AgriPost September 25 2015

The Agri Post

September 25, 2015

Breaking the Roundup Cycle Federal Candidates Should Not Lose Sight of the Importance of Farming to the Economy depends on the ag industry.

It’s worth it!” says Tom Teichroeb, a cattle rancher There is an election at Langruth. campaign happening in Rick Bergmann, Chair of Canada and farm organizations are telling the political the Canadian Pork Council parties’ candidates and their (CPC) encourages the leaders of Canada’s political leaders to take heed parties and the candidates because farming is imporrunning for election to take tant. a stand for the future of “One fifth of all jobs

By Harry Siemens

Langruth cattleman Tom Teichroeb asks Federal Election candidates and party leaders to debate on agricultural referring to it as the multibillion part of Canada’s total economy.

Canadian hog production.

Bergmann said CPC’s 2015 Canadian Pork Industry Platform for the 2015 federal election outlines key industry concerns to help stimulate dialogue and build awareness. “The big umbrella is building a stronger future for our industry here in Canada,” he said. “Underneath that umbrella there is a whole gambit of different priorities.”

Bergmann said risk management programs to help hog producers through the challenging years, trade, biosecurity, animal health and enabling or ensuring a strong work force for the future are a few of the priorities within the document. “It’s critically important that producers do take this upon themselves to have a visit with those who want to be in government in their areas to ensure they hear our message at the grassroots level,” he said.

“We have a great relationship within Ottawa and, that said, our membership is across the country in many regions and it’s great when they can have a local conversation with their MPs and the people in leadership to ensure our message gets

“This is an important process, and we must be at the table.” heard across the country in different ways.”

Bergmann said the CPC has an opportunity with the membership across the county to help everybody become more aware of the industry, the needs it has and its past successes.

Delegates at a recent Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) meeting passed a resolution calling on the federal and provincial governments to involve KAP and other farm groups in the decisions when developing the Growing Forward 3 program. “This is an important process, and we must be at the table,” said KAP President Dan Mazier. “There is so much at stake. Business risk management programs in Growing Forward 2 are not meeting farmers’ needs, and we must look at new programming that is more robust and responsive to changes on the farm.”

Russ Erb is the grain manager at Viterra Ste. Agathe. He says producers like the option of a Clearfield canola to break the glyphosate cycle.

Photo by Les Kletke

By Les Kletke The first crop that introduced glyphosate tolerant technology to western Canada is now providing producers with alternate technology, which leaves the glyphosate on the shelf without a yield drag.

Russel Erb is a Grain Manager for the Viterra canola crush plant at Ste. Agathe, said the plant, which uses cold press technology, has furthered its distinction in the market place, and now 80% of the plant it crushes is non-GMO canola.

“It allows us into a different market segment, but the Clearfield technology also allows the producer to break the cycle of glyphosate use and avoid the danger of developing a herbicide tolerant weed problem in his field,” said Erb. Erb who farms himself said he has grown the Pioneer Clearfield variety for three years and does not see a yield drag from the industry standard. “We have had yields as high as 60 bushels and this year with the rain and the stress that crop was under we had yields of 3545 bushels an acre,” said Erb. “That is as good as we could expect.”

He said the company has contracted 30,000 acres, doubling that the following year and kept it at that level for the third year. “We have producers who are committed to the program and sign up their acres when they deliver the first crop in fall,” said Erb. “I expect that the 2016 allotment will be filled by the end of September of this year.”

Continued on page 2

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September 25, 2015

Making Your October Vote a Priority

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) will be hosting a National Agriculture Leaders debate in lead up to the Federal Election on Wednesday, September 30 from 11 am – 1 pm EST at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa.

The debate will highlight issues facing Canadian farmers and give an opportunity for each party to outline its platform positions as they

The Agri Post pertain to Canada’s farm and food future.

The MPs vying for your vote will be Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Hon. Gerry Ritz, Mark

Eyking, Liberal Agriculture Critic, Malcolm Allen, NDP Agriculture Critic (to be confirmed), Bruce Hyer, Deputy Leader, Green Party and Bloq Québécois, representative (to

Roundup continued...

Continued from page 1 He acknowledges there are some drawbacks with the delivery of the crop. “It is called on through the year and we start with some delivery in the fall but we do pay producers for the storage.”

He said some producers see that as an advantage and has at least one farmer who is using the extra payment to finance his storage.

“He is building a couple of big bins and said that two years of growing Clearfield canola and the storage premium will pay for his bins and he plans to use them a long time after that.”

The premium for the crop is $31 a tonne over market and increases by $5 for every two months out allowing for a basis of $50 for June/July of 2017.

be confirmed).

CFA is encouraging voters to RSVP if personally attending or register for the Webcast in advance.

Registration information, as well as details on farmers’ priorities for the upcoming election can be viewed at 1.webcastcanada.ca/cfa-fca/

registration/0915eng.php.

CFA will ask each party to respond to agricultural issues including maintaining a workforce, managing risk and trade negotiating. In addition, debate questions will be posed via pre-taped video segments from farmers across Canada.

The Agri Post

September 25, 2015

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Tough Markets Call for Tough Measures

By Les Kletke A panel of three grain marketing experts told those attending the event in Fargo that the markets are tough and going to get tougher and they best be prepared to sell at small rallies through the year. The event was part of Big Iron in Fargo, North Dakota and sponsored by the Red River Farm Network.

Tommy Grisafi of Advance Marketing has been in the grain business for more than 30 years. “I went to the Chicago Board of Trade on a high school field trip and fell in love with it,” he said. “I saw that it opened at 10 and closed at 2, I wanted a job like that rather than delivery pizzas for the family restaurant.”

According to Grisafi, the first thing producers should do is take a realistic look at their inventory and what their cash flow requirements are. “You need to make this market cash flow into your business, and that is going to be tough if you get caught with a situation where you need money and the grain markets are down,” he said. “We are going to see down markets, we didn’t think crude would hit $50 a barrel and when it did they said it might go to $30. We don’t know where the grain markets can go but we have to be ready for it.”

Grisafi told the crowd that they should concentrate on their own marketing plan and not get caught up in what they hear on coffee shop row. “Your neighbour did not sell corn for $6 a bushel when the market did not top $4.50 this year, so don’t believe everything you hear,” he said. “Make a plan that works for you.”

He asked for a show of hands of how many in the audience had a Put and Calls account when only half of the assembled crowd claimed to have an account he explained, “If you don’t have an account don’t listen to a bunch of complicated market information that you can’t use. The accounts are good and provide you with tools to take advantage of some movements in the market but if you don’t have one the information doesn’t help you.”

“This is going to be a difficult market and you will have to hold on to your grain until we see some rallies and then you will have to be ready to sell,” he said. “Low prices will cure low prices, but that means we will have to move a lot of grain out of the market before we see prices moving up.”

Craig Haugaard is with the North Central Farmers Elevator and sees the wheat market as a tough one this year. “We are seeing a lot of wheat from the Black Sea countries and there is little we can do about that, it continues to come to market as those countries look for more currency,” he said.

He also sees the strengthening US dollar as having an impact and predicts that it could drive an increase in planting by as much as 5% in Brazil. “The best option for this market is corn,” said Haugaard. “We could see some movement upward there.”

He was asked if because of the low markets producers show be buying some grain in an attempt to take advantage of upward price movement. “If you have a field of corn, don’t buy more corn,” he said with a chuckle. “But do sell some in the $3.50 to $4.50 range, I am not sure you want to go long in corn, but if you do the CBO will sell you some.”

On the practical side, he acknowledged it was going to be tough to cash flow the farm

Tommy Grisafi of Advance Trading.

Craig Haugaard of North Central Farmers Elevators.

Brian Doherty of Stewart-Peterson.

Photos by Les Kletke

operation on the price projections for this year. “It is going to be tough, and I think corn is the best option but it will still require selling at the high points in the market to break even,” he said. “The markets are going to be tight to the point that storage is going to be a premium and you want to figure that into your cash flow.”

Bryan Doherty is with Stewart-Peterson and in his view; the market was still adjusting to USDA numbers that had been released a week earlier. “Corn is the best value it has been for years,” he said. “In some cases you can buy corn for cheaper that you can produce it.”

He added that the old adage about high prices curing high prices seems to be working in the market place at this time. “We saw prices peak last fall and they have been moving down, now we have a large amount of grain to move in this market and it is going to be tough to move this crop.”

Doherty who claims to be a “glass half full kind of guy” does not see a rally in the corn market coming but agrees that it is the market that is most likely to show a better return. “If you do see a market rally, you want to take advantage of it and make sure that you sell some crop, you may not get another opportunity in this crop year.”

Doherty expects the market to move sideways through the year with upward opportunity and the driving force will continue to be the large inventory of grain.

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The Agri Post

September 25, 2015

25 years ago, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) was created. The years certainly go by quickly. It’s hard to remember a time when they weren’t around giving a voice to the taxpayers of our great country. Let’s hope they stick around for a long, long time.

