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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-03-20, Page 44- The Farm Edition, Week of Mardi 20, 1985 4 G 395-2271. _ _ BRAND , SEED CORN Pioneer Days are here!.!! 1\larch18 to 2 Pay for your seed corn during this time and get a 5% cash 'discount ❑PIONEER SEED CORN -,3859, 3851, 3950, 3906, 3803, 3925, 3949, 3953 ❑PIONEER .;ALFALFA 532, 524, 526, and Banner Ll SOY BEANS and SILA-BAC also available. Your local Pioneer Representative Vernon Hodgins &Sons R.R. No. 4 Kincardine Third farm east of Bervie 0 i i ofe i s i y USED VEHICLES CHECK US OUT BEFORE YOU BUY ° You'll be glad you did. We will make you your best deal. PONTIAC -- BUICK -- GMC 8814401 Sales — Service = Parts Leasing — Daily Rentals — Body Repairs —_ Propane Conversions High density hay bales reduces ship}pine costs by one - third By Alan Rivett Preliminary reSearch into .high density hay bales will eventually allow fanners shipping hay abroad to put three times the amount of hay in the same size bale. This will result in shipping oasts being reduced by one-third, according to. Engineer Dale Suasion of . a Chatham research facility. Suasion, engineering manager at the - Ontario Centre for Farm Machinery and Fbod Prroccessing Technology, said the reason for their study, which began three years egos, is to -reduce the cost of long distance hay hauling, making hay a more viable cash crop for farmers. "We're' trying to 'get hay gas a valuable commodity over long distances. It might mean that we have three individual bales compacted into one," says Suasion. The problem which exists now, is that conventional bales weighing approximately 30 pounds are not economically feasible to ship. 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 .eompader which compresses the hay to eight times its normal density, holds it for 10 seconds, then allows it to bounce back, explains: Suasion. The "holding!' of the hay gets rid of interval 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 whit► results from caympacting .and relay ing the bale. "Fbr one bale of hay that is '30 inches Long, we would compress it to four inches and let it rebound to 10 inches," adds Sunision. Su mesion says he hasn't finalized the configuration of the bale which 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 the Ontario Ministry of Agricul- ture and Fbod 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. Suasion 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 farmers 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. l3ilanski 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 baron 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 busyness 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. ' Humin Hay Farms lid., operated by Zinn and Stuart Alton from their farms south of Lucknow, 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 initin ly got involved in shipping the hay to Florida over a year ago because of winter being a slack time of year and they had a 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," said Zinn. The 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 keptbusy right. through the winter months between Novem- ber and March with each truck car ying approximately 17 tons per trailer each week. "We deal tothree hay bankers in Florida," said Zinn. "We're shipping a regular, amount every week, just as long as there's a market." ty About half of the_ hay sent to Florida is bought from '•`quite a wide area" .around ' Lucmow, says Zinn. The rest of the hay comesfrom their own farms. Zinn says February 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 much hay is available for sale. The company pay's 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 that the bails are ahrast 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 barn, ' 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. • GOODWILL Used Vehicles CHECK US OUT BEFORE YOU BUY ° You'll be glad you did. We will make you your best deal. PONTIAC -- BUICK -- GMC 8814401 Sales — Service = Parts Leasing — Daily Rentals — Body Repairs —_ Propane Conversions High density hay bales reduces ship}pine costs by one - third By Alan Rivett Preliminary reSearch into .high density hay bales will eventually allow fanners shipping hay abroad to put three times the amount of hay in the same size bale. This will result in shipping oasts being reduced by one-third, according to. Engineer Dale Suasion of . a Chatham research facility. Suasion, engineering manager at the - Ontario Centre for Farm Machinery and Fbod Prroccessing Technology, said the reason for their study, which began three years egos, is to -reduce the cost of long distance hay hauling, making hay a more viable cash crop for farmers. "We're' trying to 'get hay gas a valuable commodity over long distances. It might mean that we have three individual bales compacted into one," says Suasion. The problem which exists now, is that conventional bales weighing approximately 30 pounds are not economically feasible to ship. 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 .eompader which compresses the hay to eight times its normal density, holds it for 10 seconds, then allows it to bounce back, explains: Suasion. The "holding!' of the hay gets rid of interval 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 whit► results from caympacting .and relay ing the bale. "Fbr one bale of hay that is '30 inches Long, we would compress it to four inches and let it rebound to 10 inches," adds Sunision. Su mesion says he hasn't finalized the configuration of the bale which 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 the Ontario Ministry of Agricul- ture and Fbod 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. Suasion 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 farmers 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. l3ilanski 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 baron 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 busyness 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. ' Humin Hay Farms lid., operated by Zinn and Stuart Alton from their farms south of Lucknow, 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 initin ly got involved in shipping the hay to Florida over a year ago because of winter being a slack time of year and they had a 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," said Zinn. The 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 keptbusy right. through the winter months between Novem- ber and March with each truck car ying approximately 17 tons per trailer each week. "We deal tothree hay bankers in Florida," said Zinn. "We're shipping a regular, amount every week, just as long as there's a market." ty About half of the_ hay sent to Florida is bought from '•`quite a wide area" .around ' Lucmow, says Zinn. The rest of the hay comesfrom their own farms. Zinn says February 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 much hay is available for sale. The company pay's 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 that the bails are ahrast 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 barn, ' 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. •