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D E C E M B E R 2 0 12 E D I T I O N

PLANNING THE NEXT CROP — AND BEYOND

FOCUS ON

FERTILITY WHY IS NITROGEN SO EXPENSIVE? COVER CROPS CAN FEED YOUR FIELDS

PG.8 PG.10

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE TARGET YOUR CANOLA STAND MAKING PASTA IN PICTURES IS THE BULL DEAD OR SLEEPING?

Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240

Reduce sclerotinia losses

in canola with Pioneer Protector hybrids ®

Non-resistant 55% infection

Resistant

13% infection

Sclerotinia disease infection on canola stems in a non-resistant hybrid (left) versus Pioneer ® brand 45S52 (RR) with the Pioneer Protector Sclerotinia Resistance trait (right).

2012; Nanton, Alberta.

Sclerotinia can be a costly disease for canola growers. Lost revenues exceeded an estimated $600 million in 2010, in a year when conditions were favourable for development of the disease. While the numbers are not all tallied yet, for many areas of the Prairies incidence of sclerotinia in 2012 was higher than we have seen in quite a few years.

Management approach

1. Crop rotation 2. Final plant population of 6–10 plants per square foot 3. Sclerotinia resistant hybrids 4. Foliar fungicide

“In 2012 sclerotinia incidence was worse than 2010 and far worse than 2011. Southeast Saskatchewan experienced much higher incidence than the south-central parts of the province. Seeding date also had a huge effect on levels of incidence.”

Dave Vanthuyne, DuPont Pioneer agronomist for central and southern Saskatchewan

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2012 Proving Ground™ trial in Simpson, Saskatchewan shows Pioneer ® brand 45S54 (RR) with the Pioneer Protector Sclerotinia Resistance trait producing healthier stands of canola under significant sclerotinia pressure.

“As far as incidence and severity, 2012 has been the worst I have seen for sclerotinia since 2007. I saw ranges of incidence from less than 5% to as high as 60% in fields. Some of the fields were sprayed and still had levels in the 30% range.”

Doug Moisey, DuPont Pioneer agronomist for central and northern Alberta

Sclerotinia resistant hybrids

DuPont Pioneer, a leader in canola genetics, provides the first and only canola hybrids with built-in sclerotinia resistance on the market. The Pioneer Protector® Sclerotinia Resistance trait is built right into the seed so the risk of sclerotinia infection is greatly reduced.

The Pioneer Protector® Sclerotinia Resistance trait provides these benefits to growers:

Reduction in incidence

Greater than 50% reduction in sclerotinia incidence.*

Peace of mind

Increased flexibility and insurance when timing fungicide applications.

50% REDUCTION of sclerotinia in your canola crop

Convenience Sclerotinia protection is planted with the seed.

Season-long control

An in-plant trait that provides coverage regardless of weather patterns throughout the entire growing season.

www.pioneer.com *Field results show that Pioneer Protector ® Sclerotinia resistance can reduce the incidence of sclerotinia in a canola crop by over 50%. Individual results may vary. Depending on environmental and agronomic conditions, growers planting Pioneer Protector Sclerotinia resistant hybrids may still require a fungicide application to manage sclerotinia in their crop.

Roundup Ready® is a registered trademark used under license from Monsanto Company.

The DuPont Oval Logo is a registered trademark of DuPont.

Trademarks and service marks licensed to Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited. © 2012, PHL PR383_TechTorial_CGw_AE

®, TM, SM

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CROPs Guide december 2012

CONTENTS

EVERY ISSUE

FEATURES

ditor’s note 4 EPersonal growth is sometimes

the works 14 IAnnew network of cereal

leanings 6 G All the latest from

p or down?

18 U Some feel the drive for a

a funny thing.

the grain business.

rop Protection 16 CWhy global giants are

buying green businesses.

ore than 1,000 words 22 M Behind the scenes in a pasta plant. achinery 28 M New-generation manure spreaders are proving to be a viable fit for conservation tillage systems.

30 Markets

Is the bull market dead or just resting?

groups is under development.

new cereal council should come from the grassroots.

target plant stand 20 SIt’setaacrucial balance — getting

enough plants for optimal yield without breaking the bank.

arket support 24 M Cigi’s work with Warburtons continues to grow.

n and off 26 O Could shutting down your

aeration fans sometimes actually yield better results?

Focus On: Fertility Why so high?

8 Why has nitrogen gone up and stayed there?

over up 10 C Cover cropping might be

the next logical step in building a more productive system.

Our commitment to your privacy: At Farm Business Communications we have a firm commitment to protecting your privacy and security as our customer. Farm Business Communications will only collect personal information if it is required for the proper functioning of our business. As part of our commitment to enhance customer service, we may share this personal information with other strategic business partners. For more information regarding our Customer Information Privacy Policy, write to: Information Protection Officer, Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1.

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CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012

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EDITOR’S NOTE

PL A N NIN G T HE NE X T CRO P — A ND BE YO ND

www.agcanada.com

Slow growth

I

recently had the opportunity to interview former Saskatchewan premier Grant Devine for an article in our sister publication, COUNTRY G UIDE. Every now and then you’re handed an assignment like that which gives you the opportunity to assess how you’ve grown and matured as the years have rolled on.

I graduated high school in rural Saskatchewan in the late 1980s, into what could only be charitably described as a stagnant economy. Not Mr. Devine’s fault — the premier of a province with a commodity economy could hardly be blamed for the inevitable bust that followed the yearslong boom of the 1970s.

Young men in their late teens and early 20s, however, aren’t noted for their grasp of nuance and I was no exception. I also had the added load of insufferable idealism. Just ask my long-suffering father, who once introduced me as, “My son, Gordon, who has funny politics.”

I’ll admit to that now, along with conceding that my bad ’80s hair might not have been the wisest fashion choice, but that’s life and we are all the sum of our experiences, after all.

And where does Mr. Devine fit in this narrative? At the time, as the handy villain. Through no fault of his own he had become a repository for a lot of these negative experiences.

After talking to him at some length, however, I found myself realizing something I always should have known, but seem to have forgotten — that it’s entirely possible to be on opposite sides of an issue from someone politically and still be able to like them just fine as a person — and perhaps even see some of the wisdom in their outlook.

Partly no doubt, it was just a question of time and distance,

and a certain maturing of outlook. I will now concede that much of my animosity to the man 20 years ago was likely rooted in that lousy economy, and if Allan Blakeney had still been in charge, no doubt I’d have felt the same way about him.

I also have to give Sir Winston Churchill a nod as well, for his insightful comment on this issue: “If a man isn’t a liberal at 20, he has no heart. If he’s not a conservative at 40, he has no brain.”

While I’m not sure I’ll ever move as far right on the spectrum as some, there’s an undeniable element of truth in that statement.

My views on life have definitely become more “small c” conservative as time has moved on.

No doubt the recent spectacle of the U.S. election has also caused me to ponder these things as well.

It seems like everyone — across the political spectrum — has lost sight of a very important lesson that we all should have learned at our parents’ knee. If we don’t have something nice to say, most times we really shouldn’t say anything.

As the Internet encourages an “echo chamber” effect where we listen to sources that reinforce our current opinions, I think we could all do worse than remembering just because we disagree with someone, they’re not automatically evil. In fact, they’re probably a perfectly honourable person.

So I’ll stick my neck out and say it. I don’t think Stephen Harper or Thomas Mulcair is the next evil dictator. I think both are fundamentally democrats who will push their own well-publicized agendas as vigorously as possible, just as we’ve hired them to do. And I have officially run out of patience with anyone who suggests otherwise, about either. But I’m still not sure I’m voting for either of them. They both seem a bit radical. ■

G O R D G I L M O U R gord.gilmour@fbcpublishing.com

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DECEMBER 2012

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

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PRINTED IN CANADA Vol. 01 No. 07 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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D-Series canola hybrids are available exclusively from select independent and Co-op retailers and are backed with service from DuPont Canada.

Purchases of D-Series canola hybrids will qualify you for the 2013 DuPont™ FarmCare® Connect Grower Program.

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Roundup Ready® is a registered trademark used under license from Monsanto Company.

The DuPont Oval logo, DuPont and FarmCare® are registered trademarks or trademarks of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its affiliates. E. I. du Pont Canada Company is a licensee.

Pioneer®, the Trapezoid symbol, and Pioneer Protector are registered trademarks of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. © Copyright 2012 DuPont Canada. All rights reserved.

www.dseriescanola.ca

Gleanings g r a i n

i n d u s t r y

n e w s

Appointments

Industry Notes Canada/EU trade talks not near end A large amount of work remains to be done on a proposed free trade treaty between Canada and the European Union, which is supposed to be concluded by the end of the year, a senior Canadian official was quoted as saying by Reuters news service.

Canada, keen to diversify its exports away from the United States, says a deal with the European Union would increase two-way trade by 20 per cent.

Ottawa wants to conclude negotiations by the end of 2012 but the two sides have yet to settle contentious issues such as access for agricultural goods.

“There is a large amount of work that needs to be done,” chief Canadian negotiator Steve Verheul told civil society activists in a phone briefing, adding that the two sides were in constant contact.

Verheul’s comments were passed on to Reuters by Stuart Trew of the left-leaning Council of Canadians, which opposes the proposed deal.

University of Ottawa law professor, Michael Geist was also on the call and quoted Verheul as saying trade ministers from both sides planned to meet in Europe in mid-November.

Canada and the EU — which opened negotiations on the treaty in 2009 — have always said that the most tricky issues would be left to politicians to sort out.

“The pressure to conclude the agreement this year is readily apparent. There appears to be a bit of a disconnect, however, between the aggressive timeline and the number of outstanding issues,” Geist told Reuters.

For Canada, the pact would be the biggest since it signed the landmark North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Mexico in 1994.

Feds high on hemp Wetaskiwin MP Blaine Calkins on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has announced funding for two projects by the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA).

An Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada release said funding of $64,000 from the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) will be used to test and evaluate different hemp varieties across Canada for their food and nonfood uses. This project will help the industry identify the best hemp varieties to grow in each region for grain yield and fibre yield.

A second grant of $31,000 through the AgriMarketing Program will help the CHTA to develop promotional material, participate in key international trade shows, attract new clients, and undertake market research to identify market opportunities.

6

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DECEMBER 2012

Canpotex gets green light for B.C. terminal Canpotex, the offshore selling agency for potash mined in Saskatchewan, has received federal environmental approval to build a new export terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert, B.C. Environment Minister Peter Kent said in a statement that the terminal was not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

The project will be subject to “mitigation measures and (a) followup program” mapped out in the Environment Department’s study report.

