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A P R I L 2 0 12 E D I T I O N

PLANNING THE NEXT CROP — AND BEYOND

EXPANDED WHO ARE THE COMING PLAYERS CAST IN THE GRAIN INDUSTRY? P.10 MACHINERY UPDATE

Why should you care about your carbon footprint? P.24 Behind the scenes at a tractor plant P.18

GRAINWORLD TOO MUCH GOOD WHEAT? ..................................... P.11 MORE CEREAL ACRES?.......................................... P.12 CANOLA PRICES STAYING PUT .............................. P.14 Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240

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CROPs Guide april 2012

CONTENTS

EVERY ISSUE Editor’s note 4 Daylight saving time is like

cutting a foot off one end of a blanket, sewing it on the other end, and then saying you have a longer blanket.

Gleanings 6 Briefs from the Prairie grain industry.

than 1,000 words 18 More How tractors are made, Versatile style.

23 WGRF research update

Newly identified genes may mean high-yielding short-season wheat varieties.

24 Machinery

What’s your carbon footprint?

And why you should care.

arkets 30 M Higher prices are great —

but they can conceal some longterm risks and make a hash of your marketing plan.

FEATURES Growing footprint 8 Soybeans may not just be for Manitoba much longer.

o frills 11 N Why grow a Cadillac, when a Chevy will do?

12 Open market may

signal greater wheat & barley acres

Grain industry watchers expect more cereals post-CWB.

holds up 14 CIt anola seems like nothing can bring Canola down these days.

16 Cigi takes on new advisory

ust so 22 JWhy nitrogen is the first, and most important, nutrient.

et to the root of it 26 G We may not see much of them, but roots are one of the most important parts of any plant.

illing the gaps 28 FMalt barley research needs to address a variety of needs.

COVER STORY xpanded cast 10 ENew entrants are about to take the stage in the Prairie grain business.

role for producers

The Canadian grain industry’s technical resource centre looks to new customers down on the farm.

Canola 20 CA SI: little — or a lot — of investigative work is needed to really understand symptoms your canola crop may be showing.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

YOUR GUIDE TO T HE L AT ES T IN CERE A L S, OIL SEEDS A ND PUL SE CRO P S

www.agcanada.com

Spring forward?

I

think most people would a g re e t h a t B e n j a m i n Franklin was a certified — or perhaps certifiable — genius.

Certified because he’s credited with inventing an amazing number of things that improved people’s quality of lives — bifocals, the Franklin stove, the odometer and lightning rods, just to name a few. It’s that last one that gets my vote for certifiable, just for the record. Who flies a kite in a thunderstorm?

But even the smartest person on the planet has a real clunker of an idea from time to time, and I’d like to make my nomination for the worst idea that ever came out of that great big brain of his — daylight saving time.

While it never happened during his lifetime, Franklin is widely said to be the original proponent of the system whereby clocks changed with the seasons, adding light to the evening hours in the summer. Probably at the time it made far more sense than it does now. After all, back in his day lanterns were just beginning to displace the dim flickering light of candles and the ability to work in the dark hours was severely limited.

The idea really got some wind it its sails during the First World War, when it was widely adopted to save precious energy resources.

One of the biggest reasons cited historically has been the need for farmers to have more daylight hours to work in their fields during the summer months.

All this is fine and well, but I argue that these benefits are being calculated using out-of-date information.

Take the concept of energy use.

I’m unconvinced to say the least.

Thinking about a couple of buildings that I’ve worked in over the

years, the lights were on all the time. Most of us not only didn’t have windows in our offices, we couldn’t even see windows from our offices. It didn’t matter if it was the middle of the brightest summer day or the dead of winter. Those fluorescent tubes burned for 18-20 hours a day. And the factory I worked in processing potatoes into French fries didn’t have windows and ran 24/7.

Maybe there is a point about people working outside. Sure, modern lighting systems all but eliminate the need to shut down, but natural light will always be better. But if that’s the case, why do we bother switching back at all? Especially now, with the switch happening later in the fall, and earlier in the spring? If anything I’d argue we need it even more in the winter months, when sunlight is about the scarcest commodity there is this far north.

Maybe it’s my Saskatchewan roots speaking here, but I think the rest of the country should just stick with standard time.

Sure it means that the mornings would be darker for a few months every winter. Who cares? They’re already dark. Whether the sun finally appears just before or just after coffee break is immaterial to most of us. But I suspect we’d all welcome the chance to head home during daylight hours.

These days daylight saving time has taken on the air of something that’s just done, and whether or not it continues to make any sense is beside the point — which is why it’s time to take a second look at the Saskatchewan example on this one.

And on a personal note, I’d then get to avoid one of my annual rites of spring, a post-11 p.m. call from one or another family member who thinks it’s still only 10 o’clock in Winnipeg. ■

G O R D G I L M O U R go r d.gilm o ur @f bc publis hing.c o m 4

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EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: Gord Gilmour (204) 294-9195 Fax (204) 942-8463 Email: gord.gilmour@fbcpublishing.com REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Brad Brinkworth Ron Friesen Warren Libby

Rhéal Cenerini Richard Kamchen Val Ominski

David Drozd Gord Leathers Jay Whetter

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PRINTED IN CANADA Vol. 01 No. 04 website: www.agcanada.com The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to CROPS GUIDE and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis.

However, the editors, journalists, CROPS GUIDE and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as CROPS GUIDE and Farm Business Communications assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any reader for this publication based on any and all information provided.

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C-59-03/12-BCS11082-E

Gleanings grai n

i n dus t r y

n e w s

Industry Notes

6

Too dry? Too soon to say

CP wants conciliator in talks with crews’, controllers’ union

cns canada — Weather maps remain dry for most of Western Canada and the lack of snow cover is leading to concerns that farmers could be facing drought conditions in the summer of 2012.

However, precipitation in the spring and summer will be much more important in determining yield prospects going forward, according to an official with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Drought Watch department.

“For most regions of the Prairies, we’re about two to three inches below normal in precipitation,” said Trevor Hadwen, an agroclimate specialist with AAFC’s National Agro-Climate Information Service in Regina.

The lack of snow cover was a little alarming, he said, but added that the missing moisture could be made up very quickly through either late winter snow or early spring rain.

Farmers should definitely be aware of the situation and the potential risk heading into spring seeding, he said, but “in terms of actual crop production, there’s no need to panic yet.”

However, the lack of moisture and snow cover now could cause problems for forages and winter wheat, said Hadwen, noting that forage crops could be delayed and winter wheat will likely see more winterkill than normal.

Eastern Saskatchewan is the one exception, where moisture levels are still sufficient or excessive — with most everywhere else needing more rain than normal in the spring, said Hadwen.

If the dryness persists, he expected farmers would be looking to get on their fields and start seeding as early as possible this year.

Excess moisture and flooding did delay spring planting in parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2011, but the lack of snow cover should lessen flooding concerns in 2012, said Hadwen.

Extreme rains could still trigger a flood, he said, but the fact that the soils are not saturated would help absorb any additional moisture this year. “The risk of flooding is extremely low right now.”

The union for Canadian Pacific Railway’s train crews and rail traffic controllers isn’t yet in a strike position, but the railway already wants Ottawa to drop a conciliator into their contract talks.

Calgary-based CP said in late February that it has been in talks with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) since early October toward a new contract for about 4,800 workers, whose previous contract expired Dec. 31.

The railway said it has asked federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt to appoint a conciliator to “assist in progressing discussions on a new labour agreement.”

CP CEO Fred Green — who in recent weeks has come under pressure from activist shareholders to tighten the company’s operating ratio, or step down in favour of ex-Canadian National Railway (CN) CEO Hunter Harrison — said the company believes the best chance at a settlement will come with “expert, third-party support” and a “focused time table.”

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The conciliation process, on average, can take 80 to 90 days, the company said.

At issue, Green said, are the company’s “legacy pension costs,” which “significantly impact CP’s operating ratio and our ability to further fund investments that will support growth opportunities for our customers.”

CP said it wants to achieve “changes to legacy pension and post-retirement benefits to make them industry-comparable,” noting it has put $1.9 billion of solvency deficit contributions into its pension plan over the past three years.

“We have a number of proposed options for pension plan modifications, some of which align with the industry, all of which are fair to employees, and none of which have any impact on existing pensioners,” Green said in a release.

Some of the options, CP said, would provide “guaranteed pension payment that is a multiple of average Canadian industrial pension payment and is comparable to what this union has already agreed to for the majority of its members at another major Canadian railway.”

CHS buying Canadian The largest U.S. grain co-operative, CHS Inc., is buying Canadian durum and looks to bulk up on other crops there to seize the “phenomenal” opportunity left by the end of the Canadian Wheat Board marketing monopoly later this year, a CHS executive told Reuters recently.

In mid-December, a federal bill became law that will end on Aug. 1 the CWB’s monopoly to market Prairie wheat and barley for milling or export. Canadian grain handlers such as Viterra, Cargill and Richardson International quickly began signing contracts with farmers to buy grain for delivery after the monopoly ends.

St. Paul, Minn.-based CHS has so far bought a modest 65,000 to 70,000 tonnes of 2012 durum wheat from Prairie grain handlers, who will eventually move it to CHS elevators in the U.S., Tom DeSmet, vice-president of marketing for CHS, said in an interview. CHS resells the grain to end users, such as grain millers.

Canada is the biggest exporter of spring wheat, durum, canola and oats. The Wheat Board’s monopoly has been in place for 69 years.

“This is phenomenal. (Ending the monopoly) is huge to the world,” DeSmet

said on the sidelines of the Wild Oats Grainworld conference in Winnipeg. “The durum world, the grain world, has got their eyes on Canada big-time.”

Grain buyers, such as millers, are worried about ensuring they can maintain supplies after the board loses its monopoly and are giving CHS flexibility in filling orders, he said.

“The people we work with are giving us options. ‘I’ll take Canadian (grain) at this price, U.S. at this price, you supply it.’ And I think the reason they’re doing it is they’re very concerned and want to give us the flexibility to make sure they get the product.”

CHS is buying from virtually all Canadian grain handlers, DeSmet said. In past years, CHS bought grain from the CWB, to which Western farmers were required to sell wheat.

Appointments Canada’s Dennis Stephens earns prominent U.S. grain industry award

U.S. court turfs organic growers’ suit against Monsanto A U.S. district court has tossed out a proposed suit by a clutch of U.S. and Canadian organic farmers and ag groups against Monsanto, blasting the suit’s claimed fears of patent-infringement actions as a bid to “create a controversy where none exists.”

Judge Naomi Buchwald of the U.S. District Court (Southern District of New York) recently granted Monsanto’s motion to dismiss the suit, which had been spearheaded for the plaintiffs by the New York City-based Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT).

