Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 23, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba 14 Winnipeg free Afifie 21 in farm report Oerry p Prairies can reap rewards from Mega says u of m prof by Larry Kusch Jim Macmillan would like Prairie agriculture to think and invest the University of Manitoba Agri cultural economics professor says theres a need for a Mega project approach to Prairie agricultural particularly in red meat its interesting that investments in Mega projects in the Energy Sec Tor seem to recognized As having a lot of economic spin offs and something that is worthy of Public Macmillan he said billions of private Indus try and taxpayer dollars have been poured into huge Oil and Hydro generating enormous eco nomic activity and creating thou Sands of if we conceived of that order of magnitude or Mega project in Agri cultural then i think we would have equally satisfactory in vestment Macmillan said in a recent but instead of billions of dollars in government has provided billions in subsidies have minimal future growth prospects compared to those other Mega investment real need Macmillan said processors and governments must act in concert if they Are to be successful in developing Large agricultural processing enterprises that will create jobs and provide additional markets for i think there is a real need for producers and processors to get to Gether in a consortium context to Start looking at the returns to in for the pork producers should get together with the pork processors and Start searching for markets and looking at the feasibility of Meg project investment in if they dont do nothing is going to there is a real need for group but currently there is conflict be tween producers and he each one is thinking the other is about to get them instead of dealing with the problem of How were going to get into this Market so that we both last provincial agriculture minister Glen Findlay established the Manitoba red meat forum consisting of feed government and University officials to draw the Industry together to work on common Market study the which is chaired by cattle producer David has asked the Western eco nomic diversification office for a Grant of to help fund a Market study for processed red meat Jim Macmillan All segments in the Industry should act in concert rather than at who is the forums re search said the study would examine the Market Poten tial of meat exports to the Eastern Canada and the Pacific Northwest Region of the United he said the diversification office has indicated that it May be willing to provide the funding if Manitoba can get the support of the Saskatchewan and Alberta governments and those provinces livestock Assoc a a spokesman for Findlay said hog and sheep producer organizations in All three Prairie provinces appear to favor the the minister also wrote his counterparts in Alberta and Saskatchewan asking for moral and financial help for the were not saying the study is just for said find lays special Jason it will have impacts for the entire red meat he said the government Hopes for a Quick response from the other two provinces so that research can proceed Macmillan said it would be premature to discuss what form a meat processing Mega project might it could be one huge Plant or several plants Contri buting to a common the he is that All Seg ments in the Industry act in concert rather than at if it were one he one would the provinces would agree As to what is the most efficient financing for a huge meat processing project would Nave to come from govern ment and possibly the investment Macmillan considerable investment Farmers could invest through some form of checkoff on livestock in my own if it was sold properly and there was the proper investment documentation and pro i see any reason Why the cattle producers checkoff for be a mechanism for the cattle producers to invest in this kind of for every animal Manitoba cattle producers spend 50 cents on beef promotion and 50 cents towards the operation of the Manitoba cattle producers Asso the Money is deducted from producers cheques at time of Mega projects Macmillan said agriculture needs considerable investment to help Farmers lower their costs and protect the Environ some of the Money now devoted to subsidies could be used to help producers modernize livestock of convert to minimum till age farming and improve product Ion and marketing he minimum or Zero till which substantially reduces the likelihood of soil is profit Able in the but producers need help to invest in the necessary equipment and become acquainted with different farming he governments could help Farmers invest by offering subsidized inter est rates under the Manitoba Agri cultural credit corporation or the Federal farm credit Macmillan investment also needs to be made in farm he Given their economic some Farmers Are applying too much fertilizer on their and government and Industry officials should make an Effort towards improving Farmers investment in he Macmillan said that in the United for some fertilizer dealers Are working to help farm ers with so called Low input farm marketing is another area where costs can be reduced and returns increased through invest ment in farm he reduce Price risks Farmers could reduce Price risks by taking advantage of commodity option such As those offered for canola by Manitoba he Grain companies currently have somewhere in the order of 10 to 15 ways a Farmer can Market his Mcmillan and Industry and the University should provide pro Grams so that producers under stand these he that i think should As an have substantial pay offs to Winnipeg Plant goes we ticket Winnipeg manufacturer farm King will assemble John Deere new Pul Type Combine Model by Bill Redekop anew Pul Type Combine will begin rolling off Assembly lines of farm King Allied by company president John Buhler has farm King has agreed to Assem ble John Deere new Combine Model the first move by the Manitoba manufacturer into big ticket farm the Pul Type will have the capabilities of John Deeres 9000 series Maximizer self propelled com As farm Kings expansion could some Day create from 40 to 100 new jobs with the but for the new business will simply Stop the Buhler the farm equipment Industry is in a fairly Tough position right now and weve had Lay off some this will save he he said the new business could one Day generate from million to million in if farm machinery buying returns to Levels of the the Combine bodies