AgriPost March 27 2015

The Agri Post

March 27, 2015

A Long Time Coming with Overnight Benefits

Vaulting on Horseback Builds Confidence

By Joan Airey Reimer has ridden a horse since she was born and began showing them at the age of five. She is an internationally certified CHA Master Instructor and Equine Canada Mentor and Western Coach.

In 2011 when she attended the International Certified Horsemanship Conference in the United States, she saw a demonstration on vaulting.

“At the conference when we were given the chance, I just had to try vaulting. In January 2012 a clinic on vaulting

Kate-Leigh Heapy practicing vaulting under the supervision of Tara Reimer and Trisha Fast.

was offered in Seattle and I attended. I’ve been teaching it ever since and thoroughly enjoy working with people from two to seniors. Vaulting is gymnastics on horseback,” said Tara Reimer.

Reimer will be at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair putting on demonstrations on her horses Pete and Gypsy with some of her new students.

“Vaulting is great for anybody even if you have never ridden horseback. It builds your confidence and develops your balance on a horse.

You can regain your confidence on a horse learning vaulting if you haven’t ridden for years,” said Reimer.

Reimer has students who have cerebral palsy, low and high function autistic adults, and paraplegics who enjoy therapy riding.

She grew up training her own horses for many different events. She now spends hours training students in all facets of horsemanship from catching a horse to showing a horse.

Tara and her husband Derek own and operate Cloud 9 Ranch near Steinbach, Manitoba.

The philosophy at Cloud 9 is to help individuals to realize their potential through training, coaching and mentoring. They help students realize their dreams and become confident in their horsemanship and showman-

Danika Smith practicing vaulting while Trisha Fast controls the horse.

ship skills. They recognize horses are individuals with unique talents and characters.

Each horse is trained to reach its potential. Their horses are confident partners who are valued part of their program.

They inspire all their students

to strive to be their best.

If you would like to see exactly what vaulting is, check it out on their website cloud9ranch.ca or check them out on Facebook or Google vaulting and watch demonstrations on YouTube.

Tara Reimer and Trisha Fast her full time assistant, with one of her vaulting classes.

By Les Kletke The Executive Director of the Canadian Seed Trade Association Patti Townsend welcomes the passage of Bill C-18 and believes it was a long time over due.

“We have been working on this for 22 years,” said Townsend. “The passage of the bill is a great step in bringing Canada to the world standard in plant breeder’s rights protection.”

She said that while the wheels have turned slowly in putting the rules in place, farmers might see the benefit as early as this year. “We might see the registration of new varieties in the next year, which is very exciting for an industry that usually hears of things that are three or four years down the road.”

Townsend sites examples of crops that were intended for trials in Canada however when the variety owners became aware of the lack of protection for plant breeders in Canada these trials were shelved. She lists a potato variety as one specific example that did not find its way to Canada. With the passage of the Bill, she noted that Lima Grain of France is already working on bringing a wheat variety to Canada.

“Many of the larger companies and investors shied away from Canada,” she said, “That changed with the drafting of this legislation two years ago. They became interested in Canada when they saw that legislation would be in place and now they are ready to act.”

The next step will be the naming of an Advisory Committee that will work with Agricultural Minister Ritz to put the final details in place. “This is wide reaching legislation and encompasses horticulture crops as well,” said Townsend. “There are many things to consider in the vegetable and ornamental areas but we should see some benefits in field crops particularly cereals fairly soon.”

She is careful to acknowledge the legislation does not make Canada a utopia for new crop varieties or makes great changes to on the farm rules. “I have been advising our members and farmers that if they were following the laws before they will be all right under the new rules,” said Townsend. “It has long been illegal to sell seed produced from non-certified crops and identify it by variety name. That remains the same. Farmers can still produce seed for themselves for use on their farm.”

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March 27, 2015

The Agri Post

The Agri Post

Cash Advance Program to Benefit from Bill C-18

By Les Kletke The CEO of the Canadian Canola Growers welcomes the passage of Bill C-18 saying that it will make it easier for farmers in western Canada to get their cash advances.

Rick White said his organization is already processing the paper work required for cash advances and producers will get their cheques in April.

“The process has been made simpler and we are already doing the paper work so that producers can get their cheques and not have to worry about the paper work when they are busy seeding,” said White. He expects that his organization will process about $1.2 billion of cash advances for 11,000 producers, which are down slightly from the previous year’s $1.6 billion.

“The numbers were unusually high the previous year because the transportation problems slowed the movement of grain and put farmers in a tight cash flow situation,” he said.

White said the program ensures cash is advanced at a time when most needed. “The program allows farmers to access cash when they need it for their operation, and are not forced into marketing grain to meet payments. They can market their grain when the market signals are right for them not when they are in need of cash,” he explained. “Ultimately that gives them a better return on their production.”

While the Canola Growers are already processing applications, his advice to producers is to get their applications in now to access the money available after April 1. “The program has been expanded to 45 commodities and all livestock,” said White. “It is available to any farmer and we are administering those applications through our office.”

According to White, Bill C-18 will also benefit the seed industry. “We have seen good progress with development of canola varieties but much of that has been because the traits have been registered and are protected. This brings

Canada up to speed on the world stage and will ensure that breeding goes on for varieties that fit in western Canada.”

Because canola varieties have been appearing at a steady rate for Canadian producers and other cereal crops he sees more benefits from the increased protection for breeders.

March 27, 2015

“In the world market we are a small geographic area in western Canada and without protection of breeder’s rights we might not see the development of varieties suited for our conditions or addressing the disease challenges we have.

This bill will help with that.”

The PPatent atent PPower ower of Plant Breeders “ Will Affect VVariety ariety Access”

By Les Kletke Jan Slomp is not overly pleased with the passage of Bill C-18 although he is enough of a realist to accept there is little likelihood of it being repealed.

“The passage of this Bill gives the holders of plant breeding rights a great deal of power, it removes many things from the public domain, and we need to be diligent that the concepts are still followed to allow farmers access to seeds at a reasonable price,” said Slomp, President of the National Farmer’s Union (NFU).

Slomp said he has no issue with breeders being rewarded for the expense of developing new varieties. “But plant breeder’s rights are like a patent and after a set period of time the material goes into the public domain. That is not the case with new legislation, now breeders can withdraw the varieties when the protected period is over and replace it with something that they deem is better.”

He fears it could become a game of smoke and mirrors as companies replace the variety with another that has little genetic difference except in name. “And again the protection begins putting farmers on an endless tread mill paying for varieties,” he cautioned.

He scoffs at the legislation, which said that

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farmers maintain the privilege of producing seed for their own use. “Privilege is a feudal term and has no recognition in court,” he said. He discredits what the Bill terms as a privilege to use seed from a crop you have produced. The legislation strictly prohibits selling of the seed or cleaning for commercial purposes.

Slomp agrees that Canada lagged behind in signing the world agreement on plant breeder’s rights. “We are now up to speed with the rest of the world but that is not necessarily a good thing,” he said. “Many countries in Europe are facing large disagreements about the plant breeder’s rights issues,” he continued.

He cites an example of potato varieties in Germany.

“Farmers are fighting the legislation because they find they do not have access to the plant material and in fact have a very narrow choice of varieties.”

“In Paris last year there were demonstrations about the cost of ornamental plants being driven up by the new plant breeder’s rights,” said Slomp in another example. “This is very far reaching, much more than just cereal crops.”

He said Canada has had much success with the public breeding program. “Canola came about entirely through the public breeding system. It is doubtful that we will go back to the days of funding a public breeding program but we have to be diligent to see that varieties become available to the public sector.”

