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2 Section 2 of The Canadian Statesman, Newcastle Independent, Wednesday, April 6,1983 Staff Members of Agricultural & Food Office, Bownianville Metric System Taking Over on Local Farms that Use Chemicals By Brian E. Hall, Assoc. Agricultural Representative This year farmers will be faced with working with chemicals in metric. The easiest method to working with chemicals in metric is to make a complete switch to using metric units. To help make the conversion to metnc easier, here are a few helpful suggestions for applying herbicides this spring. To Begin with, convert your land to metric. Prepare a chart of all your fields, and mark down the size of field in "Hectares" (ha) on the chart. Acres x 0.4 equals hectares. Thus, instead of thinking of a field as 10 acres, we think of it as four hectares. Next, we need to calibrate our sprayer in the metric units of litres. In order to apply a spray chemical, you will need to know its volume in litres (L). To convert Imperial gallons gallons to litres, mutiply by 4.55. To convert U.S. gallons to metric, multiply by 3.79. Thus, a 200 Imperial gallon tank becomes 910 litres (200 x 4.55). Once you have made these calculations, mark them on the side of your tank for easy measurement. Another way to calibrate your sprayer is to use an old 20 L pail and fill the sprayer pail-by-pail marking off the desired litres on the side of the sprayer. Old pressure gauges are in pounds per square inch (psi) and new gauges will be in Kilopascals (K Pa). For conversion conversion psi x 6.89 equals K Pa. The next step is to determine determine how many hectares each sprayer tank will cover with each set of nozzles. A 910 litre tank, for example, that applies applies 200 litres-hectares will cover 4.55 hectares. Finally, read the label to determine the application rate, which will be expressed in litres per hectare or Kilograms Kilograms per hectare. If, for example, the label says to apply 4.25 litres per hectare, and our 910 litre tank will cover 4.55 hectares, then, we need to add 4.55 hectares x 4.25 L-ha equals 19.3 litres of the product to each tankful. By following the above tips and making the switch to metric, problems of injured crops and missed or uncontrolled uncontrolled weeds will be avoided, and we will be on our way to a year of fewer spray problems. Pesticides -- Read the Label ! Each year, crops are damaged, weeds and insects are missed, and personal injuries injuries occur because someone fails to read the label. The label on most herbicides will irovide you with all the in- ormation you will need. On a abel you will find the uses for he product; the rate of application application to use, the correct timing timing of application and method of application, and combinations combinations of products that may be mixed. Another very important part of the label are the safety precautions and warnings. Should poisoning or exposure occur, take the label with you to the hospital or doctor, in order that they may prescribe the correct treatment. Area farmers are bound to see at least one of these people from time to time -- they are the staff members at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, King Street East, Bowmanville. From left, Bev Ells, crop advisor; John Finlay, agriculture representative; Bjorg Lowes, office manager; Judy Sawler, secretary; Brian Hall, assistant agriculture representative; and Linda Caldwell, home economist. Absent from photo: Cathy McKay, pest management specialist; Jan Visser, milk industry fieldman; and Cathy Edwards, secretary. R.S.V .P . Workshops Developing Leadership Skills By Linda Caldwell, Home Economist Last September, Dennis Timbrell, the Minister of Agriculture and Food for Ontario, announced a series of leadership workshops to be held in winter 1983 for members members of all rural organizations. The leadership workshops nicknamed "R.S.V.P." Rural Seminars for Vital People have been held across Ontario over the past two months. Rural Organizations in Durham East have been given the opportunity to attend on March 31st at the Oshawa Holiday Inn. The goal of the R.S.V.P. Program is to further develop leadership skills within members members of rural organizations. The main topic of each workshop workshop is how to run an effective meeting or program. Sessions include setting goals and objectives objectives for your organization, parliamentary procedure and evaluation. It's a chance for people to meet members of other rural organizations. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food offices in the tricounty tricounty areas of Durham East, Durham West and York have enrolled a total of 225 delegates delegates from a wide range of rural organizations including : Women's Institutes, Agricultural Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, Societies, Junior Farmers, Federa tion of Agriculture and farm product commodity groups. The speakers for the day have a good deal of expertise on their presentation topics. Randy Cummings, Manager of Dale Carnegie Training in Mississauga will speak on 'Setting Goals and Objectives for your organization'. The session on Parliamentary Procedure will be conducted by Marilyn Sewell, Farm Safety Consultant in Oshawa. The evaluation presentation will be taken by Chuck Jacobs, Rural Leadership Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and ' Food in Guelph. Several of the rural organi zations will set up exhibits promoting and educating the other delegates about the aims and functions of their organizations. organizations. The day will conclude with a banquet and special guest speaker, Rev. Robert Rum- ball, who will address the delegates on "The Value of the Volunteer". The strength of rural organizations organizations comes from their members. The R.S.V.P. 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