Twenty-some years ago, our old corn planter was getting tired after many years of planting corn, and the newer ones had more accurate seed placement. After looking around in the farm paper classifieds, I found a newer 12-row planter in western Ontario at a farm that didn’t do custom work. The farmer planted his own 800 acres each year and after using that old one for four years, he ordered a new one. When Jeannie and I went to pick it up, there was only liquid fertilizer equipment on it and insecticide boxes. We had already switched to liquid fertilizer, but why the insecticide boxes?
After we loaded the planter, I asked what kind of insecticide he used. He got a kind of sheepish grin and said, “I don’t use insecticide!” He then explained what he put in those boxes – a mix of white sugar, powdered dry kelp, and diatomaceous earth mix. No insecticide. The white sugar was to feed the soil microbes (about a billion in each teaspoon of healthy soil), the powdered kelp made the mix flow better and added a little organic matter to feed the microbes, and the diatomaceous earth killed the root worms in the soil. Diatomaceous earth is an old way of killing grubs by lacerating their soft underbelly when they crawl over it. You can still buy it at Canadian Tire. He told me he used about a tonne of white sugar each year. When you buy any of those three things in bulk, it is much less expensive than at a little shop.
We never used those insecticide boxes because we had no root worms. Agriculture Canada did tests for three years in a corn field beside the highway and could only shake their head. We had discovered that if the base saturation of calcium was high enough, there were no worms like root worms, army worms, or cut worms. Our manure supplied lots of organic matter and we tried a mix of 50 per cent molasses, 50 per cent liquid “pop-up” fertilizer with the same yield results as 100 per cent liquid-pop-up fertilizer. Molasses and white sugar both feed the soil microbes that can turn soil mineral particles, moisture, and organic matter into free fertilizer.
With today’s high fertilizer price, this 50-50 mix might be more economical than just pure liquid pop-up. The very profitable fertilizer companies and pharmaceutical companies might not tell you this, but if there are not enough soil microbes in the soil to make fertilizer, you have to buy it. No, that old planter didn’t come with GPS. The old-time GPS was two trees lined up across the way, at the neighbours fence a half mile away.
Grandpa never drove a tractor or a car. Dad’s big tractor was a little Ferguson and a 3×10 bottom plow. He never even drove in a tractor cab, but we did watch and talk to the neighbours who grew the best crops and had the nicest cattle. Our grandparents took time to visit the neighbours, play cards, and find out which farm wife made the best pies, cookies, and buns. And farm suicide was seldom heard of. Our old neighbour “John” who drove a ‘38 Chevy always “pointed her for the road” before shutting her off to come for a visit. Then if it snowed before going home, he could make it to the road. His wife “Annie” made the world’s best home made ketchup, and hooked rugs. Sunday after church was “education day” when we went for a long drive to see how the best crops in the country grew. The best fields of alfalfa were on farms that used to be a sea bed many thousands of years ago and still have the remnants of sea shells in the ground (calcium). Yes, gas was less expensive 70 years ago, but milk was only six cents per liter. Continuous education has always been one of a farmer’s best assets. Invest in time to visit your neighbours. It’s good for both of you.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com
