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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1983-06-15, Page 12Fertilizer for you and your crop Al2 — THE HURON EJ(POSITOR, JUNE 15, 1983Timm BY PA,TLYNCH Soils and Crop. Specialist Last week when 1 was in the Clinton OMAF office. John Heard, the Assistant Ag. Rep. was ,telling me an interesting fertilizer story. He was talking to a farmer about fertilizer recommend- ations. The farmer had 80 acres of corn. He had soil tested it as four separate 20 acre fields. The tests indi- cated no need for phosphorus and 0 to 30kg/ha of potash -- depending on the field. The Guelph lab also recommend, ed 100 kg/ha of nitrogen. John had suggested that the farmer not follow the printout to the letter. Instead. John suggested that he use 20 kg/ha of phosphorus and 40 kg/ha of potash. Even on the fields where no potash was required. This extra P and K is insurance against low fer- tility areas of the field, Tasty - Nu Super Specials Fresh Daily SMALL KAISER BUNS Tangy LEMON TARTS 6's Canadian and Imported Cheeses FRESH OFF THE BLOCK! Extra Old Process CHEDDAR Ib. 2.J9 CHEESE SLICES Coloured Excellent for Cheeseburgers! lb. 2.69 COME IN FOR A FRESH DIPPED CONE!!! 10% DISCOUNT on all "BAKED GOADS" for organizations, church groups, clubs, etc. Tasty - Nu Bakery and Cheese House Seaforth 527-1803 equipment that doesn't work properly, etc. He also sug- gested that the farmer use 120 kg/ha of nitrogen. His fields had been yielding about 100 bu/acre. However, the farmer then got a recommendation (which John was trying to talk him out of) to apply a lot more fertilizer than John recom- mended. We calculated the cost of this other fertilizer recommendation and it amounted to S2,500 more for phosphorus and potash. This was $2,S00 more than John's very generous recommenda- tion. Discrepancies like this used to bother me. When 1 would see you spending all kinds of money on fertilizer that you didn't need. However, that's in the past. Partly because recom- mending fertilizer is not a black and white science. There are many variables and unknowns. People who make fertilizer recommendations use their experiences and research information to make recommendations. We in OMAF base all our recommendations on re- search that is done in Ontario. We will make allowances for equipment. variation in the field and convenience of using one fertilizer blend for three or four fields, realizing we are over -recommending on some fields. • I will also make a fertilizer recommendation to suit you. If 1 know you worry alot about fertilizer, 1 will recommend more fertiliz'br than your crop needs. I say the extra fertil- izer is for your benefit, not the crops. However, if you are really watching the dollars I will shave rates, knowing that higher rates may return you more profit. If you have limited finances, those limit- ed finances may return you even more profit in livestock or equipment. Back to the reliability of recommendations. As 1 said, we in OMAF base our recom- mendations on Ontario re- search. There are many other Tabs that base their recom- mendations on U.S. research. If you are not satisfied with ourabs try someone else's. In fact, there are even a couple of firms in Ontario that charge so many dollars per acre just toppil test and make recommendations. If you are not satisfied with OMAF and you are not satisfied with the fertilizer companies --you should try one of these firms. HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU—A herd of 40 milking makes up the dairy operation of Allan Carter, of cows RR4, Clinton. Mr. Carter is working at ways to Improvd the production of his Holsteins. er��une� . is DAIRY MONTH Despi financial stress, few farm women want to move:Bruce study Thanks, Dairy people, for a job well done! You've brought us the essentials we need to give our families nutritious dairy products. SEAFORTH FARMERS CO-OP CO OP Farm Supplies - Hardware Petroleum Products - Feeds When a group of Bruce County farm women went to politicians and government officials with concern about the harmful effect financial stress was having on farm families, the answer they got was essen- tially: prove it. More than a year later the Concerned Farm Women have backed up their feelings about stress with cold hard facts, the result of a survey conducted with help from the University of Guelph and other resources on 343 family farms. The survey shows 86 per cent of Bruce farm families feel the farm community is worse