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this youthful farmer is making his mark tribune april 27 1988 d3 by bruce stapley since graduating from kemp- tville agricultural college in 1982 ron herrema has more than made his mark in the farming in dustry the 27yearold son of durham regional chairman garry herre ma ron has made a success of his dairy and cash crop operation just outside leaskdale as well as lending his talents and his time to the local contingent of the junior farmers his selfless involvement with that organization has resulted in his being named outstanding junior farmer of 1987 for the durham chapter the award is the county mem- bershps way of recognizing rons outstanding efforts towards the promotion of the organization along with his leadership and pub lic relations skills as demons trated by his involvements in the chapters activities but he is reluctant to take all the credit it also took all of the other people of the chapter to make it work he insists i have made a great group of friends out of those people the provincewide organiza tion open to rural youth of ontar io between the ages of 15 and 30 offers a social educational and leadership function to its mem bers in his six years of involvement with the junior farmers ron has taken part in a variety of activi ties from the county right through the provincial level he has acted as newsletter edi tor treasurer and president of the durham chapter and its all been done on a volunteer basis at night and on weekends he has somehow managed to find the time to chair the outfits sports committee and the agri cultural awareness program which was responsible for putting together a farm tours book for schools in durham region to en courage students to come and visit the farms in that region it was a good way of getting the urban students to come to understand just how their food comes to be on their table states ron he was actively involved in the hosting of the junior farmers culturama their annual cultural event in 1987 and he chaired the zone camp where the different counties in his zone spent a social weekend at the claremont con servation area i think of it as fun and enjoy ment and a learning activity ron says of his hours spent on ron herrema not only operates a successful farm but hes also very active in the durham chapter of junior farmers junior farmer functions however he admits to having cut back somewhat this year due to his being married this spring to mary anne who is from the brampton area a people person he thorough ly enjoys the opportunity to meet and work together with members on the diverse projects that the junior farmers involve them selves with the nice part of being involved is that you meet people from across the province you work your way up the executive with them ron is pleased with the new look that the organization has adopted whereby it is now open to urban youth as well as rural you no longer have to be a far mer to join he states you just have to have an interest in farming there has been a good response from the urban areas according to ron- a good percentage of our durham membership now come from off the farm there are fire men lawyers teachers and stu dents ron stresses the community in volvement function of the junior farmers pointing to their choos ing of a different charity to sup port every year this year its the juvenile di abetes foundation he explains last year it was the plant a seed for need food gathering for the salvation army and food banks across canada the junior farmers get in volved in community betterment programs at the county level and at the provincial level its a good mix of social times and se rious times ron maintains when hes not looking after the business of the junior farmers ron devotes himself to his dairy operation part of a collective effort along with his father and his brother howie we have 500 acres altogether he says we each own portions of the land each has their own separate business equipment expenses and liabilities are shared its not the easiest business to be in ron insists expenses can exceed income the consum er isnt willing to pay high prices for goods the government subsi dizes so the consumer is in effect paying like other dairy farmers ron works within a quota system whereby he is limited as to his potential production rons per sonal operation consists of 55 cows your money is all in your assets and your land he claims you dont make a lot of money while you are operating for ron herrema a thriving dairy farming business and rec ognition of his tireless work for the junior farmers speaks very well of a young man given to hard work selfdiscipline and the wellbeing of others squarer squares and rounder rounds i its the haymasters choice the john deere baler line full selection of square or round baling equipment i four square balers that kick out solid squaresided bales that stack like bricks dense bales that make the mostof your space no banana bales from this bunch three round balers that make a tricky job as simple as driving your tractor you get perfect firm round bales every time easytohandle 650- to 1850pounders take your pick see us when you want to put your haymaking in better shape z nothing runt uka dcwt hutchinson farm supply ltd stouffville 6402692 country gal loves the rural way of life by denise mcdonald you can take the girl out of the country but you cant take the country out of the girl such is the belief of rural organization specialist mar- lene werry she speaks from experience i have an extensive back ground in farming and was actively involved in 4h and jr farmers when younger she says i really enjoy agricul ture and assisting farm people mrs werry working out of the uxbridge office holds a degree in agriculture from the university of guelph and a masters in extension educa tion in 1977 she joined the staff at the ministry as assistant and associate agricultural repre sentative at alliston in simcoe county in 1983 due to a major minis try reorganization mrs werry was transferred to elmvale where she served as an agri cultural management special ist a position she describes as merely a name change a short time later she res igned from the ministry forone year due to husband don being transferred to kingston my two sons kept me pretty busy during that time but i still managed to stay involved by writing leadership material at home and coordinating programs during the winter she says when a position opened at the kingstonbrockville office the result of a maternity leave she quickly jumped at the opportunity one that would provide her a first work experi ence with the rosrural orga nization and services branch it was much the same job i now have in uxbridge says mrs werry she explains the purpose of the branch mission is to develop and enhance the human resource skills of rural people so they can provide effective leadership to the agri cultural community after working in the ux bridge office two days a week and at bowmanville three days a week mrs werry came on full time at uxbridge last january i basically work with all the marlene werry is a country girl at heart she grew up belonging to 4h clubs and now she coordinates their activities youth 4h and farm organiza tions in the area training their leaders and helping co ordinate their programs she says i also try to help develop new programs in the region to satify the needs of the rural people mrs werry says she tries to maintain close contact with the community through the orga nization in order to best know the peoples needs a good example of my in volvement would be with the bethesda reach road insti tute she explains its a committee striving to provide rural day care in the area which ive been working with in order to help set up a prog ram this year mrs werry is particularly enthusiastic about her involve ment with 4h young people enter 4h programs at age 12 and dont usually leave until 21 she notes depending on what they put into it one can see a lot of development over the year its also wonderful to work with the 4h leaders people that are so motivated and committed to assisting young people i guess 4h is gratifying be cause i benefited a great deal from it when i was a teen she continues im paying my duesnow when asked what role agri culture will play in years to come mrs werry replies these days in many sectors agriculture is still very strong and i definitely feel theres a future for the family farm another part of my job re sponsibilities she continues is helping farmers cope with the stress of operating a family business weve lost a lot of far mers in the industry due to financial stress but the ones still carrying on are efficient and productive