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Farmers have nothing to fear from MOE "Farmers who are only needless worry. Normal carrying out normal farm manure spreading and procedures have nothing to subsequent cultivation is fear from officials of the both necessary and Ministry of the Environ- beneficial for farm ment", said Ontario Environment Minister Bill operation. Area residents are asked to show con- Newman recently. sideration towards this - Recently, some farmers practice. have expressed concern over their practice of spreading However, a small _per- centage of farmers do not follow normal farm procedure and this could lead to a valid complaint by a neighboring resident. manure over fields and the possible resulting odor. Environment Ontario of- ficials point out that this concern is_ essentially if WE RUN A VERY simple business } SADLON €$y SCOTT MOTORS LTD. 233 Bradford St. 726-1811 Costs up but retail price down by Dave McCausland The potato producer in North Simcoe is caught in a price squeeze between declining retail prices and rising equipment-and supply costs. Many have significant quantities of potatoes they cannot sell for enough to pay for the packaging and shipping, let alone the actual cost of production. One of the Tiny Township farmers caught in this situation is Gabriel Maurice. He has been growing potatoes for 35 years and says "I've never seen it so bad." He has been unable to get $1.25 for a 75 pound bag of potatoes -- which costs him over $2.00 to produce. And if -he hopes to sell those potatoes in Toronto he will have to take a 50 cent shipping charge and the 35 cents cost of the bag itself out of the $1.25 they are willing to pay. Forty cents is left to offset his $2.00 production cost. Maurice blames part of the problem on the shipment of potatoes from Prince Edward Island to Ontario. The Federal Government subsidizes the cost of ship- ping those potatoes and so they are able to compete with the locally grown product. He said the PEI farmer isn't reaping the benefits: of this subsidy, barely getting the cost of production back from his sale. Another aspect of the AANADIAN (curpoors April Special of the Month 5' Aluminum Step Ladder $13.99 6' Aluminum Step Ladder $15.88 "iM DOMINION HARDWARE THE HOME OF THE OUTDOORSMAN 236 KING ST. N. - MIDLAND - ONTARIO Cuts the grass and eliminates _ the clippings! _ WAGE GGG Bolens sae Mulching Mower This mower cuts the grass, then cuts and re-cuts the clippings into a fine mulch that disappears down into your lawn. No bag to empty. No clippings to rake. No thatch build up. No danger- ous discharge chute. Faster, safer, cleaner than anything else you've used. Available in 22" self-propelled, 22" and 18" hand-propelled 35 andre 83521 13 CALVIN MADILL some real great performers don't even know how to skate! We're not talking about Eddie Shack. He may. not be the smoothest looking skater that ever took to the ice, but he's known throughouf the league models. Bolens. A good petdlabead: as one of the fastest, strongest ets skaters in hockey, even today, Pil Products after 18 years of hockey's bumps and grinds. Fast Eddie took years to learn how to bea real great performer and he works at it every day. Like Ed- die, we think Canadian' plumb- ers are real great performers, spends over 5 years just learn- ing his trade before he can step out as a first class plumber. On top of that, he's constantly go- ing to 'training camp' to keep up with changing technology. So when you use the service of your plumber, remember, he's spent considerable time learn- ing the ins, outs, and in-be- ! tweens of todays complex wa- ter systems. 'AS manufacturers of pumps, we're proud to be Duro SALE 726-8536 even though most can't skate! part of this team of Highway/11 S. Barrie It takes years of training to be- Real Great come a professional plumber. Performers. In fact, the average plumber Use the Pumps & Softeners, Limited 680 Waterloo St. classifieds London, Ontario however, since he is also -- problem is the rapid rise in the last few years in the cost of fertilizer. Maurice said it is now costing at least four times the amount of 10 years ago. The price is now run- ning at approximately $200 per ton, he said. Various solutions have been proposed. Maurice thinks that Ontario farmers should