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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-05-12, Page 11To The Editor: You are important for many reasons. Your are lov- ed. The Perth Huron Life Underwriters care enough about you that we are spon- soring the month of May as Medic -Alert Month. Medic -Alert is as non-profit organization operating in 33 countries. Medic -Alert is there 24 hours a day to pro- vide medical information to the medical attendant or doc- tor in an emergency situation. The Medic -Alert is a bracelet or necklace that has pertinent medical informa- tion on it that could save your life or prevent another pro- blem. Medical problems that warrant having a Medic -Alert bracelet are Diabetics, Epilepsy, Allergies, Multiple Schlerosis, Contact Lenses, and 200 more with thousands of combinations. As chairman of the Medic - Alert I urge you to contact your life insurance agent for further information. ' Do you not owe it to yourself and loved ones to join? Ray Black Chairman of Medic -Alert 148 Kenner Cres. Stratford SHEEP SHEARING — Sunday's Shunpiker tour, spon sored by the London Free Press swelled attendance at the Lambton Heritage Museum to well over 800. Ron Wight is shown shearing a ewe at the museum, one of the special features provided for the tour members. Great concern has been voiced about the land in Canada being bought by foreigners. The concern may be valid but another, more dangerous, way to lose land has been under way for 20 years. Every growing season, thousands of tons of top soil are lost to the eroding powers of wind and water. In the United States, between four and six billion tons of topsoil are moved each year by various forms of soil erosion. Soil losses are so severe in some parts of that nation that 12 percent of the croplands and 17 percent of the range lands will be unproductive within a few short decades. Add to that the millions of acres being lost every year to urban encroachment and the number of acres becomes staggering. In Canada, the problem is not acute but whatever happens south of the border is reflected here, sometimes a few years later and sometimes a few months, Few farmers in this country are willing to face this serious threat to the land. Only one organization, the Christian Farmers Federation. has to m lootinthe l.au.... .00,.c,att00, Bob Lou., 1444 MC P,-.,. Oji Nie 2C1 knowledge even acknowledged it. When the subject is broached, farmers respond by saying the financial crunch and technological treadmill give them no choice but to exploit the land. The switch to corn crops in recent years is compounding the problem. No matter what steps are taken to preserve land through planning and zoning, it is too seldom recognized that these laws or regulations do not save soil. Farmers know it. They try, oh yes, they do try, to manage resources as part of the day-to-day work. They do what they have the knowledge and skill to do and what seems, in their own calculation of costs and benefits, the'right' thing to do. But protecting farm land involves additional costs. The farmer must make investments to preserve soil such as forego income when cash crops are replaced by soil -building crops. These investments in time and money seldom result in immediate cash returns. The problem is, you see, any profits from protecting farmland do not come until future generations take over. The farmer has great trouble justifying these added expenditures. A bushel of corn, for instance, which is produced under careful soil stewardship brings no better a price at the farmgate than a bushel produced on land being allowed to wash or blow away. The farmer had a higher cost of production but that means nothing in the marketplace. In fact, if such a figure were added to the cost of production in a marketing board's price - setting formula, every consumer organization - and all the rest of those organizations that get their kicks out of bashing marketing boards - would holler all the way to Queen's Park and Ottawa. Farmers will tell you they have to fight for economic survival in times as tough as these. And it is a workable strategy as long as it doesn't last long. But mining the land',s fertility must stop. The/actions of the last two decades are catching up with us. Much of the national farm debt is secured by the value of the land yet soil erosion and farmland lost to urban expansion continue to eat slowly into that value. When some of this land is reclaimed by the banks, how much good will it be when it is farmed out? Maybe that's why some farmers are already walking out and leaving their keys on a banker's desk. These are big questions and they concern everyone, not just farmers. Every citizen who expects to continue living the good life in this country should be concerned. When farmers march for more money, they are not just demanding more money; they need better prices so they can be good farmers and help preserve the land. Huron farm and home news Times -Advocate, May 12. 