HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1980-09-04, Page 7,
The. Iife Of
It certainly takes a lot of money to get intor- and remain
-- fanning these days.
' Some astounciiiiifiges came out of a recent study by a
• couple of University of Guelph 'people, the 34th annual
• report compiled on farm management in . Ontario. The ,
• statistics were drawn from Canfarm, it computerized '
record-keeping service for .farmers.
As expected, dairy farmers came off looking better than
most other sectors of the farming community. What strikes
' me as the most significant fact is how much it costs to be a
farmer!
' Of 123 dairy farms and the compilers readily admit
---tlutr-thestunpling-comes-front-above-average-farms
average assets totalled $423,700, Now, that is one
tremendous investment. How many local businessmen
have that tnuch money invested in their businesses? The
investments included 5225,800 for land and buildings,
$90,500in machinery and-equipinent, almost 570,000 in
livestock' and more than $20,000 in feed, crops and
supplies.
Liabilities averaged almost 595,000. Which is quite a
sizeable debt to worry about: .Those farmers, though, had
an average income of 531,833 which sounds great to
somebody making less than 515,000 a year. But.how many
people have an investment of more than 5423,000?
LOW RETURNS
Then net income reflects a return on the investment of
only 6.07 per cent. If the farmer could liquidate, he would
make more mon,er by just leaving his cash sitting in the
bank. It really does not represent much of a return for all
the hard work and the risks. •
Beeffeedlot farmers have a tougher picture. They had a
gross income of $540,898 with expenses and depreciation
of more than 5510,000, a net income of $37,188 and a
•return on their investment.of 6.57 per cent. However, the
Seedfax
Pride R108 is widely adapted
Pride R108 is a top
yielding three-way cross
for grain or silage in the
2600 CHU maturity range.
R108 'is highly recom-,
Mended for these reasons:
• Excellent grain yields
and superior total di-
destible nutrients per
acre silage.
• Rich dark green plant
with a bulky cylindrical
cob. -
• Widely adaptable. • Fast dri-down. • Russell Miller
Join the growing lost of
satisfied Corn producers
who are impressed with
the outstanding perfor-
mance of Pride R1013
throughout its maturity
area
R.R. No. 2,
Staffet, Ont.
345-2027
"REGLONE9671'
Bean Defoliating
Applied by
Jim's Flying Service Ltd.
Eininate
"Second Growth" & "Weeds"
GET AN EARLIER HARVEST
& EASIER COMBINING
- 4 -
Contact
Milton L Dietz Ltd.
R.R. 4, Seaforth
Phone 527-0608_
tellers ate addrec,ated Or PO T•otter EdaIe Pd
BY ALAN Sc0TT
Corn Heat Units give a
11104SUfOilft11e-weather suitEIMla Ont N3e 2C7 able for growing and
,
matur-
ing on. As of mid June, we
were' well behind normal and
most parts of Perth bcounty
had two or three frosts.
Normal yields seemed like a
remote possibility at that
point.
Since the last frost in June,
however. the • weather has
been almost ideal with good
heat and adequate moisture
Most farmers in the county
are nuw-looking at one of the
best crops that they can
remember for this time of
year.
. Centralia reports 2359
Heat Units accumulated up
to August 24th. For 1979 that
figure was 2201; 1978 was
2207 and 1977 was 2297.
Most people will recall that
1977 was also a very good
cOming yearvvill OP tough with replacement stocii costing
' more and not much of ko increase in finished prices.
Beef farMing, too, is big business. The average operater
spent 5340,000 for Fettle, more than 533,400 for feed,
$15,000 • op fertilizer and paid the banks and trust
companies 531,000 in interest charges. Interest, of course,
is a big factor in beef farming because the armer needs a
lot of money to buy replacement stock and the banks have
to carry him until his crop is mature an sold.
But it was the hog farmers in the sur s y who took the
biggest beating. Although only lu were i the survey, it is
still a good indication of what is happ ningin the hog
business. T-frey-showed an averageme s ss of more-tharr
$9,800 in labor and no return on investm • nt although they
had an average of 5220,600 in assets.
'Only seven farmers • were inlcuded in the cash -c
survey. They had an average gross income of 5164,324 • n
expenses -Of 5145,887 for a net income of 518,437 and
return on their investment of 3.63 per cent. V
Not much of a return, eh?