In retrospect, it may seem odd that, before 1990, taxpayers were “outnumbered and outgunned” when it came to representation of their interests. The recent quarterly edition of The Taxpayer magazine explains that lapse as the age-old problem of “concentrated benefits and dispersed costs”. It’s really quite simple: “Beneficiaries of government largesse have far greater incentive to be organized and forceful than those who pay a couple of bucks a year for any given government expenditure.”

“Government is that great fictitious entity where everyone endeavours to live at the expense of everyone else,” wrote the famous 19th century French economist Fredric

25 Years on Taxes Bastiat. The Taxpayers Federation understands that wisdom all too well; it was part of the inspiration for founding the organization.

A great story from former federal CTF Director John Williamson highlights this sentiment. Back in 2006, in Ottawa, he was presenting some budget recommendations. A rookie MP on the committee was confused by them. “I don’t understand,” he said.

“You’re standing before this committee asking that the government spend less? Nobody does that!” This MP later explained that his staff had been adding up all the spending requests they’d received at the hearings; in that particular year, they totalled $600 billion. In perspective, the entire federal budget in 2006 was only $222 billion.

Pressure for governments to

Penners Points

by Rolf Penner rolfpenner@agripost.ca spend more is constant and comes from all directions. Even when federal revenues run out, the pressure turns to borrowing money, deficits, and kicking the can further down the road, which burdens future generations to pay for today’s folly.

One of the proudest moments in the CTF’s history was in the 1990s when they were part of the push to get Ottawa to start balancing their budgets. It was during the days of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, when Paul Martin

was finance minister. In 1997, the budget was finally balanced for the first time in 27 years.

Unfortunately, this didn’t last. In the midst of a worldwide economic downturn in 2008, the Harper government started running deficits again.

Again, there was huge pressure for them to spend even more than they did. The CTF was one of the only organizations that opposed the socalled “stimulus.”

Recently it was announced that Stephen Harper has again

balanced the budget. That’s good news, but as Margaret Thatcher once observed, “In economics, there are no final victories.” This is true; when it comes to taxes and spending, we need to remain ever vigilant.

Various campaigns run by the taxpayers association include documenting waste, ending bracket creep, MP pensions, the gun registry, corporate welfare and the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, to name just a few. There’s also “gas tax honesty” day and their national debt clock, and let’s not forget their annual Teddy Awards, a Taxpayer version of the Oscars, where they award golden pigs to our most wasteful politicians.

Farmers don’t always think about their real tax burden.

With the ups and downs of the markets, weather issues,

bugs, diseases and a whole host of other things completely out of their control, the issue of safety nets – which need more spending – can understandably become more pressing. But there’s hardly a better safety net than being able to keep more of the money that you make, when you actually make it. If you can keep what you make in the good times, it goes a long ways towards helping you get through the bad times.

With everyone talking about our upcoming federal and provincial elections and whom they should be supporting, some thoughts should also be given to the role of a taxpayers association. We may not always have the time to keep a close eye on what our politicians are doing with our money. Why not outsource the job to a group with a proven track record and a strong desire for fiscal accountability?

Politicians may come and go, but a group like the CTF needs to be around for the long haul.

Happy Birthday and thanks.

Signs of the Times - Changing for the Better New signs, new announcements and new names means times are a changing for farmers, the local communities, economies and economies of scale.

While taking their time in finally getting the plant going in Altona, Bunge Canada is using their, who knows how much it cost plant, maybe $200 million, maybe more and tearing down the old one.

That old plant, I remember vividly sitting beside my father or brother in the 50s hauling sunflowers first, then canola seed, and buying seed for planting from seed Plant Manager Johnny Kehler under the Co-operative Vegetable Oils [CVO], then CSP Foods, then some other names and owners, and now Bunge Canada one of the world’s largest grain companies.

In googling CVO, I reached the University of Manitoba archives and collections and came upon so much history, bringing back many, in fact rushing back those memories.

From the U of M archives the history of Co-operative Vegetable Oils Ltd. States that, “Co-operative Vegetable Oils Ltd. began in Altona, Manitoba in 1943 under the direction of J.J. Siemens. Siemens was an active member in the Mennonite community having been both a schoolteacher and a farmer. Siemens was also part of the Rhineland Agricultural Society (est. 1931) which was established to develop better agricultural practices-especially through education and experimentation. Equally important was Siemens’ belief in the co-operative movement, most notably the development of various Credit Unions.”

This Mr. Siemens was no relation to me, but I know his son Raymond, who took over as President of CVO at one point. Here is the point that always speaks well for the local community. “CVO began in 1943 largely because Second World War Canadian imports of edible vegetable oils (from Russia and Argentina) were noticeably reduced, creating a need for domestic production. To support the domestic industry, the Federal Government offered such incentives as price subsidies, transportation subsidies and facilities for processing the crop in Hamilton, Ontario.

Although the 1943 crop was shipped to Hamilton, the high costs of long distance transportation of sunflowers-the principle oilseed-crop proved discouraging. Consequently, with a view to the future when these subsidies would be lifted, CVO decided in favour of a local processing plant.”

Remember the figures I tossed about for the current Bunge Canada plant? That first Altona plant was to cost a projected $60,000, half of which would be raised from private funds, with the remainder coming from guaranteed loans from the Provincial Government. The community eagerly threw its support behind the plant as it offered long-term economic growth and stability.

The CVO plant provided jobs for locals and an outlet for the alternative crop, the sunflower; later adding soybeans and canola in the 1950s.

Guess what; CVO developed Safflo Oil as its first consumer product in 1949, the first company to process commercially,

sunflowers in North America and process pure sunflowerbased cooking oil.

That brings me to the current move underfoot that will change things again for farmers and communities and provide even more competition for the canola growers.

Another cooperative, this time from the US, but with other facilities in Canada, CHS, has bought Northstar Agri Industries, a company with facilities in the US and southern Manitoba. Last month, CHS took over operations at Northstar’s canola crushing plant in Hallock, Minnesota and a receiving station in Winkler.

That canola plant coming on stream in 2012 at Hallock takes a good chunk of its raw canola seeds from Manitoba farmers. In fact, when Northstar Agri Industries opened its receiving station in Winkler, I heard grumblings from big-boy Bunge Canada in Altona… Well competition is good for the seller, and as you know, I’m a strong advocate for the seller of canola seed, the farmer.

Had leaders in the wheat industry had the same vision and drive that those in the canola industry had, and still have today with the wheat boys trying to catch up, we may see even more processing on the prairies, and not only canola, oats, barley, and other smaller crops.

In checking out CHS Canada, with locations in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, I find it is part of CHS Inc., a leading global agribusiness and energy, grains and foods company committed to helping its customers succeed through local experts

with global connections.

“Our first priority is to help our farmers grow their businesses,” states the company’s website. “This means providing quality products, the latest in innovation, and firstclass customer service. As agriculture and our communities evolve, we are committed to staying at the forefront of the industry. Locally we employ a knowledgeable and professional staff to assist you with your agricultural needs.”

I like that… Sounds almost the same vision that our local farmers had in the 40s when setting up CVO in Altona. The

CHS website further states, “Succeeding in today’s dynamic global agriculture environment is not a solo act – it’s about being part of something bigger.”

My thoughts on that last statement are that when becoming part of something bigger, we have to make sure that bigger is better, and not simply getting bigger for the sake of ‘bigger’.

I also reflect on the fact that most successful entities were once small, and through vision, solid management, and a few risk takers, they are successful today, being bigger.

EVENTS...

Annual Manitoba Fibre Festival – On Friday, October 2 - Saturday October 3 at the Red River Exhibition Park. Admission is free to the festival market, demonstrations, and spinning circles. There is a registration fee for the workshops. For the Fleece competition and wool auction sale contact info@manitobafibrefestival.com.

Annual Harvest Gala – On Thursday, October 15 at 5 pm at the Victoria Inn, 1808 Wellington Ave., Winnipeg. Sponsored by the Manitoba Ag Hall of Fame and Red River Exhibition Association. Keynote Speaker, David Phillips Senior Climatologist, Environment Canada. Author of The Day Niagara Falls Ran Dry‘ and Blame It On The Weather‘, the originator and author of the Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar, wrote the Weather-wise column in the Canadian Geographic magazine, awarded the Patterson Medal for Distinguished Service to Meteorology in Canada, the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, Queen Elizabeth Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals and has twice received the Public Service Merit Award. Recipient of two honorary doctorates from the University of Waterloo and Nipissing University. In 2001, he was named to the Order of Canada. Contact foundation@redriverex.com.

Manitoba Ag Ex – From Thursday October 29 – Saturday, October 31 at the Westoba Agricultural Centre of Excellence, Keystone Centre, 1175-18th St., Brandon.

Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference – On Sunday, November 15 from 7 – 9:30 pm, Monday, November 16 at 7:30 am – 8 pm and Tuesday, November 17 at 7:30 am – 3:30 pm at the Days Inn in Winkler. On Sunday check out the free BACKSWATH Women in Ag Peer Group workshop at 5:30 pm prior to the evening activities.

