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TOP CROP
MANAGER
12 | Big zippers seal out grain bag troubles plastic zippers offer a smart solution to keeping out moisture.
By John Dietz
6 Safely storing higher-oil canola seed By Carolyn King
28 Storage bags save time and money By Madeleine Baerg
AND
16 Improving soil fertility and wheat crop management By Brian Arnall and Fernando García
20 Consider chloride in crop nutrition By John Dietz
22 | Cropping system for soybeans improved Monsanto is set to launch a new weed control option.
By Donna Fleury
32 | Going green presents challenges
But the dream is still alive. By Shari
Narine
30 advancements in biomass feedstocks and genetics
Donna Fleury
CpSr vs. CWrS – David vs. goliath, or open market reality? By Andrea Hilderman
4 as ye sow, so shall ye reap By Janet Kanters
Readers will find numerous references to
encourage
and consult with provincial recommendations and product labels for complete instructions.
Janet Kanters | eDItOr
As ye sow, so shAll ye reAp
It’s mid august as I write this, and I have developed permanently crossed fingers and toes, hoping and praying for the remainder of this summer and the coming fall to be weatherperfect for prairie farmers. Indeed, by the time you’re reading this, I’m hoping you’re sitting in your combine, or enjoying supper in the field with your family, during a timely and successful harvest season.
While the summer of 2013 wasn’t without its growing challenges yet again (wouldn’t it be boring if it were Too easy?), by all accounts crops this year are looking good heading into the last part of the growing season (as of mid august).
I’ve often heard snatches of conversation from non-farming folk who espouse that summer must be a time of leisure for farmers – the crop has been planted, now all it takes is Mother nature to make it grow and ripen, while farmers loll about on beaches and parks, or on their back decks. If only they knew! While summer may not be as frantic as spring, it is a season of steady work, and fall certainly isn’t without its daily chores.
of all the busy seasons farmers deal with, I have to think fall is the busiest. Despite the idyllic image of a farmer in his air-conditioned combine, harvesting uniform golden fields of wheat on a calm, sunny day, often this isn’t the case. In the real world, harvest is the most stressful, dangerous period of the entire year for a farmer, as many of you can attest. Harvest means long hours, weather that is often unco-operative, and an increased risk of accidents. The season has a time-sensitive component to it as well – moisture and protein levels and other variables all play a part in harvest, and there is no payday for the grain farmer as long as the crop is in the field.
getting the crop off is only one part of a farmer’s fall work schedule. Indeed, protecting grain quality and ultimately the economic value of the grain begins long before the first acre is ever harvested. So with that in mind, in this issue of Top Crop Manager we feature three storage stories, beginning with one on how to safely store higher-oil canola seed. In a phone survey a few years ago, the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) found that hundreds of farmers encountered a problem with canola spoilage in storage on their farms at some point over the years. To top things off, a higher oil content may make canola even more susceptible to spoilage in storage. The story reviews recent studies conducted by paMI, and offers insight into a University of Manitoba ongoing study, one of the objectives being to develop moisture and temperature guidelines for safe storage of high-oil canola.
another storage story features three alberta brothers who are thinking outside the bin for on-farm storage. With consolidation a major trend in agriculture today, many farmers who take on additional acres are running into a costly side effect of growth: the need for more – often a lot more – grain and fertilizer storage space. The brothers contend that grain bags offer hidden side benefits: convenience, flexibility and time savings, and – for farmers who make the leap to storing fertilizer as well – very considerable input cost savings. and more about grain bags: this issue of Top Crop Manager includes a story about a made-inCanada zipper system that keeps moisture out of grain stored in poly bags. Whenever and wherever you are harvesting this fall, we hope you are having a successful crop year.
autumn will heap the granaries high. Whatever you reap, corn, wheat or clover, Barley or rye, when autumn is over . . . Whatever you reap you will be raising again and again.
- Anne Persov, Whatever You Reap.
SEPTEMBER 2013, vol. 39, no. 11 EDIToR Janet Kanters • 403.499.9754 jkanters@annexweb.com WESTERn FIElD EDIToR Bruce Barker • 403.949.0070 bruce@haywirecreative.ca
SAlES ASSISTAnT Alice Chen • 905.713.4369 achen@annexweb.com
MEDIA DESIGnER Brooke Shaw PRESIDEnT Michael Fredericks mfredericks@annexweb.com
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Seek Treatment
by
SafEly SToRiNg highER-oil caNola SEEd
Researchers are working towards updated guidelines.
by Carolyn King
Spoilage problems in storage can take a big bite out of a grower’s economic returns for canola. With the trend to higher oil content canola, growers are wondering if the requirements for safe storage might be different from those for regular canola.
a recently completed preliminary study in Saskatchewan and a longer-term study in Manitoba are working towards answering that important question.
