AgriPost October 27 2017

The AgriPost

Rhetoric in Latest NAFTA Round Leaves Dairy Producers Uncertain of Future

October 27, 2017

Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland meets for a trilateral meeting with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal (left), and Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative, during the final day of the third round of NAFTA negotiations in Ottawa on Sept. 27.

At a news conference at the conclusion of the most recent talks in the US, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystian Freeland said the protectionist policies would, “Turn back the clock on NAFTA.” She also noted that the US attitude of, “Winner takes all mindset makes a deal impossible.”

The recently concluded talks in Arlington, Virginia were the most substantive and heated of the currant negotiations and the US side formally presented proposals for the their “Buy American” policies in the auto manufacturing sector, phasing out Canadian dairy supply management and scrapping the impartial arbitration NAFTA dispute resolution.

Canadian dairy farmers are just recovering from the fall out of comments made by President Trump while visiting Wisconsin earlier this year, when he blamed Canadian dairy farmers for US dairy farm problems.

Recently, Canadian dairy farmers saw an increase in their quota allowing opportunity to expand their operations and producers who are making long-term Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrew Leslie, met with agriculture stakeholders commitments to capital improvements now see that during a roundtable on NAFTA. these improvements might be in danger.

“We might become a bargaining chip at the trade

By Les Kletke table,” said one Manitoba dairyman who did not want The fourth round of North American Free Trade Agree- new agreement to be hammered out. ment (NAFTA) talks has concluded in the US and Canadian Canadian negotiators have voiced frustration on the US position to be identified. “I hope not but at the same time I am farmers are left with uncertainty as to what impact a new and their seeming unwavering attitude to negotiations. That leaves making plans for the day we could be without supagreement will have on their industry. They are almost cer- Canadian farmers and particularly supply management system in ply management and in an open system like the US. I tain that things will change but even that premise is some- an uncertain position. Many supply management farmers’ do not don’t want it because we see how their farmers suffer what in doubt. want their livelihood and operations used as a bargaining chip. through ups and downs in the market, but reality is The US administration had indicated that they wanted to In addition the US is looking at a nearly 300% tariff on aircraft that we could see it here, if these talks go badly.”

The fifth round of talks is scheduled for Mexico City, have a new agreement in place by the end of this year but being sold into the US. This has many other industries and counhave relented on the timeline and now the three countries tries wondering about the seriousness of the US when it comes to November 17-21, 2017. have targeted the end of March 2018 as a deadline for the negotiations in trade.

October 27, 2017

The AgriPost

Managing Stress While Dealing with an Industry-Wide PED Virus

By Harry Siemens The battle continues as the Manitoba pork industry continues to face PED virus, bringing the cases to over 70.

Recently infected premises (IPs) 67 to 73 include one sow site, three nursery sites, and three finisher sites.

“Unfortunately, IP number 68, a sow farm, and IP number 73, a nursery site, are both new infections and pose an increased risk to neighbouring farms,” said the most recent update from Manitoba Pork Council. “The other five sites appear to be a recurrence of shedding from pigs that came from previously infected sites.”

Manitoba Pork said on a positive note, 26 already infected premises have achieved PEDv Transitional status, meaning that all the animals on the site are no longer clinically sick and, as well, certain groups of animals on the site are no longer shedding the virus. On sow farms, it also means that the site can wean PED negative piglets. “We can expect to have a trickle of new cases, mostly from direct pig movements and a few new ones from a regional spread, which highlights the need for swine farms in southeast Manitoba to keep their guard up,” said the statement.

When the first outbreak occurred some years back, Claude Vielfaure of HyLife

said it was almost like he hated to open that barn door in the morning.

Bob Kleinsasser, hog boss at the Suncrest Colony near Steinbach, spoke candidly about what the PED virus outbreak, while still PEDfree has meant to them. “At first, it really, really was hard for us. We just couldn’t wrap it around, if it would happen, what would we do and we took it too personally, but now after months of this, we did a lot of different things,” said Kleinsasser sitting in their kitchen. “We had to refocus on our biosecurity, operate smarter and then there’s only so much you can do.

You can’t let it affect your personal life and stuff like that so we just try to do our best to keep it up, hold it out

Although free of the PED virus, Bob Kleinsasser, hog boss at the Suncrest Colony near Steinbach spoke candidly about what the PED virus outbreak means to the whole industry.

of the environment so if it’s not around the barn it can’t go in the barn. It’s tough. I can almost say it’s no fun anymore.”

“It’s the first thing you do when you walk in there, you go see, but we’re pretty confident with the dear Lord around, and with prayer and with a lot of input from everybody on the whole farm and the industry, it will turn out okay,” said the Suncrest, hog boss.

As far as a contingency plan for their farm, if there is only one infected, the barn will be cleaned out. “There’s one plan if it happens. Yeah, you

gotta do what you gotta do,” said Kleinsasser. “It wouldn’t be fun. We’ve talked to a lot of people who had it and have it, and some of them stated that they never want to see another pig in their life. It’s affected them that hard.”

Janice Goldsborough, the Human Resources and Training Coordinator with Manitoba Pork said swine barn managers should watch for signs of fatigue among workers dealing with PED virus.

“Having to deal with sick animals, especially the baby piglets, is resulting in a lot of stress on farm workers,” said Goldsborough.

Kleinsasser said that their contingency plan for their farm is to clean out the whole barn if there is even one pig infected.

Manitoba’s Bountiful Harvest Winding Down

By Elmer Heinrichs It’s been a good year, in some ways an amazing year for Manitoba farmers who are continuing to harvest the balance of what has turned out to be an above average crop in many areas.

Seeding progress was slower than normal in April but quick progress in May resulted in 95 per cent of the crop being seeded by the fourth week of May, quicker than the five-year average.

Dry conditions persisted through most of the province until mid-September, but with adequate moisture reserves, spring cereals and canola yielded better than average in many areas.

However lower yields were reported for soybeans due to the dry conditions during the pod filling stage. Yet dry weather conditions and low disease pressure also result-

ed in good crop quality.

Manitoba’s harvest is nearing completion. Combining of cereal crops, field peas and canola is essentially completed, soybeans and flax are almost off, grain corn and the sunflower harvest continues.

Germination and stand establishment of winter cereals is good, but seeded acres are down across the province.

In reviewing the year, central regions reported winter wheat averages of 78 - 85 bu/acre, spring wheat yields were excellent, ranging from 55 – 100 plus bu/acre. Canola yields too were excellent at 40 - 65 bu/acre mostly, and a pleasant surprise after a number of early season struggles. The edible bean harvest is complete. Yields were higher than last year averaging 1,800 to 2,000 lbs/acre, with highs of 2,500 - 3,000 lbs/acre reported.

Soybeans reported lower yields averaging 32 - 35 bu/acre due dry conditions.

Timely August rains helped out some fields.

The grain corm harvest is underway with very early yields ranging from 110 -180 bu/acre.

In its crop review, eastern regions reported that spring wheat averaged 65 bu/acre, with most grading No. 1 or No. 2, and with lower protein levels. Canola averaged 50 bu/acre with 100 per cent grading No 1. Lower soybean yields, averaged 35 bu/ acre and a smaller seed size due to dry conditions were noted.

The corn harvest is ongoing with early average yields were 125 bu/acre, and the sunflower harvest, with 25 per cent completed, was averaging 2,500 pounds an acre.

Overall, the eastern area grain quality appears to be quite good this year, with dry conditions during the growing season resulting in less disease pressure, and lower pest levels.

Across the province, fall fieldwork including tillage, soil testing, post-harvest weed control, and fertilizer applications of anhydrous ammonia is ongoing. Good germination for volunteer grain growth has occurred following rains and fall cultivation continues. Manure application is ongoing and progressing well.

This fall’s reports note that livestock feeding is higher than normal for this time of year due to the dry conditions. Overall most producers have a surplus of feed, with the quality of hay is better than last year.

The AgriPost

October 27, 2017

Manitoba Rural Women’s Day a Roaring Success

By Joan Airey The second annual Manitoba Rural Women’s Day with the theme “A Healthy Mind is a Treasure to Find” was held this year in Minnedosa with record attendance.

“Manitoba Rural Women’s Day was started as a way to get rural women together to learn and share on topics of like interests and concerns.

MWI in the past has used other forms of communication to get information out to rural women but in 2016 it was decided to try the format

of a speaker day. Based on the success in our first year it was decided to make this an annual event for members and non-members,” said Deb Melosky, Chairperson.

The day was jam packed with outstanding motivational speakers who kept participants interest. Elaine Froese a well-known speaker shared he knowledge on ‘Living an Intentional Healthy Life’.

She said we should all express our emotions on what we think, feel, need and want. More information on

Keith Macpherson kept the audience well entertained while motivating them to try new things to improve their lives.

Vicki Olatundun has a motivational saying “Do not allow negative or toxic people to rent space in your head. Raise the rent sky high and kick them out!!”

