AgriPost January 27 2017

The AgriPost

January 27, 2017

Record Setting Year for Canadian Angus Association

The Cows Come Home

Photo submitted by Brenda Walker

Morley Walker of Plumas brings the cows home from winter pasture to get ready for calving. His herd doesn’t need too much coaxing as they follow the tractor home through the deep snow. This scene will be repeated hundreds of times throughout the province in the next month or so.

Canadian Angus Association members registered a record 62,414 purebred Angus calves in 2016. The previous highs were in 2008 when 61,578 calves were registered and in 2015 with 60,034 calves. The Canadian Angus Association (CAA) maintains a closed herd book, which prohibits breeding up.

The number of registrations in 2016 is a 4% increase over 2015, which was a 7% increase over 2014 registrations. In addition, membership also grew 5% over 2015 to 2,346 active members across Canada in 2016.

This is the first time that the number of memberships has increased in more than two decades. Nearly 250 new members joined the Canadian Angus Association last year.

Tag sales were the second-highest in the program’s history with 278,010 Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed RFID tags sold. The Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed tag program remains the largest branded tag program in the world. “I am incredibly proud that the Canadian Angus Association registration certificate has never been in such high demand as it is right now,” said CAA CEO Rob Smith. “We are excited to create more and optimize opportunities that only the Canadian Angus Association can grasp because of the size of our national cow herd.”

The Canadian Angus Association is Canada’s largest purebred beef breed organization. The Association represents more than 2,000 members across Canada for the purposes of registering and recording the pedigrees of purebred Angus cattle in the closed HerdBook and promoting the breed across Canada. The member-approved mandate is to maintain breed registry, breed purity and provide services that enhance the growth and position of the Angus breed.

January 27, 2017

The AgriPost

Roquette to Build Largest Pea Processing Plant in Manitoba

The Manitoba government and Roquette have announced a historic investment in the province’s food-processing industry, confirming the Francebased company’s plans to build a new, $400-million pea-processing facility near Portage la Prairie. Premier Brian Pallister and Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler were joined by Edouard Roquette, Roquette’s Chairman and Jean-Marc Gilson, Roquette’s CEO, as well as many industry partners for the announcement made at the Legislative Building on Global Pulse Day. “We are pleased to enter into this historic partnership with Roquette, which will result in an unparalleled investment in Manitoba’s food-processing and agricultural industry,” said Pallister.

“This new facility will create jobs and establish stronger markets for Canadian farmers while benefiting our province’s economy for decades to come. It also demonstrates to Canada and to the world that our province is open for business and ready to compete for investments in agricultural production and innovation.”

“This new investment in Manitoba marks a key step in reinforcing Roquette’s leadership position in offering high-value plant-based ingredients around the world,” said Roquette. “The new plant, which will be the largest dedicated to pea protein processing in the world, will support the future of Manitoba’s agriculture industry and help address the growing global demand for innovative food, nutrition and health products and so-

lutions.”

Once open, the facility is expected to create approximately 150 jobs with an estimated annual payroll of around $9 million, the premier noted. The facility will help to better serve customers in North America and globally with high-value nutritional choices including vegetarian foods and highprotein sport nutrition products, he added.

Construction is expected to begin in the RM of Portage la Prairie before the end of 2017, Roquette said.

Roquette is committed to working with local contractors, skilled trades and professional service providers, with approximately 350 fulltime jobs anticipated during the project’s two-year design and construction phase, he added.

“This new facility will be an enormous boost to our agricultural economy as a whole and is an exciting opportunity for Manitoba to continue to build its reputation as a leader in food development and processing,” said Eichler. “Peas are an excellent source of protein, which is in growing demand around the world. They are also a sustainable crop, complementing the land management and environmental stewardship techniques practiced by our farmers.”

“We are very excited about the decision by Roquette to find a home for its new processing facility near Portage la Prairie,” said Reeve Kam Blight, RM of Portage la Prairie. “This investment is an incredible opportunity for the community and surrounding area. We look forward to participating in the facility’s

development process with Roquette and greatly anticipate the long-term contributions this investment will bring to our municipality.”

Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG) is excited about the announcement.

“Roquette’s announcement is great for pea growers in Manitoba and Canada,” said Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers Executive Director Francois Labelle. “A strong local market is very important to our farmers. In addition, this new facility will bring advanced processing to the crop sector. Instead of exporting the crop to be processed, we are gaining good jobs and processing the peas

“This new facility will be an enormous boost to our agricultural economy as a whole and is an exciting opportunity for Manitoba...” right here in our province before they move to world markets. This is great for Manitoba. MPSG looks forward to working with Roquette in growing pea acres in Manitoba in order to meet the needs

of this facility.”

Canada is the largest producer of peas in the world.

Roquette chose Manitoba as the location for the new facility due to the quality of the workforce, the strength of its

diverse economy, location as a transportation hub by air, rail and road to the rest of the continent, and access to reliable, sustainable and economical hydroelectric energy.

Cows Are Out for 2017

By Les Kletke David Otto expects to reduce his cowherd in 2017. He will keep a few to feed into next winter but does not expect to be over wintering any cows a year from now.

He chuckled when asked about the size of his herd. “I have 12 cows, 20 head in total,” he explained. “The cattle are a remnant of the time when my parents had a dairy and shipped milk. That part of the farm is gone but we had some land that was not very good and suited to pasture. We were used to having animals and we kept some cows.”

He said the animals have not cost much because of pasturing them on the least productive land and have provided a decent return especially over the past few years. “But times have changed and 12 cows are as much of a commitment to time as 20 or 30 and you have to make the effort to be there for calving. I am looking to reduce my workload. So they are going this year.”

Otto farms with his brother Mark and has a son, Sam who is working into the operation. At this time, he has 20% equity. Mark purchased a High Boy Sprayer to do custom work that will provide more income to purchase equity in the farm.

The farm is north of Beausejour at Thalberg and has 3,000 acres of mainly heavy clay soils.

Nearly half of their acres have been in soybeans in recent years and the Ottos began growing those 10 years ago. “They are survivors,” said Otto. “They can handle more stress than any other crop we produce.”

“We get a lot of moisture in this area and when the rest of the province is crying drought we think it is just about right,” he said. “This year we had a dry summer and our worst field of beans did 30 bushels an acre while the test we did for the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers did 55 bushels an acre.”

Otto expects his wheat acreage to be about the same in 2017 and he will again split it between hard red spring and northern spring varieties. The improvement in oat varieties will have him returning to the crop for this year. “We had some problems with disease in the past but it seems the new varieties are better so we are going to try some oats again.”

While the fall was wet, he was able to work all of the land except for a 100 acres and some of that acreage was worked twice.

The AgriPost

Ellis Seeds Stays the Course

By Les Kletke Simon Ellis said that he would be spending some extra time in January organizing farm help as he begins taking over the family farm and seed business from his father Warren.

“We did not get any fall work done because of the wet conditions, and we know that spring is going to be very hard because of it. So we are looking at some extra help for the farm,” he said.

Normally Warren and Simon concentrate on the farm work while employees run the seed business.

The farm near Wawanesa is 1,500 acres with 80% in seed production with the remainder producing a commercial crop like canola. “That is usually because of rotation requirements but on occasion we may put those acres into a specialty crop. In the past we have tried gluten free oats,” he said.

For 2017, the acre allocation reflects a trend seen

across Manitoba. “We will have about 25% of our acres in soybeans,” said Simon.

“That is up from last year and will see those acres of the crop expand again next year.”

He said the farm’s rotation and production of wheat, canola, and flax along with soybeans means there is not too much wiggle room. The expanded soybean acres came at the expense of canola acres.

Simon and his wife Amanda are 5 years into the process of taking over both the farm and seed business, which operate as separate entities. “It is a long process and we are not nearly done,” he said. “But Dad is stepping back and Amanda and I are both shareholders in both operations.

He has two sisters, one involved in the fashion industry in Montreal and another, Megan who has worked in the agriculture industry and is now perusing a degree in

Education at the University of Manitoba.

When asked if they be involved in the operation he said, “I see Megan being home in the spring and driving tractors. It is still too early to say if they will become a part of the operation. It is a process we are working through.”

Simon and Amanda have

a 5-year-old son and another on the way. “Too early to tell his future but he is impressed with the combine,” he said.

The immediate challenge on the Ellis farm is how to deal with the added workload because of not getting any fall fertilizer down and cleaning up the flax straw that remained on the field in 2016.

Harvesting soybeans in southern Manitoba.

Soybeans Producers and Hog Production Merge as Partners for Growth

By Harry Siemens Soybeans and more soybeans is a familiar topic at many farm meetings throughout the winter meeting season, leading up to when farmers make planting decisions for the new year.

In 2016, farmers grew 1.7 million acres of soybeans, and some projections indicate we could hit over the two million mark for this coming year. Yields have exceeded 50 bushels an acre, under what some would call adverse weather and cropping conditions. Together agronomist and farmers have improved agronomy practices and techniques, and there are now close to 100 new varieties proven to work.

While varieties keep improving for specific regions and areas, the key is the shorter growing season varieties allowing soybean acres to keep expanding beyond traditional growing areas. There are people who believe that Saskatchewan could see 5 million acres of soybeans within the next decade.

In response to these projections, the Westman Opportunities Leadership Group’s (WOLG) efforts to attract a world-class soybean processing plant to western Manitoba gained further momentum with a $25,000 funding commitment from the City of Brandon. Formed late in 2016, the volunteer group is made up of regional farm, business, and civic leaders. “We are very pleased to see that the City of Brandon has joined our regional initiative”, said Ray Redfern, Chair of the Leadership Group.

“Their financial endorsement adds significant weight and momentum to our efforts, and emphasizes the fact that we are working on behalf of the whole southwest region to attract a soybean processing facility.”

Redfern said the rapid and widespread adoption of soybeans as a crop across Manitoba means the timing is right to look at processing soybeans here to supply global markets. The regional benefits and economic synergies are significant. Soymeal is an important component of most hog rations, and the region produces many hogs for Maple Leaf Foods and HyLife Foods facilities, with more growth anticipated.

“Manitoba imports significant amounts of soybean meal and a soybean processing plant has the potential to reduce feed ration costs and boost the local hog industry. This is an added benefit to the anticipated financial gains that farmers would receive from having a local market for their soybeans,” said Redfern.

One observer said it excites him to see how the farming industry keeps looking at how to boost production, expand local use and help two sectors of the industry merge as partners and not be so dependent on imports.

