The Rural Voice, 1979-12, Page 24Agricultural workers
exempted from Bill 70
Ontario's long awaited occupational
safety and health legislation, Bill 70, was
finally proclaimed by the Provincial Legis-
lature on October 1, 1979. The legislation
amalgamates previous construction, in-
dustrial and mining legislation into one
comprehensive Act. Although agricultural
workers and other groups were specifically
exempted, provisions have been made for
the eventual inclusion of such groups. The
Ministry of Labour has promised that the
inclusion of agriculture under Bill 70 will
follow only after consultation with agri-
cultural groups in the Province.
Corn smut not serious -- yet
Corn head smut has become a problem
in the Oxford -Norfolk area, but around
Huron, Perth and Bruce Counties, the
fungus seems to be reasonably contained.
According to the University of Guelph 23
of 85 farms observed between Norwich and
Mt. Elgin showed infestation ranging from
a trace to 35 per cent. This is the first time
the disease has been identified in Canada,
but it is a problem in the inter -mountain
areas of Colorado, Idaho, and in several
other countries of the world and the fungus
was probably brought into Canada
,accidentally on seed.
Most corn hybrids used in Ontario are
reasonably resistant to common smut, but
only certain lines have resistance to head
smut and would be suitable for use in the
infested area.
According to Professor Lloyd Edgington
of the Department of Environmental
Biology, University of Guelph, scientists
are not sure whether the spores can survive
Canadian winters, but if they can, crop
rotation may need to be practiced in the
affected areas.
The fungus affects the plant at the
seedling stage and can be identified by
upright corn tassels that resemble a sooty
bottle brush. According So the mss
release if it is head smut, there will
probably be three or four small ears in
which there is little or no cob development -
only a ball -shaped mass of black telios-
pores interlaced with vascular strands,
enclosed by the husks. Occasionally the
Fungus invades the ears but doesn't reach
the tassel; however if the tassel is diseased
all of the ears will be affected.
Mike Miller, crop specialist with the
Huron County agricultural office said that
nothing had turned up in Huron but that
was not to say that the corn head smut
might not be out there.
He said it doesn't spread by air, it
PO. 22 THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1979
spreads by seed or soil.
It's not going to be serious at this point,
he said, but after next year OMAF will
have a better idea of what varieties of corn
are resistant to it.
"It has a fairly limited spread. This is
the one thing in our favor," he said.
He added that more producers are going
to be looking for the corn head smut next
year and said that he thought most
companies will be doing screening pro-
grams to get a handle on what varieties of
corn are resistant to it.
Although it is suspected that the fungus
came in on seed from the United States,
Mr. Miller also suggested the possibility
that it could have come in on used
machinery or it could have come on soil.
He said that for next year, farmers would
be advised to watch their fields and if the
fungus is showing up on 5 per cent of the
crop, they would be advised to look at an
alternate crop or a resistant variety of corn.
He added that they don't expect a large
yield reduction in corn for next year.
In Bruce County, Colin Reesor, associate
agricultural representative said they had
been looking for the corn head smut but
hadn't found any.
He said that's not to say that there isn't
some there, but he would have expected to
have heard about it and seen it.
"Hopefully over the next year, there'll
be a little more knowledge come to light on
it," he said, adding that right now they're