Grainews

Volume 42, Number 4 | february 9, 2016

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P RA C T I C A L P R O D U C T I O N T I P S F O R T H E P RA I R I E FAR M ER

www.grainews.ca

By Lee Hart

FARMERS WEIGH IN R

esponding to “consumer demands” isn’t necessarily about making some wholesale changes in farm operating practices, say Prairie farmers contacted for the February Farmer Panel.

Those often heard claims that “the consumer is demanding…” everything from healthier, safer food, to reduced environmental footprint, to improved livestock and production practices need to be heard, say panel members. But sometimes it may just mean farmers need to do a better job of explaining to consumers how they actually do farm.

Here is what panel members had to say when asked how important is the phrase “consumers are demanding…?”

Consumers need to be educated, but also willing to pay

ROD BRADSHAW BECK FARMS, INNISFAIL, ALBERTA As a long-time vegetable producer, with wheat, barley and canola included in rotation as well, Rod Bradshaw says it has been important to him to work to shape consumer demand, or consumer perception of agriculture.

“As long as we have been involved in direct marketing going back to the mid 80s we try to influence or inform consumer thinking,” says Bradshaw, who farms with family members at Innisfail in central Alberta. “With vegetable crops, consumers often ask ‘is it organic?’ And we say no, but our

photo: rod bradshaw

» continued on page 4

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In This Issue

The Bradshaws at Beck Farms at Innisfail, Alta., have for years invited customers to an open house at the farm to keep them informed.

From left Rod and Shelley Bradshaw with their sons Kurt and Brent.

Wheat & Chaff .................. 2 Features . ........................... 5 Crop Advisor’s Casebook . 6 Columns ............................ 16 Machinery & Shop............. 24 Cattleman’s Corner .......... 31

Blackleg evolving

leeann minogue page 10

Truck special

FarmLife ............................ 35

Scott Garvey page 24

Cardale seeddepot.ca for free seed offer

Consistent Yields & Protein Less Sprouting* - Weathering Best Fusarium Performance Semi Dwarf Faster Harvest Speeds Easier Straw Management *Better Falling Numbers

Working Hard to Earn Your Trust

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Wheat & Chaff STAMPEDE

BY JERRY PALEN

Leeann Minogue

“The mechanics all agreed. It’s a loose nut between the driver’s seat and the motor.”

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Write, Email or Fax SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (CST) 1-800-665-0502

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Phone Leeann Minogue at 306-861-2678 Fax to 204-944-5416 Email leeann.minogue@fbcpublishing.com Write to Grainews, 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1

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Find us on Twitter: Leeann Minogue is @grainmuse Lisa Guenther is @LtoG Lee Hart is @hartattacks Scott Garvey is @machineryeditor

photos: leeann minogue

N

ormally our machinery editor, Scott Garvey covers all of the machinery-related stories.

But this summer Scott was called away to Australia to cover a special event, so I filled in for him at John Deere’s media product launch in Waterloo, Iowa in August.

As you can probably guess, the highlight of the two-day media program was a first look at John Deere’s new 9RX tracked tractors. But that wasn’t all. There was also a factory tour, a look at some other machinery modifications and, since we were in Waterloo anyway, a trip to the official John Deere museum.

Many Grainews readers will already know much more than I do about the history of John Deere, but since I had a chance to visit Waterloo, I thought I would share some of the photos from the museum, and tell you about a few things I learned there.

1. First, John Deere was a real person. I suppose it should be obvious from the company name, but I’d never given it much thought. The company founder didn’t start out making tractors. He actually got his start in manufacturing when he made a plowshare out of a broken saw blade. Is the one on display the actual one made back in the 1800s? Your guess is as good as mine. But the museum guide did tell us that, by 1849, the enterprising Mr. Deere had a workforce of 16 people.

They built 2,136 plows that year. But, it wasn’t until 1868 that the company first incorporated as Deere and Company.

2. I knew the definition of horsepower had something to do with horses. I did not know it was so specific. The actual definition of one horsepower is the ability to lift 550 pounds vertically in one second. There is a great display at the museum that allows you to take a shot at pulling 550 pounds yourself. Most visitors, I assume are not actually as strong as a horse, but if you take your kids there, let them see for themselves.

3. Not only did John Deere, the man, not start out making tractors. In fact, at first his company didn’t even make its own tractors. Instead, they bought out the Waterloo Gasoline Company for $2.25 million in 1918. The Waterloo Gasoline Company was the first company to manufacture and sell gasoline-powered tractors. The star of the company’s portfolio was a tractor called “Waterloo Boy.” 4. The first “pan seat” was a hard, cold-looking metal seat introduced in John Deere’s tractors in 1914 as a “comfort feature.” That so-called comfort seat wasn’t replaced until 1947, when the “deep cushion” seat came into fashion.

But even the deep cushion seat brought in back then was nothing like the highquality heated/cooled seat that attracts farm labour taday.

5. Before WWII, there were about 150 women working at the John Deere plant in Waterloo, Iowa. But after April, 1944, when many men were called into service, the number of the women employed at the plant increased by tenfold, to more than 1,500 women.

If you find yourself taking a vacation in Iowa, stop in and see the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum at Waterloo.

If you find yourself at a drinks and dinner event at the Museum, I might recommend that you visit the John Deere gift shop before they serve the drinks. † Leeann Minogue

On display at the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum, Waterloo, Iowa

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

3

Wheat & Chaff Farm safety

Create safe play areas for kids

T

his year, for Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association is working towards “Keeping Kids Safe” as a part of the three-year theme of “Be An Ag Safe Family.” Part of keeping kids safe on the farm is creating, using, and maintaining a safe play area.

Play teaches children co-operation.

Play helps children improve their balance and co-ordination, to strengthen their muscles. Play also challenges kids’ imaginations, and teaches children how to problem-solve and how to be part of a team. And play lets kids be kids. With a safe play area, children can experience the joys of play and reduce the risk of injury on the farm.

Location matters. A safe play area should be designated by boundaries or physical barriers such as fences, gates or shrubs. It’s important that the play area is away from the majority of farm activity. Keep in mind traffic, livestock, farm machinery, open water and noise when deciding where the play area should be located. Make sure the location is free of hazardous plants like poison ivy and pests like wasps.

Ensure that there is sufficient shade and is free of obstacles like power lines

or unstable structures. Also, make sure the location of the play area is within sight and hearing distance of a responsible adult.

When selecting a location for the safe play area make sure to keep in mind how much space the children using it will need. A small area appropriate for a three-year-old, won’t be as useful for a faster, bigger 10-year-old.

Equipment matters too. A big factor in creating a safe play area is having equipment that kids want to use.

Playground equipment, a club house, balls, balance beams, and swings are all great ideas to include in your safe play area. Make sure that they are hazardfree and secure. Protrusions like bolts can be hazardous while playing.

Maintaining and improving the play area is an on-going task. Develop a routine inspection and maintenance plan that includes keeping grass mowed, checking equipment for loose or broken parts, adding protective ground surfacing and reviewing safety rules. Make improvements as needed and modifications as children outgrow the existing play equipment.

There are no guarantees that any play area is truly safe. Children can be unpredictable and they don’t always make

the safest choices. What we can do is to create, use and maintain a safe play area combined with careful, competent supervision can help greatly reduce the risk to children on the farm.

According to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, there are six steps in developing a safe play area. Here they are for quick reference: 1. Locate a site to be developed into a safe play area. The location should provide maximum play options with minimum exposure to agricultural hazards.

2. Sketch out the ideal play area for that site, considering ways to promote fantasy, manipulative, swinging, climbing and riding activities. Plan for modifications in play activities as children grow.

3. Determine materials needed.

Make, buy or adapt for different play activities. Refer to playground equipment Web sites or other resources for specific guidance related to residential play areas.

4. Build the play area including appropriate ground surfacing, borders, fences and gates. Older children can assist with this process if they are supervised.

5. Use the play area. Explain safety rules and post signs if needed. Observe

young children, older siblings and adult supervisors as they enjoy the area.

Think about immediate modifications and future changes based on how the area gets used.

6. Maintain and improve the safe play area. Develop a routine maintenance plan that includes keeping grass mowed, checking equipment for loose or broken parts, and reviewing safety rules for visitors. Let older children help with inspection and maintenance because this enhances their ownership and reinforces the importance of telling adults about possible hazards. Make improvements as needed and modifications as children outgrow play For more information about safe play areas and keeping kids safe, visit agsafetyweek.ca.

Canadian Agricultural Safety Week (CASW) is a public education campaign focusing on the importance of farm safety. CASW takes place every year during the third week of March. In 2016, CASW takes place March 13 to 19. CASW 2016 is presented by Farm Credit Canada. For more information visit agsafetyweek.ca. † Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, www.casa-acsa.c

Agronomy tips… from the field

Photo contest

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT

Adding soybeans could work for you

W

ith lentils, and even peas, fetching higher prices this year, you may also want to consider adding soybeans to your acreage as an added insurance policy.

If we have a dry year, chances are the lentils and peas will do better than your soybeans. But if we get high moisture, your soybeans will thrive. Either way, you’re diversifying your acres and spreading out your potential weather risk.

Planting soybeans can deliver several other agronomic benefits, including reduced weather risk from pod shattering, and spoilage if your beans are exposed to heavy fall moisture. Soybeans can also extend your harvest time frame and don’t demand high fertilizer and fungicide inputs.

With all that in mind, ask yourself a few questions: What’s the probability of rain from mid- to late July to Early August in your area? Getting plenty of rainfall during that period when the soybeans are in the flowering and pod filling stages is critical. Second, what are your average heat units available and can you get crop insurance in your area for soybeans?

And finally, where is the local market for your beans?

If you’ve decided that growing soybeans is for you, a great place to start your search is by looking at performance data in this year’s Western Adaptation Trials. † This agronomy tip is brought to you by Richard Marsh, technical development lead, Syngenta Canada.

You might be from the Prairies if...

By Carson Demmans and Jason

This photo came from Nadine Jones, from Shell Lake, Saskatchewan. Nadine has named this coyote Wylie, now that he’s become a regular visitor. Nadine wrote, “As I no longer have a dog, I welcomed, and looked forward to Wylie’s visits. After he picked the apples that fell on the ground he decided to pick his own. When he couldn’t reach any more I picked some for him.”

This is a great photo of a very unusual situation! Thanks Nadine. We’re sending you a cheque for $25. Maybe you can use it to buy treats for Wylie.

Send your best shot to leeann.minogue@fbcpublishing.com. Please send only one or two photos at a time and include your name and address, the names of anyone in the photo, where the photo was taken and a bit about what was going on that day. A little write-up about your farm is welcome, too. Please ensure that images are of high resolution (1 MB is preferred), and if the image includes a person, we need to be able to see their face clearly.

Leeann

You get into a car accident involving a moose, two coyotes and a wolf and say “not again.”

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Cover Stories farmer panel » CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

FARMERS WEIGH IN standard response today is that we believe in the science and technology used in agriculture, and used appropriately we produce a very safe and wholesome food product.

“Sometimes I ask a consumer how much more they are willing to pay for organic, and I have been told 10 per cent more. And I tell them for me to produce organic the price would have to be double, because I would need to use different production practices, including an extended rotation, and many consumers aren’t interested in paying double.”

Bradshaw says their farm has made a point of having an “open house” for customers, long before the idea of farm visits was popular. “We feel it is important to show our customers how we produce their food,” says Bradshaw. “It is getting now that consumers are three or four generations removed from the farm. So for several years we have had 200 or more customers come to our farm on an open house day to see how we produce what we produce. By being open and transparent hopefully we are shaping consumer demand. They can see that we produce a good product and we are not out here destroying and pillaging the environment but are committed to looking after the land.”

GERRID GUST DAVIDSON, SASK. Gerrid Gust says he can produce just about anything the consumer wants, in any way they want it, but he needs to first see how much they are willing to pay. “I hear lots of talk about producing organic, or producing gluten free, or certifying your farm to produce under ISO (international) standards,” says Gust. “But, to my knowledge most consumers aren’t willing to pay for it. And I think if they ever are willing to pay for it, then it is up to individual farmers to decide how that fits with their business operation.”

Farmers are willing to adapt and do what the market wants, as long as they are paid for their efforts, says Gust, who runs a grain, oilseed and pulse crop farming operation at Davidson, about half way between Regina and Saskatoon.

“Forty years ago on this farm we didn’t grow lentils, or peas or canola, and now we do,” says Gust. “If the market says there is a demand farmers will jump on new crops in a

big way, and produce it to customer specifications, but they aren’t going to do it for free.”

Gust, who is also on the board of Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, says he recently was part of a Saskatchewan government trade mission to Algeria, Morocco, Dubai and Ivory Coast countries.

“We talked to consumers, and bakers and millers and they want high-quality, consistent-quality wheat, delivered in a timely manner, and produced under ISO standards and they are willing to pay, but they are not willing to pay very much,” says Gust. “And I am willing to produce everything to the specifications they want, but I want to be paid a lot… so those are our two positions.

“I really don’t get too excited when I hear any consumer “is demanding” something, until I see what they are willing to pay,” says Gust.

He says often concerning environmental issues consumers or society are urging farmers to be good stewards of the land, which is fair, but Gust says for most producers that is standard operating practice.

“We try to do that every day,” says Gust.

“Each generation on this farm has tried to do a better job of farming practices than the last. Like they say “we’re not inheriting this land from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our kids.” I want this land to be as productive as possible for my family and if they don’t want it, then it still needs to be productive for the person who does buy it. No one is going to pay much for it, if my land is worn out and unproductive.”

CHERiLYN NAGEL MOSSBANK, SASK. In an era of “the consumer is demanding…” farmers need to not take their social licence to farm for granted, says Cherilyn Nagel, who along with her husband farms at Mossbank, Sask.

Nagel, who has been very active in mostly ag policy issues for the past decade, says her focus these days is to work with farmers, ranchers and consumers to help educate people on both sides of the issue.

“As farmers we can take this social licence to farm for granted,” says Nagel. We can think we have a right to farm, whereas really we have a privilege to farm. As an agriculture industry farmers do an excellent job of producing crops and livestock, and being excellent stewards of the land, but they need to be able to communicate that to consumers.”

In 2015 and again in 2016 Nagel — along with farming — is also working as a facilitator

for Farm and Food Care, Saskatchewan. It is part of a national initiative aimed at increasing consumer understanding of the agriculture industry and at the same time works with farmers and ranchers to help them communicate their story better.

“It is often heard that consumers are concerned about agriculture, but what they are really concerned about is food — they want to know how their food is produced,” says Nagel.

“And in agriculture we use a lot of jargon, or we assume people just understand and with most consumers now at least two generations removed from they farm, they don’t understand and they find it confusing.

“So my role with Farm and Food Care is to serve as a facilitator working with farmers and ranchers to help them better explain their message to consumers. I will talk with consumers at every opportunity I can, but we need more farmers and ranchers telling their story.”

Nagel says there is nothing wrong with producers using the latest technology, but they need to be able to explain why to consumers.

“If you are growing GMO crops, for example, that’s fine, but know why and be able to explain that to a consumer so they understand too,” she says. “If the public doesn’t trust us (the agriculture industry) then we could see policies or guidelines come along that we don’t want. So we need to be able to talk to consumers and to the public to protect our social licence.”

GREG STAMP STAMP SEEDS, ENCHANT, ALBERTA As the second generation on the southern Alberta family farm, Greg Stamp says “consumer or media demand” doesn’t necessarily change how he farms, but it makes him more aware of the how and why he uses certain production practices.

“When I hear reports about what consumers are demanding — and sometimes it may be more about what the media is saying — but when I hear that what it does do is make me realize how important it is to document and justify what we are doing on the farm,” says Stamp. “It is about keeping good records, it is about if we are using a certain herbicide then knowing what weeds we wanted to control and how the product was used. It doesn’t necessarily mean I will change what I do, but it makes me stop and know I can be accountable for how we are farming.” † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

crop production

A hail of a book

L

ynn Gidluck wants to hear your stories about hail.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Association, SMHA asked Saskatchewan writer Lynne Gidluck to write a book.

She’s not interested in writing a dry corporate history.

“Photos and stories of hailstorms will hopefully add some colour and really drive home how devastating hail can be (even with insurance coverage).”

Lynn would like to see your photos and read your stories. There will be prizes for the best entries, and she’ll use some in the book. Because, until 2014, SMHA only offered hail insurance in Saskatchewan, she’s most interested in Saskatchewan stories. But, she says, if she gets good stories from Alberta and Manitoba in 2014 or 2015, she’ll consider including those too.

Contact Lynn Gidluck at lgidluck@benchmarkpr.ca or (305) 352-2304 to share your story. I know every farmer has one. I have one myself. This is one of the hailstones that fell on our farm on July 23, 2013. We lost about half of our crop in that storm. †

Leeann Minogue

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The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Grainews and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists and Grainews and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Grainews 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.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

5

Crop production

Studying soil responses to sulphur U of S researchers look at responses to sulphur fertilizer in different soil zones

By Lisa Guenther

W

ill farmers see a yield bump from sulphur, given that most soils aren’t severely depleted? How tolerant are crops to sulphur fertilizer in the seed-row? How long does it take for plants to use sulphur?

Those were a few of the questions Dr. Jeff Schoenau, University of Saskatchewan soil scientist, set out to answer at CropSphere in Saskatoon in January.

Schoenau and his colleagues have completed two years of a three-year project looking at sulphur fertilization. They ran trials in different soils — grey luvisol soil near Star City, black chernozem near Melfort and at Schoenau’s farm in the brown chernozem zone near Central Butte.

They tested five different sulphur fertilizers on wheat, canola, and yellow peas. Treatments had 20 kg per hectare of sulphur fertilizer. Some treatments also had 20 kg per hectare of monoammomium phosphate (MAP). All treatments and controls had 100 kilograms per hectare of nitrogen.

Soils generally had good phosphorus stores, Schoenau said. “It’s really hard to find a highly sulphur-deficient soil out there these days, folks, because most growers out there have been putting lots of sulphur on for their canola and their rotation.”

an effective fertilizer for wet soils prone to leaching, Schoenau said.

Researchers also applied elemental sulphur fertilizer, which requires time to oxidize before it’s plant-available. Schoenau said the elemental sulphur wasn’t effective in the short term, but could work if applied well before crop demand.

Elemental sulphur tends to work best when broadcast “and allowed to weather,” Schoenau said. But even broadcasting it in the fall doesn’t give it a lot of time to oxidize, he warned. He suggested soil tests in the spring to see how much sulphate is in the soil.

There was no evidence that the MAP interacted with the sulphate to affect sulphur availability, he added.

The study also examined crop tolerance to seed-row placed sulphur. Researchers used controlled environment chambers at the U of S, with optimum moisture conditions on a loamy textured soil.

They looked at several different brassicas, including hybrid canola, open-pollinated canola, high erucic acid rapeseed, polish canola, juncea canola and camelina.

Researchers found that rates exceeding 20 lbs. per acre of ammonium sulphate reduced emergence for most crops.

But Schoenau cautioned that Manitoba researchers have seen crop injury with rates as low as 10 lbs. per acre in dry, sandy, high pH soils.

If farmers have MAP in the

row, they should cut sulphur rates as well, Schoenau said. That’s because the MAP has a salt effect, Schoenau said.

Ammonium sulphate is mobile, so it’s probably best to band it.

“And I guess, thinking about it, if you’re forced to choose between sulphur and phosphorus in the seed row, I certainly would tend to be going with the phosphorus in the seed row rather than the sulphur.”

Researchers also looked at MES15, an NPS specialty fertilizer. The napus cultivars could tolerate up to 30 kg of sulphur per hectare as the MES-15 product. Schoenau explained half the sulphur is in the sulphate form, making it plant available. The other half

Setting New Standards

is elemental, insoluble, and has no salt effect. But it does need to oxidize to become plant available.

Brassicas varied in their sensitivity to seed-placed sulphur.

Rapeseed was quite tolerant to rates as high as 30 lbs. per acre.

Argentine varieties were generally more.

Camelina was “really sensitive to the seed-placed sulphur and phosphorus,” Schoenau said. “Once we got up above 10, we started to see some significant reductions in germination and emergence, especially when we had some phosphorus in there.” † Lisa Guenther is field editor for Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.

Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

Heavily podded Great yield

6074 RR & 6080 RR How long does it take for crops to use sulphur?

Canola yield response varied. Researchers saw significant responses in the grey luvisol soils of Star City both years, especially with the potassium sulphate, Schoenau said. They also saw a significant response to treatments in 2014 at Central Butte, especially with gypsum fertilizer. This may be because since gypsum is only slightly soluble, it wasn’t leached away during the wet year.

