March 18, 2015

Salute to Agriculture MARCH 18, 2015

National Farmers Union warns corporate greed threatens Canada’s food sovereignty

D Dairy farmers rely on strong family commitments for the future of the industry

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PAGE 11

Page 2 - Salute to Agriculture

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

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Mustafa Eric Independent Editor With the Agricultural Growth Act, known widely as Bill C-18, now having reached royal assent and practically become part of Canadian legislation, Canadian farmers have a lot more reasons to be concerned about their future as farmers, according to a recent report by the National Farmers Union (NFU).

The report “Losing Our

Grip-2015 Update” portrays a quite grim picture with regard to corporate interests encroaching on the farming communities of Canada and warns that the currently existing trends could amount to an existential threat for Canadian food sovereignty within a few decades.

“Canadians want family farmers to produce our food and to have the autonomy to do it in a way that supports their communities and takes

care of the land for future generations. Without better farm policy and laws with real teeth, absentee landlords seeking to make the highest possible return for their shareholders will be calling the shots, and the work of farming will be done by lowpaid seasonal employees or farmers forced to lease land, making it difficult for them to make long-term investments to care for the land,” said Jan Slomp, NFU President in a statement on the occasion of the release of the report. “We are calling for policies, programs and laws that will ensure that Canada’s farmland is under the control of local farmers, which is one of the key elements of food sovereignty.”

The latest publication is actually an update to a major report by the NFU on Canadian agriculture and the challenges it faces which was released in 2010 with the name “Losing Our Grip: How Corporate Farmland Buy-up, Rising Farm Debt, and Agribusiness Financing of Inputs Threaten Family Farms and Food Sovereignty”.

The executive summary of the latest update states that the traditional farming system of Canada, whereby farming land is owned and worked by individual farmers, farmer families or cooperatives “is under serious threat by corporations and investors –including some of our own pension funds – that are seeking greater control over Canada’s agriculture and a bigger share of the wealth that farmers produce.” continued on page 3

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Salute to Agriculture - Page 3

NFU: threats to Canadian agriculture continued from page 2 The report underlines both demographic and economic trends as feeding into the continuation and acceleration of the phenomenon with younger generations of the farmer families seeking their future in urban communities while the farming land increasingly becomes a commodity rather than a fundamental asset to maintain a way life.

With multinational corporations targeting more and more farming

land to operate in order to expand their businesses, including trying new seed breeding technologies, in addition to foreign governments and investment institutions buying up land all around the world, aging farming communities in Canada are fast becoming easy prey to corporate greed, with many older farmers having to sell their farmland when they are unable to meet their debt obligations to creditor institutions, according to the report.

The data published in the report shows Canada’s farming land shrank by seven million acres, or by about 4 per cent, describing this development as a serious threat to Canada’s food sovereignty.

In addition, the rise in the price of farmland over the last decade has been

“Farmland investment companies are shifting Canadian farmland ownership from actual farmers to a new class of absentee landlords.�

LOSING OUR GRIP2015 UPDATE REPORT a source of double negative impact: While retiring farmers find it convenient to sell their farmland to new owners who may not always be willing to work the land, the high prices deter many young people

from dreaming of buying up their piece of land to launch farming operations.

Rising farm debt The NFU report also looks at the increasing farm debt and warns that the newly introduced Agri-

cultural Growth Act could play a major part in accelerating the trend in just a few years as farmers will now face the possibility of having to pay fees for their own seed.

The figures quoted in the report show that farm debt has grown by more than 10 per cent in just three years from 2010 to 2013, reaching almost $80 billion.

Unhealthy and “unregulated� lending practices whereby farmers have to receive loans in exchange for future harvests at low fixed prices are also putting great pressure on the borrowers, according to the report.

Recommendations The main emphasis of the recommendations listed in the executive summary of the report is on the matter of securing

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

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When Donna Weatherly arrived at the farm, she went right to the stall of the horse she had been called to see, a 14-year-old gelding suffering from laminitis, and who could no longer stand because of the problem with his feet.

She found him lying on his side in his stall, quietly suffering. The owner, a friend of hers, had brought the veterinarian to see the gelding, who had suffered

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from laminitis in the past, but had been in remission for years. The disease, which affects the foot, basically results in the separation of the living section of the foot and the non-living section.

