Times Advocate, 1994-7-27, Page 17EARM IJPL)
TETimes -Advocate, July 27, 1994
Roy Wilson displays the damage to his crops and the evi-
dence of the hall storm that wrecked havoc on his farm Sun-
day morning.
Plan terminated
OTTAWA - Federal Agriculture
and Agri -Food Minister Ralph
Goodale announced that the feder-
al and provincial governments will
terminate the National Tripartie
Sabilization Plan (NTSP) for hogs
effective July 2, 1994.
The NTSP was scheduled to end
December 31, 1995. Because of
chi rtgfti$ eirctitrttttatices In natinnal
and international markets, hog pro-
ducers across the country want to
plan to end this year. After a re-
view of the plan, Goedale and his
provincial counterparts agreed.
producers will receive full details
shortly.
In reaching agreement, the min-
isters reaffirmed their intent. to
move to "whole -farm" income sta-
bilization as the basic approach for
helping farmers manage produc-
tion and market risk.
The ministers agreed there
would be an interim program to
the end of 1994 or until hogs are
brought into a whole -farm pro-
gram. The design of the interim
program will he finalized in the
near future.
A violent Sunday morning icy blast
dashed hopes of many local farmers
for a good 1994 growing season
By Adrian Harte
T -A Editor
CENTRALIA - On Roy Wilson's
farm, his 1994 growing season was
all over in—about two or three min-
utes. Hail the size of marbles
shredded an entire 140 acres worth
of crops, leaving nothing to har-
vest.
The storm cut a narrow path
through fields and farms about 7:30
a.m. Sunday morning. Areas hit
worst stretch from the Shipka/
Mount Carmel area through the
south edge of Crediton across to
Centralia and into parts of Osborne
Township.
By some estimates, Wilson's farm
was just about at the centre of the
storm's ferocity.
"You couldn't see out the door.
I've never seen anything like that
before," he said.
Within minutes, "terrific winds"
dumped two inches of hailstones up
to an inch in diameter onto the
farm, mixed with two inches of
rain.
"Everything's done on this farm,
everything," said Wilson, standing
in a field of dying white bean
plants quickly yellowing in the sun.
His corn Fick' to the west looks
fine, but is just shattered leaves on
stalks.
"It won't recover," said Wilson,
adding it is the same story for his
soybean and wheat crops. His
neighbour across the road has dam-
age that looks just as bad.
"When you're farming, you get it
like this once in a lifetime. We got
our turn yesterday morning," said
Wilson.
Fortunately, Wilson knows that
the odds eventually catch up with
you, and has crop insurance on his
fields. Another 40 acres he farms
some distance away was spared,
otherwise his growing season is
over.
Even the apples on the trees in
his back yard are bruised by the
hailstones and arc quickly going
had.
"I've never seen hail like that. It
just laid like snowdrifts," he said.
"It was only two to three minutes.
That's all it took: unbelievable."
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
representatives from the Clinton of-
fice were out Monday afternoon
trying to assess the extent of the
damage.
Not only were farms hit hard by
the hail. The ice pellets even
smashed a window on Eric Fink-
beiner's property near Crediton.
"It broke the garage window and
kind of ruined my garden," said
Finkbeiner, adding that his lawn is
still pockmarked from the bom-
bardment. "The lawn looks Iikc
you dropped a million golf halls on
it."
Page 17
Research farms adopt
no -till technologies
GUELPH - Nature dealt Ontario
a particularly bad hand last winter,
but George Robinson, manager of
the University of Guelph's re-
search farms, is maintaining a
"poker face".
Both the winter alfalfa and
wheat crops emerged well, and
he's confident that the stakes
aren't any higher this year than in
the past. In fact, the research farm-
ers are even venturing into new
territory this summer, using strate-
gies designed to promote greater
environmental care.
The farms, which the university
manages for the Ontario Ministry
of Agriculture, Food and Rural Af-
fairs, are making the move this
year from fujl tillage (plowing) to
reduced tillage. Although its appli-
cation varies from crop to crop, re-
duced tillage basically minimizes
costs by allowing farmers to seed
directly Nto last year's crop stub-
ble in unplowed fields.
Reduced tillage also discourages
erosion. Because fields seeded this
way are not plowed, soil remains
basically undisturbed. Research on
reduced tillage has been going on
at the farms for several years. "It's
been successful in i-esearch appli-
cations, so we decided its time to
proceed on a larger scale on the
production side cZL-ttie farms," says
Robinson.
Research farm operators are
planting about the same quantity
and variety of crops as in past
years -- 1,100 acres of corn and
300 acres each of soybeans, barley
and alfalfa. Much of what is har-
vested at the farms is used to meet
the feed and bedding requirements
of the livestock base used in re-
search programs at Guelph.
Other environmentally friendly.
techniques the farms are using in-
clude a nitrogen -testing technique
developed in the university's de-
partment of land resource science.
The farms will also continue to
rotate and reduce the amount of
pesticides and herbicides used to
manage weeds and insects. Differ-
ent chemicals are used for each pe-
riod of application. Pre -emergence
herbicides are incorporated into the
fields; an alternative post -
emergence herbicide is used for
weeds that escape the initial appli-
cations.
In addition to rotating chemicals,
the farms rotate crops. This avoids
the problem of insects and weeds
getting accustomed to the crop in
one particular area and flourishing.
Rotating crops also promotes soil
sustainability, especially when it
involves crops like clover that reju-
venate the soil.
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LONDON
FORD NEW HOLLAND
FORD
NEW HOLLAND
A DIVISION OF COLD SPRINGS FARM LIMITED*
Hwy. tf22 - West of Hyde Park Rd, Hyde Park Ont.
Phone: (519) 641-8820, Fax (519) 641-8756
WE ARE READY
TO RECEIVE
YOUR 1994
* Red and White Wheat
* Barley
* Three Receiving Pits
* Harvest Services
available
CUSTOM COMBINING
AND
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WINTER A SEED AVAILABt�E -
SEED WHEATS AVAILABLE _
CONTACT PETER ROWNTREE OR BEV HILL