Walking in the sand
By DON STONEMAN
When Jan and Theresia Vanuland opened their new 250-freestall barn to the public last winter, as many as 1,200 people travelled to the Mitchell farm for a walk in the sand.The barn's sand bedding system, touted as the ultimate in comfort for cows, remains a novelty in the western Ontario dairy belt. But for the Vanulands, bedding with sand isn't anything new.
Jan's family farm back in Holland used sand bedding when he attended agriculture college 30 years ago. Later, when the family moved to a farm in another part of Holland, they bedded cows with sawdust on concrete. Vanuland was less than impressed.
There were too many problems with cows' legs, he says. That's why he chose sand bedding for his new barn.
"We built the barn for the cows," Vanuland says. A 30- to 35-per cent cull rate is normal in both Ontario and in Holland. He culls about 25 per cent for production, not for feet and legs, he points out. There are no swollen, sore hocks in sight in the barn, and cows get up easily from the stalls. "They are more supple" than cows bedded on concrete, he says.
Mats are better than concrete, but still not as good as sand, Vanuland asserts. He has yet to lose a cow to leg injuries in the new facility.
The barn may be built for cows, but there are benefits for the operator as well. The sand stalls need to be filled only once a month with three 40-yard loads brought in with the skidsteer loader. Vanuland's monthly cost for sand, trucked in from nearby Monkton, is $300. Sawdust-filled stalls must be refilled once or twice a week. And sand doesn't blow across the barn when wall curtains are opened up to allow for full ventilation during summer hot spells.
Low incidence of mastitis reflects the health benefits of using sand, he says. Sand doesn't give bacteria a cozy place to grow. When Vanuland bought the main part of the herd in the U.S. last August, it had a healthy 180,000 somatic cell count. By December, the count was down to 120,000. In March, it was down to 87,000.
Vanuland concedes that a high percentage of heifers in the milking string is another reason for the low count. About 70 per cent are in their first lactation.
The sand-bedded barn also provides room for more stalls. The stalls are eight feet long and 3.75 feet wide. Most barns have stalls four feet wide. He isn't worried about cows stepping on teats. If they do, there is minimal damage because of the soft sand underneath.
Vanuland only trims the broom off the end of the tails. Cows have their tails in the sand, not in the manure, he says.
Manure handling remains the major concern for most farm operators considering sand bedding, Vanuland says. In his barn, an alley scraper cleans the alleyway between the freestalls nine times a day, dragging manure and sand kicked out of the stalls to slats over a central pit 24 feet wide, eight feet deep and 110 feet long across the middle of the barn.
Every two weeks, Vanuland uses a 150 hp John Deere tractor to power a Houle pump to move the slurry from the pit underneath the barn to the main holding facility nearby. The pump has been modified to run at a quicker speed and pump out the pit faster. From the main pit, manure is spread on the fields with a tanker spreader. He thinks that manure may be a bit thicker than normal slurry.
Sand bedding has caught on in a major way in Michigan, where some farmers have created a sand separator to prevent wear on manure pumps from the abrasive sand. Vanuland doesn't think he will need a sand separator; its cost would likely outweigh the benefits. Most of the sand stays in the big storage tank and can be cleaned out after the tank is drained using the skidsteer loader.
Cows get the advantage of the comforts of sand every day of the
year, he
says. "Manure may be a problem for a week of the year."
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Letters
To Farm & Country
Minister responds
Re your April 20 editorial on the importance the Ontario government places on the agri-food sector.
The Mike Harris government is committed to strengthening Ontario's agri-food sector while helping to build prosperous rural communities.
Working together, we have been able to accomplish a great deal. The first budget of the Harris government in 1996 showed OMAFRA's allocation actually increased from $383 million to $400 million in 1995-96, and again in 1997-98 to $405 million.
Last October, OMAFRA formally launched the $30-million Rural Job Strategy Fund, to stimulate competitiveness, economic growth and job creation in the agri-food sector and our rural communities.
Further investments include: $41 million in agri-food research in 1997-98, leading the country; $3 million to create 3,000 summer jobs for rural youth in 1997; maintaining the retail tax rebate on farm building materials, saving Ontario farmers $8 million since 1996; replacing the Farm Tax Program with a fairer and less cumbersome system; immediate and longer-term assistance for farmers in the aftermath of the eastern Ontario ice storm.
In 1996, Ontario farmers invested more than $1.3 billion in capital assets and improvements to their operations. As well, more than $860 million was invested in Ontario's food and beverage industry, a 57-per cent increase over 1995. Ontario's agri-food exports are at an all-time high of $5.6 billion.
But me, one of the best indicators of confidence in Ontario's agri-food sector is found at our agricultural colleges. After years of declining student enrollment, registration actually increased last year between 10 and 20 per cent at Alfred, Kemptville and Ridgetown colleges. This shows more young people see a bright future for themselves in Ontario's $25-billion agri-food sector - and I couldn't agree more!
Noble A. Villeneuve,
Minister, Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs,
Toronto
Say no to MAI
In the meagre amount of information the Canadian government is
allowing to
escape about the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), we
do not
learn of any benefit that international speculators and investors
are
providing host countries in return for the unrestricted right to
harvest
resources.