Kent, according to his release, has now referred the project back to the federal Environment, Fisheries and Oceans and Transport departments for “appropriate action.”

Canpotex will work on the terminal project together with Canadian National Railway (CN), which hauls some of the agency’s potash on its southern B.C. line.

The Canpotex project also calls for a “rail, road and utilities corridor” on Ridley Island.

Canpotex sells potash on behalf of Agrium, PotashCorp and Mosaic Co. in key markets such as China and India.

Pulse industry gets federal cash Canada’s pulse industry will receive $617,023 through the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) to research the health and nutrition benefits of pulses.

“The AIP funding is directly supporting the industry’s long-term strategy to leverage the health and nutrition attributes of pulses,” says Pulse Canada CEO Gordon Bacon.

Research conducted under this program will advance knowledge of the role pulses can play in preventing diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and will assist the Canadian pulse industry in its efforts toward securing health claims.

As one the recipients of AIP funding, Dr. Peter Jones, director of the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals says the funding will allow further research into health factors of these crops.

“This funding will be used to identify the components in beans and peas responsible for reducing cholesterol levels, an important factor in fighting heart disease,” says Jones.

In total, seven pulse research projects were approved for funding under this program. Work will include studying various health benefits and functional attributes of beans, lentils, peas and other pulse ingredients and fractions.

clean Seed Capital Group taps Saskatchewan farmer for leadership role A Vancouver-based company that’s developed an advanced no-till precision planting system has appointed a wellknown southern Saskatchewan farmer to its executive team.

Colin Rosengren joins Clean Seed Capital Group as vice-president of Agronomic Practices and Controls.

The company holds individual patents on technologies including an all-cast opener assembly system, in-ground openers, proprietary seed and fertilizer metering and electronic control systems. Combined as a complete system the company says it will combat soil erosion, reduce seed and fertilizer use and nurture subsurface biodiversity.

Rosengren is a third-generation zerotillage, large-scale commercial farmer who specializes in intercropping. He owns and operates Rosengren Farms, a modern, innovative and sustainable commercial farm located in southeast Saskatchewan. Rosengren Farms is a pioneer of sustainable agricultural production practices and is at the leading edge of multiple intercropping systems.

“At Rosengren Farms, we are reviving practices of intercropping and innovatively making it work together with modern equipment using zero tillage in the most environmentally friendly and sustainable way possible. In fact, we are not only sustainable, we are making huge improvements to our soil and environment with this farming system for the benefit of future generations by fixing carbon, improving soil productivity, and increasing biodiversity and biological activity in our soils,” Rosengren said in a media release.

Rosengren is also one of the founding members of The Three Farmers, a small group of Saskatchewan farmers passionate about growing natural healthy food and dedicated to providing that personal connection between consumers and agro-producers.

Clean Seed, says Rosengren, brings valuable hands-on knowledge and expertise in commercial-scale no-till farming practices and will assist in pursuing opportunities in Saskatchewan and other Great Plains locations for the deployment of the company’s largescale no-till farming equipment.

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focus on fertility

Why so high?

Nitrogen and natural gas prices used to track tightly. Now gas is cheap and fertilizer is expensive — and it looks like it may stay that way for a while

L

ast spring, Doug Chorney paid $1,050 per tonne for anhydrous ammonia nitrogen fertilizer on his farm near Selkirk, Man. A few years ago, the same product cost him $650 per tonne.

Years earlier, the price tag was relatively stable at around $500 a tonne.

They’ve made no secret of the fact that the price of fertilizer is tied to the price of grain.

— Doug Chorney, Keystone Agricultural Producers Why is nitrogen fertilizer twice as expensive as it used to be? For Chorney, the answer is simple. It’s because commodity prices have spiked in recent years and fertilizer companies are taking advantage of it.

“They’ve made no secret of the fact that the price of fertilizer is tied to the price of grain,” says Chorney, who heads Keystone Agricultural Producers, Manitoba’s general farm organization.

“When you have high grain prices, demand for fertilizer rises and, therefore, so does the price.”

Yet, according to the laws of economics, it shouldn’t be that way.

8 CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012

By Ron Friesen A process developed in the early 20th century combines nitrogen from the air with hydrogen at high temperature and pressure to produce anhydrous ammonia (NH3), which is the basis for all synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. The source of hydrogen is natural gas, which accounts for 80 to 90 per cent of the cost of producing fertilizer. Therefore, when natural gas is expensive, the cost of fertilizer should be high, and vice versa. Or so the theory goes.

But look at the figures. Last April, while Chorney was paying record high prices for nitrogen fertilizer, the price of natural gas bottomed out at US$1.95 per million BTU, the lowest in years.

The disconnection between the cost of natural gas and the price of fertilizer is not lost on farmers.

“Companies increase prices because they can,” says Bob Friesen, vice-president of government affairs for Farmers of North America, a Saskatoon-based company which aims at providing cheaper inputs to producers through volume purchasing.

“It’s our sense that companies give shareholders the indication that grain and oilseed prices are high, so this should be a really good year for fertilizer margins. It appears that, at times, fertilizer prices actually track grain and oilseed prices.”

Farmers have been down this road before. In 2008, commodity prices, fuelled by an ethanol-driven demand for corn, took a sharp upward leap. About that time, U.S. natural gas wellhead prices also peaked. As a result, the price of fertilizer went through the roof.

This time, however, the situation is different.

According to the Canadian Gas Association, natural gas prices in 2011 averaged US$4 per million BTU, less than half the 2008 average price.

As of August 2012, the price stood at $2.84 per million BTU, more than 20 per cent lower than the previous five-year minimum annual price.

Meanwhile, according to Farmers of North America, the price producers pay for urea has been rising steadily

since June 2010. At the same time, the cost of manufacturing the product has been trending slowly downwards, reflecting lower natural gas prices.

“In previous years, the natural gas and fertilizer prices seemed to track each other more closely. That doesn’t seem to be the case currently,” says Jonathan Warnock, FNA’s research director.

It used to be. A March 2012 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada market outlook report says prices for natural gas and nitrogen fertilizer had a “relatively tight relationship” between 1991 and 2010. But that wasn’t always the case. For example, strong fertilizer demand in the mid1990s kept prices high, despite low natural gas prices, because plants were working at full capacity.

“Therefore, when the supply is unable to keep up with the demand, nitrogen prices can move independently of the price of their natural gas feedstock,” says the report.

Some might look at the numbers and accuse the fertilizer industry of good old-fashioned price gouging. But Chorney doesn’t buy that.

Instead, he calls it a case of charging what the market will bear.

“With record commodity prices, as we saw this summer, I think it’s pretty safe to conclude we’re going to see strong prices for fertilizer,” he says.

“Do I like that as a farmer? It’s frustrating sometimes when you look at it. But when you can sell wheat for $8.50 or $9 a bushel and canola for $12 to $15 a bushel, I can afford to pay for the nitrogen. They know that. And if I can grow a crop, I think I can still make money at those prices.”

Fertilizer companies are understandably reluctant to be drawn into the discussion. But in an email statement, Roger Larson, president of the Canadian Fertilizer Institute, tacitly acknowledges fertilizer prices are influenced by more than just the cost of raw inputs.

“The fertilizer marketplace is driven by supply and demand for food, which is influenced by soil and plant requirements, higher crop

prices, and increasing global population and improving diets around the globe and here at home in Canada,” Larson says.

A 1998 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada study concluded that noncompetitive forces influence fertilizer prices more than competitive factors do. Although dated, the study found 36 to 40 per cent of western Canadian nitrogen prices between 1991 and 1997 were due to price changes at the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a pricing benchmark. The rest was due to regional factors, such as increasing concentration in the North American fertilizer industry, which “should be of concern, as high concentration ratios are suspect in facilitating noncompetitive pricing behaviour.”

David Asbridge, a U.S. fertilizer industry analyst, says the current nitrogen problem goes back to the cold winter of 2000-01 when alreadyshort natural gas supplies were further stretched when Washington began pushing clean energy. Prices, which had been steady at around $2 per million BTU, suddenly skyrocketed. North America began importing increasingly greater volumes of cheaper gas from the Middle East.

Eventually the U.S. lost 40 per cent of its nitrogen-manufacturing capacity because plants could not compete with cheap imports.

Today, the U.S. imports half of the nitrogen it uses (Canada imports 31 per cent of its domestic fertilizer consumption). A shortage of processing capacity is cited as a major reason why nitrogen fertilizer is so expensive.

Asbridge, president of NPK Fertilizer Advisory Service in St. Louis, Missouri, says nitrogen fertilizer prices began to take off in late 2007 when ethanol demand in the United States really started to kick in and China became a major fertilizer purchaser.

All the while, natural gas prices declined because new technologies enabled the oilpatch to extract vast underground supplies of shale gas which were previously inaccessible.

Today, there’s talk about building new nitrogen plants across North America to take advantage of the natural gas glut and, hopefully, lower the cost of fertilizer.

This fall, Farmers of North America announced the formation of a limited partnership created to give farmers a mechanism to own a new fertilizer-manufacturing plant in Western Canada.

The shortage of processing capacity in North America is contributing to high fertilizer prices and a new plant is one way to deal with that, says Friesen.

“We’re not doing it to practise predatory pricing. We’re doing this because for years farmers have always been encouraged to be part of the value chain,” he says.

“Our goal in creating farmerowned fertilizer manufacturing is not to try to undercut the price or destroy the prevailing market price.

Our goal is to engage farmers in a part of the value chain where they can share in some of the profits.”

Last summer, Keystone Agricultural Producers announced Manitoba farmers had secured a seat on the board of directors of a farmerowned fertilizer plant being proposed in North Dakota.

“Manitoba farmers are supporting this world-class project because they are frustrated with the high price of fertilizer,” Chorney said in a statement. “This is an opportunity for us to impact the regional fertilizer supply and market dynamics.”

Asbridge recognizes the need for more fertilizer-manufacturing capacity in North America. But he says farmers should be careful before deciding to invest in a plant.

“When you build a new worldscale nitrogen plant that costs $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion, you’re looking at an investment that’s going to last for 40 to 50 years. They’re kind of making a bet at this point that our energy prices are going to stay low long enough to be competitive for that time period,” he says.

Asbridge calls the current combination of low natural gas prices and high nitrogen fertilizer prices an anomaly. He predicts the situation will likely change once fertilizer plants already under construction elsewhere in the world come on stream.

“If we start building facilities here in North America in addition to what’s being built in the Middle East and China, we’re on the turning point of beginning to see a little bit of a surplus in world nitrogen capacity,” he says. “Once we begin to see that surplus come on stream, we’re going to see (fertilizer) prices come under pressure.”

