Farmer rancher august 27, 2015

The Battlefords, Thursday, August 27, 2015 - Page 2

armer ancher Serving the producers of Northwest Saskatchewan

Thursday, August 27, 2015, North Battleford, Saskatchewan

Cey Clydesdales gaining worldwide recognition

By Helena Long SCOTT – After a successful debut at the Calgary Stampede last month, the Ceys of Cey Clydesdales, whose home base is the small community of Scott, are receiving texts and calls daily from all over the world, asking about genetics, opportunities to buy specific horses and about buying semen.

Hayden, a Cey sevenyear-old stallion, was named Supreme Grand Champion Clyde at the Calgary Stampede Heavy Horse Show, beating out both the previous Western Canadian champion and the Eastern champion stud who had won at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto., Ont., last fall.

The Ceys’ six-horse hitch, all black Clyde mares, also drew positive attention at the Stampede and the Central Alberta Draft Horse Classic show in Olds, Alta., in June.

Ken Cey of Scott, along with sons Derek and Kent and their families, own 60 head of purebred black Clydesdales and expect their herd to produce 27 new foals in the spring of 2016. This year, 15 foals were born. Today, they are one of the bigger breeders of black Clydes in all of North America.

Ken said his father, Bill, had always had horses around the yard so he grew up with them. In the 1980s, Bill went to purebred Clydes, and in 1988 Ken purchased his first two Clydesdale colts from his father. Ken said, “It’s grown from a hobby to a business.”

In turn, Derek and Kent grew up with horses in the yard. As teenagers, they got involved with showing the horses, with their parents helping and getting them and their sisters to shows in North Battleford, Lloydmin-

ster, Saskatoon and Regina.

In 1994, each of Ken’s four children “got to pick a colt.” The two girls soon decided they’d prefer money and the boys purchased their sisters’ horses.

Derek and Kent each have two children of their own now, ages seven to 10, growing up on the Ken Cey family farm. It’s their job to name the new foals each spring.

Starting in the early Thursday, August 27, 2015, North Battleford, Saskatchewan 2000s, the Ceys started “searching for genetics to enhance our gene pool.”

Due to their gentle temperament, Clydesdales are a popular breed of draft horse but black Clydesdales only make up about 10 per cent of the Clydesdale population.

This year, with Hayden and four other black Clyde studs at service, the Ceys decided they wanted to show the world what they have to offer.

Continued on Page 6 Hayden, Supreme Grand Champion Clyde at the Calgary Stampede Heavy Horse Show. Photo submitted

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Ken Cey of Scott, along with sons Derek and Kent and their families, own 60 head of purebred black Clydesdales and expect their herd to produce 27 new foals in the spring of 2016. This year, 15 foals were born. Photos by Helena Long

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The Battlefords, Thursday, August 27, 2015 - Page 2

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Rider Pride at Landis

Central Plains Co-op put on a Customer Appreciation BBQ on Tuesday, Aug. 11 at the Landis Community Ball Diamonds. Along with burgers, pop and ice cream treats, the community was also treated to the chance to meet Saskatchewan Roughriders Derek Walker and Keith Price. Photos by Alicia Leclercq

Darlene Zbeeshko poses with Riders Keith Price (left) and Derek Walker (right).

Lining up for burgers.

Lynn Sarrasin gets an autograph from Saskatchewan Roughrider Keith Price.

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Page 3 - The Battlefords, Thursday, August 27, 2015

Regional Optimist

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Beware the killing frosts A little sun, a little rain and that is the week that was. We are not suffering the plus-30 weather anymore and it has turned a little cool. We were down to plus 4 one night when it snowed the ground white in Jasper. We don’t want no winter yet! We will get a killing frost soon enough.

The only thing that saved us was the weather was overcast. We know a killing frost comes on a clear night.

Killing frosts in the fall always come with wet weather and then the clouds clear off and the weather gets down to freezing. Also in conjunction with the wet weather, any time four days before or after the change of the moon is when we get a killing frost. I don’t know why it is, but it is just that way.

Looking on my hoar frost calendar, I see I have a rain marked for the 28th.

There is a new moon on the 29th. This is not good! Of course, that is expecting the hoar frost calendar to be right, which it hasn’t been all year. We will see! If the big guy sends us a killing frost, we have to take it.

