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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1981-11-11, Page 12PAGE 12—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1981 Huron home and farm news Last call to beefrnen Applications for beef cat- tle assistance on cattle sold as stockers or sold for slaughter in 1980 must be fil- ed on or before November 30, 1981. Details for Slaughter Animals: 1. Amount of Assistance - $40 per head. 2. Eligible Animals - Cattle owned by applicant and fed in Ontario for at least 60 days prior to slaughter. Animals must be sold for slaughter in 1980 and graded A, B or C. 3. Applicant must be a resident of Ontario in 1980. 4. Purchase and ' sales receipts must accompany application. 5. Applicant must have sold ten or more slaughter cattle in 1980. 6. Final application date is November 30, 1981, 7. A properly executed af- fidavit may be requested. 8. All Applications are sub- ject to audit. Details for Stocker Cattle: 1. Amount of Assistance - $20 per head. 2. Applicant 'must have been a resident of Ontario in 1980 and sold a minimum of ten stockers in 1980. 3. Eligible Animals pur- chased by the applicant as calves and fed in Ontario for 150 days and sold for finishing purposes in 1980. They must have weighed 600 pounds when sold. 4. Other criteria is the same as for the . slaughter program. Remember, applications are available at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and. Food offices. Apply on or before November 30, 1981. —Stan Paquette, Assoc. Ag. Rep. Huron Soil and Crop Improvement Assoc. If you're interested in im- proving crop production with up-to-date . information on new hybrids, seed germina- tion, red clover plowdown, weed control and con- servation, then plan to at- tend the Huron Soil and Crop Improvement Association annual meeting. This year's annual meeting will be held on Thursday evening, November 26 at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. The social hour will begin at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. and the meeting to follow. Tickets are $10 each and include county membership for 1982. Tickets are available from township directors and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food office, Clinton. —John Heard, Assist. Ag. Rep. Fall and winter manure spreading The benefits of manure for crop production are pretty well established. Most of you would accept, the "ideal system" for saving manure nitrogen is to incorporate the manure in the spring. Spring incorporation will give you the best nutrient benefit. Meanwhile you also have to get your crop planted. You are generally going to have about five good working days ( when the soil is in good shape ) between May 3 and May 15 Delaying planting will cost you some yield potential and profit. Lower yield potential means it will cost you just as much to pro- duce the crop but you pro- bably won't get as many bushels of cern. You can compromise. If you delay planting for a week while you spread manure, you give up five to six bushels of corn per acre. You will reduce your fer- tilizer needs by 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Assuming a medium application rate of solid cattle manure or 4,000 gallons per acre hog manure. This saving of nitrogen could amount to from $13 to $16 per acre. However, it could cost you' $15 to $25 in lost corn (assuming no further yield loss due to compaction). But manure spreaders do compact. Especially if they are used in early May. This means you will also lose corn due to compaction. The irony of this is, you may have wanted to apply manure in the spring so that you wouldn't lose nitrogen to the soil water. But if you com- pact soil while manuring, and apply enough manure nitrogen to grow 120 bushels of corn, but the field only produces 85 bushels - you have 'lost all that nitrogen anyway. You would have grown more corn and lost less' nitrogen by applying that manure some time other than early May. Some people have equip- ment for side dressing manure or injecting it between the rows of corn. The main limitation here is time. Manure spreading may conflict with bean plan- ting, spraying or haying. Bad weather can still keep the heavy equipment out of the field until the corn is too advanced to get full benefit from the manure. It's a good option, requiring some extra investment but possibly limited to the farms with available time (and money?). Irrigation also has some possibilities: The field equipmment is relatively light. It can be custom done. at a competitive cost. Here again timing is important if your crop is to get the full benefit. There is a real seasonal rush to get manure irrigating done. Fields that are more than a couple thou- sand feet from the manure storage also pose a problem. You may end up over manur- ing the fields close to the storage -and ;, ignoring ; the fields