Making sure storage guidelines are up to date
In a phone survey of about 1,050 producers across the prairies in 2009, the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) found that over a third of respondents had encountered a problem with canola spoilage in storage on their farms at some point over the years.
“Those results were a bit of an eye-opener for us,” says Kristen phillips, CCC agronomy specialist in Manitoba. “That’s part of the reason we’ve had a focus on both research into updating the safe storage temperature and moisture recommendations, and also extension to really try to drive home the importance of conditioning canola, so growers get the seed down to safe moisture and temperature conditions if they are planning to keep it in the bin for a few months.”
one of phillips’ areas of specialty is harvest and storage management. She identifies several trends that are driving the need to ensure up-todate storage guidelines. one trend is that more growers have higher oil content canola. The Canadian canola industry is approaching its goal to
TOP AND ABOVE: In a phone survey in 2009, over a third of respondents said they had encountered a problem with canola spoilage in storage on their farms at some point over the years (top). Even though the PAMI researchers hadn’t detected heating in any of the samples, several samples were mouldy and had deteriorating oil quality after two months in the chambers (above).
increase canola’s average oil content from 42.5 per cent in 2006 to 45 per cent in 2015. For instance, for no. 1 canola from Western Canada, the five-year average oil content for 2007 to 2011 was 44.4 per cent. (In 2012, the average was 43.5 per cent, relatively low due to a combination of temperature, moisture and disease conditions.)
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“Some research in other countries, most notably australia, has found a difference in terms of safe combinations of temperature and moisture for higher versus lower oil content canola,” notes phillips. “That information suggests a higher oil content may make canola a little more susceptible to spoilage in storage, but we need research under prairie conditions to be more definitive on how much the recommendations should change with higher oil content.”
another trend is that more farmers are using larger bins, which could affect such factors as the possibility of compression damage to the seeds, and the ability of the grain mass to insulate and trap heat in the bin.
phillips also sees certain trends that might in some cases cause growers to store their canola for longer periods, increasing the possibility that spoilage could eventually occur. “With the changes to the Canadian Wheat Board, it is conceivable that in some situations on some farms, growers may now look at marketing their cereals earlier to meet their cash flow requirements, and may hang on to their canola for a longer time to capture pricing opportunities.
“also with the high-stability oil varieties
of canola for the trans fat-free frying market, there are often some limitations on when they can be delivered. That sometimes leads growers to store at least a portion of that production for a longer time. and as the breeding programs look to increase the oil content of those varieties, it’s that much more important to know the implications for safe storage conditions,” adds phillips. “High-stability canola is a higher value product, so the penalty for losing quality in storage is that much bigger.”
Preliminary study raises some questions
The prairie agricultural Machinery Institute (paMI) conducted the recently completed study in Saskatchewan. This lab study had two components: testing the compression effects of storage in tall bins; and evaluating the effects of temperature and moisture content on stored canola. The study was funded by SaskCanola, Saskatchewan’s agriculture Development Fund and paMI.
With more farmers using larger bins these days, the paMI researchers were interested in evaluating the compression effects on high-oil and regular canola seeds
stored in tall bins. The high-oil sample they obtained had 47.4 per cent oil content, while the regular sample had 45.3 per cent, so the difference in oil contents between the samples wasn’t as large as they had hoped. They tested the high-oil sample at 7.3 per cent and 10.5 per cent moisture content, and the standard sample at 5 and 8.4 per cent moisture content. They incrementally added weights on top of each sample to simulate the force applied by the weight of a column of canola seed stored in a bin up to 100 feet high.
The four samples were evaluated for germination, seed damage and deformation, and oil exudation. none of the samples showed any negative effects due to the compression.
“Some studies in other countries had indicated that higher oil content canola was compressing, especially in tall bins, but our results didn’t bear that out. of the samples we tested, there wasn’t a significant difference in compressibility,” says nathan gregg, a project manager with paMI.
