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SHORT TAKES Controversial OFA hunting resolution ‘may have been misunderstood’ Sagging crop prices and dissatisfaction with perceived government inaction on support programs set the stage for confrontations between farmers and recreation seekers this fall and winter. Last March, the board of directors of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) passed resolutions to enlist the support of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs in pressuring the provincial government to put a long-sought risk management program in place. If the program wasn’t set up, OFA members were encouraged to keep snowmobilers and hunters off their properties as a way to put pressure on the government. Jim Magee of Drumbo, a former cattlemen’s association president and OFA member, was taken aback by the plan to keep hunters away from farms. Magee is chair of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters’ newly-minted agricultural liaison committee and had never heard of the resolution. “We are complaining about $45 million a year” in wildlife damage, he says, much of it to corn, and a growing number of traffic accidents involving deer. The statistics “are very scary,” he says. On a personal note, he says: “I had four calves killed by coyotes this spring. I want someone to whack a bunch of them. I can’t take the losses.” OFA general manager Neil Currie says the federation “may have shot itself in the foot.” He concedes Magee’s points on wildlife control and says that the intent of the resolution was misunderstood. The OFA has been working with Anglers and Hunters, Currie says, and “the key to the resolution is not to shut them down but to get their co-operation.” “The word we got back from the snowmobile federation is that they were surprised at the lack of political clout that they had,” Currie says. The snowmobile federation estimates that 80 per cent of their membership is urban. Glengarry federation director Alex Ferguson sponsored the resolutions and is disappointed at the lack of action. “It’s a pretty slow process,” says Ferguson, who sits on the OFA’s restructuring committee. Currie says the resolutions referring to snowmobiles and anglers and hunters could have been worded better. Ferguson says Grassroots, a loosely organized group of farmers that spans general farm organizations and commodity groups, met with the snowmobile club in eastern Ontario. They have agreed that snowmobile trails in that area will be marked out as usual and signs will be erected, but the trails will stay closed at least until mid-December. In the meantime, the eastern Ontario snowmobile group will try to get the provincial snowmobile federation onside in lobbying for a business risk management plan for agriculture. The Grassroots farmers “are frustrated and willing to take action into their own hands,” Ferguson says. They will push hard on issues that the general farm organizations and commodity groups “can’t touch or won’t touch because of liability issues or political issues." BF No-goat road for Swiss tourist That Swiss tourist who creatively blamed a straight highway and a “lack of goats” for his 161 km/hr trip down Highway 401 on Labour Day weekend, spurred the imagination of headline writers across Canada and around the world. Here’s a sample: Down Billy! -- New Statesman, Scotland. No Goat Road -- PR Inside (Pressmitteilung), Austria. We Didn’t Make a Horn Joke At Least -- Jaunted, the Pop Culture Travel Guide. No-Goat Zone -- Edmonton Sun. Swiss Driver Blames Clear Roads For Speed -- United Press International. Speeding Driver Blames Lack of Goats -- Injury Watch, United Kingdom. Goat-Free Roads Made Me Speed -- British Broadcasting Corporation. Swiss Driver Floored it ’Cos Goats Was Clear -- Motoring, South Africa. BF First horses then what? The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has “expressed disappointment” with a U.S. Congress ban, approved in early September, on the processing of horses for meat. The reason? “The bill sets a dangerous precedent by banning a livestock product for reasons other than food safety or public health,” said NPPC president Joy Philippi of Bruning, Neb. The vote, he said, “was clearly based on emotion, not science.” The bill prohibits the shipping, transporting or selling of horses for human consumption. More hurdles must be cleared before it becomes law. About one per cent of the 9.2 million horses in the United States are processed for human consumption. Three processing plants in the United States are directly affected. The proposal to ban horse sales for processing passed by a substantial margin. A proposal to delay the ban until certified sanctuaries were