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September 2015 $3.50

Can you score market wins this fall Despite china?

Weather wise marketing Tony Varekamp finds the silver lining �� 22

CROPS GUIDE fight Tight margins; grow your nutrients

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Contents

september 2015

BUSINESS 8

better ag education Getting more of Canada’s teens to look to agriculture for a great career is an achievable goal, says Nuffield scholar Becky Parker.

12 german quandary

Germany’s global lead as a bioenergy producer sounds better before you talk to the farmers who are stuck in its grip.

16 the china factor

Market adviser Errol Anderson tackles the year’s toughest question: Can you make China’s troubles work in your favour?

30 the hub of an opportunity

These food hubs will help more medium-size farms diversify into lucrative local-food markets.

36 Guide HR — Are you ready for change?

Some farms are good at change. Others simply aren’t.

Are you really sure you know which camp you’re in?

38 the farmer as ceo

Bigger farms need leaders who function more like business CEOs. More difficult is knowing how to make the transition.

54 our toughest marketing challenge

We’re losing the public’s respect, writes farm columnist Gerald Pilger, who says the time to get it back is right now.

56 finding the ‘wow’ factor

Machinery makers reveal how to build machines you want to buy.

58 agriculture’s glass ceiling

If there’s no gender issue on the farm, why are so many women signing up for farm women conferences?

PG. 22 marketing in weather extremes Most farmers use their marketing skills to protect their incomes from extreme weather. Here, however, Tony Varekamp and Eldon Klippenstein explain how they use their marketing to find a silver lining in any cloud.

62 lgbt on the farm

These days, diversity on the farm is good for business, sometimes in some very surprising ways.

66 managing today’s diversity

CROPS GUIDE

70

39 choice sampling

If farms don’t learn how to embrace more diversity, they may soon find it impossibly tough to attract enough good workers.

g uide life — avoid overload

Burnout isn’t just a buzzphrase. It’s a real danger to your farm and your happiness. Here’s your defence plan.

Whose soil sampling system is better, yours or your neighbours?

42 grow your own

With tight margins, those old nutrient plans come roaring back.

EVERY ISSUE 6 MACHINERY GUIDE

Machinery editor Scott Garvey launches his new series.

46 GOING underground

Soil is more than just dirt. Are you nurturing soil organisms too?

48 phantom nutrients

Some growers believe in micronutrients. Others just don’t.

73 GUIDE HEALTH

50 their sights are on fusarium

74 HANSON ACRES When his son fires up the combine, Dale knows what’s next.

52 foundation work

Which iron pill is the right pill for you?

This new research program aims to stop fusarium in its tracks.

Cigi research on pulse utilization is opening new markets.

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september 2015

country-guide.ca 3

desk EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: Tom Button 12827 Klondyke Line, Ridgetown, ON N0P 2C0 (519) 674-1449 Fax (519) 674-5229 Email: tom.button@fbcpublishing.com Associate Editors: Gord Gilmour Cell: (204) 294-9195 (204) 453-7624 Fax (204) 942-8463 Email: gord.gilmour@fbcpublishing.com Maggie Van Camp (905) 986-5342 Fax (905) 986-9991 Email: mvancamp@fbcpublishing.com Production Editor: Ralph Pearce (226) 448-4351 Email: ralph.pearce@fbcpublishing.com ADVERTISING SALES Sales Director: Cory Bourdeaud’hui (204) 954-1414 Fax: (204) 944-5562 Email: cory@fbcpublishing.com Kevin Yaworsky (250) 869-5326 Email: kyaworsky@farmmedia.com

Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine

A better marketing idea Marketing is in a class by itself.

Nowhere else in agriculture is there so much more noise than information, or so many claims based on untested and untestable evidence.

As a rule, of course, the entire financial and business ends of farming let us down in this regard, and I have complained in this space in past that when it comes to the biggest decisions they will ever make — decisions about succession, incorporation, expansion, etc. — farmers need much more rigorous ways of evaluating their sources of information and advice.

This is especially true of marketing, where the lack of research is not only tolerated, it’s ignored.

It’s as if we don’t think that research into marketing can really help us because, let’s face it, any one year is likely to be so different from any other year, and any one farm or region is likely to be so similarly different from any other farm or region that it’s impossible to draw any permanent lessons.

What we actually haven’t faced, however, is the fact that, based on the bit of research that we do have, suggests more research is sorely needed.

It’s already been seven years since we reported on University of Illinois studies

by Scott Irwin and Darrel Good, comparing the performance of market advisory services.

The researchers subscribed to some 4 country-guide.ca

23 different market services from 1995 through 2005 and then tracked how farmers would have fared if they had taken their advice.

Farmers are used to hearing marketing experts chide them for proverbially selling two-thirds of their crop in the bottom third of the market. Yet it turns out that the best marketing services also struggle to sell in the top half.

And there’s worse to come because, according to the research, the fact that a marketing service beats the market this year doesn’t predict whether it will beat the market next year.

This doesn’t mean that advisory services aren’t worthwhile. Nor does it mean that there aren’t any meaningful differences between your potential sources of information.

But it does mean that we need more science in our marketing. The few studies that actually put different marketing strategies to the test do come up with meaningful results, often demonstrating that selling incrementally through the year provides the best long-term average price.

The point is, business research in Canada is sadly lacking, especially in agriculture, and until enough farmers pressure enough farm organizations to work for change, it will continue to be underfunded.

Yet few research investments could return more to this country’s farmers.

Let me know what you think. I’m at tom.button@fbcpublishing.com.

Lillie Ann Morris (905) 838-2826 Email: lamorris@xplornet.com Head Office: 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 Fax (204) 944-5562 (204) 944-5765 Advertising Services Co-ordinator: Sharon Komoski (204) 944-5758 Fax (204) 944-5562 Email: ads@fbcpublishing.com Designer: Jenelle Jensen Publisher: Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com Associate Publisher/Editorial Director: John Morriss Email: john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com Production Director: Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com Circulation Manager: Heather Anderson Email: heather@fbcpublishing.com President: Bob Willcox Glacier FarmMedia Email: bwillcox@farmmedia.com Contents of this publication are copyrighted and may be reproduced only with the permission of the editor. Country Guide, incorporating the Nor’West Farmer and Farm & Home, is published by Farm Business Communications. Head office: Winnipeg, Manitoba. Printed by Transcontinental LGMC. Country Guide is published 13 times per year by Farm Business Communications. Subscription rates in Canada — Farmer $41 for one year, $61 for 2 years, $87 for 3 years. (Prices include GST) U.S. subscription rate — $35 (U.S. funds). Subscription rate outside Canada and U.S. — $50 per year. Single copies: $3.50.

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Call toll-free 1-800-665-1362 or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com U.S. subscribers call 1-204-944-5766 Country Guide is printed with linseed oil-based inks PRINTED IN CANADA Vol. 134 No. 10 Internet address: www.agcanada.com

ISSN 0847-9178 The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Country Guide and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists, Country Guide and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Country Guide and Farm Business Communications assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any reader for this publication based on any and all information provided.

september 2015

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Machinery

By Scott Garvey, CG Machinery Editor

Editor’s Note: With this issue, CG machinery editor Scott Garvey begins a new chapter for MachineryGuide with his industryleading reporting on machinery innovations that can make a difference for you, both in the field and on the balance sheet. This month, Scott goes deep into combine design with this exploration of the 2015 launches by AGCO and New Holland.

Elevation the key for these NH combines  Combine designers are doing more than just tinkering, as New Holland is showing with the particular attention it has paid this year to small grains growers, introducing new conventional and rotary machines designed specifically for that market.

In June, NH used Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina for the North American introduction of its completely new, two-model range of conventionals, the CX8 Series.

This line includes Class 7 and 8 models. The brand believes the larger CX8.90 will appeal strongly to small grains growers in Western Canada who also operate mixed farming operations and are willing to trade a little capacity in order to leave straw in good condition for baling.

“It (a conventional combine) is a little gentler on the straw but not quite as efficient in terms of capacity as a rotary combine,” says Nigel MacKenzie, New Holland’s marketing manager for combines and headers.

The CX8 models use the brand’s Opti-Clean cleaning shoe system, which was originally introduced on its large rotary. The company claims it offers a 20 per cent cleaning improvement over previous designs, because of the longer sieve stroke and steeper throwing angle, keeping material airborne for longer to enhance cleaning. To minimize the risk of blowing kernels out the back, the Opti-Fan automatically adjusts its speed to compensate for inclines.

For grain growers who like the idea of a combine tailored to their crops but don’t want the capacity drop associated with conventional models, NH also introduced a new rotary, the CR8.90 Elevation.

Both NH’s CX and CR Series combines will use the same cab, which the brand redesigned last year. It includes more interior space and glass area than the previous version.

Photos: New Holland Of course NH already builds a Class 8 rotary at its Grand Island, Nebraska, plant. So what’s different with this one?

“The elevation is the clue,” says MacKenzie. “The CR8.90 Elevation is a small-grain-focused machine. It has exactly the same cleaning shoe as in the 10.90. The Opti-Clean cleaning shoe, it’s optimized for small grains, that technology we’re bringing down into the Class 8 segment to offer alongside our Grand Island machines.”

Today’s engineers are creating specific combine designs for specific cropping demands

New Holland has unveiled a new two-model line of conventional combines aimed at the western Canadian and Northern Plains states markets in June.

6 country-guide.ca

S e p tem b e r 2 0 1 5

AGCO gives S8 Gleaner combines faster cleaning  When AGCO used Louisville’s National Farm Machinery Show in February to introduce its updated S8 Gleaner combine line, it was able to take along some extra bragging rights. Just days before the show, the work that the company’s engineers did to improve performance of these machines won the brand a prized ASABE 50 engineering award.

ASABE (The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) selects up to 50 new engineering designs annually for recognition with its ASABE 50 awards.

AGCO’s award was for its redesign of the perforated cascade pan at the front of the cleaning shoe, which is included in all three models in the Class 6 through 8 range. The redesigned pan is slanted at a six-degree angle, and the cleaning shoe has an additional 992 square inches of pneumatic cleaning area, bringing the Gleaners’ total cleaning area to 8,721 square inches.

It may not sound like a big increase, but the company claims this provides 10 per cent more cleaning capacity in tough conditions because it allows high-moisture crops to fall through sooner after coming through the accelerator rolls. This means the crop hits the sieve and clean-grain cross auger much faster.

“That gives us the capability to avoid the bridging that normally occurs in high-moisture crops (in all combine brands),” said Kevin Bien, Gleaner marketing manager, during an interview at the show.

“You get so much buildup, it wants to walk itself right out the back of the combine because it can’t get through the chaffer and sieve area and into the cross auger.”

As well, in the redesigned units, the forced air duct was moved forward, redirecting airflow.

“For the very first time, in 2015, Gleaner is totally pneumatic on our cleaning shoe,” Bien said. “That means we don’t have any area of our shoe that isn’t functional as far as giving us more capacity and more cleaning capability. This means a lot in high-moisture corn and high-

September 2015

AGCO’s Gleaner marketing manager, Kevin Bien, introduced the first S8 Series Gleaners to the farm media at the company’s Hesston, Kansas, assembly plant in 2013. density crops, because it gives us the capability to get more air to the crop. This cleaning shoe right now is about as large as some Class 9 cleaning shoes on the market with some competitors out there.”

AGCO claims this cleaning shoe design also reduces losses during side-hill operation.

“Cleaning is everything to a combine,” said Bien. “We’re really trying to figure out how we can give greater capacity to combines without adding weight to the machine and sacrificing some of the things that are most important to farmers… reduced compaction and increased fuel economy, and, more importantly, efficiency of the overall machine.”

Class 6 through 8 Gleaner combines get a new, more efficient shoe with a larger cleaning area, rivalling some Class 9 machines, according to the company.

Photos: Scott Garvey

country-guide.ca 7

business

Better ag

education

By Lois Harris

f you need to make a big splash, says Nuffield scholar Becky Parker, throw a big rock. A lot of little stones will only create a lot of little ripples.

It’s an insight that Parker has brought home from her Nuffield tour of Britain, New Zealand and Australia, and it’s among the strategies that she now believes could help Canadian agriculture cure the labour shortages that are hampering virtually all sectors of the industry.

Parker kicked off her spring tour at an international conference in France attended by 75 Nuffield scholars from around the world.

“When the speakers talked about the biggest challenges facing agriculture, almost every one mentioned human resources — whether it was a lack of skilled labour, training and education of staff, or an aging farmer population,” Parker says.

But Parker, who holds down a full-time job at Ontario Agri-Food Education (OAFE), also saw that Canada could be more effective in tackling our own workforce challenges.

In particular, we're hamstrung by duplication, working in silos, and inadequate funding.

The duplication comes from commodity groups, industry associations, education organizations and others all doing their own outreach to young people.

“There are multiple websites saying the same thing, and they are all developing similar pamphlets to go into classrooms,” Parker says. “It’s ineffective and a waste.”

The silos get built when commodity-specific groups don’t work together to encourage young people. If, for example, the fertilizer, food and machinery manufacturing industries focus only on their own needs, they wind up competing against one another.

“The average student sitting in a high school classroom doesn’t see the difference between sheep and dairy cows, tractors and combines,” Parker says. “Can’t we have a bigger impact if we come as the agri-food sector, and present the opportunities through one lens?”

Funding also affects everyone everywhere, but Parker thinks that collaboration and pooling efforts at fundraising would again make us more effective.

Parker’s scholarship is supported by a $15,000 sponsorship from Glacier FarmMedia, which publishes Country Guide plus Grainews, Western Producer and Manitoba Co-operator, among others. She has 8 country-guide.ca

Getting more young Canadians more interested in working in agriculture can be an achievable goal, says Becky Parker, whose Nuffield scholarship is supported by Glacier FarmMedia. First, though, we need to learn some lessons for ourselves also received funding from CropLife Ontario Council and additional support from Litherland & Company, a recruiting and placement agency.

Already, Parker has drafted a preliminary list of three tactics that could go a long way in helping the Canadian agri-food industry attract more young people. They include competitions, mentoring, and hands-on work experience.

Competitions are fun, engaging ways to get students excited about possible agricultural careers. In New Zealand, Parker attended a Get Ahead Experience Day co-ordinated by the Young Farmers Club in which high school kids were put into teams of six or seven who then competed against each other at interactive stations.

The 12 stations were run by companies and organizations in the industry, and the young people got to learn about everything from how to grade meat and how to align gears on a tractor to how to figure out which farm is the best to buy in terms of financing.

Teams were awarded points on how they worked together to solve problems, and the winning team took home prizes. The New Zealand beef, lamb and dairy industry organizations collaborated to sponsor the half-day event, which was put on in 10 locations through March and April in 2015.

“Students see competitions all the time on television — “Dancing with the Stars,” “Big Brother” — you name it, so it’s familiar to them,” Parker says.

Agricultural mentoring and ambassador programs are also effective tactics used by every country Parker visited.

Some countries highlight ambassadors by profiling them on video or having case studies written up about their careers, or by sending them into classrooms to talk about their experiences.

“The biggest takeaway I got from learning about this is that mentors and ambassadors have to be young enough to relate to the students sitting in the classrooms,” she says.

September 2015

business ment are needed. The first level would be aimed at getting over the agri-food disconnect in the general student population by reaching out through ambassadors, competitions and other resources. A second level would be that, once interested, the students could engage in a hands-on way in a specific career while they’re still in high school.

“We already have co-op and apprenticeship programs in the education system — we need to get the agri-food sector to plug in better,” she says. “It’s a matter of determining what’s already in place, and how do we make the best use of it.”

Parker says that when she asked the average person in any of the countries she had been in what they thought when they heard “agri-food industry,” they

If we want the best and brightest kids to look at agriculture, Parker says, we must invest in really connecting with their lives In Australia, Art4Agriculture is “a network of young people who share a passion to tell others about the pivotal role Australian farmers play in feeding the world,” according to its website.

Through a program called “Young Farming Champions,” young people are trained as positive spokespeople for the industry. The challenge they’ve set for themselves is to “be the change” that needs to occur.

A third strategy is to provide young people with hands-on work experience.

“We need to do a better job of getting kids in high school into the labs, offices and farms to get them hooked,” Parker says.

She recognizes there are already a number of programs in place — like co-operative work terms and apprenticeships that are available, but she thinks there needs to be more collaborative effort among the groups that are involved in delivering these programs.

All over the world, there are science, technology, engineering and mathematics networks, called STEMs, that encourage kids to take on careers that use STEM skills. The Scottish Food and Drink Federation has partnered with the U.K. STEM network to ensure that agriculture and food careers are highlighted through that network.

Parker would like to see better co-operation among the industry and educational systems in Canada to produce a more structured approach to drawing young people into agri-food careers.

In many of the countries she travelled to, postsecondary institutions would offer “taster days” in which potential students could experience what exactly would be involved in studying different agrifood-related disciplines.

The way Parker sees it, two levels of encourageSeptember 2015

all said “farmer” — as if the industry is only primary production.

“Even in my discussions with the agriculture people, I had to continually remind them that it’s about agriculture and food — we have to broaden the perspective of the people who work within the industry,” she says.

There was also the unfortunate and wrongheaded stereotype in the schools that she visited that if you’re not smart enough to go into other things, you can get into farming. In one of her ongoing blog posts (www.lessonsoftheland.com), she noted that during one of her many flights, she watched the movie “Interstellar.” In it, a young character was streamed into being a farmer because his test score wasn’t “high enough for college.”

Up next for Parker is touring the U.S. and Canada in 2016 and then reporting back in the fall. Country Guide will continue profiling Parker’s progress as she continues her Nuffield research. She can also be followed on Twitter at @becky_parker_2. CG

Useful websites Becky’s blog: www.lessonsoftheland.com Young Farming Champions (Australia): www.art4agriculture.com.au/yfc/ Get Ahead Experience Days (New Zealand): www.getahead.co.nz/get-involved/experience-days/ U.K. STEMnet: www.stemnet.org.uk Nuffield Canada: www.nuffield.ca

country-guide.ca 9

BayerCropScience.ca/InVigor or 1 888 283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.

Always read and follow label directions. InVigor速 is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group.

Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.

O-66-08/15-10406655-E

business

Since 2011, German farmer Norbert Mayer has grown all his crops for bioenergy.

German quandary German biogas producers generate as much electricity as two nuclear power stations. If that sounds like a great success, try talking to the farmers who grow the crops

By Marianne Stamm

t’s a perfect picture on a perfect day. A Claas chopper sends a steady stream of green rye into a tractor trailer while overhead, the main overland power line hangs in the blue sky.

It’s perfect too as a representation of the Mayer Energy Farm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where Norbert Mayer grows all his crops to feed his biogas plant, which then feeds power into the grid.

Germany is a world leader in the field of renewable energy. It introduced its first Renewable Energy Bill (EEG) in 2004, offering substantial incentives for the production of renewable energy, and it is now embracing a goal of producing 80 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2080.

Many farmers were quick to sign contracts to produce solar, wind and biogas energy. With the EEG2004 guaranteeing 0.55 euro (C$0.78) per kilo-

12 country-guide.ca

watt hour for the next 20 years, it seemed an easy decision.

Biogas seemed especially lucrative, so putting up a plant made a lot of sense at the time. After all, grain prices were still at their record lows, with wheat fetching only 80 euros per tonne (approximately $3.26 per bushel).

At those prices, energy definitely added more value to wheat than bread, which is why, by 2014, German biogas plants were producing more energy than two atomic power plants together, and a report by the Marktforschungsinstitute “Trend” in August 2013 found that more than 80 per cent of biogas plants and 21 per cent of solar plants were owned by farmers. Farmers were receiving more than onethird of the Renewable Energy Fund.

Norbert Mayer has turned all his crops into power since 2011. He made the switch to a bio-

September 2015

business

gas plant from a 3,000-head feeder hog operation when hog prices plummeted in 2009 and grain prices were still low.

There were several revisions to the EEG by then, and he was guaranteed a price of 0.25 euro (CS0.35) per kW-h. Mayer’s biogas plant produces 430 kW for almost 9,000 hours a year, adding up to 3.5 million kW. That’s enough power for more than 1,000 households.

“I produce more power than Stühlingen needs,” Mayer says of the nearby town of 2,000 people.

Power is produced by fermenting biomass such as plant products or liquid manure. The resulting gas is converted into power, which is fed into the local power system. It sounds simple, but it’s actually quite a complicated system, with added complications from numerous regulations.