Maybe the weather will be overcast those nights and we will escape again. If we can get by the end of this week we are good until Sept. 13 where there is the next new moon.

I don’t farm anymore but I like to drive around and look at the crops. Today I don’t see a wheat crop that could not be swathed. I see one man cutting canola at Lashburn. Before the end of the coming week the swather guys are going to be laying crop down left and right. Within two weeks, most of the canola will be meeting up with the swather. The fellas that desiccated their wheat will be starting to combine. The pea guys will be harvesting their crops this coming week. Harvest is here, the mad rush is on. Keep safe everyone. Lack of sleep and accidents go hand in hand.

Remember that!

On the home front, Ty is putting cat walks up on the pelleter stand at the elevator. They have a system because Ty’s welding can be a little sketchy, so they are smacking the welding with a sledge hammer. If it doesn’t fall off, then is deemed to be safe to walk on. I didn’t invent that system, but as long as it works, go for it. Ty’s welding is improving every day. They have one more cross pipe to weld on, a platform and some stairs. Hand railings will have to be welded on both levels where there is a walkway. The ladder for the airseeder tank must be cut off and repositioned so we can get on to the top of the tank from the top walkway.

This all takes time, but must be done.

I had two disappointments last week. First I have a little Miller portable welder that was light

ic’s

View

By Victor Hult

Regular contributor to newsoptimist.ca enough to pick up by hand and throw in the back of a half ton. It had a Honda motor on it and it ran and welded well. Someone borrowed it and the arc just quit. The motor ran but just no arc to weld. It was only four years old and had not welded that much. I took it into the repair shop and after presenting me a bill for $178 they told me it would cost the same to fix it as it would to buy a new one. Lord love a billy goat!

That was a handy welder.

Now I got nothing. That is not perfectly true, I have a dead welder all in parts and a bill!

The other disappointment was I wanted to put a deer killer bumper on my new truck. I had one already made that I was going to mount of my Ford F-450 one-ton flatbed truck. The guys spent almost all morning taking pieces of plastic off the front of the new truck to get to the frame.

When we got it uncovered, we realized the bumper already made would not fit.

The frame is boxed in and there was no way we could bolt the deer killer bumper on. There was no way to put the nuts on. I made them put all the plastic pieces back on. Ty threatened to only put half the bolts back on but after some threats to his well being he saw it my way and all the bolts got put back in. I think he was just jerking my chain but I wasn’t. My brain is now working on a new plan for a deer killer bumper for my truck. Lord love a billy goat again, and all the plastic on a truck. Over priced and under engineered for most of the stuff we have to buy.

That’s what I say!

On the political front, the leaders are running from city to city making new promises that if elected they probably have no intension of keeping. Some of the promises are interesting and it is something new every day. Considering this is a long campaign, what will be left to promise by the time they are done? One must remember that the promises being made are going to be paid for with your very own money.

The Mike Duffy trial goes on and on in Ottawa.

Some of the media are just fixated on whether Stephen Harper knew that Nigel Wright was going to pay Mike Duffy’s fraudulent living allowance. I don’t get the point! Is there something criminal in knowing that one guy is going to pay another guy’s bill? The media seems to be losing

track of the fact that one guy is a crook and has been defrauding the Canadian taxpayer. He is on trial and hopefully gets convicted and goes to jail. The rest of us, including Stephen Harper, are just spectators

to a head shaking of an unbelievable happening.

On the political campaign trail, the Rhinoceros Party is back. Their main campaign plank is they would nationalize Tim Hortons to save it for Canadians They also say that Eve Adams can run in any riding she wants for the Rhinoceros Party. Eve Adams, who left the Conservative party, then ran as a Liberal but lost that nomination, is blond, unemployed and seeking a new job.

Joke of the week from little Victor (10): What is in an empty nostril? Answer “finger prints.”

Picturesque Photo by Louise Lundberg

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The Battlefords, Thursday, August 27, 2015 - Page 4

Coalition releases railway performance report Coalition is comprised of the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), Pulse Canada, the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association (MPGA), The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association (COPA), the Inland Terminal Association of Canada (ITAC) and the Canadian Special Crops Association (CSCA).

