Behind the Lines - March 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
It's been more than a decade since the Aylmer Meats crisis shook the province's small abattoirs from top to bottom and a plethora of new rules resulted in the closing of 100 plants that had served livestock producers across the province. Farmers in many parts are still feeling the effects of that exodus. Their frustration is compounded by the increasing demand for locally produced meat that isn't associated with many "food miles."
Field editor Mary Baxter looked across the province to see how producers are working to resolve the situation, including travelling to Manitoulin Island and Rainy River. The question of matching abattoir capacity to local production and willingness to take part in the project can be difficult to resolve. Some of it has to do with answering that old question of "which comes first – the chicken or the egg?" Baxter's conclusion: there's more to building a successful community abattoir than building infrastructure. Her story on "community-driven solutions" begins on page 10.
January's Crop Scene Investigation feature (number 49) was a particularly hard one for readers to solve, but several of you persisted and we are happy to announce that we have a winner. To learn who won and why, see page 30. We did have a large number of responses to our February CSI. The answer to what caused Roman's soybeans to struggle can be found on the same page.
The subject of this issue's Up Close feature is Ben Loewith, one of the partners in Summitholm Farms at Lynden. CanWest DHI, the dairy recording corporation, recently awarded Summitholm one of the top three scores in Ontario in six management areas. Loewith's description of his return to the family operation makes intriguing reading. Look for that on page 37.
Summitholm, along with other farms, is always looking at new technologies to make life and management easier. Many of those technologies are Internet-based, but may not be available to a lot of farms because they are in so-called "remote locations." In our April cover story, we will be looking at plans to expand the Internet capacity in the province to reach even low-population-density areas, where many farms can be found. As well, we will be expanding on some of the new technologies.
The Nebraska Test Reports aren't perfect, but as Power at Work columnist Ralph Winfield notes, they are an invaluable decision-making tool for anyone who wants to compare tractor performance. For a fascinating perspective on the history and current use of the program, see page 41. BF
ROBERT IRWIN & DON STONEMAN