Rollback on Proposed Tax Changes is Good News for Farm Families The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) commended the Government of Canada on the most recent announcement that it will halt and reconsider a series of proposed tax reforms that would have led to severe negative impacts for family farm businesses.

As the country’s largest general farmers’ organization, CFA advocated for these changes through a grassroots lobby campaign and formal appearances before the House of Commons finance committee, as well as in activities during the government’s consultation period.

“Farmers are pleased to see that Minister Morneau listened to concerns from CFA and other groups and, as a result, decided against plans to limit the lifetime capital gains exemption and options to convert income to capital gains,” said CFA President Ron Bonnett. “Both measures would have led to enormous complexity and added

costs for inter-generational farm transfers and could’ve even encouraged farmers to sell their businesses to nonfamily members.”

the topic can be found at her website elainefroese.com.

Taking to the podium was Vicki Olatundun a powerful high-octane motivational speaker, Executive Director of Steinbach Family Resource Centre and more recently added author to her accomplishments with the release of her book ‘Unleash Your Crazy to Win’.

In 2015, she was recognized

by Canadian Living Magazine as one of Canada’s 40 Change Makers. Besides being a wife and mother to two young children, she is an instructor at a local college.

She explained that her passion and mission is H.O.P.E. helping other people excel.

She summed up her philoso-

phy as, “Mental Health is all about taking ownership and not giving excuses for why things are the way they are and choosing to ask for help.

We all have challenges, we all face adversity, and the antidote to the depression that can surface is community and communication.”

Further information is available at her website vickiolatundun.com.

Keith Macpherson a trained life coach with an education degree, extensive yoga training and great musical talent kept things alive with his upbeat presentation. He told the crowd that music is the universal language that brings people together in harmony as one planet. Macpherson

has spent twenty years touring globally as a speaker and performer in countries around the world including Canada, United States, Mexico Africa, Dubai and the United Kingdom.

“In a world that can be so consumed by busyness and rushing, it has become of the utmost importance to slow down, take a breath and connect back to our true inner self and the practice of mindfulness. It was my hope to remind the women at this event to trust their inherent intuition, to literally face themselves in the mirror and remember to love themselves no matter what and further, to remember that mindfulness is a practice of connection

and kindness to ourselves, our community and the world in which we live; to let our light shine bright!” said Keith Macpherson. More information on Macpherson can be found on his website keithmacpherson.ca.

To conclude the day a Fireside Chat with Vicki Olatundun as Chairperson was held with participants Roberta Graham, Deborah Tacan, and Nora Chant as guest speakers speaking on mental health.

At the Manitoba Rural Women’s Day in Komarno the participants in the Fireside Chat are Cheryl Cohan, Carole Tetreault and Judy Dunn with Vicki Olatundun as Chairperson.

The AgriPost

October 27, 2017

A Beginning and an End Have you ever noticed how births and funerals tend to happen at the same time?

Okay maybe it is just that we are more aware of those events when the other one happens.

I know there is a fancy word for the Heightened Awareness that happens when you do something. It is like when you buy a grey car and suddenly everyone seems to be driving a grey car. Women tell me that the same thing happens when they are pregnant suddenly everyone around you seems to be in the same condition. I haven’t done the research on that one and don’t plan on it but I do know there are a lot more grey SUVs since we bought one.

I do the research every time I come out of a mall and have to find our car.

This past month I had a couple of weeks where it happened. I had a 3-suit day week, with two funerals and a weeding in the space of 5 days. My suit has not seen that much action for a while and I hope it is a while before we do it again.

Then I had a week with an Open House at a dairy barn and a Dispersal Sale within 3 days. Those two events would parallel a birth and death in the world outside agriculture. The Open House was indeed a pleasant event – the way it should be.

Some young farmers coming to see the innovations of the industry and no doubt looking for ideas they will incorporate into their Someday Barn. There were a number of more senior members who stopped by because they knew the previous generation and were on hand to wish the next generation well.

Lunch was prepared by Danny’s Whole Hog and the bill was covered by the host, all and all it was a great day. Then two days later, I travelled to Minnesota to attend a dispersal sale for long-time customer of Canadian Holstein genetics.

The sale featured over a 100-head of cattle, many with deep pedigrees. Lunch was available and it was a fundraiser for the local 4H club.

Somehow, even though the cattle brought a good price my mind kept thinking the atmosphere was much like a funeral. People came by to pay their last respects to the farm that was ceasing operation, when the cattle went to new homes the lights would go out for good.

Yes, it was an old barn and the cattle of today were much bigger than the structure had been built for, but on the Friday it was a working barn and by Sunday it was an empty building. It was a good event, but not in the same kind of way. November is a lot like that, time to wrap up the year that was and get ready for the next year.

In many areas of the province the year that we are putting the finishing touches to was a bin buster, for others it was a ‘work hard to keep your head above water’ or lack thereof year. Next year is always a good one, at this point in the calendar but somehow there is a bit of sadness as we close the cover on another year.

To paraphrase an old proverb from St. Marher circa 1225, “The time and tide wait for no man”, it is time to get on with it. Let’s get ready for 2018; it is going to be a great one.

Good Company

Penner’s Points

As I write this, Trudeau and his cohorts are signaling a retreat from some of their promised tax increases. Whether that happens remains to be seen. Nonetheless, farmers weren’t the By Rolf only ones targeted by the proposals. They’ve got a lot of good Penner company.

The group that probably got the most attention were lowwage employees, people who might get a discount on a pair of shoes or a burger and fries from the store where they worked.

The Liberals wanted to tax these kinds of discounts on minimum wage workers.

“The Trudeau government’s gluttony for revenue seemed to know no end,” Charles Adler pointed out in an op-ed picked up by the Common Sense Canadian. “Like the typical glutton, it got to a point where it didn’t matter whether it was peanut butter or buttered lobster: the glutton just wanted to devour everything.”

As the poop hit the fan across the country on this one, it was quickly reversed. But not before some major damage was done to the Liberal brand. After they spent close to ten years in the political wilderness for being out–of-touch elitists, it took only two years in power for the country to see them revert back to their old ways. Further evidence of this was spending over $200,000 for the cover on this year’s budget, something almost nobody actually looks at. On the CBC News webpage, you’ll find an informative piece, “10 surprising stats about small business in Canada.” It shows in detail who along with farmers, have caught the eye of the-tax hungry Liberals.

Canada has 1,138,761 registered employer businesses. Of those, 1,116,423 or 98 per cent are small businesses. Those small businesses employ 5,137,147 million of our country’s total workforce.

How many people are self-employed in Canada? 2.7 million. And 31 percent of those report that they work more than 50 hours per week.

So what about exports? It turns out that 86 percent of our exporters are small businesses with exports valued at $68 billion, which is 25 percent of the country’s total export value. Add it all up and Canada’s small businesses contribute 42 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. And 28 percent of that came from places with fewer than 50 employees.

Then there are middle-class families. According to a new study by the Fraser Institute, 81 percent of them will be paying more income tax this year when one factors in all of the tax changes that the Trudeau government is looking to implement. To be sure, those proposed changes also contain some tax cuts here and there. But the increases in a number of other areas create a clear net result, higher taxes.

According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, a group of 70 different organizations are working together to oppose the proposed tax hikes. They are called “The Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness”.

One of them, Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce had this to say, “It is the farmers, mom and pop shops, and entrepreneurs, who invested everything into their businesses, that will be most affected by these changes, instead of targeting the real problem. The government needs to go back to the drawing board, hold a real consultation and listen to what tax professionals, provincial governments and the business owners who fuel the growth of our communities are saying.”

Another, Levi Wood, President of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association and a grain farmer, said, “These egregious proposed tax changes would negatively impact the family farm in ways that are both profound and complex. The federal government needs to reverse course on their ill-advised tax hike attack on our middle-class family farms.”

If you’re wondering what this is really all about, a famous quote from bank robber Willie Sutton can explain it. When Sutton was asked by a reporter why he robbed banks, his answer was simply, “Because that’s where the money is.” Farmers, small businesses, the middle class. That’s where the money is.

There are just not enough “rich” people in Canada to feed the Liberals spending addiction.

Have they changed their mind? Or will they do another bait and switch on us? Time will tell. But at least farmers have good company on this one and that’s nice for a change.

Demand Increases and Exchange Rates Play Considerable Roles in Pork Prices

By Harry Siemens During the week of October 9, US hog prices moved up, every day, going from 54 cents to 58 cents lean for 53 to 54 per cent hogs.

Hog commentator Jim Long said the real strength shows when compared to last year where the US marketed 2,305,000 hogs in the same weekly time frame. Hogs 53-54 per cent lean was at 52 cents and this year the US sold 2,516,000, 210,000 more at 58 cents a pound for 53 to 54 per cent lean. “More hogs, higher price equals good demand,” said Long.

“Despite the huge deluge of hogs, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) pork carcass cut-outs show wholesale

pork is averaging 74.44 cents a pound. With the spread between hog market price of 58 cents and pork cut-outs of 74 cents, packers are making good money.”