The 83 plaintiffs, including Ottawa-based Canadian Organic Growers (COG) and Quebec’s Union Paysanne among others, billed their suit as a pre-emptive strike against any chance that the seed and ag chem firm — developer of the patented Roundup Ready genetics for herbicide-tolerant crops — could sue them for patent infringement.

PUBPAT filed its suit in March last year, claiming the foundation’s clients fear transgenic seed contamination in their crops and do not “intend to possess, use or sell any transgenic seed, including any transgenic seed potentially covered by Monsanto’s patents.”

“When Monsanto actively reserves the right to sue organic and non-GMO farmers, it’s critical to stand up to these bullying tactics,” COG board member Arnold Taylor said in a release when the case went to oral arguments before Buchwald last month. “Hundreds of farmers have already been sued by Monsanto, including many in Canada.”

To alleviate the clients’ fears of crop contamination, PUBPAT wanted Monsanto to “expressly waive any claim for patent infringement it may ever have against our clients and memorialize that waiver by providing a written covenant not to sue.”

Monsanto, while not promising a blanket waiver, replied that its company policy “has never been, nor will be, to exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of its patented

seed or traits are present in a farmer’s fields as a result of inadvertent means.”

PUBPAT’s suit listed a number of farmers who, the plaintiffs claimed, “did not want to be contaminated by transgenic seed” but had been sued by Monsanto.

The only Canadian farmer PUBPAT’s claim mentioned by name is Percy Schmeiser. Monsanto had successfully sued the Bruno, Sask. farmer for patent violation over Roundup Ready canola in 2001, a decision upheld at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004.

Buchwald, in her ruling, rejected PUBPAT’s claim that Monsanto had sued farmers who didn’t want to have the company’s genetics in their crops, writing “that claim is belied by the decisions in the suits against the referenced individuals.”

To that end she referenced four cases, including Schmeiser’s, noting the Canadian court ruling that Schmeiser “knew or ought to have known” he was seeding Rounduptolerant crops.

“The suits against dissimilar defendants… at best, are only minimal evidence of any objective threat of injury to plaintiffs,” Buchwald wrote. The plaintiffs’ “alternative allegations” that Monsanto had threatened but not sued “inadvertent users” of its genetics were “equally lame,” she added.

Rather, she noted, not one of the plaintiffs had claimed to be so threatened “and they have in fact professed a desire to specifically avoid any such use” of Monsanto’s genetics.

Apart from COG and Union Paysanne, other Canadian plaintiffs in the suit included: •M anitoba Organic Alliance, at Plumas, Man.; •P eace River Organic Producers Association, at Silver Valley, Alta.; • Murray Bast, at Wellesley, Ont.; • Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds, at Parkside, Sask.; • Interlake Forage Seeds of Fisher Branch, Man.; • Quinella Ranch, near Regina; • Nature’s Way Farm at Grimshaw, Alta.; and •L evke and Peter Eggers Farm at La Glace, Alta.

Give us your input If you have a milestone you feel should be noted in our regular Gleanings column, please send the information, along with an electronic photo of any individual noted in the item, to Crops Guide editor Gord Gilmour at: gord.gilmour@fbcpublishing.com.

The North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) honored a pre-eminent Canadian grain industry leader with its highest award during the organization’s centennial convention in Washington, DC. Dennis Stephens was presented by NAEGA with its Amstutz Award for exceptional accomplishment and distinguished leadership in free trade and promotion of agriculture. Stephens, only the eighth recipient of the award, is the first non-U.S. citizen to be so honoured. He was recognized on Feb. 23 during the association’s Gala Centennial Celebration.

The award was established by NAEGA in 1998 in honor of its former president and chief executive officer Daniel G. Amstutz, a long-time U.S. grain industry leader and former undersecretary of agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. NAEGA, a not-for-profit trade association established in 1912, consists of private and publicly owned companies and farmerowned cooperatives that are involved in and provide services to the bulk grain and oilseed exporting industry.

Stephens, born, raised and educated in Manitoba, has spent much of his 45-year industry career involved in international grain trade advocacy. His career began in 1967 at Federal Grain Limited. He later served as one of the first staff members at the Canadian International Grains Institute, where he eventually became its executive director.

He also served as assistant deputy minister of the National Grains Bureau at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. A strong, consistent advocate for adoption of commercially acceptable regulatory frameworks to minimize trade disruptions, Stephens currently serves as a consultant to the Canada Grains Council. He also is secretary of the International Grain Trade Coalition (IGTC), an organization that represents the commercial interests of the grain industry worldwide. Under his leadership, IGTC membership has grown to 23 trade organizations, including NAEGA, representing more than 8,000 members operating in more than 80 countries.

The Amstutz Award is presented by NAEGA only periodically in recognition of extraordinary and noteworthy contributions in promoting export grain and oilseed trade that are deserving of special recognition.

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SOYBEANS

GROWING FOOTPRINT Soybeans could take off in Saskatchewan

If we could get into that 2,200-heat unit range, I think they’d take off like crazy in Saskatchewan.”

— RAY WYTINCK, GENERAL MANAGER, NORTHSTAR GENETICS MANITOBA

BY RON FRIESEN

S

oybean acreage is poised for a big jump in Saskatchewan this year but whether it’ll become a new Cinderella crop in the land of wheat and canola remains to be seen.

Industry officials predict soybean plantings in Saskatchewan could reach 40,000 acres this spring, more than quadruple last year’s acreage.

Saskatchewan’s annual soybean crop has stayed below 10,000 seeded acres since serious commercial production began within the past three to four years, according to crop insurance figures.

But some predict 2012 could be the year soybeans take off in Saskatchewan, spurred by strong prices and a remarkable success story for the crop in next-door Manitoba, where growers could plant up to 700,000 acres this year.

Seed dealers say a surge of interest in soybeans by Saskatchewan growers this spring is encouraging.

But others urge caution, saying it’s too soon to declare soybeans a good fit for farming in the province.

“It’s still a crop that’s not fully proven yet in Saskatchewan,” says Dale Risula, a specialty crops specialist for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture in Regina.

“We’re still at that teetering point as to whether or not it’s going to be a good crop for the province in general.”

Agrologists say the right combination of heat and moisture is essential for soybeans to be productive. Those conditions may be difficult to achieve consistently in Saskatchewan.

A major problem is the maturity characteristics of current varieties. Soybeans like warm, wet growing conditions, which is why they

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flourish in the United States. Summer days in Saskatchewan can get pretty warm, too, but the nights also need to be warm. Nighttime temperatures sometimes fall below 13-14 C, at which point plant development appears to shut down.

“By and large, the majority of the area is not likely to bring on the kind of heat units required for development and maturity,” Risula says.

What’s needed, according to agrologists, is an early maturing variety with 2,200 corn heat units to come along before soybeans can thrive under Saskatchewan growing conditions. At best, heat units for currently available varieties average in the low 2,300s.

“If we could get into that 2,200-heat unit range, I think they’d take off like crazy in Saskatchewan,”says Ray Wytinck, general manager of NorthStar Genetics Manitoba.

Wytinck believes soybean acreage in Saskatchewan could hit 40,000 acres this year, based on early seed sales.

Commercial production is mostly centred in southeastern Saskatchewan and along the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, although a few producers in the Regina area “are starting to put a toe in the water,” Wytinck says.

But he also advises growers to proceed carefully because of potential problems.

It’s true that soybeans tolerate wet conditions better than edible beans do. But they also require moisture at critical times, especially when pods are setting and filling in late July and early August. Those aren’t conditions a weatherman can guarantee in a province where late summer is usually dry.

Another drawback for Saskatchewan’s fledgling soybean producers is that growing the crop commercially first requires them to

experiment with it on a small scale. That’s sometimes inconvenient in a province which averages the largest farms in Canada. Planting a quarter section to an unproven crop may not worth the time for a producer with thousands of acres to seed.

“A lot of them don’t even want to try it unless they’re going to do 320 acres. It’s not worth cleaning out their drill for that,” says Wytinck.

Another factor affecting soybeans is that many Saskatchewan farmers practise zero-tillage. Wytinck says soybeans prefer a warm seedbed in spring. Crop residue on the soil surface acts as an insulator which works against that.

All that aside, there’s no reason why soybeans could not be a successful crop in Saskatchewan, given the right varieties and favourable conditions, as producers develop experience and expertise in growing them, Wytinck says.

“As beans push further west and you get into a bigger area, I think Saskatchewan could come out pretty strong in the next four or five years if they continue to see some success with it.”

Risula doesn’t entirely disagree, especially since he’s been getting a lot of calls lately from producers about agronomic conditions for soybeans and how well they might perform.

But he encourages growers to do their homework first and not to have unrealistic expectations.

After all, Saskatchewan has seen other crops start out like a house on fire, only to fizzle.

Chickpeas are one example. From 6,000 acres in 1996, chickpeas soared to over a million acres in 2001, only to fall back significantly because of agronomic and disease problems. ■

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ready or not: COUNTDOWN TO AUGUST 1

Expanded cast New actors on an old stage

By Richard Kamchen

M

ore new and unfamiliar faces may be showing up on the Prairie landscape next crop year when the wheat and barley mar-

kets open up.

Glencore is just one of a number of U.S, Australian and European companies kicking tires to determine how they might best enter the western Canadian market, but whether they look at forming alliances, making direct investments or acquisitions, there will be more competition for farmers’ grain, not less, says Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association’s Blair Rutter.

De Pape recently completed work on a barley industry study, which found there are some opportunities for smaller players in containers and different destinations that aren’t being served now.

“One of the complaints about the wheat board is they missed some of the niche markets,” says Derek Brewin of the University of Manitoba’s agribusiness and agricultural economics department. “The small markets tended not to be worth their trouble, and so there might be some niche market opportunities for the small guys that are new and different because with the board not there, they can maybe make direct deals with customers.”

and adds someone might even take a shot at Richardson, Canada’s largest privately owned agribusiness.

“They’ve got a good set of elevators, both at the country and terminal levels, and would be potentially a great way for one of the large multinationals to get into Western Canada in a big way,” Fulton says.

Buying a privately owned company, though, might be somewhat easier than acquiring a public one. Studies on the subject suggest that on average, buyers don’t pay quite as much for privately owned companies, largely because of the feeding frenzy that occurs when the stock of a publicly

One of the factors that will be playing against startups here is the lack of port access that they would have, and I think that’s actually quite a serious problem.

— Murray Fulton, University of Saskatchewan

Brenda Tjaden Lepp of FarmLink Marketing Solutions anticipates more multinationals and other companies from outside of Canada, “none of which the average farmer will recognize the name of today, but could be doing business with in a big way a few years from now.”

Those companies represent a range of sizes, so it’s not just multinationals like Bunge and GrainCorp coming, she adds. Setting up offices in Winnipeg include Cenex Harvest States, (headed up by Dwayne Lee, formerly of the Canadian Wheat Board), and Lansing Grain.

