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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-03-12, Page 7_____ THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1986. PAGE 7. Timeliness in planting essentia! to profit Timeliness is the ability to complete a field operation at the optimum time so that yield is not reduced, says Brian Hall, Farm Management Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture in Clinton. “Forexample, ifthe crop used in our area is corn, the ideal plant/harvest combination is thought to be planting between May 3 -16 and harvesting between October 11 - 31 for the best yields. However, many farmers just don’t have the necessary equipment to plant and harvest all their corn crop in these two time periods. Thus yields are reduced or sacrificed and there becomes a cost associated with this inability to complete field operations in a reasonably short period of time.” In a recent workshop held, some farmers suggested that corn plant­ ed between May 17-23 would only yield 90 per cent of that planted in May 3 - 16. This means if in our optimum plant/harvest combina- Riddell gives aid to set up market information service A provincial grant of up to $500,000 will help the beef indus­ try move into the computer age and provide up-to-date market infor­ mation, Agriculture and Food Minister Jack Riddell announced Feb. 19. The grant will allow the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association to esta­ blish a computerized information gathering service which will pro­ vide accurate, comprehensive and timely market information, Riddell said. ‘‘Producers need to have the most up-to-date information on prices to assist them in making key business decisions,” Riddell said. “This service will help producers to be better informed about market conditions and prices.” A computer network will be established to link OCA head­ quarters in Toronto with livestock community sales barns and com­ mission firms at the Ontario Stockyards. Ethel man was former Grey reeve CLIFFORD ROSS DUNBAR Clifford Ross Dunbar passed away peacefully at his residence in Ethel on March 6,1986. He was 89 years of age. Mr. Dunbar was the son of the late David W. Dunbar and Sarah V. Ames. In April 1916 he enlisted in the 161st Battalion at Brussels and went overseas in late October of that year to England where he transferred to the Machine Gun Unit of the 4th Canadian Brigade. He fought at Vimy Ridge in April 1917 and on several of the fronts on the Somme. He advanced to the rank of sargeant in 1917 in France. He was also active in his home community, serving as reeve of Grey township from 1960 to 1969. Heissurvivedbyhiswife, the former Margaret Philp and by one sister, Mrs. Elsie Cunningham of Ethel. He was predeceased by one sister, Stella, Mrs. William Brown, and five brothers, Garfield, Stan­ ley, George, Roy and Lloyd. The funeral service was held from the Brussels Chapel of the M. L. Watts Funeral Homes on Saturday, March 8 with Rev. Byron Nevin officiating. Burial was in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel. tion of dates we are able to get an average yield of 120 bushels, that planting in the new time frame we lose approximately 12 bushels of corn and if corn is worth $3.00/ bushel, this would translate into a loss of $36.00/acre. So the question arises, “How- can I increase my timeliness of operationssothatyieldsare not sacrificed?’’ Probably the first answer that springs to mind is to hope for no rain! But this is not very realistic since we do not control the weather. However, there are ways to improve timeliness which we can manipulate. MACHINERY SIZE ‘‘I think all of us have had firm economic slaps that remind us we cannot afford to be ‘over tooled” ’, Mr. Hall says. A prime example of this is a farmer who participated in the Enterprise Analysis project this past year. His machinery invest­ ment per acre was well over $ 1,000 when other participants were $300 or less. This fellow was paying The OCA will make the up-to- date market information available to producers, radio stations and Agriculture Canada. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food will also receive this current information and disseminate it through OMAF’s market information ser­ vice. The new service was recom­ mended by the joint OCA/OMAF task force established in February, 1985. The cattlemen’s association has agreed to cover the annual operating cost of the new computer information system, Riddell said. The ministry grant will provide $50,000 to cover the cost of computer hardware and software at OCA headquarters. For partici­ pating livestock markets, the assistance will be 60 per cent of the cost up to a maximum of $30,000. The $500,000 grant for the beef cattle market information service was approved as a component of the ministry’s Red Meat Plan. Riddell said he was pleased with the leadership of the cattle indus­ try in the development of the computerized market information system. SPECIAL THANKS BI y th Snowtravellers and Bly th Lions Club would like to thank anyone who helped in any way with the Poker Rally, February 15. Special thanks goes to the following businesses and individuals who donated prizes: Elliott Insurance, Gore’s, McGavin Farm Equip., Loom’s & Leather, TheSaga, McGee Auto, H & N Dairy, Blyth Festival, Village of Blyth, Webster’s Clothing, Cook’s, Village Restaurant, Merkley Fuels, Radford’s Auto, Boyd Taylor, Govier Apartments, Snell Feeds, Edward Fuels, Marks