The deep green and golden crops of 2022. By Harry Siemens ers will need a frost free few weeks in September if pos sible to finish.” Jack Froese at Winkler, MB said the harvest would start several weeks later than usual. Crops look good but a lot of canola is still blooming. “Soy beans look good but need an other rain to fill the pods and finish,” said Froese. “I noticed some of our corn is putting on two cobs per plant, which is not good.”
The AgriPost We need the weather to co operate. Corn and sunflow
Lastly, the Canadian Poultry and Egg Proces sors Council will receive up to $35,750 to update its animal welfare program for hatcheries to meet the requirements of the National Farm Animal Care Council’s Code of Practice for the care and handling of hatching eggs, breeders, chickens and turkeys. Animal Welfare and Tracking Lands Improvement Funds
Photo by Harry Siemens
Brendan Uruski at Zbaraz, a locality within the RM of Fisher in the Interlake Region of central Manitoba said peas were still flowering, canola was in full bloom and wheat was finally headed out but a few weeks away from the start of harvest. “There are lots of drown-out spots but what’s there looks pretty darn good,” saidEldonZbaraz.Klippenstein east of Altona in the Red River Val ley targeted August 22 as a start date on spring wheat. However, some good rains may have delayed that starting time. “Crops in general look good out our way,” said Klip penstein.Gunter Jochem of St. Fran cois Xavier, MB said the har vest would likely start in the first week of September. “At the moment the crop looks very good,” said Jochem. Continued on Page 2... With funding under the AgriAssurance Program an announcement of up to nearly $3 million in funding will go to three national organizations to enhance animal welfare and tracking in the coun try.The goal of the funds is to help the organizations draw on new research to update industry standards for the care and handling of animals, and evaluate technology to more efficiently trace farm animals in the production system in the event of a disease outbreak.Animal Health Canada will receive the bulk of the funding, up to $2.9 million, to update national codes of practice for the livestock sector, including the code for the safe and humane transportation of livestock. It has also developed and introduced a code of practice for the aquaculture sector cover ing farmed salmon, trout and arctic char.
Manitoba’s Crop Maturity Delayed by Rains and High Humidity
The Canadian Code of Practice is a national guideline developed by the National Farm Animal Council for the care and handling of farm animals. It includes requirements and recommendations on water and nutrition, environment management, housing and handling and transportation. The code is based on input from farmers, processors, researchers, government, veterinarians, food ser vice and retail representatives and animal welfare organizations.Additionally, the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency will receive up to $52,140 to evaluate the use of ultra high frequency (UHF) scanners to read cattle identification tags as part of Canada’s com mitment to the international community to quickly trace the movement of animals in the event of a disease outbreak. Tag readings are recorded in a database that makes it possible for government and industry to rapidly contain the scope of a potential outbreak, protecting animal and human health.
While parts of Manitoba got dumped with heavy rains, some hail and strong winds, this was not the case at Rosetown, SK. Jim Wickett said, “It’s so dry, the grasshop pers are confused about what’s for lunch.”
“We are hopeful that there will be more grain to move,” Creel said. “CP is once again in a strong position to meet the transportation needs of our grain customers and the broader Canadian economy during the upcoming 2022-2023 crop year.”
“We delivered more than 35,400 carloads, which required the creation of an entirely new supply chain, demonstrating CP’s ability to be nimble and respond quickly to chang ing market conditions,” said Creel.
Continued from Page 1
CN and CP Both Expect Bigger Grain Movement
Western Canadian grain shipments by rail are expected to rebound after a year plagued by drought, flooding, wildfires and supplychain snarls, according to Canada’s two larg est railways, Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP). CN, Canada’s largest railway expects to move 24.5 million to 27 million metric tons of bulk and processed grain in the next crop year, which starts August 1, according to Canadian National’s latest annual grain plan report.The rebound comes as CN ends this crop year with 18.2 million tons of grains trans ported, well short of its 2020-21 record. Shipments were hurt by a dramatic de crease in grain volumes in the past year due to last summer’s drought, said CN, which moves about a third of grain shipments in Canada. Wildfires and floods in the western Canadian province of British Columbia also caused havoc and disruptions, halting trains, while extreme winter weather, supply-chain disruptions and workforce impacts from CO VID-19 also took a toll.
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost2
By Elmer Heinrichs
Don Schellenberg of southern Manitoba said the crops look as good as he’s seen them in 46 years of flying over his crops. “However, insect pressure is building.” Günter on August 19 received about 50 to 75mm of rain this past week. “No lodging but we need weeks of dry weather before we think about combining wheat,” he said. Also on August 18 and 19 Jim Pallister of Portage la Prairie, MB was desiccating canola and wheat. He said harvest would start the following week meaning the last week of August. Jack Froese of Winkler was not yet har vesting but he might start swathing the last week in August, he commented. Michael Harms indicated swathing some perennial ryegrass and harvesting later in “WillAugust.be a while before oats and canola (still blooming). Crops are looking good, about 50 per cent done haying when we are usually done by now, second cut alfalfa is looking decent,” said Harms. He noted that his good crops are ryegrass and oats however canola, it’s a “Weguess.have the moisture for more bushels [50 plus] as long as the last of the flowers produce pods and fill out good,” said Harms. “Oats harvest will probably be 3 weeks away unless we get hot and dry.” Jim Olson at Eddy, MB said still early [Au gust 5] to judge accurately but some crops have come on strong of late. Corn and canola as well as beans seem to be good. “Cereals generally might be okay,” said Ol son. “Just a drive by assessment at this point. Some will need a long fall to get there.”
Jason Voogt of Carman, MB, the owner of Field 2 Field Agronomy, said on August 15, farmers harvested some fall rye in southcentral from Morden-Winkler to Carman and Elm Creek to east of Fannystelle. He said that, “60 to 80-bushel yields in the sand; but also some 90 to 100 bu yields around Morden and some over 100 bu east of Elm Creek. Some ergot but very minimal.”
Photos by Harry Siemens
Manitoba’s Crop Maturity Delayed by Rains and High Humidity
Looking ahead, Creel said that Statistics Canada “is forecasting a more typical Cana dian grain crop this year.
CP President and CEO Keith Creel said that, “On a positive note, working closely with our customers, CP successfully re sponded to surging demand for the transpor tation of corn and grain products from the United States into the Canadian Prairies to supply cattle feed this past winter.
Customer support is vital for those buying Canadian cereals because it’s not al ways about developing a market but maintaining ex isting markets which takes much effort. However, the only way to support food se curity concerns worldwide is to grow and deliver more to the“Andcustomers.ifwecan grow more, we need support from the government, the value chain to make sure that we can grow enough with less land,” he said. “The resources are getting short and shrinking, but we need to grow more.”
It takes the Canadian ag ricultural community, the entire value chain members, and the Canadian govern ment to work hand in hand to produce enough good quality crops or consistently deliver the grain to the customers.
“We can grow more and pull in all the innovation and sci ence to produce more, but can we deliver it to the ports to make sure that it gets to cus tomers on time?” said Dias.
Cereals Canada Celebrates a Legacy of Quality and Dependability for 50 years
Most of the crop grows in the centre of the country and needs to move to the ports. He said that right now, Can ada needs to do better while the world talks about food security for many nations.
Dias said that Cereals Canada needs to be around for another 50 years and con tinue to make a difference.
The forerunner to Cereal Canada, the Canadian Inter national Grains Institute or CIGI started at the corner of Portage and Main in Win nipeg, MB back in 1972. In 2020 CIGI and Cereals Can ada merged into one organi zation combining the tech nical support piece of CIGI and the market access trade policy into one organization. Chief executive officer Dean Dias said this new or ganization represents all ce reals, wheat, barley and oats a major highlight in the last 50 years.“Since the birth of this organization, we have ana lyzed the grain from 50 har vests,” said Dias. “More than 51,000 people from over 55 countries have attended one or more of our courses, webi nars, training programs, and in-country seminars held in Winnipeg and worldwide.”
Dias said one important fact is that Canada depends on the relationships built over the last 50 years. “We need On July 19, 2022, on the 50th anniversary of Cereals Canada, two ceremonial loaves of Canadian grown, in-house milled and baked bread were cut by CEO Dean Dias and Ag Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Cereals Canada supplied photo
August 26, 2022The AgriPost
By Harry Siemens around the world by partner ing with our value chain, our governments, listening to our customers and aligning our value chain to the customers’ demands,” he said. Cereals Canada must look at how to keep up with changes and provide technical sup port not only for traditional products but non-traditional products.“Canwe create that facility for the next 50 years and be nimble and flexible to pro vide support to customers that are not just traditional but also value-added prod ucts?” posed Dias. The Canadian farmer and the global customer are in tegral to the value chain he said. Cereals Canada needs to support the value chain with the federal government putting in place regulations and policies that are com petitive in the marketplace for“Thentomorrow.work with the sci ence-based trade to ensure that trade is predictable when trading with different countries,” said Dias. “Can our government have a re lationship with governments worldwide to ensure that the trade flows properly?”
“All Canadians should be proud of work done in the past and continue to make sure that the best quality Ca nadian crops make the best bread in the world and make the best pasta in the world; and something that we should be all proud of,” he said.
When a potentially dev astating situation occurred at the Canada United States border recently involving Canadian pigs, Manitoba Pork, the Manitoba govern ment and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) got together to resolve the issue.My participation in a WhatsApp group that in cludes hog producers and hog industry representation got me up close to this situ ation. That is why I want to shed light on it from my per spective.Inaletter to producers on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, P. Quintaine & Son Ltd. Live stock Order Buyers of Bran don, and New Bothwell said during a normal shipment of Harvest has started for winter wheat and fall rye across the province, with a good portion of these crops already combined, with av erage yields reported for bothCropcrops.condition overall looks good to very good in most parts of the province, pea harvest has begun in the northwest, and widespread harvest is expected to begin for spring cereal in a few weeks with some early bar ley coming off in the past fewFalldays.rye harvest is under way and yields are reported between 45 to 90 bushels an acre, averaging about 75 to 85 bu/acre. Straw volumes are high and swathing is common. Many farmers have commented that they intend to seed more fall rye sows to packers in the US, the loads were refused entry by the US.
Warm seasonal tempera tures have been dominant in much of Central region, with thunderstorms arriv ing Monday evening in the northern part of the region in a band along PTH No. 2 and north to MacGregor and Portage la Prairie. Hail stones damaged some crops in the Rathwell area. Crops appear in very good condition throughout the region, and producers are anxiously awaiting harvest and hoping to miss damag ing weather systems. Many farmers are expecting to use a pre-harvest aid or swath more frequently this year since crops are more un even.Thunderstorms also swept over most of Eastern region recently with up to 100 mm of rainfall after seven days of hot dry weather. Strong winds and intense down pours occurred in some ar eas leaving many lodged crops. Standing water and backed-up ditches are evi dent in some areas. Canola crops are variable across Manitoba with many in excellent condition and others in poor condition with thin stands. Crop stag ing ranges from full bloom to near-swath stage. Large areas of late-seeded canola further north will require a month of good growing con ditions to Soybeansmature.are coming along well and many fields received some good rains which should help to fill the uppermost pods. Some pea fields toward the west have been desiccated andIrrigationharvested.is still ongoing on potato fields; sub-soils are drier below four inches depth where rainfall was less frequent. Potato crops are doing well overall, and are about a week behind normal.Dairy farms have com pleted second-cut hay, while beef cattle producers are just starting or continuing a sec ond cut as weather allows. Manitoba agriculture says strong winds with re cent thunderstorms were the primary driver of lodg ing events in spring wheat, oats, winter cereals, as well as some canola and corn crops.But some good timely rain came with that Monday storm and more came later in the week which will help with yield in most later-sea son crops, particularly soy beans and corn.
A United States Department of Ag riculture (USDA) inspector refused loads based on an observation of possible for eign animal disease (FAD). Hog buyer Quintin Pearce of Brandon, MB said, “As per our policy and CFIA policy, the sows were re turned to our station so the CFIA could inspect the sus pect animals. After viewing the results the CFIA cleared P. Quintaine & Son Ltd. of all possible FAD issues. Un fortunately, the questionable animals were positive for Seneca Valley Virus, which can present like FAD. However, Seneca does not spread to other animals or affect human health in the foodThischain.is where the inter national situation became sticky and concerning to Quintaine, Manitoba Pork and of course the govern ments and Althoughproducers.cleared of any FAD suspects, USDA blocked the company from exporting animals to the US. Manitoba Pork, the CFIA and the Manitoba govern ment’s chief veterinarian of fice sprung into action. Fast forward to this com ment from Cam Dahl, man ager of Manitoba Pork Council after asking him to respond. With some great negotiations, Manitoba Pork Council GM Cam Dahl said the USDA has helped clear up the pig border situation. While P. Quintaine & Son Ltd. was almost good to ship it took some time to clear up the problem so they could start taking pigs. But Cam Dahl said chatting with P. Quintaine & Son Ltd. It will take some time (say a week) for them to clear out the backlog and clean and disinfect.”Thenon August 15 came this announcement from Quintin Pearce. “We are on the path to get ting back to business. We are doing a completely clean and disinfecting of our Bran don and New Bothwell facil ities. Work is long and dif ficult as we must meet high standards. Although test re sults were completely nega tive for any foreign animal disease, the USDA requires us to prove that we are doing our part to reduce viral loads of any contagious pathogen that may exist here. We hope to complete the CFIA in spection process tomorrow or the next day. If USDA grants us export status at that point, we will open the doors for buying station de livery. We would not be at this point without the help of the Manitoba Pork Council, Manitoba CVO office, CFIA and provincial inspection plus our harvest partners. We have a good team that works well together for a common goal when required.” Shortly after that last one, came this announcement. “Quintaine’s of Brandon would be open to receive sows as of noon August 17. New Bothwell is still pend ing but we expect shortly pending CFIA inspection. Thank you for everyone’s patience!”Withsome great nego tiations, Manitoba Pork GM Cam Dahl just told me the USDA has helped clear up the pig border situation. As a result, Quintaine’s is now good to ship. But Cam said keeping the border open for pigs and pork travelling back and forth is Reiteratingvital. what Dr. John Carr said and what Bill Al ford of Hams Marketing re-emphasized, “If the pro ducer and marketer see any thing they should not ship.”