“It’s a bunch of little horns that fit together, like how you’d lace your fingers together,” Weatherly explained. “When laminitis begins to occur, these horns die and they pull apart. The sole holds the bottom bone of the foot and it supports all the pressure.”

For the 14-year-old gelding, the outcome wasn’t good. He hadn’t responded to traditional treatment and could no longer walk.

“It’s career ending for sure,” Weatherly said. “It’s something that doesn’t ever completely go away.”

When her friend called Weatherly, it was as a last resort for the horse, a hope that maybe she could help him.

Weatherly, who studies tongren, an Eastern medi-

cine discipline, began applying what she knew to the gelding, as well as treating him with a mix of herbs especially designed for him.

“By the next morning, he was up,” Weatherly said.

“Two days later, he was at his pawing at his gate, looking for his feed.”

For Weatherly, who believed but wasn’t sure this was what her calling would be, felt it cement right there and then.

“This was remarkable,” she said. “This was a miracle.”

Today, Weatherly, who runs Spirit Horse Herbs, continues to study in various Eastern medicine modalities. She said she believes that Western medicine and Eastern medicine work best together, rather than alone.

“I’m definitely not the sort that will say ‘Don’t go to a veterinarian,’” she said.

“If your horse is sick, the vet should be the first visit.”

In fact, the herbs Weath-

erly prepares are sold by a local veterinary clinic she has partnered with. “(What I do) is complementary medicine,” she said. “It’s alternative therapy done in conjunction with normal veterinary care.”

When she started in the mid-90s, she started with a healing modality called “touch for health.” She took several courses in it for humans, and then one for horses, and it was like a light went on over her head.

“I’m the oldest in my family, and I grew up around rodeo horses,” she said. “I thought my grandpa could fix anything – he could. Any crippled, broken horse that came to him, he fixed it. And that’s where my passion for horses and for healing started.”

Though she’s done other jobs over the years to make ends meet, she always came back to horses, so she launched her business to tend to them. continued on page 5

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Salute to Agriculture - Page 5

Animal comfort through medicine Weatherly said.

The healing came in part from treatment from a vet, but also from years of good living and balancing the horse’s humours through the application of herbal mixes in the food, Weatherly avers.

Someday, Weatherly wants to retire to just selling herbs, but she knows she’ll never stop the hands-onhealing.

“When you love what you do, you do it,” she said.

Her dreams also include a perfect world where both Western and Eastern medicine meet and mix with respect, something she said has been the experience here in Stettler.

“We totally respect each other’s gifts, education and modalities,” she said. “This comes from education and acceptance. I don’t negate

a veterinarian’s experience and ability. By no means do I replace veterinary medi-

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colour therapy and treatments help. It can help all sort of livestock, she said.

“We have a local guy who does this with bulls, and he’s outstanding,” she said.

In one case, Weatherly had friends who bought a mare for barrel racing. The family who bought her knew the mare had cysts on her ovaries, meaning it would be near impossible for her to ever be bred.

“It was a mess in there,” Weatherly recalled.

Over the years, the mare excelled at barrel racing, and was treated by Weatherly.

When the mare was retired, the family had her checked out by a veterinarian, who found that the cysts had vanished – all except for one.

“She caught the first time they tried to breed her,”

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continued from page 4 “When I started 20 years ago, there was only a handful of us who did this,” she recalled. “It was quite foreign to everyone back then.

Even my own dad (Stan Weatherly), very much the old-fashioned cowboy (never believed).”

That changed when he decided to humour his daughter and let her work with some of his horses, she said.

“He saw results and became a believer,” she said.

“Things evolve and they shift and they change. What I do is becoming more accepted. Right now, my goal is to work hand-in-hand with the local vets to improve the health of horses.”

It’s not just horses that the herbs, muscle therapy,

n c e 19 5 3

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A disease rotation can fight effectively Stacey Lavallie Independent reporter A field of canola sways slightly in the breeze, the bright yellow flowers papering the gently rolling land in a golden hue. But here and there the gold is less brazen and a bit patchier, and the reason for that is clubroot.

A soil-borne disease, clubroot spores can hungrily infect plants in the brassicaceae (cruciferae) family - cauliflower, broccoli, mustard, turnip, radish, and canola. It also infects certain weeds like stinkweed and shepherd’s purse, which can help the spread of the soil-infecting spores.

