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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1989-08-16, Page 26Page 26 Tines -Advocate, August 16, 1969 Pork chops chefs - Shown preparing pork cho h s for Monday' - barbecue at W.G. Thompson. and Son plant in Hensall are staff member Bill Foran, -ff Thompson and Don Dixon. rut lnompson s sponsor tour - Close to 175 farmers participated in a Monday tour and barbecue spon- sored by the Hensall branch of W.G. Thompson and Son. Above, manager Dale Good chats with Bill Russell, Lorne Becker and Gordon Kraft. Plan soil, water conservation day CLINTON - When Soil and water conservation day is held on August 23 it will mark the 7th such event organized by the Huron Soil and Water Conservation District. The District was first conceived in the early 1980's by a group of area farmers who needed more tech- nical support in their efforts to adopt conservation tillage practices., The District was designed to co- ordinate the soil and water conserva- tion programs of various agencies, providing information and assis- tance that was of greatest benefit to local area farmers. Today the Soil and water Conser- vation District oversees the Joint Agriculture and Food, and the Ausa- ble-Bayfield and Maitland Valley Conservation Authorities. Conser- vation Day remains one of the ma- jor activities undertaken by the Dis- trict. This year conservation day is be- ing held on the farm of Peter and Brian Oldridge, two miles north of Blyth, and 4.5 miles east of High- way 4 on concession 7 of Morris Township. Like past conservation • days, this event is designed to allow farmers the opportunity to new con- servation practices that could be ap- plied in their own farming opera- tions. The Oldridges have been actively using conservation cropping sys- tems for a number of years. Cur- rently they are utilitizing chisel plowing, aer-way or no -till planting depending on the crop and the resi- dues. Guided wagon tours of the 01- dridge farm will be run in the morn- ing beginning at 10:00, and in the afternoon until 3 p.m. Admission and lunch are free. Guest speakers will talk during the lunch hour on rural water quali- ty and residue management. The first conservation day was held on the farm of Don Lobb, near Holmesville. Traditionally the event is held on the farm of the Norman Alexander Conservation Award Winner. This award is present annually by the District. Conservation tillage practices can be defined as any planting or tillage system that retains at least 30 per- cent residue cover on the soil sur- face. Because these practices can be a little different for each site and op- erator, the Soil and Water Conser- vation District has focused on es- tablishing tillage trials to learn how to use these new tillage systems in a variety of different conditions. Each year the District establishes trials with a group of co-operators. Data collected from these trials is available to help all farmers estab- lish a conservation tillage system appropriate for their operation. The District's membership is made up of co-operators, and other participating groups and agencies, including OMAF, local conserva- tion authorities, agribusiness, and the Soil and Crop Improvement As- sociation. Rick Coghlin, an At- wood area farmers is the 1989 Dis- trict chairman. For more information on the Hu- ron Soil and Water Conservation District and the services offered why not plan on attending conservation day, or contact the Clinton OMAF office, or the Maitland Valley, or Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Au- thorities. Back in the heady days of the Tory dynasty in Ontario, one of the more effective cabinet members in Bill Davis's government was James Auld. He held a number of cabinet posts, I think, but was environ- ment minister in 1973 when the province began a crackdown on noise pollution. In those days, high-performance cars had mufflers loud enough to be heard seven blocks away. Young car owners -- this was back when young Car own- ers could afford insurance -- were special targets for noise pollution charges. But the two big polluters were trucks and motorcycles. At that time, I suggested trucks should be first on the list to get strong-arm action from cops. We lived in the country then and the peace of a tranquil' •" wsa broken by huge trucks ba.,t .ie long hill out of town and i . our coun- try home. They literally made win- dows rattle and horses go galloping across the field, kicking and making rude noises. Jimmy Auld talked of roadside sound traps which could be used on highways and byways: I do not know whether these traps were ever used in Ontario but it is obvious to those of us who have been around for more than two dec- ades that noise levels have de- creased. In motorcycles, for in- stance, the change is quite marked. Fifteen years ago, you could not carry on a conversation within 50 feet of a motor bike. If you were stopped at a red light and a motorcycle pulled up beside you, the rattle and roar was enough to drive your ear drums through the side of your head. What a difference a decade makes. We were stopped the other day and two big Hondas pulled up be- side us at a stop light. There was no noise. The two machines rum- bled at so low a level I wondered if they had stalled. When the green light came on, both machines pulled away much faster than our car yet there was no appreciable change in the noise level. Auld said at the time that his ministry was going to go after the manufacturers to make changes in design. That seems to have paid off. with motorcycles. Tractors, too, have been progres- sively stifled. Few people can com- plain of night tractor noises today unless the machine is an old sucker on its last legs. So that leaves trucks. I have been told by truck drivers that muf- fling a big truck to my acceptable level is almost impossible. In addi- tion, demanding a quiet truck is akin to asking Samson to cut off his hair. Mufflers, I'm told, cut down the power of a diesel marked- ly. Is this true? Will an effective :muffler cripple a big truck? Surely, in this era of advanced technology, engineers can come up .vith an effective muffling system. Truckers pay huge amounts of money for the privilege of using highways. If you think your car li- cence fee is high, you should talk to a few truckers. But that licence does not give them the privilege of scaring hors- es and making little children cry or interrupting a patio conversation 100 yards from the highway. I think it is time the environ- ment moguls clamped down on these big babies because trucks are going to get bigger. And bigger. The bigger they get, the louder they sound. HOT WATER... CLEANING POWER... Karcher power washers make their own hot water for . just pennies a day, and clean 100% faster .1401. Cold and Hot Water Models to Choose From MIDSUMMER SALE You pick out one of your toughest cleaning problems and we will come out and give you a free cleaning demonstration. Don't buy unless you give a Karcher a tryl HURON 111 TRACTOR Exeter, Ontario (519) 235-1115 Karcher Hotline 1-800-265-4268 Free Demo Contact: Don Boyes Watch for our Discounts up to� Customer [ationAlai_ irExeter Co-op --- Watch next weeks paper for more details. Exita iiiittSc16ry:: All Purpose heavy tillapo. 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