Times-Advocate, 1983-04-13, Page 16Times -Advocate, April 13, 1983
A HEARTY DONATI ' 14 — The South Huron Junior Farmers collected $642.50 in Usborne Township for the On-
tario Heart Fund. Junior Farmers Craig Alexander (left) and Lee Hodgert presented the money to Al Epp, direc-
tor, and Bruce Shaw, president, of the Huron County Chapter of the Heart Fund. During Junior Farmers Week
in March, the South Huron Junior Farmers donated $400 to the Arthritis Society.
eat
The Romans gave this
month the name of Aprilis. It
is derived from aperire which
means 'to open, probably
because it is the season when
buds open.
It is not my favorite month.
My old granddad called it
mud month and he was right.
It is the time of year when any
loose earth seems to arrive at
the back door. If it is wet. it
cakes. If it is dry, it becomes
grit and manages to find its
way throughout the house.
I know, I know. It is the
month of warm rain. It is the
month when the daffodils
• bloom and tulips are a blaze
of color. It is the month when
all the trees are budding and
the earth seems alive with
new life.
The Dutch call it grass
month and maybe that is why,
in spite of what is happening
throughout our land, that I
cannot put April at the top of
PIONEER
SEEDRORN
PERFORMANCE
YOU CAN
COUNT ON
. Your Pioneer Sales
Representative is:
Case
Van Raay
R.R. 3
Dashwood, Ont.
Ph. 237-3496
(0:5to
PRIONANO Se1OCONNEER.
P.M*, ..b,.nd nam.. n4r^bn. .01.110,
..-t... • O,p.IMOd I,/.,
d..,tt hcM..d 10
VP
wn.., w a..d t..d.d CM1b,0.. Om.n0
my list. Cutting grass is not
my idea of a pleasant even-
ing's work.
'It is too early to get much
work done in the fields, too
early to sit in a quiet thicket
in a fence corner because the
ground is too damp. It is too
soon to realize that the rural
countryside has height and
Letters are at'lpr•ctated by Bob Trotter EldaleAd Elmira Orlt N]S 2C7
as a wound where the scab
. has been ripped off before the
healing process has begun.
The fences need fixing: The
potholes in the driveway have
grown to pond proportions.
The cement block stairwell
leading down to the back door
has shifted another half-inch.
That will mean either a two-
week chore for me or a cou-
ple. of hundred dollars to a
tradesman.
The pesky rabbits have
been at the young trees dur-
ing this snowless winter and
ringed the bark on at least
two of them. The crazy starl-
ings seem to have inutliplied
so much that the songbirds
are frightened. Even the
saucy wrens and the happy
chickadees seem intimidated
by these immigrants who
waddle along the ground like
drunken sailors ashore.
Perhaps it is because-- as
you have rightfully learned --
1 am basically lazy. The
whole world around me is
busy, busy. busy with spring
and all i want to do is wait.
sullenly, for the warmth 'of
summer.
The heat and humidity of
sutnmer never bothers me:
like it. My .wife says it -is
because there is too much of
the devil In roe; that's why I
like the heat.
And perhaps April is at the
low end of my favorite list
because, even more than the
fall, it reminds me of the tact
that I have seen many
springs, that the blood runs
slower now than it did a
decade or two ago.
The greatest tragedy of life
is that thousands of men and
women never have the oppor-
tunity to revel in success. We
exist in weariness and labor.
We do not farm ; we are
farmed.
Thus April, flowing with
lite, is a stark reminder of our
mortality.
The message is that April is
beautiful. ,It tells of the sum-
mer to come but summer is
not stere yet.
Should we do what the old
kings and despots did? They
shot the messenger.
color and depth and sweet
smells and sounds. It is the
month when all the pimples
and zits of the winter come in-
to focus. The barn appears to
be falling down because if its
drunken tilt to the east. The
roofing paper has been blown
off during a March storm and
the roof sheathing is as bare
Expert sharp cut
in bean acreage
Because of record world
production of white beans in
1982 and heavy carryovers in
the United States this year,.
Ontario farmers could plant
20 percent less than last year,
manager Charles Broadwell
of the Ontario Bean Pro-
ducers' Marketing Board in
London said Tuesday. .
Rut he said the world's
largest producing area.
Michigan, is expected to cut
• back plantings by more than
21 percent and the other large
producing areas of Minnesota
and North Dakota could
reduce plantings by more.
than 30 percent.
