The Rural Voice, 1985-09, Page 42FARM NEWS
Good windbreak
$150 per 100 acres
Windbreaks have a new application
these days. Previously farmstead
windbreaks were chosen mostly to
protect buildings, lower heating
costs, and provide snow control. An-
nually, more than 200 landowners
purchase seedlings for a few cents
each from the Ministry of Natural
Resources to build such windbreaks.
However, in the past few years, more
farmers are also choosing to plant
field windbreaks.
Five years ago only two people re-
quested assistance from the Ausable
Bayfield Conservation Authority
(ABCA) to design field windbreaks.
More than 35 have made the same re-
quest this year, says John Swindt,
ABCA co-ordinator for conservation
services. Field windbreak planting
has become so popular that there is a
two-year waiting list. Such a wait has
an advantage, however, because it
gives farmers time to do advanced site
preparation, Swindt told farmers on a
recent crop tour in Perth County.
Farmers do sacrifice some land to
construct windbreaks, but in the long
run they save soil from wind and
water erosion. To minimize in-
terference with cropping, windbreaks
are planted on or just inside property
lines, on the south or east side of dit-
ches or streams, or in areas of poor
soil. Because the prevailing winds
change, windbreaks on the north and
west side of a field are not enough to
protect crops. Trees are needed on all
sides for thorough protection.
Just planting a windbreak isn't
enough. It also requires care, Swindt
says. Spruce trees, for example, need
three feet of bare ground around
them for three to five years. With
cultivation and pesticide application,
their growth rate doubles. Spruce are
a popular choice for field windbreaks
because they are solid and have
shallow roots which don't interfere
with drainage.
Using fertilizer the second year, as
long as it is applied to the tree rather
than the grass and weeds, can also in-
crease growth. "I'm a believer now,"
says Swindt, who was originally
taught that fertilizer isn't necessary.
The conservation authority pro-
vides follow-up management for
farm windbreaks. It costs $25 per
1,000 trees to replace dead trees and
to monitor the windbreak.
Using the MNR seedling stock and
ABCA planting assistance, a farmer
can get a good windbreak for approx-
imately $150 per 100 acres. ❑
More farmers can
use videotex service
A new combination of computers
and telecommunications will allow
more farmers across Canada to use a
computer data base of farm manage-
ment and market information.
The information is contained in the
Grassroots' videotex service, the
world's first commercial application
of the Canadian Telidon standard.
Offered by Infomart, the service is
now being provided nationwide
through a telecommunications net-
work called iNet 2000TM
Grassroots, currently provided to
more than 2,000 subscribers, offers
50,000 pages of constantly updated
videotex information on commodity
futures markets, street and cash
prices, as well as weather forecasts
and farm -management computer pro-
grams. Farmers access Grassroots
through their own computer ter-
minals, microcomputers, or television
sets with videotex adaptors.
With this new application of the
service, farmers can now choose iNet
2000 as their means of accessing
Grassroots. And farmers outside of
areas served directly by iNet 2000 are
able to access Grassroots through
toll-free 1-800 numbers. In the past,
farmers without direct access would
have used long distance.
Says John Duvenaud, Grassroots
regional manager: "Information is
now as much an essential farm input
as chemicals and fertilizer. And the
availability of iNet 2000 means that
videotex information will no longcr
be restricted by communications costs
to producers near major population
centres. Not only that, the iNet 2000
connection also gives farmers across
Canada universal access to
Grassroots and a common rate for
usage."
For further information, contact
John Morris, Manager — Public
Relations, Telecom Canada, 770 - 410
Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa,
Ontario, K I P 6H5, 613-560-3024. ❑
THE SNOBELEN GROUP
Buyers of
WHEAT (Red & White)
FLAX BARLEY
CANNA CORN
SOYBEAN
All types of Canola Seed for Sale
Licensed under the Grain
Financial Protection Program
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FA
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Ripley • Lucknow
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Snobelen Farms Ltd., Anderson Flax Products
Ripley, 519-395-5167 Lucknow, 519.528.3203
40 THE RURAL VOICE