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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-11-02, Page 14Page 14 Times -Advocate, November 2, 1983 Huron farm and home news Management course coming A lot of dollars go in and out of a commercial farm business in a year. Sound financial management, coupl- ed with efficient productions, is the key factor in ensuring the success of a farm business in the 80's. Nine "Manage- ment for Profit Seminars" are planned across Ontario to help farmers become more aware of the skills needed to operate a business profitably. The feature speaker of the program is Dr. Hiram Drache, a farmer and farm management consultant, from Fargo, North Dakota. Richard Hiscocks, an Oxford County farmer, will discuss management techniques on his farm. Making capital investment decisions will be addressed by Dick Heard. Rob Lindsay will discuss record keeping systems for the 80's. John Anderson will deal with the subject of analyzing the farm business. Colin Reesor will discuss the topic of Marketing Profitably. Huron County farmers should register for their closest Seminar, which will be held as follows: November 21 at Mildmay Community Cen- tre; December 1 at Bingeman Park, 1208 Victoria Street North, Kitchener; December 2 at Progress Building, Western Fair Grounds, Lon- don; December 3 at Agri - Theatre, Agronomy Building, Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology. Cost of the seminar is $20.00 per person which includes lunch and farm business management handbook. Spouses and/or additional family members may attend for $10.00/person which in - eludes lunch but not the hand- book. Tickets must be ordered in advance from the Clinton office of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Register now and be part of the action at the Management for Profit Seminars - a great opportunity for participating in a major event emphasizing the role of management in a successful farming business. - Don Pullen Agricultural Representative for Huron County Soil Test this Fall Have you soil tested in the past two years? If not, con- sider it, because soil phosphate and potash levels do change. By not sampling, you could be over or under fertilizing. Over fertilizing can be wasteful. Samples can be taken while plowing or walking by your fields prior to plowing. It is recommended that you take 20 core samples per five hec- tares or 1.5 to 2 per acre. Mix these core samples together and take a composite sample from this, for testing. Remember - the better the sampling job, the more reliable the recommendations. By sampling and forwar- ding samples now, the University of Guelph's Department of Land Resource Science, Soil Testing Laboratory has ade- quate time to analyze and mail your results prior to year end. Soil sample boxes and a core sampler are available at your local Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food office. If you don't understand the metric recommendations, please call your local 0 office for assistance. Time for Warble Control Over 90 percent of the cat- tle in Ontario are infested with warbles. Systemic insec- ticides can be applied to the animals' back in September, October and November to give control. Temporary con- trol of lice can be achieved at the same time. Warble flies ("heel" flies) will substantially reduce pro- duction in the beef cow herd. Wild running, called gadding, reduces milk flow by 1 kg/day and reduces weaning weight about 20 kg. The gain of calves in the winter can be reduced 7 to 17 kg over a five month period. On today's market, that's worth up to $30.00. In the feedlot, treated cattle gain 16 percent faster, for a return of $30 for even $1 spent on treatment. When dairy heifers were treated in the fall with systemic insecticide, gains during the winter increased by 9 percent. This difference in growth rate was as much as 38 percent in herds with heavy warble grub infestations. Control can be achieved by applying trichlorfon (a pour -on), fenthion (a spot-on) or coumaphos (as a spray) from September 15 to November 30. Animals which are less than three months old, sick, convalescing, or under stress are not to be treated. Lactating dairy cat- tle are not to be treated. Depending on the size of the animal, the cost ranges from 20 cents to $1.10 per head. For full information, pick up a copy of the factsheet "War on Warbles", Agdex 420/655. Always read and heed the label. Stan