AgriPost July 31 2020

The AgriPost

July 31, 2020

Enormous Backlog Pressures Hog Values

Tyler Fulton said prices have remained unprofitable in the last three months with no prospect for any difference in that trend. He said slaughter capacity is a big concern rolling into the third and fourth quarters of this year and it will be tight. Even if all aspects of hog production work correctly, he anticipates that hog supplies will increase four to 5 per cent. Applying that against the understood packer capacity, it would be very close to being an issue.

Layer on any delays in the logistics or in-plant processing, the scenario could see a backlog of hogs building, possibly right after the previous backlog from the spring. It is not a good scenario; this is the reason why there is such a weakness in the fall futures months.

Photo by Harry Siemens

By Harry Siemens Tyler Fulton, with Hams Marketing Services in Winnipeg, said the hog prices continue to be very depressed with the cash market in the US struggling to make gains burdened by vast supplies. The reality is packers are not backed up to 100 per cent capacity. Producers with those extra uncommitted hogs need to negotiate prices daily, and those values are some of the lowest in a decade.

Fulton said the US hog slaughter continues to run at the highest levels at this time of year, with the industry working through the COVID19 backlog.

He added that forward hog

contract prices continue to struggle with little opportunity to price hogs. The best weeks left in 2020 are running around that $130 per 100 kg, or maybe $135 at best. There is not a lot of optimism that anything is going to change over the next five or six months.

Fulton said, based on the most recent USDA quarterly hog and pig’s report in June, the massive year over year increase in the number of hogs available in the US for slaughter continues to pressure North American live hog values. These are hogs coming to market over the next two months.

“Those year-over-year in-

creases in the double digits, over 10 per cent larger than year-ago levels,” he said.

“Twenty years since any yearover-year change of that magnitude.”

Fulton said the USDA took the surveys after the lowest slaughter capacity. The plants that shut down in the US dealing with COVID-19 through their labour force cut the US slaughter by one third. Two or three weeks later, the hog producers completed the survey responding to the questions in precisely the way that they usually would, meaning all of that backlog of hogs not getting slaughtered entered the report.

“It probably skewed some of those numbers in a pretty big way that we simply still need to work through over the next two months or so,” he said.

Fulton said prices have remained unprofitable in the last three months with no prospect for any difference in that trend.

He said slaughter capacity is a big concern rolling into the third and fourth quarters of this year and it will be tight. Even if all aspects of hog production work correctly, he anticipates that hog supplies will increase four to 5 per cent. Applying that against the understood packer capacity, it would be very close to being an issue. Layer on any Continued on page 2...

New Program to Mitigate Spread of COVID-19 for Ag Processors The governments of Canada and Manitoba announced a new $3-million cost-shared Canadian Agricultural Partnership program to support projects that will help agricultural processors mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

The new COVID-19 Response Initiative will provide financial assistance to agri-food and agriproduct processors, food distributors and agri-food industry organizations for personal protective equipment and sanitation supplies; business continuity practices, training and resources to support COVID-19 mitigation; and beginning in September, financial assistance will also be available for materials, supplies and equipment rentals needed to adapt production processes to meet social distancing and other precautions related to COVID-19.

Eligible costs must be directly related to the execution of a project and must be incurred between March 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021. Projects must be completed on or before January 31, 2021.

Governments will contribute a maximum of 50 per cent of eligible project costs, up to $25,000 per applicant.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Emergency Processing Fund (EPF) is a federal investment of up to $77.5 million to help companies implement changes to safeguard the health and safety of workers and their families due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The five-year, $3-billion Canadian Agricultural Partnership includes $2 billion for cost-shared strategic initiatives delivered by the provinces and territories and $1 billion for federal programs and services. For more information, visit canada.ca/ Agri-Partnership.

Funding applications are available on the Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development website, at gov.mb.ca/agriculture/canadian-agricultural-partnership/ag-action-manitoba-program/ financial-assistance-covid-19.

The AgriPost

July 31, 2020

Farmers Increase Lentils, Barley and Durum Crops

By Elmer Heinrichs Statistics Canada says that farmers, in its June survey, reported higher seeded areas of lentils, barley, and durum wheat, in changes to crop ar-

eas compared with the previous year, likely due to higher prices and better returns relative to other crops.

In contrast, areas of crops such as canola and soybeans

fell compared to 2019, possibly due to a shift away from oilseeds.

Despite cool temperatures throughout most of the country and ongoing harvest of

2019 crops in parts of western Canada, dry conditions early in seeding aided planting progress.

While seeding progress during this reference period may not have been directly impacted by COVID-19, farmers have and continue to face their own set of unique challenges in the regular production and distribution of their crops due to the pandemic.

Nationally, farmers reported planting 25.0 million acres of wheat in 2020, up 1.5 per cent from 2019. Higher wheat area was led by durum wheat, which rose 16.2 per cent to 5.7 million acres, while winter wheat increased 45.9 per cent to 1.4 million acres.

The increase in durum wheat area may have been attributable to favourable prices and low carry-out stocks from the previous crop year, while the gains in winter wheat area were due to less winterkill.

In contrast, spring wheat area fell 4.6 per cent to 17.9 million acres.

Farmers in Manitoba reported that total wheat plant-

ing edged up 0.2 per cent to 3.2 million acres. Nationally, farmers reported planting 20.8 million acres of canola in 2020, down 0.8 per cent from 2019 as farmers shifted away from oilseeds, potentially because of high global supplies. Farmers in Manitoba reported that canola area was up 3.2 per cent to 3.4 million acres.

Canadian farmers reported 11.3 per cent less area seeded to soybeans compared with a year earlier to 5.1 million acres in 2020. Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec, the three largest soybean-producing provinces, all reported planting fewer acres. Lower planted acres may have been the result of farmers moving away from oilseeds due to high global stocks. Manitoba led the decrease in soybean area, down 21.8 per cent from the previous year to 1.1 million acres in 2020. This marks the second consecutive year of lower seeded area in the province, after peaking in 2017, and the smallest seeded area since 2014.

Total area seeded to barley rose by 1.4 per cent in 2020 to 7.5 million acres, the highest reported seeded area since 2009.

Area seeded to oats rose 6.5 per cent to 3.8 million acres in 2020. Saskatchewan, the largest oat-producing province, rose 3.3 per cent to 1.9 million acres compared with 2019. The increase in oats may have been due to strong prices as a result of higher demand.

Farmers reported planting 3.7 per cent fewer acres of corn for grain from a year earlier to 3.6 million acres in 2020. Area seeded to corn for grain in Manitoba declined 19.0 per cent to 372,300 acres. Canadian farmers reported planting 4.2 million acres of lentils, up 12.0 per cent from 2019. Despite ongoing import tariffs imposed

by India, higher lentil area may have been due to higher prices.

Nationally, farmers reported seeding 1.8 per cent fewer dry peas, at 4.3 million acres.

Enormous Backlog Pressures Hog Values Continued from Page 1...

delays in the logistics or inplant processing, the scenario could see a backlog of hogs building, possibly right after the previous backlog from the spring. It is not a good scenario; this is the reason why there is such a weakness in the fall futures months.

When it comes to consumer

demand, Fulton said there are some interesting metrics.

He suggested maybe take the information with a grain of salt, because never have the statistics shown consumption patterns where, consumers are consuming the majority of the product at home.

Some information that showed that demand early on in the COVID-19 outbreak spiked for April, but there is no data to display yet to go with it. However, it appears that it has tumbled sharply with consumption still reasonably good, given the restrictions, but prices are collapsing. “And so, when you measure demand in those two ways, both in quantity consumed and then in prices, and it shows a volatile environment for pork demand, specifically,” said Fulton.

When asked how retail pork prices compare against chicken, beef, or other protein products, he thinks pork is well-positioned where everything moved together.

“We see chicken has the lowest price point, and then pork is next, and then beef is typically the highest,” he said.

“Initially, all sectors spiked, and then it dropped off fairly quickly. It’s more of a question of what are consumers most comfortable cooking at home.”

Give the economic situation with record unemployment levels; all sectors need to be mindful of managing

Tyler Fulton, with Hams Marketing Services in Winnipeg, said hog prices continue to be very depressed with the cash market in the US struggling to make gains burdened by vast supplies.

File photo

expectations with what cuts and how much consumers are willing to pay given that their incomes have taken a big hit over the last three months, he said.

Fulton said producers are in a tight spot with even more downside price movement.

Even a modest price recovery of 10 to 15 per cent, which would be a relatively small improvement, he expects some producers to book in the fourth quarter and even early into 2021, to take some of that risk off the table.

He believes there are some conversations about adjustments to the cash prices producers receive because, “We’re going to see some failures and some people leave the industry if we don’t get some improvement soon.”

The AgriPost

July 31, 2020

Farm Safety Demonstration Tractor Unveiled A collaboration between the University of Manitoba (UofM), Red River College (RRC) and Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) driven by the need for an agricultural safety training tool has produced a unique vehicle that will help predict, teach and demonstrate tractor roll overs.

Roll overs, falls and contact with tractor attachments are the leading causes of injury and death to farm tractor operators, according to SAFE Work Manitoba.

The Mini Roll Over Training Tractor (Mini ROTT) was demonstrated at the UofM’s Glenlea Research Station on July 16. Approximately the size of an average lawn tractor but with the appearance of a traditional tractor, the radio-controlled Mini ROTT will be used for teaching and demonstration of roll overs and activities that will enhance students’ and farmers’ understanding of farm safety practices.

The project was initiated by the UofM’s Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences to supplement hands-on safety workshops developed for diploma students and

farmers. The UofM teamed up with KAP’s Manitoba Farm Safety Program staff to explore the concept of a remote-controlled tractor as an interactive training tool for teaching roll over prevention strategies.

UofM and KAP then engaged with RRC’s Technology Access Centre for Aerospace and Manufacturing (TACAM) and Vehicle Technology & Energy Centre (VTEC) for the fabrication process. The research staff at TACAM designed and built the tractor, with support from the VTEC team on the electronics and systems control components.

“Keystone Agricultural Producers is proud to be a part of the roll over training tractor (ROTT) project through our Manitoba Farm Safety Program,” said Bill Campbell, President, Keystone Agricultural Producers. “We look forward to using this innovative tool to further promote the need for safety awareness and training across our sector to reduce the risk of serious injury in the operation of tractors and large equipment on

farms across the province.”

Going forward, the Mini ROTT will be housed at the Glenlea Research Station and utilized for farm safety training for post-secondary students and Manitoba farmers. The Manitoba Farm Safety Program and UofM staff plans to collaborate on expanded tractor training and develop programs aimed at creating a safer agri-food industry.

Funding for the project came from a variety of sourc-

es, including the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences Endowment Fund, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through Red River College’s TACAM and VTEC-Innovation Enhancement grants, and Keystone Agricultural Producers.

