Farm Forum October 2016

WEATHER MONITORING HELPS BOOST BOTTOM LINE

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InVigor turns Technology

Business

Production

Farm Life

Put good DST data to use

Hands-on education pays off for this OYF winner

Hybrid wheat: coming soon to a field near you

Regular vet care keeps pets and their families healthy

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farm forum / fall 2016

CONTENTS COVER STORY

InVigor turns 20 /6

photo: Thomas Fricke Photography

features

PRODUCTION

technology

Hybrid wheat: coming soon to a field near you / 14

Put good trial data to use / 18

Editor's Note / 4 Weather monitoring means better farm management / 20

business

Peak performance starts with seed / 34

Hands-on education pays off for this OYF winner / 22

FARM LIFE

Regular vet care keeps pets and their families healthy / 28

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EDITOR’S NOTE

— Sherry Warner

Publisher Bayer CropScience Inc. Editor Sherry Warner Contributors Jennifer Barber Dianne Finstad Joy Gregory Andrew Nadler Design/Production Farm Business Communications Farm Forum is published seasonally by Bayer CropScience Inc. Contact Farm Forum at: Bayer CropScience Inc. Suite 130 160 Quarry Park Blvd. SE Calgary, AB T2C 3G3 T. 1 888-283-6847 F. 1 888-570-9378 E. farmforum@bayer.com www.cropscience.bayer.ca Contents of this publication are copyrighted and may be reproduced only with written permission of the publisher, Bayer CropScience Inc. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Publications Mail Agreement Number 40743517 Registered in Canada Copyright 2016 Website www.farmforum.ca Return undeliverable copies to: Bayer CropScience Inc. Suite 130 160 Quarry Park Blvd. SE Calgary, AB T2C 3G3

photo: Thomas Fricke Photography

I

nVigor has had an incredible run and the popularity of this canola hybrid just keeps gaining ground — and for good reason. With its superior yield potential and agronomic traits, InVigor has helped grow the Canadian canola industry from 8.5 million acres of harvested canola in 1996, when the hybrid was first introduced, to 20 million acres today.

Jim Jansen, a Winnipeg area farmer (pictured on our cover), has been growing InVigor canola since it came on the market 20 years ago. He says it’s been a consistent performer on his farm, in good years and bad. And like Jim, thousands of canola growers across the country, have helped make InVigor the number one seeded canola brand in Canada. Celebrate InVigor’s 20 year history in our story on Page 6.

Even though global production of wheat tops 650 million tonnes annually, wheat demand is still double that of wheat productivity. And meeting this global demand for wheat products is something Bayer hopes to achieve through the development of new wheat varieties in its new $24 million wheat breeding facility in Saskatchewan. Bayer will focus on hybrids and expects to have a marketable product within eight years. Read more on Page 14.

They say that knowledge is power, and one of the best ways to help farmers make better decisions is through Demonstration Strip Trials.

Bayer’s DSTs are managed by growers using their own farming practices — seeding, fertilizing and harvesting each DST site using their own equipment and managing the process the same way they would the rest of their farm. This ensures the data is statistically relevant to farmers in the DST area. Find out how to make the best use of DST data, in our story on Page 18.

Another tool to help you make better decisions is through weather monitoring. Just some of the ways you can put detailed weather information to use is when crop scouting, managing the nutrients in your field and for targeting high risk areas for disease and insect development. Agricultural meteorologist, Andrew Nadler, talks weather monitoring on Page 20.

This issue’s Outstanding Young Farmer story on Page 24, proves there is as much value to a hands-on education as a university or college degree. Brian Pauls always knew he wanted to be a farmer, so when the opportunity to start his career came calling, he jumped at the chance, even though it meant giving up a formal education. That was a good decision for this successful poultry farmer, who runs a two-province operation along with his wife Jewel and his dad.

Virtually every farm family has pets, and in our last story we look at the benefits of regular veterinary care on keeping both pets and their families healthy through vaccinations, spaying and neutering, knowing your pet, and the importance of training.

On the cover For two decades, InVigor hybrid canola has been the seed of choice for Canadian farmers like Jim Janzen. High yield potential and quality agronomic traits make InVigor the number one seeded canola brand in the country.

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FA R M FO R U M .C A / FAll 2016

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cover story

InVigor turns W

hen Jim Janzen first harvested a canola crop yielding 50 bushels per acre and sold it for $7 dollars a bushel, he knew that canola would be the big money maker on his farm.

Like many Canadian farmers, this Winnipeg-area grower has been part of canola’s success story and in particular, InVigor’s 20 year history. For two decades, through good years and bad, InVigor hybrid canola has consistently performed on his farm.

“Where we are, we have a little too much heat at the wrong time, and our flowering period is usually too short,” says Janzen, who runs Windy Creek Farms with his wife and son. »

photo: Thomas Fricke Photography

By Jennifer Barber

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FARM FOR UM .CA / FALL 2016

‘ Prairie Sticks’ h its a home run

Winnipeg-area farmer, Jim Janzen, has been growing InVigor hybrid canola for as long as the brand has been in existence.

He says, through good years and bad, InVigor has consistently performed on his farm.

FARMFORUM .CA / FA LL 201 6

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cover story

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FARM FOR U M .CA / FALL 2016

Bayer’s retail distribution arm. “They quickly learned that our hybrids had superior yield potential and stability, allowing InVigor growers to achieve higher yields even when experiencing various environmental conditions.

“The combination of our hybridization system, germplasm, innovation and expertise has allowed us to continue to improve canola yields and bring in other agronomic traits of value for commercial planting,” says Lamont.

“We were able to develop high-yielding hybrids and breed in the tolerance to disease and Liberty herbicide to provide blackleg tolerant varieties with weed control options for canola growers,” says Stewart Brandt, North American breeding manager with Bayer. “That’s not to say we had rapid adoption. It took a while for growers to learn how to use the product and for the canola industry to grow in a way that made investing in a more expensive production system worthwhile.”

There’s no doubt that farmers want to

“From the beginning, InVigor canola has just been a more resilient plant. We continue to grow InVigor canola because it’s a top performer that keeps moving the yield bar higher” Jim Janzen Winnipeg-area canola grower

photo: thinkstock

“From the beginning, InVigor canola has just been a more resilient plant. We continue to grow InVigor canola because it’s a top performer that keeps moving the yield bar higher.”

InVigor canola’s success story mirrors the growth in the canola industry as a whole. When InVigor was first launched in the fall of 1996, there were only 8.5 million acres of canola harvested across Canada. Today that number hovers consistently around 20 million acres harvested annually. Yields have increased from an average of 26 bushels per acre two decades ago, to more than 38 bushels per acre in 2015. InVigor is now the number one seeded canola brand in Canada.

InVigor canola was one of the first canola hybrids brought to market that performed over a wide geography. There were a few predecessors leading up to the launch of InVigor, but they never broke more than a couple of percentage points in market share. Open pollinated (OP) seed accounted for more than 90 per cent of all canola grown in Canada; today, it’s less than 1 per cent.