“Clubroot forms a gall, or a club, on the root of the plant that prevent the uptake of water and minerals, therefore slowing its growth and stunting the plant, and resulting in not-good yields,” explained Quinton Beaumont, director of agricultural services for the county. “It can stop the plant from ripening at the right time, resulting in green kernels.”

The county’s pest control program has placed the detection and prevention of clubroot fairly high in its program, and has held clubroot education sessions for the public already this year.

In 2012, the first clubroot infections in the county were discovered after root samples were brought to the county for testing.

“Three fields were found that year,”

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Beaumont said. “In 2013, three more fields were found - in 2013, two were fields, one was a garden. In 2014, we had nine fields.”

It doesn’t affect crops like wheat or barley, and Beaumont notes that he and his staff don’t even inspect those fields for the soil disease right now, focusing instead on fields growing mustard and canola.

The disease doesn’t move without help, Beaumont noted. Theoretically, a patch of infected soil will remain put and not grow in size. However, if the soil moves, whether it’s blown by the wind, washed downslope by water, carried on boot or tire, or even in the digestive tracts of animals, it can be deposited elsewhere. If crops or weeds are grown in infected soil, they can help generate and spread more spores.

Because of the infectious nature of the disease, staff perform random inspections of canola fields throughout the season.

“You cannot see it with the naked eye,” Beaumont said. The spores are invisible to the naked eye - a lone tablespoon of clubroot-infected soil can host up to one million spores. There’s no smell, no change in texture, and no taste to infected soil.

“The only way to positively identify (clubroot) is to get a lab test,” so throughout the season, staff take root samples and send them to the laboratory and wait for the results. continued on page 7

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Salute to Agriculture - Page 7

Field rotation recommended for clubroot continued from page 6 Before entering a field, though, staff take precautions to prevent the spread of any disease, including the clubroot for which they search. Staff will stand in a chlorine solution for several moments to sanitize their boots, then wear plastic booties over their feet. Once they leave the field and remove the booties, they’re disposed of and the staff stand in the chlorine bath again to kill any spores.

The precautions are necessary. Once a field is infected, spores can be present for up to 20 years.

“Clubroot is like a tick,” Beaumont said. “If you remove the host, you can remove the pest.” The spores have a half-life of four years, meaning that teaspoon of soil with a million spores will have 500,000 after four years.

“If you don’t plant canola (or any other susceptible plant) for four years, you halve the number of spores in the soil”, Beaumont said.

That’s one of the reasons why plant rotation is so important, Beaumont noted. The province of Alberta, in its clubroot management best practices, recommends a one in four cycle for planting canola, meaning that for one year, canola is planted and then for three years, a noncruciferae crop like wheat or peas.

“There’s nothing made to help control it - yet,” Beaumont said of fungicides, herbicides and pesticides.

As of April 2007, the disease is on the provincial pest act. When farmers don’t have the disease in their soil, all the county can do is recommend best practices to the landowner when it comes to which crops are planted and weed control. continued on page 8

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Club root solutions continued from page 7 “We have the power to enter land at any reasonable hour, without permission, to inspect for pests and collect samples,” Beaumont said. “We can mitigate and manage it through various management plans.”

“I can suggest to you until I’m blue in the face you should rotate crops. Once we find clubroot in a field, you have to follow county policy,” Beaumont said. This means if a field is found infected, the county can say “You cannot plant canola here for four years.”

While the worst infections of clubroot aren’t in central Alberta. Red Deer County, Lacombe County, Camrose County, and Flagstaff County have all found clubroot infestations in addition to Stettler County, to varying degrees.

However, nearby counties Paintearth, Starland and Special Areas have remained clubroot free.

What can we do to prevent the spread and establishment of clubroot?

“Rotation, rotation, rotation, is number one,” Beaumont said. “We are suggesting a one in four year rotation. You grow canola once, and for the next three years you grow something else.”

Beaumont said that farmers should use clubroot resistant seeds when seeding susceptible crops, which will help prevent infections and the creation of more spores.

A huge piece on rate-payer’s end of things, and anyone going in and fields is the removal of soil. By cleaning equipment of soil, it can reduce the chance of spreading clubroot by 95 per cent. Knocking soil off tires and shovels, spraying equipment down with a two per cent bleach solution - soaking it well enough to remain wet for about 20 minutes.

Planting a patch of grass at the gates, where equipment can be cleaned, can help, Beaumont noted. The grass essentially acts as a pad, catching the soil and preventing it from

being blown or knocked around.

