The Rural Voice, 1981-04, Page 34MINMEMNIMINEMADVICE ON FARMING
Spraying goes metric:
here's how
This spring, when you go to buy
herbicides, you will find a difference.
Many will come in metric containers with
the application rates in metric units. All
herbicides packaged this year, by law,
must be in metric units. In fact some of
the suppliers were selling metric herbi-
cides last year. So what to do? First of all,
please do not chew out your supplier or
the person at the counter, or me for this
happening. If metric upsets you, go
outside somewhere and yell. Get it out of
your system. It will do more good than
complaining about metric. At least. you
will get rid of some of your frustrations.
Now you are ready to approach metrics
with an attitude of "It's here. 1 have to
accept it!" Once you take this attitude,
metrics are easy. This attitude and three
simple calculations. To change acres to
hectares multiply by .4. To change
lbs./acre to kg/ha multiply by 1.12. To
convert pints/acre to litres/hectare mult-
iply by 1.4. Thus. 12 acres x 4 = 4.8
hectares — 2 lbs./acre x 1.12 = 2.24
kg/hectare — 3 pints/acre x 1.4 = 4.2
litres/hectare.
Knowing these figures, now you
convert your field or crop acres to
hectares. You also convert the number of
acres your sprayer does to hectares.
Supposing you have 40 acres of corn. Now
you have 16 hectares. The bag says you
need 2.5 kg/hectare of a herbicide. Nov,
you must purchase 16 x 2.5 = 40 kg of
herbicides.
When you get home, you know your
sprayer does 12 acres/tank. Now it does
12 x .4 = 4.8 hectares/tank. The rate of
herbicide is 2.5 kg/hectare. Now you
dump in 4.8 x 2.5 = 12 kg/tank. The key
to all this is first know how many hectares
each sprayer tank does (with each set of
nozzles). Write this number down. Also,
it will help you if you work out these
calculations this winter. Suppose you
know you will be using atrazine this year.
You can work out this winter how much
you should dump in each time. And how
much spray you will need. Don't leave it
until next spring when you're getting the
sprayer out. PERTH FARM NEWS
How much does a
swine operation cost?
What do producers have to invest to
establish a swine operation? Although 50
to 60 sows will provide a farmer and his
family with a fair return, no one wants to
work 365 days each year.
A 100 -sow farrow -to -finish operation
producing 1800 pigs per year enables a
farmer to employ a swine worker,
herdsman, or partner.
This 100 -sow unit, including buildings,
equipment. feed storage and manure
storage, with today's input costs, is likely
to involve an investment of $1.700 to
$1,800 per sow or approximately
$180,000. This does not include land and
housing for the farmer, his family and
employees.
Included in these costs is $25,000 for
manure storage and handling. This
investment, although costly to the
producer, allows him to use this by-
product for fertilizer on the land. It also
effectively prevents environmental
pollution.
Other costs include elaborate
insulation, ventilation, spray cooling, and
penning arrangements to provide an ideal
environment for the animals and to
reduce energy requirements in the
buildings. J.R. DALRYMPLE
Swine Specialist
How to hire and keep
good employees
Competent, permanent farm
employees are in short supply in Ontario.
However, an increasing number of
farmers, by applying some basic per-
sonnel management practices, are at-
tracting and retaining some top personnel.
Traditionally, the farm employment
package has centered around the pay
cheque. While salary is usually primary
to accepting employment, there are other
satisfactions the employee needs from his
or her job. One mark of a good employer
is the ability to recognize the employee's
aims in life, then motivating that
individual by allowing him to achieve the
goal within the employment setting.
Frequently, farm employees are
looking for acceptance. This is par-
ticularly true if they are new in the
community. These employees and their
families may welcome the opportunity to
HOW IT WORKS;
20" disc. blades, mounted on individual pivots, are
rotated by hydraulic motors to cut bean plants off
below ground surface. Each pivot -mounted section
rests on two depth wheels. Two or three windrows
are produced, depending on the number of blades.
The Smyth Bean Cutter can be mounted on the front
or on the rear of a tractor. This compact machine is
not bothered by mud or trash.
Canada's first rotary bean cutter is a product of
the George Smyth Welding and Machine Shop.
THE FIRST NEW IDEA IN BEAN
PULLING IN 70 YEARS
SMYTH
Welding and
Machine Shop
RR 2, Auburn, Ontario (519) 529-7212
THE RURAL VOICE/APRIL 1981 PG. 33