AgriPost December 28 2018

The AgriPost

December 28, 2018

Growing for STARS a Success Something Old and Something New In Store for St. Jean Farm Days 2019

A Manitoba farm family’s efforts to grow their support for STARS has been a success. Recently they presented a cheque for $22,351 to STARS, a figure that well exceeded their initial goal.

The Verwey family, which operates Verwey Farms in the Portage La Prairie area, announced earlier this year they had planted 40 acres of soybeans with the intention of donating the net profits to STARS. Recently they presented a cheque for $22,351 to STARS, a figure that well exceeded their initial goal of $16,000. “Living, working and taking part in recreational activities in rural Manitoba comes with the inherent risks of possible accidents in areas that are not easily accessed by emergency services,” said Jill Verwey.

“STARS in Manitoba has become an invaluable asset to our communities, providing emergency medical services and transportation to larger centres like Winnipeg.”

Lori Derksen, STARS’ development officer, events, said this was the first time a family or organization had planted a crop and donated the proceeds to STARS. She said the non-profit, charitable organization is grateful for the support of the Verweys.

“Allies like Verwey Farms are critical to STARS as we work to stay on the cutting edge of critical care,” Derksen said. “These donations also ensure that the next time a Manitoban requires immediate life-saving critical care STARS will be there for them.”

In typical Manitoba fashion, a number of groups came together to ensure Growing for STARS was a success. Verwey thanked Legend Seeds, Shur-Gro/Munro Farm Supplies and Syngenta Canada

Inc. for donating the seed and inputs for the crop, as well as Pro Image Signs of Portage La Prairie for their contribution to the sign that was placed adjacent to the field. She added that Richardson Pioneer in Dundonald assisted with the sale and pricing of the soybeans.

The Verweys have also challenged their fellow farm families to support STARS in a similar fashion in 2019.

“We wanted to do our part

in contributing this donation to STARS, as we feel their continued service in our province is essential,” she said. “We hope that in the future other family farming operations might take up the Growing for STARS challenge.”

Derksen added that STARS, inspired by Verwey Farms, will launch an expanded Growing for STARS campaign in 2019. She said any interested parties may contact her at 204-833-4619 or lderksen@stars.ca.

To anyone arriving at the 34th annual St. Jean Farm Days (SJFD) on January 9 and 10, 2019, the sights, sounds and smells will be totally familiar. The nearby streets parked bumper to bumper with pick-up trucks; the big hall filled with scores of commercial exhibits; friendly greetings from old friends and the enticing smells of coffee and homemade soups emanating from the kitchen.

Whether farmers are there more for the exhibits or more to hear the roster of professional speakers in the small hall, there will be elements they can always count on, a carefully thought out agenda, a generous number of door prizes, grace sung before lunch, and the decades-old entry fee of only $6 per person per day or $10 per couple.

What they will not see is how many changes have been made behind the scenes in the planning and preparation for SJFD 2019.

“We have had a few changes to the organizing committee this past year,” said Brunel Sabourin, who’s taking a much more active role in the committee this year. “Over the last 10 plus years, Ingrid Kristjanson and Indra Ariyaratne were both heavily involved in organizing speakers and a lot of the smaller details that go into organizing the show. With Ingrid moving to the Teulon office and Indra retiring this year, we have had to re-delegate some of the work to other committee members. Wayne Klassen, a local agronomist, joined the committee and we have been able to lean on a few other regional staff from Manitoba Agriculture, namely Earl Bargen in Steinbach and Jackie Cherewayko in Altona.” Also on the committee is the long-serving Monique Papineau Lafond.

Another prime mover on the committee is Jennifer Sabourin, Brunel’s wife and business partner in Antara Agronomy Services, based in St. Jean Baptiste, who finalized the roster of presenters.

“We have another quality lineup of speakers attending this year’s show that will attest to the hard work put in by those before us and that will make sure the show continues on in the years to come,” she said.

Things that have not changed is, Gilbert Sabourin who is still in charge of finding space for 59 commercial exhibits, including using the large front lobby that was added in 2016. And the Knights of Columbus will be serving up big kettles of nutritious soups and homemade sandwiches, as they have since 1986.

“Attendees love our show,” she said. “Because it’s early in the new year and time to start thinking about farming again after the holiday season.”

See Program

on pages 27-30

December 28, 2018

The AgriPost

Pork Quality Competition Showcases Product and Supports Charities

Great attendance and enthusiasm for participants at this year’s Hog Carcass Competition a key part of the Prairie Livestock Expo held in Winnipeg Dec 12.

Barrickman Colony near Headingly, MB took the top two positions in the judging competition winning the Grand Champion, $5,000 prize and Reserve Champion $4,000 prize with all of the prize money going to the charities of their choice.

By Harry Siemens Jason Care, the Manager of Manitoba Hog Grading, said the Prairie Livestock Expo Pork Quality Competition that wrapped up in Winnipeg recently allows the pork sector to showcase the product it provides to the consumer while supporting Manitoba food banks and charities.

Care, one of the Pork Quality Competition judges said the criteria for the competition is a reflection of what the pork processing plants want to supply their customers.

“The judging criteria we set out, we look at actual grad-

ing data which we use in the plants. We base it off a market hog, what they would call a perfect marketable hog,” he said.

“It’s a measurement of back fat, a measurement of loin muscle mass; they take into consideration the belly and the muscles groups that are in it with the fat balance that you have. We look at the colour of the meat after processing, at the loin size and marbling on the loins, too.”

Care said they rolled the competition and the judging criteria together so that the entries would be considered a premium market hog. “It’s a finite criterion with specifics, so they want

to match that to the quality of pork that we are shipping to the plants which end up on the plates.”

Care said hog operations could enter one or two market hogs. Barrickman Colony near Headingly, took the top two positions in the judging competition winning the Grand Champion prize with $5,000 and Reserve Champion that had a $4,000 prize.

All of the prize money goes to the charity of their choice.

“We had 42 entries with over 9,000 lbs of pork donated to Siloam Mission and in Winnipeg Harvest just in time for the Christmas season,” said Darren Bates the Emcee and a member of the organizing committee. “Since 1996 we have donated over $400,000 to charity and over 135,000 lbs of pork to local food banks. We give cash prizes to the top 10 winners which in turn those winners give to the charity of choice decided by the colony that won.”

Speaking to judge Jason Care who has judged these competitions since 2006, he said that this is the first time where seven placements in the top ten tied. “They’ve learnt the show and the criteria,” said Care. “I mean they’re the managers of their barns, and they know what to pick, and the right pigs to hit the criteria. The criteria that we set out were to be what we would call, a perfect marketable hog. So, these producers are right on target as you saw. This competition is the first time we had 100 points out of 111 points for the show. So, it’s a first time, like I said, to do that. As well, the first time that we had seven out of the top 10, tied.”

He said to make the competition even better they donate all the pork to food banks and all the prize money, a total of $28,000 to charitable organizations. “I’ve never seen them have a show where they meet 90 percent of the criteria of what they would classify as a perfect, marketable hog.”

Walter Hofer, who looks after the females on the Barrickman Colony hog farm said that they did not do anything differently to win the Grand and Reserve Champions in the same competition. “What you have to do? Honestly, not much. You can’t do much really. You know, you go out, and you figure you are just selecting out the best ones you’ve got and go from there. There’s probably a lot in the barn, but you got to find the best one.”

Hofer said all seven workers in the barn and the nutritional company representative together find the right pigs to enter the carcass competition.

The Colony with the winning entries operates a 900-sow farrow to finish operation.

The AgriPost

December 28, 2018

Barns and Biosecurity Essential for Sustained Growth in the Hog Industry

By Harry Siemens George Matheson, a hog farmer near Stonewall, MB and chair of the Manitoba Pork Council (MPC), sat down at the recent Prairie Livestock Expo (PLE) in Winnipeg to talk about his farm, his role as Chair of MPC and the pork industry.

The PLE brings producers together from a variety of

livestock sectors with exhibits from all three Prairie provinces with hundreds of producers taking it in.

Matheson’s farm began producing pigs in 1982, and he talked about how things keep going on the farm while he spends time on hog producers’ business. “I have a brother and a nephew, his son, who farm with

me. Livestock, of course, is a 365-day job, and they look after things when I am away, so it’s worked out well over the years,” he said.

Matheson took over from Karl Kynoch as Chair after spending nine years as a director and found the job of chairing the MPC very much as expected.

“I had a pretty good idea, for the most part, what went on.

Manitoba’s Poultry Specialist’s Role Evolves with Changing Industry

After 8 years the province has a poultry specialist and Amy Johnston said times have changed.

By Les Kletke The industry of agriculture is a changing one and there might be no one who can testify to that more than Amy Johnston. She is the poultry specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.

Johnston spent several years in the feed industry before moving to the role with government about a year ago. “The position had been vacant for about 8 years and it was because of urging from the industry that it was filled,” said Johnston who was one of those attending Livestock Expo in Winnipeg and sitting in on a presentation by Kristen Marwychuk

of the University of Manitoba’s Food and Discovery Centre.

The presentation dealt with consumer concerns and the questions asked by visitors to the Discovery Centre. “It was good information,” said Johnston. “I will be following up and asking if Kristen is available for more meetings. Just about every one of the meetings in our industry has some component of the consumer trust issue in it at this time.” The fact she is taking note of available speakers is a reflection of the changing job. It is no longer primarily extension of production information, aimed at producers.

“That was the role of the poultry specialist a few years ago,” she said with a chuckle. “Now it is move of a liaison between the industry and government. That was why there was pressure from the industry to fill the position.” She goes on to say the relationship is far from confrontational but rather an example of co-operation and knowledge of what is happening in other sectors.

“There is still some extension of information to producers,” she said. “But there

is also surveillance of disease issues and concern in the health area.” She credits the three main producers groups, chicken, egg, and turkey, with doing a good job of getting production information to their produces.

Current concerns are with new regulations regarding antibiotics. “The new regulations will mean some changes and producers will need a good working relationship with their veterinarians.” She sees it as a manageable task if proper information is provided and that is part of her role.

With a background in the feed industry she is familiar with the role company’s play and what events like Livestock Expo mean to producers and the companies.

“This is a chance for them to interact, and most companies have a good extension program but an industry event like this is important for people to establish that relationship,” said Johnston.

Looking ahead she see the interaction with consumers and information about production practices as being an increasing role of the producer and every segment of the industry.

Federal Government Funds Virus Detection System for Swine Health Canada’s hog sector, which includes over 8,000 hog farms, is a key driver of the Canadian economy, accounting for $4.5 billion in farm receipts and $4 billion in pork exports in 2017.

The Federal government recently announced funding of over $1.5 million to sup-

port animal health and disease surveillance in the hog sector.

The funds will be used by the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) to adopt a virus detection system to support animal health. Funded under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriAssurance

Program, the virus detection system will enable the CPC to provide consistent information on the health status of the hog population across the country, track early disease warning signs, and rapidly identify new and emerging diseases in the sector before they spread.

But until you sit in that chair, you don’t know everything about being the Chair of Manitoba Pork,” he said. “There’s been a bit of learning as well, but the curve has been very gentle and very kind to me, let’s say.”

Matheson said biosecurity and the threat of hog diseases in North America and throughout the world is a challenge the industry continually confronts and the guard must stay up. “We’ve done an outstanding job, I feel, managing PED, which devastated the North American hog population in 2014. The one on the horizon now is African Swine Fever, which could be even more serious, of course, being a foreign animal disease, if it came into North America. So that biosecurity, as I mentioned, is very concerning,” he said. “Also, the construction of new hog barns to make sure that our plants in Manitoba are as full as possible is another thing

that we’re trying to assist producers. Public affairs are always ongoing, to educate the public in regards to nutritional value and sustainability of our industry, animal care, workplace health and safety. They’re issues that we will always be dealing with.”

Things have changed in regards to setting up new barns, especially the processing of the permits required to meet all the standards.