“There’s others like Gavilon and Scoular and Columbia Grain,” adds risk management specialist John De Pape. “Whether they actually build assets or work with those that have assets has yet to be determined.”

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Oligopoly?

Well-managed and strategically located farmer-owned inland terminals like Weyburn and North West have probably had upwards of 50 meetings with companies that want to buy them, Lepp says. “I don’t think they know what to do with all the interest.”

Companies like Richardson International, Parrish & Heimbecker and Paterson Grain are sitting pretty because they own assets that any new player would want, she says.

Certainly those already here haven’t been sitting still.

For instance, Richardson acquired Great Northern Grain’s grain-handling and crop-input retail facility in Nampa, Alta., expanded its Pioneer grain handling facility in Estevan, Sask., and purchased the North East Terminal grain-handling facility in Wadena, Sask.

Toepfer has acquired Western Grain Trade and Western Grain Cleaning & Processing, Saskatchewan-based processors and exporters of flaxseed and various pulse and special crops.

And Paterson and Richardson, among others, are beefing up their staff in preparation of the open market.

But will such familiar names as the above remain in the mix longer term?

Agricultural economist Murray Fulton at the University of Saskatchewan isn’t so sure.

He thinks multinationals will be targeting companies like P&H and Paterson,

traded company jumps on news of a possible takeover, Fulton reveals.

“They have typically a bit more prestige attached to them because they are publicly traded, and there’s a little bit more overconfidence and hubris that goes into the purchase of those kinds of assets than when you’re purchasing assets from a private company.”

Cargill is one company he believes is here to stay, and it may be looking for some strategic assets it can pick up to bolster its Prairie grain handling capacity.

“Cargill never goes overboard so I don’t think they would be the ones buying Viterra or Richardson. Would they pick up some of the smaller companies? Maybe, particularly if they’re well located.

“Over the years, Cargill plays that softer, quieter game, quietly buying assets, strategically manoeuvring itself, but it’s never out at the leading position and I expect that that strategy would continue,” Fulton says.

But will there be more competition for farmers’ grain in real terms? Fulton thinks it’ll be hard for small grain companies to get a foothold, meaning competition won’t be as great in Western Canada as it was in Australia when the single desk there was dismantled. A good deal of competition that came forward in the industry and country level in Australia was a result of provisions to allow for any company to have competitive access to port facilities.

“So if I then take a look at the Canadian situation, one of the factors that will be

No frills

Farmers producing too much high-end wheat?

By Richard Kamchen playing against startups here is the lack of port access that they would have, and I think that’s actually quite a serious problem,” Fulton says.

Also stymieing small startups are the sunk costs involved in buying or building elevators on a small scale.

“A single elevator only has value if you have a larger set of elevators — then you can take that grain and mix it in with grain from other elevators, offer customers a wider set of options in terms of quality of grain, or assurance of delivery, etc.,” Fulton explains.

As there’re no such advantages to owning an “orphan” elevator. Unless a new grain company could purchase a network of elevators, it wouldn’t be able to recover the costs of building elevators one at a time. It’s the nature of those economics that would make any small company think twice about buying or building an elevator.

Also where having a network of elevators is critical is when dealing with the railways. Unless one has multiple grain elevators and high volume, one will be hardpressed to get railways’ attention.

U of M’s Brewin says the kinds of incentives railways have offered in the past strongly suggest they were in favour of the first wave of consolidation that occurred in the last decade. Contracts with a large single company instead of 10 smaller ones is simply more efficient for them.

“That for the most part keeps competitors out, and that’s where the theory then suggests this industry is likely to be relatively concentrated: Three, maybe four players buying grain,” Fulton says.

Nevertheless, there may be an initial period where farmers will see more competition, particularly in areas where they might be able to access U.S. ports and therefore won’t be as reliant on port facilities in Thunder Bay, Vancouver or Prince Rupert.

But those opportunities will be limited by geography.

De Pape is aware of talk of Western Canada ending up with an oligopoly, and says when you look at the number of players that control primary elevators and terminals, it might look ominous.

“But when you look at it as a per cent of crop that goes through them, it’s less so,” De Pape says. “For instance, half the canola crop is processed in the country. In terms of grain handling, they have to compete for that. Half of it is crushed, and the rest is exported, mostly to the West Coast. I think there’s a greater level of competition there than you might think otherwise.” n

W

hy insist on producing only luxury cars when your customers are looking for something a little more mid-market?

A number of speakers at this year’s Wild Oats GrainWorld conference took umbrage with Canada’s myopic efforts to produce mostly low-yielding, high-quality, high-input and high-maintenance wheat.

Lawrence Yakielashek, president of Alfred C. Toepfer (Canada), said Western Canada has lost market share to Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan because it’s so focused on growing No. 1 CWRS. The vast majority of the world isn’t looking for the best-quality wheat, so farmers, in others words, don’t always need to make BMWs when sometimes a Ford will do, he said.

“There is basically a market from Canada for five to six million tonnes of high-quality wheat. Beyond that, it’s a mid-protein,” said Yakielashek in an interview. He added that there’s no premium to sending high-quality wheat to markets that aren’t asking for it. “They have to sell extra at world market (price), thus, discount to the demand.”

He added that it’s not so much highprotein, high-quality wheat that is our main advantage, but rather nil dockage, and as long as the industry maintains the latter standard, it will have a strong market foothold.

With an approach of growing more — Lawrence Yakielashek, high-yielding but lower-quality wheat, president, Western Canada could achieve a 30-million Alfred C. Toepfer (Canada) tonne crop. Yakielashek doesn’t see a problem with our ports handling the extra business and says Western Canada should and will be looking at bigger export programs of mid-quality wheat, with an emphasis on Southeast Asian and African destinations.

SGS Canada’s Fraser Gilbert, formerly of the Canadian Grain Commission, says mills around the world are accustomed to making good products out of wheat Western Canada would consider poor quality.

His gripe is that while Canada grows the best spring wheat in the world, much that would and perhaps should be considered No. 1 is downgraded to No. 3 because of ergot. Wheat with over 0.01 per cent ergot can’t be graded No. 1 and yet, a number of customers have less restrictive measurements.

Gilbert said Canada far exceeds the quality contracts call for, but wonders if we’re getting paid extra for our efforts. Probably not, he said, in answer to his own question.

There’s currently a disconnect between what the grades are designed to do and the marketplace, and the CGC should look at the fact we’re not in tune with real world demands, Gilbert said.

“We’ve lost track of how to maximize the value of grain, and there needs to be an impetus to make changes to the Canadian grading system,” he said.

But CGC Commissioner Murdoch MacKay can testify that change doesn’t come easily. Discussions and consultations on modernizing the Canada Grain Act have been ongoing since 2006, and all they’ve revealed is that nobody can agree on what needs to be changed, he said. n

There is basically a market from Canada for five to six million tonnes of high quality wheat. Beyond that, it’s a mid-PRO.

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grain world

Open market may signal greater wheat & barley acres

By Richard Kamchen

O

ttawa’s removal of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk may have a muted effect on wheat and barley seedings this spring, but longer term, many feel those acres will climb back from previously depressed levels.

Among the main consideration for farmers this coming season will be rotations, net return and cash flow.

Given farmers can add wheat and barley to their cash crop rotation, there’ll be greater acres as long as those crops are competitive with others, notes risk-management specialist John De Pape, speaking at the recent GrainWorld conference in Winnipeg.

“But right now the conventional wisdom is you’ll see wheat and barley acres this spring increase,” says De Pape.

“There could be higher acreage due to the ability to include those crops in cash flow management for the farm,” agrees Mark Bratrud of Bratrud Ag Advisory Services. “Will it explode? I don’t think so, due to rotation, price competition from other crops and high fertilizer prices.”

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s latest estimates call for rising area seeded to all crops in 2012, assuming that much of the area that was too wet to seed in 2011 will get planted in 2012.

Wheat (excluding durum) area could climb 10.2 per cent from 2011 to 19.37 million acres, while durum increases 16 per cent to 4.65 million acres, the government department forecast in February.

What we have now is a lot more companies out there peddling Canadian grain, and given the contacts that some of these companies have worldwide, I expect to see a lot more new markets.

— Blair Rutter, WCWGA At this year ’s GrainWorld conference, FarmLink Marketing Solutions estimated wheat seeded area to reach 19 million acres and durum 4.5 million.

Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications in Calgary doesn’t see a big upside for milling wheat, pointing out prices have been on the decline and there’s ample world stocks.

USDA projects 2011-12 world wheat ending stocks rising to a record high 213 million tonnes, representing 31.3 per cent ending stocks-to-use. That’s up from 201012

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11’s 30.8 per cent, and historic lows of 124-million tonne ending stocks and 20.1 per cent stocks-to-use in 2007-08.

USDA also boosted its 2011-12 world wheat production estimate to a record 693 million tonnes, and the International Grains Council is calling for another 685 million tonnes in 2012-13.

The feed side, however, is favourable, says Anderson, who anticipates farmers turning to Canada Prairie Spring class wheat.

“The feed wheat is where the money is right now. It’s higher yielding and the price isn’t a whole lot lower,” Anderson says, noting prices have ranged between $5 and $6 a bushel, versus $7 for higher-grade wheat. Taking into account lower-quality wheat requires less management and fewer inputs, “the milling wheat is the one that’s going to drag and the feed markets are going to expand.”

Barley Ag Canada sees barley plantings rising 22.2 per cent in 2012 to 7.91 million acres, while FarmLink estimates 8.8 million acres of barley will be sown, producing a 9.78 million tonne crop.

U.S. corn will be a bigger motivating factor for farmers than the open market, says University of Manitoba’s Brian Oleson. USDA projects 2012 U.S. corn production to reach 14.2 billion bushels, which would double U.S. ending stocks.

“The U.S. is moving toward 94 million acres of corn, so the big factor will be speculating on what may happen to corn stocks a year from now,” Oleson says. “These are some of the factors that would dwarf any impact from the CWB in my view.”

But Wild Oats Grain Market Advisory points out that despite the increased barley acres, a larger export program will keep market fundamentals constructive. The market needs 95 million acres out of the U.S. or 2012-13 fundamentals remain very tight, the newsletter argues, adding much of the U.S. Corn Belt is dry.

“Uncertain acreage and below-normal precipitation will keep corn futures well supported and lift world coarse grain values,” the newsletter says.

Canadian barley markets will find added support from expanded markets. Barley acres peaked in 1972 and have gone down ever since, but with new grain participants coming into the market, farmers may have more options for their barley, says De Pape.

De Pape helped prepare a study sponsored by the Western Barley Growers Association that found barley plantings have been affected by the risks associated with achieving a malt-quality crop.

“Malt is competitive on a per-acre return basis but, if you don’t get selected, it goes to feed, which is one of the worst returns. So the risk is pretty substantial. That has had an impact on cropping decisions,” says De Pape.

