HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1985-3-20, Page 378 - The FS=1101014 Week ,of March 2®, X1885
Soil conservation practices control erosion and save farmers' .. ers' oney
horn page 4 .
able witli eaverience award, application of
Most recent . and equipn nt.
In a yield check taken in 1982, Lobb
measured a corn yield reduc�tionnf 27 percent
on a typical eroded area vs the artheent
deposition area. Sohl. tests have indicated P
and K levels on the eroded areas to be equal
to or higher than the deposition areas. As
erosion occurs, yields decline in spite of
fertility levels. On rolling land there may be
as mush mectunrical tillage erosion as water
erosion. No -till has the potential to reduce
erosion by 80 - 90 per cast, limiting soil loss to
at least the "tolerable" rate.
Reduced erosion also mamas saved pestic-
ides and nutrients, particularly phosphorus.
Other potential saving incudes time, often
suggested to be 40 per cent for ecru
production. Lobb's has been less but a shift in
the time of some worts from spring and fall to
sunk is an advantage.
Instead of plowing and tilling the soil when
compaction . is likely Lobb spot sprays
perennial weeds in the summer. A more
uniform vamidoad means more time to
manage. Filet savings are often suggested to
be 65 -per cent. Lobb thinks this is somewhat
optimistic. Reduced capitalization at more
than 40 per cent for com production equip-
ment may be a key incentive to use
conservation practices such as no -till.
With appropriate procedures, Lobb's no -till
costs for weed control, fertilizer, insecticide
and seed have not been greater than those of
conventional tillage. Cover drop costs (when
used) ate paatiaily additional to those of
®onventional tillage. Cover crop kill costs
have ranged from $5 an acre to $25 an acre
where improper kill procedure was used.
Rabb suspects the switch to conservation
tillage will be based on both long and. short
term economics, rather than moral reasons. It
is noticeable the more soil conservation
effective a tillage system is, the greater the
potential for savings in all other areas. It is
worth the challenge to develop a system to
produce acceptable yields with no -till, Lobb
observes.
Mese savings will only be realized how-
ever, when the system is reasonably perfect -
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efalle
ed by an individual. Without care, the cost of
perfecting no -till can be very high.
"I will only partially gain the suggested
benefits because I have a wide range of soil
types and slopes and because the best tillage
system will always be site specific. No -till on
adapted areas along with reduced or modified
conventional till is the least expensive way to
gain the necessary tillage flexibility for my
farm situation," , comments Lobb. "That
tillage flexibility will allow me to reduce
erosion to acceptable levels, with reduced risk
for losing farm income stability."
In 1981 Lobbs' work with no -till involved
planting 10 ages of corn and one-half aa'e of
soybeans; the objective being the first year to
turn to page 18
First Line Seeds
By Sharon Dietz
March 1982 marked the beginning of a new
seed company in Ontario - First Line Seeds
Ltd., operated by a number of leading seed
growers from across Western Ontario who
have been selected for their knowledge and
qualifications as high quality seed producers.
"Until now, seed growers have not had
much influence on the market. Our company
gives us the opportunity to follow our seed
from the research stage to the time when it
reaches the farmer grower," explains First
Line president Peter Hannam. "Our main
concern is to produce very high quality seed;
there have been examples of poor quality
seed on the market, and we want to change
that situation." The trend toward propietary
seed varieties also promoted the group to
organize a company.
The company's fifteen shareholders are
divided into oonunittees and each is respon-
sible for a different commodity. Recommen-
dations are made to the Board by each
committee on variety development, pricing
and on what basis to get involved with a crop.
Currently groups meet to discuss soybeans,
seed corn, white beans, wheat and grains and
forages.
First Lane's first commercial project, soy-
beans was introduced in the spring of 1982
and was very successful. Since then First Line
has branched into seed wheat and sv>Pri corn
and now have the recommended oom
hybrids, says Hannam.
"Our commitment to high quality seed
continues and is reflected in every aspect of
our company from research to marketing,'¢.',
turn to page 16
Shared risk loans o..s
from page 7
financial aid to fanners who might not be able
to obtain funds from the commercial banks,
expects to make about $250 million in faun
loans this year. It was writing Loans of
between $600 million and $700 million in 1982
and 1983.
The demand for loans has been so poor in
the past 12 months that the corporation
recently announced it was slashing more than
$400 million from its loans fund and using the
money elsewhere in the agricultural depart-
ment's budget.
At a seminar on faun issues organized
earlier in the day by MP Terry Clifford
(PC -London -Middlesex), another group of
farm spokesmen heard that the corporation is
constantly studying its operation for more
effective ways to help fanners.
Unfortunately, said Bob Aumell, Ontario
regional manger for the credit corporation,
the problems of falling farm prices and falling
land values were well known throughout the
industry. Solutions,were not nearly so easy to
find.