“In the early days, when InVigor was looking like it had potential, we decided to expand our business based on one day reaching two to three million acres a year,” says Al Driver, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience Inc. “At that point we didn’t know that InVigor hybrids would be grown on over 10 million acres in a year. We couldn’t have predicted how fast we’d grow and how strong the industry would become.”

The breeding team was able to bring InVigor to market in large part because of its patented hybridization system. While corn was hybridized a century prior with mechanical de-tasseling to produce sterile female lines, canola is unique to corn in that each plant has hundreds of flowers that open over a number of weeks, which are capable of self-pollination.

Under this new hybridization system, the Bayer team was able to create a sterile female line that prevented the selfpollination process throughout flowering.

This allowed breeders to produce sterile female lines, which, in turn, allowed the opportunity for hybridization to occur when crossed to their restorer male lines.

“When we launched the very first InVigor hybrids, the system of creating hybrids was completely new to growers and to most people in the canola industry,” says Lionel Lamont, director of InterAg,

grow high value canola, and that the crop is important to this country’s economy.

A 2013 study by the Canola Council of Canada found that canola contributed $19.3 billion to the Canadian economy and 249,000 jobs. Canola also accounts for a quarter of all farm cash receipts. Canada exports 90 per cent of its canola, and export markets have more than doubled over the past 10 years.

rate didn’t produce the control growers needed. Bayer eventually adjusted the rate, changed recommended water volumes and added a graminicide (Centurion) to finetune the herbicide. At the end of the day, Liberty gave growers the kind of weed control they needed to help make their InVigor crop a success.

The LibertyLink system has also been an important tool in the battle against glyphosate resistance. “Glyphosate works great for a pre-season burn down and in order to keep it working we need to focus on that purpose,” says Blaine Woycheshin, crop manager, canola with Bayer. “Liberty is the only Group 10 herbicide in canola and has no known resistance, so it has helped prevent canola growers in Canada from experiencing the loss of glyphosate from their toolbox, as has happened in some areas in the United States.”

After a few years of fine-tuning InVigor and the LibertyLink system, Bayer »

photo: genesis studio

Growing pains Neals Johnson is one of a handful of people who have been working on the InVigor program since day one. “When I started, hybrids were just coming on the scene and were gaining lots of interest,” says Johnson, regional sales manager with Bayer. “I remember at one of our earliest plot tours, having a discussion that one day all canola will be hybrid, and it has been a good feeling to be right.”

In the early years, growers were

fascinated with how quickly the InVigor hybrids popped out of the ground and how aggressively they established. “When InVigor (plants) first appeared they were really nice to look at,” says Johnson. “They were strong from the beginning, had big cotyledons, their colour was attractive and they had these robust elephant ear-shaped leaves.”

There were also issues with weed control with conventional canola. InVigor was bred with the LibertyLink gene so that it was tolerant to Liberty herbicide.

In the years before Liberty came on the market, weed control was very difficult. “It was common for growers to have to use a pre-emergent herbicide, and then follow up with a tank mix of up to three products to control the weeds,” says Johnson. “And even then, that did not guarantee a clean field.”

Even when Liberty was introduced, it wasn’t a slam-dunk success. Its initial

FARMFOR UM.CA / FAL L 201 6

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cover story

Building the InVigor business By this time, InVigor’s path to success gave Bayer the confidence to invest in the infrastructure it needed to be the market leader in Canada. A big part of 10

FARM FORU M .CA / fa ll 2016

that they were going to use Canadian canola oil in their fryers, we had to make sure we could ensure a reliable source of a specific type of canola.”

Canadian industry has continued to invest in canola production in this country. Canada has 14 crushing and refining plants that process 10 million tonnes of canola seed annually, producing two million tonnes of oil and four million tonnes of canola meal every year.

“Canola is known as a healthy oil in markets around the world,” says Driver.

“While our production base can go up or down a percentage in the future, we don’t have many more acres to expand into, so we will have to improve our technology and agronomy to meet production targets,” he explains. “The success of the crop has created a compelling business case to continue to invest in canola. Meeting market demand will be a big challenge for our industry going forward.” that was the ability to produce enough seed to meet demand. In 2006 Bayer opened its processing and packaging facility in Lethbridge. In 2009 the company invested $15 million to create the Canola Breeding Centre of Excellence in Saskatoon to support the most advanced molecular breeding technology available in the world.

Bayer also upgraded its Regina formulation plant, built in the early 1980s, to accommodate the increase in demand for Liberty herbicide. Since then, more than $20 million has been invested into expansions at all three facilities to significantly increase the company’s ability to process 30,000 tonnes of canola seed each year. Through its production, cleaning, bagging and shipping processes, Bayer is able to reliably produce 1.2 million bags of seed annually.

“InVigor hybrids specifically changed how seed was produced — the way it was grown and brought to market became much more specialized,” says Lamont.

“The building blocks of InVigor hybrids are grown all over the world, so we needed to involve people from around the world to mitigate risk and guarantee supply.”

At this time, Bayer also launched the InVigor Health hybrids as part of a production agreement with Cargill.

“We didn’t want to be excluded from any market segment, so this was an important deal for us,” says Hodges. “In order for big customers like MacDonald’s to publicize

InVigor innovation Bayer recently introduced InVigor L252, which set a new standard for yield potential and has replaced InVigor 5440 as the most widely grown canola variety. And the patented pod shatter technology in InVigor L140P has the potential to change the way farmers harvest canola.

“Probably the biggest change we’ve seen in our InVigor breeding program has been the introduction of pod shatter reduction technology,” says Woycheshin. “Our first hybrid with this technology accounted for 20 per cent of our InVigor business this year and we predict that 40 per cent of canola acres in Canada will be straight cut by 2020. It’s been a game changer — allowing growers not only to straight cut, but timing flexibility at harvest.”

As a grower, Janzen agrees. “We tried straight cutting some canola that didn’t have pod shatter reduction technology a few years ago and it wasn’t a great experience,” he says. “It was wet so we really had no choice, but we lost 10 bushels per acre over the swathed canola. Last year our InVigor L140P field was next to a swathed field and both were hit with hail.

You couldn’t even tell the InVigor L140P was hit and the canola in the swath had 20 to 30 per cent hail damage.”

While it seems like an overnight success, the pod shatter technology has been in development for more than 10 years. “I remember visiting a harvest trial in 2005 and everyone was excited about

photos: Thomas Fricke Photography

launched its 5000 series, which was the beginning of the golden years for both InVigor and the canola industry. These were the “sold out” years for Bayer, when it couldn’t keep up with demand. InVigor 5440 became synonymous with a successful canola crop and thrived across all growing regions. That single hybrid held 65 per cent of canola market share.

When Garth Hodges was brought in to run the Canadian canola business in 2002, his first impression was that all the people involved had a passion for the product and its potential. He says the entire organization was clearly behind InVigor and the LibertyLink system. By working with those who had been part of the InVigor story from the beginning, they were able to bring the franchise to the next level.

“We listened to the breeders and took some calculated risks when introducing our 5000 series,” says Hodges, currently the strategic business lead for cereals and canola with Bayer. “We realized that while things were going well, including the fast growth in seeded canola acres, we needed something to take us to the next level. The breeding efforts paid off. InVigor hybrids worked everywhere they were seeded and gave Bayer corporate the confidence to further invest in InVigor in Canada.”