Sandy Trudel, Brandon’s Director of Economic Development said the City of Brandon is happy to provide financial support to the project. “Attracting a major Ag processing facility would produce real benefits for southwest Manitoba which ultimately benefits Brandon, given our long standing role as a service centre for the region. A strategic approach like the one the WOLG is developing brings together the region’s strengths, knowledge and passion, increasing the likelihood of success.”

Beginning in the fall of 2016 the WOLG began the assessment of the soybean opportunity for western Manitoba. Initial steps included establishing project leadership, building a detailed work plan and building regional support. Meetings held in December 2016 with community and RM leadership confirmed solid support for the initiative.

“Discussions are underway with industry associations and other regional governments to confirm their support,” said Redfern. “We soon will be formalizing discussions with the Province to do the same. We are a volunteer grassroots organization, and are not looking to build a plant; we want to attract the right private sector investment to do that, based upon the economic merits of the industry and the region”.

January 27, 2017

The Loonie’s Greatest Influence on 2017 Agriculture Outlook Canadian agriculture benefited from a relatively low dollar throughout 2016 and this trend is expected to continue into 2017, according to J.P. Gervais, Farm Credit Canada’s Chief Agricultural Economist.

“There are certainly other factors that could influence Canadian agriculture, such as the global economy, the investment landscape, commodity and energy prices,” said Gervais, speaking to his top five agriculture economic trends to watch in 2017. “The Canadian dollar, however, has been a major driver for profitability in the last couple of years and could have the biggest influence on the overall success of Canada’s agriculture industry in 2017.”

Gervais is forecasting the dollar will hover around the 75-cent mark and will remain below its five-year average value relative to the US dollar in 2017, potentially making the loonie the most significant economic driver to watch in Canadian agriculture this year.

The low dollar not only makes Canada more competitive in agricultural markets relative to some of the world’s largest exporters, but it also means higher farm cash receipts for producers whose commodities are priced in US dollars.

A low Canadian dollar will keep the demand for Canadian agricultural commodities healthy, which is especially important considering the higher projected supply of livestock and crops. This means potential revenue growth, especially considering a likely rebound in livestock prices off the weakness observed in the second half of 2016. “A lower Canadian dollar makes farm inputs more expensive, but the net impact in terms of our export competitiveness and cash receipts for producers is certainly positive,” Gervais said. “Given the choice, producers are better off with a low-dollar than one that’s relatively strong compared to the US. dollar.”

Food processors are also better off with a low Canadian dollar, which is partly the reason behind the strong growth in the gross domestic product of the sector over the past few years. Canadian food products are less expensive for foreign buyers, while it is more difficult for foreign food processors to compete in the Canadian market, according to Gervais. “The climate for investment in Canadian food processing is good, given the low dollar and growing demand in the US,” Gervais said. He projects that exports of food manufactured products to the US could climb 5 per cent in 2017.

A lower-than-average US per Canadian dollar exchange rate supports foreign sales of agribusinesses as more than 90 per cent of all exports are made to the US, and compensate for a weaker demand due to the recent downturn in the US farm economy. “The dollar’s impact on agribusinesses is complex and not as consistent as it is on producers and food processors,” said Gervais, noting that strong farm cash receipts due to a weak loonie are generally good news for agribusinesses, since they can expect sales to producers to increase with rising revenues.

But he also notes that, “A weak loonie raises the price of inputs like fertilizers or equipment, making them more expensive for producers, which may impact their purchase decisions.”

January 27, 2017

The AgriPost

Baby It’s Cold!

In the blink of an eye, we went from an unusually warm November to a bitterly cold December. How, you may wonder, have we managed to survive, much less thrive, in such an unforgiving environment as the Canadian winter? On the website “Niche” Josh MacFadyen writes a timely article, “Cold Comfort: Firewood, Ice Storms, and Hypothermia in Canada,” that scans some of the history our politicians would do well to remember.

Back in the 19th century, Canadians were well aware of the lethal danger presented by extreme cold. The saying “catch your death of a cold” wasn’t just rhetorical; it tended to happen to people. Napoleon’s army was decimated on its winter retreat from Moscow. “Bad luck to those who fell asleep by a campfire,” some of them said. “Sleep comes inevitably, and to sleep is to die.”

In 1872, a number of people including children froze to death in the poorer section of Montreal when temperatures plummeted and fuel costs went through the roof. Police officers described the sight of frozen babies as resembling “lumps of marble”. A new technology - railroads - helped to ease the suffering by bringing in wood that normally would have been brought in through the river transportation system,

now frozen.

McFadden’s research looks at urban energy chains, and reveals some interesting facts about the use of wood. He found that Canadians continued to use a lot of wood for heat even long after they were thought to have transitioned over to fossil fuels.

Solid burning stoves and furnaces were the main heat source for most of us till well past the war period. These worked without electricity and needed constant looking after, particularly in homes that had running water available year round.

Winter storms and power outages should remind us how fragile our current energy supply systems really are. The danger goes beyond fallen trees and frozen pipes. In worst case scenarios, we get everything from car accidents to food shortages and even exposure that leads to hypothermia and death. Despite all our modern consumer comforts, we live in a climate that can kill us.

When pushed, some try to stay warm with barbeques, generators and sometimes even coal, which puts them at risk for house fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. Those who have fireplaces and stoves that burn solid fuel are a bit luckier, but can quickly realize they don’t have enough firewood or kin-

Who’s Making All of the Decisions?

It was one of those times, you know the ones where everyone waxes wise about how things were in the good old days and you could by buy at truck for a thousand bushels of flax or some other volume of a commodity.

Yes, I have heard this discussion at least as often and you and on occasion I have taken the other side only to learn it was not really a discussion it was a sermon and my role was to sit there and nod at appropriate times, perhaps offer up the occasional amen, but nothing else. I now know better and either enjoy the performance or move on. Now in the safety of my own home I would like to offer up some thoughts on the issue, especially since I have just watched a video on the development of the Ford 150 and use this as an example although I’m sure that the Dodge and Chevy people have made the same advances.

The point is that today’s pickup truck has come a long way from that truck that could be purchased for a half a ton, yes before tonnes, of flax. That truck had windows you had to crank; it never told you which direction you were driving nor that it was time to buy fuel, those were all things that were the responsibility of the operator.

Today’s vehicle has much more gadgetry and the truck is almost incidental to the toys, don’t believe me? Look at your phone. When was the last time you used it to answer a call? That service seems long forgotten.

Now my complaining farmer friend would say that he didn’t ask for all the gizmos on his truck, and the manufacturer would say that he voted with his dollars. Yes, we buy things that make our life easier or so we think until we forget the pass code or need a repair.

We vote without dollars and manufacturers want more votes, so they keep adding toys to the basic machine.

It was John F. Kennedy who said the farmer is the only one who buys his inputs at retail and sells his product at wholesale. He could not have known how true that would ring more than 50 years after his passing.

Farmers are takers of what manufacturers think we want and have little effect on the product they grow.

I once made that point in the truck argument. About how the truck had changed and that, he was still growing the same flax. Well when the swelling went down I was able to see out of both eyes and thought better than to say it again. So I won’t make that point.

Now we are being told the consumer wants non-GMO products or organic, this or that and we need to bring it to the market place. Wal-Mart has determined that organics will be the same price as conventional production and left it there. There is no consideration for the extra cost, yield drag or the effort that production requires. It is simply the market place that determines it and farmers are takers of market signals.

It is an even greater example of what Mr. Kennedy spoke of nearly 60 years ago, farmers are forced to buy the equipment provided and pay for it with crops that have the genetics of the last century. They don’t get to make the decisions of what happens on their farm.

Penner’s Points

By Rolf Penner

dling on hand. They rediscover what our forefathers knew, that firewood is not a simple commodity. It requires processing, and there’s a huge range of quality. Burning furniture, or the drapes, or old cloth doesn’t give off much heat and it tends to disappear right away.

In Canada, far more people die from cold-related conditions than they do from extreme heat in summer. The numbers are not large; it is roughly the same amount as those who perish because of drowning. For the most part, the victims are homeless and tend to perish in alleys, abandoned buildings and makeshift shelters.

Farmers have a greater appreciation and respect for what the cold can do. It’s one thing to have these problems in an urban environment and quite another when you are trapped in a winter storm on the bald prairie with a howling wind, a blinding snowfall and minus 40 degrees Celsius temperatures all around you. If the power goes out, you’re on your own till the weather clears up. Even then, you usually have a lot of digging out to do before you can even think of going elsewhere.

Look back at history, and even more recent weather events.

They give perspective to Canada’s new energy policies. We are artificially and intentionally raising the price of the energy that we need literally to survive. Carbon taxes will increase the cost of doing business, and farmers are going to get hit really hard with these increased expenses. But more importantly, they will hurt the poorest and most vulnerable people first and hardest.

It’s madness.

FarmFood360° Virtual Reality Website Goes Live Canadians looking for the real story about their food can get it directly from the source online with virtual visits to farms and processing plants.

Using 360 cameras and virtual reality technology, the new FarmFood360° website gives Canadians the chance to tour real, working farms and food processing plants, all without putting on boots.

It is the latest version of the highly successful Virtual Farm Tours initiative, which was first launched in 2007.

“Canadians want to know more about their food, but they are also increasingly removed from its production,” said Ian McKillop, Chair of Farm & Food Care Canada.

“Changing technology also means they are looking for and finding information in different ways. FarmFood360° keeps pace with both these factors; it uses modern technology to immerse them right in the process, and address their questions in the most compelling way possible.”

Farm & Food Care col-

laborated with Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd. and Dairy Farmers of Canada to add three new tours to the FarmFood360° website with a dairy farm using a Voluntary Milking System as well as two individual milk and cheese processing facilities.

Visitors can access these tours on tablets and desktop computers, as well as through mobile phones and VR (Virtual Reality) viewers. Interviews with the farmers and plant employees involved in each business have also been added.

As an original partner in the first Virtual Farm Tours project, Dairy Farmers of Canada again worked with Farm & Food Care to film a dairy farm using Voluntary Milking System in Prince Edward Island. These tours compliment the two dairy farm tours already on the site and feature farms that use both free stall and tie stall milking technologies.

This national initiative is being launched with a newly re-branded and interactive website, FarmFood360.ca.

The site features all 23 farms originally featured on the Virtual Farm Tour platform plus the three new virtual reality tours. Additional tours will be added later in 2017.

The AgriPost

CN Boldly Moves Forward

CN is moving forward to be the handler of choice when it comes to moving grain in western Canada from the combine to port.

I’ve done many interviews with key people in the farming industry and spanning a 45-year career, to get to a new level becomes even more difficult. I noticed something happening in the media where CN representatives kept appearing at various events, functions, holding sessions with producers and seemingly telling it as it is.