He believes the industry can thank the start-up of the new packing plants and the higher capacity it brings for strengthening hog prices this year compared to last. “As the three plants, SeaboardTriumph, Coldwater, and Prime, ramp up, we expect to see a narrowing of the spread between US pork cut-outs and hog prices,” said Long.

Tyler Fulton, the Director of Risk Management with h@ms Marketing Services advises pork producers who have less than 50 percent

of their production forward contracted to be watching for opportunities to shore up their hedges.

The most recent release of the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report indicates the US market hog inventory increased by three percent in one year while the breeding inventory increased by one percent.

Fulton said the three new US slaughter plants are capable of absorbing this volume increase, but demand for pork will need to remain strong to keep the prices of those pigs from falling. “We are going to be looking at US daily hog slaughters that exceed 2.6 million,” he said. “That’s easily a record; beating the

old record by approximately 100 thousand hogs and so we rely heavily on the ability to move this extra supply, this extra production.”

Fulton said the big question is at what price they will be able to clear. If demand continues to show significant growth as it has for the last several months, then it is possible they will not have to make any massive price concessions. “What I think is most likely to happen is packer margins will shrink so those packers will probably make a lot less than what they were, for example last year at this time and they will be more competitive for live hogs which will narrow up those margins,” he said.

“But the hope is that the effect of the heavy supply won’t be felt by producers as much simply because we’ve got this extra competition by three new packers.”

Fulton recommends producers who are less than 50 percent hedged for the November-December time frame look for opportunities to shore up their hedges but noted that many producers are already well covered for the fourth quarter. Fulton said the exchange rate is very volatile and it can be a game changer. “Really, for each one cent decline that we see in the Canadian dollar, we see Canadian hog prices appreciate by pretty close to 2 to 1/2 cents,” he said.

The AgriPost

October 27, 2017

Remembering Bill Vaags, 1934-2017

By Harry Siemens A great friend and a giant in the pork industry, Bill Vaags passed away recently.

In a recent press release the Manitoba Pork Council remembers his advocacy in Manitoba’s pork industry and as a champion. Few have been as dynamic as Bill Vaags. He recently passed away at the age of 82, leaving a hole in numerous lives and a profound legacy for the pork industry.

As a farm broadcaster going back to 1971, I remember Bill as one of the first influential people I interviewed and how Bill helped me overcome my jitters, and how he always treated me with the utmost respect. He wasn’t only the sub-

ject of the news story; he was the teacher and friend that showed me how important the farming industry is and the importance of getting the story right the first time.

I remember when I heard of this young farmer in the Dugald area building a huge, almost out-of-this-world sow farrow to finish operation with 700 sows, way too big, and way too expensive. He invited me down to take a look at the new-fangled systems, a huge barn by that day’s standards and we sat down to do that big interview.

As president of Canada Pork International, I remember Bill telling me how he had to open a delicacy cafe serving Canadian offal in China. Offal also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats refer to the internal organs and en-

trails of a butchered animal.

Being at the head of the table and everyone watching him, Bill told me how he’d asked for every spice and sauce he could find, smothered the offal and ate it as if it was the best-tasting meal he’d ever had.

I honestly considered Bill as every other person who knew him as a great friend, and someone who knew the business better than most, and if he didn’t know something, he’d find out in a hurry. My condolences to the family, friends and the hog and farming industry that knew no bounds to Bill Vaags.

George M. Matheson, Chair, Manitoba Pork said Bill’s career as a pork producer began in the early 1960s, and with his family, he built a progressive, sustainable hog operation that at one time was one

of the largest in Manitoba.

Always active in the industry, he was a director at Manitoba Pork for 37 years, 11 of those as chair, and president of the Canadian Pork Council for five. He was heavily involved in the global pork trade, president of Canada Pork International for six years, and an active participant in the creation of NAFTA. To honour and acknowledge Bill’s contributions to agriculture, in 2006, he entered into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame, and in 2010, Manitoba Pork presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“To say that everyone in the Canadian pork industry knew Bill Vaags might be an exaggeration, but not by much.

He had a way about him that drew people in and made

Time for Canadian Farmers to Stand Up for Our Grain Grading System!

By Stewart Wells In 2014, a longtime advocate for grain trade deregulation and a former researcher for the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association was quoted in the Ag press as saying, “I don’t remember one serious conversation about market power and the dangers it imposed.” Apparently, that conversation still hasn’t happened for the farmers that are lobbying to open Canadian borders to an influx of US-grown wheat.

The American National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and US Wheat Associates are lobbying the US government to help them export more wheat to Canada.

They claim Canada’s grain grading system is a barrier, so they are asking President Trump to put pressure on Canada. It is not surprising that in Canada, the corporatebacked wheat lobby groups, Cereals Canada and the Western Canadian Wheat Growers as well as the Western Grain Elevator Association, which represents the grain trade, are on side with NAWG and US Wheat Associates too.

These lobby groups want to change the Canada Grains Act to allow American grain access to our wheat grading system or else to get rid of the grading system altogether so that companies buy on specifications instead. Both options would help the multinational grain companies and harm farmers.

But first, let’s get one thing

straight; Canadian millers can already bring in as much USgrown wheat as they choose.

No limits. Bringing in large amounts of US-grown wheat would mean mixing that grain with Canadian-grown product and moving it through the already-stressed Canadian export system. Shady marketing will sell this grain as “Canadian origin” which would give corporate profit a shortterm boost until the world recognized that this grain is not really the superior or unique Canadian wheat they were expecting. In short, our much-diminished Canadian market power would suffer another serious blow.

The idea that the US is missing out on the Canadian market makes no sense either. The US and Canada are two of the world’s largest wheat exporters. In 2016, the wheat Canada imported was less than one percent of our exports.

Our international reputation for quality wheat didn’t just happen. It was built by Canadian farmers and governments who knew that strict quality control measures are needed to obtain premium prices on the world market.

The wheat-growing areas of the Ukraine, the USA and Australia are much closer to ports.

Our quality standards allow us to obtain higher prices, which compensate for the cost of moving grain from the prairies to port. Our system, of which the Canadian Grain

Commission is a key component, adds about $70 per tonne to the farmers’ price. Most years, Canadian farmers produce around 25 million tonnes of wheat, so our system adds $1.75 billion to Canada’s economy every year!

What else is at stake if our government caves in to these lobby groups?

Allowing grain companies to mix American wheat with Canadian-grown wheat would give US wheat a free ride on the seed-to-port-terminal quality control system we have developed over the past century, and which the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) oversees in the interests of Canadian farmers.

Canada’s grading system ensures farmers have recourse to an independent arbiter, the CGC, if we think our grain has been unfairly discounted by the elevator. The CGC’s official grain grading guide provides transparent standards for the grading of grains, oilseeds and pulses. If Canada were to dismantle our grain grading system altogether, Canadian farmers would have no choice but to sell via individual contracts with grain buyers. The buyer would then have all the power and farmers would have no recourse if their grain was unfairly discounted or rejected.

The multinational grain traders ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus, Viterra and Richardson International are connected to the lobby pushing for US access to Canada’s system. These companies stand to gain millions, if not billions, in additional profits by disabling the CGC. The grain trade would then be in position to take an even greater share of farmers’ wealth with impunity.

Farmers need to call upon our federal and provincial Agriculture Ministers as well as our provincial wheat commissions to stand firm and uphold the

CGC and our grading system in the interests of farmers, our rural economies and Canada as whole.

Stewart Wells is a grain farmer from southwestern Saskatchewan and a former President of the National Farmers Union.

them feel that their opinions mattered,” said George. “To me, Bill was a colleague and friend, and most importantly, a mentor. He taught me that in our sometimes maligned industry, diplomacy is essential and that it is crucial that producers always present themselves well and with pride. He also taught me the value of consensus. Manitoba Pork’s board of directors is

the most diverse group of its type in the country, and Bill knew that a united front was necessary to get a useful message out to governments and the public.”

“With Bill’s passing, the Manitoba and Canadian pork industries lost a terrific friend, and I am sure many producers would say one of their best,” said George Matheson.

October 27, 2017

CFA Optimistic on Tax Changes But Still Cautious With the recent announcement by the Federal government to lower the small business tax rate, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) believes this is a step in the right direction but said details in the proposals are needed to alleviate apprehension.

The government is proposing that the 10.5% small business tax rate will drop to 10% in 2018 and 9% in 2019. “A reduced overall small business tax rate will help to drive growth in the agriculture sector and boost the competitiveness of Canadian farmers,” said CFA President Ron Bonnett in a written statement. “As well, changes announced to ‘Tax Planning Using Private Corporations’ proposals are a positive sign that the government understands the concerns voiced by farm groups in recent months.”

Bonnett agrees that by simplifying the income, sprinkling rules is a step in the right direction and he said farmers are looking forward to more clar-

ity around tax changes.

CFA is also pleased that the government will not proceed with limiting access to the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption.

“Minister Morneau has said that he’ll ensure family farm transfers aren’t affected by the tax changes and farm groups await details on how the proposals will be revised in this regard,” said Bonnett.