The Melfort site wasn’t very responsive either year, which Schoenau attributed to plenty of sulphate available through mineralization.

As farmers might expect, researchers didn’t see a yield response in wheat or peas. In fact, they saw some pea injury with liquid ammonium thiosulphate.

“And that’s because we didn’t get very good separation with the liquid ATS band and the seed.”

Researchers also collected soil samples from seed-rows one week, four weeks and eight weeks after seeding. They measured sulphate and phosphate, and took samples to the synchrotron to examine sulphur compounds.

Based on those samples, they found crops took up nearly all the sulphate between days seven and 28. Gypsum treatments had some sulphate left after 28 days, as it’s only slightly soluble. That made it

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Features

Crop Advisor’s casebook

Pea conundrum for Alberta farmer

By Dallas Funke

B

ack in June I received a call from John, a farmer who grows mostly durum wheat, peas and flax on his 1,500-acre spread located about an hour southwest of Regina. He told me that despite the hot, dry conditions the area had been seeing of late, his durum crop had established quite nicely — but things had changed suddenly.

John had recently driven by his durum field, where the plants were in the four- to six-leaf stage, when he noticed a yellow tinge to large areas of the field. Upon closer inspection of the crop, he could see the bottom understory leaves were yellowing and appeared to be dying off.

John asked if I could come down and have a look. When I arrived at the problem field, I could see what he was talking about. Chlorosis, or yellowing, was indeed occurring in the understory leaves of many of the plants, and in some cases, the bottom leaves had died off completely. When I dug up a few of the affected plants, I could see a poor rooting structure with lesions beginning to appear on the crown right at soil level.

These plant symptoms were not uniform across the entire field, but covered a large portion of it. The hardest hit areas also appeared to be in the highest parts of the field.

John said the problem started showing up about a week-and-a-half before he called me. He didn’t know for sure what was behind it, but he had an idea.

“I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to have root rot in durum with conditions this dry, but it looks similar to what we have seen with root rot in the last few wet years,” he explained.

John was clearly stressed and the fact he had already experienced a tough year didn’t help. He told me that things had got off to a difficult start, beginning with his planting and fertilizer application program. John had intended to set up his drill to side band nitrogen fertilizer while seeding,

but due to time limitations he ended up spreading the nutrient out in front of the drill instead.

When I first saw the crop, I immediately thought a seed borne disease might be to blame, so I asked John where he got his durum seed from.

Turns out it was quality seed from a reliable source, so that likely wasn’t the issue. The durum had also been treated with a contact and systemic seed treatment prior to seeding, and when I inquired about the treatment process, I determined inadequate coverage probably wasn’t an issue either.

The problem didn’t appear to be the result of a leaf disease, as the leaves of plants (even those that were dying off) had no signs of any lesions on the outside. The leaves were simply yellowing and dying off.

Another possibility was the dry weather the area had been experiencing. This could have very well been the cause, because the signs the plant was showing looked just like those a plant would exhibit when it was stressed because of heat and drought.

I took a look at some neighbouring durum wheat fields, and while the plants in them generally appeared smaller than normal because of the dry weather, they weren’t exhibiting the intense chlorotic and necrotic symptoms that were showing up in John’s field.

John was looking for an answer, but providing him with one would clearly take a little more examination. But where to look next?

If you think you know what’s behind John’s yellowing durum, send your diagnosis to Grainews, Box 9800, Winnipeg, Man., R3C 3K7; email leeann.minogue@ fbcpublishing.com or fax 204-94495416 c/o Crop Advisor’s Casebook. Best suggestions will be pooled and one winner will be drawn for a chance to win a Grainews cap and a one-year subscription to the magazine. The answer, along with reasoning that solved the mystery, will appear in the next Crop Advisor’s Solution File. †

CASEBOOK WINNER

1. Dallas Funke is a sales agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Corinne, Sask. 2. Chlorosis, or yellowing, was occurring in the understory leaves of many of the plants.

In some cases, the bottom leaves had died off. 3. Some plants had a poor rooting structure with lesions beginning to appear on the crown right at soil level.

1

This issue’s Casebook winner is reader Cam Ferguson, from Spalding Saskatchawan.

Cam, thanks for reading and thanks for entering!

We’re sending you a Grainews hat and a one-year subscription to Grainews.

Leeann Minogue

2

3

Dallas Funke is a sales agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Corinne, Sask.

Crop advisor’s solution

Think rotation when considering peas

By Travis Elford

B

ob, a dryland farmer east of Warner, Alta., who grows canola, lentils, peas and cereals, called me in mid-June to see if I could come out and scout one of his pea fields. The crop was turning white and Bob wanted to find out why as soon as possible.

While I was walking through the problem field, it was obvious that some plants were showing symptoms of white leaf tissue on the newest nodes. Bob had told me he noticed the symptoms around the 10-node stage of the crop and he was thinking that it could be due to nutrient deficiency.

As I continued to scout the field, I noticed that while most of the peas were healthy and growing fine, the plants with white leaf tissue appeared in patches throughout the crop. As I pulled an affected plant to take a closer look, it

was also apparent that there was significantly less nodulation on the roots than expected at that stage of growth.

I observed that affected areas within the field were mainly situated on hilltops and high spots but stand establishment, uniformity and growth stage were equal in both healthy and affected areas.

Tissue samples taken from the affected and unaffected areas of the field showed that both had the same level of macro and micronutrients within the optimum range. This eliminated any possibility of nutrient deficiency.

It was when Bob filled me in on the history of the field that I began to hone in on the cause of the problem.

Prior to the field being seeded with peas, sulfentrazone had been applied to the soil for pre-emergent control of kochia. Bob had used his sprayer to apply glyphosate and 2,4-D to a chemfallow field before that, but the grower assured

me he had flushed his sprayer multiple times with ammonia prior to moving on to this pea field.

In any case, the glyphosate and 2,4-D products that Bob had used would not cause this type of damage in a pea crop, so I knew leftover residue from the sprayer wasn’t to blame. I was also sure the preseed burndown product wasn’t responsible either, as it was registered for safe and effective use prior to seeding peas.

The culprit was one of the in-crop herbicides that had been applied to the previous year’s durum crop in the same field.

Bob’s field notes showed that he applied a Group 27 herbicide, pyrasulfotole, to that crop. This, coupled with dry field conditions, enabled me to conclude that Bob’s whitening peas were the result of residual herbicide damage.

I explained to Bob that under optimal growing conditions with adequate moisture, organic matter and pH, peas

can be seeded the year after a Group 27 herbicide is applied — but it is not recommended. When springtime moisture is lacking, as was the case on Bob’s farm, it is highly recommended to consider a different crop to rotate into other than pulse crops.

To avoid situations like this, it’s important for growers to consider proper crop rotation practices that take into account herbicide applications from previous years. Understanding soil characteristics, which products have residual activity in the soil and which do not will ensure better rotational decisions, especially for sensitive crops like pulses.

For this reason, it’s recommended to consult an agronomist or supplier representative for situations when growers are unsure of the re-cropping restrictions for a product. † Travis Elford is a sales agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Stirling, Alta.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

7

Crop production

Recommended malt barley varieties Tired of the same old thing? Try a new malt barley variety this spring

By Leeann Minogue

TWO-ROW BARLEY VARIETIES RECOMMENDED FOR 2016-17

ast year, 73 per cent of Prairie acres that grew two-row malt barley were seeded with AC Metcalfe or CDC Copeland. Because both of these varieties have been available for quite a few years, Michael Brophy, President and CEO of the Brewing and Malt Barley Research Institute (BMBRI), would like farmers to have more options. “My hope is that we never have another 20-year-old variety again in Canada.”

There are new varieties that yield higher than AC Metcalfe and have lower protein (a quality valued by many malt-buyers).

However, there must be demand for new varieties before farmers will be willing to grow them.

Before they will be welcomed into the system, replacement malt barley varieties must be high yielding, adaptable across Western Canada, resistant to disease pressure, and have the quality specs that end users want.

The BMBRI works at the beginning of the Canadian value chain, funding and guiding breeding and research, evaluating and testing new varieties, and then assisting with the official registration of new varieties.

Getting a new variety from the breeding stage to the registration stage can take time.

“It takes 12 years to actually bring in varieties to the state of registration,” Brophy told farmers at CropSphere in Saskatoon in January. “So we’re really evaluating the outcome of crosses made 12 or 13 years ago.”

There is a lot of barley breeding research happening across Canada. However, Brophy says, “to those looking for one replacement for Metcalfe, I don’t believe that’s the solution going forward.”

The varieties in the table are possibilities for farmers looking for a variety other than CDC Copeland or AC Metcalfe. Some buyers are contracting for Newdale, Brophy said, but if you plan to grow it, “you want to make sure you have a contract.” There is also, he said, “a lot of interest” in Synergy. It yields higher than AC Metcalfe and is potentially suited to AC Metcalfe markets.

Brophy asked farmers to push malt buyers to try new varieties.

“Tell them you’re fed up with growing Metcalfe.”

As for six-row varieties, demand has been declining. “We’re not funding six-row breeding anymore,” Brophy said. †

Variety

Market comments

CDC Copeland

L

Seed distribution rights

% of acres in 2015-16

Established demand

SeCan

35.0

AC Metcalfe

Established demand

SeCan

38.1

Bentley

Limited demand. Contact Canada Malting Company

Canterra Seeds

3.3

CDC Meredith

Limited demand

SeCan

5.2

CDC PolarStar

Limited demand. Contact Prairie Malt-Cargill

Canterra Seeds

1.4

Newdale

Limited demand. Contact Canada Malting Company or North American Food Ingredients

FP Genetics

5.2

Merit 57

Limited demand. Contact BARI-Canada

Canterra Seeds

0.7

CDC Kindersley

Under market development — growing demand

SeCan

1.7

AAC Synergy

Under market development — growing demand

Syngenta

0.8

The CMBTC recommends that farmers consult with their grain company representative or malting companies regarding commercial opportunities for specific varieties. Source: cmbtc

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45824-02-02/16

PHOTO: Glenbow Archives NC-6-3334

Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews.

Demand for six-row varieties is falling. For 201617, recommended varieties are Legacy, Tradition and Celebration. † Leeann Minogue

45824-02_NFC_2016_PSBurndown_AN_8_125x10_GN.indd 1

1/19/16 3:41 PM

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Features

Crop production

Buffer strips are not that effecient Riparian buffer buffer strips’ reputation for filtering nutrient runoff may be overblown

By Julienne Isaacs

Three years ago, Lobb and colleagues completed a study on water quality for Environment Canada under the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Fund that examined the effectiveness of riparian buffers on multiple sites. The report received little attention, and its recommendations have yet to turn into policy. This year, Minnesota passed a buffer strip requirement into law requiring “perennial vegetation buffers of up to 50 feet along rivers, streams, and ditches that will help filter out phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment.”

Lobb says there are many benefits to riparian buffer strips. They improve wildlife habitats, promote stream health, and offer a

B

uffer strips around cropland are typically viewed as “filters,” taking up excess nutrients before they can reach waterways. Some provincial governments are considering legislation requiring farmers to leave buffer strips. However, new work from the University of Manitoba questions their effectiveness.

Dr. David Lobb, senior research chair for the Watershed Systems Research Program and a U of M soil science professor, says riparian buffer strips are “highly inefficient” when it comes to filtering nutrient runoff from agricultural land in the Prairies, and in fact might contribute nutrients to runoff.

setback for additional farm safety near waterways.

“But we don’t know the optimum width for corridors or habitats. We don’t know what the minimum should be. Many jurisdictions, including Manitoba, have promoted buffers as a filter — that’s a problem. They aren’t.

They’re so inefficient that it would be ridiculous for a farmer to propose establishing a riparian buffer for the purpose of protecting water quality,” says Lobb.

Lobb says there are two reasons riparian buffers are not effective in “filtering” nutrients in the Prairies.

First, in northern environments, the heaviest runoff events occur in the spring with snowmelt, when soils and vegetation are frozen and

infiltration is extremely limited or nonexistent. “The vegetation is likely contributing nutrients to any runoff that’s occurring,” says Lobb.

About 80 per cent of the runoff and nutrient losses occur during spring snowmelt in this region.

The second reason has to do with basic hydrology. When water runs off the land it concentrates. “Water passing through the riparian buffer will pass through maybe one per cent of the area,” he explains. “Ninetynine per cent of the buffer does not intercept runoff.”

Lobb says vegetative filter strips were developed as an engineered technology in which runoff passes through the vegetated area during growing season as

a sheet of water in a controlled manner, and the vegetation is harvested to remove the nutrients. “Now we’re looking at undulating land, where water runs through an unmanaged riparian area, and through only a very small percentage of that riparian buffer. Based on that fact alone, riparian buffers are highly, highly inefficient, and more likely to cause a water quality problem than to solve one.”

Management To make them more effective, Lobb says buffer zones should be “shaped” and smoothed out to promote evenly dispersed flow through more of the riparian areas and to detain runoff and retain sediments. And, they must be designed so the vegetation can be harvested and the accumulating nutrients can be removed.

“In low-lying areas where runoff occurs, producers should put in a broad grassed waterway and harvest the grass. This means that you put vegetation where the flow is occurring and then harvest that vegetation. That’s the best thing producers can do,” he says.

Riparian buffers are highly, highly inefficient

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“If you don’t remove the vegetation, it senesces and dies and releases those nutrients into the runoff and waterways. There’s a problem with a strict naturalist approach to managing riparian areas. If we don’t manage the riparian areas, they will not be effective as buffers.”

Sandi Riemersma, an environmental biologist with Palliser Environmental Services, says the effectiveness of buffers depends on several factors, including the slope of land, soil characteristics, buffer width, vegetation, season and management.

“A riparian buffer strip is a good tool to reduce sediment transport and often can reduce particulate phosphorus mobility,” she says. “But buffers are not effective in winter and early spring when vegetation is dormant, soils are frozen and microbial activity is low or absent,” she says.

Riemersma emphasizes nutrient application management as an essential aspect of protecting waterways from nutrient runoff.

In addition, she says permanent cover should be maintained near waterways, steep slopes and on erodible and saline soils.

“Riparian buffers help to maintain stable streambanks, thereby reducing soil erosion and associated sediment and nutrient transport in waterways,” she says. † Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne. isaacs@gmail.com.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

9

Crop protection

Two modes are better than one The newest pulse fungicides have chemicals from two different fungicide groups

By Leeann Minogue

F

armers across the Prairies are looking at high pulse prices and trying to find ways to add pulses to their 2016 rotation. Crop protection companies are ready to help, releasing new fungicides to help farmers protect their yield from diseases like ascochyta blight and anthracnose.

As with herbicides, to extend the life of fungicides and slow the development of disease resistance, provincial crop protection guides recommend that farmers rotate fungicides, using products from different Groups to control the same diseases, year after year.

Fungicides are categorized into

groups based on their active ingredients, and how those chemicals target the disease.

There are more than enough fungicide options in the market to make fungicide rotation possible. In fact, several of the newlyreleased fungicides have two modes of action.

Last year, Bayer released a new fungicide, Delaro, for use in chickpeas, peas and lentils. Delaro has two modes of action, prothioconazole and trifloxystrobin and is classified as both a Group 3 and Group 11 fungicide.

BASF’s Priaxor was launched in 2014. It also uses two modes of action, fluxapyroxad (Group 7) and pyraclostrobin (Group 11).

Now Syngenta has launched

another new dual-action fungicide for the 2016 season. Elatus, says Syngenta’s technical lead for Western Canada, Robert Klewchuk, “was designed specifically for pulses.” After last year’s research experience, Klewchuk says Syngenta is, “very satisfied with how this product performs.”

Like Piaxor, Elatus is classed as both a Group 7 and a Group 11 fungicide. Its active ingredients are benzovindiflupyr (an SDHI active, or fungal respiration inhibitor that Syngenta has trademarked as Solatenol), and azoxystrobin, a mobile active within the strobilurin class of fungicides.

For now, Elatus comes in two separate jugs, for on-farm mixing.

(Klewchuk says that Syngenta’s goal is to eventually sell this premixed.) The application rate will be the same for all pulse crops.

Klewchuk say Elatus has residual action due to Syngenta’s new ingredient Solatenol. Solatenol, he says, polls in the waxy cuticle of the plant’s leaf and stem. “And it slowly penetrates over time.”

Meanwhile, the other active ingredient works in the leaves and stem too, moving upward and outward to protect new growth.

Klewchuk recommends that farmers apply Elatus preventatively, to secure their yield and quality while protecting their investment, rather than waiting until damage can be seen before applying. With lentils, the best

time to spray is before row closure.

“Once they close over the canopy it’s hard to get it into the canopy.”

He also advises farmers to pay attention to water volume, even though it may take more time in the field. “You increase your protection and coverage with increased water volume.”

Pulse growers anticipating a dry growing season may still want to consider applying a fungicide, Klewchuk says. Even in drier years, the closed canopy “creates that warm humid environment” that you can detect if you walk through a lentil field in the early morning.

This microclimate, Klewchuk says, is “a perfect greenhouse for disease to fester.” † Leeann Minogue

Crop promotion

T

here’s no doubt, pulses are having a good year.

And not just here, where all kinds of farmers are adding pulses to their rotations in hopes of getting in on high pulse prices. The United Nations General assembly has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses.

Along with the designation, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization wants to promote increased pulse production, tools and research.

The UN has come up with some key messages about pulses that it wants to share with the world: • Pulses are highly nutritious.

• Pulses are economically accessible and contribute to food security at all levels.

• Pulses have important health benefits.

• Pulses foster sustainable agriculture and contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

• Pulses promote biodiversity.

But Grainews readers already knew all of that.

Are you thinking of getting in on the lentil boom? Worried the neighbours’ pea production will blow up the market and send the high prices plummeting?

You aren’t the only one paying attention to this. The Saskatchewan Pulse Growers have even made some videos about markets. Watch them for at saskpulse.com/growing/ pulse-school-videos/. †

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Check it out for yourself at agsolutions.ca/twinline or call AgSolutions® Customer Care at 1-877-371-BASF (2273).

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Always read and follow label directions.

AgSolutions is a registered trade-mark of BASF Corporation; AgCelence, and TWINLINE are registered trade-marks of BASF SE; all used with permission by BASF Canada Inc. TWINLINE fungicide should be used in a preventative disease control program. © 2016 BASF Canada Inc.

Leeann Minogue

NEWS Client: BASF

Publication: Grain News

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.

Tawn

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Features

crop disease

A race against evolving blackleg The blackleg pathogen is evolving to challenge blackleg resistant canola varieties

By Leeann Minogue

B

lackleg is not going away.

In fact, AAFC researcher Dr. Garry Peng told Saskatchewan farmers at a November meeting, “we are seeing a creeping up of the disease over the last five, six years, in all provinces.”

Researchers first began to recognize blackleg in canola in the mid70s. Blackleg incidence reached a peak in the late 80s and early 90s. Then, with changes in canola management practices and the development of blackleg resistant seed varieties in the early 90s, the degree of incidence of blackleg fell. In the future, however, we may be seeing it more often.

Peng is part of a group of researchers monitoring and mapping the evolution of the blackleg pathogen across the Prairies. He spoke to farmers about his latest research at Saskatchewan’s oilseed producer meetings, sponsored by SaskCanola, SaskMustard, SaskFlax and Saskatchewan Agriculture.

Peng listed a few reasons for the resurgence of blackleg. One is a change in the makeup of the pathogen that causes blackleg. Another is shortened canola rotations, “in comparison with 10 years ago.”

Crop damage from insects or hail also increases the potential for blackleg damage. “With those injuries the disease tends to be much more pronounced,” Peng says.

Since the 90s, farmers have been buying canola seed rated “R” (resistant) for blackleg. “With the resistant cultivars,” Peng says, “the disease was kept in control very well for very many years.”

Now, the resistance built into our seed supply may be breaking down.

To understand how this could happen, it helps to start with some basic information about how canola seed breeders create blackleg resistant canola.

Canola seed breeders have two types of resistance to work with.

The first type is quantitative resistance. This type of resistance is thought to be caused by several genes working together, each contributing a small effort to the overall resistance. Although the crop may not be highly resistant at the seedling stage,” Peng says, “(quantitative resistance) somehow slows the infection down a little bit, and that will reduce the infection into the stem and alleviate the disease at a later stage.” As the blackleg pathogen evolves over time, this type of resistance is still effective, but it may not be enough to fully protect canola crops against the blackleg pathogen under the conditions conducive to infection such as hail or insect damage, or a warm, wet spring.