Garage, Howson & Howson, G. L. Hubbard, Blyth Printing, Belgrave Co-op, Remember When, Bearss Aluminum, Lynn Hoy, Blyth Lions, Arlene Caldwell, Kates Kitchen, Merkley Fuels, Dickson’s Auto, Blyth Inn, Wilson’s Health & Gift, Blyth Bulk Foods, Campbell Transport, Blyth Vet Clinic, Foxton Fuels, Bosman Fuels, Manning’s, Brooks Construction, Radford Construction, Hillcrest Restaurant, T. B. Allen, Tom Duizer, Hank’s Small Engines, Howatt Bros., Blyth Variety, Maxine’s Restaurant, Radford’s Garage, King Grain, Bainton Ltd., Lawrie Decorating, Burkholder’s, Bridge Motors, Chatterton’s, Londesboro Seed Plant, Walsh Barber Shop, Triple K, Bank of Commerce, Hamm’s, Humphries, Ed Watson, Wallace Turkey Products, Chauncey’s, Taylors - Belgrave, Sparling’s, Scrimgeour’s, Ross Scott Fuels, Grand View Restaurant, Bowes Electronics, Snell’s Grocery, Ray Hallahan, Bill Hallahan, Pioneer Threshers, Maurice Hallahan, Randy Babcock, Montgomery Upholstery, The Old Mill, Knights of Columbus, Josling Bros., The Citizen. dearly for the privilege to own this extra machinery in terms of annual interest payments. But, there becomes a trade-off when the extra cost of owning larger machinery pays for itself by getting the crops in and harvested on a timely basis. ‘‘I would suggest if you are not getting your corn crop planted and harvested much past May 23 and December 5, then machinery size should be looked at,” said Mr. Hall. “For it is estimated past this you only receive 72 per cent of your optimum yield. If 120bu. corn crop is optimum, then close to 29 bu. of corn/acre is being lost, which would well pay for some larger used equipment.” 2. Work Longer Hours: “This is probably not a very pleasant suggestion to throw out, especially for a government man ’ ’, says Mr. Hall “But I think the important concept here is quality time, not quantity. Make sure that equipment is repaired in the off-season, seed and supplies are laid in and ready to go and that any extra labour to be hired is fully trained so that those good working days are used to their fullest extent. Forexample, hiringthe neighbour boy for $5.00 per hour for three hours per night for a total of 30 or 40 hours would probably be a much better bargain than trading for bigger machinery.” 3. Machinery Maintenance: There is nothing more frustrat­ ing than to take a piece of equipment to the field only to find out it wasn ’t fixed from last spring! The idea here is that repairing and overhauling now in non-peak times, you’ll get to use those first good field work days to their utmost. The more time spent with machinery now, the more hours of uptime you are likely to have with your equipment. Thus, planting and harvesting occurs on a timely basis and yields are not sacrificed. 4. Alter Crop and Varieties and Mix There is a growing concern that many farmers are pushing the varieties of seed corn selected to the outer limits of their heat unit range. This can lead to untimely harvesting. However, the possi­ bility of greater yields sometimes overrides the risk of not getting the crop harvested and some people are willing to take this chance. Certainly one should not be doing this with their total crop acreage, and would likely only use the best tiled pieces for this practice. Another way of improving crop­ ping timeliness is to alter the types of crops grown. By growing more cereals the workload in the fall period is reduced. 5. Work Weekends: This is not to say that most farmers should be working week­ ends, but if you have to work seven days a week at the end of May to plant corn, perhaps it would have been better to have done it early. The idea here is not to promote working on Sunday, but rather, hours worked early and acres planted early replace hours and acres planted at the end of the season when yield penalties are severe. Here the farm group mentioned earlier in the article estimated yield only to be 82 per cent optimum. There is no question that field crop timeliness is very crucial in obtaining top yields. However, there is a double edge sword where the cost of working longer hours, owning larger machinery or alter­ ing crop mix, equals the benefits from performing field operations on a timely basis. Where this occurs depends a lot on the individual farmer. “Ensure you have thought through your crop mix, machinery size, labour requirements and farm size. It could save you money,” Mr. Hall says. Happy 30th SIS Love the family Christian Education is available in your naghbourhood! tFrom Kindergarten through Grade Eight • Committed Christian Teachers • Modem facilities +French taught from Grade 1 to Grade 8 • Ont Ministry of Education approved curriculum. ________________ KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION MARCH 26,1986 11:00A.M. Interested Christian parents call 528-2016 Lucknow & District Christian School U.C.O. is pleased to announce the appointment of Douglas R. Cameron as their new Crop & Field Salesman at Belgrave and Auburn Sales & Service Centres. Doug is a graduate of the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Crop Science. He has a very strong technical background in crop production and brings with him many years of experience in agriculture and agricultural related problems. Doug is looking forward to meeting you and discussing your crop production needs for the spring. He can be contacted through either the Belgrave or Auburn retail outlets. Belgrave & Auburn Co-op ™357-2711 523-4454 526-7262 The Farm Store... aswt no ml'