PRECARIOUS INDUSTRY
It just goesto show that farming is a p -carious
industry. Most of those in the survey. could have made
more actual cash by investing in hundreds of other areas
even in these recession d ays.
Farmers are a hardy lot. They are fiercely independent.
They are- on the land, most of them, because they love it
and not for the 'g bucks they make.
Granted, t survey includes only a small portion of
farmers and ome of the figures may be a little misleading
because of the small sample taken. But they are certainly
close enough to piovethe farmers are not living off the fat
of the land.
• Some urbanites have the mistaken idea that farmers trip
over subsidy cheques every day when they walk to their
rural mail boxes. City dwellers also seem to think that
• .farmers,get.:every break in the books when it comes to
income taxes. However, another survey taken a couple of
years ago indicated that small businessmen, especially
retailers, get far better tax breaks than farmers.
Certainly, the figures prove to me that Canadians are
fortunate to have so many men and women still willing to
slug their hearts out on the farm to supply Canadians and
some other people across the world with food.
Federation
The subject for the
Regional Meeting of the
Huron County Federation of
Agriculture is alternative
fuels for farm use. The
meeting will be held Sept .11.
8:30 p.m. at Hullet Central
School. Londesboro. Les
Emery. chairman of the
Ontario Federation of Agri-
culture's Energy Committee
and Regional Director from
Northumberland County. is
the -speaker. He *is well
informed on alternative
energy sources and has been
meeting
involved in developing
economic systems of
producing alcohol from corn
and other energy sources
using waste materials.
Also at this meting the
Regional Directors will be
elected and delegates to the
annual convention in Toronto
on Nov. 24-27, wil be chosen.
All Federation members are
urgcd to attend. The
public is inviied.
For more information
Contact Brenda McIntosh
Phone 527.0358
Alko.
We are now ready
to receive your
1980
White Bean
Crop
* All new Wagon Dumper
• Fast unloading
• Accurate probe sys em
• Trucking available
• Satellite dealer for
W.G. Thompson & Sons
HOWSON
MILLS
Elevator Division
523-9624 • 523-4241
Blyth, Ont.
11/4 mi. east of Blyth & Y2 mi. north
year but there was real
struggle with wet weather
and mud to get the crop
harvested. Most producers
* will be hoping the 1977
harvest isn't re-enacted this
fall.
SPROUTED WHEAT FOR
PIGS
Winter wheat can replace
• the corn in a swine ration.
Unless it is very obviously'
and severely sprouted. the
sprouts will not change the
nutritional content to any
extent. If you feed sprouted
wheat -to -pigs, •replace the
corn' with it and reduce the
protein supplement by 10%.
Keep the same levels of
vitamins and minerals. Be
_ea refuL ta introduce it_gradu-
ally.
It seems impractical to put
sprouted wheat. under 23%
in moisture, into sealed silos.
Unless you are prepared to
add water uniformly, seal
Huron farm and home
new
It's time to can
those tornatoes
Red ripe tomatoes!
'What a beautiful sight! That
is. as long as you can ,safely
preserve the quantity
you have grown and have
them ready to enjoy next
winter.
Tomatbes may be frozen,
canned- or used in relishes.
sauces. catsup and juice. Let
us look at the froren and
canned products here. First.
the frozen -Select fully ripen-
ed fruit that is free from
blemishes. Scald in hot water
to loosen the skins. Cool
immediately in cord water.
Peel and core. They may
then be frozen as is adding 1
teaspoon salt per quart. or
stewed 2-3 minutes. Stewing
will prevent a tough, stringy
product when 'unthawed.
Pack in plastic containers or
glass jars leaving I 1/2" head -
space to allow for expansion
when frozen. Use in cooked
dishes only as *the • fresh
appearance is not maintained
in freezing.
If you wish further infor-
mation on home canning.
freezing. pr making of jams.
jellies or pickles .contact the
Home Economists. Agri-
cultural Office. Clinton at
482-3428 or Zenith 7-2800.
Grace Bird
Home Economist
• THE HURON EXPOSITOR:s SEPTEMBER 4, 1900•
,
your structure properly and
do so fairly quickly, it is. not
worth it. It seems best to'ctry
the sprouted wheat and treia-
' it as a dry grain.
