Prize spud
Allow me to express my warm congratulations to your paper for the wonderful front-page picture of the Sept. 13 edition, of master Tyrell Gertner holding aloft his prized potato.
It embodied the very glow of childhood innocence and glee. It especially reflected so strongly on the merit and virtue of the rural environment and the true happiness of the country farm.
Thank you for this treat.
– Dr. Al Oeming,
Sherwood Park, Alta.
Using tools
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Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
According to Rolf Penner and Andrea Mandel-Campbell (CWB given two thumbs down, Opinion, Sept. 13), it would appear that the Canadian Wheat Board is solely responsible for the dominance of foreign interests in cereal grain processing.
If this is the case, how would they explain the fact that the cattle sector, which has been unfettered by marketing boards and single desk selling agents, shows even higher levels of corporate concentration than flour milling, malt and semolina production?
How about hog processing? How about canola crushing? If Penner’s and Mandel-Campbell’s theory was right, none of these industries would show the levels of foreign ownership they do: they would be bastions of home-grown entrepreneurship.
The fact of the matter is that the food sector, like so many other parts of our economy, is increasingly globalized, vertically integrated and concentrated. The CWB has neither created nor contributed to this trend.
However, given how the agriculture industry has evolved, it is more important than ever that Canadian farmers take advantage of whatever tools they have, whether it is the CWB in the grains sector or marketing boards in the supply-managed sectors like poultry and dairy, to level the playing field between themselves and the giants who supply their inputs and buy their products.
I fully believe in a market economy; one in which farmers get their fair share. The CWB is one of the tools that farmers use to make sure they are also benefiting from the global grain market by giving themselves some marketing power. Marketing boards and selling agents like the CWB are made-in-Canada solutions to problems that exist everywhere that food is produced for sale.
Building on their strengths hardly constitutes “a huge opportunity lost” either for farmers or the future of the agriculture industry. On the contrary, their presence is a uniquely Canadian approach to marketing food products that just makes sense.
– Ken Ritter,
Chair,
CWB Board of Directors
Kindersley, Sask.
Takes time
Re: “Puzzling lack of urgency in forming new ag policy,” Opinion Sept. 13.
It’s a real shame that Barry (Wilson) failed to recognize the hard work and valuable contribution made by federal, provincial and territorial ministers, government officials and thousands of farmers over the past year.
Rest assured, we will continue to work together to make sure there is a smooth transition to new programs.
Farmers aren’t sitting back and watching. In fact, they’re actively taking part in shaping the future of farming policy in Canada. They want to be involved every step of the way. If anyone understands what it takes to do the job right, it’s them.
They understand that good things take time. They know what’s best for them, and we are listening to what that is.
We are not far away from seeing changes that will have an important impact on Canadian farm families. Replacing the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program with a more stable, bankable business risk program is another tangible example that this government kept its word and is delivering results to farmers and farm families. Details on these programs will be available shortly.
I can’t say it enough folks. Good things take time.
Creating a vibrant, profitable and innovative sector will not happen overnight. Growing Forward is a great foundation for us to build on and we’re committed to continue working with the provinces and territories to hammer out the details.
– Gerry Ritz,
Minister of Agriculture and the Canadian Wheat Board,
Ottawa, Ont.
Help for 911
On Friday, June 29, a 911 emergency phone call was made from the Corwin Drake farm to send an ambulance, as an accident occurred involving a 10-year-old girl.
Corwin had given the 911 dispatcher directions for the ambulance to get to the farm but the dispatcher wanted someone to meet the ambulance, which was coming from Moose Jaw 80 kilometres away, at Parkbeg on the No. 1 highway. The ambulance was leaving immediately and Corwin’s mother, Eva, left for Parkbeg to meet it and direct it to the farm.
Eva waited for the ambulance to arrive from Moose Jaw but as it turned out an ambulance arrived from Central Butte, which is only 40 kilometres from the farm in an opposite direction, which traveled an extra 45 kilometres out of its way down to Parkbeg and then backtracked to the farm, thus delaying service considerably.
The dispatcher never called back to Corwin about the change of direction and if they had, someone could have gone to meet the ambulance coming from Central Butte and directed it to the farm, thus saving a lot of time. The 10-year-old girl was in considerable pain as she sustained a broken shoulder and punctured lung.
This is not the first time an emergency situation has occurred in our community and ambulances and emergency services have had trouble finding farm locations.
As we live great distances from hospitals, it is imperative that ambulances and emergency services reach us as soon as possible.
There should be a means for the person who places a 911 call to communicate with an ambulance driver for directions. Perhaps a better system for locating farm residences, such as a numbered sign or Global Positioning System could be implemented.
We feel this is unacceptable service. The 911 Response system in rural communities needs to be reviewed and improved upon.
– Herbert A. White,
Administrator,
RM of Eyebrow No. 193,
Eyebrow, Sask.
Going up
Instead of calling our old Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Viterra, Mayo Schmidt might as well call it Viagra.
In order to keep his New York shareholder friends happy, everything will be going up.
– Ron Smith,
Kindersley, Sask.
Smut in air
There appears to be a campaign underway to help voters, as they decide who will take over the reins of government in Saskatchewan after the next election.
No writ has been issued, but smut is in the air.
The NDP seems to believe that they can win by spreading a message of fear, and the terrible consequences that will result if the Saskatchewan Party wins. Perhaps they got the idea from Paul Martin as the “hidden agenda” and scare tactics worked for him to some extent.
To mention that my name was on the voters list when the CCF, forerunners of the NDP, were swept into power in 1944 will reveal my age, but it’s true.
I even joined the majority and voted CCF. But as the soldier vote was not counted until three weeks after the election, and had no bearing on the outcome, perhaps my vote never got counted.
Following the installation of the CCF and the end of World War II, Saskatchewan enjoyed a number of years of buoyant prosperity.
The cry among CCF was, “See what Tommy Douglas has done for us” as they turned a blind eye to the same thing happening in the rest of Canada.
Yes, those were good years, but as I reflect back I think of Alberta, a province that never has experimented with socialism.
At the end of the war the population of Alberta and Saskatchewan were about equal.
Since then the population of Alberta has tripled, while we have merely grown older.
I agree that our economy has improved over the last few years, not because of a socialist government, but in spite of them.
With Alberta’s economy bursting at the seams, it was only natural for some of it to spill across the fourth meridian….
– Percy Lambert,
Moose Jaw, Sask.
