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Volume 42, Number 5 | february 23, 2016

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PraCTICaL PrODuCTION TIPS fOr THe PraIrIe farMer

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REBUILDING BIG ROY When restored, the prototype tractor will help Versatile celebrate its golden anniversary By Scott Garvey

n 1966 Versatile began producing tractors with the G100 and D100 models. That was 50 years ago, so 2016 is the year this brand gets to celebrate a golden anniversary. And it isn’t going to let that milestone pass unnoticed.

» contInueD on PaGe 4

In This Issue

Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240

Wheat & chaff ..................

Features ............................

crop advisor’s casebook

columns ........................... 17 Machinery & Shop ............ 28 cattleman’s corner .......... 33 PLant GroWth reGuLatorS T:10.25” Lisa Guenther PaGe 9

SAVE

GroWInG canary SeeD

FarmLife ............................ 37

Patty MiLLiGan PaGe 14

2/ACRE

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Always read and follow label directions. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Wheat & Chaff stamPede

By Jerry Palen

leeann minogue

“i’m not sure what they are. try ‘em for a couple of weeks and let me know if she lives.”

Write, Email or Fax suBscriPtion inQuiries: monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (cst) 1-800-665-0502

u.s. subscribers call 1-204-944-5568 or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com if you have story ideas, call us. you can write the article and we’d pay you, or we can write it. 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

veryone has their own idea about the secret of life. Family. Health. Love. Personally, I’ve come to believe that the secret of life is good filing. Yes, filing. While I don’t do this in practice, life would be much easier if everything was always filed in the right place. This is definitely true when it comes to keeping the farm books organized. Filing does not come naturally to me, and it’s always a struggle for me to keep things tidy. But if we’re ever audited by the CRA or GST admin, I’ll be more than happy that I have all of our farm receipts in neatly labelled folders. Keeping things neat comes more naturally to my husband. He always keeps his shop tools in the same place (“filed,” if you see where I’m going with this.) He never needs extra time to find the tool he needs. It’s the same with editing Grainews. If I took more time to keep contact information filed neatly in some sort of systematic way, I’d be a lot more efficient. I’ve been thinking about filing because this winter I’m trying to reorganize a different sort of filing system: I want to revamp the way we collect and store the field data on our farm. Information such as what variety was seeded, how much fertilizer we put on, exactly what and how much we sprayed on what day, yields. Basically, an electronic diary for each field, for several years. If you’re already keeping careful field records, you know why it’s a good idea. There are at least 11 reasons. It’s hard to know if you’re doing things right if you can’t remember what you’ve been doing. It’s easier to rotate herbicides to stave off resistant weeds if you have a reliable record of what’s been used in the field over the past few years. Specialty companies, like gluten-free oat buyers (see the story on Page 7), want to know exactly what’s been planted on our fields for the past few years. It seems inevitable that in the future, grain buyers, insurance companies and governments are going to want more, more formally documented information than we’ve ever provided before. We might as well start keeping it now so we’re ready when they come calling. It’s not that we’re not keeping records now. We are. It’s just that they’re mostly on paper. Paper is reliable. And cheap (almost free!). And anyone can use it. However, it seems a little, well, last-century. And sharing these records with someone else would be a huge hassle, probably involving a fax machine. So, we’re upgrading. But before I start converting our paper records to digital information, I want to make sure I have the best software tools for the job.

A quick look online was overwhelming, so I took an informal survey of seven farmers that I thought would already have good systems in place. I assumed that all of these people would be using similar systems, and I would just have to get the software and start inputting data. But that was not the case. I got about nine different answers from these seven people. There does not seem to be just one solution to this common problem. I’ll spare you the boring parts of these conversations, and boil things down into four basic options.

1. Free soFtware isn’t Free Allan (I’m making up the names) is using free online software that works both with his computer and his iPhone. He can update data from his office or his field. I’m a fan of “free,” and there is more than one free farm record keeping software program out there. But, free things are free for a reason. Some companies offer free software in exchange for access to your data, usually either so they can sell you something, or so that they can repackage and sell your data to an even bigger company that wants to sell you something. I’d prefer to keep my data to myself. Other companies offering free software make their money by making you watch ads. That’s irritating, but maybe not a deal breaker. Many of the companies offering their software with “free” models are relatively new. If their business model doesn’t work out and they go broke, will they take my data down with them? I won’t switch to a free system unless it offers me the option of exporting my data in a standard format now and then, so I don’t lose everything just because they did.

2. excel doesn’t always excel Brian says he just uses Excel spreadsheets. This seems like a reasonable solution. I already have this software, and I’m going to be keeping it updated for other uses anyway. I could keep my data to myself, and I won’t have to watch any ads. Bill Gates and Microsoft aren’t going broke anytime soon, so I’ll always have access to my data. But there are downsides. The key problem is that spreadsheets just aren’t made for this job. There are a lot of variables to keep track of each year, and by the time you build in every piece of data you might ever want, you’re going to have a pretty complicated spreadsheet. This will take time, and may be difficult for other people to use. And, of course we’re not going to be able to enter data from smartphones in the field. Unless I can bribe Brian into giving me a copy of his prebuilt template, I’m not sure this is my solution.

3. How mucH is too mucH? Carla is using the Field Manager PRO software that Farm Credit Canada sells with its AgExpert Analyst bookkeeping software. I already use AgExpert and it seems to do everything I need it to do. Odds are the field software would also work well. But I can’t help but notice that the Field Manager PRO software costs $499. If you want access to updates and online support, you need to renew annually at that price. For an additional $40, you can add an app, so you can add information from your smartphone. I realize that if you put that $500 receipt next to the statement for the combine payment, you won’t even notice it. And $500 isn’t much to pay for peace of mind. If you don’t care about the updates, you can get buy without paying every year — Carla says her software is working just fine, and she hasn’t updated it in a few years. But you have to admit, $500 ($499 + $39 to be exact) seems a lot more expensive than “free.”

4. is outsourcing on? Darren told me he’d just hired Farmer’s Edge to collect his farm records. Darren expects that his “end of the year binder” will be quite impressive — combining yield data, spray app data, information from on-farm weather stations, and “as applied” seeding data. Most of the data will flow directly from his equipment cabs to the software, so there won’t be a lot of room for human error. This kind of information should give Darren and his crew a lot of great fodder for future decision making. You get what you pay for. While the price may vary by client, Darren is paying $2/acre. That makes the FCC software look very cheap.

5. add your story Here Do you have an ideal farm record keeping solution? If so, share it with me at leeann. minogue@fbcpublishing.com. If you’re willing, your information may turn up in a future issue of Grainews. If you’re helpful, your information may turn up in my office. Leeann

Launch Update In the January 19th issue Lee Hart wrote an article about Cibus, the company that’s using gene-editing technology to develop sulfonylurea-resistant nonGMO canola. At the time of the interview, Cibus planned to launch its new product in Canada in 2016. Now, it looks like the Canadian launch will be in 2017. † Leeann

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Wheat & Chaff Farm saFety

Protecting vulnerable farm workers

anada’s agricultural industry employs many different categories of workers at different times throughout the year to complete different farm tasks. These workers may be seasonal workers, older workers, new workers and young workers. What’s important to recognize is that you may have vulnerable workers that could be at risk for injury. So what can you do? The first step is assessing the risks and vulnerability of the workers on your operation. A checklist can be used as an assessment tool to determine if any employees are considered vulnerable or are more likely to be exposed to the risks on a farm than other workers. Ask yourself, is this employee a new worker? Is the employee a newcomer to Canada? It is important not to make assumptions about the knowledge or abilities of workers but instead use the checklist to gain an understanding of the vulnerability of your worker. A checklist can ask you about the vulnerability of your worker. For example, someone might be not only a young worker, but also a recent immigrant AND a new worker. This

means that sometimes, the risks overlap. An older worker could also be considered a new worker. This person may have a lot of previous work experience but it may be their first time working in the agricultural industry. The following are types of vulnerable workers: young workers (under the age of 25); new workers; females (in some circumstances); recent immigrants; temporary foreign workers; seasonal workers; Aboriginals; older workers; temporary, low-income, part-time workers; or workers holding multiple jobs. Once a vulnerable worker is identified, it’s important to assess the potential risks that each of these workers might be exposed to and develop considerations for training and employment. For example, potential risks for a young worker could include physical limitations, a lack of experience, an inappropriate attitude toward safe work practices and ideas of “invincibility.” Special considerations for training and employment might include: pairing with a mentor, clearly outlining expectations with respect to work hours, break times, reporting structure, and their rights on the job; not

overwhelming the young person with information; providing jobsite tours and orientation; and providing an opportunity for the young person to practice new skills and tasks under supervision. Overall, it’s important to assess your workers honestly. Being mindful of the vulnerabilities of your workers and making a clear plan to address them leads to safer workers. Another tool available for farm owners employing young workers is the Canadian Model Youth Policy developed by the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association. This policy provides information about the needs and limitations of young workers. The Canadian Model Youth Policy is a voluntary guideline that enables parents and farm owners and operators to plan and talk about keeping young farm workers safe. The policy was adapted from a similar document developed by youth safety advocates and agricultural leaders in the United States. The model policy advises farm owners and operators to provide a basic orientation program for young workers, which helps introduce guidelines, expectations and policies for work on the farm.

The policy also reviews the importance of supervision, assigning general or specific tasks and hours of work. Young farm workers require the highest level of support during the orientation and training process. The level of supervision of a young worker depends on the individual as competency and maturity levels vary from person to person. It is important to participate in on-the-job, hands-on training. Being aware of the potential vulnerability is just the first step in securing the safety of a farm worker. Using the information about the potential risks can help you develop considerations for training and employment. A safe worker means an effective worker. For more information on protecting the health and safety of vulnerable workers in the agricultural sector, contact the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association at info@casa-acsa.ca. For more information on the Canadian Model Youth Policy: Youth Employment in Agriculture, visit casaacsa.ca/ CanadianModelYouthPolicy. † Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, www.casa-acsa.ca

agronomy tiPs… From the Field

Photo contest

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT

Keys to flea beetle control

he important thing to understand about flea beetles is that they overwinter as adults — and it’s those adults that do all the feeding on your seedlings come the spring. Your canola crop is most vulnerable to flea beetle feeding from the cotyledon stage at emergence up until it reaches the three- or four-leaf stage. This feeding can ultimately lead to seedling death or delayed flowering and maturity, if the seedlings manage to survive. In most cases, a good seed treatment is going to be your first line of defence in minimizing feeding and protecting those seedlings against feeding for that crucial first two weeks of growth when the plants are just starting to emerge. Besides using a seed treatment, you should also make sure you’re getting the right seeding depth (one to two cm) and plant populations. The Canola Council recommends about 10 plants per square foot, which helps optimize yield and spreads flea beetle feeding damage out across a wider area. Finally, early-season scouting is important. If you’re finding 25 per cent damage on the cotyledons, an insecticide application may be required to protect those seedlings. This will ensure optimum stand establishment and protect that yield potential. † This agronomy tip is brought to you by Ted Labun, seedcare technical lead with Syngenta Canada.

you might be From the Prairies iF... By Carson Demmans and Jason

If it’s a snowy day when you see this, this picture will remind you of summer. Justin De Baets took this photo at Mariapolis, Man., on July 20, 2015. Justin wrote, “I was driving around in the evening hours on my quad, taking photos of the blooming canola in the area.” Justin says, July is his favourite time of year. Justin, thanks for reminding us that summer will come again! We’re sending you a cheque for $25. 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 invite people you don’t like from toronto to visit you because you know they will never show.

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Cover Stories classic machines 1

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1. Parked in the R&D shop, only a few feet from where it was originally built, the tractor was in the early stages of teardown in December. 2. Workers continue the teardown process. 3. Big Roy’s engine is located in the rear, with the fuel tank in front of the cab. 4. By mid-January only the cab is left to remove before the inside of the chassis can be cleaned and repainted, which will allow the refurbished driveline components — some of which required special fabrication — to be reinstalled. 5. The cab interior was relatively Spartan. 6. An 80-foot cultivator was built by Friggstad to create a load for the tractor during field trials. 7. The tractor rode on suspension that used a walking beam with coil springs above each axle. 8. Behind the grille was a 2,082litre fuel tank, which had to be kept at least half full during field trials to balance the tractor and maximize traction. Letting it run low put too much strain on the rear axles. 9. The Cummins diesel will be removed for an inspection by Cummins technicians to ensure it’s in top-notch condition.

» cOntinUed FROm Page 1

ReBUilding Big ROY As part of the celebrations, Versatile has arranged to bring home the most recognizable tractor ever built at its Winnipeg assembly plant, the eight-wheel drive model 1080, which became known as “Big Roy.” It was named after Roy Robinson, coowner of the company and lead designer on the 1080 project. The tractor was previously donated to the Manitoba Ag Museum in Austin, and it will eventually be returned there. The one-off 1080, which was built in 1977, will undergo a complete restoration at the same Winnipeg plant where it was built to prepare it for a new season of touring, something it first did nearly 40 years ago. When the restoration is completed, Big Roy will be a prime attraction at Versatile machinery displays at farm shows this year, starting with the Ag in Motion event near Saskatoon in July. As you’d expect, completely restoring a tractor on the scale of

the 1080 is no small job. The crew working on it will expend a few thousand man hours of work to get the job done. But it’s scheduled for completion by the spring. Versatile has given Grainews an exclusive backstage pass to document the restoration process. The Grainews video team has already made a couple of visits to the plant to film the initial tear down and start of repairs. You can find the first video episodes in the Big Roy series online under the “videos” link at Grainews.ca. One of the things we found most remarkable about the restoration is that one of the company employees working on the tractor now was actually involved in building it back in 1977. So he brings a lot of expertise to the process. With all of this happening, we thought it was good time to not only take a detailed look at how the tractor was built, but also look back to when and why.

Picking the design With four drive axles and 605 engine horsepower, there wasn’t anything like the 1080 on the market in the mid-1970s. “We

were looking at what’s the best way to put that much power to the ground,” remembers Mark Oleski, a former production engineer involved with the original 1080 project. Eight-wheel drive seemed like a good way to do it at the time. “We didn’t want to be a me-too design,” says Arnold McCutcheon, another engineer who worked on the hydraulic system design and field-testing of the 1080. “There was already Big Bud.” “We were looking to see if we could get into another niche market,” adds Oleski. “They (Versatile’s management) decided an eight-wheel drive tractor would be an important stake in the ground.” Having more than two axles, though, did solve one problem experienced by the mega-tractor builders of the time: Big Bud and Wagner. When their tractors, which were already very wide, were equipped with dual wheels, it made road transport difficult. But things were very different with Big Roy. “You didn’t need duals,” says McCutcheon. “For transport on the road, it was an absolute cinch. It would load nicely on a transport truck.”

However, getting all the necessary drive components to fit into the 1080’s relatively narrow chassis called for some creative engineering. They took up a lot of space, limiting the design options. And in an industry first, those four axles were mounted on coil springs. That made Big Roy the first articulated tractor to be built with standard suspension. Taking Big Roy from the drawing board to the field didn’t take long. “My hunch is it was a matter of months rather than years,” remembers McCutcheon. “It happened pretty fast.” Estimates suggest that the tractor would have had to sell for about $130,000 in 1977 (about $471,000 in today’s dollars). That was an enormous amount for the time, considering the firm’s popular model 900 retailed for only about $50,000. Here is a look at the initial teardown, which was completed in January. Watch for more photos here in the pages of Grainews, as well as more e-QuipTV episodes online, as the restoration process continues. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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Arlene Bomback Phone: (204) 944-5765 Fax: (204) 944-5562 Email: ads@fbcpublishing.com Printed in Canada by Transcontinental LGM-Coronet Winnipeg, Man. Grainews is published by Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3H 0H1. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Subscription prices: For Canadian farmers, $58 per year or $91 for 2 years (includes GST) or $114 for 3 years (includes GST). Man. residents add 8% PST to above prices. U.S: $43 per year (U.S. Funds). Outside Canada & U.S.: $79 per year. ISSN 0229-8090. Call 1-800-665-0502 for subscriptions. Fax (204) 954-1422 Canadian Postmaster: Send address changes and undeliverable copies (covers only) to PO Box 9800, Winnipeg, Man. R3C 3K7 U.S. Postmaster: Send address changes and undeliverable copies (covers only) to 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1 Grainews is printed on recyclable paper with linseed oil-based inks. Published 18 times a year. SUBSCRIPTION INqUIRIES: Call toll free 1-800-665-0502 U.S. subscribers call 1-204-944-5568 or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com

your next issue! you can expect your next issue in your mailbox about March 1, 2016

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.

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Talk to your retailer or visit GenuityTraits.ca Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for cultivation in the U.S. and Canada, and for import in Australia/New Zealand, Colombia, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The single events in this product have been approved for import in the EU. As of February 2, 2016, E.U. stack approval is in the final stage of approval and is expected but not guaranteed to be received in the near future. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Growers should refer to http://www.biotradestatus.com/ for any updated information on import country approvals. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, an active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides, and dicamba, the active ingredient in XtendiMax™ herbicide with VaporGrip™ Technology. Agricultural herbicides containing glyphosate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate, and those containing dicamba will kill crops that are not tolerant to dicamba. Contact your Monsanto dealer or call the Monsanto Technical Support Line at 1-800-667-4944 for recommended Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System weed control programs. Genuity®, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™, Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup®, VaporGrip™ and XtendiMax™ are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Monsanto Canada, Inc. licensee. ©2016 Monsanto Canada Inc.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Features

Crop produCtion

Planning ahead for cover crops Be ready early to get your cover crop in quickly and extend your growing season By GreG Stamp

photo: chris jorgenson

photo: greg stamp

1. This is a blend of hybrid grazing brassica, tillage radish, crimson clover, fababean and RootMax annual ryegrass ready for seeding. 2. This cover crop is a grazing blend of hybrid grazing brassica, tillage radish, crimson clover, fababean and RootMax annual ryegrass. 3. Blending seed for customers at Stamp Seeds at Enchant, Alberta. 4. The cover crop in this field is a mix of tillage radish, barley, crimson clover, hairy vetch, RootMax annual ryegrass and hybrid grazing brassica.

photo: greg stamp

Greg Stamp is a Southern Alberta farmer, seed grower and CCA. Follow him on Twitter at @ stampgreg or read more at stampseeds.com.

photos: andrea strove-sawa

over crops can benefit your farming operation if you have time to plan ahead. There are several possible cover crops including tillage radish, crimson clover, annual ryegrass, hybrid brassica, hairy vetch, fababean, pea, barley, oats, buckwheat and more. We sell cover crop seed to our customers for different reasons. Some intend to use the cover crop to graze with livestock and others use it for the soil health benefits. If you think cover crops could benefit your farm, make a plan to put them in place. Our western Canadian season is short, so here are six ideas to give you a longer cover crop growth period. 1. Seed early: Seed your cover crop after winter wheat or fall rye so that the harvest on that field is early. Or, silage a crop on that field so you can seed the cover crop early. 2. Get your seed ready: Plan ahead, and talk to your seed supplier mid-winter. This way, all of the parts of your blend can be ordered and in place for you. Make sure you have the seed on-site before you’re ready to seed. In fact, you can even have that seed in the drill and calibrated before the last crop comes off. 3. Get it in the ground: Use a disk drill to inter row seed after herbicide application. 4. Seed in the spring: Seed the cover crop as a grazing crop in the spring Before you seed a cover crop, take time to plan your herbicides and use ones that will not leave a residual that could impact broadleaf or cereal plants. The season following your cover crop, it may be best to seed a Roundup Ready crop to ensure a good kill of the cover crop and any volunteers that may grow. Let’s make use of those fields that do not have crops on them for a few months of the year and also try to benefit soil health at the same time. †