While the changes resolve some uncertainty, farmers remain apprehensive about other proposed tax measures, particularly on passive investments, which are vital for managing year-over-year risks due to weather or marketrelated volatility explained Bonnett. The CFA has also noted concern with plans that would affect the conversion of income into capital gains.

Bonnett assured farmers that the CFA executives are in regular contact with Finance Canada officials and other government representatives, and “We understand these outstanding issues will be addressed in the near future.”

The AgriPost

Happy Cows Make Happy People

Marc and Debbie de Klein have had cows in their new barn for over a year, and Marc says the robotic milkers allow him to spend more time with the family.

By Les Kletke Marc de Klein does not know whether robotic milkers are a greater benefit to his cows or the people who work on his farm but he does know of the benefits for both.

De Klein hosted an open house at his La Broquerie operation this month to highlight the construction of a new barn and the addition of more robotic milkers. He has been using robots for several years but said the new generation with the new barn has added to the comfort of the cows and his employees. “It has changed the type of employees we need,” said de Klein. “We now need someone that has

some knowledge of computers and an interest in them.”

One thing that has not changed is the need of knowledge in animal health.

“We still need someone who is concerned about the cows and can tell how they are doing by a visual inspection.

We are fortunate to have that on our farm.”

The herd has been in the new facility for more than a year and he said he did not see any drop in production with the move to the new barn. “The cows were used to being milked by robots so that was not much of a change but by giving them more space and the opportunity to access milking whenever they want we have seen

an increase in herd health,” he said. “There are cows being milked 24 hours of the day. It is their choice.”

De Klein said the prime consideration in the new facility was cow comfort.

“I wanted a free flow barn so the cows would not be restricted,” he said. “They have access to feed all the time and they have access to being milked when they want to. We wanted to do anything we could to reduce the stress on the animals that aids in health of the animals and in milk production.”

When asked what the new facility has meant for him there is no hesitation. “It has given me flexibility,” he said. “We crop about a thou-

sand acres and this gives me the opportunity to be on the field when I should be.”

He has the acreage split almost equally between soybeans, corn and alfalfa cut for haylage. He does not grind his own feed. Instead, he sells the crop and buys processed feed. “Some of the corn might be mine when it comes back from the feed mill but I am not sure.”

In addition, the robotic milking system allows him to spend more time with his family. “We’ve got kids and it allows me time to get to their soccer games,” he said with a smile. “The cows are happier and the people working with them are happier.”

AAFC October Outlook Ups Crop Yield Estimates

By Elmer Heinrichs Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), in its new October 13 outlook, said average crop yields are significantly higher than earlier

estimates and up by about 6 per cent.

As a result, the production of all field crops is now estimated at 88.6 metric tonnes (Mt) compared to 83.8 Mt in AAFC’s September report.

However, production is still down from 2016.

Corn seeded area increased by 8 per cent from 2016-17 to the second highest all-time level. Production is also forecast to increase by 8 per cent to a record 14.3 Mt due to the higher area and an above average total yield. Due to this increase, imports are forecast to decrease by 34 per cent.

The average Canadian corn yield, estimated to be higher than the previous five-year

average, is the second highest on record. With a nice fall, yields in eastern Canada are better than expected.

Average Canadian oat yields are estimated to be record high, higher than the previous three and five-year averages. Production is estimated to be the highest in three years. Interestingly, Manitoba was the only province to achieve a new alltime record.

Production of canola is estimated at 19.7 Mt. This is marginally higher than last year as record area seeded more than offset the drop in average yields, which declined from last year’s record high. Canola grades and

oil content appear to be best in Manitoba, which enjoyed good growing conditions.

Soybean production forecasts a record 8.3 Mt, up 27 per cent from the previous record set last year of 6.6 Mt. The increase in output largely results from the sharp increase in harvested area.

Soybean yields are estimated down slightly, to 2.84 hectares an acre compared to 3.01 t/ha for 2016-17.

Canadian dry bean production is estimated to rise sharply to nearly 0.32 Mt consisting of white pea bean and coloured bean types.

Production in Ontario and Manitoba increased significantly due to higher yields.

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Have Corn Acres Hit a Wall?

This meme could be used to describe Manitoba in 2017; in this case, IntelliFARM advisors would be Woody, while farmers would be Buzz.

Although pretty funny, it’s also fairly accurate given the big jump in acres this year. In Manitoba, corn acres were estimated to be up 19% over 2016, and 64% higher than 2015 acres. No matter how you look at it, that is a lot of extra corn around without demand continuing to keep up with it.

We get it, farmers love growing corn. It’s easy to maintain in season (two passes of round up, hard to get much easier), it spreads out harvest (way out, in some years), and it’s easy and fun to combine. I mean, there’s the downside of the sheer cost of growing it, needing a planter, needing a special header, needing a dryer, and now having to find a market for it. Yet, with the yields that have been pulled off the last two years, combined with some good (but shortlived) pricing opportunities; corn has been a profitable crop to grow.

However, all these extra acres combined with high yields, has put a real crunch onto our local corn market in southern Manitoba. We are still feeling the effects of losing a large portion of our westbound export market in 2016 due to the poor quality grain that came off in Saskatchewan and Alberta and took place of Manitoba corn, and this year it has become a logistics issue. There is demand for corn going into Alberta, but there are few backhauls for truckers to bring grain back to Manitoba currently. Local mills and buyers in Manitoba have bought coverage over the next few months, so many farmers are feeling the pressure to dump corn at pit prices of $3.75/bu or lower.

The last two years, we’ve been concerned about these issues, and took full advantage of selling corn for $4.50 – $5/bu in both years, and have been 50% sold by the time mid July rolls around. This has allowed us to wait out the depressed fall pricing (because prices are almost always the worst in harvest) and wait for better pricing later in the crop year. Those new to growing corn may not be faring as well, through lack of confidence to forward price, lack of experience with yields, etc. and it can be a tough go to get started.

All of these are factors we can see leading to a flattening (or potential drop) of corn acres in Manitoba for 2018. The long term, seasoned growers will continue to grow it, but the barrier to entry is fairly large for acres to continue expanding at the pace seen over the last few years.

Economics will still be the long-term driver for farming decisions, but in the case of corn (and soybeans for that matter); we may be finding the point where they don’t make sense to expand anymore.

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

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The AgriPost

October 27, 2017

Vitamin E is a powerful nutrient for lactating dairy cows. It is a natural antioxidant, which promotes a well-functioning immune system and good repro-

Feeding High Levels of Vitamin E to Dairy Cows is Good News duction. Unlike many essential nutrients of its kind, vitamin E when fed at a higher level than basic requirements proves to

be an effective tool in reducing transition and early lactation problems. Although, many dairy producers may have reached dietary maximums and should exercise caution, the good news continues about feeding high levels of vitamin E to their dairy cows.

As a dairy nutritionist, I am a big fan of adding lots of vitamin E to transition and lactation diets, because it works. A couple of years ago, I reformulated respective diets for a 250-cow operation that had undesirable bulk-tank SCC counts of 350,000 and several other long-term problems such as a noticeable amount of retained placentas and silent heats in post-partum cows.

The original transition diet contained the NRC recommended 1,000 iu of vitamin E per head per day, while the lactation diet contained 500 iu per head.

I increased these vitamin E levels in both diets to about 2,500 – 3,000 iu/head and in spite of this sole change, kept the selenium level (which works in tandem with vitamin E in combating SCC/mastitis) at 6 mg per head as within CFIA regulations. It was incidentally formulated as sodium selenite, which is the less bio-available form of selenium.

Within a couple of months, the dairy producer made the com-

ment to me that a continuous pattern of bulk-tank SCC counts fell to under 200,000. He also said the SCC of the post-partum cows coming into lactation fell from an average of over 600,000 to about 300,000. I verified these favourable results by reviewing his DHI records. Lastly, he pointed out that retained placentas were not as prevalent as before the vitamin E elevation and estrus cycles were stronger in many cows after calving.

In order to remain objective, I realized that, at the time of our field trial, this dairy producer culled a significant number of late-lactation SCC problematic cows. However, I believe feeding these high levels of vitamin E in the lactation diet worked, because bulk tank SCC was dropping within a couple of weeks after dietary changes were made.

In addition, he treated or culled fewer cows due to mastitis as time went on. In the end, my experience in this case matched more structured research studying vitamin E in dairy cows.

Ohio State University has a large portfolio on such repeatable benefits of feeding high levels of vitamin E to dairy cows dating back to the earlier 1980s.

In one such classic-study (1997), cows were supplemented with a daily dose of vitamin E during

the last couple of weeks before calving and then 2,000 iu/day for the first couple of weeks into lactation.

Their results showed a significant reduction in the incidence of sub-clinical and clinical mastitis, and better reproductive performance through stronger estrus cycles and higher conception rates as well as a significant reduction of related problems such as retained placentas, uterine infections and cystic ovaries.

