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r i j i ti 3shwkacbsl w t j zeconomist asunirtounealiklyajllukb saturday sept 16 2000 vito i- v g y- j cr v w cc- w ss as harvest time looms yorks farmers are relying on divine intervention to yield crop tw in v w j t in by joan ransberry staff writer e armers across york region are down on their knees with their fingers crossed with harvest time looming farmers believe divine intervention is their last hopewheat corn soybean and vegetables need at least three weeks of frostfree sunriy dry weather the weather gods can make or- 1 break farmers including cash crop farmer rodney king recordset ting rainfall throughout the spring and summer took the cash out of cash cropping king and his brother farm 1000 acres in stquffville but the wet planting season prevented the kings from getting qii to 200 acres instead of growing wheat and soy bean this criticalparcel of land produced nothing the kings did manage to plant 265 acres of wheat however the crop was hit with fusariurn mould virus severelydropping the market price this mould reduces the wheat grade turning it into feed grain suitable only for animals the virus has hit about 90 per cent of all york region wheat of the kings 250acre soy bean crop one third is in good shape one third is in gamble mode arid who knows how the remaining will fair it likely wont make it king said v l this yeavthe kings expected to gross about 3501000 froiri theif cash cfbpoperation l we could be down between 80000 and 100000 king said in hollahdmarsh where much of ontarios vegetables are grown looks can be deceiving at first glance theriiarshjs carrot crop appeaisto be fantastic the carrot tops look great but theres no root said don stevenson local fedefatioriof agricultural spokesrnan overall this yearns crop yield will be a drastic disappointment stevenson stressed simfi rmulojjutrdwitteveen john hoover of webb road in stouffyille thinks the corn crop is less copious than in previous years as are his wheat and soy bean crops these cornstalks would be towering over him actually its a double whammy- market prices are low and are poor the americans are pro- ducmg like crazy such bumper crops drive the price down we need a more level playing field were trying to get governments to recognize the situation sofar we havent been successful newmarket farmer carlc wierenga impounding the pave- mtinsearcrl of a winter job the wet planting arid growing seasons prohibited wierengas 40acre holland tyarsh vegetable and flower farrn from producing enough to see his faniily through the winter wet land kept wierenga from planting a critical 10 acres 1 while a number of onion arid car- rot plants sirnply drowned in the field til have to find a winter job wierenga said i expect other growers aredoing the sariiebut ilhoptimistic for the future farmers cant be gloom and doqm i can roll with the punches even though im losing 8 or 9 per cent yes tiiatsmy profit x stbuffville farmer john hoover is looking for a miracle hoover needs plenty of sun very little rain andabsolutely no frost in this race against time hoover is nursing 500 r acres of corn and 300 acres of soyy- bean only half of hoovers corn is in good form and if an early frost hits the quality of this corn will drop hoovers soy bean crop issmall this year the soy bean is onequarter of what we usually plant said hoover and only half of that is anygbpdweneedtimeandwe j need perfect weather conditions even at best it will be a reduced yield 4 hoover is bracing himself for a r serious financial hit c i dont have to worry about what the loss will be because it will be a lot it will be more than a lot v ive farmed for 30 yearsive never seen anything like this he said v farmers across york region will fix their eyes on tonights full moon since cooler temperatures usually follow a full moon this is a crucial time in the agricultural community if we get a killer frost its game over for many crops stevenson stressed poor harvests touch many- reesor seed and grain arid other local agricultural businesses including irhplement dealers are also feeling the pinch when crop yields are low it rrieans fewer trac tors are sold merle reesorsseed- and grain business notices that i 2000 is indeed a different yeaivrv when the farnierscquldnti get on the land to plantrnariy returned their seed to reesor seed and grain and reesor is expecting to handle less produce because of an anticipated low yield harvest the crops are very late reesor said they have a longway to gothe corn needs more time s its three weeks behind itll be standing another three weeks we wont see corn until november even york regions hay crop was a disappointment it was very poor qualitysaid stevenson vot its difficult tomakegood hay when it rains and rainsand rains many of the farmers took 1 7- machinfes into the hay fields scooped up the hay chbppedtit up and blew it back onto the land it allmeans good quality haywill be in very short supplythis winter agriculturein the greater j toronto area is usually a 13-bil- lion industry annually how the weather will affect the overall bot- torn line is riot knownas yet but it- will be noticed mqst consumers dont think about the weather br the farmer when buying food the general public has forgotten that through- out the spring and most of the summer farmland in york region- ranged from wet to wetter water lay stagnating in low lying areas farm equipment got stuck in the mud and farmers scrarribledto- come up with ways todrain the water from the soil while keeping the stored plants fromdying- the farmers got lots of sympa- thy butlittlehelpfrqm any level of governrnerit even georgina mayor rob grqssis gqbdynlf gesture to rgive farrriefs extra time to pay their property taxes was denied recently byyqrkregion regjorialocjubrtlold the farmerstbappeal folheif local municipalities if a stouffyille farmer is facing hardshipthe town will respond v ifmeyneedsqrnehelpiyith taxes command see usysaidjlr s whjtchurchstoufiyille mayor wayne erriniersbrir jri the plight of the agricultural commuriity shouldnt rest solely on the municalityvshoulder t emmersori said r province andthe feds j need to come thrbughand help the farriiers- manyare getting c nothirig for their crops 7