The Rural Voice, 2005-06, Page 39(AL-mAR)
combining different farm enterprises
to reduce dependence on purchased
inputs.
She cites an Iowa pork producer
who, even at the bottom of the pork
cycle, was still making money from
his pastured pork enterprise. He had a
deal with a neighbour who grew cash
crops. The corn would be
underseeded with red clover. When
the corn was harvested, the hog
farmer would take over the land,
installing temporary fences and
turning the pigs out to rotationally
graze the corn stover and red clover.
The pigs would put on inexpensive
gain throughout the non -cropping
month and in spring the fences would
be pulled up and the fields turned
over to the grain farmer again. The
grain farmer gained from the manure
the pigs applied to the fields.
ABritish Columbia egg and
Kerry producer combined the
two in a unique operation.
Recognizing that chickens are "edge"
creatures that like to be on the edge
of underbrush. he decided to pasture
his 9,000 layers among his raspberry
bushes. The chickens eat the weeds at
the base of the raspberry plants,
controlling weeds without need for
herbicides. They in turn fertilize the
raspberries.
Or there are the organic apple
orchard farmers, who Lind synergy in
combining their sheep and orchard
operations. As organic orchard
operators they realized there were
two problems from apple scab and
codling moths. The codling moths
overwinter on fallen leaves of the
apple trees but earth worms will pull
the leaves down into the soil and feed
on them, reducing the population. To
encourage more earth worms the
farmers began spreading composted
manure under the apple trees.
While the worm population
increased, the grass also grew
because of the compost. If you leave
grass too high, you encourage rodent
damage. To deal with the grass. the
farmers strip -graze sheep in the
orchard. The sheep offer the added
benefit of eating the windfall apples
which reduces apple scab.
Clark sees a need to reconsider
and recraft farm enterprises to
minimize risk or to increase
environmental compatibility such as
minimizing nutrient loss. There are
lots of synergies that can be created
between different farm enterprises
but these enterprises must be
strategically selected, she says.
Returning to regional diversity
will have a big impact by keeping
money in the local economy, she
says. She also suspects that it would
improve food safety, though she
knows the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency would disagree.
"There is no greater regulation of
performance than the feedback you
get from your neighbours and
customers," she says. Knowing the
people who eat the food you produce
is probably better than having an
army of food inspectors, Clark feels.
She feels the real danger in the food
industry, the reason for all those
inspectors, comes from large food
processing units where one mistake
can endanger hundreds or thousands
of consumers.
The whole move toward bigness
and consolidation has come up
against some natural and economic
barriers, Clark says.°
TOP DRY
HOW DOES THE
G. S. I. SYSTEM WORK?
1) Grain is loaded into the upper chamber
of the bin, and dried as a batch
2) When the grain is dry, the burner
automatically shuts off
3) The operator lowers the dump chutes
with a winch, and the grain falls to the
lower part of the bin for cooling/storage
4) The dump chutes are cranked closed
and another batch is loading into the
drying chamber
WHY IS A TOP DRY A BETTER INVESTMENT
THAN A STIRRING MACHINE?
1) LOWER OPERATING COSTS
' Uses much less fuel because it recycles cooling air through
the drying zone
' No gear boxes, motors, or bearings inside the bin
• 100% galvanized construction inside and outside
2) FASTER DRYING
' 2 to 3 times faster per horsepower than a stirring machine
because of lower grain depth (30")
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR A FREE ESTIMATE, CALL TODAY
131 Thames Rd. W.
GRAIN SYSTEMS LTD.
(519)235-1919 / Fax: (519) 235-2562
Exeter, Ontario NOM 1 S3 Visit our website: www.almar.on.ca
JUNE 2005 35