The Mini Roll Over Training Tractor (Mini ROTT) was demonstrated at the UofM’s Glenlea Research Station on July 16.

Supplied photo.

Canada Grain Act Amendments as CUSMA Comes into Effect The Canadian Grain Commission has implementing amendments to the Canada Grain Act and Canada Grain Regulations as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) comes into effect.

As a result of the agreement, the following changes took effect on July 1, 2020. Grain grown in the United States will be able to receive an official Canadian grade if it is a variety that is registered in Canada; the requirement of a country of origin statement on inspection certificates for grain grown in the United States will be removed and it will be mandatory for people, including licensed grain companies, who sell grain to a Canadian Grain Commission licensee to complete a declaration of eligibility.

The declaration of eligibility will provide valuable information to protect Canada’s grain quality assurance system and will ensure producers receive the appropriate grain grade and payment for deliveries. The delivery declaration regulations build on the existing declaration process already used across much of the grain sector in western Canada. In eastern Canada, the Canadian Grain Commission will work with grain sector stakeholders to phase in the declaration during the 2020-21 crop year.

American producers who deliver grain to Canada will have the same obligations as Canadian producers. The declarations requirement will help accommodate US grain by ensuring reliable information on seed registration is provided.

The AgriPost

July 31, 2020

New Climate Models!

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? Perhaps not.

A whole whack of new climate models have appeared; all primed and ready to scare you away from all your Covid-19 concerns. The only problem is they’re even more divorced from reality than the previous versions.

Called the “coupled model intercomparison project,” CMIP for short, it presents all sorts of different climate models, put into an arithmetic blender to come up with average estimated temperatures over time. These averages become the guide for reports from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and guide energy policy around the world.

From 2010-2014, we’ve been running on the fifth generation of the project, this version called “CMIP 5” for short. Now we’ve got

“CMIP 6,” which is even more ambitious. It expands the data with additional tasks not covered in previous versions.

One of the people who keep an eye on all this is Dr. Roy Spencer. His resumé includes the title of Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. He helped to pioneer global temperature monitoring via satellites and he was team leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer that flies an orbit on NASA’s Aqua satellite.

Dr. Spencer has also had a side hustle for the last ten years. He consults with grain-growing interests, and helps them predict weather during growing seasons, particularly in the US Corn Belt.

In a recent blog post, Spencer declared that the newest

collection of climate models (again, CMIP 6) was an, “epic fail.” The data, he said, “Exaggerate Midwest warming by six times.” Not that CMIP 5 was great to begin With, but that model only reported conclusions that ran four times as hot as actual observed temperatures. Head over to drroyspencer.com, and you will see it all on one handy-dandy chart.

The CMIP system is great for scaring the public, and giving media, politicians and fear-mongers extra ammunition. But its distortions are not so useful if you’re trying to do anything practical with them, like growing crops, or coming up with a sensible energy policy for your country.

“Contrary to popular perception,” Dr. Spencer says, “the U.S. Midwest has seen little long-term summer warming. For precipitation,

the slight drying predicted by climate models in response to human greenhouse gas emissions has not occurred; if anything, precipitation has increased. Corn yield trends continue on a technologically-driven upward trajectory, totally obscuring any potential negative impact of climate change.”

Given the way greenhouse gas emissions have increased over the last five decades, if these models were accurate, we should have seen a very strong warming trend. Over that period of time, the signal of warming was expected to be the greatest. But looking from 1970 until today, the summer temperature record collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows, according to Dr. Spencer, “That there has been almost no statistically significant warming in the last 50 years.”

Penner’s Points

This is just one example, and the com- By Rolf parison is just Penner for one season, summer, in a specific region.

But let’s not fool ourselves. The US Midwest is one of the world’s top producers of corn and soybeans. And we hear all sorts of claims that it’s already suffering negatively from human-produced climate change. But in fact it’s doing as well or better than ever before.

If you’re looking for more examples, there are plenty of them. In his blog post, Spencer has a link to many more.

Bjorn Lomborg, the skeptical environmentalist himself, has a new book out called “False Alarm”. Alex Epstein outlines many falsehoods in his book, “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels”. Then there’s

Michael Shellenberger, who recently wrote a mea culpa piece in Forbes magazine that apologizes for his “crying wolf” for so many years.

His book is called, “Apocalypse Never, Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All”.

Some alarmists try to tell us that climate models are science. They’re not. At best, they are an educated guess, and a lot of the time they’re dead wrong. Sure we should look at them, and even give them some thought. But you never want to bet your whole farm or your country on them.

That’s a sucker’s bet.

It Is What It Is - Farming - Serving Agriculture the Basic Industry Looking back to August 2019 amid a three-year so called drought, with crops suffering more in some areas than others, then the rains came, delaying the 2019 harvest. Of course not to be outdone, Old Man Winter, well still fall ‘19 dumped snow on most of Manitoba farming country leaving fields wet, soggy, and in some cases frozen. Farmers struggled with those wet fields, some waiting for the frost to take off the remainder of their crops.

Videos and still images dotted the Twitter timelines showing different stages of harvest, horror pictures of burying equipment in mud and snow, and then victory laps of some finishing their 2019 harvest.

While many finished, others didn’t, and millions of acres in western Canada remained in the fields, lots of corn, canola and soybeans to the chagrin of the industry.

The hashtag #harvest19 became delayed, and farmers proudly took their equipment

out there and started harvested as soon as possible after Christmas.

I remember Jason Hildebrand of Boissevain posting the images of stopping his 2019 harvest on a Saturday, May 30, and seeding that same Monday. He realized after combining 700 acres of his 1,200 acres of over-wintered canola, some grading No. 1 and slowly dropping in quality the warmer it got.

Somewhere in the middle of June, he torched the remaining 500 acres after Manitoba Crop Insurance gave him the go-ahead after weeds took over the canola. It didn’t take him long to put canola right back into the same fields, an unusual practice, but a way to combat the volunteer canola.

It is looking good.

Subsequent flooding of southeastern Manitoba, then in Rivers, a downpour and the water dam was threatening to give, and more crops were succumbing to torrential downpours and quick runoffs.

Tuesday, July 7, I took flight with retired farmer Don Schellenberg of Roland, still a very much active pilot, and he gave me a playby-play description of what he called an above-average

crop, except where excessive moisture and hail took their toll. It was hard to believe how good those crops looked from up in the sky. And that crop with adequate humidity and blazing heat and humidity grew and developed beyond measure. I’d drive into Winnipeg and swear that when I came back, the corn grew six inches taller, and the squeaking sound wasn’t my brakes.

On July 15, I sat down with Jennifer and Brunel Sabourin of St. Jean, a husband-wife team that operate Antara Agronomy Services Ltd. Brunel said, “Overall, I think we’re pretty good.

There are a lot of fantastic looking crops. We had a few emergence issues on some fields, given the dry start to the spring. That lateseason harvest caused later seeded crops where farmers did fieldwork in the spring, which led to some germination issues as we dried out the top ground a little too much to be able to put the crop in, in time. But overall, I think the conditions are pretty good. The cereals look fantastic. Most of the canola looks good. Corn is a little bit in stages; it looks good right now because of the heat

wave, caught up. Come harvest time; once it starts drying down, it’ll be sort of an exercise in patience.”

Barring any other severe weather events, whether heavy rains, hail, wind or even an early frost, the crop standing is looking mostly above average.

The last word goes to my dear friend and world livestock consultant, and veterinarian Dr. John Carr now living and teaching in Australia said, and I quote from his latest email, “Of course - well to be boasting none of the farms I look after have broken with ASF. But a

couple of farms not following my instructions did. Of course - well to be boasting none of the farms I look after [in China] have broken with ASF. But a couple of farms not following my instructions did. But unfortunately, farms in Vietnam and Ukraine I have lost - and then rebuilt successfully.”

My dear farmer friends and all suppliers and non-farmer friends remember what my friend and mentor Orion Samuelson said, “It is an honour to serve Agriculture, the basic industry. And if you eat, you are part of agriculture.”

Tuesday, July 7, I took flight with retired farmer Don Schellenberg of Roland, MB, still a very much active pilot, and he gave me a playby-play description of what he called an above-average crop, except where excessive moisture and hail took their toll.

The AgriPost

July 31, 2020

Keep-it-Clean Pre-Harvest Swath Interval Canadian producers can help protect the marketability of their canola and pulse crops by sticking to the preharvest interval (PHI) for every crop protection product that they apply.

Often referred to as the “spray to swath” interval, the PHI refers to the number of days that must pass between spraying pesticides or desiccants and swathing/straightcutting. Cutting the crop too soon after spraying can leave unacceptable product residues on the harvested grain.

The PHI can vary greatly between products, from one day to over 60 days so it is important that producers know and adhere to the prescribed interval for every product that is applied to a crop. This will ensure the product’s active ingredient has had enough time to break down in the plant and not leave unacceptable residues behind, putting the crop’s marketability at risk.

In addition to the information found on the product label, canola and pulse grow-

ers can use the Keep it Clean Spray to Swath Interval Calculator to plan their pre-harvest spraying.

The handy calculator, found at spraytoswath.ca, can be used in two ways: 1. To calculate PHI: Enter the crop type and the product that has (or will be) applied. The calculator will indicate how many days that must pass between application and cutting the crop.

2. To find a product to suit a specific timeline: Enter the crop type and pesticide cat-

egory, then select a deadline (in days). The calculator provides product options, if any that fit within that window.

The easy-to-use, interactive calculator is mobilefriendly and filled with great information to help canola and pulse producers protect their investments and the marketability of their crop.

For more information on pre-harvest interval and the Spray to Swath Interval Calculator, visit keepingitclean. ca/phi.

Customers Look at Pre-Harvest Glyphosate’s Unacceptable Timing Keep it Clean is reminding Canadian canola, cereal and pulse growers that careful management of pre-harvest glyphosate applications can help to ensure crops meet the needs of our domestic and export customers. Applying pre-harvest glyphosate too early can result in unacceptable product residues in the grain which can create market risk.

Where allowed, pre-harvest glyphosate should only be applied for weed control once grain moisture is less than 30% in the least mature part of the field. Growers are encouraged to consult the Keep it Clean visual staging guides (links below) to see examples of various crops at less than 30% grain moisture.

Be advised that glyphosate may pose a marketing risk for cereal and pulse crops.

Growers should be aware of these considerations for the

2020 growing season: - Wheat, barley and oats: Some customers have contract limitations on pre-harvest application of glyphosate. Growers are advised to talk to their grain buyer to confirm that an application of pre-harvest glyphosate will not cause concern for domestic or export customers.

- Oats: MAY NOT be accepted if treated with preharvest glyphosate – growers must always check with their grain buyer before applying.

- Malt Barley: WILL NOT be accepted if treated with pre-harvest glyphosate.

