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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-03-25, Page 10,10 TMnee-Ile. biocide, Maeda 25, 1992 441 club holds meeting at sygar Irak EXETER - The Exeter #2 4-11 club held their second meeting on March 12. They opened the meeting with the 4-H pisdge. The secretary then road the mut- utes of the first meeting. After that Linda Russell talked to the group about tap- ping trees and what types of trees you can get maple sap from. She also showed some of the equipment used for tapping trees. To end the meeting the club made a snack of "Impossible Maple Pan Pic" and "Maple Coffee Cake". Exeter 2 held their third meet- ing on Saturday, Manch 21. They started the meeting by walking to Tony MaAate's sugar bush and gathered at Marten's Sugar Shack in the bush. They said the 4-11 pledge, then they were told what Martene does to the sap to make it into syrup. There was a demonstration on how to tap trees. They also tried maple syrup with muffins before walking back from the bush. Annual Denfield cattle show and male DENFIELD - Denfield Livestock Sales Limited, held their fifth annu- al spring fat cattle show and sale on Saturday, March 21. Guest speaker -for =the- day was John Pickering, who spoke on the new beef cattle grading system which is coming into effect in April. Grand champion steers were ex- hibited by Arnold and Edward McCann, of Dashwood weighing 1332 lbs. at $105.00 and purchased by Piave Meat Packers, Toronto. Teaming dairy her GUELPH - Keeping a report card on 110 dairy herds in, Ontario is keeping a team of University of Guelph animal health researchers busy. This summer, n searchers in the Department of P ,pulation Medi- cine expect to release the results of a unique two-year study called the Ontario Dairy Monitoring and Analysis Program (ODMAP). Through their study -- being con- ducted in conjunction with 27 On- tario veterinarians -- the researchers have been investigating the rela- tionships among herd -level meas- ures of disease, management, pro- duction, reproductive performance and profitability. They expect to complete data collection this month and data analysis by July. "The research has created an awareness for researchers, practi- tioners and farmers," says the pro- ject's leader, graduate student Dave Kelton "By having heard -level data available in a usable form, farmers are setting realistic goals for their herds." Besides Kelton, the study in- , volves Profs. Ken Leslie, Kerry Lissemore, Brenda Bonneu and Wayne Martin, adjunct professor John FeUow of the University of Minnesota and technician Donna Hansen. This study is unique in Canada because of the large number of uni- versity researchers and private vete- rinarians working co-operatively on it, says Kelton. The researchers ap- proached vets attegding OVC's Dairy Health Management Certifi- cate Program and asked them to participate; the vets who signed on then selected 110 producers from among their clientele to study. The researchers provide a period- ic report that the producers and their vets can use to monitor the overall -perfocatanee=o1=their =may Information meeting for new crop insurance plan BRUCEFIELD - The Huron County Federation of Agriculture is hosting a meeting about an up and coming new crop insurance plan. Called "Commodity Loan Guar- antee Program", this insurance should be in place sometime before the 1992 spring seeding season. The meeting, which will be held at the Brucefield United Church Hall on Wednesday, April 1 at 8:30 p.m., will schedule a guest speaker from the Agricultural Commodity Corporation. Local farmers arc being invited to attend the meeting and to bring their questions about the slaw . cop utaitrance program. Grand champion heifers were ex- hibited by Don Eedy, of Denfield, weighing 1150 at S107.25, pur- chased by Lobo -Abattoir, Lobo. Reserve-eltempion steers -were exhibited by Ralph and Philip Lynn, Lucan, weighing 1463 at $99.45. purchased " by . Darlings Food Market, Exeter and Lucan. Reserve champion heifers were exhibited by Woodrow Farms, Denfield, weighing 1280 at $100.00, purchased by Norwich Packers, Norwich. up for d health herds. The report covers production and udder health, reproductive per- formance, disease, culling and young stock management. Graphs are used to compare the perfor- mance of the herds with one an- other. There are several sources for data colicction. In co-operation with the Ontario Dairy Herd Improvement Corporation, the researchers can ac- cess milk production and somatic cell count data., The Ontario Minis- try of Agriculture and Food has contributed to the group's bank of financial information through its Ontario Farm Management Analy- sis Project. OMAF's Central Milk Testing Laboratory and the Ontario Milk Transporters Association have helped collect the bulk tank milk samples used in detecting subclini- cal disease in the participating herds. The rest of the data is ob- tained using on-farm data collec- tion. This project is supported by the Ontario Milk Marketing Board, the Medical Research Council of Cana- da and the Ontario Ministry of Agri- culture and Food. r , 1 ...LD1 One Foot in the Furrow By Hob Trotter The man - or woman - who has never walked a field and smelled rain and felt it on his/her face has missed something indescribable. April is just around the corner and it really is a precious month for agriculture. 1 was brought up in Lindsay, On tario, near theheart ofLhaK .away - tha Lakes and April was always a great match on the lakes. Sturgeon Lake, the big wishbone -shaped body 'of water into which the Scu- gog River empties, was the lake most familiar. 