off than in 1976, leader Eloise CalhoUn. said at ttte annual meeting- i`I};"r Women Today in Clinton June 8. The three biggest problems are lack of control over product prices, input prices and interest rates. The Concerned Farm Women are now presenting survey results to groups in the area and getting ideas on how the information can help tarm families and what action can be taken. Farms in Bruce are 67 per cent owned jointly by husband and wife. Most of the women completing the survey were aged from 25 to 54. married to a farmer and had lived on a farm for more than 10 years. Nearly 100 per cent did child care. cooking, cleaning and washing up, fed hired hands and handled businesscalls, while more than 80 per cent paid the farm bills and shared financial decision making with their hus- bands. , Cropping and stocking decisions were shared by 22 per cent of the wives. Younger . imeh answering the srir-i4Y value their cddti•ibutions to the farm '+more than older ones do. Six per cent said they' contributed nothing to the farm's operation. In 51 per cent of the households, husband or wife or bothwere also working off the farm. Of the women working off -farm, 73 per cent contributed wages to the farm's operation and 91 per cent to the house- hold's. The percentage of farmers unable to pay interest charges rose more than fourfold from 1976 to I981, to 31 per cent. About 17 per cent, 50 people, felt they were likely to lose all or part of the farm in the next year. "More than that have been lost now," Mrs. Calhoun says. Of Ihefinancially distressed farmers, 61 per cent had children under 16 operating equipment who were not adequately trained. Survey respondents in general. 74 per cent of them, felt their young children were properly trained to operate equip- ment. Lack of profit was the nutiibbr brie cause of stress. All stress symptoms but two (alcohol use and lack of communication) had increased over the last five years. Mental fatigue and frustration showed the highest increases; guilt the least. On the positive side. women feel they get tots of family and community support. Emotional support comes most of all from the husbands, while profesl;ional help provided the least•support arid the least degree of satisfaction. Those who had had treatment for stress-related illness reported it included drugs (58 per cent); counselling (17 per cent) or both (25 per cent). While 85 per cent of farm• women participate in groups (most in church groups, few in political organizations) they think urban women consider them less intelligent and of a lower social class than urban women. But farm women have good self-images and consider the selves more intelligent, capable and fortunate than their urban counterparts. Despite stress that's financially related. only I1 per cent of the women surveyed want to leave the farm. Most ;want to stay because they value country living; inde- pendence; rural values and producing something. 527-0770 Seaforth AT THE SIGN OF THE BIG U INTERNATIONAL 1190 MOWER CONDITIONER Preserves hay quality to maximize profits A 111 - -� Finance plans available AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT Univtrsgl.- i THE ONLY MACHINE WITH TOTAL SOLID STATE RELIABILITY " CMS 24V solid state computer milking systems • 24V solid state pulsators • 24V solid state Kleen O -Matic " 24V solid state Re -moo -yrs H Et N DAIRY SYSTEMS LTD. I is k N('I('m,inti lldndkrr R R 4 \A ,Ilton A 1)ist.inn 1,1 l Intlrrl l 000cratRo. ut Ontanr, ( nrnpk•toI Inc of Mifkrng',v,f'm, ,tnrl ",in4.fht,n I'rndurt, It is our pleasure and privilege to be of serivce to the people who make top grade dairy products a big part of our daily lives! • MILTON J. DIETZ,LIMITED Purina Chows • Health Aids • Ventilation Equipment • Pesticides • Spraying Equipment • Aerial & ground application • Name your own DEAL Choose one of these programs 1981 PRICED Units Available WAIVER 1 /84 9.9% Financing LargeCASH t ate Rebate lits, ax7 1,061 It no An,w,'t 291. 1603 SRIAFORTH 527-0120 R.R. FARM EQUIPMENT LIMITED Ifl[IIfflS? EL1Jh9?LL Celebrate DAIRY MONTH With gat c_50/149. BOYES FARM SUPPLY LTD. R.R. 3 Seaforth 527-1257 a Come in and see our Zine of fine Massey Ferguson Farm Machinery! A Another Fine Year, Dairy People! Our congratulations go out to you, men and women of the Dairy In- dustry, for keeping us well supplied with deli- cious products that al- ways taste farm -fresh! 527-0240 txpositor Judged the Grand Champion of butter S1.101310 01,1111 Quality foods since 1895