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FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

new crop production

Speciaity oats take extra patience Growing gluten-free oats can pay a premium, but it takes extra time and planning By AngelA lovell

here are more and more gluten-free products on store shelves these days, which is good news for Zenneth Faye’s two daughters. Their intolerance to gluten was a factor in their father’s decision to look at growing gluten-free oats three years ago on his farm near Foam Lake, Saskatchewan. Faye also had a piece of land which he was taking out of hay production, which was ideal for a gluten-free oat crop as he hadn’t grown any cereals on it for at least eight years. Cereals containing gluten, such as wheat and barley, are the biggest issue for gluten-free oat producers. For a farmer growing gluten-free oats, the highest priority is avoiding contamination. Faye likens it to being a seed grower. Meticulous cleaning of seeding and harvesting equipment, grain trucks and bins is necessary. Farmers can only plant glutenfree oats on land that has not grown wheat or barley for at least three years, and the tolerance for contamination is extremely tight. “If the company you are contracting your gluten-free oats with finds one kernel of gluten cereal in a two pound sample they will reject it,” says Faye. “That’s basically one wheat or barley kernel in an ice cream pail of oats.”

try it and if it’s not ready yet so you go back to something else, you have to do that cleaning it all over again.” Some growers, says Faye, have equipment and bins specifically dedicated to gluten-free oats to avoid this intensive cleaning, but there is an additional cost either way. “Most processors pay a premium — usually around 50 per cent more,” says Faye, “but they often won’t take delivery for several months. With one company we had to store the oats for a year. There’s added cost and I am bearing all the risk for that crop until they take it.” The Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) certifies processors,

but they are regulated a little differently than a primary elevator. The main difference, says Catherine Jaworski of the CGC, is that if producers choose to challenge the grade or dockage that is assessed by the elevator manager, the CGC’s assessment is not binding on a process elevator, as it is with a primary elevator. The quality characteristics that the processor requires should be set out in the production contract. “When you deliver the first load into the processor make sure you get the unload grade and dockage before delivering your next load to ensure they are grading it the way you expected,” adds Jaworksi. Faye had to get the land certi-

fied where he grows his glutenfree crops. He rotates with a pulse, forage or oilseed crop. The processor provides a list of acceptable oat varieties. The agronomy is basically the same as for conventional oats. “We usually seed a little heavier, but the fertility and the chemical weed control is the same,” says Faye. Options for pre-harvest management have recently changed. Major oat processor, Grain Millers, will no longer accept any oats that have received a pre-harvest application of glyphosate, due to concerns that it may affect the functionality of the oats during processing. “We rarely used glyphosate as a desiccant for oats because our fields

usually ripen fairly evenly,” says Faye. “But we have used it for in-crop weed control in other crops. It’s a case of when you spray it. I think as long as people use it when they’re supposed to it’s not as big an issue.” Faye suggests growers trying gluten-free oats make it a small part of their overall production. He’s not convinced there will always be a strong demand. Faye says he saw the gluten free market peak a couple of years ago and now it seems to have levelled off. Time will tell whether gluten free is a fad or a reality. † Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.angelalovell.ca.

NITROGEN THAT RESPONDS TO YOUR PLANTS’ NEEDS

The highest priority is avoiding contamination extensive cleAning Keeping equipment clean is vital, including the seeding equipment. “If you come from a field of wheat you may have some kernels on the frame of the seeder that could shake off when you come into your oat field,” says Faye. “Even if you had no cereal on that field for the last three years, if you’d spilled some wheat seed in that area when you filled the seeder prior to that you will more than likely find seeds germinating there for several years, so you have to be careful not to spill anything,” says Faye. “Same when you are cleaning out the combine in the field, you have to make sure it’s not in a place where it could cause contamination three years down the road.” Augers, combines, trucks and bins all need to be swept and vacuumed for every gluten kernel. Faye likes to make sure his gluten-free crop is completely ripe before he goes to harvest it. “You have to aggressively clean and flush out the harvesting equipment and harvest is a very busy time, so having to stop when you are going from one field to the gluten free field is a lot of work. Then if you go to

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Features

Crop produCtion

Researchers put PGRs to the test Alberta researchers find that PGRs impact different wheat varieties in different ways By Lisa Guenther

istered plant growth regulator, even when they were part of the same class. Strydhorst also debunked the idea that plant growth regulators (PGRs) such as Manipulator will always work on tall cultivars and never work on short ones. Those hard and fast rules may not be “a complete version of the truth,” she said. “So I think we really need to do our homework here.”

he perception that all hard red wheat varieties respond equally to plant growth regulators doesn’t hold up in the field, according to an Alberta Agriculture and Forestry researcher. “We’ve looked at several different hard reds that have a height reduction, but they don’t have the improvement in standability that we need,” Dr. Sheri Strydhorst told farmers at Saskatoon’s CropSphere in January. Strydhorst and her family also have a grain farm near Neerlandia, Alta. Strydhorst’s research revealed varieties responded differently to Manipulator, a newly reg-

how pGrs work To understand the inconsistent response to PGRs, it’s important to understand how the products work, Strydhorst said. PGRs affect hormonal activity within

the plant. They reduce the rate of cell elongation, keeping plants shorter and stronger, Strydhorst explained. They also decrease the cell division rate, she added. “They’re effective at low concentrations and they break down rapidly, which has some pluses and minuses.” One potential minus is shoot elongation. Manipulator inactivates the hormone gibberellin, shortening the plant. But because Manipulator breaks down quickly, all that inactive gibberellin can become active. After the plant “sees a whole flush of gibberellin” it can end up taller, she said. Other potential side effects include unproductive tillers and

short-term height drops that don’t last until harvest, she added. Staging is critical with PGRs, Strydhorst said. “If you’re using something to make your crop shorter, if you apply it at the wrong stage, you could get yield decreases.” The crop safety window for Manipulator is fairly wide. But the efficacy window for can be anywhere from 24 hours to three days, depending on growing conditions, she said. PGR labels also warn against applying product while the crop is under stress. But the tolerance level for stress is a question mark. Strydhorst said they were measuring soil moisture and canopy humidity during their PGR trials to fill in that blank.

Variety response Researchers looked at variety response to Manipulator at eight different sites in Alberta. They grew varieties under either standard or advanced management. Standard management meant no extra nitrogen, no PGR and no fungicide. Advanced management plots received an extra 34 kg of nitrogen per hectare, Manipulator at the label rate, and two fungicide applications. Researchers rated how each variety lodged, under both standard and advanced management. A rating of zero meant no crop lodging, while 100 meant it was entirely flat. Strydhorst presented data from 2014 and 2015. She said the irrigated Lethbridge site in 2015 was a “nice textbook” case for looking at Manipulator’s effect on wheat crops. (Data from this site is shown in the table.) Strydhorst said Manipulator consistently reduced the height and lodging of AC Harvest. “So textbook, that works how it’s supposed to.” The GP varieties saw a height reduction with Manipulator, but the untreated checks didn’t lodge. “These cultivars seem to be able to stand even through wet snows in early September. So this is an example where you get a height reduction, but you don’t need the PGR to help this crop to stand.” Coleman and Thorsby saw height drops with Manipulator, but they still lodged, Strydhorst said. “You might be able to shorten them, but you’re not going to make them stand.”

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Strydhorst and her colleagues also looked at PGRs’ effects on Foremost wheat, a CPS variety commonly grown in Alberta. Strydhorst presented two years of research results from five sites ranging from an irrigated site near Lethbridge to a site in the Peace. Researchers have one more year left in the study, which will ultimately give them 15 site years of data. Researchers applied Manipulator and an unregistered PBR to the plots. Manipulator-treated wheat consistently yielded less than the control. The other PGR yielded higher in seven out of 10 sites. Two of those higher yields were statistically significant. Strydhorst cautioned that Manipulator’s yield drops weren’t statistically significant, and the data was preliminary. It’s also worth noting that Manipulator doesn’t claim to boost yield. “What’s concerning me is that although we have non-significance, we have a downwards trend with the Manipulator seven out of 10 site years. That trend just makes me a little nervous,” she said. But when it came to reducing plant height, Manipulator delivered. It reduced plant height anywhere between one and eight cm, and the average drop was 4.8 cm. The other PGR was inconsistent, and sometimes made plants taller, Strydhorst said. Researchers also saw an eightbushel yield drop with the second PGR in Bon Accord in 2015.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features TRIALS AT LETHBRIDGE

Class

Cultivar

HEIGHT REDUCTION WITH PGRS

Height with Standard Management (cm)

Height with Advanced Management (cm)

Height Reduction with Advanced Management (cm)

Lodging Index under Standard Management (0 = No Lodging 100 = Flat)

Lodging Index under Advanced Management (0 = No Lodging 100 = Flat)

Number of responsive sites (out of 8)

Average height reduction in 2014 and 2015 (cm)

5700PR

-5

AC Foremost

-6.5

5700PR

-6

AAC Penhold

-7

AC Foremost

-8

Belvoir

-14

AAC Penhold

-8

Sparrow

-10

Belvoir

-15

AC Andrew

-6

Sparrow

-12

CDC Go

-7.5

SWS

AC Andrew

-6

Coleman

-13

HRS

CDC Go

-5

AC Harvest

-11

Coleman

113

102

-11

CDC Stanley

-10.5

AC Harvest

103

-14

Stettler

-9.5

CDC Stanley

105

-13

Thorsby

-7

Stettler

-8

Thorsby

105

-7

CPS

photo: leeann minogue

These changes in height and lodging rates were found on irrigated land at Lethbridge in 2015.

This table shows results from sites across Alberta. Crop height reduction with advanced agronomic management (which included a plant growth regulator) is compared with crops under standard agronomic management.

Tom Tregano, Engage Agro’s product manager, showcased Manipulator at the Ag in Motion farm show in 2015. “I’m sure there was heat stress. I’m sure there was drought stress. You shouldn’t put these on at 30 C, but we were coming out of the growth stage that it needed to go on within,” said Strydhorst. Protein response was another area to watch. Strydhorst only had 2014 protein data available, but she noted a significant protein drop on Manipulator-treated wheat compared to the untreated control, in two out of five sites. The other PGRtreated wheat saw a statistically significant protein drop at one site. While the protein data was preliminary, the trend is “on the radar as something we need to watch,” Strydhorst said. She noted the protein problem vanished with a fungicide application. Asked whether she would use a PGR on her own farm, Strydhorst said it would be a “case-by-case scenario.” “If I’m growing Foremost, and I’m not selling that into the U.S., and I’m pushing my fertility to 120 lbs. of nitrogen, and I think I’ve got good soil moisture in the spring, yes I will use a PGR,” she said. “But I’m going to make sure that I get that staging right. And I’m going to also make sure that I have good moisture. If it’s stressed at that time, I’m not going to use it.” Strydhorst’s entire presentation is online at www.cropsphere.com. † Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa. Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Features

Seed varietieS

New pulse crop varieties for 2016 These new pulse varieties are hitting the market for the first time this spring By angela lovell

till looking for a way to get into pulses this spring? Here is a roundup of new pulse varieties. This list is adapted from reports by Donna Fleury and Bruce Baker, prepared for the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Association, with information also from the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers 2015 Variety Evaluation Trials.

yellow PeaS The most widely grown yellow pea varieties in Saskatchewan in 2015 were CDC Meadow (also the top variety grown in Manitoba) and CDC Golden, but two new varieties — CDC Saffron and CDC Amarillo — have gained rapid adoption by growers. Production of these varieties is expected to increase substantially. CDC Saffron has high yield potential, good lodging resistance and attractive medium-tolarge smooth, round seeds with medium protein content and good cooking quality. CDC Amarillo has been one of the strongest yielding varieties in registration and regional trials over the past six years. CDC Amarillo is relatively tall with one of the best lodging resistance ratings among pea varieties. CDC Amarillo also has good resistance to fusarium wilt. Its seed weight is slightly less than that of CDC Saffron. It is round with medium protein content and good cooking quality. Abarth yellow pea, available from FP Genetics, offers competitive yield, good disease resistance, and larger seed size. Abarth has medium maturity with very good resistance to powdery mildew, and fair resistance to mycosphaerella blight and fusarium wilt. It has good lodging resistance with best in class standability for ease of harvesting. AAC Lacombe is a high-yielding, medium-large seeded yellow pea with excellent standability that should be available by the fall of 2016. CDC Inca should be commercially available in 2018. CDC Inca has strong yield potential in southern Saskatchewan and good lodging resistance. It has medium seed size, round seed shape, medium protein content and good cooking quality.

green PeaS CDC Striker has been the most widely grown green pea variety in Saskatchewan for the past eight years. The next most widely grown varieties in 2015 were CDC Patrick, CDC Raezer, CDC Sage, and CDC Limerick. With certified seed of CDC Raezer and CDC Limerick now available, area of production for these varieties is expected to grow substantially in 2016. CDC Raezer has good yield and lodging resistance and is powdery mildew resistant, like most new varieties in Western Canada and has good resistance to fusarium wilt. Seed size, shape, and bleaching resistance are very similar to CDC Striker.

CDC Limerick is the highest yielding green pea variety currently on the market and has good lodging resistance. CDC Limerick has smooth, round seeds with good bleaching resistance and higher protein content than most pea varieties on the market. In 2017, look out for CDC Greenwater. This variety has strong yield potential and good lodging resistance, with medium seed size and round seed shape. AAC Royce and AAC Radius should have seed available by 2018.

dun PeaS CDC Dakota has been one of the top yielding dun peas since 2010. They are dehulled and sold in human consumption markets. The pigmented seed coats provide natural protection to various root rot fungi, so typically dun (and maple) pea varieties are quick to emerge with good stands. The dun market class requires additional promotion to reach its potential value for growers.

KaBuli ChiCKPea Limited amounts of certified seed of a new variety, CDC Palmer, may be available in 2016. CDC Palmer is high-yielding, with large seed size and earlier maturity than CDC Orion, which was the most popular Kabuli variety grown in 2015, followed by CDC Leader. Both CDC Palmer and CDC Orion are high-yielding, with medium to large seed size, and are moderately resistant to Ascochyta blight. They mature earlier than older varieties, such as CDC Frontier and Amit and are well adapted to brown and dark brown soil zones in southern Saskatchewan and south eastern Alberta.

deSi ChiCKPeaS CDC Consul is a recent, high yielding cultivar with plump, medium seed size and good Ascochyta blight resistance. It

is suited to all current chickpea growing regions of brown and dark brown soil zones in southern Saskatchewan and south eastern Alberta.

dry BeanS The newest commercial dry bean variety is AAC Tundra (Great Northern Bean), which has been available since 2015. It has high yield potential and early maturity, and an upright, indeterminate bush growth habit with long vines and large seed size. AAC Tundra offers improved field resistance to white mould compared with AC Polaris and is suitable for irrigated wide row production in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Growers may want to look out for future, high-yielding varieties such as AAC Burdett, a pinto bean with good lodging resistance and white mould avoidance. AAC Whitehorse is

MaPle PeaS Maple pea varieties available in Western Canada include CDC Acer, CDC Rocket, and CDC Mosaic. CDC Acer and CDC Mosaic have small seed size, with CDC Mosaic having better lodging resistance. CDC Rocket has medium seed size and earlier maturity than CDC Acer and CDC Mosaic. Look out for CDC Blazer (30121LT) in 2018 — a new maple pea variety with a lighter seed coat color. It has higher yield than the other maple peas, similar to CDC Meadow, and seed size similar to CDC Rocket.

Forage PeaS CDC Tucker, CDC Leroy, and CDC Horizon are forage pea varieties with high biomass yield, powdery mildew resistance, good lodging resistance, and semileafless leaf type. These varieties produce on average four to five tonnes per acre of forage dry matter, similar to that of forage barley, but with greater protein concentration. Certified seed is available.

FaBa BeanS Last year, faba bean acreage in Saskatchewan grew to 62,000 acres, up from 19,000 in 2014 and 8,500 in 2013. The most popular varieties in Saskatchewan in 2015 were Snowbird and CDC Snowdrop, which are small seeded, low-tannin varieties. Large seeded varieties grown include FB9-4, Taboar and Florent. CDC SSNS-1 is a small seeded tannin variety that is well suited for green manure or silage mixes. The Crop Development Centre is incorporating zero tannin and low vivine/convicine genes into breeding lines and trying to reduce faba seed size without losing yield. New varieties look promising but it will be four to five years before any will be commercially available. 46861-01 DAS Simplicity_EarlyBird 13_1667X9_GN.indd 1

an early maturing, large seed, great northern bean with partial field resistance to white mould. AAC Black Diamond is a black bean with a shiny, black seed coat, good lodging resistance and improved resistance to common bacterial blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Phaseoli. All these varieties are suitable for growing under irrigation. New yellow bean and cranberry bean experimental lines are currently in the Co-operative Registration Trial for potential registration in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

extra SMall red lentilS A variety to watch for is CDC Roxy (3959-6), which is high-yielding, with plump seed that was released in 2014, but should have commercial seed volumes available by 2018. It is not imidazolinone (commer-

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features cialized as Clearfield) tolerant, but consistently yields higher than CDC Maxim, the most popular small red lentil grown in Saskatchewan in 2015. The most popular extra small red varieties grown in 2015 were CDC Impala, followed by CDC Imperial. Both are imidazolinone tolerant.

Small red lentilS Small red lentils are the most popular class grown in Saskatchewan and the most widely grown varieties for 2015 were the imidazolinone tolerant, CDC Maxim, CDC Dazil, CDC Imax and CDC Impact. Limited supplies of commercial seed for a new variety, CDC Cherie, may be available in 2016. This variety was released in 2012 and is not imidazolinone tolerant, but is high-yielding. There are a few new varieties, all higher yielding than CDC Maxim, which will be commercially available in a few years. They include imidazolinone tolerant varieties, CDC Impulse (IBC 479) and CDC Proclaim (IBC 550) and the nonimidazolinone tolerant, CDC Redmoon (3646-4).

large green lentilS The most widely grown large green lentil variety in 2015 was CDC Greenland, followed by the imidazolinone tolerant varieties, CDC Impower and CDC Improve. Limited seed supplies may be available in 2016 of CDC Greenstar, a recently released variety that has high yield potential, but is not imidazolinone tolerant. New varieties that combine imidazolinone tolerance with high yield potential are in development but have not yet been released for pedigree seed production.

Small green lentilS The most widely grown small green lentil variety grown in 2015 was imidazolinone tolerant, CDC Imvincible, followed by CDC Viceroy. Coming for 2017 is CDC Kermit (3592-13), a variety that is much higher yielding than CDC Viceroy and has better lodging resistance. It is not imidazolinone tolerant.

Specialty lentilS These varieties are classes with unique characteristics and special markets.

French green: CDC Peridot is the only imidazolinone tolerant variety currently available, but is lower yielding than conventional variety of CDC Marble. Green cotyledon: CDC QG-2 is the highest yielding variety with earliest maturity. CDC QG-3 is imidazolinone tolerant but lower yielding. Green cotyledon varieties are grown under contract with AGT Food and Ingredients under SPG’s tender release program. Spanish brown (SB): SB-2 is the latest variety with higher yield and improved disease resistance. SB varieties are now trademarked under the brand IberinaTM and are grown under contract through Simpson Seeds under SPG’s tender release program. Large red (King Red): CDC KR-1 (not imidazolinone tolerant) and CDC KR-2 (imidazolinone tolerant) are higher yielding than CDC Maxim in lentil growing areas, and are grown under contract with AGT Foods and Ingredients under SPG’s tender release program. † Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www. angelalovell.ca.