that are farther away. We're seeing farmers try out other options that may not be "ideal" but get the job done. Selves Farms at Fullerton are evaluating a cropping system using a rotation of two or three years corn and one year of barley underseeded to a red clover plowdown crop. After the barley is off the red clover will receive 10-15,000 gallons per acre of hog manure dur- ing the fall. The red clover and manure is plowed down about this time of year. The first corn crop after this treatment is not fertilized. The second and third crops may get some nitrogen. The barley has yielded very well with no fertilizer at all. The rates of N required are still being tested. Probably the second crop will need a little bit of N and third may. be close to a normal N applica- tion but we don't know for sure yet. Selves have just harvested their first corn crop follow- ing the red clover and manure treatment. The crop stood well and yielded 20-30 bushels per acre more than a neighboring continuous corn field — equally fertilized, planted the same day and growing the same hybrids.,A further note is that the soil seemed to be in better shape at harvest — more porous and not as water-logged. Another farmer tried leav- ing part of a corn field unplowed for winter manure application. There were pro- blems. It was a clay field and the manure kept the field COUNTY APPOINTMENTS Icon -County Councillors Certain appointments are made each year by the Coun- ty of Huron to various local boards or committees. For 1982, County appointments are to be made as follows: -Huron County Land Division Committee .Huron County Public Library Board Ali present members of the Library Board except one are eligible for reappointment and all members of the Land Division Committee except one are eligible for reappointment. If interested. submit details In writing (Including telephone number) and Indicate committee or board on which you prefer to serve. Submissions to be receivedby the undersigned by December 1, 1981. B.G. Handy, Clerk -Treasurer & Administrator, County of Huron, Court House, Goderich, 0614000 NiA 1M2 from drying very quickly in the spring. When plowed, the soil turned up with a waxy appearance and worked up into a seedbed that looked like broken bricks. The corn crop that followed was very uneven and finally ended up with about half the popula- tion of the fall plowed strip beside it. The moral of this story is that if you are going to leave a field unplowed — try to pick out a loam or san- dy loam field that will accept the spring plowing more forgivingly. Another method that is us- ed is to leave a 10 or 15 acre field of forages. Generally a field that is running out. You can take a first cut, manure it, plow it in early June and plant. The problem is that about the only, crop that can be planted is beans. Even then you can not have any perennial grass control. If this field is planted to corn, say on June 5, you lose 20 bushels ($60 to $80) per acre assuming you can spring plow that field. In this case it is better to manure that field in the fall and then fall plow it and plant the corn on time. An option that not too many people try — and I'm not sure why — is to work the field once after it is fall plow- ed. Don't try to make a seedbed — just a smoother surface to run your spreader on. If you know you're going to have to spread manure on plowed ground in the winter time anyway — there's no point punishing both yourself and your machinery. A rough surface is good plow- ing — as long as you don't have to drive on it when it's frozen. I'm not recommending winter manure spreading as a system you should work towards. It is, however, a fact of life that is sometimes necessary. Most of us can't afford the outlay required to have the best system, so we just do the best we can af- ford. -Pat Lynch, Soils and Crops Specialist and Art Lawson, Assoc. Ag. Rep. Propane As gasoline prices rise, propane is becoming more attractive as an alternative fuel for farm machinery, but the economics of converting vehicles is still a concern. "You've got to look at every individual case and consider conversion costs, propane costs, availability, storage costs, annual fuel consumption and the dumber of vehicles to be con- verted", says Ron Mac- Donald, of the Energy Management Resource Cen- tre. It is feasible to convert gasoline engines to propane. Potential farm applications include farm trucks, cars, gasoline -powered swathers and combines. The federal government, through the propane vehicle grant program, now offers farmers and businessmen a taxable grant of up to $400 for each vehicle converted to propane use. The Ontario Government exempts conversion kits and converted vehicles from sales tax. Tractors and small b=ucks for farm use are also exempt from sales tax. Many Ontario farmers already use propane for home heating and crop dry- ing. But -when it comes to converting vehicles, each "Hmm I think rii try the relish," this customer says, pointing out a jar to saleslady Betty Lockhart, left, at the Wesley -Willis Morning Market. A huge crowd quickly stripped the bazaar of most of its goodies. (James Fitzgerald photo) news farm news Bean board meetings set The annual meetings of the six districts of the Ontario Bean Producers Marketing Board are scheduled to start later this month, with Huron Producers set to lead them off. Members of District 6, which includes all of Huron County, will have their annual meeting on Friday, November 27 at the Hensall Arena, beginning at 10 am. Any producer who has a question and won't be able to attend or wishes to see a copy of last year's minutes may contact one of the local committee members for the county who include Don Brodie, Jack Coleman, Murray Dennis, Bill Dowson, Bob Fotheringham, Victor Hartman, Bev Hill, Ray Huether, Jim Love, John Maaskant, Bill McGregor, and Larry Wheatly. Several local producers are also on the nine -member board, and they include Bob Allan, Joe Miller, and Gordon Hill, who is also the chairma n. It's been a great year for Ontario white bean and colored bean producers, according to the Board's recent newsletter, with 954,441 hundred weight bags sold already, two-thirds of them on the export market, with the current'prices in the record $44 a bag range. The huge price increase is attributed to an earlier harvest than Michigan, Ontario's main competitor, where heavy rains reduced the crop to an estimated 3.5 million bags from an August estimate of 5.5 million bags. Michigan growers, who don't have a board, aren't selling many beans as prices are in the low $30 range and it varies from elevator to elevator. The Bean Board is reminding all producers that if they were docked the $75 a metric tonne for off -colored breans, they can recover up to 75 per cent of the lass if they have crop insurance. They should, however, contact their insurance agent who will determine the amount to be paid. Canadians drinking wine Annual per capita wine consumption in Canada has doubled since 1977. It is now almosttwo gallons. +++ Mushroom Mushroom growers produce an average of 4.5 crops every year. conversions profitable case must be examined closely to see if there are savings for the farmer. Con- version is only worthwhile if the machine is used exten- sively, says MacDonald. A conversion kit, plus in- stallation, costs from $1500 to $1900, he says. There are many brands of kits now on the market. To be eligible for the $400 grant, an authorized Class A mechanic with an S6A certificate must install the kit. A consideration for farmers converting vehicles to propane is the need for a special storage tank and pump, says MacDonald. Even rental for a pump may cost up to $40 per month. Despite these drawbacks there may still be savings. In the Guelph area, a farmer driving a truck 16,000 km per year (10,000 miles) at 3.6 km per litre (10 miles per gallon) could save $600 to $800 in the first year on fuel, depending on the efficiency of the propane conversion. The provincial govern- ment does not levy a road tax on propane, or other alternative fuels, and pro- pane is now Much cheaper than gasoline. In the Guelph area, propane delivered to bulk tanks costs 19.3 cents per litre (86.1 cents per gallon) — about half the cost ATTENTION CORN GROWERS WATCH FOR NEW PRIDE 1169 IN THE TEST PLOT RESULTS, IT IS GIVING EXCELLENT YIELD AND STANDABILITY. THIS BRAND WILL DEFINITELY SELL OUT EARLY FOR ANY INFORMATION, FOR PLACING ORDERS CONTACT. JIM,COOPER R.R. 3, KIPPEN 262-6104 of gasoline. Propane users report mileage of anywhere from 85 to 100 percent of mileage ob- tained with gasoline. As a fuel, propane -can burn more completely and efficiently than gasoline, and results in less engine wear. Users report longer engine life and lower maintenance costs. Many from dere show at Royal There is a good representation of Huronites at the Royal Winter Fair this year, which runs from tomorrow, November 12 until next Saturday, November 21. Among the exhibitors will be Jack Armstrong and son from Auburn showing Jersey cattle, Herman and Lisa Voelmle of Auburn showing Suffolk Sheep, William Armstong of Bayfield with field crops, and Alec Ostrom of Clinton showing Jersey cattle. Goderich area residents at the Fair include Dr. Michael Conlon showing Simmental cattle, John Hazlltt corn.