HomeMy WebLinkAboutSaluting Huron County's Agricultural Industry, 1987-03-25, Page 31THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1987. PAGE A31.
When farmers in trouble everybody suffers
Continued from page A30
badly hurt by thefarm situation it’s
direction can be changed. Neil
McGavin says that sales of larger
farm equipment have dropped off
considerably. Farmerswill buy
tractors in the $10,000 range but
the huge 200 horse power tractors
don't have much demand.
In McGavin’s operation, how
ever, what has been lost in sales
hasbeenpicked up in increased
repairs and sales of parts. Farmers
are trying to keep equipment going
as long as possible.
And sometimes luck can play a
part. Several years ago McGavin’s
ended up with too much money tied
up in equipment on their lot that
wasn't selling. They decided to try
rental of the equipment and with
today’s hard times to fit right into
the needs of many farmers.
Farmers rent equipment that they
may not use too often like large
manure spreaders and this end of
the business has become a high
growth area for McGavins. Neil
McGavin calls it a “stroke of luck ’ ’.
Farm economics affect munici
pal governments too. Nancy
Michie, clerk-treasurer of Morris
township says tax arrears are
considerably higher than they
were five or six years ago, although
they were actually down in 1986
compared to a year earlier.
Municipal governments also
worry about depopulation and the
tearing down of farm homes
because some grants from the
provincial government are based
on the number of households in the
municipality.
Again the overhead of maintain
ing roads, of recreation programs,
of fire departments and many more
municipal facilities, remains the
same whether there are 10 farms
occupied on a concession or one.
The fewer farm families there are,
the heavier the tax burden on those
left.
So the problems of declining
farm population, don’t affect just
the families involved: they have
repercussions for people in the
community who never get closer to
the farm gate than the meat
counter at the supermarket. We
will all pay for the trouble farmers
are in.
New herbicide
attacks velvetleaf
Corn farmers plagued with
velvetleaf or triazine-resistant
weeds now have a new post-emer
gent herbicide option, following
the recent registration of Marks
man.
Marksman is a pre-formulated
mixture of atrazine and Banvel.
The blend is new, although
tank-mixing the two chemicals is
already legal.
Farmers with triazine-resistant
weeds have been relying on Banvel
tokill weeds that are starting to
escape atrazine-alone sprays. Oth
er farmers are using the tank mix to
beef up velvetleaf control, or to kill
broadleaf perennials.
According to Velsicol marketing
manager Gord Gallagher, howev
er, Marksman offers more than
just the convenience of buying both
chemicals in one container.
Marksman uses a different salt
of dicamba, Banvel’s active ingre
dient, slightly modifying weed
control in the process.
Most obvious is faster action,
Gallagher says. Velvetleaf will
show browning within two or three
days of spraying.
Marksman can be sprayed from
spike to the fifth-leaf stage.
Atrazine rates are low enough that
residues won’t hurt rotation crops.
Rates ofthe new Banvel salt, on the
other hand, are high enough to
provide significantly longer resi
dual activity than the four to six
weeks possible with ordinary
Banvel.
Rudy Brown, weed scientist at
Ridgetown agricultural college,
has tested pre-, early-post and
late-post Marksman sprays and
likes the early post application
best.
Marksman was providing virtu
ally season-long control in Brown’s
plots. He notesthe mixture may
also interest farmers bothered by
perennials including Canada this
tle and field bindweed.
Callagher says Velsicol will
recommend that Marksman be
backed up with a split application
of a grass control herbicide. There
aren’t any registered tank mixes
yet, but the company is looking at
possible combinations.
Gallagher also says Velsicol will
concentrate its Marksman sales
effort on southwestern Ontario
where velvetleaf pressures are
highest.
Is the time to
start planning
for your
Spring seeding
requirements
Forages
Soybeans
Seed Corn
Cereals
Fertilizers
Pesticides
Brussels
-6273 Agromart Ltd
Don't
Gamble...
Check
with
McGavins
for all your
spring needs
At McGavin’s we deal with over35 companies who build the world’s top agricultural equipment,
and we’ve been in the farm machinery business in Huron County for 50 years. We are proud to
say that we are dealers for:
Do you want your fields
to yield approximately
two bushels per acre
more than last year?
WE CAN HELP YOU
STARDUST AVIATION
INC.
Aerial application of fertilizers and herbicides
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL:
357-2599
Bob Jamieson-Owner/Operator
Bluevale
New Holland
New Idea
Marshall Tractors
Zetor Tractors
Algoma Tire Ltd.
Bush Hog Implements
Brillion Iron Works
Delaware Pump & Parts
Dion
Eastern Farm Machinery
FarmHand Inc.
Farm King Allied Inc.
Gilmore & Tatge Mfg. Co.
Geo. E. Gilbert Equip. Ltd.
Harco Ag. Equipment
Hardi Inc.
Helm Welding Ltd.
Horst Welding Ltd.
Kewanee Farm Machinery
Kongskilde Limited
M.H. Koenig & Sons Ltd.
Krantz Machine & Welding
Kuhn Farm Machinery
Robert H. Laning & Sons Ltd
Market Farm Equip.
M.K. Martin Enterprises
Milverton Millwrights
Norcan
Overum
Rock-o-Matic
George Smyth Welding
Tye Company
Unverferth Mfg. Co.
Vicon Inc.
Walco Equipment Sales
Wil Rich
Our low
overhead
can save
you money.
We will rent a/zyt/zzng,
post hole digger, scraper
blades, etc.
We sell the best
andean get
the rest.
McGAVIN
Farm Equipment Ltd.
527-0245 WALTON 887-6365