Chickpea recommendations CDC researchers strongly advise growers to apply fungicide for all chickpea cultivars at the seedling to pre-flowering stage in order to limit early ascochyta spore development and spread. Growers are required to monitor their fields diligently for disease and spray if necessary. Within the CDC chickpea breeding program disease has been managed with a maximum of two fungicide applications in all of their nurseries. Timing for the first spray is critical, routinely recommended at the seven- to 10-node stage. It is recommended that chickpea is planted on lighter soil, so avoid heavy clay soil that retains moisture, and avoid lower lying or poorly drained fields. It is also recommended that chickpea is planted on stubble, especially in wet years. † Angela Lovell

Resources for Pulse Growers: For more information about these new varieties and other varieties, try these sources. • Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Association 2015 Variety Reports for Chickpeas, Dry Beans, Peas, Lentils, Faba Beans, Soybeans. Find these online at: http://saskpulse.com/ communications/ newsletters/pulse-advisor/ november-2015/. • Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers 2015 Variety Evaluation Trials Report. At www. manitobapulse.ca, type “variety evaluation” into the search box to find the document. • Seed Manitoba 2016. This document can also be downloaded as a pdf. • http://www.agcanada. com/issue/seedmanitoba-3. † Angela Lovell

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top: CDC Meadow was the most widely grown yellow pea variety in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2015. Bottom: The most widely grown small green lentil variety grown in 2015 was CDC Imvincible, an imidazolinone (Clearfield) tolerant variety.

12 /

grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Features

Crop aDvisor’s CaseBook

Wild mustard weed causes woes By Dan Friesen

t was third week of June when Jason, who grows 2,500 acres of canola, soybeans, wheat and oats near Sanford, Man., called me at the office to say his Clearfield canola crop was rife with weeds, despite having been sprayed with a Group 2 herbicide. Jason explained that during his post-spray scouting of the field he noticed quite a few patches where the weeds had escaped being killed by the herbicide. “I think the herbicide could be to blame for the poor weed control in my crop,” explained Jason.

“I’d like you to come out and help me figure this out.” I headed out to Jason’s farm to take a look. As I was walking through the problem canola field it was clear that only a certain species of weed had escaped. I could see wild mustard growing throughout the entire crop. Weed escapes like this can be result of a number of factors, so I began looking at possible causes. I knew that we first had to identify weather conditions at the time of spraying as well as the quality of water used. Either of these factors, if they turned out to be poor, could help explain the wild mustard weed escapes.

However, a quick check of Jason’s field records revealed there had been ideal weather when the field was sprayed. When the water source was tested, the results showed that all parameters met spray water quality specs. After eliminating weather and water quality issues I decided to have a closer look into Jason’s field history. It was then when I noticed a significant problem that was likely to keep causing weed trouble, if Jason didn’t change his field management practices, and soon. When I had a lab test some of the seed from the wild mustard escapes in the canola crop, it confirmed my

suspicion of what was happening in the field. If you think you know what’s causing Jason’s wild mustard woes, send your diagnosis to Grainews, Box 9800, Winnipeg, Man. R3C 3K7; email leeann.minogue@ fbcpublishing.com or fax 204-9445416 c/o Crop Advisor’s Casebook. The 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 the reasoning that solved the mystery, will appear in the next Crop Advisor’s Solution File. † Dan Friesen is a sales agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Starbuck, Man.

There was wild mustard growing throughout the entire crop. A lab test of some of the seed from the wild mustard confirmed the agronomist’s suspicions about what was causing the problem.

Crop aDvisor’s solution

Improper fertilizer spreading yellows durum By Dallas Funke

ohn, who grows mainly durum wheat, peas and flax at his farm located about an hour southwest of Regina, had called me in June to express concerns about his durum crop. He’d recently driven by his durum field and noticed large swaths that had a yellow tinge. When I came out to have a look at problem field, I could see the plants were in the four- to six-leaf stage and that many of them had bottom understory leaves that were yellowing and in some instances were dying off. These symptoms were not uniform across the entire field, but covered a large portion of it. John said the problem started showing up about a week-and-a-half before he called me. He suspected root rot might be to blame, but with the recent dry conditions and because the hardest hit parts of the field were in high rather than in low areas, I thought this was unlikely. I ruled out a seed-borne disease as a possible cause, after learning that John had used quality seed from a reliable source,

and there didn’t appear to be any issues with the way he had treated his seed prior to planting either. I also dismissed leaf disease, since the leaves of affected plants (even those that were dying off) had no signs of any lesions on the outside. I thought the hot, dry weather the area had been experiencing was a strong possibility, since the plant symptoms appeared similar to those brought on by drought and heat stress. I had a look at some neighbouring durum fields, and while I saw many plants that were stunted they weren’t exhibiting the intense chlorotic and necrotic symptoms that were showing up in John’s field. Something John had told me when I arrived at his farm had stuck in my mind — he mentioned he had experienced a problem with his planting and fertilizer application program. I thought it might be a good idea to inquire further. John said he had planned to set his seeding drill up to have a double shoot and side band the nitrogen fertilizer, but he’d been unable to get this done in time for the spring planting. Out of necessity, he

WHEAT & BARLEY CHECK-OFF

BENEFITS TO YOUR FARM

spread the nitrogen fertilizer in front of the drill and seeded into it. “It wasn’t ideal, but it got the job done,” he said. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if this had something to do with the struggling durum. I decided to do some tissue testing of the leaves of an affected plant. When the results came back, my suspicion was confirmed — the plant contained little to no nitrogen. Because of the lack of moisture that spring, John’s improvising meant the nitrogen fertilizer was never able to make its way into the soil and into the root zone of the durum crop. This caused a severe nitrogen deficiency in many of the plants. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything John could do mid-season that would help the crop and John’s yield was affected severely. By the time a rain came in late June to move the nutrients down to the roots of the plants, the crop was too far gone. The good news? I told John there were some possible changes he could make in

preparation for next season to ensure a better durum crop. With the conditions as dry as they were, it was tough to get fertilizer to move down into the soil, especially with it being spread on the surface. I told John that if there was enough moisture in the soil, it would be a good idea to band some nitrogen fertilizer into the field that fall to help ensure a nutrient supply if there was another dry spring the next year. I also informed John that when it came to planting his next durum crop, side banding his fertilizer and avoiding spreading it in front of the drill would also help. Drought conditions make it tough to get the nitrogen to move into the soil when it is broadcasted, and I knew from experience that one rain in May can change the outcome of a crop significantly — if the fertilizer is placed in moist soil during seeding, it may be able to move into the root zone of the durum, despite the dry conditions above ground. † Dallas Funke is a sales agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Corinne, Sask.

CASEBOOK WINNER

Your contribution to the Wheat & Barley Check-off funds research, technical support and market development activities that deliver significant benefits to your farm. Maximizing your return on investment On average, every check-off dollar invested in varietal research returns $20.40 in value to you for wheat, and $7.56 for barley. Study by University of Saskatchewan

Ensuring end-users get the most from your crop Training and technical support for endusers of your crop contributes to satisfied, long-term customers. Nearly 42,000 people from 115 countries have been trained in the optimal use of Canadian wheat and barley.

The Casebook winner for this issue is Joe Waldner, from the OK Hutterite Colony near Raymond, Alberta. Joe sent us a detailed answer to the last installment of Casebook, so we’re sending Joe a Grainews subscription for a year and sending you a Grainews cap. Thanks for reading and thanks for entering! Leeann Minogue

These funds are provided to three organizations that work to support your farm’s future. Visit their websites to learn more:

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FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

CroP develoPment

Genome sequenced, but more to do Lentils have become a staple crop across the Prairies. Watch for new developments By AngelA lovell

t the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), researchers recently released the first draft version of the lentil genome as a result of a collaborative, international genome sequencing project involving researchers from around the globe. “The lentil genome assembly will provide important information to help us better understand this crop,” said Kirstin Bett, U of S professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and project lead of the international lentil sequencing effort in a January press release. “More importantly, it will lead to development of genomic tools that will help improve breeding practices and accelerate varietal development.” Dr. Bert Vandenberg of the Crop Development Centre (CDC) is another of the researchers involved in the genome project. He is the only lentil breeder in Canada, and one of only three in North America, working on extensive lentil breeding research. “In lentils we are operating on many fronts,” he says. “Our central theme of course is the ability to improve both yield and understanding the genetic basis of quality traits, agronomic traits and disease resistance.” There are emerging issues, such as a rise in the incidence of root rot, and Vandenberg’s team is working to develop better resistance to this and other diseases in new varieties. “As acres expand our workload is expanding as well,” says Vandenberg. “We are seeing resistant weeds, so we need new herbicide tolerance. We are going to see five million acres of lentils this year, so that’s going to create new problems if people are growing lentils in places where they never thought they would,” he says. Canada is the world’s largest exporter of lentils, and Saskatchewan produces 95 per cent of the Canadian crop. Statistics Canada reports that Canadian lentil exports from August to November last year totalled a record 1.36 Mt, 65 per cent more than the amount exported during the same period in 2014. Export demand is expected to remain strong in 2016 and seeded acres could top five million in Saskatchewan alone this year. Prices for lentils have been strong over the past few years, with huge growth in export markets such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as a result of increasing demand and crop shortfalls in these countries due to drought.

PrAirie moneymAkers “Lentils are very profitable for growers at the moment,” says Sherrilyn Phelps, agronomy and seed program manager, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Association (SPGA). “That’s why there’s an interest in lentil research. It’s a relatively new crop on the Prairies, and there are still things that we’re trying to figure out, and issues we’ve come

across that we haven’t looked at in the past. We are working on taking lentils to the next level and sustain production here in the province.” SPGA has provided more than $2.4 million in funding towards lentil genomic research. Vandenberg says that lentil consumption is rapidly increasing — at a rate five times higher than human population growth — partly driven by the fact that lentils are one of only a few pulses that cook quickly. “We’re going to see continued rising consumption, so we are engaging in doing what we need to do to have a stronger industry in Canada,” says Vandenberg. “We are looking at a business development model to expand the

role that Canada can play in the milling and de-hulling industry. Then if we are going to be dehulling how do we add value to the other pieces of the seed that will be left behind.” Vandenberg says that there is a lot of scope for further research to improve the agronomics, quality and disease resistance in lentils. “A lot more can be done with continuing, strategic investments to make the industry stronger,” he says. “Lentil is a small crop with not a large research community. There is definitely scope to expand that.” †

Lentil consumption is increasing at a rate five times higher than human population growth.

Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www. angelalovell.ca.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Features

Crop produCtion

Canaryseed for the people Nine agronomic facts about growing canaryseed, Canada’s newest food product

n 2006, the Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan (CDCS) formed around a single purpose: to gain approval for the use of canaryseed for human consumption. Checkoff dollars and government programs funded extensive research led by food microbiologist, Carol Ann Patterson. For a decade, canaryseed was put through

thousands of hours of toxicological, nutritional, and compositional tests. In 2016, at its January 11 Annual General Meeting in Saskatoon, CDCS announced that its goal has been achieved: Canada Health has recognized hairless (glabrous) canaryseed varieties, both brown and yellow, as a novel food, and the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration now classifies canaryseed as GRAS — Generally Recognized As Safe. Cultivated in Canada since the late 70s, this Mediterranean crop has been sold almost exclusively for birdseed to the caged bird market, which changes very little and has constrained growth. Though it will take some time T:10.25” high protein, for the nutritious,

gluten-free cereal to make it on to people’s plates, these approvals crack open the door to a new era. Canada is the world’s top producer of canaryseed and almost all of it is grown in Saskatchewan. In the past three years, about 2,500 Saskatchewan farmers have planted canaryseed. In 2015, an estimated 149,000 tonnes of canaryseed with a farm gate value

of roughly $90 million was harvested from over 300,000 acres. It’s a volatile commodity. Since 2006, prices have ranged between 10 and 31 cents per pound. Prices don’t fluctuate because of demand but rather because of changes — or perceived changes — in supply. Canaryseed stores well so some growers hold on to it. Overproduction is possible. Lucas

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Features Sutherland, a grower near Eston and a director on the board of CDCS says, “It’s not like soybean or corn where we’re just a blip in the world market. In canaryseed and lentils, we are the market.” Just as the CDCS intuited in 2006, there’s much to be gained by expanding canaryseed’s reach into the human food market.

What happens next? Kevin Hursh, executive director of CDCS and a canaryseed grower, is already fielding requests from food processors who want to try out the product, but a dehulled supply won’t be available for a couple of months. Setting up food-grade facilities for dehulling will take time and attention. Unless Oprah champions it or a major company decides they need a significant supply, the change won’t be immediate. Over the next while, food companies will be figuring out the best food applications. Canaryseed flour is good for bread, cookies, cereals and pastas. Whole seeds can be used in nutrition bars or they can replace sesame seeds on buns. Canaryseed has a lot of potential because it is gluten free and it improves the taste and texture of gluten-free products. Unfortunately, it has a protein in common with wheat, which could affect people with wheat allergies. While food processors and scientists are busy, what are canaryseed growers up to? They’re coping with yield variability and itchiness, and they’re trying to grow it better, in fact. There are challenges and advantages to the crop. Sutherland likes having a different crop in his rotation. With a lot more fusarium in durum lately, canaryseed can be a good cereal option. Hursh points out that even at the current unexciting price of 25 to 26 cents/pound, the net returns this year “compete quite well with other cereals, wheat, and barley — but not durum.”

Canaryseed doesn’t need a high rate of nitrogen. The recommendation is to start at 35 to 50 lbs./acre. Too much nitrogen will, Hursh says, “go into straw rather than grain production.” 4. Chloride: thumbs up But, as May’s research has shown, applying potassium chloride is key — for the chloride, not for the potassium! Chloride boosts canaryseed yields up to 30 per cent on clay loam. An application of 30 to 40 lbs./acre is recommended. Producers using a single chute seeder can broadcast potash on the surface in the spring. 5. Fungi, wild oats and aphids Producers must pencil in a fungicide treatment for septoria leaf mottle. Wild oat control can be an issue in canaryseed and Avadex — applied in the fall or spring — is the only registered product. Work is being done now to gain approval for in-crop herbicide applications. Broad leaf weeds are easily controlled in canaryseed. Growers also have to look for aphids.

6. Later harvest Canaryseed can handle the weather; unlike durum or wheat, the quality doesn’t downgrade. Sutherland harvests quality-sensitive products like lentils and durum first. May tells producers: “When your canaryseed is ready to combine, go away for a week and then come back.” It can be direct combined as normal. Producers must pay close attention to combine settings in order to avoid dehulling since hulled seeds are considered dockage. 7. Straw overload Canaryseed straw can be a pain. There can be a lot of it and it doesn’t go through the combine well. Sutherland cautions farmers — while thrashing canaryseed late in the fall can be an advantage, you might also back yourself into a corner if you can only go through it at two miles/hour. 8. High yield variability The biggest challenge with growing canaryseed is the high variability in yield. In the past five years,

Sutherland has harvested as little as 650 lbs./acre and as much as 1,800 lbs./acre. The 10-year average yield in Saskatchewan is 1,000 kg/ha (900 lbs./ac). Sutherland thinks more farmers would grow it if the yields were more predictable and if there was more value. “If canaryseed was worth 40 cents/ lb., the acreage would double.” 9. Itchiness is awful The traditional canaryseed has silica hair, which makes it difficult — and even risky — to handle both at the producer and processor level. Hursh describes it as a “miserable, itchy” product that you never want to have to shovel out of a flat-bottomed bin or load into a truck on a windy day.

the yield Conundrum While the itchiness is awful, the non-itchy (food approved) canaryseed varieties have lower yields. With an eye towards gaining food approval for canaryseed, Pierre Hucl developed the first

glabrous — non-hairy — varieties, starting with CDC Maria released in 2001. Despite the release of additional hairless varieties, almost two-thirds of the canaryseed grown is hairy. The older, itchy varieties yield better; the birdseed industry has never developed a premium for the glabrous. Hucl recently developed a brown seeded non-hairy variety, CDC Calvi, that yields better than older non-hairy varieties, but still comes out at 15 per cent less than hairy varieties. Hursh acknowledges there isn’t enough incentive for producers to grow the glabrous varieties “until we can close that yield gap or we can show there’s a better price.” The new food approval may help. Hursh has been pleased by the reaction since the January announcement. “When we look back in five years, we’ll see it was a good expenditure of government and producer money.” † Patty Milligan is a freelance writer based at Bon Accord, Alta.

You need something more than seed genetics alone to protect your canola from blackleg.

Canary seed agronomiCs Bill May, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, has been working with canaryseed since the late 90s. He advises growers, both new and ongoing, to adopt good agronomic practices. Here are nine things to know about growing canaryseed. 1. Seeding: Canaryseed grows best on heavy clay or clay loam and planting it is straightforward. Producers use conventional equipment with rates that vary 30 to 40 lbs./acre depending on the area. It doesn’t have to go in early, says May. “You want good seeding conditions when you’re putting it in — moisture but not mud. It doesn’t need to be too deep.” 2. Moisture needs Canaryseed tolerates early-season drought better; it’s more susceptible to late-season drought. Moisture earlier means it will tiller. Septoria leaf mottle, and later, lodging, can be problems. Canaryseed handles flooding almost, but not quite, as well as oats. There is a potential to increase yield with late season moisture. If it’s dry late in the season, seeds may not fully develop. 3. Not so much nitrogen Canaryseed doesn’t require a lot of inputs. And, May notes, once growers have developed the techniques they can usually get a reasonable profit out of the crop.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Features

Tip of The issue

New crops, new learning curve Include corn and soybeans the right way, and reap the rewards

By Glenda Clezy

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here are more corn and soybean varieties designed for Prairie growing conditions than ever before. That’s good news for growers looking to diversify, but it’s important to make sure they’re incorporated in the right way to maximize benefits and yields. Corn and soybeans are easily included in most crop rotations, providing the opportunity to expand the rotation to help manage weeds, insects, and disease, as well as other agronomic and economic benefits. Corn is a very profitable option for growers in Western Canada, and is a high-energy food source for livestock. Soybeans can provide an opportunity to include a pulse, while increasing nitrogen in the soil, and decreasing the nitrogen needed in subsequent years. Farmers new to corn and soybeans should be aware of any new equipment that may be required, where crops can be delivered, and what their herbicide, fungicide, and insecticide options are to ensure each remain effective in controlling weeds, disease, and insects. Farmers need to be aware of what’s in their fields and understand their rotation. Corn should not be planted after canola to prevent nutrient deficiencies. If soybeans are planted after canola, growers can use management strategies such as adding a tankmix partner with their glyphosate to control volunteer canola. Manage weeds appropriately for optimum yields. Focus should be on proper glyphosate use. Consider alternative products or tank-mixes with different modes of action for pre- and post-harvest burndown. The use of multiple modes of action with activity on the same weed can help reduce development of resistant weeds and aid in control of volunteer crops. With proper crop rotation and crop management, yields will remain high, volunteer crops will be under control and risk of resistance development will remain low. Producers looking to include these new crops in their rotation should start with an appropriately sized acreage and speak to someone familiar with the crops to learn what is needed to be successful. †

Glenda Clezy is an agronomy trials manager at DuPont Pioneer Canada.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns RepoRteR’s notebook

Respectable research reporting It’s harder than you might expect to report accurately on the latest agronomy research by Lisa GuentheR

’m a fan of ag research. When I’m reporting on new ag research, I do my best to figure out how the study was set up and whether there are any major flaws. I try to communicate this to readers. I have one of Les Henry’s columns on farm research taped next to my computer, as a reminder of what to watch for. But figuring out how well the study was set up is not always easy. I have a graduate degree in communications, but it focused on qualitative research, which is very different from the quantitative stuff you’ll find in agronomic experiments. I’m sure quite a few of my readers have a stronger science background than I. Still, I muddle my way through farm shows every winter, trying to figure out what readers need to know about the latest agronomic experiments. Here are a few things I think about.

a fluke. It could be completely irrelevant to your soil type or region. It could change with the next year’s weather. The more often a trial is repeated, in different years, the more confident you can be in the results. Typically, the researchers I talk to have several sites over two or more years. Sometimes they’ll cautiously talk about preliminary results, but they’re generally reluctant if they only have one year of data. I think that caution speaks well to their credibility.

