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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2007-01-10, Page 9The Huron Expositor • January 10, 2007 Page 9 News Mild weather allows farmers to experiment with January planting of spring cereals: crop specialist Susan H u n d e r t m a r k The typically snow-covered fields of January traditionally cause a time of dormancy when it comes to local agriculture. But, the mild weather and lack of much snow has Stratford - b a s e d OMAF crop spe- cialist Peter Johnson e xperi- menting with January planting. While he's not ready to ✓ ecom- mend it Huron East saves $22,000 on snow removal From Page 1 December and early January keeping up with the "construction end of things," such as ditching, digging for lagoon tanks and bury- ing foundations. He notes that these kinds of jobs would usu- ally not be possible in traditional Huron County winter weather. "I haven't seen a win- ter like this in quite a few years," he com- ments. Ryan adds by this time most winters, he's been called out an aver- age of 20 times, while this year he's had about half as many calls. At Heard Construction Ltd., which services Seaforth's Main Street, business has been about the same - busy, but just not with snow removal. Owner Don Heard says he's only been called upon four nights so far this winter, all of which came early in December. Usually, he adds, he's been out at least 20 times by now. Heard says it's rare to have been called upon so little by early January, but that it hasn't been all bad, since he has gotten to keep working on exca- vating and basement digging. "It's rare. I can't remember a stretch like this," he says. "The grounds not frozen, so we'll continue to work like it's the spring." yet, Johnson is planting spring wheat this year for the second January in a row and is expecting an increased yield based on last • year's results. "It's just about unheard of to plant in January in this area but we thought we'd push the envelope," he said Friday during a phone inter- view. "I'm not recommending it yet but I've had an awful lot of farmers call- ing and a lot say they're going onto the fields in the next two weeks. They're keen to try a new idea," said Johnson. With a very wet fall this season, Johnson says Huron County farm- ers have been on the land into January still harvesting corn and soybeans. "Because of the wet fall condi- tions, there's still the odd field out there with the grower late harvest- ing the crop," he said, explaining the tractors seen on the land last week. And, he said the warm weather this winter is allowing winter wheat crops - many of which were planted late because of the wet weather - to grow and catch up. "Anytime the temperature is above zero, the crop is growing and the winter wheat does have emerg- ing growth," he said. Johnson said if farmers plant on the frost, they might want to take the risks inherent in planting spring cereals in January. Last year, he saw a 57 per cent yield increase in spring wheat by planting in January and in March on the frost over waiting to plant in the dry soil of April. "I got a good crop last year," he said. But, despite the fact that he's planting for the first time ever in January during the past two years, Johnson said he isn't convinced the region is seeing significant climate change. "The weather this year may still be an anomaly but it's giving us an interesting opportunity so let's take advantage of it," he said. Huron Federation of Agriculture president Steve Thompson said he thinks it's still risky business to plant in January in Huron County. "We in Huron County can go from no snow to 10 inches overnight," he said. For those who have wheat plant- ed, Thompson said he thinks the mild winter is helping. 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