For instance, to be eligible for subsidies for a biogas plant through the EEG program, 60 per cent of the biomass must be produced on the farm. There must also be a clear plan with signed contracts for the spreading of the liquid waste, which is highquality manure.

Mayer crops 225 acres, with corn taking 55 per cent of his crop, followed by sorghum, millet, wheat and triticale. When the corn and sorghum are harvested, winter rye is seeded which is silaged in the following spring, before reseeding to corn and sorghum.

Mayer still purchases a considerable amount of feed and he also buys liquid manure from surrounding farmers. By adding 35 per cent of liquid manure to the biomass he is eligible for a higher subsidy.

It’s clear he needs those subsidies to make it. In September 2015

recent years, Mayer lost some of his rented land.

Prices for land and rent have risen, mostly because of the nearby Swiss neighbours who can afford to pay more for land than the German farmers.

Rising grain prices and changing agriculture policy regulations such as rules on crop rotation have made margins slimmer. But Mayer can’t opt out now; he has invested too much.

“I could have built a dairy barn for 300 cows with the money the plant cost me,” Mayer says.

Instead, he needs to inject funds into paying the biogas plant off before the 20 years of guaranteed prices run out.

Mayer built much of the biogas plant himself with the help of his wife and three children. His daughter Lisa, 21, is studying agronomy and wants to take over the farm. He formed a company with her for the farmland. This company then sells its crops to the biogas plant, which is operated by a separate company owned by Mayer and his wife.

As Canadian farmers will understand from this, tax planning is a crucial part of the job.

The regular market price for power is currently 0.02 euro (just under C$0.03) per kW-h. No one can afford to run a biogas plant for that. “In 20 years, when all the guaranteed price contracts run out, there won’t be any biogas plants,” Mayer thinks, adding, “With the new EG2014 regulation, new biogas plants became completely unattractive.”

Besides, the politics aren’t simple. When asked about the food-versus-energy debate, Mayer says, “It’s a crazy contradiction. On the one hand we’re

Will the energy subsidies be there for the next generation?

If not, their outlook is cloudy.

Continued on page 14 country-guide.ca 13

business

Mayer produces enough electricity to power the nearby town of Stühlingen, population 2,000.

Continued from page 13 accused of taking away food with bioenergy production. On the other hand the government pays farmers to take land out of production.”

Government agriculture programs foster extensive as opposed to intensive forms of agriculture, for instance by promoting flower meadows instead of top wheat production. For many average Germans, Mayer says, bioenergy has a bad reputation. Corn is tall, easily seen and considered a monoculture that jeopardizes biodiversity.

Mayer insists that other crops such as wheat are no different. “I don’t use anywhere near the chemicals as I did before I used our crops for bioenergy,” he adds.

Ludwig Käppeler, agriculture officer for the Baden-Württemberg district believes the food-versus-energy debate in Germany doesn’t add up. There is no food shortage anywhere, he insists. “Just look at the low price of flour,” he says, “and what don’t we all throw away!”

Käppeler insists it’s the Americans who are using so much of their corn to produce ethanol that it affects food prices. “If something happens on the global scene, like a major drought, prices go through the roof,” Käppeler says. “It’s speculation, not actual shortage, that makes prices rise.”

There’s another consideration too; 70 per cent of Baden-Württemberg’s farms are part-time operations. That has a lot to do with the way land was passed on within the family. Instead of one child taking over the whole farm, the land was split 14 country-guide.ca

evenly between all the siblings, resulting in ever smaller parcels.

Efforts have been undertaken to merge land parcels, but the fact that much of the land is rented makes it difficult. Part-time farm operations are here to stay, Käppeler believes. But whereas farmers used to work in manual jobs such as bricklaying, where they could often take their holidays when it was time to make hay, today’s farmers often have more sophisticated jobs.

The system works as long as there are parents or a spouse at home who can manage the farm. Agriculture colleges are also now offering courses for parttime farmers, which are finding good resonance.

One way to improve farm income that requires little labour is to install a solar power system which sells to the grid. Markus Schaub of Dettighofen, BadenWürttemberg invested big into solar energy with the first EEG in 2004. That was a lucrative time with the highest returns. Solar energy panels, unlike biogas plants, require little maintenance once installed. After 20 years their output is still 80 per cent. There aren’t as many unknown financials as there are with biogas, and the return on investment can be easily calculated.

Schaub sells 234 kW-h into the grid, which generates 30 per cent of his farm income with the Baden-Württemberg district having the best total sunshine hours in all of Germany. Schaub’s large shed and barn roofs all slope in the right direction for maximum solar production. Almost all solar panels on farms are mounted on roofs. Germany has some fields of solar panels, but not yet on farms.

The Schaub farm lies idyllically among green September 2015

business rolling hills and small villages. The pastures are dotted with horses. Markus and his wife Birgitta board 100 horses in their stables, complete with a new riding arena. The horses provide 50 per cent of their income; the rest comes from growing seed crops on their 130 acres.

The solar panels are definitely the easiest money on the farm. “We need to rethink our strategy!” Birgitta exclaimed as she thought that over. “Solar power definitely outperforms considering the income versus labour and input ratios.”

Each change in EEG has meant a reduction in guaranteed prices for power produced. In recent years, however, the price of solar panels has also dropped considerably (once produced

by German companies, the Chinese now make them much cheaper) so solar can still be profitable, especially for smaller businesses.

In 2014 Schaub added solar panels on a shed, producing 17.5 kW-h which he uses for the farm. It makes for a power bill savings of 40 per cent. “You have to rethink your power usage,” Schaub says.

“We try to use our high-energy consumption items like the washing machine and oven during peak hours.”

Peak hours for solar energy are around noon. That’s also the hours of peak public consumption, a win/win situation. There are days now when Germany’s midday consumption is covered completely by solar power. The main challenge with solar energy is still storage. Research is working hard to find an answer but for now, storage ability is limited to batteries, which are expensive.

Schaub has less than 10 years to go on the EEG subsidy program. His solar plant will be more than paid for by that time, so he’ll still make a bit of money.

But the good days will be over. Most German farmers are heavily dependent on subsidies, which make up 30 to 50 per cent of their income.

“Without subsidies I wouldn’t start the tractor in the morning,” Schaub says.

Schaub farms 260 acres, half of which is pasture for the horses. That’s much bigger than the average farm size of the district. “I was fortunate that my father purchased land whenever it came up for sale,” Schaub says. He’s also lucky to be so close to the Swiss border. Most of their boarding horses come from Switzerland. For the Swiss, it’s much cheaper to board horses in Germany.

“The importance of the Swiss borSeptember 2015

der can’t be overestimated,” Käppeler says. “The economic impact for German farmers is immense.” For Schaub it works positively, but for many farmers the impact is negative.

Like Mayer, many are losing land to Swiss farmers who are more than willing to pay a higher rent or land price. Käppeler can get passionate when it comes to good farmland along the border falling way to big shopping malls catering

to Swiss customers. Many of Germany’s products, including food, are much cheaper than in Switzerland.

Times are tough, especially for the smaller German farmer, so it’s good that renewable energy production helps many farmers improve their income, Mayer and Schaub say.

If it’s going to continue to work for those farmers, however, politicians will have to keep being generous. Will they? CG

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business

the china factor Does China’s economic slowdown have to be bad news for Canada’s farmers? We ask Errol Anderson, does he see hope in the year ahead?

By Gord Gilmour, CG Associate Editor or the first instalment in our five-part series this fall and winter, we sat down with Calgary-based grain market adviser and regular Country Guide contributor Errol Anderson for his insights into what to look for in markets this year.

The billion-dollar question, Anderson says, is what will happen in China. Other issues are important too, such as Greece and the chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve could jump the gun on touted rate hikes, just as the economy shows signs of flagging.

And Canada? We’re likely already in recession but just haven’t recognized the fact yet.

It all adds up to a challenging — but not impossible — environment to market grain. Opportunities will emerge, but they’ll be fleeting, so having a marketing plan and sticking to it is going to be more important than ever.

COUNTRY GUIDE: What are the main economic indicators you’re watching these days? What’s your overall take on commodity markets?

Errol Anderson: We’re definitely entering a new marketing era for commodities. For a long time the emerging economies like the BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — have been growing very rapidly. Now we’re seeing these same countries encountering a significant slowdown with their economies turning recessionary. This has had a direct impact slowing global commodity trade. The most recent concern has been China. China’s stock market has been under considerable pressure and there are signs indicating their real estate bubble may be popping. If they’re not growing by six per cent or more, they’re really in recession. I know that sounds crazy, but the truth is their amazing growth has been so highly leveraged, they need that kind of growth to maintain the health of their credit markets.

What we’re seeing now is the early stages of their 16 country-guide.ca

credit bubble imploding. It’s going to have a real impact on commodities, and it’s going to be painful and take awhile. What’s staggering is that China’s economy now represents 39 per cent of the total global GDP growth. China is an economic giant, and its slowdown will impact markets globally.

I think Europe and Greece are really just a sideshow compared to China. It just boils down to the relative size of their economies. We pay a lot of attention to Greece because it’s right in Europe, and there could be some knock-on effects for other indebted countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal. But the loss of wealth in China due to the falling stock market is really going to affect consumption in China as well as global commodity trade. We can already see it weighing heavily on commodities like copper and iron ore. You can see it in shipping rates, with the Baltic dry index basically collapsed. Container ships are simply being dry docked.

CG: You paint a concerning picture.

Until recently we’ve seen fairly rosy economic data, especially out of the U.S. EA:

I don’t think the picture of the U.S. recovery has ever been as good as a lot of people thought it was. The U.S. has experienced a modest recovery since the 2008 financial crisis. But these gains are Continued on page 20 september 2015

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business Continued from page 16 fragile and can come under pressure, especially with economic uncertainty around the globe causing the U.S. dollar to rise. That of course makes it much more difficult for American manufacturers and exporters to compete globally, which undermines their recovery. I think this likely means that, despite public posturing, in reality we’re in a low interest rate environment for several years.

An interest rate increase while economic recovery remains fragile is highly risky, and a gamble for the U.S. Federal Reserve.

True, we’ve already heard a lot of talk about U.S. interest rate increases, including some pretty strong language from Fed governors, but I think what they’re really doing is talking the talk, but not walking the walk. If the Fed does hike rates, it will be just a toe in the water to measure the potential market contagion that might occur both outside and within U.S. borders.

At the same time, we’ve seen both the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank request that the Fed leave interest rates untouched.

They’re concerned about what the global impact of that move would be, since the U.S. dollar is the de facto global currency. Take Brazil as just one example of what might happen — they owe a lot of money and it’s all in U.S. dollars. If U.S. interest rates rise, so will theirs, putting a lot of pressure on their economy just when they don’t need it, because commodity demand is falling. Also remember, by the time President Obama is out of office, the U.S. debt will have ballooned towards a staggering $20 trillion. The U.S. also has to service this debt with higher interest service charges.

It all adds up to a lot of talk, but no sudden moves. If they do move prematurely, it could seriously undermine the U.S. economy and slam the brakes back on. Global contagion could occur. In a lot of ways the U.S. is stuck in the same stagflation trap of chronic slow growth that Japan has found itself in for many years now.

As for Canada, I personally think we’re already in recession, government data just hasn’t caught up to it yet. If China sneezes, Canada catches cold. We can see this in recent moves by the Bank of Canada to reduce interest rates even further. Clearly it’s concerned with the fragility of the Canadian economy.

CG: That sounds grim. Can I safely put you on the bearish side?

EA: (Chuckles.) Sometimes I think I really need to stop being so cautious towards prices. But I’m not trying to sugar-coat commodity markets. This is the reality. Once the process of credit deleveraging occurs, commodities will again turn bullish. Commodity prices — from crude oil to precious metals to copper to grains — are going to remain capped. But there will be opportuni20 country-guide.ca

ties for pricing profits, if you’re watching for them and you’re ready to move when they occur. However, reducing your production costs and paying down debt will also be a big part of this business formula.

This is definitely going to be a year when having a marketing plan in place and doing your best to be disciplined and sticking to it will help business success.

I think probably the greatest danger is going to be for producers who fall victim to picking tops — markets will rally, but rather than sell at a profit, they’ll hang on, expecting prices to recover fully towards previous years’ highs. I really don’t think, given the overall global economic picture and what that’s doing to demand, that it is in the cards for the foreseeable future.

Market recoveries are going to be fleeting and what we’re really going to see is prices see-sawing up and down. Rallies will be short lived, and sell-offs can be swift. You have to be prepared for this. If you don’t understand the nature of this beast, pricing opportunities will be lost.

CG: You say planning will be very important. What would that look like?

EA: The two leading indicators for a farmer putting together a marketing plan are how much control they feel they have over their business, and how well they’re able to sleep at night. Those are the indicators that are really important, and it all starts with the farm balance sheet. It’s not rocket science, but it does require that you get a firm handle on the financial side of your business and understand what your obligations are and when they come due. You also need to have a really good handle on what you have for sale, how much in inventory, how much it cost to produce and what a profitable price will be.

Many farmers do a really good job of this stuff already, but I do think there are some farmers who could up their game a bit. Strong record-keeping is essential, as well as noting why key decisions are made. Try to document why you made a particular sale. Over time, as you collect more and more data and history, a pattern will appear. It’s going to reveal how you make sales and the reasoning behind cash sales. It might even help reveal patterns and market situations where you find yourself doing less-than-strategic marketing, like panic selling to meet a debt obligation or selling into a falling market.

Collecting this sort of information is really important and a valuable tool, especially over time.

As for the day to day, I can’t overstate this — don’t fall victim to pure speculation under the guise of marketing. Your goal as a grain marketer is to find opportunities to price profitably. Don’t hold on, hoping to hit the market peak. The reality is we’ve all tried, and almost none of us have succeeded. You don’t see a market peak with any certainty unless it’s in the rear-view mirror. september 2015

business Generally I recommend that growers use a mix of both cash contracts and the added horsepower of the tools you can find in a commodity trading account.

I’m also generally not a big fan of the extensive use of on-farm storage. Storage can be overused and abused as a marketing strategy. One of the fallacies, as I see it, is producers looking at stored grain as purely an asset, when in reality, I think it can also be seen as a bit of a liability. There are certainly risks tied to storage. Many farmers would be, when appropriate, better served by selling the physical grain and getting early cash flow to pay bills, then turning around and buying the paper in the form of call options, to capture future market upside. I recognize this might not be a big issue for some of your readers but it’s a strategy that bears consideration.

CG: Any last strategic points?

EA: If you believe the world owes you your cost of production, you are mistaken. It’s demand that’s driving this market, not supply.

Markets can and will remain below the cost of production for long periods of time. You’ve heard me say this before, but it deserves repeating — bear markets, on average, last more than twice as long as bull markets.

This is why it’s so very important to take emotion out of your business decisions. It’s why tracking the true cost of production, reining in expenses, understanding all the tools available in your marketing tool box and setting up and executing a marketing plan are so important. Over the next few years, these concepts will all be put to the test. CG

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September 2015

country-guide.ca 21

business

Disasters set the price in many markets, says Alberta’s Tony Varekamp. His goal is to anticipate them, and be poised to sell.

22 country-guide.ca

September 2015

business

Marketing in weather extremes

By Maggie Van Camp, CG Associate Editor

Photography: Chris Yauck Photography

Other farmers use marketing to cut the weather’s impact on their farms. These farmers build on it

September 2015

cross Canada, the late-summer reports were a wild mixture of good, bad and ugly. Crops seemed stellar in southeastern Manitoba, yet in parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, late rains couldn’t undo earlier drought damage, while in Ontario, the outlook swung from excellent to poor based on late frosts and excess rain.

In that context, C ountry G uide spoke with two farmers who were dealing with two very different weather situations. For Eldon Klippenstein in Manitoba, the year was shaping up to be bin busting. Conversely, in southern Alberta, Tony Varekamp was harvesting dryland winter wheat that was yielding about half of normal.

Over the years, most of us have eaten from both sides of this plate, and although we can’t control the weather, we have learned to mitigate the risk. We buy crop insurance and we diversify production. We add irrigation, or tile drainage. And we market around the weather.

There is a next level of sophistication, however, whose objective is to take advantage of the opportunities that the weather creates. It’s a strategy that requires recognizing the volatility of weather markets, tracking forecasts, and seizing the opportunities that line those clouds.

With margins that are tighter these days, and with weather variability that seems to be increasing too, survivors know how to execute smart, disciplined marketing in tough weather situations and how to wring as much out of the system as they can, when they can.

Make hay when the sun shines Brenda Tjaden Lepp, co-founder and chief analyst of FarmLink Marketing Solutions was driving from Winnipeg to Saskatoon in midsummer when Country Guide caught up to her. From her windshield, most crops looked great overall, although some fields had been damaged by the high winds and rain that had roared through the area, complete with an incredible three-hour tornado, the night before.

This year, Tjaden Lepp has suggested that her farm clients in this area stay with their marketing plan and avoid selling into the bearish harvest market. “If there’s no concerns about yield, we consider it safe to pre-sell 20 to 30 per cent of expected yields,” she said.

The tornado touched down about 175 miles from Eldon Klippenstein’s farm near Altona, Man., so his farm was unscathed.

When he had assessed the crops for yield potential in mid-July, they looked very promising. His estimates put overall yields up at least 10 per cent above average.

With the ideal growing conditions, and knowing his cost of production, Klippenstein wanted to catch a price rally earlier in the summer and he had the confidence to pre-sell aggressively. “At this point, production risk is fairly low,” he said. “If the crop looks good and the production risk is fairly low, I’ll forward price a lot.”

Continued on page 24

country-guide.ca 23

business Continued from page 23

Klippenstein focuses on building strong relationships with buyers to create a framework for his marketing.

“A lot” is a serious understatement. Overall, Klippenstein has about two-thirds of normal production pre-sold, and for the next third he has shorted the market on the board.

His confidence is built on a business plan of seeding a variety of crops, often for seed and via direct contracts set up the year before. He grows substantial acreages of soybeans and navy beans, plus CPS wheat and oats, with both cereals destined for milling.

This summer, a third of his wheat was under contract for seed production and 60 per cent of the remainder was already sold on a fixed-price, deferred-delivery contract.

A strong relationship with the buyer means he was able to market 100 per cent of the oat crop a year in advance. This relationship has been built up over years of working closely with the buyer and being up front with the production program. The pricing mechanism is set ahead through a written contract so each party remembers the details. He’s open with the buyer and tries to do things that make the buyer confident that the quality is consistently going to be there.

Both parties get what they need. Klippenstein gets a home for his crop, and the buyer knows they’re going to get all his production. “I don’t do anything that will jeopardize this relationship, and always give them a heads-up,” said Klippenstein.

“This opens the door to do some out-of-the-box marketing.”

Klippenstein hasn’t used any basis contracting this year.

“I see the merits of basis contracting but I do very little with basis,” he said.

Frank Backx, grain marketer for Hensall District Coop in southwestern Ontario also avoids basis selling and instead is a 100 per cent, flat-price seller, aiming to sell in increments into strong prices. “If I do basis wrong and Chicago falls, I get hit with a double whammy,” he explained.

This summer, Ontario basis was significantly impacted by the falling loonie. “I’m bearish on the Canadian dollar,” said Backx. “With the election coming, the government wants to stimulate the economy and is trying to do that by lowering interest rates. By the new year, a $0.72 Canadian dollar wouldn’t surprise me.”

The drooping Canadian dollar was a boost across the country. “I was way upside down in my hedge account until the Canadian dollar started dropping,” said Klippenstein.

The currency drop has also helped his navy beans that are heavily sold, with one-third of the crop pre-booked. “I’ve been able to capitalize on the foreign exchange.”

His dry edible beans hadn’t flourished as much as the other crops with the abundant moisture. As of the end of July it looked like the wet low spots would reduce yields 10 per cent, but Klippenstein was hopeful that their aggressive fertility program for dry beans will help them pull through better in August.

On the other hand, his soybeans were impressive. Klippenstein already had 80 to 85 per cent of average yields sold, including for seed production and deferred delivery, and he also had call and put hedges on the Chicago and Minneapolis markets. “I’m being super aggressive this year and added to sales during the June/July rally.

“If there are profits to be had, sell into the rallies,” said Klippenstein.

24 country-guide.ca

September 2015

Photography: Personal Expressions Photography

Basis and the dollar

business Track and react Klippenstein does follow the weather, however. Locally he looks at Accuweather, and on his own farm, operational decisions are helped by field stations that record and send data by email on wind and rain events. He also closely follows what’s happening in the U.S. Midwest by looking at the NOAA forecast and the five- to sevenday forecast.