Such proof of various health advantages, when vitamin E is fed to dairy cows has brought about the daily commercial vitamin E recommendations in dairy diets as follows: (1) dairy cows after dry-off – 1,000 iu – 2,000 iu, (2) two-three weeks before calving – 2,500 – 4,000 iu and (3) post-calving/lactation period – 1,000 – 2,000 iu.

I am also aware of one study that does not agree with me or the above American vitamin E science. A clinical study performed in the Netherlands divided about 300 dairy cows into two groups. One group was fed 135 iu/head/d of vitamin E, while the second group was supplemented with 3,000 iu/head/d of vitamin E from dry-off to calving. The researchers discovered that the high level of vitamin E significantly increased both subclinical

and clinical mastitis during the subsequent three months of lactation. Since this study was published, it has yet to be repeated by other university or extension research.

Despite one’s point of view on vitamin E, all people should agree that it is a natural fatsoluble vitamin as well as antioxidant in the dairy cows. It has the ability to destroy dangerous compounds called ‘free radicals’ that have the potential to destroy healthy cells in the animal’s mammary and reproductive tissues (re: uterine tract).

Vitamin E is also responsible to prevent free radicals from destroying disease-fighting neutrophils during non-specific immunity against mastitis.

Given these few basic facts on the role of vitamin E in dairy cattle nutrition as well as the solid body of positive research that supports them, it makes good sense to me to feed high levels of vitamin E to transition and lactating dairy cows. Its implementation to the dairy diet is particularly warranted when there is a higher incidence of mastitis and post-partum reproductive problems. Producers should keep in mind that there are likely limitations to the amount of vitamin E that can be fed to dairy cows, too.

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Manitoba Producer and Ag Companies Team Up to Support African Schools

Art Enns stands in front of the 40 acres of canola he grew this summer in support of two schools for orphans in Zambia, Africa.

For the third consecutive year, Manitoba producer Art Enns has grown a crop in support of two schools in Africa. This year, with the help of a group of agriculture companies, Enns will be making the largest donation to date.

Enns had a final yield of 2,300 bushels on the 40 acres of canola he planted, which he sold for close to $25,000 and donated to the Manyinga Project. “The overall yield was incredible, 57 bushels per acre was a record on my farm. In my area, yields like this are virtually unheard of,” said Enns.

“I absolutely couldn’t have accomplished this without the

generous contributions from the companies who have supported me.”

In past years, Enns has mostly paid for the cost of seed, fertilizer, fuel and other expenses associated with the field on his own.

This year, several agricultural companies came together to support Enns in his philanthropy, resulting in the record yield. “It’s been so great to have these companies on board,” said Enns. “It was really an incredible field, and that wasn’t thanks to anything I did. It was a combination of good weather and the support I’ve received.”

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Canterra Seeds provided the seed; Paterson Grain donated granular fertilizer, OMEX Agriculture Inc. provided high performance plant nutrition and GJ Chemical made a monetary donation to cover some of Enns’s fuel and pesticide costs.

“At OMEX, we believe in supporting agriculture education and the dedicated people around the world who help deliver it,” said Amanda Fabris, Office and Marketing Manager for OMEX Agriculture Inc. “OMEX has supported the Manyinga Project for a number of years, but this year was our first opportunity to work with them on a fundraising initiative of this magnitude,” said Fabris. “We worked with Art throughout the season and we’re thrilled with the harvest results.”

The revenue from the harvest will help fund two schools for orphaned and vulnerable children in Chinema and Samafunda, small villages in the Manyinga region of Zambia. In addition to the regular curriculum, the schools teach the critical agricultural skills the children need in an area where subsistence farming is the primary way of life.

“Part of our mission at Canterra is to generate success through strategic partnerships, and this opportunity aligns perfectly with that mission,” said Sheena Pitura, Director of Marketing at Canterra Seeds. “We’re happy to come together with Art and the other companies to support agriculture education for a group of children who need it most.”

By coming together, Enns and his generous supporters will make a world of difference for children in the Manyinga region. “When Art shared with me how successful the field was this year, I was speechless. With the help he had from companies like OMEX and Canterra I had high hopes for his harvest this year, but when he told everyone here at the Manyinga Project what the yield was and how much he’d be contributing to the project, we almost couldn’t believe it,” said Robynne Anderson, one of the founders of the group that started the Manyinga Project.

“It is going to make a real difference in our fundraising to support these two schools and the over 300 children that attend them.”

For Enns, passing on the love and skills of farming is the reason he puts in the work. “In the end, it’s all about the children,” he said. “I’ve always been passionate about teaching the next generation about farming, and I’m happy to work with these companies that share my view and want to support the cause.”

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The AgriPost

Small Changes are Making a Big Impact in Dairy

By Les Kletke Matt Walpole was on hand at Lactaria Dairy’s Open House to provide a stamp of approval.

The Dairy Nutrition Consultant who is based in Ontario makes bi-monthly visits to Manitoba to see his clients and made sure his visit coincided with the open house in La Broquerie. He works with many of the provinces larger herds. “We have 23 herds in Manitoba and that accounts for over 20% of the cows,” he said. His total for Saskatchewan is even more impressive where over half of the cows being milked fall under his recommendations.

Walpole cites one of the positive features about Marc de Klein’s new barn; it was designed to fit his cows. “The facility is designed to fit the kind of cows Marc likes,” said Walpole. “The cows that he is milking now and will most likely continue to milk in the future.” He describes them as medium size cows. “We went through a time when cows were bigger than the facility they were in,” said Walpole. “Into the old station barns cows were longer that the space they had. We have seen cows getting bigger over the years but that trend has slowed and perhaps even reversed.”

He acknowledged that he is not a fan of the extremely large Holstein that dominated some Cana-

Matt Walpole of Dairysmart has input on the diets of over 20% of the milk herd in the province.

dian dairy farms. “It is not the most efficient animal to produce milk. Marc has good young cows and they are a moderate size,” he noted. “That is good for milk production and he has designed a barn that has good space. There are wide alleys and adequate square footage per cow.” The bedding is straw on mattresses.

While one of the main features of the barn is the robotic milkers that provide feed to the cow when she visits the milker he said that is not intended to be a main source of feed. “We want that to be a treat,” he said.

“It is a limited amount and intended to drive the cow to the milker and increase the number of visits.”

Walpole said the main ration of the herd is a blend of corn silage, haylage and canola meal with some additional whey permeate that is sourced from the New Bothwell cheese plant.

“Things change in this industry,” he said. “I remember when dairymen would resist including canola meal because of the carryover from rapeseed. That has changed and now canola meal is very accepted and a good part of the ration.”

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The AgriPost

Agriculture: An Industry That Works Together

Cereals Corner

By Brenna Mahoney In the words of Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” I am always grateful that I get to work for an organization where one of its guiding principles is to promote collaboration throughout the cereals value chain. It is for this reason that I want to come to work every day.

There is always a new issue, something to work on, and something to learn that 9.9 times out of 10 requires some sort of collaborative process.

In such a diverse industry, there are bound to be differences of opinion, values and agendas, yet I have had opportunities to see a room full of people put those personal opinions aside in order to benefit the whole. Reflection on this process, I believe, is just as important as the actual collaboration itself. Especially in light of a time where mergers, re-negotiation of NAFTA, a new Canadian Food Guide, grain transportation legislation, growing protectionism in key markets, just to name a few issues facing our industry.

It is important to keep in mind, in all of our opportunities to collaborate, what defines success, and what we can think about during our

next opportunity to work together.

I believe that a major part of collaborative success would have an environment focused on alignment, removing roadblocks and increasing productivity. This can be achieved if each individual and organization is accountable, organized, motivated, engaged and is focused on achieving the best result for the industry as a whole. This does not mean that you have to agree with everyone all the time, but it does mean that you have to listen to the ideas of others. It truly is about having a valuable conversation.

Just as it is important to listen, it is equally as important to check if what we are sharing is of value. Sometimes it is easy to get off track or into the weeds on issues that can touch on something that we are passionate about. It is important to always make sure that what we share is bringing insight and value to the goal of improving the profitability of the value chain and not just aimed at winning an argument or supporting our personal philosophical outlook.

Communicating clearly is a major part of what will help define success throughout the collaborative process.

It is also important to note that not all collaborative processes can be successful.

If the goal isn’t right, or the collaborative group is not individually ready to communicate together, then the col-

laboration has already failed.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, it can allow for us to rethink our goals and make sure that we have the right people around the table who are motivated to move the process along.

I am part of the grain industry. There are quite a few producer and industry organizations serving this part of agriculture. The whole industry will benefit if we step out of our silos to cooperate on issues like, market development, food safety, promoting international trade, sustainability and public trust, science based regulations, market concerns with pesticide residues, and many more. I don’t think we serve our members well if we isolate ourselves within our individual organizations. And we need to recognize that effective collaboration will sometimes require a bit of compromise.

As my Henry Ford quote indicates, it is not just about getting people together, it really is about having a motivated and diverse group of people, who are willing to work together on behalf of everyone. I am still learning a lot about the world of Canadian agriculture and all of its intricacies, and I am excited to be a part of a growing and changing industry that is being built on the shoulders of change makers and collaborative leaders.

