Set aside a special day for maintenance
Making sure you do more than just routine checks of you electrical systems and fluids can save you money laterBy Keith Berglind
Just mention "Maintenance" to most farmers and they'll quickly retort that they change oil and grease everything on a regular basis, and that they tighten all the loose bolts they find. But I would suggest that you think beyond this and consider a special maintenance day where you take the time to test out a few special points that aren't about to fail but could be the source of an unexpected problem on a busy seeding or harvest farm day. Here are a few checks we would not normally think of doing, but which could each unearth one of those waiting problems. These are things I do before a rush season or a big trip.Electrical
1. Check and clean all ground connections. This is where a lot of monitors and electrical control boxes break down. The worst offenders are the add-on connections we make. How often do we add a radio, extra light or a monitor by making some quick connection at a junction box or battery cable? These are usually not neat and soldered like factory connections. Given a bit of time, corrosion takes over, and there goes your ground or power connection.
I prefer to keep a few new battery clamp bolts and nuts on hand. Take the battery connections off, clean the post and clamp surfaces, then re-clamp using a new anti-corrosion bolt and nut. Always use proper crimp-on wire ends. Crimp and solder. Anytime you see a bare wire wrapped around a post, even when bolted down tight, you have a problem-in-waiting.2. To avoid sudden battery failures, load-test every battery at least once a year. I'm lucky here, because I have a proper battery load tester which I bought cheap at a dealer auction. Most battery shops will load-test batteries for free, but it's not usually practical to load up all your batteries for a trip to the test shop. The next best thing is to do a cranking battery voltage test using your little multi-meter. With the fuel or the ignition off, spin the engine on the starter for 30 seconds and measure the battery voltage. It must hold above 9.5 volts. If the voltage drops below 9.5, there's a problem with either the battery or the starter.
3. Check the charging voltage at the output post of the generator or alternator. We like to see between 14 and 14.5 volts coming from the alternator. When you're far below this, your battery will eventually go dead. When much higher than 14.5 volts, watch for loss of water from the battery. In either case, premature battery failure is a sure thing. Again, this is a simple check with a small multi-tester.
Fluids
There are a few fluids that we take for granted, but which may come to haunt us later with expensive repairs. I'm sure all good operators do regular oil and filter changes for engines and even transmissions, but do you have any small systems that are being ignored?1. Power steering. When the truck, tractor or car power steering system is self-contained, we tend only to check the fluid level, year after year. There's always going to be some internal wear and tear, so a yearly oil change is the only way to get all those wear particles out of the system.
2. Automatic transmission fluid. Does your favorite half-ton now have 250,000 km on the original oil and filter? The manual probably said to change by 50,000 or 70,000. Enough said.
3. Anti-freeze. The anti-freeze that we're really being warned about is the fluid in your diesel tractor system. We need to worry about more than just protection from freezing. When the chemical strength goes down, there's a risk of damage to the inside of the cylinder liners walls. The combustion vibrations cause little air bubble implosions on the outer wall surface of the cylinder liner. This causes erosion of the metal, leading to serious engine damage.
There are many test kits around. The tests strips available at your John Deere dealer are for measuring freeze point (EG & PG Coolants), Molybdate and Nitrite. You just dip the test strip in the radiator and compare its color change with the supplied color chart.If the chemical levels are wrong, change the fluid, now. I tested the anti-freeze in one of my diesels and it didn't even register on the chart. New anti-freeze for that unit.
If you're buying wherever the price seems to be right, please check that it's designed for all the parts of the system, especially the aluminum parts. BF
Keith Berglind is a licensed heavy-duty mechanic.
© copyright 2000 AgMedia Co-operative Inc..
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For now, farmers win one, lose one on the environmental agenda
In the short run, the GM debate is going against agriculture. But the new endangered species legislation is proving a pleasant surprise
by Barry Wilson
On two fronts this summer, the increasingly important environmental agenda in agriculture is playing out on Ontario farms, and the contrast between the two issues is a lesson in what a complicated soup this will be for farmers. In one case, they are considered part of the problem. In the other, they are part of the solution.It has become a given that, during the next decade, environmental sensibilities, regulations and consumer reactions will become major ingredients in the farm debate.
Some even have suggested that the next World Trade Organization agricultural talks will be the "green round" because of the attempt by negotiators to figure out how to control and manage the intrusion of environmental issues into farm policy.
The first front for farmers this year is the genetic modification debate. For corn and soybean producers in Ontario, canola producers on the prairies and potato producers across the country, GM varieties offer some benefits. But the markets seem ill-prepared to deal with the consumer and environmental controversy which surrounds these products.
As demonstrators picket grocery stores, major food processors announce a GM-free strategy and important market countries find ways to keep GM products out, farmers fume. The most activist pro-GM farm group in the country is Ontario's AGCare. Yet in at least the short run, it is a losing battle. Researchers are backing away from funding genetic engineering projects, consumer resistance grows, corporate unease escalates and farmers who demand that markets accept their products look like the allies or dupes of the Monsantos of the world.