Farmers grow for malt but their barley is often rejected, says Blair Rutter, executive director of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. But in the new crop year, even if a farmer’s barley is turned down by Canadian or U.S. maltsters, it might still find a home in offshore markets. One market many are looking at exploiting

post-single desk is in China, and for mid-quality malt barley.

“What we have now is a lot more companies out there peddling Canadian grain, and given the contacts that some of these companies have worldwide, I expect to see a lot more new markets than what we were selling to before,” Rutter says.

De Pape says some in the industry are predicting Western Canada’s malt program could go from 2.0 to 2.5 million tonnes up to 3.0 to 3.5 million.

“What we do see happening is we might get a schedule of different quality and prices for barley, from low feed, standard feed, high feed, two or three mid-malts, and then a high malt. And what it does is help satisfy the customer better and adds to the profitability of the farmer. All of that to me means we’ll grow more barley,” De Pape says.

Reversing downward trend There has been a long downward trend in wheat and barley acreage and that that will start to reverse with the open market, says Rutter. Longer term, the open market will attract greater investment in both cereal pro-

Will (wheat and barley acreage) explode? I don’t think so, due to rotation, price competition from other crops and high fertilizer prices. — MARK BRATRUD, BRATRUD AG ADVISORY SERVICES cessing and private variety research, which should also benefit wheat and barley acreage, he explains.

Bratrud adds wheat and barley acres have been held back the past 15 years as more cropping options have become available.

“I feel many farmers — certainly not all — grew wheat and barley for rotation purposes, and the odd time we got lucky.”

On his own 4,000-acre farm near Weyburn, Sask., no more than 15 to 20 per cent of acres went to board grains for a number of years.

“It wasn’t a demonstration against the CWB or anything. It was just as young farmers, we needed more predictable cash crops to manage our risk and cash flow,” Bratrud says.

He predicts wheat may be grown where there are logistical as well as production advantages. He sees smaller grain players going after niche markets — smaller millers and bakeries that process the raw product — something that had been

lacking in Western Canada’s “high throughput industry.”

“I can see processing opportunities as well, especially partial processing,” says Bratrud. “Maybe we won’t be making pasta, but durum semolina perhaps? I think everyone in the industry will be more value-added focused, and I am sure the opportunities will be exploited to the max.”

Others are less sure about expanded domestic processing.

“I can’t see it changing dramatically,” says former wheat board CEO Adrian Measner, who notes most mills are located in concentrated populated areas as it costs more to move flour than the raw product. “I don’t think I see a massive change on that side — it may open up a few opportunities, but I don’t think it will be substantive.”

Canadian International Grains Institute executive director Earl Geddes agrees.

“Canada — with 34 million people — isn’t likely going to be a processing hub for food,” Geddes says. ■

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13

grain world

Canola holds up Waves of canola can’t keep lid on prices

By Richard Kamchen

N

ot even an anticipated record canola crop in Western Canada can soothe the bulls in the market.

Western Canadian summerfallow was over 12 million acres in 2011-12, but with a return to normal conditions, seeded area could get back to the 60-million-acre mark in 2012, Tracy Lussier, manager of canola trading at Louis Dreyfus Canada, said at Wild Oats GrainWorld.

He expected a significant portion of those acres to go to canola at the expense of other crops, and forecast 2012 canola plantings to rise 12 per cent over last year to a record 21 million acres.

That compares to Agriculture Canada’s 19.77 million acres and FarmLink Marketing Solutions’ 19.4 million.

Besides 21 million being yet another new record, it would mark the first time canola acres were greater than non-durum wheat area, Lussier pointed out. Quite simply, producers respond to price signals and the economics favour canola plantings over wheat.

Canola yields may be better as well. New varieties have stood up well to adverse conditions, giving producers even more confidence to grow canola. And yet, Lussier remains bullish.

“We feel canola values will hold quite firm,” he said.

Tightening stocks Farmers have made strong deliveries in 2011-12, driven by clement weather and good values. Lussier estimated 56.5 per cent had been sold in February, up from the previous year’s 49 per cent, but he said stocks still feel tight. Despite record farmer deliveries, there’s been no buildup in the pipeline, and that’s largely due to massive usage, which will cause stocks to continue to fall and at a faster rate than seen before.

Export demand has been strong — 4.7 million tonnes as of February 1, versus 3.75 million a year ago, and for 2011-12, Lussier anticipated 8.67 million tonnes of exports versus just over 7.0 million the year before, a byproduct of greater demand from China, Mexico and the U.S.

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We feel canola values will hold quite firm.

— Tracy Lussier, Louis-Dreyfus Canada

Domestic crush has also been strong: 3.54 million as of February 1 versus 3.1 million a year ago. By the end of February, that number could hit 3.9 million tonnes, a 400,000-tonne increase year-over-year. Total domestic crush for 2011-12 could reach 6.86 million tonnes, representing a 500,000-tonne gain.

The market may need to ration demand and Lussier anticipates price rationing to the end of the crop year.

All the same, 2011-12 carryout could fall to a very tight 477,000 tonnes, Lussier estimated.

New crop bulls Should acreage reach 21 million in 2012, Lussier said new crop production could hit 15.91 million tonnes, versus 14.25 million the previous year.

But demand should remain strong, with exports at nearly 8.43 million tonnes and the crush surpassing 7.0 million. Crushing should continue to rise in response to additional crush capacity, and 8.0 million tonnes is possible for 2014-15, Lussier said.

Continuing to add to the demand side are China and the U.S., which could take 50 per cent of the crop, with either raw seed or oil being exported to those two customers.

“We truly require 21 million acres to meet the demand,” Lussier said.

While carryout could rise to 1.237 million tonnes in 2012-13 as a result of greater acres and produc-

tion, Lussier anticipated another bullish story.

“We’re in a bullish environment and producers are going to benefit next year as well.”

Strong Chinese crush margins on new-crop imported Canadian canola could result in higher than expected 2012-13 exports to China.

Also, the EU has had weather problems and very cold temperatures in early February may have cut 800,000 to 1.0 million tonnes of its production, possibly resulting in the EU requiring additional stocks from Canada to compensate. Winter kill has also affected Ukraine, whose production may be down 300,000 tonnes from a year ago.

Reduced South American soybean production and a smaller Chinese rapeseed crop — 10.6 million tonnes this year — are also contributing to tighter balance sheets. Adding to that are acreage swings in the U.S. between corn and soybeans for the 2012 planting season.

But will Western Canada be able to significantly make up the difference?

Huge areas of the Canadian Prairies are dry and even regions that were saturated may be too dry already.

There’s also potential rotational challenges in Western Canada as some farmers already pushed their rotations as it is, but Lussier felt those concerns could be softened if that summerfallow comes back into production. n

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www.uap.ca

cigi update

Cigi takes on new advisory role for producers By ellen goodman, cigi communications

P

roducer groups have recently approached the Canadian International Grains Institute to learn more about marketing opportunities for their crops as Cigi evolves into a new advisory role with industry.

“In the past these groups wouldn’t have had to worry about marketing too much because the Canadian Wheat Board looked after it, but now they have to make sure that farmers are producing the quality that they feel they can get into the marketplace,” says Rex Newkirk, Cigi’s director of Research and Business Development.

Cigi has taken a more proactive approach in helping producers understand what their marketing opportunities are, what crops they should be producing, and what focus their association should have in their breeding programs, he says.

As one example, the Alberta Soft Wheat Producers Commission, which was looking to expand its market, invited Cigi to speak at its annual meeting in Vauxhall, Alta. in midFebruary (the group is currently being replaced by a new Alberta Wheat Commission). “They had sent us soft wheat samples of a specific variety (AC Sedash) that we ran through a full battery of tests and they wanted the results presented at their meeting as far as what markets it is best suited for,” Newkirk says. “They also wanted to know about Cigi and the services we can provide.”

Mike Reimer, Cigi technologist for Ontario wheat, has significant experience working with soft wheat. He examined the lab data and spoke to meeting attendees about the markets and kind of products best suited to this particular variety. Due to low protein strength, some of the endproduct applications they hoped for,

Cigi has been taking its presentations beyond its Winnipeg classrooms to producer meetings across Canada.

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such as crackers, were not suitable, but it was suitable for other markets as an ingredient in sauces and cakes.

Newkirk also says that the soft wheat breeder was concerned a new line may get dropped as it has stronger protein than the current varieties. “We said if you want to expand into other markets there are some that want exceptionally soft wheat and some that want a little bit of protein strength. Mike’s experience broadened their view by saying you shouldn’t kick these varieties out as they may have a viable market.

“Because of Cigi’s knowledge of the soft wheat market we were able to advise them on how it works and change their view of where soft wheat went,” he says. “They were missing some opportunities. I think this is just a great example of how Cigi can take its knowledge and help the industry adapt and go where it needs to go.”

Reimer agrees, noting that Cigi is still in an early stage of assisting the industry in this fashion. “I don’t know what this will mean for soft wheat in the long run but I know the breeder in Alberta is interested in doing more,” he says. “It also had some effect with the Prairie Grain Development Committee as they have been talking about changing their quality guidelines for soft wheat.”

Cigi can help producers with market opportunities and what to look for as far as how their varieties fit certain kinds of products, although may not actually direct them to specific markets, Newkirk says, adding that he also recently worked with winter wheat producers in Saskatchewan.

“Since we’ll be receiving a levy from western Canadian farmers, the return on that levy will be our ability to assist them,” he says. “Now, going forward, there will be a wheat commission formed in Alberta in July that looks after all classes of wheat in that province, so we will likely respond to them more directly. For now we are helping individual organizations.

People are coming to us and we are happy to fill that need.” n

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MORE THAN 1,000 WORDS

T

hey say a picture is worth a thousand words. To illustrate some of the behind-the-scenes activities in agriculture we might not all be intimately familiar with, Crops Guide is working with Prairie photographers to create informative and interesting photo essays.

This issue we’ve assigned Winnipeg-based photographer Chris Procaylo to visit the Versatile assembly plant in that city to have a look at how a tractor is made. Versatile is Canada’s only domestic tractor builder and was the first company to commercially produce a four-wheel drive unit.

Today it’s still building thousands of tractors a year at a plant in the Fort Garry industrial park in south Winnipeg.

1

2

1. The process begins with a hand-welded frame, which is built on-site.

2. The finished frame – here you see a completed front section – must be rugged enough to withstand years of hard work in farm fields.

3. The front and back portions of the frame are joined at a heavy-duty and carefully engineered pivot point.

4. The axle assemblies are then added front and back.



3

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5 6 5. With the addition of wheels and tires, the tractor is now ready to join the main assembly line. It’s chained to the line, where a dozen tractors in various states of assembly move along as more components are added.

