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The Rural Voice, 1982-02, Page 8Top Quality Bred Gilts Large selection of York/Landrace bred gilts with accurate breeding dates. All gilts guaranteed bred and reasonably priced. Closed herd with mother herd being R.O.P. tested. Herd has a reputation for sound legs and excellent mother ability. Open gilts ready to service also available. All gilts vaccinated. New Addition Gilts bred to Purebred and R.O.P. approved boars designed to be herd improvers for the commerical producer, now available. References and herd health information available on request. Lawrence Vanden Heuvel R.R. #2, Goderich, Ont. 519-524-4350 fa* RALHEN HAMPSHIRES Registered R.O.P. breeding stock RALPH HENDERSON R.R. 1, Atwood, Ont. (519) 356-2656 PG. 6 THE RURAL VOICE/FEBRUARY 1982 they don't like the pool." And he, at least understands their thinking. "The young farmer with high interest rates cannot afford it. He can't afford to be waiting for his money. It (the payment system) hurts the farmer who is jumping in and out (of whites). But for the guy in them all the time the money comes in regularly. It's just getting through that first year." But Allan says the board is much more than a marketing agent. The OBPMB, he says, has an administrative budget of almost a quarter of a million dollars, which works out to about eighty dollars per grower. A full one-third of that money or $80,000, is earmarked for research, where there is a lot of emphasis on lessening the effects of root rot. "There's never a word spoken against our spending money on research," says Allan, "The growers figure they're getting good value for their money." He also points to the higher yields on this side of Lake Huron, and he says the Americans, who have no board, are following the Canadian lead and are now skimming off some money for research. Here in Canada, and in the U.S. for that matter, there is little consumption of either white or kidney beans. But it is interesting to note that while the call for whites is declining, for kidneys it is increasing slightly. "I think that's because of the popularity of restaurants and salad bars, and their bean salads," says Bob Forest. "I can't see it any place else; people aren't buying them off the store shelves and baking them at home. They're eating out and they're eating in these restaurants, and salad bars have become quite popular in the last few years." still, there is no sizeable market for kidney beans, on this continent or elsewhere. "The increase in acreage that we experienced last year was, for the most part, based on hopes for markets in Central America," says Forest, "but those markets are very volatile. With kidney beans it's going to be very difficult for anybody who is in the business right now to know from one year to the next where those beans are going to go. They are going to have to put more effort into marketing those things than they will white beans, especially as the acreage grows. And the dealers are going to have a market lined up before they let contracts." Forest says he is "cautiously" excited about the potential for growing kidney beans in this part of the world. "I think there is no doubt that we could grow them and do a good job of growing them, and get good yields of good quality beans. I have no concern about tnat but my concern is the stability of the markets. I wouldn't want to encourage a whole lot of people to start growing coloured beans simply because, yes, we can grow them. They have to be able to sell them at a profit for it to be worthwhile. I think there is a definite market there for maybe forty thousand to fifty thousand acres (in Ontario) at the present time. I wouldn't want to see a great deal of expansion beyond that because 1 don't know where the beans would end up. It's not something for the faint of heart; it's not something for the rank amateur. But if a guy is sharp and is a good manager, he could do all right." Ray Brown did all right last year and he's hoping to do even better this year. But he knows it won't be without some chemical stunting because of the drought conditions. And it also fell victim to the BOB FOREST Mexican bean beetle and potato leafhop- per. Splitting, too, can be a problem, but it can be controlled, he says, by adjustments to the combine. Brown claims he's an experimenter but not a risk -taker, and he's always trying to stay a step ahead of anything that will cut into his yields. But, he says, it all comes down to harvesting. "You've either got to have your own equipment or have it lined up and ready to go. There's a critical time to take them off, and you try to count on five or six good days in October." And one last piece of Brown advice: "You can't put cleans on wet land, for any reason. People try to do it, but it just doesn't work." Because kidney bean production is (cont. on pg. 19)