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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-03-20, Page 56- The Farm Edition, Week of March t0, 1985 B IONEER BRAND • SEED CORN Pioneer Days are here! ! March 18 to 22 Pay for your seed i corn during this time and get a 5% cash 'discount i OPIONEE SEED CORN - 3859, 3851, 3950, 3906, 3803, 3925, 3949, 3953 El PIONEER ALFALFA - 532, 524, 526, and Banner ❑SOY BEANS and SILA-IEA( available. Your local Pioneer Represe tative Vernon Hodgins & Sons R.R. No. 4 Kincardine Third farm east of Bervie 395-2271 y lllll USED VEHICLES MIKE SHIPMAN /.11111711 GOODWILL Used Vehicles • CHECK US OUT BEFORE YOU BUY You'll be .glad you did. We will make you your best Beal. /MIKE. SHIRMANL.. `WALKERTO.N - ONT. PONTIAC — BUICK — GMC 881-3401 Sales — Service — Parts = Leasing — Daily Rentals — Body Repairs -- Propane Propane Conversions High density hay bales reduces shipping costs by one - third,. By Alan Rive* Reliminaly research into high density hay bales will eventually allow fanners shipping hay abroad to put time times the amount of hay in the same size bale. This will result in mincedshipping costs being by +third, according to Engineer Dale Suonsion of a Chatham research facility. Sunnion, engineering manager at the Ontario Centre for Farm Machinery and Fbod Recessing Zlechnology, said the reason for, their study, which began three yews ago, is to reduce the cost of long distance hay riauling, maki?g hay a more viable cash qui) for farmers.. "We're trying to get hay as a valuable aommnodity over long distances. It might • mean that we have three individual bales compacted into one," says Surnsion. The Problem which exists now, is that conventional bales weighing approximately 30 pounds are not economically feasible to gip. By keeping the bales at the same length of 18 inches while increasing the weight three fold to 90 to 100 pounds, the farmer can haul more hay at less cost. The experiment involves a test hay aompac ter which -compresses the hay to eight times ,ita normal density, holds it for 10 second's, then allows it to bounce bads, explains Sumsion. The "holding" of the hay gets rid of internal energy within the hay and allows it to compact the hay even further. It also allows heavy duty twine to be used to bind the bales rather than wire because of the lesser degree of tension which results from campacting and relaxing the bale. "Fbr one bale of hay that is 30 indies long, we would compress it to four inches and let it rebound to 10 inches," adds Suunaion. Sumsion says he hasn't finalized the configimitiOn of the bale whidt will take into account the weight of the bale and how many conventional bales will be compacted into one package. The centre is waiting on a market study from .tire Ontario Ministry of Agricul- ture and rood which will outline what and where the markets are, what size of bales people prefer, and the quality standards of the bales. The system of compressing bales consists ,of a conveyer which feeds the hay into a chamber where it is compressed automatic- ally. The bale is then ejected out of the chamber to, a stack former that will build a pallet of bales. These pallets of hay will then be carried by a forklift on to a truck which will eliminate handling individual bales. Sumsion expects a prototype hay compact- er to be finished in approximately one year. Because of it's expected big price, it's use will probably be limited to hay dealers who will compact the hay for fanners who require the service. He estimates the cost of compacting the hay will be no more than $30 per ton. Walter Bilanski, an engineering professor at the University of Guelph, who is also conducting studies on compacting hay bales, has looked into the problems associated with high density bales - especially spoilage due to high moisture content. Bilanski says bales; that are to be compact- ed, must have a moisture level of less than 12 per cent or they will spoil. He recommends the hay sits in the bar for three to four months and then be rebaled into compact bales to prevent spoilage. Huron Hay Farms doubles hay export to the States By Alan Rivett A Local business which produces and purch- ases hay for export to Florida has expanded to the point where it is shipping twice as much hay across the border, says Terry Zinn, part owner in the business. Huron Hay Farms Ltd., operated by Zinn and Stuart Alton from their farms south of Ludamow, is shipping approximately 250 tons of hay a month which is up from 125 tons of hay per month last year. Mr. Zinn attributes this to two extra trucks they have in operation and the large demand for hay in Florida over the winter months. Zinn said the two fanners initially got involved in shipping the hay to Florida over a year ago because of winter being a slack time " of year and they hada large amount of hay to get rid of. "We decided to get into shipping hay because we're busy with our crops the rest of the year and winter is a slow time of year," saiiduZinn. • • _ 'me hay is trucked to Florida where it .is sold to dealers who in turn sell it to horse breeders or race tracks, says Zinn. Zinn said their trucks are kept busy right throughhthe winter months between Novem- ber - and March with each truck carrying approximately 17 tons per trailer each week. "We deal to three hay brokers in Florida," said Zinn. "We're shipping a regular amount every week, just as long as there's a market." About half of the hay sent to Florida is bought from "quite a wide area" around Ludknow, says Zinn. The rest of the hay comes from their own fans. Zinn says Fbbruary and March are the peak periods of hay demand in Florida with the business tapering off toward the end of April. He said the hay market in Florida depends on how muds hay is available for sale. The comfy pays approximately $70 a ton for hay while its resale value in Florida is around $150 a ton. Zinn said this again hinges on the demand for; hay: Because hay bailed conventionally is too expensive to ship, the hay firm has to re -bail the hay into smaller, more dense bails. Zinn says bails, containing both timothy and alfalfa, weigh between 70 to 75 pounds when they are shipped. "We use just a regular bailer but instead of tying the bails with twine we use wire," said Zinn, adding Int the bails are almost twice as heavy as conventional bails. One of the big concerns with shipping hay to Florida is the prevention of spoilage. Zinn said this problem sometimes crops up in the early Fall when the hay is not properly cured and the moisture level is above 17 per cent. He says that after two to three months in the bar, the hay is usually dry enough to ship. "As long as it (the moisture level) 'isn't over 17 per cent it's no problem to ship," said Zinn.