Tuesday, 13 December 2011
I really must get a new profile picture
I consider myself computer literate. After all I have grown up with computers. I filled out many a computer punch card growing up and can write a mean flow chart and program in FORTRAN and BASIC. I started using computers at work in 1985. I still miss the control i had over my computer back in the PC-DOS before Windows took over everything. I have Built and updated dozens of computers and seen the emergence of global positioning systems and auto steering in Agriculture. I was updating a computer recently and the only thing I was able to keep was the case and the DVD-ROM. The hard drive would have worked but my son convinced me to spend some bucks and at least double the capacity. He also convinced me to try the UBUNTU graphical user interface for LINUX rather than sending more money to Microsoft. (so far so good, my wife has been using it with out issue for over a year). Thank Goodness I bought a USB connected drive for all my old software on 3.5 inch floppy drives. I am finally throwing out out the boxes of 5.25 in floppies (that actually are floppy). I can't help worrying that some computer whiz will be able to look at my exciting correspondence from 1998 which was the last year I could read them. I worry that as a society we aren't archiving enough of this technology and old storage mediums as we did reel to reel and 35 mm film. But my kids are threatening to send my name in to appear on the reality show "the Hoarders" so I had to finally give those up. But my kids still consider me a Luddite. "No one emails anymore dad except old people"(would that be people over 18?)."Is that a real friend dad or a Facebook friend" . I have been known to text my teenage daughter to tell her supper is ready which she prefers to my yelling up the stairs. I was shocked to have my own kids not take my phone calls. They tell me it is too expensive. They ask that I send them a text instead. But do you think I can change my profile picture? I haven't sold DeKalb corn for a year and yet my blog photo still has me wearing a their hat. At least Croplan Corn and Monsanto have a good working relationship. Oh well the kids will be home from school for the holidays soon. Maybe I can get them to fix it. I guess I better send them a text or post it on their Facebook walls. Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year everyone.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
John Cleeses take on terror threat levels
ALERTS TO THREATS IN 2011 EUROPE: BY JOHN CLEESE
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing.." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing.." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Answer Plots, Ontario's outdoor agriculture laboratories
Got Questions? Get answers at Ontario Outdoor field laboratories
To say that it has been a challenging spring would be an understatement. How will crops respond to this adverse weather? Some companies are discounting the validity of any test plots that are planted late but most of us want to see how the crops will respond under actual conditions each year. WinFeild Solutions have this type research set up in outdoor field laboratories in over 170 sites around North America called Answer Plots.
Each year brings its own unique challenges. We learn something new each year. We can grow better crops and improve the bottom line by taking every opportunity to learn. The agriculture industry provides many opportunities to see what the cutting edge technologies are at field days during the growing season.
The Ontario Forage Expo is run by the Ontario forage council which this year is being held at the Elora research farm On June 13th 2011. The Forage focus has teamed up with the local soil and crop improvement association to ensure a high level of practicality in the presentation topics. The annual crop diagnostic days are held at Ridgetown College the first week in July at the campus in Ridgetown. Another event is the farm smart field days at the University of Guelph research station in Elora. The farm smart expo scheduled for July 14th is very similar to the Ridgetown crop diagnostic days but is featuring earlier day crops. They feature the popular herbicide injury demonstrations as well as other crop production issues.
When I worked for Huron Bay Co-op I was impressed by the plot day organized by Ken Schiestel. Ken and His Brother Don ensure the land beside the crop center near Walkerton gets rotated and planted each year. Later in August Huron Bay Co-op will host their annual plot days at this site. This event is quite an extensive yield plot for both corn and soys and the suppliers use this venue to talk about programs for the upcoming year. It is always held the third week of August on a Thursday.
Many chemical companies and equipment dealers have field days for dealers and producers.
All my experience made me appreciate the agronomic and research focus that Winfield Solutions puts into their Answer plots. Each site is a major expenditure for the company costing thousands of dollars. Winfield started out doing these sites for agronomic training for their own agronomists as part of their Crop Expert Seller program. The company’s product position technique recquires having highly trained and knowledgeable partners representing their Croplan Genetics seed and Agrisolutions spray products to farmers. The Answer plots have grown into larger events open to all growers.
This Year there are even sites in Mexico for the first time. There are 4 in Canada 2 in Ontario and 2 in Quebec. The Ontario sites are at Canada’s Outdoor Farm show and next to Setterington’s fertilizer near Leamington. People who have attended these events have given high praise for the quality and usefulness of the information presented. At these answer plots growers will have a chance to get right to the root of all cropping technologies. Some of the things being looked at are corn's response to nitrogen. Not all varieties are going to respond to increased Nitrogen so it is important to know which ones will profit from higher applications. There has been a lot of interest in increased populations especially after BASF had Dr. Fred Below at their field day in Bryanston last year. The same can be said for response to population increases. Some corn varieties will maintain a larger root system to support a larger cob while others suffer from the crowding. These are just 2 of the 30,000 data points that is generated at each answer plot.