In 2009, Bayer’s Canadian researchers were the first to map the entire canola genome, which helped breeders understand how and why canola plants function. “This completely changed the way we breed new products,” says Hodges. “What used to take three months, now takes a matter of days.

By speeding up the breeding process we could more quickly respond to growers’ needs.”

“One of the things I have noticed, having worked with the Canadian team, is the enthusiasm they have for the product,” says Marcus Weidler, VP, seeds operations with Bayer. “These people helped develop the system of hybridization and have persevered through the ups and down. They have had the courage to take germplasm from exotic places and try it in Canada to try and solve growers’ dilemmas.

These people have taken InVigor to the next level time and time again.”

this technology,” says Weidler. “But when they put the crop through the combine — all that came out the other end were sticks — the pods were too protected and not harvestable. Despite their disappointment the breeding team dug deeper … as we knew this technology would add a lot of value for the grower.”

“Eventually I’d like to see pod shatter technology in all of our hybrids,” says Brandt. “If we can offer growers that kind of harvest flexibility plus have an agronomic package that gives them the yield, maturity and disease tolerance they need for their area, they will be able to see a solid increase across all of their acres and all of their InVigor canola crops. I think as we begin to stack traits, we’ll be able to solve multiple grower issues with individual hybrids.”

One of the greatest threats to canola growers, especially in Alberta, is the fast rise of clubroot. There is no known way to control this disease, and it is spreading quicker than anyone initially predicted.

Bayer has introduced a clubroot resistant* InVigor, and while it is helping to manage the disease, keeping this threat at bay will take more than a successful hybrid.

“We are working to get a handle on this disease by focusing much of our breeding efforts on resistant hybrids,” says Woycheshin. “There are no fungicide solutions in the near future, so we need to be using resistant hybrids in combination with good agronomics to stop this disease from spreading.”

The canola industry as a whole also faces some challenges going forward.

Tighter rotations will mean a shift in breeding due to more complex and rapidly spreading disease. Insect pressures and weed profiles are also changing. But today’s InVigor breeding technology has so far been able to keep up with the quickly changing canola industry.

“Who knows what kind of yields we can achieve, but I know it’s only going to go up,” says Driver. “We have seen some spectacular canola on the prairies and in some seasons we have even seen a few 100 bushel per acre fields. I think that is possible in a more consistent way in the near future. Canola is a Cinderella story for agriculture, and for two decades InVigor has been Bayer’s success story as well.” ff

Bold target aims to meet global demand for canola

By Jennifer Barber

While canola yields have increased dramatically in the past 25 years — from an early average of 22 bushels per acre to 38 in 2015 — the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) knows there are a lot more bushels to be found.

Now two years into its 10-year strategy to increase canola production to 52 bushels per acre of sustainable production by 2025, the CCC aims to increase yield not only through continued investment in new genetics, but also through improved seeding practices, targeted fertility programs, better integrated pest management systems and better harvest management.

All these practices together will help harness the full potential of canola genetics, for maximum production from every seed. In addition to production goals, the CCC is targeting new markets and expanding current markets by focusing on canola oil’s healthy properties and other advantages.

In the early years, expanding acreage was a main driver for increased canola production. And while the CCC hopes to expand seeded acres even more (a modest increase to 22 million acres, up from the 20 million average seeded acres in recent years), the 52 by 2025 strategy seeks to find higher yields through improved production on each acre.

The CCC estimates an increase in global demand for Canadian canola to 12 million metric tonnes (MMT) of exported seed and 14 MMT in domestic processing for a total goal of 26 MMT of production by 2025.

While many Canadian canola growers have already exceeded yields of 52 bushels per acre on occasion, the goal is to be able to reach this level consistently, despite challenges posed by weather or disease.

Higher yield and increased production through better agronomics will mean bigger profits for growers and those throughout the canola value chain.

*Two predominant clubroot pathotypes in Canada at the time of variety registration

FARMFOR UM .CA / FALL 201 6

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cropscience.bayer.ca

1 888-283-6847

@Bayer4CropsCA

Always read and follow label directions. InVigorÂŽ is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group.

Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

I will wake the rooster and be the one who decides when it’s time to quit. I will succeed by working with whatever Mother Nature provides and place my respect where it is earned.

I will actively pursue perfection.

O-66-08/16-10617107-E

PRODUCTiON

COMING SOON TO A FIELD NEAR YOU

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FA R M FO R U M .C A / FALL 2016

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photos: thinkstock

HYBRID WHEAT:

heat is second on the list of the 10 most important crops in the world, just after corn.

Wheat covers more of the earth than any other crop with global production topping 650 million tonnes annually.

Even so, wheat demand is growing at about double the rate of wheat productivity, says Marcus Weidler, head of seeds for Bayer in Canada. “We need significant investment in wheat improvements now to address the growing world population.”

With this challenge in mind, Bayer officially opened its new wheat breeding centre in June, 2016. The new $24 million facility, located near Pike Lake, south of Saskatoon, is part of a $1.9 billion investment over 10 years in global wheat breeding. It’s one of seven research stations in Bayer’s global network that will offer farmers locally adapted seed.

Bayer is currently the market leader when it comes to crop protection in cereals, especially wheat, says Weidler.

“We would like to offer our customers, our growers, a more complete solution.” And that’s something the company hopes to achieve through the development of new wheat varieties.

Unlike traditional wheat breeding programs, Bayer plans to release hybrid wheat seed. Hybrids are the offspring of two genetically distinct lines, explains David Bonnett, head of Bayer’s hybrid wheat breeding efforts in North America.

It’s a more complex way to breed wheat, he adds. There’s the biological challenge of developing a female line that doesn’t produce pollen along with developing a pollen producing male line. And that pollen must travel far enough to fertilize the female line.

There’s also the question of sourcing germplasm — living tissue from which new plants can be grown — given that wheat is developed through inbreeding. “With available global germplasm resources and the technology we have, we’ve been able to identify a lot of those important lines and bring them together into adapted wheat for this region,” says Bonnett.

Focusing on hybrids boosts yield and increases yield stability across environments, he adds. And hybrid wheat shows substantial increases in

vigour, a big advantage given the short growing season in western Canada.

Wheat breeders will also be able to develop new varieties in less time in a hybrid program, Weidler says, adding that with current line breeding programs, breeders have to put everything into one line, and that line has to be stable. “With hybrids you can have two lines, bring them together and test what comes out.”

In Saskatchewan, wheat breeders are already working on new hybrid spring wheat varieties. Researchers first make the crosses in Bayer’s greenhouse, located at Innovation Place in Saskatoon, says Tom Zatorski, wheat breeder. The material is then moved to the field, where researchers assess the plants and increase seed. This year, he says, Bayer has about 6,000 plots on site, and 44,000 head rows.

When developing new hybrids, yield isn’t the only criteria breeders look at — plants must be able to withstand diseases such as fusarium head blight, leaf spotting pathogens and rusts.

