The Rural Voice, 1979-08, Page 42Murray Crich
A positive outlook on energy costs
Murray Crich is doing something posi-
tive about the cost of energy. Murray farms
at R.R.#3 Cargill and owns a very
impressive 250 acre poultry farm. This
does not mean necessarily it's the biggest,
but a beautifully groomed and well run
'farm. His ideas for future energy con-
servation and his own present practices
make him a fascinating conversationalist.
He is very informative and well versed on
the problems farmers face today con-
cerning energy.
Murray farms with his wife Doris and
they have three daughters. Sandra, the
oldest at 22. is entering her fourth year at
the University of Guelph. Patricia 20, is in
her second year at the University of St.
Lawrence and Sharon 17, is at home
attending high school.
Murray has four large chicken barns
which presently house 73,000 broilers.
Bcause some of these buildings were over
20 years old and his propane and electricity
were costing more, Murray decided to do
something about the heat loss. The
interiors have been sprayed with plastic
foam making them more air tight and
substantially increasing the R factor of
BY GISELE IRELAND
these barns. Murray says his energy costs
were cut by two thirds with this operation.
The barns are clean inside with this
covering and easy to wash off between lots
of broilers.
Presently Murray is in the process of
renovating the heating system in his
largest barn which is 150 feet by 45 feet
and has four floors of broilers. Murray is
going to use a- dual wood/oil furnace to
heat water and run through the building.
He plans to use mostly wood as there is
too much of this commodity going to waste
around the farm and at the local sawmill.
The oil will be thermostatically controlled
to keep the constant temperature
necessary with broilers. These furnaces are
made in Seaforth by Bell Industries.
Murray also has plans for a future
building using solar energy. Murray feels
that methane is also a very strong
possibility. Methane has been used by
some with great success for years and
could be very popular as the cost of present
energy soars.
These ideas are not new but here is a
farmer doing something positive about
using them and planning for future use.
Murray has always been an "inventor".
While he was working for Canada Packers
and farming a three acre lot in Clinton he
made the first cement slats in Ontario for
his 175 finisher hogs in the bottom floor
and built his own manure tank and made a
pump from a milking machine vaccuum
pump. On the top floor he had his self
made vent ilation system for 2500 broilers
and used ducts with holes in it and
regulated the air flow through these holes
by manual manipulation of shutters. And
this was 20 years ago.
At the present time Murray share crops
his land but says this could change at any
time should the price of feed necessitate a
change. He seems to have all possibilities
well channelled.
Murray's ideas about future use of
energy and how farmers can become more
independent in this field are fascinating.
He is truly a farmer doing something about
the "crunch" and encouraging others to do
the same. He feels we all have to assess
our individual situations to determine the
best application of these ideas and survive
the rising cost of energy.
Prospective 4-H leaders gain skills
Dianne Oldfield, of R.R. 4, Seaforth. Alan Powe of R.R. 2,
Centralia and Carol Dougall of R.R. 3, Exeter recently returned
from what all of them seemed to feel was a worthwhile
experience at the annual Provincial 4-H leadership conference
held at Moorelands Kawagama Camp near Dorset. The
conference was held from June 17 to 24.
The object of the Conference is to provide prospective 4-H
leaders with training experience in order to assist them in
providing more effective leadership to their local club and county
activities.
The conference is held each year to teach leadership skills to
outstanding 4-H members, according to Lynne Hill, public
relations officer with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food youth extension.
The 4-Fi members who are picked to go to the conference are
picked by Their county agricultural office and in order to qualify
must be 16-19 years of age as of January 1, must have completed
a number of 4-H projects and have shown an interest in their 4-H
activities..
Dianne Oldfield of R.R. 4, Seaforth said that at morning
sessions at the conference 4-H members were broken up into
discussion groups where they had to give answers to a
questionaire and they had to work as a group to achieve
consensus on the different questions. In the afternoon they were
again split into groups where they talked about first aid, artificial
PG. 40 THE RURAL VOICE/AUGUST 1979
respiration, single sun ikal and social recreation. During the
week there was a baseball tournament as well as a few games
and dancing.
"Everything was mainly learning to work with others, getting
along with other people, coming to a consensus on different
problems," she said.
She also mentioned new ideas that they had learned from the
conference that they could bring back and use in their 4-H clubs
and also use in their every day life.
"It's also interesting to see what other counties do in their 4-H
programs," she said.
Alan Powe of R.R. 2, Centralia said, "I met a lot of great
people. I learned a lot about different qualities of leadership. It's
going to be quite a challenge to use these in the community here.
he said.
Describing what he meant about the different qualities of
leadership, he said different types of people were described and
then you had to find them in your group.
He said this way you see where you go wrong so it helps you to
become a better leader.
"I thought it was great. I would recommend it for anyone
thinking of going," Carol Dougall of R.R. 3, Exeter said about
the conference.
Another advantage of the conference, Carol thought was that
"You get to know yourself better because you're with other
people."
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