in place to take care of abandoned horses failed to pass by a narrower vote. The NPPC says the Animal Welfare Council estimates a cost of $220 million for the care of unwanted horses. BF Illegal eggman pleads guilty and pays fine Shanley farmer Shawn Carmichael (see Better Farming's October cover story) has pleaded guilty to five Provincial Offences charges relating to illegal egg production on his farm and has paid a fine of $2,500 in the form of a contribution to a charity. But a bigger bill may still lie ahead. Egg Farmers of Ontario intends to pursue “restitution” in civil court for unpaid levies and license fees dating back as far as December 2004. Among the unpaid bills are levies of $2 per week per hen. Better Farming conservatively estimates that those levies alone could amount to nearly $1.2 million. Carmichael had permission to produce eggs from only 100 hens but had a reported 9,000 in a Quonset hut on his farm. On top of that are the regular marketing levies of 34.52 cents per dozen on 4,500 dozen eggs in Carmichael’s possession when officials executed search warrants at his farm last March. EFO operations manager Mark Beaven wouldn’t confirm the numbers, but he says the egg board is seeking “a considerable amount of money.” Beaven says the egg board intends to collect the outstanding levies under its “general regulations under the authority of the Farm Products Marketing Act.” Carmichael “had his day in court and he completely capitulated,” Beaven says. “He was facing overwhelming evidence of his guilt.” Carmichael was running “a sizable illegal operation,” Beaven says. “In the statement of fact that was agreed to by his lawyer, this gentleman had a six-figure income coming from this illegal operation.” Charges against Shawn’s wife, Paula Carmichael, and Raspbic Farms, owned by Shawn’s father Robert, were dropped. There is a permanent injunction in place against Shawn Carmichael. “He has consented to getting rid of the birds and allowing inspectors on his farm and not to hinder or obstruct inspectors in their duties and to abide by the regulations,” says Beaven. Beaven describes conditions in the Carmichael’s barn as “absolutely the worst” he had seen in 10 years of enforcement. “The eggs were packed in unsanitary conditions. There was manure and mould on the eggs. This was not an operation that was conducive to safe product.” When the search warrants were executed the Leeds and Grenville Landowners Association came to Carmichael’s support and would do so again, says president Jacqueline Fennell. “Sean had to do what was right for his family and we have to respect that,” Fennell says. She questions how strong the egg board’s case was against Carmichael. “Now we see that the penalty for producing outside supply management apparently is a donation to a very worthwhile charity,” she observes. Carmichael was not available for comment. BF Last school fair in Ontario plays on The last fair of its kind is still carrying on near Wingham, in northern Huron County. Belgrave, Blyth and Brussels School Fair is billed as the last remaining, stand-alone school fair in the province. But the fair, which has run for more than 80 years, is losing one of its longest-serving judges. Don Pullen, former agricultural representative for Huron County, plans to retire after judging at the fair for 43 years. The fair still manages to attract scores of local school children, who exhibit everything from school work done in the proceeding year to silage, hay, lambs, calves and horses. Pullen, with his wife Florence, judges vegetables, hay, corn, beef and dairy calves and sheep. Florence says the fair is much the same as it was years ago. “I don’t think much has changed. I’m totally amazed at how much stuff shows up. There is a tremendous show at Belgrave.” School fairs in Ontario got started years ago with collaboration between school boards and the provincial agriculture ministry, explains Kim Higgins, the fair’s president. The agriculture ministry always sent judges to the fair as part of its contribution, but school fair judges were casualties of funding cuts. Since Pullen was retired by then, he kept attending and judging at Belgrave. It isn’t easy to replace someone who judges 60 to 70 per cent of the entries in a fair, but Higgins is optimistic about finding interested people who are qualified to judge. There is tremendous community support and people who get involved tend to stick with it. “You just do it,” says Higgins. “People just believe in the fair.” An example of that tenacity is another judge, Ross Taylor, who has never missed a fair. He attended as a baby when the fair began and was still judging the pets at the 86th fair, which was held in September. BF top back