6. The heart of the Versatile tractor is the well-regarded Cummins turbo-diesel engine platform, which is the next powertrain component that’s added.

7. Once the drive train

7

8

is completed, the next addition is the tractor’s cab.

8. Then it’s time for the cab’s interior components.

9. The exterior sheet metal

9

10

is then added and final fluid addition and testing is performed. At this point the tractor is now operational and is started and used to pull the full assembly line. This eliminates complicated production machinery and serves to test the tractors at the same time.

10. The tractor then passes through a final station where the fit and finish are checked, the final paint touch-ups are done and decals are applied.

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canola

anola scene C investigation It takes patience, thought and an open mind to diagnose problems in a canola field. High canola yields and tight rotations may be creating new issues that look the same — yellow leaves, purpling, for example — as something you’ve seen before, but isn’t. Here are tips to help you make the right diagnosis J ay W h e t t e r , c o m m u n i c at i o n s m a n a g e r , C a n o l a C o u n c i l o f C a n a d a

W

hat springs to mind when you see a canola plant turning purple around the leaf edges?

Sulphur deficiency?

Phosphorus deficiency? Herbicide carryover? Something else entirely? Well, your guess will be right — once in a while.

Whatever preconceived notion one may have about purpling, the fact is that any kind of stress — nutrient deficiency of many types, herbicide carryover, disease — can cause it.

Yellowing and other visual symptoms create similar conundrums for accurate diagnosis.

“If your diagnosis is based on symptoms alone, you’ll be wrong way too often,” said Norm Flore, agronomist with Viterra. Flore made this comment at CanoLAB, a Canola Council of Canada and Alberta Canola Growers Association canola diagnostic workshop in St. Albert, Alta. in March. Flore, along with fellow Viterra agronomist Emile deMilliano and Olds College agronomy instructor Jack Payne, ran station 4. Their topic: Diagnosing nutrient deficiency. Their point: Proper diagnosis is an eight-step process, and symptom scouting is just one of them.

Here are the others: 1. Soil test. Are any nutrient shortages evident? Other soil test parameters such as texture, pH and electrical conductivity may also provide clues in the diagnosis. To give a couple of quick examples, boron deficiency is more likely in sandy soils with low organic matter, or in high pH soils (8.0 or higher) which reduce boron solubility. Acid soils with pH below 6.0 can also increase the risk of imidazilonone (Odyssey, Solo, Ares, Assert) herbicide carryover damage.

Herbicide molecules will bind with soil particles, but in acid soils, these molecules are more easily “washed off” the soil with a rain and can be taken up by canola plants.

2. Fertilizer history. Look at what rates and sources have been used on that field the past five years. Have these rates have been adequate to match removal? Perhaps

you have been applying adequate rates of nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur, but what about potassium? Most Prairie soils still have adequate potassium reserves, but tight canola rotations and high canola yields will be mining the soil and deficiencies are starting to show up on some farms. Given that 75 per cent of potassium is returned to the field in the straw, a rate of 30 pounds of actual potassium per acre would be enough to maintain soil reserves for a 40- to 50-bushel crop.

3. Tissue test. These can be useful tools, but only if used in context with all other diagnosis techniques — especially point 5. A tissue test may show that the plant is deficient in phosphorus or calcium, for example, but heavy rains and saturated soils may have stopped nutrient uptake. The nutrients may be in the soil at adequate rates, but the plant simply can’t access them. So even if the tissue test shows deficiency, a rescue application of these products will not help. Plants may recover on their own when soils dry out again.

4. Herbicide history. Is there any chance of carryover from products applied one or two years ago? In dry conditions or very wet conditions, herbicides can take longer than expected to break down to safe recropping levels for canola.

5. Environment. Cold, wet, hot and dry can all stress canola plants, creating symptoms that may look like nutrient deficiencies. If neighbours have similar symptoms, they are probably the result of frost, excess moisture or drought stress.

6. History of the land. Recently broken forage land is likely to be depleted in a lot of nutrients. Canola seeded into long-term alfalfa land is one example where you may see severe crop stunting and delayed maturity as a result of phosphorus deficiency. (See the photo.)

7. Look at other fields for similar symptoms.

When diagnosing for a specific nutrient, first look at a crop that tends to be most sensitive to that nutrient. If your farm is depleted of

Got a problem with podding? Check the weather history for the previous two weeks. Extended hot or cool conditions can cause canola plants to abort flowers. This plant, reared in a lab for the CanoLAB sessions, experienced 10 C days and 9 C nights before going back to warmer temperatures. In response, the plant left a 12-inch stretch of missing pods up the stem.

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Careful of making assumptions when you see purple leaves. Many stresses — nutrient deficiency of many types, herbicide carryover, disease, for example — can each cause canola leaves to turn purple. copper for example, this deficiency is likely to show up in wheat before any other crop.

Same with potassium. Cereals are more likely to show potassium deficiency symptoms when soil levels drop below 300 lb./ ac. Symptoms may not be obvious in canola until soil reserves drop below 150 lb./ac.

Potassium deficiency symptoms in canola include a yellowish brown “scorched” look at leaf margins edges, yellowing of bottom leaves first, and uneven pod maturity. (But given the theme of these article, other causes can lead to similar symptoms.)

Once again, with emphasis To make sure this “don’t jump to conclusions” message got through, CanoLAB had a second station on crop diagnostics, with special emphasis on emergence issues and temperature stress. Doug Moisey, Canola Council of Canada senior agronomy specialist, introduced his station, saying “Welcome to CSI — canola scene investigation.”

Moisey and his station mate, Murray Hartman, provincial oilseed specialist for Alberta, kicked off the session with a hypothetical situation: You’re scouting seven to 10 days after seeding to check for any emergence issues, and you notice some cotyledons are turning yellow. “What could cause this?”

Moisey asked the group. Right on cue, he got the varied mix of answers he anticipated.

“Herbicide carryover.”

“Fertilizer toxicity in the seed row.”

“Flooding.”

“Frost.”

“Seedling disease.”

“Insects.”

And, of course, these are all possible correct answers. Moisey and Hartman went on to provide visual scouting tips to help growers and agronomists narrow the search through process of elimination.

Herbicide carryover. If it is a growing point injury from Group 2 herbicide carryover, look for increased damage at every point where you’d expect sprayer boom overlaps, and look in the four corners of the field. Corners are a great place to look for herbicide injury symptoms because right in the corner where the

Consider the field’s history when diagnosing a problem. Recently broken forage land, for example, is likely to be depleted in a lot of nutrients, including phosphorus. This canola was seeded into a field that had been in alfalfa for years. The flowering side of the field was given a phosphorus top up at the time of seeding. The side with tiny stunted plants received no phosphorus fertilizer. Source: Lyle Cowell, Viterra sprayer makes a sharp turn, one end of the boom is going so fast, application rates would be a small fraction of normal, so injury symptoms should be minimal, while rates would have been many times higher than normal at the other end, which would have been almost stopped while the machine made the turn.

Fertilizer toxicity. This will occur in patterns, often worse in drier or lighter parts of the field that don’t have the moisture to diffuse fertilizer concentrations beside the seed. You may also notice differences row to row if some openers are worn more than others and not providing required seed/fertilizer separation.

Flooding. Seedlings may emerge in flooded water, but lack of oxygen can impede root development and nutrient uptake, stalling growth. In the case of flooding, stands may emerge nicely on hill tops and not at all in low spots.

Frost damage. Look at the stem. Severe frost damage will cause stems to brown and dry up at the growing point, up from the soil surface. If there has been a frost but the hypocotyl (the part of the seedling’s stem at and below the soil surface) is still strong threefour days after the event, the seedling may survive the frost.

Seedling disease. Infected stems may look like frost damage, but look at the location.

Stem and hypocotyl damage near the soil surface and below is more likely a seedling disease. Seedling diseases can be more common in canola seeded too deep into cool soils.

That’s simply because the vulnerable period is longer and vulnerable plant surface is bigger: plants seeded deep take longer to emerge and the vulnerable hypocotyl has to be an inch or two longer compared to a shallow seeded plant.

Insect chewing. Insect chewing will take chunks out of them stem or slice the stem right off. Seedling disease is a general rot or lesions on or through the hypocotyl. Look at the hypocotyl with a magnifying glass to verify disease or insect chewing on roots and stems and leaves.

Canola like a hormonal teenager The second half of Moisey and Hartman’s CSI station looked at heat and cold stress effects from bolting to flower.

Canola hormone balances are very sensitive to stresses. “Canola is like a teenager. It tends to over-react,” Hartman says. What he means is that canola can continue to demonstrate hormone response to cool or hot temperatures for up to a week after the temperature stress has ended. A common symptom of heat or cool stress at flowering is a long section of blanks on flowering stems. Canola likes warm (not hot) days and cool nights.

Hot days combined with warm nights or cool days and cool nights during flower can result in blank pod spaces up the raceme.

In the CanoLAB session, Moisey showed one plant, reared in the lab, that had experienced 10 C days and 9 C nights. It had a 12-inch stretch of missing pods up the stem, with normal flowering and podding resuming above these blanks. (See the photo.) By blanks, we’re talking complete blanks — no pods at all, just a tiny pod stem with nothing attached.

Moisey and Hartman used this moment to explain canola’s differing response to nutrient stress — “starvation mode” — versus environmental stress — “shock mode.”

“In starvation mode, plants typically do everything to conserve reproductive parts — the pods — whereas in shock mode, the stress response often results in reproductive parts being lost,” Moisey says.

“The key to proper diagnostic procedure is to be observant, keep good notes throughout the growing season for all fields, and ask the right questions,” he says. “Don’t jump to conclusions before considering all possibilities.”

By following the tips in this article, agronomists and growers can be fairly certain in most cases what happened and come up with the best course of action. Sometimes that will be to do nothing, and that’s OK. “There is no sense spending money on a cure when your diagnostic procedure uncovers that the problem is something the crop will work through on its own,” Moisey says.

For more on the other 5 stations at CanoLAB, please read the Canola Watch newsletter from March 9, 2012. You’ll find it at www.canolawatch.org. n CROPS GUIDE

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NUTRIENTS

JUST SO Nitrogen most important nutrient, requires excellent knowledge base to work best

BY GORD LEATHERS

I

t’s spring and, according to the poets, this is the time when a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love — unless he’s a farmer, then they lightly turn to thoughts of nitrogen.

Nitrogen is probably the first form of fertilizer that farmers start budgeting for as the next season starts and that makes perfect sense. It’s one of the principle elements in proteins, in DNA, and it sits at the very core of life itself. It’s just that important.

“We have to have adequate nitrogen for crop production, for people to eat, and for every process in life,” says Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada soil scientist Cindy Grant.

“It’s an important part of the protein that we, the plants we grow, and the microbes in the soil have in all of our bodies. Everything requires nitrogen.”