The MAI will prevent governments from establishing conditions on
foreign
investors - including pollution controls, labour standards,
health and
safety measures - leaving domestic investors who must comply with
these
standards at a distinct disadvantage.
If a level playing field is sufficiently important to foreign
investors
that they expect governments to surrender their sovereignty,
shouldn't they
be prepared to given something in return, such as a share of
profit by
means of a reasonable tax? All signatories to the MAI could agree
to a
uniform level of corporate tax, thereby removing lower taxes as
an
incentive for investors to locate elsewhere.
In these days of corporate headquarters located in tax havens,
unrestricted capital mobility and creative accounting,
governments seem
unable to collect much tax from corporations doing business in
Canada.
Total corporate tax revenues as a percentage of Canadian tax
revenues are
much smaller today than 10 years ago in spite of healthy profit
levels.
It may not be possible for one country to insist on a tax, but if
all
members of the OECD who are negotiating insist that the host
country
receive a benefit from the investment - other than a few insecure
jobs at
skimpy wages - it should be possible.
Unless such a condition is clearly spelled out, Canada should not
sign the MAI.
Gordon Hill
Varna
Farm & Country welcomes letters but reserves the right to edit
them for
length and clarity.
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Many ways to fight forage shortage
It's been a tough couple of years for forages. Wet weather in
1996 created
numerous root rot diseases, weakening many plants that ultimately
died due
to heaving in spring 1997. That summer, the growing season was
cold, and
yields were further reduced by leafhoppers. Now, following
January's
Eastern Ontario ice storm - and two years in which many forage
acres were
turned under for cash crops - there's a general shortage of
forages in
Ontario.
To complicate matters further, decreased wheat acres in recent years has led to straw shortages.
All of which means many growers are looking for ways to supplement hay and straw production. Cargill consulting agronomist Pat Lynch has some suggestions.
Interseed double-cut red clover
Putting this into both wheat and spring grain can give you a cut
of red
clover in September. Consider giving red clover seed to a
neighbour who is
growing wheat. The neighbour will get red clover's soil building
and
nitrogen benefits while you should get about one tonne per acre
of dry
matter. Seeding is only four or five pounds per acre. Some
precautions: In
a wet June or July, red clover can interfere with grain harvest.
Your weed
control options are more limited for grain underseeded versus not
underseeded. Red clover would have to be harvested wet, as
haylage, and wet
bagged.
Alfalfa underseeding with grain
If the companion crop is taken off as haylage, you'll get more
tonnes of
dry matter, especially in the first cut. This forage will be
lower in
protein than pure alfalfa, but can be baled and fed separately.
You have to
cut in the first week of July and monitor closely for insects. If
you cut
the grain before it heads, some grain will re-grow from tillers
to give
more volume in the second cut.
Seeding oats after wheat
This is very dependent on moisture in August and September. You
should
expect .5 to .75 tonne/acre of dry matter. A version of this
option is to
apply liquid manure after wheat harvest, work it in and plant two
to three
bushels per acre of common or bin-run oats. If manure is not
available,
consider commercial fertilizer with at least 30 pounds of
nitrogen per
acre. Oats are better than wheat or rye; they'll elongate and
produce a
head; wheat and rye will tiller but not elongate, making harvest
more
difficult. Unlike winter wheat or rye, oats will not overwinter
and cause
problems the next year.
Interseeding thin alfalfa stands
Broadcasting red clover into these fields can thicken them if the
ground
is relatively free of weeds such as dandelions. The red clover
will not add
much to the first cut, but will be there for the second cut.
Another option
if there's a good grass stand is to broadcast nitrogen (liquid
manure)
after each cut.
Short of straw?
Consider cutting straw on wheat as short as possible. This will
mean
combining fewer acres per day; if hiring a custom operator, be
prepared to
pay more dollars per acre for harvesting. The lodged crop a few
years ago
and the higher price of straw in 1997 proved that wheat straw can
be
successfully harvested by leaving a four- to six-inch stubble as
opposed to
a more normal 12 to 18.
Planting corn after first cut
This can work if there is lots of moisture in June after first
cut.
Cutting in late May also increases the profitability of this
option. To
plant corn for grain after first cut is tricky. You can either
plant a
normal season hybrid and run the risk of the hybrid not maturing,
or plant
an earlier hybrid and sacrifice yield. From my experience,
planting corn
after first cut works best by using Roundup pre-harvest on the
alfalfa and
then using a post-emergent weed control program and harvesting
the corn for
silage.
Manage stands aggressively
This means cutting at first flower, watching soil test/fertilizer
programs
and insects. If you have fields that normally do not suffer
winterkill,
consider cutting at the end of the critical harvest period to get
higher
yields. If yield is a factor on a stand that will be plowed down,
consider
cutting it at mid-flower or later at each cut so that last cut
will be
mid-September. This can increase yield while decreasing quality.
Rent or trade land
Swap land with a cash-cropping neighbour to seed more alfalfa.
More and
more farmers realize the benefits of forage in a rotation.
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