Brenna Mahoney is Director of Communication for Cereals Canada.

A Good Year for Harvest of Foodgrains Projects

By Elmer Heinrichs Good yields were noted as more canola and soybeans and other crops were harvested from growing projects for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank across Manitoba and across Canada recently.

Harold Penner, Regional Representative for the Foodgrains Bank, said the soybean harvest has been progressing rapidly as farmers and combines joined forces to harvest field after field quickly.

At Elie, a dozen combines came out October 5 to harvest 120 acres of soybeans with all proceeds from the grain sales going to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for food relief. “It’s really a phenomenal event to have 12 combines out here taking off 120 acres of soybeans in an hour,” said Gerald Loeppky,

project Chair. “It just went really well,” said Loeppky, noting that, “The combines came from three Hutterite colonies, from individual farmers, and some equipment dealers.”

At Arnaud, farmers came with five combines to harvest 160 acres of soybeans in the HOPE project, short for Helping Other People Eat. Project Chair Jeremy Calder said the field yielded 26 bushels an acre, which will permit a donation of about $44,000 to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

Kevin Nickel, Chair of the Common Ground project at Rosenfeld reported that they had a very successful harvest combining 300 acres of canola yielding a very good 48 bushels an acre. Nickel noted, “We broadcast seeded and the canola was off to a slow start, but it thrived and now a team

of nine combines, trucks and carts cleared the field quickly.”

Nickel expects they will be able to send between $60,000 and 70,000 to the Foodgrains Bank for food aid.

At the CHUM project, harvest north of Altona four combines, four semis and a grain cart gathered at a 150-acre soybean field, and some three hours later it was all harvested.

Project spokesperson Doug Dyck said, “We averaged 28.8 bushels per acre and received just shy of $45,000 for the crop.”

“The extreme dryness definitely impacted this crop but we’re thankful for what we got, and we know the need is greater than ever,” added Dyck.

It has been another good year for community grow projects and the harvest continues.

The AgriPost

4-H Young Horse Development Project The 20th annual presentations of the Manitoba 4-H Young Horse Development Project (YHDP) were held September 4 at the Westoba Agricultural Centre of Excellence, in Brandon.

The project provides a venue for senior 4-H members to demonstrate their knowledge gained through the 4-H Equine Program, as well as to showcase the stock being bred and raised on Manitoba’s equine ranches.

Each year, interested senior 4-H members that are 14 years of age by January 1 of the current year apply to the YHD Project’s Advisory Committee. Upon selection, members are given a list of participating Manitoba Equine Ranching Association (MERA) and Saskatchewan Equine Ranching Association (SERA) ranchers from whom they may purchase a weanling. Prices are pre-set and ranchers receive half of the purchase price; the balance is placed in that year’s Project Enhancement Fund.

The YHD Project involves a two-year commitment, and teaches 4-H members valuable life skills about taking responsibility, setting goals, and applying the knowledge gained. Members raise and train their horses with the objective of presenting them as a yearling “in hand”, and as a two-year-old “under saddle”.

Members receive payouts through their yearling presentations (1/3 of the Enhancement Fund) and through their two-year-old presentations (the remaining 2/3 of the fund); completing their proj-

ect books and by adhering to the rules and regulations. Formal placings for the presentations are irrelevant. Members receive an Enhancement Fund payout based on their individual efforts, so the experience is self-achieving.

In 2017, four 4-H members exhibited their yearling Quarter Horses, “in hand”. They were evaluated on the elements of basic showmanship skills, conditioning of the horses, and their abilities to teach their horses to work on a longe line and to load into a trailer. Scores ranged from 180 points to 218 points, out of 260 possible points. The members earned a share of the 583.33 in the 2016 Enhancement Fund. As a group, they accumulated 769 points, averaging 192.25 each, and will be paid $0.76/point, based on their individual scores. Each yearling presenter received a copy of their evaluation, a tri-coloured neck banner, a Horse Industry Handbook – A Guide to Education, Care and Management, published by the American Youth Horse Council sponsored by the North American Equine

Ranching Information Council (NAERIC).

One exhibitor, 4-H member Miriam Funk, 19, graduated from Austin Christian Academy and lives on an acreage in MacGregor. Funk is working at a bakery while she considers her future as a medical laboratory assistant. This is Miriam’s first involvement with the YHD Project. “My sister, Esther participated two years ago and that inspired me to try,” explained Miriam who is no novice horsewoman. “I have been involved with horses through 4-H since I was ten, and now I compete in the MBRA barrel racing open division.”

When asked why she chose DF Chexo for Frost, Miriam said, “I really enjoyed visiting D5 Performance Horses to pick one out. I was looking for a filly as a barrel racing prospect and had researched the sires before I went. I liked her colouring, her dam, and she had Sun Frost bloodlines.

What I have learned from this project so far is that you need a lot of patience, perseverance through obstacles and to ask for help, when it is needed.”

4-H member Miriam Funk of Austin with her yearling Quarter Horse filly, DF Chexo for Frost.

Photo by Wilf Davis.

New Zealand Company to Build Largest Breeding Flock in Canada Near Zhoda The RM of Stuartburn and the Canada Sheep and Lamb Farms from Zhoda are conducting a survey to determine if there is an employee base for a future feedlot and sheep farm. Both the RM of Stuartburn and the RM of Piney see this as a valuable opportunity to the area due to the fact that there will be 50 positions open in the plant and six in the feedlot.

Canada Sheep and Lamb farms is a business venture between Sarto Sheep Farms of Manitoba and the North American Lamb Company, a subsidiary of Integrated Foods in New Zealand.

The goal of Canada Sheep and Lamb Farms is to build

the largest breeding flock in Canada, a minimum of 50,000 breeding ewes.

There will be 50 positions available at the processing plant, including 44 hourly employees and 6 salary employees. There will be six positions available in the feedlot, as four hourly and two salaried. These are start up shifts that are expected to double once with the second shift.

Our experience teaches us that effective management practices are necessary to maintain a healthy, happy and productive flock of sheep and shepherds.

Sources say that animal care is top priority at Cana-

da Sheep and Lamb Farms while the company utilizing best practices in manure management and a crop rotation that eliminates the need for commercial fertilizer and minimizes opportunities for water contamination.

Once complete, the new feedlot and processing plant at an investment of $15 million will be the largest employer in the RM of Stuartburn, with 200 positions eventually expected to be filled.

Inquires on any of the jobs available can be made to the RM of Stuartburn at inquires@rmofstuartburn. com. The survey can be found at getfoureyes.com.

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Prepare Autumn-Winter Mineral Feed Program for Next Year’s Beef Breeding

By Peter Vitti Despite recent rain and snows, prolonged dry conditions this summer have left a wake of poor grazing pastures across the prairies.

High fibre (aka low energy) and low protein grass has been the norm as well as a very poor mineral profile.

In the latter, I believe that a well-balanced autumnwinter mineral (and vitamin) program is necessary for gestating beef cows and replacement heifers in order to build up their mineral (and vitamin) status for not only the next few months, but also onto the calving season and looking ahead to next year’s breeding season.

It’s a matter of implementing a well-balanced mineral feeding program that exceeds the current gestating beef cow’s basic mineral and vitamin nutrient requirements. This action helps meet all biological functions that may come together now and months away in order to get cows successfully rebred. A detail account is illustrated as such: 1. Promote cellular and tissue health – Copper, zinc, manganese and selenium are essential for activating enzyme systems that act as antioxidants and prevent oxidative stress. For example, selenium (along with vitamin E) is part of an

enzyme called gluthionine peroxidase, which converts destructive compounds called ‘Free radicals’ into harmless molecules and as a result improve vital functions. We see it as cows that readily clean after calving, rapid uterine involution and a quick return to estrus.

2. Promote growth – A good mineral program is involved in good feed intake, its better digestibility and good feed conversion. That’s because trace minerals such as zinc and copper play a coactive and structural role; again, in enzyme systems that regulate many energy and protein metabolic functions. For example, zinc has been shown to promote protein accumulation in muscle growth in growing beef calves.

3. Enhance immunity – Many trace minerals are also involved in enzyme systems that drive immune function against disease. When beef cows and their calves are, trace mineral deficient there is decreased immunity at the cellular level, lower antibody response against disease as well as a longer period of recovery back to good health. For example, copper levels in tissue parallel disease-fighting white blood cell levels in cattle.

4. Promote reproduction – By feeding more biological available organic/chelated trace minerals – It has been demonstrated to: (i) improve conception rates, (ii) confirm pregnancies in replacement heifers earlier and (iii) triple healthy ova shed by mature cows and heifers during estrus. Case in- point: Manganese (Mn) is essential for the follicular development on the ovary.

A marginal deficiency of Mn will not allow such development to proceed and anestrus or silent heats results.

One of best universitydriven examples of increasing good pre-calving tracemineral status and mapping its value in fertile beef cows was demonstrated in a recent west coast study (2016). Its researchers sorted out 84 pre-calving beef cows with adequate trace mineral status into three treatment groups; no trace mineral supplementation, an inorganic supplement group and a group fed more bioavailable “chelated/organic” copper, manganese, zinc and cobalt. These three experimental diets

were fed through the third trimester until calving.