Through the winter, when developing seeding and marketing plans for his soybeans, Klippenstein closely follows South American weather and he tracks seeding intentions in Brazil. “It tells me if I should be aggressive or patient in marketing the next year’s crops,” he said.

Closer to home, he utilizes Twitter.

Klippenstein has a network of farmers and buyers in Ontario he follows for insight on the navy bean crop there and in Michigan. Similarly, he follows farmers in the U.S. and Brazil for soybeans.

Before he enters into a sale, he’ll sometimes converse with a FarmLink analyst to justify the move, using them as a sounding board and asking for additional research and to see if there’s anything he’s missed. “Farmers, traders and weather guys are my source,” he said.

In Ontario seeding was challenging with heavy rains and a late frost that nipped low-lying areas. “Luckily the corn was less than the fifth-leaf stage so it should recover and the beans were mostly still below the soil,” said Backx.

Then in June it rained and rained, and rained some more. While rain gauges overflowed and sprayers sat idle in Ontario, south of the border comparisons flew around with the 1993 great flood of the Mississippi River.

Reports of the eastern Grain Belt being flooded and drought in the western U.S. and Canada instigated some raging-bull activity on the markets. For five weeks starting in mid-June, there were some selling opportunities.

Backx said the other factor stimulating Chicago trading this spring was that the speculators were short on corn, soybeans and wheat. In four weeks, 340,000 corn contracts were bought — that’s 1.6 billion bushels, roughly the same amount as the USDA carry-out projected for this year. When they started buying, corn rallied $0.90.

September 2015

There’s more volatility ahead before the crop comes off, predicted Backx.

Farmers should try to track that volatility and take advantage, he said. “In wet years, crops tend to disappoint, I think that will happen again this year.”

Continued on page 28

Klippenstein follows his own networks, not just official government and industry sources.

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Continued from page 25

Drought impact

Like Klippenstein, Varekamp taps his own network.

28 country-guide.ca

Near Bow Island, an hour and a half east of Lethbridge, Tony Varekamp was driving between fields, organizing crews and machinery to harvest winter wheat.

This year their five combines are driving a little farther to fill the buggies.

“The winter wheat is only yielding 30 to 32 bushels on our dry land,” he said.

“Normally I can count on 45 or 50 (bushels). Under irrigation it looks like it’s going to top 100 bushels an acre, maybe even 110.”

Varekamp had pre-contracted 2,000 tonnes of winter wheat which he thought he would meet and surpass because of the irrigated fields. He had booked about half of expected yields during the winter and sold some wheat into the summer rally.

The average price he got was $6.30 so he feels this was a conservative pricing strategy that he could easily get out of.

With less than an inch of rain this spring and summer, the difference between the crops grown under the pivots compared to dry land was stark.

“Any rain in the forecast now isn’t going to help,” said Varekamp. “We needed it two months ago.”

On Varekamp Farms, canola was the worst hit by the drought and Varekamp estimated it will yield only 10 to 15 bushels an acre ­o n ground where a 50-bushel crop is normal.

They also grow 16,000 acres of peas, canola, and four different types of dry edible beans, sugar beets, potatoes, and winter and spring wheat. Some 70 per cent of their land is under pivots; on the rest they dryland farm peas, wheat and canola.

Varekamp pre-booked 20 bushels per acre and was pretty sure they won’t meet that target. It’s a little more than he normally contracts but once again he liked the price and they should easily be able to buy to fill those contractual obligations.

Normally, Varekamp tends to direct sell in most months of the year. This year he was more aggressive and prebooked solid prices in January, February and March, and then catching some of the spring/summer rally.

September 2015

business

In early April the canola basis in Lethbridge skyrocketed. Although it levelled off by the summer, the November-December was still relatively strong and a definite opportunity.

For farmers who can hold off delivery until after harvest, there might be some opportunities on a basis contract or a fixed delivery contract, said David Lea, Market Place Commodities Ltd. in Lethbridge.

Some farmers get stuck in the watch-and-hold mode, waiting for prices to go higher without taking advantage along the way by capturing returns over their cost of production. Others will take it to an extreme, holding out for a peak that they rarely hit.

With commodities like barley, where there’s no future’s market to hedge, Lea suggested booking 25 per cent at the beginning of the year and if the crop’s decent, pre-selling up to half the crop. This way, many marketers lock in cost of production.

“There were many reluctant sellers in the recent up move in the market,” said Lea. “The good marketers are willing to sell in an up market.”

In two days, barley dropped from $250 to

$220 a tonne, said Lea, but the guys who sold right before had watched the forecast and knew decent province-wide rains were coming.

The drought might also create some local selling opportunities. Although barley acres are up across the province, Lea was expecting the lower yields and quality to be impacted.

Varekamp’s brother farms in Holland and the two exchange weather information so he has firsthand information on what the crop has been like in Europe and he shares how the weather is in the Prairies and keeps a close eye on Kansas and Texas.

He also watches what the weather trends are in Australia, knowing that usually half that country is burning up and the other half is drowning.

Disasters set the price, said Varekamp. He also keeps in mind the political disasters, like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I watch the news, the TV, read Market Sense, talk to Cargill,” Varekamp said. But still it takes judgment, he said. “After reading all those reports and combining them, I get some sense of the trends and go with a gut feeling.” CG

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September 2015

country-guide.ca 29

business

Just opened, Ontario’s new food hub is building on a continental strategy to take the cost out of value adding.

The hub of an opportunity Food hubs are moving north, making it easier for medium-size farms to break into ‘local’ sales without all the marketing

By Lois Harris rissia Mellor is on a mission to boost the sustainability of farmers and small businesses in eastern Ontario. In Northumberland County’s economic development and tourism department, she’s the energetic agriculture manager, and she’s also heavily involved in getting the new Ontario AgriFood Venture Centre (OAFVC) up and running.

The venture centre is one of a growing number of regional food hubs in Canada that is using consumers’ appetite for local food to benefit local farmers, small businesses and rural communities.

“We are helping farmers find ways to grow their business without putting them at a disadvantage,” Mellor says of the centre’s work.

Food hubs can be bricks-and-mortar regional warehouses where local farmers’ products are gathered and distributed to retail and institutional outlets. Or they can be digital, a sort of virtual gathering place where producers and buyers connect to make business transactions.

Obviously, there’s a lot of opportunity nearby.

Some food hubs offer processing services, or they conduct business and marketing workshops for 30 country-guide.ca

farmers. Some provide cooking classes to teach consumers how to prepare healthy local food. Some are co-operatives, some are private companies, and some others are publicly owned.

They're also a hot trend. A survey of national food hubs in 2013 conducted by Michigan State University and the Wallace Centre at Winrock International found that 61 per cent of the 222 U.S. hubs they studied were less than five years old.

While there are many different kinds of food hubs, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) working definition of a food hub is “a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution and marketing of sourceidentified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen the ability to satisfy wholesale, retail and institutional demand.” It’s a mouthful, but the direction of it is clear.

The survey also showed that food hubs are generating positive cash flows whether they are old or new. Even so, the most successful hubs are the ones that have been in business for 10 years and have Continued on page 32 september 2015

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business

The hub’s flexible line eliminates the need to invest the $100,000 for even a simple food process.

Exchange rate makes the time right, says GFS’s Crawford Continued from page 30 many farmer suppliers. About 40 per cent of hubs are privately held, and another 32 per cent are nonprofits, including producer-owned co-operatives.

Most of the suppliers to these food hubs are small- to medium-size producers.

The idea is catching on in Canada. Vancouver and Edmonton are among several cities that have food hubs as part of their food strategies. Just Foods is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “work towards vibrant, just and sustainable food and farming systems in the Ottawa region.” Its main motivation is increasing access to healthy local food for everyone in the area.

Ontario’s Local Organic Food Co-ops is conducting a regional food hub expansion project in four locations including Sudbury, Ottawa, Thunder Bay and London with more than $73,000 in help from the province’s Local Food Fund.

As well, Gordon Food Services (GFS), a U.S.based food distributor, is working with the Greenbelt Fund to help develop food hubs in different areas across the province. It already has more than 600 local Ontario products in its offerings.

When asked if food hubs make farmers more money, Pete Bozzer, local food sales specialist at GFS 32 country-guide.ca

says, “Market value will be market value. What the hub does for farmers is it allows them to minimize costs by providing one central distribution point and co-ordinated volume purchases and packaging, as well as sales and marketing.”

Three key factors that the big food distributors are looking for are food safety, traceability and consistent, standardized packaging, according to Steve Crawford, business development specialist for produce, dairy and local at GFS. Crawford has been working on the local food file for five years and thinks there’s tremendous opportunity for local farmers to supply larger buyers, but they need to work together.

“And now’s the time to take advantage of the exchange rate — if we do a good job now as a company and with our customers, it will help us maintain markets later, when things change,” Crawford says.

His company has a deal with Woolwich Dairy to act as a food hub for artisanal cheese makers like the Thornloe Cheese Factory north of New Liskeard and the Upper Canada Cheese Company in the Niagara region. Woolwich aggregates the cheese at its factory in Orangeville and Gordon Food Service picks it up and distributes it.

Back at the Agri-Food Venture Centre, a May 1, 2015 launch by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne september 2015

business was followed quickly by equipment testing and clients lining up to use the stateof-art facilities. The centre offers services including cutting, washing, bottling, packaging, flash-freezing and labelling. It also has a laboratory for recipe development and refrigerated storage space.

The centre’s mandate is diverse, including supporting farmers seeking value-adding opportunities, helping foodies with recipe development and working with food processing startups and expansions.

The idea for the $2.4-million facility came out of a Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) project through the Ontario agriculture ministry.

Funding for the centre itself came from a variety of sources, including the provincial and federal governments, several eastern Ontario municipalities and a local federation of agriculture.

While the centre only recently opened, the plan is to break even within the next 2-1/2 years.

“As a publicly owned, non-profit institution, we are completely open and transparent about what we are doing with the money we receive,” Mellor says.

“Any profit will be reinvested back into the facility.”

Mellor says the centre offers farmers a way to add value to their products without having to break the bank. He points out that individual pieces of food-processing equipment can have prices tags of $80,000 to $100,000, and farmers would also face the costs of meeting health and safety regulations, plus the possibility of increased property taxes.

When talking to farmers, Mellor says, “we have the equipment available for you when you need it and you don’t have to pay for it when you’re not using it.”

The centre is already popular — Mellor says she gets about six calls a day from farmers and entrepreneurs — and while it’s just starting up, there’s a lot of research that shows facilities like this can boost bottom lines for farmers and everyone else in the community.

Cornell University completed a U.S. study in December 2013 that said food hubs made more local farm products available and helped farmers expand their businesses through access to better freight and storage as well as increased exposure to large urban wholesale customers. Medium-size farms did the best in terms of getting more opportunities for sales. september 2015

In terms of the effect of food hubs on the local economy, the study found a 63 per cent increase in demand for other industrial products for every additional dollar spent on food hub products.

A January 2013 USDA study on the role of food hubs in local food marketing said that farmers who supply The Local Food Hub in Charlottesville, Virginia reported an average 25 per cent increase in sales as a result of working with that hub.

All 60 farmer suppliers have small- to medium-size businesses Continued on page 34

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country-guide.ca 33

business

Planning, logistics and sales strategies all get a leg up, thanks to hub.

Continued from page 33 and take advantage of a large menu of services offered by the hub — from networking to insurance coverage to rental space in cold storage, discounted seeds, and inexpensive website development.

But all is not rosy on the food hub front. In the same USDA study, several drawbacks were documented, including insufficient capital, a lack of risk management planning, human resource and staffing issues, poor access to food-processing facilities, difficulty obtaining contract and food safety liability insurance, the costs and time of complying with regulations and more. Because of the alternative nature of the business models, most new food hubs can’t get financing through traditional channels and have to turn to micro-lenders, non-profit organizations or government for grants or loans.

Back in Ontario, the FoodHub pilot project was initiated by the South Central Ontario Region Economic Development Corporation (SCOR), which includes Brant, Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin counties. It has 20 to 30 producer suppliers, depending on the time of year, and customers can order products online at their website www.localfoodmarketplace.com/ scorfoodhub.

More info Nourishing Communities: Sustainable Local Food Systems Research Group (Ontario) www.nourishingontario.ca Greenbelt Fund Food Hubs page (Ontario) www.greenbeltfund.ca/tags/food_hubs Local Food Fund (Ontario) www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/about/localfood.htm FoodHub (Ontario) www.localfoodmarketplace.com/scorfoodhub/ The Role of Food Hubs in Local Marketing (USDA) www.rd.usda.gov/files/sr73.pdf National Good Food Network (U.S.) www.ngfn.org USDA Agricultural Marketing Service www.ams.usda.gov/

34 country-guide.ca

FoodHub has four product drop-off locations, including White Crest Mushrooms, VG Meats, Norfolk Fruit Growers and Froese Vegetables.

The FoodHub has been up and running for only a year and a half.

“We ran into some difficulties last year, so things didn’t get done, and we had limited sales,” says Kim Earls, SCOR’s regional economic development coordinator. “But the producers and hubs stuck with us — I’m so thankful for them.”

Since then, they’ve hired a dedicated sales and customer relations person and a food hub co-ordinator who takes care of matching up the orders on the website and arranging deliveries.

“For us, logistics is a make-or-break component of the business,” Earls says.

The FoodHub’s customers include Gordon Food Service, which uses the FoodHub to meet its 25 per cent local food target. The hub also supplies the local student nutrition program that feeds 900 schools in three counties. A major customer is MealSource, a non-profit organization that handles food contracts for 34 hospitals and other health facilities throughout Ontario. Wendy Smith, a contract specialist with MealSource, is a member of the steering committee of the FoodHub. “Having a clear picture of who you want to sell to is a must for any food hub,” says Earls. “We were fortunate to have MealSource as an anchor customer.”

The next steps for SCOR are to continue building relationships with producers and reaching out to new customers. Eventually, the business will be turned over to the producers and hubs.

Nick Vranckx, owner of Blueberry Hill Estates in Norfolk County likes selling his products through the FoodHub because it streamlines the process of finding suppliers, because of the handy drop-off location in Simcoe and because of the $100 lifetime registration fee.

He would like to see more people signing up for the service, and has high praise for the people running the hub. Vranckx employs 100 to 150 pickers and supplies fresh blueberries to Longo’s grocery stores as well as making several products on farm, including blueberry wine and pickled blueberries.

“It’s almost too good to be true,” Vranckx says.

“I know of growers who have to pay the (Ontario) Food Terminal up to 15 per cent of their sales.” CG september 2015

Measure it up A brutal summer in much of Western Canada has left hay and forage reserves extremely low. Tallying up an accurate number of what you've got on hand could save you money or eliminate the midwinter scramble to find feed It could be said that there are two measures of yield — total tonnage and total nutrition. While tonnage is the easiest to measure, just knowing how many bales or tonnes you have on hand isn't necessarily an accurate depiction of if you've got enough feed to get through winter.

The earlier you can assess actual yield (a function of both tonnage and nutrient levels), the more time you have to prepare for a shortfall in stocked feed.

While late-spring seeding with an eye to fall grazing can help stretch winter feed needs, it's September — what action can you take now to make sure you're ready for the months ahead?

First off, if you're not in the habit of feed testing, this may be the year to start. Cattle don't just eat pounds of feed, they ingest nutrients — bales of equal weight can have vastly different nutritional profiles.

Testing hay is always a good idea, but can be especially beneficial when feed is tight or very expensive. And remember — visual assessments of feed may be

able to quickly split feed into high- vs. low-quality categories, but this isn't enough to build a balanced ration from.

Once you've determined what amount of energy and protein you have, it's time to flex those networking muscles. Even if you have tried-and-true hay suppliers you go to, you may already have had to go outside your typical sourcing area to find feed.

This is where getting creative may help — is there the possibility of fall grazing some non-traditional acres?

What about non-traditional feed sources like silaged canola or straw/residue? If you've got cattle that respect hot wire, the possibilities to stretch the grazing season well into the fall could buy you a much needed reprieve on feed costs.

While tight feed supplies and poor forage growth are the immediate concerns, there's a second valuable side to having an accurate measure of the nutrients coming off the field — determining your true cost of production both of the hay and silage and of the cattle, but we'll discuss that in our next feature.

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HR

Are you ready for change?

By Pierrette Desrosiers, psychologist and coach

arwin demonstrated that human beings, like all species, must constantly adapt to change or risk disappearing. In agriculture, as in business, we adapt, changing in order to survive effectively in a competitive world.

In fact, change is the only constant. However, change for its own sake is far from beneficial, either economically or from a human perspective.

“How do we make sure that we are changing for the better?” my clients frequently ask.

One thing is certain. There are no guaranteed outcomes to any decisions we make. Nevertheless, the coaching approach provides us with some interesting questions we can ask ourselves about the prospective changes we think we must make, whether they are small (e.g. changing cellphones) or big (e.g. building a new barn or buying land).

These questions may increase your chances of making successful changes. Try them out before making your next change!

First, ask yourself…

What will this change most improve in my life?

How does this change fit with my values, needs, and farm/life mission?

What results do I want? If I am in the process of changing, is it because I want a result different from my current situation? How am I going to measure that result? What methods will I use to gauge the success of this change?

How do I make the change? What resources are available to me to make this change, and what others will I need? Prepare a list of your resources, including time, money, materials, skills, etc.

How much time do I have? Do I want to make this change immediately, by the end of the month, or by the end of the year?

Do I have a margin of error? If I am mistaken about this change, what will be the consequences?

Could I live with them? Are they irreversible?

What would happen if I did not change or did not make this particular change?

What are some alternatives to this change? Could I find some other solution that is less expensive in time, energy, money and risk? Sometimes people confuse the means with the end. They confuse the strategies with the bigger goals.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of these alternatives compared to this initial desired change? Prepare a pros and cons list.

What is the cost of this change? Cost includes every potential drawback, including stress (all changes produce stress), money, energy, time and more.

36 country-guide.ca

Am I really ready to pay the price for this change?

How do I usually react to change?

Second, ask others…

Who else does this change affect? Have they been consulted? Are they involved in the decision? Are they willing? Don’t assume you know what they will say. Actually ask them.

What do they have to gain or lose?

What is the true cost of this change for them? Are they ready to pay it? Can they pay it?

Do my team and I have the resources to implement the change?

Every change has a cost. As humans, we have a limit to the number and nature of changes we can endure in a certain period of time. A change can be imposed by external factors or not (for example, if your house burns down, you have to build a new one). Change can also be pleasant or not, and it can be planned or not. When we perceive that we have made a decision and that we are in control of the change, and that it will be pleasant, we anticipate a more positive transition. However, we have to remember that every change introduces stress, even positive changes.

When we undergo change, our brain works hard.

We plan, organize, evaluate, and make many more decisions than usual. All these CEO tasks require resources (glucose, oxygen, nutrients) from the executive part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex. Because these are limited resources, we become exhausted when faced with important changes. We suffer from what has been called “decision fatigue.”

Clients rarely tell me that their project (new acquisition, construction, expansion) was easier than they expected. People generally underestimate the time, energy and cost of a change. Perhaps we must be a little bit naive to fully invest ourselves in a new project. Who really knew what it would be like to be a parent? To be married? To run a farm?

The idea is to be realistic. We have to be prepared for change because the project that starts as a dream could become a nightmare.

After all, says Darwin, it is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change. CG Pierrette Desrosiers, MPS, CRHA is a work psychologist, professional speaker, coach and author who specializes in the agricultural industry.

She comes from a family of farmers and she and her husband have farmed for more than 25 years ( www.pierrettedesrosiers.com ). Contact her at pierrette@pierrettedesrosiers.com.

September 2015

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The farmer as CEO

By Terry Betker

n Internet search will reveal several definitions of the roles and responsibilities for the chief executive officer (CEO) of a business. The degree of formality of the actual position and its title varies considerably from business to business, depending on size, complexity, and organizational preferences. Potential roles and responsibilities of the CEO are summarized below.

CEO roles and responsibilities Leadership: • Promote change related to the mission and vision of the business.

• Motivate family and team members.

• Work to increase shareholder (or owner) value.

• Manage succession.

• Liaise within the community.

Vision: • M onitor industry developments and look for future opportunities.

Management and decision-making: • Oversee operations and plan implementation.

• Manage human resources.

• Manage investment and related financial performance.

Risk management: • Analyze risk.

• Develop and implement mitigation strategies.