Before Christmas 2016, Kate Fenske Media Relations for Western Canada and Manitoba Community Affairs Lead setup an interview with David Przednowek, Director of Grain Marketing in Winnipeg, and Greg Hamilton, Corporate Development Manager in Montreal.

What happens when you get three people who now want to tell their whole message in one conference call?

Yes, you guessed it, lots of great and new information and all pertinent to issues of moving grain from farmers’ combines into place for the end user to process.

Remember the 2013-2014 grain lack of movement debacle, when heavy snow and very cold weather caused a real backlog in grain movement leading to contract cancellations for farmers and a real genuine blame game that made the US election rhetoric seem tame, well almost.

With new grain companies, like, G3 Canada Grain and others building new terminal loop tracks including a terminal in Vancouver, CN stepped up to the plate to make sure they wouldn’t be the weakest link in the system.

There is another point and one myth that the CN representatives told me that didn’t get into the main articles.

One has to do with winter shipping and the other myth, “You hit wintertime and the terminals at Thunder Bay close and your cycle times get longer to the east coast direct than they are to Thunder Bay,” says David Przednowek the Manitoba Director of Grain Marketing for CN. “When it starts to get cold, a magic number is -25 C. Thinking of safety first, that is when we start to shorten our trains, so we put our win-

ter operating plan into place.

We’ve also, in terms of that capacity and shortening up the amount of time it takes to load a train, or to get a grain train moving in the winter time; a couple of years ago we introduced a winter ready program. Customers who can invest in infrastructure at their elevator can actually air up the train before the locomotive comes to pick up the cars; they get a credit with CN. What that means is if a locomotive goes to that facility and that train is not aired up, that train has to sit there and get it aired up taking hours and hours. If the elevator does, the airing up, boom

the locomotive shows up and the train is ready to go.

A good program, a win-win for the shipper, for CN, the supply chain, and the shipper can get a pay back quickly on their investment, cycle time is reduced, and we’re creating capacity in the supply chain by doing that.”

Here is another myth question - what about when other commodities become more expensive and they take up more of the entire system to haul, for example oil, how does that affect the grain deliveries?

David says even at peak in 2013-14 the height of challenges moving grain in the supply chain, crude oil shipments only represented a couple of percentage points of their overall bookings.

Back in that market, it was busy for minerals, lumber, grain, everything there is to be moved and CN has only so much network capacity.

Przednowek says, since then many new investments have been made. CN has set record after record, and that is a sign to me and should be to others, this railroad wants to move grain. “As we free up capacity that frees up for us to move everything on the railroad, we will keep pushing.”

I put this information out there for two reasons - To let people know when a company that has been criticised in the past makes great changes and moves to make things better and right. Secondly, CN talks a lot about accountability and here it is in writing my friends, we will be watching.

So far, the proof is in the pudding, they have a report on their website released every Friday that will show the movement figures, and commentary to explain. I’m looking forward to watching the grain farmers grow, move to market on time.

January 27, 2017

Revamped Grain World to Return FarmLink and Farm At Hand is working hard to present the return of Grain World for 2017.

The revamped conference will be held at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg November 14 - 15, bringing together global and local experts for a healthy exchange of information on the markets and the evolution of the grain industry.

“The hole left by the departure of the Wild Oats Grain World Conference last year was definitely felt by the industry,” said Lawrence Yakielashek, General Manager of FarmLink. “The grain industry is on the verge of transformative change with innovations in technology, but personal relationships will always drive the evolution. We need a forum to talk about not only what is happening in the markets, but also the changes and opportunities that are in front of us.”

The two-day conference will feature keynote addresses from Andrew Coyne and Michael Landsberg along with a host of industry experts covering outlooks on the main crops and topics such as “What will the Canadian Grain Industry Look Like in 10 Years”.

“The theme of the conference is Influencers Driving Evolution,” explained FarmLink and Farm At Hand Marketing Manager Breanne Kielich. “Our goal is to deliver valuable content about the markets, and equally important, bring together the people who will shape our industry’s future and ask the question where do we go next?”

January 27, 2017

The AgriPost The Impact of Agricultural Diversity in Manitoba is Our Strength

Optimum Dry Matter Intake is Essential for High Dairy Production I can think of no other way to supply the essential nutrients to such high producers to yield large volumes of milk, milk-fat, milk-protein and solids. By assuring that dry matter intake of good feed is at its best in the lactating cows (including dry cows), we can produce a steady stream of these milk products.

As a dairy nutritionist, I am so convinced each bite of lactation diet counts that each time I walk into a dairy barn; I conduct a 5-minute routine. First, I walk along the bunk and look at the cows, which are eating as well as look over to the cows lying in their stalls. I also pick up a handful of lactation diet and pick through it.

Consequently, here is a “short” checklist of the many things that I look for as signals for optimum or problematic dry matter intake:

- Number of cows up to the feed bunk.

- Deposition of cowherd.

- Number of mature and first-calf heifers.

- Number of cows sorting the diet.

- Body condition of the herd.

- Manure consistency of the cows.

- Number of lame cows.

- Percentage of resting cows chewing their cud.

- Handful of diet: Moisture, mixture consistency, smell, amount of long stem-fibre

and any visible mold.

In these short five minutes, these observations give me a ballpark idea as to how much lactating diet is being eaten on “as fed” and “dry matter intake” basis. When the dairy producer walks with me, I often fine-tune these observations by asking specific questions about the cows or something about the diet. By getting a handle on the dry matter intake of the lactation barn, I am really getting an idea of amount of dietary energy intake, which is almost a perfect correlation.

Dietary energy when compared to other essential nutrients such as protein, minerals and vitamins is the single largest nutrient required by lactating dairy cows and drives good milk yield and its components. Among dairy nutritionists like myself, the general rule of dairy energy dynamics states: for every extra kilo of DMI or containing about 1.6 Mcal/kg NEL (re: net energy of lactation) that a cow consumes at peak DMI in its lactation cycle, yields 2.0 – 2.5 kilos more milk for each day afterward until the end of lactation.

However, in the dairy barn, there are a lot of factors that limits DMI/energy intake and thus milk performance. That’s because the actual amount of “as fed” diet that a lactating cow can eat is at first dictated by its own rumen capacity, as well as fermentation by the rumen bugs and rate of feed passage through the entire digestive system.

A good illustration demonstrates: a high fibre diet with low digestibility restricts DMI intake, two-fold. First, the fibre fills up the rumen, quickly. Second, low quality feed stays in the rumen longer to be digested, which become a physical barrier upon more incoming feed.

In comparison, a lactating diet containing high quality forages promotes high dry matter intake by dairy cows, simply because; it takes more of this diet to fill the rumen, its fibre is likely more digestible by the rumen microbes, which speeds up its rate of passage. In this case, DMI becomes more regulated by hormone signals to the cow’s brain, which literarily shuts off consumption. Furthermore, there are many chemical restraints in the rumen such as its buffering capacity against buildup of acids in order to maintain a healthy pH of 5.5 – 6.0, which helps facilitates good rumen function.

Grounded upon these broad-based nutritional principles, here is a set of dairy barn suggestions that in my experience help achieves optimum and consistent feed intake among lactating dairy cows: 1. A separate nutrition program three weeks before calving - Close-up dry cow that consume about 12 kg of dry feed; daily have been shown to have greater DMI as early lactating cows and less post-partum metabolic problems. These diets don’t have to be complex.

2. Promote good rumen fermentation - Typical rations for lactating dairy cows should be formulated to contain 19 to 21% ADF, 28 to 32% NDF (with 75% coming from effective forage fibre) and limitations placed of 35 to 42% placed on non-structural carbohydrates.

3. Know DMI and ‘As Fed’ Intake – A weekly schedule of DMI and ‘As fed’ intake of the lactation herd as well as the moisture content of the diet should be recorded.

4. Formulate a “friendly diet” – Feed a portion of the grain that has slower rates of starch digestion such as grain corn to prevent acidosis. Avoid feeding too much unsaturated fats and/or bypass fats. Make sure to limit unpalatable feed ingredients. Last, check your forages and grains for visible mold and other contaminants.

5. Use a Direct Fed Microbial (DFM) – I often formulate a DFM into lactation diets. It contains bacteria, grain and forage enzymes and yeasts, which have been shown to improve feed digestibility and prevent sub-acidosis rumen acidosis. Fed at 10 g per head per day it costs about 25c per head per day.

I find these suggestions work, but some of the time, it takes common sense to help promote dry matter intake in lactating dairy cows. The other day while I was conducting a barn-walk, I pulled out several pieces of orange baler-twine from the freshly laid TMR ration. Balling up in a cow’s gut would probably be not a good thing.

By Judy Klassen Since my election, I have had the privilege to see so much of our rural landscape and meet so many wonderful Manitobans connected to our agricultural industry.

One of the highlights for me in my role as the Manitoba Liberal Agriculture Critic was to attend the 2017 Ag Days in Brandon. I was in good company with Jordan Fleury by my side; Jordan is the President of the Manitoba Liberal Aboriginal Association and is no stranger to the agricultural needs of our Province.

On the road to Brandon, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as this was my first time attending Ag Days. I imagined an arena filled with a few trade show booths, but I was in for a nice surprise – it is a massive event. It was amazing to learn about and see all of the organizations and businesses that participate in this event; I even saw that a few cows made the trip out!

As we made our way around the Keystone Centre I found myself immersed in the many different elements that contribute to a successful agricultural industry here in our province. Ag Days was a great reminder of how

many different people and jobs are affected by agriculture in our province. To give those that did not attend an idea of the magnitude of this conference, I did my best to keep track of the number of booths that I was passing but lost count somewhere around the 1,400 mark.

Very quickly it is easy to get a sense of the impact that our agricultural communities have on our economy. It is one of our oldest trades here in Manitoba and like most

things in life, the farm sizes have changed, the equipment looks different and we’ve seen the move from the family hobby farm to massive commercial farming operations, and it’s nice to see that small farms are still a treasured asset.

The growth and evolution of events like Ag Days are proof of the impact that agriculture has on our Province.

I came away from this event full of ideas and support for our Manitoba farmers.

I am committed to representing our agricultural industry in the legislative house and will fight for the needs of our farmers. A prosperous farming industry is a prosperous Manitoba.

Do you work in the agriculture industry and do you have an issue that you need help solving? Let me know at judy.klassen@leg.gov.mb.ca.

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Sawyer Massey 25-45 Kerosene Tractor Threshing Circa 1919 Among the photos donated to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum is a series of photos taken in the Elton district, northeast of Brandon on the Archie McPhail farm.

The date is circa 1919 and the photo shows a Sawyer Massey 25-45 gas tractor powering a threshing machine.

