By Tom VanDusen - AgriNews Staff Writer

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Relations between the big-dog OFA and the bad-dog Lanark Landowners Association continue to deteriorate with one of Eastern Ontario’s principle farm leaders insisting he doesn’t want anything further to do with bringing the feuding groups together.

"I promise to never raise the name LLA again outside the confines if my home if Randy Hillier will get his people to stop phoning me," said OFA provincial vice-president Geri Kamenz before heading off March 2 to the "One Voice March".

A Spencerville multi-commodity farmer, Kamenz said the intensity of the LLA campaign has him worried about his personal wellbeing and that of his family.

At the LLA-organized Hwy. 401 blockade Feb. 18, Kamenz said the OPP offered him protection if he felt it was needed.

Kamenz said he was targeted by LLA supporters who have been pressing him to continue pushing for reconciliation after he tried to broker an agreement between LLA president Hillier and OFA president Ron Bonnett.

"The phone hasn’t stopped ringing," Kamenz said, indicating the callers were members of the LLA leadership.

"This is not a reflection on county members of the landowners association. They’re my friends and neighbours, people I know and respect."

After publicly revealing his feelings of hostitily against the LLA and its tactics on the floor of the OFA annual meeting late last year, Kamenz - who’s next in line for the federation presidency - decided to bury the hatchet and try to work out a loose partnership with the Lanark rebels.

After several chats and meetings with Hillier and his lieutenants, he acted as intermediary when Bonnett offered Hillier a place of honour on the podium and full participation at the March 2 Queen’s Park rally.

When Hillier requested that the OFA fully support the LLA March 9 demonstration and its policies, Bonnett declined on grounds he didn’t have approval from the membership. At that point, the brief coming-together collapsed, with Hillier saying he remains open to further talks.

During the past several weeks, the take-no-prisoners LLA has successfully blockaded Hwy. 401 on three occasions, shining the spotlight on demands revolving around private property rights.

Increasingly concerned that the LLA is stealing its thunder - and the allegiance of many of its members - the OFA decided to upstage the rival organization’s announced March 9 measure by setting its own event one week earlier.

Hillier insisted that never for a moment did he consider cancelling the March 9 "All for One Rural Revolution" at the Legislature featuring three converging tractor convoys. He predicts a larger crowd for the LLA effort than for the OFA outing, which will include an attempt to introduce the association’s 11-point manifesto in the Legislature.

Meanwhile, many farmers torn between the two rival organizations wish they would consolidate. Not only are resources spread thin, but the split indicates confusion and divisiveness, exactly what politicians like to see in avoiding concrete action, said Rejean Pommainville, a Limoges dairy farmer and long-time Russell County OFA activist.

Many contend the most pressing issue now is record low commodity prices, not property owners’ rights as espoused by the LLA.

In Glengarry County, Wendy Beswick said she may have to get rid of "every animal on the place" by June to keep her farm... which she may still be forced to sell to prevent bankruptcy.

That’s the status of the post mad-cow beef business she operates here with her husband, and that’s why she headed to Queen’s Park to take part in the OFA demonstration. A director with the Glengarry federation, she’s not planning to return to Toronto for the LLA protest.

After optimistically entering the beef industry in 1997, Beswick said her family has now hit rock-bottom in terms of cash flow, to the point no presents were purchased for her two daughters last Christmas.

"If multi-generational farms with low debt are experiencing financial difficulty, you can imagine the added burden for the beginning farmer."

Once she was handling a $10,000 line of credit, a $175,000 mortgage on a 140-acre farm, and had an $80,000 RRSP; now, the RRSP has been cut in half, the line of credit is maxed out at $75,000 and so is the $10,000 credit card.

Both partners are working 60 hours a week on and off the farm in a desperate attempt to make ends meet.

"We have bills that are due and payable now."

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