Better Farming Ontario | November 2024

56 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | November 2024 The older glass balls are now collector’s items, and I have one in my assortment of memorabilia. The metal roof was grounded via a copper conductor and a ground rod to provide lightning protection. Protecting electrical distribution systems How many of you have noted the top wires (conductors) at the uppermost level of all electrical distribution system towers? These hydro towers have one or often two conductors that do not have insulators. These high-level conductors attract lightning strikes and take the strikes to ground directly via the steel towers. Two-wire distribution Electrical distribution systems still have only two main conductors if the system is single phase, which is common in most rural locations. One is the power conductor. The second conductor is the neutral. The third grounding wire is created by a ground rod at or near the electrical service. Some of us older folk remember when building wiring only had two conductors; one carried the electrical charge, and the second one returned the charge to the electrical service. In recent years, we have seen three conductors going through the electrical service to outlets as well as directly to appliances such as water heaters. You will also note that each building or each separate electrical service has a 10-foot ground rod driven as close as possible to the service entrance. It provides for the third grounding conductor. This can be an issue at some locations. Driving a 10-foot ground rod into solid rock in Sudbury is not an option. I remember working for Ontario Hydro at Sudbury during the summer of 1972. Lightning damage was a significant issue because the distribution system was not and could not be well grounded at many locations. BF Because the World’s Best Farmers Deserve the Hardest-Working Farm Magazine. Your ‘Better Farming’ Crop Advisor Team Bringing Ontario’s crop farmers the best advice & insight, for 25 years now. Patrick’s column has run in Better Farming since its launch in 1999. He is a member of the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame who has been a widely respected crop specialist for some 50 years. Patrick helped introduce the Certified Crop Advisor program in Ontario and helped establish the reduced tillage and soil conservation movements here. Pat continues to offer controversial and innovative ideas to encourage cash-croppers to think creatively to solve problems. Noted for teaching precision farming and 4-R Nutrient Stewardship, Dale’s “Yield Matters” has been in Better Farming since the beginning. He’s a member of the Ontario Ag Hall of Fame and was instrumental in bringing the Certified Crop Advisor program here. Dale began developing the digital ag strategy in 1993 to launch the precision ag movement in Ontario and emphasized capturing and analyzing field data. In 2016 he was named International CCA of the Year. Paul is an area agronomist with Corteva Agriscience and writes a regular agronomy and cash-cropping feature in Better Farming. Ontario agriculture is his passion and he has a strong reputation for helping cash-croppers solve problems through innovation, data analysis and informed management practices. His research has included corn population, fungicide, soybean row width/population and fertility work. Paul is the 2024 International Crop Advisor of the Year. DALE COWAN PAUL HERMANS PATRICK LYNCH It’s Farming. And it’s Better. How it Works RALPH WINFIELD Ralph is a retired professional engineer, farmer and technical writer. He has a BSA, BASc, and an MSA in engineering from the University of Toronto. Connections to ground at a centralized metering pole. Ralph Winfield photo

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