- Hi Jeff,
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- Here is a summarized update, with images, on the newest
crop formation in cattle corn found in Matsqui, British Columbia in early
August 2004 (not reported until a couple weeks later). As also with the
previous cattle corn formations at nearby Abbotsford and Agassiz, BC in
2003, this may be one of the most interesting formations to date in Canada.
The formation is a circle with two attached crescents, 53 metres (174 feet)
long, in 7'-8' tall cattle corn, with alternating lay patterns within the
two crescents. A lot of recovery of upper stalks due to phototropism had
already occurred throughout the formation by the time we were able to first
visit it on August 29, hence the "messy" appearance of the lay.
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- While this formation may not be as complex as the recent
Miamisburg, OH one in the US, also in cattle corn, the node deformities
are the most pronounced I've ever seen so far here, very similar to those
in Abbotsford and Agassiz, BC last year, including the large 300' "trident"
formation at Abbotsford: many large "expulsion cavities" in stalk
nodes (often multiple nodes per stalk and multiple cavities per node) and
stalks "sliced off" through lower nodes.
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- All images are © myself, except for the aerial photo,
taken by Anne Nadeau.
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- A preliminary field report, survey diagram and additional
ground photos and scan images of the "expulsion cavities" and
"sliced nodes" deformities are posted on the CCCRN web site:
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- http://www.cccrn.ca
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- As I noted in my Matsqui field report: "Investigation
is still on-going. A crop specialist with Agriculture Canada in Ontario
has been examining samples of the similar node anomalies from Abbotsford
and Agassiz in 2003, with no conclusions yet other than that they do not
appear to be 'normal' insect, disease or physical stress damage to the
plants in his opinion. Further details pending in the combined BLT Research
Team / CCCRN report on those formations to be published soon."
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- I will also report on results of our experiment to manually
flatten corn in the same field (but far from the formation), to test the
possibility that any of these effects could result from that (not ruling
anything out at this point). As also noted in my field report, the "sliced
nodes" may be due to the "brittle snap" condition, although
there were no large windstorms recently and they seem to be confined to
within the formation. The large node cavities were also found in _standing_
crop along the edges of the formation (a feature found in formations before)
but not elsewhere in the field so far.
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- Eleven reported formations so far in Canada this year
as of mid-September. The lesser numbers in Saskatchewan so far may be due
largely to cold, wet weather in recent weeks (harvest is later than usual,
when most formations are found here), and some areas of Saskatchewan have
already had frost and snow!
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- Paul Anderson Canadian Crop Circle Research Network http://www.cccrn.ca
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