There was a time a producer would come into these hearings facing confrontations often discouraging producers from even trying. Instead they would say, “You know what? If that’s what I have to go through, then I’m not going get involved.”

Manitoba Pork formed the Manitoba Swine Infrastructure Development Corporation (MSIDC) which is, “I think it’s assisted the producers who are interested in expanding a great deal.

Permitting processing is still very complex, and also the conditional use hearing can be trying for a producer, so giving them the proper in-

formation, the proper preparation for these things has been a great assistance to them,” said Matheson. “It’s one of those things that the staff foresaw as a need that the hog producer in Manitoba had, and they were right on, and it is very valuable and will continue to be so for the next few years.”

While under the umbrella of the Manitoba Pork Council the MSIDC it operates at arm’s length and revenue neutral to the Council, meaning the users pay for the service. “The exact specifications of it, as an entity just outside of the jurisdiction of Manitoba Pork and it operates as a corporation financed by Manitoba Pork, but at the end user fees applied so that it will be a zero-sum budget come year-end,” he said. “Yep, which is good, because not all producers of course are building new barns. It’s a valuable service, but it’s just one of those things where, hey, if you need it, it’s there, it will cost, but at the same time it will be of great value to you.”

December 28, 2018

Be it Resolved

It is that time of year, resolutions are being made like political promises the week before an election, and we know we are headed into that time. They are also falling faster that snowflakes in a Manitoba blizzard, and we will have a few of those. So, this year I decided to cut back on the volume of resolutions and be more realistic.

Yes, I to have been down the get more exercise, eat healthier, walk further road and I realized the only way I can make that last to the third of January is by sleeping through the second. That is not going to happen - so here it is, my one resolution for 2019 and hopefully it becomes a habit that carries on.

I am going to write more things down, make a point of recording the conversations I have with the people in my life for the day we are not here. Two years ago when a couple of my neighbours were on the one way street that cancer of the organs brings to your door I thought about going over and just having a couple of conversations about life.

They were both involved in agriculture one in a commercial venture the other had escaped the Russian yolk when it was heavy toll on the Ukraine and had a story to tell of coming to Canada and building a business alongside his farm.

While I mulled the idea over in my mind and thought about how good it was, they both quietly slipped from this earth. The conversations never happened.

This fall when Rosenfeld, the community I spent the first 30 years of my life getting my mail at, released a history book I made a commitment. I would record some of the stories that would have been good in a book like that.

What if I had written down the story my Dad told me about remembering the Titanic as a news story, what if I had asked him about losing a brother to the flu epidemic that hit in 1918 when the boys returned from WW l with the germs that would take their toll on this side of the ocean. What if…but did not have them.

I shared my regret with a friend while watching a hockey game, I don’t remember who was playing but I remember his remark when I said I wished I had recorded some of those stories.

“What? You didn’t write that down and you’re a writer?” he exclaimed, and then went on to explain he thought he was the only one with those regrets. Actually his verbiage was much more colourful and blaming but I edited some of that for space and to avoid a mature rating on our newspaper. The point is he was adamant, and when I told him of my intent for 2019, he clearly encouraged me.

I make a living helping people write their books and one of the things I tell them is, tell people you are going to write, they hold you to it.

This is it, I am telling you I am going to do it, and don’t worry I won’t bore you with an update every month but I will share the occasional story with you if that is alright.

Happy New Year, all the best in 2019.

The AgriPost

What about Coffee?

We farmers are sometimes a self-absorbed bunch. We like to complain that few people understand what we do, how we do it, and how hard it can be. Let’s flip that around. Ask yourself, “How much do I really know or understand about something as simple as my morning cup of coffee?”

New York author AJ Jacobs asked himself that and answered in his book, “Thanks a Thousand.” He also outlined his findings in a 15-minute TED talk called, “My journey to thank all the people responsible for my morning coffee.”

That simple idea is far from simplistic.

It took Jacobs months to find an answer as he travelled around the world and literally thanked over a thousand people. Along the way, he learned some important lessons.

The first is, “Look up.” He started by thanking the barista at his local coffee shop. He learned that people tended to treat her more like a vending machine than a human being. At times people yelled at her until she cried, including a nine-yearold who didn’t like the whipped cream design in her hot chocolate. Others just ignored her while staring at their phones and handing over their credit card. So Jacobs now tries to look up, make eye contact and smile, to acknowledge that he’s dealing with another person.

His second finding is, “Smell the roses.” Jacobs met with the man who selects which coffee gets served at his local coffee shop. He goes around the world to find the best beans, and he showed Jacobs how professionals taste coffee. They dip a spoon in and then take a cartoonishly loud slurp, to spray the coffee all over the mouth. That gets it into the taste buds that hid in the side of your cheeks, the roof of your mouth, and everywhere else.

Jacobs now does this with other food and drinks. He takes a moment to savour the textures and tastes, and holds on to them as long as possible. In a sense, that slows

Penner’s Points

time down, so life doesn’t go by in just one big blur.

Third, “Find the hidden By Rolf masterpieces all around you.” Penner One of the most interesting people on Jacob’s journey was an inventor, Doug Fleming, who came up with an that thought changes behavingenious design for a coffee- iour, but behaviour very often cup lid. Turns out that a bad changes our thought.” lid can ruin your coffee by Lastly, “Practice six degrees blocking the aroma, which is of gratitude.” Every time Jaa large part of the experience. cobs stopped to thank someFleming had an infectious pas- one, his act led to 100 other sion for solving this problem. people that in some small He eventually came up with way contributed to his mornan upside-down hexagon de- ing cup of coffee. He really sign that gets your nose right learned this lesson when he in there to maximize the ben- went to Colombia in person to efit of the aroma. These sorts thank the farmers who grow of masterpieces are all around the coffee beans. Out in the us and we never give them a middle of nowhere, in a small second thought or even notice mountain town with narrow, them. winding, cliff–side access Fourth, “Fake it till you feel roads, the farmers explained it.” Like many of us, Jacobs in great detail all of the difcan be a little grumpy in the ferent equipment and people morning. He admits that some they relied on from around of the people he contacted the world so they could also were quite annoyed at him. do their jobs.

They thought he was pulling In the end Jacobs realized some kind of scam or was it doesn’t take a village to nuts. This can be a bit of a make a cup of coffee, it takes downer. But then there were the world. And so it is with the people who were genu- everything. We are interconinely touched by the gesture. nected in ways we can’t even One women who did pest imagine. control in a warehouse where Sure it’s important for farmcoffee is stored said, “You just ers to tell their stories and made my day,” when she was raise awareness. But we can thanked for keeping the bugs be far more effective at doout of the coffee. ing that if we practice what Jacobs found that, even if we preach, and put some time he wasn’t in the mood to be and effort into thinking about thankful, when he forced and being grateful for all the himself to do it he eventu- things other people do for us ally became grateful for real. as well. A little reciprocity can He says, “So often we think go a long way.

Tell Your Story and Be Careful What They Ask For A topic that is a pet peeve of mine is the one about farmers needing to tell the story of farming wherever you go: my tagline in social media is telling the story of farming one story at a time - let me tell yours.

Recently, Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan Executive Director Clinton Monchuk said by recognizing those who keep doing outstanding work in educating the public; we inspire others to do likewise.

Monchuk encouraged farmers and ranchers to become more involved in telling their stories of agriculture. As part of its annual Farms at the Table Conference, Farm and Food Care Saskatch-

ewan named Sherri Grant, a Val Marie area rancher, as its 2018 Farm and Food Care Champion Award recipient in recognition of her efforts to educate consumers about agriculture.

“I think what it does is it encourages others to do the same. It stresses the importance of how we all need to get out there and make sure consumers understand what we’re doing,” said Monchuk.

“We’re in a state right now where less than three percent of the population has a direct tie to a farm or a ranch. So where are consumers getting their information? They’re getting it from other sources, so we need to make sure we’re active in being in that environment to share our stories, so consumers understand the truth of what we do on our farms.”

He recognized those who are doing it and encouraged others to be even more active and engaged in telling our story and talking to consumers about what we do.

Farmers can do this on Facebook or Twitter or at the local hockey game. “In many instances, people do not fully understand what we’re doing, and they do have questions so that open, transparent communication is just excellent to make sure we’re engaging with consumers,” he said.

On the other hand, Dr. John Patience, a Professor of Applied Swine Nutrition with Iowa State University said some of the demands placed by a well-meaning public on agriculture are counter-productive. This is where Monchuk’s suggestion of telling your real story on the farm to others who do not understand

what it is you are doing and why is important.

Dr. Patience said as the use of social media expands an expanding segment of the population is demanding a say in food production, and therefore food producers are facing pressure from an increasing number of directions. “Knowledge in the world took around 150 years to double back in the late 1700s, early 1800s. They’re projecting that the knowledge in the world will double in 73 days in 2020, so the pace in change is the big factor,” he said. “As people involved in food production and protein production, we have to pay attention to the legislators and what they see as being important.

“In particular, we have to pay attention to what consumers are asking for and

make sure that we’re providing them with the product that meets their needs. We have to listen to people who have an interest in the environment and animal welfare and so on because they also have a voice,” said Dr. Patience.

Agriculture has changed significantly in that more people want to have a voice in food production than in the past.

The frustration with that is that sometimes well-meaning people will ask the producers to do things for a particular purpose and really what they are asking for, will be counter-productive to that purpose.

“So we have to be a little bit careful, to be responsive, we have to pay attention, but we can’t just respond to every request, every statement because as well-meaning as they may be they may be vastly incorrect.”

The AgriPost

December 28, 2018

Former Ag Minister Ritz Critical of Trade Issues Facing Canada

After a year of retirement former Ag minister Gerry Ritz appreciates life and is doing a bit of consulting.

By Harry Siemens Former minister of agriculture Gerry Ritz recently sat down to lunch in Lloydminster, AB to talk about life after politics and life during politics while serving under the Harper government. After visiting for more than two hours, Ritz talked about how he is doing since resigning from sitting as an MP in opposition.

“Well, it’s taken a year of retirement to let me appreciate what I have available to me.

A lot of the contacts over the years in different countries, now that I’m doing a little bit of consulting work I’m able to call those people, and they take my call, which is phenomenal,” he said. “So I’m able to help out with people as they work out trade routes and regulatory problems in other countries, as well as here. I still see agriculture in Canada as one of the major drivers of this great country.

We’ve seen huge problems in the oil patch; now we’re seeing the auto sector leaping out of Ontario. I mean it’s just a cascading effect that nobody’s gotten a handle on yet. But through all of that, the strength of agricul-

Building on Open Farm Day Successes

By Les Kletke Ask Wendy Bulloch if she was happy with the success of 2018 and she bubbles with enthusiasm. “We had a great event, the weather was not the best, but we had a number of museums involved and we had a good representation of farms. It was a great event.”

Ask her about plans for the 2019 event and she turns the enthusiasm up a notch. “We are looking to expand, not only in the number of farms but in getting more industry involved.”

That is why she was at the Prairie Livestock Expo in Winnipeg with an Open Farm Day display promoting the event held in September.

Bulloch hopes to garner more industry and retail interest in Open Farm Day. “We want to get more of the industry involved, perhaps even the retail sector,” she said. “Open Farm Day is about explaining agriculture to people who don’t normally deal with it. They can visit farms but they can also learn about the industry from the people who supply goods

and services to the industry.”

Expanding farm representation in the program is one of her goals. “Always, but I have to be careful what I ask for,” she said with a chuckle.

“Each farm has to be visited before to make sure it is appropriate for the event. This is usually not a problem with the farm and what they want to showcase, just that there is a limited time for me to visit and they are all across the province.” She said that she has good representation from farms across the province but could use a few more from the southwest.