Although the identities of the people in the photo are not confirmed Alex McPhail, Archie’s son, may be the man in the Stetson hat by the front wheel of the 25-45. Alex McPhail had trained as a WWI pilot and it is thought his presence in the photos would indicate he had been mustered out of service, which indicates the photos were taken after 1918.

As well, his sister, Lena McPhail, is present in some of the photos. She was married in late 1919 to a farmer from the Chater district. It would be unlikely she was present in the photos if she was married as she then had her own household to operate. So it is logical to assume the photos were taken in the fall of 1919.

Archie McPhail had come west from Ontario in 1880 working for the CPR constructing the mainline to the Pacific. He acquired a homestead in the north Brandon area in 1881 and managed to “prove up” on the homestead while working part time for the CPR. This was a common practice by homesteaders who found it necessary to have another source of income while they were breaking their homesteads and slowly bringing the farm into production. The money was needed to purchase supplies and basic machinery.

By 1892, Archie was successful enough as a farmer that he married and built a new house. He purchased another 1/4 section of land and became a purebred livestock breeder specializing in Clydesdale horses and Yorkshire pigs. At one time, his hog herd was regarded as one of the premier herds in North America.

Archie became involved with the Brandon Exhibition in 1882, remained involved for over 40 years and helped organize the first Brandon Winter Fair in 1908. He also did some work for the Immigration Department of the Government of Canada and was sent to Britain to recruit immigrants to Canada.

Unfortunately, Archie’s wife, Mary, passed away in 1910 however, Archie remarried in 1914. In 1916, Archie was appointed as the Farm Manager for the Provincial Mental Hospital at Brandon. He reportedly planted the rows of spruce trees that line 1st Street between the door of the hill and bridge.

Archie retired in 1933 and passed away in 1940.

Throughout the 1890s to 1910, Sawyer Massey was a major Canadian builder of steam engines however; the emergence of gas tractors saw Sawyer Massey begin production of gas tractors. Many gas tractors at this time actually used kerosene as a fuel as it was cheaper than gas.

The company produced a number of tractor sizes. The first model produced was a 20-40, which was then followed by a 30-60 tractor. The 20-40 seems to have been more powerful than thought as this design was later re-rated as a 25-45.

The tractor seen here is a 25-45 tractor equipped with a Sawyer Massey designed and built engine. Sawyer Massey in other tractor models turned to purchasing engines from outside suppliers as this was cheaper than developing its own engines. 25-45s seem to have been somewhat common judging by the number of photos of these tractors. Today they are a fairly rare tractor.

The photo illustrates the problem that threshing machines posed, the need for large numbers of men. There are seven men in the photo and probably there are more men elsewhere.

There was usually an engine man tending the tractor, a separator man tending the threshing machine, two sheaf pitchers per sheaf wagon and for efficient operators, a crew would need at least three or four sheaf wagons. And then several grain wagons would be needed to haul grain away into an elevator or grain bin. If you were running a steam engine, you would also need a water wagon and a man to constantly haul water. A crew then may consist of over 10 men and probably closer to 14, all of whom usually needed to be fed and housed on the farm.

Some custom threshing operations featured “cabooses” or shacks on wheels in which the men slept however it is more likely the usual accommodation was the barn loft or a straw stack with the horse trough serving as a wash-up facility.

Many accounts of early steam engine men mention sleeping on the engine’s deck using grain bags as a blanket and the

heat from the boiler keeping them warm.

Manpower in the threshing days was such an issue that the railways operated “harvest special” trains in which they offered cheap fares to the prairies from the Maritimes and eastern Canada where manpower was more plentiful. As wages at harvest were relatively decent, large numbers of men came to the prairies for harvest. To a fisherman from the Maritimes, used to life on a fishing boat where work was hard, wet and cold and the accommodations equally as wet and cold, with

the prospect of a drowning thrown in, a prairie harvest could be seen as an excursion particularly if you found work on a farm with a wife and daughters who were skilled cooks.

In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday this year, the Manitoba Agricultural Museum has identified the top 150 artifacts in the collection. You can find this list in the Museum website and visit the Museum to examine these artifacts as well as the whole collection. Then give us your opinion as the top 150 artifacts!

The staff and volunteers would love to see you in 2017. The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is open year round and operates a website at ag-museum.mb.ca providing information on the Museum and the Reunion including location and hours of operation.

Beans Continue Earning Their Place

By Les Kletke Gary Recksiedler said that soybeans have earned their place on his farm and they continue to keep earning a bigger chunk of the land base. Gary farms 4,000 acres with his brother Ken just north of Beausejour and this past year they had 1,500 in soybeans.

“They are the crop that continues to provide a yield regardless of the stress,” he said. “It may not always be a bumper crop but they do give you something, and in years when conditions are wet they provide the best return.”

Recksiedler has tried other crops and he has included perennial rye grass in his rotation. This year he plans to have 650 acres. “The crop is good for spreading the work load with harvest and it is good in the rotation,” he said.

He normally follows the ryegrass with soybeans. “It is not ideal because the ryegrass land is not always even and the roots do come up in chunks but we try to harrow it a couple times and pack it so that we have an even seed bed for the emergence of the soybeans.” He follows the crop with Roundup Ready soybeans so he can control any volunteer ryegrass.

The crop also provides other challenges. “Perennial ryegrass goes down flat, so you end up cutting very close to the ground. You make a big swath and if you get a rain on it you have a lot of material to dry out,” he said.

“If you get dry weather and that swath dries it is easy to combine because the seed threshes easily, but that also means you cannot turn the swath if it gets wet.”

He contracts the crop but

said that most of the production would be sold at the global market price. “The contracts are for a limited amount of production so you end up taking the world price for much of the crop,” said Recksiedler. He has grown the crop for 6 years and plans to continue this year along with the combination of wheat.

One crop that is making reappearance after a year is Trefoil producing it without cover crop. “We have found

with a cover crop you don’t get as good a catch, so we seed it without a cover and hope to get a good enough catch that we will get a crop that first year,” he said.

While contracts are available for the crop, he prefers to sell it on the open market.

While the fall was wet and he spent much of the harvest with water in the drains, he was able to get his fieldwork done and some fertilizer down.

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OPINION

Choice of Voice Needed for Manitoba Farmers: NFU The National Farmers Union (NFU) Region 5 (Manitoba) states that the current stable funding model for General Farm Organizations (GFO) to represent Manitoba farmers’ voices on agriculture issues needs a serious fix.

On January 17 Manitoba Minister of Agriculture, Ralph Eichler, announced he would hold consultations to find a better way to help farm organizations receive funding from farmers.

The current membership check-off model in Manitoba is cumbersome, not free of corporate influence, and cannot represent a diversity of farmers because it is limited to those who deliver grain to elevators. In addition, there is red tape for elevators, the burden of making annual reimbursement requests by farmers and major paperwork needed for farm organizations in the collection of the fees.

Most costly of all is the inability of a diversity of farm voices to be fairly supported by Manitoba’s current stable funding model. There is no choice of voice.

Manitoba currently has two general farm organizations (GFOs) with The National Farmers Union Region 5 (Manitoba) since 1969 and Keystone Agriculture Producers (KAP) since 1984. Currently KAP is the group legislated to receive the check-off funds, while the NFU is funded by voluntary farmer membership. This is because the Agriculture Producers Funding Act of Manitoba states that, “Only one qualified organization may be certified as the certified organization at any one time.” (16 (2)) In contrast, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick recognize farmer diversity under their stable funding legislation, allowing farmers to choose among two or more GFOs through a farm registration model, thus giving farmers’ choice of voice on farm issues. Some farmers belong to more than one GFO and the Manitoba government should allow for this option.

In September 2013 the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Ontario concluded that offering stable funding to multiple general farm organizations was necessary because it offers, “The democratic freedom of farmers to choose the voice that best represents their interests.” and stating that the “Practice increases transparency, improves the quality of policy decisions and contributes to public acceptance of the decisions that are implemented.”

The Ontario model collects membership fees from farmers and distributes the funds to the GFOs according to the farmers’ choice, all at a very low cost. The NFU urges Manitoba to follow the example of Ontario in funding a minimum of two GFOs.

KAP Welcomes Funding Review Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) applauds the provincial government’s recent announcement that an immediate review of KAP’s funding system will take place.

“A new funding model will reduce the administrative burden on farmers, purchasers and KAP,” said James Battershill, KAP General Manager. “For us this burden is enormous. Its removal will prevent needless paperwork, and instead allow us to invest resources in engaging with farmers on the issues that are important to them like input costs and taxes.”

“This is clearly an indication of the government’s commitment to reduce red tape in the agricultural sector,” said KAP President Dan Mazier. “It also indicates that Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler has started to fulfill his individual mandate to do this. We look forward to working with him and other ministries to resolve further red tape issues with drainage, grain dryers, farm building codes, and many other problem areas. This will help Manitoba farmers become more competitive, reduce costs and grow their operations.”

The AgriPost

Manitoba Roundup Team Member Excels at Agribition

Photo Coutesy of Lois McRae.

Adam Harms and Samantha Rimke at Agribition.

By Joan Airey Samantha Rimke of Oak Lake, Manitoba earned the 4th overall top judge award at the Canadian National 4H Youth Judging competition at Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, Saskatchewan. She received a cash prize along with a belt buckle. Also participating from Manitoba was Adam Harms of Cartwright with the Manitoba Youth Breed Roundup team.

“Canadian National 4-H and Youth Judging Competition helps develop the skills of our young agriculture judges, judging various species of livestock and forges.

The competitors have the opportunity to attend and view one of the world’s largest international agricultural market places at Agribition,” said Lois McRae. Manitoba Youth Beef Roundup will celebrate its 10th Anniversary August 4-6 at Neepawa, Manitoba. The exciting three-day event will bring together junior members, 4-Hers, and enthusiasts

from all across the province.

“The show is organized by representatives from various breeds that have been involved with National and Provincial shows in the past.

Our goal is to prepare young entrepreneurs in the livestock industry, through this exciting showcase of youth, cattle and friendly competition,” said McRae. “This event will educate, encourage, stimulate and unite participants in the business of agriculture and the beef industry. It encompasses a variety of competitions and events to match all interests and skill levels of participants. Some of the events are Team Grooming, Individual and Team Judging, showmanship, marketing, sales talk, impromptu speeches, art, photography and scrapbooking, as well as cattle classes.”