- Pulses: Growers are advised to consult with their grain buyer before using preharvest glyphosate on pulse crops. Some grain buyers may not accept pulse crops treated with pre-harvest glyphosate due to scrutiny in the global marketplace and low MRLs for some pulse

crops in certain major markets.

While there are currently no products of concern for canola, producers are reminded to follow the Keep it Clean guidelines to avoid unacceptable residues.

Keep it Clean recommends the following practices to manage the pre-harvest application of glyphosate for canola, pulses and cereals, with the exceptions noted above: - Glyphosate is registered for pre-harvest weed control and is not to be used as a desiccant.

- Pre-harvest glyphosate should only be applied for weed control once grain moisture is less than 30% in the least mature part of the field.

- To avoid unacceptable residue levels, always follow the product’s label for application rate, timing and pre-har-

vest interval (PHI).

- Never harvest earlier than recommended – this can increase the risk of excess glyphosate residues in harvested grain.

- When using glyphosate for pre-harvest weed control in a tank mix with other products, such as Saflufenacil (e.g. Kixor®, Heat™), the products must still be applied when grain moisture content is less than 30% in the least mature part of the field and must also follow the PHI of the most restrictive product label.

On-farm practices make a difference in protecting Canada’s reputation as a trusted supplier of high-quality canola, cereals and pulses.

For more information on how managing pre-harvest glyphosate applications can help reduce market risk, visit keepingitclean.ca/glyphosate.

Pull Up a Chair, It’s Time for Poker

We are fast approaching that time of year, the time when farmers wear their best poker face and try to bluff the neighbour, you know what I mean -there are different names for it but it is all about yield numbers. There was a similar game that was sometimes played around the big coffee table with dollar bills and the serial numbers to see who would pay for the coffee that day but this is serious.

I am not sure if a big round table of farmers having coffee is allowed under the Covid rules in our province, but I am sure there will be places where farmers gather if only for a few minutes and at this time of year the talk turns to yields pretty quickly.

This year is going to be especially difficult to call the neighbour on his yield numbers – not because there is not a table to gather at but the crops look good, very good and it is going to be hard to call BS on those yield numbers. Yes, I have been in this business long enough

to know that you should not count your chickens before they hatch or calves till they come off of pasture, or barley bushels till they are in the bin but this could be a good one.

It seems that for the most part we have enough on farm storage or farmers are a bit more cautious because I have not notice a construction boom for grain storage but perhaps we caught up in recent years. FCC numbers over the past couple of years show that storage capacity expansion was one of the major farm expenses in western Canada so we might have that under control.

Back to the matter at hand.

For the most part the crop across our province looks

good and I for one cannot blame farmers for using small bushels at harvest. This is the time of year that equals payday and farmers don’t have that pleasure every two weeks like many people, so, go ahead and brag a bit. You deserve that opportunity.

The challenge is going to be how to market those bushels for enough dollars to make the commitments for the expense that occurred; that is when the rubber hits the road. It is my experience there are more bushels in the coffee shop than make their way to the elevator and that shrinkage can be a difficult thing.

Have a safe and bountiful harvest.

Livestock Producers Temporarily Allowed to Cut Hay and Graze Animals on Crown Lands Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development advised that due to dry conditions in parts of the province over the past few years, livestock producers will temporarily be allowed to cut hay and allow animals to graze on Crown lands not normally designated for agricultural use.

Under certain circumstances, Crown lands can be made available for agricultural use. The Agricultural Crown Lands Leasing program will administer the use of available land and provide necessary permits. Livestock must be removed when the naturally existing forage is exhausted or by October 31 and baled hay must be removed by November 15.

If producers with AgriInsurance contracts intend to put their crop to alternate use (i.e. for feed), they are required to contact Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation to arrange for a field appraisal before harvesting the crop. Crop producers should also consider making crop residue available to livestock producers.

For more information, contact the Agricultural Crown Lands Leasing program at 204-867-6550 or a local Agricultural Crown Lands District Office. A listing can be found at manitoba.ca/agriculture/land-management/ crown-land/agricultural-crown-lands-district-offices.

The AgriPost

July 31, 2020

Pulse Crops Look Good Amidst a Stronger Demand

By Harry Siemens Most of the crops in Manitoba are looking good and healthy considering the weather events, cold spring, over-wintering causing weird field conditions, and excessive heat and moisture in some parts.

Dennis Lange, Manitoba Ag’s pulse specialist, said, for the most part, soybeans are looking good. Well into the flowering stage in most regions of Manitoba. The total soybean acres have dropped in the last three years but not as much this year as he expected. He is still waiting for final numbers to come out from Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC), but his early projections around a million acres.

He said several factors went into that decision-making process for farmers which included two to three dry years that reduced the yields for many farmers. The rains farmers grew so accustomed to in July and August did not materialize over the past two summers. Prices dropped causing some farmers to move rotations around a little into peas or sunflowers and a few other crops.

In late June, farmers planted

soybeans and for the most part, the crop is good. It was reported that no real significant challenges arose even with the strong winds, small windows of opportunity to spray in calmer weather helped.

Lange said dry bean acres would be up over last year, with early projections somewhere between 150,000 to 160,000 acres. Farmers are applying fungicides and assessing whether the field conditions are right. A few reports of bacterial blight, but again that is mainly due to the winds and the hard rains.

With more demand for peas, Lange said overall conditions look positive for peas. Farmers were able to sow peas into better ground and missed the heavy rain. As in all crops, the harvest will tell the story. He said farmers grew more peas in Manitoba this year compared to previous years, from about 110,000 acres last year to about 150,000 this year.

With the stronger demand and promotion for plant-based proteins, fava bean acres keep increasing, too. The recent announcement that Roquettes of Portage la Prairie, is partnering with Prairie Fava to work with fava beans is a definite

bonus for the fava bean farmers. A challenge in the past with fava beans in Manitoba is not having the local marketability of the product. In the past, farmers had to export fava beans overseas, and sometimes those markets are smaller.

“With this protein market coming in with the favas that will benefit the fava bean farmers. Peas are the big ones here when it comes to plantproteins because it’s human food and, soybeans typically are more cattle feed as a protein source and meal,” said Lange.

Lange said crop scouting should be a priority for pulse growers as the season progresses. Once farmers spray that second pass on soybeans, they often leave it for a while and do not go back. “I think it’s still important to keep an eye on what weeds keep popping through,” he said. “In soybeans, for example, if you notice a few weird patches of weeds pop up, examine those patches a little more closely to see if, whether or not there are any weed resistance issues. Little things; I think scouting moving forward is probably the best advice for pulse farmers.”

Dennis Lange, Manitoba Ag’s pulse specialist, said, for the most part, soybeans look good and well into the flowering stage in most regions of Manitoba.

Photo by Harry Siemens

2020 soybean crop Southwest of Winkler.

Photo by Harry Siemens

The AgriPost

Foodgrains Projects Help with Growing Demand for Food

By Elmer Heinrichs The global pandemic has highlighted the important role that farmers play in food production, something that cannot be done virtually, said Gordon Janzen, regional representative for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

Farmers across Manitoba, including Foodgrains Bank growing projects, have done a lot of planting work in the past month through June.

So today there are 39 growing projects in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario this year.

These projects include Grow Hope Manitoba, run by MCC Manitoba, as well as Anglican Grow Hope, a project run by the Diocese of Rupert’s Land in partnership with Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF).

“I am excited to see there are two new projects this year with the Will Do project near Somerset and the Red River growing project near Morris,” said Janzen, noting that the Scratching River group restarted their project in the Rosenort area after a couple years’ hiatus.

Crops being grown are

mostly wheat, canola, and soybeans, but a couple of projects are also growing oats, peas and vegetables. Overall, there are nearly 5,500 acres in growing projects across Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.

The Heritage Harvest Growing project seeded 65 acres of wheat at the Manitoba Agriculture Museum at Austin in May. In late August the group will host a public harvest event using vintage combines and antique threshing machines.

The Saints FAITH Growing Project in West Saint Paul has

planted 1 1/2 acres of vegetables, which will be sold through four Catholic parishes to support Foodgrains Bank projects around the world. Tomatoes were transplanted in May. “A number of projects had quite a late planting start,” commented Janzen. “For some, that was due to the wet soils from last year. I think they’re doing alright. Our biggest concern really is for the farmers and our growing projects in the areas around Rivers, Minnedosa, and Neepawa.”

Those farmers are dealing

with the impacts of heavy rains across western Manitoba.

Recent disruptions to food supply, lockdowns and economic downturns due to COVID-19 are expected to more than double the number of people facing severe food insecurity in the coming months, says the food bank.

“I’d like to thank all the volunteers, supporters and businesses who make these growing projects such an important part of the Foodgrains Bank network,” concluded Janzen.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank executive director Jim Cornelius seen here at one of the 39 Manitoba community grow projects, the Crossborders project, while on a tour of Manitoba projects.

July 31, 2020

Ag Minister Speaks with European Union’s Commissioner for Agriculture Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and European Union’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Wojciechowski emphasized the strength of the Canada-EU relationship, especially in agricultural trade during a recent conversation.

They reiterated the need to work collaboratively to ensure a well-functioning integrated supply chain in food and food products between Europe and Canada, which is essential to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of citizens during COVID-19.

Both ministers also emphasized the need for free and open trade, especially in the current COVID-19 crisis, and benefits of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), provisionally applied since September 2017.

“Maintaining strong trade with our European friends and allies will be essential for our economic restart,” said Bibeau. “During my discussion with Commissioner Wojciechowski, I built upon the strength of that long-standing relationship and promoted the high-quality of Canadian agri-food products.”

In addition, Minister Bibeau emphasized that Canada and the EU need to co-operate to ensure that our farmers and processors benefit from the trade agreement, underscoring the importance of improving EU market access for Canadian agricultural products through the removal of technical barriers to trade.

Since CETA provisionally went into effect in September 2017, exports of agriculture and agri-food to the EU have increased nearly 12% between 2016 (the last full year prior to CETA) and 2019. Some of the commodities to benefit the most from CETA tariff reductions are cranberries (exports up 130%); fruits and nuts (up 84%); dog and cat food (up 22%); and maple sugar and syrup (up 15%). Other commodities that saw exports increase in that time period are canola seed (up 97%); kidney and white pea beans (up 30%); soya beans (up 13%) and corn (up 11%).

July 31, 2020

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

As Crops Ripening Combines Set to Roll Soon Elmer Heinrichs

With adequate rainfall and lots of heat units earlier in the month, Manitoba crops in July are generally in average to good condition, with early crops maturing and almost ready for harvest.

Some early crops, notably rye and winter wheat are beginning to dry down and local producers expect harvest operations to begin shortly.

Storm systems that moved through central regions recently brought variable amounts of moisture with 90 mm falling in the Bruxelles area left some standing water, while moisture conditions east of the escarpment are still considered adequate.

The Portage to Gladstone area has received minimal amounts of rainfall recently and crops and forage would benefit from some precipitation to support growth.