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The Agri Post

March 27, 2015

The Decision Making Over Random Thoughts

Penners Points

by Rolf Penner

Sometimes I’m asked how I find topics to write about every month. “Don’t you ever run out of ideas?” rolfpenner@agripost.ca Truth be told, narrowing it down to one specific theme is usually the hard part. To illustrate, here’s some of the things I’ve been thinking about lately.

Looks like the ethanol bubble has finally popped. The giant hole in supply created mainly by ethanol mandates in the United States seems to have been filled. As a result, crop prices have drifted lower and look like they might stay there. Thirty-seven percent of American corn now goes into ethanol. If the mandate were suddenly to disappear, the drop in commodity prices would be devastating for farmers around the world.

Speaking of bubbles, Canadian hog producers had a particularly good comeback in their bottom lines last year, thanks in large part to a massive outbreak of the PED virus in the United States. That outbreak, while still active, has backed off and producers have been able to up production enough to make up the difference. So, supply is up and prices have again dropped off, making it tough for hog producers to once again make any money.

March 4th was National Grammar Day. A quick survey of farmer forums and social media sites shows that farmers are just as bad as everyone else is when it comes to spelling, grammar and communication in general. Here’s a particularly annoying one, ‘Its versus It’s’. ‘Its’ is possessive, while ‘it’s’ is a contraction for ‘it is’. People screw this one up all of the time. If you can’t substitute ‘it is’ for ‘it’s’ in a sentence, you know it’s wrong, as in ‘the railroad couldn’t meet it’s obligation,’ and ‘hockey at it’s best’.

While we’re at it, what is so darn hard about using commas? The same sentence can have two very different meanings depending on whether or not there’s a comma. It’s the difference between ‘unable to eat diarrhea’ and ‘unable to eat, diarrhea’.

At the time of writing this, everything is sunny and warm, and it looks like we’re going to have an early spring. By the time, it gets published and into your hands, we could have had another blizzard and bitter cold again. Such is the joy of weather-related businesses.

I really don’t know why on earth anyone would want to buy an Apple watch. I never liked wearing a watch in the first place and was very happy when they were incorporated into cell phones so I could just put it in my pocket.

On the science side of things, we recently found out that the supposedly ‘settled science’ about cholesterol was not so settled after all. For most people, the amount of cholesterol you eat does not have a profound impact on the cholesterol in your blood.

A book published in 2000, called The Cholesterol Myths, Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease, said something similar and pointed out all of the studies and cases, which contradicted the orthodox view at the time.

Shouldn’t health officials take a harder look at these kinds of contradictions? Rather than ignoring them, before they decide that things like bacon and eggs shouldn’t be on the menu.

It looks like the provincial NDP have decided to stick it out with Greg Selinger at the helm for the next election. Local writers are speculating as to whether or not he can even maintain his own seat in the next election, let alone pull off another provincewide win for his party. It’s been a long time since the NDP was this unpopular in Manitoba. Can Brian Pallister and the Conservatives ride this wave of discontent into power? It seems highly likely that they can and, if so, we hope they bring in policies more friendly to agriculture than what we’re seeing now.

So you see there’s always plenty to write about in the world of farmers and agriculture. Let’s see what next month brings us.

While Shortlines May Not Solve the Big Picture - Local Economies Do Benefit Remember when the two national railways in Canada kept asking for and getting the right to abandon rail tracks, eventually rip them up for the value of the steel, and railroad ties?

Today as it did then, it seems like such a bad policy, waste of time, money, and efficient transportation.

At the Western Canadian Wheat Growers convention in Winnipeg in early January, a representative from the BNSF railway company that billionaire Warren Buffett owns, told the group of farmers how that company had spent 5.6 billion dollars to expand and upgrade. They bought 500 locomotives, added workers, not only workers but also incentives to load the freight cars quicker and with haste to make the system more efficient. Haeaven forbid, BNSF even lets the market decide where the freight will go. Yes, instead of parking cars, locomotives and ripping up track for steel money, they build hundreds of miles of new track, and improving older track where feasible.

Not only did the Canadian railways in many cases abandon and rip up the track, they didn’t allow farmer groups and other shortline railway companies’ lease or buy those tracks so somebody would keep the rails moving.

Nope. That could compete for the same grain or other product the big companies were shipping.

In some cases saner heads prevailed and just last week this announcement came forth.

Saskatchewan’s 14th shortline rail company will hit the tracks between Melfort and Birch Hills this spring, thanks in part to an interest-free loan from the provincial government.

“We’re pleased to support the establishment of Northern Lights Rail and the expansion of our province’s network of shortline railways,” said Saskatchewan’s Highways and Infrastructure Minister Nancy Heppner. “These railways provide grain producers and other shippers with an effective and competitive transportation option that helps to reduce the wear and tear on our highways.”

The Saskatchewan government gave the Kinistino-based company a $550,000 interest-free loan to assist their purchase of 59 kilometres of rail line from Canadian National Railway (CN). The province has supported the purchase of shortline railways by community groups, local stakeholders and local governments in the past by offering loans and advice.

Two points to consider. At least the rail line still exists and did not go for scrap metal. Secondly, while a good thing to get the money to buy the rail line, there is a concern there might not be enough rail cars to do this track justice.

While Saskatchewan’s 14th shortline railway could be in operation this May, but the lack of grain cars – especially special-order producer cars concerns a Kinistino farmer Wayne Bacon who chairs Northern Lights Railway, the group, which plans to operate the 35km of former CN, track between Birch Hills and Melfort.

I Feel Guilty I feel guilty and that might surprise some of you that after 30 years in the media there is even a twig of conscience left, but yes, there is. As with most negative feelings, it is about something I didn’t do rather than something I did.

An email came to me last week pointing out that the applications for the Nuffield Scholarship were being accepted. It came to my mailbox asking if I would be available for an interview if any media were so inclined. Of course, I replied positively and then waited for my phone to ring, not a single call, not even a wrong number. Remember when we used to get those. Now it seems with everybody being on speed dial the chances of that have decreased as well.

I was thinking about what I would say when the reporter called and asked how Nuffield had changed my life, of course they would ask that.

The thoughts of being awarded a Nuffield Scholarship 20 years ago came to me in the equivalent of a bumper crop. I was the first non-farming Nuffield Scholar to win an award and the intent was clear by giving the award to a media type the organization would get more exposure and people would know about Nuffield and it would be easier to get sponsorship money to build the program.

Nuffield Canada was established to administer the program that originally provided two scholars with the opportunity and some funding to travel to England for two months and learn about agriculture. Then spend another three months on their independent study. It was given mid career, the age requirement is old enough to have done something and young enough to still use the information and share it with others.

Why did I feel guilty? No not because I was a media type and had not truly qualified for the award, I had no problem accepting the award and resulting travel. I felt guilty because I don’t think I have given back to the organization with the same volume that I benefited. Some scholars have written substantial checks to the organization, I don’t think my banker would like that idea but I could have done something financially and I could have done more to spread the word.

We as Canadians do a poor job of supporting our Alma Maters.

Compared to our southern neighbours our support is non-existent. South of the border alumni support, their school with donations and tickets to sporting events and whatever else comes along. I cannot claim to have attended a single Bison game in my entire time at the U of M, so there is little chance I went to one in the last 25 years.

I don’t like feeling guilty so I am going to do something for Nuffield. What are you going to do for the organizations that helped you along the way?