However, he cautions, “This isn’t a definitive result. It wasn’t a multiple replicated trial, so there might be varietal differences or differences in moisture contents, temperatures and so on that could have an effect in
conjunction with a higher oil content.”
phillips also reminds growers that, whether or not further testing confirms compression is not an issue, storing canola in taller bins still requires special attention. “The greater depth of the seed in taller bins means greater static pressure and that means more resistance to airflow through the seed when it comes to aeration.”
In the study’s other component, the paMI researchers tested four categories of canola: high oil (47.4 per cent oil content), high dockage, high green count, and standard clean canola. The researchers conditioned the samples to seven moisture contents (7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 10 and 11 per cent) and then stored them in small-scale chambers at five temperatures (-5, +5, 15, 25 and 35 C).
They monitored the temperature within each sample to watch for heating as an indicator of spoilage. although they didn’t detect any increase in sample temperature, some samples were visibly mouldy when removed from the chambers after two months.
The samples were tested for several oilquality characteristics related to spoilage, such as acid value and free fatty acid level. The results suggested that oil quality in the
samples had deteriorated somewhat but had not necessarily gone beyond industryacceptable limits over the two months. However, the trends in the results were not firm enough to develop moisture content and temperature guidelines based on oil content.
Despite additional testing to examine the methods used in the tests, the researchers weren’t able to conclusively explain some aspects of the results. In particular, gregg is concerned that they hadn’t detected heating in the mouldy and deteriorating oil-quality samples. He points out, “Farmers rely on heating as an indication of spoilage. If temperature isn’t an accurate or timely indicator, then that’s a big problem.” He would like to see further investigation to clarify to what extent grain temperature is a reliable early indicator of different spoilage processes.
even if it turns out that early steps in spoilage processes aren’t necessarily signalled by a temperature change, phillips thinks temperature monitoring in larger bins is still a valuable practice for obtaining information on current conditions in the bin. “My concern would be if the paMI researchers had found heat-damaged seed, which is a big downgrading factor for the grower, without a shift in the
temperature. I would like to see them explore that a little further, and determine if that was the case.”
phillips adds that grain monitoring technology is advancing and many companies now offer monitoring cables with sensors for both moisture and temperature, which would shed more light on the actual conditions within a bin.
Developing guidelines
“as the oil content of any crop increases, the percentage amount of other material – protein, carbohydrate and fibre – in the grain is less. oil does not absorb moisture; only the non-oil materials absorb moisture. So you would expect that, as the oil content increases, the grains would spoil faster at much lower moisture contents,” explains Dr. Digvir Jayas, a grain storage specialist in biosystems engineering and vice-president (research and international) at the University of Manitoba.
Jayas is leading the Manitoba study, which is expected to finish this year. one of the objectives of this lab study is to develop moisture and temperature guidelines for safe storage of high-oil canola. The study is funded through the Canola/Flax Canadian agri-Science
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The Manitoba researchers used germination as one way to evaluate the degree of spoilage in the canola samples after storage. (The bags around the petri dishes were removed after four days, and germination counted after seven days.) (left). In the University of Manitoba study, high-oil canola samples were placed in 20-litre plastic pails, with the lids placed loosely on top, and stored under controlled conditions to evaluate the effects of different temperatures and moisture contents (right).
Cluster. The other members of the research team are Dr. noel White with agriculture and agri-Food Canada, and Dr. Fuji Jian, Chelladurai Vellaichamy and Ke Sun at the University of Manitoba.
The researchers are testing three highoil hybrids at four initial moisture contents (8, 10, 12 and 14 per cent) and stored at four temperatures (10, 20, 30 and 40 C) in smallscale chambers with controlled temperature and humidity conditions. The three hybrids are nX4-105 (45.4 per cent oil content), InVigor 5440 (47.1 per cent) and 45H29 (45.4 per cent).
During the 20-week storage period, samples were tested regularly to evaluate the degree of spoilage based on germination, mould and free fatty acid value.
The results so far indicate nX4-105 and InVigor 5440 samples could be safely stored for 20 weeks at 10 or 20 C at all of the moisture contents except 14 per cent. However, for 45H29, the samples at 12 or 14 per cent moisture content were already in poor condition after two weeks of storage at 10 or 20 C. The researchers are doing further tests with new samples to see if 45H29 requires special attention for storage or if the early spoilage was due to a problem in the particular sample used.
as expected, spoilage was greater at 30 and 40 C. according to the germination tests, high-oil canola at 8 per cent moisture content should be stored for less than 12 weeks at 30 C and less than four weeks at 40 C. at 10 per cent moisture, it should be stored for less than six weeks at 30 C and less than two weeks at 40 C. at 12 or 14 per cent moisture,
high-oil cannot be safely stored at 30 or 40 C.