Many representative farms have annual an Open Farm Day event explained Bulloch. “Farmers report a very positive reaction to the event and enjoy showing people what they do,” she said. “We do have few drop out every year, some need a break, some might have a special event like a wedding or a family reunion that is their focus for the summer and they just don’t want to spread themselves to thin but most come back after a year or so.” She has some mem-

Wendy Bulloch has plans to expand Open Farm Day to more than farms.

bers that have been with the program since its inception in 2010.

She cites a nearly 80% return rate on a survey sent to farms involved asking them to evaluate the experience.

“People are happy to be involved with the program, and look forward to it,” said Bulloch. “The issue of public trust and awareness is continuing to grow among consumers and Open Farm Day is a great way to build that trust on an individual basis,” she said.

ture starts to come forward in spite of a lack of attention at the Cabinet-level anymore.

And I’m not political anymore, but I’m not apolitical either. And I look at that and think we’re coasting along, but agriculture’s strength is still the backbone of this great country.”

He agreed that what has and is happening with the oil patch is almost unforgivable. “Well and it’s unprecedented, it didn’t need to happen. Northern Gateway was okayed and good to go, and Liberals just came in and cancelled it. Then they put a tanker ban on only oil going out on the west coast. No problems with all the Saudi and Venezuelan and Algerian oil coming in on the east coast, that’s all okay,” said Ritz. “But for some reason the tankers on the west coast are taboo. I mean it’s that frustrating for people here, in that even if that pipeline got built and we got more product to the coast they couldn’t haul it away. So what are you going to do? Flush it into the ocean like they do with all the human waste coming out of Quebec? Oh, I, you shake your head.”

The former minister of Ag said he could not believe what’s happening to many of his friends that are one payment away from losing their house, and everything they’ve worked so hard for years, for absolutely no rational reason. “The world wants our energy. I mean you look at the differential price now, I saw a great thing on Facebook the other day, three grams of Trudeau’s new pot costs you more than a barrel of Canadian oil. How obscene is that?”

During the time the Harper government was in power, agricultural trade tripled he said. “Yes, those facts are there, it’s because we made it a priority. My mantra was marketplace, not mailbox if you’re looking for the government to send you a check don’t hold your breath. We’ll cover the crop insurance, the distortions in trade routes and things like that, and we had programs under the Growing Forward suite that delivered on that. But at the end of the day trade blossomed under us, it continues to hold its own, but we’ve got; now we’ve got problems in China with canola. We still don’t

have bone-in beef that was promised to us almost three years ago, Trudeau’s first trip everything was wonderful till they got to know him. We’ve got problems with pulses in India, with durum in Italy, with our major trading partner in the US on many levels, and those don’t get fixed overnight.”

Ritz took note of the carbon tax and the regulatory regime, the costs of electricity and energy affecting manufacturing jobs out of Ontario. “Doug Ford can’t turn it around; he’s only been there since June.

And the same thing with Canada CAPP, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Tim McMillan will show anyone who wants to see how $90 billion was slated but didn’t come to Canada,” said Ritz. “Plus that amount that has left Canada, escaped, and started to invest in other jurisdictions. So when you look at our competitiveness, it’s going to take a generation to get on top of this again, and probably ten years to win everybody’s confidence back to invest in this great country,” said Ritz.

December 28, 2018

The AgriPost

MPSG’s Farmer Resources Take Home Top Honours Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG) is honoured to announce that it is has received two extension awards from the American Society of Agronomy (ASA).

The farmer-led association’s Pulse Beat: The Science Edition won the ASA Extension Education Community Educational Award in the category of Publications: Circular, fact sheet, or brochure greater than 16 pages and the association’s Soybean Staging Guide & Maturity Guide and Dry Bean Growth Staging Guide won an ASA Extension Education Community Educational Award in the category of Publications: Circular, fact sheet, or brochure 16 pages or fewer.

“The development of high-quality extension materials for our farmer members is a priority for Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG),” said Francois Labelle, Executive Director of MPSG. “It’s quite an honour to be recognized by the ASA. It’s testament to our great team, past and present and the excellent direction we’ve received from the farmers that lead us.”

The awards were announced on November 7 in Baltimore, MD during a prestigious annual scientific conference that involves the ASA, the Crop Science Society of America and the Canadian Society of Agronomy. This year’s theme was Enhancing Productivity in a Changing Climate.

“We take pride in the resources we produce for our farmers,” said Laura Schmidt, MPSG’s Extension Coordinator. “It takes hard work and an unflinching dedication to quality to produce these materials. These publications are for farmers, and, at the end of the day, it is my hope that they access them and find them useful on their farms.”

MPSG publishes the annual Pulse Beat: The Science Edition every winter, and the association is always looking for new resource materials to produce that will benefit Manitoba’s pulse and soybean farmers. For more information go to manitobapulse.ca.

From left, holding the awards: MPSG Extension Coordinator Laura Schmidt, MPSG Production Specialist Cassandra Tkachuk and Kristen MacMillan, U of M/ MPSG applied soybean and pulse research agronomist (not pictured Laryssa Stevenson, former MPSG production specialist).

Photo by Ian Kirby

Management Vital in Today’s Farming

By Harry Siemens With increasing costs, rising interest rates, leveraging changing markets and Mother Nature, managing a farm today whether 1,000 acres or 10,000 is a bigger challenge than ever before.

MNP chartered accountancy recently held an insightful farm planning seminar in Miami, MB featuring Michael Poole from the Brandon office and Ryan Turner from the Portage la Prairie office.

Turner said today’s farmer must be a good manager because of tighter margins, higher risks, increased machinery and land costs. “While revenues have gone up so have expenses. And so that makes the margins tighter. And so people that understand the margins and their cash flow and how to manage their cash flow are the ones that are going to get bigger, quicker, and more successful,” said Turner. “So it’s not about operating a thousand-acre farm or a twenty thousand acre farm, it’s more about managing your cash flow and your operations so you can understand how you can make your next investment. And that’s what’s going to make you more money.”

He said it’s reinvesting in the right things and not always about new paint because sometimes that old equipment will get the farmer the same dollars per acre as the new piece of equipment. “And so you have to start balancing on what is more important.

That new piece of equipment or does the old one still work,” said Turner. “Will it generate you more money than what it costs you, and can you manage the cash flow to get through those hard times as well as managing the good times.”

Mike Poole, a tax specialist, tackled the question of leasing versus buying farm machinery. “Leasing actually, I think a lot of people look at it from a tax perspective.

But I don’t think there’s a ton of difference there from a tax perspective,” said Poole.

“For the most part, when you crunch the numbers between leasing or buying and you factor in all the different things, the lease might come out ahead, or the traditional financing might come out ahead but only by a small margin. It comes down to that cost of production per acre. Some farmers view the equipment as an asset worth owning. Other folks look at equipment as an annual cost; I’m going to lease it as a cost per acre. I think it becomes a personal type of a thing.”

In the next breath, Poole said the federal fall economic update would impact the lease versus buy scenario. A rule the Federal government is putting into place will be very favourable from a write-off perspective.

Previously in the first year when a farmer bought a combine or a tractor, that would go into the pool, a thirty per cent depreciation item, depreciate it half the first year, at 15 per cent. “Now a farmer will get a forty-five percent deduction in the first year a significant amount of deduction,” said Poole. “And so that in itself is going to put the traditional financing right on par with leasing. Because if you can deduct fortyfive percent in the first year and then thirty percent the next year and thirty percent the next year, you’re going to be pretty close to a, say a three year lease option from a tax perspective.”

Turner said, like it or not governments subsidize the AgriStability insurance program making it attractive for farmers to use. “The program works because we see

Ryan Turner of MNP in Portage la Prairie said today’s farmer must be a good manager because of tighter margins, higher risks, increased machinery and land costs.

Mike Poole, a tax specialist with MNP tackled the question of leasing versus buying farm machinery.

it works, but it is important to build your reference margins,” said Turner. “Get your qualifying income up and keep your qualifying expenditures down. And understand the program, so you know when you’re going to get a payout. The big part is to build reference years when you can. And then when there’s a disaster year, there’s going to be a larger amount of money available to you because your reference margins are large. So in a disaster year, there’s a bigger payout if there is a true disaster year.”

He said the cost of the program, at one to two dollars an acre is what their analysis shows making it a cheap form of insurance if the farmer understands the program. “If you don’t understand the program, just like everything, it’’ not worth it. If you understand the program and build it into your risk profile, then you can understand how it impacts your farm.”

The AgriPost

Making a Difference to the Future

By Les Kletke Tori Penner believes strongly that individuals can have an impact on the global scene. She wants people to shop locally and reduce their footprint on the world and at the same time provide a better income for the people who produce that

Tori Penner believes in shopping local and even established a Farmers Market on the parking lot of her family’s restaurant.

food.

Penner was one of four 4-H speakers at the Livestock Expo held in Winnipeg and in her presentation told the story of putting her beliefs into practice. Her family operates the Peppercorn Restaurant at Oakbank. They have made an effort to use local products in their offerings.

“We have made changes,” she said. “We are using locally made cheese, locally produced beef, and use local produce whenever possible. The items are more expensive but customers are willing to pay for the small increase.” While the family has taken to using locally produced food items it has also adopted a policy of buying the necessary process items from customers as close as possible.

“We cannot buy locally produced coffee, but we do by our coffee from a roaster in Winnipeg,” she said. “Spending the money closer to home provides a better income for local people and they are able to pay for the items that at first seem more expensive than others on the shelf.”

She has also taken the activity outside of the family restaurant and through the summer holds a regular farmers market on the parking lot. “People are concerned about the taste, the safety and the price of their food,” said Penner. “They are willing to pay a bit more if the first two criteria are met.”

Penner sees the movement as just the beginning. “Consumers are more mindful than ever of the food they are buying, and it is a trend that is going to continue,” she said. “Consumers are going to be more concerned about the waste of our food and about the transportation. They want to have less of a carbon impact.”

While she had learned the business side of agriculture and its impact on the economy she has inherited the love of agriculture and proclaims proudly to be a 4th generation 4-H member. The grade 12 student has been a member for 11 years. “I snuck in a year early,” she said with a smile. “The plans are to attend University in Ottawa next year and become a High School teacher.”

She left the audience with a challenge. “How will you make a difference in the future of our industry?”

4-H Student Presents at Livestock Expo

By Les Kletke It may be Missouri that owns the title of the Show Me State but Taylor Carlson had no problem taking this title into to Iowa. Carlson was one of the 4-H Students chosen to attend the World Food Day festivities this year, saying she was overwhelmed by the event and the quality of people attending.

“I had some preparation through talking with Alice [Rose] last year’s winner but it was still much more than I expected, and the quality of people that you meet is just so exciting,”

Taylor Carlson says a trip to World Food Day in Iowa made her more certain she wants to work in agriculture.

said Carlson. She was one of 4 presenters at this year’s Livestock Expo held at the Victoria Inn in mid-December.

Carlson said one of the highlights was the banquet which made a point of the food service and distribution throughout the world. “When you arrived you were handed a ticket and that told you which group you would be eating in. There were 3 groups and I was all right but my Mom who was also my chaperone got a ticket putting her in the middle class and while she got to eat, she had to each rice with her hands. Our group got to sit on a chair and have our supper on plates.”

Carlson is in grade 11 at Pilot Mound Collegiate and plans to attend Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alberta after graduation. “I am hoping to study Animal Science there,” she said.

“I am carrying a strong science component now and would like to work the area of technology. I like the opportunity to work with live animals.”

She would like to be in involved in the nutrition industry.

“I am hoping to study animal nutrition in the future but I am holding on to the contacts that I made this year in Iowa, at World Food Day because I am sure that I will call on some of them someday.”

She is involved with the family farm that has a herd or 30 purebred Shorthorns. “We had a Holstein feedlot until BSE,” she said. “Then when Dad was repopulating he decided to go with the Shorthorns because of their disposition, he wanted something that was quiet and easy to handle.”