Before the Green Revolution, farmers solved the nitrogen problem by applying animal manures to their fields, and rotating to legume crops every couple of years. Modern inorganic fertilizers wield 20 to 30 times the punch of the old organic treatments and they’ve led to monumental increases in production. But it’s not yet the perfect solution.

Nitrogen compounds can be highly soluble in water so where the water moves so also does the ammonia. Nitrogen fertilizers also like to volatilize and move into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide, a highly potent greenhouse gas. Therein lies the farmer ’s dilemma, how to keep that expensive nitro-

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gen in the field where it feeds a crop rather than losing it to the environment where it becomes a major headache. How does a farmer wring the most value from an important input? It starts on the frontline with the farmers themselves.

“They need to know their system, they need to know their soil and they need to know the environment that they’re working in,” Grant says. “Some of the responsibility is on the farmers and there’s lots of information provided by provincial government offices, by us, and by the fertilizer sales people. The internet is also a huge resource.”

The theory is well covered but, when it comes to the practical, this is where the farmer’s critical eye comes into play. Every field has its own folds and wrinkles and what works in one corner may not be effective in the other. The ones who know best how each portion of the acreage behaves are the ones who’ve seen it year after year from the seat of a tractor and then the cab of a combine. A farmer’s own observations and records are a good place to start. What’s worked well before will probably work well again, with some room for tweaking.

Nitrogen will behave according to a number of different factors. The formulation is important and nitrogen comes in three basic formulations, ammonium (NH4), nitrate (NH3) and urea, an organic compound best known as a component of urine. Ammonium and urea are more prone to volatilization then nitrate but nitrate is more prone to leaching and denitrification.

Soil type and soil moisture can be a factor as well as this year’s crop and last year’s residue. The desired protein level of this year’s crop is also important since nitrogen is essential for protein formation. Once a farmer has decided what crop to grow and what formulation to use the next step is to consider when and how to place it.

“The right time, right source, right rate and right placement is the way we’re talking about that right now because you only want to put on only as much nitrogen as is needed by the crop,” Grant says. “You want to have it there in the rooting zone when the crop needs it but you don’t want to place it too soon and

you don’t want to have any left there the crop has finished using it.”

The Prairies tend to be fairly dry and this helps to keep nitrogen in place until it’s needed. Additionally, it’s cool in the spring.

Soil metabolism, the workings of all the different organisms within the topsoil, slows down in lower temperatures. In turn, nitrogen losses slow down as well.

Western Canadian farmers take advantage of this by banding nitrogen fertilizer below last year ’s crop residue. Separating the fertilizer from the residue keeps the microbes away. This keeps them from using it themselves to make their own protein and, consequently, immobilizing the nitrogen. A concentrated band will kill any microbes that are too close, leaving the fertilizer for the crop.

“In Western Canada there are a couple of relatively simple rules to look at,” Grant says. “You want to put nitrogen fertilizer on as close as possible to the time that the plant is going to use it so a one-pass seeding and fertilizing system is very good. If you don’t have a drill that does it in one pass, putting it on immediately in front of the seeding operation is good as well. You want to use a source that’s efficient for the environment you’re working in and you want to put it in a position where it reduces the potential for loss to the atmosphere, the soil or to the water.”

There are newer types of fertilizers on the market where the pellets are coated with a polymer. Referred to as “smart nitrogen,” this coating keeps the pellet from dissolving before the plant can get there. The idea is to keep the fertilizer where it belongs rather than leaching away or disappearing into the atmosphere. One of the advantages is seed safety. Since the product is coated the seedlings aren’t exposed to a concentrated burst of toxic ammonia or urea.

Another advantage is timing the application so that you can put it on in the fall.

That way an extra application may be avoided and a farmer can ease the workload by doing one operation in advance.

“Pellets that restrict loss in the fall when it can be wet and allow it to be released when the plant needs it in the spring are a really good niche for that product,” Grant says.

“Hopefully that type of thing is where we’ll go in the future so you can get the release matched very closely to the plant’s requirements and have a system that can increase our fertilizer use efficiency even under dry conditions.” ■

WGRF RESEARCH UPDATE

All in the genes Hello high-yielding, early-maturing spring wheat varieties

BY VAL OMINSKI

F

arming spring wheat on the prairies has always been a crapshoot.

Harvest as late as you can for maximum yield and high protein content; but risk these advantages and more in the event of early frost.

Of course, you can choose an earlymaturing variety, but then you pay the price with lower yields and protein content.

But what if someone were to tell you that there’s a new variety around the corner that flowers earlier, thereby triggering post-flowering growth and maturity earlier? You get the high yields and protein content — but you can harvest earlier and avoid frost.

Not only that, your crop will get a head start on weeds, and early heading and maturity will allow it to escape weed competition WGRF Crops Guide Ad_halfpagefullbleed.pdf 1 11-12-19 10:42 PM for soil moisture and nutrients.

Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) is a farmer-funded and directed non-profit organization investing primarily in wheat and barley variety development to the benefit of western Canadian producers. Through investments of over $57 million, WGRF has assisted in the development and release of more than 100 new wheat and barley varieties over the past decade and a half, many of which are today seeded to large portions of the cropland in Western Canada. WGRF also invests in research on other western Canadian crops through the Endowment Fund. In fact, since 1981 the WGRF Endowment Fund has supported a wealth of innovation across Western Canada, providing over $26 million in funding for over 230 diverse research projects such as this one: Sound too good to be true? Not so if you look at the work of Dr. Dean Spaner, a University of Alberta professor and wheat breeder.

With funding from the Western Grains Research Foundation, as well as from the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund and the Natural Sciences and Energy Research Council, he and his graduate students have been conducting projects for the past eight years to study and manipulate genes that they believe to be responsible for wheat maturity.

“We first had to understand the genetics before we could start manipulating the genes,” said Spaner. “During the course of our research we have uncovered some of the genetic makeup of modern early-maturing Canadian wheat.”

Spaner and his team focused first on the vernalization genes that cause flowering.

“Some Canadian spring wheat cultivars with high yield and late maturity have the gene Vrn B-1 or Vrn D-1, and not Vrn A-1, while early-maturing but lower-yielding varieties may have the Vrn A-1 gene alone,” he said. “Thus we looked at different combinations of these Vrn genes.”

The result is good news for Canadian

producers. The researchers have developed experimental breeding lines and are evaluating them for potential release in the testing system. This means testing in 10 to 15 environments for three years, and the possibility of commercialization several years after that.

At the least, some of these lines can be used for germplasm development, Spaner said. Either way, there is an almost certain future for high-yielding, faster-maturing spring wheat varieties.

“This is one among many difficult things to do in wheat breeding,” he said.

Spaner will now continue to look for gene combinations that can create even shorter, faster seed-filling periods — while maintaining the quality and yield that has traditionally come from slower maturity. His team will attempt to find and locate as-yet unknown early-maturity genes, once again studying them and attempting manipulations.

Spaner ’s research has the potential to reduce downgrading and put billions of dollars into Canada’s farm economy. It also has global importance for plant breeding and the understanding of crop adaptation in northern climates. ■

Farmer Funded Farmer Directed Research

To find out more, visit www.westerngrains.com

MACHINERY

Carbon trail A reduced carbon footprint is lighter on the farmers’ bottom line

BY BRAD BRINKWORTH, MERISTEM MEDIA

A

re you getting the most you can out of your farm machinery?

One of the most important things producers need to know in order to answer this question is how much energy they are using. Until now, that’s been a tough figure to pinpoint.

But Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD), along with Climate Change Central, has developed a new “carbon footprint calculator,” based on heaps of the best quality farm data available, designed by agricultural engineers to do just that.

Best of all, says Lawrence Papworth of the ARD AgTech Centre in Lethbridge, Alta., the calculator is tied to a step-by-step program producers can use to not only understand their energy efficiency but ramp it up substantially.

“Carbon is a word that gets a lot of attention these days as a trendy term,” says Papworth. “But really when it comes to day-to-day farm field operations it has exceptional relevance as a key measure for farm management.

If your carbon use is higher than it should be or could be, bottom line is you’re losing money you don’t have to lose. The calculator is designed as a tool farmers can use to see where they’re at. If they’re high, they can plug into a program to pinpoint the issue and fix it.”

Shift to more accurate energy assessment The calculator effort is the latest component of an energy-assessment program that started as a pilot program for dairy, swine and poultry facilities. The results of the assessments give producers information on how their operation uses energy and ways to save energy.

The assessment program also verifies energy savings on each farm.

If your carbon use is higher than it should be or could be, bottom line is you’re losing money you don’t have to lose.

The success of that initial phase lead to expansion plans toward a “whole farm” effort, with a key piece to that puzzle identified as having a way to measure energy at the field operations level.

The carbon calculator was designed to fill that gap.

It represents a first-of-its kind effort in Canada. It will help producers identify and reduce their energy use. It can help industry do the same thing at a broader level, tying in with the trend today to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Practical tool At a basic level, the calculator is designed as a straightforward informational and diagnostic tool, says Papworth. “There are a lot of things you can do with it.

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keep as efficient as they can, this is really a tool that is very hands-on and very practical.”

Use of the calculator is simple, step-by-step and done on a field basis, he says. “You input your information for a field, then it figures out the energy you are using.

If that level is high, you can then take a closer look and find out where the issue is.”

The backing of the energy-assessment program makes the calculator an improvement-oriented tool, says Papworth. The computer program that runs the calculator includes a wealth of built-in information that comes up on its own as producers follow prompts. This includes tips on potential issues and how to address them. The energy program also provides access to knowledgeable people who can work with the producer through on-farm visits or by phone.

“Producer value is really the focus,” says Papworth.

“We want to help producers pinpoint where the inefficiencies are and help them find solutions. We’re using the calculator and all the information the calculator program contains, along with quality human expertise and judgment. Both components use the best knowledge we have available.”

Currently, Papworth and colleagues are setting up plans to test run the calculator as part of the energyassessment program with a limited number of producers. “That will help identify any bugs or any little things we can tweak to improve,” says Papworth. “After that, we will get plans in motion to make the tool widely available.”

Benchmarks and comparisons The calculator effort and energy-assessment program are part of a bigger trend where a broad swath of industry is targeting ways to get a better handle on energy use in agriculture and find ways to maximize energy efficiency, both from the perspectives of individual producers and the industry as a whole.

“We’re really looking forward to building the base of information on just what is happening out there, as a basis for benchmarks and comparisons,” says Papworth.

“When we get it launched, we’ll start building information on different types of fields and different types of areas. That will give farmers a gauge of where they sit compared to producers in similar situations, including with specific crops. And at an industry level that information can really help programs that need to better measure energy use — including specific aspects such as greenhouse gas emissions — and set targets for improvements.

“We believe this effort will go a long way to giving farmers and industry those baselines they need to really make progress.”

