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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-03-04, Page 27FARM NEWS Renewable sources must be used for energy a Candidates speak Huron County Federation of Agriculture regional directors listened as members of the three pro- vincial parties attempted to state their agricultural policies at the February On- tario Federation of Agriculture Board Meeting in Totnto. Michael Cassidy, NDP leader, stated that his party would preserve class 1, 2 and 3 farmland through a land reserve. The NDP would create an Ontario Foodland Trust to acquire" land and lease it back to young farmers. This system would be similar to the Saskat- chewan Land Bank system which has an option to pur- chase clause. The NDP, he said, would also set up an "Ontario Food Agency" to set up local food co-ops, establish local pro- cessing plants, find new markets, establish food ter- minals and handle research into energy technology for food production. • Cassidy stressed the need for self-sufficiency in food for Ontario stating, "Ontario can't afford the job deficit from lost food production". Declaring that the "food in- quiry was a waste of money," he said his party would "persuade if possible, —and legislate if necessary, .for supermarkets to have Ontario produce available." Lorne Henderson, Minister- of Agriculture, speaking on behalf of the Progressive Conservative Party, said his party would invest in one million acres in eastern and northern On- tario for food production: Storage facilities would be updated. On the subject of foreign ownership of farmland, Henderson stated a registra- . tion of such ownership is underway. Those foreign in- vestors with farmland, holdings. of 10 hectares or more must register. Hender- son intends to take these results to government every month. Jan McGuigan, represen- ting the Liberal party, stated the Liberals would double the provincial Ministry of Agriculture budget. He fur- ther stated that rural hydro rates would be reduced and productivity value should be used for farm property tax purposes. On. the subject of foreign ownership, McGuigan felt there should be a restriction of foreign ownership of farm corporations to 49 percent. The Liberal Party, McGuigan said, would legislate and control unfair practices in the food in- dustry. Tile drainage loan money would also be in- creased. Watch for killer manure gases BY RON FLEMING Spring isn't far away. With spring comes that hi -annual eltail loved by all called "spreading manure". Especially for those with, li- quid manure systems, it is important to keep in mind .certain facts about manure gases. Manure is broken down by bacteria. When there is no oxygen present in the • manure, as in liquid manure, certain undesirable gases are given off. These include carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide. The most dangerous of these is hydrogen sulphide. These gases are produced all the time, but they are not usually released from the manure until the manure is stirred up. That is why pro- blems with , these gases usually occur when the manure is agitated. If you picture what hap- pens when a bottle of pop is shaken; you get an idea of how- gas is released when , manure is agitated. Hydrogen sulphide is heavier than air so it will tend to remain at the surface of the rnahuire. So, if iranure is stored under slats, doonn't let the level get too high. Keep six inches of clearance below the slats, otherwise the heavier gases may be forced above the slats to animal level. Strong ventilation is im- portant to safe agitation of manure. The potential for problems is highest when the manure is stored under slats in the barn. The ,building should be ventilated as well as possible when agitating the tank. No one should be allowed in the building. To be on the safe side, the animals should be removed from the barn. Because this last condition is hard to meet, many farmers empty these tanks, without agitation: This will eventually lead to a build-up of solids. Tanks outside the earn should be connected to the gutters by some system which uses a gas trap so gases cannot get into the barn directly from the tank. No operator should ever enter a tank without a self- contained breathing ap- paratus and life line with a buddy outside the tank. Play it safe when handling manure this spring. Junior Farmers have special week March 20 to 27 is Junior Farmers' Week in Ontario. During this time, Junior Farmer clubs in each coun- ty, region and district will organize special fund- raising events. The week's activities culminate at the Junior Farmers' annual conference 'at Toronto's Constellation Hotel, March 27 to 29. All money raised during the w�e�k 's activities will be" p ented to the March of Dunes in honour of the Year of the Disabled. "The purpose of Junior Farmers' Week is to boost the spirit of the 8,500 W.J. Denomme FLOWER SHOP MOTTO 5124-$132 , DAV OR