Legs & weeds
I’m responding to two items in a September (issue) of the Western Producer.
First about restless leg syndrome. I’ve had a mild form of that but found if I eat a banana every day, as well as a calcium tablet, I don’t have any problems.
When my children were small they used to wake up in the night crying with leg cramps. A cousin suggested they wear socks to bed and no more leg cramps, and such a simple solution.
My second comment is about toadflax, baby’s breath, tansy, oxeye daisy and scentless camomile, all of which are weeds getting out of control in our country.
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When travelling this summer on Highway 16, there were clumps of baby’s breath from the Saskatchewan-Alberta border to Radisson, Sask., in the ditches. This plant is totally out of control in the Okanagan Valley in B.C.
In the town I live in, all of the above weeds are cultivated in gardens, as well as being rampant in the rural areas. Some if not all of these weeds are still sold in many greenhouses and nurseries.
Where are the weed inspectors in the rural and urban areas? Why don’t the farmers control the weeds in the ditches along their own land?
Are greenhouse and nursery owner-operators not educated as to the noxious weeds and prohibited from selling them? This problem needs to be addressed now.
– Elaine Sloan,
Morinville, Alta.
Ditch hazards
No doubt some of you who drive along the secondary highways of Saskatchewan have noticed the sad state of most of our road allowances.
Along Highway 43 west of Gravelbourg, tall unkempt grass and several species of noxious weeds adorn what were once neatly cut ditches. This fall, only one pass was made along the shoulders. The private contractor used a standard gyro mower, however travelled at excessive speeds, leaving clumps of grass to gather snow for the winter.
Even our major highways such as the Trans-Canada between Regina and Moose Jaw leave a lot to be desired. While the median was cut, only a couple of passes were made along the north and south ditches.
Given that thousands of tourists from other provinces and the U.S. travel the Trans-Canada every day, our Saskatchewan Department of Highways is a source of embarrassment to all of us.
Not only are the ditches an eyesore, they are also a hazard for motorists, as wildlife is perfectly camouflaged in this jungle. How many people will have unnecessary collisions simply because of the department of highways’ negligence? …
If everyone stopped making excuses for those persons responsible, the problem would rectify itself quickly. Every time someone speaks out publicly, all we get is the standard rhetoric of “the department has no money.”
Yet as the provincial election is fast approaching, we hear NDP propaganda boasting of large government surpluses.
The court case known as the People v. The Department of Highways is long overdue. The condition of our highways in southern Saskatchewan is a classic case of negligence. The risk to human safety, the loss of property, the spread of noxious weeds, and the wanton waste of tax dollars are but some of the complaints.
– John Hamon,
Gravelbourg, Sask.
More from middle
I’ve just read Barry Wilson’s column on the sad state of Canadian agriculture, “The new assumption: agriculture not competitive” (WP, Oct. 20).
Certainly it begs the question, why would anyone want to farm? As you correctly point out, we have worked hard to “diversify, seek economies of scale, become better marketers, look for high-priced niche markets” and still we’re left with costs too high and returns too few.
No matter who is making assumptions, we the producers, have to find our own solutions. I am fortunate to live in a province where our farm organization, the UPA, has adopted a “taking more from the middle” campaign….
We recognize that Canadian consumer costs have increased and although our returns have not followed, we are not asking our consumers to pay much more for their food.
In order for us to receive more money, we’ll have to take it from the middle. The money is already in the industry, just not enough of it has been going to us, the primary producer.
We have to do more than just earn more from the marketplace. We need to acquire further ownership of our industry.
We are asking the government, and ultimately the Canadian taxpayer, to help us as we manoeuvre into further ownership of our industry. We do not want to be dependent upon the government for our income but we do need help during this transition from bailouts to profitability.
Farmers are eternal optimists. Every spring we trust that the dry seeds we plant in the ground will flourish, the livestock will be born and thrive and we will have enough rain and enough sun….
We who feed the nation know that our profession is as much a calling as being a preacher or a teacher. If we’re to continue to answer our calling, we must also have faith in ourselves to ensure our industry provides for us.
You asked where are the creative thinkers? We, the farmers, will be the creative thinkers.
– Cindy Duncan McMillan,
Farrellton, Que.
CWB support
Negotiations at the World Trade Organization are approaching a critical point, particularly with regard to agriculture.
The United States and European Union have targeted the Canadian Wheat Board and are calling for measures that would end the CWB’s ability to maximize returns from the marketplace to Canadian farmers.
In the lead-up to the WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong Dec. 13-18, the U.S. and the EU are exerting tremendous pressure on Canada to agree to eliminate the CWB’s single desk monopoly on export sales of wheat and barley.
The CWB’s single desk allows farmers to receive higher prices on the world market. Independent economists have quantified the CWB’s average single-desk price premiums to farmers at more than $265 million annually for wheat and more than $72 million annually for barley.
The WTO negotiations are the latest in a string of attacks on the CWB. The U.S. has tried for years to prove that the CWB is an unfair trader in the international market, but in each of the 14 complaints, all lost by the U.S., the CWB has been successful in proving that it operates in a non-trade distorting and commercial manner.
The U.S. has now changed its strategy and is attempting to use the WTO negotiations to kill the CWB. Because there is no basis for the U.S. argument that the CWB distorts or limits trade, the U.S. is simply arguing that if they have to give up something in the negotiations, then so does everyone else, regardless of the facts….
We are insisting that the Canadian government state, unequivocally, that Canada will refuse to end the CWB’s ability to be the single desk seller of Western Canada’s export wheat and barley.
The thousands of farmers who agree with us must make their views known …
– Stewart Wells,
President
National Farmers Union, Saskatoon, Sask.
CWB barrier
Of all the advantages to farmers of an open market for wheat, durum and barley, cash is the biggest one. It is ironic that the Canadian Wheat Board itself goes to Ottawa to plead for more cash. They are the only barrier stopping anyone who needs it from getting 100 percent of the cash for 100 percent of the grain they feel they want to sell.
Compare this to their buying monopoly. They will, as of now, take 25 percent of your grain and give you 65 percent of your money. Build bins and wait. …
Their programs are only a pale imitation of a real free market. Only now we’re getting paid still for 2004 grain. In a cash market like for all other crops, we could contract a year or more ahead. Cash buyers – certainty, monopoly buyers – uncertainty.
Of all the good things and opportunities the CWB straitjacket prohibits, like numerous buyers large and small, processors investing on our doorstep, research in better varieties, cash is one of the biggest.
Encourage your representative to trade off this bureaucracy for all the foreign subsidy reduction they can get.
– Jim Pallister,
Portage la Prairie, Man.