Celebrating International Year of Soils topics include Growers Can Strike an AgronomicEnvironmental Balance in Water Quality Protection, 7 Seconds and 140 Characters to Make an Impression, Work Safe - What You and Your Farm Business Needs to Know About Safety and Health, Healthy Crops Begin With Healthy Soils and Holistic Nutrition. Early bird registration is October 15 $150 and after $160 and registration for Monday $100 or Tuesday $70 sessions. Deadline, November 5. Contact mbfarmwomensconf@gmail.com or call Cindy Klassen, conference chair 204-829-7706.

The Agri Post

How Long Until When?

At 4:15 pm on September the 9th, Queen Elizabeth II set the record for being the longest reigning monarch in British history. Good for her that is quite an achievement.

Do you ever think that Charles is feeling that he is ready to take over and give it a go, after all, he has spent his whole life preparing for a job that realistically he might never get, or if he does, it will be a short-term position? It is impossible that anyone succeeding the record holder can set a new record.

Okay before you send me examples, I acknowledge that Lour Gehrig did in fact set the record for most consecutive games in the major league and the guy he took over from was Wally Pipp who held the record until that time. The story goes, Wally had a headache that day, they put the kid in at first, and he never relinquished the position.

One would think that Charles might be feeling now it is time that his Mum had a headache, relinquish the throne, and give him a go at it. He must be ready by now. Since it is an inherited job and he is much older that Lou Gehrig was went he took over at first base.

We have no word on how Camilla feels about this, she married the guy thinking that he would be the King of the British Empire someday and he is not getting the chance. Do you think that ever comes up in their discussion around the royal breakfast table? “Chuck, do you think you will ever be king?” she might ask. “I have this great hat I was hoping to wear for the coronation.”

“I told you, a thousand times,” he might reply. “I don’t know, and Mum won’t talk about it.

We should have a meeting with the financial planners about the estate and she refuses.”

It might go something like that, or he might be very happy to avoid the decisions that come with running an empire.

Closer to home, it is a pattern that happens on a lot of farms and it is a source of concern for a lot of daughters in law.

I make light of the situation in London but it is a lot more serious when the control of the farm (read throne) is promised to the next generation and the date of turnover is never discussed much less agreed on.

I wonder how many Camillas there are on farms in Manitoba wondering when the old lady will get a headache…?

Does Safety Improve Your Farm’s Bottom line?

By Khosi Mashinini Workplace safety and health is important especially in farming where the industry is known for its high fatalities most of which are machinery related. However, injuries and illnesses are preventable.

That is why it is so important for producers to take the necessary preventative measures in creating safety and health systems that fit their operation. A few simple preventative measures go a long way towards establishing a safe working environment.

It is time for farm safety to be part of the farm business risk management plan. There is evidence that investing in farm safety programs directly contributes to profit for your farm. Your return on investment outweighs your cost.

What is Return on Investment?

Return on investment (ROI) is a popular financial measurement for evaluating financial results of specific investments and actions. ROI measures the amount of money you make, relative to the investment’s cost. This kind of measurement addresses questions like: - What do we gain from our spending?

- Are the expected returns outweighing the costs?

- Do the returns justify the investment?

In short, when you figure out the ROI, you figure out the efficiency of an investment. In the last few decades, ROI has become a popular general purpose measurement for evaluating capital acquisitions, projects, programs, initiatives and traditional investments in stock shares or the use of venture capital.

Using ROI in Farm Safety Programs Using ROI to justify an investment in farm safety may have implications on how producers view and manage safety. ROI works best where economic benefits are easy to identify, measure and manage. Though the benefits of investing in safety do not always meet these criteria, there are ways you can evaluate and manage your safety investments.

Farm accidents are costly in both financial and human terms. Direct costs may include: - delayed production - wages - insurance premiums - attorney fees - fines and penalties Indirect costs include: - accident investigation costs - costs of fixing damaged property or equipment - the cost of installing safety devices - training and compensation of replacement workers - lost productivity because of employee stress - low employee morale - increased absenteeism - poor reputation - difficulty finding skilled labour - loss of business The Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR) estimates the economic burden of injuries is $275,000 for a fatality, $143,000 for permanent disability, $10,000 for hospitalisation and $700 for injuries that don’t require a hospital stay.

As a producer, you need to demonstrate that investing in safety programs and compliance isn’t just a necessary evil or moral obligation. It’s an investment that directly contributes to a profit for your farm business. You can prepare and present a proposal to spend money on a safety program in exactly the same way as you would for buying a new piece of equipment. You need to prove that investing in safety programs generates a positive rate of return on your bottom line.

The value of farm safety is more than the dollar saved or the returns earned. The ROI on preventing the human costs far outweighs the earnings. SAFE Work Manitoba has developed tools and resources you can use to customise your farm safety investment for a positive ROI. Visit safemanitoba.com/farms for more information.

September 25, 2015

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Our RRelationship elationship with the Land Dear Editor: I’m a farm girl. I grew up on my parent’s farm just outside Anola. Those from the city can understand the life of a livestock producer, but until you’ve actually lived it you just don’t always really get it.

When I look back on my time on the family farm, I am reminded that connection to the land and to the animals we raised is something precious and very hard to explain to those who haven’t experienced it.

There is a very good possibility there will be a new government in Ottawa this year and a Liberal government under Justin Trudeau has proven it is interested in listening and learning. I know this because I have been fortunate enough to have several oneon-one conversations with Justin.

He is a relationship builder and a man with deep commitment to his word and doing the right thing. He will be looking for a partner in government who will share that vision of working together. The federal Conservatives have shown they have little interest in working with the provinces. It’s their way or the highway. Provincially our premier has been too adversarial and the leader of the official opposition has a wellearned reputation for listening to no one.

This is the situation facing the electorate in all of Canada, but it is rural Manitoba that has potentially the most to lose from exclusion. We are a vast province with a small population. Our 14 seats in Parliament mean less than some of the more vote rich provinces like Quebec, Ontario and BC. That’s why we need leaders in Ottawa and on Broadway who are good at the art of relationships.

If elected premier, I will work with the federal government, but rest assured a government with a power-base in Quebec and one that is beholden to a strict ideology will not be a great partner, and while the Conservatives have talked a lot about rural Manitoba, you’d be hard pressed to find concrete examples of how that relationship has been a good one for us.

When we talk about what it is to be Canadian, the spirit of the farmer is embodied in the values we hold dear. The strong work ethic, the positive can-do attitude, the sense of community and helping ones neighbour. These are the things that keep people on the land despite the challenges, and you will find in me a partner who understands you and in Justin Trudeau a leader who will take the time to learn what we have to share with him.

You have a choice on October 19th, but when you break it down the only real choice is Liberal, nothing less.

Sincerely, Rana Bokhari Leader, Manitoba Liberal Party

Drones Will Change the FFace ace of FFarming arming

By Sylvain Charlebois Most of us have seen at least one drone this summer. They are everywhere. Now, some suggest drones will change how we produce and grow food globally.

The build-up to the everyday use of drones has not had a significant impact on agriculture, at least, not yet. Experts believed for a long time that commercial use of drones would be deemed hazardous and difficult to properly regulate.

But this year, the winds of change have shifted in favour of drones. In an unprecedented move, the US Federal Aviation Administration recently approved an entire fleet of 324 drones for commercial use, operated by a private partnership that includes companies like IBM, Boeing, the American Red Cross, and the American Farm Bureau. This group of influential organizations is looking to develop business in search and rescue efforts and - yes - agriculture.

Once regulators figure out a way to make these unmanned aerial devices safer for the broader public, it is just a question of time before drones become an integral part of sound farm management practices.

Data access for farmers would be greatly enhanced. Drones can aid in monitoring crop health, insect problems and water irrigation issues, anything that needs to be assessed and helps increase yields. As for livestock, drones can be effective for monitoring cattle and security.

Drones are already astonishingly affordable for commercial use. Some can be purchased for $700, while higher quality models fetch $20,000 to $30,000. Most are equipped with infrared cameras, sensors and other technology controlled by someone on the ground. As technology advances, range and cargo capacity will only improve.

A group representing robotics and drone manufacturers recently published a report stating 80% of all drones over the next decade or so will likely be used to support agriculture in one way, or another.

Financially and geographically, the business case to support the proper use of drones in

agriculture is robust. It reduces the need for farmers to physically go into the field and damage crops in the process. Also, surveillance can be achieved below cloud cover. Therefore, drones have the upper hand over satellite imaging, which, at times, can be obstructed by storm systems.

Drones can also better support the research many plant scientists conduct on a regular basis, making samples easier to collect. But the robotic/ drone group’s most important argument is that remotely located farming operations are convenient for drone usage when considering public safety. Privacy can also be a significant issue.

Drones are making a name for themselves in enabling agriculture to become more efficient and precise. But it does not stop there when it comes to food.