This may change, particularly if the view of a senior Agriculture Canada research bureaucrat is correct. Jim Boles, director of the Winnipeg-based cereal grains research centre, is convinced that within a decade, all major Canadian crop varieties will have a GM component. But for the moment, and in the growing season of the year 2000, the GM controversy is a complicated challenge and a potential marketing problem for farmers.
Endangered species legislation is the good news. When the federal government finally produced its species-at-risk legislation in April, farmers like Robert Dobson of Renfrew County were pleasantly surprised. He is a Canadian Cattlemen's Association environmental activist who has been working on his farm for years to preserve habitat.
Dobson said he was encouraged that the federal approach, which may be law by late June, is to look at landowners and farmers as potential allies. Incentives to preserve endangered species habitat, rather than heavy penalties, seem to be the government approach. Compensation for farmers with a restricted ability to use their land will be part of the deal.
Although a coalition of environmental groups complains that the legislation is too weak, the official government line is that farmers are by nature stewards with an interest in conservation. Let's encourage them. On the GM front, the federal government is struggling to manage the issue and has yet to develop a credible strategy other than to insist GM food products undergo rigorous safety tests. So far, uneasy consumers are not buying the argument.
Many farmers, on the other hand, have bought into the view that GM varieties are safe and good for their business. But, until the market agrees, farmers look like the bad guys, AGCare arguments notwithstanding. BF
Barry Wilson is a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery specializing in agriculture.
© copyright 2000 AgMedia Co-operative Inc..
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Genetic engineering points the way to more vigorous alfalfa
Research at the University of Guelph is leading to more stress-tolerant, persistent and high-energy varietiesBy Corie Lok & Andrea Winder
Spring is a time of rejuvenation, but alfalfa doesn't always come back to life after a long, harsh winter. A University of Guelph forage breeder is using biotechnology to make alfalfa greet every spring with more vigour -- as much as 30 per cent more, in fact.In small field trials at Elora and New Liskeard, Prof. Steve Bowley has succeeded in developing biotechnology methods to increase alfalfa's winter survival by 20 to 30 per cent. In fact, the survival rate was so high that yields went up by 15 to 20 per cent after two winters. "These kinds of differences weren't seen in traditional breeding," says Bowley.
Alfalfa is Ontario's most valuable forage crop, but it is limited by its persistence and stability, especially over winter. Bowley is developing better persistence and stress tolerance in alfalfa, using genetic engineering. His goal is to move more stress-tolerant varieties to the marketplace as quickly as possible.
Better persistence means a more stable feed supply every year, resulting in better-planned planting strategies which Bowley says should help avoid overplanting and cut re-seeding costs. Risks associated with forages, such as crop loss and variable yields, will be lower. And higher yields mean cutting back on acreage and diversifying into other crops.
Bowley began his research by looking for ways to introduce stress-tolerance traits by traditional breeding methods. But he wasn't having much success. So about 10 years ago, he and his department colleague, Prof. Bryan McKersie, turned to genetic transformation to introduce the variability needed to enhance alfalfa's tolerance to stresses such as cold, freezing and flooding.
The researchers also increased survival by introducing extra copies of certain plant genes into the alfalfa plant. These genes -- from pea plants and relatives of tobacco and broccoli -- are responsible for generating enzymes that help alfalfa survive harsh conditions such as lack of oxygen during flooding and cold temperatures. Some of these genes resulted in a larger root system. By holding more reserves, the plant can better tolerate stress. There were no detectable differences in feeding value, growth and fertility between conventional plants and these genetically engineered plants, says Bowley. Now, he's looking for other helpful enzymes to see how much more he can improve persistence.
He's also putting these genes into white clover, a pasture legume, and field testing is underway.
In another project, Bowley is using biotechnology to make alfalfa a more high-energy feed by increasing the content of quickly available carbohydrates in plant stems and leaves. Because alfalfa is already loaded with protein, a higher carbohydrate level will make it a better-rounded feedstuff and thus cheaper to feed to animals. Bowley tried conventionally breeding alfalfa for higher starch content, but it accumulated in the wrong place and actually had a detrimental effect on the plant. So far, he's identified several genes that could influence starch levels and is evaluating which ones are the best. Some are still being tested in the laboratory, while some are in the field; a second field test began last year.
One promising gene found in grasses enables fructans (long chains of fructose molecules) to be produced. Besides providing more energy, it also improves the grass's cold tolerance. Bowley is looking into putting this gene into alfalfa.
These days, Bowley is Ontario's only publicly-funded alfalfa breeder. While he focuses on persistence and stress tolerance, his colleagues in the private sector are breeding for greater disease and insect resistance. "We've had to be more strategic with our research to avoid duplication," says Bowley. "I have to make sure my research is complementary to industry breeding and not in direct competition."
Corie Lok and Andrea Winder are students in the Ontario Agricultural College's agricultural communications program.
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