Technicians in Bayer’s quality lab also ensure that the hybrids have good enduse characteristics. Rhett Kaufman, a »

“Hybrid wheat shows substantial increases in vigour, a big advantage given the short growing season in western Canada” David Bonnett Senior Hybrid Wheat Breeder, Bayer CropScience

FARMFORUM.CA / FALL 201 6

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PRODUCTiON

wheat quality manager based in Lincoln, Nebraska, says that staff in Saskatoon will be analyzing material early on to make sure it meets a range of criteria, such as protein specs, loaf volume and gluten strength.

Kaufman expects to test thousand of samples a year between the quality labs at Pike Lake and Nebraska. The idea is to cull any lines that don’t meet quality specs before yield testing for potential parental lines, he explains.

Bayer aims to develop varieties that fit into Canada’s CPS and CWRS classes.

Details still need to be worked out on seed production and distribution, Weidler says. The company will be working with seed growers across the prairies to produce the hybrid seed needed every year.

“It will have similarities to the InVigor model, but there will also be some aspects that will be distinct and different.” says Weilder, adding that Bayer sells about 1.1 million bags of InVigor each year and that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the sales volume expected with hybrid wheat seed.

So when can Canadian growers look for hybrid spring wheat varieties from Bayer?

Bonnett says the company expects to have a marketable hybrid within eight years. FF 16

FA R M FO R U M .C A / FALL 2016

photos: genesis studio

Bayer officially opened its new $24 million wheat breeding centre, located near Pike Lake south of Saskatoon, in June 2016. This facility is one of seven research stations in Bayer’s global network and represents part of the $1.9 billion the company is investing in global wheat breeding over the next 10 years.

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Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

@Bayer4CropsCA

technology

Put good trial data to use

By Jennifer Barber

T

makes a big difference to growers as they contain a lot of data points that consistently provide meaningful results.”

Bayer’s DSTs are managed by growers using their own standard farming practices. That means the grower fertilizes, seeds and harvests each DST site using their own equipment and manages the process the same way they would the rest of their farm. The plots are replicated to help provide statistically reliable results.

“Replicating the trials is very important,” says Basaraba. “We try and manage all the variables but if there are

big inconsistencies between plots in the same trial, then something is not right. Sometimes there are just slight variations in soil types or other factors not visible to the eye that may affect results,” he explains. “If it isn’t properly replicated, we don’t use that data.”

Basaraba says knowledge is the key driver for choosing to conduct the trials.

“It’s one thing to bring products through breeding or through development, and another to show how they perform in different real life conditions,” he says. “We know the products perform

photo: bayer cropscience, Dirk Hansen

here are many different ways to run a product trial. All of them have their place, but some trials have more direct value to growers.

For the past 15 years, Bayer has been running its Demonstration Strip Trial (DST) program to provide local, statistically relevant data to growers.

“Growers want data that will help them make better decisions, on a cropby-crop or field-by-field basis,” says Troy Basaraba, field marketing specialist with Bayer in western Manitoba. “The fact that these are field scale trials

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FA R M FO R U M .C A / FALL 2016

photo: genesis studio

through our own research, but DSTs show how they work best depending on what each grower is dealing with.”

“There’s nothing wrong with small plot trials,” adds Tim Gardner, a field marketing specialist with Bayer in northern Saskatchewan. “But field scale trials give you the big picture. We don’t just pick the best piece of land on the farm and run the trial under ideal conditions,” he explains.

“Because we don’t mandate what inputs or equipment growers use, both those running the trials and those looking at the trials know that what they are seeing is what they can expect in their own field.”

Bayer ran just over 200 trials over the 2016 growing season, the majority of them focused on the various InVigor hybrids.

Since cereal fungicide trials have been a mainstay of the DST program, Bayer’s eight-year cereal fungicide DST database is now the most comprehensive of its type in the industry, so cereal fungicide trials have been scaled back in 2016. They have for the most part been replaced with fungicide DSTs on canola, peas and lentils.

For the past couple of years Bayer’s field marketing specialists have also run an increasing number of InVigor trials that look at harvest management. “We test the different hybrids in our standard varietal trials,” says Gardner. “But with our pod shatter reduction hybrids we also look at harvest — the benefits of swathing versus straight cutting and the yield changes that could happen when the crop is harvested at different times.

This helps create a comfort level with new technology and helps build standard practices for straight cutting canola.”

Some DSTs are regionally focused since not all issues affect all areas of the prairies. Leighton Blashko, a Bayer field marketing specialist out of north-central Alberta, is running several clubroot specific DSTs in his region. Clubroot is a serious concern for canola growers in the area, and these trials show how the latest InVigor clubroot resistant hybrids perform against the disease while showcasing their yield potential against competitor hybrids.

“Whenever possible we also like to show growers about what we have coming up in the next growing season,” says Blashko.

“For example in our harvest management trials, we not only show how InVigor 140P performs under different harvest scenarios, we are also trialing InVigor L233P, a very early pod shatter reduction hybrid that we plan to bring to market next year.”

Seeing is believing There are a number of ways that growers use the data collected at the DSTs. Basaraba says summer tours remain a popular way to use the DSTs. “We want to get as many groups out to see the trials as we can,” he says. “It’s one thing to read the yield numbers, but seeing the crop throughout the season can help tell the story behind those numbers.”

Once the data is compiled following harvest, it is presented to retail and grower customers throughout the winter months.

Growers also have an interactive option on the Bayer website, where they can filter results by their region or growing concern.

“We say the growers are generating the data and Bayer is the publisher of that data,” says Gardner. “The farmer is involved from day one, and together we record every piece of information from before the crop goes in, through the season and to harvest. It’s all clearly laid out, which offers the checks and balances that make the information more reliable.”

Blashko adds that he always recommends growers look at three years of data when analyzing information from the DSTs. “When you look at several years you get a clearer picture of how the product or

“The farmer is involved from day one, and together we record every piece of information from before the crop goes in, through the season and to harvest” Leighton Blashko field marketing specialist, bayer cropscience

practice works under different growing conditions, which makes the information a more useful risk management tool.”

Looking ahead, all three field marketing specialists say they continually look for growers in different geographies to get the most comprehensive results. “We also often work with growers who have participated in the past to help trial new products and farming practices,” says Blashko. “We will continue to meet the needs of growers by conducting trials for new and upcoming products across our portfolio.” ff

InVigor DST map: www.farmforum.ca/InVigorDSTmap Fungicide DST map: www.farmforum.ca/FungicideDSTmap

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farm life

Weather monitoring means better farm management

By Andrew Nadler | Agricultural meteorologist

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FA R M FO R U M .CA / FALL 2016

ignored, small problems can quickly escalate.

In order to maximize scouting time, the right fields must be visited at the appropriate time –— specifically, when crops are susceptible to certain pests and diseases. More farmers are using heat units to estimate a crop’s growth stage and to predict when the next critical stage will occur. Scouting can then be scheduled to correspond with susceptible periods instead of spending time inspecting crops that are doing well.

Nutrient management: Following the four Rs of nutrient management —

right source, right rate, right time, right place — can be tricky when there are so many factors at play, particularly when faced with unknowns such as crop uptake, nutrient loss and final yield — most of which are influenced by the weather.

