Farmers keep government watchdog busy
Is the provincial government treating you fairly? If not, give Ontario's Ombudsman Roberta Jamieson a call.You may not get her directly - the office fields about 30,000 complaints a year- but her office can lend a helping hand to farmers who have a legitimate beef with provincial ministries and government agencies, boards and commissions.
"Our job is to investigate people's complaints," Jamieson says. And she has the power to get the job done. The office can subpoena access to government files and take evidence from provincial bureaucrats under oath.
The Ombudsman is an officer of the legislature, and works independently of government, similar to the auditor general. Jamieson does not have the power to enforce the recommendations she makes to rectify an injustice, but she does have the option of reporting the matter to the legislature, opening it to public scrutiny - something government officials try to avoid. In the thousands of complaints her office has investigated, she's had to go to the legislature only eight times. The Ombudsman is "an essential tool to protect the public from the abuse of executive power."
Many farmer complaints have landed on Jamieson's desk, and some have resulted in significant reprimands.
In one case, a farmer sold $25,000 of earth fill from his land in a deal involving the Ministry of Transportation and a number of contractors. According to the agreement, the pit would be refilled with earth material, but the contractor filled it with asphalt. Eventually, the asphalt was removed, but not to the farmer's satisfaction. The farmer complained to Jamieson's office, and after experts looked at the site, the transportation ministry paid for the rehabilitation of the site. "They were involved in the original deal and we got them to take on the responsibility," Jamieson says.
In another case, a farmer got her tax notice in the mail and noticed that part of her farm property was designated as a significant wetland. The farmer was unaware of the designation and phoned Jamieson's office to complain. Investigation revealed that vegetation in the area was consistent with wetland areas, but Jamieson did recommend the ministry establish a new policy of notifying landowners whose property was being considered for wetland designation.
"We also got them to give instructions to their district offices that permission must be obtained before you enter people's land," Jamieson says.
Another complaint was launched against the cancellation of the Managed Forest Tax Rebate Program. Jamieson's office ruled the that canceling the program was unfair because many farmers and woodlot owners had incurred losses from preparation of a certified active forest management plan. The program was reinstated in 1996, and "I recommended that those people who needed a new certified plan be compensated," Jamieson says. - Bernard Tobin
© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Good news budget for farmers
The provincial Conservatives plan to cut taxes again, but this time around cuts are targetted directly to farmers.In a pre-election budget earlier this month, Finance Minister Ernie Eves announced that provincial tax payers can expect another 20 per cent cut in the Ontario portion of personal income tax. Farmers would also see legislation to make permanent the temporary retail sales tax rebate on farm building materials as well as more exemptions from sales tax paid on a wider range of products purchased for farming activities.
There's also new spending for core farm programs. In what is billed as the Healthy Futures For Ontario Agriculture program, the Tories plan to invest $35 million in the next fiscal year in on-farm total quality management for production quality, food safety and environmental safety.
"Research and development would certainly be part of it," said Agriculture Minister Noble Villeneuve.
The budget received generally positive reviews from farm groups. Ed Segsworth, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and co-chairman of the Farmers of Ontario, said he considers the healthy futures program a first installment on the industry lobby to secure $350 million in new government investment for the industry over the next five years. "It's a start," he said.
Villeneuve said the sales tax exemption will provide "fairly substantial" savings for farmers. The minister couldn't provide a dollar figure, but a recent OFA report says changing the RST collection rules could save farmers up to $37 million annually.
"There will be more exemptions than we presently have," said Villeneuve. "We are going to exempt them at source with the ID card that [indicates] they belong to a farm organization." The minister noted that farmers who don't belong to a farm organization will also qualify, but cautioned that farmers will have to prove that rebate claims are legitimate.
"There will be some audits where...there are large amounts that have been exempt. They may get a visit from an inspector to make sure the money has been spent for...legitimate purposes."
"We've got the promise and now we've got to work with them to see how that at-source exemption is going to work," said Segsworth. - Bernard Tobin
© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Farmer-free farms
Easter weekend was a bit unusual for Plattsville dairy producers Esther and Stefan Arkink. For one thing, they went out to dinner - a historic occasion in itself on most farms. Odder still, leaving no one behind to do the chores, they returned to find the milking done.As Stefan perused the dessert menu, back home a $250,000 Dutch-built robot was milking his cows - prepping, locating the teats by laser, attaching, milking, feeding, detaching, and recording. If anything went wrong, this robotic relief milker would call Stefan on his cell phone.
Depending on whom you talk to, the Arkinks (page 22) are either a passing curiosity, or the first crest of the wave of farmer-free farming. Pointing to mixed robot milker test results at the University of Guelph, naysayers argue machines in the milking parlour will never adapt to different udders and cows will never be comfortable with them.
On the other side, proponents argue robotics will revolutionize the farm lifestyle as the tractor, the round baler, the auger and the computer have. "You can plan to do things," says Esther Arkink. "It's less labour-intensive, less stressful."
In Europe, often a bell-wether of North American farm technology trends, 185 dairy farms had robots installed as of February. Here in Ontario, three companies are introducing systems, with at least two other installations planned this year.
And there are other examples of robotics on the farm. Down in a Pennsylvania hayfield in 1995, it was machine over man again as a robotic New Holland windrower dubbed "Demeter" after the Greek goddess of the harvest cut and swathed hay with no one aboard (page 38).
Employing computer software and cameras to "see" the uncut line of alfalfa, Demeter is being developed by NASA and New Holland researchers to help farmers increase harvest capacity as acreages expand. Ultimately, they envisage a day when farmers could program machines and then monitor them from a remote station, or from a manned machine operating several "drone" machines.
Will farming eventually become an eight-hour work day with the farmer in command central, pushing the right buttons? Before Star Wars hits your local soybean field, farmers will have to be convinced the economics justify the investment. Robot milkers range from $225,000 to $250,000, a cost which must be weighed against a traditional parlour. New Holland-NASA estimates the robot system in the windrower cab will eventually add $5,000 to the price tag.
Nor will you ever be out of a job. NASA hasn't figured out how to reproduce the farmer's eyes and ears: matching speed to the rush of a heavy harvest, or hearing the thud of a stone on the cutterbar.
In the dairy barn too, nothing will ever replace the farmer's feel for each cow's temperament and idiosyncrasies.
But if the price is right, what's wrong with a gourmet meal with your loved one once in a while - without a side order of guilt?
© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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