THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2017
VOL. 95 | NO. 51 | $4.25
Flying farmers Three Sask. farmers participate in an ambitious fundraiser. | P. 16
Implement deal An Ontario auto parts company buys MacDon Industries. | P. 24
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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A FAMILY’S YEARLY CHRISTMAS TRADITION
Is clubroot spread in Sask. unavoidable? Province better poised to control disease than Alberta was in 2003 BY BRIAN CROSS SASKATOON NEWSROOM
There’s good news and bad news for Saskatchewan canola growers concerned about clubroot. The bad news is the disease will likely become more prevalent in the province as annual canola plantings continue to rise. The good news is that clubroot can be managed if growers catch it early and follow some simple management rules, such as lengthening rotations and adopting good infield sanitation practices. “I’m quite convinced that clubroot will come to your farm. It’s just too hard to keep it away,” said Dan Orchard, an agronomist and clubroot expert with the Canola Council of Canada. “But you can keep its impact down to a minimum amount by finding it early…. The key is to keep spore loads low.” SEE CLUBROOT IN SASK, PAGE 5
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Doug Richards pulls a freshly cut tree during his family’s annual tree cutting event at the Devil’s Head Ranch near Morley, Alta., Dec. 9. | PATRICK PRICE PHOTO
While other crops steadily improve yields, barley production has dropped 22 percent since 2013 BY BARBARA DUCKWORTH CALGARY BUREAU
BANFF, Alta. — Better yielding and higher paying crops like canola, wheat, oats and durum have displaced barley. “Farmers are businessmen and they are going to grow crops that have the greatest rate of return. The return on barley is lower than other
crops,” David Simbo, research manager for Alberta Barley, said during the commission’s annual meeting held in Banff Dec. 6-7. Barley is Canada’s fourth largest crop, but in 2017 production was less than eight million tonnes compared to the 2013 harvest of 10.2 million tonnes. It has been in decline for almost two decades. “This is a really dramatic decline,
and I think we need to get to the bottom of why are we seeing a 50 percent reduction in barley acres in Canada,” said consultant Tyler Bjornson. Alberta grows about half of Canada’s barley crop, and the commission contracted Bjornson to develop a strategy with recommendations to turn the industry’s flagging fortunes around. The strategy will be analyzed fur-
ther in January, said commission manager Tom Steve. “It is really the first time in a number of years we have really taken a critical look at the market opportunity for barley, the challenges for barley and maybe why farmers are choosing to grow other crops,” he said in an interview. SEE BARLEY DECLINES, PAGE 4
SUSTAINABILITY: CANADA IS FALLING BEHIND | PAGE 5 Private money There’s room for private investment in wheat and barley research. | Page 15
Building a better dairy cow Genomics can help. | Page 50
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DECEMBER 21, 2017 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Stn. Main, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4 The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Corp. Publisher: Shaun Jessome Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240
Barley suffers ‘dramatic decline’
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