Developments in plant and soil simulation modelling help to provide insight into crop nutrient status and anticipated demands. These models incorporate crop and soil characteristics, data from in-field sensors, observed weather and weather forecasts to help indicate a crop’s nutrient

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

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owadays, there is no shortage of things to measure. Every piece of equipment has countless sensors to keep tabs on its performance.

Improved communications have allowed for real-time updates and instant alerts in case anything goes wrong.

The new buzzword, “Internet of Things” (IoT), means that anything with an on/off switch such as a vehicle, coffee maker, smart phone, wearable device and machine component such as an engine can be connected. According to recent estimates, the IoT will consist of almost 50 billion connected objects by 2020. And weather monitoring equipment is no exception.

It used to be that weather was only officially recorded at cities or airports.

Farms had a manual rain gauge to track how much rain fell at the yard site. As every farmer knows, rain does not fall uniformly across the landscape, particularly during summer storm season, so rainfall that was measured at the nearest weather station was usually different than rainfall measured at the yard or in any field.

Also, farms in general have increased in size over the last several years, further increasing the variability of weather across the entire operation. As a result, site-specific weather monitoring has become increasingly more valuable so farmers now know conditions at any given location. Weather is now monitored and reported throughout the countryside with an unprecedented attention to detail.

But what are the benefits? When it comes to any new technology for the farm, there’s always the question of whether or not it will be a useful tool or just a gadget that doesn’t necessarily offer much benefit or return on investment.

In recent years, more farmers have realized the benefits of weather monitoring — using the latest technology to transform large amounts of data into valuable information, which can then provide relevant, actionable insight. Here are some of the main areas of use: Crop scouting: Crop scouting is a necessary, yet time-consuming task. If

status — whether adequate or deficient.

Farmers can then apply additional nutrients based on sound recommendations.

Risk management: Insect development and activity are highly dependent on weather conditions. Most insects require a certain amount of heat in order to progress through their development stages. Crop diseases are also influenced by the weather, normally requiring a certain threshold of wetness and range of temperatures to cause an outbreak. Knowing the status of pests or the potential for disease can be an immense help in targeting high risk areas.

Farm operations: One of the most frustrating and costly situations is to prepare equipment, travel a long distance to the field, only to find out that the weather conditions are not suitable to proceed with the task at hand. This is where farmers really appreciate having access to a network of weather stations,

“Weather is now monitored and reported throughout the countryside with an unprecedented attention to detail” Andrew Nadler Agricultural Meteorologist

including those located further afield.

If the station near a distant field is showing that too much rain fell there overnight for a successful harvest, you can check to see if other fields are more suitable to be worked. Likewise, an accurate, fieldlevel forecast can also help avoid cancelling or abandoning field operations due to what was thought to be unsuitable weather.

Crop insurance: It started with energy companies and ski resorts hedging their risk against weather-related perils, and today agriculture is gradually starting to adopt weather derivative-based crop insurance.

Unlike conventional crop insurance that relies on a farm’s past productivity, producers are able to insure crops against abnormal temperature and precipitation as recorded at a nearby weather station.

If the seasonal accumulation of heat units or rainfall is below a set threshold, an automatic payment is triggered. For example, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation’s Forage Rainfall Insurance Program protects grazing acres in the event that rainfall is below the long-term average. The main benefit is that payments are not tied to yield or management, but to the root cause of yield loss. Such programs have also gained popularity in developing countries where conventional crop insurance is unavailable.

These are only a few examples of the many benefits of weather monitoring on the farm. Like any tool, there are countless applications that are currently being employed or yet to be realized. Agricultural solutions providers and even traditionally non-agricultural groups, like IBM, have been investing huge amounts of resources into agricultural decision support. The end result will be better tools that help with day-to-day farm management.

Future articles will discuss different types of weather monitoring equipment, forecasts, and some of the tools that are available to benefit farming. ff

FARMFORUM.CA / FALL 201 6

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BUSINESS

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Hands-on education pays off for this OYF winner

By Dianne Finstad

Jewel and Brian Pauls with their children, Brooke (5), Faith (3), Kaden (1) & Janae (7)

PHOTO: Jen Giesbrecht

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ducation comes in many forms. When Brian Pauls faced a key juncture in his life, he chose the path to the barn over the classroom. And for this successful poultry producer, the learning has never stopped.

Today, Pauls and his father run a multiunit, two-province poultry operation, based near Chilliwack, BC. The farm has 17,000 broilers and 55,000 caged white and free-range brown egg layers, with Brian managing broiler and turkey barns in both B.C. and Saskatchewan.

Brian and his wife, Jewel, are winners of the 2016 Outstanding Young Farmers’ program award for the B.C./Yukon region.

This win marks a milestone for the program.

It’s the first time two generations of the same family have been recognized. Brian’s parents, Frank and Elma Pauls, were the 1990 OYF program award recipients.

“I remember being part of pictures at the farm, and OYF alumni visiting,” recalls Brian. “Going to events, like horse shows, we would get the VIP treatment. It was exciting. I remember thinking it would be cool to be in the OYF myself one day.”

While those memories remained dormant until his own nomination, what was always clear to Brian was that he was born to farm.

“As a kid, I would yell and scream when

Dad headed out because I wanted to go with him,” laughs Brian. “Dad welded a car seat to the fender of the tractor so I could go along.

I just wanted to be where the action was.”

Growing up, he worked in the family barn as well as on neighbours’ farms.

Then, with a scholarship for UBC in hand, he was off to get some post-secondary education. “After my first year, our main foreman got his own farm and left. It was a crossroads. Dad said he’d have to downsize to manage, or I could quit school, come home, and see where this would go.”

Pauls was studying agriculture, and while the ultimate goal of his education was farming, he didn’t expect to get there so soon. “That was always the dream. I thought I could always go back to school, but this was an opportunity I would not get very often.” So he took the plunge.

Since then, the farm has more than doubled in size. And two Pauls family mottos: “when you see an opportunity, take advantage of it” and “try and do something new every year” continue to drive the operation. “‘Try and do something every year’ came right from my Grandma, and was how we were raised,” says Brian. “We’ve tried to be aggressive and think outside the box, from feeding programs to expansion, to management styles, to computers.”

Jewel Pauls, a registered nurse, came »

FARMFORUM.CA / FALL 2016

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into the picture in 2007, and although she grew up on a hobby farm in B.C., becoming part of a large family business was admittedly a big learning curve, especially the cycles, seasons and the hours. “But Brian is super passionate about chicken, and I’ve learned a lot over the last 11 years.”

The love of the farm is now being passed to the next generation, with their children Janae (7), Brooke (5), Faith (3) and Kaden (1) equally enthused.

Jewel is busy on the home front, especially as Brian travels between the various farm units, but she also enjoys making the employees feel like part of the family. “My role is also as a sounding board for Brian. We problem-solve together.

“He is always looking for how to make things better,” adds Jewel. “For instance, we’ve worked with a nutritionist, and now have more whole wheat in the poultry diet, finding it’s better for the birds and the bottom line.” Brian’s inventive eye has led to improvements in barn ventilation, pioneering an efficient design for Canadian barns that moves more air with less electricity.

