The Rural Voice, 1978-07, Page 24Advice on Farming
Agriculture is
complicated
What is agriculture?
Many Canadians are beginning to realize
that agriculture is much more than just
something farmers, ranchers and country
folk do.
Webster's dictionary defines agriculture
as. "the science 'or art of cultivating the
soil, producing crops, and raising livestock
and in varying degrees the prepartion of
these products for man's use and their
disposal (as by marketing)".
A quick glance at this definition shows
that agriculture is a complicated subject.
Moreover, agriculture in Canada touches
the lives of every Canadian.
Food for the country's meals is varied. of
good quality and compared to many other
developed countries is a good buy.
Canadian agriculture produces an
abundance of some foodstuffs which can be
exported and given as food aid. Money
generated by agricultural exports helps
keep the economy moving and creates
other jobs for Canadians.
Agriculture as a part of Canadian life
dates back to Louis Hebert and his start of
farming in 1617 when he cleared land near
Quebec City to grow grain.
In 1976 there were 300,118 farms listed
in the farm census. And 474,000 people or
five per cent of the national labour force
were employed directly in agriculture. If
the related food processing. beverage and
leather industries are added then the total
number employed equals 721,000 or 7.9
per cent of the labour force.
Even though the number of farmers has
been decreasing over the past two decades
their productivity has increased five fold.
Before the Second World War one farmer
produced enough food to feed himself, and
11 other people, yet by 1977 the farmer
produced enough to feed himself and 52
others.
Canadian farms occupied 165,976,000
aces of land in 1976 of which about 41 per
cent was planted in crops and the balance
used for pasture or other uses. The
livestock population totalled 21 million
cattle, hogs and sheep. And at last count
there were more than 105 million poultry.
That's the agricultural picture 'down on
the farm'. But these facts and figures do'
not include the wholesale or retail food
trade nor other related agribusinesses such
as farm machinery. farm financing or seed
and feed firms.
Farm cash revcipts for 1Q77 totalled 510
PC. 24 THE RURAL VOICE/JULY 1978.
billion while farm operators' total net
income was slightly more than $4 billion.
Agricultural exports equalled $4.4
billion --about 10 per cent of Canada's
export trade.
Grains and grain products made up 62
per cent of agricultural exports over the
first half of the 1970's. Most of these grains
came from the Prairies. Overall agricul-
tural exports accounted for about 10 per
cent of Canadian export.
At the federal government level,
Agriculture Canada reflects the complex-
ities of this import Canadian basic
industry. The department administers 38
acts of parliament and literally looks after
everything from soup to nuts.
What is agriculture?
Agriculture is first and foremost food.
but it is also part of the Candian heritage
and an important part of the Canadian
economy and lifestyle.
Future looks brighter
for older hens
Older hens have a future that is sunny
side up in the egg market. Research.
funded by the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food and Agriculture
Canada. shows hens older than one and a
half years might be profitable for some
poultry farmers --but payments would have
to be based on yolk content.
Professor G. W. Friars. Department of
Animal and Poultry Science. Ontario
Agricultural College (OAC). University of
Guelph. says the proportion of yolk in an
egg increases with the age of the bird. This
favourable characteristic partially offsets
the fact that compared to younger hens.
older hends produce fewer eggs and
thinner egg shells.
"When egg size increases as the bird
gets older, 60 to 70 percent of that increase
is in the yolk. In contrast, when egg size
has been increased throrroh breeding of
stock, only 5 to 10 per cent of the total
increase is in the yolk," says Professor
Friars.
Because older hens produce more yolk,
researchers wanted the hens to lav eggs for
longer periods. To obtain improvement in
shell quality, the older birds were forced to
molt at 41 weeks. This was achieved by
restricting feed, water and Tight for a
limited time.
In the OAC study, the hens stopped
laying in two or three weeks, but by eight
weeks high levels of production were
433=11E)
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