What’s Asbridge’s advice to farmers thinking about putting money into a fertilizer plant?

“Overall, I’m not sure this would be a good time to invest in new facilities,” he says.

“My brother farms down in West Tennessee and if he called me up today and said, ‘I’ve got an opportunity to invest in a new nitrogen facility. What do you think?’ I’d tell him to save his money.” n

Efficiency near-term goal A collection of U.S. and Manitoba farm groups hopes to build a fertilizer plant in North Dakota. A Saskatoonbased organization has created an entity which could lead to a farmer-owned fertilizer-manufacturing plant. A project underway at the University of Minnesota aims at converting wind energy into anhydrous ammonia.

Time will tell if these projects result in viable commercial operations. If they do, it could mean cheaper fertilizer for farmers. Even so, it’ll take years to see results.

What’s a farmer squeezed by high fertilizer prices to do in the meantime? The answer is to use fertilizer as efficiently as possible.

Gary Smart, a Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives business management specialist, offers some tips for doing that.

First, watch for bargains. Smart says fertilizer is usually cheaper in fall than spring, but not always.

“Keep an eye on fertilizer prices and when they’re favourable, try to work with your suppliers to either take it home or prepay and store it there for whenever you need it,” he says.

Smart also strongly recommends soil testing to determine how much fertilizer will be needed for a particular crop. Overfertilizing fields can be expensive.

“If it actually shows that you need less fertilizer, the savings of a soil test can be substantial.”

If a soil test finds potassium and phosphorus levels adequate, Smart says producers might use less K and P for a year and put the money into nitrogen for crops that are heavy users, such as wheat, canola and corn.

Some producers apply their fertilizer in fall to save time (you only need one pass in spring to put down seed) and money (fertilizer’s cheaper). But Smart says banding fertilizer in spring is more efficient because you’re placing it next to the seed for use right away. As a result, you may not require as much fertilizer. That’s a money saver, too.

Besides, if you apply fertilizer in fall, it can volatilize (evaporate). That’s particularly true if you broadcast instead of incorporating it.

Doug Chorney, who farms near Selkirk, Man., says he uses anhydrous ammonia as much as possible because it’s the most economical source of nitrogen. He uses no liquid nitrogen because it’s the most expensive form.

Of course, there are trade-offs. Liquid nitrogen is the most readily available because it doesn’t have to break down in the soil for the crop to absorb it. But it should be applied in the spring, not in fall when it’s more prone to volatilization.

Chorney says he has stopped fall banding completely.

Instead, he applies fertilizer in the spring in one pass while seeding.

He also grows soybeans which fix their own nitrogen — another saving. Other pulse crops, such as peas, do the same.

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DECEMBER 2012 9

focus on fertility

Cover up Cover crops can feed your biological factory

M

anitoba’s Assiniboine Valley saw a lot of combines out early this year as acres and acres of winter wheat went through the belly of the beasts and into the bins.

Compared to past seasons, there was a lot of winter wheat, a direct consequence of the flooding the year before. Farmers unable to seed in the spring waited for their lower fields to dry out, seeded them later in the season, and had a bumper crop the following summer.

It was a handy Plan B that lessened the shock of earlyseason crop failure. Not only did it provide a better-latethan-never crop, the transpiration pumped excess moisture from saturated soils. A fall annual crop also helped establish some control over spring annual weeds and, perhaps most important, it put roots in the ground. New research is showing that the soil must have plants growing in it for the sake of its overall health and condition.

“It is a living, breathing system that requires energy and that energy comes from the sun through the plant and into the soil through the roots,” says Ohio State University extension specialist Jim Hoorman. “There’s anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 times more microbes associated with live roots and each individual plant attracts certain bacteria, fungus, protozoa, nematodes all of which work to recycle the nutrients.”

A cattle pasture or meadow enjoys the company of

Barn none “I’ll tell you a real quick story,” Ohio State’s Jim Hoorman recounted.

“We had a big storm come through this area, straight line winds, and it took down a lot of the old barns and these barns had dirt floors, they didn’t have any concrete in the bottom.”

There was no point in rebuilding these barns so a lot of farmers just plowed the ground and tried to grow crops. They wouldn’t grow.

“They could hardly get weeds to grow,” he laughed. “So they’re asked me, ‘what’s the problem?’ I said, ‘the problem is you haven’t put any energy into the soil. The microbes are dead.’”

The complete lack of any kind of biological action caused the soil to contract and harden. You could tell where the old barns had been because of the way the soil had shrunk. The problem was getting the soil to live and breathe again.

“I said take some manure, and add it to that soil to get your microbes reintroduced,” he said. “You’ve got to reseed that soil and you’ve got to add nutrients back into it. So now what we’re doing is we’re incorporating, putting some manure on that and getting the microbes to live again. Then we’re trying to put in some grasses and get a more fibrous root system. That should add organic matter back into that soil to get them back so that we can grow crops on them again. That’s what it takes.”

10 CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012

BY GORD LEATHERS a diverse range of plants throughout the year and tissue sloughing from all those roots feeds a huge range of organisms. As a consequence, the soils are well structured and consistently productive. By comparison, an annual crop occupies the soil for about four months and, after harvest, the soil sits idle until the following spring. This means less energy, fewer organisms and a less biologically active soil. We make up for the shortfall through our inputs but we’re also seeing that we can increase the input efficiency by planting cover crops after harvest to get roots in over the winter.

“A cover crop is a management tool, generally a crop that you’re not harvesting,” says Yvonne Lawley of the University of Manitoba. “I think a lot of farmers in Western Canada may remember the green fallow crops from the late ’80s and early ’90s when our crop rotations had fallow and we had soil erosion.”

Then glyphosate changed the game. Since farmers could get effective weed control in a post-harvest burnoff, no-till agriculture became economical and fashionable. Field trash and stubble protected the soil from erosion while trapping snow and preserving moisture over the winter. Cover crops gave way to simplicity and conventional farmers abandoned the practice.

Still, Hoorman suspected there was more to cover cropping than we realized. His observations of the Amish farmers in Ohio led him to believe that their approach to

It is a living, breathing system that requires energy and that energy comes from the sun through the plant and into the soil through the roots.

— Jim Hoorman, Ohio State University

cropping, keeping plants in the soil year round, somehow made the soil itself more productive.

“They were getting better yields than I would have expected based on how much fertilizer they were putting on,” he observed. “Their soils had more organic matter and I noticed that their crop rotation was quite a bit different from conventional farmers.”

Their soils weren’t as hard or compacted and they didn’t have as much run-off. They weren’t just growing crops for a few months and then leaving bare soil waiting for the next round. It was constantly covered, if not with grains and oilseeds then with legumes and hay. They were actually tending, feeding and nurturing the soil itself and letting the soil feed and nurture their crops. It’s the

old ecological circle, plants feed soil organisms and soil organisms feed plants.

Dave Brandt is a Carroll, Ohio farmer who actually took a page out of the Amish playbook and began planting cover crops in the off season. He runs a no-till operation with the standard rotation of corn, soybeans and winter wheat but, for the last 10 years or so, he’s been seeding the fields with different combinations of cover crops.

“He’s been doing no till for about 30 years but he said it wasn’t until he started using the cover crops that his crops really started to respond,” Hoorman said. “I would like to say that no till is about a third of the solution but it’s not until you add the cover crops that you get the other two-thirds of the benefits.”

The benefits that he enjoys are yields as high as any of his neighbours, somewhere around 220 bushels of corn, with a fraction of the inputs. His nitrogen use sits around 25 to 50 pounds, unlike his neighbours who are running around 150 to 200 pounds. He applies no phosphorus and yet his phosphorus levels are actually increasing. The native phosphorus in the soil in combination with the different microbes and fungi are keeping the levels high enough for cropping.

“He’s built his organic matter levels from half a per cent all the way up to 4-1/2 to as much as five per cent and his soils have changed so much,” Hoorman says. “He has what we call a Bennington yellow clay soil but by using that cover crop he has raised his organic matter content. The NRCS came and looked at his soil and said, ‘Dave, we don’t have a name for your soil anymore.’ It’s dark black and he has earthworms galore, like 50 per square foot. He has to fight to keep the residue on the top. The microbes and the earthworms are doing a lot of work for him.”

What Brandt has done, in essence, is upped the efficiency of his factory floor by taking advantage of passive energy. By using plants to feed the microbes in the soil he’s taking advantage of the sun to drive his fertility program. He still uses artificial inputs but he uses fewer of them and he uses them more efficiently. Through a number of years of experimenting he’s found a combination of plants, soil and technique that works for him in Ohio on a Bennington yellow clay.

The conditions are quite different on the northern Prairies. We live in a colder and drier climate and any farmer up here will point to a system that depends on getting your crop in and out between the frosts.

There is some interest in cover cropping in parts of Manitoba along the Assiniboine River where the soil tends to be light, sandy and erodible. Planting a legume cocktail in erosion-prone areas is a good way to hold the soil, prevent blowouts and provide some fodder for livestock but it’s about conservation more than rotation.

Can cover cropping work effectively on a dark, organic, rich, cold-weather Prairie cher-

cover crop garden

Showcase It’s the annual open house at University of Manitoba department of agriculture and technician Iris Vaisman stands in front of one of the stranger plots on the Ian N. Morrison Research Farm in Carman, Man. The tour wagon rolls up and she welcomes the crowd to the cover crop garden.

“The idea behind this is to take a look at the different cover crops we could grow here and find out just how they grow,” she says to everyone. “I think there’re a lot of crops in here that some of you have never seen before.”

She’s right. Although there are a few familiar species around, like the clover, the fall rye or the vetch, they’re sitting alongside the corn-like stalks of Sudan grass, the clumps of purple-top turnip and tillage radish or the sprinkled pods of ground millet. Then you see the place marks identifying the truly exotic fenugreek and calendula.

“Cover crops are crops that farmers can seed without the intention of harvesting it for grain,” she tells her assembled audience.

“Farmers grow cover crops for various reasons like protection from soil erosion, adding nutrients to the soil, drying out wet soils and also for grazing.”

“I think that’s a great use in Western Canada for cover crop,” says Yvonne Lawley, one of the university’s newest faculty members. “Some forage crops provide permanent cover and some cover crops can provide early- and late-season grazing or even opportunistic grazing.”

The garden is the brain child of Lawley’s. Her specialty lies in the interactions between plants and soil so she’s keen to

see of what use some of these crops can be this far north.

