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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-12-03, Page 9AT SOIL AND CROP ANNUAL — The annual production report meeting of the Huron Soil and Crop Improvement Association was held Thursday night in Varna. From the left ®are guest speaker Rick Upfold of the University of Guelph, secretary Art Bolton, district . direct Vic Roland and president Ray Hartman. T -A photo CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1986—Page 9 Red wheat endures bad crop year yields. Viruses are avoided by later planting. Soil and crop specialist John Heard gave a lengthy report on crop demonstrations held during 1986. Ray Hogan presented a resolution which will be forwarded to the Ontario Soil and Crop annual convention. It calls for more research in chemic,1 combinations which may be used on minimum tillage crops. Hogan said the registration process should be speeded up to meet the unique needs of conservation tillage. Huron's Soil and Crop president Ray Hart- man of Hay Township was chairman for the evening's, activities. Gerald Hayter and Walter Mcllwain are vice-presidents and Art Bolton is secretary. The 1986 Norman Alexander Conservation Award and other presentations will be made at another banquet scheduled for January 9, 1987. Nominees for the award to those practic- ing outstanding conservation practices are Lyle Martin, Ethel; John and Harry Swinkle; Ken Gascho, R.R. 3, Zurich; Jim McIntosh, R.R. 4, Seaforth; Roy Erb, R.R. 3, Zurich; Jack McGregor and Bruce Shillinglaw. VARNA - Members of the Huron Soil and Crop Improvement . Association attending the annual meeting in Varna were told of the merits of hard red wheat. University of Guelph soils specialist Rick Upfold said this winter wheat was one of the shining lights during a very difficult crop year. He continued to say that red wheat sprouted slower than white wheats. In com- paring varieties he said Columbus had bet- ter straw and was more resistant to mildew than Katepwa, but not in rust resistance. Robert Traut in his conservation commit- tee report touched on ditchback and Lakeshore erosion and said water quality was very important. He said during the past year he has responded to 79 erosion calls and felt prevention was cheaper than a cure. Steps included cropping across slopes which cut erosion by 25 per cent, crop rotation and rock rip rap to protect drains. Traut said grants were available for structural erosion control projects. Huron's Ag Rep Don Pullen said it was dif- Farm aid insuffieient, Klopp says BY PATRICK RAFTIS Huron County farmers are expected to account for approximately 10 per cent of the 18,000 Ontario farmers expected to ap- ply for assistance through the new aid pro- gram announced last week by the provin- cial government. Don Pullen, Huron County represen- tative of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food said 900 applications for the Ontario Family Farm Interest Rate Reduction program (OFFIRR) from Huron County were approved last year and he expected that number to be roughly double, under the new OFFIRR Plus enhancement program. However, even the combined help of the OFFIRR Plus program and the $10 million in announced. special assistance for adverse weather damage may not be enough to pull many farmers, reeling from •.the rainiest growing season in a decade, out from under, warns Paul Klopp, presi- dent of the Huron County chapter of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. "It (the assistance package) sounds like a lot of money at first, but when they break it down to individual cases, they would pro- bably be further ahead to give everyone a couple of hundred bucks and forget all the paper work," said Klopp. Using his own case as an example, Klopp said he expects to realizabout $15 per acre for his 54 acres of cash crops this year. Had he produced an "average crop" and been paid average prices, Klopp said, his return would have been approximatley $100 per acre. Klopp said he estimates himself in the 30 per cent crop loss bracket eligible for full assistance under the an- nounced package. If the • federal government were to "sweeten the pot" by meeting the provin- cial contribution, said Klopp, it might get farmers up to the $30 or $40 per acre return level, which might help those on the edge to survive. Klopp said his first reactions to the assistance programs included three main points: a great deal of "paperwork" is in- volved; the dollar amounts for which in- dividual farmers are eligible were "not much"; and the `vegetable people will be helped a little more because they are deal- ing in larger dollars". Klopp said the larger the farmer's operation, the larger his assistance cheque will look, but added the amounts will not be enough to compensate for losses suffered this year. "It's as if you were drowning and they throw you a rope that's seven -feet -long, but you're 20 feet out." For farmers covered by crop insurance, it will be a fairly simple process to deter- mine what amount of assistance they will be elibible for. The government will simp- ly use the crop insurance assessments to estimate the losses. Uninsured farmers will have to have their losses estimated after the fact, using sales receipts and storage figures as a basis, said Pullen. "By using these methods and talking to the farmers, it should be