ReseaRch doesn’t have to be oRiGinaL I mention this because I’ve seen social media critiques of research

for not being original. This isn’t necessarily a valid criticism. During grad school, one of my professors emphasized the value of meta reviews. During a meta review, or meta analysis, researchers go through completed studies on any topic to try to draw a conclusion. This is valuable because on any given topic, you’ll likely find some differing results. By looking at all the studies, you might be able to figure out whether there’s a general agreement among most researchers. You might be able to combine results from smaller studies to come up with a statistically significant result, depending on the research approach. Meta reviews are relevant to

both quantitative and qualitative fields. The caveat is that a meta review has to be well designed, just like any other research project. There has to be a body of previous studies to look at. It’s not easy to figure out which studies to include in the review — do you include weaker studies, so as to create a bigger pool of data, or only include results from well-designed, published studies? Wikipedia tells me there are problems with both. But even with these potential pitfalls, meta reviews are very useful. If you get frustrated by the media reporting on every single study with a sensational claim about food or health, meta

reviews are part of the answer. One study claiming that your daily dose of java will kill you should be eyed with extreme scepticism, if not vitriol. Despite all this, I have to admit I’m far from expert at spotting problematic studies. I’m not so naïve as to think that I can’t be fooled, or that honest people don’t make mistakes during research. I still have to rely on my sources to a large extent, and try to ask the right questions. Having editors who understand agriculture helps immensely, I think. † Lisa Guenther is field editor for Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa. Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

aRe the ResuLts statisticaLLy siGnificant? Generally, researchers are upfront about whether or not their results were statistically significant. This is important because if the results are not significant, they could were likely due to chance. If the results were due to chance, the treatment didn’t make a difference. Be suspicious of anyone who tells you the results weren’t statistically significant, but then analyzes the economics of the different treatments. As Les Henry wrote in March 2014, doing an economic analysis on results that are due to chance is “completely inappropriate.” The economic analysis might reveal big differences between the treatments, but those differences will still be flukes.

Was the data “confounded?”

Was the tRiaL Repeated? A single field experiment only tells you what happened in that field that year. One result, no matter how astounding, could be

A powerful combination. NEW!

As a general rule, the only difference in treatment between the control and treatment should be the treatment. For example, let’s say you wanted to test a new fungicide. If you added more nitrogen to the fungicide-treated crop for some reason, you’d have no way of knowing whether the fungicide bumped yield. In this issue, you’ll find an article about plant growth regulator trials. In one trial, researcher Sheri Strydhorst gave the treatment extra nitrogen, a fungicide application, plus an application of Manipulator. She then measured height reductions and standability improvements. But Strydhorst didn’t report yield in that trial, as the yield data would have been confounded. And I think it’s safe to assume the extra nitrogen and fungicide didn’t shorten the wheat varieties.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Columns Can’t take the farm from the boy

Reading the classifieds

photo: toban dyck

Toban Dyck is new to reading machinery classifieds, but now he’s hooked

Last fall, I broke 120-acres of pastureland with a Wishek disc. Going over recently tilled pastureland a second time with a Wishek disc could be considered an extreme sport.

toban DyCk

t may be a stage I’ll pass through on my way to becoming the farm’s big cheese, head honcho, big man on campus, but I have become quite focused on farm products and machinery. I scour the “agriculture” section of the classifieds more now than ever before (that bar is low, as I

didn’t really at all before moving to the farm). Last fall, I broke 120-acres of pastureland with a Wishek disc. It was a rare opportunity. Land in my area, and probably yours, too, doesn’t come up for sale or rent very often. And when it does, it’s formidably expensive. Except this wasn’t. It was affordable, but with a catch: It had been pastureland for the past 20 or so years, and required breaking. This is when my (deep) appreciation for machinery began. Specifically, my appreciation for

how, in a world brimming with stuff, there is without a doubt a machine available to best do exactly what you need it to do in exactly the conditions you need to do it in. The machine designed to do the best job of breaking pastureland was going to be a Wishek disc. It worked. I worked the land twice, and I wrote about it in a previous column. But that’s not the end of the story. In late October, when the column I wrote on breaking that land was published, I received a series of texts from someone with

healthy roots, healthy plants,

healthy

retUrns.

experience converting pasture to cropland. He had used such a disk before, for exactly that purpose, but said it wasn’t the best machine for the job, and that his back took a beating in the process. My back did, too. Tilling that field was arguably the roughest, bounciest thing I have ever done. Going over recently tilled pastureland a second time with a Wishek disc could be considered an extreme sport. He recommended a Salford 4100 for breaking grassland, adding that because I used a Wishek I may need to roll and cultivate in spring before seeding. I put the field to bed rough, hoping that the big clumps of dirt would lose structure over winter and breakup easily with a field cultivator in spring. I’m still hoping this is the case. I can’t verify his recommendation. And I certainly don’t want to say the Wishek was the wrong choice.

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The difference between a Salford 4100 and a Wishek may be obvious to you, but the fact that there is a vast difference between these two pieces of tillage equipment highlights how advancements in farming technology allow each farm to have an inventory of equipment designed to its unique needs. With commodities still lagging in relation to soaring land prices and operations costs, finding efficiencies in machinery is not a moot point. Figure out what your farm needs, and find a way to try it out. As many of you know, last growing season was my first with some skin in the game. I farmed and drew income from a modest 110 acres of rented land. It was a great way to gain some experience with budgets and basic decision-making. I grew soybeans. They averaged about 40 bushels per acre, which, considered against the rest of the farm’s soys, was on the low end of average. We think

they may have seen some hail damage. Still, I was happy. And I now have a bit of income for this year’s input costs, and perhaps some leftover to help with machinery expenses. So, I will fight my inner, child-in-a-candystory impulse to buy things in the off-season, and instead stroke my beard and ponder the obvious expenses and prepare for the unexpected ones, too. It’s tough to anticipate your farm’s next big purchase, and it’s even tougher to do so accurately. The vocation we’re all in is full of surprises. But it’s helpful to take stock of what you have, isolate the items you think will need replacing in the next few years, and start thinking about what you’re going to get when the time comes. I have a list. I’ve started looking. To do this takes unconventional thinking. It takes realizing that your machinery inventory may in fact be dated and full of inefficiencies, potentially stemming from a generation that didn’t have access to the diversity of affordable products we have available to us now. It also takes realizing that making such moves doesn’t mean spending more money. You can still buy used. Your aim is a better fit, not necessarily newer or more expensive. Perhaps there’s an implement that could replace both our field cultivator and our deep tiller for the cost of selling both. Perhaps investing in a roller would pay for itself with increased yields. I scour the classifieds to find things that may be better suited for our farm, and to get an idea of what’s available and at what price. Agriculture has become largely about precision, if I’m reading the signs correctly, and the minds focused on helping the industry do more for less money, in less time, using less fuel, seem to also be the minds behind the fascinating array of products available to farmers. All we have to do is pay attention. Think about it. † Toban Dyck is a freelance writer and a new farmer on an old farm. Follow him on Twitter @tobandyck or email tobandyck@gmail.com.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns Kelly’s Agexpert tips And Hints

Build a farm budget with AgExpert Make the most of your farm financial software by using it to develop your annual budget Kelly Airey

he beginning of the new year is a good time to plan your farm budget. You can use the Budget Management Tool included with AgExpert Analyst to estimate your farm’s projected income, expenses and net profit for the year. When you’re projecting your farm’s income, take into consideration expected production such as crop yields, livestock births and projected prices. To budget expenses, project price increase or drops on input and operating costs such as fertilizer, chemical, seed, feed, land rent, fuel, repairs and labour. The budget tool allows lets you edit these numbers anytime, since factors like yield or price changes can result in a need to change your budget throughout the year. The budget feature also allows you to compare actual income and expenses to the budgeted income and expenses. As you enter daily transactions, the budget tool pulls actual numbers in from your entries, allowing you to analyze the performance of your operation. You can also set your budget so you can look at a specific parts of your business, such as grain or livestock, or you may set the budget to look at the farm as whole.

5. Enterprises: Select All. If you’ve set up “enterprises” you can choose to look at certain aspects such as grain or livestock. 6. Time Period: Click on “fiscal year” button to highlight it in blue. You also have the option of selecting a month or quarter.

defining budget vAlues In the income and expense sections: 1. Select “edit budget” at the top. 2. Select the account you’d like to enter data for. For example, select “wheat sales” by clicking it to highlight it in blue.

3. Right click on that line and select “add budget” or click on the plus sign to assign a budget value. You can specify a yearly, monthly, or monthly variable amount. A “monthly variable” specifics an variable amount per month, and could be used if you expect to sell wheat in, for example, September and October. 4. You can add notes. If, for example, you expect $30,000 worth of feeder cattle sales in the fall, you can add a note to say how you came to that number. This is your management tool, so add any information you’d like. 5. When you’re done, click the “done editing” button.

reviewing tHe budget First, compare actual versus budget columns. If you have created the budget before entering any data for the selected period, the actual will be zero. Once you enter your transactions, numbers will begin to pull into the actual column, allowing you to compare actual numbers to the budgeted amounts. Tip: To view the list of which transactions make up the “actual” amount, right click on the amount and select General Ledger Report. Hint: Because we selected Show: Progress in the header section, the progress column shows the

percentage difference between the actual and budget amounts. You can switch the selection to Show: Difference to view difference in amount between actual and budget. To view and print the budget report, select Page View. Once the budget has been created for the fiscal year you can make changes as necessary throughout the year. Check back with the budget tool often to evaluate the performance of your farm. Next article: Setting up and managing Enterprises in AgExpert. † Kelly Airey is a producer and Ag Consultant in Western Manitoba. She offers software setups & training, and discounts on software purchases. Contact Kelly at kelly.agconsulting@gmail.com or (204) 365-0136.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Columns Hart attacks

Let’s open the barn doors

By Lee Hart

s I was recently reading about the Canadian egg industry’s commitment to turn its ocean liner around, I figured a motion was in order — if consumers and the food industry are so concerned about animals produced “free range” or in loose housing, farmers should just turn everything

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loose and then charge four times as much for everything they do take to market (right after they catch or find it). All in favour say, “aye.” Opposed? Motion carried. My work here is done. Actually, I shouldn’t be ranting. There are certain aspects of consumer (society), food service and industry demand that repre-

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sent needed changes for the livestock industry. Animals should be treated humanely, and they should be raised with the least amount of discomfort and certainly without suffering. In my experience, I don’t believe chickens do any awful lot of thinking, but being crammed in a battery cage with five or six other birds for the duration of an albeit relatively short life isn’t

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the best way to produce eggs. It is efficient yes, and even though birds have proper feed and care, can anyone really justify it is a great way for a bird to live? That’s a stretch. So I think it is good the Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) is moving its industry away from battery cage egg production. In a recent news article I read Burger King, Tim Hortons, McDonald’s,

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photos: lee hart

Positive changes are coming in the livestock production world

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns 2

1. Walter Decker, egg barn manager at the Riverbend Hutterite Colony at Mossleigh, south of Calgary with one of the laying hens in their new barn outfitted with an enriched cage system.

2. Although the size of the enriched or furnished cage laying systems can vary chickens have at least twice as much space compared to battery systems, plus other amenities. 3. Candling eggs at the Riverbend Hutterite Colony. Wendy’s, Starbucks, Subway and other major food restaurants either have or are all giving notice they will begin only using eggs produced by non-caged birds over the next few years. McDonalds has a 10-year conversion timetable, Tim Hortons and Burger King have picked 2025, while Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet and East Side Mario’s restaurants, for example, are aiming for all cage-free eggs by 2020. Those restaurant timetables don’t quite mess with the industry plan to have all barns converted by 2036 — 20 years from now, but egg producers are headed in the right direction. And Canada’s 1,000 egg producers have an expensive job ahead. It’s reported that 90 to 95 per cent of eggs are still produced by hens in battery cages. EFC is planning with renovations and replacement barns, there will be roughly a 50 per cent conversion over the next eight years, about an 85 per cent conversion within 15 years and full conversion by 2036.

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So what are egg farmer options? I have seen a couple of barns in Alberta now that use what is referred to as enriched or furnished cages. They were the first in Canada. It is a bit of glossy term, but rather than five or six birds in a single (battery) cage, where each has the amount of living space equal to roughly the size of a standard sheet of paper, (8.5 x 11 inches), the enriched cages are much larger, providing more space per bird for 20 or more birds and the furnished cages also offer nesting boxes, scratch pads, dust baths and perches. Another housing option is cage-free/free run housing where birds are loose in an enclosed aviary or inside a barn. And then there is the free-range system, which allows birds to roam outdoors. All certified organic eggs in Canada must come from freerange hens. And are consumers ready? Eggs from these new systems will likely be more expensive at the grocery store. One recent California study found that producing a dozen eggs in an enriched system costs farmers 13 per cent more than in battery cages. Cage-free eggs, meanwhile, cost 36 per cent more. And on that note, I just

happened to notice on a recent trip to a Safeway/Sobeys store they had conventional large Grade A white-shelled eggs on for $1.99 per dozen — those bins were empty. But, there were still plenty of brown-shelled free-run and organic eggs for $3 to $5 per dozen. I guess, as I have talked about earlier seeing buying preference such as that, makes me wonder exactly where “consumer demand” comes from.

More changes for the better Along with the egg producers, there are other positive changes in the livestock production world. It is not a law, but a recommendation starting in January 2016 that more pain management be used on Canadian livestock operations. The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle says starting this year that a veterinary-recommended pain control product needs to be administered when dehorning calves after horn bud attachment (about two months of age or older). And when it comes to castration, calves should be castrated as young as practically possible. With older animals, pain control needs to be applied when castrating animals older than nine months of age and in two years that requirement applies to bulls at six months of age. I don’t really understand the logic of why this doesn’t apply now to all calves regardless of age, but at least it is step in the right direction. And on the hog production front, any new barns built after 2014 must provide loose housing for sows and gilts, while the plan is to have all existing gestation crate systems phased out by 2025. Again, many of the major food retailers are calling for the end of gestation crate systems over the next 10 years as well. Maturing gilts and mature sows aren’t the cuddliest creatures, but they are smart — crate dwelling is no way to raise a family. And back to my motion on free-range everything, it would be good for society to see exactly what that would look like. It could be chaos. But if history tells us anything, I have also read that one of the reasons behind the name Wall Street in New York, is that back in the early 1800s a wall was built to keep out a number of things, which included keeping freerange pigs out of the grain farms on Manhattan Island. We should live and learn. † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Columns Agronomy mAnAgement

Do you need to hire an expert? Your farm may need the assistance of an agronomist or a professional crop advisor? roSS mcKenzie

rop production has become much more complex and technically challenging over the past 20 years. It is increasingly difficult to balance the many demands of a successful farming operation, including the agronomic management of many different crops, crop scouting, long-term crop planning, input planning and crop marketing. These days, more and more farmers are using agronomists or crop advisors to help manage all of these aspects of a successful operation. Farmers considering hiring someone to provide crop production advice need to evaluate whether or not an agronomist would benefit their operation. Farmers hiring agronomists should go through a process to select an advisor that would be a good fit with both the farm operation and the farm management philosophy. If you think you might need an agronomist, consider these questions: • Are you satisfied with crop yields and management on your farm? • Are you achieving crop yields that reflect your inputs? • Are you comfortable with your crop management knowledge and the decisions you make? • Do you have the time to scout all your fields regularly? If you answered “yes” to these questions, you may not benefit personally or financially from hiring an agronomist. However, if you feel you are not optimizing your crop yields and there is opportunity to enhance your level of crop management, or you do not have time to spend in the field to assess crop conditions, you could benefit from an independent source of technical expertise. Do you feel you would benefit from assistance such as the following: • Recommendations on crop rotations and crop variety options? • Interpretation of soil test reports and developing fertilizer plans? • Weed identification and crop growth staging, including herbicide options? • Identifying diseases and insects, including the economic thresholds necessary for control, and effective pesticide options? If you feel a dependable source for agronomic information would be helpful, you might benefit from hiring an agronomic consultant.

Selecting An AgronomiSt Hiring an agronomist is costly. A consulting agronomist must be a good fit with your farm operation and your farm management philosophy. Poor or misleading advice could be very costly in terms of reduced yields and profit. However, excellent, timely advice could mean significant improvements in crop yields, profitability

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and, ultimately, your well-being and peace of mind. The selection process will take some time, research and investigation, but will be worth the effort! Think about what you require : • What types of knowledge would the agronomist need? • What specific services do you want the agronomist to provide (soil sampling, fertilizer recommendations, crop scouting for weeds, insects or disease, grain storage or crop marketing advice)? • Would you require advice on a regular basis or on an as-needed basis? • How would you want information reported: verbally, in written form, or by e-mail? Next obtain names of agronomists working in your area. Talk to other farmers, industry representatives and ag retailers. Ask for honest opinions about each potential candidate to develop a sense of their reputation. You can also post a job advertisement. After you develop a list of potential advisors, narrow down your list to three or four agronomists that have good reputations and qualifications. Set up an interview with each of these.

interviewing AgronomiStS At the meetings, ask each candidate about their education, training, knowledge, experience, services offered, crop advising philosophy, information sources and finally their fees. Here are some suggested questions for each category. Education and professional training: Ask about the agronomist’s training. • Was a college diploma completed with a specialization in soil, crop science or agronomy? • Was a university degree completed with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a specialization in soils, crop science or agronomy? • Was the institution in Western Canada? If not, is the training relevant to your farming area? Determine their credentials: There is more than one standard. • A Professional Agrologist (P.Ag.) designation indicates a member in good standing of the Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba Institute of Agrologists with an agriculture degree from a recognized university. • A Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) designation does not necessarily mean the individual has college or university training, but does indicate that they have passed a series of written examinations, which allows the use of the CCA designation. Knowledge and experience: Develop an understanding of the agronomist’s knowledge and professional experience. Make sure they have expertise with the soils and crops of your region. • Ask about their experience with the crops you grow on your farm.

• Ask if the agronomist is familiar with soil sampling, testing and interpretation and knowledgeable about soil fertility and fertilizer management, weeds, registered herbicides, diseases, registered fungicides, insect pests and registered insecticides for the crops you grow. • Ask where the agronomist obtains information and recommendations. Services offered and availability: Inquire about the services the agronomist can offer, and what level of availability they will have to spend time with you. • Will the agronomist provide all services, or can you pick and choose which services you would like to receive? • How frequently will your fields be scouted? • How will fields be scouted? • Will summer staff be used for field scouting or will the agronomist do all field scouting? • Will the agronomist provide verbal reports immediately after field inspection or will results be communicated through paper reports, text messages or e-mails? • Will the agronomist take time to show you soil or crop problems in the field? • Will the agronomist soil sample all your fields and pay for soil analysis? If so, when and how will fields be sampled? Which lab does the analysis? Does the agronomist develop fertilizer recommendations? • In the winter season, will the agronomist meet with you to provide advice and assistance in planning for next year? Professionalism: You will need to develop a sense of each agronomist’s professionalism. • Is the agronomist well organized, act kindly and professionally? • Check out the agronomist’s vehicle. Is it well organized with various tools and equipment needed (shovel, trowel, soil sampler, sample bags for soils and plant tissue samples, information booklets and reference manuals)? • How does each agronomist handle your questions? • Do you find it easy to talk with the agronomist? • Does the agronomist explain things clearly, fluently and in plain language? • Do you feel you could develop a good rapport? Crop advising philosophy: Develop a sense of each agronomist’s basic philosophy about cropping systems, crop input management and yield goals to see how they compare with yours. • Ask about the agronomist’s opinions on crop production in comparison with your crop management and goals. Information Sources and Backup Support: The technical aspects of crop production are constantly changing. Find out how each agronomist you interview keeps current with new technologies, products and techniques.