The second type of resistance, qualitative resistance, can be stronger and more effective. It is very specific. The resistance gene in the canola variety must match the specific pathogen avirulence (Avr) gene in the blackleg pathogen population. Where there is a match, the plant will be able to stop the blackleg pathogen at the site of the

photos: courtesy of the canola council of canada

Disease resistance

Much of the seed we buy is blackleg resistant. However, that resistance may be beginning to break down. initial infection — on the cotyledons, leaves and stem. But, if there is no match, the plant is not resistant to blackleg infections.

In developing this qualitative resistance, canola breeders don’t have a lot of genetic material to work with. “We have a limited number of resistance genes for blackleg control,” Peng says. “In order for them to work, you need to have the pathogen population carrying the specific gene, called the Avr gene, in the pathogen.” There are only 16 major resistance genes identified so far. However, most of the blackleg resistant seed available in Western Canada is based on just one or two of these 16 genes: Rlm3 and/or Rlm1. This seed is resistant to the AvrLm3 or AvrLm1 avirulent genes in the blackleg pathogen.

“The diversity is not that high,” Peng says. “We have very limited choices of resistant genes,” Just one gene, Rlm3, is in close to 60 per cent of Canadian canola varieties and breeding lines.

The Rlm3 resistant gene in our canola seed will fight the AvrLm3 gene in the blackleg pathogen. This works well when AvrLm3 is the main gene in the blackleg pathogen in the soil. However, over time, the pathogen population changes.

Peng has had a first-hand look at this evolution. Along with Dr. Dilantha Fernando, plant science professor at the University of Manitoba and Dr. Ralph Lange from Alberta Innovates, Peng is in the middle of a five-year Growing Forward 2 project to map blackleg pathogens in the farmers’ fields.

“Unfortunately, the AvrLm3 gene in the pathogen population has diminished over the years,” Peng says. “That means the major gene resistance is not the major function in our variety performance. That’s the important message to the seed companies.”

When resistant canola plants don’t allow blackleg’s AvrLm3 genes to thrive, the other Avr genes in the pathogen may increase, and

can become a larger portion of the pathogen population.

Blackleg can evolve quickly.

Some researchers have found that, if the same variety is seeded three years in a row, the blackleg fungus can evolve to overcome the majorgene resistance, especially in areas with a lot of canola production and short crop rotation.

Peng says the blackleg population is evolving, with AvrLm7 reaching a very high level on the prairies. So, the next opportunity to fight blackleg with a major resistance gene is Rlm7.

In language similar to the terms we use to describe weeds that develop resistance to commonlyused herbicides, Peng refers to the ever-changing nature of the fungus and our resistance as an “arms race.”

“It’s going to be an endless battle if we look at it that way.” And, Peng says, “the pathogen always wins, although we beat them back temporarily.”

Plant genetics Just as we need to rotate herbicides to extend their lifespans and fight herbicide resistant weeds, we need to try to keep our canola seed varieties resistant to blackleg.

The slower the pathogen changes, Peng says, “the better longevity varieties will have.”

One way to slow down the evolution of the pathogen would be to use seed resistant to different blackleg pathogens. However, in tests that Dr. Dilantha Fernando has conducted in his University of Manitoba lab, Fernando has found that most companies are using “almost the same resistance gene.”

While there are other differences in different corporations’ seed profiles, in tests at his Manitoba lab, Fernando has found that one major gene, the resistance gene Rlm, is present in almost 60 per cent of the Canadian germplasm.

This low genetic diversity in our seed supply makes it difficult for

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features farmers to manage the pathogen, and easier for the pathogen to evolve to survive.

Ideally, seed companies will work to find other resistance genes that could be incorporated into the Canadian canola germplasm.

Fernando suggests genes from wild species, or other brassica species.

“Those might carry different resistance genes,” he says.

Many companies are advertising new canola varieties with “multigenic” blackleg resistance. These lines have been found to carry two different genes for resistance to the blackleg pathogen. This should lead to better blackleg control, but Fernando says, “In theory, yes, but again, depending on the pathogen population, maybe not.” This is something he’s studying right now.

“The pathogen population is fairly diverse in the farmer’s field.

When the pathogen population is fairly diverse putting several different genes together at the same time may be counterproductive.”

With only two resistant genes,

Getting an R rating The Canola Council of Canada organizes and operates co-op trials across the Prairies to evaluate new seed varieties.

To test for blackleg resistance, new varieties are compared to “Westar,” a canola variety that is highly susceptible to blackleg. Researchers examine at least 100 plants of each variety over four replicated plots at each of 10 locations across the prairies.

They pull the plants, cut through the stems, then evaluate the severity of blackleg in the plant.

Dr. Dilantha Fernando runs the co-op trials at Carman, Man. Fernando is concerned that the co-op trial locations may not have the same avirulent-gene profile for the pathogen as in farmers’ fields. In fact, he says, the pathogen is changing so rapidly that the pathogens at a co-op site in 2012 might be very different from the population at that same site in 2015. To address this issue, Dr. Peng has initiated a new project to assess the blackleg pathogen avirulent-gene structure at each of the co-op sites commencing in 2015.

So, seed that has been characterized as resistant (“R”) for blackleg will have been resistant to the pathogens in the co-op trial in the year that variety was tested, although that doesn’t necessarily mean the variety will be resistant to the particular pathogen populations in every farmer’s field in future years.

However, Fernando says, most of the inoculum in the soil at the co-op sites is natural inoculum. “It is getting fairly close to what is out there in farmers’ fields.” † Leeann Minogue

one can fight resistance of one strain of pathogen, while the second fights the resistance of another strain. Ultimately, the pathogen may wind up resistant to both of these genes. For example, some of our cultivars carry both Rlm1 and Rlm3. After years of use, however, the AvrLm1 and AvrLm3 are now at almost undetectable levels in the pathogen population. As a result, these two resistance genes are no longer effective against blackleg on the Prairies.

“Even though in theory, on paper, it sounds exciting to have multi-gene resistance, for a few years it might be a little better than having a single gene. But it (the resistance), might be broken fairly quickly.”

In addition to the 16 major genes in canola plants, there are also minor genes present. These minor genes are difficult to identify and work with, but using breeding lines carrying these minor genes could lead to longer-term solutions for blackleg control.

In the field

RESISTANCE RATINGS

While there are fungicides registered for control of blackleg on canola, Fernando says using a fungicide to manage blackleg isn’t usually a good economic decision.

What he does recommend will come as no surprise to farmers familiar with herbicide resistant weeds: good rotations.

Fernando recommends limiting canola rotations to one year in three or four. In between, growing crops that are non-hosts to blackleg (like cereals, pulses, or soybeans), will prevent the pathogen from developing and multiplying.

Over time the blackleg pathogen population will slowly decline.

Fernando understands that farmers also have to take economics into account; blackleg or not, some will use tighter rotations.

“That’s where the R-gene rotation comes into play.”

Fernando would like to see seed companies adopt a system

Rating

Severity

R (Resistant)

< 30% of the severity of Westar

MR (Moderately Resistant)

30 to 49% of the severity of Westar

MS (Moderately Susceptible)

50 to 69% of the severity of Westar

S (Susceptible)

70 to 100% of the severity of Westar

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11

Source: Canola Council of Canada

of identifying their seed by resistance “group.” Farmers could rotate canola seed, planting varieties with resistance to different pathogen races. Or, better yet, farmers could choose seed varieties with specific resistance to the inoculum in their area.

“We almost have a Prairie map for blackleg pathogen races,” he says. “We now need to come up with the other side,” that is, seed marketed with specific resistance placed by resistance “group.” “That can only be done with the participation of the seed companies.”

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In the past few years, environmental conditions have not been terribly conducive to blackleg. Particularly in Saskatchewan, where the incidence has increased only slightly since 2010. However, in southern Manitoba and east-central Alberta, incidence has increased substantially.

“In a year that we have very good environmental conditions for the pathogen, there could be an epidemic. Unfortunately a lot of people do not understand that part.” †

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(that our cereal varieties yield confidence and performance)

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12

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Features

crop production

Fertilizer prices, now and into spring Timing fertilizer purchases is a guessing game. Here’s one expert’s take on the issue

By Dilia Narduzzi

T

he time to buy fertilizer is now, if you don’t have enough stored up on the farm. December and January, if you look at numbers from the last ten years, is the best time to buy fertilizers if you have the resources and space, says Todd Bergen-Henengouwen, project assistant at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, because that’s when prices tend to be at their lowest. It’s common to see prices increase as we move into March, April, and May because that’s when demand starts to get higher. Prices can start to creep up even as early as February, says Bergen-Henengouwen, because

even though farmers in the prairies aren’t seeding yet, those down south in the United States are.

Now that we know the overall trend, where are prices at the current moment for the two most prominent types of fertilizers, the nitrogen-based (ammonia and urea) and the phosphorusbased products? When I spoke to Bergen-Henengouwen on January 6, 2015, the provincial price averages for Alberta (rather than for any particular retailer) were as follows: phosphorus was at 11 51 0 (the first number is the percentage of nitrogen, the second number is the percentage of phosphorus, and the third number is percentage of potassium) and the average price for this product was $807 per

tonne. For urea, at 46 0 0, the average price was $551 per tonne. For ammonia, at 82 0 0, the average price was $944 per tonne.

“Nitrogen-based fertilizers are currently below 5-year averages,” says Bergen-Henengouwen, while “phosphorus-based fertilizers are above average.” The nitrogenbased fertilizers are lower in price partially due to the “lower oil and natural gas prices than we’ve seen historically, as well as the lower commodity prices,” says BergenHenengouwen. Since natural gas is a major feedstock for nitrogen fertilizers, the fact it’s low means that the cost of producing nitrogen-based products falls. Fertilizer prices tend to follow the price of corn, says Bergen-Henengouwen,

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because if corn is selling really high farmers will want to grow as much as possible, but when the price of corn is lower then people will skimp a bit on fertilizer on their corn crops because it’s too expensive. Here in the prairies, where canola is a huge crop, BergenHenengouwen has looked at the price of urea divided by the price of canola over the last 10 years and found that right now we’re just below the 10-year average in terms of the nitrogen-based fertilizers and just above the 10-year average for the phosphorus-based fertilizers, which means that, relatively speaking, phosphorus-based products are a little more expensive and nitrogen-based products are a little less expensive, based on what farmers have been able to sell canola for.

Part of the reason that the prices of phosphorus-based products are a bit higher at the moment is because “phosphorus is brought in from outside of Canada,” so the United States-Canadian exchange rate, with the current Canadian dollar being so low, plays a role.

Additionally, demand for phosphorus-based fertilizers have also been higher in the last year, which has also driven up the price.

Some good news, says BergenHenengouwen, is that phosphorus prices out of New Orleans have been falling in the last two months, so there’s the hope that that decrease will filter down into our local markets.

Ammonia and urea are most often used on the farm, while phosphorus is secondary, though it’s still vital to plant growth, says Bergen-Henengouwen. With the current high phosphorus prices, then, some farmers might make the choice to reduce the usage of the phosphorus-based fertilizers while prices are running high.

Though the 10-year trends are known, it’s really hard to definitively predict what prices will be at any given point in the future. But Alberta Agriculture and Forestry keeps the most up-to-date information on their website under the Alberta Farm Input Monitoring System. Check out the page at h t t p : / / w w w. a g r i c . g o v. a b . c a / app21/farminputprices where you’ll find, in addition to current fertilizer prices and prices from the last five years, average prices for feed, farm machinery and other common expenses. † Dilia Narduzzi is a freelance writer in Dundas, Ont.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

13

Farm finance

Defining roles can save the farm Deciding and confirming “who’s in charge here” can take frustration out of the family farm

I

mproved communications and actually defining roles and responsibilities on a family farm can not only make the day go better, but can actually save a farm business, says a long-time Alberta consultant.

Confusion over who is in charge can lead to some very stressful situations, says Merle Good, a well know consulting agricultural tax specialist who has also learned plenty about human resource issues over the years. And that stress and frustration can potentially lead to someone just walking away from the whole farm business, says Good.

“In any business, particularly a multi-generation family farm it is important that everyone is clear about responsibilities,” says Good.

“Whether it be parents working along side their children, or siblings or other family members running a farm, it is important to define management roles. Be clear on each person’s responsibility and then let them do their job.”

Good, as part of a recent presentation to the Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers in Edmonton, described a real-life farm conflict he encountered in the fall of 2015.

The issue involved a long time mixed farming operation, that included a large grain operation along with a 300 head cow-calf operation, says Good. The son, now 36, had been back working with his father on the farm for about 15 years.

“First of all it was a fall where they were dealing with the harvest from hell,” says Good. The weather just hadn’t co-operated, harvest was delayed, everyone was feeling the tension. “And after harvest the son comes to me, he wants to leave the farm, because he is just so frustrated,” says Good.

Here is what happened.

The son was responsible for looking after harvest and getting equipment lined up, but the dad comes to the son as soon as there appeared to a decent stretch of harvest conditions ahead, and says “we should get a couple extra combines in the field to get this harvest done, do you have anything lined up?” And the son replied that he was looking after it.

And that’s where the conversation ended. That was the Friday.

Come Monday morning, four extra combines show up on the farm. Two had been lined up by the son and two by the father. The father, not trusting the son to deal with the equipment situation, had lined up two machines as well.

Neither had communicated their specific plans to the other.

“In that case the son sent the two combines he had lined up home,” says Good. “Harvest got done, but the son was extremely frustrated, he saw his father as always challenging his decisions or ability to make decisions. And the father in that situation later claimed “I was just trying to help.”

“The issue these farmers needed to sort out was the difference between leadership and management — they need a proper business structure,” says Good. “If you are the leader or take the lead

in a particular area of the farm management you ask for advice as you make decisions. If you are the manager or on the management end then your responsibility is to follow that advice or implement the decision.”

Good says in any farm business it is essential that roles be clearly defined. He challenged farmers to go home and define 16 areas of farm operation and management and decide who is the lead. Who is the leader of cropping decisions, lead of seeding operations, lead of harvest operations, lead of haying operations, lead of managing the cattle, lead of financing, lead of rental agreements — look at 16 areas of the farm operation and decide who is going to take the lead.

“And on any farm business different family members will likely lead in different areas,” says Good. “But it is important to decide who is leader in each area, and then who is the manager that will carry out that decision. Determine 16 areas that are critical to your business and put names beside them — specify who is leadership and who is management.“ In the example of the farming operation with double the combines showing up in the field, that problem would have been avoided if the roles had been properly defined, says Good. † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@ fbcpublishing.com.

photo: lee hart

By Lee Hart

Alberta consultant, Merlse Good, right, speaks with Nova Scotia farmers Wayne and Nicole Oulton in Edmonton about getting the most out of tax strategies and new approaches to farm business arrangements.

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Features

Farm management

Writing those monthly paycheques Are we farmers paying ourselves as much as we’re paying our hired help?

By Susanna Heinrich

T

he paycheques have been signed for another month and it brings to mind the joke about the tax man and the farm owner/ operator having a conversation about wages: “I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them,” demanded the agent.

“Well,” replied the farmer, “there’s my farm hand. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board. The cook is paid $150 per week, plus free room and board. Then there’s the halfwit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90 per cent of the work. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally.”

“That’s the guy I want to talk to… the half-wit,” said the agent.

“That would be me,” replied the farmer. So that’s where the money goes. Or doesn’t.

I am not begrudging the wages we pay our employees.

Absolutely not. As farmers we know that hired help is necessary. Happy hired help means long-term, stable working conditions for all of us, and a farm that functions smoothly makes money to pay everyone’s wages.

However, sometimes I wonder if we’re making as much as we’re paying our hired help.

According to the website payscale.com, the average hourly wage for an agriculture worker in Saskatchewan is $18 per hour. The number my accountant quoted (off the cuff) when I quizzed her about “hired-man” wages in my area of Saskatchewan was $25. As I perused the online ads for farm labour, I could not find wages that reflected that wage — it was more in the range of $16 to $20. This is not to say that wages wouldn’t go up as you proved your worth and commitment, but they sure don’t seem to start off at that rate. As I dug to see how Manitoba and Alberta measured up, I found them to be similar.

As each month passes and I see those cheques to the hired men being filled out for more than the one I know is coming my way I wonder: Are we doing this right?

Valuing ourselves Joe Moffatt of Blue Whale Financial Solutions in Moose Jaw, Sask., says that the business of farming is a culture in and of itself. Farmers treat “The Farm” as an entity like the “most valuable child in the family.” That, from his view, is not the best way to run a business.

Moffatt believes there is psychology behind how much we farmers value ourselves. The farm is not like, for example, a tire shop. The owner of that business gets up in the morning, drives to work, unlocks the doors and starts his day. Not so for “Joe Farmer.” Joe goes to bed in the yard where he works

and wakes up looking at the same, every morning. There is no physical (and by extrapolation no emotional or financial) division. But that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be.

Trying to find an average yearly income earned by a farmer has been a challenge. I was curious to know just what we are paying ourselves. I wanted to know how farmers were doing —really.

“Family farm income” is often written about, but always seems to include a blend of off-farm income.

Accountant Leah Herback suggests $45,000 is the minimum annual income all farmers should claim. That breaks down to approximately $24 per hour and a 40-hour week. From a tax perspective it keeps you in the lowest tax bracket; from the living perspective, it keeps the lights on. Some take more, some take less, for many different reasons. Overall family income may also be boosted by paying each spouse that $45,000, bringing farm family income to an annual $90,000 payout. Of course this payout can be altered depending on off-farm income.

The Saskatchewan government agriculture site (agriculture.gov. sk.ca) refers to Farm Families as “those involved in a single, unincorporated farm with gross operating revenues of $10,000 and over.” On these types of farms, in 2011, 29 per cent of income was from net farm operating income ($32,979) and 71 per cent ($80,811) was off-farm income, for a total annual income of $113,790. And that’s just according to one definition.

For varying government or non-government organizations, the definition of a farm or farmer varies. Another statistic on the same website, showed a “Farm Operators” average income for 2012 to be $98,929, and of that only 58 per cent or $57,557 to be net farming income. Comparisons are difficult to achieve. I found at least eight definitions of term “Family Farm” on the website.

Every farmer is going to have to decide what is reasonable, realistic and liveable.

If the money isn’t there, it isn’t there. It’s the bottom line of any business and it’s no different here.

There are many factors to consider; emotions and family pressures also comes into play.

It’s not necessarily about what the farm can afford to pay, but about what the farmer thinks they need to live. Most of us are not extravagant. Most of us would rather take less for ourselves and give more to that laborer or put it back into the farm than give ourselves a cash injection.

Cash in the pocket is not the only way we as farmers are compensated. There are perks that maybe we don’t always recognize. There are definite areas where we quietly benefit, although the wage that is coming in the door at the end of the month may seem meager

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in comparison to the cheque that was just written to a hired helper. Consider fuel, gas, propane, electricity, phone, taxes — these are all costs most likely off-set by the farm. Meaning: it’s not money out of your personal pot, but actually paid for by the farm before you even realize it has been covered. At the end of the year, your accountant has used a percentage of the overall costs as personal (and you will pay this) but the majority is absorbed, relatively painlessly, by the farm.

There is no black or white. It’s all grey and each farm has to

What are you worth?

In Herbacks’ experience how much a farmer actually pays themselves varies widely.

Moffatt concurs. But how much should you pay yourself?

When this question was posed to Moffatt, he suggested you consider how much you would have to pay someone to replace you. What would that take?

Remember — you are not irreplaceable. It may take another management style, it may take two people (one for management, another for labour) but you could be replaced. How much would that cost? That should be your salary. You’d pay it to someone else. Why not to yourself?

Moffatt provided current industry standard wages for corporate CEOs, as shown in the table. These salaries are considered average, legitimate, and reasonable values for income of CEO’s of corporations with gross sales in the different brackets.

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structure itself and its resources using information and ideas gleaned from the sources around them to decide what will work for them. Realizing the wages paid to employees are an investment in the future of your farm company and that that the almighty dollar is not the only reason we are doing this may help alleviate any feelings of discontent when those cheques are written. It’s not a cross anyone bears, it’s the realities that farmers are willing to accept. † Susanna Heinrich is a farmer, trucker and mother on a farm near Davidson, Sask.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

15

Farm management

How farmers can up their game 10 ways to run your farm more like a professional business

By Lilian Schaer

F

arming is often described as both a lifestyle and a living. And and although not every farm is a small business, even a small farm is a business.

That concept of running a business like a business, though, can often get lost in the day to day management of a farm operation, especially if there are few or no employees to help share the workload.

To help farmers up their game in the professionalism department, Business Management Specialist Nick Betts with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has 10 tips that can make a farm more like a professional business.

If time or resources are limited, even just concentrating on one or two can make a difference — in particular, goal setting to give you an idea of where your focus should be, and time

management so that you can devote time to the things that are important before the things that are urgent, advises Betts.