Amazon, the online retailer, is on a mission to make grocery delivery by drones possible. This summer, the Seattle-based company presented a regulatory framework, which would accommodate localized, low-speed delivery at 61 metres, or lower. That space would exclude airports and other areas susceptible to higher air traffic and obstacles.

Amazon argued that the uptake of drones means that regulation will need to change and adapt, without generating costs for commercial users. It even presented an audacious road map to allow computers to look after air traffic generated by drones. Flying drones would immediately adjust their path should they encounter another flying object, or even wildlife.

It is unclear when, or if, regulators will respond to Amazon’s vision for home delivery.

But with better and more reliable technology, anything is possible.

It may take a while before drones deliver pizzas or groceries to your doorstep, but the technology is making some inroads within the food chain. It is indeed interesting that many farmers, often described as being traditionalists and technophobes, are using a technology that highly sophisticated enterprises like Amazon cannot yet adopt. This is a clear indication that the era of big data in farming is upon us.

Sylvain Charlebois is a board member with the Food Institute at the University of Guelph’s College of Business and Economics. He is on leave at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.

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September 25, 2015

Many Long Time Horse Enthusiasts Consign to Rocking W Horse Sale Donna Reid with her consignment to Rocking W horse sale at the Keystone.

Photo by Joan Airey

The Agri Post

By Joan Airey Rick and Barb Wiebe long-time horse breeders held their annual horse sale at the Keystone Centre September 5, 2015.

Other long-time horse breeders such as Kirk and Gail Bridgeman, owners of Bridgeman Land and Livestock near Rapid City consigned to the sale along with other well-known horse people like Ernie Jansen, Theodore Shawluk and Donna Reid to name a few well-known people in horse community.

The sale started at twelve noon but if you wanted to find the perfect horse that best suited your needs, you needed to be in the Keystone before ten to visit with the consigners, look the horses over and see the presale demonstrations put on to show their horses strong points.

The Wiebe’s daughter, Dusty, hosts clinics through the year for barrel racing, goat tying, toe down and breakaway rop-

ing as well. They have also hosted horsemanship clinics.

“This spring was my 6th Annual Rocking W Barrel Series. I started it as a way to not only promote barrel racing in my local area, but so that I could compete somewhere as my situation at the time didn’t allow me to haul all over the province to compete.

It started out small with twenty entries and this year it has grown to seventy entries.

It is a six-week series, Tuesday nights in May and June with finals the last Saturday in June and I’m sanctioned with the Manitoba Barrel Racing Association so it’s a 3D system. Competitors must enter 60% of the Tuesday jackpots to compete at the finals for prizes. I started out with a few prizes to now having Hi Pint Saddles, Buckles for winners in each division and prizes for 8-10 placing in each division. A ton of local sponsors make the barrel racing events happen by donating over $5,000 each year for both events. I get competitors two to three hours away from all directions including North Dakota. I think it is a fantastic event, and with a fun family atmosphere which has really grown over the years,” said Dusty Wiebe.

Wiebe started a second event the Rocking W Fall Finale, which will also be MBRA, sanctioned, as a 4D race currently with $1,250 added money. It will be a two day event with two go rounds and a short go with prizes for the division winners as well as the added money the last weekend in September.

“My Dad Walter McFall is more than likely the oldest person attending the sale just two days prior to his ninety-seventh birthday. Dad has been involved his whole life in the horse industry business buying and selling horses. He had us kids breaking and training horses so they would become better mounts for the new owners. He believed every deal should be done honestly to the new buyers whether the horse was sold from his yard or a horse sale,” said Donna Reid.

Walter McFall had a PMU line for several years and all foals were raised to be either broke to drive or ride. He raised Percherons, Belgians, Anglo-Arabs and Quarter horses. He always used horses to carry feed to the two hundred head of cattle and the two hundred horses instead of a tractor recounted Reid.

“Dad was well known in the horse world and his community by all. He was even known to give kids who needed a horse in the community a suitable mount. He remained active on his ranch near Pipestone, Manitoba until the past few years and kept horses right up until then. He currently resides in Brandon at Hillcrest,” said Reid.

Reid makes her home at Webb, Saskatchewan now but decided to return to her roots in Manitoba to sell a horse in Rocking W’s sale. “As a kid growing up on our family ranch I got my food addiction from mom Kathy and my horse addiction from Walter my Dad. I never had a perfect school attendance if there was a horse sale. I was at it with my dad. He taught me a lot over the year’s right from the care of horses to checking for lameness and the treatment they required. This helped me to buy horses across Canada and the United States. Dad would take us to the local fairs so we could compete in the pleasure classes and then do barrel racing. I have competed in Ranch Horse competitions, AQHA Ranch Horse Competitions, reining and mostly Saskatchewan reined Cow Horse competitions the last few years and some cutting shows,” stated Reid.

Reid breeds and raises cow horses and cutters. Reid and her husband Tom Graham use the horses to sort cattle for weaning and for matching pairs in the spring when taking them to pasture.

Reid and her husband spend a lot of time behind the scenes at Swift Current Ag & Ex. “My greatest pleasures I receive from the horses I have sold is seeing the people who have bought the horses enjoying them. I love to see the new owners do well in the show pen with horses they have purchased from me. It’s good to see good horses go to good homes. I have lots of repeat buyers and I try to match horse to buyer,” said Reid.

“Dad always said, “take care of your horses and they will care of you! They get fed before you. I have had several encounters which make me know this to be true,” said Reid.

Auctioneer for the day was Mike Fleury from Saskatoon and Glen Babel from Regina assisted him giving information on the horses. The top five horses in the sale averaged $5,080 and the top ten averaged $4,235.

Walter McFall with Donna Reid and Audrey Graham at the Rocking W Horse Sale.

The Agri Post

Right Variety on the Right Acre

By Les Klekte When it comes to corn production in Manitoba, it is not a matter of one size fits all. There is no single formula for all producers and while increased breed-

ing programs have made more choices available that means producers should spend more time making sure they have the right variety for their conditions and needs.

Benedikt Signer is with Mark Hutlet seeds and he told producers attending the company’s field day that they need to consider their soil type, climatic conditions as well as the end use of the crop. “We have an ultra-early variety that allows for later planting,” said Signer. “That might be the best choice on years when you get into the field late; it does well on lighter soils.

Benedikt Signer says new varieties make it critical to have the right variety on every acre.

Photo by Les Kletke

The early maturity means that you can spread your harvest or it is a great advantage to those of you who spread manure.”

Corn has a heavy phosphate use and does better scavenging phosphate

from the ground than seed product with pre-applied phosphate therefore manure application for corn is a good source of nutrients.

“We have another variety that does well on light ground, takes a little longer

September 25, 2015 to mature but would not be my first choice on heavier ground,” said Signer. “Soil conditions can have a great impact on different varieties.”

He said Pioneer’s tallest variety had a limited launch in 2014 and does well in medium row spacing. “It depends on your plater setup,” he said. “This may work in your system or if you have narrow row spacing this may not be the best variety for you. Our goal is to get the best variety on each acre.”

He said that means producers should consider the different soil types on the farm and evaluate the risk-

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reward that comes with each. “We want to mitigate risk,” he said. “It is not a matter of planting the highest yielding variety and hoping that it will mature.

You might want to split the varieties so that you can take advantage of the highest yield if we have a long hot summer, but you also want to make sure that you have some fields that mature even in a cool year.”

Signer said considering the plant type is also important. “We have a variety, our most versatile that fills in the rows faster and is a bushy plant. That might work for someone with a weed control issue.”

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September 25, 2015

The Agri Post

Steam Engine Collapses Brandon Bridge in 1903 On September 4, 1903, the wooden approach to the First Street Bridge gave way as a new Port Huron steam engine was moving onto the actual bridge span across the Assiniboine River.

The engine fell some 20 ft to the riverbank below, landing upside down. Tragically, the operators, William Curle and Richard Chambers, lost their lives in this accident as they were caught beneath the engine. Curle farmed in the Justice, Manitoba area. Chambers was an employee of the Brandon agent for the Port Huron Company.

Curle was born in 1843 in Scotland. Curle’s parents had moved from Glasgow, Scotland to Mount Forrest, Ontario and then on to Stonewall, Manitoba in 1878. In 1881, the Curle family moved to a homestead in the Justice district north of Brandon. In 1881, Curle took up his own homestead in the Justice district.

In 1903, he decided to purchase a steam traction engine and settled on a new Port Huron engine. He took delivery in Brandon and had to move

The steam engine upside down under the bridge with a heavy rope fall (block and tackle) hanging above the engine ready to be attached to the centre of the rear wheel. Once the engine was rolled over onto its wheels, it would have been relatively easy to move the engine up the riverbank.