What does Papworth expect when the producer information starts rolling in? “I’m sure there’ll be a group of farmers who are fairly efficient, there’ll be an average and some that aren’t. But the big thing we can count on is we will have a much better basis to make improvements once we have that information.”

Slashing energy costs The calculator is fundamentally a sophisticated tool that gets farmers to hone in on some simple but very important questions, he says. “What we’re hoping is a producer can say ‘well I’m not very efficient, what should I look at?’ They can take a look at their tractor, and say ‘well do I have it ballasted properly? Are the tires on it pressure correct? Am I getting the most out of my power usage?’ Those are typically the major things. But we also hope they get into a level of management where they say ‘OK what if I eliminate that tillage operation?

What would that do?’”

The pressure is coming to have more of that mindset all the time, says Papworth.

“I think in general producers are pretty efficient with their fuel use, but as the price of fuel goes up and there’s more scrutiny of emissions on all fronts, the bottom line is they have to become more efficient.” n

Meristem is a Calgary-based communications firm that specializes in writing about western agriculture, food and land use. More articles at www.meristem.com.

Fast-track to slashing energy use, costs Filling the knowledge gap on how farmers are using energy is a major piece of the puzzle to enabling quick improvements Developing the carbon calculator was a long, detailed process, says Lawrence Papworth of the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) AgTech Centre. “One of the big gaps in the energy area is looking at field operations, and there are a lot of variables that come with doing that. It’s fairly easy to look at a livestock barn because its basically natural gas and electricity use in it, but when you start getting into field operations and fuel it’s a lot more complex.”

But within that complexity, Papworth and colleagues saw lots of opportunity. “We did want to develop something for crop farmers because they do spend a lot of money on energy — it’s always close to the top among the major inputs. So we kicked around a bunch of ideas and we thought a calculator that looks at this area could really provide a lot of value. One of the first things we did was look around to see if there were any calculators out there.

There were some, but they weren’t to the detail that we wanted them to be.

So we set out to develop a calculator that had the detail in it.”

Key examples In addition to the field specific information on energy use, the calculator includes a number of related components that help ensure equipment is looked after and used most effectively.

Tire pressure. Among the examples, the calculator uses Nebraska Tractor Test data as a basis to provide recommendations for a number of factors related to tractors and related equipment. “You can use that to figure out what your pressure should be in your tires,” says Papworth.

“You can also use it to balance your tractor — depending on what weight you’re pulling it will tell you how much weight you should have on your tractor. That’s a nice feature.”

Balance and equipment matching. The calculator also provides suggestions on setting up optimal matches of specific types of equipment. “If your tractor is oversized, it’ll suggest you look at gearing up,” says Papworth. “It will suggest the opposite if your tractor doesn’t have enough power and as a result is not a good match for the traction equipment.”

Running scenarios to see how much is too much. One of the most eye-opening and helpful features, says Papworth, is the ability of the calculator to run scenarios showing the advantages of eliminating specific types of operations.

“It gives the producer a new way to look at energy management,” says Papworth. “After a while, they will start to think that way — ‘how much would I have saved if I had eliminated that operation on that field’ and the calculator will figure that out. For example, ‘what if I didn’t cultivate’ or what if I did two fewer operations on that field.’ The calculator will encourage more efficient management.”

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plant science

Get to the

Root of It Roots are one of the most important parts of any thriving plant, but how much to we really know about them?

By Gord Leathers

T

here’s no denying the importance of roots to healthy plants.

We know that plants collect many of the raw materials from which they build tissue by means of the roots, a conduit into the ground reserves of moisture and nutrients. They’re a structural foundation that helps support the plant as it grows toward the sun. It’s a two-way road as well. Shed root tissue also serves as a source of nutrition for the soil ecosystem, a way to take converted solar energy and deliver it to the multitude of organisms that make up the complex biosphere below ground.

Clearly there’s more to roots than we imagine. When you take all the main axes, the secondary structures as well as the myriad of tiny hairs and put them all end to end the distance becomes quite impressive. Still, since they’re underground, roots are largely out of sight and out of mind, a part of the plant anatomy we’ve largely ignored in botany, ecology and agriculture. Professor Michael Goss of the University of Guelph understands this well as he talks about the plant kingdom’s hidden half.

“In a lot of the illustrations, you’ll see pictures which show a very elaborate above-ground part and then some squiggly lines that represent the root system,” he said.

“It’s really informative about what’s happening above ground and then it tells you nothing of any consequence except that there’s a difference between a tap root and a fibrous root system. And that’s about it.”

But it’s all much more complex than that. Just ask Chad Koscielny, a graduate student in agriculture at the

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University of Manitoba. He laughs when he talks about a study his thesis adviser handed him while he was working on his Masters thesis, an examination of root growth and seed yield in canola. He was pondering at what stage he should dig up the plant to measure the roots and the paper from 1937 helped make up his mind.

“There was research by Pavlychenko, where he dug up a mature wild oat plant and his technician spent the better part of a summer washing the root and measuring it all by hand,” he explained. “All told, the root was 86.9 kilometres long. That’s why I only went to the fourleaf stage.”

Koscielny decided early in his academic career to take a good long look at this part of the plant that we don’t see, in part because of the encouragement of one professor at the university.

“Back in 2008 when I first came to the university to look at doing my Master’s thesis I ran into Martin Entz.

He mentioned roots as a new and exciting area to look into and so I took hold of that.”

Koscielny ran field trials over two summers using both hybrid and open-pollinated varieties of canola, eight different genotypes in all. Plots were fairly small, about one-and-a-half metres by six. Five samples were taken per plot.

“We came up with this high-tech method of pounding in three-inch PVC pipe over top of the canola seedling using two by fours with a hammer. We collected the shoot material as well, took it back and dried it,” he said. “In root research one of the biggest issues is

Root types

In a lot of the illustrations, you’ll see pictures which show a very elaborate above ground part and then some squiggly lines that represent the root system.

— michael goss, university of guelph plant to plant variation. It’s very difficult to account for this in roots because you don’t know the difference until you’ve actually got them.”

These solid core samples were approximately 15 centimetres deep and once the plugs were removed from the ground, they were taken back to the lab, frozen and measured over the winter. Each sample was hand washed, the roots separated out, stained and painted with glycerol. This was necessary to evaluate the roots using imaging software developed at the University of Manitoba. The roots were scanned and the imaging system measured and calculated the root length as well as the root area. Once done, the roots were dried and weighed.

“The traits collected were root length, root area, root dry weight, shoot dry weight, leaf area and physiological maturity,” Koscielny explained. “We wanted to collect that to make sure that I wasn’t just looking at the maturity of the genotypes in relationship to seed yield, I wanted to be able to eliminate that as a factor.”

The results of his study have suggested a very strong relationship between the shoot dry weight to the seed yield. He also strong relationship between root length and seed yield but this was when he measured plants at the two-leaf stage. The results were not as strong for the three- to four-leaf stage and this is probably because these roots are a lot more elaborate and a lot more difficult to separate and measure.

“The roots getting substantially larger so I don’t think I was able to get the entire root system with some of the larger ones within that core,” he said. “So this stage didn’t work out quite as well. Thank goodness we did multiple stages.”

As a final test, Koscielny took the dif-

ferent genotypes out of the field and did a growth room study. He put seedlings on blotter paper and put them in a light tank where simulated sunlight, nutrients and moisture were carefully metered. After seven days the seedlings were taken from the paper and the roots were photographed with a digital camera. He fed the images into the software and compared the rootlength data to the yields he’d recorded in his two years of field trials. This was fine for short-term data but it would be better to tap into a source of long-term yield studies.

That was when he found a treasure trove of long-term seed yield data from one of the major seed companies.

“Pioneer Hi-Bred was gracious enough to allow me access to their database and this was these same eight genotypes grown in small plot testing programs over the past years,” he said. “This was across Western Canada so it was a more robust data set, especially since these are small plot trials.

So early seedling root growth has a strong positive relationship to seed yield. It was great to be able to say that.”

He also concluded that heterosis, the fabled hybrid vigor, showed strong early root growth as well with the hybrid varieties outperforming the open pollinated varieties.

“This has the potential to become a valuable breeding tool, another note that breeders can use prior to ever going to the field to place more stringent standards on their selections. So it has that potential,” he said.

“It’s also a platform for more research as any research is. You answer some questions but there’s a lot more to be asked. Now with some of this basic research done on canola roots, people can look into more complex questions, some of which has been done on other crops, such as corn.” n

There are two fundamental types of root morphology. One is the taproot, and this is what you see in a turnip or a sugar beet where the main root swells and acts as a storage structure.

“The main axis, the branches and the beet itself are the “tap” part of that taproot which actually swells and then undergoes the secondary thickening to form the beet that we harvest,” according to University of Guelph plant scientist Michael Goss. “And around that beet you still get lateral roots and some of those lateral roots have lateral roots on them so you have first, second and third orders of branch roots.”

Grasses, on the other hand, form a dense mass of small roots called a fibrous root system. Several different roots also form and descend from each tiller as they branch from the main plant.

“Canola has a good root system that starts with a taproot and rapidly forms branches so it finishes up with a root system which is much more fibrous,” Goss said.

“Over 70 per cent of the canola root is in the top 15 centimetres of the soil profile and that was a number that kind of struck me,” said U of M grad student Chad Koscielny.

“When I think of canola roots, they grow to a depth of 150 centimetres. Water extraction has been recorded from a depth of 150 centimetres, but up to 95 per cent of it comes from the top 100 centimetres. The bulk of the whole rooting system is in the top 15 centimetres to gather the nutrients and 85 per cent of the root length is comprised of fine roots, less than 0.4 millimetres in diameter.”

This tells you that there’s a lot more going on under the soil surface then many of us realize. With most crop species the roots don’t go down too deep but there are some exceptions. Corn, for example, is one of the giants with roots pressing on to just over a metre.

Wild perennial grasses, such as big bluestem, will go deeper and have been measured going below two metres or more.

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MALT BARLEY

Filling the gaps BMBRI nudges malt barley research to meet grower and industry needs B y R h é al C e n e r i n i

A

rabinoxylans, transposons and beta glucanase activity… just a few of the terms that roll off Michael Brophy’s tongue as he talks about the innovative research projects that the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute (BMBRI) is currently funding across Canada.

The BMBRI brings together several key players in the barley sector, from maltsters to the people who brew it into beer as well as representatives of the seed industry, in an effort to maintain the competitiveness of Canadiangrown barley. Brophy is the BMBRI’s executive director and the work it is supporting is critical, he believes, to the kind of research that will keep Canada on the forefront of the malting and brewing industries.

“It’s all about filling the gaps,” he says, “There are a lot of groups that are funding research work on barley, including the Western Grain Research Fund (WGRF) and the Alberta Barley Commission (ABC). But we view the grants that the BMBRI provides as seed dollars that researchers can then leverage to get access to other pools of money. Our support is both synergistic and complementary to what they’re receiving from other funding bodies.”

