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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-09-22, Page 12Are you tired of losing money due to cracking and related damage to your speciality crop be- ing handled by conventional systems? If your answer is yes then you should try TUBULAR CONVEYORS For more literature call WESTCAN CONVEYOR & BELTING Grand Bend, (519)238-2469 T Times -Advocate, September 22,1982 v PLOW CHAMPS — Bevan Shapton shown in the foreground was senior reserve champion at Saturday's Huron plowing match. In the background is junior champ Brian McGavin. T -A photo --1-,, ne foot in the r ' by aut It's a story hoary with age but it is probably true. It is the one about the farmer who won a lottery that paid him 121 million. He was asked what he was going to do now that he was a rich man. "Well, I guess I'll just keep on farming until I go broke," was his larconic and honest answer. Honest because recent statistics indicate that farmers could have sold out, invested their money in Canada Savings. Bonds and ended up with far more money by sitting and listening to the crickets chirp. The figures come from a re- cent report from the school of agricultural economics at the University of Guelph. Hog farmers, beef farmers, milk producers, cash crop farmers, broiler or roaster chicken producers were studied. Only the chicken farmers came out on top of the invest- ment heap. The average dairy farmer had assets of $576,457. That is a lot of money in any man's language. He had debts of 1107,243. Which gave his an equity of 4416,214. He could have made 1813,336 more money iu Canada Savings Bonds because the Guelph survey In dicated :an average net in- come on the farm of 120,960 on more than 1109,000 in sales. Figure it out: Invest the equity and the return at 19.5 percent would be more than 134,000. And that money would come to the farmer if he did not lift a finger. Anyone who has ever been remotely connected with a dairy farm Lvov+ me aowe ite0 D, Sob T,oue. I•7•4 Rd Um-, O.' 7435 2C 7 knows the amount of work necessary. Chores twice a day, no paid vacations, no unemployment insurance, no company pension plan, no dental plan. Beef feedlot operators were even worse off in the survey. They had. assets averaging $899,000 debts of more than 1253,000 and an equity of $635,000. Heck, they could have had an income of $40,000 at less than 10 percent interest. ' Hog farmers with farrow - to -finish operations had a net income of less than $7,000 with an equity of 1292,600. They could have tripled their in- come by investing their equi- ty instead of staying on the farm. The cash crop farmers, when all the figures were tallied, could have made more than 122,000 by staying off the farm and investing their equity, a heck of a lot more than the average in- come of only $2,086. In the survey, only the chicken farmers could have done better by investing at 10 percent. Their -gross income was 1310,113, their net income was $28,150, their assets 1480,432, their debts 1213,807 and their equity 5266,625., They did better by about 116,000. Why in the ever-lovin' world do so many sons and daughters of farmers want to stay on the farm? We are fortunate in this country that farming has re- mained attractive to so many people. If all the farmers decided to sell out and live off their equity, this nation would starve to death. Either that or s' isS —ah.. • pay such high prices for im- ported tood that we would be spending half our income to eat instead of the 15 or 16 per- cent now being spent on food. I am of the opinion that a great many farmers need some indication of apprecia- tion from the rest of the population of this country. They have been downgraded, called'cry-babies, cow -kicked and stepped -on for too long. Their contribution to Canada is inestimable. Their production is phenomenal, especially in light of the disastrously .low gross - national -product figures released for August. Next • time you hear somebody call someone a dumb farmer, tell him to stuff a sock of fresh manure in his. mouth. • Centralia offering Some interesting continu- ing education courses will be available this fall through Centralia College of Agricultural Technology and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Some of the longer training pro- grams are designed specifically for farmers in the area. All of these longer training programs have funding assistance from the Canada Employment & Immigration Commission and there is no charge to participants. Responding to the concerns of many farmers for good finan- cial management, there will be three Financial Manage- ment courses, all 5 days in length, one day each week for five weeks.i These courses are taught by area accountants who deal with farmers everyday and understand their problems. Also, farm business specialists from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food will be involved with the courses. Two of these financial pro- grams are off -campus, one in Stratford at the O.M.A.F. of- fice in Hibernia Street. This