January 2004
'Risk materials removal' another blow to beef farmers
Frank Witt of Pembroke found this out to his cost when he discovered that a heifer he sent to slaughter was more than 30 months old. Result: he was out of pocket $600by WENDY ADAMS
Just when beef farmers thought things couldn't get much worse, it seems that they are discovering another way to lose money. Frank Witt of Pembroke, who raises 250 head of Holstein heifers, recently lost about $600 after discovering the heifer he was using to fill custom orders was more than 30 months old. Unfortunately, the kill had taken place at this point.
The processor called to say the spine had been removed when he received the carcass from the abattoir that killed it. Witt says he had no idea why. He was not aware that on July 24, 2003, the policy on Specified Risk Materials Removal In Ontario Meat Plants became effective. In partnership with the federal government, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) developed this plan, which is being followed across Canada, as a protective measure against BSE. It specifies that all cattle over 30 months old must have certain parts removed that could be infected with the disease.
Witt was unaware the animal was that old or he wouldn't have fattened her up and taken orders for her meat. "I lost the tenderloin, sirloin and T-bones," he says. Witt had to fill the order with the younger, smaller heifer he'd brought in at the same time.
So how does a farmer tell how old his cattle are? Inspectors check the animal's teeth, but only after the head is removed. "The average guy around here doesn't know the age by the teeth," Witt says.
Age identification "is certainly an issue," says Dr. Tom Baker, director of OMAF's food inspection branch. "The ID tag system doesn't capture the date of birth." Checking teeth is the most accurate. "It's not 100 per cent, but it's the best we have. It's used internationally," explains Baker.
Part of the financial loss Witt incurred was due to the fact that he was charged an additional $20 by the processor for removing the specified risk materials (SRMs) and an extra six cents a pound for cutting and wrapping. These charges would likely vary depending on the abattoir, says Laurie Nichol, executive director of the Ontario Independent Meat Processors Association. Nichol explains that there are added expenses for operators who must spend more time processing the older animals. As well, the SRMs must be properly secured and extra supplies for handling these animals are needed, such as ink to mark the spines.
The major loss came as a result of the animal being used mainly for hamburger. Witt says he saved some of the good roasts. Also, the fact that he substitued a smaller animal to fill the order meant less meat, less generated income.
Witt feels farmers are being unfairly treated by the government. "None of this (meat) is going to the United States," he says. But Baker says stringency is needed, even though the meat is not crossing the border or even leaving the vicinity, because the "risk is highest for this situation. That family will be eating that meat all winter," Beef is usually sold in halves and quarters. In this case three customers were getting meat from one animal. If the meat were being distributed, consumers would be getting diluted exposure, says Baker.
"We have to assume there will be another case of BSE. It's just a precautionary measure to protect Canadians," Baker explains.
But Witt remains soured by the whole experience and by the pressures of the BSE fallout. He feels the government isn't helping beef farmers enough. "I don't know what we're going to do."
Witt has heard that dairy farmers are in the worst shape and estimates they stand to lose $20,000-$80,000 this year because of old cows. He suggests that farmers "take a truckload of them down to Parliament Hill and let them go at two o'clock in the morning. They're not worth anything. We've gotta get rough. We've gotta do something to get action."
This fourth-generation farmer says the plight of beef and dairy farmers today is "the worst we've been involved in. It's a total disaster." At 62, Witt says, "I'm the last owner. It's all up for sale but who's going to buy it? We're just going to lose." BF
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Just what is happening to our weather?
First drought and wild fires, then day-long deluges of rain - the experts gathered for a Victoria workshop in October had plenty to get their teeth intoby HENRY HENGEVELD
It rained all night, all day and then the next night again. By the end of the first 24 hours, the rain gauges at the local airport weather station had already recorded a whopping 136 millimetres - that's five inches, if you please. Based on Victoria airport data for the past 63 years, this one-day rainfall has an estimated return period of about once every 1,500 years. To add to the deluge, another 141 mm of rain was added to that total over the next five days.The date of the initial downpour was this past October 16. On that same day, a group of some 70 climate experts from universities and government labs across Canada and abroad, myself included, were holed up in a workshop in a downtown Victoria hotel. The irony was that we were there to debate how we might better understand the risks of extreme weather events, and how a warmer world might affect their frequency and intensity.
Sequestered in a conference room devoid of windows, we had indeed been aware of the rain -- I even borrowed an umbrella to go for a walk in it during lunch that day -- but we were sufficiently engrossed in discussing past and future extreme weather events that we were relatively oblivious to the one unfolding all around us.