Winter cereals are filling and most fields are nearing maturity, with harvest about to begin. All the cereals, wheat, barley and oats are growing rapidly and are generally in good to excellent condition. With adequate heat and moisture corn, now tasseling looks promising and sunflowers are growing well and are in full bloom.

Dennis Lange, provincial pulse crop specialist, said with good moisture both edible beans and soybeans are looking pretty good, with an outlook for yields better than last year. The outlook for peas is pretty fair, but better west of the Red River.

Manitoba grows almost a million acres of soybeans, bean acres rose to 180,000, and about 150,000 acres are in peas.

Eastern region reports that some cooler, overcast days

gave crops a bit of a break from the heat but in some areas in central and southern parts standing water and plant stress symptoms continued to be observed. As a result excess moisture made haying difficult, reduced forage yields and crop potential.

Crop stands have been thinned because of flooding and crop development has been delayed. Corn and sunflower crops show some damage, with soybeans showing signs of recovery.

While flooding has been an issue in some parts of Manitoba, rain did make grain and crop condition ratings as good.

Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) said preparing for fall and winter livestock feed supplies is a priority for producers. Many key cattle and

forage-based areas around the province remain dry.

Central region reports that water and grass is plentiful for cattle on pasture, with yields on newer, well-managed hayfields close to average. Greenfeed and corn silage look promising.

Eastern beef producers remain concerned about feed supplies for over-wintering and some continue to arrange with grain producers for purchase of cereal straw and forage seed.

Recent rains have improved prospects for second cut hay and continue to benefit pastures. Overall crop conditions were rated as good outside of areas challenged by excess soil moisture.

Farmers are busy haying, applying fungicides, and getting equipment ready for harvest.

Robotic Approach Needed When Marketing Grain

By Les Kletke As robotics make their way into production agriculture one market advisor recently said that producers also need to take a robotic approach to marketing their grain.

Brian Voth of Intellifarm told the assembled crowd at

Thanks for Farming tour that removing the emotions from grain marketing decision means better business decisions. “Marketing decisions and making a profit seem simple,” said Voth. “But that does not mean it is easy.”

Voth outlined for the crowd

Brian Voth says it is important to take emotion out of grain marketing decision. It is best to become robotic at marketing time.

Photo by Les Kletke

that he did not grow up on a farm but chose to get into the business of agriculture and perhaps that is why he can approach marketing decision from a more business like point of view than the emotional attachment that farmers have to their commodity.

“When is the right time to sell?” he asked the group of farmers that had gathered in St. Agathe for the event.

“When you are making a profit,” he said. “You need to know your cost of production and make the decision based on that, take the emotion out of it. Like a robot that looks at the numbers and decides the right time is when you are making money.”

Voth poked some good natured jibes at farmers who visit the coffee shop and discuss the prices they have received for their commodities, recalling the days of his youth in Altona.

“There was the big round table that the “in crowd” sat at and you had to earn a place at the table,” he said with a smile. “Then talk would go around about the prices they had received for their canola

and the price would increase, but they never mentioned that it was only the bin sweepings that they captured the top of the market with.”

“You cannot expect to hit the top of the market,” said Voth. “You only know that it is the top of the market when prices begin to go down. Aim to be profitable and know that when you make a decision you cannot go back.”

He said listening to other farmers provide poor bench marks is about knowing the cost of production on your farm and making market decisions based on that. “And learning to live a life without regrets.” He advocates that once a crop is sold there is no point is spending time on the “what ifs” or “could have beens”. Rather it is time to start thinking about the next crop and make the best decisions you can for that crop.

He said there are other considerations than price that come into play for individual farmers. “Storage space, and risk tolerance are another couple of factors to consider.”

July 31, 2020

A Global Perspective of the Pork Industry

By Harry Siemens Dr. John Carr, an International livestock consultant, living in Queensland, Australia, said the African Swine Fever (ASF) in Asian and some European countries continues to wreak havoc in the swine industry worldwide.

Dr. Carr said the farms he works with in China are cautious and still struggle to set up negative farms.

“We’re setting up farms from known negative sources, and we’re doing a lot more with ELISA and PCR and COVID-19 is somewhat similar, with ASF is getting a good PCR positive response for the first 30 days, but after 30 days, the response will be negative, but the pig is still positive,” said Carr. “Unlike COVID-19, we have a carrier status, and the textbook says this carrier status is for life. So that’s very interesting.”

Dr. Carr said the pig PCR could test negative today, but PCR positive tomorrow, and then spread it to somebody else. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an important laboratory tool that tests for subtle changes to enzymes. The PCR has been reliable and remains remarkably consistent.

He relies more on the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test looking for antibodies followed by PCR, so when setting up new farms in China to rebuild the breeding herd decimated by the ASF, it is best to look at both scenarios. ASF continues to spread around the world with India now officially reporting positivity. Increasingly, ASF will run into a wall because of fewer pigs as the infection moves further into the Middle East-Southeast Asia. Many of these countries have wild pig populations and the disease is quite prevalent in those animals.

Now, Dr. Carr is consulting with some Manitoba hog farms, “Treading water! I owe a few guys a bottle of whiskey because I promised them $300 hogs by now, and obviously, we don’t have $300 hogs. It’s insane. I mean, China desperately needs food,” said Carron the global fallout of COVID-19 combined with ASF. Carr said that he does not fully understand the flat pig prices. Since COVID-19 caused a backlog in some processor he sees this as local pressure.

Canadian process when compared to the UK, where he is originally from, the price is up substantially. “And from a Canadian point of view, I’m a veterinarian, so I apologize if I’m overstating the case, but somebody is making a lot of money,” said Dr. Carr. “China needs pork. China’s willingness to pay for pork, but I don’t see the farmers getting paid for the pork. But this is the nature of the industry; this is not the first time that farmers end up getting nothing.” He said the price of pork is high, and farmers are still going bankrupt.

Carr said if weanlings are still at $8, they should be $80. In the UK, weanlings are going for $50, 60, 70 pounds per piglet. The British have managed to avoid closing their slaughterhouses and there is no oversupply.

One thing frightened him, when the Chinese commented that COVID-19 might transmit through the meat. “And I instantly said that’s bullshit. Possibly on the packaging, if it’s within a day or two. I mean, we know that this COVID-19 will survive three days or so on wood surfaces. And it’s just one of those stories; don’t need discussion,” he said. “I mean, meat does not transmit it. I mean, certainly, if I spit on this pork chop and then give it to somebody else, but you can’t blame pork.”

He went on to explain that sometimes with these rumour reports its like, “You’re trying to sell newspapers.” But they forget the massive consequences it can have on the industry if a little rumour becomes a big rumour and then, no proof at all. “And then suddenly like, oh, we can’t import anything because we might import COVID-19.”

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July 31, 2020

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

Selling Pork Despite the Pandemic Fallout

By Harry Siemens Ian Smith owns and operates the Smith farm at Argyle, MB which has been in the family since 1953, but his claim to fame continues by selling Natural Raised Pork.

Smith said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, his home delivery pork business continues strong. Formerly a dairy farm, the Smiths began raising pigs on their quarter section near Argyle, in 1967. During the 80s and 90s, as pork production concentrated in huge hog barns across Manitoba and the rest of North America, the Smith farm stayed small, mixed, humane, and environmentally friendly.

“Because people are nervous about food, nervous about packing plant shutdowns, hearing all this broadcast through the media,” said Smith in a recent interview as to why he thought business is good. “Customers that hadn’t bought from me for nine, ten years are coming back to me and buying again.”

After the initial adjustments to the realities of COVID-19, Smith said lots of phone calls for pork kept him busy. “I’m doing good, and of course, my price is a lot better than what I’d be getting from the normal market place,” he said.

Smith thinks they come back knowing his product is very good. While not down on other hog producers or the industry, he remains old style. His barn has no pit system. He cleans out the pens twice a day into the gutter, and the barn cleaner takes it out once a day, and fresh straw is put down in each pen twice a day.

“I say that because the straw absorbs the moisture and the odour. So many people tell me they don’t smell the barn smell in the meat.

People would probably disagree with me. I only can believe what my customers tell me,” he said.

July 31, 2020

Quit Using Stress as a

Badge of Honour

By Les Kletke

Ian Smith owns and operates the Smith farm at Argyle, old style. His barn has no pit system. He cleans out the pens twice a day into the gutter, and the barn cleaner takes it out once a day, and fresh straw is put down in each pen twice a day.

Photos by Harry Siemens

Including one-time customers, he has a list of 960 customers since 2009. “A wide range of people, anywhere from people that are on social assistance to doctors and lawyers,” he said of the wide array of people who like his product. “Everybody eats, so it covers the whole gamut certified by the Winnipeg Humane Society. And between you and me, my tree hugger friends, I’ll call them, some of my best customers.

They want to be vegetarians, but they can’t resist that smell of bacon and taste of bacon.”

Smith sells about 150 pigs a year from only 20 sows but it gets cumbersome when ten or so customers phone and

they all want half a pig each, that’s only five pigs. Others take a whole pig, so that helps.

“It doesn’t sound like it’s many pigs, but you know what? I’m on a quarter section, I have low overhead costs, and I rather sell quality than quantity,” said the proud farmer. “My price is above what I can get at the market.”

Crampton’s Market, which sells fresh local organic produce, buys about three hogs from him every three weeks year-round. When he gets enough orders, several pigs, like two, would be a minimum, and five off to BJ Packers at Beausejour, a government inspected plant.

Next, the carcasses go to the butcher’s, Tim’s Country Meats at Dougald, who smokes, cuts, wraps, and makes the sausage.

A customer tells Smith how she wants the pork processed; Smith relays the message to Tim, who prepares the order. When the order is ready, Smith picks it up and delivers it personally to the waiting customer at her front door.

When asked about a label on the meat packages, Smith said. “No, no! They know who I am, and here is why.

I’m the farmer, and I want to meet the customer face to face, so they know who I am.

A label is one thing, but to meet the person would be, I feel, more priority.”

Heading into harvest is a stressful time on the farm, but the author of a blog about farming said anytime can be stressful on the farm and it is important to know the signs of when it is getting overwhelming.

Lesley Kelly opened her presentation to the farmers gathered at Thanks for Farming tour by asking how many had felt stress. The only hands that did not go up were the farmers that were still busy with their meal.

She followed up by asking for a rating of 1-10 as to what stress levels were on the farm now and the responses varied from 3 to 11. She suggested it was time for at least one farmer to seek professional help as a bridge into her presentation that included 5 steps to manage stress on the farm.

Her first suggestion is to recognize that stress is real and that it comes in different forms for different people.

“Learn that it is not the same for everyone,” she said.

“Some people shut down and don’t talk at all; others talk non-stop and may become annoying to others.

Recognize the symptoms and realize when it is escalating.”

