49 Thank You for Your Trust & Time, Since 1999 Better Farming | January 2025 In my youth, we dried a lot of hay in the field. It was essential to know what the weather was going to be like to determine the schedule for loading hay or baling hay and moving it to the barn. It is interesting how many changes have occurred in my lifetime from a technology point of view. Not that many years ago, we simply looked at the sky as a means of determining the potential for bad weather events. It is a skill that I hope the next generation doesn’t lose. We are now more concerned about the weather for driving, as many of us do not make hay anymore. The number of 40 cow-dairy herds has been greatly reduced over the years. When I returned to the Thomson farm, I did a lot of custom combining for local farmers who had 40-cow dairy herds. They maintained forage harvesters or corn pickers to harvest corn as cattle feed. I shelled their additional corn, which was sold to the local elevator owner/operator. BF Visit your local ECHO Dealer for more information: Ancaster, Crossroads Equipment .................... 905-648-8001 Ayr, Ayr Turf & Trac ............................................ 519-632-9901 Brant County, Town & Country Sales & Service.. 519-484-2901 Brantford, Antler, A Davey Company ............... 519-753-6433 Brodhagen, B&K Tire and Battery ................... 519-345-2248 Burgessville, G.J.’s Harvest Centre Inc. ......... 519-424-9374 Castleton, Doug’s Small Engines ................... 905-349-3027 Chesley, Robert’s Farm Equipment ................ 519-363-3192 Courtland, Blue West Equipment ................... 519-688-0909 Dundas, WPE Landscape Equipment .............. 905-628-3055 Dunnville, R.E. Egger Truck & Machine .......... 905-774-1060 Grimsby, Ag & Turf Power Service ................... 905-945-4848 Hamilton, Outdoor Supplies & Equipment ..... 905-578-2411 Havelock, Belmont Engine Repair .................. 705-778-3838 Ingersoll, Ken’s Small Engines ....................... 519-425-4466 Maxwell, Maxwell Farm Service ................... 519-922-2108 Meaford, Robert’s Farm Equipment................ 519-538-1660 Millbank, Zehr’s Sales & Manufacturing.......... 519-595-7579 Milverton, G.J.’s Harvest Centre Inc. ............... 519-603-8374 Mississauga, WPE Landscape Equipment .... 905-569-2055 New Dundee, Coleman Equipment ................. 519-696-2213 North Bay, Hamelin’s Outdoor Power Equipment .. 705-497-8676 Orillia, Allan Byers Equipment ........................ 705-325-2746 Owen Sound, Bobcat of Grey Bruce ............... 519-372-9100 Pembroke, AJ’s Power Products ................... 613-735-6788 Rockwood, Connect Equipment ..................... 519-856-9512 Stirling, McIntosh Motors ............................... 613-395-3757 Vars, M.R. Blais Sales & Service...................... 613-443-1230 Walton, Robert’s Farm Equipment ................. 519-887-6365 Windsor, Vehicle Venture ................................. 519-966-8642 $69995 STARTING AT MSRP CS-590 59.8 CC REAR-HANDLE CHAINSAW Available in 18”, 20” & 24” bar lengths $61995 STARTING AT MSRP CS-4920 50.2 CC REAR-HANDLE CHAINSAW Available in 16”, 18” & 20” bar lengths PB-9010 H/T 79.9 CC BACKPACK BLOWER $949 95 FOR ONLY! MSRP ECHO’s most powerful backpack blower. When the workday demands, professionals rely on The Beast, the PB-9010T backpack blower with tubemounted throttle, delivering 48N of blowing force. $97995 STARTING AT MSRP CS-620P 59.8 CC REAR-HANDLE CHAINSAW Available in 16”, 18”, 20” & 24” bar lengths $79995 STARTING AT MSRP CS-501P 50.2 CC REAR-HANDLE CHAINSAW Available in 16”, 18” & 20” bar lengths PURE RAW POWER, MAXIMUM PRODUCTIVITY. ECHO.CA OUTDOOR POWER IS ALL WE DO. 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. This weather alert radio still works and provides the weather alerts that it was acquired to do many years ago. It is activated by Environment Canada. Ralph Winfield photo
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