fairly simple to assess," Pullen said. •Applicator forms for the enhanced aid programs will not be available until at least Dec. 15, Pullen said. , A special toll-free telephone number for the OFFIRR Plus information has been set up to be available beginning today. Before calling the number (1-800-268-1152) farmers should be sure their situation meets two basic criterium. The number is only for the use of farmers who are not in- sured under the crop insurance program and who have crop losses of 30 per cent or more, Pullen pointed out. 0 Manure spreading alert in effect BY RON FLEMING AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER • "If anything can go wrong, it will". A' fellow named Murphy made that profound observation. He also noted that "if everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something". Both statements apply very well to spreading 'Manure, e§pecially liquid manure. We have received several reports of problems involv- ing manure running out of drainage tiles following fall spreading. This is bad news since it really makes a mess of water quali- ty downstream. It's also against the law, and several farmers over the years have ended up being charged with polluting watercourses. - Sometimes these problems are hard to Beigrave... • from page 8 tier, Sherri and twins Amanda and Alicia of RR 4 Walkerton and Mrs. Ronald Hill of RR 1 Tavistock. Friends and neighbors of the community extend sympathy to Miss Mary Isabel Nethery on the death of her mother Mrs. Ed- na Nethery. Mrs. William Speiran of Listowel spent a few days last week with her cousins Mr.and Mrs. Bert Johnston. Mr. and Mrs. Glyn Wide, Kimberly, Jen- nifer and Trevor of Hamilton spent the weekend with her parents Mr. and Mrs. Garner Nicholson. Eight tables were in play at the weekly euchre which was held in the Belgrave W.I. Hall on November 26. The scorers were: •High Lady - Mrs. Norma Rintoul; Novelty Lady - Mrs. Gordon Bosman; Low Lady - Mrs. Agnes Bieman; High Man - Mrs. Stanley Black ( playing as a man) ; Novelty Man - Herb Clayton; Low Man - Leslie Vincent. A thank you note was read by Leslie Vin- cent from the Women's Institute for a dona- tion of $300.00 which was given to them by the Euchre Club. There will be euchre again this Wednes- day starting at 8 pm. Everyone is welcome. understand. Farmers who have followed the same spreading practices for years are run- ning into problems. It may be something to do with the saturation of the soil, or maybe soil structuic, or maybe even higher spreading rates than usual. One problem has shown up on more than one occasion, and it has formed the basis of the famous "Fleming's Law" (appearing here for the first time). "POND OVER TILES, POLLU- TION FOR MILES". Catchy, eh? What I've noticed is that any time manure ponds in a field, it usually means the soil is saturated or the spreading rates are too high. Manure will pond in the low area, and this is often over drainage tile. It will almost ficult to see silver linings in the clouds of the 1986 crop season, but 1987 held another season's promise. In discussing services of OMA1', Pullen said Huron as one of 54 counties and districts in the province had 10 per cent of the action in assistance programs especially in financial situations. During the recent OFFIR program, 9.00 Huron farm families made applications while the number in Perth was 650. Crops researcher Bob Forrest brought farmers up to date on information gathered by his department at Centralia College. He said the CCAT program has grown dramatically from 20 projects when he started to about 100 at the present time. Forrest who specializes in white bean variety testing and disease problems said lights were on the horizon as far as bean blight was concerned. During the past six to eight years, have become a mainstay of the agricultural economy in Huron Edible small seeded soys are more suitable in the northern portion of the county and are doing well in the Ottawa Valley. The researcher said planting of winter rapeseed may be delayed to as late as September 1'7 without any major losses in certainly get into the tile through some means as cracks in the soil. If you see manure forming ponds, you pro- bably should stop spreading or spread less per acre. At least, check tile flow at the outlet or at a catch basin. It's a good idea to check the tile anyway. We've seen pollution caused by broken til and, ther problems. If the wat iiil the'tile 1,00lifited,plug the tile and pump the pollute;dwater onto the land. You should also notify the Ministry of the Environment, because they may be able to give some helpful advice. Remember that manure is like fire - it can do a lot of good or if it's not used right, it can cause a lot of damage. DON'T SHOVEL SNOW ANY MORE - GET ONE OF LOBB'S (YaRD-Ma) SNOWBIRD SNOWTHROWERS! NEW AT LOBB'S Our complete line of snowthrowers is now IN STOCK GET THE YARD -MAN ADVANTAGES *Original 2 -year Limited Consumer Warranty •Briggs & Stratton Engines •Single and 2 -Stage Models •New time and energy saving features •Folding Handles for easy storage •Throw snow up to 40 feet away •Made in Kitchener, Ontario Canada •8 H.P. (26") •10 H.P. (28" cut) •11 H.P. (32" cut) LOBB'S VOLUME PURCHASING POWER WILL SAVE YOU MONEY! COMPARE OUR SNOWTHROWER PRICES BEFORE YOU BUY LIMITED TIME SPECIAL! 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