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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-03-20, Page 5220 - The .Farm Edition, Week of March 20, 1985 Lucknow When you need- water, calf us for a dependable Goulds water System. We can select the right size Goulds pump that is best for your needs. Call us for professional service! Cliff's Plumbing St Heating ii • Employ strict standards ... page recommend they get their seed cleaned at another shareholder's plant,,' continues T timings. First Line Seeds can inspect and rressample lots at any time. Spot checking is carried out on a regular basis and processing plants are checked each season. "Seed processing within our own company is one of our methods of quality control. We know the operators and can check regularly on their operations," conclude Timmings. Shareholder Tom Martin of the St. Thomas area has been with the company since it started. He is entering his seventh year in the seed leaning business. Martini's operation features a four screen cleaner for sizing and spiral separators. "Since we are cleaning our' own seed, we " don't mind an extra heavy clean out. An extra Ove per cent can make the difference between from really good lot of seed and a poor one." The spiral separators take out an additinal one to two per cent after the cleaner to ensure that only the best seed is bagged. "A probed sample of every lot of seed is sent to Guelph for vigour, germination and purity testing," says martin. "It. is also checked for mechanical damage and is sized. " Samples must also be sent to an official seed analyst for a germination rating. "My plant is checked at least twice a year. Overall appearance and cleanliness is import- ant and the equipment must be in proper running condition," Martin says. "High quality seed is very important. When farmers buy -First Line seed they can be assured that they are getting superior seed. Every time a grower opens a bag of our seed he knows it will be good. Consistent quality is one distinct advantage of First Line Seeds and turn to page 26 Ashfield farmer encouraged by all in - all out swine PURE WATER FOR AMERICA Mei fiber Goulds Professional De:dtr Assocrat or, 528-3913 rem di That's us! We will provide parts and ser- vice and honor all warranties. for, both Case and IH agricultural equipment. Our fresh new team of quali- fied peirsonnel is committed to servicing you.r needs. We know:' that our most valuable asset .is • you. our customer. Stop by and let us show you why were part of this fresh and vital team for today's farmer! We re• proud to announce • that.. our dealership has been selected to represent the newly combined forces of J I Case and. International Harvester _ That means we carrnow offer you the widest range of quality agricultural equipment. Every- thing to.farm more efficiently' tractors, combines. implements and all from one dependable. -source Thats usi A fresh team for today's farmer «�3a 111 C.A.BECKER EQUIPMENT MUTED LUCKNOW 529-7993 By Alan Rivett A Lndmow area swine farmer has begun using the "all in - all out" method of raising pigs rather than continuous shipping with "very encouraging" results. Doug Cameron, who owns a swine operation on the tenth concession of Ashfield Township, has been using this method for a year with three groups of 425 pigs on his farm. While this method is common place among chicken and turkey pnacuers, it is still relatively untried in the ranks of swine producers. Under this system, he ships in pigs when they are eight weeks old at a weight of 50 pounds and ships them to market after 14 weeks at a weight of between 210 and 220 pounds. While using this method Cameron said disease can be more effectively controlled because as pigs are shippedtout the barn can be disinfected to have a sterile environment for an incoming batch of pigs.' Cameron said sickness in pigs can be greatly reduced because the "all in - all out" system allows a more uniform ventilation of the barn. ' Since different weights of pigs requires varying degrees of warmth in the at a oonsistant level as pigs shipped in are all of the same weight. The swine are better able to gain weight because_ of less stress on the wiener pigs which results in better feed efficiency` Cameron says this stress arises because of needling connected with sickness. When the pigs are in a more easily controlled environment, the end result is less days in which the pigs require in order to be marketable, says Cameron. It takes approxi- mately 130 to 140 days to get a pig to market, but, under this system, the pigs take an average of 90 days to become marketable. Cameron said better records can be maintained because cost of production costs can be more accurately calculated and, once the pigs are sold, the profit on the pigs is more accurate. ro The only draw back to the system, he said, is within the 31/2 month time frame when the pigs are being raised, the market prices can fluctuate more than if the farmer is selling the pigs on a weekly basis. Cameron said that he knows of farmers who operate a farrow to finish operation who have set up an "all in - all out" pig system in an area of their bams.' This area can be washed down and disinfected in order to get the desired results. Spot.treats perennial weeds .,. from -page 18 . perennials with conventional till anyway. "At least ,with no -till, I don't drag them all' aver -the field," Lobb observes wryly. - On areas where three no -till crops have been harvested the perennials have become Concentrated in small areas and are easily and inexpensively spot treated, notes Lobb. Dandelion control has been the greatest challenge which he has noticed to date. --Crop pests for Lobb have only • been symptoms of other management errors. Fbr example, the 'second generation of slugs which really do damage show up in fairly well , defined areas' 'which need more draining. Army worm feeding has been noted following rye and voluntary wheat which was killed too late. The same 'is true when corn has been planted • in late killed alfalfa. --Fadi year Lobb has had Dorn variety trials though which he ,could consider variety adaptability -on gro-till vs conventional till. Variety response to unusual: stress must be considered before choices are made. --Agribusiness has recognized that no -till. will be an essential fact of life for sustainable cop production. More effective equipment, a new generation of post -emerge herbicides and more stress -specific crop variety recommen- dations are all coming on stream now and in the immediate future. Combined, these factors will make the adoption of any form of conservation tillage (particularly no -till) more practical. --Fath year Lobb's highest and lowest yields have been with no :till. Rich time he has set a new corn yield record for himself, it has been with no -till. l�b o srtrrunarize, no -till is not just a different platitingmethod to be treated as a short cut in cop production. To do so invites disaster, says Lobb. Rather no -till is a different cop 'production package which may work well, if an honest effort is made to identify and apply • the necessary elements of that package. Care must be taken to produce a package which is economically sound as well as con- servation effective, Lobb says. Success will require a positive attitude, patience and persistence. .