The Rural Voice, 1999-05, Page 54News
chicken's Kaatstra up in arms. He
said it is not fair to play one
commodity against the other.
Steckle said this is one of
Canada's problems nationally. Steve
Thompsc4i added that these are the
exact arguments the U.S. uses.
Dairyman Art Versteeg explained
that the U.S. can move dairy product
into Canada but Canadians can't send
one drop to them. The WTO
challenge by the U.S. and New
Zealand is of concern. Canada lost
that round and dairy producers have
asked the federal government to
appeal that ruling.
Steckle said that he had warned
producers when they encouraged
over -production for export. Now
farmers are not better off because of
it. Versteeg said that exports are up
from three per cent traditionally to 10
per cent now.
Henry Boot asked where the
products are shipped to. He answered
his own question — they are sent to
countries that don't want them e.g.
the U.S. and the EU, because the
countries that need them have no
money.
Neil Stapleton gave the report of
the wheat industry. He considers it
was a big mistake when the GRIP
program was cancelled. He urged the
politicians not to make the same
mistake and cancel present federal
and provincial subsidies. Steckle said
that the average subsidy was
$23,600.
Down announced that within the
next three years every farmer in
Huron County will get a visit and be
offered a "tractor kit". This contains
high quality reflecting tape to apply
on the rear and side of tractors.
Thompson said that on at least
two occasions there have been near
collisions with wide corn planters.
All new equipment will be equipped
with rear lights and he has heard no
objections to stronger regulations,
but Johns said that at present no new
regulations are feasible.
Several speakers expressed
concern about rear lights. It can cause
glare or it can be mistaken for the
lights of a motorcycle.
The meeting concluded with a
plea by MPP Helen Johns to stand
more together.0
50 THE RURAL VOICE
Advice
Understanding board
foot measure
By John Benham
Tree Commissioner
Wellington South
The most common measure for
hardwood logs in Ontario is the board
foot. Prices for logs delivered to a
mill or sold at the roadside next to a
woodlot are usually quoted per
thousand board feet (MBF).
A board foot of lumber is the
volume of wood in a board one foot
long. one foot wide and one inch
thick (eg. a 3 foot. 2X4 is two BF).
To determine the gross board foot
volume of a log, the average diameter
inside the bark to the nearest inch on
the small end of a log, and the log
length in feet are measured. These
measurements are then applied to a
log rule, which is a mathematical
formula for calculating wood volume.
Various log rules exist and all give
slightly different volume estimates
for the same piece of wood but each
has certain advantages for particular
situations. Hence it is very important
that the woodlot owner know and
understand which log rule is being
used when prices are quoted and logs
are measured in board foot units.
There are three log rules which are
commonly used in Ontario — the
International 1/4 inch Log Rule, the
Ontario Log Rule and the Doyle Log
Ru/e. All hardwood material from
crown lands in Ontario except poplar
and white birch, up to and including
18 feet 8 inches in length, has been
measured by the Ontario Log Rule.
However, some private operators use
other log rules which provide
different volume content estimates.
The International 1/4 inch Log
Rule:
This formula is changed for log
lengths of 4, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 feet
in order to account for log taper. This
log rule is quite accurate, but may
result in less lumber being sawn than
• predicted by log scale. Therefore, an
under -run of five per cent in actual
lumber recovery compared to log
scale may occur.
The Ontario Log Rule:
The Ontario Log Rule was
adopted as the official rule for
determining the volumetric content of
logs in Ontario in 1952.
It applies to logs 4 to 40 inches
in diameter and 8 to 18 feet
long. Allowances have been made
in its development for losses in
the wood sawn from logs due to
slabs, sawdust, planing, shrinkage
and otl'er factors. Log volumes by the
Ontario rule tend to be somewhat Tess
than by the International I/4 -inch log
rule.
The Doyle Log Rule:
It is especially inaccurate on small
logs because of its excessive
allowance of 4 inches for slabs and
edgings. The Doyle rule under -scales
log volumes for small diameter logs.
For these logs it provides an overrun
of lumber sawn in comparison to
volume of logs scaled. This tends to
compensate the sawmill business for
the inefficiencies of handling small
logs; and in some cases motivates
loggers and woodland owners to
leave relatively small saw timber
trees to grow.
In general, the under -scaling of
logs increases as log diameter
decreases from 23 inches to 8 inches.
Also, for the same diameter logs
between 8 and 23 inches, 16 foot logs
are under -scaled about 5 to 15 per
cent more than eight -foot logs when
comparisons are made with the
International 1/4 inch log rule.
Therefore it is advantageous to sell 8
foot logs rather than 16 foot logs
when the Doyle Rule is used, if the
buyer permits. From a forest
management standpoint, the Doyle
rule sometimes is considered a
disincentive to harvesting small
diameter, immature trees.
A log 8 feet long and 18 inches in
diameter yields 100 board feet
measured by the International 1/4
inch Rule, 104 board feet measured
by the Ontario Log Rule and 98
board feet measured by the Doyle
Log Rule.
So if you are selling by the board
foot it would be wise to know the
price per board foot and what log rule
is used. Don't forget, if you are
planning to harvest trees they must be
cut according to the local tree cutting
bylaw.0
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