• s the agronomist familiar with the local, regional and province agronomic research being conducted by various agencies? How does the agronomist access this research? • How does the agronomist develop recommendations for each crop? • How does the agronomist stay current on new technologies and keep up-todate on issues such as new insect, weed or disease problems? • Is the agronomist familiar with new precision technologies, GPS technology, and yield mapping? What are the agronomist’s views on these technologies? • Is the agronomist affiliated with other agronomists or a company that provides backup support? Where else does the agronomist go for backup support? Fees and expenses: Determine the costs, fees and expenses. Make sure you have a clear, written list of services provided. • What does the agronomist charge? Is it on a per acre or hourly basis? • How will you be billed? Annually, or for the time and services requested each month? • Are there any additional fees or hidden costs for services that could pop up once you make a commitment? • What is the estimated total cost for consultation for one year? How does that compare to the potential gross and net revenue of your farm?

cloSe with A contrAct To help select one agronomist, rate each advisor for each category using, “E for excellent,” “S for satisfactory,” or “U for unsatisfactory.” Many farmers still like to close a deal with a simple handshake; however, it is often wise to have a lawyer prepare a simple contract including items such as the following: 1. Roles of both parties. 2. Access to land. 3. Details for how the work is to be completed with the type and frequency of reporting and recommendations. 4. Sanitation procedures to be used by the advisor to ensure diseases or pests are not brought onto the farm or spread between fields. 5. Ownership and confidentiality of your farm information. 6. Insurance and liability requirements 7. Fee structure and payments for various services. 8. Who pays for materials or extra services such as sampling and laboratory analysis. 9. Termination of conditions including contract cancellation. 10. Dispute resolution process. 11. Signatures and dates. This is a brief summary of suggestions to help you hire an agronomist that will be a good fit with your operation. † Ross 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.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns off-farm income

Build your five-legged financial stool In part 2 of this three-part series, Andy Sirski talks about insurance and RESPs andy sirsKi

n the last issue of Grainews you read part one of a threepart series of how and why to build a financial plan that I call the five-legged stool. Over the years I have seen many people use their five-legged stools to develop cash flow, send their children to higher education and, most of all, to give their family peace of mind in case their main farm, business or job ended or was damaged. The five-legged stool could be part of a long-term financial plan for an emergency or part of an overall financial plan the provides several streams of income. But there should be more to the fivelegged stool than just cash flow. One key part is insurance.

ance? This is often part of an employment package. But self employed people usually don’t have it unless they buy it. Most people cannot buy disability insurance after they turn age 60. At some age we can also buy insurance that would pay for the cost of extra medical or personal care if a person becomes very sick and does not want to burden a spouse. Some lenders insist that borrowers insure their loans. Over the years I’ve talked to many families who were relieved to have their insured loans paid off automatically when the husband/dad died. It’s a little known fact that some credit cards insure a basic amount such as the first $2,000

if the holder dies. If a family has original flight. I know people who the time (and I don’t want to were in France and missed their sound crass), they could charge flight due to heavy traffic. Insurance costs to the credit card. When paid the cost of a new ticket. Some the holder dies that first amount travel insurance policies pay the could be forgiven. But check the high cost of bringing us home if our heart stopped beating. fine print, first. Some credit cards carry other forms of insurance. I know a feleducation savings Plans low who dropped his new cell Set up Registered Education phone into deep water and the credit card paid for a new one. Savings Plans (RESPs) for your chilIn other events a cardholder paid dren. When you live outside a unifor a questionable investment versity town, the cost of sending with his credit card. When the children to university can drain a investment proved to be a fraud, lot of cash. Parents should set up the credit card company paid the plans that anyone can pay into, including grandparents, uncles amount in full. Travel insurance will pay the cost and aunts. The government tops up the of cancelling or replacing airplane T:8.125” tickets if a person cannot get to the amount paid into the plan. If, for

example, you invest $2,000 into the RESP government will add $500 and the whole $2,500 will earn interest. These plans can be self-administered. You could invest the RESP money into good growth stocks. Gains are tax-free until the child takes money out of the RESP. Since most children in university do not pay income tax, the money coming out usually ends up being tax-free. † Andy is mostly retired. He travels a bit with his wife, plays with grandchildren, has a small tax return business and manages his family’s investments. Andy also publishes and electronic newsletter called StocksTalk where he tells in detail what he does with his investments and how they turn out. You can read it free for a month by sending an email to sirski@mymts.net and andy will sign you up.

ProPer insurance for your time in life There are many different types of insurance available. A long time insurance person once told me that he has never seen a widow or family tell him that the insurance coverage they received was too large. Insurance is a way to convert an unknown liability into a fixed cost. Looking at it another way, the cost of insurance is a way to convert regular small payments into a large sum of money that can be used to replace an asset or help start a business after a tragedy such as a fire, crop failure or serious illness.

Expect it.

Needs change over time A single person might say he or she doesn’t need insurance and that might be true but needs change over time. Once a person has a family, income replacement policies can provide for the family if something happens to the main breadwinner. If something happens to Mom, insurance could help pay for child care to allow Dad to keep his job or business going. It’s surprising how many people I have come across who didn’t have any (or enough) fire insurance on their buildings, contents or machinery. Just the other day a fellow told me he wished he had raised his fire insurance coverage. His house burned down and all he saved was the cat, his wallet and the shirt on his back. His house was not insured because he refused to upgrade the area around the wood stove in his house. In these days of high tech equipment, proper insurance can offset the big cost of replacing or repairing expensive technology in equipment such as a combine, baler or drying equipment. What about disability insur-

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Columns soils and Crops

The making of a healthy soil “Soil health” is a popular topic, but Les Henry says the fine points are mostly spin les henry

e hear a lot about soil soil health these days so thought I should brush up on the literature. To give the punch line first: in my opinion it is mostly spin. Any introductory course or soils textbook starts by picking a hypothetical pound of ground and revealing the basics. 1. Soil is half solids and half pore space. 2. In a healthy soil, ready to grow plants, half the pore space is occupied by water and half by air (FC = Field Capacity). The plants suck the water until the soil sucks back so hard the plants croak (PWP = Permanent Wilting Point). It is the water held between FC and PWP that determines how much crop we can grow. 3. The solids are 95 per cent mineral and five per cent organic. That five per cent organic is what separates soils from rock. The organic fraction is also living, teaming with billions of microscopic bugs and bigger things that we can see, like earthworms. (Recent work is learning much about the microscopic critters but precious little about what we see). The next lesson in soils is about how Mother Nature turns geologic materials into soil. The five Soil Forming Factors are: 1. Parent Material (PM): the geologic starting point. 2. Climate: the rain, snow, wind, heat and cold that wear away at the PM. 3. Topography: the lay of the land determines how the water runs around on and in the soil. 4. Vegetation: the plants and other biologicals add the Organic Matter (OM) and life. 5. Time: all of the above act for various amounts of geologic times. Soils are much like people. When young they are vibrant and resilient, when old they can be “washed up” and in need of help. Our soils are young. 6. Mankind: when talking about soil health we are really talking about the sixth soil forming factor — that is what we farmers do to make a soil better or suck out the productive juices. When talking about soil health we are really talking about how our farming practices are making a soil better or worse for future crop growth. In the 1960 and ’70s we talked about soil productivity. By the 1990s soils types discussed and defined soil quality and now the buzzword is “soil health.” To my way of thinking “soil health” is simply the ability to grow a profitable crop while maintaining the ability to do the

same down the road, while not messing with our neighbours or other parts of the environment we jointly occupy and value.

Cornell (university) soil health test Whenever I see Cornell my ears perk up. The soil science textbook I used as a student and professor and still use is The Nature and Properties of Soils now in its 14th edition. Cornell University at Ithaca, New York played a major role in that textbook through the years. Nyle C. Brady was senior author for years and just went to his eternal reward November 24, 2015 at age 95. The Cornell Soil Health Test is designed for crop production in New York State and considers the following: Physical Tests: • Soil Texture: Every soil sample at the former U. of S. lab from Day 1 had texture as the first test. • Available Water Capacity: depends on soil texture to large degree. • Compaction: soil penetrometer readings. • Soil Structure: (aggregate) stability. Biological Tests: • Organic Matter • Active Carbon: how active are the bugs? • Root Health: this is a “less is better test.” Yes, it is a measure of root disease not roots themselves. • Potentially Mineralizable N: this is the “biggie” missing in our current soil testing. I have been bugging about it for years, and think there is now some headway being made. Chemical Tests: • pH • Available P, K and Micronutrients. Chemical tests are about the same everywhere and many of the other “tests” are factors that are a function of the soil itself.

a trip to israel A recent (October, 2015) scientific paper from the main U.S. soils journal talked about mapping soil health over a large agriculturally important area in Israel. It was 9,500 acres and they took four-inch soil samples from 130 spots in the area and measured a dozen soil properties. The soils are high lime clay soils with low organic matter (about one per cent C), high pH (8) and no salinity. The data was subjected to complex mathematics. The math gave a soil index which they related to NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index: that is to say “ How Green is my Valley”). They found a significant correlation between the soil index and the NDVI. Significant simply means that there is a good probability that the

two are related. But the Soil Health index only explained about 25 per cent of the variation in the NDVI. Anyway, I used my computer to take a quick virtual flight to northern Israel and visit the site they reported (by latitude and longitude). I found it to be a pivot irrigated site with some small fields of surface irrigation. In the centre of the study area there are many reservoirs that capture the winter rains for use in the summer. It was great sport to visit Israel. I learned a bit about the geography and soils and one test they did was very interesting. We must all learn until the grim reaper arrives! They took zero to four-inch soil samples and ran nitrate-N and then incubated them at 30 C for two weeks and measured the nitrate-N produced. The average was 31 lbs. nitrate-N per acre for the four inches. But the maximum was 359 lbs. nitrate-N per acre four inches. It would make sense to this old fossil to have a look at the management systems that gave the large two-week mineralization result. We desperately need to do the same thing here and have a proper research program to look at the length etc. that is required to design new N soil test benchmarks for our current cropping systems. Dear Readers: For those of you that have struggled this far I suspect you have reached the same conclusion as I: Soil Health is SPIN3.

soil health on the prairies Our first run at soil health in Saskatchewan was soil productivity studies in the 1960s and 70s. To get at the basic production capacity of the natural soil we used the co-op cereal variety trials. They were managed uniformly as summerfallow planted with good weed control and no fertilizer. For the first 50 years our agriculture simply “lived off the fat of the land.” We harvested the nutrients that Mother Nature had accumulated in 10,000 years of mostly native grass growth. Our early agriculture made the Brits angry. When we started exporting wheat to the U.K. their farmers saw us as unfair competition. “All those farmers in Western Canada do is put the seed in the ground and come back with the threshing machine to harvest a bumper crop,” they said. And it was true. At that time the Brits were already long into soil fertility programs to maintain productivity. Early days (1800s) it was mainly animal manure. In the late 1800s superphosphate was discovered and the fertilizer industry was off. So, now here we sit with the sixth Soil Forming Factor (mankind) as an important part of our agriculture. In the dry 1980s we discovered that new methods were required. Out of that grew continuous cropping, zero till, crop rotation, adequate

fertilization and weed, insect and disease control. As I have said many times, the zero till part came entirely from farm workshops and farmers tired of dust in the air in May. Soil biological health is often described as “good” when a healthy earthworm population is in place. We have that in spades, and it all happened as a spin-off from our zero till practices. Too bad no one is studying those little critters that do so much for us. Since Jill Clapperton left Lethbridge for Montana, this old fossil is the resident expert on earthworms on the Canadian Prairies. And I know squat about them. The livestock folks in particular have done good work with many plant species in pastures. They use intensive grazing to use the feed efficiently and spread the manure at the same time at zero cost.

Challenges ahead To make a long story short, on the Canadian Prairies we have one of the healthiest soil management systems in the world. However, we do have some challenges for the future: 1. pH: In west central, north west Saskatchewan and central and northwest Alberta and the B.C. Peace there are low pH soils and the constant addition of ammonium based fertilizers does add to that problem. The academic solution is liming but work is needed to make it practical. 2. Soil P: Many farms are exporting more than they are adding. In the long run the balance must be restored. My common sense suggestion is to wait for the price of fertilizer P to dip, then pork it on to last for many years. 3. Micronutrients: In Henry’s Handbook I said we were a long way from knowing all the micronutrients we may need now and in the future. Copper for wheat is worked out with a soil test that works. Many others are a crap shoot now. Much more detailed research is needed. For every breakthrough there are many false starts. But the Manganese deficiency for a certain wheat variety on a certain soil in Tanzania in 1973 was enough to convince me that we should have an ongoing strong micronutrient program. We do not. 4. Crop Rotations: I’m convinced that a two-crop, one herbicide rotation will lead us down the garden path at some time. Disease is a big issue. Fungicides help but crop rotation must be considered. There you have it. When the soil health topic comes up you can tell folks we have it well in hand. † 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, SK, S7H 3H7, and he will dispatch a signed book.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns Understanding market bUlls and bears

Market outlooks at Farm Tech 2016 Two farm marketing experts were analyzing the markets in Edmonton in January brian wittal

attended Farm Tech 2016 in Edmonton this January to see the latest in Ag technology. This three-day ag information show was an early sellout once again, which shows just how popular it is. Those those attending the show are getting younger. On the technology side there continues to be exponential development in the areas of new equipment design and improvements, seed varieties, chemistry technology, drone technology and farm management software that includes yield mapping, inventory management and monitoring systems. All of this technology has been designed to help improve farm efficiencies and/or profits. All producers need to do decide which of these technologies will work best on their farms. Everyone’s needs are different, and “must haves” are different from “nice to haves,” which can make it very difficult for farmers to decide which is which. The concurrent sessions covered everything from fertility management to weed, disease and pest management, market and weather outlooks, farm labour and farm and family dynamics, the future of food, management strategies and world ag trade.

Another area of concern for both speakers was South America, because of the imminent harvest of another bumper bean crop. When you add that to the devaluing Peso in Argentina, farmers there have great incentive to sell into world markets, putting pressure on U.S. beans and Canadian canola futures. Both speakers talked about canola supply and demand, and the fact that we have big supplies but demand is also very strong. But will that continue when the No. 1 buyer of oilseeds is struggling? China’s economy and the devaluation of the Yuan is likely the biggest concern. China is the No. 1 buyer of commodities. If China pulls back

on purchases, world grain ending stocks will increase, pressuring futures values lower. Russia’s economic woes, and the collapse of the Ruble, are having an impact in the wheat markets. Russia continues to aggressively sell wheat into world markets in an effort to stimulate economic life back into the economy. This will keep world wheat prices under pressure until Russia runs out of exportable stocks, which looks to be a little while yet. Pea and lentil markets are also at historical levels. This is due to production shortages, primarily in India. They continue to be in a hot dry spell, so prices are expected to stay strong. Anderson

suggests new crop pea prices of $10/bu. or better are pricing opportunities that you should not let pass by. World oil prices were mentioned only to say that if something should happen to drive oil prices higher this would also drive the Canadian dollar higher, which would not be the most beneficial for Canadian grain producers. Both presenters felt that oil prices and the Canadian dollar seem to have found a bottom for now, depending on what may happen with oil supplies. Recently, Russia and Saudia Arabia came out with a proposal to reduce oil production by five per cent in an effort to try to

stabilize world oil prices. The mere mention of a reduction was enough to send crude oil prices and the Canadian dollar higher, so who knows, maybe the bottom is in in both of those markets. So here we are back at my normal sermon: know your costs of production and your break even prices. The bigger risk this coming year is going to be the Canadian dollar. As it moves up the price for your grains is going to move lower. Be ready to act on pricing opportunities that will make you a profit! † 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).

It is not going to be pretty I was not able to get to all of the sessions I would have liked to attend, so I chose the ones that focused on the grain markets and marketing. Errol Anderson was the first presenter to do a market outlook and needless to say the room was packed. When a presenter starts out by saying, “Please don’t shoot the messenger,” you know it is not going to be pretty.

the markets John DePutter also did a market review to a packed room. The two speakers were very consistent as to big concerns and what they saw as the possible outcomes for grain markets. Both speakers talked about U.S. monetary policy around interest rates in a world of devaluating currencies. Errol Anderson believes that the projections for U.S. growth are misleading and that the U.S. dollar is going to have a day of reckoning soon! They both noted that when the U.S. dollar starts to fall, the Canadian dollar will be pushed higher. This won’t be good for grain prices — our historically high wheat basis levels will disappear. Canola futures will come under pressure to remain competitive against U.S. soybean futures.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Columns Farm Financial planner

Retiring farmer selling off the farm With no spouse and a disabled nephew, this Saskatchewan farmer is ready to close up shop By andrew allentuck

n northwestern Saskatchewan, a 63-year old farmer we’ll call Rorie runs a mixed grain and cattle operation on 12 quarters of land. Helped by Sam, his 43-year old nephew, Rorie, who has never been married, keeps five quarters in wheat and oilseeds and

grazes 80 cows on the remaining seven quarters. Rorie has a lot of problems. Age has made it harder to work his herd. He wants to retire but never married. Sam is a good farm hand but has a mental disability that means he can never run the farm by himself. The problem: how to sell the farm and retire with enough income to live reasonably well.

Farm Financial Planner asked Rod Tyler, a financial planner who heads the Tyler Group in Regina, Sask., to work with Rorie. In his view, a plan for disposal of the farm and a plan for looking after Sam are feasible and will solve Rorie’s problems. If Rorie can sell the pasture land for $420,000 ($60,000 per quarter) and the cultivated land T:10.25”

for $500,000 ($100,000 per quarter), dispose of machinery for an estimated total of $360,000, and sell the cows at $2,250 each for a total price of $180,000, he will have cash proceeds of $1,460,000. Rorie’s capital cost works out to about $650,000, so his gain will be $810,000. That is just under the $813,600 lifetime capital gains exemption, Tyler says.

Rorie figures that he can buy a nice condo in Saskatoon for $300,000. That would leave $1,160,000 to be invested for income. He can add that money to his $80,000 RRSP and $280,000 in various savings accounts for total financial assets of $1,520,000. If that sum earns three per cent per year after inflation, it would generate $45,600 a year before tax.

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FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns Add CPP at 65 about two-thirds of the maximum $13,110 at current rates or $8,784 and Old Age Security at 65 at a present rate of $6,846 a year and Edgar would have total, pre-tax income of $61,230 a year. After 20 per cent average income tax, he would have $4,080 a month to spend. That would cover living expenses of an estimated $2,500 a month and allow for a new pickup truck in a few years, and some travel.