The steam engine at work threshing in the late fall of 1903. The Curle sons were threshing from stacks as there are sheaves piled on the ground ahead of the thresher. Stacking the sheaves was usually done when bin space ran out and the grain handling system had no space for further deliveries. The thresher does not appear to have a self-feeder but rather a table on which the sheaves were forked and then pushed into the machine by hand after the twine was cut.

the engine home himself. It was on this move that he had to travel over the First Street bridge. Chambers had decided to accompany Curle.

Bridge collapses caused by a steam engine moving over the bridge were a not uncommon occurrence in the pioneer era.

The chief cause was that many bridges were built too lightly for the evolving steam engines that were built to meet farmers’ demand for more power.

This meant steam engines became bigger and heavier.

Many bridges built previous to 1900 were built with the idea that they would carry nothing heavier than a loaded grain wagon. Moving engines over bridges was always fraught with the danger of a bridge collapse.

Soon after the accident, William Curle’s sons retrieved the engine and made the necessary repairs to it, which cost the grand sum of $67 according to reports at the time.

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is open year round and operates a website at agmuseum.mb.ca, which can provide visitors with information on Museum including location and hours of operation.

The Agri Post

Barley Profits

September 25, 2015

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US Disputes Canadian Claims...

State Meat Sector Losses Much Lower

By Harry Siemens Clayton Desrochers of Baldur finished his harvest on Sunday at 10:15 pm saying the barley crop is great while the canola is average.

“I ended up with about 85 bushel for barley, really, really nice barley and the canola was in the low 40s I would say,” said Desrochers. “I’m not complaining. How many years can you have 50 bushel canola, right?”

He said, all things considered it is a great year and the condition of the crop great, compared to what his crop was like the last couple of years.

He grows canola and barley year after year, rotating every two years on the same field.

“It’s been working great. I’ve had malt barley for the last six years. Mostly malt barley, except for some fields that do get rained on once in awhile, sprouting but not very often.”

Because his rotation is tight, growing canola every two years, he plans for and sprays the canola for every kind of disease possible before he plants as a cost of doing business, not risking it to chance, he added.

Desrochers sells most of his malt barley to Seed-Ex Inc. at Letellier and last year he split some with the North American Food Ingredients in Winnipeg, the company that works out of the old Manitoba Sugar Beet company building in Fort Garry.

When he sits down with a piece of paper and pencil to figure out what it costs to grow right now, comparing canola prices to malt barley prices, he reports he probably made more money growing barley again. “Yes, since the feds removed the monopoly, I’ve made more money with barley than with canola. We have to have something in the rotation,” he continued.

He sells his canola mostly to Bunge Canada in Altona, although he has other options like going to Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) in Velva, North Dakota or the farmer-owned co-operative CHS that recently purchased Northstar Agri in Hallock Minnesota.

While Desrochers finished his harvest last Sunday, others farmers are not so fortunate. Manitoba Agriculture Cereal Crop Specialist Pam de Rocquigny said recent rains have delayed the completion of harvest and dropped the quality of crops still in the fields. “We’ve seen a little bit of variability in our red spring wheat yields from the Northwest region,” said de Rocquigny. “They’re reporting anywhere from 25 bushels per acre up towards 70 bushels per acre and a lot of that variability has to do with the precipitation and perhaps lack of it earlier in the season that kind of impacted yields.”

By Harry Siemens Representatives from Manitoba Pork, Ontario Pork and the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) attended the World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitration hearing on the US Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) law in Geneva in September. A delegation from the Canadian government presented evidence to the WTO panel of the damage caused to the Canadian livestock industry and asked for authorization to impose retaliatory tariffs.

The CPC said Canada presented compelling arguments before the WTO panel that could authorize us to impose retaliatory tariffs on over $3 billion annually on US exports if the US does not soon change

its technical barrier regulations and comply with their international trade obligations.

“The CPC compliments the Canadian government delegation on its presentation which relied on facts, rather than hypotheses and assumptions which attempted to trivialize enormous harm COOL has imposed on Canada’s livestock industry”, said CPC Chair Rick Bergmann.

The Canadian side presented evidence showing Canadian fed hogs exports to the US fell by more than 80% following the implementation in 2008 of mandatory country of origin rules, which caused most US processors to cease purchasing Canadian-born livestock.

Severe reductions have occurred similarly for feeder pigs and Canadian cattle.

Bergmann pointed out that costs of compliance with COOL requirements are so onerous for the US food distribution system that the number of US plants willing to purchase Canadian born pigs fell from over 25 prior to mandatory COOL to just a handful today.

“It has been almost six years since Canada filed its request to the WTO to adjudicate this dispute”, added Mr. Bergmann, who farms in Steinbach, Manitoba. “The World Trade Organization has ruled four times that the US’s COOL rules are discriminatory. The United States needs to deal now with fixing the faulty legislation before allowing steep tariffs to be imposed on a wide swath of its exports to Canada.”

Andrew Dickson, General Manager of Manitoba Pork hopes that these Geneva hearings will lead to resolution of the dispute. Dickson, who was in Geneva, said the labelling law has dramatically harmed the beef and pork industries in Canada and Mexico.

“Canada is claiming that COOL has had an impact on the beef and pork industries in Canada of about $3.1 billion per annum,” he said. “Part of that is the result of the price suppression effects of not being able to export as freely as we used to into the US market and the loss of US export markets because of push back from processors and retailers in the United States from accepting animals that have been born and raised in Canada.

Mexico is seeking similar authority to impose tariffs.”

Mexico claims they should be able to put tariffs in place of $713 million USD. “Of course the United States is pushing back and saying that Canada and Mexico have grossly exaggerated their claims and they’ve used a different economic model to do their assessment.” According to Dickson, the US has come up with figures that Canada can only claim $43 million annually and that Mexico has only lost $47 million USD per year.

“The issue now in front of the panel is what number the panel will allow the two countries to impose,” he said. “I expect the panel to rule sometime in November.”

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The Art of Making Soap

By Les Klekte Ester Penner admits that she likes making soap, even loves making soap but there comes a time that she has to do other things.

“There is more to life than making soap,” she said with a chuckle as though she is not sure what it is but she acknowledges that she must do other things.

Penner makes soaps that she sells at the Steinbach Farmers’ Market in her home just on the edge of Steinbach.

It began as a hobby and has now grown into a small business. This is her second year at the market and she is building a regular client base. “I have been coming to this market for two years,” she said. “I go to a Christmas craft sale in Winnipeg, and I have just agreed to have my soaps in a greenhouse in Beausejour. It gets to the point that time is a factor and with making the soaps and doing the marketing it is very time consuming.”

Penner makes no claims about the special benefits of her soap. “I have customers that say it has helped with their eczema,” she said. “I don’t say that they do. If it helps them that is wonderful.” She has also had people say the soap does not influence their allergies compared to commercial soaps.

Penner offers a wide vari-

Eva Doerksen says her garden has done well - all 4 acres of it. She is looking forward to seed selection for next year’s crop.

Photo by Les Kletke

Esther Penner loves making soap but she has to make time to sell it as well. She attends several farmers markets and craft shows at Christmas.

Photo by Les Kletke

ety of soaps tailored to different uses. “Our dog loves the pet shampoo,” she said offering up a bar. “I have a shampoo and it is all I have used for over a year.”

“The sugar scroll is really popular. It is an exfoliate and moisturizer at the same time,” she said.

Each handmade soap bar contains a list of ingredients, which vary considerably. Some use an oat base as an ingredient. “They vary on the number of the ingredients and some of the ingredients are there for the aroma, so it depends on the specific soap and the use it is intended for,” she said. “They are gentle on the skin, none are abrasive.”

Penner offers a variety of colours and shapes that are

visually appealing but also offer a practical product.

One Market Gardner’s Advice... Always Start with Good Seeds

By Les Kletke Eva Doerksen knows what it takes to grow a good garden since she has been at it for a few years and has what most people would consider a small field. Doerksen is a long time vendor at the Farmers’ Market in Steinbach and dispenses more than just fresh produce and pickles. Gardeners ask her for advice as well.

“You need good seed,” she said. “Maybe you should try a different variety. I have Cool Breeze and I have never had as many cucumbers as this year she tells a customer who asked about cucumbers and buys a dozen from Doerksen saying his did not produce this year. “I buy my seeds from Ontario, they are much better than the small packets and I need much more seed,” she

said on buying from a trusted greenhouse supplier.

When asked about having orange pumpkins ready in August, she acknowledges it is more than good seed. “I start them early and I always have orange pumpkins in August,” she said with a smile. “I have a sunroom on the back of my house that becomes my greenhouse. If you get them started early you can have them ripe in August.”

Doerksen is not content to have early produce at her booth at the Steinbach market she converts many of the vegetables into pickles. She estimates she has between 25 and 30 varieties of pickles and uses not only cucumbers but also radishes, beans, carrots and beets.

She also has an equal number of jams in her booth, and these run the gamut from rhubarb and apple to the fruits like peaches and apricots that she has to buy. “We buy the fruits that we can’t grow,” she said. “But we make a lot of jams with the fruit that I can grow and they are popular.”

