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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1994-11-2, Page 23/ ) H A TE Times -Advocate, November 2, 1994 1'il,tist' 2.3 Harvest above average, as prices wilt CENTRALIA - Local farmers are seeing above average crops coming in from their fields this fall, but the hard part will be getting a good price for them on the markets this winter. Agriculture experts predicted earlier this year that crop prices would be softening this fall, due to the U.S. bumper crop, and a rail car shortage and strike. However, fears for a below-average Ontario corn crop did not ma- terialize. Allan McCallum at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs office in Clinton reports that crops are coming in at "slightly above average" in the South Huron area, despite the extremely wet spring that cast doubts on whether the corn would make it to maturity. By lune, the area was about 100 degree days behind normal growing condi- tions. McCallum said the "tremendous" September and October dry and warm weather made up for most of those earlier `A, fears. In fact, he said corn is coming in with moisture contents in the low 20 percent range "so that's going to save some money on drying charges". "Things came around," said McCallum. Yields on corn are running around 125 hushels an acre, with a few farmers reporting 150 bushels plus. "Overall, the farmers are pleasantly surprised." agreed Earl Reichert at Cook's head office in Centralia. McCallum also reported that with about 95 percent of the soybean crop harvested, yields are between 35 and 45 hushels an acre in the South Hu- ron area, with most reporting slightly above average yields. "There's some awful good land in South Huron," said McCallum, con- sidering the wet, cold spring. The white bean crop, however, didn't live up to the high expectations some originally gave it. "We do have a good average crop," acknowledged McCallum, citing a Targe yield range from 13 to 23 bags an acre. "In general, edible bean growers had a good year," he said, but said hopes for record-breaking crops faded as the summer progressed. The 1995 winter wheat crop is already off to a good start, with the fall's gentle rains and fair warmth to help germination. "It's really come along now," said McCallum. noting local farmers have planted a similar acreage as last year. This year marked the first time Ontario farmers planted more acres of soybeans than corn. That gamble may be paying off, as American farmers boast of a record corn crop, pushing prices down. Brent Atthill at Cook's said corn prices were down a nickel a bushel to $2.76 on Monday, reflecting the ongoing harvest of a good American crop. "It's down fairly low compared to most years," said Atthill, referring to the Chicago futures market. i1 But the low Canadian dollar will also have a bearing on how profitable local farmers find their.corn harvests this year. - "That's a major factor," said Atthill, and noted a 1995 Quebec referendum may take another kite out of the '77i' dollar. making U.S competition more expensive. / But the record U.S. crop can't be ignored. "A crop the size they've grown in the States is New HC dairy educator WALTON - Kim Baan loves kids so it's no surprise that she is eager to take on the challenges of educat- ing young children about the dairy industry in her new role as the Hu- ron County Dairy Educator. Baan was chosen as the Huron County Dairy Educator August 31 at a special reception hosted by the Huron County Milk Committee. She is the second person in Huron to be named Dairy Educator since the Dairy Princess competition was revamped to concentrate on educat- ing primary school children about milk and the dairy industry. 'I love working with kids," says the 18 -year-old Kim who is the old- est daughter of David and Dianne Baan of RR 3, Walton. For the past year, she has been working part time at the Seaforth Cooperative Child Care Centre where she dis- covered many children didn't know where milk came from. "I was real- ly surprised to realize the children didn't know much about the dairy industry. I'd like to teach them about all the work there is on the farm and what all happens to milk before it reaches their table." As Dairy Educator, she will be at- tending over 20 schools, promoting the dairy industry with cheese dis- plays in grocery stores and by at- tending local fairs. Besides her Dairy Educator du- ties, Baan will be attending Cones- toga College this fall to earn her Early Childhood Education diplo- ma. She also helps out on the fami- ly -farm. This past year, she did the milking almost every night. Her parents have a 40 -head milking herd of mostly purebred Holsteins. Kim Baan Baan isn't the only new face within the Huron County Dairy Ed- ucator program this year. Brenda Brjdge of Tiverton has resigned as coordinator to pursue new interests after six years of service. Her en- thusiasm brought new life to the program which has evolved into an important public relations tool for dairy farmers in the county. The new coordinators are sisters Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot of RR 3, Auburn and Tanya Verburg of RR I, Au- burn, both of whom are former Hu- ron County Dairy Princesses. Anyone interested in having the Dairy Educator at their event can call Boonstoppel-Pot at 526-7408. Got a News Tip?' �Call the Times- t4JJdvoor going to put futures on the defensive," he said, not- ing some Michigan corn is already showing up in Ontario. "Corn in Ontario isn't going to he worth any more than what you can bring it in for." he said, and suggested that trend may continue into the New Year. "It doesn't look overly optimistic for some good prices," said Atthill. The time to sell soybeans was on the futures market in early summer, when local farmers could have booked their crops for $8.50 to $8.75 a bushel. In contrast, November futures were going for $5.25, plus the $1.10 basis. Still, Atthill said some "global demand" to export soybeans is suggesting the price will go up. He said he is seeing January futures going for $5.56 a bushel, plus the $1.10 basis. White beans, however, will likely see the biggest gains over last year's prices. Hopes are that farmers will be seeing returns of $28-29 a hag for the 1994 crop, compared to last year's $23 per hag. Those gains are being attributed to problems with the Michigan bean crop. Ag Society officers elected CLINTON - The annual meet- ing of Dist. 8 Ontario Associa- tion of Agricultural Societies was held at the Clinton Legion on October 25 with over 150 attend- ing from Agricultural Societies in Huron and Perth counties. Officers were elected: Past Dis- trict Director - Ron McKay of Clinton; Past Homecraft repre- sentative - Barb Pinkney of Lis- towel; District Director - Lyle Haney of Seaforth; Homecraft representative - Margaret Deichert of Zurich; Associate Di- rector - Bert Vorstenbosch of Mitchell; Assoc. Homecraft rep- resentative - Heather Moffatt of St. Marys; Sec. treas. - Ruthann Negrijn of Exeter. Yetter PLOW COULTER ASSEMBLIES OVER 60 COMPLETE UNITS IN -STOCK 5275 °° EA (QTY. DISCOUNT AVAILABLE) NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY! 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