Highlights: • Timeliness of hopper car supply has been consistently poor throughout the grain year and particularly poor in the November – March period (weeks 15 – 34). CN’s performance was consistently better than CP’s in this regard and showed greater improvement in the latter half of the year as compared to CP.

• While the railways satisfied 94 per cent of grain shippers’ demand for hopper cars throughout the course of the year this shortfall of six per cent represents more than 23,000 hopper cars.

• Customer orders for hopper cars averaged 7,700 cars per week through the course of the year while total car supply each week averaged slightly more than 7,400 cars. Total cars supplied is the sum of all hopper cars provided by the railways during the course of the grain year including some 8,000 cars supplied – primarily in the months of August and September – for orders in the prior grain year.

• Boxcar shippers experienced poorer overall order fulfillment levels than did hopper car shippers, receiving 69 per cent of total or-

ders placed with CN and CP. CP accounts for more than 95 per cent of boxcar shipments for ATC member companies.

• Order fulfillment performance by corridor – bulk versus non bulk corridors - has been more consistent on CN than on CP through the course of the 2014 – 2015 grain year. Overall CN order fulfillment performance exceeded 87 per cent in all major corridors with the western bulk corridors of Vancouver, Thunder Bay, Prince Rupert and Churchill all having 90 per cent or greater fulfillment rates. The US and Vancouver transload corridors experienced the least timely performance on CN. CP’s performance to west coast bulk corridors was comparable to CN’s with order fulfillment performance

to Vancouver and Thunder Bay exceeding 95 per cent for the year. U.S. and Vancouver transload corridors were noticeably worse than CN and all corridors experienced very poor performance with respect to timeliness of order fulfillment.

• Origin dwell time measures the elapsed time from the release of loaded cars by shippers to the time the railways physically pull the cars from a shipper’s siding for movement to destination.

Average performance in this area will vary depending on the nature of the shipment and the type of train or switching service for a given customer in a given geographic area.

For bulk grain shippers loading unit trains and multi-car blocks dwell time is generally expected to be 24 hours or less as these

shippers load cars within 24 hour windows in order to avoid origin demurrage charges assessed by the railways. Non bulk grain shippers loading less than multicar blocks will generally have longer dwell times.

During the 2014 – 2015 grain year 33 per cent of bulk grain shipments had an origin dwell time of 24 hours or less. CN’s performance was nearly twice as good as CP’s in this area.

• In the area of destination dwell time, CP’s performance is materially better than CN’s at both Vancouver and Thunder Bay. With the exception of some volatility around the Christmas period in Vancouver (weeks 22-24) and during the Seaway Closure at Thunder Bay CP’s dwell times are generally lower and more consistent than CN’s.

Lower harvest losses start with a drop pan Submitted

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We know canola losses occur out the back of the combine. Are losses high enough to warrant the time spent to reduce them? They certainly will be for some combines and in some conditions.

“Combines could be throwing over 5 bu./ac. and growers may not even realize it because those seeds are so difficult to see once they hit the ground,” says Angela Brackenreed, agronomy specialist for the Canola Council of Canada.

“A pan is the best way to see these losses.”

Growers have a few pan options; there are pros and cons to every style, but any one of them is better than not measuring at all. They can buy or build a one-footsquare pan to mount on a stick held under the back of the combine. Deep sides will limit seed bounce out of the

CONDO LIFE CAN BE FOR YOU

WINNIPEG - The Ag Transport Coalition has released a review of railway service performance for the 2014/15 grain year. The report tracks railway performance from the customer’s perspective, providing service performance measurement that informs commercial decisions of supply chain stakeholders and serves as the basis for short and longterm actions by government.

The Ag Transport Coalition reports on railway performance across key indicators including rail car demand, timeliness of railway car supply and corridor performance. These measures are of particular importance to the grain industry which expects the railcar orders submitted weekly to railways to trigger a timely and predictable level of railway service as a key part of ensuring on time delivery of Canadian agri-products to customers around the world.

The figures for the 2014/15 grain year summary report indicate that weekly supply of railcars is highly variable and timeliness of delivery was an issue, with CN and CP supplying 62 per cent and 36 per cent of cars ordered by shippers in the week in which they were ordered. This lack of timeliness and predictability in railcar delivery has an impact on the performance of Canada’s logistics system and Canada’s reputation as a consistent and reliable supplier of grain as each ordered railcar indicates there is farmer’s grain to move and a domestic or overseas customer expecting its timely delivery.

