Fall meetings

[jdwerker]

What meetings do you go to and are any better or worse then others?

[hobbyfrmr]

I attend the annual hemp love in, and a couple of trade and export type meetings.
Im trying to move up the chain to value add production on my farm, but I am still looking for a market before I borrow half a million dollars for a proper facility. kind of like walking around in the fog. You know its out there, but just cant see it.
Being organic farmer, I really don't fit at other meetings or shows. everything is too expensive ( I know wah wah wah) I usually do my marketing over the phone and emails, maaaaybe I will attend buyers complimentary dinners, evenings but usually Im at home with kids. I am still pretty disgusted with the conventional supply side tactics, and the buyers BS tactics described here on AV. Over time, that stuff still irritates me, so I would end up being an abrasive contradictory loudmouth and sour the meetings.
I really need to take a bookkeeping course for more detailed account of this farm. Cash rents are high around here, plus a job, and voila, less risk, consistent predictable work schedule and same amount cash.

[grassfarmer]

There is a conference going on in Halifax just now that would be an incredible learning experience for anyone. Just look at the calibre and diversity of the speakers and topics covered.

http://foodsecurecanada.org/who-we-are/what-we-do/our-8th-assembly


I guess not too many "commodity producers" will attend it.

[ColevilleH2S]

I love the hypocrisy in the name "Food Secure Canada". If there is one thing their lefty efforts would produce if allowed to come to fruition it would be: <a style="color:red">FOOD INSECURITY</a>, of biblical proportions.

One only need to look at the efforts of Stalin, Mao and Mugabe who thought social engineered agriculture was a better model than market based production. I'm not so sure the millions who starved, perceived commodity agriculture as an issue.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions; and lots of naïve idiots.

[grassfarmer]

How shallow, but I expected nothing less.

[oneoff]

And grassy; you probably didn't miss all the Dowsing and Witching conventions that would have been excellent learning experiences for anyone.....My ass.. Your credibility for recommendations for learning are not held in high regard by myself.

But if there is any interest in learning something new...and important....; I'll repeat again exactly what was posted more than a year ago

QUOTE
Not so ASRG and grassy. If water well drilling were a profession; dowswers would be considered "Quacks".
But water well drilling is a trade; in Western provinces of Alberta and Sask (at least) it either voluntary or even more so regulated. As such; drillers reports are submitted and Elogs run as a matter of course. Improvements in that data would certainly be welcomed; but there is much data available for free that spans over a hundred years of searching for adequate water supplies.

As has been pointed out; it is futile to even debate this topic of dowsing. The dowswers will drag you down to their level; wear you out and beat you with their experience.
Suffice it to say that usable aquifers almost always lie in beds or some sort of formation with porosity; and have sufficient permeability to deliver fluids to the well bore in quantities sufficient for your intended use.
Now you can say that some people can put a pair of coathangers in their hands and receive a broadcast of AM radio stations through the fillings in their teeth. And someone else will testify that they have direct contact with aliens or even God.

But can those broadcasts be duplicated by two seperate "believers" (of your choice); independently and at the same time. Dowsing is dangerous nonsense when the public so easily believes it to contain facts that can be relied upon.

Now there are written water well driller sample reports; and Elogs of natural voltages produced by the borehole drilling fluids in contact with the relatively consistant formation beds that have been lain down over millions of years. Differring doses of Gamma rays are emmitted from sands and gravels as compared to clays (for instance) and those are also useful in documenting an areas water prospects. And single point resistance logs are commonly recorded to add information concerning more resistive sands and gravels as compared to clays which have a high porosity; but little effective permeability. And productive wells have been drilled, punched, dug,, bored and screwed for centuries. A good part of those efforts is recorded and available.

With such information from many wells; and productive (and non-productive) well data; a careful observer (and even an intelligent dowser) could easily give some educated guesses as to the chances and depth of potential aquifers. Which is still how the decision on new well location should be based.

On the other hand; I have never seen one shred of useful data recorded on any dowsers findings. If there were anything worth writing down that should have been submitted as data for all future water survey investigations and water wells that will be needed for future drill sites.