“This will be a celebration and showcase of Manitoba Youth and agriculture in our province. We encourage young and old to stay involved in the agriculture

industry, explore career opportunities, increase national trade and awareness, and be proud to be part of one of Canada’s largest industries,” said McRae. “We feel the celebration of our past shows exemplifies the importance of youth and agriculture, and will strive to present innovative opportunities that promote and educate future cattleman dedicated to the cattle industry,” added McRae. Organizers are excited about the new 2017 program that includes a Low Stress Cattle Handling workshop, Cattle Presentation and Advocacy workshops. In addition, invitations have been sent for 4-H Champion Females from each 2017 Club Achievement to attend Roundup with the entry fee paid by Roundup. The program continues with the popular Ag Challenge competitions, Cook-offs, cattle shows, scholarships and the selection of Canadian Western Agribition Team.

“We are excited to celebrate our 10th annual Manitoba Youth Beef Roundup in 2017, it’s an all breeds junior educational weekend.

The weekend enables young cattle producers to learn new skills and develop old skills that will enhance their abilities to work with and evaluate cattle,” said McRae. Roundup is a show to bring young purebred and commercial cattle producers from across the province together to see friendly competition amongst the new and upcoming producers from within Manitoba.

Check out Manitoba Youth Beef Roundup Facebook

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Province’s Soybean Acreage Could Rise to Two Million

By Elmer Heinrichs Manitoba soybean specialist Dennis Lange told producers attending St. Jean Farm Days that Manitoba may be growing as much as two million acres of soybeans this year. He told attendees that Manitoba farmers grew over 1.65 million acres of soybeans last year producing a record-setting 42 bushels an acre.

Lange credits additional moisture in August and a long frost-free fall with helping to establish last year’s recordsetting crop. He noted that in a dry year (2011) yields had been significantly lower. Some of the gains if they materialize may come at the expense of other crops as growers shift acres from canola, wheat, barley and oats. As soybean acres rise across western Canada, new soybean varieties are keeping pace, and Lange had some advice for growers on choosing a variety, what to watch for, and on growing the crop.

Lange noted as well that the crop has been gaining ground in western Manitoba and yields have been increasing, with some reports of up to 65 bushels an acre.

While not predicting it will happen, Lange suggested. “If current seeding trends continue, soybeans in Manitoba could be planted on more acres than canola. In 2016, Manitoba had almost 1.7 million acres of soybeans and about 3.1 million acres of canola, based on Statistics Canada data.”

Canola is still the “go to” crop in western Manitoba but data shows that soybeans have gone from a novelty to a normal crop in a short time. In 2011, only about five percent of soybean acres were seeded outside the Red River Valley and central Manitoba. In 2015, nearly 40 percent of total acres were seeded outside those areas.

As well, yield data indicates that soybeans have been a more reliable crop in Manitoba over the last five years, with yields consistently reaching 30 to 40 bushels an acre and higher.

page or contact Chairperson, Lois McRae 204-728-3058.

For further information about Round-Up contact any of committee member, Wanda Best, Rill and Travis Hunter, Naomi Best, Candace Johnston, Ken Williams, Nanette Glover,

Jackie and Keegan Cavers, Albert, Michelle and Samantha Rime, Andrea Berthelot, Carson Rodgers, Justin Kristjansson, Laura Horner, Blair and Melissa McRae, Adrianne Vandersluis and Melissa Falconer.

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Conserving Water a Factor Way Down South

By Les Kletke Tony Lehmann uses glyphosate extensively on his farm in southeastern Australia, valuing it as a weed control measure and even more importantly for water conservation. That is why he is careful not to overuse it.

“Water is a scarce resource for us,” said Lehmann who farms 5,000 acres about 5 hours northwest of Junee.

“We use glyphosate to control the weeds that are taking valuable moisture from the soil. We need that for the next crop.”

He is well aware of over using a product and the potential for herbicide resistant weeds, which were first discovered, in his country. To that end, he uses herbicides with other modes of action through his weed control.

He produces Roundup Ready canola and wheat with the occasional field of alfalfa for his 4,500 Merino sheep. “We have the wheat where we use a different herbicide and we feel that gives us a break to avoid the herbicide resistance which is something we are concerned about,” he said. “We don’t have the rotation that you do in North America where you are rotating herbicide resistant crops, but that would be a real concern.”

Lehmann turns his 2,000 Merino ewes out on the wheat stubble and has them forage for a few remaining weeds or grain that has been lost. “The field does not look like much,” he said pointing out what appeared to be dry

Tony Lehmann has 4,500 head of Merino sheep foraging on wheat stubble. He sprays the stubble to control weeds and conserve moisture.

stubble. “But they are able to find enough to eat and do quiet well.”

Along with the 2,000 ewes, he feeds the resultant lambs for a year keeping some back for replacement and sells to other breeders. In all, his flock is 4,500 animals. He has one full time hired man and his son is working into the operation.

They are currently shop-

Tony and Vickie Lemannn near a giant Merino sheep statue paying tribute to the breed that is the cornerstone of the Australian wool industry.

ping for a high clearance sprayer that will give them added capacity on the farm as well as allow some offfarm income for his son.

“We might also be looking for some additional land but

land prices have really gone up in our area in the last couple of years so that makes it difficult,” said Lehmann.

Renting land is very difficult as well. “Farmers tend to buy the land and there is little in-

vestment from non-farmers.

When a farm comes up for sale it is usually bought by another farmer,” he said. The farms are normally bought as complete units with the yards remaining intact.

Photos by Les Kletke

He has purchased existing farms in the past and maintains the yard site with a shearing barn on each yard and a house that is rented to a non-farmer.

PED Virus Under Control in Canada

By Harry Siemens When the PED virus first hit the US, the hog industry in Canada knew it would just be a matter of time until it crossed the border. It moved first into Ontario and then in Manitoba. However, with a great defence that turned into offence, it appeared that Manitoba was able to successfully stop the spread of the virus with a few exceptions at some distribution points.

Late in 2016, Dr. Egan Brockhoff, the Veterinary Counsel with the Canadian Pork Council reported that the Canadian pork industry is doing a good job in its effort to rid the country of PED. The Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network’s mid-December PEDv update said affected Manitoba operations in May and September are making excellent progress in moving toward eradicating the virus.

Brockhoff said Canada

is doing a fantastic job keeping this virus down and working hard to push it out of the country. “The three herds that were positive in May, the finisher sites are presumptive negative. The animals are testing negative and we’ve got negative and naive animals back in those sites,” he said. “The sow herd that was positive in the fall has stopped shedding the virus and the pig environment, where the little guys are all running around, is testing negative. They’re able to farrow pigs into that negative environment and animal health is continuing to improve. We’ve had more cases in 2016 but we continue to see a positive downtrend in the number of affected sites across Canada.”

He said Manitoba is moving the positive sites to negative, while Ontario has moved its positive testing numbers to less than 4 percent in the primary sites, which had tested positive, and Quebec is testing negative. He went on to say that, the positive herd in

the Maritimes all test negative now and those pigs have resumed normal market behaviour.

Brockhoff said it is always more complicated to eradicate a virus from a farrow to finish site versus the finish barns with mature animal populations.

George Matheson, Chair of Manitoba Pork said improving biosecurity would be among the pork industry’s top priorities during 2017.

In May, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reinstated a regulation that requires swine transport trailers returning from US farms to be washed in the US before reentering Canada.

Matheson said biosecurity is always important focusing on reducing the transfer of any diseases amongst Manitoba herds, particularly PEDv devastation within the individual farms that have been hit. “We did have a few cases in Manitoba this year but the specific farms either are negative or moving toward being negative so

that’s good news for us,” he said. “We continue to focus on prevention. Something we’re looking at in cooperation with the Federal government and CFIA would be a trusted trucker program where a transporter who has perhaps been certified through a course in biosecurity can have their trailer pass the border with a scrape-out and, because of their history of biosecurity, they can then move to the wash station at Blumenort where it would be thoroughly washed and baked to reduce all bacteria and virus.”

Matheson said it would be like a NEXUS program for those people going to the airport. If the passenger has a good history, is a good citizen, then he or she can bypass some of the restrictions placed when travelling.

This would eliminate the uncertainty of washing in the US as in some cases these wash bays are known for using recycled water.

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Cattleman can expect a good year in 2017 if...

Good Times for Good Managers

By Les Kletke Cattleman can expect a good year in 2017 if they are good managers. “There are not many fellows left in the business who aren’t good managers,” said David Kraft. “The past decade took care of that, we had come through a long period of pretty rough times and the good times did not last as long as we expected. It gave fellows a bit of time to catch up but not time to build the reserves they need to weather another storm.”

Kraft operates a market consulting service for beef producers and said his focus is to help reduce the risks in marketing beef cattle. “It is a bit of a change from what we think of in the beef industry where the image was one of riding the market and taking advantage of the highs,” he said. “But that has changed and now operators can no longer afford to be at the mercy of the market and hold cattle for the price to come up.”

Looking at the year ahead, he said there will be some opportunity to make money in the cattle business. “But your costs are what will determine your profits, you have to keep those costs in line, and we should be able to do that with feed costs this year.”

He said that while feed production was good in 2016 the wet fall meant much of it did not get off the field and that may cause problems. “Fellows have enough feed but how it is going to weather may be more of an issue than it should be and storing on the field is not what you want for the 2017 crop,” he said.

Kraft sites the weak Canadian dollar as a positive factor for Canadian cattlemen, “This is about where the dollar should be or even a bit lower for exports,” he said. “Though it does hurt when you are buying American equipment.”

“We have to be watching the markets and take advantage of any price run up during special times,” he said. “That will determine the bottom line and for most producers that will make quiet a difference.”

“We are seeing some opportunities in contracts and particularly for producers that can assemble a large amount of similar conditioned cattle,” said Kraft. “But this is reality and long term these prices are still pretty good. We would have dreamed of these prices 5 years ago, and now we have to work to make things profitable at these levels. We have to be careful to watch our costs and there will be profit in the cattle industry.”

Good Beef Cow Trace-Mineral Status Promotes Newborn Calf Vitality

By Peter Vitti Within the next few months, there are going to be a lot of newborn calves on the ground.

Fair to good quality forage is quite plentiful this year and grain is reasonably priced, so the bulk of the cowherds that I have seen across western Canada this winter are in good body condition for calving. One area that I always feel that we should focus more on is to maintain or elevate their plane of trace-mineral status.

That’s because, the developing calf fetus is totally reliant upon the supply of maternal traceminerals like copper, zinc, manganese and selenium; drawn through the placenta from the dam’s blood. Second, their own undeveloped trace-mineral status takes precedent over their mum’s during the waning months of pregnancy. By providing a well-balanced mineral feeding program to beef cows during the last trimester of gestation, we can successfully get their newborn calves off to a healthy start.