NIGHT Agent for 24 hr. FILM DEVELOPING members, strengthen pro- vincial ties, and Make the public more aware of Junior Farmers clubs," says Amber Gibbons, of the On- tario Ministry of Agriculture and Food extension branch, The association also hopes to promote awareness of their motto "self-help and community betterment". By Alice Gutta Farmers who attended the recent Alternate Energy Update seminar at the Clinton OMAF office were warned there's going to be a rapid escalation in world prices for , non-renewable resources like oil and natural gas. The man delivering that message was Lucknow area farmer .Tony McQuail, who is now using both solar and wind power to cut rising energy costs on his own farm. Mr. McQuail told the 40 farriers who attended that he hopes farmers can develop energy from renewable sources such as crops ^ and manure as a marketable commodity. He said the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is currently working to per- suade both the government arid Ontario Hydro to be more responsive to farmers and other individuals developing energy crops. He said two possible on- farm products that can be used as fuels are oils from seeds like rapeseed and the alcohol -based fuels produced from crops. Mr. McQuail said he personally has reservations about turning over control of the renewable forms of energy to multinational companies, and would prefer local control of • companies who might produce fuel from these sources. He advised individual farmers to study ways they can do the same amount of work using less energy. Predicting a price of $100 per, barrel for oil in the future, Mr. McQuail said if we were using energy produced locally, citizens might have more control of energy collection. He concluded by saying we're now in a "volatile time" trying to determine. energy needs 10 years down the road.: Helmut Speiser, of the Energy Resource Management Centre, •Ridgetown„ discussed some of the solar energy alter- natives available to farmers. He said there are now a number of barns and farm workshops in south-western Ontario heated by the sun. He said in the agricultural industry, if an investment pays off within a ten year period that's considered a good - investment. _Mr Speiser said the payback period for many solar in- stallations is now in the five to seven yea r period. In a slide presentation, Mr. Speiser showed several solar collector installations on the sides of barns and workshops. He said a farmer who decided to build a solar ebllector on the side of his farm workshop to provide heat for the buiding spent an additional $500 for the collector. The payback period was only three to five years and the. collector provided the only means of heat in the shop. Tlf costs on installing a similar collector on a new farrowing barn were $4 per square foot, but Mr. Speiser said the payback period was still within five years. He said vertical wall collectors, rather than horizontal' roof collectors are more practical in Huron County, easier to build anddon't have the same problem of heat buildup in the summer. He added roof collectors do have a problem with snow ac- cumulation, even when built at a 60 degree angle. Mr. Speiser said farmers considering a rock storage system to collect heat should remember they need only one cubic foot of rock per one foot of collector. The energy expert said oversizing + the rock storage area will prove useless. Healso told farmers he doesn't think solar energy for grain drying is the an- swer in Ontario. He pointed out it takes one month to dry the average -sized bin of corn, and said the large producer just can't afford that much time. Safety Assoc to hold conference The Farm . Safety Associa- tion of Ontario is holding its eighth annual conference on March 9 at the Cara Inn, Air- port Road, Toronto. More than 300 delegates, representing farm employers, county farm safety associations, school boards and other safety organizations, are expected to attend. "The purpose of the con- ference is two -fold," says Larry Swine, association public relations co- ordinator. "The annual meeting including election of the executive is held in the morning followed by an educational program in the afternoon and evening." The conference program features Dr. E. J. Tyler, Pro- fessor Emeritus of Brandon University, Manitoba' who will diec'.izs the psychology of safety. Douglas Wilson of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment will 'explain some of the difficulties of en- forcing the safe use of pesticides. The Stratford 4-H Safety Club will demonstrate what 4-H members are lear- ning about farm safety. "A highlight of the 1981 conference is the banquet speaker Hon. Lincoln Alex- ander, chairman of the On- tario Workmen's Compensa- tion Board," says Mr. Swine. "Mr. Alexander will outline the structure of the TOWN OF GODERICH - NEW POUND FEES EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 1981 This is to advise