The Ag Transport Coalition will begin the 2015/16 grain year weekly reporting beginning on Aug. 21 for Grain Week 1 and will continue to focus on metrics that measure the timeliness of weekly railcar delivery. Performance data for 2015/16 will cover more than 90 per cent of grain traffic in Canada using data collection services of QGI consulting.

The performance measurement initiative is part of a five-year transportation strategy and action plan made possible by matching investments from the ag industry and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) through Growing Forward 2 programming. This initiative complements existing Government activities to monitor the performance of the grain handling and transportation system.

Ag Transport Coalition members look forward to continuous improvement in the performance metrics through the 2015/16 grain year to ensure the transportation system is meeting the needs of Canadian businesses, contributing to their competitiveness and supporting economic growth throughout Canada.

The 2014/15 report can be found on the Ag Transport Coalition website www. agtransportcoalition.com The Ag Transportation

pan. They can toss a wide flat pan under the combine as it goes by. Or they can buy a more elaborate pan that attaches to the belly of the combine and can be dropped from the cab. The advantage with this pan is that the combine operator can also measure harvest losses. Brackenreed bought one of these to try out this fall.

“It works off an electromagnet bolted to the underside of the combine. It runs off the cigarette lighter re-

ceptacle in the cab, and to drop the pan you just unplug the cord,” she says.

The first step when using any style of pan is to disengage the chaff spreader and straw chopper and move them out of the way.

This allows straw, chaff and thrown-over seeds to drop straight down over the pan.

Once the combine is fully engaged and working through a typical stretch of crop, drop the pan. When using the pan on a stick, move the pan into position upside

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Page 5 - The Battlefords, Thursday, August 27, 2015

Regional Optimist

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Information is the key to fine tuning your on-farm cattle breeding program Submitted

Beef Cattle Research Council

Les Johnston has long subscribed to the beef management theory, “the more you know about your cattle the more it pays.”

Whether the south-Saskatchewan beef producer is raising purebred Simmental bulls for a breeding market or commercial cross-bred steers for the packing plant, he wants to know how those animals perform.

Being able to receive a steady flow of carcass data on cull livestock or finished commercial steers through the Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) is a valuable confirmation of whether his breeding program is on the right track.

Johnston, who owns Nisku Land and Cattle Inc. near Fillmore, has farmed between both the purebred and commercial cattle industries for the past 40 years. He focused on purebred Simmental cattle for many years, when the BSE crisis developed in early 2000s, then switched to producing and finishing mostly commercial cattle. Although he has been downsizing in the past year, he still runs a smaller purebred as well as commercial beef herd.

But whether it is the commercial or purebred side he has always been interested in learning as much about cattle performance as he could.

“Basically it comes down to you can’t fix what you don’t know,” says Johnston. “We have always been interested in seeing carcass data even before BIXS came along, but now it becomes a much easier process. “ On the purebred side he began using ultrasound technology to measure marbling on replacement cattle in 1990s.

“We were really impressed where the Simmental breed was headed, but because the registry hadn’t been developed yet, we couldn’t identify the genetics we needed. We actually had to turn to Red and Black Angus to find the genetics to produce the carcass quality we wanted.”

In the early 2000s he began DNA testing bulls, and continues with that today.

The DNA testing confirms genetic lines in the purebred herd and also is a check against ultrasound readings of carcass quality factors.

An ultrasound reading provides a measure of ribeye area, marbling and back fat thickness on a particular animal. Depending on the amount of information the producer wants, a DNA test, made from a hair sample, can also reveal its potential for ribeye, marbling and backfat as well as carcass grade, yield grade, and tenderness. The combination of ultrasound and a DNA test provides relatively solid

assurance of the traits that breeding animal will pass along to its offspring. And if the producer wants more information about the animal’s potential the DNA test can also provide a score for average daily gain, docility (behavior), fertility, calving ease, feeding efficiency and longevity.

With BSE derailing the Canadian beef market in 2003, Johnston began producing more commercial cattle and finishing them himself, running about 240 head.