1 have seen ice blocks three feet thick come out of that lake. Back in the '30s and well into the '40s, locals took ice from the lake each year in huge blocks, stored them in ice -houses to sell through- out the summer to the thousands of summer residents whose cottages dotted the lake. Predicting the breakup of the ice, usually in April in those days, was great fun. 1 remember as a boy skat- ing on the lake one beautifully clear April evening when the moon was full. We sealed down in a cottage about midnight and when 1 awak- ened in the morning, the ice was gone. It went that quickly. I was dumbfounded that huge body of water with that much ice in it could be cleared in a few hours. My fa- ther said the conditions during the night caused it. The temperature soared, the wind was in the right di- rection and the ice disappeared. Living close to the lakes kept us. aware of nature's great variations. 1 remember one year the land was dry enough to plow in late April and most farmers ,had their crops nil planted before the middle of May., They kept their fingers crossed, when the grain and corn germinat- ed. Sure enough, a frost at the end' of May necessitated some re -1 seeding. It is in April that the skunk cab bage starts to sprout and the marsh marigolds blossom, followed by the provincial flower, the trillium, - sometimes called the wake -robin because it "awakens" robins. Some of my native Canadian friends in those days deplored the 'picking of wild flowers. Early cot- +4agers from the big cities would crash through the woods and pick flowers and make sweet little bou- quets for their tables. Pew of them realized that picking wild flowers often kilts the very beauty they ad- mire. The mayflowers, the Lady's slippers, the -trtfiant--all-die_when the bloom is picked which is why it is illegal now to pick a trillium. On the land in those days, farm- ers spent much time repairing fenc- e es, and outbuildings, greasing and oiling equipment for plowing and planting. Fences were important then. The practice of letting land re- main in summer fallow was still 'prevalent and the fences were need- ed to separate the fields. All of nature seems to come alive in April and May. The song birds are returning, the spring peepers are serenading the whole world in the swamps and bogs and streams. These little rascals are, in my mind, the greatest harbingers of warmer weather. Most people, I'm sure, at some time in their lives, have heard them but 1 wonder how many have seen them? They ,are not much 'more than an inch or two in length. When they sing, their throats swell out al- most as big as they, are themselves. They are difficult to find but if you go to the edge of a stillwater pond and stand still for a while, they will start singing again. If you have a flashlight - it doesn't seem to bother them - you will spot several of these little white throats swelling up like a toy balloon. It's a great time of year, isn't it? • Elginfield Feeds announces their 18th annual Chick Days! April 13, May 27 & Mid June • Pullets • Feed Troughs • Mixed • Baled Shavings • Cockerels • • Waterers • • White or Brown • Complete Line of Feeds Layers • Turkeys AvaliWirYear Round C El_ginfield Feeds Corner of lliwy. 04 & 07 R.R. #2, London O Order at least one month in advance, Give us a cart` 227-1157 INTRODUCING LI'L SHAKER Liz - ERI LOADS, auFF*, GLEAMS, TREATS, RAGS A walOMS YOUR SEAMS, *ARLEY, OATS, WHEAT, STC. 1141RODucrna THIS MEW A XCt tMe , ,; LCE TO YOUR AREA pestand Yytft. r,e puf fs ebfl,r Brinsley 4-H trip to Blue Water Recycling BRINSLEY - On Tuesday March 10, the Brinsley 4-H club held their fifth meeting. We travelled to the Blue Water Recycling and had a tour of the building and was told of how they separate and recycle different materials. The group was shown how they crush up metal cans and put them into one tonne cubes. They were then shown how the truck works and how the truck stored material. After -the tour the 4-H members went back to Brinsley United Church and began the meeting, and talked about recycling and how important it is to every- one and how it helps. Junior leader Tore Conlin told the group about how important it is to recycle in our schools and how the Parkhill • High School recycles. They were told about what should go into a blue box and what shouldn't. The group then answered some ques- tions that were given. Aftet'dttit y driscussed-Ae-h"ieiremenUNi lit and decided that there will be a picnic dinner at the Parkhill Conser- vation area and that friends and family are invited and the Brut.I.) Womens Institute also. After that the club had a snack prepared by Beth Heartman and Amy Trevitchick and drink prepared by Tana Lyn Rowe. The Brinsley 4 -H's next meeting will be held Tuesday March 24. Manure Management h Monday, March 30 Centralia College, Huron Park 1 - 4 p.m. Answering Your Questions MANURE APPLICATION: - impacts on water quality and effects of soil conditions, rates, and equipment MAXIMIZING FERTILIZER VALUES: - fertilizer analysis - why? where? cost? - availability of nutrients - reducing fertilizer costs on YOUR farm - utilizing nutrients with cover crops LEGISLATION ON ONTARIO FARMS - can/does this affect your operation? - contingency planning CURB PROGRAM - YOU. may be eligible - eligible items, grant assistance and availability Please contact Heather Taylor at 519-235-2610 for additional information ts,tyF,� 11 CUSTOM CLOVER SEED APPLICATION • March is the time to apply clover because it will get a better catch in the spring • Our HondaATV & broadcast spreader offer an even spread with little soil compaction. • Applying clover now means that you can apply "N" at your leisure. SaatarIh -101111,011 ,Mitchell Allea Craig Granton Pt. Albert 3454045 ' Se241527 $ :4433 293-3223 225-2360 529-7901