Kelly who authors a weekly blog High Heels and Canola Fields said the second thing is to know when it is too much. “Some stress is good and can provide a motivation, but realize when it is too much and don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions and realize you may need outside help,” she said.

Tip number 3 was to quit using stress as a badge of honour. “In our business it is almost a contest to see who came through the toughest situation and we talk about it after the fact that way, but we need to deal with it at the time.” said Kelly. “People drown in oceans and bath tubs. Know what the breaking point is for you and when you need to step back. It is not about earning a medal for the toughest conditions it is about staying healthy.”

Her fourth suggestion was to take care of each other.

“We all have things that trip us up, be aware of those around and the situation they are in. Do what you can to help those around you. The fifth suggestion was to take time for self care, take time to take a break,” she said. “We all do things in the moment that we regret.”

Her suggestion is journaling but she said on the front line, it is making sure that you are getting enough sleep and eating properly.

“The bottom line take home is, talk more, ask more questions and listen to yourself and others,” said Kelly.

Viterra Makes Significant Investment in Southeast Manitoba A new high throughput grain terminal and storage facility with a capacity of 34,000 metric tonnes is planned for Rosser, MB according to Viterra Inc. The facility will be able to load up to 134 railcars through a loop track.

“We’re pleased to be renewing our commitment to farm customers in the Rosser and surrounding area through this significant investment,”

said Kyle Jeworski, Viterra’s President and CEO for North America. “Through our commitment to operational excellence, we continuously evaluate our asset network to ensure we’re aligned with our business environment.

By revitalizing our presence in this area through a modern state of the art facility, we will provide customers with convenient access to the superior service, market-

ing opportunities and advice that makes us an industry leader.”

“We commend Viterra for the continuous and substantial investments it has been making to enhance its asset network, including its new elevator at Rosser,” said Joan Hardy, CP’s VicePresident Sales and Marketing, Grain and Fertilizers.

“CP and Viterra share a longstanding commitment

to Canadian agriculture. By modernizing our collective grain handling infrastructure and transportation network, together we are ensuring the grain supply chain remains strong to meet the growing needs of the agricultural industry today and in the years to come.”

Construction on the new facility will begin immediately and is slated for completion in the fall of 2021.

Lesley Kelly farms at Watrous, Saskatchewan and recognizes that stress is a part of farming but she says it does not have to be a badge of honour.

Photo by Les Kletke

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July 31, 2020

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

Real Garlic Grown in Manitoba

Gregg and Jolene Thiessen standing by one of their garlic fields.

Photo courtesy of Nicole Dube

By Joan Airey Jolene and Gregg Thiessen with their family started growing garlic under the business name of ‘Real Garlic’ when their daughters were teenagers to make extra money to pay for their university educations. The Thiessens would be considered urban farmers as they live in Oak Lake.

“Time has passed and one

of our daughters has married and one is financing her university studies with money from our garlic operation.

When time permits the girls still help with the garlic.

For a while we had a foster daughter who learned about growing things to make money by working with us in the garlic plots. For me there is nothing more satisfying than growing your own food

whether it is garlic or vegetables and fruit,” said Jolene Thiessen.

COVID-19 has changed the Thiessens method of marketing their garlic in some ways. Jolene still takes garlic and garlic products to Brandon on Tuesdays to Stanley Park at 14th Street and Lorne in season, when available.

You can visit Facebook to join their weekly newsletter as to what products are available where and when.

Starting this Saturday Oak Lake Beach Farmers Market is open from 10-12 and the Thiessens will be there.

“COVID-19 has brought some cancellations to our major sales events/festivals but we do ship Canada wide via Canada Post. We will also be utilizing the Farmto-Friend drop off method.

We have some connections in SW Manitoba that we will be able to drop off our Garlic products for customers to pick-up,” said Thiessen.

“Our main business is Glass Replacement and our company G.E.T, Glass travels SW Manitoba doing glass installations so we are also teaming up those trips with Real Garlic drop off. We think it

is a good use of resources to save our customers shipping and also provide them convenience. Our online store is found through Square realgarlic.square, we just went online officially today.”

Real Garlic grows fourteen varieties of organically produced garlic, green garlic, garlic scales, storage garlic and seed garlic. Jolene also produces their own line of herbs and spices. Her variety is large and just a few include Italian Herbs, Onion & Garlic, Herb & Garlic, Rosemary and Garlic.

“Our Coffee Grill Rub is now made with Mike Hatfield’s Cornerstone Roasting Co. as well and it has been wonderful to team up flavours from another Oak Lake based business,” said Thiessen.

“To expand our markets at this time we have joined Harvest Moon Local Food Initiative so our products are available to be delivered to Brandon, Portage and Winnipeg. Harvest Moon also delivers other products such as beef, pork, chicken, honey, maple syrup, bread and vegetables all locally grown and made,” said Thiessen.

Rural Life Murals Cropping Up in “Small Town” Manitoba

This mural is located on the main street of Oak River which is located on Highway 24 next door to the Oak River Inn. The mural was painted by Mary Lowe of Harding, Manitoba. Mary and her daughter Erica have two murals in the town of Hamiota, one on the Arts Building on the main street, and one on the hospital. Another one can be found in the park in Kenton, Manitoba. They all pertain to nature and the country life seen Photo by Joan Airey on a leisurely drive in that area. The Oak River CDC commissioned Mary Lowe to paint the mural.

July 31, 2020

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FCC Reports Strong Financial Performance Farm Credit Canada (FCC) reported another year of strong financial performance last year, capping 27 consecutive years of growth and innovation in Canada’s agriculture and food industry.

“FCC continues to be a strong and stable presence in Canada’s agriculture and food industry, ready to support producers and processors in pursuing opportunities and overcoming challenges,” said FCC president and CEO Michael Hoffort, in releasing the federal Crown Corporation’s annual report.

“From the impact of adverse weather to market and supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important FCC continues to maintain a strong financial position to support those in Canada’s agriculture and food industry through these difficult times,” Hoffort said.

“We are the only financial institution 100 per cent invested in agriculture and food and we are committed to ensuring the industry emerges from this difficult period even stronger.”

In 2019-20, FCC grew its portfolio by 6.6 per cent to $38.6 billion, a reflection of the strength of the agriculture and food industry and their ability to invest in their operations. The portfolio included payment schedule adjustments to nine per cent of the total amount owing compared to four per cent in the previous year. This increase was primarily due to pandemic-related support.

As part of the Government of Canada’s plan to support the economy from the sudden shock of the pandemic, FCC received an enhancement to its capital base that allowed for an additional $5 billion in lending capacity to support producers, agribusinesses and food processors through these uncertain times.

“Canadian farmers and food businesses have proven just how essential they are through COVID-19, and they will have a more vital role than ever to help lead our economic restart,” said Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “Working with Farm Credit Canada, our government is ensuring farmers and food businesses get the timely support they need both to get through the tough times, and to take advantage of new opportunities.”

“As Canadian food exports this year are already up over six per cent compared to last year, it shows the importance of the work we are doing to position ourselves for the stability and growth of our agriculture industry,” Bibeau added.

Other 2019-2020 financial highlights include net income of $632.6 million, to be reinvested in agriculture through funding new loans and developing agriculture knowledge, products and services for customers; a dividend of $394.8 million paid by FCC to the Government of Canada and an allowance for credit losses level recognizing the accumulation of challenges in the Canadian agriculture and agrifood sector, including disruptions from COVID-19.

FCC has maintained a strong capital position and is in an even stronger position to support the industry through challenging times. With a $500 million pandemic-related capital contribution from the Government of Canada in March, FCC was able to increase its lending capacity by $5 billion.

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July 31, 2020

The AgriPost

The AgriPost

Co-op Donates $68K for Interpretive Historical Site For six years, Co-op has been helping to build places for everyone – including new funding for an Interpretive Historical Site and Market in Richer, Man. This year, Co-op is providing $68,000 to partner with the Richer Community Club to help create a place where visitors can take part in an interactive learning experience and learn about how indigenous, metis and francophone people came together to create a community over 150 years ago.

“We are extremely excited to break ground on this new project in the Dawson Trail Park,” said Dan Guetre, a director with the Richer Community Club. “This generous support from Co-op will allow us to create areas in the community park dedicated to our unique past to use for both tourism and education.”

The project includes a reproduction “General Store”, grassland teepees, a Red River Cart, a pergola featuring a bronze plaque dedicated to community founders and builders, improved lighting, a community firepit and some natural landscaping.

Co-op Community Spaces has been developed to help protect, beautify and improve spaces across Western Canada. In 2020, the program is providing $1 million to 17 community projects from Vancouver Island to Manitoba. Since 2015, Co-op has donated $9.5 million to 132 projects.

“We’re excited to help fund the Interpretive Historical Site and Market through Co-

op Community Spaces. Investing in our community is a value of our co-op, and we’re proud to be part of this program that’s investing in projects to improve communities across Western Canada,” said Henry Nickel, General Manager of Clearview Co-op.

“We’re happy to partner with community groups on projects like this. Together, we’re helping to build into and improve our communities for today and into the future.”

The giving program is administered by Federated Cooperatives Limited on behalf of more than 160 independent retail co-operatives across Western Canada that form the Co-operative Retailing System.

For more information about Co-op Community Spaces or to view the complete list of 2020 funding recipients, visit www.communityspaces.ca.

Concept drawings

The small reproduction of a general store will be part of the interactive interpretive historical display at Richer’s Dawson Trail Park.

Photo by Pat Lansard

Allan Baudry is a firm believer in getting as much

Allan Beaudry added a monitoring pan to his combines last year and says it paid for itself.

Photo by Les Kletke

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Youth Employment and Skills Program Creates Youth Jobs Approximately 800 new positions are expected to be created through the Youth Employment and Skills Program for the 2020/2021 program year. The enhanced program, which launched on May 26, is now fully subscribed and the application intake is closed.

In May, the Government announced an additional funding of $9.2 million to help the agriculture industry attract Canadian youth, ages 15 to 30, to their organizations to assist with labour shortages brought on by the pandemic. At that time, it was announced that the program would fund 700 youth jobs. This program provides youth from across the country, and particularly youth facing barriers to employment, with job experience in agriculture that will provide career-related work experience.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada has been taking steps to ensure the resilience of the food supply chain and to provide support to keep the agriculture sector strong.

Eligible applicants included producers, agri-businesses, industry associations, provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous organizations and research facilities.

New Trade Pact Took Effect July 1

By Elmer Heinrichs

It took a crane to help place the 18,000 lb boulder that will be used as a cornerstone for the new pergola under construction at the Dawson Trail Park in Richer. A dedication plaque will be secured to the rock. The pergola is dedicated to the settlers, Metis and first nations founders of the community. Photo by Dan Guetre

Combine’s Monitoring Pan Paid for Itself

By Les Kletke

July 31, 2020

grain in the bin as much as possible. Baudry who farms with his brother Richard at St. Agathe added a monitoring pan to their combines last fall and he said the $1,700 investment paid for itself in one season perhaps on one field.