“I was working in North Dakota before I came to Manitoba and a lot of the farmers there were focusing on cover crops that would have high feed quality very early or very late in the season. That’s when their pastures weren’t producing as high a quality of feed,” she explained. “They were really able to improve the gain rates on their animals by having that high-quality forage early or late in the season and it was also improving the long-term productivity of their pasture lands because they weren’t stressing them too early or too late.”

Other plants serve other purposes and may be put to work discouraging pests. Some brassica cover crops such as the mustards actually help fumigate the soil, a very useful trait in potato fields where some insecticides have been deregistered. Others like fall rye will help suppress weeds.

Farmers may also grow certain species to condition the soil. They may be used to bring back mycorhizzal fungi or to aerate the soil. Tillage radishes and turnips put down substantial taproots and then die. Once they start decomposing they release their nutrients, feed the microbial population and leave well-structured spaces for both air and water to percolate through the soil.

“Plants have a role in feeding and sustaining microbial communities, fungi and bacteria in the soil so we’re providing plant roots that give exudates that keep those populations happy and cycling nutrients,” Lawley said. “It just depends on what goals you have within the farm.”

stalks of Sudan grass

Continued on page 12 CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012 11

focus on fertility

Continued from page 11 nozem and can it be economical? The first wave of expertise came from the organic producers like Ian Cushon of Oxbow, Sask. He and his family farm 3,600 acres and, when you’re managing crops without the use of conventional chemistry, you have to find other tools. One way is by using plants.

“Back in the ‘80s many of the organic farmers were using yellow blossom sweet clover which is a biannual,” Cushon says. “It’s underseeded with cereals, it grows with the crop and then in the next year it comes up on its own early in the spring and it’s plowed down in June or July.”

In this way the clover nitrifies the soil, holds it down after harvest and protects it from any rain. Some cover crop farmers in the Dakotas refer to this as soil armour. The other advantage is the clover’s ability to tie up nutrients like phosphorus in their tissues. This way the nutrients aren’t sitting loose in the soil throughout the fall only to leach away with any water that passes along. Instead they’re released after the plowdown in the spring to feed the growing crop. As with any complex system, however, it does have its trade-offs.

“It’s not suitable for less competitive crops because, in a wet spell, it will outgrow the nurse crop that it’s growing with, becomes a competitor and it will reduce the yields a little bit,” Cushon says. “You wouldn’t put it with lentils or flax because it would outgrow them completely.”

Under those circumstances he’ll grow annual peas, such as Trapper or 4010 in the spring as a green manure. He plows them down in early summer and then leaves the field fallow.

“As a way of protecting the soil and reducing tillage they’ve been fairly effective,” Cushon said. “If we do those plowdowns generally we don’t seed, there’s still potential for summer erosion but the potential is largely reduced to very negligible amounts depending on the soil type you’re in and the amount of moisture you get.”

A conventional farmer may ask “why bother?” and it’s a valid question. Hoorman says this is a different system of farming and it’s certainly not a simple one. It requires a lot of long-term research to find out how to make this work economically as well as ecologically and we’re only beginning to get there. Since it’s a very different system of production, 12 CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012

As a way of protecting the soil and reducing tillage they’ve been fairly effective.

— Ian Cushon, Oxbow, Sask.

it also requires a high level of commitment, just as no-till farming did 20 years back.

“Some of these guys who want to do cover crops want to do it one year out of five,” he said. “Well you’re not going to see the changes.

This is a biological and ecological system and it needs feeding. We have to eat at least two or three times a day and it’s the same way with the microbes. If you really want them to perform at a high rate you have to feed them constantly. You can’t take nine months off because they’re going to die off and you lose the efficiency.”

While this may not seem practical now, there are two potential game changers on the horizon. One

is climate change. As we get warmer and the growing season gets longer, cover cropping may become a very effective way of maintaining soil fitness. One thing that has saved the cooler Prairie soils is the slower metabolism because of lower temperatures. Keep them warmer longer and the organic matter will start to burn off.

The other wild card is the cost of energy. As this drives up the input costs the alternatives will become more attractive. We may need to revamp our production system to make it more cost effective in a highcost energy world. Making use of passive energy from the original source, the sun, is well worth looking at now. n

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For the

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12-11-08 12:02 PM

open market

In the works Wheat and barley commissions filling some CWB voids

By Richard Kamchen

F

arm groups are scrambling to fill the voids left by the Canadian Wheat Board, but advocacy and policy are taking a back seat to collecting checkoffs to fund research and market development.

“There was a whole raft of services that the wheat board did that producers didn’t really know about that at this point in time we’re somewhat scrambling to fill,” says Lynn Jacobson, co-chair of the Alberta All-Wheat Commission Steering Committee. “That’s why you’ve seen a push from the federal government — they desperately want to have those wheat commissions up and running to fill some of those holes.”

Collection of wheat and barley checkoffs until August 1 had been the purview of the Canadian Wheat Board. The feds have since transitioned with a five-year voluntary checkoff that the Alberta Barley Commission oversees.

The grain companies and the shippers are not going to be our advocates.

— Lynn Jacobson, co-chair of the Alberta All-Wheat Commission Steering Committee

14 CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012

Alberta is by far the furthest ahead of the Prairie provinces. With a barley commission well entrenched, farmers in the province have already established the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), whose operations officially began at the start of the current crop year.

The province previously had wheat commissions, but they were limited to only winter and soft wheat, which accounted for only about five per cent of acreage and production. Four years ago, work began to combine those groups while also establishing representation for hard red spring, Canada Prairie and durum wheat growers.

Now, over 11,000 wheat producers of all seven classes of wheat grown in Alberta are represented by Canada’s first all-wheat commission.

Research and market development are AWC’s primary goals, and are funded by a mandatory/refundable checkoff of $0.70 a tonne, which is estimated to generate $3.5 million in annual revenue. That money, however, may not be exclusively earmarked for the Western Grain Research Foundation (WGRF) or Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi), both of which already receive money through a federal 48-cent-a-tonne checkoff administered.

“Market development will be part of our mandate, but really, we don’t have the dollars to do that on our own,” Jacobson adds. “There still has to be a federal government contribution on that. With the wheat board gone, I think the federal government has to step up and take some responsibility.”

When it comes to advocacy, Jacobson says farm groups are going to need to speak with a single voice, especially when it comes to defending producer interests in railway disputes.

“One of the things I’ve realized over the years, the grain companies and the shippers are not going to be our advocates,” Jacobson says. “On some things like cost of transportation, that gets pushed back on to us as producers, and that’s where we have to get our act together to talk to the federal government and advocate as a single voice.”

Jacobson would like to see the provincial commissions combine efforts with the general farm groups.

“Having too many people advocating at the table is probably detrimental because unless they’re co-ordinated, there’s always differences within each group.

Past history has shown that there’s differences, and the government can take advantage of that and choose the option they like best.”

AWC’s business plan calls for an investment of 60 per cent of revenues into research and marketing, 20 per cent to other areas — including advocacy, policy development and grower communications/education — and up to 20 per cent for administration, according to AWC general manager Rick Istead. He adds the commission plans to build an operational contingency fund within two years to ensure it can fulfil its commitments in the event of crop failures.

Next year could see AWC be the only one collecting Alberta’s wheat checkoff, Istead says, adding the other

provinces, if they’re in place in time, could request to do likewise, which would allow Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz to make wholesale changes to the temporary checkoff measures the government put in place.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba Canada’s breadbasket province is right on Alberta’s heels and expects to have wheat and barley commissions in place and operational by August 2013.

Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), which facilitated the creation of the wheat commission, believes that the implementation of the marketing act created a void in areas of research, market development, branding and farmer advocacy.

“These commissions will be in charge of collecting the levies and deciding how much goes to research, and promotion,” says APAS president Norm Hall, who hopes they’ll begin collecting checkoffs next crop year.

There’s no word yet about expected revenues or how funds will be allocated.

“Where it goes, there’re three possibilities: research, promotion and advocacy. And what percentage goes into each will be totally up to the board of directors when they get elected,” says Hall.

Manitoba is lagging behind its Prairie cousins, and hasn’t determined if wheat and barley producers will be represented by stand-alone organizations with independent directors, or one group that shares resources but collects checkoffs for both commodities.

Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) last May spearheaded work for a Manitoba wheat commission.

Changes to the CWB represented the genesis of KAP’s efforts, especially with the CWB no longer funding WGRF, Cigi or the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre, says KAP’s policy director James Battershill.

He says the new commission(s) will consider expanding beyond simply replicating the CWB’s funding mandates.

“There’s going to have to be an opportunity for the organization to say, ‘What are our priorities, how should this get spent?’” says Battershill. “If there’s a research project that’s looking at fusarium, there may be more similarities between North Dakota and Manitoba farmers than Manitoba and Alberta farmers, so you don’t want say that those additional research opportunities are going to be ignored.”

It’s not known, however, if the proposed commissions would take much of an advocacy role. That’ll depend entirely on what the membership base wants.

“We know the CWB was a big fighter on behalf of western Canadian farmers in terms of transportation and trade issues, but we’re not sure yet whether that’s an appropriate role for these organizations.”

No checkoff figure has been announced, but Battershill hopes monies can start getting collected provincially by the start of the next crop year.

“It’ll probably take at least a full two years for all the administrative and governance structures to be established, ironed out, and finalized,” explains Battershill.

“It’s a fairly long process to get things hitting their stride, but August 1, 2013 is our targeted date to begin collecting checkoffs.” n

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CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012 15

CROP PROTECTION

Not easy being green Warren libby President of Savvy Farmer

Major chem companies spending big dollars to buy involvement in new greener biological-based products

I

’m sure most of you have heard Kermit the Frog’s woeful refrain that it’s not easy to be green. The big chemical companies are finding out that it’s not cheap either.

In the past few months the industry’s heavy hitters, BASF, Bayer and Syngenta have all opened up their chequebooks to buy companies with strong reputations for green products.

BASF just spent a tad over $1 billion to acquire Becker Underwood, who many will recognize for its nitrogen-fixing inoculant products and biological seed treatments. With popular inoculants brands such as Nodulator and HiStick, this acquisition gives BASF a solid position.

Not too long ago biological giant Novozymes of Denmark purchased the inoculants businesses of both Saskatoon-based Philom Bios and 100-year-old U.S.-based EMD, making inoculants essentially a two-horse race in Canada.

Bayer also just parted company with almost half a billion dollars to acquire AgraQuest, a biological company which specializes in products containing the bacteria Bacillus.

AgraQuest is the global leader in biological pest management solutions based on natural micro-organisms, with brands such as Serenade and Rhapsody. This acquisition gives Bayer immediate big-player status.

And most recently, Syngenta parted with $113 million to acquire Florida-based Pasteuria Bioscience which is working on a bacterial product to control nematodes. Currently Pasteuria has no revenue.