Bacon said just one of the issues is the recent producer car ordering policy which does not allow new orders until previous orders are fulfilled.

Northern Lights shortline consists of four municipalities, the City of Melfort, Village of Beatty and 70 farmer investors.

Currently they have two loading sites on the line with plans for a third and own one locomotive.

Bacon believes that the often-discussed concept of joint running rights -with all rail companies sharing the tracks would be an ideal start to sorting out the complex rail system to the benefit of all players.

However, he’s not optimistic joint running rights will happen any time soon.

Playing right into this, many grains industry players say grain is moving better than last year but last Tuesday the latest report from the Canadian AG Transportation Coalition showed that through the first 27 weeks of the current crop year, railways failed to supply over 22 thousand hopper cars, which is about 11 per cent of shipper demand.

“Retaining rail infrastructure is important for supporting agriculture and economic development in the region,” said Northern Lights Railroad President. “Throughout the purchase process, they established a good working relationship between municipalities and towns with great support from producers, tremendous support from CN and the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure, too.”

“We look forward to being a fully-operational shortline, including opening our two loading facilities in the near future.”

With the addition of Northern Lights Rail, Saskatchewan will have 14 shortlines and approximately 2,060 kilometres of provincially regulated track.

That makes far more sense than abandoning those rail lines and selling the rails for scrap metal and the railway ties for firewood, don’t you think?

The Agri Post

March 27, 2015

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New Legislation Sets Stage for Wheat Variety Development

By Les Kletke The Western Canadian Wheat Growers are pleased with the passage of Bill C-18 and believe that it will encourage plant breeders to work on the crop and provide varieties that can keep Canadian producers competitive in world markets.

The legislation modernizes Canada’s Plant Breeders’ Rights by adopting the 1991 international convention on plant variety development. Canada was one of a handful of developed coun-

Website Launched for PBR Information A new website has been launched to provide a one-stop information source for the crop value chain on the new Plant Breeders’ Rights environment.

As of February 27, 2015, all new varieties submitted for Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) are protected under Canada’s new Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation. “...Canada’s legislation finally conforms to the UPOV 1991 convention,” said Dave Baute, President of the Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA). “Canada is finally in line with the rest of the world. This opens the door for increased investment to make new varieties available to Canadian farmers.”

“The seed sector was confident that updated legislation would bring new varieties to farmers. Very soon new varieties protected under the new PBR legislation will be on the market,” said Baute. “But for some time, there will be an information challenge. Farmers will have access to varieties protected under the new legislation as well as to varieties protected under the old legislation. There is potential for confusion in the farm community and along the value chain, so CSTA has established this very informative website.”

PBRfacts.ca is meant to inform those stakeholders along the value chain who need to be aware of the new requirements created by the expanded breeder’s right. The information provided by PBRfacts.ca will clarify the obligations associated with each type of protection.

The site contains specific and focused information for farmers, seed retailers, seed conditioners and buyers of harvested material (grain). It also has a page dedicated to questions and answers, fact sheets, presentations and other material designed to inform and build awareness.

“Updated PBR is already opening the door to increased opportunities for Canadian farmers and the value chain,” said Baute. “But with the opportunity comes obligations, and we want to make sure that we all understand both.”

tries that had not yet adopted the agreement protecting intellectual property in plant breeding.

“We believe this will be good news not only for wheat but for other crops,” said Mike Bast the Manitoba Vice President of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers. Bast said that the group has been in discussion with representatives of the public breeding sector and they feel the legislation will benefit them as well.

“It is not just the private companies that will see the benefit,” said Bast. “We have spoken to people at the University of Saskatchewan that see the potential for partner-

ships with private companies that will allow for expanded breeding programs.” Bast points out that Bayer Crop Science has announced it will be establishing a breeding facility in Saskatoon and that will benefit western Canadian growers.

He acknowledges that breeders are faced with a challenge of increasing yields while improving disease resistance packages in the varieties. “It is always a balancing act,” he said. “We want increased yields but the breeder has to be looking at other traits that are beneficial as well.”

Bast explained that on his

own farm near La Salle, he makes decisions on what crops to grow through a series of questions. “The first is what can we grow and harvest in good condition? We can grow durum wheat but we don’t get a good sample because of the moisture and harvest conditions,” he said.

The second question he tries to answer is predicting what the market wants by looking at price trends and forward selling options. “Then we look at the economics, does it make sense for us. Will the crop show a net return with our yields and the market prices?”

Bast said that this year his wheat acreage will be up and it comes mainly at the expense of soybean acres while corn acres will remain relatively the same. “We see more potential upside in the wheat market,” he said. “So we are increasing our acres there. Soybean

prices are low and it doesn’t look like they are going to come up so we have cut back our acres there.”

He noted that wheat yields have been good on his farm over

the last two years with 2014 surpassing 2013, which was not the case in many areas.

“Just a few miles down the road that wasn’t the case, but it was on our farm.”

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March 27, 2015

The Agri Post

Manitoba’s Calf Market Exceptionally Strong

By Les Kletke According to Rick Wright, the head of procurement for the Heartland Order Buyer Company mid-March is a great time to be selling calves in Manitoba.

Wright took some time away from his perch at the Virden Auction Mart to talk to the AgriPost on the conditions making the calf market exceptionally strong.

“It is a perfect storm,” said Wright. “A number of conditions have come together to make this a great time to be selling calves in Manitoba. It is not a good time to be buying calves.”

Wright said the biggest feature in the 2015 market has been the drop in value of the Canadian dollar. “Without a doubt that has been the biggest factor. The fluctuation in the dollar can make a difference of two or three cents a pound within the day, just because of the dollar,” said Wright.

He added that distance to Alberta or Nebraska is relatively the same. “Buyers to either point are transporting their cattle about the same distance and at this time the Nebraska buyer has a real advantage.” Manitoba has long be established as a net exporter of calves and buyers look for Manitoba calves to fill feedlots or place on pasture.

He said the March 18, sale attracted 1,700 animals but he expected that number to drop off in the next two weeks. “For no other reason than the calves are gone. There just won’t be a lot of calves left to sell.”

Wright has also noticed that the sex of calves coming to market has changed from the fall. “When we saw mostly steers coming to market and now the majority of calves being offered are heifers,” he said.

Producers took advantage of strong prices in the fall and marketed their male calves but held on to their heifer calves to select replacement cows. “Guys held on to some of their calves and the steers sold well into the fall but they might have held the heifers to see which one or how many replacements they will need and now that they have made their choice, they are marketing those calves.”

He said lower corn prices have also driven up the price of feeder cattle. “Lower feed costs are a factor; the price of corn is down and not expected to rise so guys are willing to spend a little more on the calves.”

Another factor that is strengthening the market over the long term is the number of cows available. “The cattle numbers are down, there just are not as many cows around to produce a calf that will be coming to market, and that has been a factor as well.

That is not going to change immediately,” he noted.

While beef producers have faced markets, which worked against them it appears the tide has turned and conditions are in their favour. The one thing that has not changed is American legislation. “If only we could get rid of COOL,” said Wright while heading back to the sales ring.

The Agri Post

Pull Back on Throttle for Higher Yields

By Les Kletke Slowing down at seeding time is a challenge.

It is difficult to pull back on the throttle when the goal is to get as much done as quickly as possible, but slower speed during planting can show big results at harvest.

Marc Hutlet, of Hutlet Seeds, acknowledges that it is difficult to slow down at planting.

“But it is all about getting the seed into the ground uniformly for both depth and spacing.”