While she does work with the family herd, she and her sister have begun to build their own stable of animals still under the Up the Creek farm name. She and her sister have built a small menagerie of animals that they will be taking to several fairs this year, the group includes fainting goats, some rabbits and some pigs.

December 28, 2018

4-H Project Turns into Ag Livestock Display

By Les Kletke Harleigh Carlson wants to share the message of agriculture with people who may not have the opportunity to experience it firsthand. She was one of the speakers at this year’s Livestock Expo in Winnipeg and told the story of how a request from the Manitoba Stampede turned into a 4-H project that will have long term impact.

“The Manitoba Stampede asked our family to put together a display about agriculture for the Stampede,” she said. “We wanted it to be more than a petting zoo, to give people a chance to see real animals, and understand the business.”

Carlson and her sister Taylor farm with their parents at Elm Creek and operate Up the Creek Shorthorns. The farm has a herd of 30 purebred Shorthorns and the girls have already begun their own herd operating under the same name.

“We put together the display and had over 1,200 people visit the display during the Stampede in July,” she said.

That response spurred her on to develop the project even further and make it bigger.

Currently the display travels in the family’s cattle trailer.

“But we are thinking of buying an even bigger trailer to accommodate the display.” She said they have several requests from Winnipeg schools for the hands on exhibit and she expects they will get more by spring time.

The sisters have been building their herd of Shorthorn cattle over the past couple of years and have added some fainting goats and a few pigs to the inventory.

The grade 9 student already has plans after graduation.

“I would like to go to Lakeland College in Alberta,” she said. “I want to study livestock and animal science.”

In the meantime she is concentrating on developing and expanding the display to take on the road this summer.

“We had a good time at the Stampede and talked to so many people explaining what we do on the farm,” she said. “I am looking forward to this summer and going to some schools in Winnipeg and back to the Stampede with our display. Who knows what other animals might be added to the summer tour to go along with the Shorthorn cattle, goats and pigs.”

Harleigh Carlson is already planning her summer of showing people the business of agriculture with her display that grew from a 4-H project.

December 28, 2018

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

Faraway Dry Cows Deserve Rest and Good Feed Some nutritionists advise elimination or reduction of faraway dry cow days, because they say it’s a lost opportunity to make more milk revenue or to reduce the cost of raising replacement animals.

I advocate that it’s a good time to let her rest. In addition, we should implement a specific feed and management program that goes a long way in helping her prepare for a healthy newborn calf and successful lactation.

It is my recommendation that once a dairy milking cow completes a 305-day lactation cycle, that she is properly dried-off and put into a 60-day dry cow program; brokendown into a faraway stage of 40 days, and followed by a 20/21-day close-up stage.

Adequate faraway time that I believe is necessary because; first, it allows a “resting” phase, which permits udder involution; where lost milk secretory cells in lactation, regenerate and increase in number. Second, it allows the rumen to rebound, where health tissue lining and muscle tone are restored. Last, the first 40 days heals internal organs, such as the liver, which was likely damaged by high grain and fat-enriched diets and the metabolic demands of high milk production.

Another value of a good faraway dry cow period is we can assess her nutritional status immediately after months of lactation, which could have positive or negative consequences when she re-enters the milk-line. This means, a dairy cow should be brought

into dry period with a body condition score (BCS) at 3.0 – 3.5 (1 = thin, and 5 = fat).

And, it should be maintained for the next 60 days.

The faraway dry period might be seen as an opportunity to increase the plane of nutrition on the thinner cows and improve their BCS, but the best time to do so was really back in late-lactation.

That’s because, lactating dairy cows are 25% more efficient in building up body-fat than compared to the faraway or close-up dry cow period.

Furthermore, there is always the danger of overconditioning the faraway dry cows, which can lead to many metabolic problems such as fatty liver syndrome in early lactation.

In order to maintain such optimum BCS in faraway dry cows as well as support healthy growth of their fetus (70% of its growth occurs; a faraway dry cow should consume 1.8 – 2.2% of her bodyweight (dm, basis) of well-balanced feed made up mostly of bulky and good quality grass-type forages.

The whole diet should then supply about 14 – 16 Mcal of dietary energy (or TDN = 60 – 62%), 13 – 14% crude protein, complimented by 0.50% calcium, 0.30% phosphorus, 0.5% salt and trace-minerals (copper, zinc, selenium) and vitamins (A = 100,000, D = 3,000 and E = 1000 iu/head).

Lastly, 10 g per head per day of commercial yeast should be included.

In the last few months, I have put together many overwintering faraway dry cow feeding programs. Three such faraway dry cow diets (‘as fed, basis, dmi - parentheses) are listed in the chart below.

One should acknowledge that diets A and B are fed to faraway dry cows housed in an open drylot (with poll-barn shelters) or an unheated barn, respectively. Therefore, it is important to add more dietary energy to these two diets during cold-winter snaps.

The general rule that I use is: For every 1 °C drop in temperature below 0 °C, the faraway dry cows’ TDN energy maintenance requirements

are increased by about 2%.

This means that a few extra pounds of DDGS or barley should be added.

Regardless of these three or any particular faraway dry cow diets, fresh clean water should be provided to animals at all times. Good water consumption among all faraway dry cows not only promotes good forage intake, but the digestibility of feed in the cow’s rumen, which in turn helps maintain optimum body condition.

Meeting such nutritional needs of faraway dry cows is not difficult as long as we have sufficient inventory of good quality forages, concentrates and other feed ingredients. I have found that these successful programs are the ones that best match what nutrients (and management) that faraway dry cows need and easily dovetails into those of the later close-up dry cows.

*TDN ranged from 61- 63.5% and 13.0 – 13.5% protein.

Second Phase of Dairy Farm Investment Program Announced Canada’s dairy sector is vital to the economy, adding over $20 billion in 2017 and directly creating over 40,000 jobs and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs indirectly, particularly in rural Canadian communities.

Canadian dairy farmers know the importance of ensuring their operations remain modern and competitive so they can continue to get their high-quality products to kitchen tables across Canada. The Government of Canada is supporting dairy farmers as they find new ways to improve productivity and efficiency in their operations.

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay announced that

starting January 7, 2019, requests for funding will be accepted under the second and final phase of the $250-million Dairy Farm Investment Program. Dairy farmers will have until February 8, 2019, to apply for Phase II funding, valued at $98 million.

The program will now have a two-stage application process involving a preselection step, which, if an applicant is selected, will be followed by the submission of a full application. This new process will give all applicants an equal opportunity of being selected for funding. Projects will be eligible for a contribution of up to $100,000. Between 1,000 1,500 projects are expected to be funded in Phase II. A

number of changes to Phase II of the Dairy Farm Investment Program were developed following consultations with industry and feedback from farmers.

The Dairy Farm Investment Program, originally launched in August 2017, aims to help Canadian cow’s milk producers improve productivity through upgrades to their barn technology and equipment. Of the 11,000 dairy farms in Canada, over 2,500 applied to the program under Phase I. Over 1,900 projects were funded, with an average of over $68,000 per project.

Approximately 75% of applicants were approved for funding. Projects received funding for upgrades such as automatic feeding systems,

robotic milking systems, and herd management equipment.

The Government has also announced the formation of new working groups to develop mitigation strategies to fully and fairly support farmers and processors to help them adjust to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

In order to ensure as many farms as possible are able to benefit from this initiative, for the second intake period of the program, priority will be given to farms that have not already received funding.

December 28, 2018

Nitrogen a Limiting Factor for Crops with Implications for the Environment Nitrogen is essential for crop growth, but in excess, it can harm the environment. Nitrogen is also the most limiting nutrient for crop production in Canada and so is usually applied in the largest quantities compared to other elements. Therefore, understanding how to manage it is important to both farmers and those concerned about the environment.

Dr. Mervin St. Luce, Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is advancing our knowledge of soil nitrogen cycling and plant nutrient uptake mechanisms in order to develop site- and crop-specific nitrogen management guidelines. With these science-based tools, farmers can make better-informed decisions on how best to manage their nitrogen fertilizer utilization. “My research aims to improve nitrogen use efficiency by matching crop nitrogen demand with nitrogen supply from soil, from fertilizer added, from crop residue decomposition, and biological fixation by legumes,” explained St. Luce.

Different plant species require different amounts of nitrogen to obtain the greatest potential yield.

Dr. St. Luce, along with colleagues from across Canada, has obtained research funding through the Diverse Field Crops and the Canola Agri-Science Clusters of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership for work on advancing our knowledge of nitrogen use efficiency in plants.

The nitrogen requirement versus yield relationship is determined through research trials and provided to producers as a nitrogen response curve. As new high-yielding varieties of well-studied crops are released, such as wheat and canola, new response curves need to be determined.

However, for less common (diverse) crops, including camelina and sunflower, much less is known about the relationship between nitrogen requirements and peak yield potential, so more research is needed to determine the most efficient use of nitrogen fertilizer.

Teaming up with Dr. Bao-Luo Ma of the Ottawa Research and Development Centre, Dr. St. Luce is co-leading a project that will provide canola producers with a complete information guide of site-specific nitrogen management practices for different agri-ecozones.

This project will investigate the critical roles of root architecture in nitrogen absorption, root anchorage strength (involved in lodging resistance) and trait variations. At the same time, Dr. St. Luce and Dr. Ma will be testing soil and plant diagnostic tools used in assessing nitrogen sufficiency.

Studies are also looking at how pulse crops, such as field peas, chickpeas, lentils and beans that are able to “fix”, add back nitrogen in the soil and play into the nitrogen cycle.

Perhaps even more important than the type of crop grown, is the influence of agricultural management and other human activities. “From the way nitrogen fertilizer is applied, to the form and rate at which it is applied, to the treatment of crop residue, such as straw and chaff left after the crop is harvested, to the choice of herbicides or whether to use organic cropping methods, the farming practices chosen have a big impact on nitrogen,” said Dr. St. Luce.

One way to study how nitrogen moves through the crop and soil is by using Nitrogen-15 isotopes as a tracer. In partnership with other AAFC scientists, Dr. St. Luce is using this technique to simultaneously trace and accurately quantify nitrogen derived from above-ground and below-ground crop residues left in the field, as well as from nitrogen fertilizer applied to crops.

This will help to quantify the amount of nitrogen a farmer should expect in the soil after growing a pulse and how long it will be there, as well as a comparison of leaving or not leaving pulse crop residues on the ground. Additionally, results from this study will provide a better understanding of the fate of nitrogen fertilizer applied to crops with respect to the cropping system and application rate.

These studies and others will help to develop best management practices that farmers can use to increase grain production, nitrogen use efficiency and minimize negative impacts on the environment.

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December 28, 2018

The AgriPost

New Crop Missions Tackle Difficult Durum Markets

By Scott Hepworth The Canadian Wheat New Crop Missions 2018 are well underway. These are missions organized and coordinated through three organizations, Cereals Canada, Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) and the Canadian Grain Commission. They take place over six weeks in November and December and include missions to 17 of our top markets for wheat and durum. I feel honoured to be

one of the farmers who will be representing all western Canadian farmers during these missions.

I am currently part of the delegation that is focused on Canada’s leading durum markets including Morocco, Algeria and Italy. It is not an easy time for durum growers today, with durum prices well below the cost of production.

The primary goal of the missions is to inform our top customers about the quality of the 2018 harvest and how they can expect Canadian wheat and durum to perform in their mills, bakeries and pasta, couscous and Asian noodle plants. The missions are also about maintaining relationships and dialog with customers. These relationships, which are important during times of normal trade, become even more critical when issues arise that impede the free flow of agricultural commodities.

Canadian exports of durum account for approximately 50% of the world’s durum trade. So, when the demand for Canadian exports is down the world price follows. And demand is down in two of our leading markets – Italy and Algeria. In Italy we are seeing the impact of the protectionist country of origin labelling laws and the campaign against Canadian durum be-

ing run by the Italian farm group Coldiretti. Algeria has focused on their larger than normal domestic crop to serve their domestic market but this durum is not of the same quality as Canadian.