The next day, the media descended on several of the local experts attending our workshop, hoping to get all the related weather trivia and, if possible, some explanation. For the next few days, the extensive media coverage of the heavy rains continued as the tropical moisture being lifted northward into the region moved eastward into mainland British Columbia.
Some local B.C. residents, having just spent a summer trying to cope with drastic water shortages and related wild fires because of a series of very dry seasons, were suddenly required to abandon their homes to encroaching floodwaters. Port Renfrew received 568 mm (22 inches!) of rain within seven days. Washed out roads and bridges resulted in several communities being completely cut off from surface access to the rest of the world. Miraculously, only a few people died in the maelstroms.
So what is happening with our weather? Did those "experts" meeting in Victoria have any insights that might help provide some answers?
Some, like Dave Sauchyn from the University of Regina, provided evidence from sediments accumulating under Prairie lakes, that regional climates can change from very wet conditions in one decade to very dry climates the next. Such variations also occur on century time scales. In fact, these sediment records suggest that the Prairie climates of the 20th century, including the infamous drought of the 1930s, were much more benign that many other centuries during the past 2000 years. An important reminder that the 30-year normals on which we so often rely to describe our local climate may be far from what could happen during the next decade, even without a global change in climate.
Others, like Francis Zwiers from the Environment Canada modelling team at the University of Victoria, talked about what we can learn directly from climate models used to project plausible future climates in the decades to come.
By necessity (because of limits of computing power), these models are rather coarse in resolution. Most are unable to resolve land or weather features that are smaller than several hundred kilometres across. They can provide some useful statistical information on extreme events on a large scale, like droughts and heavy precipitation linked to major atmospheric circulation changes (like the Victoria rainstorm). These consistently suggest that both the risk of severe summer drought and severe summer precipitation events will go up significantly, perhaps doubling in frequency over much of Canada within the next 50 years. In other words, it is likely to rain less often, but harder. Hence, precipitation weather becomes more variable.
However, many weather extremes occur over much smaller spatial scales than global-scale models can resolve. Here, different methods of "downscaling" the coarse data emerging from the global models can add detail and draw additional inferences.
One common downscaling technique involves regional climate models with higher spatial resolution on the order of 45 kilometres. These models can be "nested" within a global model, which provides all the meteorological data at the boundaries of the regional model. The regional model then uses that data to magnify the details of changes in climate, using basic physical and hydrological processes now processed at the much higher resolution.
Another method is to develop statistical relationships between local weather behaviour, including extreme events and the large-scale weather circulation features that are described much more accurately by the large global models.
A third is to assume that there is no change in weather variability from day to day, but that the mean conditions are displaced by the average magnitude of change predicted by the global models. This is much like watching the surf along an ocean shoreline, where the height different between the tops of the waves and the valleys in between may change very little, but the incoming tide causes the mean level to rise, resulting in the waves progressively moving further up the shoreline.
Each of the above methods comes with its limitations and advantages. However, all also depend on outputs of global climate models as a starting point. Since these outputs still have significant uncertainties in describing how regional-scale climates will evolve in the decades to come. Hence, as expected, the meeting did not offer many specific projections on how extreme weather may change in the future. Nor did it succeed in providing much good advice on how to deal better with any enhanced risks that these changes might pose. However, it did help map out a research agenda that will slowly help us move towards those goals.
In the meantime, the best way to prepare for future climate change may indeed be to learn to cope better with those we get today. Given the events of the recent past, that should keep us busy enough! BF
Henry Hengeveld is senior science advisor on climate change at Environment Canada.
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Self-propelled cultivator drills and shallow plowing technology among many innovations at Europe's largest machinery show
With some 250 farm technology innovations on display, Hanover's Agritechnica show didn't disappoint its 250,000 visitors, many of them this year from Eastern Europe and Russiaby NORMAN DUNN
More efficiency and less labour were the main themes at Europe's largest farm machinery show, Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany, last November. This year, 1,400 exhibitors from 35 countries drew an estimated 250,000 farming visitors onto the 50-acre showground.A huge influx of Eastern European and Russian farmers was noted during the five-day fair, which offered demonstrations of some 250 farm technology innovations.
"Government and big business money is at last being invested into farming in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other states," commented a spokesman for plough-makers Kverneland. "There are single farmers starting off just five years ago and now running 20,000 hectares with wheat, sugar beet and sunflowers and they are buying at shows like this with euros, not rubles."
