Right to farm legislation? When the provincial
Conservatives announced plans to revisit the Planning
Act, farm leaders saw a perfect opportunity to have the
rights of farmers entrenched. But Bill 20, the
government's amendment to NDP legislation, and its
accompanying policy statement, fall far short of what
farmers were hoping for. The policy says prime farmland
will be protected and "normal farm practices will be
promoted and protected," but there are few specifics.
Provincial Agriculture Minister Noble Villeneuve says the
government is still committed to right to farm
legislation, but "you won't see it in the Planning
Act....We hope to have something in place where farmers
will definitely be protected if they are doing what is a
normally accepted farm practice." Currently, farmers'
only protection comes from the Farm Practices Protection
Board, but the FPPB rules only on complaints dealing with
noise, dust and odour, and has proved ineffective in
protecting farmers from nuisance complaints from
neighbours. 

Beef scare. Record numbers of British consumers are
steering clear of beef these days as fear of Mad Cow
Disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy has gripped
the nation. The latest scare comes after scientists
reported new evidence linking mad cow disease and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare brain disease fatal to
humans. Since the scare erupted in November, government
scientists have been unable to cool speculation on the
link, despite reassurances that there is no risk to beef
eaters. But other scientists, including University of
Leeds microbiology professor Robert Lacey, continue to
sound alarm bells. As a result, beef is being left on the
shelves in most supermarkets. A recent survey showed that
1.4 million households have stopped eating beef. Between
November and mid-December, sales were down 25 per cent,
The New York Times reports. Hamburger sales were off 40
per cent as of Dec. 31. 

Stable funding in B.C. There's a renewed push for stable
funding for farm organizations in British Columbia. At
its annual meeting in December, the province's general
farm organization voted to investigate collecting a small
levy from all B.C. farmers, the Western Producer reports.
After the success of stable funding in Ontario, which has
re-energized both the Ontario Federation of Agriculture
and the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, the B.C.
federation of agriculture is pleading with farmers to
support the plan. Without stable funding B.C. farm
leaders fear the federation could disintegrate as have
farm organizations in Saskatchewan and Prince Edward
Island. But some of the same problems that fueled the
Ontario debate are also causing brush fires in B.C. Farm
leaders say a system won't work unless fees are
refundable. Commodity groups, which already have trouble
collecting fees, might also want a share of the pie,
creating a bewildering number of choices for farmers who
would likely decide what group to send their support
cheques to.

Record imports. The final tally isn't in, but it appears
Canada will set a record for agricultural exports in
1995. The government projects that the final export
figure will hit $16.5 billion, thanks to high trade
volume and price. That's good news for federal
Agriculture Minister Ralph Goodale and his provincial
counterparts, who in 1994 set a goal of $20 million in
exports by the turn of the century. Rising exports also
take some heat off the federal government which has cut
subsidies to dairy producers and Western grain farmers.
The government has been promoting higher exports as a way
to combat declining subsidies, but analysts say
government policy has little to do with export growth,
preferring to point to shortages in world grain markets.
Agrifood exports  increased by 12.6 per cent in the first
three quarters of 1995 to reach $12.3 billion, up from
$10.9 billion in 1994.

Burn, baby, burn. Farmers who lobbied for incineration as
an alternative to burying garbage on prime farmland had
their wish come true early January. When the province
dismantled the Interim Waste Authority, the agency
responsible for selecting dump sites, it appeared that
incineration or shipping garbage north to an abandoned
mine in Kirkland Lake would be the preferred options. The
province has given its blessing to municipalities to burn
garbage in incinerators, lime kilns and cement plants
because there is "no scientific or technical reason" for
banning it, says provincial Environment Minister Brenda
Elliott. The cost  of shipping garbage to Kirkland Lake,
however, appears to be too expensive, says Agriculture
Minister Noble Villeneuve. It's "very much still an
option. Costs, I believe, now that they've looked at
them, may well be prohibitive." 

Hog woes. Kitchener's Schneider Corporation has pegged
high hog prices for declining 1995 fourth-quarter
profits, which fell to $3.7 million from $6.1 million a
year earlier. For the fiscal year 1995 ending Oct. 28,
profit fell to $7.5 million, down from $8 million.  The
company says rising hog prices, and an inability to pass
on the increase to consumers, squeezed margins in the
fresh pork sector. The company also blames a temporary
excess chicken supply for early losses by its poultry
division, but says the supplies are now more in line with
demand. Net profits for the fourth quarter actually
increased - from $2.6 million to $2.8 million - when the
selloff of  company broiler farms and cheese operations
are included.