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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-09-05, Page 4Page 4 September 5, 2007 • The Huron Expositor Editorial Opinion Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK 1WO Famier's markets an opportunity tobuykmally While the highly -successful Twilight Tunes, which drew sometimes more than 300 people to Seaforth each Thursday over the summer, a farmer's market also had its beginnings at Victoria Park this year. The average of four to five vendors who travelled to town to sell their wares each week - a couple of them local food producers - can be seen as another reason to visit Seaforth. But, an even more important reason to build and frequent a local farmer's market lies in a growing local food movement, which environmentalists see as a pivotal way to combat global warming. Simply, the shorter a distance food has to travel to the consumer, the less fuel is used and. the less greenhouse gases are produced. Because of refrigerated trucks, low gas prices, taxpayer -built highway systems and long-term storage techniques, most produce today travels between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres before it reach- es our plates. In the U.S., it's estimated that each food item in a typical meal has travelled an average of 1,500 miles but if every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week that was locally grown, the country's oil con- sumption would decrease by 1.1 million barrels. Similar circumstances exist in Canada. While we're urged frequently in small towns to buy locally and support our downtown merchants, the same philosophy is sometimes forgotten when it comes to filling our fridges, freezers and cup- boards. We've all seen the commercials this summer with the singing farmer who serenades grocery store shoppers - and sometimes even karaoke patrons - to remember that "Good things grow in Ontario." Living in one of the most productive agricultural counties in Canada, Huron County shoppers are rarely urged to buy Huron County -grown food although a number of existing farmer's markets and produce stands run by local producers - not to mention the Huron County Good Food Box - do pro- vide that opportunity. A new farmer's market in Seaforth is one more way to support our local farmers while promoting an environmentally -friendly food system at the same time. Susan Hundertmark Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 E-mail us at seaforth@bowesnet.com Visit our home page at www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com 9 Canada OUEUEC011t MEDIA '!'" !'LO1", "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs." GPS systems for tractors are `undeniably cool' Oddly enough, none of the Transformers I collected or watched on television as a kid dur- ing the 80s were tractors. At least, none that I remember. That didn't stop the little boy in me from geeking out when I had the opportunity recently to ride along in a tractor that could steer itself Huron Tractor was giving demonstration rides at the Huron County Plowing Match. Their machine had an onboard computer wired to the steering mechanism. Huron Tractor AMS Consultant Brendon Van Osch gave me a demonstration. Before we really got going, he explained a bit of the technology, pointing first at a device mounted at the top middle of the windshield. It had a short, fat yellow cylinder on top. "This receiver here," he said, "that's your GPS receiver. It gathers information from satellites in the sky" He said the receiver can get information from up to nine or 10 satellites. Then he pointed at a com- puter display about the size of a paperback book. " This is the brains of the operation right here." Van Osch then pointed at a compact box with cables running between it and the computer display. The steering wheel was fitted onto the top of it. 'This is your ATU - Auto Tac Universal," he said, noting that it's detachable, so that farmers can buy one system and transfer it between whatever trac- tors they own that have power steering. Van Osch explained that while this universal unit steers the tractor manually by operating the steer- ing column, there are newer trac- tors that steer using the hydraulics themselves. Going back to the display, he explained that it keeps track of your progress - acres per hour and speed, for example. He keyed in 30 feet for the width of the implement we were pulling along behind us and said that the next step was to program the straight path along the field we would take from one end to the other. "Once you do your headland, you pick your place you want to start in the field," he said, explaining that you push a button at that starting point, drive to the end of the field and push another button to mark the end point. The computer then plots each pass, taking into account the width of the implement. Then all the farmer has to do is turn the tractor around at the end of each pass. The tractor itself will take care of the rest, overlapping by only a few inches. Van Osch said that human operators tend to over- lap several feet. That adds up. He said this means that if a fanner has 2,000 acres to cover, they'll tend to actually cover 2,200 acres. With the GPS -guided tractors, they tend to only cover an additional 20 acres, which saves time, fuel, money and wear and tear on the farmer. "A lot of farmers are just scared to try it, but you have to get them into it," he said, noting they usual- ly love it after trying. This suggests we're maybe a long way off from my car driving me home at the end of the day, but this is still undeniably cool. According to my inner six- year-old, anyway. Ron di Dave "The school says they're going to separate girls and boys into different classes. Good. Who needs girls anyway? " No, no. You're not " seeing the big picture here. Who would we throw spitballs at? SUBSCRIPTION RATES: LOCAL - 36.18 a year, in advance, plus G.S.T. SENIORS; - 34.17 a year, in advance, plus G.S.T. Foeign: 36.18 a year in advance, plus $181.48 postage, G.S.T. exempt U.S.A1 36.18 a year in advance, plus $92.56 postage, G.S.T. exempt Published weekty by Sun Media at 11 Main St., Seaforth. Advertising is accepted on condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occu- pied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error, advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time. The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes. PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT 40064683 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 7605 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO Circulation Department P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, ON., NOK 1 WO Member of th. Canadian Community Ne rreecolationn d th. Ontario Community N.wap, e y by David Lacey fWe'll just have"No, we can' Oh yeah, then we lose the tactical advantage to throw them at other guys. Susan Hundertmark Editor Bernie Pugh Advertising / Office do that. The guys will just spit back. fr Aaron Jacklin Reporter Maxwell Bickford Dianne McGrath Composing Front office Editorial and Business Offices - 11 Main Street.,Seaforth Telephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (519) 527-2858 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK MO'