Saskatchewan produces approximately 80 percent of the durum grown in Canada, so the participation of a Saskatchewan farmer is a natural fit. The goal of our trip is to re-enforce the value of Canadian durum in markets that are not buying like they have in the past and to support customers, like Morocco, who remain loyal customers.

This is the first year Sask Wheat has attended the missions and I am looking forward to telling a Saskatchewan grain farmer’s story to our customers.

The missions give farmers the opportunity to speak directly to our customers, letting them know how the decisions we make on our farms maintains the Canadian brand of clean, consistent, quality wheat.

When the mission visits Italy we will be meeting with customers one-on-one to help restore the free flow of trade in this important durum market. We will also be meeting with farm groups in Italy who support sciencebased rules of trade. The issue of Italian country of origin labelling for pasta will

be discussed as will Italian concerns about pesticide residues. On the latter issue, farmers can do a great deal to keep markets open by following the best management practices to limit residues and mycotoxins.

I will also have the opportunity to talk about the sustainability of modern Canadian agriculture. Canadian farmers have a good story to tell. Modern agricultural practices are reducing fuel use, improving soil health, reducing erosion, sequestering carbon and allowing us to produce crops even in drought conditions. At the same time, we are increasing the quality of the crop we deliver into international markets.

The new crop missions include the entire Canadian value chain. The Canadian industry cooperating in customer support and development efforts. The voice of farmers is a critical component of the presentations.

The missions also allow farmers to hear questions and concerns from customers’ first-hand. This is extremely important, especially in a growing protectionist trade environment.

Scott Hepworth is the ViceChair of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, and a 4th generation producer on his family farm near Assiniboia, SK.

He’s Making a List And checking it twice. Naughty or nice, where do you stack up with your farm for 2018 and looking ahead to 2019? Let’s find out: Didn’t do your 2018 cost of production last winter?

Naughty.

Made soybean sales prior to the trade war? Nice.

Didn’t sell quite enough canola over $11/bu?

Naughty.

Didn’t sell wheat for less than $7/bu? Nice.

Made impulse decisions to sell without knowing your numbers? Naughty.

Already done your 2019 cost of production estimates? Nice.

Started some 2019 selling at profitable levels? Nice.

Hired IntelliFARM to help you not be on the naughty list? Very nice!

Of course, I’m partially joking about these things, but on the other hand, these are very real things we’ve faced through the past 12 months. We are not going to get every decision right or hit the highs with all our recommendations, but our goal is to strategically help clients make better, more informed decisions and improve the profitability of their operations.

We’ve had the benefit of two years of very good yields in southern MB, along with good prices, to make good money in farming. Being strategic about these marketing decisions is what turns good farm managers into great farm managers though. When you can base your decision on numbers and remove the emotion, you can truly know where you stand (although this is easier said than done).

There are many ways and options to do grain marketing, and soybeans for 2018 was a situation where we used a multitude of pricing mechanisms, more than we’ve typically used in any given year. Back in February and March when new crop futures were running $10.25 – $10.50/bu, but basis levels were poor, we did futures first contracts locking in those high futures and waited for basis levels to improve.

Once basis levels got to just over historical averages (~$1.30 – $1.40/bu), we locked in the basis which gave us $11.50/bu net prices.

At the same time, buyers did not have much coverage for new crop soybean sales, so flat prices were pushed higher and we sold more beans for $11.75 – $12/bu at that point. With the dry growing season, this is where we put sales on hold until we had a better idea on what yields would be. Turns out this was a good idea, as soybean yields were poor relative to average.

In October, basis levels went to absolutely sky-high levels ($2.30/bu), and so we added to our sales on basis only, waiting for a pop or rally in futures before pricing. We finally got that opportunity after the G20 summit, and priced these contracts out for $11.50/bu giving us an overall average soybean price of $11.68/bu. The only unfortunate part is that we didn’t have more to sell!

There are always opportunities for good grain marketing, but sometimes it means looking at different ideas than you may be used to doing. All of us at IntelliFARM hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year!

Brian Voth is the President of IntelliFARM Inc, working with farms to create customized grain marketing plans and carrying them out. For more information visit intellifarm.ca or call 204-324-3669.

The AgriPost

December 28, 2018

11

Farm Woman and Producer of Top Cooking Show

By Joan Airey Donalee Jones has been a television producer for fifteen years. Both her and her husband grew up on farms in south western Manitoba. In 2008 they decided to leave their careers in the city to return to his family farm near Cartwright. For the last ten years they have been farming side by side with his parents. They grow two thousand acres of grains, oil seeds and pulses while raising their three children. Their children are the fifth generation of Mowbrays to be raised on their century old family farm.

Their children are Abby who is eight, Norah is seven and Samuel is a year and a half.

“After returning to the farm I was still able to do a little freelance production work, but I really was trying to focus on what I considered to be my two main jobs. Number one as a Mom and number two, a farmer,” said Jones.

“Producing was a nice sideline. I could do to bring in a little off-farm income during the winter. I hadn’t considered going back to work fulltime, but in 2015 one of my colleagues from Frank Digital, approached me about a job with Great Tastes of Manitoba, and it was the first time I seriously considered returning to television.”

Jones not only produces the show but tests every recipe and feeds them to her family before show production.

Her children enjoy rating and ranking the recipes then love watching the show which brings back fond memories of when they shared the dish with other people.

“Although sometimes the days are long and finding a balance between mom, farmer, community volunteer and producer is difficult. This job feels as though it was made for me,” said Jones. “As the senior producer of Great Tastes of Manitoba I get to help promote an industry that I love, to help share our stories with consumers, test new recipes, and to enjoy great food while I engage my technical skills and training as a producer. The production schedule works around our farming season.”

Great Tastes of Manitoba was established in 1991 a brainchild of the promotion representatives from the

marketing boards and industry associations at the time and coordinated by Manitoba Agriculture explained Jones. “Our goal is to showcase local foods and help Manitoba consumers understand where their food comes from so they have confidence in the abundance of safe, nutritious accessible food available in our province,” she said. “Manitoba is the only province with an ongoing partnership between various commodity groups to produce a food focused show.

Recipes are developed to be simple, convenient, wholesome and delicious, encouraging viewers to incorporate these local ingredients into their everyday meals.”

Great Tastes of Manitoba is watched by twenty-seven thousand Manitobans each week with positive messages about food and farming. It is the top-ranked cooking show in Manitoba reaching ninety-seven percent of the province.

“Our websites archive of recipes is a one-stop shop for Manitoba cooks,” said Jones. “We feature recipes for all occasions, from every day meals to elevated entertaining, main courses to desserts. All recipes have been triple tested to make sure they work. Surveys found sixty-five percent of viewers have actually cooked something they saw on the show and ninety-three percent were happy with the results.”

Great Tastes of Manitoba airs Saturdays at 6:30 pm on CTV. Full episodes are also available on demand on YouTube, and all the recipes and parings with alcoholic drinks can be found at greattastesmb.ca. Supporters can also follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest where they have even more shareable content including recipes and information on Manitoba Foods and Manitoba Farms.

Donalee Jones addresses Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference in Winkler sharing her life on the farm and as the producer of Great Tastes of Manitoba.

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December 28, 2018

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

Despite Challenges Manitoba’s Growing Projects Had Good Yields

Members of the Pembina growing project in Manitou dedicated this season to Ivan Bird, who was an active member of the project until his passing earlier this year.

Photo by Gordon Janzen

By Shaylyn McMahon Every year around harvest, George Klassen would put out the call and see who could come help harvest the Pembina growing project field near Manitou.

It isn’t always an easy ask when many area farmers are busy harvesting their own fields.

But every year, Manitou farmer Ivan Bird was there.

“Ivan was a doer,” said Klassen, who coordinates the growing project. “He would drop everything and come help harvest the growing project field no matter what.”

When Ivan passed away this spring, Klassen and other growing project members wanted to honour his commitment to helping hungry people overseas. “We dedicated the whole year to him,” said Klassen. “Almost his whole family came out to the harvest day, his two boys brought combines, and we had a big banner honouring his life and contribution.”

The hot and dry weather experienced by many farms in Manitou didn’t stop volunteers from coming to help.

Six combines, four grains trucks and 11 supporting farm families came to help pitch in, provide support, and honour Ivan.

For Klassen, it’s fitting that the 92 acres of wheat dedicated to Ivan will have a profound impact on the lives of hungry people overseas.

“Somehow the wheat came through as the star this year,” he said. “Despite the dry weather and lack of moisture, it was a bumper crop.”

Good to decent yields despite challenging weather was a common theme for growing projects across the province, said Manitoba regional representative Gordon Janzen. “The grain harvests that happened especially in August yielded better than many farmers expected,” he said. “What struck me was that at the time of seeding, a lot of growers were just saying how bone dry it was.

Then there was a fortunate amount of rain that came, not a lot, but a timely enough rain for a crop.”

This rang true for the Common Ground growing project’s wheat in the RosenfeldAltona area. “We were very surprised by the wheat yields that many of us got in the area,” said project coordinator Kevin Nickel, noting the project’s 300 acres of wheat yielded 47 bushels an acre.

No matter the yield, Nickel said at the end of the day, what matters is that less people will go hungry. “We have the equipment, we can generally make the time, and we can leverage the tools at our disposable to make a sizeable contribution to the cause,” he said.

Further north close to the Saskatchewan border, it was a tale of two harvests for the Fields of Jubilee grow-

ing project near Swan River.

Project members planted a 105-acre field of wheat and a 90-acre field of canola this year. “The wheat was great,” said project secretary Wayne Alford. “It was seeded early, they harvested on August 20, and it did 80 bushels per acre. We took it to the elevator, sold it, and everything was just clicking.”

Then the rain came. “We swathed the canola on September 3 and were thinking we’d get to that before too long, but it just rained and it rained and it rained some more.”

When the canola harvest finally took place on October 12, it barred few similarities to the project’s wheat harvest. “The canola was tough, we plugged one of the combines and had to get the mechanic from the dealership out to the field to help us get going again,” said Alford with a laugh. “For the wheat harvest everyone was wearing sunscreen and it was hot, but for this harvest we had our insulated coveralls and were freezing to death.”

Despite this, Alford said they were pleased with the canola’s yield of 44 bushels.

He was also pleased when they didn’t have any trouble finding a buyer. “There was no shortage of tough canola to buy, but Bunge Harrowby was kind enough to buy ours because they knew it was going toward the Foodgrains Bank,” he said.

The BMW (Boissevain-Morton-Whitewater) growing project also experienced a few challenges with their canola field this year.

The project planted 290 acres in late May. In mid-June, the field was hit by a hailstorm.

Thankfully, the hail didn’t damage the roots of the canola, so the crop was able to regrow.

As soon as the crop was standing tall again, a cold spell came through the area. “That delayed harvest for about a month,” said project coordinator Mitch Bohrn. “Then as soon as we had a nice day, we had to get it done.”

“We had some pretty challenging weather overall, but at the end of the day it didn’t seem to affect the yield,” said Bohrn. In fact, Bohrn said he would consider the canola a bumper crop.

“We were very happy with it,” he said. “It’ll be a good donation for the Foodgrains Bank.”

In a year where many Manitoban farmers experienced tough harvest conditions, dry weather, poor rainfall, early snow, it was humbling to see so many come together and support their community growing projects, said Janzen.

“It can be hard for farmers to make time to harvest a growing project field when a good chunk of their own crops are still on the field,” he said. “But once again we see how generous Manitoba agriculture and rural communities are.”

Shaylyn McMahon is a Communications Officer with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

December 28, 2018

21

Beef Producers and Veterinarians Working on EU Marketplace Opportunity Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) and the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) are working to ensure that local producers who wish to see their beef potentially enter the European Union (EU) market can meet the EU beef production criteria related to the use of growth enhancing products.