Broadwell said he expects
much of the Ontario white
Over 200 enjoy
Can -Crop event
The Ituron-Perth Can -Crop
Growers Association held
their annual goodwill banquet
March 30 with 200 persons in
attendance at the Kirkton--
Woodham Community
Centre.
Growrrs for Canadian Can-
ners had an opportunity to
meet Stan Luscombe, the•new
manager in Exeter. Enter-
tainment was provided by the.
St. Mary s Childrens Choir.
Guest Speaker was Ross
Daily of CFPL television.
Daily urged people involv-
ed in agriculture to use
newspapers, television and
radio to present the problems
and concerns facing then
bean acreage will swing to
corn or soybean production
this spring. Last year white
bean acreage in Ontario rose
five percent over 1981.
Broadwell said the bean
board has managed to sell all
but three percent (about
60,000 hundred -weight bags)
of the 1982 crop in storage but
prices have been low so there
is no prospect that farmers
will get an interim or final
payment beyond their initial
payment of $11.96 per. hun-
dredweight bag.
Btoadwell said it's difficult
to guess what Ontario farmer
planting intentions are this
year because the board
doesn't have data it would
normally glean from planting
questionnaires sent out with
interim payment cheques to
farmers.
"I don't want to encourage
farmers not to grow or
discourage them from grow-
ing." he said, but he did say
downward price pressure will
probably be exerted because
of heavy Michigan surplus
carryovers from 1982.
Broadwell said because of
the world surplus situation
and market uncertainties. the
board decided it wouldn't hold
any surplus 1982 beans in
storage.
However, despite the heavy
1982 Michigan carryover, pro-
jected drastic planting cut-
backs this year should signal
higher prices for the 1983
crop, Broadwell said.
It's not
too
late...
Huron farm and home news
Talk about 4•H, hogs, employment
4-H Beef Club members:
now is the time you are choos-
ing your 'calf for your club.
project. If you intend to take
part in the 1983 Queen's
Guineas Competition, you will
be interested in the following
1) The steer weight must be
not morethan 800 lbs. at
weigh on ( May 1-15).
2) A new class for the
Chianina breed has been add-
ed in this year's competition.
3)A showmanship class will
be held on Thursday night,
November 17. The top beef
showman in each County will
he eligible to enter this. En-
trants do not have to be par-
ticipants in the Queen's
Guineas Competition. Calves
will be provided.
Don Pullen,
Agricultural Representative
What's new in the Iluron t-11
Poultry Club
The Huron 4-11 Poultry Club
has expanded. The 4-1
member can now choose from
three projects.
As in past years. a Fancy
Poultry will be offered. Also,
in the commercial poultry
section, the following will -be
available: Laying Project - 25
layers bought • by May 1;
Broiler Project - 25 birds
bought eight weeks before
Achievement Day.
If you are between 12 and 19
years old as of January 1.1983
and are interested in joining
the Huron 441 Poultry Club,
contact Barry Cleave at Clin-
ton or the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food' at
482-3428 or Zenith 7-3040 (for
long distance).
Don Pullen
Agricultural Representative
Youth employment
opportunities 6
Do you need extra help on
your farm -this summer'?
Are you a student, at least
16 years old as of May 1, look-
ing for summer work?
If the answer to either of
these questions is "yes".
please read on.
Two summer work pro-
grams are available through
the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food.
Agricrew provides students
with a chance to further their
work experience and allows
farmers to get extra help with
work on the farm.
Students between the ages
of 16-24 will be considered for
Agricrew. Crews of four
young people assist several
area • farmers during peak
work periods. Jobs include
harvesting, a variety of
general farm labour, and
special clean-up projects.
Farmers, do you have diff-
culty during the summer
keeping up with the extra
tasks? Then Agricrew is your
solution.
The Junior Agriculturalist
program is an opportunity for
16 and 17 year olds from ur-
ban centres with no farm ex-
perience to spend nine weeks
on a farm. The youth lives
and works with a host farm
family and through participa-
tion in 4-H, Junior Farmer
and other rural programs
he/she can get a wide view of
the aspects of "farm living".
. Host farmers must be able
to supply suitable room and
board for the Junior
Agriculturalist.
Workmen's Compensation
and Unemployment In-
surance are the responsibili-
ty of the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food,
The Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food will pav
the training allowance. At
the conclusion of the program
the farmer reimburses half of
this cost.