The Pauls are also business innovators, which is why they looked beyond B.C.’s border to grow their business. With airport connections, favourable quota and land prices, Saskatchewan became their land of opportunity. Working with families on the farms they’ve purchased has worked well.

The decision to “spread their wings” proved timely for risk management too, as the first avian flu outbreak in 2004 led to flock depopulation in one of their B.C. barns that was located in a quarantine zone.

Having multiple barns has been beneficial in other ways. “We can try things on a smaller scale, and if they work, implement them on a larger number of birds,” explains Brian. “Because they cycle so fast, they give you a report card quickly. We’re able to make more improvements, more quickly.”

Along with the variety of poultry, ranging from pullets to layers and turkeys, the Pauls also grow crops, like corn silage, to use the chicken manure. And the latest “new thing” they’ve added to their cropping has been hops for the craft brewing market. “I’m excited about that,” he says. “It’s our first real year at it.”

As the generational shift progresses, Brian is taking over more of the management duties, but still calls his Dad — who remains actively involved in the farm — his “best friend” and a business partner he can talk with about any issues that may crop up.

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FA R M FO R U M .CA / FALL 2016

The Pauls are proud of their barns, regularly touring groups or individuals through and sharing their poultry story.

“Often people are amazed,” says Jewel.

They don’t realize until they see it for themselves how happy the chickens are and the cleanliness of the barns. “It gives them peace of mind, so they don’t feel guilty for not buying free-range.”

Brian and Jewel Pauls are moving forward with still another philosophy: “good enough is never good enough.” And while Brian deals with the day-to-day challenges of managing a major agribusiness, he savours time spent farming.

“I still get into the barns and out to plow some fields. It’s a balance, but the thrill from growing the farm is good too.” FF

“We’ve tried to be aggressive and think outside the box, from feeding programs to expansion, to management styles, to computers” Brian Pauls poultry farmer chilliwack, BC

PHOTOS: Jen Giesbrecht

BUSINESS

Jewel and Brian Pauls farm in two provinces, Saskatchewan and B.C., and have 17,000 broilers as well as 55,000 caged white and free-range brown egg layers. The two are proud of their barns and regularly offer tours of their facility.

FARMFORUM.CA / FALL 2016

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IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT? For years the predominant factors driving herbicide purchase and product loyalty have been weed spectrum, product efficacy and price. Once you found a suitable combination of these, you regarded the product as ‘good value’ and penciled it in for the next season.

CAUSE FOR ALARM Not only do resistant weeds take considerably more money and time to manage, the loss of any herbicide group can leave you with fewer tools to work with, potentially threatening the economic viability of your farming operation.

TA K E T H E F I R S T S T E P The first step is to acknowledge the problem exists and accurately assess the situation.

If you see any of the following, you

But the strategy of using the same product on the same crop year after year catches up to you pretty quickly.

should definitely consider resistance as a distinct possibility: • Patches of escapes • Poor weed control in certain areas of your field • Previously susceptible weeds now growing through herbicide applications • Neighbouring resistance problems in adjacent fields

Although these are the telltale signs, if you wait to see them in your field, you are already behind. The answer to successfully combating herbicide resistance, and preserving the sustainability of your operation, is to proactively implement a resistance management plan based on best agronomic practices.

To learn more visit the NEW MixItUp.ca

farm life

Regular vet care keeps pets and their families healthy

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ontemporary farm operations bear little resemblance to their ancestral roots.

But little has changed for the farm cats and dogs that catch rodents, herd livestock, keep predators at bay and warn residents when visitors pull into the yard.

Many of these working animals are also family pets, but some aren’t getting the preventative veterinary care needed to keep them — and their people — from harm, says Karen Sheehan, a small animal veterinarian with Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) at the University of Saskatchewan.

The problem is that sick pets may spell trouble for people. Young children, pregnant women, the elderly and others with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to diseases passed from pets to people. In addition to serving as pet-tohuman vectors of several varieties of worms and diarrhea-inducing bacteria, the World Health Organization (WHO) says dogs 28

FA R M FO R U M .C A / FALL 2016

are the zoonotic (animal to human) link in about 99 per cent of human rabies cases.

While North American cases of rabies are rare, localized outbreaks occur. By July 2016, Saskatchewan identified 16 cases, including one in a cow and one in a cat. “That’s almost double the number of positive rabies cases as in 2014,” notes Sheehan. With farm pets more likely to encounter common carriers like skunks and bats, vaccination is essential, especially since infected pets put farm livestock at risk.

Sheehan’s three-pronged approached to farm pet wellness? Vaccinate, spay/ neuter and know your pets so you can monitor their health and habits.

Vaccinate The core inoculation for dogs includes rabies and four viral infections, including distemper and parvovirus, a highly contagious and potentially fatal disease of the intestines. The core vaccine for cats immunizes against rabies,

two upper-respiratory viruses and panleukopenia (feline distemper). The latter can wipe out litters of kittens.

“Cats and dogs can contribute to livestock health by controlling predators and pests such as coyotes, mice and rats,” says Tamara Hofstede with Bayer Animal Health. “While dogs and cats don’t share many diseases with livestock, they can create risk if they carry disease. These include parasitic diseases such as tapeworm, viral diseases like rabies and bacterial diseases like streptococcus.”

Because of their interaction with livestock and wild animals, all farm pets should be vaccinated, adds Sheehan. Tattoos and microchips will help farmers keep pet vaccination records straight. Since cats and dogs require different inoculations and younger pets need more frequent boosters, it’s good to set up a vaccination routine.

If you’re not sure how to get that started, ask your veterinarian. “Your large animal vet may not do the work but they will know who you should talk to,” she says.

photo: thinkstock

By Joy Gregory

“Because of their interaction with livestock and wild animals, all farm pets should be vaccinated”

Spay and neuter Unplanned litters of dogs and cats may present a significant pet management issue for farmers. “Male dogs and cats, which are not neutered, roam and are at a higher risk of spreading disease, getting hit by cars and sustaining injuries related to fights,” explains Sheehan. Kittens can also attract predators and wandering packs of feral dogs create human, pet and livestock safety issues.

The problem is so serious in rural Saskatchewan that two of the four free spay and neuter clinics the University of Saskatchewan will sponsor in 2016, will be in held in rural areas.

Farmers concerned about pet overpopulation can also consider adopting a stray, says Deanna Thompson of Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS).

For many shelters, the “right fit” for re-homed dogs includes access to food, water, indoor shelter and attention.

AARCS’s Barn Buddies program (for cats not suited to a home placement) requires adoptees to provide access to food, water and shelter with heat. Food and water are critical because that keeps these cats in the area you want them to hunt, says Thompson.

All shelter animals are spayed or

A well-trained dog is a safer, happier dog

Karen Sheehan SMALL ANIMAL VET WCVM, UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN

neutered, vaccinated and tattooed or micro-chipped. Last year, AARCS found homes for 1,175 dogs and 1,055 cats.

Know your pet Early signs of disease are often evident in a farm dog or cat’s behaviour, says Sheehan. Behavioural changes may signal something is wrong with your pet since illness or pain can make an animal seek or avoid contact with people and other pets.