“We actually began doing more on the commercial side before the BSE crisis,” says Johnston. “But once BSE hit we stepped up our commercial program and began to retain ownership of the steers. I believe you can always make money on good cattle and I had enough data on this herd that told me if I finished these cattle properly I could still make a few pennies on each one, or at least not lose my shirt,” says Johnston.

“And that approach came true— we were still able to make a few dollars on these cattle.” Relying on the genetic potential of his cattle, Johnston was consistently able to finish and market steers with a good mix of AAA and AA carcass grading for a price premium.

Whether it was on younger purebred cattle that were culled, or on his own finished steers, he always sought out carcass data from the packing plant to guide his breeding program.

“The carcass data from the packing plant was able to tell us generally how the herd was performing, but it wasn’t able to narrow it down to the individual genetics of an animal,” he says.

“That is where BIXS is an improved information tool.

We are able to get carcass data specific to each tagged animal. We have 11 breeding pastures on this farm, so with that I.D. number I can know with almost certainty the dam and the sire of that animal, and then evaluate how those genetics are performing.” Johnston says by being able to connect the carcass quality information of an individual animal with its sire and dam he can decide which bulls are producing the most desirable carcass traits in steers and

select accordingly. “With our breeding management and record keeping system, once I get that carcass data back from the packing plant and it is associated with an RFID number, I can easily check the records and know exactly the sire and dam of that animal. And if for some reason that sire and dam combination isn’t producing a calf that produces a desirable carcass it doesn’t mean I have to cull them. I can just look at the genetic information I have for the herd and perhaps just put that cow with a different bull next year to improve the traits in the next calf.”

While Johnston, in the past couple years, is no longer retaining ownership of steers, he can still receive carcass data reports on his cattle. Calves marketed last fall, for example, are being backgrounded at a feedyard in Saskatchewan and then will be finished at a feedlot in Ontario. If finished cattle are processed at the Cargill plant in Ontario “those carcass data reports will eventually arrive back at the computer in my office,” he says.

When he was marketing his own steers Johnston was selling them on the grid.

That required that at least 60 per cent of the steers grade AAA, with the rest hopefully producing AA carcasses. “And really it is the AAs where we made the most money,” he says.

Johnston says when marketing on the grid he found the difference in price between a good AA animal and AAA could be very minor. “Unless you can negotiate a very good premium for cattle sold on the grid, a AA carcass with high lean meat yield can often provide as good a return as anything.

The goal is produce a AAA, but at the same time maintain a lean meat yield of 59 per cent or higher.”

The grid maximum at the time sought a hot carcass weight no heavier than 925 pounds, so he targeted his program to produce steers achieving an 840 to 900 pound carcass weight.

And his breeding program selection over the years, has been on target — selecting bulls that produce the proper sized animal with desirable carcass traits. “In all the time we have been do-

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ing this before and now with BIXS we have only had one single A animal,” he says.

Johnston says the potential information flow that BIXS offers across the production chain is valuable information to any producer who is serious about fine tuning their breeding program to produce quality cattle for the market place.

“And it reduces the risk,” he says. “You can finish and market your own cattle to get carcass data, but then you are carrying all the risk of feeding those cattle.

Continued on Page 7

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The Battlefords, Thursday, August 27, 2015 - Page 6

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Cey Clydesdales gaining worldwide recognition

A Clydesdale mare. Photos by Helena Long

Larry Doke, MLA CUT KNIFE - TURTLEFORD CONSTITUENCY

Derek, Ken and Kent Cey. Their Clydesdale operation has grown from a hobby to a business.

Gentle giants The Ceys sell horses destined for anything from chore teams to fancy show work. They also get requests for riding horses as most Clydesdales are quiet, manageable big horses.

“Gentle giants,” Ken calls them.

At any given time, the Ceys have a dozen or so horses for sale and have horses all over North America. A young girl in Fort Resolution, N.W.T., has a Cey gelding she rides. A Stettler, Alta., farmer uses Cey Clydes to give sleigh rides at Big White Mountain, near Kelowna, B.C. He has bought six horses from the Ceys and keeps coming back for more, saying he likes their horses “because they don’t quit.”

Acreage owners buy retired mares as “pets.”

In Missouri, the Ceys are “converting a former Shire man” to Clydes; he has purchased three of their horses so far. Kent’s first Clyde went to Quebec where he was used as the herd sire for many years.