Susceptible weeds and volunteer crops must be culled within three weeks, Beaumont noted. After three weeks, the plants, if infected, will begin to produce spores.

Changing the type of canola crop grown can make a difference, too.

“Switching between a Liberty Link canola and a Roundup-ready canola can help control volunteers,” Beaumont said.

Farmers who know they have clubroot-infected soil can ensure they don’t spread the disease by ensuring equipment is thoroughly cleaned between fields, and by not going back-and-forth between infected and uninfected fields, Beaumont said.

Before disinfecting, farmers should knock the soil away. The organic matter and soil will neutralize any disinfectant, making the wash worthless. By parking unnecessary vehicles on the road, and not in the field, people can reduce the amount of work needed in cleaning equipment and vehicles.

Direct seeding is a better option when it comes to seeding land, as it disturbs the soil less than conventional seeding. Making sure the seeds are clean of soil is important, too.

Avoid using straw or green feed in infected areas, as if consumed, it can survive the digestive tract of animals.

“Cattle make good broadcast seeders,” Beaumont said.

However, seeding fields down with alfalfa and ranching on the land is a feasible option.

Finally, though it is extra work with the county, creating a new entrance to infected fields, so there’s direct access to the land without going through infected areas, is a good idea, Beaumont said. This involves working with the county to create new approaches to the field, but in the end, it can save 20 years of work to clean a field of the disease.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Salute to Agriculture - Page 9

Seed cleaning plant open for business after major upgrades Joel van der Veen Independent reporter After a six-month closure for upgrades and new equipment, the Stettler County Seed Cleaning Plant is again open and ready to serve local farmers.

The chairman of the plant board told the Independent that he hopes farmers in the district will give their business to the plant, which is run as a co-operative effort with the support of the County of Stettler.

“We just want to get the word out to everyone that the plant is open for business,” said Bob Anderson.

“We’re hoping farmers in the community will support us now.”

Two major pieces of equipment - the indent cylinder machine and the gravity table, both used in the sorting and separation process - were replaced at the plant.

The main goals were to increase the plant’s capacity and phase out older ma-

George Leggott holds out a tray of cleaned seeds, while standing in front of the gravity table, one of the new machines recently installed at the Stettler County Seed Cleaning Plant.

Joel van der Veen/Independent reporter

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chines that had been in use for decades. Anderson said the upgrades have doubled the speed at which the plant can process seeds.

“We’re up and running,” said George Leggott, the plant’s general manager. “We’ve doubled our cleaning capacity (and we’re) doing a better job, as

far as I’m concerned.”

Anderson said that relocating the equipment to place all the machines on the same level keeps the plant employees from constantly having to run back and forth, adding, “That can wear on you over the course of a long day, as anybody knows that has a basement.”

However, delays in completing the upgrades forced the plant to stay closed for six months. The renovations began in June, and while the goal was to reopen the plant in time for last year’s harvest, the plant did not resume operations until February. continued on page 10

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Page 10 - Salute to Agriculture

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

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Upgraded seed cleaning plant now open continued from page 9 “That obviously impacted our customers,” said Anderson, while Leggott said the installation of the new equipment was “a headache.”

Anderson estimated that the plant has between 50 and 75 active shareholders, which reflects the growing size of farms and, accordingly, the diminished number of landowners.

The upgrades were originally budgeted at $200,000, Anderson said, but Leggott said the total

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cost is closer to $350,000.

“That’s a lot of money for this little plant,” said Anderson, calling it a major investment in the plant’s future.

In addition to seed cleaning, the plant also provides treating services for cereal grains - applying chemicals to present disease and fight attacks from certain insects - as well as grading services.

The plant was constructed in the late 1950s and incorporated in 1960, funded in three equal parts by the province, the county

and local farmers, who sold shares to pay for its construction.

Before long, the province had scaled back its contributions. The plant is overseen by a board of directors, consisting of six farmers and one representative from the County of Stettler.

Leggott, raised on a farm in rural Saskatchewan, moved to Alberta in 1968 and began working at the plant in 1980.

He said that treating seeds used to make up more than half of the plantís business, but changes in the seed industry since then have eliminated most of that work.

Anderson said the new machines were tested beginning in mid-February, and despite some ìteething problems,î are now running at full force.

