HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1991-03-06, Page 3711
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FARM PROGRESS .-!9.1H:T.-7 ---- • .
A. tribute to fa_
• by Lisa Mitchell
t=vi waga 8'3 w,
bustle about gathering iras
information for the Fanner's
Edition, I've been in • the
background surveying the panic.
I've learned a bit about wool,
copied down some great recipes for
aragus,, and even added some
information ori erosion to my
conscious list of trivia.
I have greatrespect for those who
work the land, from sunup to long
past • sundown. My only
recollections of farm life stem from
vacations at my grandfather's farm.
To a small child, his land seemed
to stretch for miles. Much of the
land was workable, much hay and.
some left for the cows to wander
and children to explore:. The
remaining acmge was sweany ca.
bush.
Most of my time was spent
following ally grandfather as he
tended to the cows, took the tractor
out into the fields,- or occasionally
across the, acreage to, the lake.
Dressed in imy overalls i a stray
weed stuck between my teeth, I
thought myself a.) bora landowner.
Work didn't even come into it! I
think the hardest task I ever
participated in, was the picking of
the apples in grandpa's orchard. A
couple of hours of that, and I was
done for! -
Well, soon enough it• was time to,
go home. My wardrobe smelled of
"fresh country air", and the battle
over my possession of the wont_
runners, bearing evidence of "cow
patties", was lost again.
erg
I have many wonderful
agad a wkagra 9f 74,a5wwge.
Uowom I 04 a9zajoiweiiiiQ 4i, 244
time th wOlk involved in the.
running of a farm.
At five a.m. when mostof us are
grumbling at our trusty alma, the
farmer is sluggingback his morning
coffee, and heading ;out to work.
Just across the yard looms the
shadow of the barn. Inside the
livestock shuffle about crying for
their feed, or perhaps just disturbed
by the intrusion. IeST a never-
ending list of chores 40 be done.
Whether it's livestock or crops or
both. The men and women of
today's farms do not have it easy.
Many farms passed down father
to son, have been passed, to
strangers who again have startetthe
cyole. ' FatiiiS are Wing while
many sit and watch. Hi -tech
machinery with high prides along
with lower prices received for
harvested crops, have made times
tough. These people, whose
',Iallusted hands and stoking
.muscles work. to put :the food on
our table, should be appreciated and
congratulatet
As I drive past the frozen fieldi
bearing only last years stubble, I
Wok forward to the rolling hills of
grain set afire by the setting sun,
and lush Oven 4014s of co* -
Clover. When *Orem sits on
your table, and the steak melts
against- ydir,tongue, thank the
farmer. For their hard work, their
pain and even their successes. Hats
off to you!
41
Farmers
maybe
By Debble Stull
Farmers had the chance to check
their lung efficiency at the annual
Grey -Bruce Fanners' Week.
Approximately 80 people were
checked out at an Aerocare Home
Medial Ltd. booth during a two-
day period And were • "basically
quite a healthy bunch!, said Richard
Noon.
About ball a dozen people
showed some sort of problem but
they were already aware that a
problem existed, Noon said.
Noon, a therapist with Aerocare
in Owen Sound, said he was also
surprised that a lot of those checked
weren't smokers.
Noon told farmers about Farmer's
Lung, a severe lung disease which
primarily affects fanners. ,
Not everyone exposed to the
organic dust develops the problem.
but those who are affected with it
know it, he said.
The disease, which people work-
ing with moldy hay can, get from
breathing in millions of tiny mold
spores can turn into a chrtmie dis-
lungs
at risk
ease. The spore irritates the inner
lining of the lung, and like an insect
bite swells up, said Noon.
Symptoms experienced may
include increased coughing, bring-
ing u mucus, fever and sometimes
chills, shortness of breath, discom-
fort in the lungs, and a tightness
and/or pains in the chest. The
symptoms will develop within 48
hours of breathing in the spores and
may lead to a loss of appetite and
eventual loss of weight.
"Exposure over years will find
you always short of breath." -
Helping to avoid exposure to
mold spores includes improving
barn ventilation, using a mask,
using chemicals to delay decay of
hay and job sharing, said Noon.
• A farmer who does not avoid hay
mold, may get sicker and sicker and
may perhaps die front Farmer's
Lung, he said.
Fanners who are concerned about
the: disease should contact their
doctor," A10100,11 there Is no cure,
for Farmer's Lung, it is a controlkible disease.
Farm Pron-raso "iii -Pone 21
atershedastud t st wide range
of conservation farming techniques
Jorg.sado s;Ady is wit wider-
waytwt114,1.--affaptiv.zz=a4,,Or.a.'
i4;44k of ..cogiw.vivatRAI- fariAlla4
techrdques. This projectis known as
the Pitot Deraonstration Watershed
(ppw) Study and its progress is
being monitored' WithintereSt by
scientists and farmers in 'Canada
and abroad.
"The study is significant, for its
size and the number • of'par-
ticiPants," says Agriculture ,apada
scientist Dr, Greg:Wall, Who.heads
up the project. 'It is 'especially
important to Ontario frmAri
-because coservation farming is use of both economic and environ-
ewt:JTigactelnively implemfftteef meftfl-eskanomeS eviaiRs
ianiuutcd ia Ontario."
thFor°culatuhr4C4otifcethane41.Tbnibwvertitiv °orl #-P9Plue;Poirrin- rdy sYubis-parovjellec tra1:1°ifithin7
Guelph, Dr, wan co.ordioatea'. the SWEEP,. Son and Water En
work of momenta' consultants, *4=014 Enhancement Ptmgramc,
remelts, economists and scientific S ..WEEP's goal is to reduce agricul-
research teclinicians. • Lurguasourc, ,es,0L-PllosPhotus runoff
Now in its third season, the PDW the 4.41'w rite basin through
through tho ow growing, season. of the SWEEP newsletter, we take
'Study is, scheduled to Continue emnse"atioil faPuin8P In this issile
Scientists hop to gain a better a closer look at some of the work
understanding of conservation far- 114 116i in Pr°$04is as a 1'04
int" so that producen .can mako of the PDW Study.
a,ro* •. .
, .
Toronto
" •
•
•••
nrie DrnageEasin , 4
From the rotting terraino! the Kettle Creek And Fittuck watersheds) •iO theheini't sob of Esse; the
• 'Pilot DeMonStration•Witieiabed Stud* evaluates Conservation itirming-in a vailety, of conditions.
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