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost
Come Together and Fix It
By Elmer Heinrichs this autumn if conditions re mainManyfavourable.winterwheat fields are harvested, yield re ports are between 60 to 75 bu/acre. Harvest will con tinue as humidity drops and weather conditions allow. Quality has been variable. Spring wheat is beginning to turn colour and kernel de velopment is reaching the hard dough stage in most locations. The spring wheat crop is rated mostly good to excellent; with pre-harvest application common this year as crop maturity is un even due to delayed seeding andInemergence.itsweekly crop report, Manitoba agriculture says strong winds have delayed herbicide applications on all crops. Crop staging is advancing with spraying on going for flea beetles, cut worms, and grasshoppers.
Period!Itis good to see two lev els of government in one country and industry work ing with the government of a neighbouring country to resolve a touchy and poten tially costly issue. Thank you to all!!
Manitoba Harvest Near Average Crop
Dear Editor, I am pleased to have joined federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture in Saskatoon for an annual meeting that has brought agreement on several important issues including a new five-year Sustainable Cana dian Agricultural Partnership with a 25 per cent increase in its cost-shared portion. We also agreed on improvements to business risk management programs, such as an increase in the AgriStability compensation rate to 80 per cent from 70 per cent, for better economic sustainability.
The four-day conference en titled Rooted for Growth brought together hundreds of seed grow ers, seed companies, industry professionals and government representatives together under oneSeedsroof. Canada was formed in 2021 as an amalgamation of the Canadian Plant Technology As sociation, the Commercial Seed Analysts of Canada, the Canadian Seed Institute and the Canadian Seed Trade Association. “Seed is the first link in the val ue chain,” said Minister of Agri culture and Agri-Food in Canada Marie-Claude Bibeau during her pre-recorded welcome message.
By Dan Guetre Hundreds of stakeholders gathered to take in Seeds Canada’s annual meeting held in Winnipeg.
Seeds Canada’s Executive Director Barry Senft giving his opening remarks at the Rooted for Growth conference. Submitted photos “Crop varieties and innovations are being kept from Canadian farmers under the current seed in dustry’s regulatory framework,” said Seeds Canada Executive Director Barry Senft. “One ma jor multinational seed company has pulled out its cereal breeding activity out of Canada because of the challenges they faced getting their crop varieties to farmers.”
Group Gathers to Focus on Canadian Seed Issues
Partnerships between producers, governments and the nutrient industry are an important tool to support change. For example, in Manitoba, the 4R approach to nutrient use has long been promoted and practised:
Amid a mandate from its mem ber and client bases, Seeds Canada is committing to continue work ing on the formulation of the In dependent Standard Setting Body (ISSB), a new entity aimed at simplifying and modernizing the regulatory environment surround ing seed production, variety regis tration and more.
Application on farms should be based on the science of soil testing and analysis to ensure farmers are not over-using nutrients. An over-ap plication is not cost-effective or practical to farmers. Practices to reduce emissions must be effective, economical, adaptable and well thought-out because vulnerable populations would be disproportionately affected by higher food costs if production volume is reduced by this policy on nutri ent
“We’ve made considerable progress in our first year,” said Seeds Canada President and Gen eral Manager of C&M Seeds Ellen Sparry. She spoke those comments after the organization’s recent an nual meeting held in Winnipeg. “Strengthening Canada’s supply chain is critical for our economy, our ability to feed ourselves and our ability to feed the world.”
Derek Johnson Manitoba Minister of Agriculture MB Ag Minister on Federal Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Reduction Targets
Reducing emissions is the right path to take, though I strongly believe a more targeted approach that considers the state of change already adopted by Manitoba producers and the cost-benefit of specific changes to reduce GHGs is Manitobacrucial.producers have been proactive in reducing the unnecessary use of nutrients and continue to make changes as beneficial management practices have evolved.
August 26, 2022The AgriPost
With a year under its belt, Seeds Canada will focus on further uni fying Canada’s seed industry and help reform a regulatory model that they believe has held back Canada’s economy, weakened its supply chain and limited the kinds of crops farmers can grow.
- Right source for the soil type, conditions and crop; - Right rate to achieve production goals, based on soil nutrients available and what the crop needs; - Right place where the nutrient is applied relative to the crop type; and - Right time for nutrient loss risks, how a crop uses nutrients, crop uptake andManitobalogistics.was the first Prairie province to complete the 4R memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Fertilizer Canada, and our province has worked with Keystone Agricultural Producers and Fertilizer Canada to promote 4R principles and practices since 2013 through a series of threeyear MOUs. I have asked the federal government for support for the 4R Climate-Smart Protocol and the partners are currently finalizing a fourth MOU.The effect of reduced nutrient use to achieve Canada’s blanket 30 per cent reduction in emissions would reduce Manitoba’s competitiveness in producing and processing protein. As well, this federal reduction policy would not have equal effects on farmers based on size, existing practices and the extent to which beneficial management practices, such as sub-sur face placement, have been adopted. Smaller producers would be unfairly hurt because the cost of equipment to enhance nutrient efficiency and re duce GHGs cannot be spread across a larger land base.
Thereduction.agriculture industry in Manitoba produces quality, affordable food that also benefits food security in other countries. Manitoba exported more than $7.7 billion in commodities and processed food to its global neigh bours in 2021. Manitoba farmers cannot feed the world without the use of nutrients, which help crops grow. The responsibility for reducing GHGs through food production is a cost that cannot be borne by farmers alone. Producers have to continue to be involved in discussions on ways to achieve reduction targets and flex ibility on approaches is key, given the diversity of production systems and Canada’s land base. Affordability, societal benefits, sound science and the full effect on production and profitability in differing environmental con ditions must be considered. I will continue to push for these factors to be thoroughly accounted for in GHG emissions-reduction decisions affecting our agricultural producers. Our government stands up for Manitoba farmers, who are great stewards of the land in their use of sustainable agricultural practices and who work every day to produce food while protecting the environment.
In the video address, Bibeau also mentioned the billions of dollars the seed industry contributes to the economy and the vast num ber of Canadians it employs. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Manager Holly Mayer also spoke at the conference, af firming the federal government’s desire to work together with the seed industry to tackle issues like variety “Everythingdevelopment.evolves,’ said Mayer, adding that invest ments should reflect the current role of the federal government. “AAFC’s role is evolving. The variety development model needs to evolve with it.”
A report by MNP for Fertilizer Canada states that a 30 per cent reduc tion in such emissions would require a 20 per cent reduction in the use of nutrients, which would equate to lower crop yields for Manitoba produc ers and hurt value-added businesses. A reduction in nutrients would also make increasingly expensive groceries even more costly and pose a risk to Manitoba jobs in agriculture and food processing.
The Canadian Food Inspec tion Agency (CFIA), the agency overseeing the Seed Regula tory Modernization process, addressed attendees, vowing to work together as it continues to consult stakeholders before it posts any changes to a frame work they admit hasn’t under gone a significant overhaul in decades.
Another aspect of the new agreement is a targeted three-to five-megaton reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. However, though a reduc tion in GHG emissions would be a positive step and is a priority for the Manitoba government, a new federal requirement for a 30 per cent reduc tion in GHG emissions by 2030 through the agricultural sector’s use of nutrients is based on broad assumptions that do not account for improve ments already made by Manitoba farmers.
August 26, 2022
The6 Tyler Fulton, director of risk management with HAMS Marketing Services, said profitability in the swine sector through this winter and into early spring will depend mainly on feed grain prices.Hesaid Summer-fall is when the cash hog supply tightens
Wheat two weeks from harvest in Manitoba. Tyler Fulton director of risk management with HAMS Marketing Services sees profitability in the swine sector through this winter and into early spring although it will be dependent on feed grain prices. He said even with elevated feed grain prices pork is squarely in the profitable territory.
Although the unique economy and inflationary situation has its effects, the pork sector is in a good position because it is not the most expen sive or least meat protein, commented Tyler Fulton, director of risk management with HAMS Marketing Service. Therefore he advises pork producers to lock in hog prices for the early winter to early spring months for about 25 percent of their production. The forwards probably benefited from the cash“Itstrength.makes sense to take some risk off the table and price; possibly 25 percent of your production at current prices just because things could start moving lower in a hurry,” said Fulton. He sees domestic de mand for pork continuing to be strong since pork is in a good position as not the most expensive or least meat“Soprotein.ittends to not see quite the same swings as chicken and beef,” said Fulton. “Current evidence suggests it’s running fairly strong with strong belly and loin prices in the US.”
AgriPost
By Harry Siemens due to seasonal trends and lower growth performance in the hot weather, especially in the US Midwest, pushing cash hog prices to some of the highest levels in years. “We’ve got Canadian cash hog prices averaging between $260 and $280 per hundred kilograms, which is phenomenal,” said Ful ton. “Profits are a bit more nuanced. Much will come down to the cost of feed grains.”Fulton said commod ity prices have also gone through the roof making it more challenging to turn a profit in the last six months. However, even with those elevated feed grain prices, it is squarely in the profitable territory as to how things pan out for the rest of this growing season. Fulton is seeing a drop in cash prices coming soon. “Right now, the forward contract prices suggest we start to drop off by the end of August and likely lose easily $50 per CKG over the next month and a half or so,” he said. He said during Novem ber and December, the in dustry expects to deal with the heaviest supply of hogs, causing prices to drop well under $200 per CKG but that is historically still an excellent price for that time of“Theyear.profitability will de pend on whether or not we get a break in some of those feed grain costs,” said Ful ton.
Feed Grain Prices Determine Hog Market Profits This Winter
According to Fulton ex ports conditions are mixed because of decreased im ports into China due a par tial recovery from African Swine Fever, however, Ja pan and Mexico are solid markets with positive con tributions to value and vol ume exports he noted.
Submitted photos
Warm and humid condi tions across southern Mani toba, coupled with the slow eastward trek of a surface low pressure system, led to multiple severe thunderstorm warnings and reports of large hail, heavy rain and strong winds on the evening of Au gust 8. In addition to that, several tornado warnings were is sued, including for the R.M.’s of Dufferin and Grey. Addi tional storms damaged more property and crops later in the week.Anumber of communi ties across southern Mani toba were walloped with hail Wednesday evening, after Environment and Climate Change Canada said a low pressure system tracking across the province triggered severe thunderstorms. In Rathwell, teacup-sized hail was reported. An Envi ronment Canada spokesper son said some hail reported in that area was around 8 cm in diameter and 75 mm of rain was recorded during the storm.Environment Canada said communities where golf ball-sized hail was reported include Treherne, Somerset, Inwood and Toonie-sizedNewton.hail fell in Manitou and near Poplar Point, while loonie-sized hail fell in La Riviere. In a recent crop report, Manitoba agriculture said strong winds with recent thunderstorms were the pri mary driver of lodging events in spring wheat, oats, win ter cereals, as well as some canola and corn crops. Farmers expect most crops to recover, but dense, lodged crop canopy can encourage rapid disease infection and associated yield losses.
Penner still plays minor ball at the provincial level and de scribes that first pitch on Ba con Night with the Goldeyes. “I told the catcher the ball would come in a little hot ter than usual, so I threw it harder than usual and ended up skipping in the dirt. So it wasn’t the best, but it was still a lot of fun,” he said.
Russ Penner (centre) threw out the ceremonial first pitch for Winnipeg Goldeyes’ Bacon Night on behalf of Manitoba’ pork producers. Submitted photo By Harry Siemens Russ Penner of Winkler, MB, a sales representative in the pig genetics sector and a minor baseball player, threw out the ceremonial first pitch for Bacon Night on behalf of Manitoba’s pork producers.