In total, these multinational giants have handed out almost $2 billion recently to acquire technologies that just a few years ago they wouldn’t have given a second thought about. So what’s going on? I suspect the answer is twofold.

First, whether they like it or not, even the big companies now recognize that society wants to see its food grown with greener products. Does that mean we are moving towards

organic production? Probably not, at least not in a big way. But food suppliers need to assure their customers that the food is safe, has been produced with a minimal amount of synthetic chemicals, and that green technologies are part of the production system.

That’s a tough sell inside the big chemical companies that have taken pride in producing highly effective chemicals for decades. They would argue that green technologies don’t work nearly as well, cost more, and aren’t any safer than their highly researched products. They may be right on all counts, but in the court of public opinion, they would lose.

So, as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them.

The problem is that it’s very difficult to change a chemical giant into a biological giant. These companies are filled with chemists, not microbiologists. Their production facilities are mammoth labyrinths of pipes and reactors, not vats where bacteria or fungi are cultured. And few of their managers will ever be able to wrap their heads around the idea of green technology replacing chemistry. The solution is therefore to simply buy a good biological company and then use the massive resources available inside the chemical company to help the biological company grow even larger.

The other reason for acquiring these green technology companies may lie in the need for continual growth. The big chemical companies are publicly traded and shareholders expect the stock value to increase each year. They also don’t appreciate seeing companies sit on a lot of cash invested at low interest rates, and would prefer to see that free cash invested in revenue-producing assets or returned to shareholders as dividends. Major acquisitions solve both issues. They can instantly increase revenue, often in areas that do not conflict with existing sales, and put free cash to work.

More important though are the prospects for future growth made

possible by focusing the global resources of a large multinational chemical giant on the green technologies of these smaller companies. For example, looking at Syngenta’s acquisition of Pasteuria Bioscience, it picks up technology that promises to provide control of soybean cyst nematode (SCN) when used as a seed treatment. With almost 80 million acres of soybeans grown in the U.S. alone, it’s easy to see the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow if Syngenta can help Pasteuria finish development of the technology and then commercialize it through its existing global seed treatment division. It’s still a big gamble for Syngenta, but one with a big payoff if they are successful.

Some people may lament the prospect of yet more small to medium-size entrepreneurial companies being gobbled up by the multinational chemical giants. They may fear that these promising green technologies will languish and ultimately die under the guidance of folks whose world consists of benzene rings and carbon bonds. And certainly that is a risk.

On the flip side though, as successful as these green companies were, none had the global reach to market and deliver their products the way a Bayer, BASF or Syngenta can. If these multinationals embrace their newly acquired biologicals, they have the ability to dramatically grow sales by introducing them to markets in virtually every agricultural country in the world. They have the resources to create new products and programs which incorporate the best aspects of both chemistry and biology. And perhaps most importantly, they bring a breath of credibility to an area of pest control that until recently was often the subject of sneers. n Warren Libby is president of Savvy Farmer, a web-based service for farmers and crop protection dealers. He previously held leadership positions in several crop protection companies and is the former chairman of CropLife Canada.

Do you have a crop protection issue you’d like Warren to write about?

Send any suggestions to gord.gilmour@fbcpublishing.com.

16 CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012

AdvertoriAl

Worried About Wheat Midge?

Prairie farmers realize the value of midge tolerant wheat.

From drought to excess moisture to disease pressure, 2012 offered a variety of cropping challenges across the Prairies. However, a growing number of farmers are putting at least one worry aside – damage from wheat midge.

“Midge tolerant wheat varieties are the answer for us,” says Blair Rempel, a farmer and seed grower near Nipawin, Saskatchewan. Rempel had his first plot of midge tolerant wheat in 2009, and in 2012, seeded all of his wheat acres with midge tolerant varieties.

“We originally discovered that we had a midge problem in the early 80’s and, after a few years, started using insecticides for control,” says Rempel. “However, it requires very careful monitoring and you’re never really totally sure if you are going to get value out of spraying or not.”

When Rempel was in his first few years trying the technology, the midge tolerant varieties always stood out from the others whenever he did a comparison in yield. “I was very happy with their performance again this year,” he says, noting he grew both AC® Unity VB and AC® Vesper VB this year. “For the wet year that we had, the wheat was the outstanding crop – averaging about 48 bushels per acre with good quality.”

“The biggest benefit for us is to not have to worry so much about midge and potential problems from it.They’re just real good yielding varieties so there is no downside to growing the technology.”

Brad Basset, who farms near Bruno, Saskatchewan, also started growing midge tolerant wheat four years ago for peace of mind. “Spraying is so busy all the time, so the midge tolerant wheat gives

you a bit of relief because you don’t have to be there at the perfect time,” says Basset, who planted about 4,000 acres of AC® Goodeve VB in 2012.

“There was one year where the midge pressure was so bad and everyone else was spraying that we were tempted to spray our midge tolerant wheat acres too,” he says. “However when we went in the field you could only find the odd midge, and it turned out not to hurt the grade or yield.”

While this new technology is very effective, it does require proper stewardship in order to keep it viable for future generations. Farmers are required to sign a Midge Tolerant Wheat Stewardship Agreement, which limits the use of farm-saved seed to one generation past Certified seed. This step keeps the interspersed refuge at the desired level of 10% of the plant population, preventing a build-up of resistant midge.

“The interspersed refuge system seems to be working well,” says Basset, noting you just need to plan ahead for your seed purchases. “We’re really impressed with the way it yields so why change a good thing.”

Rempel agrees. “The midge tolerant wheat approach is definitely a boon to farming here,” he says. “The stewardship program makes sense and I hope this will extend the life of the technology long beyond when I farm.”

Visit midgetolerantwheat.ca to learn more about the varieties and how the interspersed refuge system works.

“The stewardship program makes sense and I hope this will extend the life of the technology long beyond when I farm.”

Blair rempel

OPEN MARKET

UP OR

DOWN?

Proposed national grain councils meet resistance — seen as top down, rather than grassroots

BY RICHARD KAMCHEN

E

fforts to create national councils for barley and cereals aren’t receiving unanimous farm group support, with opponents believing provincial wheat and barley commissions need to be operating before broader groups are created.

Work is underway in Alberta to create the Barley Council of Canada (BCC), whose main priorities are research and market development.

“The first priority is to get the whole barley value chain working together to benefit the entire barley industry. What we concentrated on was to try and get all the value players at the table — we’re talking producers right through to end-users,” says Brian Otto, chairman of the council’s working group, explaining maltsters, brewers, the feed industry and researchers have joined farmers in forming the proposed council.

The first priority is to get the whole barley value chain working together to benefit the entire barley industry.

— BRIAN OTTO, BARLEY COUNCIL OF CANADA WORKING GROUP CHAIR Otto is a former president of the Western Barley Growers Association and a past director with the Alberta Barley Commission, which is providing administrative support for the new organization. He stresses the BCC won’t be Alberta- or Prairie-centric.

“The barley council is going to be a national organization, not a western Canadian organization. We’ve been in contact with barley groups in the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario and right across Western Canada,” Otto says.

The yet-unnamed proposed cereals council is also 18 CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012

to be national in scope, according to the Western Grain Elevator Association’s (WGEA) executive director Wade Sobkowich. He anticipates the group will be structured along the lines of the Canola Council of Canada and operational by around March or April 2013.

Sobkowich says that while more than one commodity type is grown, handled, bought, sold and regulated, a “silo” of single commodity councils have emerged and been perpetuated.

“We’re trying to get away from that concept because we think there’s value in having multiple commodities within councils, and that’s why we’re advocating a cereals council.”

Research and market development, including open trade access, will be among the cereals council’s main objectives.

WGEA initiated talks to form the council and it extended invitations to farm groups that wished to join various participants in different segments of the industry to discuss how to create the new entity. Among industry representatives at the table were exporters, handlers, marketers — including the CWB — life science companies, processors and farm organizations. But not all producer groups are on board, including the BCC. “We’ve been working on a barley council concept for well over a year. We were a long ways down the path of forming this before I heard anything about the idea of a cereals council,” says Otto. Nevertheless, BCC could conceivably work with the cereals council once the latter is operating, he says.

Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) seem less than thrilled with the timing of the councils.

“For both of them, I see it as putting the cart before the horse,” says APAS president Norm Hall. “It should be once these (provincial wheat and barley) commissions

We think there’s value in having multiple commodities within councils, and that’s why we’re advocating a cereals council.

— WADE SOBKOWICH, WESTERN GRAIN ELEVATOR ASSOCIATION are up and running and established, then you start forming these councils.”

“What we’re hearing from the producer organizations out there is that it might be better if we go one step at a time and create wheat and barley commissions, and if there’s a will and a way down the road, they could coalesce into a cereals commission,” adds Rick Istead, general manager of the Alberta Wheat Commission. “Let’s start with wheat and barley. Different markets, different end uses, different needs.”

Wild Rose Agricultural Producer ’s (WRAP) president Lynn Jacobson is also troubled by the fact efforts are underway to form these councils when Saskatchewan and Manitoba haven’t yet established their own wheat and barley commissions. He expressed doubt about just how national the councils would be, and felt if producers will be providing funding, they need more say at the table.

He doesn’t believe the cereals council is enough of a joint effort, and has difficulty supporting the concept if it means some farm representatives will be joining after the fact.

“If they’re going to form a national cereals council and we can just join them when we get the commissions up and running, to me, that means they’ll set the rules and the representation and everything else, so we really won’t have a say in the operations of what goes on,” says Jacobson. “It can’t just be them pushing it, setting the rules and saying, ‘Join us, we’ve got this all set up and these are the rules you’re going to have to operate under.’”

Humphrey Banack agrees that it’s difficult to change structure once organizations are established. He says western farm groups have expressed similar concerns at the table of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA).

“The general feeling we got from everyone is that this is progressing very quickly.

There were some concerns raised about how these organizations are to be funded. That has to be clearly spelled out,” says Banack, a second vice-president of the CFA and WRAP. “One of the concerns we have is the number of checkoffs we’re seeing here. We’re more concerned with producer pushback from this and how to explain to producers where everything’s going.”

The unformed wheat and barley commissions in Manitoba and Saskatchewan also need to get their footing in order for the councils to broadly represent farmers, he says.

“We’ve seen the cattle and hog associations, supply mandated industry, set up national organizations over time, and they were driven basically from the grassroots producers. This seems to almost be coming from the other direction,” says Banack.

Sobkowich says that once the Prairie wheat and barley commissions outside Alberta are up and running and ready to join the cereals council, the latter could re-examine its structure and revise it as necessary.