Increased earnIngs Rorie could get more income out of his assets by: 1. shifting his RRSP and savings assets out of cash, where they are now held, to conservative, income producing stocks such as dividend aristocrats that pay rising dividends without fail; 2. opening a Tax-Free Saving Account to make use of present space of $46,500; and, 3. annuitizing capital to raise income. A shift from savings accounts to stocks that pay three to five per cent in dividends and investment grade corporate bonds that pay three to four per cent for 10-year terms is, as the phrase goes, a nobrainer. This is indeed necessary to approach or reach the target return of five per cent less two per cent estimated inflation. Raising income further could be done with an annuity, Tyler notes. Just using the annuity calculation — there is no implication that Rorie would actually buy an annuity from an insurance company — the $1,160,000 would generate $57,500 for 30 years from his age 65 to 95. That would push his total income up to $73,130 before tax or $4,875 a month after 20 per cent average income tax which would allow for no tax on return of capital by an annuity. The difference between retirement income based on continuous payout of financial assets at three per cent a year and the annuity payout with tax advantages is $795 a month. An insurance-based annuity would shift all investment risk to the company and provide some degree of asset protection as well. Yet Rorie would be giving up control of his capital and perhaps his ability to look after Sam.

could be set to have many years of payments included after Rorie passes away, but its advantage over straight cash generation would then diminish. There are solutions. Rorie can put 75 per cent of the $1,160,000 into an annuity. That would cut the payout to about $43,100 a year. It would still provide a decent living in retirement for Rorie with CPP and OAS added. The remaining $290,000 could be put into a so-called Henson Trust for Sam. The trust would provide the trustees with discretion to pay or withhold money for Sam’s living expenses and so preserve his right as a person with no other income to public assistance, Tyler observes. The Henson Trust, which could be parallel to another trust to hold assets for eventual distribution to a wildlife charity, should use Rorie’s friends or family members as trustees. A majority decision of three out of four trustees

with a right of replacement by majority if one trustee becomes ill or others are dissatisfied with his or her performance as trustee could be used. Family members could serve for nothing or for a predetermined and nominal fee of perhaps $200 per trustee per year. A trust company could be hired as agent. The savings would be large — trust companies acting as sole trustees with fully executive powers can charge as much as five per cent of funds under management, on top of transaction fees. This fee would eviscerate annual income and force the trust to erode its capital. Acting merely as agent, a trust company’s fee might be just a few hundred dollars a year plus transactions charges. Sam does not receive disability income, but he may qualify for various disability savings plans. There is a lifetime limit of $200,000 on contributions to Registered Disability Savings Plans and contributions can be made

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until the end of the year when the beneficiary, Sam, turns 59. There is no tax on asset growth within the plan and tax is charged to the beneficiary only when income is distributed. If Rorie diverts $200,000 to Sam’s RDSP, he would still have $960,000 in capital for his own needs. On an annuity payout basis to age 95 with any payments remaining in that space going to Sam, the annuity would pay $47,550 to Rorie and give him total income, including CPP and OAS, of $63,180 before tax or $4,200 a month after 20 per cent estimated average income tax. Rorie would also like to donate a significant sum to a wildlife charity and perhaps purchase a long-term care policy. The solutions are fairly direct. First, the wildlife or other charity could receive residual income from an annuity purchased from an insurance company and Rorie could make annual donations of funds he does not need for living

expenses every year. Second, if he does need long-term care and must leave his condo, selling the condo would provide funds more than sufficient for his care. If the condo remains unsold, it can be given to Sam for his accommodation as a testamentary disposition or sold for money for Sam, as his Henson Trust deems appropriate. The complexities of dealing with Sam’s needs, the trust structure, and other testamentary matters need to be discussed with legal counsel. “Rorie delayed dealing with his retirement and testamentary matters for decades, but we have a set of solutions,” Tyler says. “If he follows up with our recommendations, he can have a secure retirement and Sam can have a comfortable and secure future.” † Andrew Allentuck is author of “When Can I Retire? Planning Your Financial Future After Work” (Penguin, 2011).

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Machinery & Shop

Shop claSS

Overhaul your own carburetor By Scott Garvey

GettinG Started

n the mid 1980s, carburetors quickly gave way to fuel injection systems in new cars and trucks. But it’s likely there are still a few carbureted engines on machines in nearly every Prairie farmyard. That handy ATV and small grain auger engine are probably two places they can be found. And, of course, there is likely to be an older grain truck or gasolinepowered tractor still parked in the back corner of the machinery shed. While carbs can’t match fuel injection systems when it comes to precise delivery of vaporized fuel to engine cylinders, they’re still pretty good at what they do. The trouble is when machines sit for long periods without running, as often happens on the farm, fuel systems can develop problems. And that goes in spades for those with carbs. Evaporated gasoline leaves a varnish that can gum up the small orifices inside a carb and leave you with a dead engine. So a carb overhaul is something most farmers will eventually need to tackle if they do their own equipment maintenance. Basically, the function of carburetors is pretty straightforward and relies on a scientific principle called the Venturi effect, which is the reduction in pressure of a fluid as it moves through a restriction. Here’s how that applies to carbs. As air enters a carb, it passes through a narrow throat called a Venturi — or barrel — which causes it to speed up. That jump in speed creates a zone of low pressure, or vacuum, that “sucks” fuel out of the float bowl and vaporizes it into the air stream entering the intake manifold. Sounds simple, right? Well, the reality is despite the basic concept behind what they do, many carbs are extremely complex; but others, especially those on small or older engines, usually aren’t that hard to work on. So servicing a gummed-up carb could be a good DIY job. Just go slow if you tackle it.

Start by spending a few dollars on a carb kit, which includes new gaskets, some other pieces and often an exploded view of the carb components. Along with that, buy some specialized carb cleaner. Those things together with a couple of hours work can get a carb back in good working order. Before you begin unscrewing things and creating a pile of parts, be sure to have that carb kit in hand. There are very thin gaskets between carb body components that will shred when you open it up. They’ll need to be replaced during the rebuild. You don’t want to leave all those tiny, complex little pieces sitting on the bench for a week before replacements arrive, which will mean if you don’t lose something you’ll have completely forgotten how everything went together. Make sure you end up with the right kit. There should be a metal tag attached to the carb, usually at the float bowl, which will have an identifying number. You’ll need to give that to your local auto parts store so they can order the right kit. Keep your cell phone handy to take pictures of how components come apart when you first open up the carb. If you don’t, it can be pretty easy to end up with a pile of tiny parts that don’t seem to fit back together. Also photograph the control linkage arrangements before you take the carb off the manifold. That’s another thing that can leave you scratching your head during reassembly. Set up a clean surface on the workbench and lay out parts in order on it as you take the carb apart. Laying a light coloured cloth on the workbench surface allows you to easily see things. Once it’s disassembled, soak the carb in a good quality specialty cleaner. Just spraying cleaner into passages before reassembly may

» continued on paGe 31

photo: scott garvey

In this instalment of Shop Class, we get back to the basics of carburetors

Carburetors can be complicated, but careful attention to detail during disassembly and a methodical approach can make rebuilding one a straightforward job.

It’s all about the ratio

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There are three basic types of carbs: updraft, downdraft and sidedraft. Those terms refer to the direction of airflow through the carb’s air horn. A downdraft, the most common automotive type, mounts on top of the intake manifold and air flows down through the barrel and into the engine. And updraft, as you’d expect, mounts under the manifold and air is drawn up through the barrel. Many small engines use sidedraft types. No matter which way air flows through it, a carb must blend that air with fuel to create an explosive vapour. The ratio of atomized fuel to air is essential in creating the correct blend, allowing the engine to run properly. Liquid gasoline won’t ignite properly or at all in the cylinders. If there is too little air, the mixture is said to be “lean.” Too much fuel creates a “rich” mixture. Strictly speaking, a “Lambda” fuel ratio (14.7:1 air to fuel) is required for a complete fuel burn. But engines run best on varying ratios depending on their operating speeds. For example, a richer mixture is required for starting, because fuel doesn’t vaporize well in a cold engine and the speed of air moving into the cylinders is relatively slow. Closing the choke valve on a carb creates that rich condition and allows the fuel-air blend to lean back out as the engine reaches operating temperature. † Scott Garvey

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At idle, air flows around the throttle valve through the idle circuit and provides a lean mixture to the engine. The air-fuel mixture varies for maximum efficiency at different open throttle positions.

photo: scott garvey

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FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

If an engine that has been sitting for several months fails to start, don’t automatically assume the carb is the problem. There are some other basic checks to make before tearing into a rebuild. Some old mechanics used to say “most carb problems are electrical.” What they meant was what people often assume is a fault with the carb usually turns out to be something else, like no spark. It takes four things to make a bang inside engine cylinders: fuel, air, spark and compression. First, it’s easy to ensure you have spark. An inexpensive in-line spark tester inserted between a spark plug and lead wire will show if electricity is getting to the plugs. If you don’t have one of these gadgets, remove one spark plug and set it down on the engine so it grounds. Then crank the engine over and watch for a spark. Removing the plug isn’t always as good an indicator as using that in-line tester tool I mentioned, because creating a spark inside a pressurized cylinder is more difficult and requires a stronger current than in the regular atmosphere. (The tool compensates for that.) So a weak current may cause the plug to fire

How to pick a replacement carb Occasionally when working on older machines, it’s common to come across a carburetor that is no longer serviceable. But finding an exact replacement can sometimes be very difficult, or prohibitively expensive. If a new OEM replacement isn’t an option and a search for a used part isn’t working out, there is little choice but to find another model of carb that will work. There are companies that manufacture new carbs, designed to work for a variety of applications (think Edelbrock or Holley for example); however, you’ll need to know your engine’s CFM (cubic feet per minute) requirements in order to pick the right one. Just because an alternative carb will bolt onto the manifold and the diameter of the air horn looks right, it doesn’t mean it’s right for the job. It needs to be rated for the correct CFM of air intake and have the right size jets to supply a correct air-fuel mixture for the entire operating range of the engine. To determine the engine’s CFM requirements, you’ll need to do a little math. This will determine the size of carb adequate to provide enough air flow for 100 per cent volumetric engine efficiency. Here is the formula to use when figuring that out. CFM = (cubic inch displacement x maximum r.p.m.) divided by 3456 For example, here is how that equation works for a 350 cubic inch engine with a maximum r.p.m. of 4,500: (350 x 4,500) divided by 3456 = 455.72 CFM If you only know the displacement of an engine in litres, multiply that number by 1,000 to get cubic centimetres, then divide by 16.39 to convert to cubic inches. For example, a five litre (5,000 CC) engine converts to cubic inches this way: 5,000 CCs divided by 16.39 = 305 cubic inches. † Scott Garvey

outside the engine but not inside the cylinder. But if that’s the best you can do, do it. If that checks out, make sure you have fuel at the carb inlet. If there is a clear-bodied fuel filter on the line near the carb, fuel should be visible inside it. If not, you’ll have to crack the fuel line at the carb inlet and see if there is fuel there. But be careful doing this, it will leak out fuel if the pump is supplying it; and you don’t want to burn the shop down. On those carbs with a pump to aid in rapid acceleration, you may be able to just look down the barrel and have someone pump the pedal to see if fuel squirts out. If it does, there’s fuel in the float bowl. Also, check for restrictions at the air filter. Remember vehicles that sit unused for a while seem to attract mice, who love to build nests in the most unusual places. If all of those things seem to be OK and rebuilding carb still doesn’t get the engine running right, you may want to do a compression test on the engine cylinders to ensure there isn’t a more serious engine problem at play. † Scott Garvey

photo: scott garvey

Where is the problem, really?

A tool like this in-line ignition tester can help identify or rule out an electrical problem. It’s important to rule out other potential problems before deciding a carburetor is at fault.

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Machinery & Shop

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

A tag like this one attached to the float bowl has a specific number identifying the model of carburetor. Use this number when purchasing a rebuild kit.

Using your cell phone to take a picture of complex linkage arrangements can make reinstalling an overhauled carb much easier.

Even older, relatively simple carbs may use a lot of parts. Paying close attention to the order of removal and orientation of parts during disassembly is essential. Some carb kits include an exploded view, like this one, to aid with the rebuild.

A carburetor uses the Venturi Effect, relying on vacuum caused by faster moving air as it passes through the barrel to draw gasoline up from the float bowl through the fuel nozzle, vaporize it and create an explosive air-fuel mixture.

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photos: scott garvey

not be enough to clean out a badly gummed up body. Before you decide to rebuild a carb, make sure it’s still usable. Carbs wear out just like any other component. Check the body for cracks around inlets. Also check the bushings around the throttle valve shaft, the shaft shouldn’t wobble. Space between the shaft and worn bushings can allow air to get in and lean out the fuelair mixture too much. Not all carb kits include new bushings for this. If your carb has that problem and isn’t corrected, it will never work properly. Each carb has a float that maintains the correct fuel level inside the bowl. It works just like the one in a toilet tank, allowing more fuel in as the level drops and closes off the flow when the bowl is full. Floats can develop leaks around soldered seams, causing them to sink and allow too much fuel in. If there has been fuel in the bowl recently, you’ll be able to tell if the float leaks by giving it a shake. You’ll hear the fuel sloshing inside. Floats aren’t usually included in a rebuild kit, so you’ll have to order one if the original is bad and can’t be repaired. When removing set screws, count the number of turns required to back them out. Then when you reinstall them, you can get the settings back in the ballpark so the engine will start. Fine tune the settings as the engine runs. †

/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Machinery & Shop

Manitoba ag Days

Make your in-field servicing easier These custom-made truck bodies are designed to carry the shop right out to the field 2

photos: scott garvey

1. Medium duty trucks with larger special service bodies are gaining popularity with producers. 2. Tool compartments with sliding drawers keep wrenches and equipment safely stored for transport. 3. The companies jointly displaying this fully-equipped service rig say they can custom design a vehicle to meet specific producer needs. by scott garvey

We all share the same table. T Pull up a chair. THE REAL STORY OF AG

“We take pride in knowing we would feel safe consuming any of the crops we sell. If we would not use it ourselves, it does not go to market.” – Katelyn Duncan, Saskatchewan

“The natural environment is critical to farmers – we depend on soil and water for the production of food. But we also live on our farms, so it’s essential that we act as responsible stewards.” – Doug Chorney, Manitoba

“The welfare of my animals is one of my highest priorities. If I don’t give my cows a high quality of life, they won’t grow up to be great cows.” – Andrew Campbell, Ontario

Safe food; animal welfare; sustainability; people care deeply about these things when they make food choices. And all of us in the agriculture industry care deeply about them too. But sometimes the general public doesn’t see it that way. Why? Because, for the most part, we’re not telling them our story and, too often, someone outside the industry is. The journey from farm to table is a conversation we need to make sure we’re a part of. So let’s talk about it, together. Visit AgMoreThanEver.ca to discover how you can help improve and create realistic perceptions of Canadian ag.

he silver service body mounted on a 335 Peterbilt at Automatic Truck and Trailer Sales’ display during the Manitoba Ag Days show was bound to make anyone green with envy. The large aluminum service body was custom built by Total Works Truck and Equipment in Brandon, according to Ray Lewis, sales rep for Automatic Truck and Trailer Sales, also of Brandon. The two companies decided to get together to present a road-ready field service truck at the show. “They do all our fabrication on trucks, safeties, frame stretching,” said Lewis. “So we got together with them to put one on our truck.” The service body built for the show included a compartment for an oxy-acetylene system and others for tools with pull-out drawers. Two liquid tanks were built into the body, a 3,653 litre container capable of holding any type of fluid and a second with a capacity of 1,000 litres for diesel exhaust fluid. The truck was also rigged for an onboard air compressor. The drive-it-away retail price of that unit, including the truck, was $96,900. According to Lewis, producers are increasingly looking for field service trucks with larger overall capacities and more features, allowing them to take more equipment to the field. Having all the right equipment right at hand helps make emergency repairs and maintenance faster and easier. “Last year a guy wanted one and had it custom built,” explains Lewis. “That’s how this all got started. Everybody saw what it was and how it was built and said, ‘yeah, we can use something like that.’” But rather than stick with just one version of the body, the two companies will spec out a truck and service body combination to meet the specific requirements of any producer. “Everybody’s views on what they need for accessories is different,” said Lewis. “They’ll built whatever you want.” For more information see www. automatictruck.com and www. totalweldingservices.com. †

Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner BEEF MARKET TREND

U.S. producers rebuilding herds Reduced exports of live Canadian market cattle already happening BY GERALD KLASSEN

he USDA has released its January cattle inventory report with a few surprises about cattle numbers. It appears that U.S. cattle producers are expanding their herds more aggressively than expected and this will have a large bearing on Canadian fed and feeder cattle prices throughout 2016. Feeder cattle exports to the U.S. have fluctuated sharply over the past couple of years as prices reached historical highs. More recently, exports of replacement cattle have dropped off sharply as prices erode. At the same time, fed cattle exports to the U.S. have experienced a year-overyear decline while exports of fresh and chilled cuts have marginally increased. The U.S. cattle inventory report at the beginning of the year provides Canadian cattle producers with a firm idea of fundamental structure south of the border. It’s also important to know how the U.S. cattle producer has responded to the recent historical high prices in 2015. Total inventory of cattle and calves as of Jan. 1, 2016 was 91.988 million head, up three per cent over January 1 of 2015. There was a yearover-year increase of 2.845 million head, which is quite substantial. It is important to note that the number of cows and heifers that have calved as of Jan. 1 was reported at 39.646 million head, which is up three per cent over year-ago levels or one million head. Heifers for beef cow replacement were 6.285 million head also up three per cent or 200,000 above last year. The U.S. cow-calf producer was aggressively expanding in 2015 and during this phase, the market for feeder cattle has unique characteristics. Unlike a normal market, higher prices cause fewer animals to be supplied because more heifers are held back for breeding. Economists define this as an “inverted supply curve.” This results in extreme volatility through the expansionary phase and often causes feeding margins to move into negative territory, as we have seen in the final quarter of 2015 into January 2016. Feeder cattle supplies are tighter than expected and this market environment continues until the calves from these held back heifers come on the market. The 2015 calf crop was estimated at 34.3 million head, up 0.8 million head from 2014. Producers may remember that in the November cattle-on-feed report placements were historically low; however, the USDA estimated feeder cattle outside feedlots as of Oct. 1 at 29.5 million head, up nearly one million head in comparison to October 1 of 2014. Therefore, we’ve seen lower placement numbers in November and December but the excess feeder cattle will likely move off small grain pasture and come on the market once the winter wheat comes out of dormancy. Feedlot placements of feeder cattle are expected above year-ago levels in late February through early April which will weigh on feeder cattle prices. Secondly, longer term, this could pressure fed cattle prices in August and September.

U.S. Calf Crop (000’s of head) 39000 38000 37000 36000 35000 34000 33000 32000 31000 2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

EXPANSION FOR ANOTHER YEAR Given the current cow numbers, heifers for beef cow replacement and the estimated cow slaughter, I’m expecting the 2016 calf crop to also be up by 800,000 head reaching 35.1

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016 est

million head. We’ll see expansionary activity for at least another year. Feeder cattle exports to the U.S. have been quite variable over the past two years. In 2014, exports of feeder cattle and calves to the U.S. totalled 441,695 head, which was up 40 per cent from 2013.

However, during 2015, exports fell back to 287,803 head or what I consider more normal levels (down 35 per cent from 2014). The large surge in feeder cattle exports of 2014 may have been due to the “inverted supply curve” of feeder cattle south of the border. Given the larger volume of U.S. feeder cattle that will come on stream in March and April, I believe we will see another year-over-year decline in feeder cattle exports from Canada to the U.S. Feeding margins have also been struggling in severe red ink so this will also contribute to the lower export pace. U.S. beef production is expected at 26.6 million pounds in 2016, up 900 million pounds from 2015. If my estimates for the 2016 calf

crop come to fruition, U.S. production for 2017 could also be up by another 900 million pounds. The U.S. cattle herd aggressively expanded during 2015 and this will continue through 2016. Beef production will increase sharply over the next two years. I’m expecting year-over-year decreases in Canadian feeder and fed cattle exports to the U.S. † 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.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Cattleman’s Corner PASTURE MANAGEMENT

Restoring vigour to tired pasture This planned grazing system appears to be returning about $77 per acre BY KIM NIELSEN

between years. It became clearer which paddock needed greater rest. The spreadsheet formulas also calculated grazing fees so we can see the monetary performance of each paddock and the annual return per acre.