Management evolution on a farm More farms are finding themselves in situations where they are considering a CEO-type application for their businesses. The farmer, early in his or her career, provides all labour and management to the operation. As the business evolves, they take on the role of teacher as there are new employees (or family members) who provide some of the labour component.

The farmer’s role advances to where the function then more closely resembles that of a manager. This is the most common, and at the same time challenging situation farmers find themselves in. It is challenging in that many farmers find it difficult to fully engage as managers, which requires more time be spent in the office and less time in the field.

For some, it is a question of what they enjoy doing. For others it is a function of value. Is an hour in the office equal to an hour in the field? The answer to the question has direct correlation to the purposeful, personal advancement of the farmer through to a manager and then to a CEO. The difference between the leader and manager function is subtle, and can best be described by looking at the actions of the people who provide the labour component. Where a farmer is functioning as 38 country-guide.ca

a manager, the people providing the labour component will be doing so because they’ve been told what to do. Where a farmer is a leader, by contrast, the people providing the labour will be doing so because they want to — because they’ve embraced the vision and plan as presented by the leader.

It is increasingly difficult to advance through the different phases of management evolution, but the farm or business should see the positive results of the advancement. Employees working with a leader versus a manager will generally be more productive. For example, on a farm, more care will be given to production details resulting in better yields when people working on the farm are working for a leader. There will be less downtime due to equipment breakdown, and there will also be improved employee retention.

These in turn improve the farm’s financial performance, which then increases shareholder value, which, as noted above, is one of the responsibilities of the CEO.

CEO position application Clearly, leadership can be attained without the formality of the CEO title. The title alone will not get the desired results.

However, where there is motivation to formalize the position, the first thing is to develop a detailed position description. There can be challenges in situations where there are partners (husband/wife; brothers) involved. Who should be the CEO? How will the decision be made?

When there are multiple partners involved, a specific and/or limited role that best represents the needs of the farm is one option. Or there could be a rotation where one partner is CEO for a couple of years, with another partner then assuming the responsibilities for a term. Often, people will decide they don’t want to take on the position as it will require, depending on the description, some change in what they do on a day-today basis; in other words, less time “in the field.”

The CEO function can also be effective in succession planning. A senior family member can take on the CEO position and transfer managerial and operational duties to the incoming generation. This provides opportunity for the next generation to assume some responsibility and autonomy. It also creates a structure that can endure through the full transition when the senior member fully retires.

There are courses or workshops that provide instruction and training in leadership. These may be a useful first step in a longer-term plan to develop the CEO position on a farm. CG Terry Betker is a farm management consultant based in Winnipeg, Man. He can be reached at 204-782-8200 or terry.betker@backswath.com.

September 2015

By Richard Kamchen

CropsGuide

choice sampling Some of your neighbours have stopped soil sampling.

Others are sampling more than ever. Who’s right? n any year, at most 10 per cent of the fields are soil sampled,” says Tom Jensen, a director in the North American program of the International Plant Nutrition Institute.

“Some people say 20 per cent of farmers do some soil testing, but they may only do it every couple to three years.”

Farm consolidation is one factor that’s leading to the decline. Soil sampling can be a prohibitively time-consuming procedure for 10,000-acre farms, and these operators may opt instead for a standard fertilizer recommendation for each crop type, rather than each field. Nutrient rates are also adjusted based on target yields and what each crop is expected to remove.

“We’ve seen a decrease in the amount of soil sampling,” Jensen says. “A lot of our farms have shifted over to what I would call yield-based removal replacement, with a lot of experience from their local area thrown in.”

“ Making sure you have enough nutrients to reach your yield potential is a much larger benefit.” — Don Flaten, U of M But it isn’t the same story on every farm. On precision farms, in particular, growers are actually doing more soil sampling than they used to, Jensen points out. They’re dividing their fields into sub-fields based on soil management zones derived from data gathered from multi-year satellite images, yield monitor maps, and other digital information.

“We have some fields that are being sampled more intensively and more regularly than they ever were,” says Jensen.

Even so, some farmers continue using the same blend at the same rate every year, notes Jeff Schoenau, soil scientist at the University of Saskatchewan.

September 2015

“They may be missing out,” Schoenau says.

“There are opportunities to make more efficient use of the fertilizer dollars that they’re spending by allocating their fertilizer to where it could be put to best use in different fields, or even in different parts of the same field.”

“Most of our farmers don’t overfertilize, but they may misfertilize sometimes, and overfertilize in one part of their field and underfertilize in another,” agrees Jensen. “On average they’re doing a good job, but with precision agriculture, they can do some fine tuning and adjust those rates to do a little better job.”

The best combination of rate, time, placement and source of fertilizer can vary from farm to farm and from field to field, Jensen says. He agrees too that it can even vary between different parts of a single field.

Don Flaten, a nutrient management specialist at the University of Manitoba’s soil science department, also believes soil testing is underutilized.

“There are a lot of farmers who are soil testing in some years and on some fields, but there are very few farmers who soil test every field every year,” Flaten says.

Even though soil testing is not a perfect, standalone way to determine fertilizer recommendations, it’s a very important tool that could and should be used more widely, Flaten says. “Expanded use of soil testing to every field and every year could certainly help to refine our nutrient management practices.”

Soil testing is a valuable investment and its cost is more than offset through higher yields and lower fertilizer bills, Flaten argues.

Schoenau says it will pay off. “Knowledge is power in terms of making more informed decisions regarding input use like fertilizer.”

But Jensen notes his institute’s research reveals the U.S. is ahead of Canada when it comes to embracing soil testing, which he links to its greater

Continued on page 40

country-guide.ca 39

CropsGuide Continued from page 39 adoption rate of precision farming and resulting increased sampling. The highest rate of adoption is in the U.S. Midwest for corn and soybean acres.

“When you get into the small grains cereals — lower yields, generally lower net returns — there’s less need or desire to use precision farming and more soil sampling,” Jensen says.

Farmers in Canada, he predicts, are unlikely to catch up. With limited heat units and rarely adequate precipitation in all three provinces at the same time, the Prairies — the northern fringe of North American agriculture — just don’t have the same yield potential as do areas to the south.

Jensen also believes more farm consolidation is on its way, resulting in even less soil sampling on some farms.

But on smaller-size operations, he sees the move toward variable-rate precision farming growing.

“We’re in somewhat of an early adopter phase,” Jensen says. “It will become a significant part of a lot of farm operations.”

The next generation of agriculture school grads could well be influential in making that happen, Jensen adds.

“We certainly encourage our students to use this as one of the tools in a nutrient management crop nutrition program,” adds Flaten. “I would hope that the majority of our graduating students would be making very good use of precision farming and associated increases in soil sampling.”

Fertilizer benefits Soil testing allows farmers to observe trends in their fields, Flaten says. Long-term monitoring of a given field helps them identify whether their soil is experiencing decreasing mineral nutrient fertility, as well as variability.

Soil’s ability to supply nutrients can vary a great deal, depending on type of soil, field management, crops produced, growing conditions and environmental conditions after harvest.

“Different conditions can make substantial differences in the amount of leftover nitrogen that’s in the soil from one year to the next,” Flaten points out. “To get the most out of a soil-testing program, a regular historical record should be developed for each field on an annual basis.”

Flaten says he’s at least as concerned about the potential to lose yield due to nutrient deficiency as he is about spending more on fertilizer than what’s required.

“The gain from making sure that you have enough nutrients to reach your yield potential is a much larger financial benefit than the cost of overfertilizing,” Flaten says.

40 country-guide.ca

Soil testing leads to more reliable, accurate fertilizer recommendations that more closely match the actual amount of nutrients that are required by plants, agrees Schoenau. “There’s certainly some potential gains to be realized. One of the challenges we have here in Western Canada is the variability in the growing season from year to year, and that very much influences the crop demand for the added nutrient,” he says. “So one of the big challenges in fertilizer recommendations is coming up with what a person feels is a realistic target yield or anticipated yield and therefore crop nutrient demand. And it can change so much on the Prairies, as we swing from wet years to dry years.”

Soil sampling not only provides economic and agronomic benefits, but environmental ones as well.

“You don’t want to apply more fertilizer nutrients than what the crop needs because there is the potential for the excess to be lost or wasted. And if nutrient gets lost, it can get lost to the air as a gas or potentially enter into water, and that poses environmental concerns,” Schoenau says.

Most sampling occurs following harvest after soils have cooled. Sampling too early, for instance at the end of August or early September, could result in a poor representation as rains and warm temperatures can increase levels of available nutrients.

“Toward the end of September and into early October is a good time for soil sampling, and you get a pretty good idea of what the crop will have available in spring,” Schoenau says. But there may be changes if winter snowfall is very high and spring conditions are saturated, particularly with nitrogen prior to the actual seeding period. “So some people will actually do a check in the spring just to see if things have changed much.”

Flaten adds cold Prairie winters usually mean the risk of overwinter nitrogen loss is much less than in warmer and more humid parts of Canada and the U.S. “Some exceptions apply, (such as) fields or areas of fields that are prone to substantial flooding in early spring, where residual nitrate that’s present in the fall may be lost by denitrification or leaching before the crop is planted,” Flaten says.

The other advantage to fall sampling versus spring is easy sampling down to two feet in unfrozen soil, as well as sufficient time for soil sampling, analyses, and recommendations to be completed and sent to producers. Also, farmers are able to complete their fertilizer purchases and deliveries well before planting.

“As a result,” Flaten says, “fall sampling is widely recommended across all three Prairie provinces, even though it’s not recommended in Ontario, Quebec or Atlantic Canada.” CG

September 2015

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CropsGuide

By Gord Gilmour, CG Associate Editor

grow your own As the cost-price squeeze reasserts itself, those old ideas about producing your own nutrients might become new again —- which means the organic industry might have a thing or two to teach us ear Oxbow, Sask., organic producer Ian Cushon spends a lot of time and energy trying to produce the key building block for plant life — his own nitrogen — because unlike most growers, Cushon can’t just spread some fertilizer and be done with it. If he wants to play the organic game and capture those market premiums, he must abide by the rules that say chemical fertilizers aren’t allowed.

“ It’s definitely real,” Cushon says. “The challenge is quantifying it and determining what the economic advantage is.”

To Cushon, that means adopting some of the strategies that our great-grandparents would have been very familiar with, things like growing and then plowing down “green manure” crops, or planting nitrogen-fixing crops either along with or after more traditional grain crops.

These are strategies that he has been able to fit to his own farm. But does he think they might fit the larger grain industry as a whole? We asked him.

“It’s definitely something we have to work at,” Cushon responds. “I think these strategies make 42 country-guide.ca

sense for us, and some of them might make sense on non-organic farms, but those farmers are going to have to look pretty hard at it and make that call themselves. Some of them, I think, would be really difficult to justify without organic premiums.”

Despite that hard reality, non-organic growers are starting to kick the tires of some organic techniques, according to one researcher at the University of Manitoba. Martin Entz teaches natural systems agriculture and is a well-regarded researcher into natural techniques to optimize crop production.

He’s been seeing scores of farmers at recent field days, including some fresh faces that haven’t been part of his traditional audience.

“A number of these farmers were conventional farmers... people who I’d never seen before,” Entz says. He’s excited that the message seems to be creeping outside of its traditional audience, and he confirms the most likely reason for this shift is their increasing anxiety about an extended run of lower grain prices that will bring the concept of cost-containment once again to the forefront of farm thinking.

“It’s not really clear what the market and grain prices are going to do over the long term,” Entz says. “That may be why we see more conventional farmers coming.”

The first and most obvious way for growers to begin producing some of their own nitrogen is to incorporate a grain legume, such as peas, lentils or Continued on page 44 September 2015

SOIL CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF CANADA CONSEIL CANADIEN DE CONSERVATION DES SOLS SOIL CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF CANADA CONSEIL CANADIEN DE CONSERVATION DES SOLS

T

he Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC), established in 1987 has a successful history as the face and voice of soil conservation in Canada. The SCCC has created a broad network of stakeholders with interest in the agricultural landscape that provides a strong national base to advocate for and take actions on soil conservation and health in Canada.

In order to maintain a healthy organization that provides value to all its stakeholders the SCCC has undertaken a review of what we do and how we do it. We will play a stronger role in bringing governments, private industry, individuals and non-government organizations together to discuss current issues and solutions pertaining to soil conservation and health and sustaining the agricultural landscape. We will also continue to help stakeholders disseminate information and technology that supports sustainable land management practices and production systems.

Going forward, the key challenge for SCCC will be to bring national leadership to soil conservation and health. We believe it is critical that soil management and agricultural production systems are used in all regions of Canada to ensure

The face and voice of soil conservation in Canada Le visage et la voix de la conservation des sols au Canada the sustainability of our soil resources for future generations. SCCC’s network of members and partners provides a unique opportunity to understand the national and regional challenges and issues of soil conservation and health across the country and represent them to decision makers in government and industry. Conversely, that network can be utilized to disseminate information and solutions back to producers, conservation practitioners and others working on the agricultural landscape.

SCCC’s national and global network of partners was key to the success of the 6th World Congress of Conservation Agriculture (WCCA). SCCC and our partners hosted this event in 2014 which attracted over 400 people from 49 countries including United States, Australia, India, South Africa, Brazil, Tunisia and Ethiopia. It was an exceptional opportunity to showcase Canada as a world leader in the adoption of sustainable practices, such as direct seeding, science, innovation and high quality agricultural production and to learn from others around the world.

The upcoming Summit on Canadian Soil Health is another example of how the Council will play a leading role in advocating for soil conservation

and health. This SCCC hosted event will be held in conjunction with GrowCanada in December 2015 and will bring leaders in Canadian agriculture together to discuss a variety of issues of importance to the industry. SCCC will use this opportunity to highlight soil conservation and health as key issues in the future of Canadian agriculture.

The Summit will open with a luncheon and keynote address by Dr. David Montgomery, University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Montgomery is author of the best seller “Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations”. He will speak about the soil use and abuse from ancient times to present day and how we can avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

In the afternoon sessions presentations and discussions will lead to identifying current key issues of soil conservation and health in Canada. The summit will conclude with a “Call to Action” on how we can respond to today’s challenges to our soil resource. For more information visit us at www.soilcc.ca.

The legacy and vision continues.

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Tuesday, December 1ST, 2015 11:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Calgary, Alberta DETAILS AND REGISTRATION AVAILABLE SOON!

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CropsGuide Not just N Animal manure should be treated more like a valuable resource and less like a liability to be quickly and quietly disposed of, says Martin Entz, University of Manitoba researcher.

In particular, Entz is concerned about phosphorus, which is contained in particularly high levels in hog manure. For the past few years this nutrient-rich manure has been applied to maximum environmentally acceptable levels, usually without regard for what the crop actually needs.

“We talk an awful lot about N, and I think this gets missed,” Entz says. “Phosphorus we haven’t talked nearly as much about, and when we do, it’s in terms of the environment, not how we can actually get more use out of it.”

With more and better manure management equipment, and with manure composting seemingly really coming into its own, Entz says the time might be right to reconsider the applications, noting that for farmers with nearby livestock operations, this might represent some low-hanging fruit to be plucked when trying to optimize plant nutrient efficiency.

Says Entz: “If we do this, we could potentially reduce phosphorus fertilizer costs, and we won’t see soils loaded with the maximum amount of phosphorus they can take.”

More conventional farmers are starting to show up at Martin Entz’s field days on sustainable nutrient management.

44 country-guide.ca

September 2015

Continued from page 42 soybeans. This is a very important way to have at least one crop grow some of its own nitrogen and reduce costs, Entz says, stressing it’s also a relatively simple adjustment for a farm rather than a wholesale renovation of production practices.

“This is a good opportunity, and one that fits in with most farms,” Entz says.

“It’s certainly one we see a lot of farmers interested in exploring during times of high nitrogen prices.”

A more complex system may involve undersowing nitrogen-fixing crops or planting cover crops in the fall. These techniques are still very much in their modern infancy in Western Canada, though they are much more common in warmer and wetter growing areas elsewhere.

Entz says the real challenge for anyone wanting to try these strategies is to find a window where the cover crops will fit. For a fall crop, for example, you’ll need to have the preceding crop come off in good time so you have enough season to get sufficient growth to make it worth your while. You’ll also have to have enough available moisture to ensure crop establishment. If it works, though, it can be worth it.

“You can grow a significant amount of nitrogen, if you have enough time to get it planted and enough available moisture,” Entz says.

How much nitrogen? That depends on what you’re growing and where. Entz says a study by the University of Manitoba about 15 years ago found that locations throughout the Prairies returned between 10 and 60 pounds of nitrogen from cover crops, meaning there is some potential on the upper range to make this practice pay dividends.

“To make it economically interesting, I think you’d need to hit at least around that 30-pound mark,” Entz says.

Ian Cushon says he’s had success with both techniques on their farm, and he confirms selecting the appropriate crop to fill this role is an ongoing challenge, one he continues to refine. His latest test subject is fababeans.

“Last year I just planted a small plot in the garden in mid-August to see how they would do over that six-week period, and they performed quite well I thought,” Cushon says. “I may try them on a larger scale this fall, but I’m still not entirely convinced — they need a fair bit September 2015

country-guide.ca xx

Soil fertility of water and I think they might be better suited to the northern Grain Belt.”

Cushon says there are a number of potential crops that growers can try, however, and within that list there may be a winner for an individual farm. For example, he says he has either personally used or knows growers who have used forage peas and Indian Head lentils, and he is also familiar with growers and researchers who have experimented with various vetches, a family of small flowering legumes that is typically undersown.

None of these options have proven to be a “onesize-fits-all solution,” something Cushon said highlights the need for more basic agronomic research in the area, such as that being undertaken by Entz and his team.

“They’ve done a lot of great work, and I think we need to keep looking at this pretty closely,” Cushon says.

It may be a mistake to look at these techniques entirely in the light of nitrogen production, however, since there’s also a lot of evidence that keeping plant material growing on agricultural lands throughout the growing season is good for the soil. It keeps organisms like fungi and mycorhhyza fed, happy and active, in return for which they help improve the efficiency of the crop’s nitrogen uptake.

“The soils are able to cycle nutrients more efficiently, and they let the plants use that nitrogen more efficiently. There’s definitely a benefit from having healthier soil overall,” Entz says.

Entz says the technique has become known as carbon fertilization, because it provides the sustenance to the soil microbes in the form of carbon, and there is definitely a crop response that’s observable and measurable. Ian Cushon says he’s seen it himself on his farm, and it’s one of the reasons he spends his time and energy on this challenge.

“It’s definitely real, but I suppose the challenge is quantifying it and determining what the economic advantage is, especially for non-organic farmers who want to try some of these things,” Cushon says.

That’s important because the system might pay dividends, but it’s not going to be free to implement.

Cushon ballparks sowing a fall cover crop at around $50 an acre, when the cost of the seed and the fuel, time, and wear and tear on equipment are figured in.

“I don’t know if you could make it pay if you were strictly looking at the amount of nitrogen you could fix in the soil,” Cushon says, noting that in his mind it’s the combination of the nitrogen and the soil health benefits that put the system over the top. CG

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September 2015

country-guide.ca 45

CropsGuide

By Gord Leathers

going underground Soil is far more than just dirt. Are you nurturing the organisms that help it grow great crops? warm, early-July breeze blew through a wheat field in northeastern Saskatchewan, not far from Nipawin. The heads had just emerged and were still green, but the field was taking on that fuzzy look that you typically get with a fresh, bearded cereal.

This field was unusual, however, because even though you couldn’t see it, red clover was sown under the wheat, so there were actually two crops occupying the same space: wheat for harvest this year and seed clover for next.

It’s a stratgey that pays off with more biodiversity above the soil surface, and also underneath it.

Soil ecology is still on the frontier of science. We know quite a bit about what soil does, based on our observations above the ground and our knowledge of a few simple elements: nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and sulphur. But soil itself isn’t simple and we’re starting to understand we have to look at it not as a simple workbench but as a highly complex factory.

“It’s a very, very diverse ecosystem — perhaps the most diverse ecosystem on Earth,” says University of Saskatchewan soil scientist Jim Germida. “Of course, all those micro-organisms are doing lots of different things in terms of ecosystem services, everything from cycling nutrients through the system and helping clean water to helping plants grow.”

The sheer number of different organisms living in a healthy patch of Prairie soil is staggering. If you count the number of stars that you’ll see on one of those clear western nights where even the edges of the Milky Way are visible as a creamy band down the centre of the sky, that’s about equal to the number of different kinds of organisms living in one teaspoon of that soil.

That’s a lot of living things doing a lot of work within a very small space. This kind of diversity and the genetic variability within their populations is called biodiversity, and it’s essential to the proper functioning of any ecosystem.