Although neither proposed organization has a specific means of raising money in place, BCC will be funded by both industry and producers, while the cereals council would be partially funded by an export checkoff, says Sobkowich. He adds that while the council would discuss farmer contributions with the wheat and barley commissions, no presumptions are being made.

Both Otto and Sobkowich say the urgency of setting up their respective councils reflected the need to prepare for the many consequences of opening the wheat and barley markets.

“There were some issues that needed to be looked after and there’s really no lap for them to fall on right now. We felt it was important to get a structure off the ground now so we can deal with these issues, and be open to changes down the road,” says Sobkowich.

He sees a need for a cereals council to monitor and look after issues related to

marketing changes, market barriers and access, providing direction to Cigi, as well as fending off U.S. pressure to change elements in the domestic system like varietal registration. And frantically attempting to solve problems on an ad hoc basis is by no means ideal.

“When you’re pulling together different organizations to work on important issues, in lieu of having an organization in place that might do it, you tend to work on these things in a more reactive way than a proactive way.” ■

Yield potential

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Details of these requirements can be found in the Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers printed in this publication. InVigor® and LibertyLink® are registered trademarks of Bayer. © 2012 Monsanto Canada, Inc. CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012 19

canola

Set a target plant stand A meta-analysis of numerous studies from across the Prairies shows that canola cannot reach its yield potential with a plant stand below four to five plants per square foot. Achieving at least seven provides some margin for error B y J ay W h e t t e r

A

survey of Alberta canola fields in 2010 found that only 54 per cent of fields averaged five or more canola plants per square foot. A survey of Saskatchewan fields in 2012 found that only 45 per cent of stands had five or more plants per square foot.

Julia Leeson, biologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon, led the surveys and says the Saskatchewan number is likely lower than Alberta’s due to wet weather through large parts of Saskatchewan, but nonetheless, these results underscore an important point: Many canola crops are not reaching the critical plant stand threshold of five plants per square foot, and therefore do not reach their yield potential.

Steve Shirtliffe, professor and researcher with the University of Saskatchewan, conducted in 2009 a meta-analysis of 35 canola studies, and found that hybrid canola achieved 90 per cent of its yield at four to five plants per square foot. The conclusion, Shirtliffe writes, is that “Canola farmers seeking to maximize returns should target popu-

lations greater than five plants per square foot. Plant populations lower than this will almost always have yield loss.”

Why? “I think the reason is because below this density plants don’t occupy all the space that is available for a long enough time to capture the resources. In other words, there will be holes in the crop canopy that will prevent all the sunlight from being utilized,” Shirtliffe says. “One can think of growing a crop as building a solar panel. The first half of the crop’s life is spent during vegetative development building the leaves and the associated structural components of the canopy that will allow it to effectively intercept solar radiation. The second half of the crop’s life is spent with that “solar panel” collecting energy from the sun and storing it in seeds.

Anything that reduces the ability of this panel to intercept sun will likely reduce yield.”

Shirtliffe adds that delayed maturity due to bigger, branchier plants will also be a factor in yield loss. In some cases, the season will not be long enough to allow seed in those late pods to mature.

One important point that Shirtliffe’s meta-

Seeding at the right speed is one way to improve seedling survival rates. The ideal speed will provide consistent seed placement from row to row. At speeds too fast for the conditions, rear openers can throw too much soil over seed rows planted by the front row of openers. This photos shows a typical emergence pattern when the drill is throwing so much dirt that front rows are buried too deep while back rows are just right. This photo also demonstrates the emergence problems that can result when seeding too deep.

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Dan Orchard, agronomy specialist for the Canola Council of Canada, says spending an extra $10 on seed can provide a good return on investment if it means you can achieve a plant stand of at least five plants per square foot. analysis emphasized is that hybrids are a lot better than open-pollinated (OP) varieties at reaching yield potential with fewer plants.

Non-hybrid (open-pollinated) canola needed twice as many plants — a minimum of eight to 10 per square foot — as hybrids to achieve 90 per cent of their yield potential.

Why so many thin stands?

The common recommendation from seed companies and retailers is to stick with a five lb./ac. seeding rate. That keeps it simple, but if rates are trimmed further or if the crop is seeded at five lbs./ac. but put under excess stress, growers may not always achieve the required stand.

Leeson’s surveys included grower interviews along with in-field assessment. Of the growers surveyed, 71 per cent reported using a seeding rate of five lbs./ac. Forty per cent of producers seeding at this rate ended up with stands of less than four plants per square foot, and 50 per cent of producers using seeding rates of less than five lbs./ac. had less than four plants per square foot. All fields seeded at rates greater than five lbs./ ac. had crop stands within the recommended range or greater.

So what does a grower do about this?

Given the larger seed size of some lots, a five lb./ac. seeding rate may simply not achieve the target stand, given typical survival rates.

If a seed lot with a thousand seed weight (TSW) of seven grams is seeded at five lbs./ ac., the seeding rate amounts to 8.7 seeds per square foot. At 50 per cent seedling survival, this seeding rate will produce less than five plants per square foot, and that doesn’t include later-season pressures from insects or disease.

Setting a target of 10 plants per square foot based on seed size and typical survival will allow for some plant death to the environment or insects or machinery glitches and still leave a reasonable stand for good yield.

But if you’ve done the quick math, setting a target of 10 plants per square foot in the example above will mean a doubling of the seeding rate to 10 lbs/ac. That cranks the seed cost to around $100 per acre for top hybrids.

Is that a realistic demand? Probably not.

The greatest return on investment will come from that first extra pound. As Shirtliffe writes: “Hybrid canola can maintain a high yield potential even when plant populations are very low. On average, the yield at one plant per square foot is only 30 per cent lower than the yield at five plants per square foot.”

So yields aren’t dropping off a cliff as stands drop below five plants per square foot. However, it should get you thinking. “If you’ve been unhappy with the plant counts with the heavier seed lots, that extra $10 per acre is cheap insurance,” says Dan Orchard, CCC agronomy specialist for central Alberta.

“If it allows you to continue seeding at the speed you need to in order to get the entire farm seeded on time while bumping up plant counts to that five-plant threshold, then it will be $10 well spent,” he says.

Growers who are unhappy with their stands but want to stick with five lbs./ac. can take measure to increase survival rates. Slowing down is just one of them.

If you don’t want to seed more pounds Growers will achieve a lot more plants per square foot when seeding at five lbs./ac. if they can take measures to bump seedling survival from 50 per cent up to 70 per cent. Here are key measures to increase seedling survival: Seed shallow. Half-an-inch to one-inch depth below the packer furrow is the recommended seed depth for canola. This will reduce days to emergence and reduce the seed energy required for emergence. But make sure seed is not stranded in residue.

Seed depth is based on soil depth, not including thatch above the soil surface.

Seed slower to ensure good and even seed depth from all openers. The ideal speed will vary by drill and soil conditions. In general, at higher speeds, rear openers tend to throw more soil over the front rows. Seed in these

front rows will be buried deeper, making them slower to emerge — if they emerge at all. Recheck depth when moving from one field to the next.

Limit seed-placed fertilizer. Nitrogen fertilizer placed in the seed row can increase seedling loss due to toxicity and salt effect. Safe rates of seed-placed nitrogen range from zero to 50 lbs./ac. depending on soil type, soil moisture conditions and seedbed utilization. The best practice is to place phosphate fertilizer with the seed at rates up to 30-40 pounds of phosphate per acre, and then put the rest of the N and other nutrients away from the seed row.

Seeding into warmer soils will increase survival but this needs to be balanced against the benefits of early seeding. Canola seeded before early May yields higher, most years, than canola seeded late May, but this yield benefit depends on stand establishment.

Canola can germinate in cooler soils, but emergence can be highly uneven and seedling mortality will increase.

Use a seed treatment. Most seed comes treated for protection from seedling diseases and flea beetles, but keep in mind that anything that slows canola emergence — cool soils, for example — extends the time when seed is vulnerable to these early threats.

The bottom line is that hybrid seed can reach its yield potential with fewer plants per square foot than OP varieties, but growers still want to bring at least four to five living, healthy plants per square foot to harvest in order to reach this yield potential. Large-size seed can provide more early-season vigor than smaller seeds, but five plants per square foot is still the minimum target stand. Given the other stresses involved in establishing a canola crop, growers may need to increase their seeding rate above five lbs./ ac. based on seed size and their typical seed survival results, or they can take measures to improve seedling survival rates.

Establishing a uniform and relatively thick stand gives a canola crop the best chance of success. If a plant stand starts off thin, it will require more scouting efforts and more input costs throughout the season to keep those plants alive and productive. n

In 2012 Savvy Farmer will bring users even more valuable information. To learn more, please visit

www.savvyfarmer.com

Compare canola variety performance Variety comparison data from the thirdparty 2012 Canola Performance Trials should be available at www.canolaperformancetrials.ca.

(It was not available when this article was due but should be now.) The site compares 24 varieties, with results from 23 small plots and at least 80 field-scale plots.

The website includes an introductory video, which will help you make full use of the tools available. Tools include interactive maps, headto-head variety comparisons, an economic calculator, and filters to refine searches by season zone, herbicide tolerance (HT) type, yield, days to maturity, lodging and height.

CPT trials are conducted based on audited protocols, which are listed in full on the website. Here are the protocols specific to seeding rate: Small-plot protocol: Plots are to be seeded based on 30 seeds per metre row (around 1,400 seeds/plot). If not, then all varieties are to be seeded at 5.5 lbs./ac., but seed lots must be between 4.0-5.0 grams per 1,000 seeds.

Germination must be over 96 per cent tested within the last six months.

Field-scale plot protocol: All varieties are to be seeded at the same seeding rate (recommendation of 5.0 lbs./ac.) with seed lots between 4.0-5.0 grams per 1,000 seeds. Seed size and germination are to be recorded. If seed size falls below four grams or above five grams, seeding rate may need to be adjusted to compensate for plant populations. Optimal target plant population is 10 plants per square foot, and the acceptable range is five to 15.

Jay Whetter is communications manager with the Canola Council of Canada. He’s also editor of the CCC’s free Canola Watch agronomy newsletter.

Go to www.canolawatch.org and find the sign-up box down the right column.

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CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012 21

MORE THAN 1,000 WORDS

Spaghetti factory

Cigi’s pilot pasta plant is a one-of-a-kind asset to the durum industry in downtown Winnipeg

T

hey say a picture is worth 1,000 words, so this issue Crops Guide dispatched photographer Ryan Fennessy to the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) in Winnipeg to document how pasta is made from durum wheat.