It was no surprise, therefore, to see the large amount of Russian sales literature and Russian-speaking staff on the stands. Just one example: out of 13 export sales persons on the Amazone stand, six were fluent Russian speakers.
Plowing
Shallow plowing from eight to 18 centimetres but still achieving complete inversion offers serious savings without crop health and weed control penalties, according to Kverneland, which won a silver innovation medal for its Ecomat eight-furrow reversible with integrated furrow press. Every pass then covers three metres with power requirement slashed to around 46 horsepower per metre, according to the manufacturers. Speeds: up to 2.5 hectares (six acres) per hour.Shallow plowing with guaranteed 180-degree inversion was also launched by Lemken with its new "Glimmer" shallow skimmer plow with integrated furrow presses. This is not reversible. What happens is that the double side shares are simply redirected left to right or right to left by double-acting hydraulic cylinders so that the same shares can be used for plowing both ways. Optimum working depths for the 12-furrow Glimmer are from eight to 20 cm.
Tractors
Another innovation launched at the German show saves steering time for drivers of New Holland TSA tractors. "Fast Steer" means the steering column and wheel are locked together at the touch of a button to form a "joystick." Move the wheel and column sideways, and the front wheels react instantly right through to full lock, a real time and effort saver on headlands and during loader work.
Cultivating
South German cultivator makers Heko have introduced a new form of cultivator with the "ring-cutter." Here, spoked, large-diameter, steel-rimmed wheels are positioned at an angle across the furrow so that the self-sharpening wheel rims slice and lift the top few inches of soil before dropping it back on the field surface. These big wheels revolve freely during forward motion, thus resisting any straw/soil blockages. This novel method of soil treatment gives a good crumbling action, according to Heko.
Drilling
An end to manual calibration of seed drills? This could be the result of two electronic systems introduced by major drill manufacturers Amazone and Lemken. In both cases, photo-electric sensors have been introduced to count seed flow to the coulters in pneumatic drills. The information is then fed back to the on-board computer, so that seed flow and tractor forward speed can be automatically matched to give the required plant population per square metre or yard.Väderstad Rapid drills are now available with a new Autocheck seeding depth system, which continuously compares and corrects the seeding depth in line with the pre-selected value. Full information is also transmitted to the cab monitor, so the driver can override the system if required.
French drill makers Kuhn introduced the Accura cascade coulter, a purely mechanical method of singling out seed flow to give even spacings along the rows and no doubling. Savings of up to 30 per cent in seed use are claimed. The system features replaceable cassettes for different sizes of seed. Inside the cassettes, a cascade effect leaves an even space between grains before they land at the coulter.
When it comers to machinery for the really big farming operations, Lemken provided one of the show-stealers at Agritechnica with its self-propelled "Brillant 600" cultivator drill. A few facts: Caterpillar engine with maximum 483 HP, 7,100 litre seed hopper and pneumatic drill, six metres with dual disc coulters and press wheels working width with integrated (powered) eight-tire packer and Zirkon 9 power harrow, disc harrows and dual disc coulters. The unit drills up to 9.75 mph (15.5 km/h) and a maximum 25 mph (40km/h for roadwork. Fully loaded working weight is 27 tonnes, but the manufacturer stresses that the wheel and packer layout means traction and weight is spread evenly over the whole working width. Lemken claims that ground pressure is actually less than conventional tractor/cultivator/drill combinations. Price: around $540,000 Cdn.
Mowing
Another high-output introduction, this time for mowing, is a self-propelled mower with a 14-metre working width from Claas. The four-wheel-drive "Cougar" has five individual mower units, each of which can be raised and lowered separately.
Safety first
An innovation from British-owned GKN Walterscheid means that locking and releasing lower link implement attachment hooks can now be activated by electric/pneumatic control direct from the driver seat. The working parts of the closable jaws are all protected from dirt and moisture within the actual hook covers.The first ultra-low-pressure tractor tires that can be safely used at under one bar (14.5 PSI) on both field and road won a special innovation prize for Michelin. For the first time, this means no more reducing tire pressures for optimum traction and soil structure protection in fieldwork and then reinflating to ensure safe handling during road transport. Test comparisons of the Michelin XeoBib tires with conventional tires under identical loads indicate an average 24 per cent increase in footprint with 55 per cent decrease in rut depth for the former. The manufacturer also claims a three to seven per cent increase in traction for the low-pressure tires. On the road, they have been officially approved for speeds of up to 50 km/hour.
