1968

The 1960s were times of change.
The Smith Report on taxation appeared Sept 1^st.
Dairy farmers were forced into building a milkhouse for shipment of bulk milk, or switch to other endeavours. Grain corn was promoted. Machinery dealers were selling corn pickers, picker shellers, planters, plows, shredders, corn driers, grain bins and sprayers. Farm management specialists were putting on annual corn days.
In 1968 farmers were parading their tractors to Ottawa protesting against the price of corn which processors could purchase for less money from the U.S. These imports brought in a new weed; velvetleaf.
The National Grains Council was formed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to solve the economic woes of the grain farmers.
The annual convention of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, under the leadership of Charles Munro of Embro, tried to marshal a single farm organization that included the executives of all marketing boards; the boards of UCO, United Dairy Producers Co-op, and the Ontario government's Farm Income Committee. It would be modelled on the strong farm organization in Quebec; Union Catholique des Cultivateurs, and be administered by Agriculture Minister H.A.(Bud) Olsen.
The Dairy Farmers of Canada set in motion the amalgamation of ROP (Record of Performance) and DHIA (Dairy Herd Improvement Association) at their conference in Ottawa Oct.23rd, 1967). This management program, over the next 50 years, more than doubled what a dairy cow was capable of producing.
Charlie Munro shot down one aspect of the government's royal commission report on taxation of property. Ten acres of woodlot on a 100 acre farm were exempt from taxation if kept in tree cover (Assessment and Trees Act), and up to 20 acres if being reforested under an agreement. Reforestation was not being aided by this tax consideration, according to the report. Munroe stated Ontario would become a dust bowl if this proposal was accepted.
A 3-4 inch downpour of rain can occur during any month, as it did during February earlier this year; tons of soil and nutrients were washed into the rivers, colouring them chocolate brown. As farms and machinery increase in size, and woodlots become smaller, Charlie's prediction is coming to pass.
Recall the words of Edmund Zavitz (1934): Healthy forests control run-off by helping the snow to melt slowly and equalize the flow of creeks and rivers throughout the year by making the low flow stages higher and the high stages lower.
Dr. Edmund Zavitz was inducted into the Norfolk County Hall of Fame April 29, 2018.
(Ont. Farmer, page 27A, March 27, 2018)

The same officers of Oxford Plowmen were installed in 1968 as in 1967 under President Alex Henderson. Two new directors came in, Wray Leach and Lorne Fleming. Weldon Burrill went to the OPA convention. Entry fees for the match, 50 cents each, netted $16. Match was held Oct.2, on the farm of Leslie Pullen & Son. Eight merchants were approached for donations, two weeks prior to the match.
Prize money for the horse shoe pitching was $60, where Spencer German placed eighth. The Tavistock Gazette printed 125 prize lists and posters. Drumbo Tent & Awning supplied a tent for the Huntingford Ladies, who served 38 hot meals. Oxford county council contributed $650 to finance the event.
The treasury began the year with $357.93 and ended with $420.72.
The IPM was held near Guelph.
Alex Henderson, whose farm is now owned by Laurence and Mary Mackay, completed his second year as president in 1968. He contracted mumps the previous year. His son Hugh, who was attending the University of Guelph at the time, took over the farm chores. He got up at 3 a.m. each morning and milked 25 cows, before driving 50 miles to the university. He returned to milk the cows in the evening. He did this for three weeks. He also plowed for the first time during the fall that year. His dad instructed him not to plow crooked as the neighbours would be watching. That was Hugh's first lesson in plowing. Alex, who sold the farm to the Alblas family in Sept. 1968, moved to Guelph. For the last 50 years Hugh Henderson, well known within the plowing circuit as a big man with big paws and a big heart, has taken part in many county plowing matches and IPM's. He serves as treasurer of OATPA (Ontario Antique Tractor Plowmen's Association) and on the rules and regulations committee of the Ontario Plowmen's Association. He and his wife Linda live in Hagersville.