Do all the dowsing for wish for your entertainment; and don't be fooled by someone's with a piece of iron or wood dangling from their body.
If you want water that is 50 feet away from a power line; sufficently away from septic and animal fecal matter to minimize the chance of contamination; convenient to tying into existing pipelines and pressure tanks etc. etc. etc. then do a site survey to plan these considerations in conjunction with mapped and known aquifers in the vicinity.

Some areas will have near zero chance of success; while others will aprroach 100% in possibly your choice of several aquifers. Some drillers actually might have a 90% "success" rate; even when willingly taking on any problem sites that have had multiple "dryholes". And some sites still remain with no productive wells despite everyone's best efforts (and no doubt multiple dowsers as well).

And the doswer won't improve your chances by anything more than chance. Your choice of a reputable driller will be much more important in your success.

If you can't agree with any of the above; then it is a simple matter of contracting the drilling with the dowser who will with 100% certainty get exactly what he has you so firmly believing in.

DOWSERS WILL NOT IMPROVE THE OVERALL SUCCESS RATE of getting a "good" well. It's but a sad commentary on what faith can do.

But you'd be very wise to choose a driller familiar with local formations; drilling techniques and having thoroughly looked at all the data available. It's the driller who will confim your faith in that undeserving "dowser".

UNQUOTE

[ColevilleH2S]

Grassfarmer, I apologize for not venturing out of the kiddie pool, should have known you were a proficient swimmer. So dive deep and explain why $40,000-a-pop speaker Vandana Shiva (featured speaker in Halifax) makes claims that contradict the graph on page 3 of [URL="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2014/01/29/vandana-shiva-anti-gmo-celebrity-eco-goddess-or-dangerous-fabulist/"]this article[/URL]. Is she a liar, liar pants on fire; or is The Journal Nature incorrect?

Fibs aside, I suspect her and Maude Barlow have not truly thought through the consequences of their ideologies. Rainbows and lollipops don't feed societies.

[Hopperbin]

Well you can go to a justin trudou meeting get a 75 percent back in tax after your donation plus a bag of dope from what I hear.

[oneoff]

On the other hand (grassy and ASRG and most other readers); you can rest content in the knowlegde that most share your views on dowsing and corruption at all levels of government; self interests and firmly held beliefs and opinions that are solely based on firmly held beliefs and opinions. People listen to that which confirms what they already know.

To debate with such people immediately downgrades to attacks on personal self interests.

It is futile to debate or argue......Attempting to add information is commonly a waste of personal time and effort. Change will only take place as other more powerful interests force that change upon weak players.

[ado089]

I like to attend the Sask Young Ag meeting in January. Sometimes they surprise me with a topic but mostly I like to see the contrast in how young people found themselves farming.

[grassfarmer]

How predictable the responses have been - resorting to categorizing everything as either "leftie" or "free enterprise". As always in western Canadian the facts are negotiable as long as the ideology stands. You kid yourselves though as without your Government funded crop insurance very few of you could even be in the game. You can cry all you like about the weather, prices, the guys trying to screw you over but there is not a lot of sympathy for you in the world. An aging demographic, asset rich but if the kids don't want to follow you how sustainable is it?
Another day, another story that doesn't help your cause:
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/real-reason-for-toxic-wheat-its-not-gluten/

On the other hand I know several people attending the meeting in Halifax, all young self made farmers, innovators and entrepreneurs. They are the real free marketeers. They are the future of agriculture because they are building bridges with consumers and others in society. Interested in food security, food quality, consumer demand, the environment, water. Such talent, such information sharing, such potential. They have got you beaten before you even realize there is a race going on.

[sumdumguy]

GF, I wish I wasn't clear across this fine continent. I would love to get some fresh air. There is nothing so invigorating and stimulatiing as fresh ideas. In Saskatoon, there used to be a show every year ( i forget the name of it) that presented new ideas like turning potatoe production into a perogy enterprise, today huge company. Greenhouse business exporting to Northern US. The former federal government used to support this kind of dialogue. Now they just support railways, big chemical, machinery companies and agronomists squeezing every frickin cent out of farmers. No thought, no imagination, no adventure.