The brothers operate 3 New Holland 9090 combines and Allan said each one of the identical machines is different and benefits from fine tuning from field to field.

“You spend a lot of money to grow the crop, so you want to get as much as possible in the grain tank,” he said. “We have equipped our combines with better teeth on the pickup reel and we try to do the best job of setting the machines to get as much of the crop as possible.”

The brothers were two of the farmers attending the Thanks for Farming event at St. Agathe and pointed to a number of modifications they have made on their combines to capture as much grain as possible.

The pan is attached to the real axle of the combine and can be dropped by the operator of the machine when it has traveled a distance in the swath. “It is pretty easy to calculate the amount of grain that is going over and how much that amounts to per acre,” said Allan. “That allows you to set the sieves or adjust the rotor speed to get the most grain you can. In canola it does not take long to recover the cost of the pan, it could be from one field.”

He said that even though

the machines are the same model they vary from one machine to the other and there is benefit in adjusting each one. “You might need to adjust the sieve or the fan speed on each machine,” he explained. “It is all about cutting down losses, you want to get as much grain as possible into the machine and then into the tank.”

The two were optimistic about the crop they are about to harvest but were not spending the proceeds quiet yet. “We are getting close to harvest but it is not in the bin,’ said Allan. “We have been spared some of the extreme weather the rest of the province has had, but we also know that anything can happen unit the crop is in the bin.”

There was an important news story for Canada Day, this July 1 and even it was almost swept aside by the corona virus redaction.

Yes, July 1 was the day the new North American Free Trade Arrangement came into effect. The old NAFTA had become a millstone around the neck of American politicians. During the last presidential election, both candidates promised to tear it up, calling NAFTA the worst trade deal ever signed.

NAFTA evolved many years ago as CUSTA, Canada-United States Trade Agreement. But Mexico soon knocked on the door and the three-country agreement became NAFTA. Because of all the political rhetoric around the name in the US, the name had to be replaced.

In the US, the new arrangement is called USMCA, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. In Canada, the name is CUSMA, Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. The first Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States came into effect on January 1, 1989. So, there has been an FTA between these two countries for 31 years.

Those with a memory of the talks preceding the agreement will recall the concern of agricultural groups on what a free trade agreement would mean to Canadian farm production and structures.

The United States is the largest export market for Canadian farmers. It may not be as well known that our fourth largest market is Mexico. So it’s important for Canadian farmers to have secure access to both markets.

Most farm groups know that in order to nail down the agreement, Canadian negotiators had to make some concessions. The dairy and poultry sectors had to grant some access to American product. So did the prairie grain industry which must allow US raised grain to use our handling system.

In all examples, the government secured the right to distinguish between Canadian and imported product. In those sectors which will be most impacted by the new imports, the government will pay producers to balance some of their loss.

When all is said and done, Canada is a trading nation and it must have formal trade agreements to keep trade moving. Most Canadians won’t have it any other way. Dan Darling, president of the Canadian Agri-Food Alliance CAFTA, said, “We appreciate the value of tariff-free markets across leading sectors of the economy, including manufacturing and of course agriculture and agri-food,” said Darling. “Today is a strong step forward in showing that continuing to lower trade barriers in all their forms is the best way to secure a meaningful postpandemic global economic recovery.”

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Combat the Dog Days of Summer in the Dairy Barn The other morning, I let our dog Luna outside to do her business, which amounts to chasing red squirrels and barking to wake up the neighbours. By 10 o’clock, the temperature was already 30 °C in Winnipeg. I noticed that Luna became lethargic, lying on the deck, and profusely panting. Within a few minutes, I turned on the garden hose and sprayed her with cold water. The last thing that I wanted to happen was a dog with heat-stress.

Like Luna, lactating dairy cows have heat-stress at 30 °C. Therefore, whenever I go into a dairy barn and see cows lying in their stalls and breathing profusely - more than 80 breaths per minute; I know they have heat-stress.

It’s also cows that are excessively salivating, while nervously standing around. Other times, it could be a cow near a waterer and staring off into space, not chewing her cud.

Unfortunately, there is an invisible side of heat-stress that only shows itself in the loss of milk production in the bulk-tank. For example, heatstressed early lactation cows often have a 20% depression in dry matter intake (DMI), which it deepens her natural “negative energy balance”, because she is not meeting her energy requirements of early lactation. This problem is only compounded, when heat-stressed cows have elevated blood insulin, which suppress fat mobilization to supply needed energy for peak milk production. As a result, for every 0.5 kg loss in DMI during heat-stress

- means 100 kg less milk for the rest of her lactation.

About ten years ago, a dairy friend took notice of how heat-stress decimated good dry matter intake of his 350 lactating dairy cows. And he decided to take corrective action.

First, he remodeled his dairy barn to increase general cow comfort, so he installed thick foam sheets in every stall in his free-stall barn, covered by a durable pasture-mat. He then added a sprinkler-system along the head gates, where the cows come up to eat their lactation diet. Last, he invested in a robot that mixes the bunk feed as it pushes it up to the cows.

Along with these barn changes, my friend also implemented feed strategies during the summer to alleviate seen and unseen heat-stress problems: - More cool drinking water – There are four waterers in his barn to provide enough water to all the lactating cows. They are also within easy reach as soon as the cows exit the milking parlor. It is cool water from a ground-spring source.

- More digestible forages – This sole lactation diet maintains 28% NDF with 75% of this NDF coming from corn silage and alfalfa hay fiber sources. And forages are chopped to provide 15 – 20% of dietary particles being over 1.5” long. No straw or lower quality hay is added, because they elevate the “Heat of Fermentation” produced in the rumen.

- It’s a well-balanced diet – Forage to concentrate ra-

tio is between 40:60 and 60:40 guidelines.

A reliable palm fat is fed at 450 - 500 grams per head, daily. Furthermore, weekly diet samples are tested to maintain the moisture content of the lactating TMR diet between 45-50%.

- Use of low-moisture molasses blocks – As the photo illustrates, three or four 250 lb. cattle lick tubs are placed in line within the feed bunk.

Research shows that by promoting “licking action” of dairy cows, it will significantly increase the volume of cow saliva and also sodium bicarbonate naturally produced to buffer dietary acids in the rumen. Thereby, it prevents summertime subclinical acidosis.

- A DFM/yeast is fed – A probiotic and yeast are fed to all lactating dairy cows at the rate of 10 g per head, daily.

It also contains a B-vitamin complex that mimics a recent Brazilian study (2019), which demonstrated that yeast supplemented with B12 vitamin complex fed to milking dairy

cows had increased pasture forage intake and thus milk/ milkfat yield during +40 °C weather.

- Reduce moldy feed intake – Each batch of fresh feed is made on an 18-hour cycle and put down on a clean feedbunk floor. There is a 2 - 2.5% feed refusal that is not feed to faraway dry cows or young stock, but put in a waste pile and effectively disposed.

This is a real “combat heatstress” situation during the dog days of summer that most dairy producers can implement on their own farm. It first identifies that heat-stress is a problem by causing dry matter and rumen-health issues in lactating dairy cows.

Then it sets up a feed and management plan to reduce it. Sometimes it might mean turning on the garden hose in the barn to cool off the occasional heat-stressed dairy cow.

Dairy cattle using lick tubs.

Who Has Your Back?

What is the role of an insurance broker? Does it seem like technology should have replaced the insurance broker a decade ago? What value do I have as a farm or business owner in using a broker versus finding coverage directly from an insurer?

I will never forget my conversation with the owner of a large farm who asked me to be his insurance broker. He looked me square in the eye and very politely advised that he needs me to have his back if a loss occurs on his

farm. Most businesses and farms do not have extensive experience when it comes to insurance claims, and this farmer made it clear, if something happens, he is trusting me to have his back and make sure the claim is handled well.

I have never signed a cheque to pay an insurance claim, and as a broker, I likely never will. However, a good insurance broker works to make sure their client understands the claim process, is treated fairly, and receives communication and settlement of the claim in a timely manner. A good insurance broker is vital in making sure that the claim process goes smoothly.

A poorly handled insurance claim is detrimental to all involved. Insurance companies value their public image and reputation, brokers want to ensure their customers are happy, and customers want a fair settlement for the premium dollars spent on protection.

It is always easier to ask the question before the claim occurs - if something goes wrong, are you going to have my back? Make sure you hire an insurance broker who has your back – it will improve your insurance experience, from claims to coverage.

And this farmer I mentioned earlier – he had a claim this year and the process went as it should; with

an insurer paying out a fair settlement to the client in a timely manner, handled by a competent adjustor who did not add any additional stress to the farm.

That is the insurance broker equivalent of a 65-bushel canola crop!

Be sure to seek advice and purchase insurance from those who understand your business!

David Schmidt is an Account Executive and Rempel Insurance Brokers in Morris, MB, specializing in insuring farms and businesses across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Contact office 204- 746-2320, Text 204712-6618, email davids@ rempelinsurance.com or visit.rempelinsurance.com.

July 31, 2020

Prioritize Fall and Winter Livestock Feed Supplies Now Recent summer storms have cut a swath through southern and western Manitoba and wreaked havoc with farms and fields in their path. That has caused many farmers worry and anguish as they deal with the aftermath of the intense weather systems across the province.

But even with the recent precipitation saturation in areas around Manitoba communities such as Rivers, Rapid City, Altona and Minnedosa, many key cattle and forage-based areas around the province remain dry. And that worries Larry Wegner.

“With the dryness, we are very unsure of the forage yield potential coming off our fields,” said Wegner, Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA)’s chair, who farms on the outskirts of Virden with wife Rosemary and sons Maxwell and Herbert. “For producers that are planning to be carrying herds into fall and over winter, that feeding uncertainty makes the planning done now even more important.”

Now heading into an increasingly concerning year three of key provincial regions in overall dry conditions, Wegner said the farm community has circled around out of concern for livestock producers citing the Alternative Feed Group coordinated by Manitoba Beef Producers, and rostered by representatives from Keystone Agriculture Producers, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development (MARD), Manitoba Agriculture Services Corporation and MFGA as a primary example of farm groups and governments working together to get producers in their networks engaged and working together through these tough times.

“If perennial forages are expected to be less than ideal, the timing is now for producers to activate on greenfeed and silage options to help carry their herds,” said Wegner.

MFGA also will re-activate the MFGA Hay Relief page launched last fall that pointed to conditions, prices and connections for those seeking feed, including a link to MARD’s Hay Listing Service (web31.gov. mb.ca/HayListClntExtrnl) that helps connect those looking for hay, pasture or alternative feed with those that have supplies available. Producers wanting to make use of this service should call MARD toll-free at 1-84GROW-MB-AG (1-844-769-6224) and the department will call them back promptly to capture information.

MARD also promotes a planning page for producers at gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/beef to help with decisions and situations.