The best points of this trial showed that despite the twosupplemental trace-mineral groups having improved mineral status and much of this status being transferred to their unborn calve once born and grown; saleable weaning weights averaged 519 pounds for calves from cows receiving the chelated/ organic minerals vs. 491 pounds for those from the group receiving the inorganic minerals only.

These results underline the need for a good autumnwinter cattle mineral in the cowherd. It should contain high fortified-chelated (organic) levels of copper, zinc, manganese and seleno-yeast as well as elevated levels of vitamins A, D and E. It also contains B-vitamin complex.

In the latter, that’s because dried-out pasture and general cattle stress has proven - the rumen bugs produce inadequate levels of B vitamins and supplementation is likely necessary.

As a beef nutritionist, I again advocate a “breedertype” cattle mineral for this year’s poor pasture situations. I also target a daily consumption of 3 - 4 ounces per head. On occasion, I recommend that producers calculate the average mineral intake of the herd, and make the necessary adjustment for adequate and consistent mineral consumption.

In summary, beef producers should feed a well-balanced breeder-type mineral, because in this way: - Mineral requirements of brood cows and replacement heifers are met, which double at calving time and double again during the breeding season are met.

- Promote the integrity of the next follicular cycle, which is initiated 100 days before the upcoming calving season and taken through to active post-partum estrus cycles and conception.

- Take advantage of special mineral properties such as specific trace minerals, which are associated with lean muscle deposition in growing replacement cattle and other cattle.

Enhance immune function, which promotes natural antibody response to disease and recovery back to health.

This includes effective vaccination programs as well as reduction in medication during treatment.

The AgriPost

Robot Revolution in the Dairy Barn

By Les Kletke Cal Kwantes likens change in the dairy parlour to the automobile industry.

“It’s what is under the hood,” said Kwantes who is with DeLaval and although based in Peterborough, Ontario was in Manitoba for an open house at Lactaria Holsteins near La Broquerie.

The dairy operation has five of his company’s robotic milkers.

Just like the automobile industry, which has taken advantage of computer technologies the dairy industry, has seen a revolution in the milking parlour.

“We are seeing the advance of robots and how they fit into milking in any size system,” said Kwantes. “The next step is to have a mini lab that will take a drop of milk from each milking and analyse it for many of the things the dairyman needs to know about in his individual cows.” The Navigator system that his company has developed will provide information on whether a cow is pregnant, in heat or infected with mastitis and a range of several other health issues.

The new system installed in the de Klein barn is not yet equipped with the Navigator management tool but it is technologically upgrad-

ed to handle the software when the choice is made.

“All of our development is intended to be back-friendly,” said Kwantes. “They can be added to the existing equipment in the barn. It is not a matter of a new generation of equipment being released but rather an evolution and adding features to the equipment our clients have.”

Kwantes said the management system is designed to be tailored to the individual farm. “When a farmer makes the choice to install the Navigator system we sit down with him, his veterinarian, and his nutritionist to make sure he gets the most out of the system. The intent is to have an SOP [Standard Operating Procedures] but tailored to the individual farm.”

The de Klein farm has five robotic milkers to handle 220 cows and owner Marc de Klein said he may expand the herd to 250 animals.

Kwantes said his company has placed as many as 40 units in barns in the US and has a facility in Chile that has 64 of the units. “We see that these units fit in any size of dairy, and the issue of labour is always a concern in the dairy business, that is a constant all over the world,” he said.

Cal Kwantes of DeLaval says technology is moving ahead with changes under the hood and his company emphasizes making it compatible with existing equipment.

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Funding Received to Update Welfare Standards of Canadian Livestock The Federal government recently announced funding of up to $1.31 million to the Canadian Animal Health Coalition (CAHC) to help ensure the safe transportation of livestock, develop emergency management tools for the livestock industry and improve animal care assessments.

“Our Government is proud to support initiatives that help to ensure the welfare of farm animals in Canada. It’s vital that Canada keeps its standards up to date in order to keep pace with new and emerg-

ing consumer and market demands, both domestically and globally,” said MP Lloyd Longfield on behalf of Minister of Agriculture and AgriFood, Lawrence MacAulay.

The investment will be divided between four projects including $223,929 to develop a new livestock transport on-line certification program that will simplify, standardize and provide an opportunity for truckers, shippers and receivers to more easily access the training necessary to improve handling practices.

In addition, up to $160,713 will be used to update the

Transportation Codes of Practice for the care and handling of farm animals during transport, $813,200 to develop an emergency management plan for the Canadian livestock industry that will help mitigate, respond to, and recover from major hazard emergencies.

The Chicken Farmers of Canada’s (CFC) animal care assessment program will receive up to $112,180 to revise the new Code of Practice for hatching eggs, breeders, chickens and turkeys. The project will strengthen the poultry industry’s capacity to respond to ever-increasing demand by

markets to demonstrate effective animal care standards.

The Canadian Animal Health Coalition (CAHC) is a non-partisan, not for profit coalition of Canada’s farmed animal industry and is responsible for the Canadian Livestock Training Program.

Coalition members represent fox breeders, mink breeders, cattlemen’s association, pork council, sheep breeders, the veterinary medical association, dairy farmers, equine association, livestock and poultry councils and registered veterinary technologists and technicians in Canada.

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The Bustling Industry in Brandon’s CPR Yards of 1912

CPR’s Brandon rail yards taken around 1912

In the photo collection of the Manitoba Agricultural Museum there are several photos of the CPR’s Brandon rail yards taken around 1912. The Museum has already used one of the photos for an interpretive release on the Western Canada Flour Mills operation in Brandon as well as early grain elevators in Brandon. The second photo of the Brandon yard appears to have been taken off the 1st Bridge looking to the west.

On the left side of the photo, the first building is a coal shed used to store heating coal and notable Brandon had a number of coal sheds at the time. Coal was brought in by boxcar, shovelled by hand out of the cars and into the sheds through doors such as seen on the side of this building. The dark coloured building beyond the coal shed is the Massey Harris warehouse. In 1913, Massey Harris purchased a newly built multi-story concrete and brick warehouse further to the west between Pacific and Rosser Avenue.

The building to the west of the original Massey Harris warehouse has not yet been

identified. However across Pacific Avenue from the unidentified building is the Dominion of Canada Immigration Hall where new immigrants to the Brandon area could come, obtain housing for a few days and get organized before moving to either a homestead or obtaining work in the area.

Families and single women were accommodated in rooms with single men being housed in a dormitory. Cooking facilities were provided but in a separate building to reduce the threat of fire. While the facility was spartan, the Dominion of Canada provided their services free of charge. The Immigrant Halls also served, to some extent, to protect immigrants from con artists and hucksters who preyed upon them.

The Brandon Immigration Hall was built in 1904 to a standardized plan used by the Government for immigration halls. The building had three floors however; the dormers in the roof and a window in the peaked end wall indicate that the attic was also in use.

The Dominion of Canada operated a system of Immi-

grant Halls across Canada. At the height of the system, 50 halls were in operation across the country. Initially they were called Immigration Sheds and were located at ports such as Montreal and Quebec City.

Sheds were also built at inland points such as Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto and Hamilton. In 1872, sheds were constructed at London and Winnipeg.

The initial Winnipeg shed was in the area of The Forks and had a capacity of 250 people however within a year a second shed was added bringing capacity to 500 people.

With the arrival of the CPR, a new immigration hall was built close to the Winnipeg CPR station. However, immigration was such that in the next 10 years, two more halls were built in Winnipeg close to the CPR station. In 1906, a brick and stone immigration hall was built beside the CPR station in Winnipeg with at least one of the earlier wooden halls being retained. At some point, an immigration hall was built close to the CNR station in Winnipeg.

The larger Immigrant Halls at major centres such as Win-

nipeg provided advice to immigrants to western Canada about land and jobs and then the immigrants could travel on to Immigrant Halls in the smaller centres closer to where they wanted to settle.

On the right side of the photo is the Western Canada Flour Mills Company Brandon operation, there are a number of CPR boxcars visible beside the low warehouse beside the mill which are probably being loaded with bagged flour. The boxcars of the time were not suitable to load bulk flour, as leakage would have been substantial. Contaminants would have been another issue.

In between the mill complex and the yard is CPR’s icehouse where ice for refrigerated cars was stored. When a car needed icing, the car was spotted beside the building and ice blocks were brought out onto the 2nd story deck, which was at the height of the car roof.

Often the ice blocks were broken up into chunks and salt was added before the entire mass was shovelled through the car’s roof hatches into the ice bunkers. Salt improved the ice’s ability to cool.

On the immediate right of the photo is the ramp, which accessed the side of the 1st Street Bridge in between the Assiniboine River and the CPR yards. It allowed traffic to easily access the area north of the yards including the Western Canada Flour Mills operation, an important consideration for wheat being teamed in from north of the city.