Trials conducted in his plots last year show that uneven seeding and the resultant gaps and doubles in corn can easily cut yields by 1015%.

“Positions where there are two seeds and two plants emerge seldom produce a harvestable cob and that is what you want. Yield comes from harvestable cobs so the goal is to get as many as possible, that doesn’t happen when you have spaces in the row and the resulting double seed placement.”

Hutlet takes the discussion even further with even placement of the seed in the soil resulting in even germination. “We find that a plant that emerges 48 hours later is more like a weed than part of your crop,” he said. “It gets off to a poor start and is always shaded by the larger plants and does not develop as well, it does not mature and seldom provides a good cob.

Kip Cullers a champion corn and soybean grower from Purdy Missouri was at Crop Connect in Winnipeg in February and he told growers those plants, which emerge 24 hours later than the majority of the crop, are robbing yield.

“We might not take out management quiet to the point,” said Hutlet. “But the goal is to get the seeds into the ground as uniformly as possible so that they get an even start and the crop is at the same stage at harvest.”

Hutlet said that plant population in also important and he hears customers cutting back on their seeding rates expecting the plants to make up for the resultant few cobs. “It just doesn’t happen,” he said. “With a plant population of

Bob McFadden of Pioneer Seeds tells growers how much skips and doubles can cost them at harvest. The recommendation is to slow down the speed at seeding so seed is place as accurately and uniformly as possible.

26,000 [plants per acre] you have the potential for a 121 bushel yield with average size cobs.

When you increase that to 30,000 plants the potential increases to 140 bushels with the same size cob.”

He estimates the increased seed cost at the higher rate to be $12-14 an acre. “Twenty bushels for $12 an acre is a good return and you are not incurring any other costs per acre. Your fertilizer and weed control costs are the same.”

The only increase in cost for slowing down might be the trucking costs of getting more crop home in the fall.

March 27, 2015

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March 27, 2015

The Agri Post

The Agri Post

Dedicated Farmer Advocate a “Crop Star”

By Les Kletke Curtis McRae welcomes the chance to explain his business to other people, and he believes they should be interested because he is growing the food they eat.

One of the points that McRae makes with his audiences is that they are fortunate to live in Manitoba and have the selection of locally produced food that they do.

“People don’t realize the quality of food that is available to them and that they could be out bid by people in other parts of the world,” he said. “Just this week I signed

a contract to produce wheat for Warburton’s, a baker in England.”

McRae delivered a presentation to a grade 11 class at the Forks in Winnipeg as part of the Ag in the City held March 20-21.

His presentation included video clips produced by the Manitoba Canola Growers, a feature that had been done on the McRae farm for a local TV station.

“It has to be moving and it has to be fast to hold the attention of kids today,” he said.

“I try to say things that will get them thinking and asking questions. While the presen-

The Evolution of the Live PTO As agriculture moved from the horse era at the turn of the last century farmers were always looking for more applications of mechanical power. Back in the day of the first tractors, following the steam era, tractors were looked on as only a means of pulling a load efficiently without having to feed and water the horses after a half days of work.

Belt pulleys were used to turn threshing machines, sawmills, feed grinders, and most other power transmission applications.

After that came the invention of the Power Take Off (PTO) shafts. Instead of the belt running equipment in a stationary position the PTO shaft allowed equipment to be used in a mobile application. All mobile equipment up to this point had to be ground driven, examples being ground drive binders, ground driven manure spreaders, etc. In wet slippery conditions ground driven equipment were not the most efficient but coming from the horse era it was the only way to run binders, spreaders, combines and other mobile implements. The one great restriction was that the moment you engaged the engine clutch the implement stopped turning. If you were baling hay this was a total nuisance so all baler manufacturers compensated by having an engine mounted on the baler as an example.

In the late 1920’s manufacturers started looking at building a Live PTO whereby you could stop the tractor but the implements being used could keep turning. The first LPTO was actually invented by IHC back in 1929 mounted on the new 10-20 only as a prototype but never marketed as it was considered too dangerous and cumbersome. They mounted a clutch on the front of the engine crankshaft. Power was transmitted to the side of the engine by a chain and then a shaft ran along the side of the tractor to the rear where it was coupled to the implement. It was dangerous, impractical and ugly so the whole affair was scrapped and forgotten about. You have to wonder if any of these prototypes would still be in existence besides some old photographs or maybe some engineer’s drawings.

The first practical LPTO was invented by Cockshutt in 1947.

Cockshutt designed and built one of the nicest tractors of that era. It was powered by a 4 cylinder engine with a real efficient steering system and real attractive styling in that era. Cockshutt bolted a splined hub to the inside of the flywheel and ran a shaft from the flywheel to the back of the tractor into a clutch. With a lever situated beside the operator, you could engage or disengage the PTO clutch at will. This was the first live power take off that was practical. You have to wonder why it took the other manufacturers so long to adopt this concept. It wasn’t until about 7 years later before companies like Deere and IHC would adopt similar designs.

Massey, Ford and the European built IHC tractors went to a different design incorporating the dual stage clutch. With this design you could push the clutch pedal half way down and stop the tractor. If you depressed the pedal all the way down you would also stop the PTO shaft. It was a cumbersome clutch affair in comparison to the Cockshutt design which was also by this time adopted by Oliver. You would think that with these innovations, these companies would have taken the market by storm but it never happened. Even in the early 1970’s you could still order an engine driven baler. Try and get one today.

While Bob Brandt is known around Steinbach as owner of Crikside Enterprises, he is also an avid collector in antique farm and enjoys researching the history. Feel free to contact him at bob@criknet.com.

tation was targeted at the high school students, it was open to the public and he was more than willing to field questions from anyone.

When asked on how he became involved with the program he said, “I live beside the lake and I got tired of hearing farmers blamed for the pollution in the lake, so I started telling people about the things that farmers did to protect the land and water. It grew to talking about food supply and what a good job Manitoba farmers do of producing safe affordable food.”

The farm he talks about is a

mixed operation just north of Winnipeg that has a cow-calf herd and crop operation. “We are just about to head into calving and get ready for seeding so it is a busy time,” said McRae who describes his cowherd as Interlake Purebreds. Chuckling he added, “They are primarily Angus genetics.”

Recently his crop rotation included sunflowers for the first time. “We will be expanding our sunflower acreage exponentially,” he laughed.

“Only because we started with a trial last year.”

He noted that his other acres

March 27, 2015 are dedicated to wheat and canola. “The sunflowers showed a good return last year and they help spread the work load which is important to us,”

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he said. “Equipment has improved a lot and the crop works for us so we will try a bigger acreage.”

Curtis talking about being a Crop Star.

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March 27, 2015

The Agri Post

Mud Contaminates Spring Dairy Performance and Health Once, I was checking the spring ration for a dairy producer, who raised a group of replacement dairy heifers in a dry lot. The mud was about a half-metre deep and with each step toward the feeder, it was slow going. About half way along, my boot got stuck and by struggling, I buried it. Abandoning what I was doing, I went back to the barn without a left boot (and sock).

Unfortunately, these dairy heifers and others that live in such quagmire, face a similar predicament as well as negative health consequences. Most producers can avoid most of these problems by practicing a few “mud maintenance” techniques.

Without the loss of a single boot, university dairy studies suggest that for every 1” of mud, dry matter intake is reduced by as much as 2.5% in lactation cows, which is explained by a general reluctance to move in the mud and up to the feed-bunk. These cows tend to eat fewer meals, which is thought to contribute to “slug” feeding and in turn disrupt good rumen function and cud chewing that further underlies sub-clinical acidosis (SARA). Long-term SARA is proven to dovetail into other disorders such as displaced abomasums, and lameness in dairy cattle.