1. Find and adopt innovation Staying on top of technology and innovation trends is key in the business world, and can be anything from trying out new equipment to implementing new accounting software or coming up with new ways to compensate employees.

“I challenge farmers to try something on their farm every year. It doesn’t have to be a multimillion dollar innovation, but even just something new to you that you’ve never tried. It’s not just about apps,” explains Betts.

He advises farmers to look outside of their own sector for innovations that can be adapted for use in agriculture. Air BnB, for example, is now the biggest bed and breakfast provider

in the world without owning a single property. What’s important though, is evaluating all the costs and benefits while trying out something new in order to make an informed decision about its successful use in the operation.

2. Develop a capital asset and investment strategy Sometimes it is beneficial to buy equipment and other times it makes more sense not to. Set emotion aside when it comes to investments, says Betts, and instead, focus on the cost and benefit. Establish a “return on assets” goal and monitor it annually, and think about the impact an increase in interest rates might have on your finances.

3. Plan and hold regular farm meetings “It can be hard to separate family from farm and business,

especially when the farm house is on the farm and your labour is related to you,” says Betts, adding that divorce rates are up to five times higher for owners of failing small businesses.

Just as organizations and corporations have board or staff meetings, regular and businessfocused communication is important in farm businesses too. Having a regularly scheduled meeting outside of breakfast or dinner hour allows family members to have input into the goals and plans of the farm.

4. Take some time for self-reflection This means considering what your strengths are and what you like to do. Perhaps your true love lies in working with livestock instead of field work, so finding someone to do things you don’t enjoy or don’t have particular expertise in will not only make your life easier, it will also benefit the farm as a whole.

5. Implement transition planning steps A transition planning process requires investigating and analyzing the farm business, understanding the goals of all family members, and balancing needs against business, legal and tax considerations. And transition doesn’t just have to mean a change in generation, it can also involve diversifying into new ventures — perhaps you’re adding an on-farm market or bakery, for example — or simply planning for emergencies that will bring change.

“It’s always important to have a plan. Anyone can die tomorrow, for example, so it’s always a good idea to know what the next step would be in a situation like that,” Betts says.

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example? Are you interested in growing a different crop that might appeal to a new buyer or to a new group of customers?

7. Borrow from others The lean business principle is widely used in the manufacturing sector, and involves the five Ss: Sort (remove unnecessary tasks and processes); Set (arrange items so they can be used easily); Shine (use cleaning as an inspection activity to keep your equipment up to date); Standardize (ensure your business is up to current industry standards); and Sustain (perform regular audits).

“These principles help you organize yourself to make your operation more efficient, and if you can follow this for everything from the workshop to the finances, it will make your life a lot easier as a business owner,” Betts says.

8. Manage your time According to Betts, the golden rule of time management for full time business owners is the 3,000/500 rule — spend no more than 3,000 hours per year working and 500 hours on community and other activities. If you do, your family life and health will suffer. And although farming doesn’t follow the nine to five schedule of an office job, Betts advises loosely tracking hours over the course of a year to see where your time is being spent.

“In our society, we glorify the busy and how much we work, but you also need down time and your family needs to see you,” he says. “There are some things you’ll never get back no matter how much canola you grow.”

Three strategies that can help make time management easier: set aside 20 minutes to plan for the next day; focus on $10,000 decisions and not the $10 ones; and delegate work to others where you can.

9. Set goals Think about where you’d like to be six months, a year or even three years from now and put those goals on paper. Not only will that help these goals be achieved more quickly, but it will also help measure your progress.

10. Beware of killer toys and side-shows Although there may be enough resources to support them when times are good, hobbies and toys can be a drain on the business when markets aren’t as strong or other problems arise. Stay true to your original goals, advises Betts, so that success and enjoyment won’t impact the future fruits of your labour. † Lilian Shaer is a professional farm and food writers based in Guelph, Ontario. Follow her blog at foodandfarmingcanada.com.

2015-12-18 3:19 PM

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Columns Hart Attacks

Be on guard for clubroot in canola If it’s in your community, be on the lookout for clubroot in your canola fields this year

By Lee Hart

photo: lee hart

I

’m using this photo of a flowering crop heavily hit with a pest to make the point to watch out for canola diseases this year — and in particular be on the ball to detect and hopefully prevent clubroot.

This southern Alberta farm didn’t expect to be coping with staghead, but it suddenly appeared out of no where, and fortunately didn’t last long. Actually there is a disease known as staghead (also called white rust) and it particularly affects Polish canola and Juncea or mustard variety brassica — this is a field of a regular old hybrid brassica napus.

The truth is I was just so impressed with this photo I took about a year ago of these deer crossing a field of canola, I wanted another reason to use it. (Please take a few seconds to be really impressed with this picture, before reading on. As I recall there was actually at least one more buck in this group, but he was camera shy.)

But I’m on the warning about clubroot after a recent talk with Dan Orchard, a Canola Council of Canada agronomist, who also chairs the Alberta Clubroot Management Committee. Orchard, after navigating some winter roads in late January had just landed somewhere taking kids to a weekend hockey tournament, but upon arrival he took time to talk about diseases... it’s just that important.

Staghead disease is of relatively low risk, but certainly be watching for clubroot.

It’s out there, you don’t want it Clubroot is found in high, moderate or low levels across much of Western Canada — the point being you may not farm in a real high risk area, but be on guard. It’s out there and you don’t want it.

Orchard has a bit of a fear-of-God-message when it comes to clubroot, which is good. Nobody wants to invest $300 to $400 per acre to produce a canola crop and then not be able to harvest it because of clubroot. And that has happened.

It’s a life changing disease. Once it is in a field it is there for essentially a farm-

ing life time. The spores can survive in the soil for 15 to 20 years. It can spoil the opportunity to grow canola on a particular field and there’s also the risk of it spreading.

In a recent presentation, Orchard reminded growers that it’s an issue with soil rather than just with canola.

North-central Alberta is certainly a hotspot for the disease with more than 2,000 fields infected. There are only a few reports from Saskatchewan primarily because of lack of testing. And a reasonable surveillance program in Manitoba shows low levels of the disease in many areas.

And it is a very adaptable disease with as many as nine different strains so far identified. Plant breeders certainly have to be running to keep up with the need to develop clubroot resistant varieties.

Orchard says boron looks promising as a potential management tool, which means canola varieties with a high tolerance for boron could be one answer.

“I think this is a huge opportunity for the seed industry to start breeding boron tolerance into our canola,” says Orchard.

His advice to growers — be careful about introducing seed from outside your region to your farm unless you are sure it is clean and disease free; be careful about allowing vehicles or machinery from a clubroot infected area onto your farm, those vehicles can carry the disease; and be vigilant for any signs of the disease. As a general guideline Orchard says to really pay attention if clubroot is in your “community” — whatever area you determine that to be. If there is a risk grow clubroot resistant varieties. There is plenty of good information on clubroot online at: www.clubroot.ca The one good thing about the staghead outbreak I discovered... within a couple of minutes it can hop the fence and disappear without a trace. † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@ fbcpublishing.com.

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17

Columns Farm financial planner

Widow wants to wind down farm With no children wanting to farm, this widow wants to sell up and minimize taxes

The advice Susan’s advisors, Erik Forbes and Don Forbes of Don Forbes & Associates/Sterling Mutuals in Carberry, Manitoba, note that all corporate assets have already been converted to cash. There is a remainder of $85,000 of retained earnings to be paid out over the next three years as taxable dividends. Susan can continue the corporation or use it as an investment holding company. However, Susan does not want to pay a lot of accounting fees and live with the complications of the corporate structure if the company can be wound down easily.

In order to reduce the taxes on payout of retained earnings, she can make offsetting RRSP contributions. That would not eliminate the tax liability, but it would postpone it until, in retirement, she could withdraw the money at a lower tax rate. This has the same effect of continuing the corporation but without hefty accounting bills. Currently, Susan has $75,000 of RRSP space and will generate more room in the next few years.

For 2015, Susan can take $30,000 of dividends and make an equal contribution to use the space. For 2016, she would take $30,000 of dividends and make a $25,000 RRSP contribution. In 2017, she would take $25,000 of dividends and make a $20,000 RRSP contribution.

In the year Susan turns 65, she can convert the RRSPs to a Registered Retirement Income Fund and start paying out $6,000 a year, $2,000 of which would be free courtesy of the pension

a lot or make a lot in stocks.

But actual government bonds, bought with a series of terms from five years to 10, 15 and 20 years, will generate income and mature at precisely known values. Bond investment funds can accrue gains or losses forever, so Susan should stick to actual bonds. The returns are not going to be spectacular, but inside of RRSPs, for example, interest paid and any gains realized from price appreciation at maturity will not be taxed until paid out in RRIFs. It’s a security conscious alternative to life insurance.

At retirement, Susan will have an estimated $754 in Canada Pension Plan benefits each month, $570 of Old Age Security benefits at present rates, $275 a month from her Life Income Fund, $500 a SEC_KIND15_T_GN_SEC_KIND15_T_GN.qxd month from her RRIF and an

estimated $1,500 a month from land rented out. That’s $3,599 a month. After 15 per cent average tax, she would have $3,060 a month for expenses, more than enough for Susan to continue living as she does in a paid-for house with no large outlays expected, Don Forbes notes.

For large future expenses, perhaps a new or newer car from time to time, a bit of travel or gifts to her children, she has abundant investments and liquidity. If she wishes to take holidays in the U.S., she can achieve a natural hedge against the rising value of the greenback by investing in dividend-paying U.S. stocks in a U.S. funds account. A US$100,000 account generating three per cent per year would provide money for several weeks 2015-12-30 12:04 PMsouth Page 1 of the bor-

der, especially if she elects to drive rather than to fly.

“You have to give Susan a lot of credit for her foresight,” Don Forbes says. “She has received good advice, has worked to anticipate and control income taxes, dealt with the fact that her children will not take over the family farm, and has even anticipated and worked out a way of funding her own funeral expenses and potential distribution costs for her estate. Relatively few farm families and fewer widows do all of his. Our advice to her is to stay the course, pay out farm corporation earnings in a tax-efficient manner, examine the risk and returns of investments, and live well in a life well planned. † Andrew Allentuck is author of “When Can I Retire? Planning Your Financial Future After Work” (Penguin, 2011).

The investment advice Susan has had competent investment advice. Her accounts hold blue chip stocks in lowcost pooled funds. They generate Canadian source dividends which, due to the low fees for the funds, have modest deductions for administration. She has a term life insurance policy with premiums level to age 100. The policy has no cash value. She has paid $667 in premiums each year for $90,000 of death benefit. The money could be used for settling her estate when she dies, but there are less expensive ways to get the same result.

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widow we’ll call Susan, 64, has a 1,120 acre farming operation in central Manitoba. She owns 800 acres personally and has another 320 acres in her farming corporation. When her husband — we’ll call him Burt, passed away, the estate was probated and quickly transferred to Susan. Now she wonders what will become of the farm. Her four children all have off-farm careers and no interest in maintaining the family farm.

Susan has a long-term goal of winding down the farm. The corporate land was sold with a plan to wind up the corporation. Her personally owned land was to be kept for passive rental income to be used for her retirement. She was told by her accountant to pay out remaining earnings of $200,000 over four years.

Susan is in good shape in financial terms. She spends modestly and plans her financial future actively with advisors.

But taxes are a problem. Last year, her accountant suggested that Susan take a $110,000 dividend from the farming corporation. That generated a $44,000 tax bill. That liability prodded Susan to seek further advice to manage future taxes and her retirement.

income credit. Susan will also receive an age credit of $7,033 when she turns 65. That can be applied to taxable income from any source. $85,000 of RRSP purchases will support a $500 monthly RRIF payment for the next 20 years, Don Forbes notes.

Susan is a good custodian of her money. She should hold a cash reserve of at least six months of living expenses, perhaps even more given that she receives rent from her leased land only once a year.

Liquidity is important. Susan should keep at least $20,000 in her chequing account and $50,000 to $100,000 in a socalled high interest savings account that would yield perhaps one per cent per year. She also has $370,000 of non-registered investments outside of the family farming corporation.

There is $270,000 in chequing, a Locked-In Retirement Account of $55,000 and $85,000 of cash still in the company. She has sufficient cash to top up her Tax-Free Savings Account to its $46,500 contribution limit as of 2016.

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She could lose a lot or make a lot in stocks Her Tax-Free Savings Account, which is yet to be established, would do the same job as life insurance without the premiums. On the other hand, she would be giving up the benefit of immediate payment of $90,000 should she die in the near future. Her life expectancy is nearly 90, she does not smoke, and she is very healthy. If she does keep the policy for another 25 years, she will have paid another $16,675. In the end, if the risk of early death is ignored, the policy returns the premiums paid. It does not return foregone income. That’s the cost of shifting the risk to the insurance company. The choice is hers, Erik Forbes explains.

Should Susan elect to give up life insurance and save the premiums, she should invest to achieve a known result with minimum risk. She could lose

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18

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Columns Agronomy management

Learn to manage your sodic soils Got sodic soils on your farm? Here are three options for managing those areas Ross McKenzie

I

n the last issue of Grainews (January 5, 2015) I discussed the physical and chemical characteristics of sodic soils.

In this issue, I’ll discuss managing those soils.

Solonetzic soils in the brown or dark brown soil zones of southern Alberta or southern Saskatchewan, that are in native grassland may be best left in their native condition and used for carefully managed livestock grazing. For more information

about improving or reclaiming Solonetzic soil, refer to Alberta Agriculture Agdex 518-8 Management of Solonetzic Soils available at Alberta Agriculture’s website.

Sodic soils have limited crop production potential. The relatively high sodium and pH levels restrict the growth and yield potential of most annual crops and even a number of forage crops. Farmers with sodic soils are faced with decisions on how to best manage their land.

Unfortunately, the options are limited.

1. Leave it alone Option 1: Leave it in its native state.

Sodic soils in native grassland are often best left in their native state and utilized for carefully managed livestock grazing.

2. Work with it Option 2: Grow sodium-tolerant crops.

Barley is the most tolerant annual crop to sodium, and crops with moderate sodium tolerance are wheat, oat and rye. However, none of these crops will be very productive at SAR levels above eight to 12. The crops most sensitive to sodium toxicity are pulse crops, including pea and lentil; therefore, these crops should not be grown on soils with moderate to higher levels of sodium.

A good option is to establish a sodium-tolerant forage mixture.

The most sodium-tolerant forages include various wheat grasses and alfalfa. Fescue grasses have moderate sodium tolerance. Soils that have higher levels of sodium are probably best seeded to a tolerant grass mixture and used for livestock grazing.

3. Reclaim it Option 3: Reclaim sodic soils.

Reclamation or improvement of sodic soils can be very expensive, and improvement will take time.

Reclamation involves careful soil sampling and analysis to determine the severity of the problem and then calculating how much

®

calcium must be added to the soil.

Often, several tons of a calcium product must be applied and well incorporated into the soil to modify the sodic condition.

To improve a sodic soil, most of the exchangeable sodium must be removed by leaching it downward, below the root zone. To accomplish this result, the sodium on the soil exchange complex must be replaced by calcium. If free lime (calcium hydroxide) is present in the soil (determined by a soil test), applying elemental sulfur will reduce the soil pH, which will also dissolve the calcium hydroxide that naturally occurs in the soil, to free up the calcium and the calcium will displace the sodium, for gradual soil improvement.

If free lime is not present in the soil, calcium must be added with application of a chemical soil amendment. Soil amendments are calcium-containing materials such as gypsum (calcium sulphate) or calcium chloride.

Calcium carbonate is normally not recommended as an amendment due to its lower solubility.

Calcium carbonate is ideal for improvement of acidic soils but not for sodic soils.

The calcium amendment is normally broadcast onto the soil surface, followed by thorough incorporation with cultivation. Then, adequate moisture is necessary to dissolve the calcium to initiate the displacement of sodium from the soil exchange complex.

This takes considerable time (many months to years) for natural precipitation to leach the sodium from the root zone. In drier regions, this process could take a number of years and may not be completely successful.

However, greater success can result with the application of significant amounts of good quality irrigation water to leach the sodium from the root zone.

Additional organic matter such as livestock manure or green manure will help to improve the physical soil condition (e.g. tilth and water infiltration). However, care must be taken to ensure that any material added to the soil (e.g. manure) does not contain sodium.

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19

Columns SOLENETZIC SOIL This Solonetzic soil has a columnarstructured B horizon, which restricts water and root penetration into sub-soil.

NORMAL SOIL (GOOD GROWTH)

SOLONETZIC SOIL (POOR GROWTH)

BLOWOUT

Source: Alberta Agriculture Agdex 518-20 Management of Sodic Soils

amendment used and the volume of soil to be reclaimed. If chemical amendment application is considered, a landowner should work with a qualified agrologist with a specialty in soil science.

To learn how to determine gypsum application rates refer to: Alberta Agriculture Agdex 518-20 Management of Sodic Soils.

Once the amendment has been applied, it must be thoroughly mixed into the soil by cultivation. The soil must be very moist for the exchange process to take place. The sodium must then be leached down the soil profile by rainfall or by the application of good quality irrigation water.

Short, frequent irrigations will give the best results.

If a sub-surface hard pan layer is preventing internal soil drainage, the soil may have to be deepripped to break up the hard pan to allow the sodium to be flushed downward.

The installation of a sub-surface drainage system may be necessary to permanently move the sodium salts from the soil root zone; however, drainage systems are expensive and safe disposal of the high sodium drainage water is essential. Your provincial Environment Department must be contacted prior to installation of a subsurface drainage system to determine the process of approval and licensing of the drainage system.

The amendment of sodic soils can be a long and laborious process and is not always successful or permanent. The occurrence of large rainfall events can cause the water table to rise, moving the sodium salts back into soil root zone, and leading to deflocculation of the surface soil. Therefore, the management of a sodic soil must be considered as an ongoing process.

It is important to note that calcium-containing amendments should never be added to saline or saline-sodic soils because this will only increase the amount of soluble salts in the soil and worsen the salinity problems.

If you are getting technical assistance from a consultant, be sure that person has proper soils expertise to assist you. † Ross H. McKenzie, PhD, P. Ag., is a former agronomy research scientist. He conducted soil, crop and irrigation research with Alberta Agriculture for 38 years. He has also been an adjunct professor at the University of Lethbridge since 1993.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Columns Off-farm income

Build a five-legged stool In this first part of a three-part series, Andy Sirksi explains his income philosophy ANDY SIRSKI

S

ometime around 1993 I developed a way to explain how almost anyone could set up a personal business plan that helps a person have several streams of income, deal with the upsets of losing a job or a business and claim business expenses against that income.

Along the way the concept of “dual income” came about which backed up my concept of the fivelegged stool. By dual income I mean have a farm business plus another income either as a back up or a permanent part of a business plan.

Briefly the five-legs of the stool include: the farm or main job or business; another skill; proper insurance for your time in life; an RESP to help pay for children’s education; and making money with stocks.

Most good paying jobs need extra education

jobs need extra education. Most farms need a critical mass.

Does every farmer need a critical mass size of farm? No, but every farmer needs a critical mass size of financial plan. That could be a combination of a farm and an income producing leg of the fivelegged stool.

I know a lot of farmers who are using an education or skill to make good money. That combination becomes a comfortable system of two or more incomes that together can provide the family’s personal and business needs.

Choosing a second skill That second skill should be one that can be used as a business.

When a person has a business on the side, he or she can claim business expenses for part of a mortgage, taxes, utilities and maybe travel that can be partly vacation and partly tax deductible.

I know people who have started businesses and earned considerable income over the years doing income tax, carpentry, plumbing and so on. I encourage them to treat these activities as businesses — keeping track of expenses and income and, if necessary, paying some income tax on the net income.

Having a full time job, young children, a farm and a sideline business can create new stress.

It’s easy to become impatient and begin to think that the business

will never develop. But if a person locks onto a business that has long-term potential and works at it slowly and surely, the business can be developed over time.

Many carpenters, electricians, plumbers and tax filers are getting older and ready to retire or cut back on business. Word of mouth can spread the word about the business and so can some cheap promotions like letters on windshields, email messages or notes on Twitter or Facebook.

I know a fellow who was looking for something to do as he got older. I suggested he look into doing income tax. He took a course, did a bit of advertising and this summer a retiring tax filer offered to sell his business

at a decent price. By this winter he will have enough customers to keep him busy and make him some good money. He’ll also save his current business big bucks on accounting fees. I know others who have had small businesses hire them to do the monthly paperwork like GST for a fee. Most of the time these are businesses or people who are too small for the professional tax consultants so there is little conflict. More on the five-legged stool next issue. † Andy Sirski is mostly retired. He travels with his wife, plays with granddaughters, runs a small tax business and looks after his family’s investments. Andy also publishes an electronic newsletter called StocksTalk where he tells in detail what his investments are doing. To to read it free for a month email sirski@mymts.net.