In 2010, the European Commission published a major report on soil biodiversity, classifying the work of soil organisms into three main functions.

The first are the chemical engineers, made up of organisms that decompose dead tissue within the soil and transform it into the nutrient fuel that drives the system. The second are the soil regulators, including the predators and grazers that manage the populations of other soil organisms. These include our soil 46 country-guide.ca

borne pests and diseases. The third, then, are the ecosystem engineers, the burrowers and tunnelers that move soil particles around and develop the pore spaces that make water and air infiltration possible.

What this means is that in the course of a year, the soil organisms within the area of a soccer field will process material equal to the weight of 25 small cars. This sort of biological activity is important to soil ecology and has a profound effect on agriculture.

But then, agriculture also has an equally profound effect on soil, points out Dr. Tandra Fraser of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative based out of Colorado State University.

Monocultures not only reduce biodiversity above ground, they also reduce biodiversity underneath it, Fraser explains. “Then this leads to a number of problems. Soil biota and microbes contribute to the maintenance of soil structure, they contribute to the hydrological process and to nutrient cycling which, in the end, is related to food production.”

Before the Green Revolution, farmers practised diverse crop rotations. Not only did they change fields from one annual to another, they rotated from annuals to perennials. Perennials keep roots in the ground year round for three or more seasons, conditioning the soil and energizing the soil biota. Since most farms were mixed, sections of land were also used for forage for livestock and the animal manure was used as fertilizer. Above the topsoil they had biodiversity over time and this helped maintain biodiversity below ground as well.

The development of farm chemistry and machinery changed all that. It may be said that the Green Revolution created today’s specialized agribusiness and our rotations of annual crops. Livestock farmers became more specialized as well, and there was a separation of animals from the plants. There was no longer any need to rotate to perennials, and animal manure was no longer available to most crop farmers.

This is the system we’ve been working under for multiple generations and it has its quirks. But the news here isn’t all bad either.

One benefit of farm chemistry is the emergence of zero-till agriculture, where leftover crop residue helps to keep topsoil in place. The remaining roots retain moisture in the ground and provide a source of organic matter, which helps explain why we’ve seen soil condition improve under a zero-till regime.

“The soil organic matter helps with stabilization of the soil,” Fraser says. “It provides the carbon source September 2015

farm sustainability

“ It’s a very, very diverse ecosystem, perhaps the most diverse ecosystem on Earth.”

— Jim Germida, U of S

for the soil micro-organisms. On top of that you need nutrient balance between the carbon, the nitrogen and the phosphorus and the other nutrients for uptake. The reduced tillage since the ’80s has been huge.”

As we change land use from a natural grassland ecosystem into a more intensely cultivated system, however, we need to understand that we are reduceing soil biodiversity, Fraser says, and we really need to learn more about the ecology of living soil, such as knowing what organisms are in there and what they do in a healthy system.

This is the problem. We really don’t know that much about soil biology and biodiversity. Most soil organisms are microscopic and they live in a dark world that’s very difficult to observe first hand.

“The thing that has changed in more recent time is the fact that we have new tools to help us study biodiversity,” Germida says. “Now we’re talking about using molecular tools where we can extract the DNA from soil or from the roots and we can start studying the microbial communities that are there. We can think about it as a sort of meta-genome of all these living organisms and how they work in concert to do these different beneficial things, just like we have the human microbiome. We have all these micro-organisms living on and in us, and these things are very beneficial and help us be who and what we are.”

If this is the same with soil, then we have a lot to learn about how we can use the subtle nuances of its biology to help grow food. Germida begins by saying we need some optimal equilibrium of different organisms. The right mix makes the whole September 2015

system more resilient. For example, if moisture levels or the pH changes, one group of microbes may fail but another can step in to continue their work. This can involve any number of things such as mineralizing organic nutrients so plants can use them, decontaminating pollutants, or even controlling certain plant diseases.

Take-all is the Pacific Northwest name for a fungal disease that affects wheat along the west coast. It lives in the soil, infects the plant through the roots, and may infect its neighbours. It affects the conductive tissue and restricts water uptake. Too much of it in the soil, however, provokes an interesting reaction.

“We have this thing called Take-all decline and as the pathogen infects the plant, the plant starts to send out chemical signals that stimulate a certain group of bacteria in the soil,” Germida says. “Those bacteria get very abundant and they actually produce antibiotics against the pathogen and the incidence of disease declines after a period of time.”

In other words, nature doesn’t like an overabundance of pathogens either. Eliminating their predators may have made our crops more vulnerable, but by understanding the relationships between soil chemical engineers, soil regulators and soil ecosystem engineers, we may be able to create a food production system that is more sustainable and that makes economic sense as well.

“I grew up on a conventional farm and I understand it from an economic point of view,” Fraser says. “If farmers are not making money or if it’s going to be a huge expense to them they’re probably not going to change their management strategies.” CG country-guide.ca 47

CropsGuide

By Gord Leathers

phantom nutrients Micronutrients are the acid test of crop fertility.

Some believe in them. Others just don’t or the most part, our Prairie soils aren’t short of micronutrients. Deficiencies are rare, and they are also difficult to pin down, in part because such shortages are usually associated with highly localized soil conditions and because some of these conditions change with varying moisture or pH levels. As well, since these micronutrients are only needed in tiny quantities, most soil tests don’t even look for them.

“I always like to say they’re a little bit ghostly in nature,” says University of Saskatchewan soil scientist Jeff Schoenau. “They’ll appear and manifest themselves, and then environmental conditions change and they disappear.”

The ghostly nature of micronutrient shortages breeds a typical “out of sight, out of mind” mentality, which is part of the reason why soil tests rarely look for them. Soil tests are based on macronutrients like nitrogen, the cornerstone of protein, or phosphorus, part of the framework of DNA. The contributions these elements make are well understood, and we know they’re needed in large quantities to make tissue and to set seed.

So our soil tests revolve around the macronutrients. But the micronutrients are quite different.

“They’re the nutrients that plants require in very small quantities, and this has nothing to do with the amount in the soil or even the amount that the plant will take up. It’s just the amount that’s required — and that’s very small,” says Don Flaten of the University of Manitoba. “For example, iron is a micronutrient required in very small amounts but in real life it’s the most abundant nutrient in the earth’s crust.”

Even so, that small amount of iron is crucial.

It’s an important component of cytochromes, the proteins in the cell that act as electron carriers in the transport chain. It’s also a tiny part of many of the enzymes that drive the chemical reactions within the cell, so a shortage of iron means a weakened plant that may not survive.

There is a whole host of other micronutrients that plants can’t do without, but since they’re present in sufficient quantities there’s really no concern about shortages. Nickel is a classic example.

The really important micronutrients include molybdenum, boron, chlorine, copper, zinc, manganese and iron. “There’s a category that we can classify as the micronutrient metals, things like copper, zinc, manganese and iron,” Schoenau says. “They play an important role in electron transport and enzyme activation in the plant.”

48 country-guide.ca

Enzymes are proteins that work as catalysts, and they’re absolutely essential to the chemical workings of living things. A catalyst initiates a chemical reaction and then disconnects itself to look for another set of molecules to begin the reaction all over again.

It’s sort of like a railway locomotive.

After a fashion, a train is like a long-chain molecule, assembled from a collection of smaller particles called freight cars. Once the train is assembled, the locomotives pull it to another location where it’s broken into smaller units. Some of it is reassembled into another train while other cars are sent to a final destination where their cargo is delivered.

Even though the locomotive is only a small part of the train, none of the assembly, hauling or switching happens without it. At the end of it all, the locomotive will disconnect from the train and then couple to another to start the process over again. In other words, the locomotive may be used to pull and process several trains, much the same as an enzyme which will pop out of the reaction after completion, find another molecule and start the process over again.

If the locomotive is the enzyme, then the various micronutrients are like the couplers that fasten the engine to the train. Even though it’s a tiny, almost insignificant part of the whole system, the locomotives still can’t pull a train without them. In the micro world of biochemistry, the iron, copper or boron in that enzyme is just that crucial, and the whole system would break down without it. And just like a coupler failure on a train, a shortage of micronutrients is relatively rare.

“Micronutrient deficiencies can occur but they tend to be fairly isolated and patchy within one field.

It’s rare to find an entire field deficient in a micronutrient,” Schoenau says. “Instead they tend to occur in localized areas within a field, maybe in a gravel lens or a highly eroded knoll with low organic matter where the C horizon has been exposed.”

Often these shortages are geographic. These deficiencies are rare in the southern Prairies but they sometimes do occur in the northern fringe where the land was once under boreal forest. If the farm is located on some of those sandy grey soils, the coarse texture and low organic matter (i.e. below two per cent) can be a factor. Oddly enough, high organic matter above 30 per cent may also contribute, so those high-peat soils may cause some trouble. Soil temperature, pH and moisture content may also influence availability.

“And that would be the same for all the microSeptember 2015

soil fertility nutrients. Not only are they very sensitive to geographic variability, but also to time or temporal variability,” Flaten says.

“Environmental conditions play a huge role. Iron and manganese in particular are very sensitive to soil temperature, flooding stress and that sort of thing.”

It also depends on the crop type.

Copper deficiency is probably one of the most frequent micronutrient problems in crops especially on sandy soils or on highly organic peat soils. Copper deficiency in wheat does happen and farmers should watch for that distinctive pig tailing along the leaves where the tips die off and twist leaving a brown frond instead of a healthy green leaf.

Manganese deficiencies often show up in the same kinds of soils, and may be seen with a pale green or yellowing in legume crops. It may also be seen as a grey speckling in oats. Zinc deficiency is most likely to show up in corn and may be seen as light yellow bands on the youngest leaves.

“Boron is a nutrient that’s sometimes deficient in canola,” Flaten says. “But the deficiency is extremely rare and I am aware of only one case in Manitoba and one case in Sask­a tch­e wan where a boron deficiency has been diagnosed with authority.”

Flaten also adds that chlorine deficiencies may show up in cereal crops, but this too is dependent on the variety.

Some strains will respond to chloride fertilizers while others grown side by side will have no response at all.

With so many complicating factors, it’s no wonder that micronutrient problems can fly below the radar. It takes a lot of experience, observation and field notes from both farmers and agronomists.

Still, such things are site specific, so these spots can probably be teased out over time. There is also a number of ways to narrow down a diagnosis.

“The best approach to diagnosis is to use a multiple evidence approach,” Schoenau says. “You use a soil test, a tissue test, a visual inspection and, if you suspect a micronutrient deficiency, you may try a test strip with a micronutrient across a field area just to see if there is any response.”

There are some places that might recommend a more proactive approach with a micronutrient seed treatment.

This is relatively new, however, and may require some verification before science can really say that it works.

September 2015

“I know that in some parts of the world they have worked reasonably well, and if you have an acute deficiency maybe they have some potential,” Flaten says. “In a number of cases, I think that micronutrient-based seed treatments are being recommended for soils where micronutrient supply is sufficient.”

“The other time micronutrient deficiencies may show up is when you’re

shooting for the top end of the yield curve, and you’re trying to squeeze every last bushel out so you’ve got your macro nutrients and other inputs applied to overcome any limitations,” Schoenau says. “Some growers will put on a micro-nutrient as a bit of insurance and there may not be a response, but they’ve got that there just in case. Some growers have that kind of philosophy.” CG

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CropsGuide

By Anne Cote

their sights are on fusarium This major U of M lab program hopes to stop fusarium before it starts rotecting crops from the ravages of fusarium is a never-ending job for investigators like Dr. Dilantha Fernando and his staff at the University of Manitoba.

The most common species of the pathogen is fusarium graminearum, commonly known as fusarium head blight (FHB) or fusarium scab. It’s a cereal crop pathogen that has become the most aggressive and prevalent species in both wheat and barley.

Fusarium not only destroys the yield in cereal crops and corn, it produces a toxin (i.e. mycotoxin) that is harmful to both humans and animals if excess mycotoxin in food or feed is ingested. Fernando says this poses a serious health problem, particularly in developing countries where corn is a staple of the daily diet and food scarcity means people may not throw away infected cobs, opting to simply cut out the damaged areas they can see. Unfortunately this isn’t always effective, since any undetected mycotoxin still clinging to the cereal has the capacity to contribute to illness.

“ It is extremely urgent,” Fernando says.

“The pathogen is a little bit ahead of us all the time... it keeps changing.”

Fernando and his colleagues have taken on the challenge of developing wheat varieties that have genetic resistance to the pathogen. A fusarium-resistant wheat variety will slow the spread of the pathogen, which can linger on stubble debris in the soil for several years. It will also reduce the need for repeated fungicide applications while improving crop quality.

Fernando, professor of plant pathology at U of M, says the genetic work being done there is essential in the race to control the spread of fusarium in Canada and to maintain Canada’s status as an exporter of wheat and barley globally.

“I think it is extremely urgent, mainly because the pathogen is a little bit ahead of us all the time,” Fernando says. “It keeps changing. The type of toxin it produces is changing. So, now the ones we’re expe50 country-guide.ca

riencing are a little bit more potent, more aggressive, and at times causing more disease.

“It seems like they know what we are doing and they are just one step ahead of us,” Fernando adds.

“We always see something new happening.”

That means the pressure is on in the small lab where Fernando and the graduate and undergraduate students under his supervision study the DNA of wheat and fusarium strains in their quest to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the host plants and the pathogen.

The lab itself is different from most Canadian research labs because of the number of people working there. “Normally it’s one PhD student and one master’s student,” Fernando says. But there are 15 people working in the University of Manitoba lab —three master’s students, five PhD students, four post-doctoral scientists and a technician. And, during the summer months, three undergraduate students are also hired.

One of their current tasks is to identify a marker in a specific gene which, when transferred to an existing wheat variety, will create a plant with fusarium resistance without diminishing yield or other beneficial characteristics previously developed in Prairie wheat and barley over time.

The challenge of finding a naturally occurring resistance to fusarium is multi-faceted.

It’s not a straightforward one-gene problem, Fernando says. Transferring one gene may seem like a quick fix but along with fusarium resistance there’s a chance that less desirable traits like dwarfism (smaller plants) or lodging (weak stems) will show up as well. “In addition,” he adds, “single gene resistance to fusarium is not easy to find.”

A good way to understand the challenge is to look at television cable bundling. When you purchase a cable package you get the channels you want, but you also get some you don’t want your kids watching, so you have to do some extra work to keep those channels turned off.

According to Fernando, who has degrees in both genetics and microbiology with a special interest in genetic resistance, the best method for identifying a gene with fusarium resistance, while blocking the transfer of undesirable traits, is marker-assisted selection. This is a long process that can take many years. It requires meticulous attention to detail in the September 2015

plant health

Photo: Janet Lewis/CIMMYT

Researcher Dilantha Fernando says the goal is to introduce genetic resistance to fusarium and minimize the need for fungicides. field, the greenhouse and the lab in order to produce viable results.

Fernando says researchers have a variety of sophisticated genetic protocols at their disposal to help them in their quest for a genetic solution to reducing fusarium. But, he adds, that’s another science story.

Today researchers are working at finding a minor gene with fusarium resistance. It’s an important aspect of genetic resistance research because minor genes pose the biggest challenge to the pathogen.

They confuse it and slow its rate of adaptation providing a longer-lasting result.

Although it takes longer to develop a plant with a high level of fusarium resistance using markerassisted selection and crossbreeding, once it’s there, it’s established and will provide long-term protection.

In comparison, using a single-gene approach to develop fusarium resistance in plants is a much simpler process. In this process, the whole gene is transferred without isolating the traits within it through DNA analysis. Fernando called it a “quick fix” because the desired results can be obtained relatively quickly. But the results can be overturned just as quickly if the pathogen adapts to a new host, so it may not be long before the farmer is forced to increase the number of fungicide applications in order to maintain crop quality and yield.

Reducing the incidence of fusarium through transgenic plant breeding provides environmental benefits as well as ensuring good-quality crops. “(We’re) trying to stay away from fungicides by putting good genetics into the crop, finding solutions September 2015

in a very meaningful way. Not particularly saying that we’re not applying anything, but our whole goal is to remove the fungicides from the equation with good genetics if possible… Even if you apply fungicides you still need good genetics,” Fernando says.

According to Fernando, putting fungicides on a crop that is highly susceptible to a disease is a waste of money. Good genetics with an effective fungicide is the best solution because both the frequency and cost of spraying are reduced, he said.

Not all the research occurs in the lab. PhD student Chami Amarasinghe is also working in the greenhouse identifying which fusarium graminearum strains cause the most damage to different wheat varieties. She infects different varieties of wheat with different strains of F. graminearum to try and identify the various types of mycotoxins they can produce. Her goal is to sort out which genes produce the most virulent strains of the pathogen.

Amarasinghe is also working towards identifying what other fusarium strains not yet seen in Canada might also be able to infect out wheat.

That portion of Armarasinghe’s research helps protect Canadian wheat from fusarium epidemics caused by spores hitchhiking to Canada on imports.

She has received F. graminearum strains from 12 other countries including Germany, China, U.K., Switzerland, France, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Poland, and she is studying their effect on Canadian wheat varieties.

Armarasinghe has been working on the FHB pathogen and its toxin biosyntheses pathways since she came to Winnipeg from Sri Lanka in 2009. CG country-guide.ca 51

CropsGuide

By Ellen Goodman, Cigi

foundation work Today we know more about how to make the pulse industry grow, thanks to a decade of Cigi research t was 10 years ago that the Canadian International Grains Institute launched its pulseprocessing and specialty milling facility, and since then, Cigi’s pulse activity on behalf of the Canadian industry has leapt ahead.

“There was a need in Canada to add value to pulses by processing domestically,” says Peter Frohlich, project manager for pulses and special crops at Cigi. “Initially, Cigi worked with Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and Manitoba Pulse Growers to develop a project which started with assessing quality and with developing methods for dehulling and splitting pulses effectively and efficiently.”

The project, called Enhancing Markets for Canadian Pulses Through Secondary Processing and Value Added Research, was designed to develop and transfer knowledge to the industry and set up a program at Cigi to provide ongoing support to the Canadian pulse value chain.

Cigi worked closely with the Canadian pulse industry and organizations including Pulse Canada which provided direction on research based on industry activity, Frohlich says. Dehulling and splitting crops such as peas and lentils evolved into milling pulses and adding the resulting flour to food products.

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“It was basic feasibility work, at the start of the project, to see how much flour could be added to a wheat-based processed food product to retain quality and enhance nutrition,” Frohlich says. “The idea was that pulses are healthy and their use as ingredients would increase consumption and in the

September 2015

CIGI long run increase returns to producers and open up new markets for Canadian pulses.”

This early work generated information such as the inclusion of pulse flour in pasta at 30 per cent as the optimum level to maintain colour, flavour and texture. These results also laid the foundation for Cigi’s four-year Pulse Milling and Utilization Project in 2010, Frohlich says. While pulse area work continued to focus on pulse quality and new varieties, the new project investigated the effects of milling methods on functionality of pulse flours as ingredients in food product applications such as baked goods, Asian noodles, extruded snacks and batter-coated products.

“ The idea was that pulses are healthy, and their use as ingredients would increase consumption and in the long run increase returns to producers and open up new markets for Canadian pulses.”

— Peter Frohlich, Cigi

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Over the past several years, pulse activity has included testing and evaluation on behalf of pulse breeders, farmers Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers and processors. Project work has been directed by an industry10901A-CFM-5Reasons-QRTPage-CountryGuide.indd 1 4/2/14 11:59 AM advisory committee and funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Canada programs and grower organizations.

Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops.

Cigi also serves on the Prairie Grain Development CommitCommercialized products have been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory tee special crops subcommittee which makes recommendations systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and on new pulse varieties for registration. international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not Heather Maskus, project manager for Cigi pulse flour permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship. milling and food applications, agrees on the importance of industry collaboration which continues to grow. As manager ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that of the Pulse Milling and Utilization Project, Maskus is curconfer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Acceleron® seed treatment rently overseeing a followup project, Advancing Pulse Flour technology for canola contains the active ingredients difenoconazole, metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil Processing and Applications, which involves optimizing the and thiamethoxam. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for canola plus Vibrance® is a combination of two separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients difenoconazole, nutritional quality of food products made using pulse flours metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil, thiamethoxam, and sedaxane. Acceleron® seed treatment technology as ingredients through roller milling and other pre- and postfor corn (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination of four separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, and clothianidin. Acceleron® milling processing methods. seed treatment technology for corn (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually-registered Maskus says the project will place more emphasis on nutriproducts, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin and ipconazole. Acceleron® tion and on linking pulse applications in food with current seed treatment technology for corn with Poncho®/VoTivo™ (fungicides, insecticide and nematicide) is a combination of five separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients pulse nutrition research. metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, clothianidin and Bacillus firmus strain I-1582. Acceleron® seed treatment Maskus also notes that the Pulse Milling and Utilization technology for soybeans (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination of four separate individually registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin, metalaxyl and imidacloprid.