Paquette Farm Management Specialist Chisel -Type Plow available for use Interested in trying a chisel plow on your farm this fall? The Huron Soil and Crop Im- provement Association has purchased a "Chisel/Board" conversion kit which converts a moldboard plow to a chisel - type plow. "Chisel/Board" is made by Star Manufacturing Company of Illinois. Each unit replaces an existing moldboard. Kits can be purchased to fit most popular plows and are available as either a one piece twisted chisel (1/2"x4"x26") or three piece Glencoe type (point, moldboard and base). The Huron County Soil and Crop Improvement Associa- tion's 4 -shank implement is available on loan, free of charge, to any Huron County farmer (maximum use 5 acres). So this fall, don't bury all that soil -saving crop residue - now is the time to try some conservation tillage! For further information, contact Carol Thompson, Huron Soil and Water Conser- vation District, Clinton. (Phone 482-3428) . Special on Replacement- Chain MODEL L700 - 6 IMPORTANT FEATURES: • Steal Forged Central Block • Steel Ahoy • Thicker Blades • Welded Blades • Dismountable • Bigger ft C0.1%f C ri,G Fits most makes of cleaners Prices as low as 7.99 per foot delivered Features: 2" x 2" x '/4" paddle Each paddle bolted on We also have a hook and eye chain Contact: Mated Coistr ctiou Ltd. RR. 1 Granton, Ontario Phone Kirkton 229.8244 Your Clay, Beatty, Ralco & Berg Dealer Centralia student is dairy princess The promotion of milk in Huron County will be Muriel Huth's main activity in the coming year as the county dairy princess. Recently chosen over five other contestants for the title, 18 -year-old Muriel has a lot of ideas for her task. "I thought if I did become the dairy princess, I have a lot of ideas for promoting milk," responded Miss Huth when asked why she entered the dairy princess competition. The daughter of Percy and Janet Huth of RR2 Clifford, Muriel is presently in her first year at Centralia College of Agricultural Technology where she is enrolled in the food service management course. She chose to attend Centralia over other city colleges. "I like to look out my win- dow and see a corn field," she enthused. Interviewed at the college between classes, Muriel has qualities that are sometimes hard to find in her peer group. She is articulate, not afraid to speak up about her ideas and immersed in enough ac- tivities to keep several people busy. The 1983-84 dairy princess does keep her schedule runn- i,ig smoothly. She is on cam- pus from Sunday night to Fri- day afternoon. Late Friday afternoon she heads for home, the family farm in Howick Township. Friday night she • ...• •lirYF1 ..,;rw...tri••.....,i�ra Mme.. nw +r "Don't Delay Call Today" 235.0770 HIGHEST PRICES PAID FOR YOUR 1983 CROP Seed Barley Feed Barley Mixed Grain Seed Soyabeans Feed Oats Soyabeans Seed Oats Corn Give Us a Call at 235-0770 works at a well-known restaurant in Clifford, Satur- day she leaves open for dairy princess duties and Sunday, after church, her time is devoted to homework. As dairy princess, Muriel's goals are to expand the role of milk promoter from visiting classrooms and attending Women's Institutes to visiting malls, Brownie, Guides and Scouting groups, nursing homes and hospitals. Muriel's ideas for promo- tion include diplays of milk labelled items such oven mitts, aprons, buttons, etc. which may also be sold. Others include demonstrating milk recipes and holding draws. Since being crowned dairy princess, Muriel has attended several functions. These in- clude handing out 4-11 ribbons at the Howick fall fair. The Howick native has hob- bies which range from sing- ing to traveling. Last year she completed her Grade eight singing and now can teach the art to others. Muriel has taken 13 4-H homemaking clubs and one 4-11 dairy calf club. She also enjoys waitressing, including it among her hobbies. Other interests are stamp collecting, fitness and travell- ing. Recently she visited the Poconos and New York City and Canada's own capital, Ottawa. The new dairy princess has Please turn to page 1$ You do not have to be a full- time bird watcher to know what is going on these days with our feathered friends. If you just keep your eyes open, whether in cities or the coun- try, you can see the birds gathering in many places. I never cease to marvel at now the flocks gather, twitter in the cool, October sun, and then take off to whirl and turn in unison as if