“Through the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Canada has the tremendous opportunity to ship as much as 50,000 tonnes of beef to Europe annually,” explained Manitoba Beef Producers President Tom Teichroeb.

“However, interested cow-calf producers and feedlot operations must adhere to the Canadian Program for Certifying Freedom from Growth Enhancing Products (GEPs) for Export of Beef to the EU, and have their compliance certified by an approved veterinarian.”

That certification process begins with having a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) approved veterinarian inspect interested operations and complete necessary compliance paperwork. There are a few veterinarians based in, or working in Manitoba, who are CFIA approved vets for the EU GEP Free Program.

“MBP is working with the MVMA to seek out and make available the names of Manitoba vets who have completed the CFIA training and who can assist local producers and feedlot operations to become certified,” said MBP General Manager Brian Lemon. “MBP will be making these names available to interested producers and feedlot operations so they can meet the requirements for that beef to enter the EU market.”

“We have Manitoba veterinarians who have received the needed training through the CFIA and we are pleased to work with MBP to help identify the vets,” said Andrea Lear, Executive Director of the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association. “We know there are Manitoba producers who want to participate in the program and to be able to access the services of a local vet in order to do so.”

Locally, True North Foods is working to achieve certification to ship beef into the EU market. “Growing our market access is so valuable. With CETA, qualifying Manitoba beef should be able to enter the EU marketplace, and that is very exciting,” said Calvin Vaags, President and CEO of True North Foods. “There are already a lot of local producers who are not using hormones, so I can see them looking into and participating in the program so that our high-quality local beef can end up in the hands of European consumers.”

To see the list of Manitoba vets who can certify beef operations as meeting the criteria to enter the EU market, contact the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association at (204) 832-1276 or 1-866-338-6862.

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December 28, 2018

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

Succession Planning Starts with the Decisions to Do So

By Harry Siemens Mike Poole, a tax specialist with MNP, told farmers at a recent seminar in Miami, MB that there are many good provisions in the Income Tax Act. Requirements that can assist with the transition from parents to the next generation, or if the future generations are not interested, the way that parents can convert that value into retirement, and how to do that tax efficiently.

“And while a lot of times it doesn’t feel like the Income Tax Act is trying to do us a lot of favours, in this case, as long as you know about these options that you have available, and you give yourself enough time to implement them, there are significant tax savings, hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax savings when you’re talking about the value that farms have gotten to over the last decade,” said Poole. “And so when you’re talking about million-dollar farms, $10 million farms, the tax matters. The key points are the importance of having a plan. Don’t put your head in the sand. They can be uncomfortable conversations with the next generation, the non-farming children, conversations with mom and dad about when are you going to slow down. But they’re important conversations.”

He said without that start, no one can formulate a plan. “And then I can use my knowledge of the Income Tax Act to help get you there, keeping the tax bill as low as we can. And ultimately, the way I look at that is, if we’re paying less in tax, that’s more value left in the farm,” said Poole. “It’s more for the next generation because by and large, I think what mom and dad and the kids want, is that the farm carries on for the next generation and the next generation. There’s a lot of, I think, responsibility there because we’re talking about multi-generational farms, a lot of people, a lot of sweat and effort has gone into them. So we should be careful with these and treat them with respect, and make sure that we’re doing what’s right for mom and dad so that they can retire, but also do what’s right for the next generation so they can survive and the farm can survive into the future.”

He said doing the plan and then working the program means the next generation does not need to get more financing, sell that quarter section in the family for 80 years. “We can make it work, but the key is, you have to give yourself and your planners enough time so that you can take advantage of these aspects of the Income Tax Act,” said Poole.

While there are no real percentages as to how many people are coming in to start planning earlier, he feels strongly about the ones that do make the effort. Even coming to presentations is an excellent first step he said. “Gets people talking, gets people thinking about it. Those folks are going to have a way better transition than the ones where mom and dad say, they’ll find out or they’ll get it when we’re gone,” said Poole.

“I’ve heard people say that, and that can lead to, not only a negative tax effect, it can be hard on the family. Because when you’ve got a farming child and non-farming children, and they don’t understand what mom and dad’s wishes were, and if the only time they’re finding is when they read the will when mom and dad are gone, when emotions are high, it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Poole. “You know kids, siblings not talking to each other anymore, things like that, so that’s the worst thing that can happen. The tax is bad, but it’s that impact that is the worst thing.”

“So being open and honest, get around the kitchen table, start that conversation. As hard as some of those topics might be, that is absolute job number one, and go from there,” Poole added.

December 28, 2018

23

The Main Question: Is Your Food Safe?

By Les Kletke Kristen Marwychuk knows firsthand about the questions consumers have about the production of their food. She is the Coordinator of the Bruce D Campbell Farm at Food Discovery Centre at the University of Manitoba.

“Most of the time it is simple questions,” she said. “People want information, and they don’t need it from a rock star or a sports celebrity.” She relates the story that when asking the question about whom they want their information from, one reply was ‘anyone, you will do’.”

The questions may be simple but that does not mean they can be easily dismissed. She said it is import to consider who is asking the question and what their frame of reference might be.

“We are a unique faculty in that we have windows to the hog barn and the new dairy facility,” she said. “We spend some of our time explaining that we are not a faculty that conducts animal’s research but rather working on production practices for the animals.” Matwychuk was one of the presenters at this year’s Livestock Expo held in Winnipeg December 12.

Since opening in 2011 the Discovery Centre has hosted almost 42,000 visitors including 10,000 student teachers. “We have hosted visitors from grade 3 to 11 with the largest component being Grade 10 because they have a segment on food production in their curriculum,” she said. Of the visitors to the Center 67% have shown concern about rising food costs with 63% raising the issue about having access to healthy food at affordable prices.

An almost equal number, 58% have raised the issue of their food being produced in a humane manner.

A new issue on the list of concerns is food safety from outside the country, but an even greater concern for her is a new issue.

“This past year for the first time we saw a drop in the percentage of people who said they trust how their food is being produced to be safe.”

“With only 2% of the population being involved in farming and people never having been hungry this is a real concern,” she

Visitors to the U of M Discovery Centre want to know their food is safe and humanely produced said Kristen Marwychuk who hosted students, teachers and the public.

said. “We have to be concerned about where people are getting their information and how reliable it is.”

Her research shows that 12% of people listed google as their main source of information and a nearly equal amount listed websites. “We have to do a better job of informing people about the safety of production of food in this country,” said Marwychuk.

A Family Tradition in Agriculture

By Les Kletke Rosemund Ragetli does not live on a farm; she lives in Winnipeg’s west end. Living in the city does not stop her from being passionate about agriculture though. Ragetli was one of four 4-H members chosen to present at this year Livestock Expo in Winnipeg.

Her family moved from rural British Columbia to Westwood when she was a youngster and when she reached the age she was eligible for 4-H her mother found a club that she could join.

“My older siblings had been in the program in BC and Mom thought it important so she found the Headingly Club that I could join,” she said.

“I can’t get too involved with the livestock projects but I have done a number of different projects.”

In her talk Ragetli outlined the contribution made by agriculture stating that the industry put 26.7 billion dollars into the country’s economy.

She concentrated on canola a Canadian made crop that Rosemund Ragetli said agriculture is has zero waste. “44% of the a tradition in her family despite living seed is used for oil while the in Winnipeg.

remaining 56% is high protein meal for the livestock industry.”

She then went on to say that her grandfather who had worked with the inventor of Canola spent most of his career developing fruit trees at Ag Canada’s Vancouver station.

Ragetli is passionate about agriculture and spreading the message of its contribution. Earlier this year she was chosen as one of the Young Speakers for Agriculture and travelled to The Royal Winter Fair in Toronto to speak at the national competition.

In her talk at the Livestock Expo she did not shy away from the difficult issues outlining how trade issues may appear as a threat to the Canadian dairy industry but that was not a reason for the demise of the industry.

While she has not decided on what she will do after high school graduation, this grade 11 student maintains a strong science program to keep her study options open. “I like writing and speaking about agriculture,” she said. “I would like to do something about the amount of food waste in Canada.”

For now the industry has a strong advocate in Ragetli as she carries the message of Canadian agriculture’s economic contribution forward. She sees that social media could be one of the intustry’s biggest advocates rather than a threat if the right information is provide to people, “Who want to know their food is produced in a safe and humane manner.”

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December 28, 2018

The AgriPost

Ingenuity and Internet Helps with Tractor Restoration

By Les Kletke “I saw the tractor and it looked like it needed some care,” said Henry Penner about his 1948 Oliver. “I had thought about restoring a tractor and said it would be an Oliver, so this one came along and I bought it.” The tractor was almost in the family already in that it was owned by his son-in-law’s grandfather.

Like so many Oliver’s the side sheet metal was gone.

Most often it was removed by the farmer on the first hot dusty day the tractor was working and put in the machine shed only to be driven over or bent beyond repair a

few months later. Penner was in luck. “I saw that there was one at an auction sale near Rosenfeld and I went to the sale with the intent of buying it. I did.” he said. “There was another one that was completely dissembled and I regret now buying that one, but who knows if it was all there.” He acquired all the parts for his restoration and then began in the winter of 2013-14 spending two winters restoring it.

Penner grew up in Reinland on a dairy farm and said while not a great mechanic his dad loved the work and felt that, “If something had been built

by human hands it could be repaired by human hands.

So he was willing to try anything. I learned that approach from him.”

He said the internet is a great benefit to restoration projects.

“I am glad for the time I spent learning to use the computer, it was a great help and you can find just about any part on the internet to restore a tractor,” said Penner. He cites ordering a cork float for the carbonator and is sure that the envelope weighed more than the float but he was able to get it in a few days.

He said when he saw the 1948 Oliver 60 with the

Henry Penner assembled all the parts before starting on the restoration of his 1948 Oliver 60.

adjustable front end he thought it must be a bit of a rarity and that further enticed him to the project.

“That and my Dad who had been a John Deer guy switched to Oliver and Cockshutt in his later years and always said he should have done it sooner,” said Penner.

He has three Coskshutts a 20, 40 and 50 in his shed that are waiting his attention, as well as two more Oliver’s, a 55 and an 80.

“The shed is never too big,” he said. “But if I had more room I would just have more tractors.”

First Manitoba Hard Apple Cider Launches in December

By Joan Airey Burwalde Juice Company is located near Winkler, Manitoba. Entrepreneur Marcus Wiebe started making apple cider two years ago when he realized many Manitoba apples were going to waste. The company also customs press apples into delicious fresh cider.

“We press all varieties of Manitoba apples, generally making a blend for the apple cider we sell on store shelves. We are experimenting with some varietal ciders, we make one limited Kerr apple cider, but we generally blend,” said Wiebe.

“My dad sold the vegetable portion of the farm in 2000 and I bought it back in 2014. We grow sweet peas, sweet corn, green and yellow beans. We also have a small orchard and buy apples from across the province to make cider,” said Wiebe. “I market all my veggies to stores. Nothing is sold to big chain stores and I sell mostly to market garden stores in Winnipeg and surrounding areas. I supply the corn and apples for the Corn and Apple Festival in Morden as well as having a small market garden stand between Winkler and Morden.”

Wiebe said there are a couple of apple exceptions that they cannot use to make cider. “We cannot press apples that have been on the ground. Ground apples may be contaminated with bacteria E-coli which may be found in animal droppings and in leaf litter on the ground,” explained Wiebe. “We cannot press apples that are bruised, cut, dirty or contain leaf litter, twigs or debris. Apples have to be firm for best results. Juice yields will be lower on overripe apples.”

“Those wanting apples pressed must check the website for available press dates. You can drop your apples off at one of the drop-off locations the day before press day and your apple cider will be available for next day pick-up,” said Wiebe on the service they provide to their customers.

He noted that fresh cider can be refrigerated for ten days or kept frozen for up to a year. Once thawed, the cider can keep in the fridge for ten days and it is excellent either as hot or cold beverage.