Aside from reducing the mobility of dairy cattle the deeper it gets, mud is often contaminated with disease-causing microorganisms from the environment as well as contaminated with cattle manure, urine and other fluids such as blood. When biologically active in warm spring weather, these pathogens can cause a higher incidence of mastitis, lameness, enteritis and even mortality among dairy cattle.

Numerous reports have suggested that many types of bacteria that cause mastitis on the milk-line are widespread in the cow’s environment. Subsequently, mastitis is inevitable in many lactation dairy cows unless protocols are put in place to prevent these pathogens from entering their teat canals. Mud increases this pathogenic opportunity in two ways; (1) it allows contaminated sources of bacteria to come in direct contact with the udder’s teat and teat-ends and (2) it promotes surface lesions and/or chaffing of the teat skin, which harbours even more bacteria.

In addition to mastitis caused by organisms living in mud, lameness is a big problem in cattle raised in muddy pens or pastures. For example, foot rot (Fusobacterium necrophorum) is prevalent in muddy conditions, because cattle hooves standing in constant wet mud becomes soft and pliable.

Furthermore, sharp rocks and stones found in mud often injure the cattle’s soft hooves and open them up to invasion by foot rot bacteria. Pus and discharge from swollen feet will contaminate muddy ground and healthy cattle can become infected if they walk in the same area.

Unfortunately, foot rot is not the only microbial threat that can live in mud. Mud is also a good home for cattle enteric disease-causing organisms such as crytosporidia and coccidia that cause coccidiosis. This organism is shed in the manure of infected cattle, which defecate back it into the mud and spread it to more victims. Fortunately, coccidiosis in cattle is largely prevented by adding monensin sodium to cattle diets.

The actual extent to which mud contributes to these diseases in dairy cattle is not known, but one can speculate that good “mud management” implemented in muddy dry-lots and on pastures should reduce the incidence of their adverse health effects and also help dairy cattle move around and up to the feed bunk.

Here are some suggestions to help reduce the effect of mud on outside dairy cattle: - Scrape down pens – Deal with mud and get rid of it. We are not only getting rid of significant amounts of mud, but in many cases, much of the manure that built up during the winter. Scrape in front of feeding areas or concrete lips in front of the feed bunks.

- Improve drainage in pens – Put in necessary culverts and grade pens with a bit of a slope, which helps carry water away from loafing areas.

- Improve cattle comfort - Extra bedding should be used in dry lot areas. While cleaning out pens, a mound in the dry lot might be created, that water drains away from and keeps lying cattle, dry. Clean and slope dirt and manure away from pole-barns.

- Improve udder hygiene – For lactation cows with access to outside mud, concentrate on sound preand post-milking protocols, which clean and sanitize the teat and teat-ends.

- Manage wet pastures – Avoid keeping cattle in the same early pastures for extended periods.

Implement more frequent movements of cattle. Move mineral and salt feeders on occasion to assist movement of cattle.

It’s not always easy to keep dairy cattle clean and dry after the winter snow melts and creates lots of mud. It is almost guaranteed to put non-lactation and lactation cattle at a performance and health disadvantage. Therefore, dairy producers should do all they can to lessen mud’s negative effects.

Ultimately, protecting cattle from mud might also find my missing boot.

Study of Legacy Phosphorus Could Save Farmers a Bundle Fertilizer phosphorus added beyond the crops’ yearly needs can remain in the soil, and can become more tightly bound to soil than recently added fertilizer. Not much is known about the availability of “residual phosphorus” or “legacy phosphorus” to plants. Because it is more tightly bound, it may not show up in “soil test phosphorus” analyses that measure readily available soil inorganic phosphorus to determine fertilizer requirements. This is why, researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) are investigating legacy phosphorus in studies at various locations across Canada.

One study in this phosphorus project is led by Dr. Barbara Cade-Menun at the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre (SPARC) in Swift Current. Her team is studying a set of agricultural plots that were established in 1967. Until 1995 these plots received both phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizer, but then each was split in two so that phosphorus treatments could be stopped on one half of each plot. The result is a long-term, controlled study of legacy phosphorus.

“The availability of long-term plots is key to studying new problems as they develop, such as the potential over-application of phosphorus fertilizers. While it’s well known that not all the fertilizer given to plants will be used, what we don’t know is how fertilizer compounds in the soil interact with the other soil elements, microbes and plants over time,” said Cade-Menun.

What has surprised the researchers is the growth of the wheat plants on the plots not fertilized by phosphorus: although tests showed very low concentrations of soil test phosphorus on the no-phosphorus plots, there was no difference in yield, or in grain phosphorus concentration as compared to the fertilized plot. The plants that did not receive additional fertilizer were able to use both the legacy fertilizer phosphorus, as well as other pools of the phosphorus that had accumulated in the soil, such as organic phosphorus from decaying plant material.

While this research will need to be replicated with other crops in other soil and environmental conditions, it suggests that farmers might be able to change the way they think about phosphorous fertilizer. Accessing existing phosphorous from the soil would be a cost saving for the farmer and potentially reduce the risk of phosphorus loss into nearby water bodies.

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March 27, 2015

The Agri Post

The Agri Post

Executive Director of Agriculture in the Classroom Receives Award

By Joan Airey Johanna Ross, Executive Director of Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) received the Westman YWCA Woman of Distinction Award at the recent event held in Brandon.

Agriculture in the Classroom has grown rapidly since Ross took over as Executive Director fifteen years ago. The organization reaches over 40,000 students and teachers per year affecting over seventy per cent of schools in Manitoba.

“Since I started in 2000, our operating budget has increased seven hundred percent and increased membership to over four hundred. Staff, has increased from one halftime person when I started to five full-time and two part-time. Those interested in seeing all our activities can go to aitc.mb.ca. I have been involved in the official development and launch of AITC Canada and their aitc-canada.ca,” said Ross.

New in 2015 is an AITCCanada commissioned storybook. Adventures of Michael and Mia: Stewards of the Land that was authored by Edward Willett and illustrated by Val Lawton.

“As students follow

along on Michael and Mia’s gardening adventure, they will learn how farmers utilize modern farm practices and technology to care for our land and at the same time produce food to feed the world. With generous support from Viterra and Growing Forward 2, a Federal-Provincial territorial initiative, this book was made possible,” said Ross.

Last week was the fourth Agriculture Literacy week combined with Agriculture in the Classroom and with the help of one hundred volunteers over 4,200 students in about 100 schools was reached.

The Made in Manitoba Breakfast program has tailored presentations for kindergarten to grade four called Where Does my food Come From, for Grades 5 - 8 Agriculture is Food and so Much More and for grades 9 - 12 Consider a Career in Agriculture that are all used in a breakfast for the whole school. The Breakfast menu is generally pancakes, hard cooked eggs, pork sausages, chocolate milk, canola margarine, honey and seasonal fruit. Any school can apply to have Made in Manitoba Breakfast come to their school.

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Successful On Farm Network Program for Soybeans

By Les Kletke

Executive Director of Agriculture in the Classroom Johanne Ross with some of her staff, Kate Pacholok, Karen Hill and Jessica Brady.

Photo courtesy of Johanne Ross

Mar Mac Farms and Guests Bull Sale

By Joan Airey Mar Mac Farms and Guests hosted the 11th Annual Bull Sale at the farm south of Brandon recently. Over 300 livestock enthusiasts enjoyed a hot roast beef lunch and supported the South Brandon - Roseland 4-H by purchasing a piece of homemade pie.