they were drill- ing in formation for their long flight to the south. As I understand it, the older males gather first and leave while the females and the youngsters that were hatched this summer follow at a slower pace. Birds know by instinct that the youngsters are not strong flyers and need more time for the flight. Canada geese have been gathering for weeks and the bird sanctuaries have been teeming with life. The robins have almost all gone although a few diehards are still around. The smart swallows and martins left a couple of weeks ago. They do not like the cold nights. Even my favorite summer visitor, the kingbird, has been gone for a couple of weeks. Nobody has yet figured out how birds know when to start their migrations, nor how they find their way thousands of miles over land and sea from the Arctic barrens to the tropics. Who gives the signal to go? Who is the chief bird of every species who says, okay gang, it's time! I am convinced that the same robins return every year to our two acres. We have one palomino robin who has been back for three years. How do they find my acres in the heart of this province every year? The Baltimore orioles return every year. About five years ago, only one pair was nesting here. But their children and maybe even their children's children have been returning and now we have a dozen or more in the neighborhood. If we were in wilder parts of the province, we would see the beavers beginning to cut young, sweet, green wood to store in the mud at the bottom of their ponds. The muskrats, 1 Usborne & Hibbert Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Established in 1876 Provides Full Insurance Coverage for Town Dwellings as well as Farm Properties DIRECTORS AND ADJUSTERS Jack Harrigan Robert Gardiner Lloyd Morrison Lorne Feeney Ray McCurdy Robert Chaffe AGENTS Ross Hodgert John Moore Juseph Uniac Mrs. Elaine Skinner Wally Burton Woodham Dublin Mitchell Exeter Exeter R.R.3, Lucan R.R. 2, Staffa R.R.1, St. Marys R.R.2, Dublin R.R.1, Kirkton R.R. 5, Mitchell 229-6643 345-2512 348-9012 235-1553 235-0350 Hill & Hill Farms Ltd. Clinfield Elevators Concession 2 Stanley Twp. Lenon ve •pp,ec.•ted be Bob Ti, •te. EldN, RO flows OM /I311 2C)� too, are busy on their winter homes although, as I unders- tand it, they store root and vegetable matter, not wood as the beavers do. Those of us who like to shoot deer with a camera instead of gun will notice the fawns have lost their spots and, with their mothers, are moving back in- to the woods where they can find plenty to eat. The bucks, or course, keep out of sight at this time of year. They are back in the shadowy places until the points of their antlers finally harden in November. It takes the patience of Job to photograph wildlife. I have never been a gun lover and would far rather shoot with a camera. That way, I can preserve life rather than destroy it. Some years ago, I listened to a hunter describe how he had shot a motner bear and two cubs. If I had ever had an inkling to be a hunter, that story was enough to stifle any ambitions. "She came stumbling out of the den and my first shot blew her bottom jaw away," he said. "My second shot got her in the heart and the cubs were sitting ducks after that." Not for me. I have never liked guns and such stories turn me off. But that is no reason to condemn all hunters. We have upset the balance of nature so much that hunting seasons are necessary in many parts of the nation. All I'm saying is that hun- ting with a gun is not for me. A love of all life, even a reverence for it, is better, it seems to me, than destroying it. But then, again, I love fishing, so what is the difference? Don't ask me I'm going out now with my field glasses to watch the birds fly south and envy them their wisdom in getting away from the cold. I wish I could follow them. IN 2800 HEAT UNITS, ITS.... THE PALACE GUARD J K1173 Green, healthy stalks keep K1173 standing well into the fall while the husks dry and open early for fast drydown. Great for grain or silage. Ross Ballantyne Kirkton James Cooper Kippen Harold & Don Kerslake Exeter Douglas Lightfoot Crediton Clinfield Elevators Hill & Hill Farms Ltd. are both ready to receive your 1983 • Soyabeans • Corn - our '5' dryers will ensure fast service - custom combining and trucking available - open 24 hours a day Clinfield Elevator Peter Rountree 482-3191 Hill AND Hill FARMS VARNA ONT. Hill d Hill Elevator Rev Hill 482-3218