Penner works on the Mani toba Pork Council public re lations committee wherever possible.“Wecelebrated bacon night and at this year’s great event I got to throw the first pitch; exciting and a lot of fun,” said Penner adding that Manitoba Pork promotes pigs and pork in whatever way that makes sense. “We lobby govern ments to keep the restrictions down so we can expand our footprint and keep serving people and making delicious pork.”Penner has worked with Topigs Norsvin in sales busi ness development for almost five years. He said it involved working with many different hog producers, independent colonies and the big integra tors in sales and service.
By Elmer Heinrichs
August 26, 2022The AgriPost
Manitoba Pork proudly sponsored Bacon Night with the Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball team on August 26 in front of a great crowd at Shaw Park in Winnipeg, MB. As part of the festivities, Manitoba Pork staff grilled and served delicious Pork on a Bun, with proceeds go ing to the Goldeyes Field of Dreams Foundation.
““Making sure that they’re successful in producing the best product and production they can get on a personal one-on-one,” he said. He thinks their company’s one-on-one approach makes it somewhat unique, helping set the producer up for success.
Hail Damages Crops and Gardens in Manitoba
Promoting the Industry at Bacon Night with the Winnipeg Goldeyes
The first 1,000 fans received bacon aprons, and the bacon uniforms the team wore for the game will be auctioned off throughout the season in support of Agape Table. This organization helps to feed the most vulnerable Manitobans. Each inning included bacon giveaways, including a bacon prize for a year while Gold eyes players took part in a bacon cooking challenge.
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost
A family-run business that started 12 years ago in southern Manitoba hosted an on-farm event called Down 2 Earth that included Horsch and Claas world ma chinery manufacturers along with agronomists of Antara Agronomy Services of St. Jean Baptiste, MB. Jen Kehler in charge of marketing at GenAg in Win kler, MB said that they are a family-owned group. “We do a little bit of everything,” said Kehler on how they be came
It is always easier said than done but removing as much emotion as possible from the decision to sell, and basing strategy on budgets and numbers saved many farms (and marketing advisors) sanity in the last two years. The problem is that whether we like it or not, we are human and therefore subject to emotions, which will always have a pull on our decision-making pro cess. The trick is controlling or minimizing that influ ence as much as possible. Many farmers are looking at current values of com modities and thinking, “This sucks, I’m not selling anything until prices go back to ___/bu.” But I would advise not getting sucked into that line of thinking. The extremely high prices of the last two years did their job, namely, to ration demand, and encourage produc tion. We are going to have a substantially larger crop than last year, so the prices it took to ration last year’s pitiful crop will not be required to do the same job this year.As the headline says, what goes up must come down, and that is exactly what we are seeing. Unfortunately, I see more downside ahead of us yet before we find a floor. Fortunately, I do suspect the new floor will be higher than where we were 2 - 5 years ago, however that also likely means inputs will also be higher than the past, which means margins inevitably go back to the Thenorm.more things change, the more they stay the same. Brian Voth is the president of IntelliFARM Inc, work ing with farms to create customized grain marketing plans and carrying them out. For more information visit intellifarm.ca or call 204-324-3669.
Photo by Harry Siemens At the Down 2 Earth event Jen Kehler with marketing for GenAg said she hopes people go home with lots of questions and lots of answers.
It has been a fascinating, exciting, and frustrating time over the past nearly two years now when talking about grain markets. From the big run up that started in the fall of 2020, to the blow off peak in June 2022, we’ve seen grain prices essentially double in this short timeframe.Whilethis has been exciting for farmers, with the profitability of the 2020 crop exceeding nearly every one’s expectations, the high prices were also needed to survive the 2021 drought conditions most Prairie farm ers2022experienced.hasbrought an entirely different challenge to it, however, with soaring fertilizer prices to grow the crop, drought lingering in some parts of western SK and eastern AB, while flooding and an incredibly late start to seeding prevailed in central to eastern MB. All of these factors were out of the control of farmer’s hands, and that led to a lot of frustration with trying to market the crop. One thing that needs to be pointed out is that although this market move took us to price levels never seen be fore in some commodities, and back to historical highs in others, this move was not unprecedented as many like to argue. Commodities have always traded in cy clical patterns, knowing and realizing that took some of the stress and frustration out of the equation. Also contrary to some claims, these high grain prices were never going to be the new norm, just like they never were in past times that saw price spikes.
This year Antara incorpo rated tillage strips perpen dicular to the plot trials to compare the different effects tillage tools have on emer gence. They use Croptimis tic Technology, a western Canadian company in preci sion agriculture and building zone management mapping out the fields and sites. Brunel said the take-home message for farmers was the importance of getting proper stand establishment that ap plies to all crops. The more even the stand, the better it is when it is time to apply fungicides and herbicides, and harvest which ultimately gives higher yields. “It’s paying attention to these little details because getting a poor start you’re not going to catch up or makeup later in the season,” said Brunel. “With our short growing seasons, it’s vital to get that crop off to the best startHepossible.”saidtheseeding prepa ration starts at the harvest the year before with residue management and preparing the seed bed for the follow ing“Weyear.don’t get too many opportunities to work the ground in the spring and get it ready because it’s too wet and our seasons are too short,” said Brunel.
Theinvolved.Down2 Earth event took place on site at Oak Ridge Holdings Farm near Roseisle, MB operated by Marvin Dyck in order to showcase how the equipment works in a field with local soil types so that customers could see firsthand. “We hope people go home with lots of questions and lots of answers,” said Kehler of the event held in July that brought in agronomists who focused on canola, soybean, and “Wecorn. do meet with our manufacturers, and we learn about the iron, but we also want to learn about what happens in the soil,” said Kehler.Together with the farmer clients, the event is combined with expertise in agronomy and world-class Claas and Horsch“We’remachinery.excited about ev erything we can show,” said Kehler. “But like I said, it pairs well with agronomy and we want to show it alongside
Jennifer and Brunel Sabourin who operate Antara Agronomy Services said seeding preparations start at the harvest time for next spring because there are not too many opportunities to work the ground in the spring when it’s too wet and because our season is short. Photo supplied by Antara Agronomy Services
Jen’s father-in-law, Glen Ke hler said, “To say I’m amazed would be an understatement. Huge growth; much larger than we ever anticipated.”
Photo supplied by Antara Agronomy Services
August 26, 2022The AgriPost
What Goes Up ComeMustDown
Brunel and Jennifer Sab ourin operate Antara Agron omy Services and ran the agronomy sessions centered on planter technology and planter agronomy. The demonstration trials focused on planter speed, seeding depth, down force pressure, row firmers, and row cleaners. “[It was on] how all these different com ponents to a planter and set tings can affect your crop stand establishment,” said Brunel. “Having the agrono my side of it along with the iron so farmers could see live equipment demos in the field, how different tillage tools and planting equipment compare”
Glen Kehler with GenAg was amazed at the turn out for the Down 2 Earth event held in July.
When Glen first started the business with his son Justin and daughter Melissa they felt the initial infrastructure would always be sufficient. And now after operating for 12 years their business has flourished.Notwithstanding, partner ing with the likes of Horsch, Claas and Sputnik, all three are at the top of innovation and“Theyreliability.have the features that will make farmers more money for less input… a good equation to have,” said Kehler.Marvin Dyck, his family, and the entire team under Oak Ridge Holdings, farm about 6,000 acres grow ing corn, sunflowers, edible beans, canola, millet, tall fescue, rye, as well as some custom farming. “I wouldn’t be anything without my team of em ployees and sons that work together,” said Dyck about having the Down 2 Earth event on their farm. Dyck said that they have been us ing Horsch equipment since 2016 and by buying a few new pieces it provide good connection with Horsch where they were able to visit their farms in Germany, the Czech Republic and Illinois.
Seed Plans Begin at Harvest for a Proper Standing Crop By Harry Siemens each other. Hosting our own farm show is kind of a new idea, so I’m thankful for the response and turnout.”
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“This was our first real chance to get to know each other and we had ten chal lenges to complete in this timed event (knot tying, car rying pails of water around an obstacle, loading a trailer, assembling a chute, medica tion administration, find ing a bolt in a pail of feed, forage identification, dress ing in winter clothing and undressing) and we had a lot of fun,” said Robertson. “For the cook-off we went with a Yellowstone theme and served a marinated steak cooked medium rare, roasted baby potatoes with fresh garden thyme, roasted corn with herbed butter and dessert of apple pie with caramel sauce and whipped cream.”“AsIsaid, I took both JMB Rose 102J and Mar Mac Bridget 105J. I stalled with my friends Carson Baker, Kate Hinsburg and Kendra Hinsburg. We were awarded the Herdsman Award for keeping our stall the neatest and most organized over the three days,” said Robertson. “I used JMB Rose 102J for showmanship and we were awarded Overall Intermedi ate Champions. We have worked hard together over the last year and I have her trained to ground tie and walk into place. I have been very successful using her for showmanship and varying otherRobertsonshows.” is generous lending her expertise when she“Mycan. good friends Chase and Blake Airey also used Rose in showmanship. Chase was Overall Reserve Junior Champion show person and Blake received Honourable Mention in Junior Showman ship,” said Robertson. “In the open show I was in the show ring with Bridget and Chase showed Rose for me as they had to be in the ring at the same time. Bridget placed 4th in her split. Rose was Overall Reserve Champion Charolais Female. I then had to show Rose in the 4-H Fe male Champion Drive as she was the Supreme Champion Female at the Neepawa & Area 4-H Beef Club show. Roundup promotes youth bringing their 4-H Champi ons and gives a free entry to those that do.” “I am very passionate about the cattle business and junior shows and I welcome any one with questions to contact me,” said Robertson.
Madisyn Roberson was also Intermediate Grand Aggregate buckle winner, alongside her Charolais friends Paisley Baron for Pee-wee and Blake Airey for Junior. Photo by Prairie Pistol Designs
Manitoba Youth Beef Round-Up 2022 Photo by Prairie Pistol Designs
By Joan Airey bedding and a fan. I tie my animals in for at least two weeks prior to show time and feed and water just as I would a show,” explained Robertson. “I find this helps them adjust when we get to a show or fair. I took both heifers to 4-H Achievement, Carberry Fair and Harding Fair. I attended the Canadian Junior Angus Showdown in Brandon with Bridget. From Showdown we stopped over night at home and picked up Rose then went to Neepawa for Round-up with both year lingSheheifers.”alsoentered all of the optional activities like scrap book, photography, graphic design and art. Robertson feels it is extremely im portant to enter everything possible in order to obtain aggregate points. Although there are some competitions that are not her favourite, she likes to challenge herself to try new things and work on herSheweaknesses.startedworking on her projects around Easter time. She likes to have her proj ects complete and ready be fore she gets busy with 4-H preparation, school exams, softball and busy times on theShefarm.was the winner in In termediate Graphic Design and 2nd in intermediate photography. “This year I was a team leader. My team consisted of myself (age 16), Laura Christensen (Lamp man, SK - age 15), Kate Hinsburg (Rapid City, MB - age 12), William Keen (Manitou, M - age 10) and Chett Franken (Glenewen, SK - age 7),” said Robertson. “Our team placed second in the cook-off challenge and second in the team grooming competition. We were 7th in the ag challenge that was held on the first night.”
Round-Up a Great Learning Experience
Often people ask me what happens at events like Round-Up so I approached Madisyn Roberson to share with me exactly what hap pens at such an event so that those not familiar with it can see what a learning experi ence it Preparingis. for Round-Up started last spring/summer for Robertson working with her Charolais heifer JMB Rose 102J, as she showed her at Sandhills Jackpot Show, MB Ag-Ex and Agribition as well as at the 4-H Yearling Heifer“Thisproject.pastMay, after she was safe in calf, we brought her back home and I started regular hair washing and practicing showmanship with her,” said Robertson. “I also took a Black Angus heifer, Mar Mac Bridget 105J that I purchased from Blair and Lois McRae. We did not get her home until early May and so I had to put in a lot of work getting her halter broke and in show condition. I probably put in about 10 – 15 hours a week until school was out and then 15 - 20 hours a week until show“Duringtime.”this time I would wash, groom and practice setting each heifer up. I trained them to stand for long periods of time so that on show day they wouldn’t tire. As well, we set up a stall in our barn, complete with ewan Junior Cattle Producers attended the 15th Annual Manitoba Youth Beef Roundup in Neepawa. Excitement in the cattle industry brought out a quality group of interested cattle
Considering that the team had not spent a lot of time getting to know each other they placed very well in the competition.