Combines
At last, a real sudden-stop system for the combine cutterbar, feed auger and elevator. In many present stop systems, the moving parts tend to continue running, even after emergency disconnection of the drive when a foreign object is sighted in front of the cutterbar. Result: all too often the object is still pulled into the works with subsequent damage and delays.The new Claas idea features an emergency button in the cabin, which brakes all intake parts and stops everything in a split second. CNH (CaseNewHolland) has also introduced another solution, an acoustic stone alarm for its CR combines. This "hears" a stone clattering onto the header, stops the machinery automatically and simultaneously opens a trap on the header bottom so that the offending article can be automatically ejected.
Both Claas and CNH also launched new threshing area adjustment systems for their combines so that the separation area can be increased for difficult conditions. With the Lexion 570 from Claas, parts of the cylinder separation sieves can be hydraulically opened up or closed from the cab. With the CNH CS combines, the final wing of the concave is adjustable, so that the wrap varies between 85 and 121 degrees.
Balers
The Multi-Bale concept from Krone introduces a new knotting needle system for its Big Pack 1270 model, allowing six smaller bales to be individually bound and then tied overall to form a conventionally-sized big square bale. Krone says this development is in answer to requests from smaller-scale livestock units and stables that welcome the transport savings of the big bales but still need the ease of handling offered by the old smaller packages. BF
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London Humane Society joins fight against gestation stalls
Together with allies in Winnipeg and Vancouver, the society is campaigning to outlaw dry sow stalls in intensive pork operations at the same time as its inspectors investigate complaints on farmsby Don Stoneman
The cash-strapped London Humane Society, whose inspectors respond to complaints about cruelty to animals in rural Middlesex County and have the power to obtain and use search warrants, is supporting a lobby to outlaw dry sow stalls in intensive pork operations.The London Humane Society is a member of an organization called the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals (CCFA), which is headquartered in Vancouver and is campaigning to outlaw gestation stalls for dry sows and battery cages for laying hens. Other supporters of the coalition include the Vancouver and Winnipeg Humane Societies. Crystal MacKay, communications specialist at Ontario Pork, was surprised that the London Humane Society was involved in this campaign. She thinks this group is attempting to bring the successful Florida ban on dry sow stalls to Canada.
Robert Van Tongerloo, executive director the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS), says the Vancouver Humane Society is recognized as an animal rights organization and has no animal control or shelter powers. The Winnipeg Humane Society has no powers to investigate farms in Manitoba.
The summer newsletter from the London Humane Society describes the use of metal stalls as causing "great stress," says pigs are "fed a steady diet of antibiotics, hormones and steroids," and concludes that agricultural codes of practice "are not subject to enforcement, and they endorse some of the cruelest farming practices in existence."
Even though the London Humane Society is against intensive agriculture, Mike Draper, the head inspector for the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA), says London inspectors can still investigate complaints at farms. Inspectors are responsible to the OSPCA and not to the humane society that hired them, he says.
Henry Aukema of Strathroy, president of the Middlesex County Pork Producers, thinks campaigners against sow stalls may be misguided. "My experience with sows in group pens is that you get quite a lot of fighting. That's not humane either.
But Manitoba Hogwatch president Fred Tait disagrees with the use of gestation stalls. "As a farmer, I'm not comfortable with it," says the Portage La Prairie cattle producer. Tait describes Hogwatch, an organization which opposes expansion of the pork industry, as a "wide-based coalition" of environmental, humane and local interests. Hogwatch wants gestation stalls for sows banned in Manitoba by 2013.
Tait says the gestation crate "made it possible to take hogs away from farmers and make (pork production) an investment for investors and corporations." The gestation crate "removes the labour requirement and the management requirement so that you can put thousands and thousands of sows in a single confined system." BF
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Why did the corn go down in 2003?
Delayed physiological maturity, European Corn Borer, Corn Rootworm, stalk and root rot all played a role in the corn lodged in last summer's fieldsby PAT LYNCH
Last October and November, one of the most asked questions was: "How come my corn lodged and what can I do next year?"In 2003, corn lodged in different fields for different reasons. It would be nice to give one easy answer covering all fields of lodged corn and then solve that problem for next year, but it's not that simple. Delayed physiological maturity, European Corn Borer, Corn Rootworm, stalk and root rot -- all played a role in varying degrees. The result: lodged corn, regardless of Bt or non-Bt.
Much of the corn was planted late. May soils were also very cold, leading to corn that developed much later than in other years. The colder soil meant smaller root systems that affected the crop later in August.