MFGA’s Top Recommendations: MFGA has canvassed the expertise in the organization to come up with some preparatory recommendations for producers to make the summer season and round into fall as forecasts continue to predict drier conditions on Manitoba’s pasture lands.

1. Combine herds on pastures: one herd gives longer time for pastures to recover, allows pastures adequate time to recover and keeps livestock out of water to keep the source clean.

2. Weaning early to reduce feed requirements.

3. Reduce need for feed via herd management to determine energy needs.

4. Buying feed in advance and feed to real weights. It’s important to only feed enough hay to support the true weight of the cows in the herd.

5. Feed the right amount of hay and meet the nutritional needs at different stages of life.

6. Use Supplement and look for alternative feed sources.

7. Feed test your feed and balance your rations.

8. Start to consider annual crop fields to cut as green feed and to bale straw off.

9. Start discussion with other producers to line-up corn fields to take as silage, or have producers drop the stalks so they can be baled.

10. Talk to provincial agencies and conservation groups regarding their grazing access programs and drought plans for 2020.

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Agricultural and Food Sciences Alumni Honoured for Their Contributions

Two alumni of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences have been honoured for their outstanding contributions to Manitoba’s agricultural community.

JoAnne Buth and Marcel Hacault are this year’s recipients of the Certificate of Merit from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences in recognition of their leadership with agricultural organizations and outstanding service to the community at large.

The honour is usually bestowed at the School of Agriculture convocation but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the presentation will be made at the 2021 event.

JoAnne Buth graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Winnipeg, and following a job with the City of Winnipeg insect control branch, went on to receive her Master of Science in Entomology in 1982 from the University of Manitoba.

After graduation, she worked for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Winnipeg Research Station as its first information officer. She later joined Dow Elanco where she served as a research and development manager, and then served as weed specialist and manager for eight years with Manitoba Agriculture.

In 1999, Buth became the vice-president of crop production and biotechnology at the Canola Council of Canada. She served as its president from 2007-2012, where she brought her vision and insight into the entire value chain to see unprecedented

growth for Canadian grains and oilseeds. She played a prominent role in maintaining canola exports to China despite concerns about blackleg disease in 2009.

In recognition of her expertise in the agriculture sector and her service to the community, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Buth to the Canadian Senate, where she served for two years as Manitoba’s representative, and sat on the Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.

Buth then became the CEO for the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) where she guided the organization through a priority-setting process and into a new structure and funding model. Using a collaborative approach and her extensive connections in the agri-food industry, she helped elevate Cigi to a respected leader in technical training for the use of Canadian grains. She retired in 2019.

Buth has generously contributed to her community in a wide variety of other ways.

She has served with the Golden Prairie Arts Council (a non-profit organization that provides educational programs to the southern rural Manitoba arts community), the Entomological Society of Manitoba, the Canada Grains Council, and as chair to the Manitoba Agriculture Research and Innovation Committee.

In recognition of her many accomplishments, Buth was presented with a Motivator of the Year Award by Manitoba Agriculture and the Distinguished Alumni Award by

Marcel Hacault

the University of Winnipeg, and was recently inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Buth now spends her time with her husband Grant on road trips exploring Canada.

When at home, she can be found gardening, weaving, silk painting and reading or spending time with her nine grandchildren.

Marcel Hacault graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1983.

Shortly after, Hacault and his wife Georgina purchased a farrow-to-finish hog operation in the Niverville area.

Daughters Anaïs and Anastasie both completed Masters in Agribusiness, and his son Yves works in the social services. Hacault also completed his Master in Business Administration from the U of M in 2011.

Hacault was elected a Manitoba Pork Council (MPC) delegate in 1992 and a director of the board in 1996. He was subsequently chosen by the board to be its chair each year from 1999 to 2003. He led the MPC board through a period of economic change

and encouraged the development of innovative programming on sustainable agriculture, which included improved public relations, worker safety and outreach efforts. He also encouraged support for new national programs for on-farm food safety and continued efforts to increase pork processing in Manitoba.

He also served as vicepresident of Keystone Agricultural Producers from 1997-99, where he established and implemented the Manitoba Farm Relief Fund.

He chaired the trade, finance and sustainable development committees, and represented Manitoba on the Canadian Federation of Agriculture board.

Hacault became the executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association in 2004, where he has led and inspired a broad range of Canadian agricultural safety specialists and industry stakeholders to actively engage in promoting safe practices on Canadian farms and service providers.

He has served as a national ambassador for farm safety,

JoAnne Buth

Submitted photos

and his leadership has resulted in the establishment of many organizations that provide resources and programs to support farmers in managing safety on their farms. His influence can be seen in initiatives such as BeGrainSafe, Canadian Agricultural Safety Week Campaign, and a Canadian adoption of Progressive Agriculture Safety Days aimed at Canadian youth.

Coming full circle back to the University of Manitoba, Hacault has provided guidance and mentorship to the School of Agriculture in incorporating farm safety content in its Diploma curriculum and developing short courses and workshops aimed at Manitoba farmers.

In other service, he served on the Board of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists and is a past president of the International Society for Agricultural Safety & Health.

He is also ex-officio for the Progressive Ag Foundation, and currently sits as the secretary/treasurer for the Farm Safe Foundation. He also continues to act as the secretary/treasurer for the family farm corporation.

A strong leader in his community, Hacault helped start up Les Boutons d’Or, a French pre-school in Iles des Chênes in 1988, which is now the Garderie Les Boutons d’Or. He also helped organize (and accompanied) “Boîte à Chanson” at the École Communautaire RéalBérard in St. Pierre-Jolys and community theatre in Iles des Chênes.

In his spare time today, you can find Hacault driving around in his restored ‘68 Firebird convertible, wood working, tiling or installing pavers. Or if he is not too tired spending time with his four grandchildren.

Diploma in Agriculture Students Congratulations to all the 2020 Celebrate with Virtual Convocation Sixty-four students received their Diplomas in Agriculture during the University of Manitoba online convocation ceremonies held June 29.

This was the 113th graduating class.

Pete Giesbrecht from Winkler received the Governor General’s Bronze Medal, an award given to the graduate with the highest academic standing in the two-year Diploma Program in Agriculture.

Noah de Rocquigny from St. Claude was the recipi-

ent of the President’s Medal, given annually to a student who combines scholarship with outstanding qualities of leadership.

Diplomas with Distinction, awarded to students who obtain a Grade Point Average of 3.75 or better out of a possible 4.5, were presented to Acey Brinkman (Gilbert Plains), Noah de Rocquigny, Jonathan Friesen (Rosenort), Drew Gerbrandt (La Salle), Pete Giesbrecht, Jared Hulme (MacGregor), Reese Jones (Brookdale), Travis Klas-

sen (Winkler), David Koster (Carman), Jill Martens (Boissevain), Nolan McGuire (Winkler), Stefan Moors (Sandford), Rachel Neumann (Emerson), Benjamin Pearson (Minnedosa), Austin Ricard (Baldur), Greg Sanders (Manitou), Eric Schnieder (Carberry) and Shawn Williment (La Riviere).

The Teacher of the Year Award was presented to Dr. Don Flaten from the Department of Soil Science in recognition of teaching excellence and contribution to the

students’ program of study.

This award is selected by the graduating class of Diploma students.

Since its inception in 1906, the Diploma in Agriculture program at the School of Agriculture has undergone many changes and challenges to meet the ever-growing needs of Canada’s agri-food industry. Students opt for one of four programs: crop management, livestock management, business management or general agriculture, depending on their career aspirations.

Agricultural Program Graduates!

From The

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Now is the Time to Evaluate Your Seeder

By Les Kletke Heading into harvest may seem like a strange time to be thinking about what needs to be done on your planting equipment but what better way to monitor the job you planter is doing than from the cab of your combine.

Petr Beliaev is with Thunderstruck Equipment and was a part of the trade show held in conjunction with the Thanks for Farming Tour.

The Tour was sponsored by Thunderstruck and stopped at 3 locations in Manitoba and nine across the prairies.

Beliaev suggested that evaluation from the combine cab gives you a good

view of the job that is being done by your seeder. “It is harvest time that we see the benefits of early emergence and uniform emergence,” he said. “Often farmers overlook the play in the gauge wheel of their planter and while it may not seem like much when it is under pressure, in the field it results in uneven seed placement and that means uneven germination.”

One of the products that Thunderstruck carries is a gauge arm repair kit manufactured by Copperhead Mfg an American firm. Although a Copperhead representative could not be on hand at the

event held in St. Agathe because the international border is closed to non-essential travel, Beliaev was on hand to proved information about the kit that is composed of a series of spacers and shims intend to remove the play from the seeders gauge arm.

“We have farmers that are putting these kits on new seeders just to remove any play in the gauge arm and ensure the most even seed placement,” he said. Research shows that even seed placement with the seed being in contact with the soil can increase yield from 68%.

“You do a lot of things

to get an increase of 8% in yield,” said Beliaev. “This is the first step in producing your crop, if you don’t get uniform seed placement you have already given up some yield potential, and the crop that emerges late does not catch up.”

The company also offers a seed tube guard that increases the stability of the seed tube and ensures delivery to the proper place. “It does not guarantee a bigger crop,” he said. “But it does guarantee that you crop gets off to the best start that it can. There are a lot of other factors that will impact it, but a good start is critical.”

GGC Welcomes Manitoba Crop Alliance On behalf of its members and board of directors, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) are pleased to welcome their newest member, the newly-formed Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA).

MCA was formed through the amalgamation of five separate commodity groups in Manitoba, Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association, Manitoba Corn Growers Association, National Sunflower Association of Canada, Winter Cereals Manitoba Inc. and Manitoba Flax Growers Association. The organization

will continue to represent wheat (spring & winter), barley, corn, sunflower and flax, and officially begins collecting check-off levies from the sales of these crops starting on August 1, 2020.

“Joining GGC was one of our first decisions upon amalgamation because it fits within MCA’s mandate to work with key industry stakeholders to develop and support existing markets, ensuring efficiencies and a focused approach to national priorities,” said MCA chair, Fred Greig. “We look forward to building a strong

working relationship with GGC and providing them with input from our farmer members on policy that affects agriculture in our province.”

GGC and MCA will be jointly focused on improving the competitiveness of Canadian agriculture on both the domestic and international front.

Canada’s grain growers will also benefit from MCA’s perspective on many issues, one that represents 8,000-plus Manitoba farmers and 40 percent of the province’s field crops

produced.

“MCA is an organization that represents so many different crops and having them on board will further increase the diversity of our membership. When we have more voices at the table, we are an even stronger advocate for all farmers,” said GGC Chair, Jeff Nielsen.

“As Canada’s united grower voice, we understand how critical it is for our country’s farmers to come together under strong leadership to drive innovation, profitability, and sustainability for our industry.”

