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The Rural Voice, 1979-10, Page 38Advice on Farming Keep the lid on spiralling fuel costs Farmers can keep the lid on spiralling fuel costs this fall by using crop dryers more efficiently. Professor Lambert Otten, School of Engineering, University of Guelph, suggests using a combination drying system to save energy and to improve the quality of grain corn. Engineering studies, partially funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, indicate that overdrying to 12 or 13 per cent moisture may increase the likelihood of kernel breakage, and make the kernels susceptible to mold growth. A combination drying system will eliminate this problem while reducing energy costs. "Combination drying can offer farmers energy savings at the cost of more management time," says Prof. Otten. "This approach combines the best features of high-temperature and low-temperature drying. With good management and aeration equipment, sound grain corn at 16 per cent moisture will store safely for as long as nine months." First, corn is run through a cleaner to remove foreign particles. Then, the corn is dried to 20 to 2_ Der cent moisture in a high-temperatur.yer before the hot corn is transferred into a low-temperature drying bin. Low temperatures remove internal moisture from the kernels without causing stress cracks. Depending on weather conditions, it is possible to disregard the high-temperature dryer altogether, and to take the corn from the cleaner to the low-temperature bin for storage. Equipped with small gas or electric heaters. and fans, these bins use ambient or slightly heated ambient air to dry the corn. In the combination system, the fans should run continuously once the bins are 0.6m (2 ft) deep with corn, until it is dried completely - usually a period of two weeks or more. Prof. Otten stresses that the fans should be turned off when stored corn reaches 16 per cent moisture or when the ambient air temperature nears 0°C. During winter months, the top metre (3.2 ft) of grain should be probed at least once a week for moisture buildup or an increase in grain temperature. The fan should be turned on every two weeks for 20 minutes to ensure the grain remains cool. This also allows the operator to smell the forced air for signs of spoilage. If it is necessary to store grain for feeding during summer months, further drying to 14 per cent moisture can be done in the spring. New program to eradicate disease in cattle herds A new tuberculosis eradication program has been launched by Agriculture Canada's Health of Animals Branch. The aim of the new program is to eradicate the last traces of the disease from cattle herds in a shorter time and at a lower cost than the existing program. The cost of the new program will be lower because down -the -road testing for tuberculosis will be reduced. Instead, the branch will step up its market cattle testing program, which is also used to control brucellosis. Under that program, diseased cattle are identified at the packing plant, then traced back to the farm or origin. From there, an exhaustive study is done to find the source of the disease and where it may have spread. "The key difference between the old program and the new one is that the emphasis will be placed on depopulating the herd when infected cattle are found," says Dr. Brain Morrissey, director of the branch's regulatory programs in Ottawa. PG. 38 THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER 1979 Of course, owners will receive compen- sation for animals ordered destroyed. The maximum compensation rate is $1,600 for purebred dairy cattle, $1,100 for grade dairy or purebred beef cattle and $800. for grade beef cattle. "In the past, only test -positive cattle were normally ordered slaughtered. Occasionally the tests failed to uncover residual levels of infection, and the disease remained in the herd after the quarantine was released. The new program provides much more thorough disease control," the veterinarian says. It is estimated there are now probably about 40 unidentified infected herds in Canada. Without a control Program, the disease would likely spread to about 44,000 herds in 11 years. Under the old program, all cattle herds in the country were rechecked every five or 10 years on an area -by -area basis. But under the new program, an area that has not had any tuberculosis for five years will be deemed TB -free, and won't be rechecked unless an infection is discovered through the market cattle testing program. Health of Animals Branch officials in packing plants will therefore be especially alert for signs of the disease -- lesions in the lungs and lymph nodes of cattle. Samples from animals with suspected TB lesions will be sent to federal laboratories to determine whether the animal had tuberculosis and what type of TB it was. When positive identification is made, the herd of origin will be tested. Provincial health authorities will also be alerted to check if the disease has been spread to any humans who have been in contact with the cattle. In 1977 about 260 people in Canada died of tuberculosis. About 200 Canadian cattle from four herds were discovered with the disease last year, and roughly $72,00u was paid in compensation. "The tuberculosis eradication program has progressed to the point that less than one-tenth of one per cent of the nation's herds are infected. Now our sights are set on eradicating it totally," Dr. Morrissey says.