Project and other pulse work has helped build a foundation Acceleron® seed treatment technology for soybeans (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate of knowledge that Cigi has shared with industry and other individually registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin and metalaxyl. Acceleron and Design®, Acceleron®, DEKALB and Design®, DEKALB®, Genuity and Design®, Genuity®, researchers, both domestically and internationally. The activJumpStart®, RIB Complete and Design®, RIB Complete®, Roundup Ready 2 Technology and Design®, Roundup ity has contributed to a greater awareness of the potential of Ready 2 Yield®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup Transorb®, Roundup WeatherMAX®, Roundup®, SmartStax and pulses and has drawn increasing interest from industry, proDesign®, SmartStax®, Transorb®, VT Double PRO®, and VT Triple PRO® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Used under license. Vibrance® and Fortenza® are registered trademarks of a Syngenta group ducers, government and universities for testing or collaboracompany. LibertyLink® and the Water Droplet Design are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. Herculex® is tion on value-added projects. a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Used under license. Poncho® and Votivo™ are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

“Cigi’s pulse team has covered a lot of area in a short time, and now companies are approaching us more often to learn about food applications for pulses,” Maskus says. “Cigi’s pilot facilities and other technology staff have all helped to make this work possible. It’s been quite the evolution.” CG September 2015

country-guide.ca 53

business

Our toughest marketing challenge Farmers are losing respect. Now is the time to win it back,

By Gerald Pilger before the costs get even worse odney Dangerfield built a comic career on his signature line: “I don’t get no respect.” But for the agricultural industry, loss of respect is no laughing matter. The public perception of agriculture is steadily eroding.

Last fall, Harris Interactive asked 2,537 Americans to name the most prestigious occupations. As you might guess, doctors topped the list. Farming didn’t make the top 10. In fact, only 14 per cent of those surveyed felt farming has a great deal of prestige. And 22 per cent of the respondents felt farming had no prestige at all.

Not surprisingly, the younger the respondent, the lower the prestige score given for farming.

In March of last year, AAFC commissioned the Strategic Council to conduct focus groups to determine the Canadian public’s perception of the agrifood industry. Among the study’s findings: “… a relatively low level of awareness, particularly among urban dwellers, of the current state of the sector and its contribution to provincial, regional and the national economy.”

Canadians seemed somewhat more pessimistic than optimistic about agriculture. Reasons included concerns about GMOs, factory farms, perceived unsustainable or environmentally damaging farming practices, and declining interest in the industry.

Participants did not feel agriculture is innovative, and they felt there has been little change in the last 10 to 20 years.

The only good news is that participants expressed a real desire to learn more about agriculture and food.

Robert Saik, founder and CEO of Agri-Trend, warns: “We have a real problem. Traditionally, farmers were trusted like doctors and firefighters. Today, if you ask people if you trust farmers, they answer yes. But if you ask, do you trust agriculture, they say no. The public has a romanticized view of farming and only trust the image they have in their minds.

They do not trust the industry.”

According to Saik, there are a number of reasons for this disconnect. “Only 1.5 to two per cent of North Americans are farmers; the other 98 per cent are getting more removed.”

Saik believes social media is also leading the public to question the industry. Misinformation can spread rapidly and there are parties with vested interests that are using social media to sow seeds of doubt about the food sector. They are doing this for their own reasons, which can include their own gain.

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Farmers and the industry simply cannot counter these messages on social media. Saik points out that one of the most popular agricultural Twitter accounts has 67,000 followers. This number pales in comparison to organic proponent Whole Foods with 4.4 million followers.

Academics Review recently released its study of the marketing of organic foods entitled “Organic Marketing Report” (available at academicsreview.org) which found that food safety and health concerns are the primary drivers of organic sales and that without these, organic sector sales opportunities would be limited.

CEOs of organic companies routinely get quoted in news stories about food scares without anyone pointing out that the food scares drive their organic businesses, the review notes. “Some (organic execs) openly acknowledge that the industry should engage in fear-based marketing.”

There is no question companies are either implying or directly asserting there are food safety risks arising from conventional agricultural practices.

Saik suggests the A&W and Ben and Jerry’s ad campaigns prey on consumers’ fears of the food system.

Unfortunately, we are likely to see continued growth in such advertising. Academics Review estimates the combined annual budgets of anti-GMO and anti-pesticide advocacy groups promoting organics at over $2.5 billion.

With this much money questioning the quality and safety of our food and industry, is it any wonder trust in agriculture is diminishing?

What is being done?

The ag industry is waking up to the fact that modern farming and food-processing practices are under attack. Industry is responding with some very effective programming.

Ag in the Classroom (www.aitc-canada.ca) now reaches over a million students in Canada. It is industry funded and strives to provide agricultural awareness through the school system.

Farm and Food Care ( www.farmcarefoundation. ca) has taken the trust-in-food message out of the school to the general public. It is working to build public confidence in agriculture through direct presentations to audiences, through hosting special agricultural events, and with the publication and distribution of the booklet Real Dirt, a fact-based look at both conventional and organic production.

Farm and Food Care is also producing “Know September 2015

business

GMO,” a $1-million documentary that looks at the science behind GMOs and tackles the myths and misconceptions about genetically engineered crops (www.knowgmothemovie.com).

Agriculture More Than Ever (www.agriculturemore­ thanever.ca) is an industry initiative which offers actual participants in the farm and food sector a forum where they can tell their own stories.

What must farmers do?

“Farmers are guility of not arming themselves to talk about how they produce food,” Saik says.

Saik feels farmers do not know how to respond to criticism of the industry. Many farmers will simply ignore misinformation about farming and agriculture instead of responding to it. Instead, Saik says farmers need to use these moments as an opportunity to teach the person about farming.

To do this, Saik says a farmer needs to correct misinformation rather than blowing up.

Farmers also need to use the chances they get to explain why we use science in crop and livestock production.

And it is critical that farmers financially support the work that agricultural associations are doing to increase consumer awareness of farming and the agricultural industry.

Most importantly, Saik says farmers must advocate for the industry.

Saik has taken his own advice to heart and has become a leading advocate for farming: Earlier this year he produced a TedX talk entitled “Pushing Boundaries in Agriculture,” available on YouTube. It is an excellent resource for farmers wanting to equip themselves with facts and information to respond to attacks on our industry. CG

Nurse loves farmer Sarah Schultz is a city girl turned farmwife and mother. She started her blog www.nurselovesfarmer. com because “I was seeing a lot of concerns over how our food was raised and a lot of myths about agriculture regarding GMOs and pesticides.

“Consumers seem to put more faith and trust into celebrities like Dr. Oz and the Food Babe when it comes to nutrition and food production, instead of talking to the real experts in the agriculture industry,” Schultz says.

Schultz is worried. “Food activists can, will, and have changed agriculture policy already,” she says.

But at the same time, Schultz notes, “Consumers, especially the millennials and the young moms, want to know more about food production and farming. This is why I feel it is so important, perhaps now more than ever, for farmers to reach out to consumers to tell their farm-to-food stories and to answer consumers’ questions.”

“I would encourage farmers to be transparent and honest about what they do and why they do it on their farms. Find a common ground with consumers who have questions and sincerely listen to those questions and concerns. There are far more people in the “movable middle” who are skeptical of agriculture practices, but are open, willing and wanting to learn about what farmers do, than those of the activist mindset who already have their opinions formed and their minds likely won’t be changed.”

- Jen C., Ontario, 2014 AWC Delegate

y! . da ed to it er lim st s gi g i Re atin Se

“If it weren’t for the messages from some of the leaders I connected with, I wouldn’t have this clear vision nor the motivation to go after it. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

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country-guide.ca 55

Advancing Women Conference East / Country Guide 7” x 3.357” / Ontario Quote

business

Finding

the ‘wow’ factor

CNH managers speak candidly about the challenges of engineering an all-new machine from the ground up

By Scott Garvey, CG Machinery Editor

esigning a new piece of farm equipment and getting it market ready today is easier, thanks to technology.

But it’s also more complicated, thanks to… well… technology. The complexity built into modern machines is stunning and it continues to grow. In fact, from a machinery company’s perspective, it has to grow. Unless new designs offer farmers ever more efficiency, they won’t generate sizable sales numbers.

Even before the long process of development and testing can begin, company managers must establish that the brand will see a financial return for that investment. Any new machine has to appeal to buyers with chequebooks in their pockets. Getting that right is where the whole process kicks off.

When Case IH invited media to its Saskatoon training facility to introduce its newly designed 5 Series air carts earlier this summer, Country Guide spoke with the brand executives about what it takes to park a completely new machine in the showroom.

The Saskatoon assembly plant that builds CNH’s new air carts is building on its heritage as an early innovator in the dryland seeding industry, according to brand managers.

Photos: Scott Garvey

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“We do something we call CDPD, Customer Driven Product Development,” said Gord Engel, the brand’s seeding product manager. “We sit down with customer focus groups. We ask them things like what would you like to see different than what you’ve got today, and flesh out all those details. What can make this product better for them? With that you always find these little nuggets. Sometimes it’s not very apparent at the time, but something all of a sudden pops up. And we say wow, if we could do that it would give them that wow factor. Those are the types of things we’re looking for in the product definition.”

It would have been easy, however, to overshoot the market while focusing on that wow factor and adding features to the carts farmers might like but just aren’t willing to pay for. Deciding where that dividing line lies, it turns out, is no easy task.

“You have to balance it off; customers are looking for value,” Engel said. “You have to draw that line between reality and not hitting the mark at all.”

There were some must-haves, the focus groups told the 5 Series engineers. Topping the list were features that can help reduce input costs.

“Right now with the cost of inputs, everybody’s looking for something with section control,” Engel said. “That was one of the key things they were looking for, trying to save input costs there.”

Of course, knowing what customers want is one thing. Creating a machine capable of giving it to them is entirely another. Computer simulations contributed to shortening the total development time.

“From the initial concept to today, you’re looking around that four-year time frame,” said Engel. “Had we tried to do this 10 or 15 years ago, the time, for sure, would have been longer. We have a digital simulation group and it can do some amazing things with fluid dynamics. Looking at an air system, just with a computer model, it can determine where it’s going to go and how it’s going to react. I’m sure that knocked nine months to a year out of our timeline by using that kind of technology.

“Now you can predict what’s going to happen, build a model in a lab and validate it,” Engel said.

“Fifteen, 20 years ago we would build it, try it, stick it in the field and go yeah, that’s not working. Let’s try something else.”

Once the company settled on a prototype design, it turned back to those customer focus groups to see if it had created something that would get farmers to say, “I want that — and I’m willing to pay for it.”

But rather than head out to the field to take a look September 2015

business

Joe Michaels is senior director of Case IH specialty business. at a camouflaged machine parked well away from unauthorized eyes, customers went back inside to take advantage of another aspect of modern technology: virtual reality.

“We now have a VR (virtual reality) room here in Saskatoon as well,” said Engel. “You can take a look at that computer model and really get a feel for it, what it’s like to get around it and service it. Seeing is believing.”

But while technology can be used to test and validate systems, it can’t take the place of the inspired engineers needed to create all those things farmers tacked on to their wish lists. That takes old-fashioned brain power. To build the current generation of 5 Series carts, inspiration came from a wide range of resources, including discussions with engineers who pioneered early air cart development when the Saskatoon facility was owned by Flexi-Coil, which Case IH eventually purchased.

“We’ve tapped into that heritage,” explained Joe Michaels, senior director of Case IH specialty business. “Some of the engineers who worked on the original metering system 20 years ago came in and had conversations. That’s the level we did it at. It wasn’t a formalized thing.”

Michaels believes blending input from experienced innovators along with younger minds familiar with the latest in cutting-edge technology can produce results like no other process.

“When you get (older engineers) together with (younger engineers), that is a synergistic relationship when it comes to product development,” Michaels said. “Because when you have that wisdom and experience together with that enthusiasm and knowledge of the current capabilities of technology, you get magical synergistic results.”

September 2015

But Michaels believes the new 5 Series carts embody not only the results of that engineering exercise, but they are also the product of a renewed focus on the same spirit of innovation that led to the creation of the original Flexi-Coil machines. That emotion is something he wants to solidify in the current corporate psyche of the big red brand.

“Specialty manufacturers out there really do drive a lot of innovation in this (seeding) industry,” Michaels said. “What I’ve been charged to do in my position is bring that specialty culture to a major full-line equipment manufacturer. That’s really the spirit that we’re going on. There is a renewed effort.

We have a great heritage here, Flexi-Coil heritage here, at this Saskatoon facility and the people. And they still talk about it.”

That pride in their heritage has apparently also created a sense of competition within the workers at the Saskatoon assembly plant that builds the air seeders. The facility has earned the highest efficiency rating among the CNH and parent company Fiat’s North American assembly plants, according to Michaels.

“This facility here is No. 1 in North America,” Michaels said. “And within the CNH group it’s the No. 1 rated plant worldwide in quality and delivery.”

Michaels thinks that is an even more significant achievement than it sounds, because staff at the Saskatoon plant have one of the most difficult assembly jobs in any industry, the result of a wide diversity in machines moving down the assembly line.

“There is infinitely more variability on these than there is on a Fiat 500,” Michaels said. “And the volumes are lower. So it’s more important that you have your systems in place to create consistent quality on the line.” CG country-guide.ca 57

business

Agriculture’s glass ceiling If gender isn’t a big issue on the farm, why are so many women signing up for women’s organizations and conferences?

By Helen Lammers-Helps

o maybe today’s farmers don’t absolutely need the muscles of a Schwarzenegger, especially on farms with employees. Still, that doesn’t mean the door is open to women farmers, or that our modern agricultural system is really as modern as we like to think.

Women who want to farm do face challenges not experienced by their male counterparts. Nor, importantly, are all those barriers unique to agriculture. Books like L ean I n by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg have documented problems that prevent women from rising to the top in other sectors too, whether it’s in business, the non-profit sector or politics.

Whether it’s on the farm or in agribusiness, says Christie, “talking brings the issue to light.”

Nor are women the only ones struggling for change. Men are also seeking balanced lives, with more time with their families.

Still, women and agriculture is a big topic, and it is a real one too. It is also a topic that needs more discussion not only in our farm organizations and in our boardrooms, but also around our supper tables.

For example, this past April, 600 women attended the Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference in Calgary. “This was the largest gathering of (ag) women ever held and their wish list for information was long and varied,” says conference organizer, Iris Meck.

There was no one major common theme but most of the topics come as no surprise: work-life balance, time management, stress management, how to be a spokesperson for agriculture and dealing with inter58 country-guide.ca

At conferences, speakers like Saskatchewan’s deputy minister of ag Alanna Koch chart a path for women’s progress. generational issues. At least one attendee was explicitly looking for information on “understanding how men view us and how to build a bridge in the workplace.”

As well, in Ontario, a group of young women working in agriculture started the Ag Women’s Network as an informal forum to network and share information. The Facebook page for the group has 400 followers, mostly from Ontario but from other parts of Canada and the U.S. too.

Jennifer Christie, dealer development manager at John Deere and one of the founders of the Ag Women’s Network says the group this past February, for instance, participated in a discussion on maternity leave benefits. It’s a hot topic especially for self-employed farmers, but women working in agribusiness and who have better access to maternity benefits than many women on the farm also want their company HR staff to be more forthcoming with explanations of maternity benefits and maternity leave policies.

The group knows there are men who would like to see a more open discussion of parental leave options too, and that some men would like to access parental benefits but are deterred from doing so because a company is very traditional in its mindset. It’s another indication that a wider discussion is needed, says Christie.

Still, for women who work in sales positions that are based on commission, taking time off after the birth of a child can mean losing clients and jeopardizing their long-term income potential, although having the option to work in teams is one possible solution that would allow women more flexibility.

Primary producers at the meeting also raised concerns about the lack of access to childcare for their Continued on page 60 september 2015

The Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA) Inc. is a national, non-profit professional umbrella organization dedicated to assisting farm families and businesses by increasing the skills of farm advisors and consultants.

www.cafanet.com

I

t is with great pleasure that I write CAFA’s first article as a new contributor to Country Guide — Canada’s strategic leader in providing information on the business of farming – and CAFA certainly understands the business of farming. Let me introduce you to us!

The Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA) Inc. is a national not-for-profit, professional organization whose mission is to continually improve the quality of advice being given to Canadian farm families and businesses, by increasing the skills and knowledge of farm advisors.

CAFA members are farm advisors and include any individual who provides advice to agribusiness. Examples include, but are not limited to, accountants, lawyers, bankers, trust officers, financial advisors, realtors, insurance agents, agrologists, family coaches, marketers, risk managers, government, nonprofit associations and interested farmers.

In meeting its mission, CAFA achieves the following goals through regular local chapter meetings and annual provincial conferences: (1) Improve the level of education and professionalism of farm advisors by keeping them CURRENT with the agri-food sector they serve, and (2) Improve access to qualified farm advisors by offering local and provincial networking meetings to keep members CONNECTED to the other professionals and resources working with agri-food clients.

CAFA grants a certification to its Regular members, Certified Agricultural Farm Advisor (CAFA), based on meeting Continuing Professional Development credit requirements.

“CAFA is a great benefit to my clients. I’m able to get to know other CAFA members by attending meetings and conferences. I learn how they interact with other professionals. It is important to me and my clients that a farm advisor is not only knowledgeable but must be willing to work as a team player for the best interest of the farm clients. CAFA meetings are a great place to learn about what is new and who to go to for answers.

When I introduce clients to a CAFA advisor, I know they will be well looked after, this only increases the trust my client places in me as their primary advisor. It is great to be able to say I don’t know but I do know who does!!”

— Stan MacEwen, Laskowski Wright, Saskatoon, SK.

“After attending the CAFA meeting in Prince Albert as a guest, I cannot understand why any professional farm advisor wouldn’t want to be part of this. I wish when I farmed there was an organization like this. I could have used it.”

— Percy Woytiuk, Hafford, SK

“I’m a lawyer and a farmer. CAFA provides a great opportunity to meet professionals who share my interest in agriculture and to spend some of my “professional” time learning more about farming and farm businesses. When I need to consult with a professional in a different area than mine on issues related to agriculture, or need to refer a client, CAFA gives me a great group of people to choose from.”

— John Goudy, LLB, Partner, Scott Petrie LLP, Law Firm, London, Ont “Farmers are looking for expert advice more often to help them with the complexities they face in running their business. CAFA provides a medium for these experts to better understand how each of us can make our clients better off. I regularly reach out to my CAFA colleagues to leverage their expertise when my clients have a need I cannot satisfy. It’s win-win-win.”

Kim Gerencser, K.Ag. Growing Farm Profits Inc., Regina, SK

Info & EvEnts Plan to join CAFA for some timely information and great in-person networking with other farm professionals. Be sure to save the dates!

CURRENT & CONNECTED Conference Thursday, October 8th Lethbridge, Alberta

Farm Tax Update for Professionals Thursday, October 22nd Guelph, Ontario

More information available at www.cafanet.com/Conferences

Toll free: 1-877-474-2871 Email: info@cafanet.com PO Box 270 • Seven Sisters Falls, MB • R0E 1Y0

Follow us on Twitter @CAFANET

Photos: the Advancing Women Conference

business

Tables are full, speakers are world class, and women are taking control of their ag destiny.

Continued from page 58 small children. “There are a lot of playpens and strollers in the milkhouses and parlours,” says Sandi Brock, a sheep farmer from Hensall, Ont. When her children were young, Brock had off-site childcare but had to pick the kids up promptly at 4 p.m. every day. “Balancing farm work and childcare was hard,” Brock says. “Sometimes things go wrong but both your livestock and your children are counting on you.”

A lack of work-life balance is an issue that’s raised over and over again by working women. On top of their jobs, women are spending twice as much time as their husbands doing housework and three times as much time on childcare.

“You feel guilty and you end up rushing a lot with too much to do,” speculates Brock. “It seems to be different for guys. Guys seem to shut it off... they aren’t thinking about whether or not there are groceries in the fridge.”