He was apologetic for the impact the closure had on the plantís customers, saying, “We really need their support.”

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Salute to Agriculture - Page 11

Milking it: Albertaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dairy farmers optimistic about the next generation Joel van der Veen Independent reporter Tom Kootstra grew up on the family farm near Pitt Meadows, B.C., and for almost 20 years, he has run a dairy operation in the Ponoka area.

And even as the number of dairy farms in Al-

berta continues to shrink, Kootstra is confident about the future of the business â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Â partly because he knows his family will be a part of it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Two of my three sons are engaged in the farm here with us,â&#x20AC;? Kootstra, who serves as board chair-

man for Alberta Milk, told the Independent.

Of the 11 members of the Alberta Milk board, he said, 10 of them have children who have committed themselves to a future in the dairy industry. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is definitely a sense of optimism,â&#x20AC;? he said.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you work hard and use the equity in the farm . . . there is an opportunity.â&#x20AC;?

Karlee Conway, who serves as corporate communications co-ordinator for

Alberta Milk, said there is a sense of confidence in the industry about the future. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a really strong next generation coming into the dairy industry in

Alberta,â&#x20AC;? she said, explaining that younger farmers are highly engaged, communicating via social media and attending meetings. continued on page 12

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Page 12 - Salute to Agriculture

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

continued from page 11

AGRICULTURE WEEK

She also said that supply management policies in place in Canada help to ensure a stable future for the industry and prevent price fluctuations for dairy products.

Conway reported that there are about 550 dairy farms in Alberta — all of them family-owned and operated — though the count has continued to shrink.

She explained that as farmers adopt “smarter” practices, they become more efficient, so production levels remain roughly the same even as the number of farms declines, a trend seen across the country.

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Conway said there are several reasons for the decline, some as simple as the required investment of time. Dairy farmers must milk their cows twice a day, every day of the year, and that’s more of a time commitment than many people are willing to make.

“It’s not without its challenges,” she said. “I think it’s more labour-intensive than, possibly, some other farming industries. . . Sometimes it’s not as attractive to stay in the industry.”

Conway said one unique element of the Alberta dairy industry is the high percentage of farms based on Hutterite colonies, which produce 26 per cent of the province’s total dairy output.

“They are big contributors to our industry,” she said, adding that colony-based farms have won the provincial milk quality award for five out of the last seven years.

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dustry will include maintaining strong relations with dairy processors and ensuring “everybody at the table is satisfied,” Conway said.

In July of 2013, the Dairy Farmers of Canada adopted the proAction initiative, which involves programs targeting six key areas: milk quality, food safety, animal care, livestock traceability, biosecurity and the environment.

Conway said the initiative is designed to strengthen public trust in the industry by providing tangible evidence of farmers’ efforts to maintain the quality of their products and serve as stewards of the environment.

Kootstra said that the Alberta Milk organization will continue to promote supply management practices.

“I think there’s some concern with our government as it continues to negotiate with (Trans-Pacific Partnership) partners,” he said, adding that allowing foreign producers access into the Canadian market would damage the dairy industry.

He also observed that online activists concerned about animal welfare have contributed to a lot of “media noise,” some of it targeted at dairy farming.

Kootstra said he’s particularly annoyed by celebrities who have taken up the cause of environmentalism but seem to have little connection to the land themselves.

“Most of them probably couldn’t grow a potato or milk a cow to feed themselves,” he said, arguing that most farmers demonstrate respect for their animals and for the natural environment.

“You can’t continue to farm if you don’t respect the land,” he said. “I think a farmer, by definition, is an environmentalist.”

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Salute to Agriculture - Page 13

High demand provides a boost for bison farmers

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Joel van der Veen Independent reporter Growing demand for bison meat has proven to be a boon for farmers in Alberta, according to an industry representative.

“I think we’ve got a pretty bright future all around,” said Linda Sautner, office manager of the Bison Producers of Alberta, based in Nisku.

Sautner, who was busily preparing for the Wildrose Bison Convention, held March 13 and 14 in Ponoka, said that while the bison industry here hasn’t reached the peaks of its late-‘90s heyday, there’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Bison meat has developed a reputation as a healthy substitute for other meats, leading to what she called a “paradigm shift” and a growing demand for the product, as many heart and health experts have recommended it to patients.

