Right to farm. Grain drying is proving to be quite
a headache for some farmers in both Ontario and
Quebec. Earlier this fall Embrum cash cropper
Jean-Guy Lapointe had to defend his drying
practices at a Farm Practices Protection Board
(FPPB) hearing after a neighbour complained of dust
and red dog landing on her property. Last month, a
Quebec Supreme Court judge fined farmers Andy and
Crystal Eastwood $1,000 and ordered them to shut
down their corn dryer until the sound is reduced
from 65 decibels to 45, the Quebec Farmers Advocate
reports. The Eastwoods were dragged into court
after their  neighbours complained that the dryer
had kept them awake for three nights. The Advocate
reports that the farm is zoned agricultural, but
the judge applied residential-industrial standards
imposing a nighttime maximum of 40 decibels. To
comply with the ruling, the Eastwoods will have to
spend $6,000 to build an insulated shed to reduce
dryer noise. An FPPB ruling on the Lapointe case is
expected by the end of the month.

New boss has tough job. Newly appointed Beatrice
Foods Chief Executive Officer Brent Ballantyne has
a big job to do and little time to do it. At press
time, the former Maple Leaf Foods CEO was
considering selling off some of the company's
dairy, baked-goods and food assets to appease
financial lenders. For the six-month period ending
June 30, Beatrice lost $6 million, up from $2
million for the same period last year. Debt has
increased to $403 million, up from $367 million in
1992. If Ballantyne can't harness the company's
debt, some financial analysts are predicting the
company may file under the Companies' Creditors
Arrangement Act, Canada's version of bankruptcy
court protection. Stiff competition from rivals
George Weston Ltd.'s Neilson Dairy  and Ault Foods
Ltd. has contributed to recent losses.

Exports up. This spring 40 out of every 100 calves
born inCanada are destined for export, according to
Neil Jahanke former president of the Canadian Beef
Export Federation (CBEF). The Saskatchewan rancher
is amazed at the amount of Ontario beef that is
being exported to Asia, especially during the last
three years. Although 95 per cent of Canadian beef
is exported to the United States, Jahanke stresses
the big exporting potential is in Asia. Previously,
Canada had the cattle but not the facilities. But
new two plants in Ontario and two plants in Alberta
have virtually doubled production, a Western
Canadian Beef Packers Plant in Moosejaw has opened
up, and exporters are gearing up for the Asian
market. Doug Gear, president of the Canadian
Cattlemen's Association, says Ontario is doing its
fair share of exporting beef. Gear stresses that
anything exported helps because "that's the only
way we'll survive." "We have a goal set for 75,000
tons of beef exported to Japan by the year 2000,"
explains Jahanke. "And that converts back into the
production of between 350,000 and 400,000 cows." He
predicts by the year 2000 Canada will sell just
about as much beef as Manitoba produces. - Julie
Magee

The Trouble with Timbrell. Former Conservative
cabinet minister and one-time provincial
agriculture minister Dennis Timbrell is in hot
water after being fired from his job as president
of the Ontario Hospital Association. Timbrell, who
served as agriculture minister under Bill Davis in
the early 1980s, was forced to resign his position
in September after he received $583,000 for his
part in negotiating the sale of Ontario Blue Cross.
Documents unearthed by the media also show that
Timbrell twice dipped into OHA coffers, authorizing
two separate $40,000 loans to himself.  

Sugar tariffs skyrocket. Earlier this month the
Canadian  International Trade Tribunal slapped a
200-per-cent tariff on imported sugar, much to the
delight of sugar producers. In its ruling, the
trade tribunal  said that while the Canadian sugar
industry had not been damaged by imports, it is
possible that Canadian sugar producers could lose
some of their 87-per-cent market share if the duty
is not imposed. It's the first in a string of
disputes, including protection of the Canadian
dairy and poultry industries, that U.S. and
Canadian trade negotiators are expected to be
embroiled in over the coming year. Last year,
Redpath and B.C. Sugar Refinery, two of Canada's
sugar giants, complained about sugar imports after
the U.S. government reduced the cap on Canadian
sugar entering the U.S. from 35,000 tonnes to 8,000
tonnes. As usual, the U.S. is expected to
retaliate.