SEVERAL BENEFITS We enjoyed this change immensely. Not only did it reduce calf scours, but also the amount of processed/baled winter feed. And the cows eagerly grazed the stands of standing yellow and bleached feed in mid-April to early May pursuing the greening of the plants as spring approached. Another observation was the amazing speed with which the plants responded after grazing. While we cross-fenced Cabin South with poly wire and step-in pigtail posts providing feed for a couple of days at a time, we found ourselves needing to back-fence the paddock as well to prevent the cows from grazing the fast emerging spring regrowth. The previous owner had never used commercial fertilizer and the sod-bound paddock was primarily bluegrass, fescue, yarrow, dandelions and strawberry. Following just a year of resting the pasture from July to early May, the change in plant species was amazing. Smooth brome and the native American vetch popped up at the expense

LEARNING CURVE

photo: kim nielsen

hen 4-Clover Ranch, near Rocky Mountain House, Alta. came into existence in 1992, there was one particular pasture close to the farmyard that the previous owner was reluctant to show us. He called it sodbound and needing a good plowing. I hesitated to follow his plowing advice as it had a good southerly slope and could be useful in late winter for the cows and calves to sprawl on escaping the muck in the farmyard. We were calving in February and March, and we, as well as the cows and calves, couldn’t wait to see some dry ground each spring reducing bedding needs and the need for scour boluses or electrolytes. We decided to split the field in half in the summer of 1993 and only plowed the south side. The north side was to become “Cabin South,” a 11.3-acre paddock that now, 23 years later, has still never seen a plow and has become one of our best pastures. Following our purchase of 4-Clover Ranch we read with great interest results from work done by Alberta Agriculture’s forage specialist Grant Lastiwka showing, if managed properly, overwintered stands of forages could sustain the nutritional needs of cows in their third trimester or in lactation. Cabin South therefore became an excellent test plot for what we called deferred or stockpiled feed, meaning it was grazed once in July and the re-growth was left for grazing the following April/May.

Cow-calf pairs grazing a very productive pasture that has made a tremendous comeback after 14 years of managed grazing. of the yarrow and the strawberry plants. Confining the cows and calves to a two- to three-day strip of feed also left the tales of good manure distribution. Soil fertility got a shot in the arm. We practised this deferred grazing concept for about 14 years with amazing and steady improvements in production and biodiversity. In 2006, or 14 years later, Albert Kuipers from the Grey Wooded Forage Association looked at Cabin South and estimated that from mainly five species in 1993 there were now 23 species of grasses and forbs. The American vetch and the smooth brome had spread across the entire paddock along with yellow peavine, alsike clover, red clover, white clover, orchard grass and alfalfa — all species showed increasing vigour. We did not seed the new species. They were there all along and their appearance was a natural occurrence once the grazing rest allowed them to compete against the less desirable species that dominated under the continuous grazing system.

PLANNED GRAZING SYSTEM After selling the cows and now just custom grazing someone else’s cattle each summer, we have moved more to a planned grazing concept where we move the cattle based on pasture health rather than the calendar. We typically run a quick “skim graze” in the spring, then a second grazing with a

closer look at which pastures need a longer rest period between grazings and which one is best suited to stock pile feed on for early grazing the following season. The optics were clear, much better stands, extended grazing season, and increased carrying capacity but we wanted to know some concrete figures so we could get a stronger sense of quantitative data rather than observations. This quest for stronger quantitative analysis was helped when I found an app for my smartphone called AndMeasure (Android Measure) at the recommendation of one of my grazing friends in Australia. This free app allowed me to look at the pastures with the help of Google Maps and for the first time I was able to identify, by the slightly different colours, each of the 16 pastures on the home quarter and the 12 on the east quarter. This led to a precise measurement of the paddocks by simply zooming in on the aerial Google Maps photo with the app, tracing the perimeters and the app calculating the acres to a very accurate one decimal point. Knowing the acres made it possible to create a simple spreadsheet with formulas calculating Animal Unit Days of grazing per acre. The moderate size cows were assessed 1.3 AUs each. We also created a seasonal tally of total grazing days. For the first time we were able to see which paddock had the best performance. We could also document improvements in grazing days

The planned grazing concept put us on a huge learning curve. The carrying capacity has increased steadily since 1992 without the use of commercial fertilizer and the answer, we believe, is in much improved nutrient cycling. The discovery of mycorrhizal fungi, an important soil microbe with a symbiotic relationship with plant roots benefiting nutrient cycling, has been a rewarding “Ah-ha moment” this past summer. It is a less talked-about phenomenon but likely one to see more coverage in the future as we are not alone in striving for pasture longevity, low cost production and profit. As we compare 2014 and 2015, which had extreme variance in rainfall, we think it is reasonable to graze about 90 AU days/ acre on an ongoing basis. This equates to a return of $77/acre virtually without input costs other than man-hours for moving the cattle and checking water systems, which is a far better return compared to cropping- or haying-lease options. Even though the 2015 spring started out very dry, we allowed more cattle on the pasture due to feed shortages on the farm where they came from. We did end up with some decent rains in midsummer. Having just calculated the 2015 figures we ended up with just 419 Animal Unit Days of grazing per acre or 10,930 AUDs/acre on the home quarter from 68 cow-calf pairs and three bulls for 18 weeks of grazing. There is a great correlation between drought resilience and planned grazing and it is rewarding to experience it. Having slipped away from a Canadian winter yet again, I am writing this article from our farm, Alcheringa Pastoral, Victoria, Australia, where we are grazing steers. Here we are mimicking the 4-Clover Ranch grazing program with a quick skim graze. Australia’s summer heat and lack of rain is soon to usher in the dormant part of the growing season. It is a different kettle of fish to be shared in another article. † Kim Juul Nielsen provides an Australian perspective from time to time. He grows grass during the Australian summer at Alcheringa Pastoral in the South West of the state of Victoria, Australia and during the Canadian summer up on 4-Clover Ranch, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. He can be reached at kim.juul56@yahoo.com.

MARKET FORCES

Are you ready to build a Cadillac? Consumers are willing to make a beef a high-end choice. Part 1 of 2

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

USDA MEAT PRICE SPREADS 9.000 10.00

2013

2014

2015

0.000

Oct-15

2012

Nov-15

2011

Sep-15

2010

Jul-15

2009

Aug-15

2008

Bacon,sliced

Jun-15

2007

All uncooked beef steaks

Chicken, Boneless breast Apr-15

2006

All pork chops

May-15

0.00 2005

All uncooked ground beef

1.000

Feb-15

150.00

2.000

Mar-15

1.00

Jan-15

170.00

3.000

Dec-14

2.00

Oct-14

3.00

190.00

Nov-14

210.00

4.000

Sep-14

4.00

Jul-14

230.00

5.000

Aug-14

5.00

Jun-14

6.00

250.00

Apr-14

270.00

7.000 6.000

May-14

7.00

Feb-14

8.00

290.00

8.000

Mar-14

9.00

Spread

Jan-14

310.00

Dec-13

AAA

$ per Pound

330.00

Nov-13

350.00

AAA/AA Price Spread ($/CWT)

eef has long been considered a high-value product. When economies emerge and wealth is created, one of the first things people seek to do is add protein to their diet. At the top of the privilege list is beef. This is evidenced by beef demand indexes when examined on a country-by-country basis. As countries gain afflu-

AVERAGE ANNUAL CANADIAN CUTOUT VALUES

Cutout Value ($/CWT)

BY SEAN MCGRATH

Adapted from Monthly Canadian Cut-out Values www.canfax.ca Adapted from USDA ERS Retail Products www.ers.usda.gov/datafiles/ January 11, 2016. Meat_Price_Spreads/cuts.xls January 11, 2016.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner Anyone cAn stArt fArming

If it’s not one thing, it’s another by Debbie chikousky

ambing 2016 has been very interesting. The season started in December 2015, earlier than usual. On shearing day last July, as we saw ewes cycling, we realized the rams would also be providing us with an early lambing. This was pretty exciting for us because it was a really good indication we were managing to get the imbalances in our breeding schedule sorted out. We have been running sheep since 1998 and have never had ewes come into heat in July. They have lambed in July, but never bred. So, last summer we started preparing for an early lambing. Then we started noticing some ewes being rebred in November. Why? That wouldn’t be revealed till lambing started. Many times over the years we have pondered the question “We only have a few animals, why do we get the weird stuff?” This was another one of those times. Some of the first-born lambs were great — the ewes rebounded quickly and all was fantastic in the maternity ward. Then things got a little unusual for our flock, with one abortion. We are careful to watch for moulds and toxoplasmosis in rations and we bought feed for small ruminants to reduce the risk of running into hidden toxic water hemlock — so why the abortion? Vet opinion is “they happen.” OK. Then we saw some stiffened lambs with frozen joints. Could this be genetic? No. The next thought — a mineral deficiency. Deformities usually point to lack of zinc. Then we’d see one perfect lamb followed by one hunchback lamb. The “it must be your feed” answer just wasn’t sitting right.

mount an immune response to it. If they are not bred at the time all is well. The ewe will have antibodies, which some scientists report are life long, and will have healthy viable lambs. But if the ewes are pregnant when infected, the lambs on the other hand are highly affected. If a ewe is exposed to CVV during the first 28 days of pregnancy the result is usually fetal absorption. This will result in ewes lambing way later than the rest of the flock, for example. If rams are pulled after a prescribed amount of days it can also result in a lot of open animals. Then the ram is blamed. After this point from between 28 and 36 days, the virus leads to both central nervous system and musculoskeletal defects in lambs,

while after 36 days of gestation infection only leads to musculoskeletal deformities. After 45 to 50 days of gestation, CVV infection is not expected to cause harmful effects. After 76 days the fetus has a functioning immune system and antibodies to the virus are produced. Although there are no effective treatments for CVV the scientific community agrees after the viral outbreak has occurred, the flock will be immune for life. CVV is only spread by mosquitoes, and potentially ticks. It is not spread from ewe to ewe at lambing. It is not spread on humans to sheep in a flock. North Dakota State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory reports “determining whether

Cache Valley is the cause of abortions is difficult because the virus is not viable by the time its effects are noticed. Diagnosis often requires the demonstration of viral antibodies in serum or body fluids.” Knowing this, our decision was to assume the presence of the disease and prepare for next season. The warning advice of keeping exposure to mosquitoes to a minimum is not doable but we don’t have to breed freshly shorn sheep. Even though they should have a lifelong immunity it is better to wait till after freezeup kills the mosquitoes to be safe. † Debbie Chikousky farms with her family at Narcisse, Manitoba. Visitors are always welcome. Contact Debbie at debbie@chikouskyfarms.com.

photo: debbie chilousky

Symptoms point to a mosquito-borne virus causing problems

It was a hit-and-miss lambing season with some lambs, like these born in good health and others showing abnormalities.

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might be A Virus Finally a fellow sheep breeder shared the same story and pointed me to research on Cache Valley Virus. Cache Valley Virus (CVV) is a mosquito-spread virus from the Bunyamwera classification. Ewes exposed to this virus can experience infertility, abortion, dystocia, stillbirth, premature birth, mummified fetuses, and various and severe deformities of the joints, spine and brain. It was first discovered in the U.S. in the Cache Valley of Utah in 1956. CVV is native to most parts of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, potentially affecting sheep over a wide geographic area, including several states. The Canadian government has been doing some research to check on disease prevalence in the blood of sheep and other ruminants in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. Surprisingly 40 per cent of the animals tested at the various sites had positive results for exposure to CVV. Cache Valley Virus causes the most trouble in winter lambing. Ewes are bitten by infected mosquitos during the summer. They may or may not show any symptom of the virus other than a slight fever, which would go unnoticed during pasture season. They will then

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Cattleman’s Corner CALVING MANAGEMENT

When to act, when to call for help There are no hard and fast rules — watch and be prepared to act

ost cows and heifers progress normally through the stages of labour; uterine contractions in early labour get the calf aimed toward the birth canal, the cervix dilates and the calf starts through. The calf entering the birth canal stimulates abdominal straining and second stage (active) labour begins — to push the calf out. Sometimes, however, the calf does not start into the birth canal and the cow does not begin hard straining. If you don’t intervene, you’ve lost the calf (and perhaps the cow, if you don’t get the dead calf removed). Knowing when to check a cow is crucial and you have to be watching her to know how long she’s been in early labour. W. Mark Hilton, clinical professor, Beef Production Medicine, Purdue University, says as a rule of thumb producers should see labour progress every hour. “If I don’t see some progress each hour, something is wrong,” he says. “In older cows, there is some kind of problem like the head or a leg turned back, the calf backward or breech, or some other situation that prevents it from progressing through the birth canal. In heifers, most of the time, lack of progress is due to the calf being too big. “If you go out there at 7 a.m. and she’s off by herself and by 8 a.m. the water bag is out, and by 9 a.m. the feet are sticking out, that’s great. Then, if by 10 a.m. there is no more progress, it’s time to walk her gently into the chute, clean her up, reach in and make sure the head is there. If it’s there, she just needs some help.”

LEADING CAUSES Hilton says for a mature cow, the number one cause of dystocia is malpresentation. “Clients tend to call me quickly on heifers, because they think the calf is too big and they’re going to need help from a veterinarian,” he says. “But on cows, they wait, and often wait too long because they think she should be able to calve. But in waiting too long, the placenta may detach and the calf dies.” Producers should be aggressive on the cows, too, and not just heifers, he says. The cow should make progress every hour, just like the heifer. If she’s

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34

ARE YOU READY TO BUILD A CADILLAC? ence, beef demand tends to rise, and rise dramatically. As examples, we’ve seen this in China and India most recently. This privilege may be less visible in a relatively affluent and aging North American marketplace, however, over the last couple of years the retail price of beef has spiked dramatically. While many of us may follow cattle prices somewhat closely, in the end it is retail dollars from beef sales that really drive the industry. The chart “Average annual canadian cut-out values” shows the dramatic rise in the value of a wholesale beef carcass over the last five years in particular.

making progress with labour over two or three hours and then nothing, there’s likely a problem like a head turned back, or a backward calf. A cow will generally make progress faster than a heifer, and will often deliver the calf within 15 to 30 minutes from the time the feet appear. If there are no feet showing, and you suspect she broke her water (or saw it happen), you should be suspicious about some kind of holdup. Keep track of the time, and be aware of when she started labour. If she goes an hour without making progress, something is wrong. In a herd where a person is watching the cows closely and knows the cows well (or has calving records), producers know whether a certain cow calves fast or slow. If a cow normally doesn’t spend much time in early labour (or delivers her calf quickly once she starts active labour) and is taking longer than usual, don’t wait, check her out. It helps to know each cow’s individual behaviour and history. “I had a cow that would always separate herself from the herd 24 to 36 hours before she would calve, and that was normal for her,” Hilton says. “They all have their own patterns.”

CHECKING THE COW When checking a cow, make sure she is properly restrained and cleaned. “Wash the vulva, use a clean OB sleeve and apply lubrication,” says Hilton. “You have two possible scenarios when you reach into the birth canal. One is that you’ll be able to figure out what you are feeling and the second is you aren’t sure that’s going on — and you’ll call your veterinarian for assistance.” If you know what you are feeling there are two more choices. One is you think you can correct the problem and deliver the calf. The other is deciding to get help. There is no shame in calling for help on the tough ones — it can make the difference in saving a valuable calf. On the other hand, if you aren’t sure what you are feeling, or how to correct it, get someone who deals with these problems on a regular basis and knows how to handle them. “It might be breech (backward, with just the rump trying to come into the birth canal), it might be twins, or a uterine torsion,” says Hilton. “The important thing is to call quickly.

There is a relatively consistent range of price difference between AAA (Choice) and AA (Select) shown by the purple line and the right-hand axis. This is right around $6 per hundredweight, but can range much higher during certain seasons such as peak barbeque season. This makes some sense as marbling becomes an important consideration when folks are paying for and grilling steaks. It is important to realize that our customer’s investment in beef as an eating experience is MUCH higher than it has been in the past, and that contains an unwritten challenge to us as producers. Another very interesting aspect of the recent rise in beef prices is the concept of competitive proteins and where we fit in the spectrum of consumer choice. As beef producers, we often assume it should be

“Sometimes I don’t need to make a farm visit. The stockman calls, describes what they are feeling, and I can give advice over the phone. I am glad to give that kind of advice. But if they aren’t sure what they are doing, or they aren’t making any progress, that’s when I need to be there and help.”

WHEN TO PULL If the calf is simply too large for easy birth, you have to decide whether it can be pulled. It’s important to have some guidelines, but it can still be a tough call. “Even as a veterinarian I have made mistakes and pulled calves I should have delivered by C-section,” he says. “Pulling a big calf is hard on the cow and the calf — and sometimes results in a dead calf. You reach in and think the calf is not that big and start pulling. It gets halfway out and its hips are gigantic and you are in trouble.” Hilton says if the calf’s feet are coming through the vulva, or its head is already out and the shoulders are close to coming through the pelvis, it can probably be pulled. “If I reach my hand in and there’s no space between the calf’s shoulders and the cow’s pelvis, I am probably not going to get that calf through,” he says. “The shoulders are usually smaller than the hips, so if the shoulders can’t make it, you know the hips won’t.” Stop pulling, push the calf back in, and have a C-section performed. If the calf gets stuck half way out, a C-section is no longer an option. The calf can be lost. If you can’t get your fingers over the calf’s forehead as the head starts through the pelvis — no room between the pelvis and the calf’s head — push him back into the uterus and call your veterinarian. “The head is significantly smaller than the shoulders, and if the head isn’t going to fit through easily, it’s time to get help,” says Hilton. “If it’s a case that’s borderline and you’re not sure, call the veterinarian.” Let the vet make that choice and you won’t have made a mistake. “We don’t like getting calls when people have a calf half-way out, and it’s already too late to save the calf. We all want to give the calf every chance to be born alive.” † Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband Lynn near Salmon, Idaho. Contact her at 208-756-2841.

obvious to our consumers beef is the preferred and possibly only reasonable choice. But take a look at the relative pricing information on a few of the options collected by USDA and the Bureau of Labour Statistics. There are a few selected items presented in the chart on Meat Price Spreads. This is U.S. data, but is pretty reflective of the Canadian retail reality. Note the only other meat category priced higher than ground beef are steaks and sliced bacon. More importantly, the price spread between our high-end product (steaks) and higher-end products from other sources (pork chops, boneless chicken breasts) is widening. Now imagine you are standing at the meat counter with a limited budget. But that is the point you may say, beef tastes and is better. While that may be true, the

photo:s heather smith thomas

BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

1. If normal progress in labour has stopped, it is time to glove up and make an internal exam. 2. When assisting cows and heifers at calving, make sure they are properly restrained.

price component of that decision is more important than ever before. The graph does not present all of the data collected and the categories selected do not necessarily reflect the very highest-value categories. For example, the price of lean ground beef (versus all ground beef) has actually passed that of sliced bacon, and the price of USDA choice or prime steaks is significantly higher than the average price of all steaks as presented on the graph. So what does this all mean for the folks with the cows? Obviously high prices drive the beef herd expansion we are starting to see, particularly in the U.S. If you look at the end of the graph and some of the consumer resistance points, we are also potentially seeing a slight drawback of beef prices to reduce the spread with competitive

protein sources. That said, what these historically high prices and price spreads really mean for consumers is when people are choosing beef, it is a high-end choice. In other words, they are paying for and expect a luxury product or a Beef Cadillac if you prefer. The old saying that “the best cure for high prices is high prices” is true, but we need to ensure the prices being paid are justified in the consumers’ experience, or the fall will be less than graceful. In the next article, we will explore some ideas to build a luxury product. Surprisingly some of the building blocks may actually reduce the cost of producing the product. † Sean McGrath is a rancher and consultant from Vermilion, Alta. He can be reached at sean@ranchingsystems.com or (780)8539673. For additional information visit www. ranchingsystems.com.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Home Quarter Farm Life SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Tips to downsize to move off the farm Have a target in mind for moving off the farmyard and a plan for decluttering ElAiNE FROESE

he number 2020 stares at me from the flip chart paper on my kitchen wall. This farm coach is being coached to set timelines for moving off our farmyard to make room for our successor to live on the main yard. I have four harvests left to get things chucked, sorted, and packed for a new home. Michelle Wright of www. wideopenspaces.ca has crafted a niche business of “heirloom rescuing” and “money wrangling” helping farm folks in northeastern Alberta make the transition to a new lifestyle. Here are Wright’s tips: 1. Get started by focusing on the farm piece. In our case, the farm is staying in the family, just new faces in the yard. For farm folks who are vacating and selling, they have more layers of issues. Finances, organization, and making transitional plans. 2. List out the many things that you want to accomplish.