Canada’s First-Ever Agricultural Youth Council Established Twenty-five young people were chosen from more than 800 applications received, representing a diverse mix of subsectors from across the agriculture and agri-food

Easton Sellers

Chantele Gouliquer

sector, as well as from every province and the North to form the new Canadian Agricultural Youth Council.

The two youth on the council from Manitoba are Easton Sellers and Chantele Gouliquer.

“I’m a young immigrant with an urban background who faces the challenges of starting up a farm business, not having the generation before me to guide me prior to succession, and direct marketing on a small farm level,” explained Sellers. “My focus of building a career around mental health is how I ended up in this position, and maintaining mental health happens to be an immense challenge in the busyness of the agricultural industry. This is one of the most important

ways I connect with others in the agricultural industry and an area where I feel there is essential work to be done.”

“I am a female who brings experience in a multitude of areas of animal science, production and research in swine, poultry and dairy,” said Gouliquer. “Starting out in the industry can be difficult with its own set of challenges which I can speak for from a perspective of someone who has experienced these challenges.”

As a consultative body to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council will have the opportunity to offer suggestions on Government priorities, as well as identify problems and propose solutions on issues that mat-

ter most to them, all while developing leadership skills and building professional relationships.

Council members will provide their insights on a variety of topics, which could include: how the sector is adapting to COVID-19, business risk management programs, sustainable agriculture, market diversification, skills and labour, intergenerational farm transfers, and mental health. The Council will meet multiple times annually, with a virtual inaugural meeting planned for August 2020.

Youth who applied and were not selected may be contacted to participate in other forums with the Minister and the Department in the future.

Sloppy gauge wheels on the seeder cost money at harvest time in terms of uneven crop.

Photo by Les Kletke

Agriculture in the Pandemic

By Elmer Heinrichs With consumers happy to see the grocery store shelves restocked, it’s important to acknowledge how hard the agricultural industry is working to make that happen despite facing myriad challenges. Compared to the rest of the industry, crop farmers seem to be doing okay.

The availability and delivery of seed and fertilizer inputs went relatively unaffected this spring, seeding got underway quite smoothly.

But with restaurant closures resulting in an oversupply of eggs, milk and other products, and the closure of seven meat processing plants across the country and in some cases, misguided government support or lack thereof, the industry as a whole is feeling the effects.

If we’re looking for silver linings, here are two to consider. The pandemic has brought the importance of Canadian agriculture to the forefront to those who never considered how food landed on store shelves.

There is a new appreciation for the essential work that farmers do.

And the nature of farming naturally lends itself to physical distancing, so there won’t be too many added barriers to safe working as the season progresses.

When it comes to prevention and keeping yourself and loved ones healthy and safe, the main messages being communicated are simple. Avoid non-essential travel, stay isolated if you can, stay 2 metres apart and wash your hands well and often.

This is the same advice we’ve heard for years when suffering from a cold or flu that many of us – brush off lightly. We power through the day while feeling under the weather, all the time knowing a day of rest is beneficial.

The risks associated with COVID-19 are serious, especially for those who are compromised - nothing to joke about - it’s a good reminder for all of us that disease prevention starts with a back-to-basics approach.

There’s still a lot of uncertainty and unanswered questions, but Canada’s agriculture community is nothing if not resilient.

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Good Pro-Action Plans Reduce Pinkeye in Cattle

Pinkeye is a painful disease caused by the Moraxella bovis bacteria.

By Peter Vitti As far as most beef producers are concerned, pinkeye in cattle and flies that buzz around them, go together.

Some of these producers often don’t see pinkeye for years and when they do, it often comes back with a vengeance.

In such cases, or even if it’s a few animals that need treatment; a good pro-action plan helps reduce pinkeye in cattle.

About a few years ago, I had a good learning experience about pinkeye, when walking with a feed-

lot owner that raised about 400 Holstein steers to finish. As we were looking at steers coming up to the bunk to feed, my friend noticed two steers in side-by-side pens; one with an inflameddripping eye and the other one with a cloudy eye. The owner took down their eartag numbers and that afternoon both finishers were run through a squeeze-chute. He treated them by squirting an antibiotic gel into their afflicted eyes. Weeks after our visit, I understand both animals nicely recovered.

Along with his on-the-

spot pinkeye treatment, my friend has an effective proaction plan in order to reduce the occurrence of pinkeye in his cattle operation.

His plan entails five- star boundaries: 1. What is pinkeye disease?

2. How it is transmitted – the life-cycle of the face-fly.

3. The symptoms of pinkeye in cattle.

4. The strategic use of insecticides and non-insecticide prevention.

5. A high plane of cattle nutrition, including a good mineral program.

Consequently, pinkeye is a painful disease caused by the Moraxella bovis bacteria. In itself, healthy cattle eyes have adequate defense mechanisms to prevent M.bovis growth, but a number of factors particularly during the summer months come together that breakdown this natural protection and may cause a pinkeye outbreak.

That’s where face-flies (78 mm long, gray with four dark stripes on its body) that transmit pinkeye are involved. They are instinctively attracted to the cattle’s eyes and have abrasive sponging mouthparts, which stimulate the cattle eye to tear, so they can feed on its liquid secretions.

In this way, face flies play a major role in the contagious transmission of pinkeye amongst individual cattle in the herd because they move from one animal to another.

These flies also cause small scratches on the conjunctiva and corneas of the eyes when they feed, which makes it easier for M. bovis to enter and infect healthy

eye tissues.

Unlike biting horn-flies, face-flies spend only about 10% of their adult life on the head of cattle. They are usually found on fences, trees and other objects.

Once infected with pinkeye, the cattle eye starts to inflame, and manifest into a progressive ulcer, which spreads across cornea, clouding it over. If the infection is left untreated, the inside of the eye also fills in with a pus-like material called fibrin. Often, there is final rupture of the cornea, which ends in permanent blindness of the eye. When a pinkeye outbreak occurs in a herd, producers should immediately contact their vet to determine the best antibiotic program to treat pinkeye.

Insecticides are still a popular way of decreasing summer populations of face-flies that transmit pinkeye. For years, insecticide-ear tags infused with either organophosphates or pyrethroids, which were advertised as guarantees of controlling face-flies on cattle.

However, many producers have told me, since spring cows are let out on pasture in mid-May and by mid-July, when there is a significant buildup of faceflies; I-ear-tags become too weak to protect cattle. Many of these producers have then switched to using back-rubbers and dust bags as more reliable means of distributing fresh insecticide. Other producers are taking a recent natural approach to pinkeye, by providing salt or cattle mineral with added garlic to repel face-flies on cattle.

For instance, I do some consulting work for a feed mill that also has their own 150- spring cowherd that graze summer pastures. The owners tell me that they have manufactured garlic cattle mineral for a few years to prevent pinkeye. They have found by trial and error, that essential garlic oils rather than garlic powders added to cattle mineral, effectively controls face-flies as well as biting horse-flies.

As a result, less face-flies means their own incidence of pinkeye on their farm has dropped to only a couple of treated animals.

So, whether producers use insecticides or feed garlic or even clip long grass where face-flies spend their day; these producers are implementing a pro-action plan.

Any one of these plans does work when it reduces faceflies that cause painful pinkeye in cattle.

The AgriPost

“It” is Evitable While Combining

By Les Kletke At some time it is going to happen, whether it is in canola or a cereal crop with a patch of thistle. “It” is a plugged combine, and apart from the time lost and frustration it can be dangerous.

Doug Arnold said a plugged combine caused a pinched nerve for his father which led to the development of a combine reverse that his company now sells for modification of most combines.

“It is a lot safer than using a bar in the cylinder to try and turn the machine backwards,” said Arnold noting that every farmer knows what he is talking about. Most have had the experience more than once and would avoid it if they could. Arnold was one of the firms that took part in the Thanks for Farming tour.

The company had been working on the device for about 5 years before bringing it to market in 2016. “The unit ties into the hydraulics of the combine and reverses the cylinder or rotor from the cab of the combine,” said Arnold.

“It is safer but it also saves a lot of time from getting out

The tool no one wants to use but every one has experienced a plugged Photo by Les Kletke combine, usually in a thistle patch.

and opening up the machine and working with a bar or by hand.”

The display model he had on hand is painted a variety of colors including those of most major combine manufacturers. “We have units for Caterpillar, New Holland and John Deere,” he said with a smile when asked about the multi colored model in his display. The unit is sold as an addition to existing machines though he does not rule out the possibility of having it marketed with new machines and having it as part of a field ready new combine.

The price of the unit is from $4,200 to $4,700 depending on the combine it is fitted to which compared to the total cost of the machine is almost incidental.

“It is not much the first time you have a plug in the field and are trying to get it to move through the machine,” said Arnold. “But that is too late; we prefer to equip the machine beforehand.”

Farmers visiting the display all acknowledged that they had experienced a plugged combine and no one saw it as a situation they wished to revisit.

Fine Tuning Your Combine Across All Crops

By Les Kletke If you are looking for extra capacity for your combine and a better quality sample Petr Beliaev believes he may have the answer. Beliaev is with Thunderstruck Ag Equipment of Winkler which represents Copperhead Mfg in Manitoba. At a recent event in St. Agathe Beliaev was promoting the benefits of the companies replacement concave.

“The notched bar design promotes more threshing and less crushing of grain,” he said. “There can be a problem with conventional concaves where grain builds up and is crushed before it moves on to the rest of the machine for separation.”

The concave that is manu-

factured by the American company utilizes hardened bars for extended life and reduced maintenance and replacement. “We have been seeding with the concave for about a year and a half,” said Beliaev. “But it has been used for much longer in the US. We expect that with the hardened bars a farmer can expect 10-13 years of normal use.”

The concave is in three sections and each can be replaced individually in case of damage from foreign material entering the cylinder.

“One real advantage of this concave is its performance in all crops,” he said. “Producers are setting up one combine for specific crops and another for special crops like

Petr Beiaev of Thunderstruck says the Copperhead concave produces a better sample of grain and could last more than 10 years.

Photo by Les Kletke

beans. This concave works well in all crops.” He said it has even proven itself in small seeded crops like grass seed production.

The display from Copperhead was just one of a dozen that were part of the Thanks for Farming tour that Thunderstruck Farm Equipment hosted across the prairies.

The tour made three stops in Manitoba, Brandon, Crystal City and St. Agathe before moving to another 3 points in each Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Thunderstruck principle Jeremy Matusewski said the series of many tradeshows with speakers on topics like grain marketing and stress were something that allowed his company to thank its customers while showcasing new equipment and providing valuable information. “With the major trade shows being cancelled this summer we felt this was a way to reach out to our clients and say thanks for what they do and provide information they can use,” said Matusewski.

His company offers several lines of modifications for seeders and combines. “We also wanted to provide some information on grain marketing and the health aspect of farming, so that is why the speakers.” he said.

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July 31, 2020

The AgriPost