She said the 2015 summer has been good for production providing her with ample wares for sale at the market and for the raw product that she turns to pickles and jams.

Doerksen credits the rainfall and heat of July with aiding production in her garden, noting that her production this year has been one of the best in the 10 years that she has been coming to the Steinbach Farmers Market.

Shortly after the market shuts down in September it will be, time to make the selection of seeds for next year. “I have not tried the purple tomatoes,” she said. “But we have purple beans that turn green when you cook them.”

You know that she will be looking for something new for next year because, “You need good seed,” she said.

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The Agri Post

Red Poll Farm Offers an Experience for All

By Les Kletke Ask Dorothy Freund about the name of her farm enterprise and most will be surprised, the Red Poll name would indicate red cattle without horns but that is not the

case.

“Our son named it,” she said with a chuckle. “The Red Poll is one of the most common birds around the farm in winter and when we began with the Christmas trees we thought it was a fitting name.”

Red Poll Farm is just south of Steinbach and from her 3 acre garden Freund produces enough vegetables to supply her stands at Farmers’ Markets in Winnipeg and Steinbach. She not only sells fresh produce, she processes

it into pickles and jams.

“People like the fresh produce but they also like the homemade flavour without the work,” she said with a smile nodding at the assortment of pickles.

Husband Clifford concen-

trates on the Christmas tree business, which was one of the starting points for the farm. The farm provides a complete Christmas experience for those who want to come and cut their own tree.

“We have sleigh rides and a bon fire with hot chocolate,” she said. “It is so much more than getting a Christmas tree we try to make the day an experience that the family will enjoy.” The tree business expanded to include a separate building to house the already cut trees, a line of Christmas items and doubles as a vegetable store during the summer.

“We have people that come to the yard for their vegetables,” she said. “Some people prefer that over the Farmers’ Market or the time of the market does not fit so we try to accommodate that as well.” She said adding the store does require extra staffing when she is away at markets but they have been able to find staff from young

neighbours.

As Famers’ Markets, wind down she is busy preparing for the Christmas tree season. ”People don’t require the work that goes into growing a tree,” she said. “We have to trim them to get the right shape and because the sun affects the Scotch pine they have to be tinted to keep the nice green colour.” She also has added Christmas wreaths to the tree business, some of which are sold by local groups as a fundraiser.

She noted that her key to success is being able to provide an assortment of products and making it an experience. “We have some people who don’t have the space for a Christmas tree and still want the experience so we have things for them to do when they come out for the day.”

When the Christmas tree rush is over it is time to start with ordering seeds for the 2016 vegetable crop which will be planted in the greenhouse in March said Freund.

Dorothy Freund of Red Poll Farms says that, as the Farmers markets wind up, the Christmas tree season begins. The farm has a farm shop to make buying a tree a day long experience.

Photo by Les Kletke

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The Agri Post

The Switch to Alfalfa and Clover Makes a Better Honey

Rudy Rudiak says it has been a good year for honey production. His wife Sandra is kept busy at the Farmers Market selling the production.

Photo by Les Kletke

By Les Kletke Ron Rudiak has had a good summer and it is not over yet.

“The bees will be working for a while yet,” said Rudiak who operates Sunnybrook Bee Farm as he pours another cup of fruit punch at the Steinbach Farmers’ Market Customer Appreciation Day. It is the bees working that determine a good summer for his farm. While Ron was pouring punch, his wife Shirley was selling honey products from their table at the market.

The Rudiak’s table offers a full line of honey products from honey cone to creamed honey. He explained that they sell about 500 lbs of creamed honey a year. “It is a process that requires seeding the honey with some crystals and whipping it,” he said, “The process keeps the honey form getting hard.”

Rudiak has 150 colonies of bees together with Peter Redekop. “I sell most of mine at the Farmer’s Market and he sells his through the co-operative [Bee Maid],” said Rudiak who lives in Steinbach and has colonies throughout the southeast corner of the province.

He has kept bees for 42 years and seen some changes in the business.

“We used to have a lot more canola honey,” he said. “But I took my bees off the canola, now they are in clover or alfalfa.”

When asked why the move away from canola when the crop produces the light coloured honey preferred by most consumers, Rudiak said he observed some unfavourable characteristics and behaviour in the bees and decided to move them to other crops.

“They treat the [canola] seed,” he said. “I saw something in my bees that I didn’t like and decided to move them to other crops. We can do that because there is enough alfalfa around.”

He offered no judgement on the practice of treating canola for insects and the impact it might have on bees but said he chose to move his production.

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Harvest Continues for World Food Aid Fields

By Elmer Heinrichs It’s been a heavy harvest month this September, and wheat crops, such as the Communities Helping Undernourished Millions (CHUM) field near Rosenfeld have now been harvested.

Seven combines, three grain carts and seven trucks working on the CHUM project harvest in the Plum CouleeAltona area took off 150 acres of spring wheat in about two hours on September 2, said Doug Dyck, Chairman of the CHUM project committee. It was CHUM’s only field this year.

All the wheat from the crop, over 8,200 bu with a yield of about 55 bu an acre was delivered and sold to Patterson Grain at Morris, with a return of about $6.50 a bu, for a gross return of about $53,000. The net proceeds will be donated to the Foodgrains Bank, said Dyck.

Harold Penner, Manitoba He noted that bees would also work the wild flowers found in ditches.

Rudiak said that at one time he also had bees in sunflowers and buckwheat.

“It has been a few years since I had any buckwheat honey,” he said. “Nobody is seeding it anymore, and there is no demand for the darker

Coordinator of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB), commended farmers for their efforts and noted the continuing need for food around the world. He also noted that Manitoba has quite a lot of long-season crops, like corn, soybeans, and sunflowers, which is something they have been seeing more in recent years.

Earlier at the neighbouring Common Ground project east of Rosenfeld, they harvested a 300-acre field as Altona and Rosenfeld. A total of 25 participants cleared the field of ripe spring wheat grading No.1 Red Spring in just four hours on August 21.

The crop yielded a very decent 64 bu an acre which was delivered to Richardson Pioneer of Letellier which purchased the wheat for $6 a bushel. After costs are deducted, Common Ground will be able to donate about $70,000 to CFGB. Penner noted that in two honey at markets like this.

The co-op will buy it but it is not as popular.”

He said that sunflowers have gone much the same way, with limited acreage of the crop planted in southeastern Manitoba and a lack of demand for the stronger tasting honey. Instead, he concentrates on the earlier crops like clover and alfalfa.

other late August harvests, the COOL project at Springstein harvested 80 acres of canola while at about the same time four combines and three trucks took care of 120 acres at the

Minnedosa growing project.

In total, the crops from about 5,000 acres of Manitoba farmland will be donated to the CFGB this year.

Harvesting wheat for food aid on the CHUM project field near Rosenfeld for the Canadian Food Grains Bank.

Photo Elmer Heinrichs

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The Agri Post

Replenishing the Bank Account

By Les Kletke

Elections and the Value of Showing Up There is an old saying in politics, “Policy is set by those who show up”. Not always those with the best and brightest ideas and not even always a majority. The first and most important step on the road to being an influencer is to show up.

Canadians will elect a new House of Commons on October 19.

Three hundred and thirty eight individuals will take their place in the House of Commons, supported by an army of volunteers and elected by those who show up to vote.

The next federal government will have a lot to say about what happens on your farm. Farm organizations will work to nudge Ministers in the right direction after the election is over but right now, during the campaign, is the most effective time to influence future agricultural policy. And individual farmers are most effective at wielding that influence.

How does an individual make a difference? By getting involved – by showing up. For example, every riding is almost certainly going to have all-candidates meetings (if your riding does not have some scheduled, organize one). Don’t just attend these sessions but go prepared to fight for the future of agriculture.

Don’t assume that your candidates understand the importance of agriculture to your community and the Canadian economy, even if you are in a rural riding. Nor can you assume that each of the candidates understands the key issues facing agriculture today. Direct involvement by farmers across the country will help ensure this understanding. This applies to both your local candidates and, through them, the national campaigns.

What are some of the policies that matter to agriculture? I would like to suggest three key areas of focus – trade, technology and science based regulations.

First to trade. Do the people who want to be your Member of Parliament understand how much your farm depends on international markets? Sustainable profitability for Canadian grains, oilseed and special crops farmers depends on reliable access to markets around the world. You deserve to know what your future Member of Parliament will do to keep markets open as well as develop new opportunities for Canadian farmers.

Future profitability also depends on research and innovation.

What are your Candidates saying about creating an environment where Canada is the first choice for investment in research and development? Do Candidates have ideas on how to encourage broad research partnerships between producers, governments and private companies? The answers to these questions could determine if Canada is a leader in innovation or if we fall behind and yield the field to our competitors.

Support for science based regulations goes hand-in-hand with support for innovation and assuring access to markets. Modern Canadian agriculture depends on clear and predictable science based regulations for the crop input tools you use, from seed to fertilizer and other crop inputs.