Too often, farm women are unable to work to their full potential, says farm family coach Elaine Froese of Boissevan, Man. As someone who works closely with farm families, she has seen daughters overlooked as potential successors solely because of their gender. She has also seen cases where women are actively involved in farm operations but their opinions aren’t valued, and she has seen daughters-in-law who have no voice except through their husbands.

Resources The Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council (CAHRC), a national non-profit organization focused on addressing human resource issues facing agricultural businesses, has initiated a three-year pro­ ject to support women reaching higher executive roles in agriculture.

Currently in its first year, the project team is doing background and secondary research, but this fall and winter will conduct surveys and focus groups.

Then the project will develop tools to support leadership development and create opportunities for women to network, primarily through social media, togther with cloud-based options for sharing and collaboration.

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Age and gender also come into play. As a woman, Brock wonders if she had to work harder than a man to prove herself when she first began farming a dozen years ago. Whether it was because of age or gender, it’s hard to say, she says. “I’m more confident now, more comfortable with decision-making.”

A lack of confidence can hold women back, agrees Meck, who says this is one of the benefits of attending conferences geared to women. “By listening and learning they’ll gain confidence,” she says.

Christie agrees. “Sometimes the barriers are our own internal limits about what we can achieve,” she says.

“By networking you realize others have doubts, worries and guilt, even though they seem very much in control on the outside. This boosts confidence.”

Some companies are making it easier for women to network and find mentors by holding internal meetings. For example, Christie says John Deere holds women’s forums where participants are able to discuss leadership development and barriers. Not only are these forums helpful to women, but Christie says about a third of the attendees are men who have said they had no idea that some of these issues existed.

“Talking brings the issues to light,” says Christie.

On the farm, that can mean a need for unique solutions. For example, Brock uses Twitter and Facebook to connect with other women farmers. “Sometimes it’s just nice to have someone to commiserate with… someone to vent to who is not your husband.” CG

Project manager, Debra Hauer, says that since the project was announced in April, it has received more interest than any other project they’ve ever been involved in. “Many women have come forward offering to help in some way,” says Hauer. There are opportunities for women to get involved in working groups.

If you are interested, contact Debra Hauer at hauer@ cahrc-ccrha.ca.

Ag Women’s Network Facebook group https://www. facebook.com/groups/490235661074691/.

Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference East in Toronto October 5-6, 2015. http://www.advancing womenconference.ca/2015east/index.html. The conference is open to both women and men, says organizer Iris Meck.

september 2015

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business

LGBT on the farm On these farms, diversity is good for business

ow 33, Otis Bell admits he’s outside the mainstream of agriculture.

Growing up in Seattle, Bell next lived in Olympia, where he got his first taste of growing plants and gardening, and where he decided to get more directly involved with farming.

“I think being queer made me take a step out of some of the normal streams that people just flow into,” says Bell. “I started to look at the world through a critical lens, looking to really be part of a positive movement of life that was going to sustain us in a healthy community, in a healthy way.”

That’s why he and his Canadian partner moved to Vancouver Island last year, where they had discovered Saanich Organics, near Victoria.

“I became a resident here and chose this area, because it has a city I could study acupuncture in,” said Bell. “But it also has a farm community accessible to the city. Balance of those two worlds is important to me.”

62 country-guide.ca

Saanich Organics is a collective of three women, each of whom has their own heterosexual family.

The three run farms close together and market their food co-operatively. They also sell for a handful of other small enterprises, mostly run by women.

“They are very feminist,” says Bell. “Two friends of mine who identify as transgender and gender queer were working for them and told me what great allies they are. They don’t just tolerate queerness.

They celebrate it and really invite it.

“It’s incredible to find common ground, a place where I can feel truly liberated and grow strong.”

Robin Tunnicliff is one of the three women from Saanich Organics. Her farm is located half an hour west of Victoria, where she grows a variety of vegetables year round. Her output is distributed on the island to stores, farmers’ markets, and directly to customers.

A few years ago, Tunnicliff recalls, she hired a lesbian woman as farm manager. That manager then hired from her circle of friends.

“Before we knew it, we had an almost entirely queer workforce, which was really fun,” says Tunnicliff.

There’s something in it for both sides, Tunnicliff says.

She sees some of the struggles and issues that some of her staff have faced, and she likens it to a sort of posttraumatic stress from having been born different from the norm and subsequently being marginalized.

“I think the hard work and positivity that come from nurturing plants is therapeutic to them,” says Tunnicliff. “Farming is different. It can be a solitary activity where you’re always on your own on land, and it can also be an intense time pressure getting ready for harvest.” september 2015

Photography: AJ Photography

By Rebeca Kuropatwa

business

When Alberta farmers Kate Hook (left) and Dawn Boileau (right) announced they had married, the common question was, “To whom?”

Farm work can be therapeutic for gays.

It’s the quality of the work, not your identity that counts.

“ I’d definitely hire them over a straight farmhand,” Tunnicliff says. “For them to get where they are has taken a lot.”

But she also sees benefits for the farm. “Farming and distribution are tough nuts to crack. It costs a lot of money to grow food well,” Tunnicliff says. “I really welcome new subsets into agriculture. Queer thinking is different. It comes from a creative side. Queers are different in the way that they approach problems.”

“We definitely benefited from having a queer staff,” Tunnicliff adds. “I’ve seen them marketing in different ways that I hadn’t thought about, getting food into the urban core. I don’t know that it has to do with being queer or if it’s just because they are exceptional individuals.”

It brings a smile to Tunnicliff’s face when her employees dress up to go to work on the farm… and then it gives her opportunity for reflection.

“One time, one of the farmhands who was biologically female just really wanted to work with his shirt off,” said Tunnicliff. “I hadn’t ever thought about what a challenge that might be. We just have a lot of experiences on the farm where it gave me a lot of opportunity to reflect on my privilege of fitting into the norm. It was humbling.”

Still, a lot gets accepted simply by having an september 2015

employee who shows up to work with a positive attitude, a willingness to work, and the dedication it takes to get the job done.

“I think there’s room in agriculture for willing hands, hearts, and minds,” says Tunnicliff.

“There are so few people willing to work really hard that when these workers do appear, it really moves the farmers,” Tunnicliff says. “That can go a long way to having people accepted and welcomed into a community where they haven’t been before.

“When I come across a confident, happy queer person, I think I’d definitely hire them over a straight farmhand, because I know that, for them to want to work in a non-traditional career, for them to get where they are, has taken a lot.”

But it’s also important to let LGBT employees be themselves, she adds. “I remember when they suggested Dress Up Fridays, I worried about how very much work we had to get done. But, it didn’t take any more time out of their days and it added tons of spirit to the farm atmosphere.”

Tunnicliff would be the first to agree that sometimes conversation with LGBT staff can end up in places you may be uncomfortable with, but she has learned it is important to “let people be free” and know that all workplaces are equal.

“It doesn’t matter to us how you dress at the farm as long as you can get the rows hoed and the carrots binned,” Tunnicliff says. “That said, we have a delivery boy right now who is a flamboyant cross-dresser.” Since he is the face of the operation, Continued on page 64 country-guide.ca 63

business Continued from page 63

The prairies

Tunnicliff had to create a dress code for him. But otherwise, it’s pretty much a free-for-all, within the spirit of getting the work done.

Near Onoway, about a half-hour northwest of Edmonton, Dawn Boileau and her wife, Kate Hook, built Sunrise Gardens.

It’s rural Canada, which means it isn’t exactly the kind of place that gets automatically pictured as gay friendly. But times are changing on the back roads too.

“When I was talking to Kate (Hook) about this interview, we could only think of two times we’d ever had someone not buy our stuff because they found out we were married to each other,” says Boileau. “Both times, they were elderly and religious.

“I’ve experienced a lot more issues about being female than about being queer,” Boileau continues. “Around here, if you’re a woman, you’re the farmer’s wife.”

Hook and Boileau work with four full-time employees to supply vegetables in season, as well as some out of season in cold frames and as shoots, micro-greens, and wheatgrass year round, and they sell their produce at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market year round, as well as at Booster Juice and other sellers.

Farmers’ kids and LGBT staff According to Tunnicliff, the farm kids have had an easier transition time than the farmers themselves. “We just said, ‘Look, Jessica was a girl and now is a boy, and we’re going to call him Dennis,” said Tunnicliff. “It wasn’t an issue. There were a couple of questions, but the kids are way better able to accept it than adults.”

Tunnicliff believes it is good for kids to see this, since the more LGBT individuals become empowered and accepted, the more they will be working the land. “I think it’s good to build acceptance into our world,” she says.

There are three kids working on Tunnicliff’s farm who came of age right when the farm had hired the LGBT staff. These three boys all went to the Pride Parade and, she said, “They couldn’t be more straight.

“Good people are wonderful to have around,” Tunnicliff says. “It doesn’t matter if they are queer or not.”

Hook and Boileau find more stigma from being women than guy. “Around here, if you’re a woman, you’re the farmer’s wife.”

64 country-guide.ca

september 2015

business They also find the community to be accepting of them as a couple, says Boileau.

Yet Boileau feels that this is partly because the farming community itself isn’t that tight. If you have under 1,000 acres in Alberta, you’re considered a small farm and “you don’t really count,” Boileau says. “We’re generally dismissed by the farming community.”

Even at farmers’ markets, however, the first question Boileau or her partner hear is, “Where’s your husband?”

Just after Hook and Boileau were married and shared the news with some of their regular customers, the question they heard in reply was, “To whom?”

It was a question they learned to answer very directly, with a, “To each other,” says Boileau. “We’re very comfortable and very free with who we are.”

Besides, Boileau says, when it comes to farming, and to treating people with respect on the farm, it comes down to the quality of your work. “There are a lot more important qualities than sexual orientation.” CG

On your farm Across the country, labour is in short supply. For farmers, in fact, it can be the greatest threat to their ability to grow.

So, should you be promoting your farm as a place for LGBTs to work?

“Farming tends to be represented so homogenously,” says Moss Dance, an LGBT farmer from Vancouver Island who helped form an LGBT support group for farmers and farm workers there called The Rainbow Chard Collective.

“When I see images of farmers in the media, it’s often people who are male, and a farm family is usually a heterosexual couple with some children, often also white,” Dance says. “Our whole thing was to redefine the family farm… to insert food for thought.

“In some farming communities, it’s obvious I don’t fit,” says Dance. “But we want other queers around the country to know that farming is an option for them.”

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Although Dance has never experienced negative comments about her being LGBT, she has definitely felt it on a subtle level.

Dance recommends that farm employers be “open to the possibility that a good person for your farm is also queer. That is a great start.”

Then, promote the fact that you’re open to having an LGBT person apply for work with you. “The best way to allow this person to even consider you as an employer is to list in your wanted ad that you own a progressive farm that would welcome diversity in its employees.

“I would think that any employer would want to cast a wide net to catch all kinds of diversity. I really see the value in having people with diverse ideas, life experiences, and backgrounds on the farm. Everybody brings specific gifts. It’s less about attracting diverse sexualities, but more about attracting diverse profiles.”

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business

Managing today’s diversity How you’re prepared to deal with diversity in your work crew and even in your family can help or hurt your farm business

By Amy Petherick f the new Canada is supposed to be a cultural mosaic rather than a melting pot, you wouldn’t guess it by attending most agricultural trade shows. From the 2011 census, we know that 72.5 per cent are men and 48.2 per cent are over the age of 55. The mother tongue of 72.3 per cent is English, and 73.7 per cent identify themselves as Christians.

It’s enough to make you think there’s nothing diverse about agriculture. But you’d be wrong, says Michael Bach, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion.

Bach makes his point by turning the concept on its head. “Diversity,” he says, “includes straight, white, able-bodied, middle-aged men.”

In other words, if “straight, white, able-bodied, middle-aged” describes you, you’re just part of the range that we accept and value within a modern Canada.

Increasingly, farms that close themselves to diversity will face a tougher and tougher time finding good employees in the new Canada He isn’t playing with semantics. “Human beings are all different,” he wants us to know. “We’re all diverse.”

Nor does Bach want every farmer to run right out and hire workers because of any perceived problem with the demographics of Canada’s farm population.

“Don’t do it because it’s the right thing to do,” Bach says emphatically. “That’s not what gets people out of bed in the morning!”

Bach insists there are really only two reasons any business owner ever needs to actively strategize for greater diversity inclusion; if their talent pool is shrinking, or if their customer base has evolved.

66 country-guide.ca

Yet that’s what is happening in many farm sectors, just as it is with the country as a whole, and Bach says that if you are finding it difficult to find good help, it might be time to make changes that will attract different kinds of employees.

The first step, in Bach’s two-step process, is to consider your own written or unwritten policies and procedures. “You want to make sure there are no barriers in place that are inadvertently excluding any one group,” Bach says. “People who are engaged are more productive, so if a person has to leave something at the door, if a woman has to ‘act like a man,’ or if a person who is Muslim can’t talk about their faith, or an LGBT person has to stay in the closet, then there’s no way they can be fully engaged in their work.”

Once you’ve considered the culture your business currently presents, address any weak areas by starting at the top and working your way down. “You’ve got to make sure your existing people understand why this is important.”

Bach says change is hard to implement, so a zerotolerance stance on workplace behaviours such as making disparaging jokes need to be enforced immediately. Offensive humour makes a good example of the seemingly innocent ways invisible minorities are excluded in business settings.

“If you’re a woman, if you’re from a racialized group, if you have a visible disability, you can’t necessarily hide,” Bach explains. “For some LGBT people, the invisible minority that they are, you’re hidden in plain sight; I could be there at an ag conference, hanging with the buddies, listening to gay jokes.” Then he adds, “How connected can I feel at that point?”

The invisible minority experience A 2012 Forum Research Inc. poll found that 5.3 per cent of Canadians identify as either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. That’s one in 20.

No one really knows how many work in the agricultural industry, and Colin Druhan, the executive director of Pride at Work Canada, tells me it’s very common for people from the LGBT community to not be “out” at all in their workplace.

In fact the Out Now Global LGBT2020 study, an international report produced by a firm based in the Netherlands, found that only 41.8 per cent of LGBT workers are out professionally in Canada.

Not only is that bad for individuals who are primarily affected, but it isn’t good for their employers either. “Concealing your sexual orientation at work Continued on page 68

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business Continued from page 66 can actually reduce productivity by up to 30 per cent,” Druhan says.

Druhan says his organization was formed in 2008 primarily by people working in financial services to provide training and education for businesses, as well as networking opportunities for employees of partnering companies. Currently none of the 56 member companies are agricultural or even rural. But Druhan says they do still reach out into rural communities across the country, just through partners that are headquartered in Toronto like big banks and franchise companies.

“Larger cities tend to have broader support systems for LGBT people in general, so you see a lot more LGBT people who are out in the workplace,” Druhan says. “In smaller workplaces LGBT workers rely on allies for support.”

Druhan says “ally” is a term typically used to describe people who don’t identify as LGBT but are supportive of LGBT individuals. Engaging allies is particularly

“ Concealing your sexual orientation at work can actually reduce productivity by up to 30 per cent,” says Colin Druhan, executive director of Pride at Work important in areas where there isn’t a high concentration of people who are out at work because these are the places where people may be most afraid of drawing undue attention to themselves by participating in an employee resource group.

But Druhan believes that initiating conversations with people who don’t identify as LGBT can be incredibly important. “My experience in working with people who want to learn isn’t so much they’re not interested, they just don’t know where to start,” he says. Many LGBT people don’t realize that the acronyms and terms that are common to the community can be intimidating for others. “They don’t want to do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing,” he says.

“Sometimes that is the biggest barrier.”

Once there’s open dialogue, LGBT allies and employers can start to get answers to their questions about making workplaces more inclusive.

Building an inclusive workplace The legal firm Norton Rose Fullbright is a partner of Pride at Work Canada and has a national LGBTA committee. Its Calgary representative, Lucy L’Hirondelle, also practises some labour and employment law and occasionally works with agribusinesses.

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september 2015

business no requirement for employers to provide benefits in Canada of course, but L’Hirondelle says that if you do offer benefits, you must offer them uniformly.

Third-party benefit providers create the specific terms of these plans and would do so in accordance with human rights legislation that prevents discrimination. “One piece of advice for employers would be to look at their plan when they’re deciding who to use as a third-party benefit provider, to confirm that the provider allows coverage for same-sex and common-law spouses,” suggests L’Hirondelle. In most if not all cases, employers would find the terms provide very good examples of exactly how to create gender-neutral policy for their own business.

One written policy that employers may especially want to consider when hiring a diverse workforce is a dress code.

“For dress codes, the No. 1 consideration is safety,” she says. “Employers are required to abide by occupational health and safety legislation, and that comes before individual style or expres-

sion, regardless of gender.” Long hair, for example, can be addressed as a safety hazard but employers may only require employees to tie loose hair back or wear a hairnet, not require specific hair lengths.

Even without safety concerns, L’Hir­ on­delle says employers are still allowed to impose defined appearance standards, but the application of such codes has to be carried out in a non-discriminatory fashion. “It has to be applied uniformly, that’s the most important thing,” she explains, “and that’s the pitfall employers need to be wary of.”

Once employers fail to enforce the dress code for one individual, they begin to flirt with discrimination. L’Hirondelle says misunderstandings may still arise, where the employer and employee understand “business attire” to mean two different things when it comes to skirt length for example, but these can be amended in the policy by adding definitions if necessary. “But it has to be for a legitimate business purpose, not just because you don’t like how someone dresses, not to

exclude someone,” she says. “As long as the employee meets these rules, his or her biological sex or gender identification should not even come into play.”

Accommodating employee gender identification, particularly those who are transitioning, really demands no more common sense than accommodating any other personal request, L’Hirondelle says. “I cannot point you toward a single piece of legislation that requires any employer to provide a gender-neutral washroom or change room, but the law does require all employers to make reasonable accommodations for their employees, and they cannot discriminate against employees who make such requests,” she says.

As long as the individual can communicate a legitimate reason for making their request, the employer has a duty to look into available options. But not every request can always be reasonably accommodated, she says. “What is considered reasonable will depend on the size and the structure of the workplace.” CG

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country-guide.ca 69

life

Avoid overload Of course you take pride in how hard you work. For your own sake, however, and for the good of the family and the farm, it may be time to inject some balance

By Helen Lammers-Helps

Y

ou work hard because you know the benefits are worth it. But are they? If you don’t take care to recharge, says Beverly Beuermann-King, a stress and resiliency specialist in Little Britain, Ont., sustained overwork can lead to reduced productivity, failed relationships, an increase in injuries, and physical and mental illness. In case after case, as well, it leads to burnout.

Women in particular are in danger of getting stretched too thin, Beuermann-King says, because when they take on expanded management roles on the farm, they continue to do the bulk of childcare and housework.

“ There will always be more to do,” Katz says. “But you need to look after yourself.”

Pat Katz, a well-being strategist in Saskatoon, reports that she finds the overloaded feeling is becoming all too common. “The first thing I tell people is: ‘it’s not just you,’” Katz says.

First off, Katz recommends looking at the source of our stress. Is it the result of jobs we generate ourselves, or is it because we’re trying to meet other people’s expectations? To live a life in balance, it’s necessary to look at all three levels of our lives: individual, team and work culture, she says.

For instance, at the individual level we can set boundaries around our volunteer commitments.

“You can have a Sanity Policy that states you don’t sit on more than two boards,” says Katz.

Beuermann-King agrees it’s important to sign up for volunteer commitments carefully. “Choose the ones that you enjoy, not the ones you feel obligated to do.”

70 country-guide.ca

Katz also stresses the importance of practising self-care. “There will always be more to do, but you need to look after yourself, or you will not be thinking clearly,” she says. What does self-care look like to you? A stroll after dinner? Time to play with your kids? “Build it into your schedule even if it seems impossible,” says Katz.

Beuermann-King agrees that downtime is a necessity. We need to press the “pause button” during the day, she says. Otherwise we end up dealing non-stop with issue after issue. Instead she recommends taking regular breaks to stretch, breathe, walk around, relax and reflect. Be more mindful of what you’re eating too, she adds. “Don’t just gulp it down.”

Staying connected to the higher purpose of our actions can also reduce stress. Instead of being irritated about having to cook dinner for your family, Katz suggests seeing it as a privilege and an act of love for your family.

Being aware of your self-talk is helpful too, continues Katz. Avoid the tendency to jump to the worst conclusion, she says. Change the ongoing lament, “I’ll never get this done,” to, “I will get the important things done.”

Be intentional with your time, adds BeuermannKing. Sometimes planning to “quickly check your email” turns into hours spent mindlessly at the computer but without much to show for it.