that the following rates scrip be' charged for animals Impounded by the By-law Enfor- cement Officer or Town of Goderich Police Depar- tment. -Any pound animal brought In by the Police or the By-law Enforcement Officer. out of regular hours. a minimum charge of .'23.80 admission. plus, regular fee schedule bo in effect. -Minimum 'charge for any animal be °18.00. An animal repossessed by the owner within the 'first three days to have a minimum pound fee of '18.00. The Town will not bear this rise In cost, but the , owner will receivlls it as an additional fine. . Councillor Mages, Chairman Traffic Committee Town of .t oderlch workmen's compensation board and howit relates to farm employers." The Farm Safety Associa- tion, a provincial organiza- tion with more than 23,000 members, is responsible for safety, education and pro- motion in the agricultural community. The speaker also outlined uses of heat pumps and heat exchangers. He warned dust can be a problem when farmers use heat exchangers in swine and poultry buildings and also warned freezing is a potential hazard with exchangers. He said farmers must be able to wash heat exchangers often to o-vercorne_ _ _the _dust problems. He recommended farmers consider some of the pre -manufactured 'ex,. changers, but also demon- strated a plywood model a farmer could make himself. - Mr. Speiser pointed out these warp and must be replaced every few years. The energy expert said the disadvantage with heat exchangers is -the heat you recover can likely , only be used in the building you recover it from, unless you use ducts and heat pumps to transfer the warm air to another building. Tony McQuail, describing his experiments with a wl� dmill erected on a hill an his farm, said the generator has only been operational for a short time, but in that. period reduced the hydro bill from seven kwh to four kwh. Mr. McQuail said when the windmill and generator are fully operational, it looks like • it will produce more power than they can use on the farm. He said the most wind is produced in December and January on his farm, the same period wtten Ontario Hydro has the most drain on' its system. • Mr. McQuail hopes he can eventually feed his excess power back into the Hydro grid system. Jack Pos, from the University of Guelph School of Engineering, outlined experiments toproduce methane gas on the farm. He said China now has seven million methane -producing digesters in operation on farms and communes. He said most are buried ung dergound, and, the gas produced has to be cleaned before it can be used in in- ternal combustion engines. in Vancouver, Prof. Pos said, the city's entire fleet of , small trucks have been modified to use methane gas produced at the city's municipal waste plant. The professor, involved in the ARCAL pilot methane plant project at the University of Guelph, said their research has shown it's. better to use methane gas as it's produced. He cautioned farmers they'll still have a manure disposal problem even if they have an on-farm PORTRAIT PACKAGE PECIAL YOUR CHILD'S COLOUR PORTRAIT 1®8x10 2 ®5x7 10 -Wallets Only $12.95 SITTING FEE $1.00 PER PERSON NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY All Ages & Family Groups Welcome One Special Per Sitting (Pose - Our Selection) Complete Package Only Additional Portraits Available just drop into our store during the days,and hours listed below. THURS. MAR • 5th - 1130 TO 7 pm FRI. MAR. 6th 11707PM SAT. MAR. 7th 1070 4PM SUNCOAST MAIL GODERICH digester, but using the manure to produce gas will at ie,ast remove the significant odours, so the effluent which remains has an odour at a more tolerable level. Prof. Pos also showed slides of a variety of methane gas projects now in operation. One of the largest, at Hooker, Oklahoma, was producing enough gas to supply the needs of 4,500 homes in a Chicago suburb. Experiments at the large plant were also being carried out to clean the liquid waste GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4,1981 --PAGE 11A as it went through the system, to be re -fed to cattle on a nearby beef feedlot. In a question and answer period at the end of the seminar, Prof. Pos warned there's no use in farmers producing methane if they haven't a use for the gas on their farm. At the end of the daylong seminar, sponsored by OMAF, agricultural engineers Ron Fleming and Sam lradshaw concluded with a. general discussion of alternate energy uses on the fariia. APPLIANCE REPAIR Large or small, we'll fix them all... Ow repair experts will have your appliance in tip top shape fast. Call us to day. PECK APPLIANCES AN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN VARNA VARNA 482-71031 JOHN GAFFNEY CONSTRUCTION CO. LTD. is expanding its facilities GAFFNEY WELDING now available to service your welding and fabrication needs in steel, aluminum and stainless steel in Goderich and area. 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