Unfortunately, I see across each winter one or two cowherds that are within weeks of calving and I suspect are so trace-mineral depleted that they are too far gone as good mothers. As a result, their newborn calves are often severely trace-mineral deficient at birth. Such poor trace-mineral carryover from the mothers makes these baby calves highly susceptible to a long list of immediate- and long-term problems. These health and growing disabilities include immune dysfunction, abnormalities in bone and muscle development, digestive disorders all of which are enveloped by general poor growth and high mortality.

Such poor “doers” are also likely to be fed poor quality colostrum within hours after birth.

It’s a similar case that it originates from fresh cows of poor trace-mineral status; which have poor pre-partum transfer of essential trace-minerals as well as poor enrichment of immunoglobulin. Although, it has been shown that feeding organic seleno-yeasts to post-partum cows increase colostrum selenium concentrations to healthy levels, dietary post-partum supplementation of copper, zinc, and manganese fail to work in the same way.

Case-in-point: I have witnessed first-hand, what happens when beef cows that are in poor copper status calve out copper-deficient nursing calves. These newborn calves seem to have inadequate immune protection, because they tend to scour within days of birth to about three weeks of age. A good portion of these sick calves suffer from severe dehydration and perish, so I find that many of their owners tend to spend lots of money on sulfa-pills and other scour treatments.

Fortunately, I find that more and more beef producers recognize the importance of a wellbalanced good mineral and vitamin-feeding program for late-gestating beef cows.

One of the best illustrations of good pre-calving trace-mineral status and its value in beef cows was executed in a recent field study at Oregon State University (2016). These researchers sorted out 84 pre-calving beef cows with adequate trace mineral status into three treatment groups; no trace mineral supplementation, an inorganic supplement group and a group fed more bioavailable “chelated/organic” copper manganese, zinc and cobalt. These three experimental diets were fed through the third trimester until calving.

The best points of this trial demonstrated that the latter two trace-mineral supplemental groups improved the respective status of the late-trimester cows, while placental samples of the organic treatment had elevated levels of all four-tested trace-minerals. Saleable weaning weights averaged 519 pounds for calves from cows receiving the organic minerals versus 491 pounds for those from the group receiving the inorganic minerals.

In line with this study, I advocate that beef producers feed a more fortified commercial mineral with more biologically available organic copper, zinc, manganese and seleno-yeast to gestating beef cows during the last trimester, during calving and even beyond to the breeding season. I would also target a daily consumption of 50 – 100 grams. If the cowherd is not eating enough or too much, add 1/3 portion salt to the mineral mixture. On occasion, I would calculate the average mineral intake of the herd, and make the necessary adjustment for adequate and consistent mineral consumption.

By switching to such a commonly referred “beef breeder” mineral, some people are shocked at the $45 per 25-kg bag price tag compared to a “regular” cattle mineral that was costing them all winter, about $30 per 25-kg bag. I assure them that this premium is a nominal $3 – $4 per head fed 90 days prior to calving.

Rather than consider it as an expense, I always think of feeding the best mineral as a good investment. Its purpose is to build and assure good trace-mineral status in last trimester cows until calving, so it helps them calve out without many problems as well as produce calves with great newborn vitality.

Pork Research Cluster Receives Additional Funding The Government of Canada is providing an additional $1.8 million to the pork research cluster to continue responding to consumer concerns around the humane treatment of animals.

This additional sum brings the total Government of Canada investment to $14.8 million and will help to expand on research work already underway as part of the five-year (2013-18) research cluster. New research will address the issue of sow housing and improved living conditions for both sows and piglets.

Calf “Crop” Ready to Hit the Ground

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Opportunities in Canada Leads to Family Beef Operation

By Les Kletke Alice Rooke knows what February will be like on their farm at Alexander. “We will be into calving and with 230 cows there will be lots of calves,” she said with a chuckle.

The Rooke family operates Rooke Land and Cattle at Alexander, an operation they began 4 years ago after emigrating from England where they had a much smaller operation.

“We were sheep farmers and had a few cattle,” said Alice who is in Grade 10 and has already decided she wants to be a cattle farmer when the day arrives to choose a vocation. She is already growing her herd. “I had a few of mine that calved earlier,” she said. “As well as some of the heifers that calved earlier, but the majority of our calves are born in February.”

The family has 48 purebred Red Angus as well as their commercial Semimetal Red Angus cross commercial herd.

The farm also has 2,500 acres of land that produces canola, wheat and barley. “We do some custom planting and fertilizing,” she said. “We bought a new row crop planter for this spring so we will see how that fits into the operation but we expect to be planting corn and soybeans for ourselves as well as neighbours.”

Alice’s parents Daniel and Penny and their two children chose western Manitoba as a home after leaving their farm in central England. They list the opportunities here as the biggest difference in their new life and the reason they came to Canada.

George who finished high school last year is working full time on the farm and has not yet made final plans for what the next few years will involve. But for now, he is content to be part of the farm operation and expand the custom work. The family also does custom work wrapping bales.

Alice has taken the issue of quality feed to heart and won an essay contest for her paper on what quality feed would mean to a subsistence farmer in Mexico. Her essay won a trip to World Food Day in Des Moines, Iowa and the opportunity to interact with 400 other youth. “It helped me decide, I want to be a cattle farm,” she said with a smile, and she continues to be involved with her local 4-H club as well as build her own herd.

It is calving time, and soon the crop will be hitting the ground.

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January 27, 2017

The AgriPost

Transport Wash Innovation Wins Aherne Prize at Banff Pork Seminar

By Harry Siemens Back in May 2016, Steve’s Livestock Transport said the new Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) requirements for Canadian swine transports to be washed in the United States before returning to Canada would add up to a million dollars per year to its cost of washing and disinfecting swine transport trailers.

The CFIA ended the program, which had allowed swine transport vehicles returning from US farms to be washed and disinfected at Canadian wash facilities as of May 2, 2016. The program had reverted to requiring trucks to be washed at US facilities before returning to Canada.

Rick Peters, the VP of Operations with Steve’s Livestock Transport, said the US has had significant issues with PEDv and forcing Canadian trucks to co-mingle with potential contaminated US trucks at US wash bays raised the risks. “My concern is the possibility of picking up unnecessary unwarranted viruses due to having to go to these US wash bays,” said Peters.

“Their protocols are quite different than the protocols in Manitoba wash bays and in western Canadian wash bays. The Canadian swine transport industry and, particularly the western Canadian swine transport industry, has responded very well to the threat of PEDv.” He said the industry keeps changing and upgrading to increase biosecurity at the farms.

Producers keep increasing their biosecurity and training staff to make this happen. “There’s also been an introduction of trailer baking bays built in Manitoba and we’ve also put in undercarriage washes for livestock trailers,” said Peters. “We knew that it was a concern for a number of years and the undercarriage wash addresses that. Another thing is we’ve increased our ongoing biosecurity training for drivers, not only increased it but we also provide ongoing training as well for them.”

Steve’s Livestock Transport is complying with the requirements but will be re-washing trailers in Canada adding the change will unnecessarily add three quarters of a million to a million dollars per year to his company’s cost of washing and disinfecting swine transport trailers.

During the 2017 Banff Pork Seminar Blue Water Wash of Blumenort, Manitoba received the 2017 F. X. Aherne Prize for Innovative Pork Production Award. Bill Rempel of Blue Water Wash accepted the award for the company’s innovative new heavy equipment undercarriage wash.

Dr. Ben Willing, Chair of the F. X. Aherne Prize committee said the prize has become a major event in the pork industry named after industry icon, the late Dr. Frank Aherne, a professor of swine nutrition and production at the University of Alberta and a major force for science-based progress in the western Canadian pork industry. “This prize recognizes individuals who have developed either original solutions to pork production challenges or creative uses

The Blue Water Wash at Blumenort washing a trailer’s undercarriage using 24 high-pressure spinning nozzles along with 90 gallons per minute of water to thoroughly clean the underside of any livestock trailer that runs through it.

Bill Rempel accepted the award at the 2017 Banff Pork Seminar for Blue Water Wash located at Blumenort (left) is alongside Dr. Ben Willing, University of Alberta, Chair of the Aherne Prize Committee.

of known technology,” said Willing. “The quality and number of applicants is strong each year and keeps this award popular. And these grassroots innovations help anchor a promising future for livestock production to feed a growing world.”

There was never a way to wash all organic material from underneath livestock trailers according to Blue Water Wash. Organic material has the potential to carry and spread diseases, which is a threat to the industry. The company researched and developed an undercarriage wash, which is operational in their new state-of-the-art drive-through wash bays in Blumenort.

The system uses 24 high-pressure spinning nozzles along with 90 gallons per minute of water to thoroughly clean the underside of any livestock trailer that runs through it. To finish off the undercarriage wash, disinfectant is then applied to the underside of the trailer as it exits the wash bay.

The AgriPost

January 27, 2017

Woodmore Women’s Institute Sponsors Seed Saving Workshop

By Joan Airey “I’m interested in saving seeds and keeping a diverse seed bank. I suggested to fellow WI members that we hold a workshop on the subject and have Mandy Botincan as guest speaker. She is owner of Mandy’s Greenhouse at Tyndall. She will share the wonder of these exciting “Old Time” vegetables by bringing some rare seeds to show and tell including a photo slide show presentation. She will have some door prizes for participants and seeds for sale,” said Janet Kroeker.

Mandy Botincan resides outside Tyndall on a small mixed farm. She started her seed business in 1989, selling thousands of heritage vegetable plants and later branched out into seed sales. She has managed to acquire and grow over sixteen hundred varieties of which she now maintains at about thirty percent in order to slow down a little. She no longer offers plants but seed sales keep her busy.

“Nothing is more exciting than seeing every colour in God’s rainbow growing in one’s garden. From black carrots to tricoloured striped tomatoes, multi-coloured blue corn to white cucumbers to pink and cream beans that can grow to 12 inches long!” said Botincan.

“She is fairly well known in the seed saving circles and speaks all over the province. I recommend checking out her website, mandygreenhouse.com,” said Kroeker.

Another website you can check out for heirloom seeds is heritageharvest.com, which is also located in Manitoba with an online catalogue.

Some websites Botincan recommended to fellow gardeners at the workshop are seedpotatoes.ca, lilynook.nb.ca, ritchers. com and onrockgarden.com.

Botincan mentions on her website that the plants grown in raised beds did best in 2016 with an abundance of rain totalling around twenty-two inches. If you are looking for a seed your parents or grandparents used to grow check out her website. I found the Siberian Tomato I grew thirty plus years ago and had not been able to find for several years. Her blog keeps everyone updated on heritage vegetable seeds.