Wright works at the kitchen table and builds relationships with the landowners. She can remove firearms since she has her firearms safety certificate. She is on a firstname basis with the landfill folks and has trained to remove hazardous materials and dangerous goods. She knows the correct disposal for lots of stuff and has metal guys who clear up bush loads of steel and iron and take it away. Their fee is usually the value of the load on the trailer. 3. Know your social service network. Many adult children live far away from the home farm that is up for sale, and they don’t want to be driving or flying “home” every weekend of their precious summer to be dealing with all of mom and dad’s possessions (a.k.a. junk)! Wright lines up social service connections and food banks locally that can benefit from the household effects. 4. Have realistic expectations. Farmers rarely move. Over the course of 40 to 60 years they can accumulate a pile of stuff. Wright feels you need 18 months to downsize. She coaches her families gently over and over again saying, “Let go.” Letting go is a coaching strategy. You need to be able to let go of things so that you can create new space for a new chapter in

your life. Wright is careful to ask, “Where are your treasures?” and learns the story about the objects. When the clients say, “I am not ready to let go,” then Wright asks, “What are you ready for?” 5. Get another perspective on your stuff. Wright has downsized a grain bin full of used washing machines. The objection from the hoarder was, “if something breaks I might need a part!” Imagine all the generations of stuff in layers in the farmhouse basement. Give treasures to grandkids, and share the story of that treasure while you are alive. As a home economist who enjoys practical repurposing of found objects, I am drawn to decluttering articles and books. The hot one on the market these days, which I have read is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo. Kondo starts with clothes first, by discarding all at once, intensely and completely. I know that when my aunt died, my uncle could not move a thing, even five years later when it was his turn to move to a new home. Do your family a favour by making large donations to the local thrift store. Have a picture on the fridge

of your new home or ideal new location. A vision of what you are moving toward can inspire you to keep throwing away or giving away the pieces of your old life chapter that you don’t need to carry along. My mother-in-law set up an eight-foot table that was the FREE zone, and each time she had visitors, they had to scan the table for treasures to take home with them. Her large book collection was a great gift to lifelong learners who appreciated her generosity. Keeping up the energy for sorting, tossing and giving is hard. That is why we have offered to help elderly women in our community. You could do this in your rural community to help folks move on. I have deep emotional connections to stuff — my age five black and white oxford shoes are in my freezer room on a rafter. UGH. They don’t bring me joy, but a photo of them would likely be more realistic to keep. Don Aslett, author of Clutter’s Last Stand, says we keep too much evidence junk, like old university papers or textbooks. I donated old trophies to the local school to repurpose. It takes time and effort to give things away! Kondo suggests that “during

the selection process, if you come across something that does not spark joy but that you just can’t bring yourself to throw away, stop for a moment and ask yourself, “Am I having trouble getting rid of this because of an attachment to the past or because of a fear for the future?” Our ownership patterns reflect what we value. My sister is a minimalist, and when she moves, I, the older sister get a lot of furniture, pillows, and mirrors that she no longer cares about. Why does my house become the holding tank for deceased relative’s possessions and my sister’s former things? Borrow Kondo’s book from your library and be inspired to start downsizing. Leaving a tidy estate is a great gift to your heirs. Taking the things with you that bring joy will bless your new home in town and give you a fresh start for the next chapter beyond the farm. Let me know how it goes. I need tips and action to get stuff sorted. Four years is going to fly by, and my daughter-in-law will appreciate a clean slate in 2020. † Elaine Froese has lived on her farmyard for 34 years. Author of three books, and a professional speaker, Elaine wants her words to leave legacy. Visit www.elainefroese.com. “Like” her on Facebook at “farm family coach.”

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Home Quarter Farm Life

Priddy Farm home to the hunter pace Event has roots in fox hunting with optional obstacle jumps and water hazards along the way

on and Elsie Priddy love horseback riding on the trails at their farm near Saskatoon and they wondered how they could share their experience. While surfing the Internet Elsie came across a hunter pace and realized she had her answer. A hunter pace is an event with its roots in fox hunting. Small teams of riders follow an outdoor course laid out over terrain that is meant to simulate the riding conditions during a fox hunt. Organizers determine the ideal time to complete the course and participants are challenged to complete it in that time. “In the morning we go and check the course and determine what the ‘mystery pace’ will be, based upon the condition of the trail and the weather,” says Elsie. “The teams with times closest to the mystery pace receive ribbons.” The Priddys host a hunter pace once a month from June to September. Before the ride begins, they review the course and make sure there are no obstacles — other than the planned ones. The ride consists of two loops, allowing a mid-ride break at home base, and takes the average rider about two to 2-1/2 hours to complete. Most of the course is mowed native prairie with optional jumps and water hazards along the way. One of the most challenging parts is the “duck dip.” “It’s a small ditch that’s about 12 feet long and two feet across that’s filled with water,” says Elsie. “There are duck decoys at each end and sometimes the horses need encouragement to jump over it.” Another challenge is a steep hill that is a novelty to many Prairie horses and riders. Natural cross-country fences of various heights are scattered throughout the trail. If the participants

find the hill or obstacles too challenging, they can simply go around. Similar to golf, teams may pass other teams by asking to play through. The entire trail is contained within connected pastures with no roads to cross. Riders must also keep watch for and count any (artificial) foxes they see. When the riders return to the start area, they enter their answers in a draw for prizes. Following the ride, there are several obstacles to practice with including bridges, a giant ball, wall of trust, and water box and participants are welcome to stay and enjoy lunch and discuss the ride. “One of the things that I like best about the event is that both Western and English riders can ride together. The jumps and other obstacles are all optional so people can choose their route,” says Elsie. Individuals will be matched with other riders as for safety, riders are not allowed to ride alone. The event is promoted on the Saskatchewan Horse Federation (SHF) website https://www. saskhorse.ca/, through a Facebook site, and posters. The fees are $40 for adults and $30 for youth. Participants must sign a waiver, have an SHF membership, and helmets are mandatory. The Priddys are the third generation to live on the farm and now son Logan and daughter Elan are working the land. The farm began as a dairy but eventually switched to a mixed farming operation, as well as a commercial Hereford operation, and horses have always been part of the farm. Although organizing a hunter pace is a considerable undertaking, Elsie says it is a wonderful event and plans to continue organizing them long in the future. “I only wish that instead of staying behind to help organize, I was going with them on the trail.” †

Lorna Phillips crosses a water hazard.

photos: pat rediger

BY PAT REDIGER

Pate Rediger writes from Regina, Sask.

Riders jump an obstacle.

FEBRUARY 23, 2016 grainews.ca /

Home Quarter Farm Life PrAiriE PAlAtE

Berries are a healthy choice Better for you than just about any other fruit and can be served in a variety of ways

ong before there were Florida oranges and an apple a day, berries were keeping us happy and healthy through the long winter months. Fact is, berries are better for you than just about any other fruit. Berries were vital to the wellbeing of the indigenous population, who made a kind of fruit leather by pounding berries and drying them in the sun. This was eaten raw or reconstituted in hot water or soup. They made pemmican by mixing berries with bison meat and suet. The early settlers were wild for berries at a time when any other fresh fruit was hard to find. Back then, wild berries grew much more abundantly than they do today. Early memoirs relate tales of picking parties heading out for wild strawberries, raspberries, chokecherries, gooseberries, saskatoons and blueberries by the bucketful. By the time I came along, it was hard to find a wild raspberry or strawberry, but fortunately, domesticated varieties had been planted on the farm. We had a large berry patch, and from an early age, I loved to pick. I loved being outside on a hot summer day with the buzz of insects and the scent of dry grass. I loved the rhythm of picking. Best of all, I love eating those berries in the depths of winter. Toast with raspberry jelly. Cranberry scones with strawberry preserve. Blueberry smoothies. Chokecherry syrup on pancakes. And, of course, saskatoon berry pie. Now there’s a new berry on my pick list: the tart Prairie cherry developed by fruit breeders at the University of Saskatchewan. It’s perfect for cherry pie or a fruit compote on roast pork. One year, my husband and I did an experiment in local eating, choosing not to buy imported fruit from the grocery store and relying on Prairie fruit alone. We ate berries in one form or another almost every day. In the spring, he made a surprising observation: neither of us had suffered a cold all winter long. All things being equal, was our local berry diet responsible for our good health? I like to think so. Berries are high in vitamin C, rich in antioxidants and full of flavonoids (the dark-red, purple and blue colours) to boost the immune system and fight disease. Berries are as good as fruit gets. This recipe is a great way to show them off. Clafoutis (clafoo-tee) is a French dessert traditionally made with cherries but I like to make a Prairie version with a mix of berries I picked myself. It’s perfect for brunch any time of year. †

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.

PrAiriE BErry ClAfoutis Use fresh or frozen berries (or a mix of both). In season, you can also add some sliced young rhubarb to the berry blend. 2 tbsp. butter 3 eggs 3 tbsp. sugar 1 c. milk 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1/4 tsp. salt 1 c. flour 1 tbsp. flour 2 c. mixed berries such as cherries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, lowbush cranberries, saskatoons

photo: amy jo ehman

Amy Jo EhmAn

Heat the oven to 350 F. Put butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or a pie plate. Place in oven until butter is melted but not brown. Meanwhile, in a blender, mix eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. With the blades running, add 1 cup flour and blend well. Toss fruit with remaining 1 tbsp. flour. Remove the skillet or pie plate from the oven. Pour in the batter and scatter the fruit on top. Return to the oven. Bake about 20-25 minutes, until the centre of the custard is set. Serve warm with a dusting of icing sugar or cool with a drizzle of syrup.

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/ grainews.ca FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Home Quarter Farm Life SINGING GARDENER

Share why you dig gardening Plus, health benefits of orange tomatoes and a new zinnia for 2016 TED MESEYTON

IS THERE MORE LYCOPENE IN ORANGE TOMATOES? There is so much fascinating diversity, folklore and history about tomatoes — so much so — that I, Ted, could fill many pages with words pertaining to fruits of the vine. Today, I shall restrict myself primarily to one of the latest health discoveries pertaining to orange-coloured tomatoes. In the past I’ve told you about my “tomato song” and how lycopene in red tomatoes plays an important role in helping maintain a healthy prostate in men. Well some of the latest research reveals that orange tomatoes are a far greater source of lycopene than red tomatoes. Orange tomatoes contain a different form of lycopene that scientists call: cislycopene. What’s so great about it? Simply put, it’s easier for our bodies to absorb cislycopene because it’s concentrated. I don’t know if this is stretching it or not, but ’tis said drinking only one glass of juice made from orange-coloured tomatoes (not citrus orange juice) contributes the same health benefits as drinking eight glasses of red tomato juice. Wow! That’s a substantial increase that suggests orange tomatoes are eight times denser in lycopene compared to red tomatoes. Lycopene content is maintained whether tomatoes are eaten raw or stewed. Seems that yellow-fleshed tomatoes are not in the running and said to contain low amounts of lycopene, but yellow ones are a reliable source of beta carotene, another important nutrient. Even though orange tomatoes are now top rated as the best source for cislycopene, I doubt whether most gardeners will ever grow fewer red tomato varieties.

TWO NEW ORANGE VARIETIES Untreated seeds for two new orange hybrid tomatoes for 2016 are available from W.H. Perrron at Laval, Quebec, phone

photos: courtesy w.h. perron

y theme for 2016 is — I Dig Gardening — and it goes well beyond poking a hole in the ground with a shovel. Historically, to dig for something has also long been attributed to mining and in particular to those miners from gold rush days, each with a spade in hand, digging for gold or (slang) lodgings. Each gardener and farmer knows there’s gold in the soil and the various kinds of nuggets retrieved are in the harvested food crops. Share your experiences and reasons why you dig gardening with our family of Grainews readers. Let’s hear from you! Well this time around my focus is on reasons to grow orange-coloured tomatoes according to a New Zealand research group. Plus, a brand new introduction to the family of zinnias; one of the easiest annual flowers to grow in the whole wide world. Spread out your copy of Grainews on the kitchen table with a companion cup of green tea and dig into some easy reading with the Singing Gardener.

Chef’s Choice orange hybrid tomato sets excellent-flavoured fruits between 330 and 450 grams (three-quarters and one pound) in just 70 days after transplanting out in the garden. New research reveals orange tomatoes contain up to eight times more lycopene than red varieties. 1-800-723-9071, www.whperron.com. They are: Chef’s Choice and Perfect Flame. Chef’s Choice (see photo on this page) allows the home gardener to begin picking orange tomatoes in just 70 days after outdoor transplanting into the garden. Internal flesh is bright-orange colour with superior texture and flavour. Large fruits average between 330 grams (three-quarters pound) up to 450 grams (a full pound). Plants are well endowed with leaves to protect round fruits from sunscald. Perfect Flame has an Italian heritage background. Orange saladette pear-shaped tomatoes ripen 75 days after setting out plants. Fruits weigh about 110 grams (onequarter pound) and have a combined sweet-tart fruitlike taste. Plant size is large of both aforesaid varieties and benefit from staking, trellising or some form of support.

A TREASURY OF HERITAGE TOMATOES This treasury consists of no GMOs, no hybrids and all untreated natural tomato seeds of heirloom distinction, available from Heritage Harvest Seed at Carman, Man., phone (204) 745-6489 www.heritageharvestseed.com. I shall highlight a few of their orange tomatoes. Early Annie is an exceptional tomato combining earliness, productiveness and beautiful medium-size blemish-free orange-red fruits. This is an excellent variety for canning, slicing or salads. Early Annie plants are determinate (non-staking, but optional) with regular leaf foliage. Personally, I Ted, like Orange Minsk. This is a very impressive vining tomato. It is among the earliest large orange beefsteaks and has great taste. The fruits which are ready to pick about 75 days following outdoor transplant, possess a beautiful orange colour and have ribs on the stem end. Then there’s Orange Strawberry whose heart-shaped fruits have few seeds with slight ridges on the stem end and a point on the blossom end. Vines are very vigorous and known to produce an abundance of beautiful heart-formed tomatoes, to the point that plants can sometimes still topple over despite support from heavy stakes. Otherwise, Orange Strawberry is a fantastic variety with regular leaf foliage. Pirkstine Orange is a sausage-shaped

paste tomato ready to pick from plants after 75 days out in the garden. It has a very unique appearance and is a sure attention getter while on the vine. Looks great too in salads, and fruits make a splendid orange tomato sauce. Here’s another one I appreciate. Woodle Orange rates among the best tasting and is an exceptional heirloom whose large round fruits are tangerine coloured and blemish free. Tanya at Heritage Harvest says, “This would make a great tomato for farmers’ markets because of the perfect-shaped fruits and wonderful taste.” This mid- to late-summer indeterminate orange tomato with regular foliage takes about 80 days or slightly longer, but is well worth waiting for. Besides, who wants all their tomatoes ripening at the same time? Keep in mind, each indeterminate (vining) tomato variety performs best from some form of support.

ZINNIA ZINDERELLA PEACH

A winning colour and unique look! Zinderella Peach is a crested bicoloured zinnia and a new introduction for 2016. These attractive salmon-coloured zinnias form a cream circle around a piercing dark eye at the top. Each plant can spread to 60 cm (24 inches) with a similar height. What an incredibly beautiful salmon colour with cream overtones surrounding a dark eye on top centre of each flower. (See picture on this page.) The unique scabiosa-shaped appearance of this amazing new zinnia earned it novelty status. Distinctive flowers are five cm (1.9 inch) in diameter and produce an abundance of bloom on tall plants. Zinderella Peach and its sister zinnia Zinderella Lilac both make excellent cut flowers that hold up

well in fresh floral arrangements for up to a dozen days when water is changed daily. Outdoor-grown zinnias are an excellent choice for Canadian flower gardens; especially when it’s hot and dry. You’ll rarely find started zinnia bedding plants at garden centres. Here are two reasons why. First, they are incredibly easy to grow from direct outdoor seeding and secondly, zinnias resent root disturbance when transplanted. Zinnias dislike cold so it’s wise to seed them outside only once soil has warmed in a spot that receives plenty of ongoing sunshine. They grow quickly and will be in flower two months later. Germination can take five to 14 days at a temperature range between 18 C to 20 C. Something zinnias don’t like is cool, damp soil and high humidity. That’s when they can be prone to damping off and experience mould and root rot. Look for zinnia seeds on seed display racks at local garden centres and greenhouses. Zinnia Zinderella seeds are available from W.H. Perron, phone 1-800-723-9071.

SPANISH-STYLE TOMATO FESTIVAL Last year during August an enormous quantity of ripe tomatoes weighing 330,000 pounds were hurled, squished, tossed and stepped on during the annual La Tomatina Festival in Spain. It all began back in 1945 during a playful tussle between local boys in Bufiol and has since become an annual tradition. Now as many as 22,000 people participate. It begins with truckloads of tomatoes brought into town to supply local goggle-wearing townsfolk and others from beyond. They battle it out against one another by pelting tomatoes for one hour. Following that, the cleanup begins. Civic workers and extra hired crews spray the streets with water leaving them much cleaner than before the friendly feud began. It’s attributed to the grime-fighting activity in acidic tomatoes.

A PRETEND STORY Let’s fictitiously assume a similar tomato festival using approximately 115,000 kilograms of ripe tomatoes was planned for somewhere in Canada. Would it be hosted at Charlottetown, Leamington, St. Catharines, Moose Jaw, Medicine Hat, Kelowna, or at some exotic northern community such as Dawson City or Whitehorse? Remember, the aforesaid is all in the spirit of let’s pretend. What’s an alternative? Just imagine all those ripe tomatoes being converted into “tomato juice, sauce, soup, paste and tomato ketchup.” Those words sound mighty familiar to me and here’s why. They’re all referenced in my song for prostate health, wellness and awareness: namely: “O It Must Be the Tomatoes.” †

This is Ted Meseyton the Singing Gardener and GrowIt Poet from Portage la Prairie, Man. Remember to send me reasons why you dig gardening. Meantime, here are very best dates according to the moon for starting tomato seedlings indoors: March 16 and 17; April 12, 13, 22 and 23, 2016. Other essential factors include soil, temperature, moisture and light. My email address is singinggardener@mts.net.

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