FCC Ag Outlook 2016 Understand the trends, see the opportunities

Why a five-legged stool?

When I graduated from university in 1970 I and most of my classmates had a choice of job offers. I chose the job where I could work with farmers. These days most Aggie grads likely have choices too. But along the way a lot of my classmates had jobs that ended because their employer sold out or was merged or the company downsized and some employees had to go.

These days that process is common. Along the way, a lot of farmers also lost their farms because of the high interest rates in 1981, poor prices for years, disease such as BSE and other causes.

Consider a farmer who had the skills to have a decent paying job that gave him raises and flexible time. Covering living costs gave the farm extra money for growth.

Other farmers married women who could earn thousands of dollars off the farm to pay for living costs or help make payments on expansion plans.

Sure the off-farm work interfered with life and often cost the farm cash, but for most farmers the trade off paid off.

Some farmers did not want to make that trade off. They cut living costs to the bone and ran old equipment so they could expand the farm. This takes a special kind of personality and dedication. Some do it and survive. Others could not.

They should lay the ground work to earn off farm income that lets them afford the lifestyle they prefer.

The main leg The main leg of the stool should be the farm, other business or job. Most good paying

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21

Columns Understanding market bulls and bears

Market life after the USDA report The day that USDA crop reports are released is the most important day of the year

by Brian wittal

J

anuary 12, 2016, was the day that the United States Department of Agriculture came out with a number of reports covering intended seeded acres for U.S. winter wheat, 2015 production reports for both domestic and world grains and quarterly stocks and ending stocks reviews for U.S. and world grains. In the world of grain marketing this is by far the most important day for anyone in the U.S. grain trade.

For weeks in advance of this report being made public traders and speculators make their best guesses and position themselves in the markets to try to be on

the right side of the potential market swing that could come based on the numbers released in these reports.

This year’s reports had very few surprises. The numbers were relatively close to what the trade was anticipating so they were said to be neutral to slightly bullish (supportive) for grain futures.

World wheat stocks were the only ones reported to be larger than expected, which was seen as bearish for the wheat markets.

Meaning for the markets For the near term the markets are going to be focused on supply and demand based on those numbers.

Right now, overall, world supplies

are ample to meet demand for the foreseeable future.

Add to that low world oil prices and the economic stressors out there in the world such as: China continuing to struggle to revitalize its economy; parts of India and Africa in the midst of another potential dry/ drought year; South America looking at better than average second crops about to be harvested; big supplies of grain still in the bins from last year; uncertainties and tensions building in the Middle East and Baltic regions. You have many possible outcomes that could and will affect world grain prices.

The recent devaluation of currencies in some countries like

China and Argentina will have a definite impact on China’s ability to buy grains and Argentina’s ability to sell grains into the world market place.

China, the No. 1 buyer and importer of grains in the world, will have less buying power with a lower currency. That will force sellers to reduce their asking prices when selling to China or end up holding more inventory than they would like to if the No. 1 buyer can’t afford to buy anymore.

Argentina, as a major net exporter will be able to be more aggressive selling its grains into a competitive world market place because of their devalued Peso. This will force other sell-

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ers to match those competitive prices if they wish to sell, driving futures values lower. Overall, currency devaluation is not usually a positive for grain markets or futures values.

How long will currency devaluation go on? Which countries might be next to attempt this strategy? Good questions that, sorry, I don’t have answers for.

Add in the weather El Niño is still very dominant.

It could be at its peak, but it’s expected to have a major influence on world weather until early or mid-summer 2016.

Over the past three months we have seen an intensification of world weather events that are evidence that El Niño’s influence is alive and well. Heavy rains have moved into California with stronger storms expected through February.

Parts of South America have seen torrential rains and flooding. Recent weather havoc on the U.S. East Coast along with deadly storms in the southern U.S., heavy snow in the Pacific Northwest, drought and fire in Australia and massive flooding in Northern Europe and South America are all blamed on the strong El Niño event happening in the waters of the south-central Pacific Ocean.

The hard part is keeping track of it all This could mean that here on the Prairies we’ll have another early spring and a summer that is warmer and dryer than usual.

The key will be if and when the El Niño effect starts to wear off. If it is early spring then the chance for summer rains are a lot better. If El Niño persists until mid- or late summer we could be facing another dry growing season.

If El Niño persists and some of the dryer regions around the globe stay dry, we could be headed for some big production problems that could send world grain markets higher yet again.

World supplies are adequate to meet demand for the next six months to a year but beyond that is the big unknown exists.

If El Niño fades and overall world grain production is average or better, prices will be pressured lower as world supplies continue to build.

Many variables could come into play over the next month to a year that could affect world grain markets and prices. The hard part is keeping track of it all so you can better plan when you should be selling your grain.

It’s your business to know what is affecting your business. † Brian Wittal has 30 years of grain industry experience, and currently offers market planning and marketing advice to farmers through his company Pro Com Marketing Ltd. (www. procommarketingltd.com).

22

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Columns Soils and crops

Stubble soil moisture, November 1, 2015 Les Henry’s annual soil moisture map gives us a true view of water availability les henry

T

his map shows the best estimate of subsoil moisture from three inches to four feet.

First — this is a map of general conditions in general areas. Do not get too hung up on the exact placement of lines.

But, it is still very useful in planning for 2016 outcomes. With a soil full of water a crop will hang on for a long time.

Second — the thank yous. A special thanks to Andy Nadler of Hydromet Solutions for the new basemap.

Thanks also to Ernie Sirski of Dauphin (brother of Andy Sirski, Grainews editor for many years and regular columnist.)

The Dauphin airport site showed only 5.5 inches of rain for April 1 to October 31, which would have put it in the RED

for a bit more global warming. It was the cold weather in May that hurt many hay crops, not the drought.

With the dry weather the diseases were at bay and crop quality was mostly good.

I have never seen a canola crop with such great cabbage leaves that hardly had a trace of disease. In August I suggested to my grain buyer that they should get ready for more canola than forecasters with fancy computers were predicting.

For 2016 most of Saskatchewan east of a Swift Current-Battleford line and most of Manitoba is well set to survive a dry spell in spring, if the crop comes up. Seed it to moisture. The main period of crop water use is from mid June to late July — the grand period of growth with long days and warm temperatures.

I still keep hoping that smart young folks will come along with a better map than this and I can retire my four colored pencils. It will certainly not be the SMAP program using satellite data, even if the dead satellite comes back to life. SMAP

category. But Ernie assured me that the very dry area did not go far. Grandview and Roblin had 12 inches for the year.

Yorkton east was also on the dry side so I mapped a small area of Dry. I am always hesitant to use anything but GREEN or BLUE for wet Manitoba but last year I mapped Dry in the Morden Winkler area. Lo and behold, in late May John Morris of Grainews staff in Winnipeg sent me a video of soil drifting in the Winkler area.

For the last few years the map showed good to excess soil moisture for all but a big chunk of Alberta and West Central Saskatchewan. When the 2015 May rains failed almost everywhere and June rains also a bust, many were surprised by the good crop. No surprise to me. As this columnist has said many times: “Water in the soil is like money in the bank.”

As long as the seed was placed to moisture and the crop came up and did not freeze, good crops were had by many.

With all the frost in May I was wishing

reads only the surface few centimeters.

Surface moisture is here today and gone tomorrow. And if a farmer wants to know surface moisture all s/he has to do is kick the soil with the toe of their boot. It is critical to germination but not much else.

It is the subsoil moisture from three inches to four feet or more that determines the ability of a crop to survive a long dry spell.

What is needed is a map showing areas with potential high water tables that have residual moisture at depth and those areas with permanent very deep water table that never reacts with surface moisture. We will talk more about that in a future column. † J.L.(Les) Henry is a former professor and extension specialist at the University of Saskatchewan. He farms at Dundurn, Sask. He recently finished a second printing of “Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water,” a book that mixes the basics and practical aspects of soil, fertilizer and farming. Les will cover the shipping and GST for “Grainews” readers. Simply send a cheque for $50 to Henry Perspectives, 143 Tucker Cres, Saskatoon, Sask., S7H 3H7, and he will dispatch a signed book.

STUBBLE SOIL MOISTURE: NOVEMBER 1, 2015 (General guide only — check your own fields in spring)

VERY DRY

Sandy Soils Medium Soils Heavy Soils Wet to 12-24” Wet to 6-18” Wet to 6-12” (About 1 to 2 inches of available water)

DRY MOIST WET GrandePrairie Prairie Grande

Stubble has essentially no moisture storage below 6 inches

Sandy Soils Medium Soils Heavy Soils Wet to 24-48” Wet to 18-30” Wet to 12-24” (About 2 to 4 inches of available water) Will include local areas with no dry layer

No dry layer in sandy, medium or heavy soils Will include local areas of Super Wet

SUPER WET

Excess rain - water table rise. Not mapped 2015

Edmonton Edmonton Lloydminster Lloydminster

PrinceAlbert Albert Prince

NorthBattleford Battleford North

RedDeer Deer Red

Melfort Melfort

Saskatoon Saskatoon Drumheller Drumheller Calgary Calgary

Base map courtesy of Andrew Nadler PEAK HydroMet Solutions www.peakhydromet.ca

Lethbridge Lethbridge

Yorkton Yorkton

MedicineHat Hat Medicine

Regina MooseJaw JawRegina SwiftCurrent CurrentMoose Swift Weyburn Weyburn

Brandon Brandon

Portage Winnipeg Portage Winnipeg

Estevan Estevan

Prepared by Les Henry, January 16, 2016

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

23

Columns Reporter’s Notebook

Ag reporting gets more glamorous Film premieres are not usually on the list of events that farm reporters are asked to cover

By Lisa Guenther

F

ilm premieres are rare events for farm journalists. I’ve been told by better-dressed people that farm journalists are not known for their fashion sense, so perhaps that’s the reason. So naturally I couldn’t pass up a chance to attend the License to Farm premiere at the Roxy Theatre in Saskatoon.

If you haven’t seen the film yourself, you can check it out at licensetofarm.com. It’s about half an hour, and features unscripted interviews from farmers, scientists, communications specialists, and other industry. Personally, I thought it was well done. It cost about $200,000 to produce, and $150,000 of that came from SaskCanola.

The film’s audience is not consumers. It’s farmers like you. The goal is to inspire farmers to start talking to consumers about what they do.

In the back of my mind, I worried a little that SaskCanola was preaching to the choir with this documentary. But then I thought it was probably better to focus on getting their audience (you) to act, rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

The reality is there’s no silver bullet to slay consumers’ food fears, and so it’s not fair to judge the film against those standards.

Instead, the question is whether it will meet that goal, of getting farmers talking.

Time will tell, but from what I’ve seen on social media, it’s certainly inspiring farmers to speak up. It’s also garnered coverage from non-farm media. One farmer in my Twitter network had even asked an online commenter to email him to carry on the conversation (I think that might work really well, but I’d be a little cautious about giving out your personal information. I say this as someone whose personal info is already in the wild. It can be nerve-wracking).

aren’t enough. People don’t necessarily trust science these days, and sometimes they have very good reason for that distrust.

Any researcher can skew results through the experiment’s design or data analysis. Consumers don’t generally have the time or expertise to check whether that’s the case.

So if you’re speaking with someone who doesn’t know a lot about farming, have a little empathy. We’re all ignorant about something. Listen to what they say. Explain how you know what you know. Whatever you do, don’t tell them their food sensitivities/anxieties are bunk.

Think of how annoyed you feel when a stranger tries to give

you unsolicited health or nutrition advice.

People talk about ag advocacy a lot these days, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with advocating for your own interests.

I don’t think that’s necessarily what these conversations should be about, though. They can also be about both parties learning something new and walking away with a better understanding of each other, even if they don’t agree on everything.

For an interview with Alexei Berteig, director of “License to Farm”, visit Grainews.ca/video,. † Lisa Guenther is field editor for Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.

Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

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think like a consumer I know very little about how clothing is manufactured. I read the stories about factory fires and poor working conditions.

I don’t like the idea of people being exploited or the environment being trashed so I can have relatively cheap clothing, but I have no idea what to do about it.

That’s how many people feel about their food. But to make things worse, some are afraid their food might make them sick.

Add that up, and you get an effective argument for more food labelling, etc.

I’m all for better ingredient labeling. I know people with serious food allergies to everything from eggs to quinoa.

Personally, I don’t think GMOs fall into the need-to-label category. I’d rather focus on nutrition and ingredient labeling. But when the food and ag industry says GMO labels are unnecessary, people assume it’s because the industry has something to hide.

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License to Farm is a full-length film produced by SaskCanola. The goal of the film is to inspire farmers to start talking to consumers.

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24

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Machinery & Shop

Pickup truck special

LOOKING BACK How manufacturers tried to convince farmers to buy trucks in the ’60s

by Scott Garvey

“

S

tacked! Built!” are the first two words in the body of this Mercury Trucks advertisement from the early 1960s. Clearly, they have that nudge-nudgewink-wink feel to them. I’m pretty sure those terms had the same double entendre meaning back then that they do today.

No current marketing manager would ever let that kind of ad go to press now.

Among other things, how these ads were presented reflect who we were as a society back then.

To find these old gems we dug deep into the archives of our sister publication Country Guide (Grainews didn’t exist back then), specifically to take a look at how truck brands tried to win favour with farmers a few decades ago. Compared to today, there are clearly some differences in how manufacturers try to get their messages across to potential buyers. But the main message back then, just as now, is that the trucks are tough and capable workers worthy of finding a home on Canadian farms.

Here are a few of the ads we found. Enjoy. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@ fbcpublishing.com.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

25

Pickup truck special

A Ford F150 sync’d to your UAV? Ford issues a new “Drone-to-vehicle developer challenge” to software engineers

J

ames Bond has his special Aston Martin car complete with ejection seat and all kinds of high-tech gizmos. If Ford has its way, farmers may soon have an F150 pickup at their disposal that would make Q, Bond’s car creator, proud.

Ford has been working with drone developer DJI and the two companies have launched the “Drone-to-vehicle developer challenge” aimed at attracting the attention of software engineers. It’s a contest that is looking for software program entries capable of integrating control of a UAV through an F150’s onboard digital system.

The winners will bank $100,000 for their efforts.

The goal is to create a rapid deployment aerial survey system which allows a Ford F150 and a UAV to work together. This is how Ford’s press release describes what the winning software entry needs to accommodate: “In a disaster, an emergency response team would drive an F-150 as far as possible into an emergency zone caused by an earthquake or tsunami (or whatever).”

“Using the Ford SYNC 3 touch

screen, the driver could identify a target area and launch a drone by accessing an app projected through Ford SYNC AppLink. The drone would follow a flight path over the zone, capturing video and creating a map of survivors with associated close-up pictures of each.”

“Using the driver’s smartphone, the F-150 would establish a realtime link between the drone, the truck and the cloud, so vehicle data can be shared. Data will be relayed to the drone so the driver can continue to a new destination, and the drone will catch up and dock with the truck.”

Precision ag uses Initially, the system is being developed for United Nations rapid response work in emergency areas around the globe. But Ford points out this kind of system has applications well beyond that, including agriculture.

“These types of mobility innovations are part of Ford Smart Mobility,” reads the official press release from Ford announcing the challenge. “The plan [is] to take Ford to the next level in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics.”

photo: ford

By Scott Garvey

Ford and drone developer DJI are looking to integrate UAV control into a pickup’s digital system for a variety of future applications, including agriculture.

It’s not hard to see how this kind of system could fit into a precision ag program.

If a producer wants to investigate a crop production issue, he or she drives up to the edge of the field, launches a drone from the back of the truck, controls it through the truck’s connectivity system while viewing aerial

images in real time and copies them to a cloud-based server to share with an agronomist or a machine operator to immediately coordinate actions.

In the last decade farmers have seen the digital world become increasingly important in precision ag operations. Ford’s vision for a high-tech truck-UAV fusion

seems pretty likely to eventually find its way onto farms.

Anyone who wants to participate in the challenge and create the software needed to support Ford’s Bond-like vision should visit http://developer.dji.com/ challenge2016. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.

Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Machinery & Shop

Pickup truck special

Ford unveils the 2017 Super Duty Trailer towing capability is a priority for the brand’s new Super Duty trucks

By Scott Garvey

photo: lisa guenther

M

ost of the new vehicle introductions in this country have typically taken place at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto. But Ford didn’t choose to use that venue to unveil its 2017 line of Super Duty trucks. Instead, the brand picked the Canadian Western Agribition in Regina last November to show potential buyers what was coming their way.

“Take a look around,” said Bill Rowe, Ford’s product marketing manger, when asked why the company chose to introduce the new trucks in Regina. “These are our customers.

Agribition is the largest agricultural show in Canada and we wanted to showcase the 2017 Super Duty to the people that use the Super Duty.”

The 2017 models are still several months away from production and not all of their specifications have yet to be published, but a December press release claims there will be “16 class-exclusive new features.”

Making these models even more capable in front of a trailer has been a priority. “We know the people who use a Super Duty need it for either payload or towing,” added Rowe. “The vehicle’s payload and capability for trailering will be higher than it’s ever been.” Official load ratings haven’t yet been released.

To make trailer towing easier, the new trucks will be available with seven onboard cameras. Four will provide a 360 degree view around the truck, while another is in the bed to make backing up to a gooseneck hitch

The Canadian unveiling of the 2017 Ford Super Duty took place in November at the Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. easier. A camera for the trailer will also be able to tell if there is a vehicle in the trailer’s blindspot. And just like on the truck, there will be tire pressure monitors available for the trailer as well.

One of the biggest changes for these trucks will be switching to aluminum body construction, which the F150 went to a year ago. Engineers have gone to that material to save weight. Overall, aluminum-bodied Super Duty trucks will tip the scales at about 350 pounds less than the previous all-steel versions.

“Changing to the aluminum alloy probably took out a lot more weight than that,” says Rowe. “But what we did was reinvest that weight into components that are required on the vehicle. Things like a heavier-duty frame, bigger brakes, axles, and things like that, just to make the vehicle tougher.”

Ford claims the high-strength steel frame on 2017 models will be 24 times stiffer than before and fully boxed from the rear of the cab forward on all models.

The adaptive steering feature changes steering wheel input sensitivity based on

the truck’s speed, increasing it a low speeds and reducing it at highway speeds for better handling.

Buyers will get a choice of a “second generation” 6.7 litre V-8 Powerstroke diesel or a 6.2 litre gas engine. Gas engines will be mated to Ford’s TorqShift-G transmission in the F-250 pickup.

Up front, a new grille and LED light package give the 2017s a little different face.

Buyers can also get new side-view mirror LED spotlights and rear LED cargo lights.

Of course the list of digital “driver assist” features is a long one. There is lane departure warning. The Blinds Spot Information System with trailer tow is enhanced for the Super Duty, using radar embedded in the taillights to detect vehicles Super Duty drivers may not be able to see in their mirrors.

There is also adaptive cruise control and collision warning which detects slower-moving vehicles ahead.

“We’re trying to make it easier for our customers and make towing smarter,” Rowe said. “The Super Duty is going to be our smartest, toughest, most capable truck ever.”

All 2017 Super Duty trucks will be built at Ford’s Louisville, Kentucky, assembly plant, which has just been give a U.S.$1.3 billion update and will hire on an additional 2,000 workers to meet the expected demand.

For a video look at the Super Duty unveiling in Regina watch the e-QuipTV episode online under the videos link at Grainews.ca. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

27

Pickup truck special

A new face for the Silverado 1500 GM gives its Silverado truck a facelift and some digital updates for 2016 2

photo: gm canada

3

4

photos: scott garvey

1

1. The Silverado is available with three different engine options, a 4.3 V-6 along with 5.3 and 6.2 litre V-8s. 2. The 2016 Silverado has a redesigned hood and grille with LED lighting. 3. The High Country package offers a brown leather interior and all controls are designed to be accessible while wearing work gloves. 4. Depending on the trim level of the truck, a seven or eight inch monitor offers back up camera views and access to GM’s MyLink.

By Scott Garvey

T

he 2016 Silverado that GM sent to the Canadian Truck King Challenge in October was a preproduction model, so the event judges were among the first Canadians to get behind the wheel of one.

Unfortunately because it was a preproduction model, it will soon be crushed; it can’t be sold. That’s a real shame, because it (and all the new Silverados) was a very nice truck.

The 2016s get a variety of updates. The first noticeable difference on the truck is the new grille with LED lighting and the sculpted hood. The company describes it as a “bolder” look than on previous models.