Cigi’s facility is unique in that it’s an uncommon hybrid, mainly relating to its size. Usually pasta plants are either enormous factory-sized operations churning out tons of product or much smaller systems that are suited just for small test batches or a boutique product like fresh in-store pasta.

The primary ingredient in any pasta product is durum semolina (1) shown here being added to a primary hopper.

1

2

The semolina is then transferred to the main hopper (2) where it’s metered out to ensure an even flow for the production process.

Once the semolina is loaded, Cigi technical specialist Paul Ebbinghaus prepares the system for operation.

3

Water and other ingredients are blended in a series of mix augers (3).

One of the secondary augers (4) is shown here disassembled for cleaning.

Once the desired consistency is reached using the augers the result is a firm and pliable dough, and it’s time to shape it using a dough deflection unit (5).

To ensure an even spread a screen is inserted above the die head to diffuse the dough before it enters the die (6).

4

5

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DECEmber 2012

6

7

8

9

A preheated die head is then used to form the dough into the desired noodle shape — in this case a longer spaghetti noodle (7). The system is now ready to produce pasta.

The noodles are extruded from the end of the die (8) and are cut to length (9), here manually because the plant is a pilot system intended for smaller batches.

By changing the die head different types of pasta can be produced (10), such as macaroni.

10

11

The noodles are then placed on drying racks (11) and placed in a dryer (12).

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23

market development

Market support Cigi harvest assessment for top U.K. bakery supports use of high-quality Canadian wheat

By Ellen Goodman, Cigi

W

ith the U.K. experiencing one of the worst wheat crops in recent history, the Canadian International Grains Institute’s annual post-harvest quality evaluation of bread baked with specific identity-preserved (IP) CWRS varieties on behalf of Warburtons, the U.K.’s No. 1 bakery brand, proved to be well timed.

“Due to the condition of the crop in the U.K., Warburtons’ requirement for high-quality CWRS exists now more than ever,” says Adam Dyck, program manager of Warburton Foods Canada. “Our assessment with Cigi has shown our bakers exactly what kind of quality is available and what they can expect for the next 12 months.”

For nearly three years, Cigi has worked closely with Warburtons to conduct quality evaluation and analytical work on Canadian wheat in addition to carrying out ongoing testing of cargo samples from shipments of CWRS to the U.K. “We’ve had another successful year of working with Warburtons here at Cigi,” says Earl Geddes, Cigi executive director. “The relationship is broadening and deepening and the amount of work Warburtons wants to do is increasing all the time, both because their business is expanding and because they’re comfortable with the service and technical expertise that they can find here at Cigi. Warburtons is one of Cigi’s first major business partners and we’re thrilled to be able to see that partnership becoming even more important.”

“Warburtons has had a pretty long-lasting relationship with Cigi which began when some of our U.K. employees attended Cigi’s international grain industry programs,” says Dyck. “Every year that goes by working with Cigi, the technical team raises its game and as a result we are able to mill and bake a larger number and wider range of samples. This has allowed us to take a broader view of Canadian wheat.”

Dyck explains that Warburtons started its Canadian IP program in 1994 after having quality and consistency issues with generic CWRS wheat. Warburtons excluded poorer-performing varieties, and focused instead on three out of the 20 CWRS varieties that were available.

Today, Warburtons has more than 400 producers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan participating in the program.

“We’re a premium product in the marketplace,” he says. “Warburtons is known for its quality, consistency, freshness, all those good things associated with highquality bread products. And the only way we think we can deliver that is through specific Canadian wheat varieties combined with specific U.K. varieties as well. That is the reason the whole IP program was developed back in the early ’90s.”

Dyck says their IP program in Canada focuses on particular growing regions, use of certified seed and specific standards regarding traceability, on-farm food safety, control of the supply chain, and blending.

“We know the varieties we like and those we don’t like. Each year when we build our program, we contract specific varieties to specific areas.”

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DECEMBER 2012

Over time, as farms have grown bigger, the number of producers in the program has decreased although many have been involved since it began, he says. Warburtons contracts will continue to be offered through Paterson Grain and Warburtons will also be offering contracts with Richardson Pioneer at select locations.

“A big part of my job involves spending a lot of time with the breeders here in Canada, looking at new wheat lines/varieties as they come through the co-op and registration systems, and trying to find something early on that meets our needs as well as the agronomic needs of our farmers,” Dyck says. “I’m trying to give the breeders more feedback where I can identify varieties that have a better chance of making our program. This is where the work we do with Cigi is extremely valuable.”

He adds that the Canadian IP program is fine tuned every year and the Warburtons staff are always learning from the experience offered at Cigi. “We have discovered specific varieties and geographies that produce a highquality bread year after year using our process but we need to consistently monitor that quality which is key for Warburtons. Working with Cigi has allowed us to improve our testing procedures and allows our business to adapt quickly and make changes to our program.”

Cigi baking staff have trained at Warburtons’ technical centre in the U.K. to better understand their process and ensure their requirements are being met. For the post-harvest work, Cigi assesses the wheat samples from individual farms and once Warburtons sees the results, they decide on composite samples which Cigi then analyzes and bakes for evaluation. Warburtons’ U.K. representatives also visit Cigi and work with the staff to conduct the milling, baking and analysis on the samples each October. Although most of the evaluation of the harvest and cargo samples occurs in the milling and baking area, Cigi’s Analytical Services lab can conduct further tests if required.

“Once again we had the whole Cigi baking department as well as two of our bakers from the U.K. on hand,” Dyck says. “We did a record number of bakes over a weekend that allowed us to analyze the western Canadian crop in more detail than ever before.

“Working at Cigi has been great,” he says. “We have developed strong relationships with the staff and we have done some very interesting work there. As we work through one project, it opens the door to many more. Warburtons is excited to continue to work with Cigi to help drive our business forward.” n

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On and off Turning grain aeration on its head

BY CLARE STANFIELD

H

ow much do you spend on electricity to run bin aeration fans through the fall and winter? A few thousand dollars, perhaps? What if you could shave that down by, say 30 per cent or more, would you be interested? What if achieving those savings would mean you have to completely change how you think about bin aeration and actually turn your fans off sometimes? Would you do it?

In the world of Prairie agriculture, it’s not often that conventional wisdom gets turned on its head. But when it does, you’d better have some solid research to back it up.

Which is exactly what Dr. Guy Lafond is doing in collaboration with the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation (IHARF) in Saskatchewan. “This is part of our overall efforts with harvest management research, which includes natural air-drying systems using bin aeration fans,” says Lafond, research scientist with Agriculture and AgriFood Canada at Indian Head.

Lafond and his team recently began a threeyear study, funded by the Western Grains Research Foundation, looking at how and when grain cools and dries best using natural air drying, and the feasibility of automating bin aeration fans to take advantage of that. “So, if we have to aerate, is there a way to automate the fans for greater drying and cooling efficiency while saving energy?” says Lafond.

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The ultimate goal is to conclusively demonstrate that grain can be dried properly without running fans 24/7 and, if proven, to determine how much money that would save on average on a grower’s electric bill.

So far, the results are extremely encouraging.

Five years data The roots of this current aeration study lie in five years of grain bin aeration data collected at Indian Head since 2007.

In that study, researchers installed temperature sensors near the bottom, middle and top of two 2,200-bushel bins, filled them every fall with tough grain right off the field, then turned the fans on.

“We measured the air temperature and relative humidity going in and coming out of the bins,” says Lafond. “We also measured airflow, and used a specially designed grain-sampling device to monitor the grain moisture at four levels in the bin on a daily basis. When we analyzed the data, we were able to calculate the mass of water going in and out, and observed a very distinct diurnal pattern.”

Put most simply, that pattern revealed more moisture and heat coming out of the bins at night, while during the day, more moisture and heat went in. “That observation formed the basis for this next round of study,” explains Chris Holzapfel, research manager at IHARF.

Side-by-side comparison The WGRF-funded study asks three basic questions: What if you operated a bin aeration fan only when the amount of water leaving the bin was greater than the amount of water entering it? Would the grain still dry? Would it still cool?

Lafond and his team have set up side-by-side tests to answer those questions. “We have three pairs of bins,” he says. Specifically, the study is using two pairs of 3,500-bushel bins, and one pair of 2,200-bushel bins.

“We fill them up at the same time so that we can ensure similar grain moisture contents in each bin,” he says. “We run the fan continuously on one bin, and intermittently on the other bin using a control system that compares the water entering versus leaving the bin.”

That system consists of one outside sensor and another sensor at the top of the bin, in the space between the grain and the bin lid, each measuring air temperature and relative humidity. “The system checks every hour and makes a decision,” says Lafond.

If the sensors show more water coming out of the bin than going in, the fan remains on. If the reverse happens, that is, more water going in than out, the fan switches off.

In a way, it’s completely counterintuitive — instinct would tell you to turn the fan on during the warmest part of the day and turn

it off in cooler hours. But Lafond says they are learning new things about how bin aeration systems work and how they affect grain temperature and moisture.

“First, there’s no such thing as a ‘wetting front,’” he says, citing the conventional belief that moisture is pushed up through grain and if the fan is turned off, that moisture stops moving, creating a “wet front” where spoilage can occur.

The specialized sampling tubes IHARF uses to sample grain in the test bins shows that this doesn’t actually happen. “It’s really a drying front,” says Lafond.

Which leads to the second thing.

“Cooling and drying are not two separate things,” he says. “The drying actually occurs when the grain is cooling.” Because nighttime air is cooler, the grain is cooling, which means it’s drying. During the daytime, when temperature and relative humidity are higher, the bin fan is pushing all that water and heat into the grain so, presumably, it’s not drying.

The third thing is not so much new thinking as it is a reminder to pay attention to how the natural world works. “You cannot consider relative humidity by itself,” says Lafond. “By definition, relative humidity is determined by temperature.”

It means that even if relative humidity

If we have to aerate, is there a way to automate the fans for greater drying and cooling efficiency while saving energy?

— Dr. Guy Lafond, AAFC is technically lower during the day, the fact that the temperature is higher means more water is going into the bin than coming out.

“Air at 25 C and 50 per cent relative humidity carries the same amount of water as air at 13 C and 100 per cent relative humidity,” says Lafond. “As cool air goes into the bin, it warms up and its relative humidity goes down, increasing the opportunity to carry moisture away from the grain.”

The results so far Lafond and his team filled the three pairs of bins this fall with tough wheat and barley. So far they have done four runs, meaning four fills — the 2,200-bushel bins have been emptied once and filled again already.

“Both bins dried down properly,” says Lafond. “When we analyzed the data from the first of the four runs, we reduced fan operating time by 34 per cent using our automated procedure.”

