The Rural Voice, 1990-02, Page 41HAY PLANNING SEASON
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38 THE RURAL VOICE
fications regarding the percentage of
weed and grass allowed as well as a
list of toxic weeds that cannot be
present in the crop. The company also
expects farmers under contract to have
"reasonably well -drained land" which
is free of stones so that close harvest-
ing is possible. Fields will also have
to exceed 50 acres to accommodate
the harvesting equipment.
Company equipment will be used
for harvesting, Fletcher says, because
the plant requires alfalfa with a stem
length of 2 1/2 inches. The harvesters
will be serviced by a flotation -tired
truck working between the harvester
and the highway trucks.
Fletcher says he expects an
"amiable resolution" of any problems
caused by wet weather at harvesting.
The farmer will have a veto over any
harvesting, but the company will also
have the right to bypass a crop if the
company's "farm manager" believes
the field was dry enough to harvest.
A retired railwayman who also
farmed in the Kincardine area for 15
years, Fletcher has been working for
Canadian Agra for three months. He
says the demise of the cattle industry
in the region has made new ideas
necessary. "We've got to look for
alternatives," he says.
The alfalfa plant is the fourth
industry to locate at the Bruce Energy
Centre in as many years, bringing total
private investment in the steam -using
facilities there to about $33 million.
The power is provided by the Bruce
Nuclear Power Development, which
will allow the alfalfa plant to run 24
hours a day during the normal har-
vesting season from the end of May
until the end of October.
Experience at a geothermal steam -
drying plant in New Zealand, the
Bruce Energy Centre says, has shown
that steam -dried alfalfa has a superior
green colour and retains most of the
protein of the original crop.
Fletcher says that Canadian Agra's
primary market for the cubed alfalfa
will be Japan, but that there is also a
large, though competitive, U.S. mar-
ket. "We're hoping our low energy
costs will give us an edge." The plant
will be in full operation by May of
1991, employing 5 or 6 people regu-
larly and 40 to 45 during the harvest
season.OLG