HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe 27th Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion, 1988-09-07, Page 22PAGE A-22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1988.
Old farming ways make sense to one farmer
Bri - f A
For Tony McQuail and his wife Fran, farmers in West and 1980's. Although he also has a tractor, Tony still likes to
Wawanosh township, real horsepower was a very practical put the horses to work with such tasks as raking hay.
solution to the economic problems of farming in the 1970's
> 7 A,
While thou sands flock to the Thresher
Reunion every year to see old farm
machinery in operation, for a few farmers
like Tony and Fran McQuail of West
Wawanosh township, the same machines
are a practical solution to modern problems.
The McQuails mix new and old technolo
gies on their farm, using a tractor and
combine this year to harvest their grain and
providing electricity from a modern wind
mill, but they also use horses to power some
of the equipment.
The McQuails made the decision to use
horses in 1976 after Fran did a study of the
economics of running a farm with a small
tractor versus horses. Her research showed
that the profits from a horse-powered farm
were as good or better than a tractor-power
ed farm.
There were economic arguments in their
favour. They bought a team of horses for
$1,650 but, unlike a tractor that just
depreciatesevenwhileitis sitting in the
garage, the horses replenish themselves,
providing their own replacements every
year. The McQuails have raised 16 colts
since they first switched to horses meaning
the horses are part of their lifestock
operation helping pump cashflow into the
farm.
The cost of equipment added to the.
attractiveness of their decision. While
second hand equipment for a tractor was
expensive, Tony picked up a binder for one
dollar and a threshing machine for $100. So
instead of watching his grain sprout while he
waited in vain for a custom operator to come
We’re pleased to extend our best wishes
to our many friends in Blyth and area for a
successful 27th Reunion
SEE US FOR YOUR
HOME AND FARM BUILDING PROJECTS
IBoyflold Rood
CLINTON
OPEN: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
f Saturday, 8 a.m. -4pm.
482-3995
X quality products X qualified service X competitive pricing X
to combine his grain, Tony was able to set up
his own threshing operation for about $110
(with the extra money going to repair parts).
The McQuails carried on their own
threshing operation until this summer when
Tony had the combine he had purchased
for $150, repaired and in operation behind
his tractor. Although there are advantages to
the combine (Fran doesn’t enjoy stooking)
there’s a cost such as the quality of the straw
after it has to be raked up from the fields.
Practicality for the McQuails is the
determiningfactor in their way of operation,
not nostalgia. They recently purchased a
new small Ford tractor and Tony’s happy to
use the power take off for powering a bailer
or use the front-end loader to help with the
heavy lifting on the farm. “I’m not a glutton
for punishment,’’ he says. The young couple
did things the hard way when they started
out because they didn’t have the money to go
into farming in a big way.
But that decision, partially forced by
economics, alsotiedin with the couple’s
concerns for the environment. The land had
been cash-cropped for a long time and the
soil was in poor condition. The McQuails felt
the land needed two things, forage crops and
manure tobuild up the soil again. The horses
were the ideal power source for the tarm,
taking their fuel supply from the hay and
pasture on the farm and returning fertilizer
to the.soil.
The move to horses coincided with a
decision to move to organic farming. Looking
at the heavy expense of chemicals for
fertilizer and weed control, the McQuails
decided they had less to lose by not spraying
than they had by spraying. Since 1976 there
has been no weed spray or no chemical
fertilizer used on the farm.
The orchard is a big part of the farm
operation and they continued to spray to
THRESHER'S
SAVINGS
USED DRYERS
MC600 $ 500
Meyers 250 2,500
Harco500 1,000
GT 370 5,500
GT 570 6,995
GT 570 7,995
Morridge350 3,000
HARVESTERS
782 N.I. harvester $6,500
MF 20003 heads 2,000
890w/metal 6,500
Hesston
Gehl 400 with pickup 2,500
TRACTORS
New Marshall & Zetor tractors
priced to be moved.
FARM EQUIPMENT
LIMITED
“Your Short-line Specialist"
Est. 1936
WALTON
887-6365 527-0245
Ask for Neil or Bob or Brian
prevent apple insects and scab fungus
damage but they stopped doing that in 1979.
For the first couple of years the results were
disastrous but they used composted manure
around the trees and brought the earth worm
population back and now the insect damage
is relatively light and the apple scab is less
than might be expected. Considering the
time saved in spraying and the cost of spray
and the danger to himself while spraying,
the return seems good, Tony says. Spoiled
apples can be used in pressing for cider
anyway.
The style of farming seems almost radical
today but it is exactly the same kind of
farming that was practiced at the time much
of the machinery seen at the Thresher
Reunionwasbeingused. Soiland air has
been providing nutrients to crops a lot longer
than chemicalfertilizers, Tony says. And, he
says, animal power is still more important
than machinery power on a world-wide
basis.
What the McQuails are trying to produce,
Tony says, is a solar-drive system: the sun
provides energy to grow the plants, the
plants feed the animals and the manure from
the animals goes back on the soil to nourish
the new growth of plants.
The couple has been active in the
community with Tony being a past- preside nt
of the mainline farm group the Huron County
Federation of Agriculture and receiving the
Federation’s award for contribution to
agriculture. He gets along with more
conventional farmers because he doesn’t try
to preach to them. He feels he has more to
learn from most practicing farmers than they
have to learn from him. He’s not trying to tell
people they have to go back to farming with
horses to obtain a sustainably productive
system, he says, because he feels there are a
lot of ways of getting there. Horses were just
the practical solution to his problems in
1976.
And to a certain extent, even though he
Continued on page 23
TRACTORS
1 - 8045 Zetor, 4 whl. w/cab
$15,000
1 -8061 Zetor2whl.w/cab 7,400
1-2-109 White w/cab 9,500
1-344 Leyland 4,500
1- Ebro460cab.600h.p. 7,000
1 -1805 M.F. w/cab 21,000
FORAGE BOXES
2- Dion boxes 1,500ea.
5-#8 N.I. from1,200up
Several other used forage boxes -
Eastern, Kasten, Rex, Bowman -
some for parts.
We want some good used tractors
and with our good selection of
New Ford tractors arriving week
ly, the deals are great!
WALTON
527-0245 887-6380