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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1986-04-16, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CTTIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 1986. Consulting grows as farmers try to maximize profits fe4K ii/','//yi/e,�n,%/e,044i • • Tom Perry has turned his idea for a crop consulting company into a company showing explosive growth as farmers, looking for ways to increase efficiency, turns to his soil testing and the information stored on the Auburn company's computers to try to give them a profit edge. Crop consultant services are to crop production what accountants are to financial records says Tom Perry, owner of Soilab the Auburn crop consulting business that has experienced explosive growth since he started it three years ago. Up until five years ago, crop consulting services were almost unheard of in Ontario, although there was a U.S. based firm operating in the southern part of the county. The services were much more popular south of the border where estimates are that in the last 10 years 85 to 90 per cent of cropland is under consultation. The objective of the new firm that was in the back of hismind for several years was to offer the farmer a range of services, many of which, while they might be able to carry out themselves, many farm- ers just didn't have the time. Soil testing, for instance, was available through the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food but many farmers weren't using it and others weren't taking the right sampling of their fields making the reports of the soil tests less useful than they could be. Many errors in analysis can be because of poor sampling of the field, he says. When fieldmen from a consult- ing firm like Soilab go out to a farmer's field they have a system of taking soil samples that gives them a professional basis, Mr. Perry says. When the samples come back to the company's lab there's another benefit for the farmer -customer. Soil samples sent away for analysis can take up to five or six weeks to be returned, he says. Tests taken by the Soilab technicians on a Friday will be analysed and the printed analysis is to the farmer by the next Friday. But soil sampling and testing is only the first step of the services a crop consulting firm offers. Based on the soil tests and the cropping history of the field, the firm prepares recommendations for the farmers. Recommendations aren't standard, Mr. Peel says. A fertili- zer company or chemical company may provide recommendations but they are in the business of selling fertilizer and chemicals and the farmer may wonder about whose interests are served. "Our only motive is to help the farmer make management decisions," he says. The objective of the company is to get the best possible return for the farmer off each acre of land, he says and that may not always mean getting the largest possible yield. The best move for the farmer instead maybe in keeping his input costs down. Computers provide much of the secret of the company's ability to give farmers advice on how to get the most off their land. Soilab has collected 150,000 acres worth of data over the last three years, he says and by the end of this year it will be over 200,000 acres on record. The more years and the more acres are kept track of in the computer, the better recommend- ations can be given to the farmer. "It's been time consuming and expensive to gather but now it 's very valuable," he says. One of the benefits of the huge amount ofland history stored in the company's computer is that the recommendations they make are localized to our own part of the province, not more generalized as OMAF recommendations would be. In addition the farmer can compare year-to-year records of the tests on his own land and see the health of his soil. In addition the company has stored information of the cropping records of varieties and hybrids and using the information they're able to recommend the choice of seed as well as the planting population and seeding rates. They are also able to recommend what crop rotation or reduced tillage will do for the crops. For instance, the computer statistics show that farmers can get a four to five bushel yield advantage in the second year by double -cropping soybeans but the opposite is true for corn where the first year corn is planted on land will have a nine -bushel advantage over any other subsequent year corn is planted in succession. The low prices for farm commod- ities have caused more and more farmers to turn to consulting firms such as Soilab. Tom Perry started his firm three seasons ago with 30 or 40 customers, with 14,000 acres under management. Today there are 230 customers and more than 50,000 acres so far this season under management. The familiar blue trucks of the company's fieldmen range over 35 different townships as far south as Oxford county but 80 per cent of their business is in Huron county and southern Bruce. Generally, a farmer hiring the company's services will start in the fall, although new customers are still joining up this spring. When- ever the program starts it will begin with a systematic soil sampling of the field followed by a Continued on page 17 YOUR HEADQUARTERS FOR: Pesticides' spraying equipment, Aerial and ground application SPRAYER PARTS For Hypro, Spraying Systems, Hardi Vicon and George White. • GSW and Pacer transfer pumps • Hand-held and knapsack sprayers • P.V.C., E.V.A. and rubber hose for sprayers and pumps "Wholesale and Retail" MILTON J. DIETZ Limited R.R. 4 Seaforth 519-527-0608 PRO FARM PAC "The Ultimate in Farm Insurance'. 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