HomeMy WebLinkAboutSaluting Huron County's Agricultural Industry, 1987-03-25, Page 22PAGE A22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1987.
Better records keep the banker happier
Through Grassroots he can get
across to 40,000 pages of informa
tion, alotofitupdatedonadaily
basis. Information from the Toron
to Stock Exchange, the New York
Stock Exchange, the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange and the
Chicago Board of Trade are
available with the tapping of a few
keys.
More and more avenues of this
kind are opening up for computer
operators. Until now Grassroots
has been one of the only communi-
cations-oriented programs for
farmers but recently the huge
agricultural multinational CIL an
nounced the Agventure Network
which will give farmers access to
mainframe programs through
their on-farm personal computers.
Sales of the new service are
expected to begin this spring.
Programs available will include
commodity reports and production
oriented programs some of which
will take the form of the new
generation of “expert” programs.
For instance a soybean selector
asks farmers for the weeds they
need to control then it asks for the
preferred application time and soil
type. If the farmer doesn’t supply
the soil type the computer will
inform him the information is
important and if he wonders why,
the computer will supply a page-
long explanation of the link
between herbicides and soil type.
Randy Ross the computer spe
cialist at Ridgetown Agricultural
college, thinks that, depending on
the price, CIL should find a ready
market for the new service.
Such new services will eventu
ally let computer users tap into
libraries and other large sources of
information.
All this isn’t cheap, Mr. Walker
s-ays, but it can save time and
travel. Getting the information of
the oats he needed, for instance
could have taken several phone
calls meaning time and money.
Continued on page A23
Doug Walker says getting to know how to use his computer has been frustrating but he thinks
that it has helped him do a better job of marketing in the last year. Be prepared not to get the
most out of your computer in the first year, he says.
Continued from page A21
before he got his computer. Now he
has a program for the computer
which lets him provide the same
information in a computer print
out. It is a lot easier to do “what
if?” experiments with the compu
ter he says, changing the price of a
product and seeing instantly how
that will alter scenarios without a
lot of laborious adding and subtrac
ting.
The reports Mr. Walker is able to
turn out on his computer help
keep his banker happier. His
accountant likes the program so
well he intends to buy one for his
own office. As an added financial
benefit, Mr. Walker thinks his
accounting bill will be reduced
because of time savings for his
accountant.
The real future for computers,
however, is in communications, he
feels. He has a modem on his
computer that allows him to use his
telephone to tap into programs like
“Grassroots” based in Winnipeg.
That came in handy a few days ago
when he needed some Elgin oats
for a seed mixture he was making
up. He tapped into the Grassroots
system, called the list of members
of the Canadian Seed Growers
Association, called up those grow
ers of oats, then those of Elgin oats
and picked out the three closest
growers, printed out the informa
tion and then called to see if the
growers had seed for sale.
Rathwei
METAbGRAFT LTD
New almanac
now available
to farmers
z
A new publication is now on the
market which will be of interest to
those involved in Ontario’s pri
mary industries, as well as provid
ing both recreational reading and a
handy reference to the general
public.
Unlike most almanacs of its kind
widely sold in English Canada, this
is not a Canadian edition of an
American almanac, but an autheti-
cally Canadian publication which is
unique in many ways.
The 1987 Farmers’, Trappers’
and Prospectors’ Almanac provid
es an overview of 1986 price trends
for major primary commodity
groups, with an outlook for 1987.
Statistical tables set the back
ground for a concise discussion of
the major factors at work in
creating thisyear’sand next year’s
economic climate in several re
source sectors.
For readers who are primarily
looking for a pleasant leisure
reading experience, the almanac
also focuses on Canada’s native
heritage, with several articles
aimed at familiarizing the public
with the Indian peoples of Canada
and interesting aspects of Indian
lore.
Those wishing to obtain sample
copies of th is 1987 almanac may
write to the publisher, Wayne
Mogensen, Global Mercury Publi
cations, 1172 Rose Marie Avenue,
Sudbury, Ontario, P3A 4E2.
Individual copies are $4 each.
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