Underneath that sculpted hood, buyers can opt for either of three engines: a 4.3 litre V-6, or a 5.3 or 6.2 litre V-8. The V-8s get Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation) and continuously variable valve timing to help keep fuel consumption down. The 2016 models also see expanded use of the brand’s eight-speed transmission.

The entire Silverado line is available with a number of features to enhance trailer towing, including the available NHT max trailering package, which includes a 9.76-inch rear axle, heavy-duty rear springs, unique shock tuning, enhanced cooling and an integrated trailer brake controller. When equipped with the big V-8 and NHT package, Silverados get a 5,443 kilograms (12,000 pounds) trailer tow rating and maximum payload of 1,025 kilograms (2,260 pounds).

There are enhancements in the Silverados’ digital capability as well.

GM’s MyLink is accessed through the dashboard screen and allows users to access navigation and connect to compatible cell phones.

There is also is the Silverado’s connectivity feature via OnStar 4G LTE with a Wi-Fi hotspot. The hotspot supports up to seven mobile devices and is on whenever the vehicle is on. It comes with a three-month, three-gigabyte data trial.

Silverados also offer electric variable assist power steering that reduces the amount of steering wheel input necessary at low speeds. Electric power steering is also billed as a fuel saver compared to traditional power steering and it requires less maintenance. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.

Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Machinery & Shop

Pickup truck special

How the 2016 pickups stack up Grainews helped out with the judging at the 2016 Canadian Truck King Challenge

By Scott Garvey

1

W

2

hen it’s time to bring home a new farm pickup truck, there are a lot of things to consider. For example, every new pickup on a dealer lot has a window sticker showing Transport Canada fuel mileage ratings. Trouble is, those mileage figures may not really reflect what a truck’s actual consumption will be on the farm.

And how do a truck’s features compare to what’s available in competitive models? It’s almost impossible to make a detailed comparison of trucks if you test drive one, then have to wait a couple of days to test another on a completely different route. And it’s unlikely any dealer would welcome you showing up for a test drive with a loaded trailer to measure a truck’s pulling ability.

There’s only one way to find out how today’s crop of halfton trucks really compare with each other, and that is to operate each of them in exactly the same way on exactly the same roads. And make them do what farm pickups do: work.

That’s precisely what happens at the annual Canadian Truck King Challenge. This year Grainews was there and took part in the testing and judging.

The major brands with something new to offer in the halfton truck category each submitted a model for testing.

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Here’s who showed up: Ford entered two F150s, one with a 2.7 litre EcoBoost V6 and six speed transmission, as well as another 3.5 litre version. A Ram 1500 with a 3.0 litre EcoDieseleight speed combination was there too. And lastly, GM delivered a pre-production Silverado with the 5.3 litre EcoTech3 V8 mated to an eight speed transmission.

To evaluate exactly how these trucks perform and how much fuel they drink in the process, each of the four judges drove all the trucks along the same predetermined route under the same conditions. They were driven over an off-road course as well.

For the on-road portion of the test, trucks made the trip empty as their performance, ride and other characteristics were reviewed. Second, the trucks again drove the route with a 454 kilogram (1,000 pound) load in the bed. Third, a 2,727 kilogram (6,000 pound) trailer was hitched to the back, and the

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

29

3

photos: scott garvey

3

1. This Ram 1500 scored an overall win in the competition along with racking up the thriftiest fuel mileage ratings in the group. 2. The trucks were required to navigate test courses both on and off road. 3. Each full size pickup, like this Ford with a 2.7 litre EcoBoost engine, had to pull a 2,727 kilgram (6,000 pound) trailer. 4. The 2.7 litre EcoBoost engine in this Ford is almost hard to find under the hood, but its power and performance impressed all the judges, even when towing a trailer. trucks were once again driven along the test route. To really simulate farm conditions, that route included both pavement and gravel roads in a rural area.

To provide an overall evaluation, judges rated a variety of features and characteristics, such as throttle response, handling and braking feel. Some of the categories rated required a little subjective opinion; but to compensate for that, all the scores were added up and averaged.

An overall winner was declared based on the total scores.

Here are the results of the half-ton truck evaluations at the 2016 Canadian Truck King Challenge.

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The winners The scores were close, reflecting just how good today’s crop of half tons really is; but the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel inched out victory by a few overall points, and three out of four judges rated it highest in the group. So the decision was almost unanimous.

The Ram also had the lowest overall fuel consumption in the group, and by quite a bit. It averaged 9.76 litres per 100 kilometres across the entire testing period, roughly three litres less than the second-place 3.5 litre Ford gas engine. It achieved the lowest consumption numbers in every test.

All of the trucks seemed to excel in at least one or two areas.

Take the 2.7 litre Ford, for example. This relatively tiny engine showed impressive ability, even when pulling the trailer, much better than most judges expected. If, however, you believe there is no replacement for displacement, Chevy’s Silverado had the biggest power plant, and it was clear during the trailer towing test this V-8 had loads of torque. To help with fuel consumption, it has a cylinder shut down feature.

The updated Chevy has new front-end styling, which makes it a good looking truck, but the high hood would also make it the most difficult of the group to navigate through a parking lot with tight quarters. It just wasn’t as easy to see obstructions close to the front bumper on this truck as it was on the others.

To see our e-QuipTV video of the testing at the Canadian Truck King Challenge, go to grainews.ca and click on the videos link. †

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31

Cattleman’s Corner New technology

New tech improves tag readers New system works at greater distance and can read groups of animals

BY ANGELA LOVELL

CAPTURING BIG DATA

IMPROVED TRACEABILITY Kathler says the system will also close any existing gaps in traceability, especially from the feedlot to the processing plant.

“We will be able to create an electronic manifest, untouched by human hands, of animal movement through different production stages right to the plant, so any trace-back in the event of a disease outbreak will involve a few keystrokes rather than days of searching to discover what animals have been co-mingled.”

photo: courtesy of sait

R

esearchers at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary have developed a new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system using Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) tags that will make it easier and faster to track and trace cattle at every stage of their movement from the farm to the processing plant.

With the new system, animals do not need to go through a squeeze chute because it reads the new UHF-RFID tags from up to 30 feet away, and records and tracks data from multiple animals at once.

“Producers can read the tags of groups of animals en route as they move them from pen to pen or pasture to pasture,” says Glen Kathler, the scientist leading the research team, which recently received an award for Innovation in Agricultural Science at the 2015 ASTech Awards. “It will make the whole movement and tracking of animals a lot more efficient and accurate all the way through the supply chain, and minimize stress on the animals, which has an effect on animal performance and productivity.”

These overhead ultra-high frequency transponders can read tags as cattle pass by.

REDUCING STRESS AND SAVING COSTS Early production UHF-RFID tags will cost around $5 each and a wide-alley, fixedreader system and associated software will cost about $10,000. Kathler’s team has done an economic analysis that showed an average Alberta feedlot could potentially save $87,920 through adopting UHF-RFID technology. They estimated about $14 per animal could be saved by not putting it through a squeeze chute, which has been shown to reduce body weight by one per cent due to stress on the animal.

Kathler anticipates savings will increase as UHF-RFID technology becomes more widely adopted, which will drive down the cost of the systems. He expects to see some

commercial UHF-RFID systems in place in 2016.

“To begin with I would expect to see this system being used on feedlots or larger primary operations with some sort of closed-loop, herd-management system,” says Kathler. “But I think we will see increasing interest from within the industry. We see some trials now occurring with the USDA in the United States as well, so it’s gaining momentum.”

SAIT’s RFID Application Development Lab (RADLab) is the first in North America — and one of only three worldwide — to establish an ISO-certified RFID test lab to certify new animal-recording technologies. SAIT researchers are also working with the International Committee for Animal Recording to ensure the lab meets international standards.

The Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA) contributed $950,000 towards the UHF-RFID project. President and CEO Gordon Cove says it presented a great opportunity.

“SAIT was a good choice as a partner because it was setting up an RFID lab and it made sense to take advantage of its expertise and work on furthering the technology for the benefit of the livestock sector,” says Cove. “Data is king and the more data producers have, the better decisions they can make to improve productivity and performance. This technology has the potential to capture data and tie in genomic, feed-conversion and health information, environmental footprint; the list is endless. We are happy to be a part of making it all happen.”

The UHF-RFID technology is being tested on ranches in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as at feedlots and auction marts, and on transport trucks. The next step is to tie up any loose ends and to work on helping the industry transition to the new technology.

“We are now looking at working with existing industry partners to make combination LF/UHF tags,” Kathler says. “We are also doing some work with smartphone readers that can use both the LF and the new UHF tags on the same device. So we are also thinking about what it’s going to take for the industry to transition. We hope for the next phase of the project to integrate this UHF technology into some of the existing herd-management software.

We see it as a great opportunity for the industry.” † Angela Lovell is a freelance writer based in Manitou, Man.

markets

Dollar likely to fall lower in value ‘Ill-conceived’ deficits don’t help the economy in the long run Jerry Klassen Market Update

I

’ve received many inquiries from cattle producers regarding the outlook for the deteriorating Canadian dollar. Many cattle producers don’t watch daily market activity and recently, we’ve seen sharper changes from week to week as the Canadian recession deepens.

A dovish monetary policy from the Bank of Canada along with left-leaning fiscal policy from the ruling Liberals have enhanced the ongoing weakness brought on by overall lower commodity prices.

In January, Canadian exports of live cattle to the U.S increased, cleaning up market-ready supplies, which was partially brought on by the softer Canadian dollar. We’ll likely see an increase in exports of replacement cattle to the U.S after a year-over-year decline in feeder cattle exports during 2015.

The main question is where do we go from here and what are the factors to watch moving forward so that cattle producers can factor in a reasonable value

when doing their price projections or budgets?

When interest rates or bond yields are lower in one country versus another, investors will move funds from the lower-yielding currency to the higher-yielding currency. Over the course of the next year, the Bank of Canada will have a tendency to lower interest rates while the U.S. Federal Reserve will be inclined to raise interest rates.

In Canada, mortgages are based on the yields of five and 10-year bonds and the central bank needs to keep rates low as consumers struggle with high household debt and rising taxes.

Secondly, the lower currency generally stimulates exports not only for export commodities but also the manufacturing sector.

Growth in Eastern Canada manufacturing is needed to offset the lows in the commodity cycle. A lower currency is viewed as a tax on the consumer to support the country’s export values. The price of imported goods valued in U.S. dollars are sharply higher such as fruits and vegetables while producers of agriculture products and other commodities are enhanced on the world market when valued in Canadian dollars.

Alberta, Ontario and other

provincial governments are running massive deficits while the Federal government is following this ill-conceived behaviour in an effort to stimulate the economy.

Higher taxes, less revenue and deficit spending are all factors that wreak havoc on a currency.

BETTER APPROACH The investment climate in Canada has fallen sharply on the world stage and major institutional investors are pulling money out of Canada. The environment has radically shifted within a year. The solution to the current recessionary problem is “Klein economics” (reference to the late Alberta Premier Ralph Klein) whereby you run the government like your house. In year’s of tough times, you cut spending and keep the tax burden low thereby letting consumers stimulate the economy given we have a PST and GST in most provinces.

Secondly, create an investment-friendly edge over all other areas of the world with lower personal and corporate taxes. Given the prolonged outlook of the recession for Canada, government injections will run the course and then fade and

the overall situation will be worse than in the beginning.

Provincial and federal fiscal policy will continue to pressure the Canadian dollar long term.

We will not see a turnaround in these policies anytime soon.

It appears that China’s growth rate is not as large as earlier anticipated and the slower growth has set a negative tone for major currencies reliant on commodity exports. China’s equity market is like a casino because investors cannot trust the balance sheet. Major investors cannot trade shares in larger corporations so the large swings are due to the inexperienced, untrained, and cash-strapped consumer.

Economic data from China is also unreliable so there are hints that this bubble from past year’s growth got ahead of itself. The world is interconnected with trade and when the second largest economy slows down, all economies will feel it. China is moving to a consumptive economy (similar to the U.S) from an export economy. Therefore, expect easing of growth from the China and don’t expect this region of the world to stimulate local demand.

Finally, I have to talk about the

oil sector given the high correlation with crude oil values and the Canadian dollar. U.S. crude oil stocks are sharply above the five-year average, which has weighed on energy prices and it is extremely difficult to forecast when stocks will start to drop.

There is no signal of slowdown from major exporters and with Iran coming on stream, the burdensome supply could actually get worse before getting better.

Overall, the dovish policy from the Bank of Canada and fiscal policy of the federal government will keep pressure on the Canadian dollar. Crude oil stocks have been building and there is no signal that the burdensome supply will be alleviated anytime soon. The Canadian dollar is currently at 13-year lows and there is downside potential to 0.62/Cdn which was the low in 2002. † Jerry Klassen is manager of the Canadian office for Swiss based grain trader GAP SA Grains and Products Ltd. He is also president and founder of Resilient Capital — a specialist in commodity futures trading and commodity market analysis. Aside from owning farmland in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, he’s a University of Alberta graduate who grew up on a mixed farm feedlot operation in Southern Alberta, which keeps him close to the grassroots of grain and cattle production. He can be reached at 204 504 8339.

32

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Cattleman’s Corner Keepers and Culls

The next project after COOL Lee Hart

I

have to give the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) and Canada’s federal government credit for their patience and persistence. I never thought the U.S. government would ever do away with its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law once it was enacted in 2008.

And after all the trips and lobbying to the U.S. capital over the past eight years, I figured “You guys are wasting your time.”

But lo, there at the end of 2015, President Barack Obama signed the order to do away with COOL. The World Trade Organization kept holding the U.S. feet to the fire in its rulings that said COOL was unfair. Canada and Mexico (because it affected them too) joined with their threats and plans to impose about $4 billion in levies and surcharges on U.S. imports.

The WTO ruled that $1 billion was fair.

And it wasn’t even that the U.S. government administration that supported COOL. The U.S. agriculture secretary, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the U.S. meat industry all were in agreement with WTO rulings. It was just relatively strong and somewhat radical Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-Calf) that lobbied long and hard to have COOL created.

Writer Jeff Gaye in the January issue of Beef Business, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers magazine, had a good article on the rise and fall of COOL (available online at skstockgrowers.com). In the article SSGA past-president Harold Martens said at one

point COOL was costing the Canadian meat industry about $640 million per year in lost business and it also cost Canadian producers about $2 million to fight COOL. I’m not sure what the final figures are, obviously the fight was a worthwhile investment.

But I decided over the years that these trade matters are fickle and irrational. I remember sitting in the office of Nithi Govindasamy years ago and marvelled as he talked about the slow pace of trade negotiations. Govindasamy is now deputy minister of Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure, but back in the day he was a young international trade specialist with Alberta Agriculture.

But I guess the grain guys also know a bit about patience and persistence. How many decades of lobbying and protesting did it take to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly? I was probably the last to discover this information, but recently during some reading I learned that when the wheat pools were created back in early 1920s they themselves created a Central Selling Agency to pool the price and market grain. That system was successful for several years, but then the Agency ran into financial difficulties after a crop failure in 1928-29, so the federal government stepped in to bail it out, and then created the CWB in 1935.

Maybe now that the CCA guys have a lot of spare time after slaying the COOL dragon, they can work on dismantling or fixing the Middle East oil cartel to get the world economy going again.

COMING EVENTS • Alberta Beef Industry Conference — Beef producers from across Western Canada are invited to the annual Alberta Beef Industry

Conference, Feb. 17 to 19 at the Sheraton Hotel in Red Deer, Alta. The conference will feature more than a dozen speakers on a wide range of topics including marketing, business management, nutritional advice, animal health, and North American and global economics and markets. One session bound to have an interesting message will feature former Alberta Conservative cabinet minister Doug Griffiths with a talk on 13 ways to kill your beef industry. For more details visit the conference website at: www.abiconference.ca • SSGA Spring Break — If you’re looking to get away to someplace warm, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association may still have room on its seven-day spring break trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico March 4 to 11. Along with being able to attend the Campeonato Nacional Charro Rodeo, it sounds like there will be plenty of time to relax at the Sheraton Buganvillias. Cost of the trip is CDN$1,610 (based on double occupancy). Call Katherin at 1-306-690-5309 for details.

• Livestock care in Alberta — Fresh opportunities, global perspectives and lively discussion are set to capture the spotlight at the 2016 Livestock Care Conference, March 22-23 in Olds, Alta., hosted by Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC). The Livestock Care Conference begins Tuesday, March 22, with special sessions including a sheephandling workshop,and the AFAC Annual General Meeting. The main speaker agenda is Wednesday, March 23, kicking-off with a message from the provincial Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and a welcome and update from the AFAC Executive Director.

Brenda Schoepp discusses The Interconnetion Between Human and Animal Welfare; Dr. Jennifer Walker talks Animal Welfare at the Intersection Between Politics, Policy, Profit

photo: lee hart

The key to farm policy change is persistence

And the man even makes house calls — this is Greg Evans, chief veterinarian for the Calgary Stampede, applying his equine dental skills to one of the horses at the Calgary Stampede Ranch near Hanna, Alberta. The horses who are trained to be bucking broncs and other competitors receive excellent and regular animal health care. Evans may not make it in human dentistry field, but his patients at the ranch didn’t voice any complaints. & People; Leona Dargis presents on Animal Welfare Around the World; Dr. Alexandra Harlander discusses Hot Topics in Poultry Welfare; and Marion Popkin presents on All About Rabbits. In addition, the conference features a ‘Bear Pit’ Panel Session on “When Manure Hits the Fan.” Bear Pit panelists include Darren Vanstone of World Animal Protection, Jackie Wepruk of National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC), Brandy Street of the BC.SPCA and Michelle Follensbee of the Animal Welfare Branch of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Complete agenda details and registration information is available at www.afac.ab.ca. Follow at hashtag #LCC2016. † Lee Hart

Innovations

Great ideas for lifting hogs recognized

T

he 2016 F. X. Aherne award for Innovative Pork Production is being shared by two winners.

Sam Gelowitz of the Prairie Swine Centre in Saskatoon, Sask. received the award for an innovative carcass-removal cart, while Steve’s Livestock Transport of Manitoba received the prize for a new hydraulic lift deck trailer. The awards were presented at the 2016 Banff Pork Conference.

“Innovation is the lifeblood of any industry and this prize recognizes individuals who have developed either original solutions to pork production challenges or creative uses of known technology,” says Dr. Michael Dyck of the University of Alberta, chair of the F.X. Aherne prize committee. “With the quality of applicants it is not hard to see why this award is popular.”

The prize is named after industry icon, the late Dr. Frank Aherne, a professor of swine nutrition and production at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and a major force for science-based progress in the western Canadian pork industry.

CARCASS CART The carcass removal cart designed by Gelowitz is designed out of safety and ease of removal of dead sows and large grower/finish pigs from the building. Previous carts use a vertical manual winch system to hoist the carcass, which became top heavy when transporting animals to the disposal site, and took a lot of manual labour.

The new design transports animals safely with a minimal amount of lifting by employees. The design uses a pallet jack, a parcel-and-product rolling system and a 12 volt electric 2,000-lb. winch.

The pallet jack has excellent maneuverability allowing access

to areas 30 in. in width and has zero-turn radius to maneuver around sharp corners. The roller system eases the strain of barn workers in moving animals onto the platform. The battery system is housed in an RV or marine storage unit for protection from the elements. A charger system keeps the battery charged at all times. Additional design elements add strength and help prevent the loaded cart from tipping over.

It all adds up to quick and easy removal of dead animals, less risk of staff injury and increased productivity.

HYDRAULIC DECKS The new hydraulic lift deck trailer from Steve’s Livestock Transport, based in Blumenort, Man. was designed in conjunction with Wilson Trailer Company of Sioux City, Iowa.

The all-aluminum deck system has a powerful hydraulic lift cylinder and stainless steel cable system that raises two full-length decks into locked position. It acts as an elevator to lift livestock into different deck levels, which eliminates ramp usage to enter or exit the trailer. Loading animals on the level and then lifting the deck reduces animal fatigue, stress and injury during movement and improves meat quality.

The new design has other attributes. It has superior ventilation through the trailer and the common contamination areas are easier to wash out. Biosecurity is enhanced. Heavy-duty gates contain and separate loads. The design is also physically easier on drivers.

The Banff Pork Seminar is coordinated by the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, in cooperation with Alberta Pork, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry and other pork industry representatives from across Canada. A Special Report on the 2016 Seminar is available at www.banffpork.ca. Meristem Land & Science, is based in Calgary, Alta. Phone 403-543-7420 or visit www.meristem.com. †

A winch and roller system on a pallet lifter makes it easier to move dead animals.

photo: courtesy steve’s trucking

BY MERISTEM INFORMATION RESOURCES

photo: lprairie swine centre

Two different lift systems reduce stress for people and animals

Steve’s Trucking developed a hydraulic system to lift two decks inside an livestock trailer making it easier to load and unload animals.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

33

Cattleman’s Corner focus on management

A pound is a pound, right?

