The Rural Voice, 1991-05, Page 39AEI
ADVICE
SOIL TESTING PAYS
If you haven't thought about which
fields need to be soil tested this year it is
definitely worth your while to take a few
minutes to do so. Recently, I was teach-
ing a course on fertilizer to some farmers
in Lambton County. I think many of
them were pleasantly surprised at the
ways they can cut dollars from their
input costs. It all begins with your soil
test. Without one you have no starting
point.
The soil test tells you the level of
available nutrients in the top six inches
of your fields. It is recommended you
take one soil test for every 20 acre parcel
of land. If your fields are very uniform
this could be increased; however, it
should be no larger than 50 acres.
You need to sample fields you treat
differently, separate from each other.
Different rotations, manure applica-
tions, and drainage will result in differ-
ent available nutrients. Make sure to test
the good areas as well as the poor areas,
which allows you to make comparisons
later on.
A rule of thumb is to soil test your
fields every three years, so pick one
third of your acreage and rotate the
fields you sample over three years.
Most of the people attending the
fertilizer course found they were spend-
ing too many dollars on fertilizer they
did not need, while others spent the
dollars on the wrong nutrients. This
meant yields were stagnant and profits
kept decreasing. Some also had manure
which they previously were not giving
nutrient credit to.0
Gabrielle Ferguson
soils and crops advisor
CVOR REQUIRED
Commercial Vehicle Operator Reg-
istration (CVOR) is the registration
system for operators of commercial
motor vehicles (farm trucks are in-
cluded) with a registered gross weight of
more than 4500 kg. CVOR is part of the
Highway Traffic Act and is required by
all commercial vehicle operators. The
operator is the person responsible for the
vehicle and driver.
To register, an operator files an
PRECAST INSULATED WALL PANELS
min%
P N E C A 9 T I N C
• Super insulated
• Fast construction
• Created under
controlled plant
conditions
ensuring quality
CONCRETE WORK
• Floors
• Manure tanks 60' - 120' diameter
• Specialized concrete forming
FRITZ
CONCRETE INC.
`General Contractor'
Pre-engineered Buildings by 'Butler'
Design Builders of Commercial & Industrial Buildings
R. R. 1,
Chepstow, Ont., NOG 1K0
519-366-2253
THE FAMILY FARM
aiHERE TODAY...
HAVE IT HERE TOMORROW
ARE YOU LOOKING AT ...
• TRANSFERRING THE FARM WITHIN THE FAMILY?
• SETTING UP A FAMILY BUSINESS?
• RETIRING FROM THE FARM?...
BUT THE PROPER PROCEDURE
IS UNCLEAR TO YOU?
For expert advice in these areas call:
JIM FROM - 519-482-7612
OR
BRIAN SOWERBY - 519-471-3616
1
MAY 1991 35