Is that significant enough for the average

grower? Lafond tells the story of a producer in east-central Saskatchewan who told him he had spent $24,000 on power to aerate his grain in the fall of 2011. “If we can shave off even 34 per cent of that, it’s good for him, but if you look at this on a Prairie-wide scale, the energy savings are absolutely enormous.”

Lafond and Holzapfel agree that there are still more questions to explore for a complete picture of what automated fan controllers can offer the grower.

“Once we can verify our approach is sound, the next question is how can we use supplemental heat,” says Lafond. He’s also wondering if current practices mean we’re cooling grain too quickly and if fan sizes can drop from five hp to three hp. He’s already got one of the side-by-side bins set up to test that theory.

“We still have to consider our results so far as preliminary at this point,” says Holzapfel. “But we sure have a lot more data now than we did at this time last year.” n

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Machinery

Spreading the word Modern manure spreaders have come a long way from the bad old days.

Vertical beaters improve manure distribution, achieve lower application rates, reduce environmental impact and fit reduced tillage systems better B y t e r ry h o c k a d ay, M e r i s t e m M e d i a

I

t’s no secret that crop producers have a love/hate relationship with manure.

On one hand even the most skeptical know manure is an asset. It’s a natural product that when applied properly can help boost crop productivity and enhance soil tilth by improving structure and biological activity. It can increase soil aeration, organic material and water-holding capacity; reduce erosion; provide micro- and macronutrients; minimize environmental risk associated with nutrient loss; and offset fertilizer costs.

Handled improperly it’s a liability. Its use in crop production is a visible and often volatile link of concern with neighbours and the general public. At the farm level, besides being somewhat of a pain in the neck to handle, it can result

in nutrient accumulation in the soil reducing the economic benefit of the application. It can also increase risk of nutrient loss to the environment and impact water quality in nearby creeks and streams.

New developments in manure spreader design have farmers interested, says Jenn Neden of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD) who has worked with producers to implement nutrient management plans. Spreaders with newstyle vertical beaters do a better job of distribution, achieve lower nutrient application rates, reduce environmental impact and generally fit reduced-tillage systems better.

“Farmers are asking us how good these things are and how they would fit into a manure management system,” she says.

New research compares designs Now those producers have some help in making their decision. A just completed study at the AgTech Centre in Lethbridge, Alta. compared types and models of solid manure spreaders to evaluate the spread pattern and material distribution of different manure beaters with fresh and composted material. “It clearly showed that method of application is a key to getting the most from manure or compost application,” says Virginia Nelson, an engineer with the AgTech Centre who worked on the research team.

Many producers will know the fundamentals of solid manure spreaders, says Nelson. Basically they fall into two categories: side discharge and rear discharge. Side-discharge units have slow uploading rate, more

Research shows beneficial distribution patterns These graphs show clearly 1 the beneficial spreading patterns of vertical beater units. Graph 1 shows a typical horizontal beater unit spreading pattern. Graph 2 shows a horizontal beater bar with spinners below. And Graph 3 shows the spreading pattern with 2 vertical beater bars.

Horizontal beaters were not able to achieve application rates as low as other spreader styles.

The low rates for manure were 26,000 lbs./ac. (29,000 kg /ha) and the compost at 32,000 lbs./ 3 ac. (35,000 kg/ha).

Units with horizontal bars with spinners were able to spread manure at rates as low as 15,000 lbs./ac. (16,500 kg/ha) and compost rates as low as 13,000 lbs./ ac. (14,000 kg/ha).

The unit with vertical beaters easily spread manure at rates between 10,000 and 20,000 lbs./ac. (11,000 to 22,000 kg/ha). Compost was evenly spread by the vertical beaters at rates as low as 4,200 lbs./ac. (4,600 kg/ha).

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Safety an issue with vertical beaters Researchers working with the new vertical beaters and talking to farmers who have them say safety is something producers should note.

Part of the reason these units break up materials better is that they have greater power. As a result they will throw rocks or frozen clumps of manure aggressively, sometimes back at the cab.

“We’re talking 60 ft. not 20,” says Neden. “Something for everybody to keep in mind as they sit in the tractor cab and anywhere near the unit when it’s operating.”

complicated design and significantly greater power requirements.

Rear discharge models have either horizontal beaters or vertical beaters. Horizontal beaters are the most common type. They typically have a narrow spread width and do not handle some material well, and they can also be poor at breaking up lumps. One type of horizontal spreader has “lazy Susan” style spinning disks below the beater bars. That improved distribution.

The new vertical beater bar spreaders have a wide spread width, fast unloading rate and are good at breaking up material.

However, they are more complicated systems and have higher power requirements than horizontal systems.

Distribution pattern The pattern on the field is affected by the distribution system as well as the manure or compost characteristics, says Nelson. A uniform spread pattern means the manure and therefore the nutrients are evenly spread on the field. With a non-uniform pattern, manure and its nutrients are not spread evenly. That can affect crop germination and can cause crop burn or nutrient deficiency.

The research tested feedlot manure and compost. Rather than testing spreaders at the same rate, each spreader tested product applied at the manufacturer’s recommendations. High and low application rates were chosen for each spreader.

“We learned clearly that vertical beaters have a wider spread,” says Neden. “That means fewer trips over the field. Older, horizontal-style mod-

els essentially dump the manure out of the back.

So the spread width is about six m. Wider spread means lower application rates on the field.

“It also means less soil compaction. Many times manure is applied in spring or fall and the chances of getting compaction are certainly high this time of year.”

All of this is much better suited to reduced or no-till systems, says Neden. Because vertical beaters chop the manure up into finer pieces than horizontal beater systems, producers don’t have to work so hard to incorporate it into the soil before they seed.

The environmental factor One of the biggest factors in manure management in crop systems is the environmental factor. Phosphorus loading of surface water is a major issue for all of agriculture and in particular related to manure management.

“Because this new technology results in better spread pattern, producers can have more control over the application rate, and can apply manure or compost more sustainably to their field,” says Neden.

More information Producers who want more information can check out a good selection of YouTube videos available, says Neden. Just search “vertical manure beaters.” And ARD is producing a fact sheet on the subject. 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.

Trait Stewardship Responsibilities

Notice to Farmers

Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS).

Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship.

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CROPS GUIDE

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DECEMBER 2012 29

MARKETs

Dead or just resting?

Is the bull market done for, or just taking a bit of a breather for a predictable correction?

I

By David Drozd Senior analyst and president, Ag-Chieve Corporation

’m sure most of you have heard the old adage, “Bull markets die under their own weight,” and this summer’s weather market rally has been no different than any other.

Avid speculators bought soybean, meal and canola futures contracts in anticipation of higher prices. Bullish news fuelled their enthusiasm, as front-page headlines depicted the worst U.S. drought affecting the Midwest since the ’50s.

Some analysts may contend the rally, which drove corn and soybean prices to record highs in 2012, was demand driven and lay claim that high prices are here to stay. As much as the current fundamental situation may justify these opinions, circumstances can and often do change and history has a way of repeating itself.

When I was farming and working as a commodity broker in the 1990s, I can remember all the hoopla surrounding the demand-driven rally in 1996 and how the mainstream belief was that corn and wheat prices had entered a new higher trading range, due to unprecedented Chinese demand.

This buying frenzy came to an abrupt halt, when corn and wheat prices eroded to non-profitable levels and remained subdued throughout the following decade.

I can also remember the spring of 2005, when the nearby wheat futures contracts in Chicago were trading below $3 per bushel and corn was under $2 per bushel. Farmers in Saskatchewan were feverishly renting their land out, if they could only find someone willing to farm it for simply paying the taxes in return. This was when the news was the most bearish and prices turned up to begin the next market rally, which persisted for three years until topping out in 2008.

That scenario proved to be similar to the one seen in the late 1960s, just before prices exploded in the early 1970s.

I’ll contend that this summer’s grain market rally was both weather and demand driven. Everyone was aware of the phenomenal demand for soybeans and the tight global soybean and corn stocks, but this is where I diverge. When your dentist is telling you soybeans are going to rally to $20, it is time to find reasons to look the other way.

To be a fervent bull, hoping for higher prices, is a recipe for disaster. Now I’m not saying grain prices can’t get back up to the summer highs, but one shouldn’t expect any guarantees.

Historical High 17.94 ¾

Soybean Monthly Nearby

2000

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500 Record open interest

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Farmers who’ve locked the bin doors smartly, waiting for $20 soybeans, could be disappointed if South America produces a record crop.

Unless there is a weather scare in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere, the recent highs could be a fond memory. After all, it was a combination of excellent demand and a severe drought that inspired zealous speculators to invest in soybean, meal and corn futures, which drove prices to new historical highs.

A typical sign of an exhausted bull market is long liquidation. This occurs when the longs (those who’ve purchased a futures contract in anticipation of higher prices) liquidate (sell) in order to get out of those long positions.

At first the smart money sells to take profit, followed by the rest, who sell to cut losses.

As illustrated in the accompanying chart, long liquidation is evident when the open interest declines on price contractions. This is most apt to occur when prices and open interest reach a record high before turning down.

As the market comes off its high, speculators and farmers alike become interested in selling if and only when prices get back up to the high. However, additional selling picks up at consecutively lower highs, as each minor bounce attracts more willing sellers.

Eventually, more and more of those waiting for the market to go higher will lose their patience and simply sell at the prevailing market price, which serves to drive prices lower.

Long liquidation is also responsible for prices going down further and staying down longer than most anticipate. One only has to refer to the downturn in 2008 to bear witness to this, when soybeans and canola lost nearly $9 per bushel.

You may also have heard the saying, “High prices cure high prices.” This refers to the fact that rationing occurs at the higher price levels. There is evidence of this in the corn market with 2012-13 U.S. exports estimated by USDA to be down 25.5 per cent from last year, amount fed down nine per cent and a 10 per cent reduction in the amount used by the ethanol industry.

Global corn usage is estimated by USDA to decline 20 million tonnes to 853.3 million tonnes, as users cut back or switch to other feed grains, such as wheat.

In the case of the oilseed markets, high prices cause users to also cut back or switch to cheaper, more readily available supplies of alternative vegetable oils.

So, is the bull market over or is this merely a correction?

At the time of this writing, early November 2012, the short-term trend in soybeans is down and prices are challenging the integrity of the intermediate uptrend. The major uptrend, as defined by the dashed line of support, would still be intact, even if prices challenged the longterm line of support at $12.

Locking in a profit when prices are historically high keeps farms profitable for years to come. Producers, who’ve locked the bin doors in anticipation of $20 soybeans, could hit the jackpot if their cards fall the right way, but only time will tell if this gamble was worth the risk. n

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