The alternative to science-based regulations is those based on popular opinion or the latest fad on the internet. Politicians face pressure from many who don’t appreciate the science behind today’s sustainable agricultural practices. We see this manifested in regional regulations that override the science-based decisions of Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency and limit farmers’ access to up-to-date crop inputs. So ask all of your Candidates if they will support science-based decisions. Ask Candidates if they will work to have science-based rules for agriculture built into every trade agreement in order to preserve our market access.

What happens if the next Government of Canada affirms the science-based approach? Those who invest in research and development will see Canada as a safe place to conduct research.

They will look to invest here rather than in our competitors back yards, giving Canadian farmers an innovation advantage. Canada’s strong science-based regulatory environment also gives us a strong platform to negotiate international agreements that limits importing countries ability to use their own regulations as a tool to block trade. Farmers win on all counts.

These are just three key policy areas that are important for the future of agriculture. There are likely more issues that could be explored. The most important thing is to push candidates to support agriculture. Now is the time to get involved. If farmers don’t speak, it will be others, who may not understand our industry, who will influence those who will be going to Ottawa on our behalf. Your voice matters – let it be heard.

Cam Dahl is President of Cereals Canada.

“Your nutrient bank in the soil is like your bank account, you can only take out as much as you put in,” said Mike Weir who is the southeast District Agronomist with DuPont Pioneer in Manitoba. “You cannot take our more than you put in and continue to operate.” Weir who is based in Carman was speaking to the producers gathered for the Marc Hutlet Seeds Field day.

Weir said that producers should be considering their nitrogen account even with a crop like soybeans.

“When we first started growing the crop the feeling was that when there were enough bacteria in the soil we could quit inoculating. I don’t recommend that,” said Weir advising just the opposite and instead of dropping the inoculants using two forms as insurance.

“It is cheap insurance to make sure that everything else you’re doing right brings the full benefit,” he said. “I know some producers use an inoculant and still use another form like liquid when seeding.

You have reduced your nitrogen costs so look at this as a reduced expenditure and insurance on a crop that will make you money.”

He does not dispute that the soil has a build up of bacteria after producing several soybean crops, “But those bacteria are lazy

and you should be using a live inoculant.”

Shifting to corn the other focus during field day he said corn is a big phosphate user and does better at scavenging the phosphate in the soil than using applied product. A guideline is .8 of a pound of phosphate used for each bushel of corn produced.

“That is phosphate harvested and hauled off the field; you need to replace that in the soil if you want to continue operating at these levels. If your levels are over 50 ppm you are fine but if they are 12-20 ppm it is time to replace them.” Weir suggested increasing the rate of phosphate applied with other crops.

Several in the audience asked about manure application. “That is great and if you see a phosphate build up because of it, a corn crop followed by alfalfa and corn is a good way to use that phosphate in the soil,” said Weir.

He suggested that corn uses 1.5 lbs of potash for each bushel of seed produced and that needs to be replaced as well. “The important thing is to solid test, if you at 150 ppm it is time to apply more potash and build that account in the ground,” he said. “We had seen some yellowing of plants this year because of low levels of potash.”

Weir handled some questions about what appeared as sunburned leaves in soybean crops. “Some of that was scorched because of the surfactant used with glyphosate and some was just

sunburn,” he said. “It is important to determine if it was only one side of the leaf, if so it is probably sunburn more than a disease issue.”

He stressed that it was a good time to do plant

counts and consider how many live plants the seeding rate yielded, making fertilizer choices on the number of plants you wanted and the soil test results on what was in the soil.

Mike Weir reminds producers their soil is like a bank account you can only take out as much as you put in.

The Agri Post

Soybeans Mak Makee Milk on Manitoba Dairies Every week, I travel across wide stretches of beautiful Manitoba and am fortunate to have observed the explosive growth of our soybean acres over the last decade. From 2005, we planted about 100,000 acres and acreage has steadily increased to about 1.3 million acres. Recently, I asked many dairy/ soybean producers, what reasons made them interested in growing this crop. Most of them tell me that shorter season varieties that became available in the last few years, less expensive inputs than other oilseeds, strong soybean prices and favourable on-the-farm crop rotations made soybeans attractive to grow.

In the light of our soy-revolution, I have always been a big fan of adding soybean-derived ingredients into dairy lactation diets. Soybeans are a good source of dietary protein, and few people realize that it is a high-energy feed and its ruminal degradable and un-degradable protein fractions compliment much of the total protein requirements of high milk producing dairy cows.

Whole soybeans are about 42% crude protein and about 19 – 20% fat. The rumen un-degradable portion of its protein (RUP) is about 26%. When soybeans are crushed and the oil is removed through a process known as expeller-solvent method, the resulting meal has a protein content of either 44% or 48% crude protein depending on the level of fibrous hull allowed to remain after processing. Then its RUP feature also rises to 35% bypass protein.

Although, processing of soybeans removes most of its fat, soybean meal (1% crude fat) still yields a high Nel value measured at 1.90 Mcal/kg compared to 2.0 Mcal/kg for barley or corn. I believe this energy partially comes from a modest amount of starch (6%) retained after processing.

On a personal note, sometimes, this energy comes in handy when I make 1:1 ingredient substitutions in dairy diets such as replacing one kilo of barley with one kilo of soybean meal in order to increase protein in the diet without tampering dietary energy value. Other oilseed meals such as canola and sunflower meals don’t have this advantage.

Despite this unique energy feature, many dairy nutritionists and I still like soybeans/soymeal in dairy rations as a primary protein supplement. The initial ruminal degradable protein (RDP) in soybean meal can supply some energy, necessary ammonia, amino acids and protein peptides for maximum microbial growth. Soybean meal’s RUP has the best amino acid profile of any oilseed, which can supply essential lysine in the small intestine. What amino acids that it may lack can be supplied by other complimentary protein ingredients.

Another reason that I like soybeans for dairy cows is that it lends itself to industrial processes such as roasting of raw whole soybeans, which causes favourable changes to its internal protein structure.

As a result, this makes cooked soybean protein more unavailable to the microorganisms in the rumen, but allows more of it to travel to the small intestine where it can supply more essential amino acids required for greater milk production. Digestibility trials with cannulated dairy steers (re: experimental cows with surgically placed holes in their sides) have demonstrated that raw soybeans and regular soybean meal have a RUP of 25 and 35 %, compared to roasted soybeans valued at 55 – 60% RUP. Consequently, there is no shortage of American dairy studies that frequently report up to a 1.5 kg milk yield increase when roasted beans replace either raw soybeans or soybean meal (energy adjusted) in early lactation diets, where protein and energy demands are the greatest. Such typical positive milk responses tend to be more visible in these early diets where alfalfa-based diets are fed.

Regardless of such positive evidence, the usage of roasted soybeans and soybean meal in dairy diets compared to other protein feedstuffs such as canola meal and corn-dried distillers’ grains is still regulated by inherent economic advantage. Sometime soybeans are not the cheapest protein sources in dairy diets.

This doesn’t meant that I am advocating that soybean meal or roasted beans be pulled or not added to existing dairy diets, just because their competitive “economics” doesn’t seem to work out.

With no explanation, I have seen well-managed high milking dairy herds that could not achieve substantial milk peaks due to supplemental canola meal, which was alleviated with a simple and equal substitution of soybean meal. On other farms, I have also seen combinations of canola meal and dried distillers grains fail in the milk tank, only to have milk production boosted by roasted soybeans.

In this regard, I believe that soybeans, whether used as soybean meal or processed roasted bean can form a solid winning foundation in dairy diets. They offer a lot of good essential nutrients to support optimum milk production in dairy cattle. With the growth of soybean acres in Manitoba, the advocacy of using soybeans in dairy diets most likely will continue to grow.

Straight Cutting Canola Gains in Popularity According to a recent poll conducted by FarmShift on behalf of BASF Canada, the number of growers straight cutting canola in western Canada rose by 50% from 2013 to the 2014 harvest season.

The poll included a sample of 400 growers from across the west with minimum canola acre thresholds.

“We know that straight cutting is a practice that is becoming more and more common,” said Danielle Eastman, Western Herbicide Brand Manager at BASF Canada.

“Growers, who straight cut save time, labour and cost at harvest time.”

The practice of straight cutting canola is gaining popularity. In fact, according to the study 65% of growers surveyed are interested in straight cutting and 82% who have already adopted the practice plan to do more of it.

September 25, 2015

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Methods of Buying and Selling Hay

By John McGregor If you talk to five different people about buying or selling hay you will likely get five different units used in the transactions ($/bale, $/ton, $/tonne, $/pound, $/acre).

This ambiguity is the source of some confusion and it is time to sort it out. Producers need to be very careful when they are discussing a hay transaction to ensure that both parties agree about how the hay will be measured. The two most common ways hay is measured in transactions is by the bale and by the ton. However, hay is sometimes sold by the tonne or pound and standing hay may be traded on a dollars per acre basis.