RoBERtsoN’s DiARy of EACH DAy: Day 1-saturday This was move-in day. Cat tle had to be tied in the barns by 1“Carsonpm. Baker, Kendra Hinsburg, Kate Hinsburg, Dylan Frey, Joran Frey, Katelyn Rutten, Emma Harms and I had all come right from Showdown in Brandon so we were quite tired. We got to Town around 10 am. I washed both heifers, with help from Chase and Blake, and got organized for theWeafternoon.hadaWelcome
Assem bly at 1 pm and then Senior’s and Intermediates went to an AI demonstration, put on by Jake Rawluk and Blair McRae. We were able to use actual reproductive organs from cows in this handson demonstration. I found it very interesting as it was neat to see the actual parts of the reproductive system up close and in person. One of the cows had just given birth so the uterus was still very thick and large, compared to another one from a heifer. We then moved over to a stock dog demonstration with Barry Beamish. Barry had his dogs demonstrate how to move cattle using different commands. Barry talked about his dogs and how he works with the dogs, trains the dogs and how long it takes before they are ready to use in competition. It was a hot day and we were done early so, after tending to the cattle, we all congregated to a slip and slide and water games. We then did evening chores and tie outs. This consists of feeding and watering our cattle (at summer shows we stop and water usually ev ery hour) and then tied out. I chose to rinse both heifers with cool water as it was a hot day and I wanted to cool them down. Again, Chase and Blake assisted me with this. We then headed down to the Rifle Range building for supper with everyone. After supper, Taylor Carl son (a senior member) had planned out the Ag challenge. This required several parent volunteers for each station. This was a timed event and each of our 10 herdsman groups had to set out to each station. We placed 7th and enjoyed many laughs. After the ag- challenge we enjoyed free time, with most of the groups sticking togeth er visiting. Day 2 – sunday We started the day off at 7 am in the wash rack. I said 6:45 am start time and was late. I was subject to quite a few jabs by Chase and Blake. We washed and did morn ing chores and then headed down to the Rifle Range for a pancake breakfast. Levi Rimke and Kodie Doetzel, our judges for the weekend, put on an extreme ly informative judging dem onstration. We had to judge cattle, sheep and goats. The senior and intermediate members also discussed how to judge hogs. The Roundup committee felt it was impor tant to focus on judging this year as Manitoba seems to be lagging behind in this area. We then did our indi vidual cattle judging as well as sheep or goats. We got to pick, I chose sheep. After lunch we gathered in our herdsman groups and prepared for the team grooming competition. Each member of my group de cided upon their task. We are judged on our commu nication, team work and the overall appearance of the animal.Weused Kate Hinsburg’s heifer as she had quite a bit of hair to work with. I had already clipped her out at Showdown so I knew what her hair was like. Laura and I fit the legs, Kate assisted the little ones in keeping the heifer content in the chute and did the tail head. William and Chett combed the heifer, sprayed her with shock, blew her off and brushing her feet off. We were Reserve Cham pions in this competition and I was very proud of our group.We then stayed in our herdsman groups to prepare for the cook-off challenge. Our steaks had been mari nating in a special mixture all afternoon. I grilled our steaks and William assisted in warming the potatoes and corn. Laura, Kate and Chett set the table with a Yellow stone table cloth, plates and cutlery. We all plated the meal together and served it to our guests. We were hon oured to prepare our meal for our Member of Parlia ment, Dan Mazier and Town of Neepawa Councillor Mur ray Parrott. They enjoyed it so much they asked for bags to take their leftovers home! After we were done serving and cleaned-up we enjoyed a steak supper ourselves, pre pared by Bert McDonald, Judy Hart, Blair McRae and Tom Baron. We then headed off for a game of ball and so cializing with friends. Day 3 – Monday We started again at 7 am. (I was on time today) in the wash rack with Chase and Blake assisting. We washed, dried and fed, then went down for breakfast. We start ed preparing for showman ship, which started at 10 am. This took a while as nu merous people were sharing animals and there were two show rings. I showed Rose first, followed by Chase and thenAllBlake.3of us made it out of our splits and Blake had to borrow another animal as her and Chase was compe tition against each other in the Junior final. As I said earlier, Chase was Reserve Junior Champion and Blake received honourable men tion in their ring, judged by Kodie Doetzel. I was Intermediate Show manship Champion in my ring, judged by Levi Rimke. I also assisted Paisley Baron with her heifer calf in the pee-wee class. After a group photo and a quick lunch, we returned to prepare for the show at 1 pm. This went very quickly. There were many parental and committee volunteers show marshalling. I was to be in both show rings at the same time with both heifers and so Chase showed Rose and I showed Bridget. Chase was Reserve Bred Heifer with Rose and Bridget was 4th in her split. I then took Bridget back to the barn and waited with Rose for the Champion Cha rolais class. In the mean time, I assisted Paisley show her animals again while Chase and Blake tended to Rose. We then went back in for the Champion Charolais Class and Rose was selected Reserve Champion Charo
Madisyn and JMB Rose won Intermediate Showmanship Champion and Reserve Champion Charolais Female, in the ring with judge Levi Rimke. Photo by Prairie Pistol Designs
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Round-Up a Great Learning Experience
Like all purebred junior shows, parental involvement with the animals is prohibit ed. This means juniors have to work together to help each other. Unlike purebred junior shows, Roundup embodies a different demographic of ju nior with many 4-H members and commercial juniors at tending. It also focuses more on education and hands on opportunities and a split be tween team and individual competition.Whether you have been to a show before or not, by the time you leave you are part of an incredible vil lage. I have met so many new friends and learned to work with new people. This year, especially, the judges Levi and Kodie were able to spend a tremendous amount of hands-on time with the ju niors, answering questions and providing constructive feedback. They were ex tremely approachable and fun to learn from. Roundup also provides lots of free time for members to tend to their cattle, stalls and assist each other with show day clipping as well as plen ty of opportunity for social izing. I don’t know of anyone who was in bed before 10 pm any night! After missing two years of an in-person Round up it was great to get back together with everyone. The organizing commit tee is made up of incredible people, chaired by Blair and Lois McRae and Jake Raw luk and Laura Horner, all of whom I really appreciate their time and efforts. I also enjoy looking back on the photos that Prairie Pistol Designs (Melissa McRae & Laura Horner) capture of theThereevent. are so many busi nesses and people that spon sor these events allowing the committee to keep entry fees affordable for all. I am so thankful for our cattle fam ily. I have been listening to quite a few Ryan Rash pod casts lately and one of his re cent quotes really holds true for many “Familyreasons:isn’talways blood but you get to pick and choose people to also become your family and you will meet a lot of those in the livestock industry. And it takes a vil lage and it takes a team to be a success in anything, but in the end the Junior exhibitor is the one that is ultimately responsible because when it all comes down to it; the bottom line; it is just that kid and the animal out there. It takes a team to get out there but you have to go out there and be in the spotlight and you have to secure that suc cess for yourself and I think that is something that is vi tally important in this world right now because there are so many different avenues that do not preach or pro mote individual success and we still do and we still want that for these kids and we still think that is important. ~
Ryan Rash
lais Female by judge Levi Rimke.After the show was over we did night chores, started packing up and prepared for the awards ceremony. I won Team Judging (with partner Sigga Vigfusson); second in intermediate pho tography and first in inter mediate graphic design. I was extremely honoured to be awarded the Young Handlers Award which is decided upon by show men tor and chairs and judged throughout the final day dur ing the conformation classes on their showing ability and the individual that shows team work, sportsmanship and developed showmanship skills. I was also Intermedi ate Grand Aggregate buckle winner, alongside my Cha rolais friends Paisley Baron for Pee-wee and Blake Airey forWeJunior.then finished off with an auction, with proceeds going towards the scholar ship fund. Blair McRae was our auctioneer and Me lissa McRae and Jake Raw luk took bids. This auction raised a tremendous amount of money for the fund. Items auctioned were the leftover breakfast sausage, hamburgers, steaks, flower arrangements and fellow junior’s Zane Finlay from Rapid City donation of his leftover hay bales. After the auction J & S Meats, Souris, prepared a delicious beef on a bun supper with homemade French fries and for dessert we enjoyed sundaes donated by Dairy Queen. After some last-minute vis iting and assisting those who travelled from afar with their final packing, dismantled our stall, and loaded up. As always, there were lengthy goodbyes, exchanges of so cial media contacts so we could keep in touch, tears andWehugs.made it home around 7:30 pm and unloaded the heifers into the pasture to enjoy grass. After seven long days of shows, I was happy to get a hot shower and get some much- needed rest.”
August 26, 2022The AgriPost
“Nitrogen fertilizer is an essential crop nutrient and an important input for Cana dian farmers. Forcing them to reduce their use of fertiliz er would result in decreased yield of their crop, less profitability and competi tiveness. Given the current global challenges to food supply, now is not the time to add policies that threaten to reduce yields even fur ther,” said Taylor Brown, a policy analyst at CFIB. “The federal government should give farmers more autonomy and provide support if they want to voluntarily improve their nitrogen management and adopt better practices.”
CFIB’s latest Business Ba rometer data shows the agri culture sector has the lowest short-term (3 months) and long-term (12 months) out look of any industry across Canada.Almost two-thirds (60%) of businesses said a manda tory reduction would de crease the profitability of their agri-business, and 42% said it would be challenging as they have already reduced their nitrogen fertilizer use.
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost2
Business Group Lobbies to Keep Fertilizer Emission Reduction Voluntary add another hurdle and have negative impacts on the in dustry that is already hard hit by skyrocketing input costs and supply chain delays.”
The federal government must ensure it does not man date Canadian agri-busi nesses to reduce the use of their nitrogen fertilizer in the future, said the Cana dian Federation of Inde pendent Business (CFIB). Nearly three-quarters (72%) of farmers said the yield of their crops and overall food production will be reduced if the federal government required them to reduce their use of nitrogen fertilizer, according to a recent CFIB survey.Thefederal government is currently conducting consul tations on its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogen fertilizer by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. CFIB is urging the government not to mandate a reduction in the use of ni trogen“Rightfertilizer.now,the emissions reduction target is volun tary, and it should stay that way,” said Corinne Pohl mann, Senior Vice-President of National Affairs at CFIB. “Requiring Canadian agribusinesses to reduce their use of nitrogen fertilizer would
CFIB is urging the Federal Government to keep its tar get voluntary and have sent a letter to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada with their concerns.
The results of just one of the survey questions of the CFIB polling to agri-businesses. Compiled graphic.
Seventy-seven per cent of the 475 responses from farm members disagree with the current target reduction goal of 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. Instead, the major ity (90%) of farmers would rather see the government focus on other agricultural policies such as improving production and food secu rity.Nearly all (95%) of farm ers who participated in the survey, say that government must consider the differenc es in agronomics, soil/crop types, and moisture condi tions across the country be fore implementing policies like the nitrogen fertilizer emissionsCFIB’starget.recent research also shows Canadian farm ers have already adopted or plan to adopt best prac tices to manage or reduce nitrogen emissions. Some of these practices include con servation tillage (53%), an nual soil testing for nitrogen (50%), and rotating in nitro gen-fixing crops (50%).
There is Something Special about Multigenerational Family Farms
August 26, 2022The AgriPost
While her stories are not un like others of the day, they are important to tell, share and record, for otherwise they are lost to those who knew and experienced them. They are important pieces of our his tory which is the foundation for the evolution of Canadian agriculture.Romareally is the heart of the farm, whether it be the fifth generation Tolton homestead, or the fourth/fifth generation Stevenson one. She still has a keen interest of the goings-on on the farm; what’s planted and where, is conscious of growing condi tions and the weather, is curi ous about crop progress, ad vancements in seed genetics and technology, harvest and the like. Once a farmer, or a farmer’s wife as the case may be, always a farmer. She has provided over 25 descendants the opportunity to know farm life.“She may not have been the one doing the threshing, but there are 25 - 30 cous ins that consider the farm their home,” said Mary Ann of their extended family’s consideration of the family farm, Grandma Roma’s if you will. “Roma’s interest and groundedness there has always made them feel like it is still their farm.” “I was just so lucky to be able to stay on the farm my whole life,” said Roma thankfully. “To be there with my sons and their wonderful wives. We just had our own little community there. And I was able to have my Win nipeg grandchildren out of ten and I really wanted them to be out and not just think there was only the city. I just thought it was my duty to show my grandchildren that there was someplace beyond theItperimeter.”isfamilies like the Ste vensons and the Toltons and folks like Roma that are so diligent in keeping those who have moved off the farm to seek careers and make lives elsewhere, the urban dwell ers that are one or two or more generations removed from the farm, connected to it and knowing where their food comes from and how it is grown.“Roma has kept the farm in the family and her family involved in the farm,” said Mary Ann. Mission accomplished Roma.Richard shared that as re cently as a few weeks ago, Roma was out for the after noon and they went on a little crop checking expedition, just the two of them, to monitor the crops and their progress. They were across the ravine to the south of the home yard site, looking back on it when Roma said quietly, but with profound pride, “That’s my farm.”Yes, it is, Roma. Yes. It. Is. With both the Tolton and the Stevenson family farms in capable hands, it will be inter esting to see how many more generations continue to call them, ‘home’.
At 97 years young with incredible remembrance, Roma Stevenson is able to recall with clarity, memories from the farm as she knew it as a youngster, and appreciates the changes in agriculture that make it what it is today. Photos by Brenda Hunter Roma with hemp. Roma with Hudge and oldest daughter Pat.
