The Rural Voice, 1985-07, Page 17Sadler Richards, Senior Soil Conservation Advisor, with Robert Traut, a
soil agronomist, and Julia Cooper, a summer student, walk a field that is
badly infested with weeds. Traut fills out a weekly evaluation.
ing, crossing out old notes and
writing new ones.
As one of 14 soil conservation ad-
visors in the province, Sadler
Richards has the role of team leader.
Her goal is to co-ordinate
agricultural, soil, and water conserva-
tion efforts in this community. As
team leader, she works with Brent
Kennedy, who holds the same posi-
tion in Perth County. Kevin
McKague from the Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority (MCVA) and
Robert Traut from the Ausable-
Bayfield Conservation Authority
(ABCA) round out the team. Julia
Cooper, a fourth-year student study-
ing soils at the University of Guelph,
is assisting during the summer.
Cooper says she never knows exactly
what her job will be each day. Every
morning when she arrives, Sadler
Richards has an interesting day plan-
ned for her.
The team has a fairly large area to
cover. The Maitland Valley and
Ausable-Bayfield Conservation
Authority watersheds include almost
all of Huron County, major parts of
Middlesex and Perth Counties, and
smaller parts of Bruce, Wellington,
and Lambton Counties. All team
Sadler Richards, Ray Hogan, host farmer for the July 9 Soil Conservation
Day, and Robert Traut, conservation agronomist, exchange ideas at
Hogan's farm about the public tours and potential crop sites for the up-
coming conservation day.
members work within these boun-
daries. They generally touch base
with each other after morning phone
calls to determine their game plan for
the day.
Although there is no such thing as a
typical day for Sadler Richards, to-
day is an ideal day to visit the team
leader. The group is planning a Soil
Conservation Day to be held July 9 at
Ray Hogan's farm in Ashfield
Township. Conservation Day is the
epitome of what the OMAF-led con-
servation program is all about. Sadler
Richards co-ordinates the efforts of
all the member agencies and in-
dividuals. This special event also ad-
dresses another goal of the program.
It allows farmers interested in conser-
vation to see it in action, and gives
them the opportunity to talk with
both other farmers and experts about
their ideas and concerns. Tillage co-
operators also receive a psychological
boost when more than 200 people
who share their common goals assem-
ble in one place. It's a real grassroots
event where everyone goes away with
something new to think about.
Back at the daily team meeting on
our visiting day, the team comes out
of the huddle with a game plan: to
visit Ray Hogan's farm to tackle the
planning of conservation day.
Sadler Richards instantly clears her
desk, grabs a map, papers, and plan-
ning notes, and heads out with Julia
Cooper. Traut follows Sadler
Richards' Volvo in the team's red
pick-up truck, still partially loaded
with herbicides for the co-operators'
tillage projects.
Following the route from the mid-
dle of Huron County to the destina-
tion near Lucknow is like travelling
through uncharted territory on this
particular day: down roads strewn
with fresh, loose gravel, dodging con-
struction sites, and travelling roads
which turn into one -lane paths in
some spots.
The first stop is a conservation
tillage plot of Lee Cairncross. The
plot is badly infested with a number
of different weeds. Sadler Richards
points out that modified tillage pro-
grams often result in new or different
weed problems and thus require
special attention from time to time.
This field was sprayed with Banvel
and the weeds are already rather wil-
ts.
As Sadler Richards, Traut, and
Cooper walk the field, they discuss
weed control, and Traut fills out a
weekly evaluation, taking note of the
ground temperature both in the row
and in the residue. He points out that
JULY 1985 15