If you are a farmer needing
help on the farm or a student
looking for work, please con-
tact the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food, Clin-
ton, phone 482-3428 or Zenith
7-3040 (for long distance).
Deadline for applications is,
April 29.
For youth there are many
more Summer Experience '83
programs available through
the Ontario Government. For
information on these employ-
ment programs; contact any
Ontario Government office.
Application deadlines are
April tforpost- secondaryand
April 15 for secondary
students.
Don Pullen,
Agricultural Representative
Through -put of hogs
By Richard Smelski,
Swine Specialist
In my farm visits to pork
producers I usually see two
dramatic shortcomings in the
production. One is the
unavailability of a gilt pool for
sow operations and the se-
cond is the lack of concern
about feed conversions in the
finishing operations. .
We make the mistake of
asking how many sows a pork
producer has as compared to
how many farrow per week:
The most important figure for
a pork producer is the
number of farrowings per
week. Each farrowing crate
is capable of producing 10 lit-
ters , per year with good
weaneridcilities. Therefore a
barn with 16 farrowing crates
should be geared up for 3 far-
rowings per week, come hell
t t.i btil ;gr - e43
SCIENCE FAIR WINNER -- Gary Wilson, Stephen Cen-
tral receives a gold medal from Larry Weido for plac-
ing first in the grade six physical section of the South
Huron science fair:
Star -frac Rotaspreader — The
flail -tank spreader that offers you
cleaner, easier manure handling,
and longer, more efficient
spreader life.
We still have
some good seed
corn numbers
left. But you'd
better call now.
jaailleS
Seeds
Ralph J. Geiger
Phone 236.4784
�•.....t■—..+renes
ISMS -
SCIENCE FAIR WINNER - - Derrick Martin, Zurich Public
School, received a gold medal from Larry Weido for his
entry in the grade seven physical section of the South
Huron district science fair.
REDIu.MIX CONCRETE
MTC Approved
ALL TYPES OF CONCRETE WORK
REDI•MIX CONCRETE
& FORMWORK
PRECAST PRODUCTS DEALER ,
McCann R•dl•Mtx Inc.
MANGERS STEPS Dashwood, 237-3647
SLATS CUR'S Exeter 433.0331
4
• Smashing heavy-duty chain
flails pulverize material even if
hard packed or frozen.
• Galvani7ed watertight body
keeps liquids and solids Intact
until you gel.lo the field.
Loading areas stay clean and
dry. Driveways and roads
aren't splattered.
• Rugged.
• Dependable.
• EHkient.
• Spreads any manure from
Iquld to frozen solid.
• No aprons, long chain drives,
gear boxes or chain driven
beaters to freeze up or adjust.
Building depetdabte equipment eine 1883.
21 Hwy
N of Grand Bente
RR 1 DASHWOOD
1 S19 238 2301
or high water, thus breeding
4 to insure a farrowing of 3.
The greatest drawback to
this has been the closed herd
policy. With the poor herd
health that is currently being
maintained (on the average)
in Ontario, I don't think the
closed herd policy will make
as much money as production
through a farrowing crate.
There is not much sense in
having 20 pigs/sow/year if
one-half of the farrowing
crates are empty. Essential-
ly it's the same as 10
pigs/sow/year. The problem
lies in the ability to maintain
a good gilt pool. Having gilts
that are ready to be bred.
Easier said than done. For
this reason, overbreed by 15
percent to 25 percent to obtain
your farrowings per week,
otherwise lock in with a good
supplier. Don't shut all your
problems in your barn. Main-
tain production even if it is not
100 percent efficiency.
It becomes difficult if not
next to impossible to keep a
consistent supply of gilts for
a 50'-60 sow operation. For ex-
ample, you should be plann-
ing on replacing 40,percent of
your sows each year, but
because you do not have the
volume, it becomes difficult
to know when you will be cull-
ing a sow and more so to get
the gilts into heat at the right
time. I maintain that this area
of a consistent supply of gilts
is where the Europeans have
maximized their
pigs/sow/year. A breeding
company could do more good
for the industry to capitalize
on keeping farrowing crates
full rather than selling fancy
boars (with no health
pedigree) .
The second area of concern
is the feed conversion of
finishing pigs. I would bet that
inflation for the finishing
operations has made more
money for finishing hog pro-
ducers than profits from
finishing pigs. When we own
up to the fact that finishing
.hogs is an alternative to
marketing corn, we will.
realize that we are competing
against the cornbelt of the
U.S.A. The Cornbelt gets 175
bushels/acre of corn and has
virtually no investment in hog
buildings.