By Brenda Hunter Roma Stevenson lived on the family farm south of Kenton. Both her family of origin, the Toltons, as well as that of her late husband, Hudge Steven son, continue to farm the same quarters of land that were homesteaded by their respec tive grandparents, Annie and Henry Tolton, and Frederick and Betsy Stevenson. Roma is fortunate in that she is quite literally the cen tre link in the chain; binding family history to present day life. She is the connection to the past, knowing well both her own grandparents, as well as her late husband’s mother, and is a segue to the future. At 97 years young with in credible remembrance, she is able to recall with clarity, memories from the farm as she knew it as a youngster, and appreciates the changes in agriculture that make it what it is today. She is able to bridge the gap between the two generations of life on the farm before her, as well as the two to three generations after her.“No one loves the farm more than Roma,” commented her daughter-in-law, Mary Ann Stevenson, who lives with her husband, Richard, on the farm adjacent to the original home steaded Stevenson quarter.
While a family can have many generations carry on the traditions and livelihood that is Canadian agriculture, there’s something even more special when the same piece of land is still in the family, several generations later. This is not terribly uncommon; but it is unique, to have both sides of a family continue to live and farm the same land that was homesteaded by their ances
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost
Most Manitoba Gardens Are Bountiful This Year
Today’s bounty from my garden… dill pickles, a new one for me is the refrigerator dill pickles. Homemade bread for tomato sandwiches which is my favourite.
Gardens in our area are producing a great harvest of most vegetables this year. My tomatoes are producing but don’t seem to have as many tomatoes per plant as we used to. A gardening friend was looking for a product called tomato set and was told at all garden stores they went
August 26, 2022The AgriPost
The Vegetable Gardening Book by Joe Lamp’l. He’s also host of public television’s Growing a Greener World and the Joe Gardener Show Podcast. Photos by Joan Airey By Joan Airey to, that the product had been ordered but their or der was never filled.
‘The Vegetable Gardening Book’ by Joe Lamp’l and host of public television’s Growing a Greener World and The Joe Gardener Show Podcast arrived in the mail today and of course I had to read it at lunch time. Many of you will have seen Joe on Facebook if you follow the gardening sites. The book includes every thing from the fav 40 for filling your vegetable gar den to how to improve your soil. He stresses the impor tance of marking what your plants are in the green house especially. Wish he’d tell my husband’s golden retriever that as she is al ways stealing my markers from the garden. The book contains ideas for designing and laying out your garden for the greatest yields in the smallest amount of space. That was my problem. I got planting this spring and ran out of room and had no onions planted so I had to find a spot for them. It contains a handy reference chart with an easy-to-fol low crop rotation plan. A fellow gardener recom mended Fortex Pole beans. She said they were very tender and that their grow ing season is longer. Check ing seed catalogues I found them in Vesey. I had read before, that when my beans were ready to pick them before they are fully ma ture they will produce for a longer period of time. That appears to be true as I’ve been continually picking green and yellow beans. Tomorrow is going to be, make zucchini muffin day. My husband decided to water the garden when we hadn’t had rain for a couple of weeks then we got an inch of rain. I think zucchini should be picked before they get gigantic so tomorrow everything comes off the plants that aren’t stir fry Wesize.live in a great com munity where everyone shares their extra produce and I hope people don’t hide when I come looking for homes for my zucchini I can’t find a use for. My three freezers only hold so much produce.
Second Cohort of the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council Announced
ShortagesfromReprievePorkandHigherPrices
Enforcement of Question 3, a Massachusetts ballot initiative similar to California’s Proposition 12, was to take effect on August 15. Michael Formica, the assistant VP and general coun sel with the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), said delays in enforcement of Question 3 and Proposi tion 12 offer consumers a reprieve from shortages of pork and higher prices. At the same time, the U.S. Su preme Court reviews Proposition 12. It was argued that consumers in states with these laws will face significantly higher prices for food but even consumers outside of those states will face higher prices for food because these laws are destructive to the entire supply chain. Formica said the proposed legislation requires signifi cant“We’readjustments.inasupply chain crisis for the last year and folks saw runaway inflation in gas and food prices. Gas prices have dropped a little but food prices have not,” said Formica. “If anything, they continue to rise with out the supply chain and marketplace disruption caused by a law like Proposition 12.” Formica said the Supreme Court would hear the NPPC and American Farm Bureau Federation chal lenge to Proposition 12 on October 11. While under no deadline, he expects a ruling before June of next year and possibly as early as January or February.
Two years before the California vote, Massachusetts voters voted on Question 3 similar to Prop 12 banning the sale of uncooked pork within Massachusetts if not raised under the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) new standards. But it does not include the minimum square footage requirement that Prop 12 does. Formica said that this is part of the overall HSUS strategy, where every time they pass one of these ballot initiatives, tweaks to the legislation are made that in turn makes compliance pro gressively more difficult. Those farmers who made investments to comply with Question 3 in one state, only a few would find themselves unable to comply with Proposition 12 in California. Massachusetts spent the first part of this year develop ing rules for its implementation. Then, about a month before August 15, they provided a guidance document to help with how to comply. This guidance document was the trigger raising concerns. When asked about the consequences in a trade setting should both Question 3 and Prop 12 stand Formica said the case before the US Supreme Court is solid. “We’re optimistic about our chances and hopefully won’t be in that situation,” said Formica.” But if we’re unsuccessful at the Supreme Court, it will cause signifi cant disruption to the pork industry.” He added that people will see disruptions in the retail markets and costly conversions.
In mid-August, a US federal court judge for the Dis trict of Massachusetts signed a court order delaying the enforcement of a state law banning the sale of pork in that state from animals not housed according to the state’s prescriptive sow housing standards.
When it comes to explain ing how the addition of cover crops has impacted his fam ily farm, Bray Rookes is full of positives as to how his farm has benefited. But the 20-year-old Western Manitoba farmer in the As siniboine West Watershed District (AWWD) really gets excited when detailing how his family’s cover crop mixes handled the deluge of 2022 rain after a year of drought in 2021. “When it rained heavily, our cover crop was the only field you could drive on with the massive increase of water infiltration rates. We grew 80 acres of hairy vetch, tillage radish and winter triticale on a poorly managed, degraded soil,” said Rookes of his family’s first-ever partici pation in Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA)’s Soil Health Proj ect, led by three Manitoba Watershed Districts, includ ing AWWD, Central As siniboine and Souris River and supported by the Con servation Trust, a Manitoba Climate and Green Plan Ini tiative delivered by the Man itoba Habitat Heritage Cor poration. “With the help of adequate rain the crop came back in the spring and grew to a massive 36 inches tall and as of June 10 this year, weighed in at 15 tons/acre wet weight and averaged five tons dry weight across the field, with no synthetic fer tilizer, and no in-crop spray
Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, has unveiled the names of the members who will form the second cohort of the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council (CAYC). The inaugural meeting of this new group of 25 young people will be held later this summer. The members of this cohort will serve 18month terms. The Canadian Agricultural Youth Council was created in July 2020 with a group of 25 young people representing a diverse mix of people from the agriculture and agri-food sub-sectors, as well as from each province and the North. The application process in cludes a series of questions about each applicant’s expe rience in the agriculture and agri-food sector, a short es say on a major problem fac ing youth in the sector, and a proposed way to solve it.
“And so the big get bigger and the small get small er, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” noted Formica. “The niche markets will be the largest pork producers and very small producers will soon have to compete with much larger entities.”
first-time foray into Cover Crop Helps Cover Wet Weather Submitted photo passes at all! Amazing!”
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost6
“Young people’s per spectives on issues such as sustainable agriculture, in novation, intergenerational transfers, mental health and work-life balance allow us to shape the sector’s future in their image,” said MarieClaude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. The renewed Council will see 15 new faces joining the ten returning members serv ing a second term. Together, this second cohort of the Youth Council represents subsectors from across the agriculture and agri-food valueThechain.Council’s main task is to ensure that the perspec tives of youth in agriculture are well understood, and to help inform on policy, pro grams, planning and deci sion-making.
US Court Order Offers
A US court ordered a delay in the enforcement of Massachusetts Question 3 aiming to secure consumers’ access to pork until the Supreme Court reviews a con stitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 12.
Canadian Agricultural Youth Council (CAYC). Submitted photo
According to Ryan Canart, AWWD general manager, programs like the MFGA Conservation Trust Project and the Prairie Watershed Climate Project funded by the On Farm Climate Ac tion Fund of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and led by Manitoba Association of Watersheds in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are empower ing watershed districts and Ag groups like MFGA to engage more often and more meaningfully with farmers and producers on the soil health“Programsfront. like this cover crop program that the Rookes are enrolled in really help build healthy soils, which is one of the main things we can do to help buffer farm lands against volatile weath er patterns, such as the crush of rain in our Watershed Dis trict in 2022 and the impacts of drought on those same lands in 2021,” said Canart. “Healthy soils really help on that extreme weather front, as Bray will happily tell you,” Rookes nods to the lead ership and collaboration of the AWWD and said proj ects such as those offered via groups such as MFGA through excellent funding partners such as the Con servation Trust allow young farmers the opportunity to improve their soil to be more profitable and resilient on their“Everyfarms.citizen can be proud to see the progress our local agriculture has been mak ing at massive goals such as climate change, watershed function, soil and human health,” said Rookes. “This is an opportunity to speak on the successes of the water shed and agriculture. I would like to get this story out to the people that support farm ers and the watershed. They deserve to hear the progress they have helped accom plish.”
Bray Rookes who farms near Manson, MB says jumping into the cover crop world was amazing.
By Harry Siemens
Rookes farms near Manson, MB with his parents Mike and Leanne Rookes. Rookes said this was his family’s first major jump into the cov er cropping world and they couldn’t have been more thrilled with the results. “With a wet spring on our hands, we were like a lot of farmers and we were so late getting into the field which resulted in idle soil resting for a long time with plenty of heat units beaming down and not being used in pho tosynthetic activity,” said Rookes. “It actually hurts us now to see our fields idle and not capturing the power of a cover crop. And believe me, we have experienced every benefit of the cover crops and I just don’t have the time to talk about them all!”
By Elmer Heinrichs Sarnia, Ontario based Bioindustrial Innovation Canada has secured funding of $1.8 million from the fed eral government’s AgriAs surance Program to further develop quality standards to accelerate growth of the bio economy in the agriculture sector.Bioindustrial Innovation Canada is a not-for-profit or ganization that supports the commercialization of clean, green and sustainable tech nologies.Thebioeconomy, which is part of the green economy, is based on the production and sale of products other than foodstuffs made from agri cultural, aquatic and forestry resources, or even munici pal waste. This can include crops grown as alternatives to petroleum-based products, such as corn for ethanol, or using waste like stems and leaves to produce bioprod ucts such as packaging.
“The bioeconomy will al low us to maximize the use of our agricultural resources, including leftover by-prod ucts,” said Marie-Claude Bi beau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “By add ing value to products once considered to be waste, and ensuring the quality of these bioproducts through strict quality standards, we will help strengthen Canada’s po sition as a leader in sustain able agriculture while creat ing new revenue sources for our agricultural producers.”
The goal is to help producers better understand the quality standards needed to market raw materials to processors, and in turn, equip processors with more information and educational tools to assure their customers that bioprod ucts can replace traditional materials in terms of quality andBiomassperformance.Quality Network Canada works with all lev els of the supply chain, from farmers to manufacturers, to develop and implement qual ity standards to support the advancement of the bioprod ucts industry. It coordinates its work with national and international standards orga nizations.“Avibrant, maturing Ca nadian bioproducts industry has incredible potential to be a world leader when supports are in place from a reliable, robust, consistent supply of biomass and, through the support of AAFC, the BQNC is being established to make this a reality,” explained A.J. (Sandy) Marshall, Executive Director at Bioindustrial In novation Canada. “Accel erating the adoption of Ca nadian agricultural biomass through the development of standards, methods and guidelines has been the focus of BQNC, alongside the pro vision of value-added ser vices, and management and monitoring of a certification system.”Tostrengthen the bioprod ucts industry in Canada, the project will also help scien tists continue to explore plant genetics and environmental factors that could lead to the development of new crop va rieties to supply bioproducts production.According to the stakehold ers, a strong bioeconomy can help by replacing non-renew able sources of fuel, energy, chemicals and industrial ma terials with greener alterna tives, while finding new uses forCurrently,waste. the bioproducts sector generates about $4.3 billion in sales each year.
Bioproducts sector Receives
Elusive and destructive wild pigs are wreaking havoc on parts of the Canadian Prairies, including Manitoba and a campaign is seeking your help tracking the inva siveManitobaspecies.