This year there are some great videos explaining the event on YouTube. You can easily view these by going to the www.answerplot.com web site. The website is update with weather and agronomy concerns and observations weekly. It is a great way to check out what is happening in the field across North America at the various sites. The next Answer plot events will be July 6th in Woodstock just west of the outdoor farm show from 4-6 p.m followed by dinner and the next morning in Leamington right beside the Setterington's fertilizer plant near Blytheswood. the next events are august 3oth at Leamington and august 31st at Woodstock. The events run from 9 a.m. till lunchtime. If you can’t make these events you can always arrange for a personal tour with me or the staff from your Local Agromart.
Whether you come to the answer plots or not I hope you will scan the events page of theRrural Voice and make time to take in some of the field days I have talked about. Your farm is sure to benefit.
To say that it has been a challenging spring would be an understatement. How will crops respond to this adverse weather? Some companies are discounting the validity of any test plots that are planted late but most of us want to see how the crops will respond under actual conditions each year. WinFeild Solutions have this type research set up in outdoor field laboratories in over 170 sites around North America called Answer Plots.
Each year brings its own unique challenges. We learn something new each year. We can grow better crops and improve the bottom line by taking every opportunity to learn. The agriculture industry provides many opportunities to see what the cutting edge technologies are at field days during the growing season.
The Ontario Forage Expo is run by the Ontario forage council which this year is being held at the Elora research farm On June 13th 2011. The Forage focus has teamed up with the local soil and crop improvement association to ensure a high level of practicality in the presentation topics. The annual crop diagnostic days are held at Ridgetown College the first week in July at the campus in Ridgetown. Another event is the farm smart field days at the University of Guelph research station in Elora. The farm smart expo scheduled for July 14th is very similar to the Ridgetown crop diagnostic days but is featuring earlier day crops. They feature the popular herbicide injury demonstrations as well as other crop production issues.
When I worked for Huron Bay Co-op I was impressed by the plot day organized by Ken Schiestel. Ken and His Brother Don ensure the land beside the crop center near Walkerton gets rotated and planted each year. Later in August Huron Bay Co-op will host their annual plot days at this site. This event is quite an extensive yield plot for both corn and soys and the suppliers use this venue to talk about programs for the upcoming year. It is always held the third week of August on a Thursday.
Many chemical companies and equipment dealers have field days for dealers and producers.
All my experience made me appreciate the agronomic and research focus that Winfield Solutions puts into their Answer plots. Each site is a major expenditure for the company costing thousands of dollars. Winfield started out doing these sites for agronomic training for their own agronomists as part of their Crop Expert Seller program. The company’s product position technique recquires having highly trained and knowledgeable partners representing their Croplan Genetics seed and Agrisolutions spray products to farmers. The Answer plots have grown into larger events open to all growers.
This Year there are even sites in Mexico for the first time. There are 4 in Canada 2 in Ontario and 2 in Quebec. The Ontario sites are at Canada’s Outdoor Farm show and next to Setterington’s fertilizer near Leamington. People who have attended these events have given high praise for the quality and usefulness of the information presented. At these answer plots growers will have a chance to get right to the root of all cropping technologies. Some of the things being looked at are corn's response to nitrogen. Not all varieties are going to respond to increased Nitrogen so it is important to know which ones will profit from higher applications. There has been a lot of interest in increased populations especially after BASF had Dr. Fred Below at their field day in Bryanston last year. The same can be said for response to population increases. Some corn varieties will maintain a larger root system to support a larger cob while others suffer from the crowding. These are just 2 of the 30,000 data points that is generated at each answer plot.
This year there are some great videos explaining the event on YouTube. You can easily view these by going to the www.answerplot.com web site. The website is update with weather and agronomy concerns and observations weekly. It is a great way to check out what is happening in the field across North America at the various sites. The next Answer plot events will be July 6th in Woodstock just west of the outdoor farm show from 4-6 p.m followed by dinner and the next morning in Leamington right beside the Setterington's fertilizer plant near Blytheswood. the next events are august 3oth at Leamington and august 31st at Woodstock. The events run from 9 a.m. till lunchtime. If you can’t make these events you can always arrange for a personal tour with me or the staff from your Local Agromart.
Whether you come to the answer plots or not I hope you will scan the events page of theRrural Voice and make time to take in some of the field days I have talked about. Your farm is sure to benefit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