Some simple changes in production and management can add extra value to cattle

BY SEAN MCGRATH

O

ver the past year we’ve had unparalleled high prices in the beef industry, but with the last few months representing one of the largest price declines in the history of the industry. Yet prices are still relatively profitable for the cow-calf industry.

Not so for cattle feeders, who have just undergone a period of historic losses. Thankfully (I think) the fall of the Canadian dollar has buffered the Canadian feeding industry from some of the full impact of this price inversion.

Most of us on the cow-calf side of the business sell cattle by the pound. The more pounds we sell, the bigger the cheque we receive, but when we look at the context of the whole industry it becomes readily apparent that not all pounds are created equal. This creates the potential to capture premiums or risk discounts.

Feedlots buying cattle typically have pretty solid risk management programs in place and they are usually acutely aware of their break even and how

much they can afford to pay for cattle. Capturing extra dollars really boils down to making your pounds more valuable than the average pounds. So the first question is how we accomplish this feat?

or three weeks. That can have a huge impact on cost of gain.

This is part of the appeal of pre-sort sales, but also why larger groups of calves will tend to receive a price premium.

UNIFORMITY

LOAD AND PEN LOTS

This relates to load and pen lots, but deserves separate consideration. On any given day at a market there is potentially huge differences in cattle in the same weight range. If we fall back on our 600-pound weaned calf example, the most basic difference could be weeks to months of difference in age of the cattle. A calf that takes eight months to reach 600 pounds is significantly different than one that accomplishes the same feat in six months. It is highly likely the feeding characteristics of these cattle are also significantly different. For this reason alone it may be worth seeking out like-minded programs used by other producers whom which you can co-market cattle. There is a premium for uniform cattle for a variety of reasons including ease of management and the ability to feed to their expected potential.

Many producers may not realize the premiums available from being able to sell truckloads or pen loads of cattle. A truckload is roughly 60,000 pounds, and a pen load in a modern lot may range from 150 to over 600 head.

The ability to fill trucks or pens completely may seem like small potatoes, but consider the savings. Let’s take a $1,000 truck trip divided against a truck that is 3/4 full of 600-pound calves. Instead of 100 calves there are 75 head.

That works out to an added cost of $3.33 per head. That seems pretty small until you consider it across an entire feedlot. If you have this added cost in a small lot of 5,000 head, that equates to $16,650.

Consider the logistics of filling a large pen over a short time frame and getting cattle onto a uniform feeding program versus filling the same pen over two

HEALTH Most cow herds have a reasonable health program. Taking some extra steps to ensure the health of cattle marketed is often as simple as providing a booster shot prior to weaning. This should take place two weeks to a month prior to weaning/shipping so that the calf can build some immunity. It is likely the calf will receive similar shots upon initiation to the feedlot, but the investment of a few dollars at the cow-calf end can result in a reduced death or chronic count, particularly during that first stressful month in the feedlot. Healthy calves are worth more and feeders certainly remember losses.

GENETICS As mentioned previously, not all cattle are created equal. As well, every management system is unique and requires something a bit unique to fit the bill.

For most of us, fertility is much more important than growth or carcass characteristics. That said, there are some basics we should consider. Some cattle are not well suited to go onto full feed post-weaning, and should not be marketed that way. Additionally,

The 2016

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some calves are not well suited for backgrounding and have the genetic makeup to handle a bit of a push. Separating the offering of these basic genetically different packages can go a long way toward improving performance and price.

As well, some base level of post-weaning performance, feed efficiency and carcass merit should be considered when looking at sire purchases, even if you are not retaining ownership of your calves past weaning. Profit has to come from somewhere and if cattle do not have the basic characteristics to perform in the marketplace, the profit will be made in the purchase price. It is easier than ever to obtain some of this knowledge with new technology such as BIXS that can provide feedback from further down the chain.

TALK ABOUT IT Good communication is one of the weaknesses that many of us share. We can’t get angry when we take all the right steps and still receive average price for our calves if we failed to tell anybody

» continued on page 34

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Vo lu m e 1 2 , n u m b e r 1 6

no word on farm aid until after harvest Livestock producers have a tax deferral option, but government waiting to see if crop insurance is adequate

By Alexis Kienlen AF STAFF

C

August 3, 2015

Farm leaders say workers’ compensation coverage is a good thing Mandatory enrolment could be announced this fall, but leaders say cost and paperwork won’t be onerous

cP Rail says it’s ready to move this year’s crop to market

MAFRD is looking at how well these oversize cold frames can extend horticultural growing seasons

The company is investing billions to move even more grain as western Canadian production continues to increase

see CP Rail on page 7 »

JOHN DEERE HEADERS

High tunnel production has potential to extend the Manitoba grower’s season, says MAFRD’s fruit crops specialist Anthony Mintenko. He and the provincial vegetable crop specialist are evaluating fruit and vegetable crops for high tunnel production at the AAFC site at Portage la Prairie. PHOTO: LORRAINE STEVENSON

BY LORRAINE STEVENSON

A

You don’t have to go far to find hazards on a farm, and that’s why new workplace safety regulations are inevitable, say farm leaders. PHOTOS: COURTESY Canadian agRiCUlTURal SafETY aSSOCiaTiOn

AF STAFF

tors for workers’ compensation.”

Oneil Carlier, the new NDP agriculture minister, has vowed to extend workplace safety regulations to farm workers who aren’t currently covered by workers’ compensation or Occupational Health and Safety regulations.

Today, only around seven per cent of Alberta farm employers voluntarily carry workers’ compensation for their operations. But offering that protection — both for employers and employees — is one of the realities of farm-

Mike Millar

ing today, said Jacobson, who farms near Enchant.

“There’s getting to be more and more hired help on the farm and we’re employing more people,” he said. “It gives protection from litigation and other advantages, and if you don’t have it, there can be some serious consequences.”

And farm workers today “aren’t just interested in a paycheque,” he said.

“They’re starting to realize, ‘If I get hurt on this job, where’s the protection for my family?’

When it comes down to it, a farm that has some type of

protection for those people is going to have a lot easier time hiring people.”

Cost and paperwork

There are “some misconceptions” about workers’ compensation that have made Alberta farmers reluctant to offer coverage to their workers, said Jacobson.

“Some people don’t like that administrative role and the paperwork that is associated with the program at this point in time,” he said.

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hanges to farm safety regulations are expected soon — and that might not be a bad thing for Alberta farmers, says the president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture.

“Workers’ compensation or private insurance really is a great risk management tool for farms nowadays,” said Lynn Jacobson. “That protection against litigation is one of the big selling fac-

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senior executive with CP Rail says the company is “well positioned” to move this year’s g ra i n c r o p d e s p i t e re c e n t cutbacks in staff and locomotives.

Grain is, was and will continue to be Canadian Pacific Railway’s biggest cargo, John Brooks, vice-president of sales and marketing for bulk commodities, said in an interview Aug. 6.

And the historic railway founded in 1881 is investing to move even more in the future, he said. “Make no bones about it, grain is king at CP,” he said.

“It is our life-bread. There is nothing we want to do more than move a lot of grain.

“I think we feel pretty good about our handling capacity… to move this new crop.”

C

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Co-operator staff

rop producers will have to wait until after harvest to find out if there is any government drought assistance, says the president of the Grain Growers of Canada.

The question of additional farm aid was put to Oneil Carlier, the new NDP agriculture minister, when he attended an Alberta Wheat Commission directors’ meeting in Red Deer on July 21, said Gary Stanford, who is also a director with that organization.

“I asked him if there will be any form of funding for cattle and hay, and also for some areas that are so dry that crop insurance for grain farmers won’t really cover everything,” said the Magrath-area producer.

“He said that he will probably wait until after harvest is over and he gets the crop insurance information back from the Agricultural Financial Services Corporation to see what the facts are. He’ll then find out which counties are in the worst shape.”

That same stance was taken

by Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz at a national meeting of agriculture ministers held in mid-

USED INVENTORY LIQUIDATION

2010 NH CR9080 WAS $269,900 NOW $199,900

BY ALLAN DAWSON

see FARM AiD } page 6

Rick Dibben

mAnitobAcooperAtor.cA

Researchers study how to extend the growing season

see COVeRAGe } page 7

National Advertising Sales Cell: 306-251-0011 mike.millar@fbcpublishing.com

production system that extends the growing season, offers growers a competitive edge in the marketplace and potential to make more money sounds mighty tempting.

That’s why fruit and vegetable growers were out in large numbers at Hort Diagnostic Days in late July to hear more about construction of high tunnels.

This is the first year a variety of fruits and vegetables has been planted in the high tunnel built in 2014 at the Agriculture Agri-Food

Canada location in Portage la Prairie.

Growers are keen to hear what Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (MAFRD) specialists are learning.

High tunnel production is commonplace in other parts of Canada and in northern and central U.S. where nearly every type of fruit and vegetable is now grown, even tree fruits.

MAFRD staff are researching how high tunnels work in Manitoba growing conditions.

“We have a lot of recommendations from other places like Minnesota and Ontario about what to grow in a high tunnel but nothing for under Manitoba conditions,” said fruit

crop specialist Anthony Mintenko, who is evaluating day-neutral strawberries, early-season June-bearing strawberries, fall-bearing raspberries and blackberries at one end of the 100x15x7.5-foot tunnel. Provincial vegetable specialist Tom Gonsalves is experimenting with vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers at the other.

High tunnels are like greenhouses, except they don’t have a double layer of poly, and no permanent heat or electricity. But they have a similar function — they keep cold out and, conversely, heat in.

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34

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Cattleman’s Corner calf management

Strong immunity key to calf health It all starts by making sure newborns have adequate and timely colostrum heather smith thomas

I

llness occurs when the body is overwhelmed by infection. A healthy animal with strong immunity is less likely to become sick. Immunity refers to the body’s ability to fight off bacteria or viruses, and this ability is developed in a complex process in which the body creates specific weapons for fighting specific invaders.

When viruses or bacteria enter the body, they start invading tissues and causing damage by multiplying and creating toxic products. This damage stimulates the body to create an antibody (a serum protein called an immunoglogulin) to react with the invading agent and neutralize it. Antibodies are carried through the body in blood and lymph systems. The main role of one type of lymphocyte (white blood cell) is to produce antibodies, the proteins that can neutralize certain infectious agents.

If an animal already has antibodies against a specific disease organism, then whenever that particular organism invades the body again, an army of white blood cells (with their antibodies) converge on the site to kill the invader.

Vaccination can stimulate production of antibodies, since the vaccine serves as the antigen (like an invading pathogen). The body builds protective antibodies to fight the invader. Then when the animal later comes into contact later with the infectious agent, the antibody is present in the bloodstream to inactivate the pathogen. If enough antibodies are present to inactivate all the pathogens that invade the body, the animal will not get sick, and the invasion stimulates rapid production of more antibodies for future protection.

A cow in a natural environment may not be exposed to very many disease-causing organisms, but today most cattle are confined during some parts of the year (in corrals, small pens or pastures that have been contaminated by heavy cattle use) and come in close contact with other cattle, with more chance of disease spread. But with vaccination and natural exposure to various pathogens, the cow develops many antibodies and strong immunity. During the last part of pregnancy she puts these antibodies into the colostrum she produces, so her calf can have instant immunity after his first nursing. The antibodies in colostrum are very important to the newborn calf because he has very little disease resistance of his own.

PASSIVE IMMUNITY Young calves are vulnerable to diseases such as scours and pneumonia but Mother Nature has this loophole covered. To help protect calves during this precarious period,

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33

A pound is a pound, right? about the steps we take. It is OK to talk to buyers about your cattle, or prepare information sheets.

We’ve been fortunate over the years to work with markets and buyers who will allow and even encourage us to provide information on our cattle and our program. This not only helps to tell a positive story of why your cattle

photo: heather smith thomas

ANTIBODIES

blood-borne infections caused by bacteria such as salmonella, pasteurella, streptococcus, but cannot directly prevent gut infections such as those caused by E. coli. But high levels of certain antibodies in the blood can help reduce severity of scours, and the antibodies that stay in the gut after the intestinal wall closes (colostrum ingested in subsequent nursings) can attack any scours-causing pathogens found there.

The number of colostrum antibodies that fight scours organisms such as E. coli can be increased by vaccinating the cow ahead of calving. Make sure the vaccine is given far enough ahead (at least two weeks), allowing the cow time to develop the antibodies. On the other hand don’t vaccinate too early (no more than 50 days) so that her immunity level is dropping. Some types of scours can be prevented by giving the calf a commercially prepared concentrated antibody source or oral vaccine soon after birth.

It’s important for baby calves to be up and nursing within an hour or two.

HEIFERS’ CALVES

the necessary antibodies are provided in the cow’s colostrum, to give the calf a temporary (passive) immunity against the challenges he will soon face.

Antibodies in a cow’s bloodstream are unable to cross the placental barrier because these molecules are too large. A calf can receive the antibodies from his dam only from drinking her colostrum. During the last three weeks of pregnancy she accumulates antibodies from her bloodstream into her mammary glands; a well-fed, healthy cow produces an abundant amount of colostrum and a large volume of antibodies.

You can maximize those antibodies by making sure she is not too thin (undernourished cows produce less total colostrum), and that her vaccinations are up to date so she will produce a high level of antibodies against those specific diseases.

At the time she gives birth, the concentration of antibodies in her milk reaches its highest peak, then drops rapidly. It is important that the calf nurse as soon as possible after birth, to get full benefit from her antibodies.

Heifers’ calves are at greater risk of disease than calves born to older cows. Heifer colostrum does not contain as many antibodies and has less variety of antibodies because young cows have been exposed to fewer infectious organisms in their short lives. Heifers may also have less volume of colostrum. A heifer’s calf may not absorb as many antibodies as it should if it is slow to nurse after a difficult birth. The stress of a hard birth can also make the calf less able to absorb antibodies efficiently; stress may affect absorption even if you make sure it gets plenty of colostrum.

ABSORBING ANTIBODIES There are several types of antibodies present in the cow’s colostrum. Their absorption rate and role in disease prevention varies depending on the class of antibody (IgG, IgM, IgA). Some are designed to be absorbed immediately and directly through the calf’s intestinal wall, where they enter the lymph system and bloodstream to be ready to fight disease organisms, while others stay in the gut and attack any pathogens found there.

The newborn calf must nurse quickly (to absorb the immunoglobulins that go through the intestinal wall before it thickens) and continue to obtain colostrum during its next several nursings. This helps to keep the other antibodies in its gut to protect against scours bacteria hit may ingest from dirty teats or a dirty environment. The

are not average, but also provides a tremendous risk reduction for the buyer. Knowing that calves are vaccinated may allow them to factor in a lower death loss, or understanding the type of sires used may allow them to price in a feed efficiency or carcass grid premium into the price paid for weaned calves.

ACCOUNTABILITY AND THANKFULNESS Accountability probably should go without saying, but it should be mentioned. When

remaining antibodies in the mother’s dwindling supply of colostrum (as it becomes diluted with regular milk) continue to benefit the calf even though it can no longer absorb any through the gut lining.

The crucial antibodies the calf needs in its bloodstream are absorbed by a process called pinocytosis, which involves creation of a fluid pocket that aids in movement of antibodies through the wall of the intestine and into the lymph system. This works best when the calf is first born and its gut lining is thinnest, making it easier for big molecules to slip through. The lining begins to thicken after birth. The calf gets maximum antibody absorption if it nurses within the first 15 to 30 minutes after birth.

By the time a calf is four hours old it has lost 75 per cent of his ability to absorb antibodies, and absorption rate decreases rapidly after that. Any calf that has not been able to nurse in the first hour or two should be assisted, or given colostrum by bottle, stomach tube or esophageal feeder. A calf needs to receive enough colostrum equal to about five per cent of his body weight soon after birth (1.5 quarts for a 60-pound calf, two quarts for an 80-pound calf, or 2.5 quarts for a 100-pound calf), and the same amount again about six hours later.

Once the calf starts to nurse, gut closure is hastened. This is probably nature’s way to insure that nothing else slips through the intestinal lining (such as bacteria or viruses).

Thus it is important that a calf have a full feeding of colostrum soon after birth. If a calf is cold and weak and only able to nurse a little, or if you feed him a small amount rather than a full feeding, this will speed up closure of his gut lining. The calf may not be able to absorb any more antibodies by its next nursing. After the gut closes the calf will only get the benefit of antibodies that fight pathogens in the gut itself.

Antibodies in the calf’s bloodstream obtained via colostrum can help it resist

we take steps to add value to our cattle and market that added value it is extremely important to “put your money where your mouth is” so to speak.

Misrepresentation will always come back to bite you.

Being thankful is also something that should probably go without saying as well. Obviously being thankful for a sale/purchase happens post-sale when the price is already established, but an attitude of gratitude goes a long way. Consider the investment that a feeder is making

ACTIVE IMMUNITY Calves lose their temporary immunity (protection gained from antibodies via colostrum) by seven to eight weeks or earlier, at which time their own immune system must take over. The time it takes for a calf’s immune system to gear up to ward off invaders will vary, depending partly on how strong its passive immunity was. If the calf had a high level of antibodies from colostrum, which effectively neutralized any invading organisms, its own defences are not stimulated to develop until that protection begins to wear off.

The antibodies gained through colostrum can also interfere with effectiveness of vaccinations. If a calf is vaccinated young, while it still has high levels of maternal antibodies in its blood, the calf’s own immune system won’t bother to respond to the antigens in the vaccine because they are being neutralized by the maternal antibodies. Many types of vaccination given to a calf when it is only two to three weeks old won’t give protection, since it will not stimulate immunity. Most vaccines should be given at eight weeks of age or older, and repeated with a booster shot two to six weeks later to ensure the calf’s immune system will be able to respond. † Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband Lynn near Salmon, Idaho. Contact her at 208-756-2841

in filling their feedlot and the subsequent costs of feeding those cattle. This is a huge annual investment for often small or even negative returns.

A customer-focused approach involves gratitude for supporting our businesses. This is as simple as shaking the buyer’s hand after a sale, or even sending a thank you note. Perhaps not surprisingly this is also one of the most effective and lowestcost methods of adding value to your cattle, and one that is often forgotten.

As market volatility increases and prices move we have to realize that although a pound is a pound, one pound can be worth more than another. Adding value to each and every pound we produce does not have to cost a lot, but can result in happier customers that are taking on less risk and can significantly change our bottom lines. † Sean McGrath is a rancher and consultant from Vermilion, AB. He can be reached at sean@ranchingsystems.com or (780)8539673. For additional information visit www. ranchingsystems.com.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

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Home Quarter Farm Life SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Farm life tension audit — time to fix your stress mess Complete this checklist to see how you could help fix your tension this year elationships… People tensions: R Why? Helping or hindering your vision?

• Spouse/partner , we are working on making our relationship stronger.

• Siblings are in contact and understand our vision for our farm.

• Parents are transparent and sharing their future life chapter expectations.

• Children are engaged with farm chores and learning to be independent.

• Extended family members can celebrate good times with us.

• Friends are part of our weekly plans to stay connected.

• Neighbours know they can ask for help, and we appreciate each other.

• Co-workers at the farm are appreciated, engaged, and happy to be on the team.

• Farm manager is learning to let go and delegate responsibility to others.

Elaine Froese

R

ecently Mike Lipkin (see www. mikelipkin.com) offered me a checklist of champions, and it encouraged me to think about being more intentional about identifying how to be a champion. Here is another checklist of what might be creating tension on our farms when you don’t feel like a champion! Take a few moments for self-care and self-awareness to complete this checklist and see where you want to be more creative about fixing your farm stress mess this year. arming with family: F Why the stress and tension?

• Job dissatisfaction, no ability to make decisions, founder won’t let go!

• Future job potential, no agreements in place.

• Work project, the farm work is “never done.”

• Deadlines, well actually we don’t have any, that is the problem.

• Expectations are unrealistic, this is 2016!!

• Education, would like more but how can I make this work?

Money. Financial tension: Why? • Income is irregular, we need to meet our family living needs.

• Credit card debt is too high, should we cut up the cards?

• Farm debt for land is overwhelming us.

• Operating loans are maxed out.

• Retirement plans are nil, parents will just “reinvent and take on new roles.”

• Savings, sounds good, how do I feed the tax-free savings account?

• Cash flow/spending habits are an issue. We don’t track our spending.

• Emergency fund needs to be built.

Three months of salary is $9K! • Future money needs, it is all going back into the farm.

• Past financial mistakes have scared parents about hiring expert advisers.