“The meat is very nutritious,” she said, explaining that it is high in protein and iron, and low in fat and cholester-

ol compared to other types of red meat. “A serving can be smaller and still fill you up the way a larger serving of another kind of meat can.”

The re-opening of the U.S. border and the decreased value of the Canadian dollar has also helped expand the market for Alberta’s bison meat, and as a result, Sautner said, farmers are having a hard time keeping up with the demand.

“When something pays well, people look to it as an opportunity,” she said.

The Alberta organization has 127 member farms registered for 2015, but Sautner said she estimates there are about 200 bison farms in the province in total.

She added that many of these also have other operations in addition to raising bison, estimating that there are about 65,000 bison in the province altogether.

Commercial bison farming in Alberta reached its prime in the late 1990s, as an up-and-coming industry that seemed rife with opportunity.

“There was money in the oilfield and a lot of people were using it that way,” recalled Sautner.

However, the closing of the U.S. border in 2003 following the mad cow disease scare hit the industry hard, as the ban applied to all ruminants. This effectively cut off 75 per cent of the market.

“We could no longer send our animals or our meat across the border,” Sautner said. “A lot of people decided to get out of raising bison.”

The market has slowly built back up, especially in the last five years. Sautner said that while she doesn’t anticipate it reaching those peak levels again, today the prices are good and demand is high.

She said the “energy and excitement” in the industry is evident from the registration numbers for this year’s convention, with 125 registered for the Friday night banquet and 140 expected to attend their annual general meeting and other events on Saturday.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

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Beth Fulton overlooks the start of her herbs at her gardening centre, Echoglen Gardens, south of Donalda. It will be about a month before the centre opens, and these seedlings will be ready to head home to be planted in gardens and windowsill boxes.

Stacey Lavallie/Independent reporter

Stacey Lavallie Independent reporter A few bright flowers mixed in with home garm

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dens can lead to a better yield at the end of the season by helping keep unhelpful bugs at bay while inviting the helpful ones into the garden.

Marigolds, with their bright ruffled golden flowers, can help keep away cabbage moths, which simply can’t abide the flower.

Borage will help attract bees and other pollinators, as it’s extremely attractive to those insects. Calendula

and Nasturtiums are edible plants that can help create borders in the garden and look pretty to boot.

And while they aren’t any particular help to gardens, citronella geraniums will help keep away mosquitos, which is a great help to the gardener, according to Beth Fulton.

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suring the soil is healthy and free of pests like disease and bugs, said Fulton, one of the owners of Echoglen Gardens south of Donalda.

Fulton has been in business with Echoglen Gardens for nearly a decade now, and for years before that, she worked at a garden centre in Red Deer. Her love affair with all growing things began in her childhood, though.

“I grew up doing this,” Fulton said. “My mom had a two-acre garden. I always had a portion of it and I grew up doing it. Everyone wants to be a kid and play in the dirt, and I get to make a living out of it. How great is that?”

“Anything and everything” will grow well in prairie soil, especially here in central Alberta, but some plants will do better if planted from sprouted plants or from seeds.

“You don’t want to put a tomato seed in the ground, because you’ll never get tomatoes,” Fulton explained.

“You can plant a plant, though, and get a yield. A lot of people do it.”

When picking a place for a new garden, the first thing gardeners need to consider is light and water.

“In order for vegetables to produce and grow, they need a minimum of six hours of direct, non-shadow sunlight,” she said. “That’s one of the first challenges. continued on page 15

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Salute to Agriculture - Page 15

Gardening a labour of love continued from page 14 “You can have a bright sunny place without good access to water, which means you will have to bring in water. You can have a place with great water but not enough light, and that just won’t work.”

Once a bright and sunny place is found, the next step is soil acidity, or PH. “You may find a sunny spot, but the soil isn’t right for growing the type of plants you want,” Fulton said. In some cases, PH can be balanced, but in other cases it could simply be too acidic, or too base, for the effort.

Soil nutrients are important to check as well, as some soils, especially ones that have been used for gardening or farming before, can suffer from lesser nutrients. A good compost or manure can really help there.

“You can crush eggshells and put them around your garden to help keep out slugs,” Fulton said. The slimy creepy-crawlies can’t cross over the sharp shells, and the shells in turn biodegrade and release nutrients into the soil.

When planting root vegetables, like turnips or potatoes, mixing in crushed eggshells around the sprout can help keep away maggots as well. So instead of pulling up vegetables in the fall and seeing creepy crawlies, a bit of shell can result in a healthier plant.