For further information on the presentation contact Leiette Martens at Red River Recreation at redriverrec@emersonfranklin.com.

If you are interested in getting ready to garden the place to be is Rivernest 27032 -13 N in Roseau River, Manitoba on February 23, at 6:30 pm. The workshop is organized by the Woodmore Women’s Institute Food Security Initiative.

Mandy Botincan will lead a workshop on how to save seeds.

The workshop is scheduled for Roseau River, Manitoba on February 23.

Advisors Need to Be Flexible with Farm Clients

By Les Kletke Joerg Zimmerman has spent his life in different agricultural environments.

He grew up on a cash crop farm in Germany, worked as a consultant to large eastern European farms in the CIS and today has a farm business advisory company that has clients across western Canada.

Zimmerman was one of the keynote speakers at the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors meeting in Niverville and he told those present to plan to be flexible. He outlined how most farms in the top 30% of production had advisors and that strategic plans are not enough to function in today’s environment.

He said that less than half of farms have long-term goals that are written down. “Writing them down forces you to define them more clearly,” he said. “It also allows them to be shared.

If things are not written down then it is much less likely that they are clear to them members of the farm team.”

The day, which was titled Farm Succession Update, had

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opening speaker Frank Wiebe outline the 3 circle model that was developed at Harvard and defines management areas as Ownership, Business and Family. Wiebe stressed that there were three separate circles but when one looked at the overlapping areas there were seven areas of management and it is important to realize which area an issue fell into and to deal with it properly.

Zimmerman concentrated on the Business Circle and told advisors to concentrate on being part of a business team.

“Strategic plans are important and are required for the long term but are not always what a farmer wants to be a part of,” he explained. “Most times they view meetings as a waste of time. They are too busy putting out the fires of the day to bother with a long term plan.”

He said that many of the farms he works with have continued to grow but their bottom line has not kept pace with the rate of growth of gross sales. “Farmers are concerned about growth but often that growth does not give them the return they have seen on their operation to that point.”

By writing down specific goals it makes them 80% more likely to be achieved he pointed out. “Writing down goals also helps bring the issues to the surface; we get the issues on the table and get dealt with. That is a real contribution of writing down goals,” said Zimmerman.

WGRF Commits to Ten New Research Projects Through a continuing co-funding partnership with the Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) and other producer commodity groups, Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) has announced over $500,000 of new funding for 10 crop-related research projects.

“Producers are committed to investing in agricultural research,” said WGRF Board Chair, Dave Sefton. “WGRF is pleased to be supporting 10 new promising research projects in almost all crops, that will likely lead to improved crop production for western Canadian producers.

Co-funding partnerships like the one between WGRF and ADF help maximize the investment we as producers make. The WGRF Endowment Fund is used to fund crop research projects that benefit all producers through improved agricultural systems, technology and agronomic practices.”

Some of the projects receiving funds include management of stored crops, improvement of flax and pulse varieties, enhancing blackleg resistance, investigating optimal inputs for lentils, integration of agronomy and breeding to reduce disease in fall rye.

A full listing of projects will be posted on the WGRF website once research contracts are in place. “WGRF established this funding partnership with ADF in 2013,” said Garth Patterson, WGRF Executive Director. “Since that time WGRF has invested over $12.7 million into over 100 research projects in partnership with ADF and crop commissions. Our ability to reach out to and work with other research funders and grower groups is one of WGRF’s greatest strengths.”

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January 27, 2017

The AgriPost

Why Agriculture Needs to Speak Up!

By Joan Airey Cherilyn Nagel spoke at Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference on the importance of connecting consumers to famers with documentaries such as “License to Farm” and introducing “Farm & Food Care Canada”.

Nagel farms with her husband David and family near Mossbank, Saskatchewan growing durum wheat, chickpeas, canola and lentils. In 2004 she was elected President of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association (WCWGA) serving a five year term and remains as Director on the current board.

She considers signing the first durum contract on the open market in December of 2011 to be one of her career highlights as a farmer.

In 2012, Nagel was awarded the Agricultural IMPACT award at the Grow Canada Conference for her efforts and passion for making positive changes in the agriculture sector. She was awarded the Queen’s Bench Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Nagel was interviewed in the new documentary “License to Farm” to encourage other farmers to share their own stories on maintaining the freedom to operate. Nagel and her family were also featured with Canadian Chef Michael Smith in a video to promote Saskatchewan Lentils. You can view the video at lentils.ca. She currently works with Farm and food Care Saskatchewan setting up an Agricultural Speakers Bureau. The goal is to help connect enthusiastic farmers with companies and local organizations who would like presentations related to modern farming practices.

She will be training other farmers in the art of sharing positive messages about the food that we grow and how we grow it.

Nagel referred to the book-

let “The Real Dirt on Farming” as a reference for everyone to use, consumers and farmer alike. “If you haven’t read ‘The Real Dirt on Farming’ I suggest you find a copy to read and share it with other consumers. False advertising by companies misleads consumers and this booklet should enlighten them to the truth about agriculture. For instance, no pigs, chickens, turkeys or egg-laying hens in Canada are fed hormones.

That’s been illegal for decades,” said Nagel. “There is no such thing as hormonefree beef; all animals produce hormones naturally, regardless of how they are raised.”

She stressed that trust is an important factor with consumers. “Rebuilding public trust in our food system will take time, energy and a commitment from farmers.

Consumers still feel a sense of trust towards farmers but unfortunately, our public doesn’t have direct access to those of us still on the farm

today. So we need to reach out on a personal level and in social media and be willing to answer questions from our inquisitive public,” she said.

“We have a great story to tell about the amazing advancements in agriculture, and all it takes is a commitment to tell those stories!”

Nagel stressed the importance of if you do not know the answer to a question from a consumer, tell them you will get the answer and get back to them with the correct information.

The ‘Real Dirt of Farming’ states that by 2050 seventy percent of our population will live in urban centres and the world’s population is growing by seventy-five million people every year. We will need seventy per cent more food, which is almost a billion tonnes more grain produced a year and more than two hundred million tonnes more meat production yearly. You can read Real Dirt on Farming at RealDirtonFarming.ca.

Who Owns That Quota?

By Les Kletke Gemma Brown said the first step to planning a transition of ownership of quota is to understand its history and what it means for today.

Brown is with the law firm of Smith Neufeld Jodoin in Steinbach and was one of the keynote speakers at a recent CAFA conference in Steinbach. The conference intended for Farm Advisors was open to farmers and was dedicated to Farm Succession Planning.

Frank Wiebe of BDO outlined the three-circle model developed by the Harvard Business School. The model is divided into 3 distinct areas of family, business and ownership and the seven areas created in the overlapping areas of theses circles.

Brown’s presentation concentrated on the ownership area and she asked the pointed question about who owns quota and how quota can be passed to future generations or new owners of a farm.

Brown who has been involved with several cases of farmers, who were unsuccessful in passing their quota to a new owner, used an example of a turkey farmer who was unable to sell his farm because of the resultant mix up over quota. She pointed out how the issue gets more complicated when the quota is owned by a corporation and the farmer sells his shares in the corporation.

Brown said a one-size fits all approach does not apply to quota and different marketing boards have different policies regarding the transfer of quota. “Since 1998 quota values have nearly tripled in Manitoba,” she said. “But that does not mean that a farmer should count on the value of this asset tripling when he wants to retire.”

Brown stressed that conditions vary from commodity to commodity and a producer should take nothing for granted. She recommends, “Producers should lobby the various boards and provincial ministries for amendments to the regulations to give credence to realities of the marketplace.”

Browns said the tax implications of quota being owned by a corporation should not be overlooked and are an important consideration when planning the transfer to the next generation.

Premier Highlights Plans for Water Management Premier Brian Pallister and Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler attended the 40th anniversary of Ag Days to celebrate the effects of agriculture on Manitoba’s economy.

In his keynote speech, Pallister spoke of the importance of farmers to Manitoba’s economy and the challenges many have faced in recent years related to flooding and water management.

“The realities of climate change mean our province sees unpredictable weather patterns and resulting issues around water management,” said Pallister. “This is a challenge we must face together, ensuring we farm the best land better while allowing water to be retained in places that make sense.

This will provide protection, not only for our communities downstream, but also for the agricultural producers who help feed Manitobans and countless others around the world.”

Pallister announced Manitoba’s soon-to-be-revealed

green plan that will include an overall water management strategy, with measures to address drainage, pursue precision farming to ensure better management of nutrient run-off, accommodate the storage of excess water and ensure the retention of valuable wetlands.

In his remarks at Ag Days, Eichler also announced the government’s commitment to immediately begin consultations as part of a review of the funding structure of Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) under the Agricultural Producers Organization Funding Act. “The current check-off funding structure creates needless administrative costs for farmers, KAP and purchasers of agricultural products,” said Eichler. “A review of the system has long been requested. Our government is listening to Manitobans and we are pleased to be taking this step today.”

Ag Days is the premiere event for agriculture in Manitoba and is the largest

farm show in Canada, allowing producers, agri-business and industry professionals to connect and share innovation and expertise. “The industry benefits generated

by Ag Days will ensure that agriculture continues to be a cornerstone of our provincial economy,” said Eichler.

“It is a tremendous honour to participate in the 40th anniversary of Ag Days as our government pursues strengthened partnerships with Manitoba’s agricultural producers.”

The AgriPost

MacAulay Highlights Importance of Strong Bilateral Agricultural Trade Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and AgriFood, delivered a keynote address recently at the Legislative Agriculture Chairs

Summit of the State of Agriculture and Rural Leaders (SARL) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

During his address, Ma-

cAulay pledged to work with the incoming US administration and Congress to further strengthen the bilateral agricultural trading relationship between the two countries.

He spoke of the many benefits of the Canada-US agriculture relationship, and the need for continued cross-border collaboration to ensure the respective agriculture sectors remain globally competitive and prosperous.

“This summit is a prime example of the strong agricultural trade partnership that exists between the US and Canada,” said MacAulay. “The US is our closest friend, partner and most important economic relationship. Working together to identify opportunities for our farmers offers them the best opportunity to succeed, grow our economies, and create jobs.”

The annual SARL summit is the premier meeting of provincial and US state legislators. In 2015, bilateral trade in agriculture and agri-food between Canada and the US reached $47 billion.

When it came into effect January 1, 1994, NAFTA created the largest free-trade region in the world. Being the first comprehensive trade agreement of its type, NAFTA has set a valuable example of the benefits of trade liberalization for the rest of the world.