Mar Mac Farms and Guests presented Jerry Kanewsicher with a gift for his dedicated service and expertise over the past number of years.

Mar Mac Farms, the City of Brandon along with Downhill Simmentals, Rapid City and Perkin Land and Cattle, Elgin were the hosts for the day presenting seventy-eight bulls for sale.

Auctioneer Chris Poley with Nathan Marin, Shane Michelson and Helge By conducted the auction.

Black Angus Bulls averaged $7,241 each. The top selling Black Angus went to Mar Mac Blueprint 56B, son of LT Driven 9087 that sold for $21,000 to Blairs.Ag, Lanigan, Saskatchewan.

Red Angus Bulls averaged $6,683 each during the auction and the top selling Red Angus Bulls was Red Mar Mac Neptune 118B, son of Red Flying K Neptune that sold for $ 12,500, to Guild Farms, Brandon.

Simmental Bulls averaged $5,670 and the top selling Simmental Bull was for Perks El Camino 3021B, red son of MRL El Tigre for $ 12,500 sold to Shane Nordine, Hay Lake, Alberta.

In total, the seventy- eight bulls grossed $490,250 averaging out to $6,285 each.

In the past decade, soybeans have earned their spot as a reliable crop in Manitoba’s crop rotation and the Manitoba Pulse & Soybeans Growers (MPSG) is doing its best to expand that place with the On Farm Network.

Kristen Podlosky is the production specialist with MPSG and she said that acreage has doubled in the past five years to 1.3 million acres in 2014. She expects it to climb marginally in 2015.

The MPSG has several programs to evaluate the crop and develop sound production practices for Manitoba producers and she credits industry partnerships with providing funding for the programs.

Podlosky said while the crop has earned its place in Manitoba there is a lot that needs to be learned. “We have seen it come through the challenges of weather, although we have not really tested it with a severe drought,” she said. Podlosky along with many producers is pleased with the way the crop handled the challenges of last year’s weather that began with late seeding which meant a high probability of an early fall frost.

“The late seeding meant the crop was not as mature as it would usually have been and the frost could have been very damaging but that didn’t happened,” she said.

The On Farm Network program that began last year is being expanded she said. “It is truly an on farm program where we have a researcher working with producers on their farm. It is not just about giving them the protocol and expecting them to carry out the work.”

This year the On Farm Network will address five questions.

“Seeding rates, we are asking producers to try a high and low rate of seeding,” she said. “We want them to compare the results on their farm and in a scientific way. Seed is an expense and they need to see what rate shows the best return for them.”

The second is the use of inoculants. Producers are going to conduct trials with and without in furrow inoculants on fields that have had two or more previous soybean crops. The third test is seed treatment, and trials will be conducted with and without congenital treatments.

“The fourth is fungicide. We are wondering if we need fungicide treatments on the crop as they use in areas where beans have been produced for a long time,” she said. “The fifth is residue management and this is a bit more involved but we hope farmers have more time in the fall and can take the time to try some trials of zero till, strip tillage and vertical tillage to evaluate what is the best way to deal with crop residue.”

Farmers are being encouraged to sign up for the On Farm Network on the Manitoba Pulse web page.

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March 27, 2015

Diversification is Key for 4th Generation Farm

By Harry Siemens Len Penner near Blumenort, who is part of Oak Lee Farms said diversification has served this family farm well going into the fourth generation and planning to involved the fifth, if that generation so chooses.

The farm operates a farrow to finish unit, raises turkeys and chickens, operates a feed mill to produce feed for the animals with enough cropland to supply the feed mill, as well as some extra cash from their sales in canola. They also use the canola meal to supplement their own feed requirements.

Penner who comes by the farm honestly married a farm girl whose father farmed, but looked to involve the next generation, the same as his grandfather and father did before him.

Getting into the business of farming for Penner is an interesting story. “It’s funny growing up I always said I’d never be a farmer,” he said. “Then I started dating a farm girl. Now I enjoy the lifestyle, taking family time, working together as a family, it all intrigues me, as opposed to all going your separate ways at the beginning of the day. Everyone works together at the same thing.”

Penner knows it is impossible to start farming while

Dating a farm girl for Len Penner and marrying her, Angela [nee Reimer] helped him to get into farming and appreciate the working together and the family life, instead of going off in separate directions every workday morning.

working for a salary, so he took the opportunity when this family decided to accommodate him and his wife within the family farm.

“We all know the costs of getting into farming. It is a tough go,” he said. “You don’t do that working on minimum wage; you don’t just go into farming.”

In Len and Angela’s case, they are farming because the family planned to have their

children farm with them.

While the national farming population continues to shrink, many young farmers continue to take over from their parents or parents-inlaw. That is the only way 99 out of 100 new farmers start and the only way the Penners’ children can get into it, if they so desire. Passing the farm to the next generation begins with proper planning that starts early, not at retirement age,

explained the Penners.

“That is what we’re growing our farm for,” said Len. “My brother-in-law Mike Reimer and I only now became part of the farm financially and we’re already planning for our children as to how we will accommodate this, how will we grow our farm and what areas are we going to grow our farm.

Just to be able to accommodate them down the road, if they have an interest in it, and we certainly hope they do.”

The key factor in their planning right now is diversification. “I think being the diversified farm that we are, we have to. Knowing how the industry is with everything growing big, so we have to figure out exactly where our place is in every market, and do we focus on one specific direction or do we continue to stay diversified the way my father-in-law and uncle did it,” he said.

Penner knows without a doubt, how diversification and self-sufficiency carried the family farm through some very difficult times. “We mill our own feed. We use up almost all of what we grow on our own farm. Obviously, canola we market as a cash crop, but we turn around and use the meal to feed our pigs and poultry,” said Len.

2014 Purebred Angus Breeder of the Year

Allan Nykoliation presenting to Tyler, Lacey and Tony Dekeyser the 2014 Purebred Breeder of the Year Award.

By Joan Airey Ramrod Cattle Co. located south of Medora started in 1983 with the purchase of four cows. Now they have around hundred and sixty cows with most of these being Black Angus, a few Red Angus and twenty commercial cows.

Ramrod is a family operation run by Tony and Jody Dekeyser and their children Tyler and Lacey and everyone takes part in the operation.

“We have been raising Angus for thirty plus years and have seen different trends come and go from one extreme to the other and we have made our share of mistakes,” said Jody Dekeyser. “However we have found that by sticking to our goal of raising highly functional cows, who wean their calves as close to fifty per cent of their body weight as possible and never concentrate on a single trait, that we strive to produce cattle that are productive and in demand.”

The Dekeyser’s market most of the females by private treaty, consign regularly to the Keystone Klassic Sale and are one of the original members of the sale. Their bulls are sold annually at the Cowboys Angus Bull Sale at Taylor Auction in Melita.

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The Agri Post

March 27, 2015

Life After the 2011 Federal Hog Buyout

By Harry Siemens When the federal government announced the Hog Farm Transition program on August 15, 2009, many producers at their wits end, took the buyout, some to finally exit with some dignity, others to wait around, look after their empty barns and see what happens.

All barns participating in the Hog Farm Transition program had to be completely empty by March 31, 2011 to comply with program terms and conditions of the contribution agreement with Agriculture and AgriFood Canada.

Some producers were quite happy to take the cheques, while for others, when they saw the pork prices rise, had second thoughts. Others, as one colony reported, had not cashed the cheque and returned it to the program thinking they could do better staying in the hog business.