It’s important for home gardeners to keep track of where they plant what every year, so they too can ensure crop rotation. Though home gardens are smaller than wide fields of grain or canola, like these crops they need to be rotated to prevent stripping the soil of nutrients and prevent the spread of diseases, Fulton noted.

“Make yourself a map,” she said. “If you planted peas in one place, plant something different the next year.”

Rookie Gardener Tips For people new to gardening, Fulton has a few tips.

“Avoid overplanting,” she said. One of the most common rookie mistakes are planting seeds too close,

resulting in crowded plants.

Plants need space for roots to expand and for air to flow, but when the soil is barren it’s easy to plant them too close without realizing how much they’ll spread.

“Then there’s the trial and error of watering,” Fulton added. Rookie garden-

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Page 16 - Salute to Agriculture

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Consumers want transparency in the livestock industry Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye Black Press reporter Transparency in the livestock industry is increasingly becoming a priority for consumers and retailers are following suit, creating a tight squeeze for farmers.

The best way to tackle that is to increase transparency of farm operations, says Charlie Arnot, CEO, the Center for Food Integrity. He was the keynote speaker at a conference called Social License in Agriculture Thursday, March 12 in Leduc.

Hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the conference’s goal was to educate producers on social trends and how they could help educate consumers.

What does Social License mean for livestock producers?

Arnot said there is an increased desire from consumers for transparency and rather than fight it, he suggests producers embrace it. “There’s significant economic value with maintaining social license.”

While farmers may already be following safety and personal ethics standards with regards to operations and animal treatment, he suggests one mistake could make or break a farmer. Arnot suggests there is a tipping point between social license and social control.

Social control usually comes into play when there is some sort of disaster in an industry and when that happens, the public will demand more rigid regulations, which becomes costly for producers. However, if they follow a strong social license, farmers will have more flexibility in their work.

“There’s no premium for doing what’s right but there’s a significant cost for doing it wrong,” suggested Arnot.

He says four key values will cost less and have less regulation: Ethics Values Setting expectations Self-regulation These values are important because consumers are looking for answers to their health questions, they have a greater social awareness and information is easily created. Arnot suggests farmers and producers must assume that everyone has a camera and can make a video and if they are already conducting their business with the four key values, then they have nothing to fear.

Farmers trusted the most Consumers trust farmers the most, says Arnot, which is why he advocates they engage buyers and welcome questions and doubts rather than inundate them with data. “We’ve always assumed the public doesn’t have enough information.”

However, research has found that people are more likely to trust a producer if they have core values in place. “Values are three to five times more important in building trust.”

“If you’re already doing the right things for the right reasons, it costs you nothing to go to the top,” said Arnot.

When a producer faces criticism or questions, Arnot suggests the best thing to do is to welcome them. This goes a long way in alleviating concerns.

Consumers crowd-source knowledge In today’s digital age, it is easy for a person to search out information that is in line with their moral standpoint, whether or not the information is right.

Arnot says the reality is that people are

using peer groups to gather information, but throwing scientific data at them is not going to help, and it is not going to work. A farmer should speak up and engage with comments like, “How can we be a resource to you?”

“Not being an expert doesn’t preclude people from having a strong opinion,” he added.

The challenge farmers and producers face is letting go of their independent nature, which will help consumers overcome their doubts. “Increasing transparency has the most impact on skeptical people,” Arnot stressed.

There will always be detractors and people who cannot be swayed, but Arnot said the engagement is for the individuals who are looking for answers.

“Who you are is as important, if not more important, than what you know,” stated Arnot.

He recommends seven elements in building trust in consumers: Motivations: act in an ethical manner.

Disclosure: share important information such as risks and how they are being tackled.

Stakeholder participation: acknowledge people’s concerns. “Even if you make decisions they don’t agree with, involve them in the process.”

Relevance: share information stakeholders feel is relevant.

Clarity: ensure information is easy to understand.

Credibility: admit mistakes, apologize and accept responsibility.

Accuracy: information shared should be truthful and accurate.

“It’s not personal folks,” said Arnot, referring to questions consumers ask. He recommends livestock producers make their process available to the public to help alleviate doubts.

Thank You Farmers & Ranchers For your commitment to producing the very finest. Your hard work improves the quality of our lives everyday!

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