Later developing corn equates to delayed flowering and delayed grain fill. Cooler nights came and the plants panicked in their attempt to fill the ear. There was not enough sugar/starch in the leaves to meet the demand to fill the ear, resulting in stalk cannibalization. The greater the cannibalization, the greater the susceptibility to stalk rot.
Corn borer caused significant lodging in many fields. In 2003, corn borer pressure was similar to previous years but, because there was less strength left in the stalk, equal corn borer pressure to other years resulted in more stalk breakage.
The lack of moisture in August that caused low soy yields also impacted the corn. Generally, in August, a corn plant lays down lignin. This is an indigestible part of the corn stalk that helps give the plant rigidity. If the plant stops growing, either because of drought or other stresses, it is not able to go through its normal lignin production. This happened in many fields last year. Some hybrids produce more lignin than others. Good silage hybrids are high in digestibility because of the lower lignin production. These hybrids tended to lodge worse.
The above all applies to first year cornfields. On fields that had corn the previous year, corn rootworm increased the lodging problem. In many fields, the rootworms ate enough roots that there was root lodging. In most cases, rootworm damage also meant more root rot. The rootworm damaged the root tissue, allowing root rot to start. The damaged roots meant less root mass to feed the plant and less lignin to hold it up.
Later planted fields had reduced root masses, so the rootworms fed on a significantly higher percentage of roots than in a normal year. Continuous cornfields also had more stalk rot organisms.
So what about next year? Each year we have challenges with root rot, stalk rot and rootworm. These can all be lessened with rotation. Delayed planting this 2003 season accentuated these problems. Earlier planting and hybrid selection will make a difference.
With any luck, we will not see the lodging problems in 2004 that we did in 2003. You probably had a pretty good plan in place for your 2003 crop before Mother Nature played a significant role. Don't change things drastically unless you are fairly sure you are putting together a better plan for the 2004 crop. Thanks to Cathy Soanes of Syngenta Seeds for her contribution to this article. BF
Pat Lynch CCA (ON) is head agronomist for Cargill in Ontario.
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Austria leads the way in GM-free, organic production
With the European Union opening the door to GM foods from abroad, this Alpine republic is pioneering some enclaves of organic, GM-free farming, while still respecting the "freedom of choice" rule imposed by Brusselsby NORMAN DUNN
Somewhat reluctantly, Europe has agreed on the future importation of genetically modified (GM) corn, soybeans and other similar products from the rest of the world. Heavily nudged by the World Trade Organization, European Union commissioners in Brussels have admitted that an all-out embargo is not on.But how to sell the package to 380 million European consumers, 70 per cent of whom, according to some claims, are against GM food products?
The commission has thought-up a clever presentation based on that great vote-earner, "freedom of choice." All growing systems will be allowed: GM, GM-free, organic and just plain conventional. This sounds great in theory, but people have already begun to ask how farmers can possibly grow GM-free crops when the neighbour is busy producing genetically modified potatoes, sugar beet or corn. Had Brussels forgotten about pollen flight and prevailing winds?
The commission reacted by taking a leaf out of Pontius Pilate's book and saying to each member country: "We just supply the framework. You decide on your own regulations governing GM security."
No one has made a move yet -- except Austria. Here's a country that can safely be called the pioneer of alternative agricultural systems. After about 20 years of political support, this Alpine republic now has the highest proportion of organic farmers in the world with 18,500 farms, or 9.2 per cent of all farming businesses organic.
Over the years, it has spent millions of dollars in encouraging organic farming -- growing without pesticide sprays and artificial fertilisers. Austrian politicians rightly saw organic production as a chance to secure a premium market in Europe and of economic survival for the small-scale farmers who represent most of the rural population.
If Austrians prefer biologically grown farm produce to conventional crops, then it's a safe bet what they'll think about GM products. And sure enough, backed by a national vote in 1997 that had 1.2 million of the eight million population marking their cards against GM food and feed, the federal state of Upper Austria made a move last year to declare itself a GM-free zone.
But Brussels soon forgot its hand-washing act and ordered Austria to forget the idea. "This would not be conducive to true freedom of choice amongst growers," was the explanation.
Now, Austria has come up with another idea to ensure at least some areas will be farmed without GM crops. Groups of farmers could establish GM-free areas on a purely voluntary basis. This could retain the freedom of choice concept but, in suitably sheltered locations that ensure relative protection from wind-blown pollen and seed from other farming enterprises.