- petiting in the field crops division, and Hugo Ver- meesch showing poultry. As well, Grant Jones of Hensall ie entered in the field crops competition, and Kippen will be well represented by William and Leo Coleman, Alex McMurtrie and John Peck, all fighting for honors in the field crop division. The world's undisputed hay king, Russell Bolton, is entered ale. in in the field crops competition, while Norman H. Eckel and Doug Keys of Varna are showing in the same class. Zurich will be ably represented in the field crops competition by Charles Rau and Clare Regier. In the horse show, Tom Penhale of Bayfield will be showing his Belgian horses, while Eric Hackett of Lucknow will show Per- cherons. OFA asks province to declare emergency The provincial govern- ment should declare a state of emergency in agriculture, Ralph Barrie, President of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) said recently, while presenting OFA's annual brief to cabinet. "The economic situation is critical because of high in- terest rates and low com- modity prices," Barrie said, "but it's aggravated even more by the deluge of rain we've been having. Record rainfall in Ontario has delayed corn harvest and ruined many crops. "There are many desperate, disillusioned farmers out there, who have been coun- ting on this harvest to make ends meet," Barrie said. Barrie told Premier Davis that this emergency requires prompt government assistance in the form of short-term loans at subsidiz- ed interest rates. Barrie told the Cabinet that bankruptcy and bank survey figures are not telling an accurate story. "If the Bankers Associa- tion survey commissioned by this government shows 1,000 farmers in dire straits, I would be inclined to multip- ly that figure by 10 to get a truer indication of the pro- blem." Barrie censured the Cabinet for offering only limited assistance to farmers, despite promises for up to $125 million in aid. "All we've seen is under $50 million for beef feedlot operators. Our industry deserves more than a token handout." OFA's two vice- presidents, Ron White and Ron Jones, also addressed the Cabinet, encouraging the government to head the ad- vice OFA offers in its brief. Ship your livestock with ART HEFFRON Blyth Shipper for United Co-operatives of Ontario livestock Marketing Division Ontario Stockyards, Toronto CALL BLYTH 523-4221 by 8:00 a.m. Monday Stockers and Feeders Also Available Nonimnnomil Now! WE NEED YOUR NOMINATIONS FOR JUNIOR CITIZEN OF THE YEAR AWARD (DEADLINE: DECEMBER 1, 1981) Purpose of Awards Inaugurated in Ontario to provide recognition for outstanding achievements or acts of courage and *initiative by boys and girls between the ages of six and 18 years. The program will also in- clude individual awards presented for meritorious conduct on a sustained basis, plus special group awards to recognize the ef- forts of young people throughout the communities of the prov- ince Noteworthy deeds of Ontario boys and girls are performed within their communities. Only by having them drawn to our attention by Kcal nominators and newspaper editors will we be able to honour these worthy young citizens and give them the public recognition they so richly deserve. Who Is Eligible? The award nominees will be individuals or groups who have per- formed acts of physical heroism, perhaps endangering their own lives, overcoming disabling physical or psychological handicaps to match or exceed their fellows, or being involved in some worth-. while community service endeavour, A COMMUNITY PROJECT OF CP AIR AND THIS NEWSPAPER. Clir CP and Ce are tegnttard trndsaamrta er Cancdimaa Prenras Lammed m proud M nominate My name is of Address 'or a 1991 Ontario Junior C trzen of the Year Award Please enclose a separate sheet telling why you ')eI,eve an award is deserved.I Phone No Name of this newspaper Ca' an NOMINATIONS CLOSE DECEMBER 1, 1981 Chained Lightning... Stop in today for a demonstration on the new line of John Deere Chain Saws. Choose from sever models - 30 to 78cc.12 to 27 -inch spocket-nose guidebar. Each has a chisel or semichisel chain, automatic oiler, and counterbalanced crankshaft. Convenietly located handles and controls. Throttle/trigger interlock provides added safety. Get professional quality and dependability in the new line of John Deere Saws Put warmth where you want it... with a John Deere Space heater Two models are available to heat machine sheds. workships, cabins... anywhere 115 -volt current is available. All burn kerosene or No. 1 or No. 2 fuel oil. Fuel saving thermostat is standard on 150,000 BTU model, optional on, the 90,000 BTU model. _ Keep batteries powered up • with a John peere Charger You can keep batteries at peak charge or boost - start engines with a John Deere Charger Choose from four models All have a safety thermal cutoff switch, heavy - gauge steel case, color - coded terminal grips, easy -to -read ammeter, and detailed operating instructions on the case All John Deere Chargers are UL and CSA approved JOHN DEERE A GOOD SELECTION OF HEAVY DUTY BATTERIES FOR TRACTORS, COMBINES/ LAWN & GARDEN & SNOWMOBILES. • f �lil.rrr1�1I�J : , , tit~ JOHN DEERE TOYS John Deere Action Toys make playtime more fun. And, they're built to last. Come in and look over our full line soon. .(1,rW Of 141 11111011 TRACTOR Dlyth 523-4244 Exeter 235-1115 1'