1982 Page 11 Some misconceptions about deep cultivating The sunny weather in late April, along with the drying winds, has many effects on people. It seems to make rural people want to sell and move to the city. It makes the urban people want to sell and move to the country. It's as if the change in weather is a signal for Canadians to make some dramatic changes. For myself, living in the city, I remember my teenage days on the farm. Especially the days working the land in the spring. We had an "S" Case with a 10' cultivator. I can remember being able to stay home from school to cultivate. Of course, to justify staying home from school I had to work hard. I did work hard, or at least I thought I did. I would start cultivating and as the morning progressed I would gradually crank the cultivator a bit deeper. I felt that I was working hard if I made the tractor work hard. The way to make the tractor work hard was to cultivate deep. When I see some fields being worked I wonder if you have the misconception that I had. I mentioned the fallacy of this deep tillage to a group of Pork Producers in Atwood at one of their weekly meetings last winter. One producer said "I like to work deep to warm the soil up.',' This is another misconception - working deep to warm up the soil. What actually happens when you cultivate deep is yo(r bring cold wet soil up and this has a cooling effect. If you have nice warm soil in the top 2 inches, you actually cool that topsoil off. A common reason for deep secondary Wage is to work out the tractor tire marks. That's a valid reason. To do this you set the cultivator deep enough to work the wheel track, but probably too deep for the rest of the width of the cultivator. This problem is compounded since the teeth behind the tractor tires tend to wear faster. Thus, the rest of the cultivator is set even deeper. Is it possible to use a longer point on those cultivator legs that follow the tractor tires? Or could • you weld worn cultivator teeth on to the feet working out those tracks?. Number of passes to prepare seedbed At these Dairy and Pork Producers Workshops this past winter , we discussed spring tillage. Generally, the Pork Producers were able to plant after 2 passes with secondary tillage equip- ment. The dairy producers were making 3 passes before they planted. Ideally, the fewer passes you make the better your soil will be. !f you are making a 3rd pass just to level a field, maybe you should take a long look at your tillage system. When you work a field to prepare a seedbed you only have to work as deep as the seed will be planted. That means you only have to work a corn seedbed 2" deep and cereal 1" deep. To be realistic this means you have to set your secondary tillage equipment deep enough to level the field and work the tractor tracks. This will generally give you deep enough seedbed. The tillage principle for spring grain should be to work as shallow and as fast as passible. Get the seed in the ground and get out of the field. Just remember, for the first 50 to 100 years the farmers in this area ploughed 4" deep, broadcast the grain by hand and then covered that seed with harrows: Spring grain does not need a deep seedbed. For every rule there are exceptions. The exception to the shallow tillage principle is for incorporting her- bicides. If you incorporate you have to work the soil at least 4" deep. However, you do not have to plant deep. When you are planting that early corn keep it shallow. I have seen more corn fields in trouble from deep planting than from too shallow planting. Corn lodging, populatfons,,and tillage This past year there has been a lot of talk about corn lodging. There are a lot of reasons given, but the bot- tom line is that some hybrids stand better than others. These other hybrids may' yield well, but put under stress they tend to lodge. Especially at higher populations. There are positive benefits to higher populations. One of the main corn hybrids in Ontario tends to respond positively to higher populations. In fact, Ontario's research would suggest at least a 7 to 8 percent yield increase by 'increasing the population from 17,000 plants per acre to 4"x,000 plants per acre. If this is a straight line relation- ship, each 1,000 plants over 17,000 gives about a 1 percent yield increase. However, if the hybrid you plant gives 50 percent lodging at 24,000 plants, you have just lost your 7 to 8 percent yield advantage. Not all hybrids respond positively to higher populations. In fact some hybrids yield better at low populations. Read the literature supplied by your corn company to find the optimum population for your hybrids. So how does population and lodging relate to tillage. Very simply. If you work your land toodeep and then you plant deep into that cold wet soil - not all the seeds you drop will grow. If you are dropping 26,000 seeds and lose 20 percent you will still have over 20,000 plants. This will give an acceptable yield. But if you try to end up with 20,000 plants and say drop 21,500 seeds and lose 20 percent, then suddenly you are left with 17,M0 plants. Probably not enough plants. The bottom line is to check with the company that sells you their corn for the op- timum population for that hybrid. Then do a good job of working the soil and don't plant too deep. Last minute reminders on herbicides To calculate the rate of herbicide you need per acre multiply the hectare rate by .4. If you are comparing 2 or 3 similar herbicide treat- ments and one is out of line as far as price compared to other two, get someone to check to see if you are using comparable rates. Finally, if you are in Perth or Huron County and need help calibrating your sprayer, then call the Stratford Office and time permitting, we will help you. Atrazine residue The April 27th issue of Farm and Country inferred that high rates of atrazine in 1981 would safely allow you to plant cereals and forages in 1982. Of course, this is a misprint. From the residue results that Jim O'Toole is running at Centralia College it appears that more than 1.0 lb. active atrazine per acre in 1981 will damage cereals or forages in 1982. If atrazine was applied at 2 lb. per acre active or more in 1980, plus 1 lb. active in 1981 this would also probably damage cereals or forages on most soils in Perth and Huron Counties in 1982. Pat Lynch, Soils and Crops Specialist and John Herd, Assistant Agr. Rep. Ontario trials prove out Beef cattle implant trials using Synovex and Ralgro implants were conducted in Ontario in 1981-82. 