I'm not sure why, but I see
a slow trend towards all-
in/all-out for the finishing
operations. i have several
philosophies in this area but
it's best to hear the reasons
from the feeder men — "days.
reduced by 10 to 20 percent,
disease control, labour effi-
ciency with cropping. linea-
tion possibilities, ' etc."
Quebec has found this to be
the best method to control
hemophilius pneumonia. Of
course, for every advantage
there is a disadvantage and
you have to weigh each
thoroughly to see how each
applies to your operation. My
guess is that we'll see more of
this trend but �'at a higher
volume with the possibility of
custom feedlots. Pooling
resources in an area will
make this most competitive,
e.g. 5 sow operations, a cash
cropper and a feed mill.
A 200 acre field of corn
yielding 125 bushels per acre
and feeding all the corn
through hogs can gross
8330,000 at a 3.3 feed conver-
sion or at an Ontario average
of a 4 feed conversion, it'll
gross 8272,000. With this im-
proved feed conversion, you
can feed an extra 413 pigs on
the same 200 acres with no
difference in feed costs.
Club Update
The Huron 4-H Agricultural
Club organizational meetings
are off to a great start! There
is a super amount of en-
thusiasm among members
and leaders.
There are a couple of clubs
which I would like to draw to
your attention. The first is the
Huron 9-H Senior Dairy
Management Club. This is
open to teenagers 15 to 19
years old as of January 1st,
1983. It is not necessary to be
a member of another 4-H Calf
Club. 4-H members from
previous years, as well as
current members who are
looking for something new.
are welcome to enroll.
Much expertise is provided
in this club by leaders Ken
Ramsey, 523-9397 and Jim
McGee, 357-1734.
A new 4H Fancy Poultry
Club will be organizing in the
Lucknow area. This is for
young people 12 to 19 years
old as of ,January 1st, 1983.
William Jardin at 529-7668 will
be leading the club. As well,
the Huron 4-H Poultry Club
will welcome more members
from Central and South
Huron. Club leader is Barry
Cleave - 482-7128.
If you are interested in
fellowship, learning and fun,
join a Huron 4-11 club. For
more information, call the
local 4-11 club leader or con-
tact the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food at
482-3428 or Zenith 7-3040 (for
long distance.) 4-H is an ex-
perience you will never
forget.
- Don Pullen
Agricultural Representative
A football fanatic was wat-
ching his eighth game of the
weekend: His ignored wife
planted herself in front of the)
TV and screamed: "Play me
— or trade me!"
1
IONEERSEEDGORN
PERFORMANCE
OU CAN COUNTON
Pioneer hybrids are
developed and tested by
one of the world's largest ,
research teams. Pioneer
researchers make it their
objective to"select and
breed only qualified
hybrids having excellent
stalk strength, corn borer
and rootworm tolerance.
The result is a line-up of
leader hybrids that can
help you maximize yields.
That's why they're
planted on more acres in
Canada than any other
brand.
You can count on
Pioneer performance.
\to
BRAND • SEED CORN
PIONEER
Your Pioneer Sales Representative is:
George Sereda
RR 1 Centralia, Ont.
235-0273
Bill Coleman
Kijapen, Ont.
262-5031
Pioneer is a brand name; numbers identify varieties. It Registered trademark
licensed to Pion•sm III -Bred Limited Chatham, Ontario
t.
ssoLubes fbr!esa
—. 9
e
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Essolube XD -3, Essolubes HDX Plus
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And right now they're doing it for less.
Just a little more help to keep you
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You make us better.
Premium Multi -grade Essolube XD -3
motor oil o protects diesel and
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protection o reduces engine wear.
Hydraul fluid o is a universal hydraulic -
transmission fluid o for use on all your
field equipment o good for transmis-
sion, final drives, wet lubes, wet
clutches, power steering and power
take -off o minimizes wear o inhibits
rust and controls foaming.
Unitol grease o all purpose grease
o with high temperature tolerance
o anti -wear, anti -rust and water resis-
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Just a little help
to •-eyouno
throw: trough times.
Russell Fuels Ltd.
Your Esso Agent Shipka
R.R. 2, Dashwood, Ont. Contact: BRUCE RUSSELL
Office: 238-2481 Home 238-8684