The Wiebe’s sell their regular apple cider at St. Norbert Farmers Market from August until Christmas. It is also available from Crampton’s Market, St Leon Garden’s, Petrakso’s and Tall Grass Prairie at Winnipeg. In Winkler it is available at Fruit and More Store. White Cap and Coffee Culture make a hot cider with Burwalde Juice Co. Cider as well.

In his busy season Wiebe hires three seasonal workers.

All year round his parents help him including promoting his apple cider at events like the Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference.

They live in the yard his great-great-great grandfather homesteaded in 1888 on Dead Horse Creek. Thus the name “Dead Horse Hard Cider” a new product Wiebe will launch on the market this month in liquor Marts across Manitoba. Wiebe’s will be the first Prairie Hard Cider on the market.

For more information their website is burwaldejuice.com.

Edna Wiebe talks with Manitoba Farm Women Conference attendees at Winkler about Burwalde apple cider, a product that her son started producing two years ago.

The AgriPost

New Perennial Grain Research to Help with Extending Grazing

By Les Kletke Emma McGeough outlined her findings for a recent study of extended grazing at the recent Prairie Livestock Expo in Winnipeg and anyone who left the room without more questions than when they entered was not paying attention.

The extra questions did not come from her lack of information but rather the opposite. The information had producers wondering if extended grazing was for them and which crops they should use in a program if they decide to implement that practice on their farm.

McGeough is a researcher at the University of Manitoba and outlined a study she has been involved with. The first question she answered was why extended grazing? “The first benefit is lower costs,” she said. “There is less cost in leaving the animals out to graze longer and there are benefits environmentally as well.”

The question that then begs asking is which animals you leave on the expended grazing program. “A beef cow in the early stages of preg-

nancy has a very different nutritional requirement than a 500 lb calf that is being backgrounded,” she said.

“You need to be aware of the requirements of the animals that you choose to have in the program.” The cool temperatures of extending grazing also come into play and increase the animal’s nutritional requirements as it needs more just to maintain body heat.

Her work also looked at stockpiling feed in the pasture and compared it to systems, one with stocking feed in June and another later in the fall as the crop matured.

She outlined the values of various crops used in both regimes and showed that the required quality of feed could be produced in a Manitoba climate but it might be a matter of balancing the volume of feed produced against the quality required.

Again, producers need to know the requirements of their animals so they can produce and stock pile the feed that best suits the needs of their animals.

McGeough did say that work is underway with pe-

Extended grazing has advantages when you know your animals’ requirements.

rennial grains and one is nearing commercialization that would fit to be harvested in August and then grazed after for an extended period of time. “This is particularly attractive since it is a food crop that could be harvested and still provide good value for grazing animals,” she said.

“There are a number of departments at the University of Manitoba that are involved with the research on this crop and it is showing promise.”

More Wheat and Barley, Reports Stats Canada

By Elmer Heinrichs Statistics Canada’s final crop production report for 2018 is out, and farm struggles dished out by Mother Nature are well reflected in the production figures.

Canadian farmers reported increased production of wheat and barley in 2018, while canola, corn for grain, soybeans and oat production was down from the previous year. Despite dry conditions, especially in the Prairie provinces through the spring and early summer, timely rains and increased precipitation in some regions in late July and August helped crop growth.

However, snow and cold temperatures in some parts of the country delayed harvest and may have affected the overall quality and quantity of the crop.

Nationally, farmers re-

ported producing 31.8 million tonnes of wheat in 2018, up 6.0 per cent from 2017. The increase in production was driven by larger harvested area, which rose 2.2 million acres from 2017 to 2018. This offset lower yields, which fell 1.8 bushels per acre to 47.8 bushels per acre. Farmers in Manitoba reported producing 4.7 million tonnes of wheat in 2018, up from 4.4 million tonnes in 2017.

Total canola production declined from 21.3 million tonnes in 2017 to 20.3 million tonnes in 2018. Production in Manitoba rose 5.4 per cent from 2017 to 3.3 million tonnes in 2018.

Yields fell from 44.0 bushels per acre to 43.3 bushels per acre.

Nationally, farmers reported production of 13.9 million tonnes of corn for

grain in 2018, down from 14.1 million tonnes in 2017. Reported yields were down 3.2 per cent to 154.6 bushels per acre.

Farmers reported that soybean production fell from 7.7 million tonnes in 2017 to 7.3 million tonnes in 2018. Harvested area in Manitoba fell from 2.3 million acres in 2017 to 1.9 million acres in 2018.

Yields fell from 36.1 bushels per acre to 31.1 bushels per acre.

Canadian farmers reported that barley production increased from 7.9 million tonnes in 2017 to 8.4 million tonnes in 2018.

Nationally, the production of oats decreased from 3.7 million acres in 2017 to 3.4 million acres in 2018.

A lower yield, 89.7 bushels per acre, and fewer acres resulted in the decrease.

December 28, 2018

25

Pallister Government Cuts Funding for Better Roads

By Wab Kinew Some say we have two seasons in Manitoba - the one where potholes get made and the one where potholes get fixed. Here in the keystone province we know the importance of fixing our roads, which is why one of the hottest topics of discussion at the recent Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) convention was a resolution signed by 102 municipalities to protest the Pallister government’s decision to cut the Roads and Bridges Program.

Halfway through the past year, Premier Pallister drastically cut the Municipal Road and Bridge Program, which served as an easily accessible pot of money for municipalities to improve the highways and roads rural families rely on. He did this without any consultation with municipalities. The cut left municipalities scrambling to cover the costs of tendered projects and cancel plans for long awaited repairs.

Prior to the cut the program delivered about $14 million of reliable, stable funding. It was praised by leaders for its streamlined model which allowed municipalities to easily access the funds they needed to fix roads and bridges near you quickly. But the Pallister government cut the program by over 80% and said it would only provide a one-time, $2.25 million fund to see municipalities through to the end of the fiscal year.

Manitoba’s rural leaders were clear at the AMM convention: the Premier’s cut will have serious long-term consequences for communities and their ageing infrastructure. It will mean rural families and workers will be forced to travel on poor quality, sometimes dangerous roadways. It eliminates potentially hundreds of good, well-paying jobs and erases millions of dollars that would be injected into Manitoba’s economy.

For months, the Pallister government ignored 102 municipal leaders’ calls to reinstate the funding and commit to a fair share for rural Manitoba. There’s some talk the province may announce something in this area but municipal leaders fear it will be just a repackaged federal program. That means more hoops for municipalities to jump through to and maybe local tax increases too. All because Pallister won’t share resources with rural Manitoba.

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘don’t fix what isn’t broken’? I believe that applies to the Municipal Road and Bridge Program. It was a solid, reliable and simple funding program that helped municipalities improve the lives of Manitoba families. It was supported by rural leaders and it grew our rural economy. Now those leaders are uneasily waiting for a new program that likely will not replicate the quality funding they need.

Infrastructure funding creates strong communities and improves the lives of everyday rural families. The Pallister government’s actions have put those communities at risk. It’s time the Premier stop shorting rural families and invest in our communities.

Wab Kinew is the Leader of the Manitoba NDP

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December 28, 2018

Commodity Groups Release Updated Amalgamation Proposal Farmer directors from five Manitoba grower organizations have updated a proposal to amalgamate into a new not-forprofit organization focused on research, communication and market development. The five associations want to hear from farmer members over the next year, with a vote to amalgamate planned for each organizations’ annual general meetings in February 2020.

The steering committee comprised of directors and staff from the Manitoba Corn Growers Association (MCGA), Manitoba Flax Growers Association (MFGA), National Sunflower Association of Canada (NSAC), Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association (MWBGA) and Winter Cereals Manitoba Inc. with the assistance of consultant Rob Hannam of Synthesis Agri-Food Network have addressed many of the concerns heard through the January 2018 consultation period and at the 2018 annual general meetings in February.

The proposal includes information on a governance structure of the proposed new organization which includes four crop committees made up of 34 farmer delegates that will focus on the research and market development specific to each crop type.

“We heard the concerns expressed on the original proposal.

Many felt director workload would be unmanageable in reducing the overall number of directors from over 30 to 12,” said Fred Greig, MWBGA Chair. “There were also concerns about crop representation, young director involvement with a smaller board of directors, and the ability to gather grassroots feedback. With the updated proposal, we feel strongly that the new governance structure addresses those concerns.”

“Creating a new organization would result in administrative efficiencies and that in turn would translate into more money going towards research and communication efforts,” said Myron Krahn, Director with the MCGA. “Although there is a high level of collaboration between the five organizations already, the level of collaboration adds a level of complexity that wouldn’t exist if there was the simplicity of one organization. One organization means one bank account, one audit, one payroll, one annual general meeting, and a more coordinated communication effort where members aren’t receiving five different newsletters. As farmers, we don’t have separate bank accounts for each crop grown on our farm. This simplicity will lead to move time and resources spent on the research and market development we need as farmers.”

The steering committee and staff met again with the Minister of Agriculture Ralph Eichler, as well as the Manitoba Farm Products Marketing Council, to ensure the department was updated on the revised proposal. Staff has also met with legal counsel to ensure the steps to amalgamation are being done properly.

“From the initial Memorandum of Understanding signed in May 2017, we committed to consultation with membership to make sure farmers from each commodity organization have a voice,” said Mark McDonald, NSAC President. “We also committed to allowing membership to make the decision. We are honouring those commitments and taking the necessary time to communicate the proposal in 2019 with the final vote to occur in February 2020.”

The five organizations want to ensure members have all the necessary information prior to the vote in 2020. The updated proposal that is available now includes information on the governance, organization structure, legal process and timelines to amalgamate. Additional information will be released in the coming months, including by-laws of the potential new organization and the amalgamation agreement resolution.

On January 15 and January 29, 2019, the steering committee will host online webinar meetings for members to learn more about the updated proposal. The webinars will be recorded and made available for viewing later, if farmers are unable to participate on those days.

Directors of the five organizations are also encouraging farmer members to attend the organization’s annual general meetings at the CropConnect Conference on February 13 and 14, 2019 to receive updates on the amalgamation proposal and to gather feedback.

The updated proposal will be available at the following temporary website mbcrops.ca. Feedback from farmer members is welcome and encouraged through email directly to Rob Hannam at rob@mbcrops.ca or to any of the directors and staff of the five organizations.

The AgriPost

McCain Foods Commits to Manitoba Production Facilities McCain Foods (Canada) has announced infrastructure investments totaling $75 million for its Portage la Prairie and Carberry facilities. The investments further strengthen the company’s potato processing presence in western Canada.

“Our investments at both the Portage la Prairie and Carberry facilities are testaments to McCain’s ongoing commitment to growers, employees and the communities in which we operate in Manitoba,” said Jeff DeLapp, President, North America, McCain Foods Limited. “McCain is a proudly Canadian family-owned business that values the foundational relationships shared with Manitoba growers. Together we continue to strengthen and grow our businesses in both Manitoba and Western Canada.”

From 2016 to 2019 McCain has committed a $45 million investment in the Portage la Prairie facility, including the installation of new high efficiency potato sorting system, as well as cutting edge processing and packaging equipment. A new onsite waste water treatment,

upgrades to the facility’s heating, freezing and refrigeration systems will help to improve the facility’s environmental footprint, and revamping the potato receiving area will allow multiple truck deliveries to unload efficiently at the same time.

Just over $30 million investment has been committed to the Carberry plant over the same time period, including the new installations of auto sampling equipment, a blanching system, and improved heating and refrigeration systems for the entire facility as well as other upgrades.

“While we complete our investments in the Portage la Prairie facility, I am pleased to announce that Dale Collingridge, Production Manager at the Carberry facility and a 42-year McCain employee, has agreed, together with the support of the Portage la Prairie leadership team, to oversee the potato receiving area until the multi-million investments are completed,” added DeLapp.

Manitoba growers annually harvest about 26,300 hectares of potatoes, which represents about one-fifth of Canada’s total potato crop. Today, more than 550 employees work at the two facilities in Manitoba.