And while it’s easy to spot porcupine quills, cuts and bruises and lameness, other physical signs of illness or disease are not so easy to spot with farm pets such as diarrhea and fecal worms. FF

“You can never have a dog that’s too well-behaved or too good to live with,” says trainer Peter Luhoff of Absolutely Stirling Dog Training. Based in southern Alberta, Luhoff and his wife Lorina run a residential training program for dogs.

By then it may be too late. The Canada Safety Council says there are about 460,000 dog bite incidents a year.

In 2013, State Farm reported $104 million in insurance payouts from 3,700 Canadian dog bite claims.

About half of their trainees are purebred dogs headed for the competitive circuit. The rest are trained for life as security dogs or pets, including farm dogs, which often take on both roles. They’ve also trained border collies to work with livestock.

A farm dog that chases livestock or traffic, traps farm visitors in vehicles or won’t heed simple commands may never prompt an insurance claim. But dog owners can expect compliance from a well-trained canine, regardless of the breed, insists Luhoff.

A growing number of dog owners hire professional trainers because they don’t know how to fix problems with behaviour, says Luhoff. “If you’re not sure how to fix your car, you go to a mechanic. It’s the same for help training your dog.”

“It’s really about who’s in charge,” he says. “Once you set some black and white guidelines, the dogs like it.”

Too many dog owners excuse their dog’s unwanted behaviours, especially if they don’t happen all the time. “The behaviours make them uncomfortable, but they don’t realize they have a real problem until someone complains.”

Absolutely Stirling Dog Training www.farmforum.ca/dogtraining Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society www.farmforum.ca/aarcs

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WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

Celebrating 20 Years With InVigor InVigor® hybrid canola has come a long way over the past 20 years and you have been there every step of the way. Thank you

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xcellence is a journey, not a destination. No one understands that better than growers across western Canada. The simple belief among growers to always strive to do better is the reason why canola production has steadily advanced, year after year, getting more sophisticated, innovative and profitable.

It’s also the reason why InVigor hybrid canola has enjoyed a long and proud history, rising to the top as a leading canola brand for the region. All the credit belongs to InVigor growers. Your trust and support in making InVigor a part of your success over many years has kept the InVigor lineup strong and dynamic.

20 years of innovation With the 20th anniversary of InVigor coming in 2017, there is no better time to say “thank you.”

The support, confidence, feedback and insights that you have invested in InVigor provides the energy that has fueled the pace of innovation. (See the InVigor evolution timeline on the next page for a snapshot of its progress). And the journey is far from done, as InVigor powers a brand new generation of progress. The InVigor lineup is better than ever before, with many InVigor options to meet the needs of Canadian growers.

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FA R M FO R U M .C A / FALL 2016

Two new hybrids The evolution continues today with fresh options, including two early maturing InVigor hybrids – InVigor L233P and InVigor L230.

Pod shatter reduction hybrid: NEW early-maturing InVigor L233P joins InVigor L140P in offering increased yield protection and greater harvest flexibility with patented Pod Shatter Reduction technology — an innovative trait that allows you to straight cut canola without sacrificing yield.

Strong performance: InVigor L230 is a great option for those who prefer an early-maturing hybrid, along with a well-rounded package of agronomic and performance advantages.

Both new hybrids represent the latest advancements in InVigor hybrid canola technology that you can trust to consistently deliver maximum yield and performance.

Bayer is forecasting that by 2020, 40 to 50% of all canola in western Canada will be harvested by straight cutting. InVigor L233P joins InVigor L140P — the first pod shatter reduction hybrid — as a true game changer that you can rely on to take advantage of this straight cutting revolution.

Bottom line? There’s never been a better time to be an InVigor grower or a better outlook for the future of InVigor. Here’s to the next 20 years! Thank you!

Check out the Demonstration Strip Trial yield data at InVigorResults.ca The site is updated with the latest InVigor results in local growing areas across western Canada, including fresh data on the new InVigor hybrids.

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

The Evolution Keeps Getting Better

A FIT F EVERY 2016

1999

2001

2007

2004

2013

2010

2015 2011

2009 1997

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN INVIGOR HYBRID? The numbers behind each InVigor hybrid tell the real story. Although thousands of hybrids are screened and tested every year, only a select few actually become an InVigor hybrid. This is a testament to the rigorous quality control and high performance standards of the InVigor canola team.

2006

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Here is a stroll down memory lane, highlighting growers’ favourite InVigor hybrids over the past 20 years.

20 YEARS OF PROOF

Please note: Inform based on performa several Bayer inter may vary on your f preferred managem

For 20 consecutive years, InVigor canola hybrids have continued to outperform all competitors at the Western Canada Canola/Rapeseed Recommending Committee (WCC/RRC) canola variety registration trials.

Did you know?

For 20 consecutive years, InVigor canola hybrids have continued to outperform all competitors at the Western Canada Canola/Rapeseed Recommending Committee (WCC/RRC) canola variety registration trials.

Commitment to innovation The Bayer research and development system is running full throttle to keep InVigor growers at the top of their game, meeting the ever-shifting challenges and fresh opportunities of canola production in western Canada. The Bayer Field Marketing Team provides local data in field scale trials across the region, so you can find the right hybrids for your fields.

Follow @Bayer4CropsCA to see the latest and greatest from Bayer’s Field Marketing Team.

InVigor performance sets Bayer apart from the competition Bayer

Limagrain

Agriprogress Inc.

Zeneca Seeds

Pioneer Hi-Bred

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool

Svalof Welbull

DL Seeds

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InVigor hybrids growing challe broad spectrum The InVigor off you with more environmental Canadian grow

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07

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Source: 1996–2015 Western Canada Canola/Rapeseed Recommending Committee (WCC/RRC) variety registration trials.

View regular updates at cropscience.bayer.ca.

Follow us on Twitter @Bayer4CropsCA. Bayer's field marketing team.

FARMFORUM.CA / FALL 201 6

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InVigor Purchase Bonus Cash in on more benefits through the BayerValue program

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et more bang for your buck at purchase time by taking advantage of the 2017 BayerValue program.

The program includes InVigor Purchase Bonus savings of 5 to 15% in a range of categories when you purchase 30 bags or more of InVigor canola hybrids. This means you can stack up the savings on your canola pre-burn and fungicide, so you can get the entire product suite from the canola experts, on top of savings on other great cereal and pulse products.

Calculate your savings

Get details on saving with InVigor at cropscience.bayer.ca/BayerValue.

The website includes an online calculator so you can see exactly how much you can save.

NEW InVigor Innovation Bonus Additional InVigor Innovation Bonus savings of 5% are available when you purchase 30 bags or more of the InVigor Pod Shatter Reduction hybrids: InVigor L140P or InVigor L233P.

get more with bayervalue and the invigor purchase bonus T:13.8889 in

Save more!

Herbicides

(Minimum 300 ac.)

InVigor Innovation Bonus

Herbicide Segment

5%

(Minimum 30 bags of Pod Shatter Reduction hybrids)

For complete terms and conditions, please visit cropscience.bayer.ca/BayerValue or call 1 888-283-6847.

All savings and rewards are calculated using suggested retail price (SRP). * Stress Shield must be combined with Raxil PRO or Trilex EverGol to receive a rebate.