Turn the TV off so you can go for a walk or a bike ride with your kids, she continues. That way you accomplish two goals at once: spending more time with your kids and getting some exercise.

Too often people are slaves to their technology, says Beuermann-King who has seen parents on their phones while on vacation at Disney World. “They’re not really giving their attention to their kids,” she points out. Her advice is to limit yourself to checking email morning and night while on vacation.

Don’t let perfectionism get in the way of a fulfillSeptember 2015

life

ing life, says Beuermann-King. “That might mean settling for a house that is less clean so you can have more time with your kids,” she explains.

Philadelphia writer and time management expert, Laura Vanderkam dispels the myth that women “can’t have it all,” in her new book, I know how she does it. She interviewed more than 100 women with young children who were earning in excess of $100,000 per year to gather data on their time-use patterns.

Vanderkam found that these women were working an average of 44 hours per week and were still sleeping almost eight hours per night. This left them 70 non-working hours for other things.

To maximize time with their kids, many of the women worked what Vanderkam dubbed “a split shift.” These women would leave work at 5 p.m. so they could have dinner with their kids. Then they would work an hour or two after the kids went to bed. They also tended to work part of the weekend, usually Saturday mornings and Sunday nights, which also allowed them to work shorter days during the week.

In line with Beuermann-King’s recommendation, these women were intentional with their time. For example, they only watched four to five hours of TV per week, restricting themselves to shows they actually enjoyed instead of mindlessly watching for hours.

If you want to use your time more efficiently, Vanderkam recommends logging your time for a week or two. Once you are more aware of how you are currently spending your time, you’ll be in a better position to make changes.

To assess your current satisfaction with how you’re spending your time, Beuermann-King recommends ranking each of the 10 major life areas. These include: 1. Family 2. Friends 3. Career 4. Health (includes sleep, fitness, doctors’ appointments, meals) 5. Personal growth (schooling, professional development) 6. Spirituality 7. Fun and relaxation 8. Romance 9. Community (volunteering) 10. Physical environment (chores) This will allow you to focus on the areas of your life most in need of improvement.

When the demands on our time are made by others, Katz suggests actually tackling the issue by asking, “How can we support each other on the farm team?” She recommends having a collective conversation around priorities. “Some things may need to go on the back burner until later,” she says.

Delegate tasks respectfully, she continues. “Don’t assume everyone has time to take on more work. Ask first if they will need to reset priorities.” At the same time, she recommends not agreeing to more work until September 2015

you’ve thought it through. Instead, it’s better to say, “I need to think about how this fits; I’ll get back to you.”

It’s also important to ask questions before taking on more work. Try to get an accurate estimate of how long something will take, she says. “Especially if you tend to be overly optimistic,” she adds.

At the broader scale, a farm organization can create policies and a culture that supports everyone.

What kind of policies can be put in place? Flex time? Time for elder care? Fitness? Play? What about ensuring people take their vacation time? “It’s an investment in health and productivity,” says Katz.

As the need for time to recharge becomes increas­ingly apparent, some organizations are building in planned time-outs, says Katz. This is a time to slow down, reconnect and reorganize. “If these aren’t happening naturally,” she says, “then you need to create them.” CG

RESOURCES Bev Beuermann-King’s website, www.worksmartlivesmart.com Pat Katz’s website, www.pauseworks.com Laura Vanderkam’s website, www.lauravanderkam.com

Beuermann-King’s tips for being more efficient around the house 1. Have a permanent place for your keys, school bags, cellphones, etc. so you can find them easily.

2. S chedule time each day to tackle cleaning chores instead of saving them for the “big” cleaning day.

3. Enlist the help of other family members to do laundry, vacuum, prepare meals, etc.

4. Develop a meal plan that rotates every 14 days.

This makes grocery shopping easy but keeps enough variety in your menu.

5. S implify and declutter. You’ll spend less time looking for things and feel more relaxed with an organized space.

Around the office 1. Make use of folders and directories on your computer to save time looking for things.

2. Have a designated thinking space where you can go to read reports or problem solve. A change of scenery promotes creativity.

3. Limit the number of piles on your desk. You’ll feel more in control in an organized work space.

4. Add some life to your office. A scented candle, a framed painting, or family photos enhance your work space and make it more enjoyable.

5. I nvest in a good office chair and desk. Nothing can tire us out faster than an uncomfortable chair.

country-guide.ca 71

w e at h e r

Sca tte rain red MILDER AND DRIER THAN NORMAL

NEAR NORMAL

MILDER THAN NORMAL

** Scattered rain Frost

Cool Some snow

**

NEAR-NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION

ld Mi ry D lls e sp

M Ra ild sp in el y ls

COOLER THAN NORMAL

Changeable Scattered rain

September 13 to October 17, 2015

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Sept. 13-19: Warm to seasonable temperatures this week. Mainly sunny but with spotty showers west and isolated thundershowers east and north.

Sept. 20-26: Generally fair with highs often in the 20s except upper teens on the coasts. Scattered shower activity. Patchy frost at higher elevations.

Sept. 27-Oct. 3: Fair and seasonable apart from a couple of cooler, showery days.

Some snow and frost at higher levels.

Blustery at times.

Oct. 4-10: Cooler nights bring frost to a few inland localities and some snow and frost to higher elevations. Otherwise fair, mild with scattered rain.

Oct. 11-17: Seasonable to occasionally mild. Fair aside from rain on two or three occasions changing to snow in the mountains. At times windy.

ALBERTA Sept. 13-19: Warm overall but some lows fall to near zero on a couple of nights.

Mostly sunny and dry apart from spotty showers or thundershowers.

Sept. 20-26: Highs often in the teens along with a frost threat in a few localities.

A couple of warmer days bring shower or thundershower activity.

Sept. 27-Oct. 3: Fair, mild most days but cooler, blustery outbreaks bring periodic rain. Frost patches in many areas on two or three nights.

Oct. 4-10: Variable temperatures. A few frosty nights. Fair aside from scattered rain and gusty winds on a couple of occasions south, chance snow north.

72 country-guide.ca

Oct. 11-17: Fair and milder days will alternate with cooler, wet days. Chance of snow in a few areas. Windy at times.

SASKATCHEWAN Sept.13-19: Sunny and warm days dominate the week with a few passing showers or thundershowers. Some overnight lows fall to near zero.

Sept. 20-26: Seasonable to occasionally warm but with a few frosty cooler, nights.

Fair apart from showers, chance thundershowers on a couple of days.

Sept. 27-Oct. 3: Temperatures vary from the teens to sub-zero lows. Often fair but expect rain on a couple of cooler, windy days. Risk of snow north.

Oct. 4-10: Fair with seasonable temperatures but cooler, windy outbreaks on two or three occasions result in some rain, chance of snow in the north.

Oct. 11-17: Temperatures fluctuate from mild to cool under windy conditions.

Changeable as fair skies interchange with rain. Intermittent snow north.

MANITOBA Sept. 13-19: Frost touches a few areas at night with daytime highs in the teens and at times in the 20s. Expect scattered showers or thundershowers.

Sept. 20-26: Fair skies dominate but look for passing rain on a couple of days this week. Seasonable temperatures with a few frosty nights.

Sept. 27-Oct. 3: Warm, dry weather is interrupted by cooler, blustery and wet

conditions. Frost on a few nights. Chance of snow north.

Oct. 4-10: Cooler air moves in on a few windy days bringing scattered rain. Risk of heavier rain south and wet snow north.

Oct. 11-17: Look for changeable conditions as fair, seasonable weather alternates with windy, cooler and wet weather south, snow north.

September 13 to October 17, 2015 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS A dominant high-level ridge is expected to prolong the warm and relatively dry conditions in British Columbia and most of the western Prairies. El Ni単o is likely to reinforce this trend and then shift the warmth eastward into Manitoba by mid-October.

Meanwhile, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will experience typical fall weather with temperatures fluctuating but running close to longtime normal values.

The long-range winter outlook from British Columbia to the Great Lakes calls for the milder-than-usual temperatures and lighter-than-normal precipitation often associated with an El Ni単o event. Similar weather results may spread to Eastern Canada later in the year.

Prepared by meteorologist Larry Romaniuk of Weatherite Services. Forecasts should be 80 per cent accurate for your area; expect variations by a day or two due to changeable speed of weather systems.

September 2015

h e a lt h

Which iron is the right iron?

By Marie Berry ou need iron in your body for your red blood cells to have enough hemoglobin to carry oxygen through the blood system to your cells. A reduced number of red blood cells (i.e. erythrocytes) is called anemia. Iron-deficient anemia is the result of low iron levels.

Your body contains about 3.5 grams of iron, of which 2.5 grams are in the red blood cells. A blood test will determine your iron levels and help diagnose iron-deficient anemia.

Incidentally, there are other types of anemia depending upon what is causing your drop in red blood cell numbers. Causes range from excessive bleeding (from trauma, heavy periods, or even a bleeding ulcer) to low levels of vitamin B12 or kidney disease.

Anywhere from nine to 13 per cent of Canadians have iron-deficient anemia, with women being the most commonly affected. Anemia usually develops slowly. Paleness and tiredness are the most commonly noticed symptoms, although you may misattribute these symptoms to overwork, stress, not eating well, lack of sleep or the like.

Weakness, dizziness, increased heart rate, and decreased capacity for any physical activity are signs of more severe anemia. People often overlook the symptoms of anemia, but if they do happen to you, don’t ignore them. Get them checked out.

Iron is the treatment choice, but there are several formulations. Ferrous sulphate which comes in red tablets is 20 per cent elemental iron; ferrous fumarate, which is a dark-red tablet, is 33 per cent; and the green tablets of ferrous gluconate are 11 per cent.

Ideally, you want to take the formulation that gives you the most elemental iron, but ferrous sulphate and ferrous fumarate can cause more stomach irritation than ferrous gluconate. Taking the iron with food or a meal will reduce this adverse effect.

Because iron is better absorbed in an acidic environment, drinking a glass of orange juice along with the iron will increase both the acidity of your stomach and the iron’s absorption.

Antacids, calcium, and even some drugs such as the tetracylcine antibiotics can impair the absorption of iron, and it can be advisable to avoid taking your iron within three hours before or two hours after taking these drugs to avoid the problem. (Some multi-vitamin and mineral-combination products include both calcium and iron in their formulations, which means neither mineral is being absorbed.

Choose a multiple vitamin product with either calcium or iron, not both, then take the other mineral as a single-ingredient tablet separately from the multiple vitamin.)

If you do not want to take iron tablets, then dietary sources of iron may be an option along with treating any underlying cause, for example a bleeding ulcer. Meat is high in iron content and it contains a type of iron known as heme-iron which is well absorbed by the body. Non-heme-iron is iron found in plant sources such as beans, green leafy vegetables, and dried fruits such as raisins. Unfortunately, nonheme-iron is less compatible with your body and you need two to three times as much. As well, many cereals and foods are fortified with iron.

If you do take an iron supplement, remember to store it safely out of reach of any children because iron is among the top 10 medications involved in accidental childhood poisonings. The tablets themselves are brightly coloured and a child may think they are candy.

When children are given iron, their dose needs to be calculated based on their weight. Both drops and liquid iron preparations are available, but the two do not have the same concentration of elemental iron.

Before you give a child any iron supplement, it is essential that the child needs the iron, that you have accurately calculated the dose based on your child’s weight, and that you have the correct concentration.

If you are not sure, ask your pharmacist to check your numbers. You certainly do not want to add to the accidental poisoning statistics!

Marie Berry is a lawyer/pharmacist interested in health and education.

Manufacturers are continually updating the mechanics of their inhalers. Their goal is to improve the delivery of the medication to your lungs, but sometimes with the variety of delivery systems, it can be confusing. Next month, we’ll look at some of the new inhalers, because after all, you want to get the most from your inhalers.

September 2015

country-guide.ca 73

acres

By Leeann Minogue

Just get in that combine and drive The big milestones don’t always come with brass bands hat are you waiting for?” Jeff asked his father. “Get in the combine and let’s get going.

These peas aren’t going to harvest themselves.”

Dale stood with Jeff, looking up at the cab.

“You go ahead. You can make the first round this year.”

Jeff looked surprised. “But you always combine the first round of the first field. I’ve been standing around waiting for you to get here for half an hour already!”

“Huh. No sense in that. It’s no big deal. You go ahead.”

“OK Dad. If you’re sure,” Jeff said, one foot already on the ladder. Grinning. “Can you and Grandpa bring the truck out from the yard? Won’t be long until I get a full hopper.”

“Of course we can,” Ed said. “We’re not a couple of feeble-minded old men.”

“Speak for yourself, Dad,” Dale muttered to himself.

Dale hadn’t been feeling too confident this season. While he was seeding, distracted by a broken ankle, a ringing phone, and neighbours driving by on the road, he’d missed a spot. Then, when Jeff realized there was a problem in that part of the field and brought in experts to diagnose it, Dale had been too embarrassed to tell anyone what he’d done. Finally, Jeff had figured out the problem.

“I’m sorry,” Dale had mumbled, red faced.

“It’s OK Dad,” Jeff had told him. “It was pretty good entertainment, actually. You should’ve seen that hotshot agronomist coming up with crazy hightech theories.”

Jeff hadn’t lost any sleep over it, but the incident had really thrown Dale. When it was time to get the GPS system set up in the swather, he wasn’t sure he had it right. “I’m going to call the dealership,” Dale told Jeff. “We’ll just get that guy from Weyburn out here to make sure I have it right.”

“It looks good to me, Dad,” Jeff said. “You had it running fine last year.”

Midsummer, when Jeff was trying to decide if he 74 country-guide.ca

should put on a second round of fungicide, Dale had been left almost speechless with indecision. “Geez, son… could go either way.”

Dale’s father, Ed, had been off in the corner of the shop that morning, making himself an Italian espresso in the one-cup machine his girlfriend Helen had bought for him. When Jeff had left the shop, Ed called Dale over to the coffee pot.

“What’s going on here? You’re acting like some retiree who’s about to sell his place and move out to Vancouver Island. Spend your days trying to get palm trees to grow in your backyard.”

“They can grow palm trees out there?” Dale asked.

“You should see those yards! Helen and I could hardly believe it when we were driving through there in June! They can grow darn near anything… Wait, you changed the subject! What’s going on with you these days? You can’t set up the swather. You can’t make a decision. Donna probably had to tell you what shorts to put on this morning.”

“I guess… I’m just worried…”

“Everybody’s worried. All the time. That’s farming,” Ed said, with no trace of sympathy.

“I guess you’re right,” Dale had said, putting an end to the whole conversation.

Things had gone downhill from there when Dale had managed to gouge the corner of the shed with the edge of the lawnmower at the end of July.

Luckily, Jeff had been off at the lake with his wife and kids that afternoon, so he hadn’t been there to see the damage. Dale was able to fix the shed reasonably quickly once he found the spare tin at the back of the shop. But his confidence had suffered a hard blow.

And now — now that it was time to get in the combine and put the first of the 2015 crop through the header, Dale didn’t feel up to it.

Dale and Ed stood back, watching Jeff start up the combine and cut into the peas. Then Dale walked into the flying dust and chaff and got down on his knees behind the combine to look at the losses.

“Wish I could still get down on my knees like that, and be sure I could get back up!” Ed joked.

“What’s the damage?” september 2015

“Looks good. I think we just about have that combine set right,” Dale said.

“Must be killing you not to be running it.”

Dale didn’t answer.

“I know why I’m not up in that combine as much as I used to be,” Ed said. “But I don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve been acting strange all summer.”

Dale kept running his hands through the pea stubble, pretending to look for stray peas.

“I know you’re worried. I haven’t seen the books, but after all that flooding, then the hail, all that disease. I imagine pulling this crop off is pretty important,” Ed said.

“Yup,” Dale said. “But it’s not just the farm. It’s…

Well, it’s me.

“You? Is something wrong with you?”

“No. Yes. Maybe? I’ve been worried ever since I had that miss at seeding. I’m not as sharp as I used to be.”

Ed rolled his eyes and brushed some stray pea straw off of the shoulder of his shirt.

“Don’t act like it wasn’t a big deal. That sort of thing shouldn’t happen. I let Jeff down… I’m… I’m getting too old for this.”

With that Ed snorted in disgust. Then he laughed. “If I’d quit and run off to the campground complaining I was too old every time I made a stupid mistake around here, you wouldn’t have seen me since 1997!”

A trace of a smile came to Dale’s lips, and he said, “Well, there was that day you drove the combine into the shed before you rolled the door up far enough in 1996…”

Then Ed and Dale both started laughing.

“People get older,” Ed said. “Beats the alternative.”

“Dad, I just don’t want to screw anything up. Jeff needs to get off to the best start he can. He doesn’t need some old man weighing him down.”

“No, but he does need an old man as part of his crew.

And someone he can get some advice from now and then.” Then Ed pointed at himself. “Heck. The kid needs one old man, and one really old man.”

They both laughed again, then neither one spoke for a few seconds.

Dale finally broke the silence. “I’m not in charge here anymore.”

“Look at it this way,” Ed said. “You always wanted to be able to pass the place on to your son.”

“Yeah. But it’s hard.”

“Tell me about it,” Ed said. “At least your son isn’t as big a bonehead as mine was.”

They chuckled together.

“And look at it this way,” Ed said. “You always get more vacations when you’re not in charge.”

Dale’s cellphone rang. When he answered, they both heard Jeff on the other end. “Are you two going to get that truck moved out here soon? I’m going to need it!”

“Yup, be right there,” Dale said, and hung up, still chuckling to himself.

“Let’s go,” Ed said. “Don’t want to let the boss down.”

Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews, a playwright and part of a family grain farm in southeastern Saskatchewan. september 2015

“Not another freight train!” It is Canada Day, July 1. My wife Jacqueline and I are celebrating a significant wedding anniversary with a train trip from Montreal to Saskatoon. The dome of the observation car is filled with people fascinated by the constantly changing landscape. The train crew bring champagne and cake for Canada Day. Progress west is slow. The passenger train is pulled over onto siding after siding to allow fast-moving freights to pass.

Long trains haul lumber from British Columbia, oil from Alberta, potash from Saskatchewan and grain from Manitoba.

We started our journey west in the Isles-de-la-Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Our tour bus took us to a cheese factory. The owner, Jeremie Arseneau, brought a herd of 60 Canadian cows — a breed better suited to the area than Holsteins — to the islands by ferry. Canadian cows are a dairy breed developed in French Canada and the only dairy cow breed native to North America. They thrive in this maritime environment.

Cheese produced from their raw whole milk is delectable.

One evening we were entertained by a Madame Bolduc tribute artist. Madame Bolduc was a popular Quebec singer and songwriter in the 1920s and ’30s. I did not think anyone, French or English, could sing so fast! Afterwards the singer, Sylvie, told me Madame Bolduc combined traditional folk music of Ireland with French Canadian folk tunes. Her songs incorporated realism and humour, with an array of ordinary folk from priests to policemen that contributed to her enormous popularity.

We were enthralled by magnificent scenery and met many interesting people. We ate and danced with seniors’ groups in the middle of the afternoon. In Quebec we saw huge colonies of birds never seen on the Prairies. We passed by a moose with two calves in Ontario. Deer and coyotes observed the train with curiosity on the Prairies.

When our cruise ship began plowing up the St. Lawrence, I reflected on all those immigrants from Europe and Great Britain. This was their first sight of Canada. A long train trip by colonist car would bring these would-be farmers to their land.

During a station stop in Winnipeg I recalled reading how the homesteaders were accosted by merchants around the railroad terminal there. Many homesteaders had little experience of farming.

They were merchants, civil servants and school teachers led to Western Canada by the lure of a quarter section of land for $10.

Shifty merchants made a fast buck selling tools the would-be farmers did not need, and animals ill suited to farming.

Waiting in line to reboard, I chatted with Brian Dillon from Riversdale, New Zealand. I told him my version of how scoundrels fleeced the homesteaders on their way west. He said the rascals had branch offices in New Zealand. We talked about the smoke in the air from forest fires in the north and the drought gripping the Prairies. Brian said his farm produces four cuts of hay each year. He described how timing and technologies combine to get maximum growth.

Meeting new people, seeing new places and having new experiences reinforced my conviction; we live in a wonderful country. Waiting on railway sidings for the next freight train to thunder by gave me time to say a prayer of thanksgiving.

Suggested Scripture: Psalm 27, Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 Rod Andrews is a retired Anglican bishop. He lives in Saskatoon. country-guide.ca 75

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