The Rural Voice, 1991-11, Page 12FALL
SAVINGS
L
Animal Health
Fall Check List
IVOMEC
LYSOFF
Ill VITAMINS
111 IMPLANTS
(Conpudoee, Ralgro, Synovex)
TRAMISOL
SPOTTON
14
Fall is the time to
take soil samples
• SAVE DOLLARS
• IMPROVE YIELDS
Talk to your local CO-OP
staff about next year's
fertilizer program
chro
HEED NITREMT RELEASE DAIRY FEEDS
Tests show up to 8L
more milk/cow/day
than conventional rations
LUCKNOW DISTRICT
CO-OPERATIVE
Lucknow 519-529-7953
Ripley 519-395-3654
TEESWATER DISTRICT
CO-OPERATIVE
Teeswater 519-392-6862
8 THE RURAL VOICE
ON SEEKING INPUT
FOR BETTER FARMS
Adrian Vos, from Huron County, has
contributed to The Rural Voice since
its inception in 1975.
In the "World Monitor," a highly
respected magazine, Donald Peterson,
former chief executive officer of the
Ford Motor Company, explains how
he turned Ford around from a rusting
hulk manufacturer to a maker of quali-
ty vehicles. This tum -around has been
so successful that every company, in-
cluding the U.S. Navy, is copying the
system.
It is really a simple system. Most
good things are simple. So simple that
small companies and farmers would
do well to see what they can learn
from it. Peterson began by sending all
his managers out to the assembly lines
and supply and maintenance shops
with orders to ask the humble workers
what they thought could be improved.
The general idea is old hat. I remem-
ber as a young man that our factory
had a suggestion box. Any accepted
idea got the inventor ten per cent of
the savings of the first year. That is
the same principle, but Peterson took
the next step and had the managers ask
the workers directly. The workers
then got a reasoned personal answer as
to why their idea was good, or why it
was not. No letter, but a personal
explanation where they could defend
their idea. One must realize that a dol-
lar saved is worth millions of dollars
to a company the size of Ford. But
some of the savings amounted to hun-
dreds of dollars on one car. Others
improved the quality, and today Ford
produces one of the better cars in the
world, on a par with the best Japan
offers.
Our farmers can do the same thing
on a small scale. Has dad ever asked
son, or daughter, or wife for that mat-
ter, how he could do a better job?
More often we hear that son left the
farm because dad didn't want to im-
plement what son had learned at col-
lege.
Not all fathers are like this. At
demonstrations, and field days, and at
seminars, we see the same people
every time. They are the sons and
dads who are willing to listen and
learn. But if there are 200 listeners
present, there are 2000 who could be
there, but who think they know all the
answers already.
If they followed the Ford lead, they
would ask their wives to help them
figure out how to be more efficient
(yes, I know, the word efficient is like
a swear word to some farmers). They
would ask their children what they
would do differently. They would ask
their neighbour to discuss variations in
their practices. Most of all, they
would attend meetings at "farmers'
weeks" wherever they could, to hear
the experts, instead of proclaiming:
"What do these guys know. They
never get their hands dirty."
I have begun to implement Peter-
son's idea in my aviary. I have asked
my daughter how to make it more
attractive for people who come to buy
a bird. I plan to ask my visitors how I
can improve appearances. I know that
not all suggestions will work, but I'll
try them all out. Some may even be
too expensive for the expected return,
so I plan to explain this to them in the
hope they will have an alternate
suggestion.
My bird operation is small com-
pared to my farming operation before
my retirement, and is "bird feed" com-
pared to Ford, but it shc;.-14 work as
well on this smaller scale. For farm-
ers, at multiples of $l00,000 in ex-
penses, even a small improvement
may mean a big saving. Why not try
it, folks. Let The Rural Voice know
how you made out.0
The Rural Voice welcomes
letters and will publish as many
as space permits.
Write: The Rural Voice,
Box 429, Blyth, Ontario
NOM 1H0