No rebate will apply to Stress Shield on matching acres of EverGol Energy.

FA R M FO R U M .C A / FALL 2016 BCS10606225_BV_IPB.indd

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InVigor Purchase Bonus

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Purchase 30 bags or more of InVigor® canola hybrids and automatically qualify to receive the following savings:

CANOLA

CEREALS AND PULSES

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

Act Now Against Herbicide Resistance Growers have the opportunity to stay ahead of this issue

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erbicide resistance is a growing problem that not only limits options for producers but also has a substantial financial impact.

This is clear from examples like the situation in the U.S., where as a result of years of over-reliance on glyphosate, growers today have fewer and more expensive options. Some have even incurred an extra $150 per acre for hand weeding.

The situation is even more dire in Australia where growers have been left with virtually no weed control as a result of herbicide resistance, adding up to an automatic 30% yield decrease. Increased management costs and yield loss due to resistant weeds are costing Australian growers on average $59 per acre (source: 2014/2015 Grains Development Research Corporation).

Fortunately in Canada, there is still opportunity to stay ahead of this issue and keep it at bay. Mix It Up gives you access to knowledge and strategies to achieve effective resistance management, in a way that protects crop quality and yield while helping to ensure that the number of available herbicides are preserved.

Every grower has a role to play to make sure they will continue to have all the options they need to achieve the weed control they expect for many years to come. Remember, it starts with one field, and it starts today.

Did you know? Different products can still have the same active ingredients. To manage resistance, you need to make sure you are actually changing the active ingredients applied to the field and not just the product.

MixItUp.ca has resources including charts on different herbicide groups and solutions to help you identify the best approaches for your farms. Let’s act now before herbicide resistance becomes a bigger problem.

Visit MixItUp.ca for more detailed information on resistance management strategies.

Trending Now: New Herbicides Exciting NEW options bring more power and performance to your toolbox Growers like you are ready to make the next crop even better than this year. And there has never been a better opportunity to meet that goal – with fresh cropping solutions poised to help take your cropping game to a whole new level.

Among the leading examples generating rising excitement are two of the latest herbicides from Bayer.

First available in 2016, Infinity® FX is a true game changer, offering a unique combination of three herbicide groups that use both systemic and contact activity. The results are powerful.

With a multi-level activity, this highpowered package includes Group 27 (pyrasulfotole), Group 6 (bromoxynil) and Group 4 (fluroxypyr) delivering the weed control you need. Firstclass Infinity FX provides fast-acting control of the widest spectrum of the most problematic broadleaf weeds, including cleavers, kochia, wild buckwheat and volunteer flax, with the added value of an exceptional resistance management option.

Herbicide available Spring 2017.

Coming out of the gate for the 2017 growing season is a brand new herbicide that will deliver a single solution for several of the hardest to control weeds that are often tough to battle.

This first-of-its-kind solution provides a one-two punch to knock out both grass weeds, including wild oats; and perennial broadleaf weeds, including first-class control of dandelions, Canada thistle and narrow-leaved hawk’s beard.

FARMFORUM.CA / FALL 201 6

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Peak Performance Starts With Seed The Bayer SeedGrowth™ team is an all-in-one resource to help you optimize your seed treatment approach

L

ooking at the big picture can pay big dividends.

That’s what Collin MacLean has found, after two years of making improvements to his farm’s seed treatment approach, using the support of a dedicated specialist from the Bayer SeedGrowth team.

“There are a lot of options and innovations to conside, whether it’s in treatment products, equipment, coatings … you name it,” says MacLean, who farms along with dad, Cameron, and brother, Doug, about 15 minutes from the Montana border.

“It’s great to have that guidance to make sure you are looking at all the possible areas to improve. Also, to make sure you are always looking at those options from the perspective of the whole picture. Everything interrelates. You want it all to work together seamlessly to get the best results.”

Finding the right solutions for your farm MacLean and his team, working with SeedGrowth specialist Nick Petruic, have significantly updated and streamlined the farm’s seed treatment approach.

“First, Nick is a farmer himself and he really cares about listening and helping identify the solutions that are going to work for us. We can always get a hold of him. He’s in our local area and understands it. The direction and help we get is always clear, quick and efficient.

We have more confidence than ever in knowing we’re doing the right things that fit well with our farm and most important we’re seeing the payoff.”

The MacLean farm has also used Petruic’s advice in shifting to different seed treater equipment. “The fit was perfect,” says MacLean, “We liked our new treater so much we now run two of them.”

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FA R M FO R U M .CA / SPRING 2016

Comprehensive, integrated approach Just a few hours northeast of MacLean’s farm, near Lumsden, SK, pedigreed seed grower Jim Latrace has had a similar experience working with Petruic using the SeedGrowth approach. Latrace runs a pedigreed seed operation on his family run farm that includes 4,600 acres, producing oilseed, cereals and pulse crops.

“There are a lot of things we’ve been able to improve and it all adds up,” says Latrace. “You get the peace of mind and the results of having that whole system viewpoint and backup. When we ask for Nick’s help and advice he really takes care of things for us, which also allows us to operate efficiently by keeping our focus on the parts of farming that are the best use of our time.”

Adjusting to shifting challenges Petruic has assisted both farmers with year-to-year adjustments that support best management such as fine-tuning equipment settings to ensure proper and consistent coverage under different weather and agronomic conditions.

“At the end of the day, farming is a

people business and good judgement from people you can trust is invaluable,” says Latrace. “The SeedGrowth people are farming people and that goes a long way — dealing with somebody that understands what we’re doing and who is interested in our world because it’s their world too.”

Covering All The Bases The team includes specialists located across the three prairie provinces, each supporting growers and commercial seed treatment applicators, by providing: • Integrated advice on solutions • Technical know-how on products and their application • Knowledge on best agronomic practices and options to reduce risk to seed and maximize plant health • Comprehensive support to get your crop off to the best start possible

Learn more about seed treatment innovations and the resources offered by the SeedGrowth team at cropscience.bayer.ca/SeedGrowth

Weather or Not In farming, the only thing that’s predictable is how unpredictable things can get; but when you use Raxil® PRO Shield seed treatment with Stress Shield®, you can expect superior disease and wireworm protection, as well as improved yield performance.

With three different fungicidal actives, you also receive full contact and systemic protection from the most dangerous seed- and soil-borne diseases, including Fusarium graminearum.

With Raxil PRO Shield, what you seed is what you get.

cropscience.bayer.ca/Raxil

1 888-283-6847

@Bayer4CropsCA

Always read and follow the label directions. Raxil® and Stress Shield® are registered trademarks of the Bayer Group.

Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

C-55-08/16-10617107-E

STRAIGHT CUT YOUR WORKLOAD The future is here. InVigor® L140P and NEW InVigor L233P hybrids feature patented Pod Shatter Reduction technology, providing you with the ability to straight cut your canola.

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cropscience.bayer.ca

1 888-283-6847

@Bayer4CropsCA

Always read and follow label directions. InVigor® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group.

Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

O-66-10/16-10617107-E

BCS10617107_InVigorPS_4C_OBC.indd Insert October 2016

1 100% Bayer BCS10590098 9-22-2016 10:43 AM

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