course will begin on Thurs- day, November 18 at 9:30. PLAN DANCE Middlesex Junior Farmers are sponsoring a dance in con- junction with the Interna- tional Plowing Match. "A Touch of Green" Plowmans Ball will be held in the Lucan Arena on Thursday, September 30. "Traces" will provide music for 'dancing from 8 pm to 1 am. The cost of 15 per person includes, lunch. Dress is semi -formal. The evening's proceeds will be used for educational scholarships. Tickets may be obtained from Frank Vanhie at 453-2057 or Herb Pierce at 289-5243. OFFICIALS AT WORK — Huron Plowmen's Association president Alan Campbell and secretary -treasurer Graeme Craig were pleased with the large number of entries in Saturday's county match held near Blyth. Agents For Ontario Bean Producers ' Marketing Board Fast We Are Efficient , , Capable Service 0/ //.1 \////\(1 01 R '`White Pea Beans *Sous *Corn ,. ,i '1 1 I 3Pits- Modern /: O1 '11'.111:'.\ T 11)1•R 111".S'/:\'ESS LS GRr1 TI:FY 11'PRI: (Y: 1111). 11'E If'11.1. STR/ 1 'I: TO 11. I.17.11I7.I: 1'01.R RE Tl 'R,V I .S' U /: /L 117•:1.\ 7'UF. IF WE CAN BE OF ASSISTANCE - CALI. (519) 232-4449 (519) 666-1434 24 HOURS SERVICE The Great Canadian can Company inc. 1 f• • R 1, Ailsa Craig ntario, Canada NOM 1A0 a.m. The other off -campus Ing at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, financial course is in Atwood November 18. in the small banquet room of Also there will be two off - the Elma Memorial Com- campus programs for the munity Centre. This course dairy goat and sheep in - starts at 9:30 a.m. on Wednes- dustries. A dairy goat day, November 17. A finan- management course will cial course will also be offered begin on Monday evening, Oc- at Centralia College beginn- tober 18 in Stratford at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food huron farm and home news Until recently, verticillium may have to delay • plowing wilt of alfalfa was a disease some of this red clover until that 1 could identify, but was 'next spring. If you had to plow not too concerned about. It is red clover in early May this a problem in other parts of would not be a big problem. Canada. I had located it on a Normally you shouldn't ex - couple of farms in Elma. pect a yield decrease due to These were three year old or plowing red clover sod in ear - older stands. The disease . ly spring vs. fall plowing. In may have been causing a 5 fact, if you have red clover on per cent yield reduction in the land that is easily eroded, any field. It was being treated maybe you should leave it as a minor disease. unplowed until next spring. But earlier this month I was - Pat Lynch, Soils & Crops called in to see three more Specialist alfalfa fields. One field in each of Downie, North Easthope and Elma. In all three fields the third cut was about one-third of what it should be. On one farm the stand is four years old. On the other two farms the stand is only two years old. On all three farms the alfalfa will be plowed down. Disease Characteristics • The fungus causing the disease is soil borne, entering the plant through the root. It progresses upward in the plant via the water - conducting tbsue, and enters the leaves where it causes yellowing. This is initially at the tips of the leaflets, but eventually involves the entire leaf which finally dies. In the early stages of the disease, wilting of the leaves is com- mon duringthe heat of the day with recovery during the cooler nights. Eventually, the wilting becomes permanent, the leaflets die, and the whole stem turns yellow. Defoliation of the plant may follow. Diseased plants are fre- quently stunted. All shoots on a plant may be affected or the symptoms may be limited to one or two stems. The plants die reducingg'the yield below economically -productive levels and forcing early plow down. - There are several other diseases of alfalfa which resemble the symptoms of Verticillium wilt. The only way to be sure that the plant is infected with this disease is to have it examined in the laboratory. If you, have a field that is suspect, bring a sam- ple to the.O.M.A.F. office at Stratford and we will send it to the University of Guelph. The fungus can spread locally and over long distances by the movement of contaminated or infested seed and hay. Within the field, the fungus spreads from one plant to another by spores producedon the above- ground boveground parts during wet weather. On at least one farm we are suspect that the haying equip- ment has spread it through the field. Control Measures As of September 1982 there are no verticillium resistant varieties licenced in Ontario. There is a possibility that Northrup King may have a variety licenced by 1983. I am bringing this disease to your attention now because the wet part of late August and early September follow- ed by the dry weather in mid September has really brought this disease on. Check your fields for this disease and watch this spaceorother farm articles for control recom- mendations for 1983. To date we have no real good recom: mendations other than crop