Ban under review. European Union leaders are
expected to  meet this month to modify a six-year
ban on the use of growth-promoting hormones in
imported and domestic meats. The ban, passed in
1989 in response to industry and consumer groups,
and before the GATT was signed, is a clear
violation of trade rules, analysts say. World Trade
Organization policy says a country can restrict
imports only when accepted scientific methods prove
that the ban would protect animal, plant or human
health. But a panel of international  scientists,
responsible for reviewing the regulation this
summer, has determined that hormones are safe.
Growth-promoting hormones, including zeranol,
estradiol beta 17, trenbolone, testosterone and
progesterone, are used by farmers in many
meat-producing countries. The ruling allows
meat-exporting counties such as the U.S., Canada,
Australia and New Zealand to challenge the ban.

back

Tens of millions of smoked hog ears are now sold as
doggie treats. Heated to kill any bacteria, the
ears are processed like beef jerky and sold through
pet stores at up to US$1.25 an ear reports, the
Wall Street Journal.
And dogs love 'em: "I've yet to see a dog who
doesn't like pig ears," says a New Jersey pet store
owner.
America's passion for ear started when Miles Handy
brought home some ears from a trip to Germany in
1989. Heide, his beagle, went wild over them and
Handy created Oink-Oink Inc., to bring this
delicacy to the dogs of America. Sales were a mere
US$20,000 in 1992. But then munching on the
more-tender-than-rawhide ears became de rigueur for
well-heeled pooches. This year Oink-Oink figures to
sell US$8 million worth of ears. 
Corporate giants like Con-Agra Inc. clearly had
their ears to the ground on this. Con-Agra Pet
Products says sales are up 25 per cent over the
past two years. As a result of the clamour for
ears, the price of raw ears has doubled in the past
year, now fetching a healthy US$1.20 a pound.
With competitors stampeding into the market,
Oink-Oink is diversifying and now offers mint
(freshens doggy breath), vanilla, nacho cheese and
spicy pizza flavoured ears. And they're looking for
more 'golden ears' in other parts, such as, snouts
and skin.
They've also launched a new product, Porky Puffs,
made of unsalted pork-belly skin. Finally, a snack
food designed for man and his best friend to share.

Dale Bauman, considered the grandfather of BST
research,
had a confession to make at the annual Cornell
nutrition conference in Rochester last month.
"I've been living in fear all these years that
Jeremy Rifkin would find out that I'm
lactose-intolerant," he told a chuckling audience
of mainly manufacturers and animal nutritionists.
He was quick to add that he enjoys dairy products
in spite of his condition.
Jeremy Rifkin is the leader of the Pure Food
Campaign in the U.S., which has been co-ordinating
the campaign against bovine somatotrophin, also
known as Bovine Growth Hormone.
Bauman, chairman of the animal science department
at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, has often
come under personal attack for his role in
developing this drug.
When it comes to defending their actions,
politicians often trot out the old line about
previous government spending habits leaving the
financial cupboard bare.
In the Legislature last month, provincial
Agriculture Minister Noble Villeneuve defended Tory
spending cuts, charging that the province's
financial woes were, in part, caused by Bob Rae's
New Democrats spending money "like drunken
sailors."
But as Villeneuve found out, New Democratic members
feel the sailing fraternity shouldn't be blamed for
tough economic times.
Former premier Bob Rae asked the minister what he
would say "to a number of people who work very hard
on the Great Lakes of this province and elsewhere
when he refers to the clichˇ about sailors."
Lake Nipigon MPP Gilles Pouliot also came to the
defence of seaworthy Ontarians. "At least sailors
have been known to spend their own money," he told
Villeneuve.

A job in the bureaucracy may lack the security it
once had but at least it's more secure than a job
in politics. 
Take former Ontario agriculture minister Elmer
Buchanan and his former deputy Rita Burak: two very
capable individuals whom former premier Bob Rae has
called "the best team I had in my Cabinet."
But what a difference five months make. In that
cruel blood sport called politics, Buchanan fell
prey to last June's Tory romp. Today, he works for
RC Systems, a Rexdale plastics firm which is trying
to sell the horticulture industry on the idea of
reusable containers.
Mrs. Burak, meanwhile, after the dust had settled,
had quietly settled into a six-figure job as
secretary to Cabinet, the most senior post in the
bureaucracy.
The moral of the story? "Success is fleeting in
this business," said a wistful Rae at an NDP
appreciation night for Buchanan held north of
Peterborough in early November.
"It's the law of averages," mused outgoing Ontario
Federation of Agriculture president Roger George.
"Rita is now the secretary of Cabinet and Elmer is
peddling plastic."

Whether it's the public or private sector, the
pattern during a period of corporate fat trimming
is always the same: let go the distant relatives
first.
The Ontario agriculture ministry is no exception,
and don't expect anything to change in the next
round of cuts expected at the end of the month.
First to go will most likely be agriculture offices
and extension. In the most recent round, including
the closure of the Brighton vet lab, most of the 19
"full-time equivalents" cut were in the field.
Meanwhile, at head office, it's business as usual.
In the 1970s, there were three assistant deputy
ministers of agriculture. Today, there are five.
It's the same government-wide, where paper pushing
is the only growth industry. In two recent issues
of jobmart, the bureaucracy's internal job listing,
there were a total of 31 administrative openings,
and five clerical, compared to 11 professional and
two technical.

back