It took Don Esler of Pilot Mound three tries to collect under the federal government’s Hog Farm Transition Program with a bid of just under $800 per animal unit on his 131 animals units.

“I did put in the lower bid and I was accepted this time,” said Esler from his farm home near Pilot Mound

Hog and grain farmer John Preun of Selkirk, talks with fellow farmers at the recent AGM for Keystone Agricultural Producers in Winnipeg.

in an earlier interview.

For him, it closed the door on an important chapter of his life. Having decided to get out of hog production in August, before he knew of this program, makes this a fitting close to that chapter.

He said for him, there is life after hogs.

Hog and grain farmer John Preun of Selkirk took the other route maintaining his barn and biding his mandatory three-year period of keeping it empty with the thought of getting back at the right time.

“Yes we are back in the hog business deciding to fill our barn again and custom feed for Maple Leaf Foods in Brandon,” said Preun.

“We are using it as a risk management tool; basically

getting a cheque every month for the work we do.”

On his farm, they kept the hog barn in good shape, despite not raising hogs in it, maintaining the heat, controlling the rodents, checking on it weekly and it kept quite well for three years.

“We provide the labour and the facility to finish hogs that Maple Leaf owns or they purchase from an outside producer,” said Preun. “The company pays us per square foot for our facility divided by 12 months and that is how they pay us.”

Maple Leaf delivers the pigs at around seven to eight weeks of age, anywhere from 60 to 66 pounds and Preun feeds them right up to

market weight, 270 to 280 pounds. He does not run any other pigs on the side, as it is an all-in and all-out facility.

The hog expansion moratorium in Manitoba continues to take its toll to the point where a spokesman for Maple Leaf said they have squeezed out every ounce of production from the producer in Manitoba.

“Yes, the hog moratorium is still there and of course Maple Leaf is actively seeking more production units to keep their killing plant full because that’s the name of the game,” said Preun. “They make money when their facility processes at a 100 percent capacity and we’re far short of that now.”

He said the hog moratorium really put the brakes on any expansion or any investment in the industry.

“That whole moratorium was overdone with much political pressure to do that at the time, but I think science tells us we [the hog industry] weren’t the sole contributors to the algae blooms in Lake Winnipeg,” he said. “We need some sort of common sense approach to loosening the knot on the moratorium and letting the constructing of buildings go forward based on their own site manure management plans.”

Bull Prices on the Rise in 2015

Photo by Joan Airey

Jack Hart welcomed everyone to their 20th Annual Cattlemen’s Connection Bull Sale on March 6, at Heartland in Brandon. Brent Carey, Auctioneer for the sale commented on how bull sales had become more high tech over the last 20 years with on-line and cell phone bidding. Ninety-five bulls grossed $550,950 to average $5,800 each.

SHEEP: All Canada Classic 2015 The All Canada Classic is coming to Red River Exhibition Park in Winnipeg from June 24 -27.

This is the premier event for the Canadian Purebred Sheep Industry and will be hosted by the Manitoba Sheep Association (MSA) in partnership with the Canadian Sheep Breeders Association.

This annual show and sale, which rotates across Canada, will welcome 200 to 300 sheep of all breeds to Winnipeg in 2015.

Sheep will be shown and compete within their breed to establish the sale order and allow perspective buyers an opportunity to view the animals. On the closing day, the sheep will be offered for sale by public auction.

At recent sales, consignors, buyers and spectators from coast to coast have been present. It is anticipated that this event will attract approximately 400 attendees.

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The Agri Post

March 27, 2015

Late Spring Calves Sprout with Green Pastures

By Peter Vitti I remember that it wasn’t too long ago, cow-calf operators calved out most of their cows by mid-March in western Canada. This century-old tradition allowed cows to nurse their calves and put on heavy weaningweight over the course of the summer and then calves were sold to feedlots by the end of October. This doesn’t seem to be the sole case anymore, since many people have adjusted their calving season to allow cows to give birth on sprouting green pastures in order to take advantage of a friendlier climate and save on winter-feeding costs.

Delaying the calving season until May makes sense to me as a beef nutritionist and novel economist, since

mid-gestation cows in the middle of January/February would have lower total nutrient requirements compared to traditional cows in the last trimester of pregnancy/calving. This would allow us to overwinter the delayed cowherd on good quality forages of lower nutrient value as well as provide less energy and protein supplementation.

Furthermore, it would also allow a conservative plane of nutrition to keep them warm and retain good body condition during the coldest winter months.

Subsequent sprouting pastures in mid and lateMay tend to be at their highest quality, which often matches the post-calving cows’ higher energy and protein requirements of lactation and helps them

retain precious body condition in order to return later on to estrus and rebreeding. If it is a cold spring and the quantity of sprouting grass is an issue, there is still is the option of providing some dry hay and/or grain to assure all nutrient requirements of the nursing beef cows are met.

Regardless, consider the potential money savings for a 250-beef cow operation by replacing all the forages and ½ of the supplemented barley grain in a dry lot lactation diet with one month of grazed May pasture.

The pencil calculations for potential savings of a late-spring calving season are as follows: Total feed intake of 15kg = 600kg x 2.5% of body weight, 15kg = 14kg of mixed hay at

$90/mt + 1kg of barley at $185/mt. One month winter-feed cost = $1.26 + $0.19 or $1.45 x 30 days.

Total monthly feed cost savings (250 cows) = $10,875.

As illustrated, there is a general feed savings on overwinter feed costs, but at the other end of the scale, there might be dire economic consequences to incoming revenue. For example, some Canadian references state that there is a difference of about 50kg less live weaned pounds per calf sold during the traditional autumn months, although some of this loss is offset by marketing light calves at graduated higher prices compared to heavier traditional calves.

Aside from the above potential winter-feed savings and general avoidance of calving out the cowherd during arctic-like weather, a late-calving season is not without its natural challenges. Unexpected spring snowstorms and cold rains can chill newborn calves, which are particularly vulnerable to catching pneumonia. Similarly, frequent

muddy conditions and thawed manure piles provide a catalyst for contagious intestinal scours that could lead to high calf mortality.

By personal experience, one of the first things that come to my mind when producers implement a calving season from February/ March to mid-May means that 80 days later their breeding season tends to fall upon the hottest days of the summer in July/August.

That means heat-stressed cows are more likely to remain open, because they are less likely to ovulate, have irregular estrus cycles, may have poor conception rates, and suffer from a high rate of early embryonic deaths. Furthermore, a period of ‘dog days’ can literary sterile otherwise fertile bulls.

A few years ago, I was called out to a late-spring beef producer’s place (200cowherd) in southern Manitoba on a plus 30°C July day. The owner was complaining that a mineral feeding program that I had put together for him was

not working, because one of his bulls couldn’t settle a segregated group of 18 Angus replacement heifers.

I was confident that my mineral recommendations were sound and once I saw his bull, which was panting and testicles descended to almost ground level I knew heat-stress had temporarily sterilized him.

All of the replacement heifers were laying by the tree line. By a subsequent visit on a cooler fall day, I discovered that the same bull had successfully bred each one of those same heifers with a new calf, which were put in the producers’ fallcalving herd.

From talking to this producer and others, I learned something. No matter how the weather turns out for late-spring calving and the subsequent breeding seasons, or even how much actual winter-feed costs are saved or total amount of saleable pounds of weaned calves sold; the real success story of a late-spring calving season is based upon the total amount of real profit generated.