rotations. Normally you can sow alfalfa after alfalfa. However, if your alfalfa has thinned out due to Verticillium wilt, you should not replant alfalfa back in"that field for two or three years..Or at least not until we have resistant varieties. lied ('lover Plowdown Delay plowing your red clover as long as you think reasonable. Research con- cluded by Bob Fulkerson at the Crop Science department of the University of Guelph shows that red clover roots continue to grow until at least mid-October. In fact, the root size may double from late September until early Oc- tober. This extra root volume is worth waiting for. One possible drawback is if we get a late wet fall some of your land may not be fall plowed. There is a very small chance of this happen- ing since you will be able to plow this red clover sod in November when corn ground would be too wet to plow , If you really get behind you John Heard, Assistant Agr. Rep. Fall — the time for fairs. It's a time to update ourselves with new products on the market and a time to see the best products in our localities. The Western Fair has been in full swing and it was the setting for a 4-H homemaking Conference. on Friday, September 10th. There were , 119 delegates from eight coun- ties taking part in career panels, fashion update, craft sessions, personal grooming sessions. Representatives from Huron were: Kathy Allister, Mary . Lou Anderson, Christine L. Boogemans, Bon- nie Evans, Cindy Evans, Eleanor Gibson, Rosemary Gielen, Darlene Moore, Heather McLean, Julie Prescott, Dinette Steffens, Kim Stephenson, Kimberly Smith, Marg Thornton, Julie Townsend, Rosie Van Dyk, Linda Van Miltenburg, Mary - Lynn Van Nes, Estella Wilson. Outdoor Living is the cur- rent 4-H project and members have been finding edibles in the wild, taking nature hikes, drying fruits, making kites and having a good time. Their achievement prop_ grams are being held Mon- day, September 27, Exeter, Recreation Centre; - Jane Muegge Home Economist _ ••e_grt• }fit`. ,► "• ., —"T pyo.:. variety of courses O.M.A.F. office. This course will involvesix classroom ses- sions and two Saturday tours. A sheep management course will be offered in the Library of the Belmore Com- munity Centre beginning on Wednesday evening, October 20. This interesting sheeppro- gram will Involve eight classroom sessions and two Saturday tours. Centralia College is also of- fering another four programs that should have a lot of ap- peal for area rural people. Jay Campbell, CFPL TV Channel 10 meteorologist, has agreed to put on a course for area farmers called Understanding your Farm Weather. This will be a very interesting two day course that should hglp farmers to be able to read the weather signs and interpret weather infor- mation easier. The course will start on Monday, November 29 at 9:30 a.m. The second day of the course is the next Mon- day, December -6. Also, Elaine Gottschall, a popular area speaker on food and nUtrition, is offering an eight week one evening 'per week course called Food for Living. This program begins. on Wednesday, October 20 at • 7:30 p.m. and will eril on Wednesday, December 8. The charge for these courses is 130.00 and 925.00 respectively. Finally, there will be a one day course on food processor Cookery and an one day course on Microwave cook- ing. These, courses are on Saturday,. November 6 and Saturday, November 13 respectively.. Both courses begin at 9:00,a.m. and there is a 110.00 registration fee. To register for any of these courses, or for more informa- tion, call Continuing E4iuca- tion at Centralia College of Technology at Agricultural 228-6691. IT'S EXETER FAIR TIME AGAIN! Members of the Exeter Feeder Calf Club invite buyers to their show and sale, Saturday, September 25, at the "New Agricultural Building." The show will take place at approximately 2:30 p.m. and the sole will follow at 3:00 p.m. Here's your chance Huron County beef. to buy good Philip Johns Chairman Feeder Calf Club luse ti THE NEW CHAMPION IN WINTER HARDINESS AND YIELD POTENTIAL! HOUSER is the new, short, bearded, white -chaffed soft winter wheat that's breaking records in yield and winter hardiness throughout Canada. YOU CAN'T GROW BETTER THAN HOUSER! TRIALS PROVE IT! • outyielded Frederick, Gordon, Favor and Yorkstar in 41 station years of Official Co-op Trials of the Ontario Cereal Committee from 1978 to 1981. • outyielded Yorkstar and Frederick in 1977-'81 Trials at Cornell University in U.S.A. • mid-season variety that's one day later than Frederick; • plump, midsize kernel; • better lodging resistance; • superior winter hardiness; • strong disease resistance; • harvests and thrashes like a true Champ; sob% PP or evvitrt,.. vairs444:4121 HOUSER: THE NEW CHAMPION FOR CANADIAN GROWERS WHO'VE SET THEIR SIGHTS ON MAXIMUM PROFITS FOR '83 FROM SOFT WINTER WHEAT PRODUCTION. AVAILABLE NOW FOR FALL PLANTING FROM YOUR LOCAL HYLAND SEED DEALER, OR CALL W.G. THOMPSON 8 SONS AT BLENHEIM -- 519-676-5411 or, HENSALL - 519-262-2527 W.G. THOMPSON AND SONS LTD. Box 250, Blenheim, Ontario NOP 1A0