GrainsWest Tech 2020

Tech 2020 Grains West 26 Fields looked messy, but the practice was somewhat effective in reducing wind erosion. Noble also followed the field trials of farmers such as L.P. Tuff of Lethbridge and the Koole brothers of nearby Monarch who experimented with strip farming techniques to reduce soil loss by wind erosion. In his blacksmith shop, Noble developed one of the first rod weeders as a low-disturbance weed-control tool. None of these measures were perfect but all appeared to reduce soil loss. Heading into the 1930s, drought conditions worsened and the Prairies experienced weather events known as black blizzards. “About the only farmers who were escaping the devastation of wind were those who were strip farming and those who seeded in stubble or on land that had been cultivated without loss of stubble,” wrote MacEwan. “It was silt from farms being cultivated by the old methods that was polluting the air and depressing the people.” Noble felt compelled to invent better ways and “better tools,” to protect the soil. In 1935, at the age of 62, family members urged Noble to finally take a holiday, “especially after the dry and discouraging summer of 1935, and they prevailed upon him to visit California,” wrote MacEwan. During this trip he observed a farmer using a straight blade tool. It slid a few inches below the soil surface to loosen sugar beets for harvest. Noble envisioned a similar tool being used to control weeds while leaving stubble to protect the soil. With the help of a California friend who owned a shop, the excited Noble found a nine-foot section of grader blade with which to build a prototype cultivation tool he soon hauled back to Nobleford. “[The] farm shop rang again with the clank of a smithy’s hammer as [Noble] with the help of Niels Kristofferson [one-time mayor of Nobleford], pounded out new blades and frames making each model a little better than the last one,” wrote MacEwan. Noble initially had no plans to enter the manufacturing business, but simply to develop equipment to be used on his farm. Along with strip farming practices, the prototype straight blade tool worked well over the following two seasons. It controlled weeds and left stubble to protect the soil. Neighbours were impressed and asked Noble to build more of these tillage tools for them. Noble made 50 blades in 1937. In June 2 of that year, the worst dust storm ever seen on the Prairies blew from Lethbridge to Regina. Already mounting calls to deal with soil erosion reached a new pitch. Noble began the small-scale manufacture of his blade cultivator. Eventually the straight bar was replaced by a V-shaped blade. For light, sandy soil, a 75-degree blade could be used and a wider-angle 100-degree blade could handle firmer soil. Demand for the cultivator soon outgrew the ability of Noble’s shop to produce them. A factory was built in Nobleford in 1941. It produced 125 cultivators that year and increased output to 200 in 1943. As manufacturing materials became available at the end of the Second World War, production jumped to 1,000 units in 1946. A larger factory was built in 1951 to meet demand in Canada and the U.S. The unit was later exported to Egypt, El Salvador, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia and South Africa. Noble Cultivators Ltd. eventually diversified to produce hoe drills that could work through crop residue, chisel plows, packers and harrows. At one point, the company had 600 dealers in Canada and 17 states. The business remained family-owned until it was sold to Versatile Manufacturing in 1982. Charles Noble (left) is seen here purchasing 13,000 acres of the Cameron Ranch in June of 1917. FEATURE