The Rural Voice, 1990-06, Page 24040140WAY FARMS
1plir YORKSHIRE
LANDRACE
DUROC
HAUPSHIRE
Nene bear and Sons
ROP Performance tested;
Gilts and boars from a herd
with very good mothering ability.
OS FI York x Landrace
gibs, open or bred
available on a regular basis.
also
YORK, LANDRACE
HAMPSHIRE,
DUROC, AND
DUROC x HAMP
BOARS
Herd Classified Good**
by the Animal Industry Branch
Duality Swine Approved
Contact Wayne Fear at
MONOWAY FARMS
6 MILES W. OF BRUSSELS
ON HURON RD. #16
Call Wayne anytime at
519-887-6477
Call Gord at noon
or after six
519-887-6668
a s.,..
Ptyrk
'A Cu aM.. 7M +tri, •
Jur* 19-2i SuMord
VENTILATION
/ /
AXIS -AIR
BLENDER
-* Uniform Temperature
-4 Reduces Drafts
- + Automatic System
-4 Easy Maintenance
-4 Corrosion Resistant
> SERVICE for Martin -Air
PHONE 519-345-2258
AXIS PRODUCTS LTD.,
5 Main Street,
Brodhagen, Ontario
Canada NOK I BO
Dealer enquiries welcome
20 THE RURAL VOICE
of his hogs, and over the years has
come up with several inventions, a
couple of which he hopes will make
it on the market one day.
Not satisfied with any of the creep
covers available, Larry experimented
until he developed one that was just
the right size to keep the piglets warm
and happy, and yet allowed enough
ventilation. Now all farrowing crates
in the converted bank barn have the
creeps beside them filled with con-
tented piglets. "The neighbours who
have used our design have been
pleased with the results."
Larry also says he's convinced that
cleaner air in hog barns improves herd
health significantly. In fact, he's so
sure that reducing the noxious gases
produced by bacteria in liquid manure
would virtually eliminate "the snif-
fles" that he has experimented with
several feed additives. These addi-
tives cut down on bacterial activity
and tie up ammonia. Combined with
just the right amount ventilation, they
freshen the air in the barn.
"You could spend several hours
in the hog barn, come out, and people
couldn't detect any odour on your
clothes," Larry says, adding that he
hopes to see several of these new
products licensed for use in Ontario
in the near future.
He's also invented one hog feeder
and is working on a second, wet feed-
er that he hopes to manufacture short-
ly with a local Mennonite company.
And he has an industrial design appli-
cation (something like a patent) in the
works for another "farm and home -
related tool" which he says would sell
well at major hardware store chains.
"But it's a costly procedure. You
could lose your shirt over it, but if
you don't try, you'll never know."
When prodded by Judy, he admits
to coming up with a lightweight stone -
picking fork as well, one that he says
could save many a back. A hay wag-
on piled with stones recently picked
from a nearby field is mute testimony
to this implement's effectiveness.
Larry has entered several of his
inventions in the Ontario Pork Con-
gress' innovation competition and,
although he hasn't won to date, he
has one ready for this year's show
("don't tell your readers yet") which
is elegantly simple but will increase
safety when handling large hogs.
The Biesingers haven't always
been in hogs full-time, and in fact only
got into them when Larry saw an op-
portunity in 1972 to buy some sows at
$30 or $40 each. "Those sows made
me some big money." The farm
couple went to a closed herd in 1981
with York sows and three-quarter
Hampshire boars. To introduce new
genetics into the barn, they use arti-
ficial insemination a few times a year.
In 1983, they did extensive reno-
vations to the old bank barn, added a
feeder barn and a side barn for the dry
sows, and put the operation on a liquid
manure system (except for the dry sow
barn, which they plan to covert soon).
They grow about 90 acres of barley
for feed in rotation with winter wheat
underseeded with red clover for plow -
down, and they buy all their corn from
farms nearby. "That way we only
need one line of equipment," Larry
says, adding that he always tries to
find high quality when purchasing
corn, and carefully checks each and
every load for harmful molds as it
comes in.
Although they have never specif-
ically aimed at being one of the best
pork producers in the county, a couple
of years ago their hogs finished in the
top five in the indexed carcass com-
petition held by the Perth County Pork
Producers each year.
Cutting the right corners and not
being chased around by bankers have
also allowed the Biesingers to pursue
some hobbies, and Larry has four
beehives on the farm which produce
"enough honey for us and a few of the
neighbours." He says he's been
dabbling in bees "since I was a kid,"
and is concerned that with the increase
in cash crops "there's not as much
forage for them as there once was."
"A person should be able to go
fishing too, once in a while," Larry
says with a wry smile. And he's been
experimenting with grafting exotic
apple stock onto root stock. He hopes
to see green apples growing in Ontario
again, and less dependence on imports
of the green variety.
Responsible family farming is the
best way to grow the country's food
supply, the Biesingers say, and it can
be done both profitably and with a
traditional concern for stewardship.0