The owners even used him and seven of his sons in an eight-horse hitch. The stallion was later purchased by Express Clydesdales out of Yukon, Oklahoma and, although he died this year, they have two of his sons to carry on the gene pool.

All this before their success at the Calgary Stampede and before their exposure at the 2015 World Clydesdale Show, where – the show website says – “hundreds of the very best Clydesdales from around the world will compete.”

That being said, the Ceys are very careful to match the right horse to its future owner. Derek gets as many details as he can from a prospective buyer as to who they are, what they are looking for and how they intend to use the horse. That attention to detail has paid off for them as they have many repeat buyers and many don’t even come to see the horse before buying it, trusting it is what the Ceys say it is.

Kent pointed out that with black Clydesdale being considerably more rare than bays, sometimes they breed to a specific request for markings or size. “We can’t always go out and find a particular horse,” he said. “We have to create them.”

Derek added, “We still like our horses to be horses.” Although they’re careful as to what mare is exposed to which stallion, they allow nature to take its course in the field and do not line breed either.

– Long

Continued from Page 1 Knowing that in 2015, for the first time in 16 years, Canada would be hosting the World Clydesdale Show, an event only held every four years, the Ceys hired professional trainers, Brian and Colleen Coleman, of Disbury, Alta. Brian is the reigning six-time world champion teamster and judges draft horses all over the world.

Brian made many trips from Alberta to Scott to pick out horses from the field. In turn, the Ceys made many trips to Didsbury, delivering and picking up horses.

Brian tried out 25 horses before he settled on the 10 that went to both the Olds show and the Calgary Stampede.

For the eight-horse team of mares that will compete at the world show, key factors included not only similar markings but even the length of stride was measured on each horse.

Ten horses will be making the 50-hour drive to London, Ont., for the Sept.

29 to Oct. 3 world show. The goal is to make the top 10 in the world in the classes they enter. They especially have high hopes for Hayden.

Kent pointed out most hitches they compete against are owned by millionaires advertising their companies.

“We’re just farm boys from Saskatchewan advertising our horses,” he said.

So far, there are 554 horses registered for the world

show, owned by 29 different exhibitors.

Shaking his head, Derek said this time they would know what to expect. They had promised their wives and children a nice holiday in Calgary, expecting time to see some sights as well as to attend other Stampede events. Any holiday time which included the dads ended up being limited to two hours on the midway; the rest of the time they were busy helping out in the stables.

The Colemans have other clients and had 35 horses in all at the Stampede. Anyone involved with any of the horses helped with all.

Every day of the two weeks in Calgary for Derek and Kent started with the first feeding in the barn, at 5:30 a.m. The last feeding was at 10 p.m., finishing up about midnight, and then exhibitors and trainers gathered in each other’s tack rooms to visit, socialize and talk horses. In between, the 35 horses were washed and clipped daily.

Continued on Page 7

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Phone: Derek Cey with a Clydesdale foal.

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2891-99th Street, Hwy 4N, North Battleford

Page 7 - The Battlefords, Thursday, August 27, 2015

Regional Optimist

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Preparing for a trip to London Continued from Page 6 Manes had to be rolled and flowers placed. Stalls were cleaned.

“It was an endurance test,” Derek said.

On the other hand, Ken, Derek, Kent and Heather couldn’t say enough about the fellowship in the barns.

In the ring, people might be in competition with each other. Outside of the ring, a helping hand was always extended when needed, advice was freely given and the coolers kept stocked for helpers and visitors alike.

A major hailstorm during the Stampede resulted in a number of hitches all coming into the ring at once, some

Kent Cey with a Clydesdale foal. Photo by Helena Long

Do you know your risk tolerance?

Cyril Laforge P Ag

Farm Business Management Specialist Sask Ministry of Agriculture

Daily farmers are faced with making many decisions about their farming operation. Farmers don’t always have accurate information available to them at the time of decision, nor can they predict with 100 per cent accuracy factors that can affect the decision. The uncertainty of the outcome is known as risk.

Risk exists in all aspects of the farming business.

Farmers will face production, marketing, financial, legal and human resources

risks. Risk can be mitigated by having a risk management strategy. As part of your risk management strategy, you need to identify and understand the risks facing the operation. Next, determine your risk tolerance and the impact this has on your risk management strategy.