LaunchedProgram“SquealonPigs”
Capital to Explore Expansion
ports are wheat, barley, and, of course, Howeverchickpeas.theportof Odesa was bombed just 24 hours af ter the deal was announced. Russia’s track record in eas ing commodity pressures is not reassuring. There is still hope, but it’s a bit of a waitand-see scenario. Even if suc cessfully executed, a food se curity crisis won’t be averted in parts of the world, includ ing North-East Africa and the Middle East, but it will lessen the blow in many regions. For the West, commodity prices have been dropping steadily since May. Wheat prices have fallen from a record $13.38 on May 17 to under $8 a bushel. Corn, canola, sunflower oil, rice, and soybeans are all much cheaper than just a few weeks ago. The Ukraine-Russia grain deal is helping, but prices would still be lower regardless. Procuring ingre dients for food manufactur ers is getting less expensive by the day, which helps our food inflation situation. In other words, looming deficits are baked into com modity prices already, and buyers have bought what they need for the fall, al beit at a premium. But they at least have some ingre dients for their customers. The commodity supercycle appears to be over, thank goodness. Market conditions are much more predictable, which helps companies plan and anticipate demand. This will likely benefit us all as consumers.Asour agricultural pro duction in North America and Europe concludes in the coming weeks, we should expect to see more reports of grain shortages. So, we need to brace ourselves. Previous reports have already target ed mustard and sunflower seeds. Chickpeas are just the latestNorthone.America won’t be short of anything as it can buy itself out of a food secu rity pickle. But other poorer regions won’t have as much luck. We are starting to see signs of civil unrest in many regions of the world. While our food inflation situation is calming down here at home, the worst is yet to come for many other parts of the globe.
Pork has partnered with the federal and provincial governments to launch the Squeal on Pigs campaign. The campaign calls on Manitobans to report sightings and movements of wild pigs on the landscape online or by phone. “We’re seeing the damage that can happen from these wild pigs,” said Wayne Lees, coordinator of the Mani toba Invasive Swine Eradication Project and a former chief veterinary officer for the province. “They’ve been described as an ecological time bomb and they really are.”“Part of the reason for launching the campaign is to raise awareness in Manitoba about the wild pig is sue and try to gain more information about where these wild pigs are located,” he said. The eradication project was announced in early 2022 and includes the Squeal on Pigs campaign under its umbrella.“Wild pigs are vectors for dozens of diseases, in cluding those that would have a devastating impact on domestic pigs,” said Rick Préjet, chair of the Manitoba Pork Council. “We cannot allow wild pigs to gain a fur ther foothold in our province and put not only our pro vincial hog sector at risk, but our provincial economy at risk, as well” Spruce Woods Provincial Park is considered the prov ince’s main hot zone, with 96 per cent of all reports stemming from the region. There is an active eradication program in that hot zone, according to Lees. “If we’re going to mount an eradication campaign, we’re going to have to have up-to-date information in terms of where people are seeing these pigs now,” Lees said.Eradication, however, is easier said than done. In 2019, the pork council launched a volunteer-based con trol program in western Manitoba, but found that the labour and resources needed outstripped what could be brought to bear at that time. Similar programs were supported in following years. Experts have widely noted the difficulties of wild pig control, with the animals notoriously elusive, hard to trap, quick to adapt and quick to reproduce. Hunt ing has also been met by skepticism from experts, who warn that hunting may only scatter groups of pigs and ultimately spread the problem.
According to Bioindustrial Innovation Canada it will work with Biomass Quality Network Canada to develop research-based standards for measuring and assessing the quality of bioproducts made from agricultural sources.
Since the start of the pan demic, we have heard about shortages countless times. Most sections of the grocery store have been hit by tight ening supplies for one rea son or another. But the latest headlines we are seeing are aboutManychickpeas.analystsare expecting chickpea inventories to drop significantly in months to come. For westerners, chick peas are primarily associated with hummus, an increas ingly popular source of fibre for curious consumers want ing to experiment with new ingredients and dishes. But a looming chickpea shortage is likely on the Accordingway.to Reuters, chickpea crop yields are ex pected to drop as much as 20 per cent this year due to inclement weather in many parts of the world. India is the largest producer of chick peas globally, followed by Turkey and Russia. Canada is number nine in the world, and most of our produc tion is for export markets. Canada’s seeded areas for chickpeas dropped this year, from 185,500 acres last year to 177,800 this year. Prices for other commodi ties were more interesting for farmers. The same hap pened in the US. Russia and Ukraine are usually top ex porters of chickpeas, but not A Chickpea Shortage is Looming this year. While Ukraine is short at least 50,000 tons of chickpeas, which would nor mally end up in the European market, Russia is impacted by trade sanctions resulting from its invasion of Ukraine. Chickpeas are a cheap and efficient source of plant pro tein. Not everyone eats them, but consumers do love them. In North America, chickpea prices have already increased 12 per cent from last year, according to
August 26, 2022The AgriPost Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is senior director of the agri-food analytics lab and a professor in food dis tribution and policy at Dalhousie University.
SomeedshiptonsinRussiagoodworldpeasgluten-freeceliacfree.andareorforwhopowerhousesstews,commonlytein-basedusecornpoppedusedChickpeasNielsenIQ.aregenerallyinhummusandcanbeandeatenlikepoporgroundintoflourforinmanyvegetableproproducts.Itisalsousedinsoups,andchilis.Chickpeasarenutritionalforconsumersdon’tnecessarilyoptanimalproteinsregularlycan’taffordthem.TheynaturallylowinsodiumsugarandarecholesterolForpeoplelivingwithdiseaseandwhoneedproducts,chickareastaple.Lastweekthough,thereceivedsomewhatnews.UkraineandfinallysignedadealTurkeycommittingtoletofvitalgrainsuppliesoutfromlong-blockadsouthernportsinUkraine.ofthegrainsstuckat
“We’re looking to use the lessons that we learn from this project to expand the control and eradication ef forts through the rest of the province,” Lees said.
First and foremost - dietary energy and protein (plus minerals and vitamins) in a good autumn beef cow feed ing program are required in the growth and vascularisa tion (nutrient blood flow) of the cow’s placenta during the early days of gestation, which keeps her small fetus alive. The pre-natal calf’s or
The federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) Minis ters of Agriculture reached an agreement in principle for the Sustainable Canadi an Agricultural Partnership at their Annual Meeting in Saskatoon recently. This new five-year agreement will inject $500 million in new funds, representing a 25% increase in the costshared portion of the part nership.To enhance economic sustainability, Ministers agreed to improve Business Risk Management (BRM) programs, including rais ing the AgriStability com pensation rate from 70% to 80%. Under the cost-shared envelope, they agreed in principle to the $250 mil
pastures or even intohasmolybdenumcontainstestbyingexistingantagonistvitamins.inpasturestitygrass.evenlegumesbelushplaceendmoregrassdried-outshouldProteinturementmolassespointsupplementation.plementedfields/stubble-grazingdried-outcomwithsomeformofForexample,Imakeitatochoosethetypeoflick-tubtocomplithequalityofthepasthatthecattlearegrazing.blocksof20-30%beplacedonacresofpasturebywhichitsproteinisprobablynothan5-6%.Attheotherofthespectrum,Iwould6%proteinblocksonpastures,whichmightamixtureofhigh-protein(alfalfaorclover)ormedium-proteinnativeRegardlessofpasturequanandquality,mostfallareusuallydeficientoneormoremineralandTheymightcontainelementsthatbindnutrientsinthisfeedprogramoruponingestionbeefcows.Forexample,aofmanywesternpasturesgrasseswithahighcontent,whichbeenproventocontributemanycopperdeficienciescattle.Thatiswhy,Irecommend producers feed high-quality cattle mineral that not only contain high levels of com plimentary calcium, phos phorus, and magnesium to lush or dried out pastures, but also contain optimum trace minerals such as copper in their more “bio-available” forms (better known as “che lates”) as well as high levels of vitamins A, D and E. One example is when I met a beef producer that puts 200 confirmed-pregnant cows (after weaning calves) on pastures with lots of green fall-regrowth. He feeds a high-copper and zinc mineral in order to strengthen their hooves (helps prevent foot rot), when introduced to such wet and lush grass. His story is a good testament to setting up an adequate beef cow feeding program in the fall. This producer knows that any dietary nutrient de ficiency or shortage in his early/mid-gestation cowherd can jeopardize their future as well as their calves’, once they are born. He sees no point in restricting their au tumn nutrition to save a few dollars now, to rob himself later-on.
Ministers also discussed the importance of reducing barriers to in terprovincial trade and wel come four pilot projects fo cussed on domestic trade in border regions and Ready to GrowTheyplants.also discussed the importance of ensuring that efforts to reduce emissions from fertilizer or other ag ricultural sources do not impede Canada’s ability to contribute to domestic and global food security, now or into the future. Ministers agreed to continue to work together and with the sec tor’s value chain to build on producer’s efforts to reduce fertilizer-related emissions while maintaining competi tiveness and Canada’s repu tation as a top producer of qualityTalkscrops.advanced the con cern around African Swine Fever prevention and pre paredness, including les sons learned from the recent Avian Influenza outbreak response. They discussed labour and ongoing work towards a federal National Agricultural Labour Strat egy and regulatory pri orities. Ministers discussed progress made on a Code of Conduct for grocery retail ers and suppliers, which in cluded a presentation by the industry steering committee on concrete elements of a code. They encouraged in dustry to present a complete code by November 2022. Discussion took place on the importance of the health of bee populations, domes tic and native, to Canada’s economy and the environ ment. They agreed to work together to make sciencebased decisions about the safe import of honeybees. Ministers also noted the ongoing collaboration be tween the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and cat tle sectors to perform a risk analysis to potential chang es to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) con trol measures to maintain its negligible status within the World Organization for Animal Health.
In addition to the new agreement and BRM im provements, Ministers ad vanced discussions on other priority areas including the country’s unique opportuni ty to feed Canadians and the world through global lead ership. Ministers discussed market access, food supply chain, and trade issues, and how to help maximize Can ada’s contribution to global food supply.
Need
Submitted photo
lion Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program to sup port ecological goods and services provided by the ag riculture sector. The new agreement in cludes stronger targets such as a 3-5 MT reduction in greenhouse gas emis sions, increasing sector competitiveness, revenue and exports, and increased participation of Indigenous Peoples, women and youth. There will also be a focus on measuring the results of framework investments. The agreement, which will require appropriate authori ties by each jurisdiction, will mark an ambitious path forward to advance the five priorities agreed to in the Guelph Statement.
Over the course of the agreement, Ministers agreed to implement new measures to the suite of BRM pro grams, which will make them more timely, equitable and easy to understand as well as to better protect pro ducers against climate risk. Ministers will continue to collaborate with producers to ensure they have a suite of programs they can rely on when they face extraor dinary situations.
Beef Cows Good Autumn Nutrition
Pregnant
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost
As a beef nutritionist, I’ve talked to many beef produc ers over the years. Although, many people have improved beef cow nutrition after their cows are confirmed pregnant; there still are the diehards that don’t believe these cows need much nutrition. That’s too bad, because sound re search has proven that poor nutrition during the early-mid gestation months can have a profound negative effect on newborn calf survival and long-term performance. That’s why; I advocate that a well-balanced nutritional feeding program is warrant ed, while bred cows are still on pasture in the late-summer and until the first-snow. It simply rewards us with good calf performance in the fore seeable future.
By Peter Vitti gans are also formed simulta neously with such aggressive placentalConsequently,development.University of Wyoming (2010) proved such low-level nutrition in pastures grazed by mid-ges tation cows were responsible for a significant decrease in organ and muscle-fibre de velopment in their fetuses, which led to actual lower bodyweights when these steers were finally weaned, many months later. Other trials also showed similar dire consequences in replace ment heifers, when their dams were restricted to 70% of adequate nutrition during day 45 to day 185 of gesta tion. Unlike the steer trial, birth- and weaning-weights were similar to experimental controls, but heifers born to those nutrient-restricted cows had smaller ovaries and tis sue luteal weights, in which both are responsible for good post-pubertal reproduction. Most of these studies dem onstrate that many of these problems should not occur if the body condition of early/ mid gestation cows is main tained.Forexample, a properly fed cow during autumn and going into winter with an optimum body condition score of 5 - 6 (1-– emaciated to 9 - obese) has a great chance of main taining health and a troublefree pregnancy. This com pares to a thinner cow with a BCS < 4.0, which most likely has a difficult time surviving winter; often ending in a dif ficult calving season and fi nally producing poor calves. Fortunately, early to midgestation mature cows make the best candidates to either maintain optimum BCS or build it up. Their nutrient re quirements are comparably low to other times of the year; because they are carrying a small fetus (as mentioned above), produce continu ously less milk toward wean ing time, and cold weather is non-existent. Therefore, these cows in order to support their own vital functions and an early-term fetus; require 52 – 55% TDN (dietary energy), 9 – 10% crude protein, 0.40% calcium, 0.25% phosphorus, 0.20% magnesium and salt, essential trace minerals and vitamins.During the autumn, most of these dietary requirements are often supported by decent A properly fed cow during autumn and going into winter with an opti mum body condition score of 5 - 6 (1-– emaciated to 9 - obese) has a great chance of maintaining health and a trouble-free pregnancy.
Ministers of Agriculture Reach Agreement on Sustainability and Funding Support
CN has published its 2022-2023 Grain Plan, which describes CN’s preparations for moving a western Ca nadian grain crop that is expected to rebound from last year’s drought impacted levels.