• Investments all go back into capital purchases for the farm.

No personal wealth bubble.

In which category did you check the most boxes?

Are your sources of tension mostly about relationship?

List your top five sources of tension: 1. _________________________________

www.mikelipkin.com • Mortgage on our house is difficult.

• Living expenses/bills seem to be increasing with young children.

• Care-giving costs are something our aging parents refuse to talk about.

• Planning for the future sounds good with a certified financial planner.

Health tensions: Why? • Overall health status is not where I would like it to be.

• Appearance could be improved, I don’t like muffin tops!

• Weight has been an ongoing issue and now my doctor is encouraging weight loss.

• Fitness is not staying on the couch.

I need to walk and work out more.

• Current health challenges are my sleeping patterns, and ______________.

• Stress load will always need managing. I need more time for self-care.

• Mental well-being is critical.

Am I depressed? Ask my doctor for the test.

• Future health is a concern as my aging friends are getting sick.

• Chronic conditions are being managed. I need to check family history.

2. _________________________________

Personal tensions: Why? • Time management. What is the important thing to do, not just urgent?

• Household management.

How can I ask for more help or delegate?

• Personal hygiene/upkeep.

Grooming is slipping. Slob alert.

• Priorities/organization. Need to write my action plan down with deadlines.

• Faith is growing with connection to other believers and community.

• Ability to get things done/goals.

• Making a difference/giving back.

• Happiness/emotional stability.

• Confidence/self-esteem grows as I become a lifelong learner.

• Sense of balance is fleeting, more like buoyancy.

An unresolvable issue.

• Sense of personal fulfilment is great. I love farming with my family.

4. _________________________________

3. _________________________________

5. _________________________________ Are your relationships drawing you closer to your vision and goals or blocking you?

Are you paying attention to your intuition and inner voice to take better care of yourself?

Once you identify the main sources of tension in your life, you can start to work on them. Knowing which areas of your life need improvement will help you be more intentional about working on those areas.

What do you want to let go of?

What do you want to hold on to?

What do you want to take on?

What do you want to move on? New paths will appear. New beginnings. † Elaine Froese would like to hear what your next steps are going to be to have less stress and tension on your farm this year elaine@elainefroese.com or Facebook “farm family coach,” YouTube.com “farmfamilycoach.” Book her for you next ag event. Visit www.elainefroese.com.

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36

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Home Quarter Farm Life

For the love of the Prairies Potter’s work reflects feelings about the land

BY EDNA MANNING

photo: courtesy bob siemans

C

arol Furman’s pottery is a reflection of her love of the Prairie landscape with all its beauty and diversity. “Like many Prairie people, I love the wide Prairies and hope my work reflects my feelings about the land,” she says.

Furman was born in Regina and moved to Edmonton for high school and nurse’s training. She met her husband John in Edmonton and it wasn’t until they moved to Brooks, Alberta that she had the time to pursue her longtime interest in pottery.

“I’ve always been drawn to the natural look and feel of pottery and clay. Brooks had a Potter’s Guild, and that was where I had my first experience with clay,” Furman says.

In 1977 the family moved to High River, Alberta, not far from the small community of Brandt. The Southern Institute of Technology had an arts dropin centre here, offering many different workshops such as weaving, stained glass, pottery and painting. “The wonderful aspect about Brandt was the stimulation and the different creative minds all in one place.

We all grew and expanded our skills at the workshops and we could go every week to prac-

Some of Carol Furman’s pieces. tise what we were learning,” Furman said.

In 1983 the Furmans, who had always longed to live in the country, moved to an acreage near Rush Lake, northeast of Swift Current.

Here they did market gardening and sold their vegetables at the

farm gate and at the local farmers’ market. “We always tried to grow everything without pesticides or commercial fertilizers,” she said.

It was here that Furman set up a studio. “My husband built a workshop for me with all the things I needed to get started, including

a wheel and a kiln. It was a big learning curve, and a time of trial and error,” she said.

The clay Furman works with comes from the east end area of the province. “Timing is very important because of its moisture content. If too much moisture is

lost, the clay is no longer malleable. It is quite fragile until it’s fired, but once fired to its maturity, it can last for centuries.

“One can do sculptural work, hand-built pieces, or use the wheel for uniformly round pieces. The forming of your object is one part; the glazing or staining is a completely different area of skill. It’s always a thrill to open the lid of a kiln load of pots and pieces that have turned out the way you’d hoped. On the other hand, it’s heartbreaking and a learning experience if there have been big problems.”

Furman has attended craft shows in her area, but more recently has focused her efforts on the Highway 1 Studio Tour, a two-day event that takes place every September in the southwest Saskatchewan area. Visitors can go on a self-guided tour of artists’ studios in various locations to check out high-quality, locally made items.

“One of the most satisfying aspects of my work is when someone finds a piece they love and enjoy and use,” Furman said.

To check out Carol’s studio, contact her at carolfurman@ sasktel.net or phone 306-7734576. To learn more about the studio tour in her area, visit www. highway1studiotour.ca. † Edna Manning writes from Saskatoon, Sask.

FROM THE FARM

Used kitchen items or memories from the past?

The gifted supplies may be just second-hand things to some but to me they told stories of how life changes

R

ecently our family was gifted with two boxes of kitchen supplies. To some, they may just be used appliances and bowls and things, but in reality, they told stories of how life changes.

For me, the most exciting item in one box was the bread bowl. The memories it must have held for the woman who had gifted it to me. The many batches of bread she had punched and risen in that bowl to feed a growing family that now didn’t have the need for Mom to bake all that bread because they were now baking their own.

The other box contained another woman’s cookbooks — each well used with notations in the margins of things she had changed to give her own touch to the recipes. She is now passed and I will forever cherish those cookbooks, honoured by the knowledge her family gave them to me so they would continue to be used.

The job now is to put these two gifts together.

Reading cookbooks is a form of relaxation amongst the ladies in our house.

One very chilly afternoon my daughter and I were sipping hot coffee and dis-

BIG-BATCH BREAD RECIPE 8 c. warm water 3 eggs 1/2 c. melted butter 1/2 c. sugar OR 1/4 c. honey 3 tbsp. instant yeast Combine these ingredients and let bubble. Add 6 cups of flour and beat till smooth. Let rise till double. Add 6 more cups flour, or enough to make soft dough that doesn’t stick to your hands. I find that weather makes a difference of how much flour this takes. Divide into six greased loaf pans, cover with a clean tea towel and let rise to the top of the pans.

Bake at 350 F for about 25-30 minutes.

The loaves will be nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped. If desired, brush tops with butter.

We go to a lot of potlucks so big-recipe desserts would also be a good use for this new bowl. The bowl matches the 12.5x17.5-inch baking pan we were also gifted so this is going to be fun.

CHERRY BARS (makes 7-1/2 dozen bars) 1-1/2 c. softened butter 2 c. sugar Pinch salt 6 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 tsp. almond extract 4 c. flour 3 cans cherry pie filling Glaze: 1-1/2 c. icing sugar 3/4 tsp. vanilla 1/2 tsp. almond extract 3-4 tbsp. milk Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts. Gradually add flour. Spread 3 cups of dough into a greased 17.5x12.5inch pan. Spread with pie filling. Drop remaining dough by teaspoonful over

photo: debbie chikousky

Debbie Chikousky

cussing some recipes that would be large enough to use our new bowl for, when our 18-month-old grandson decided that he had a much better use for the bowl. He had heard me tell his daddy that I had been gifted with a bowl big enough to bath a baby in, and little Zachery decided that playing in the bowl was a grand idea!

Thankfully, the woman who gave me this bowl is still with us, so I sent her a picture of how much enjoyment it had brought to another family. Hopefully it brought a smile to her face.

Growing up I learned to make bread in a house that baked at least a 10-kg bag of flour at a time. My recipe isn’t quite that ambitious but now that we have a proper bowl things could change.

Grandson Zachery thought it would be more fun to play in the bowl. filling. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. In a small bowl, mix icing sugar, extracts and enough milk to reach desired consistency, drizzle over top.

The best part of using these big-batch bowls and pans, is that we can freeze for later, or give some away! It really takes no more time to bake huge amounts for future use than just enough for now, and it’s handy when people stop in for tea and you have a treasure in the freezer! † Debbie Chikousky farms at Narcisse, Man.

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 grainews.ca /

37

Home Quarter Farm Life PRAIRIE PALATE

Canary seed approved for humans Amy Jo Ehman

I

got the news, appropriately, via Twitter, i.e. a tweet: Canary seed has been granted the status of human food. Last month, regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States gave canary seed the human stamp of approval. Which raises the question, if canary seed is for the birds, why would we humans flock to eat it?

Before we consider the culinary credentials of canary seed, let’s consider the source. Farmers in Western Canada, particularly Saskatchewan, grow 80 to 90 per cent of the world’s supply of canary seed, a key component in bird feed blends. That’s a farm gate value of $90 million and more than 300,000 acres of prime farmland gone to the birds. However, the bird market is declining. From Bogota to Barcelona to Beijing fewer of we humans are feeding pet birds or our wild feathered friends. Now, farmers have a new market. What’s good for the goose is also good for Gordon and Gabrielle and Glenn.

A few years ago, I spoke with Carol

Ann Patterson, a food scientist who was investigating the culinary potential of canary seed. She found that canary seed is nutritious, having higher levels of protein and unsaturated fat compared to other cereal grains. It’s gluten free, so it may be safe for those who can’t eat wheat.

And it’s an alternative for sesame seeds, one of the leading food allergens in many parts of the world.

“It’s got a really nice clean flavour,” Patterson told me. “The two colours are quite distinct, so brown-coloured canary seed would look good in whole grain bread, while yellow canary seed has a really nice golden colour that we used in pasta, bread, crackers, tortillas, muffins, cookies and energy bars.”

It could also replace sesame seeds on bagels and hamburger buns.

Canary seed is native to the Canary Islands, a Spanish protectorate off the coast of West Africa. Both canary seed and canary birds were named for it.

In Spanish-speaking countries, where canary seed is known as alpiste, it’s often sold as a health food supplement with broad but unsubstantiated medical claims. Patterson found evidence that Canada was importing canary seed in the late 1800s along with caraway, fenugreek and mustard seed.

Canadian farmers began growing it

in the 1970s, particularly around the towns of Eston and Eatonia in westcentral Saskatchewan, as an alternate source of income.

Before canary seed could make the leap to human food, it had to undergo testing and transformation. It is naturally brown with little hairs similar to fibreglass that are extremely itchy for farmers to handle and an irritant to swallow and breathe. New varieties developed at the University of Saskatchewan have hairless hulls and an appealing yellow colour.

The Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan was formed in 2006, collecting a levy from canary seed farmers to support this research and initiate the novel food process. It could take some time before we start to see “canary seed” listed as an ingredient in our grocery stores, as the food industry figures out how to use it. But if you know a canary seed farmer, you might just grab a handful and, well, eat like a bird.

This recipe comes from Inspired by Mustard by the Saskatchewan Mustard Commission. When I made it I switched in canary seed for the poppy seed and now I’m tweeting its praises. † Amy Jo Ehman is the author of Prairie Feast: A Writer’s Journey Home for Dinner, and, Out of Old Saskatchewan Kitchens. She hails from Craik, Saskatchewan.

photo: amy jo ehman

And why not? It’s nutritious and gluten free

SEED BREAD 1 large egg 1 c. buttermilk 1/4 c. canola oil 2 tbsp. prepared mustard 1 c. all-purpose flour 1 c. whole wheat flour 1/2 c. brown sugar 1/3 c. finely chopped nuts (your favourite)

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, oil and prepared mustard and mix well.

In another bowl, mix all remaining ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet, mixing until moistened. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Turn mixture into loaf pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. This is nicest served warm, but it is also very nice toasted.

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1 large carrot, grated 3 tbsp. yellow mustard seed 2 tbsp. whole flaxseed 2 tbsp. sunflower seed 2 tbsp. poppy seed 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt

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38

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Home Quarter Farm Life SINGING GARDENER

Information on planting potatoes Plus, a white strawberry, benefits of sauerkraut and a simple way to help shed some pounds

S

prouting spuds and plantingn potatoes according to the moon. Also, I, Ted am focusing attention on a white strawberry with red seeds. Raw fermented veggies such as sauerkraut can contribute to intestinal tract wellbeing and shall also share a simple low-cost way to help shed some body weight. The script is ready and my hat is tipped as a welcome gesture to both new and established readers. It’s all laid out right here before you on this Grainews page.

PRE-SPROUTING SPUDS Depending on where my travels take me, I sometimes say to my listeners I’m from North America but my citizenship is Canadian, something of which I am highly proud and that I protect and promote with dignity.

Throughout much of Europe sprouting or green sprouting potatoes is known as ‘chitting.’ Not all gardeners pre-sprout their seed potatoes. It’s a personal choice and not on any must-do list. This optional practice is encouraged none the less since it can reduce growing time in the garden by up to a couple of weeks. That’s particularly important if you’re in an area with a short growing season. It also allows the planting of a late-season variety to mature that might otherwise not reach its full potential. A primary reason to green sprout seed potatoes is the expectation of many spuds in each hill at harvest time. After all, aren’t more potatoes what we all anticipate? Both earliness and greater yield can make a substantial increase in sales if you’re a vendor at a farmers’ market or operate a garden products roadside stand.

POTATO PLANTS ARE EASILY STRESSED Getting stressed isn’t only a people thing. So do potato plants stress easily especially during July, August and even into September. Stressors include drought, disease, too much moisture from rainfall and high humidity. Then there’s the ever presence of potato beetles and flea beetles.

Potatoes grown from presprouted seed have an edge.

They possess more stamina to handle such stresses when they have that 10- to 14-day growth advantage in development. That can make a substantial difference

THE HOW AND WHY Commence pre-sprouting (a.k.a. break dormancy) about a month prior to the recommended planting date outdoors for your region. Here are steps to accomplish this. Keeping seed potatoes in a regulated temperature and darkness initiates the process. Aim for a temperature between 18 C (65 F) and 22 C (75 F) for seven to 10 days. Watch them closely.

Sprouting seed potatoes as indicated holds back or suppresses the central dominant sprout.

Take a look at a spud. You’ll usually see the dominant sprout or eye at the highest point, at the top or peak with a group of several smaller eyes concentrated nearby or around it. When the primary sprout or prominent eye is left to do its own thing, it has the advantage to suppress nearby eyes and rule the roost. Because the dominant sprout is held back during the darkness period, it allows the group of smaller nearby eyes to break bud and sprout. Pinching back the dominant sprout isn’t recommended. Remember, the chief aim is to suppress its dominance over nearby smaller eyes until they have broken dormancy and produced a squatty sprout under an inch.

The next step is to bring the potatoes from darkness into strong daylight for about 10 or 12 hours daily at a controlled temperature near 10 C (50 F) to harden them off. Place sprouted potatoes in single rows on pieces of cardboard, sheets of dry newspaper, screens, empty egg cartons or some similar flat material for about two or three weeks. If sprouts show signs of becoming leggy or elongated, lower the temperature and increase light.

When danger of frost threatens take appropriate action to protect from cold. Come planting time there’s benefit gained if seeds are planted in soil that’s first warmed by the sun. Note the opposite or bottom side of each potato is called the stem end.

PLANTING ACCORDING TO THE MOON Here are some best planting dates in 2016 for potatoes, other

tubers such as dahlias, grapevines, raspberry canes, strawberry plants, rhubarb and other perennials — shade trees, fruit trees, shrubs, bulbs, corms — and — seeds of beets, carrots, onions, parsnips, radishes and turnips. They are: April 27 and 28, May 24 and 25, June 20, 21 and 22. The moon is particularly productive, dry and earthy on aforesaid days. Next-best days for planting spuds and other indicated crops are: March 24, 25, 26, 27 and April 22 and 23.

WHITE PINEBERRIES — SOMETHING NEW FOR 2016 As for myself, it may take a bit of getting used to white strawberries with red seeds but am willing to try. The White Carolina pineberry hybrid (Fragaria x ananassa) is Vesey’s top pick this year. Pineberries are actually said to be the oldest strawberry variety known whose aroma and flavour never disappoint. Matter of fact, the striking berries possess a flavour uniquely similar to pineapple. Culture is just as typical as any red garden strawberry performing well in raised beds, pots, hanging baskets or the open field. When genetics were passed down in the cross of which white pineberries resulted, they revealed a distinct pineapplestrawberry blend for flavour with red seeds and white flesh. Sizewise they’re generally smaller than a large Canadian-grown red strawberry. In a fruit bowl or on a fruit tray, both white and red strawberries contrast superbly.

For more information or to place an order for No. 1 roots, call Vesey’s in Charlottetown, P.E.I. at 1-800-363-7333.

WANT TO DROP EXTRA POUNDS? It’s called — the Grape Juice Remedy. Anyone out there who’d like to drop a few extra pounds? Standing on the weigh scales doesn’t always reflect the reading hoped for.

Here’s a health-promoting way for shedding a few extra pounds. It’s inexpensive, simple and easy to follow. Go to a store and read the label. Make sure there’s no sugar added.

Or, head for a health food store that sells pure grape juice with no sugar or preservatives added. It can be ready-to-serve grape juice or concentrated grape juice that’s diluted with water according to directions.

Of course, during the season, if you grow grapes, harvest your own clusters and make pure unsweetened grape juice.

Mix 50 ml (three ounces) of pure grape juice (no sugar, no preservatives, no additives) with one ounce of water and take it a half-hour before each meal and at bedtime. That’s a total of three ounces of pure unsugared grape juice four times daily and instructions are very specific.

The grape juice must be consumed very slowly. Take between

photo: courtesy vesey’s

ted meseyton

in outcome and income. You may have noticed when seed potatoes are not pre-sprouted each plant is more apt to produce just a single dominant stem that sets maybe a couple of potatoes. Pre-sprouting enables secondary, third and fourth sprouts to be on a level playing field and keep pace with the dominant, kingpin sprout. The net result is increased tuber set and greater return. Note that tuber set occurs more or less about a month after surface growth becomes visible above the soil.

At that time sufficient moisture and adequate plant nutrition are critical to anticipate desired size and highest yield.

White Carolina pineberries with red seeds were only recently introduced to North America in 2012. White strawberries were endangered in the South American wild. In 2003 Dutch farmers crossed them with red strawberry cultivars from Europe to create this hardy, prolific, very fragrant white variety with a slight pineapple flavour. Be the first gardener in your area to dazzle family, friends and neighbours by growing these white-flesh strawberries with red seeds. five to 10 minutes during each of the four daily grape juice servings. Sip some and then swirl it in your mouth to incorporate with saliva before each swallow.

Do not gulp it down all at once or desired results may not be achieved.

WHAT WILL YOU NOTICE? After starting this grape juice regimen, your cravings for desserts and sweets will begin to diminish and almost completely disappear over time. Eating habits gradually change for the better too, as taste buds begin to adjust. You may even eventually begin to wear clothes that have not fit for years. There is no scientific evidence supporting grape juice as a weight-loss aid, but many have seen it work provided the consumer sticks with it faithfully. The bold flavour of pure grape juice without any added sweetener curbs the appetite and gives a good daily dose of potassium and vitamin C to boot.

Green veggies, especially cabbage are associated with money and thus thought to bring good fortune. A practical reason for the tradition may be because cabbage is a late-fall crop, and the best way to preserve it for the winter is by making sauerkraut. Here’s another traditional reason to eat sauerkraut.

It contributes to healthy flora in the human gut by preventing disease-causing bacteria from colonizing and reduces their activity. A balance of healthy gut flora can be maintained by adding other fermented veggies too. If historical folklore is correct it may even bring good fortune and luck too, although I’ve heard some folks who’ve said: “I don’t believe in good luck. You make your own good luck.” †

THREADS OF LONG LIFE Many cultural traditions call for eating fermented vegetables, especially sauerkraut on Ukrainian New Year’s Day to bring good fortune. Folklore says that eating long threads of sauerkraut potentially represents a long life. I, Ted, don’t mind sauerkraut at all and ate sauerkraut and drank sauerkraut juice both during Malanka and on Ukrainian New Year’s Day, Jan. 14, 2016.

This is Ted Meseyton the Singing Gardener and Grow-It Poet from Portage la Prairie, Man. Do you have a loaf of bread or other baguette that’s become a little on the stale side? Here’s a simple way to restore stale bread to freshness with a renewed delectable taste. Mist exterior of the loaf with a bit of water or milk of choice and wrap it in aluminum foil. Place it in a preheated 180 C (350 F) oven for about six to eight minutes depending on size.

Once extracted from the oven it should taste every bit as good as the day the original baker made it. My email address is singinggardener@mts.net.

More power to you.

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