600 pound steers implanted on grass gained up to 9 percent better than a control group over a 135 day period. For a cost of $1.35 an increase of $12.00 worth of beef was produced. The 880 lb. feedlot steers implanted with Synovex gained 13 percent better than control cattle over an 88 day period. This represented a gain of 461bs. more beef for a profit of about ;33.50 more than non implanted cattle. Day old calves also respond to Ralgro implants. Young calves could, easily gain 10 percent more than non implanted calves. When handling the new calves for ear tagging and A.D.E. injection, consider Doug Lightfoot R.R. 1, Crediton, Ont. 234-6287 the Ralgro implant; for better gains. Ralgro is cleared for use on calves under 600 lbs. I)o not implant calves being kept for breeding purposes. Implants give better gains. Better gains mean more profit. Stan Paquette, Associate Agr. Rep. Two landlubbers were at sea for the first time. Looking out over the ocean, one said, "that's, the most water 1 have ever seen." The other replied: "Yes, and that's lust the top of it." HONDA Engines Quiet & Reliable 3-5-5-7-1OHP Sold & Serviced by Cecil R. Squire Sales & Service Repair Shop Equipment 92 Waterloo St. Exeter 235-0465 REEVES Acrylic Polymer Colours REEVES Acrylic Polymer Colour provides vast scope for exploring new painting techniques and great versatility for using old ones. Its main advantages are this flexibility plus the speed of drying and the ease of cleaning up There is a full range of colours and it's non toxic. You can mix it with water for a matte effect pr9with one of our mediums for a gloss. It can be applied to almost any non -greasy surface such as wood. canvas. paper. hardboard, plaster or even metal. REEVES Acrylic colour is equally effective for delicate glazes and heavy impastos It can be used like oils or water colours and dries without cracking or changing colour. Furthermore it wont fade or yellow with age and when dry is waterproof. The purity and stability of the pigments in Reeves Acrylic colours make them suitable. for advanced work and colour mixing. experiments. • Available at • imes - Serving South Huron, North Middlesex MIA vocate & North tambton Since 1873 Theonly sidipg with the steel -plus -vinyl difference! Take steel; add layers of zinc, chemicals and a thick polyvinyl chloride (PVC) coating. You've got Stelco Ultragard Siding. Siding supreme! There's never been a siding like new Stelco Ultragard Siding. It's the per- fect protection to put between your home and the weather' ,'4 AT CONFERENCE - Olive Hicks and Marie Brock look at a souvenir coffee mug they brought home from the recent WI conference in Waterloo.. - , T -A photo NEW ,TELCO ULTRAGARD SIDI G A product of Stelco Inc For a tree. no.obligauon estimate contact JIM BECKER CONSTRUCTION 237-3526 Attend conference "To accompish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan. hut also believe" was the theme for the Officers' Con- ference in University of Waterloo May 4,5,6 when ap- proximately 600 members of the Women's Institute attended. Highlights of the con- ference were guest speakers Ron MacNeil pinchhitting for Dennis Timbrell on agriculture. ile said food is a ten bilhon dollar industry and we should be as self-sufficient as possible. In 1968 there was 350 million dollar export and by 1981 there was 1,5 billion. Mrs. liiepleh, president of Federated Women's in- stitutes of Ontario, announc- ed there are 30,000 members in Ontario , and 9 million women in 60 countries who belong to The Associated Country Women of the World (ACCW). She also said the Adelaide Iloodless home belongs to the Federated Women's institutes of Canada. The ACWW ('on- ference will be held in the University of British Colum- bia in 1983. • Miss Molly McGee, Direc- tor of Home Economics Branch, said there is going to be a change in the Ministry. in 1982 adult training: workshops were conducted by' 3,215 leaders and of these 2,020 were institute members. Mrs. Verna Maluske, past president, gave the Erland Lee homestead presentation. This is the 10th anniversary of the Lee Hone. This is owned by the F'14']O and was opened in August 1973. Bruce ,Johnston ('K('0 TV said the worth of the com- munity is in our hands -- we should advertise our organization more and when using TV always send as much background as possible. These attending the three day conference from this community were Mrs. Marie Brock, Mrs. Laurel Francis, Mrs. Mildred 111th, Mrs. Florence Bowman, Mrs. Marie Oppenrath, Mrs. Katharine Becker, Mrs. Eleanor Roeszler, Mrs. Ruth Papple and Mrs. Olive hicks. WARD MALLETTE Chartered Accountants 476 Main Street, S., Exeter, Ontario 235-0120 Resident Partner: John S. McNeilly, C.A. CHIROPRACTORS Gerald A. Webb D.C. Doctor Of Chiropractic 438 MAIN ST. EXETER By Appointment Phone 235-1680 SURVEYORS ONTARIO LAND SURVEYORS ARCHIBALD, GRAY & McKAY LTD. 592A'Main St. S. Exeter, 235-0995 If no answer toll 1.800-265-7988 )Dpro ACCOUNTANT -PUBLIC EI ALD L. MERNER Chartered Accountant BUS. 257 Churchill'br. EXETER 215.028 I laQ CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANT, \ I CHIROPRACTORS DAVID C. HANN, N.D., D.C. 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