In the past year, the BMBRI has distributed $92,000 worth of grants to the research community. Here’s a look at what kind of bang this industry group is getting for its bucks:

Jumping genes and the QLTs Dr. Jaswinder Singh at McGill University is leading work on the identification of malting-related genes for molecular breeding. To do so, he is using state-of-theart technology that he has developed and that consists in using transposons or “jumping genes” that move from one location to the other on the malting barley genome. This provides Dr. Singh and his team, which also includes researchers at the Grain Research Laboratory (GRL) and the Crop Development Centre in Saskatoon, with an excellent tool in understanding the structure and the function of the barley genome.

Dr. Singh explains that malting quality in barley varieties is determined by a large number of interrelated components, each with its very own “genetic architecture.” Genetic-mapping studies have in fact identified more than 250 Qualitative Trait Loci (QLTs) associated with 19 malting barley traits. One of the major QLTs — QLT2 — is found on chromosome 4H in the barley genome.

“In this study, our ultimate aim,” states Dr. Singh, “is to generate a series of new barley lines containing trans28

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posons in order to saturate the malting-quality QLT on chromosome 4H.” This, he says, will hopefully lead to the enhancement of malting quality in future barley varieties.

Michael Brophy is very optimistic about the benefits of Dr. Singh’s research, both in the near-term as well as down the road.

“There are several genetic traits that have a major impact on malting quality,” he says, “Things like extraction levels, low protein and disease resistance. We’re not telling Dr. Singh which traits to find but his work will be instrumental in providing information to breeders on where certain traits are and this will enable them to do their job of developing better-quality varieties.”

Another important spinoff of this project, and the many others that the BWBRI supports, is the development of what Brophy calls “new blood” — the next generation of scientists who will take up the mantle of barley research in this country.

Move over red wine Arabinoxylans are interesting things. They make up a small part of barley grain and are found in the cell walls of various barley tissues, like the hull, the aleurone and the endosperm. They are supposed to break down during the malting process. But when they get together in long chains, they can lead to high viscosity in solutions, something that leads to filtration problems and haziness in beer. That’s the downside.

The upside is that these same compounds, when they form short chains or oligosaccharides, also support the growth of health-promoting bacteria. As a matter of fact, arabinoxylans are even associated with certain compounds that inhibit fats and scavenge free radicals in the bloodstream.

Marta Izydorczk, a research scientist and program manager at the Canadian Grain Commission’s GRL, is trying to get a better handle on arabinoxylans and how to measure their presence in malting barley. Her work, which also involves scientists at the University of Manitoba, consists of surveying Canadian malting barley samples for the presence of arabinoxylans and then calibrating equipment capable of measuring them in a practical and cost-effective fashion.

“At this stage,” Izydorczyk says, “our work is focused on trying to get a better understanding of arabinoxylans and the extent to which their presence in a given barley sample will subsequently show up in the beer that is brewed from these same samples. But ultimately, we think that this can lead to a closer examination of the

whole malting and brewing process to see if the health benefits of arabinoxylans can be enhanced.”

Izydorczyk believes that, for the research community, it is very important to receive some guidance from industry in terms of its research needs. The project on which she is currently working was identified

by BMBRI members as a priority. She hopes that her work will eventually enable maltsters and brewers to take advantage of the potential health benefits of arabinoxylans without the drawbacks of poor filtration and increased viscosity.

“Maybe, beer can even be promoted, at some point, as being beneficial for human health,” she suggests.

The beer-lovers among us can only hope…

Plant on pea stubble What are the agronomic practices which are most apt to produce the kind of uniform malting barley quality that brewers and maltsters require in their plants? That is the topic of a very large-scale project that is being spearheaded by research scientist John O’Donovan out of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Research Station in Lacombe, Alta. In addition to the BMBRI, it has received support from the Alberta Barley Commission, the Canadian Wheat Board and RAHR Malting, with some supplementary funding from AAFC. Michael Brophy describes this as a multi-layered, multiyear project that looks at the interaction of a number of factors, including the use of certified versus bin-run seed, seeding rates and dates and the use and rates of nitrogen fertilizer. Its aim, he says, is to come up with a series of agronomic recommendations which give producers the best shot at getting their barley accepted for malt.

The preliminary findings, according to John O’Donovan, are as follows: • Seeding barley early reduces the risk of poor quality, especially in terms of excessive protein; • Seeding barley at 300 seeds/m2 in most cases optimizes yield and quality; • Increasing nitrogen increases yield and kernel weight but negatively affects the other aspects of malting quality; and •P lanting barley on barley results in lower yields; yields are highest when barley is planted on field pea residue and barley on peas does not result in a significant increase in grain protein levels.

Funding the resistance movement While dry conditions like those experienced in the latter part of the 2011 growing season will temporarily

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keep fusarium head blight at bay, growers know that it is always lurking in the shadows.

Standard practice in the breeding of new barley varieties has been to grow them out in the nursery and check the resulting samples for signs of the disease, specifically the presence of deoxnivalenol or DON, a mycotoxin that is produced in crops infected with FHB. This process is very expensive and draws out the time that is required to come up with new and promising cultivars.

Enter Dr. Pat Juskiw and her team of researchers at the Alberta Agriculture Field Crop Development Centre in Lacombe, just across the highway from the AAFC facility where John O’Donovan works. Juskiw is looking at doing RNA analysis of attached leaf material instead of waiting for grain samples to be harvested and evaluated. If she is successful, there will be no more waiting for crops to mature: turnaround time for FHB research will be considerably reduced.

Betting on beta glucanase Just like Marta Izydorczyk’s research on arabinoxylans, a better understanding of beta glucanase activity in Canadian two-row malting barley varieties is a priority for the members of the BMBRI. Why? Because beta glucanase is an enzyme that breaks down glucan, a carbohydrate found in barley, which interferes with the brewing process. Dr. Aaron Beattie of the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre is leading the research into beta-glucanase.

His goal is not only to unravel how beta glucanase works but also to identify some of the molecular markers that are linked to high levels of this beneficial enzyme. While many of the other projects funded by the BMBRI are more than one year in duration (in fact, the barley agronomy project has been ongoing since 2008), the beta glucanase work that Dr. Beattie is doing is limited to the current year. Michael Brophy is very hopeful that once Dr. Beattie has completed the project, the industry will be in a much better position to breed for increased beta glucanase activity.

“In many ways,” Brophy explains, “it is a typical BMBRI project in that it addresses some of the underlying, basic research that has to be done in order to enable further downstream work that will lead to improved competitiveness for the Canadian brewing and malting industries.”

And like the results of the other projects the BMBRI has funded, the findings of Dr. Beattie and his team at the Crop Development Centre will be non-proprietary.

“The BMBRI’s goal is always to move the entire industry forward,” Brophy concludes. “We do so by funding broad-based but focused research that addresses our members’ priorities.” n

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CROPS GUIDE

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APRIL 2012

29

MARKETS

Not all upside The underlying dangers in high commodity prices

W

BY DAVID DROZD Senior analyst and president, Ag-Chieve Corporation

30

CROPS GUIDE

some farmers to over-extend themReferencing the accompanying ho doesn’t selves. We all know how disastrous historical CME wheat chart as an remember the this can be, when grain prices turn example, I’d be looking for prices bull market of down and remain depressed for an to establish a new floor at approxi2007-08? This extended period. mately the $4.25 per bushel area and was an excitBut you say higher grain prices for rallies to be curbed around $9 per ing time in history when grain are here to stay, or at least that’s bushel, which is 100 per cent higher prices rallied to a new historical what you’ve been led to believe. than the previous trading range. high and the cereal grain and oilOne of the real hidden dangers in In other words, the price of seed markets realigned to a new high commodity prices is that it wheat has doubled in this new era. higher trading level. lulls farmers into a false sense of In fact, today’s price of $6.70 per One has to go all the way back to complacency. This is when Marketbushel is smack dab in the middle the early ’70s to find a similar price ing 101 flies right out the window of the new higher trading range. adjustment. It’s a good thing farmers and the sole focus turns to capturNow, before you pick up the are optimistic folks with a “there’s ing the mighty top. phone to inform me that inflation always next year” attitude because While picking a top may make has cut into these gains, I am fully 35 years was a long time to wait for for exciting conversation at the local aware of the increases in the cost of a price increase. coffee shop, there are obvious perils production since 2008, and herein lay As a technical analyst who studof being so bullish that you can’t the dangers of higher grain prices. ies chart formations, I find it interestsee straight. The biggest risk is it Paying for high-priced inputs such ing that once grain prices rallied to a may impede your ability to spot as fertilizer, (which is related to the new high in the early ’70s, they never the signs of topping action within price of corn), could cut into profit returned to the pre-’70 price levels. the context of a sound marketing margins, if commodity prices turn This is illustrated in the accompanyplan, which can subsequently lead back down and you’ve not hedged a ing chart depicting the price of wheat to spilled ink and disappointment portion of your production. at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange when a bull market ultimately colHigh commodity prices also lend (CME), formerly the Chicago Board lapses under its own weight. themselves to higher land values of Trade (CBOT).

More recently, livestock prices and increases in land rent, which is Once wheat finally broke have also realigned to a new higher another reason to effectively manthrough the $2.25 per bushel bartrading range, but as with grain age your risk. rier in the early ’70s, prices never producers, livestock producers You work hard, so you certainly dropped below that level. Technimust remember that an opportunity deserve to reward yourself by investcally speaking, what was once resisisn’t realized until you capitalize ing in retirement property in Arizona tance at $2.25 became the new level on it. Successful farmers and ranchor by replacing the old pickup truck of support. ers know when and how to manif you can afford to do so, but high Now just because prices are in age their risk and that’s really what commodity prices and low interest a new higher range, doesn’t mean marketing is all about. ■ rates can be the culprit for enticing you should slam the bin door shut expecting to get the high in 2008.

This is because markets get overdone in the blow-off stages of a CME Wheat Monthly Nearby bull market and in this particular (Chart as of March 3,2012) case the wheat market was driven 1400 higher by an anomaly called a 1300 squeeze at the Minneapolis Grain 1200 Exchange (MGEX), which spilled 1100 over to the wheat markets in Chi1000 cago and Kansas.

900 Besides, grain prices spend 800 very little time up at the high.

670 Prior to 2006, there were only two 600 instances where wheat briefly Resistance 500 spiked above $5.50 per bushel; 400 Support 1973-74 and 1995-96. Similarly, I Resistance 300 wouldn’t bet on seeing too many 200 Support spikes above $9 or $10 in the next 100 (c) Barchart.com decade and when they do occur, 0 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 they aren’t apt to last for long.

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APRIL 2012

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