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The Rural Voice, 1987-10, Page 52SUPER BOWL ENERGY FREE WATERERS Why Should You Consider a Super Bowl Energy Free Waterer? 1 No Electricity Costs 2 Reduced Maintenance 3 No stray voltage 4 Cooler Cleaner Water All Year Round CLARKHILL FEEDERS LTD. R.R. 5 Goderich, Ont., N7A 3Y2 Phil Clark 51 9-524-4367 DON'T BE LEFT OUT IN THE COLD HISHOLM FUELS LTD. • 2a HOW Burner Service • Imuran• Pone • Furnace (manor% • Pi4,u O.spa¢hed Sema • LUCKNOW 5297524 • GODERICH 5247681 • WINGHAM 3572820 • KINCARDINE 3968212 SOUTH OF LUCKNOW ON HURON COUNTY ROAD 1 � v the Home Energy Group dedicated to home energy conservation IT PAYS TO STAY WITH OIL TWIN COUNTY GRAIN ELEVATOR Receiving: SOYBEANS CORN •Storage Available R.R. 3, BRUSSELS 519-356-2292 JNC. HURON RD. 16 & PERTH RD. 6 50 THE RURAL VOICE 116 NEWS SURVEY DETAILS FARM PRACTICES Extensive interviews conducted last fall with Southwestern Ontario farmers by researchers with the Soil and Water Environmental Enhancement Program (SWEEP) have produced a number of conclusions. 1. Phosphorus -based fertilizers were applied "based on experience" by 48 per cent of farmers surveyed. Twenty-eight per cent of the applica- tions were made on the basis of a soil test the previous year. Twenty-four per cent of the fields in the study did not receive phosphorus applications. 2. When plowing and planting, farmers exercise "little consideration" for the slope of their fields. But 20 per cent have changed tillage practices in the past five years. Of those, 30 per cent changed to reduce erosion. 3. Only eight per cent of surveyed farmers said they employed reforesta- tion, making this method of controlling erosion the least used. 4. Contrary to accepted belief, only one per cent of farm fields had no crop rotation at all. When involving a row crop, cereal, and forage, rotation was used on 40 per cent of the surveyed fields. 5. When crop rotation had been practised within the past five years, "reduction of erosion" was cited as the primary reason in 15 per cent of the responses. 6. A significant portion (18 per cent) of the fields were shallow -tilled. Shal- low tillage helps reduce erosion by re- taining plant matter on the surface of the field. 7. Sources of information on soil erosion or conservation were farm pub- lications (81 per cent), radio and televi- sion (65 per cent), OMAF News (61 per cent), meetings (41 per cent), books and journals (34 per cent), and research in- stitutes or universities (22 per cent). SWEEP is a five-year federal and provincial initiative aimed at reducing phosphorus pollution in the Lake Erie basin — caused by crop land runoff — by improving erosion -control practices on farms in Southwestern Ontario. Farming causes 45 to 55 per cern of phosphorus loading in the Great Lakes .0