‘BIG HITCH’ BARELY DESCRIBES IT Take 30 horses and eight wagons, and you get one very, very long wagon train » PG 22
‘IT’S ALMOST LIKE A RIVER’ That’s how Ian Murray describes the flood of gophers on his ranch near Acme this year » PG 2 Publications Mail Agreement # 40069240
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Cattle producers and feeders in checkoff stalemate ABP has proposed a new funding council, but that wasn’t enough to sway cattle feeders
Costly corn planter gives ultra-consistent canola stands Craig Shaw loved the results, and lower seed cost, but the pricey equipment is a major barrier
By ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF
T
he Alberta Beef Producers and the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association have come to an impasse on making the provincial checkoff non-refundable. And that’s put the controversial matter in the hands of the provincial government. “We’re trying to come up with a plan,” said Martin Zuidhof, chair of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association. “That’s where it’s at yet. I would imagine that their thought is just to go to the status quo, but the cattle feeders are looking for something more innovative and progressive.” The impasse is frustrating and damaging to the beef industry, said Bob Lowe, chair of Alberta Beef Producers (ABP). In the fiscal year that ended March 31, his organization refunded $2.33 million worth of checkoffs — a hefty 35 per cent of the total provincial levy it collected. Producers who identified
see CHECKOFF } page 7 Craig Shaw used this corn planter for three years to more precisely place canola seed — and loved the “very, very uniform” emergence it produced. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CRAIG SHAW
By Madeleine Baerg AF contributor
I
t’s one of those farming Catch 22s. On the one hand, the high cost of canola seed makes it tempting to minimize one’s seeding rate — on the other hand, a strong and consistent canola stand is key to good returns. In the American Corn Belt, producers have found a solution by repurposing their corn planters to plant canola seed. The precision planting makes for better emer-
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gence; incredibly consistent stand establishment, better pest management, more even ripening, and improved crop harvestability, yield and quality. Here in Western Canada, where very few producers grow corn and even fewer own a corn planter, the jury remains out on whether the agronomic and input cost benefits could ever offset the high cost of the equipment. Lacombe-area producer Craig Shaw planted and recorded on-farm results of various seeding rates and row spacing planted by both a corn planter and conventional plot seeder over three years.
Though weather woes and residue management issues got in the way of entirely clear results, Shaw says there’s no question that precision planting offers a big agronomic benefit. “When you look at a canola field seeded with a planter, it’s hard not to be impressed,” he said. “You can see the difference — it’ll look very, very uniform and the crop stages are totally consistent. All through the season that consistency matters for everything from herbicide and fungicide application
see PLANTER } page 6
make your canola easy to sell } PAGE 18