receive some sort of subsidy Omer Marion, another potato farmer in the area, has a different approach to the problem. For the last few years, he has been gradually reducing the number of acres he plants. This year he said he expects to plant only 12 to 15 acres instead of the 22 and 25 acres he planted a few years back. He blamed part of the cost squeeze on the brokerage system involved in the sale of the potatoes. The broker's fee amounts to a significant part of the retail cost and he said "I don't think the consumer's getting a fair deal for what the farmer's getting." One possible solution to the problem of this cost-price Squeeze might be some sort of marketing plan on the part of the farmers. Ross Whiteside, who grows potatoes near Alliston, produces solely processing potatoes, that is, potatoes designed for commercial production of French fries, for example. He has been involved in setting up the Ontario Potato Bargaining Committee, a group which deals with the processors on behalf of the producers. The processor has only to negotiate with the one agency instead of a number of individual farmers. With their connections to other similar groups in other provinces, the bargaining committee can keep in- formed of the situation in the rest of the country. Whiteside says that it is "advisable to have a marketing plan to control acreage." Too many potatoes are being produced at the present time, he said, and some reduction is vital. He suggested that a livestock diversion plan was one of the things he would FABULOUS FORMALS 9 am. to 1 p.m. Please use rear entrance SAT., APR. 26 FABULOUS FORMALS Limited Hugel Avenue First Georgian Mall Mortgages' Mortgages to 90% of the appraised value of your property. Prime rates. Mortgages available on vacation homes. First Mortgages on commercial & dustrial At Municipal we care. the municipal Savings & loan corporation P.O. Box 147, 88 Dunlop St. E. Barrie, Ontario (705) 726-7200 BRANCHES: 221 King St. Barrie Midland Gravenhurst 726-0340 526-9364 687-2212 Member -- Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Midland in- properties. 105 Muskoka Rd. N. Potato producer price squeeze like to see in operation. This would be similar to a scheme in PEI in which the farmer receives a supported price of $1.80 per 100 pounds of potatoes which would be used to feed livestock. This would give the farmer some knowledge of what he could expect for his crop under such a plan. Some sort of marketing arrangement seems to be inevitable if the farmers are to get a fair return on their investment. The only thing to be decided now is what form this will take. Whether it will take the form of a full-blown marketing board such as exists for pork and eggs, for example, or of some in- termediate arrangement remains to be seen. WANTED _ GAS PUMP ATTENDANT Permanent position Call Mr.' Gilhuly COURTESY FORD 526-3777 ELMVALE SMOKE & "SPORTING GOODS Featuring: |-Cooper - Spalding - Jelinek - Adidas - Pony - Bauer "Your Sporting Goods Headquarters' 322-2516 Start your calves off right and they'll repay you well BERG PERMA-PENS provide the safest and best means of calf confinement. They are easy to clean and disinfect. They leave moisture, dirt and disease organisms no place to hide. Open steel mesh permits adequate cross ventilation. Liftout lock rear gates handle easily. Let us tell you more about Berg Perma-Pens. eT ic ont Worth « ay his % mi. North of WW) sera esricens Stayner on : Highway 26 -- Are a ee het ap «Mr. Farmer be « ¥() 1. You have increased your workable acreage 2. You need more power & larger equipment 3. Your farm prices are down 4. New equipment prices have increased 5. For you to purchase seems impossible Have you thought of Rental as a means of solving your problem. Somerville Farm Equipment Limited in Stayner are making a limited number of units available for this purpose. For full details drop in & see them to-day. AREA RFAUI I FARM E ViVi U PPM ENT Ere: AS oe STAYNER 428-3132 FACTORY REBATES! Case/David Brown POWERED RIGHT e GEARED RIGHT @ PRICED RIGHT °65 pto hp 1210 12-speed syncromesh °65 pto hp 1212 12-speed power shift OFFER GOOD TILL MAY 31! Church's Farm Supplies Limited 174 Burton Ave. °58 pto hp 995 12-speed syncromesh °53 pto hp 990 12-speed hydra-shift vane a Barrie Wednesday, April 23, 1975, Page 17