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The Agri Post

March 27, 2015

Baby Pigs Most Popular Attraction at Manitoba Discovery Centre

Dr. Tracy Gilson

The University of Manitoba’s Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre, located on highway 75 south of Winnipeg, features hands on displays and activities designed to explain the science involved in food production.

By Harry Siemens Dr. Tracy Gilson, the Operations Manager with the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre said, since the facility opened its doors three years ago, the baby pigs are still its most popular attraction.

The University of Manitoba’s Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre, located on highway 75 south of Winnipeg, features hands on displays and activities designed to explain the science involved in food production.

Dr. Gilson said the centre started with a vision from its foundational supporters, Bruce D. Campbell and his wife, Leslie Campbell.

“They realized individuals are getting further and fur-

ther from the farm, but still have an interest in food production,” she said.

“Bruce and Leslie want to support a facility that allows people to learn about agriculture and food production through exhibits and displays and be right here on our research station.”

Gilson said, in 2014, the centre attracted just over five thousand visitors with the majority being elementary school students from grades 5 through 8. While good for all ages, the design is focused mostly for school children throughout the province.

“So the displays are geared for very young children right to grade 10, 11 and 12,” said Dr. Gilson.

“That is our target audience, that’s the group that is interested and wants to

know about food production. They’re learning it in school so we provide them the opportunity to come here and see some of the features.”

She said the centre has program activities geared to a specific audience, whether for younger or older children, such as the dairy program that gives a barn tour, making butter and ice cream to learning how an egg develops.

“I think probably our biggest feature is when we have the baby piglets,” said Gilson. “While in the centre you can see into an operating swine unit and so you can follow the sows from the breeding portion, through gestation to delivery of the piglets, and then once they wean the piglets, you can see them as well. I think that’s probably the highlight, when we have baby pigs.”

The centre also has other displays, including an enriched laying cage that people can see how

hens are in a production system. “We don’t have hens in the cage but we do have the cage so they can see the different features,” she said.

“Upon request we can take individuals and tour the dairy barn where they can actually go in and see our 52-head dairy cows.”

Another goal for them is to have the public come through and learn where their food comes from and how it is produced. Dr. Gilson said when people first walk into the centre, they are amazed at the facility and often cannot believe this gem is here and that they knew nothing about it. Once they go through the information presented also amazes and impresses them.

When asked about how effective they are in bringing the public together with the scientists and researchers, Gilson said they are planning tech talks starting this fall to connect their scientists, the public, and the industry partners and share information.

“What interests the public about food production and have our scientists explain the research they do and the discovery that actually influences the way the food gets put on their plate,” said Dr. Gilson. “I call it knowledge translation about how scientists continually make discoveries, but limited in ways that an individual can actually find out about these discoveries.”

The Discovery Centre

“I think probably our biggest feature is when we have the baby piglets,” said Dr. Tracey Gilson, Operations Manager.

does play a provincial role in actually translating that information in a language

consumers can understand and helps to determine how it does affects them.

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The Agri Post

Canada ’s 19th Case Canada’s of BSE — What Does That Mean?

For those of us that went through 2003 either as producers or as professionals working in the beef industry the announcement in February that Canada had found its 19th case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) may have made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. This is a normal reaction I suppose considering the impact that BSE had on our industry over 10 years ago.

On February 11, 2015, the Canadian Federal Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed the discovery of BSE in a cow from a farm in Alberta. It was determined that this case was ‘classical,’ meaning the source of the infection was most likely from feed and that it was not ‘atypical’ BSE which may occur sporadically in older cattle. This foreign animal disease devastated our industry and today 12 years later, some producers continue to recover.

This latest animal was born in 2009, two years after Canada’s enhanced feed barn was enacted in 2007. The enhanced feed ban restricts animal by-products, including specified risk material (SRMs), the tissues known to concentrate BSE, from entering the human and feed industry chains. This birth farm was also the same location as the BSE case found in 2010. As the investigation continues it has been determined, that the two animals were not related and there may have been a period of overlap where the two were exposed to the same source of the infection. CFIA’s investigation at this moment is centred on the trace out of birth and feed cohorts or animals that are related or fed the same diets early on in their lives.

According to the OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health, Canada’s BSE risk status, which is classified as ‘controlled risk’ will not change and thus we should not see a change in trading status.

However, as of early March five countries have placed a temporary ban on the import of Canadian beef and beef by-products. They include South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Peru and Belarus. At this point, it is anticipated that these temporary bans will be lifted once the investigation is complete.

Our major trading partners, like the United States and Europe have held to the OIE guidelines and have not imposed any trading restrictions.

So let’s put this into perspective what this really means for Canada. This is the 19th case we have found out of 436,000 head tested. The discovery of this case does not mean a resurgence of BSE in Canada. It means our surveillance system works and that in fact the number of positive animals is significantly declining within the population. But on the flip side it also means it will take us a little more time to completely eradicate the disease in Canada and that our timeline to move to negligible risk status internationally is prolonged. Following 11 years of surveillance and no additional positive animals going forward, Canada will be able to apply to the OIE for this upgraded status. It will now be 2020 before Canada can apply to be considered ‘negligible risk’ for BSE. So what is the same, this time around? The public now as they did 12 years ago continues to support our industry and I believe that is a testament to the high quality and safe beef products that we continue to produce. No products from this last positive animal entered the food or feed system.

Our surveillance program is working to not only keep our product safe but to also prove to our trading partners that we have a high level surveillance system to monitor our products.

What is different this time around? The response from our trading partners to date has been quite limited compared to 12 years ago. Yes, we have had five international markets put in place temporary bans on beef and beef by-products until the investigation is complete. These five countries make up approximately 3% of our international exports, so this is not overly significant in terms of beef exports but it has hit some industry stakeholders that export secondary by-products much harder. Nevertheless, these temporary bans are estimated to be valued at well over $70 million annually so this is not something to take lightly. We can only hope that once all the pertinent data is collected those markets will reopen.

So even though these latest announcements have created some anxiety among us in the industry it seems that the impacts to date have not been anywhere near those we faced 12 years ago. We are making progress, we continue to have the trust and confidence of our consumers and we are gaining ground in the international community as well. Even though is it disappointing to have another positive case we are working towards eradicating this disease.

Spring Seeding May Be Just Weeks Away

By Elmer Heinrich Spring is in the air, and Dennis Lange, an Altona Farm Production Advisor says with the early melt farmers are generally optimistic as they consider a possible early start on spring seeding.

While the outlook for the week is relatively cool, Lange sees the possibility of working in the fields by mid to late April in Manitoba.

He said it looks like we are going to get an earlier start to seeding compared to the last couple of years, noting that the warm temperatures have melted much of the snowpack across most of the province.

This could mean that farmers will have a longer planting window than they have had in the last few years. “Of course we know we could still get a late snowstorm and see seeding well into June,” added Lange.

Overall, Lange sees farmers generally sticking with their crop rotations, but getting an early start on spring cereals.

Lange, who is also Manitoba’s soybean specialist, sees continued interest in this fledgling crop, and Manitoba’s record 1.3 million acres last year might rise to 1.5 million acres this year.

He explained that Manitoba’s soybeans are crushed for oil and used as a protein source in livestock feed. Most of our soybeans are exported, with about 60% sold into the US. With over 100 growers attending bean meetings, Lange noted that interest in dry beans remains relatively strong, but predicts a decline of 10,000 acres for planted acreage that will range between 120,000 - 130,000 acres.

The Agri Post

March 27, 2015

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March 27, 2015

The Agri Post