There is a tie in between this photo and the photo used in the Manitoba and North Western Railway article. That photo showed a steam shovel loading fill material onto several flat cars. In this photo, we see the flat cars with fill material being brought into the Brandon yard. It is quite noticeable in the photo that the yard

is being re-developed as the tracks to the right of the flat cars simply end a little further.

In addition, there are stacks of ties and rails and there is an uncompleted switch in the bottom right hand corner of the photo. It appears that the CPR was significantly altering the yard, probably to accommodate the increase in rail traffic that CPR was experiencing.

The tracks to the west of the 1st Bridge comprised the passenger coach yard where passenger coaches were stored when not needed. The CPR station was beyond the 8th Street Bridge that can be seen spanning the passenger coach yard in the distance. Behind the photographer was the freight yard where freight cars were stored, sorted and assembled into trains. Also in this area was the CPR roundhouse where steam engines were serviced. Railways did not like to store the passenger equipment close to the roundhouses as the smoke and cinders resulting from the engines dirtied everything in the area.

The flat cars are transporting fill that was needed for the yard re-development. To dump the material off the cars the railways used a plow. At the head of the flat cars is another car and in front of this car is a steam locomotive, which is running tender first.

The car was equipped with a very large winch powered by a steam engine, which is why the engine is running with the nose of the engine against the winch car. Steam was taken off the locomotive to power the winch to avoid the need for a boiler and fireman on the winch car.

One can see in the photo a heavy cable running on top of the piles of material on the cars. One end of the cable was wound around the winch drum and the other end fastened to

a plow sitting on the last flat car of the string. Iron plates were fastened with hinges to the one end of each flat car in the string and spanned the gap to the next car. The plate just laid unfastened on the deck of this car allowing lateral movement in a curve. These plates prevented material falling on the tracks between the cars that could potentially derail a car. When the cars reached the area where fill was needed then the train was halted and the winch hauled the plow forward pushing the material off the cars.

When you look at the left side of the photo, you can see fill has been dumped to the right of the coal sheds. Given the volume of fill needed, it is likely flat cars were used to accomplish this. Since the railway would want to dump material off either side of the cars, the railways probably had left handed plows, right handed plows and V plows available.

It is known that when the rail line construction came to a ravine or similar depression, to speed construction they would build a trestle over the area rather than attempting to build an embankment using horses and fresno scrapers. At a later date, they would fill the trestle in with fill using flat cars unloaded by a plow. So if you wonder the high railway embankment over the ravine just south of Binscarth and similar embankments were constructed, you now know how they did this.

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is open year round.

For more information on events and operating hours, visit ag-museum.mb.ca.

Barns are Tailored to the Needs of the Dairy Herd and Farmer

By Les Kletke When it comes to dairy barns, there is no ‘one size fits all’ recommendation or even a selection of packages for the producer to choose from.

“It is a matter of sitting down with the producer and determine what they want, what fits in their budget, and what is possible in the physical parameters they have,” said Nico Vos of TriStar.

The Grunthal based company built the new dairy barn for Lactaria Holsteins and Vos said it was a unique situation. “We virtually built this barn over the existing barn,” said Vos, “That brought some challenges because

Marc [de Klein] had a barn here already but every situation has its challenges.”

Vos said his company is currently busy with construction of three new barns and refitting three others, in part due to the expansion of quota. “The expansion this summer has meant that many farmers are looking to add cows to their milking herd and while some can facilitate it in their existing barn some could not and they are looking at expansion,” said Vos. He said that even new barns do not have a cookie cutter approach. “Different operations have different requirements depending on their labour and feeding sys-

tems, so we sit down with the farmer and decide which features will go into their barn and what they might want in the future,” he said.

The de Klein barn is equipped with robot milkers and has the space to add a DeLaval Navigator management system to the milkers in the future. “Marc would like to add the system but the budget did not allow for it at this time so the barn is built to accommodate it when the time comes,” he said.

Building a new barn is seldom a spur of the moment decision so farmers are well informed in what the industry has to offer and what they would like incorporated into

a barn. “We find that most customers have a pretty good idea of what they want in a barn when they come to us, they know what we sell and how it will fit into their plans,” he said.

Vos said that milking robots have become a standard more and more in a barn.

“They are the standard of the industry now, and farmers are looking at management practices and feeding robots to make their job easier,” he said.

He points out that a barn like the one built for the de Kleins, paid extra attention to the comfort of the cows.

“Marc was very concerned about that and giving the

cows lots of room,” he said.

“They have lots of space

in the aisle and at the feed bunk.”

Nico Vos of Tristar says farmers are aware of the features they want incorporated in a new barn by the time they come to visit him, sometimes budgets may come into play but they do have a shopping list.

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Before Any Hog Expansion Consider the New Codes

By Harry Siemens When posed with the question to build new or renovate a hog barn under the new Codes of Ethics, international livestock consultant and veterinarian Dr. John Carr said this is a fascinating question, and all answers are correct.

When a farm is planning a herd expansion the first decision is whether to use the existing buildings or buy a brand new building. “But the cost of renovation will be about 70 per cent of a new facility.

This can increase depending on the poor state of the old building and in particular the isolation or lack of, left in the buildings,” said Dr. Carr.

Carr said the typical reasons in enhancing the operation for any producer are varied.

Some of the basic decisions

involve moving production to a batching system by accommodating increases in weaned pigs from 10 to 12 per farrowing space, increased slaughter weights or to go to antibioticfree farming methods.

The degree of renovation required depends on the building the producer is renovating. “For instance, converting some cattle shed into a pig house or to renew a room to provide more space for increased pigs can be a simple use of the passageway,” he said. “On many farms, the passageway accounts for 1020 per cent of the space in the entire room. This space can house hundreds of pig places.

The more pigs, the lower the fixed costs.”

Dr. Carr said if the passageway has slats there is no issue

regarding removing partitions or opening gates to release the space to the pigs. If the passageway has a solid floor, this is a bit more challenging because if left clear, the pigs will defecate on the colder concrete. But if you move the feeders to the cleared solid concrete area, this will mitigate the fouled area. Moving the feeders from their position on the slatted floor also releases more space for the pigs to sleep.

New use from old use should be considered. As farms expand or adopt new farming methods, producers may have to modify the buildings for extended use. The move from farrow to finish, into a two site production is a good example. Consideration should be given to ventilation and

isolation between different buildings. An example is that the farrowing house and nursery spaces or the finishing and gestation areas are often interchangeable. A gilt house and finishing house are often identical.

Building new has its own challenges. “With this in

mind and having replaced with all new floors, I would recommend that all floors are unipurpose. All floors should be fully slatted, wall-to-wall.

Do not have solid floor areas around the edges of pens.

Make the new floor and building as generic as possible. Make all the partitions

and penning into ‘furniture’ so you can move it around the room or even out of the chamber. It may also be worth considering other species use, for example, pigs to turkeys.

Ensure the floor supports can take the weight of different pigs,” said Carr.

Using a slatted floor to edge facilitates solid areas that can be easily made on top of the slats or removed if necessary later.

A barn’s passageway is removed allowing the pigs access.

The purpose of a passageways should be considered, its cost per minute of actual use and whether it should be temporary rather than permanent should be decided before renovating or building new.

A feeder moved from the floor to the ‘old passageway’ allowing 40 more pigs in the room.

Make Sure You Get Paid for Your Grain Before you make a grain delivery, make sure you are delivering grain to a company licensed by the Canadian Grain Commission. As part of its mandate to work in the interests of grain producers, the Canadian Grain Commission requires licensed grain companies to provide security to cover money owed to producers for grain deliveries. Unregulated grains and deliveries of any grain to unlicensed grain companies are not eligible for compensation in the event that payment terms are not met.

When you make your delivery, get a primary elevator receipt, grain receipt or cash purchase ticket that identifies the grain, grade, weight, price and date of delivery. Scale tickets are not accepted for compensa-

tion claims.

Make sure you ask to be paid for your grain right away. The sooner you ask to be paid, the lower your risk of payment loss. When delivering multiple loads of grain to one company, it is a good idea to ask for payment after each load or every few loads. Wait until the cheque clears before you deliver another load.

If a licensed company refuses to pay you for your grain, stalls on payment, or a financial institution denies payment on your cash purchase ticket or cheque, do not make any further grain deliveries and contact the Canadian Grain Commission. “Grain producers should contact the Canadian Grain Commission immediately if they experience any trouble or delays get-

ting paid. Waiting too long could put your eligibility for compensation at risk,” said Patti Miller, Chief Commissioner, Canadian Grain Commission.

The Commission’s Payment Protection Program applies to eligible grain deliveries to licensed primary elevators, process elevators and grain dealers. Currently there is over 140 grain companies licensed by the Canadian Grain Commission and on October 1, 2017; these licensed grain companies operated over 400 facilities nationally.

Farmers are reminded that if a licensed grain company is unable or unwilling to pay you, you have the right to submit a claim for compensation paid out from security held by the Canadian Grain Commission.

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