The Rural Voice, 1985-07, Page 249cooda See j‘del¢d
R.O.P. TESTED SHEEP
We are consigning top quality rams and
ewes to the O.S.S.A. and R.O.P. Sale at
SHEEP FOCUS '85, Markham, July 19
& 20.
Visitors
and Enquiries Welcome
MURRAY & NANCY EMKE,
R.R. 1, ELMWOOD.
ONT. NOG ISO
519.364-5087
"Quality Breeds Quality"
PUREBRED
LANDRACE
& YORKSHIRE
CONSIGNMENT
SALE
FIELD DAY
Y s
__s°
FRIDAY, AUGUST 2,
1985
Stratford Fairgrounds
2 p.m. Judging of Swine
5 p.m. Free Pork Barbecue
7 p.m. All -White Sale
We offer an excellent group of
bred and open gilts, plus lean,
aggressive boars. Top quality
breeding stock from accredited
ROP herds.
Join Us For a
Pleasurable
Profitable Day.
For Information call
Ontario Landrace
Swine Association
519-656-2299
Ontario YORKSHIRE
BREEDERS' ASSOC.
519-876-5261
22 THE RURAL VOICE
MERVYN ERB
Wheat woes, crop monitoring,
barley diseases, and foliar feeding
I wasn't sure whether to touch the
Great Wheat Debacle with the pro-
verbial ten -foot pole or not, but one
thing really makes me mad, and
that's people who pass the buck and
won't take any responsibility. And
the really frightening thing about this
situation was that it concerned a crop
protection fungicide named Bayleton
which was registered by Agriculture
Canada to control powdery mildew
and other fungal diseases on wheat.
Bayleton is a product that can ar-
rest and lessen disease in a food crop,
a product that can save you from los-
ing bushels of yield, a product that
can potentially make you, the grower,
money. Registration of Bayleton was
restricted. And this year the disease
infestation was one of the worst ever.
It makes my blood boil, and it should
do the same to yours. Did you also
know that the last time there was a
crop protection chemical of new
chemistry let out for our use was in
1981?
That should tell us something.
Look at the myriad of new post -
emergent chemicals that have been
released in the U.S.A. in the past
three years. The U.S. farmer is cer-
tainly getting many advantages. This
also should tell us something. If you
ask me, somebody, somewhere, is
scared to death that some dangerous
i
Mervyn Erb is Crop Specialist at the
Hensall District Co-operative and is a
regular contributor to The Rural
Voice magazine.
crop protection chemical may be
released to the inept farming
populace which will spray it on us all,
and "somebody's" name will be on
the document that allowed its use.
Shame! And then what self-
respecting Minister of the Environ-
ment would sign her name to user
permits knowing full well that her
term in office would only be a few
short weeks, so why get her hands dir-
ty!
The government doesn't care about
the farmer — there's too much wheat
produced anyway. The way they see
it, you over -produce, the price goes
down, and they make subsidy
payments. You get a disaster on a
poor crop, there are crop insurance
and deficiency payments. The
government isn't concerned about
John Doe or Mary Smith; we're all
lumped together and viewed as an
agricultural industry, just as we have
the automotive industry and the
forest industry.
So there it was, Chemagro Limited
seeking the registration of the
fungicide named Bayleton for use on
winter wheat, grapes, cucumbers, ap-
ples, and asparagus, to name a few.
The registration was obtained from
the Feds along with a Pest Control
Products Number. But registration
was received for 1985 for use only on
winter wheat. The Feds aren't dum-
mies either, and they aren't about to
stick their necks out any further than
they have to, so, they thought, let's
involve the provincial Ministry of the
Environment. Agriculture Canada
stipulated that the provincial Ministry
of the Environment issue (and sign,
of course) user permits to keep con-
trol of who used the product — to
make sure none of it would be used
on grapes, apples, asparagus, and
other crops. This had been standard
procedure in the past. This spring,
New Brunswick issued a blanket user
permit, and P.E.I. and Quebec both
had user permits available. But not
Ontario, no sir! Nobody would take
the responsibility, not as long as we
had bread on the table.
And did the allegations fly! "If you
spray, your wheat crop will be con-
fiscated and destroyed." "The
fungicide will raise the protein level
of the wheat and the mills will reject it