Pennsylvania State Univer sity. “The interseeded cover crops did especially well un der certain conditions. For example, when there was ex cess nitrogen in the soil, they flourished. And they also did well when they had lots of unshaded time to grow. Si lage corn is harvested earlier than grain corn, giving cover crops more time in the au tumn sun to grow. The inter seeded system worked best with silage “Importantly,harvests.”wefound no effect of cover crop treat ments on corn yield,” added Isbell.Her team also studied how cover crops changed the soil microbes. Soil contains many kinds of live microbes. A diverse soil ecosystem can benefit crops in many ways. “We found that, in the spring, the interseeded treat ments with a high nitrogen application level had higher microbial biomass than oth er treatments,” Isbell said. “Yet, they didn’t see as big of an effect on cover crops as they expected. It may take several years of cover crop treatments to change the mi crobial ecosystem.” Isbell hopes farmers see the benefits of interseeding. Un der the right conditions, this technique could provide the best bang for the buck with out hurting crop yields. “Incorporating cover crops into cropping sys tems in innovative ways, such as interseeding, pro vides a great opportunity to implement productive farming systems and de crease nutrient pollution,” This tool, the InterSeeder™ can sow cover crops in between rows in a standing crop like corn. Cover crops are grown to pro vide benefits to the soil and the environment. They can absorb excess fertilizer, keeping it out of waterways.
DemandGrainAnnualPlanHighlightsShift
Photo by Deirdre Griffin LaHue
The Plan sets out the specific steps that CN is taking to ensure it can meet the forecast demand from the grain sector in the new crop year. For example, the Plan provides details on workforce recruitment, adding 57 new high horsepower locomo tives and new rolling stock, all to support the delivery of grain and other commodities. Faced with growing demands from all sectors, the Plan also calls for great er balance across all rail corridors to reach the upper end of the maximum sustainable supply chain capacity range. That requires making better use of the eastern Canadian network, including Thunder Bay when the St. Lawrence Seaway System is open to navigation, and di rect rail shipments to St. Lawrence River ports when the Seaway closes for winter. CN continues to add new high-capacity grain hopper cars to its fleet as part of ongoing capacity expansion. In 2022, CN is adding 500 new covered hopper cars, and will bring on an additional 500 in early 2023. Through the remainder of 2023 and 2024, the Company will take delivery of another 750 covered hoppers. The new cars can carry up to 15 percent more grain than less efficient legacy cars. CN will be increasing its active operating crew base in Western Canada and plans to hire over 500 new additional employees. In 2021 CN was faced with exceptional circumstances from washouts, extreme cold, and pandemic measures.
CN’s annual Grain Plan is prepared through an ex tensive consultation process and input from key stake holders. The plan reviews CN’s performance during the last crop year, assesses CN’s ability to move anticipated levels of grain during the upcoming crop year. It also explains specific steps CN is taking to ensure it has the capacity to move grain safely and efficiently on behalf of farmers, customers and supply chain partners, and to respond to the known and unknown challenges that North American winters bring.
Drought reduced 2021 grain production in Western Canada by over 28 MMT. Overall, CN moved 18.2 MMT of bulk and processed grain products via carload during the 2021–22 crop year, representing a decline of 36% compared to the three year average. Noticeable supply-chain problems has led to a demand shift from “just in time” to “just in case” supply chain planning, placing added pressures on the transportation system. At this point, based on current demand forecasts and economic and market information available, CN reports that total demand for rail capacity between Edmonton and the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert will ex ceed network capacity during some weeks in the fall of 2022 and in early 2023. CN projections are in part based on AAFC production forecast of the six major grains, peas, and lentils to be 72.1 MMT and exports at 42.3 MMT of grain and processed grain products via carload. CN over the course of the 2022–23 crop year is project ing 24.5 to 27.0 MMT will need to be transported.
“The strength of our agriculture sector is critical to Canada’s economy and to feeding the world,” said Tra cy Robinson, chief executive officer, CN. “Our team at CN is confident that the adjustments we have made to our operations and planning heading into this fall, combined with the investments made with an eye to fu ture economic growth, will enable us to deliver strong results in 2022–23 for Western Canadian agriculture.”
Soil scientist Deirdre Grif fin-LaHue, along with a team has recently set up a longterm rotational experiment to explore some of these strate gies in potato-based systems. The strategies represent the typical rotations and soils of the area. The trial is designed with methods that use chang ing levels of soil disturbance (i.e., tillage); organic matter inputs; internal (cover crops and residues); and external (compost).Thisallows the team to study multiple soil health principles and how they interact with oneOneanother.practice many growers are experimenting with is us ing cover crops. Cover crops are grown between cash crops to provide agro ecosystem benefits related to 3 of the 4 main soil health principles: cover the soil, increase diver sity, and maximize continuous living roots, which help feed microorganisms in the soil. Farmers involved are using two methods. One is winter cover crops, planted in fall and terminated in spring. The other is multi-year cover crops that are mowed and continuously provide organic carbon inputs to the soil. The team is also studying potato-growing systems that reduce soil disturbance. They are looking at whether it’s planted with no-till seeders. Minimizing soil disturbance between potato crops could improve soil health and future potatoUltimately,yields. growers need to take a systems approach to improving soil health with potatoes and with any crop. It is not just about one crop. It’s about how the whole crop ping system is managed over time. By finding those inter vention points to introduce a soil-building practice, grow ers can steadily improve soil health even with underground
Interseeding Might Be the Boost Cover Crops Need
Photos by Sarah Isbell
CN’s to a “Just in Case” Supply Chain
An interseeded annual ryegrass cover crop established under a corn canopy in August. Interseeding allows cover crops to establish before harvest without hurting crop yields. Recent research shows that inter seeding cover crops before harvest can be beneficial.
August 26, 2022The AgriPost
An interseeded annual ryegrass cover crop at the time of corn silage harvest in October. Since silage corn is harvested earlier than grain corn, the interseeded cover crop has more time to grow in full sun. As it grows, it takes up excess nitrogen from the soil and can benefit soil health. said Isbell. “It is important to understand the tradeoffs of different cover cropping strategies, and to use this knowledge to get the most benefit out of cover crop ping on each individual farm.”
Research sets out to improve soil Health in Potato Cropping systems
“We found that the inter seeded ryegrass cover crops had potential to retain as much nitrogen as a post-har vest seeded cereal rye cover crop,” said Sarah Isbell who is working on cover crop and organic farm research as part of her doctoral degree at
odically with no other disturbance. In this particular region, farmers in and researchers are working on strategies to promote soil health in this typically high disturbance system.
Minimizing soil disturbance is one of the key tenets pro moted to build soil health in agricultural systems. Many farmers across North Ameri ca have adopted reduced and no-till systems to build soil carbon, a central component to healthy Canadiansoils.growers harvested a record potato crop in 2021, as production rose 18.2% year over year to 123.1 mil lion hundredweight, on ac count of increases in both seeded area and yield. Mani toba produced almost 20% of the national crop. In the 2020-21 season, Ca nadian potato producers’ ex port value was $2.1 billion, an increase of 7.2%. An issue with growing po tatoes is that they are a tuber crop, growing belowground. Thus, planting and harvest ing them disturbs the soil more than a crop like wheat or barley, which are harvest ed aboveground. Growers Cover crops are an effec tive tool to keep nutrients on farmland during the winter season and are usually per formed after the cash crop is removed from the field. But how effective is the cover crop when certain harvests take place later in the season than others? Researchers are looking at ways to imple ment “interseeding” to solve the seasonal harvest delay and give the cover crop the time it needs to maximize its fullAbenefits.research team has stud ied an alternative method us ing interseeding. This tech nique sows cover crop seeds in between rows of growing cash crops. That way, the cover crops can start grow ing, ready to take off when they get more sun after har vest. In an experiment at a Pennsylvania research site, the team compared the ef fects of interseeding ver sus post-harvest planting of cover crops with corn. Some of the corn was harvested for grain, while other plots were harvested for silage.
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost20
Today my neighbour and I decided we would visit a local colony to see what we could find that wasn’t ready in our own gardens. We came home with broccoli, cabbage, corn and homemade sticky buns. Word of mouth can help find some local delicious baking andSinceproduce.there appears to be an abundance of green and yellow beans this year this bean casserole is delicious and a great to make to have variety in your menus.
Green Bean Bundles
Mix¾Garlic½11¼¼¼Dressingcupvinegartspsalttsppeppertspdrymustardtspthymecupcanolaoilsalttotastecupsugaralldressingingredients together and pour over salad. Re frigerate until ready to use. This salad keeps well and tastes better if made ahead of time. Apple cider vinegar can be substituted for regular vinegar which is what I use. I also cut the canola oil down to ¼ cup and use ½ cup of apple cider vinegar. You can also cut the sugar back to ½ cup if you wish. If you use garden fresh green and yellow beans you will have to precook them.
“In some context, dew also plays an indirect role in plant health by improving soil moisture condition. Dewdrops on the soil surface decrease soil evaporation loss and mitigate soil water tension,” said Sekaran. Dew ultimately helps species sur vive drought conditions by reducing water stress and transpiration.
Crazy Quilt Bean Salad 1-14 oz tin green beans 1-14 oz tin yellow beans 1-14 oz tin kidney beans 1-140z. tin lima beans 1 cup celery chopped (optional) ½ cup onion chopped ¼ cup green pepper chopped Drain the lima, yellow and green beans. Drain and rinse the kidney beans well. Place all salad ingredients in large bowl.
Dew Plays Important Role in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions
Crazy Quilt Bean Salad is tasty and colourful. Photo by Joan Airey
1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed 8 bacon strips, partially cooked 1 tbsp finely chopped onion 3 tbsp butter 1 tbsp white wine vinegar 1 tbsp sugar ¼ tsp salt Cook beans until crisp – tender, wrap about 15 beans in each bacon strip. Secure with a toothpick. Place on a foil covered baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 10 - 15 minutes or until bacon is done. In a skillet, sauté onion in butter until tender. Add vinegar, sugar and salt, heat through. Remove bundles to a serving bowl, pour sauce over and serve immediately. Serves 8 people. We enjoy this bean casserole year-round but especially when I can go and pick two of the beans required for the recipe from the gar den.
One of the prettiest sights first thing in the morning is finding dew droplets on surrounding greenery. During cool nights, water from the air precipitates on plant leaves. Dew is not only aesthetic but is consid ered an important source of mois ture and water for plant life. According to Udayakumar Sek aran, with the agriculture science department at Clemson University in South Carolina, dew is a major water source as dew forms more fre quently than rain events in arid and semi-arid regions which are under dry conditions for half of the year. Dew helps plants to accelerate their metabolism and increase plant bio mass. Dew also plays an essential role in regulating the inner water of plants and helps them activate pho tosynthesis rapidly. To help conserve moisture, plants in drier regions close their stomatal openings in the middle of the day. However, in these regions, early mornings are the maximum plant growth period because dew drops surround the leaves of the plants and trigger photosynthetic activity.
Manitoba’s Bountiful Produce Makes for Delicious Meals
Dew droplet on top of the small corn plant. Photo by Udayakumar Sekaran
By Joan Airey
As Manitoba’s agricul ture organizations continue to recover from the CO VID-19 pandemic, edu cation and infrastructure grants designated for fairs, celebrations and events are making it possible for families and communities to gather and enjoy the best Manitoba Grants Support Agricultural Societies
Manitoba Association of Agricultural Societies pres ident, Pamela Hansen, said the support is appreciated. “These grants can help with educational activities and community events as well as special projects that may have been put on hold due to the pandemic,” Han son said. These heifers were in excellent health and most of them had a body condition score of around 3.0 - 3.5 (re: 1 = emaciated, 5 = obese).
“Canadian canola growers are leaders in sustain ability, and we’re excited to launch this program to keep building on this excellent track record,” said Jim Everson, CCC president. “Expanding the use of 4R Nutrient Stewardship is an important opportunity to improve fertilizer efficiency, which is good for both farm productivity and the environment.”
Canola 4R Advantage will provide incentives for canola growers to use best management practices (BMPs) in four areas: soil testing, enhanced efficiency fertilizers, preferred application and field zone map ping. To be eligible for these incentives, a grower must have a 4R Nutrient Stewardship plan that has been verified by a Certified Crop Adviser or Profes sional Agrologist who has earned the 4R designation from Fertilizer Canada. Canola 4R Advantage began accepting applications on August 17 through a digital platform linked to the CCC website. Growers and agronomists can review program details and eligibility criteria at canolacoun cil.org/4R-advantage.Upto$17.4million in funding is currently approved for the two-year Canola 4R Advantage project. The CCC is also partnering with Fertilizer Canada to pro vide training, information resources and knowledge transfer activities to growers and agronomists.
2August 26, 2022The AgriPost www.agripost.ca
I recommend –first establish and then provide diets formulated with match ing nutrient requirements of unbred replacement heifers that support above-men tioned growth rates and opti mum body condition scores, namely: an energy level of 66 – 68% TDN (total digestible nutrients), 14 – 16% protein and a compliment of essential minerals and vitamins. Then once they are bred, relax both energy and protein intakes by 10 – 15%, depending on their current BCS
The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) has unveiled a new program offering financial support to help grow ers initiate or advance 4R Nutrient Stewardship on canola acres. The program, named Canola 4R Advantage, will re imburse growers for up to 85 per cent of eligible costs, up to $12,000 per farm per year. Funding for Canola 4R Advantage has been provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Agricultural Climate Solutions – On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF).