Risk tolerance is your willingness to avoid or accept risk. Everyone has a different attitude towards risk that will affect the decisions they make. Farm managers make better decisions when they recognize their attitudes towards risk and take them into account when choosing actions. There are three broad

categories of risk tolerance – risk averse, risk neutral and risk taker.

Risk averse individuals are the most cautious risk takers. These individuals will avoid risk at the expense of an increased profit. A risk averse individual is more likely to choose a risk avoidance strategy. They focus on avoiding loss at all costs to the point they miss out on some great opportunities.

These individuals are likely willing to pay extra to have the security of knowing the risk has been removed or minimized.

Risk taker individuals thrive on risk. They are ex-

Information is the key

Continued from Page 5 With BIXS, any producer can produce a nice bunch of calves, sell them to a feedyard and then in a few months get the carcass data delivered to them. It takes a bit of learning to know how to read and understand a carcass report, but it can be an important tool in guiding your breeding program.”

Johnston admits that genetic selection is only part of the equation in producing a market animal with top carcass quality — the feedlot feeding program also plays an important role too.

“But genetics is most im-

portant part of the equation,” he says. “As one of the leading beef industry experts, Charlie Gracey, says ‘you can’t make a poor carcass better, if the genetics aren’t there. But, with poor management you can certainly wreck a good carcass.’ As producers, I believe it is important to know who is feeding your cattle and how they are feeding them,” he says. “I do my best to find out where my calves go and follow up with the feeder if I can. But at the same time, most of these feed yards are doing their best to optimize their rates of gain and produce a qual-

ity animal. It is in their best interest to market good quality cattle. And if the genetics are there to begin with, those cattle will finish properly.”

“One important caution is not to let your herd get too far to one extreme or the other because then it becomes too hard to bring it back. If the reports start to show that animals are getting too big, for example, bring different genetics in to your breeding program. You may have to swallow your ego and buy a different breed altogether, but it will keep those cattle in the range that the market wants.”

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cited by the challenge and may seek out risky ventures as long as there is potential positive return. These individuals are willing to accept risk. Risk neutral individuals recognize the degree of risk in a situation and will analyze a situation before accepting or avoiding the risk.

These individuals realize you must take a chance to gain an increased profit.

Whatever your risk tolerance may be it is important to recognize it. The ability to recognize your attitude towards risk will help to make better decisions. To learn more about risk tolerance and managing risk, consider purchasing the Comprehensive Guide to Managing Risk in Agriculture from Farm Management Canada. The book can be purchased online at http://www.fmc-gac.com/ publications/comprehensiveguide-managing-risk-agriculture.

For more information contact your Farm Business Management Specialist or phone the Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866457-2377

still partially unharnessed.

Everybody who could help, including horse people from the stands, helped hold horses and do up harnesses. It didn’t matter whose horses they were, Kent said, “everybody helped everybody.”

The same help was given in the barn where two feet of water swept through their half, flooding the stalls.

Bedding had to be replaced and, again, even people the Ceys were competing against pitched in to help.

There were also visitors who helped out simply because of a love of horses.

Outside of helping at the shows, this is a relatively quiet time of year for the horse breeders. During February, March and April, during foaling season, they put in long days with the horses.

Kent gets up every hour to check the barn monitor. If a mare is in labour, Derek gets the call and heads out to the

barn to be available for any emergency. He also is the one who makes sure the foal is up and sucking within 20 minutes of being born.

With this year’s crop of foals enjoying freedom in the pasture with their mothers, some mares with the Colemans preparing for the world show and the five stallions waiting for next year’s breeding season, for now the Ceys can focus on the upcoming harvest at their grain farm.

Then, if all goes well and harvest is finished in time, all three Ceys, their wives Heather, Shannon and Melissa and the four children (Ken’s and Heather’s grandchildren) will make the trip to London.

For more information on these beautiful Clydesdales and the Cey family farm, visit http://www.ceyclydes. com/.

Shop, Household, Yard and Recreational Auction for Dennis Berg 862 Poplar Crescent, Aquadeo, SK

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Regional Optimist

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The Battlefords, Thursday, August 27, 2015 - Page 8

FLOORING Fo r B e s t S el e cti o n, Se r vi ce a nd Gu a r a nte e d

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