January 27, 2017

4-H Launches Club for Alumni

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4-H Manitoba, in partnership with 4-H Canada, has announced a new alumni program, 4-H’s Club 1913, an online community for the more than 350,000 4-H alumni across Canada who were at one time youth members in Canada’s longest standing rural youth organization and who are looking to get back to their roots.

4-H in Canada is encouraging alumni across the country to register online at Club1913.ca, the online hub for 4-H alumni who are interested in re-connecting and networking with other alumni and finding unique opportunities at the local and national level, while celebrating their pride in being part of the 4-H in Canada community.

“I really enjoy talking and sharing with people who have been in 4-H,” said Carlie Whetter, President, Manitoba 4-H Council. “Proud 4-H’ers love to share stories and experiences about skills learned, friendships made and how 4-H contributed to their success and provided a positive impact on their lives.”

Since its inception in 1913 in Roland Manitoba, 4-H Canada has empowered young Canadians to become responsible, caring and contributing leaders who are passionate about making meaningful contributions to the world around them. Across Canada, 4-H alumni continue to use their Heads, Hearts, Hands and Health to make a difference as community champions, Olympic athletes, industry leaders and politicians at every level of government.

Being a member of 4-H’s Club 1913 also represents an opportunity for 4-H alumni to help grow future generations of leaders, by volunteering, becoming mentors and engaging in knowledge and skills transfer opportunities with 4-H youth.

“Our wide network of 4-H alumni is proof that 4-H programming builds strong leaders who are equipped with confidence, positive values, decision-making abilities and other invaluable skill sets,” said Shannon Benner, CEO of 4-H Canada. “In the Canadian economy, and in the Canadian agriculture sector, we see a growing demand for these skills and our alumni can play an instrumental role in addressing these gaps. There is no greater time than now for 4-H.” 4-H alumni are encouraged to register today at Club1913.ca and share their stories of the positive impact 4-H Canada has had in their lives, using #4HClub1913.

Risk Management Program Continues for Manitoba Manitoba farmers will continue to benefit from comprehensive coverage provided through AgriInsurance and the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program in the upcoming season, Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced recently at Ag Days.

“Governments continue to work together to ensure producers have access to an effective suite of business risk management programs that offer protection against a broad range of farm business risks,” said MacAulay. “Taking proactive steps to protect the farm against the financial impact of extreme weather and price fluctuations is a key strategy for success.”

The ministers noted total AgriInsurance coverage for 2017 is expected to exceed $2.6 billion on 9.6 million acres in Manitoba, the second-highest level of coverage on record. AgriInsurance coverage is increasing on average by seven per cent, while premium rates are down by an average of four per cent, as compared to last year.

“Through AgriInsurance, we continue to offer a comprehensive risk management program for Manitoba’s farmers, which is effective whether they are just starting out or have had years of experience,” said Eichler. “To ensure the long-term growth of our province’s agriculture sector, AgriInsurance is an essential tool, as it provides reliable protection against the unpredictable challenges of weather and other production-related risks.”

More than 8,400 farms are enrolled in AgriInsurance. Manitoba has the highest level of AgriInsurance participation in Canada, covering over 90 per cent of annual crop acres. The total governments’ share of AgriInsurance premiums for 2017-2018 is expected to be $136.3 million.

Under AgriInsurance, premiums for most programs are shared 40 per cent by participating producers, 36 per cent by the Government of Canada and 24 per cent by the Manitoba government. Administrative expenses are paid 60 per cent by Canada and 40 per cent by Manitoba.

The Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP), which was expanded to include Manitoba cattle and hog producers in 2014, provides protection against unexpected price declines. Due to lower cattle prices in 2016, WLPIP paid out $1.7 million to producers, with 73 per cent of insured calves qualifying for a payment. The average payment for each calf that qualified for an indemnity was $94. Under WLPIP, administrative expenses are paid 60 per cent by Canada and 40 per cent by Manitoba. Premiums are paid by participating producers.

AgriInsurance and WLPIP are risk management programs supported through Growing Forward 2, the five-year federal-provincial-territorial policy framework, and are administered by the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC).

For more information about AgriInsurance, WLPIP or other programs, visit a local MASC office or masc.mb.ca.

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January 27, 2017

The AgriPost

Royal Winter Fair...

“Scramblers” Get Ready!

Cattle Display Barns at Ag Days

By Joan Airey The 110th Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is only a few weeks away and entry is now open for the traditional Calf and Pig Scrambles.

“The scrambles are always very entertaining and popular amongst fair goers,” said Ron Kristjansson, General Manager at the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. “Many youngsters have gotten their first introduction to farm animals by meeting a pig on our arena floor. The kids have a lot of fun and the lucky ones will win cash for catching an animal.”

The pig scrambles are open to all children ages 8 – 10 years, participants for the calf scrambles must have a background in agriculture and be between the ages of 14 -15.

For more information, visit the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair website at royalmanitobawinterfair.com for more details and to register before February 26. Event spaces are limited.

Bruce Anderson of Swan River visits with cattle people at his stall at Ag Days. “We find it very worth while to bring bulls to display at Ag Days, the traffic through the barns is great,” said his wife Ione. “It is over 335 kilometres, and takes us over three and a half hours to get here. We’ve being doing it for several years.”

Photos by Joan Airey

Japan... a Destination for Agritourism

By Nirmala Junko The Japan agritourism industry has attracted youth globally to participate in farming by learning the Japanese food traditions in activity based tour programs along with entertainment.

Recently Ibaraki Prefecture and JTB Corporation in Japan co-organized an agri-activity tour for foreign students studying in Japan. Approximately 25 plus students from different countries participated in the tour enjoying a fun filled, fully packed schedule.

The tour program was for 2 days beginning with an early departure from Tokyo by bus. The first stop was to experience how to make Japanese traditional paper called “Washi”.

Washi is Japanese handmade paper produced in a traditional manner. Papermaking was first brought to Japan by Buddhist monks but Japan quickly became the leading producer of paper.

Traditionally the Washi making process was undertaken by farmers as a seasonal task. The farmers would create paper during the months when it was to cold for them to work outside.

Ibaraki has a great historical place of Washi.

Next, students experienced a traditional BBQ lunch called Hiryori, in an old-fashioned grass house (Kayabuki) and visited the Fukuroda Falls farmers’ market. Day 1 also included an opportunity to enjoy and experience the Japanese Hotspring named Onsen.

On Day 2, students observed the harvesting of Taro (Satoimo) Potatoes and Green Tea and even made rice balls (onigiri) for lunch followed by Persimmon fruit harvesting. The agritourists left with bags full of Persimmons picked direct from the farm. Last but not least, every visitor enjoyed the Chestnut Jam Shop, which produces pure Japanese grown chestnut jam.

Apart from Tsukuba science research centre, Ibaraki is blessed with fertile earth, the ocean, mountains, and a mild climate. Ibaraki is a cornucopia for abundant foodstuffs. Ibaraki boasts the highest production of agricultural products such as melons, lotus roots, and green peppers nationally. Each region inside the prefecture utilizes their area’s specific characteristics in order to produce various agricultural products, including seafood.

In addition, Ibaraki’s food produce has the highest turnover nationally at the Tokyo Wholesale Market for twelve years in a row. As a base provider of food for the Tokyo Metropolitan area, Ibaraki continues to offer high quality and fresh foodstuffs. Ibaraki is renown for being the nearest prefecture to Tokyo capable of delivering agricultural products while maintaining Japanese tradition.

In Japan, good agricultural areas endowed with natural beauty definitely attracts youth during weekends and families residing in adjoining cities. Globally young people have been attracted to Japan for its technology, animation, Manga and electronics. Now Japan’s agritourism and activity based tourism appears to be finding its niche with youth who wish to experience Japan’s traditional and modern agriculture.

The growing agritourism industry is also providing available employment as Japan has a shortfall of human resources and given the luxurious nature of rural tourism, international visitors are now realizing the opportunities.

The AgriPost

Swath Grazing Offers Big Savings for Farmers During the BSE crisis of 2003, Canadian farmers embraced swath grazing and it likely saved some from bankruptcy. Today, about 22% of Prairie beef farmers use swath grazing for winter feeding. Now a recent study funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has confirmed that this feeding system delivers significant benefits to beef producers.

Swath grazing involves starting cereal crops in midto late June, cutting them in mid-September, and leaving them in the field for cattle to graze on during the winter.

It reduces the labour, machinery and fuel expenses of feeding cattle during the winter, compared to traditional methods. Instead, the cattle do all the work themselves making this method popular.

It comes down to this, the longer cows can graze outside the more money farmers save. The annual savings depend on the grain. For example savings are highest for triticale ($120/yr savings per cow), but lower for corn ($93/yr) and barley ($74/ yr). Researchers have found that swath grazing allows the grazing season to be extended by an average of 100 days.

Since 1995, the Canadian beef industry, Federal and Provincial (Alberta and Saskatchewan) governments have invested roughly $10 million into research, with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada contributing just over half of those funds ($5.4 million).

With around 3.1 million beef cows in the Prairies as of July 2015, the return on

MPSG to Host Soybean Production Annual Meeting

The Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG) are holding their third annual, farmer-exclusive, Getting it Right Soybean Production Meeting at the Canad Inns Destination Centre, Portage la Prairie on February 2.

Soybean farmers interested in optimizing production through management practices should plan to attend this event. This full day event will feature presentations on current soybean research and production issues from Dr. Mario Tenuta, U of M Professor – Soybean Cyst Nematodes, Dr. Jay Goos, NDSU Professor – Iron Deficiency Chlorosis, Dr. Jordan Bannerman, U of M Lecturer – Soybean Aphids and Dr. Aaron Daigh, NDSU Assistant Professor – Tillage and Residue Management.

In addition, there will be afternoon workshop sessions and an end-of-conference networking session. For further information and to register visit manitobapulse.ca/production/getting-it-right.

1st for 2017 Ag Days Inventor’s Showcase

Arnold Innovations with the Combine Cylinder Reverser that allows the combine’s cylinder to be reversed using hydraulics and a custom engineered wrench, which when not in use conveniently stores in its own harness attached to the combine.

(L-R) Dave Laudin Manitoba Ag Days Co-Chair, Gord Gilmour (FBC), Doug Arnold (Managing Partner), Richard Arnold (Research & Development Partner), Blake Nesitbo Manitoba Ag Days Board Member Front: Annette Arnold.

the research investment has been estimated at $1.3 billion. This means each dollar invested in swath grazing research has provided $170 worth of benefits to the sector.

This innovative grazing practice is putting Canada at the front of global agricultural science and innovation.

It is also helping to lower our carbon footprint since swath grazing uses less fossil fuel than traditional winter-feeding systems.

January 27, 2017

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January 27, 2017

The AgriPost