Growing Projects Pleased with Yields

By Elmer Heinrichs Over 5,000 acres were harvested by Manitoba farmers in support of hungry people around the world this year.

Good to decent yields were reported despite challenging weather as a common theme for growing projects across the province, said Manitoba regional representative Gordon Janzen. “The grain harvests that happened especially in August yielded better than many farmers expected,” he said. “What struck me was that at the time of seeding, a lot of growers were just saying how bone dry it was. Then there was a fortunate amount of rain that came, not a lot, but a timely enough rain for a crop.”

This rang true for the Common Ground growing project’s wheat in the Rosenfeld-Altona area. “We

were very surprised by the wheat yields that many of us got in the area,” said project coordinator Kevin Nickel, noting the project’s 300 acres of wheat yielded 47 bushels an acre.

No matter the yield, Nickel said at the end of the day, what matters is that less people will go hungry. “We have the equipment, we can generally make the time, and we can leverage the tools at our disposable to make a sizeable contribution to the cause,” he said.

“In a year where many Manitoban farmers experienced tough harvest conditions, dry weather, poor rainfall, early snow, it was humbling to see so many come together supporting their community growing projects,” said Janzen.“It can be hard for farmers to make time to harvest a growing project field when a good chunk of their own crops are still on the field. But once again we see how generous Manitoba agriculture and rural communities are.”

New Canadian Beef Check-Off Agency Website Goes Live The Canadian Beef Check-Off Agency has developed its very first stand alone website at cdnbeefcheckoff.ca.

According to their newsletter, “We are aiming to give the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off a consistent presence and image through the site, and across many platforms. You’ll notice that you can find us anywhere online, whether its our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or elsewhere, using the same handle, cdnbeefcheckoff. This will create

consistency, and show a separate and distinct pres¬ence from our service providers and other groups.”

“The site’s main goal is to offer up answers to the most frequently asked check-off related questions. It is home to information on rates, regulatory framework, allocations by province, annual reports, business plans, and a whole lot more. The latest news hosts a revolving feed of success sto¬ries funded by check-off and import levy dollars, board and committee updates, check-off changes and more.”

Nominations Open for MBP Lifetime Achievement Award Nominations are now open for a Manitoba Beef Producers’ (MBP) award highlighting an outstanding beef producer in the province.

“The Manitoba Beef Producers Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes local beef producers who have made significant contributions to the beef industry and their commitment to excellence, exemplifying leadership and involvement in their community and province,” said Brian Lemon, MBP General Manager.

“It is awarded every five years to a deserving recipient.

We are excited to be presenting this award during our President’s Banquet at our 40th Annual General Meeting in Brandon on February 7, 2019,” added Lemon.

Individuals and families are eligible for the award.

Nominations will be judged by a selection committee

and the recipient will receive an award with the honour and their name inscribed on it. The recipient’s name will be added to a Manitoba Beef Producers Lifetime Achievement Award plaque at MBP’s office.

To be eligible for MBP’s Lifetime Achievement Award, nominees must be a current or past member of MBP or the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, involved with beef advocacy activities with a genuine interest in the beef industry, have achievements and lasting benefit of their contribution to the beef industry, excellence in being involved in the beef industry as a leader, mentor, volunteer and show use of innovation and strategies for successful business.

Nominations are due no later than 4:30 p.m. Friday, January 18, 2019. Nomination forms are available from the MBP office by calling 1-800-772-0458 or online at mbbeef.ca.

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1890’s Sawyer Massey Threshing Outfit

Agricultural museum donated photo of threshing outfit.

Recently the Manitoba Agricultural Museum was the recipient of a collection of agricultural photos collected over the years. The donor wishes to remain anonymous at this time.

Unfortunately the photographs had no further information with them. Many photos taken of pioneer agricultural activities have information written on the photos containing names such as the owner of the farm or outfit and /or the location of the photo. However the photo here has no information which is a pity as the photo appears to have been taken in the 1890s.

The threshing machine is a Sawyer Massey Peerless and the steam engine being used to drive the thresher is believed to be a Sawyer Massey return flue portable steam engine. The word Peerless painted on the side of the threshing machine can just be made out on the photograph.

There are a number of clues which point the Museum towards believing the photo was taken in the 1890s. The women’s dresses and hats appear to be of the late Victorian, early Edwardian age but then this sort of clothing was worn up to the First World War. However, the fact that the ladies in the photo wore their good dresses and hats to the field points to the novelty of the photo.

After 1900, photos became much more common and the women would not have risked their good clothes in the field in order for the ladies to appear in a photo of a threshing crew.

A further clue is the threshing machine. Peerless threshers began to be built by Sawyer Massey in 1885. This Peerless does not appear to have a feeder on the machine but rather the machine is hand fed. Sheaves were forked on to a table immediately in front of a cylinder where a man then cut the band on the sheaf and fed the sheaf into the cylinder, taking care to feed the sheaf evenly across the face of the cylinder. There was platform provided for the man or men feeding the cylinder as it typically could not be reached by hand from the ground.

Obviously this type of feed resulted in more manpower

needed in the threshing process so by 1900 mechanical feeders were being offered for separators. Basically these devices were a chain conveyor table about 6 to 8 feet long with a set of band cutters fitted to the end of the feeder immediately before the sheaf was fed into the cylinder. Depending on the feeder type there may also have been mechanical devices fitted that spread the sheaf out evenly.

Feeders were also fitted with governors that sensed when the cylinder was slowing down and would slow the chain conveyor to prevent the cylinder from being overloaded and plugging.

A band cutter was needed as any sheaf that was uncut would present the cylinder with a wad that the cylinder was not able to handle. With a mechanical feeder it was important to fork a sheaf onto the conveyor head first and never sideways.

Further clues are the presence of a straw carrier rather than a blower at the rear of the thresher. The first threshing machines simply dumped the straw out the back of the machine where someone had to fork the straw away. Carriers were then developed which were, again, chain conveyors. Carriers were capable of being elevated but, usually, were not capable of being swung from side to side.

At some point the straw pile grew so big that there was no more room for the carrier to dump straw so the threshing machine had to be repositioned.

Some outfits had a man on the pile to fork away straw reducing the need to reposition. Other outfits had a man and a team of horses ‘bucking’ away straw which meant a wooden “push dozer” device pushed by a team of horses that was used to move straw away from the carrier.

By the mid 1890s, wind stackers for threshing machines were developed and rapidly took over from carriers as a wind stacker could be fitted with an extendable blower tube and be swung from side to side which meant a much bigger straw pile could be built before the separator needed to be moved. Generally wind blowers weighed less than a straw carrier and did not require much more power to run than

a carrier. Sawyer Massey began to offer wind stackers on it separators in 1896 when they obtained a license to build a wind stacker from the Indiana Manufacturing Company which held the patent rights on the device at the time.

A final clue is the presence of a low bagger on the separator. It can be seen between the two men standing on the ground beside the separator to the right of the women. There is a bag attached to one nozzle of the device. Sawyer Massey did offer an option a “Case Pattern Bagger and Tallier” for their separators.

The device in the photo resembles the Case Pattern device found in a Sawyer Massey catalogue.

This device took clean grain off the sieves, elevated it about three feet and the grain was then fed into a tallier which measured the bushels of grain the separator was putting out. The grain was then dropped into a grain bag. The output end of the bagger was fitted with a divider and two nozzles dropping grain into bags. When one bag was full, the divider then diverted grain into the other bag while the full bag was removed and empty bag fitted to this nozzle.

Obviously in a good crop, the men operating the bagger were kept busy particularly when one also considers the baggers also had to tie the mouth of the bag shut and stack the bags. By 1900, high grain elevators were being fitted to separators as this device could load grain into wagons or directly into a granary if the farmer wanted.

While it is entirely possible that this photo was taken after 1900, the details in the photo point towards its being taken sometime around 1895.

It is interesting to note the bush behind the outfit. Generally in early prairie agricultural photos, there is a noticeable lack of trees or bush in the background. Prairie fires burnt over the prairies regularly enough that trees or shrubbery of any sort found it difficult to become established.

When the photo was first examined, the crop being threshed was a puzzle as some of the straw seemed coarse enough to be standing on its own. It was then realized that there is some shrubbery in-between the photographer and the straw pile and the branches of these bushes are what we are looking at when wondering why straw is standing up on its own.

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is open year round. For more information visit ag-museum. mb.ca.

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Late-Gestation Beef Cows Need Good Nutrition

By Peter Vitti Good quality forage for beef cows is in short supply this winter and the price of grain is still relatively expensive across Manitoba. The good news is well-balanced rations still can be put together for late-gestation beef cows to prepare them for a good calving season.

This is a good reminder that I received recently, when a feed-mill owner and I walked along with a producer and together, we assessed the body condition scores (BCS) of his 250 late-gestating black Angus cows. With this valuable information, we could help this producer by formulating a new feeding program, tailored-made for his cows, until the start of the calving season by the end of February.

Before we did this cowherd assessment, we took stock of the producer’s on-the-farm feeds, which encompassed a couple hundred fair quality grass round bales, 100 – 200 corn stover bales, couple hundred cereal straw bales and an insignificant pile of beet pulp. It was our understanding that no grains were available on the farm, but a 10tonne grain bin contained 14% cow-calf screening pellets.

Up till now, this cowherd was fed an early-mid gestation diet consisting of barley/oat straw supplemented with a few pounds of grain-screening pellets, and complimented with a standard 2:1 commercial mineral and salt.

Consequently, the results of our BCS assessment showed that most mature cows and replacement heifers had a BCS of 5 – 6 (re: scale of 1 = emaciated, < 4 = thin, 5 – 6 = prime, and 7 or greater > fat). To us, these individual scores represent the level of body fat covering, which is a snap-shot of energy status in which each cow draws upon during periods of dietary energy deficiencies to maintain vital and productive functions, especially in preparation of calving.

In our assessment, this cowherd’s report card was an “A” passing grade. That’s because years of beef research clearly demonstrates that beef cows that calve out in this optimum condition have a greater chance compared to lesser thin fresh cows, an easier birthing, produce more quantities of higher quality colostrum (more antibodies) and more post-partum milk for their calves and are quicker to return to estrus; to be rebred and conceive with next year’s calf.

Such cows in prime shape also have more vigorous calves, because 75% of fetal growth occurs during late-gestation, which is directly related to the respective nutritional status of the cow. For example, “fetal programming” has been established by many university field trials, which shows that replacement heifers’ life-time growth and reproductive performance can be significantly affected by their mother’s nutritional status during all stages of gestation, including two to three months before calving.

Drawing upon these benefits of good late-gestation nutrition until calving, the feedmill operator and I offered four nutritious feeding programs that are specifically formulated for these well conditioned late-gestation mature cows and replacement heifers.

Consequently, the nutritional parameters of each of diet are based upon the respective NRC (2001) beef cow requirements - namely: 55 – 58% TDN, 9 – 11% protein, 0.25% calcium and 0.20% phosphorus and complimented with salt, trace mineral and vitamins. Dry matter intake estimates are about 35 – 40 lbs; mature cows, and 30 – 35 lbs; replacement heifers. The details of the diets are listed in the chart below.

*nutrient value and cost per ingredient are estimated and varies among farms and regions.

Upon review, the energy density should be increased in these diets as the weather gets colder, which is based upon a rule of thumb: For every 1 °C drop in temperature below 0 °C, the beef cows’ TDN energy maintenance requirements are increased by about 2%. This means that a few extra pounds of DDGS or grain-screenings in each feeding program be provided.

Regardless of such critical dietary advice, we should also recognize in the table above; an age-old practice remains - save and utilize more nutritious forages such as grass hay as compared to other low-quality forages in order to help meet the lategestation cow’s nutrient demands. Then, transition it into well-balanced diets after calving.

Late gestation beef cows preparing for a good calving season.

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