will be shipped from John Deeres factory in East to farm Kings Winnipeg where As Sembly of Complete machines will take some components May be manufactured at the company Morden farm King now produces a wide variety of Shoreline farm machinery including Grain Grain clean ers and Grain new Pul Type Combine Model a Tore nerf Chient in Hac Aih syrup production oozing Over in Greg John Deere said at a press conference that assembling close to the major pull Type Combine Market Prai Ries will save the company significant freight he also said lower labor costs and the weaker Canadian were factors in deciding to outsource Clark was hopeful farm machinery sales in Western which have been depressed for most of the will begin to recover As they recently have in the United Buhler said farm King has lasted despite less Farmer buying by get Ting a bigger slice of the pie after other manufacturers closed their that How we in the business int booming but it has certainly picked he about on third of farm King sales Are in the inter est rates that Are 5 per cent higher in and Canadas strengthening have meant its sales across the Border Are losing Buhler said the Dollar would have to fall to 80 cents versus the before farm King makes Money again on employment in the goods sector is now Down to 29 per cent it used to be 50 per cent and the rest is the service to that Means 29 per cent Are and the rest Are servicing the 29 per Buhler farm Kings annual sales have been up to to it employs from 200 to 250 no seeding Loans for Farmers considered credit risk by Jim Macdonald Regina up details of Saskatchewan new Spring seeding loan program suggest several thou Sand Farmers with serious debt problems will not qualify for the government subsidized Premier Grant Devine confirmed that Farmers considered a credit risk will not receive the loan taxpayers have to know that were not just giving a gift to people who will not pay it said who is also Saskatchewan agriculture Devine has previously suggested about Farmers will not qualify for the the Premier refused to speculate on How Many loan applications will be turned nip Leader Roy Romanow said As Many As Farmers will not qualify for the Loans under the governments Romanow said it was ironic the Farmers who needed the Loans most would not qualify for the approximately 20 per cent of the Farmers Are not eligible and the question that has to be asked is Are they being written off he Romanow also scoffed at the fee Farmers will be charged for Bank administration there taking an extra Mil lion out of Farmers pockets and giving it to the commercial he its the Farmers who Are not the the Saskatchewan wheat the provinces largest farm offered qualified support for the loan the Loans will be offered through Banks and credit unions beginning april 30 at a rate of per the Money must be repaid by Glen spokesman for the said the Loans should have been for a oneyear period instead of just eight it May impose some additional financial pressures on Farmers this said they May not have the Cash flow to service the debt by Loans not repaid by the deadline will be charged an interest rate on the outstanding balance of prime plus two per Farmers May borrow up to per seeded acre to a maximum of per individual Farmer and for multiple operator the provinces agriculture credit corporation will screen out Farmers considered too great a lending although there is an Appeal Mecha Montreal up the Maple sugaring season in Quebec is virtually Over and the syrup looks except for one thing theres an with million kilograms of syrup left Over from last the crop this Spring is More than prices Are Down in Montreal and Are threatening to drop elsewhere in new England and the Mart a 540millilitre can that sold for last year can be had for about Gilles who Sells the stuff at the outdoor Atwater Market in at those were still making just not As because of the a marketing Board was set up last Winter to find ways of Selling it new markets needed Jacques Secretary of the we have to find More markets for this producers in Quebec agree on the need for new markets but disagree on what else to some want the Board to consider production quotas to bring Supply into line with de others say Maple syrup is the last bastion of free Enterprise and quotas would be Claude marketing director for the Quebec Maple syrup pro favors the present glut began after a shortage in he when bad weather Hurt the sap what Little syrup was produced looked like Blackstrap it didst taste Good and didst sell demand for Good stuff was Strong and prices went Farmers Tardif by tapping thousands More Trees for the 1988 that run was High Quality stuff and prices Rose fur More than quotas Are needed to Clear the he there must also be Quality controls to Stop the Sale of poorly packaged and badly graded How can i expand the Market for Maple syrup when my product is getting Hurt by unfair practices he pointing a Finger at a few Rotten apples who Are trying to make a Quick producers Are among the first to express concern about the practices Tardif Speaks As Are agriculture one Hemmingford pro Ducer says she recently saw a bottle in a grocery store with a Label that read pure Maple syrup in Bruce Martell of the Vermont agriculture department says he found misclassified Quebec Maple syrup in a California store in Jeanclaude a producer in the Sherbrooke says he was disturbed to find bottles on store shelves in West Germany and Bel Gium marked pure Maple with a lot of Brown sugar i can taste Beaudry and they Call it but How can i fight it Shady practices have been going on for years sometimes at Remote distances from Quebec where people May not know what Maple syrup there Are also certain romantic notions about the making of Maple syrup that seem at variance with the hard nosed economics and Hustle in Selling grades misleading As for Selling the shuffle from weight to volume and the use of unfamiliar numbers shout even grades deter mined by agriculture can be Michel an agriculture Canada acknowledges that something has been going wrong with shipments of Maple syrup to other wheat Board sets quotas the Canadian wheat Board has announced opening quotas for non Board including flax canola and effective delivery of these grains for processing will be exempt from this includes delivery to offsite collection facilities designated by opening quotas for All other non Board grains will be one tonne per this includes grains purchased by processors which Are not ;