of the April draw for a local food gift certificate are Mark and Erin Nesbit.

OFFICE UPDATE due to COVID-19 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: 519-482-9642 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

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IMPROVING YOUR SOIL A Practical Guide to Soil Management for the Serious Home Gardener Soil scientist Keith Reid provides steps to achieve the right soil base in which to grow bigger vegetables and better flowers and how to manage the soil for the long term. $29.95

HOW CARROTS WON THE TROJAN WAR: Curious (but True) Stories of Common Vegetables Learn intriguing stories of everything from asparagus and beans to tomatoes and turnips in 350 pages of tasty tidbits from throughout history. $17.95

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VEGETABLES, HERBS & FRUITS: An Illustrated Encyclopedia At more than 600 pages this is the definitive source book to growing, harvesting, preserving and cooking all kinds of fruits, vegetables and herbs — including medicinal and other uses. $29.95

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