The final decision to sell or
feed the wheat is strictly
financial. Sprouted wheat ; s
worth only a couple of dollars
per tonne more than corn in
yowl Swine ration.
Soft winter wheat is ap-
proximately 2% higher in
crude protein than shelled
corn. In dairy 'rations- soy-
bean meal. (44%) could be
reduced by approximately
100 lbs/tonne of feed when
wheat replaces corn in the
ration.
FEEDING DRY COWS
_it sho tild_be, relatively -easy
to meet the requirements of
dry cows. Their require-
ments for a balanced feeding
program are much lower
than those for milking cows.
However. problems seem
present themselves in re-
cently freshened cows be-
cause of the dry cow period.
The most notable examples
of these problems are too
much energy in the ration
leading .to overly fat cows
and too much calcium which
leads to milk fever.
Some feeds which do a
very good job in milking cow,
rations may not be a suitable
feed in dry cows because. of
the high levels of some
nutrients. Roughages should
comprise tlie main feeds in
dry cow rations but the
intake ,of_eertain _feeds such
- as corn silage should be
limited to 15-20 lbs. a day.
Another common rough-
age is alfalfa hay. A dry cow
xpositor
•
.••
•
requires only a ou two,
pounds of protein, 1 ounds
'cif energy (TPN) about 56
grams Of calcium, 32 grams
of phosphorus and about 20
gram i of magnesium. Cows
fed high quality hay or
haylage. in unlimited quant-
ities, have more protein and
calcium than is required.
Phosphorus and TDN culd
be somewhat short,
The main problem with
feeding unlimited alfalfa hay
to dry cows. as the only
forage, is its high level of
calcium. Feeding calcium in
excess of required quantities
leads to a high incidence of
milk fever. particularly in
older cows. Therefore. the
amount --fe4-should-be-re--
stricted to one third or less of
the total dry matter intake. or
preferably- rass or low qual-
ity hay sh uld be fed.
Corn age by itself is not
deq ate as .4 total XIV, OW'
e . t i low it pretein,...,
ciolrensitussnliei arlooneudisefheeitraihtsiC;tt iN'ImTi1;111 'One
source of roughage or free
choice, is that cows get too
fat, particularly if their dry
periods are extended. When
an excessively fat cow fresh:
ens, she becomes suceptible
to a variety of disorders (eg -
increased calving problems, '
displaced abomasum, ke-
tosis, .mastitis, metritis). As
noted eerier, corn silage may
be fed but in limited amounts
with Other feeds.
For cows in good condi-
tion. there is no need to feed
grain until the last two or
—ThreshOeuld
-webee k ss t. rTt ehde wdirt hy cow
e
pound of grain, increased 1
pound daily until a maximum
of 8-10 pounds are fed. and
Please turn to page 6
Seedfax
Pride 1131 — a sure winner
1 is br and' nev, vat let y
adrg
diseto the Pride line-up
a
ot single oss hybi ids in
the 2700.2725 heat unit
ra
Pride 1131 has all the
features to make it a
\favor ite 3h.i.th grain .. and.
silage producers
• Excellent seedling vig:'
or.
• Good stress tolerance.
• 2725 CHU maturity.
• An ideal dual purpose
variety, 1131 is a sure
bet for maximum silage
tonnage and big grain
yields.
• Fast-dri-down.
• Very good stalk rot
tolerance.
Pride 1131 has the
potential to be a standout
hybrid whatever t h e
competition
•
Walter
McClure
R.R•2
Seoforth
527-0476
*SPIN
WHITE BEAN GROWERS
YOU CAN BE ASSURED OF
• " :s •
• • 04
Ontario Bean Growers Co -Operative plant at Seaforth
Seed
Wheat
is now
Available
* Fair prices
* Honest weights
* Reliable grading
* Patronage return
on profits
* Courteous service
Make The
Farmer's Elevator
-Work For You
ONTARIO BEAN GROWERS
CO-OPERATIVE
LONDON
Three ioccitions
SEAFORTH 345-2007 527-1391
"Service•and a fair deal is our motto"
RANNOCH
•
•
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