By The Bale If hay from two sources is $70/bale or $50/bale which is the better deal?

Many factors need to be discussed in order to provide an answer to this question.

Bales are not a uniform or standard form of measurement. Often, hay is sold by the bale because the math is easy - count the number of bales, and multiply by the agreed upon price. In reality, if the $50 bale weighs 1,000 pounds, the hay costs $0.05/lb, much more than if the $70 bale weighs 1,500 pounds. It is very common for people to overestimate the weight of their bales. In these cases, the purchaser may not be getting all the hay that he paid for.

By Weight By weight is becoming the more common way to purchase hay. There is some ambiguity in this method, as well. Even though Canada officially converted to the metric system in the 1970s, it is still common for hay to be traded by the ton.

However, some hay is sold by the tonne. These two measurements often sound the same when spoken, but their meaning is not synonymous. A ton is equal to 2,000 pounds; a tonne is equal to 1,000 kilograms, which in turn converts to 2,204.6 pounds. If you think that you are purchasing 200 tonnes of hay but only 200 tons are delivered, you may be about 30 bales short (1,400 lb bales). It is important to clarify these measurements before the deal is done.

One way to reduce the confusion is to trade hay by the pound (i.e. $0.03 cents/lb).

This method is becoming more and more popular. Purchasing hay by the pound ensures all parties are certain of the units. Producers that are more comfortable with other forms of measurement (ton, tonne, etc.) can easily do a conversion while maintaining a continuity of units.

For example, if hay is advertised at $0.03/lb, an interested buyer who purchases hay by the ton simply multiplies that number by the number of pounds in a ton. $0.03/pound x 2,000 pounds = $60/ton.

The conversion to tonne is also straightforward. $0.03/pound x 2204.6 pounds = $66.14/tonne.

Selling hay by weight also allows producers to be paid for every pound of hay that they sell. If they have a scale at home, they can weigh the bales before they leave the yard, or they can have each truck weighed after it is loaded.

By The Acre Although it is much more limited, there is some standing hay sold in the province.

Often this hay is sold by weight ($/ton, $/pound, etc.), similar to baled hay. However, the landlord may not be concerned with the hay yield but more concerned with how much money that parcel of land is making him in comparison with similar cropland. Usually, establishment costs are determined on a per acre basis, making it easy to add a profit margin to costs and sell the hay by the acre. In this case, the landlord is paid the same amount in good years as in poor. Producers purchasing hay in this manner must estimate the yield per acre to determine if the deal will be economical.

There will be a lot of hay traded this year. Dryer than normal conditions have limited pasture growth and hay fields are yielding less than expected. If you are a producer who is going to buy hay, make sure that you know the units that you are trading in so that you get what you pay for.

John McGregor is a Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) Extension Support Officer.

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September 25, 2015

The Agri Post

We’re Still Dealing with Rained on Hay

By Peter Vitti One summer, when I was a teenager living on my uncle’s farm, it rained almost every day for three weeks. All we wanted to do was hook up our new John Deere baler and bale dry hay. I remember praying for sunshine. Today, many Manitoban beef producers might have been praying for the same thing because seemingly continuous rain this year has made it nearly impossible to put up dry hay bales for beef cows. No matter what happened, people should assess the extent of any rain damage in their hay inventories to minimize problems when feeding it to beef cows this winter. That’s because damage to otherwise good hay starts after the first rain shower soaks cut-down field grass and every minute afterwards that passes until these swaths are dried down to under 15% moisture and baled.

University of Wisconsin demonstrated that plots of alfalfa hay lost 22% of their dry matter content after 2.5 cm (1 inch) rain fell on it after one day, compared to properly cured hay without any rain damage of 6% dry matter loss.

The researchers also found that rained-on hay lost half of its dry matter content after persistent rains lasted a few days.

Similar to dry matter field losses there is significant leaching of carbohydrates and protein from rained-on hay, which are an essential source of nutrients for overwintering cattle.

Consequently, whatever feed is leftover tends to be very fibrous and its energy/protein leftovers may not support even the lowest dietary nutrient requirements of early gestating beef cows without significant nutrient supplements.

In addition, if poor quality hay is baled and stacked at moistures above 20 - 25%, it becomes an environment for dangerous mold growth.

We’ve all seen white mold covering stems and leaves of tough hay. Some practical trials with hay molds have observed that cattle will eat most hay with about 1% storage mold. Put hay with over 10% contamination in front of them, and they will likely reject it or slow down consumption when they have no other feed choice.

Even if the moldiest bales are not rejected by the beef herd, there is a fair amount of essential nutrients in this forage (in addition to mentioned field nutrient losses) consumed by the molds that could have been utilized by beef cows. For instance, it is conservatively estimated that significant mold in damp hay reduces the energy content of this hay up to 15 – 20%. Taken into a feeding context - producers might have to provide extra energy and protein supplement (in addition to cover nutrient field loses), so overwintering cows consuming this

damaged forage can survive.

Mold growth also generates a lot of heat, which not only caramelizes and completely denatures forage protein, but reduces overall nutrient digestibility of the hay. Known as the ‘Browning reaction; it occurs when the temperatures of the poorly cured hay exceed 38°C (100°F) and binds the hay’s carbohydrates and proteins together, rendering it unavailable to cattle. If left unchecked, a Browning reaction also leads to devastating bale fires (probed temperatures of 65.5 – 79°C, 150 – 174°F).

Regardless of nutrient loss and fire, beef cows’ health can seriously be affected by forage mycotoxins (toxins produced by specific molds) in many detrimental ways. They can be infected with mycosis, which are associated diseases caused by feed molds/mycotoxins that can easily invade various body locations such as the lungs, udder, uterus or intestines. Several respiratory infections in beef cattle have been traced back to spores of moldy feed.

Luckily, most people are cautious when feeding visibly moldy hay to their beef cowherd, yet they should also realize that not all mold contamination in hay is always visible or consistent throughout individual bales or amongst a load. In either known or suspected forage, performing a mold-count test is well advised.

It counts the number of mold spores in collected hay samples and reveals the extent of mold infestation.

If one suspects the presence of mycotoxins in rain-on hay, it is a good idea to conduct a more extensive mold-screen test, which identifies present mold species and mycotoxins.

Since, specific mycotoxins found in moldy feed can cause abortions, reduce reproductive performance, and cause infertility in beef cows, if a positive test came back on any particular rain damaged hay; nobody should take a chance and should not feed it at all!

Nevertheless, tested mold-free damaged rained-on hay can be safely fed if precautionary steps are taken: 1. Sort and segregate the damaged hay bales according to forage quality. Feed the best bales and discard the others.

2. Limit-feed damaged hay or mixed in with higher quality hay and other forages.

3. Feed mold-free damaged hay first and feed higher quality hay closer toward calving time.

4. Watch out for caramelized spots in hay bales – indication of invisible mold.

5. Supplement extra energy, protein, mineral and vitamin to compliment field nutrient losses and meet overwintering cowherd nutrient requirements.

With these overwintering guidelines in place, feeding rain-on hay can be dealt with and we might all hope for a better growing season, next year.

Canola Council Clarifies Concerns Around Appearance of Jimsonweed Growers and agronomists are encouraged that we are keeping an eye out for Jimsonweed; however, health concerns around potential toxicity in canola oil are unfounded.

“While Jimsonweed itself can be poisonous, the heating process in canola oil and meal processing denatures toxic alkaloids, so there isn’t a health concern in processed canola products,” said Curtis Rempel at the Canola Council of Canada (CCC). “It’s also important to remember that it’s the dose that makes the poison, and the high LD50 of scopolamine, the major toxic alkaloid in Jimsonweed, even further supports the fact that this weed isn’t a concern in canola oil or meal.”

Rempel noted that there are still legitimate health concerns upon ingestion of the actual Jimsonweed plant or seeds themselves by humans or other animals as all parts of the plant contain the toxic alkaloids.

While it is currently listed as one of the 21 prohibited noxious weeds on the federal weed seeds order, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has proposed re-classification from prohibited to primary because it is already found in many parts of the country.

MAFRD has noted several sightings in the

province and has sent samples to their lab for identification.

“We are currently focusing on fact gathering and analysis on the weed’s prevalence and biology, and collaborating throughout the canola value chain to determine best management practices,” said Rempel. “We are asking growers and agronomists to continue to keep an eye out for this weed during harvest as early detection is an important step in management.”

If Jimsonweed is suspected, growers are advised to contact a provincial weed specialist or CCC agronomist to help with identification and discuss containment and eradication strategies.

Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) can be identified as a foul-smelling annual that forms a bush up to 60 - 150 cm tall. The stems fork off repeatedly into branches and each fork forms a leaf and a single, erect trumpet shaped white, creamy or violet coloured flower in the summer. The leaves are about 8 – 20 cm long, smooth, toothed, soft and irregularly undulated.

The upper surface of the leaves are a darker green, and the bottom is a light green.

The Agri Post

September 25, 2015

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September 25, 2015

The Agri Post