Never ones to drag their feet, the Austrians went to work this spring and established three GM-free areas, each in a protected location in the mountains and valleys of the Tyrol. A total of 720 farmers have signed voluntary contracts to keep free of GM seed, feed and even livestock. As part of the agreement, they allow two independent monitoring organizations onto their land at any time and, in return, they already receive a bonus of about 10 per cent for their milk -- which, incidentally, is proving quite a marketing hit throughout the country.
Behind the first GM-free farming areas is one of Austria's largest dairies, Tirol Milch, which this year aims to market 15 million litres of GM-free milk. This processor is probably an ideal partner for such producers because it already specializes in organically produced milk, with 30 per cent of products exported to neighbours Germany and Italy. If there's consumer demand for the GM-free product then Tirol Milch will track it down and exploit it. Also supporting these first GM-free farming areas is the national working group for gentechnology-free food production, Austria's major organic farming union and the international ecological pressure organization Greenpeace.
After a summer of good sales, Tirol Milch has already announced that it could market much more of the GM-free product and there is talk of creating much larger voluntary farming areas. At the same time, Hans Partl, general manager of the dairy, is careful not to upset drinkers of other types of milk.
"All milk in Austria is probably entirely free of any influence from genetically modified cattle feed or additives," he stressed the other day. "But we are the first in the world to be able to guarantee this for our product!" BF
Norman Dunn writes about European agriculture from Germany.
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Local histories - the collective quilt work of our heritage
The history of Normanby Township is a masterpiece, but no more so than any of the other hundreds of local histories published about other rural Ontario communitiesby CAMPBELL CORK
High up in the peak of a big old barn in Normanby Township, you will find carefully lettered the initials JM and the date 1906. John McIntee proudly placed his initials there after he built the handsome structure.John's grandson, Bob McIntee of Mount Forest, told me that his grandfather, as well as being a heck of a carpenter, is also remembered for brewing a mean batch of hard apple cider.
What's interesting about the barn is that it is now located about 75 rods west of where John originally built it. In 1953 when the barn at the Wetlaufer place, next door to McIntee's, burned to the ground after being struck by lightning, it didn't take the family long to start thinking about buying the unused McIntee barn next door.
These were not our disposable days. These were the waste-not, want-not days, the penny-saved-is-a-penny-earned days. A barn was a precious object, not a throwaway to be dozed when its purpose appeared to have run its course. The work and material in that barn came too hard to be ignored or cast aside. John McIntee's barn was far from retirement.
So it was that the McIntee barn was carefully jacked up and placed onto wooden rollers. Over a period of two weeks, a horse-powered winch slowly moved the barn inch-by-inch across two fields to the Wettlaufers', where a new stone foundation awaited.
After spending half a century on lot 22, the ageless wooden barn spent the next 50 at the Wettlaufers', faithfully carrying out all the duties of a well-built barn. It remains there today. It's been painted and additions built, but at its heart is John McIntee's barn.
This testament to the hard work and pioneering spirit of our early settlers is just one of many stories contained in the recently published second volume of the history of Normanby Township, Grey County.
"Normanby Reflections" is a handsome, 625-page hard cover history in navy blue binding with gold lettering, which represents about three year's diligent work by an amazing committee of volunteers. It's priced at $25 and any township would be proud of it. There's an amazing chapter on the 99 sets of twins and triplets born in the township and another chapter with pictures of the many local couples who have celebrated 50 or more years of marriage. Alongside is a picture of them on their wedding day. There are more than 200 pages of family histories and pictures of every graduating class from Normanby Central School since it opened in 1965.
In other words, this is nothing less than a masterpiece, recording the best of what Normanby Township has to offer. It's a book that contains material not to be found in any other book in the entire world. It's the history of Normanby Township!
I have to admit to a bias here, having had the honour of being the editor of this book, as well as a similar-sized volume published by Normanby in 1989. Sadly, many of those who worked on the first volume were no longer with us to help with the second.
The book is terrific, but this isn't to boast. It is no more special than any of the other hundreds of local histories published about other rural Ontario communities. Each is delightful in its own way, each a joy to those for whom it is written and a priceless resource for genealogists. Together they form the collective quilt work of our heritage.
If your municipality has published its history, my congratulations. If it hasn't, may I encourage you in the strongest way possible to get cracking. Do it now! Do it before we lose more of those who still remember.
For more information on Normanby Reflections, contact committee chair Agnes Diemert at (519) 665-7920. BF
Campbell Cork lives and writes in Mount Forest
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