The CCC has chosen to focus its program on precise, efficient and sustainable nitrogen management using 4R principles. “4R practices help growers ensure they apply the right source of fertilizer at the right rate, right time and right place for optimal results,” said Charles Fossay, canola grower near Starbuck, Manitoba and director of Manitoba Canola Growers and CCC. “This maximizes the crop’s access to nutrients while mini mizing any losses as nitrous oxide emissions.”
Canola toAdvantage4ROffersIncentivesIncreaseValueandEfficiencyofNitrogenUse
Take a Practical Approach to Dairy Heifer Replacement Feeding Programs
Once weaned dairy calves are released from the calf barn and put into replacement heifer pens, there are different ways of feeding them. Some post-weaned heifers are not well-fed and such poor nutri tion is almost guaranteed to make them struggle through out their first-lactation. Other replacement heifers are fed too well. As a result, they be come fat, which is proven to have negative consequences upon life-time health and production. Somewhere in the middle of this chaos is well-balanced heifer nutri tion. With a little homework, we can feed them properly, so they can become profitable dairyAscows.adairy nutritionist, I would love to visit a dairy farm and have immediate proof that any of their dairy heifers are eating with vigour (2.5% of their bw, dmi), a well-balanced post-wean ing diet. This proof would show in black-and-white; it’s making them ideally grow at about 1.8 – 2.2 lbs per day until they are bred at 13 – 15 months of Unfortunately,age. most people don’t keep these kinds of records. Most of the time, I usually catch producers at the busiest time of the day and they tell me to go look at the replacement heifers and see what I think. I recently went out to a pen of young unbred heifers and took into account their health status and body condition as the photo shows. I also looked at what kind of feed was in their feed bunk. Subsequently, I judged that these heifers were in excel lent health and most of them had a body condition score of around 3.0 - 3.5 (re: 1 = ema ciated, 5 = obese). It was my understanding that grass hay was just put down as their second feeding, which fol
ra tions – One producer that runs about a 150-cow dairy, segregates his heifers in three pens; unbred 2 - 5 months, unbred 5 - 15 months and then bred heifers. He feeds an alfalfa-grass mix, free-choice in the bunk and an 18% heifer grower pellet medicated with rumensin in self-feeders. The bred heifers have their forage mixed 75:25 with straw.
lowed a morning TMR of en siled and dried forage, some grain and a mineral-vitamin premix.Ithought one or two of these heifers might be border-line over-conditioned, which uni versity research demonstrates that such dairy heifers will still lay down a lot of frame and lean tissue compared to those heifers on a more growth-controlled program. But, many of them often become fat as they achieve exceptional growth; laying down fat in their develop ing udders and thus ruining their chances to become good milkers. Unfortunately, once a heifer becomes over-condi tioned, there is really no way to reverse Therefore,it.
1.diets:inwell-balancedproducersConsequently,status.dairyprovidesuchnutritiononeofthreepracticalSimplehayandgrain
2. Straightforward TMR diets – Another producer that runs a 200- cow dairy segregates his bred animals from his 6 - 15 month unbred heifers. He makes up a bred-group TMR diet consisting of corn silage, alfalfa hay, straw, no grain and a min-vit premix. He dilutes this diet down with about 25% 2nd cut alfalfa hay plus 1.0 kg of grain corn for his 6 - 15 month unbred heif ers. His 2 – 6-month-old heif ers are housed at the other end of his farm and they are fed high-quality timothy hay and 2.0 kg of a 16% texturized heifer grain diet. 3. Low-cost diets – South Dakota University (SDSU) mixed low-quality-high fi bre corn stalks supplemented with wet distillers’ grains to match the energy and pro tein requirements of grow ing dairy heifers. The results showed that although heifer gains were somewhat lower than traditional heifer diets, their cost of gain was cut nearly in half. By feeding any one of these practical diets, dairy producer should be able to match their young replacement heifers’ nutrient requirements for good growth and develop ment. Most of the time, we don’t need a weigh scale or records to judge if young re placement heifers are grow ingAllwell.we need to do is walk the feed bunk and assess their current body conditions, which tells us if they are on the right dietary track - up until they become good 1st lactation milk cows.
By Elmer Heinrichs of Manitoba’s summer cel ebration season, said Ag riculture Minister Derek Johnson.The Manitoba govern ment is providing $226,000 in funding to 56 agricul tural societies to be used for education programs. An additional $95,000 will be split between 45 agricul tural societies as part of the $1.4-million investment into infrastructure projects. Johnson, said with this money agricultural societ ies can host events such as agricultural fairs and edu cational programming as well as improve communi ty infrastructure to support community events.
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“As time goes on people are more separated from ag riculture, and so this allows more interaction,” he said. “It is raising money, but on the farmers’ hat side, it’s just a pleasure to have people en joy what we do.” To enjoy the view of the fields, drive 1.6 km east of the MacGregor Co-op Gas Bar, located on the north side of the Trans-Canada Highway.
Dean Toews, who farms just outside of MacGregor, MB, has again planted a large field of sunflowers in hopes of attracting Instagrammers to come, snap a photo and make a voluntary donation to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. A sea of sunflowers where Manitobans can go to take selfies, all for a good cause. Submitted photos
Toews is the chair of Feed Other Countries Undo Starvation, or FOCUS. His family`s farm, two others in the area and five Hutterite colonies volunteer to grow food for the organization in benefit of the Foodgrains bank. Local suppliers also help with donations of fertil izer and chemicals. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank works to help develop ing countries meet emergency food needs and devise longterm solutions to hunger. Last year`s effort raised $2,000 in cash donations and made another $20,000 on the sale of the sunflower crop, Toews said. The fed eral government matched that amount at a ratio of 4:1, meaning more than $100,000 was raised overall. Toews noted that when visitors drop by the field, they want to see the sunflow ers, but it’s essentially still trespassing unless they have permission.“Andso we thought what if we gave people permission to come and enjoy them selves in the field?” said Toews. “And there’s another side benefit. It’s connecting people to farming.”
MacGregor Farmer Encourages Picture Hunters
By Elmer Heinrichs
For the second year in a row a spot along the TransCanada Highway is a sea of sunflowers, a place where Manitobans can go to take selfies, all for a good cause. Manitoba farmer Dean Toews is continuing his tradition of helping people take the ultimate sunflowerthemed selfies while also raising money to stamp out hunger and defuse a thorny problem some producers face from picture-hunting trespassers.Toews,who farms just out side of MacGregor, MB, has again planted a large field of sunflowers in hopes of at tracting Instagrammers to come, snap a photo and make a voluntary donation to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
2August 26, 2022The AgriPost
While down a little, these are very strong growing projects that include wheat, canola and soybeans said Janzen. “I’m just so thankful for this community, which keeps those projects going, provid ing resources for our mem bers through the Foodgrains Bank to respond to global hunger,” he said. At one point the Foodgrains Bank shipped Canadian grains to the destinations that needed it most. Today the or ganization monetizes by put ting into dollars what comes in from the growing projects and members use it abroad. “We don’t ship Canadian grain, we purchase the food, which is appropriate for the people to receive and appro priate for their diets and not dumping on their markets, unnecessarily,” said Janzen. “Our work is both emergency relief and encouraging smallscale farmers with badly needed help. A two-pronged approach.”Aboutan extra 50 million people are currently facing emergency levels of hunger and even famine worldwide, said Janzen. Word has it that nearly 3 billion people in the world have less than 2,000 calories of food daily at the earlier price of $150 a tonne forJanzenwheat.demonstrated at his booth a minimum daily ration which is what the Foodgrains Bank tries to provide to peo ple in emergency settings. “We’re not able to always provide that much because of the limited budgets and so many people needing emer gency aid,” he said. An emergency food ration is a fixed amount of food given to a person or a household in situations or when sufficient food is not accessible. Rations are often distributed by aid groups or government agen cies in refugee or internally displaced persons camps or to communities that are facing severe food shortages.
Karolina Steinerova a Ph.D. student at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine said research is being conducted to determine if play is an indicator of positive welfare and to develop tools to enhance the quality of life of the animals. This research project is also crucial because re searchers will design and evaluate the tool for use in commercial systems. possible to promote play in older pigs and sustain it over the growing life. Secondly, to identify if play reduces stress and promotes a positive emo tional state. The tests involved the pigs in three different treatments. First, pigs received regular play opportunities and play stimulated through enrich ment items in their home pen or when given access to a larger playpen area. They ro tated the enrichment weekly and, at specific times, sprayed with various essential oils to support novelty, promoting play.“We recorded the behaviour of the animals exposed to the play. While the analysis is ongoing, we can say that play in growing pigs did occur and appears sustainable but we are yet to complete the statistical analysis,” said Steinerova. Steinerova said researchers are also evaluating the effects of play on the physiologi cal response to stress and the emotional state of pigs. “We will use the findings to determine if play is an indi cator of positive welfare and to develop tools to enhance the quality of life of the ani mals.”The quality of life for in tensively farmed animals is increasingly important for producers and consumers. It is also a growing topic with in the scientific community performing animal welfare research.
By Harry Siemens Karolina Steinerova, a Ph.D. stu dent with the WCVM.
In Fiscal year 2021 the Ca nadian Foodgrains Bank re ceived over $18 million in do nations. Manitobans donated over $6 million, with almost half of that coming through community growing projects. Those funds came from small and large donations, in both rural and urban areas. Farmers provided a large portion of this support, often from the sale of crops do nated. Some farmers even do nate the proceeds of a whole truckload of grain at the el evator.Research by the Western College of Veterinary Medi cine indicates there is a way to stimulate grower-finisher pigs to engage in play. The Western College of Vet erinary Medicine (WCVM) in partnership with the Prai rie Swine Centre with fund ing provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and 14 industry partners, has completed the second in a se ries of studies exploring the beneficial effects of play in growingKarolinapigs.Steinerova, a Ph.D. student with the WCVM said the researchers developed this second experiment to determine if it is possible to promote play among pigs from 10 weeks of age until slaughter at 22 weeks. The experiment about the promotion of play in growing pigs asked several questions. Firstly to determine if it is
Ryan and Cody Dueck offered their time on a Saturday afternoon to help the Scratching River Growing Project sell birdseed at the Morris Craft Sale. Photos by Harry Siemens
“All together, forms an influential package driving numerous changes in the swine welfare research,” said Steinerova.Shesaidin the past improv ing the welfare of the animal focused on improving the liv ing conditions by eliminating negative experiences, such as pain. However, the research community has recently shift ed its attention to promoting positive“Andexperiences.playbehaviour is a good candidate to fulfill a role of a positive experience for pigs as playing animals appear to be excited and having fun,” she said. “We look at all types of play, that is locomotive play such as scampering, head tossing, jumping or excited running. Then there is social play, also known as rough and tumble when two pigs are play-fight ing together, which may help to develop social skills.” Also, object play is manipu lating, shaking or excitedly carrying an Steinerovaobject.said assuming the benefits of play with a positive aspect on the mental state; researchers will pursue a study looking at the role of play in influencing immuno competency.Thelaststudy will explore the promotion of play on a commercial farm. “There we want to test practicability and the effect on the elevation of common welfare challenges in real conditions,” she said. “The data collection will con tinue until late 2023.” This project brings a new approach by which the qual ity of life and performance of intensively farmed pigs could resonate with consumers.
“By exploring the relation ship between play behaviour, the pigs’ emotions and pro ductivity, the project aims to deliver a powerful tool to ben efit outcomes for production characteristics, such as more effective immune and stress response,” said Steinerova. This project is also crucial because researchers will de sign and evaluate the tool for use in commercial systems. Thus, the project’s findings will support the sustainability of the Canadian swine indus try and pig welfare and ben efit consumers of Canadian pork products.
Janzen gave a sincere thank you to farmers and people involved in farming for help ing the Foodgrains Bank to respond to hunger. The Foodgrains Bank was started by farmers who had the idea and vision but today it involves many other people who are non-farmers.
Submitted photos Gordon Janzen shared the Foodgrains Bank story at his booth.
Gordon Janzen, the Mani toba and north-west Ontario regional representative shared with farmers at his booth the story of this great work at the recent “Thanks for Farming” tour in Winkler, MB. Despite high input costs and COVID-19 the response and support remain strong he said. In the region there are about 35 projects, with about 5,000 acres planted this year.
Foodgrains Bank Grow Projects Respond to Famine
“But a big thanks to farmers and people in farm businesses who are helping our grow ing projects to continue,” said Janzen. “We would also love to hear from people who are interested in starting new growing projects or commu nityInprojects.”anearlier newsletter to supporters of the Foodgrains Bank, Janzen said the war in Ukraine is leading to a drop in food production, higher food prices and an increased risk of famine around the world. High-income coun tries should take three steps to help prevent hunger from spreading. First, avoid sanc tions on food and fertilizer. Second, increase food assis tance in step with higher food prices. Third, prioritize fam ine prevention.
Research Looks at Grower-finisher Pig’s Play
By Harry Siemens
August 26, 2022 The AgriPost2