Based on the results so far, Jayas advises, “eight per cent should be the recommended moisture content for storing canola; 10 per cent would not be safe for long-term storage.” The criterion of this safe storage recommendation is either a 20 per cent drop in germination from its initial value or the appearance of visible mould.
Jayas also notes, “Under the current guidelines, farmers are not penalized if they sell canola at 10 per cent moisture content. So they usually try to store it at close to 10 per cent, even though there’s a greater risk of spoilage. If they stored it at 8 per cent, then it would have 2 per cent less moisture and they aren’t compensated [for the lower tonnage]. as an industry, I think we should seriously look at perhaps giving farmers a premium if they reduce the moisture content to 8 per cent, because the canola would then have a longer storability.”
although the CCC hasn’t explored this idea of pricing based on moisture content, phillips thinks it might be a challenge to come up with a universal recommendation that fits every situation. “From a grower’s standpoint, the benefit of a lower moisture content for maintaining quality in storage comes if you’re planning to store it over a longer term. If you’re planning to deliver it relatively soon, then [being able to sell it at between 9 and 10 per cent moisture] gives you the opportunity to harvest a little sooner.”
phillips adds, “I think it comes down to the growers having a good relationship with the companies buying their seed. The quality of the seed that you’re delivering is always
part of the negotiation, and part of that quality is the moisture content that it’s been taken off at.”
She is leery about the idea of adding moisture to drier canola seed to raise the moisture content closer to 10 per cent and bring the weight up. “It might add some value, but it might instead be detrimental if you lose a grade or two on a portion of your seed.”
For now, for safe longer-term storage of higher-oil or regular canola, 8 per cent moisture content or less is preferred. But phillips emphasizes, “Canola is likely going to need some conditioning almost regardless of the moisture content, particularly these days.
“With larger farms and more acres to cover and the shift to larger equipment, we have really increased our capacity to harvest larger volumes of canola in a shorter period of time. our combining capacity, in terms of the acres and tonnage per hour, is probably the greatest during the hottest parts of the day when the canola is the driest. So a big proportion of your grain is likely going to be at an elevated temperature. It’s important to condition it to bring down that temperature even if it is testing dry,” she says.
“We have certainly seen individual instances where canola coming off hot has started to heat [in the bin], even though it was down around 7 or 8 per cent moisture. When you get grain temperatures around 30 C or more, canola can be pretty unstable even at lower moisture contents.”
For more on seed storage, visit www.topcropmanager.com.
ARRIVING FALL 2013
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Big zi PPERS SE al ou T g R ai N Bag TRou B l ES
Plastic zippers offer a smart solution to keeping out moisture.
by John Dietz
Ashoulder-high, pumpkin-round, gleaming white, tightly stretched poly bag filled with grain, more than 200 feet long, is a proven great way to store grain that won’t fit in the bins or sheds.
now, a new made-in-Canada zipper system is ensuring moisture stays out of grain stored in poly bags.
The grain Bag Zipper system was developed by Curry Industries Ltd. in 2010. The family-owned Winnipeg-based business, with only four employees, invented poly-Fastener zipper strips for sealing greenhouse film in 1971. nearly 40 years later, Walter Curry and his son Mike worked together to develop a similar product for grain bags.
The Currys developed the idea for the grain Bag Zipper system after attending Manitoba ag Days at Brandon. among the grain storage products, Mike Curry noted machines for loading and unloading grain in plastic bags. The company already had a steady business in the silage bag market with its poly-Fastener system, and Curry reasoned that perhaps the grain bag industry could use a similar product.
after ag Days, he accepted an invitation to join a Manitoba trade mission that took him to Decatur, Illinois. There, a silage bag dealer gave
him a compliment and a challenge.
“He said, ‘I like your seal. It’s the best out there. But, it’s hard to put together; the parts have to match perfectly’,” recalls Curry. “When they were bagging grain, they didn’t have time to go on hands and knees to roll pieces of plastic together to make them fasten. They wanted a simpler approach.”
Curry realized the industry needed a tool to join the two poly-Fastener sides quickly and easily. They developed the product, and in 15 years, they had sold about a million feet of poly-Fastener to the silage bag industry. What he had not realized was that a simple tool for joining the two sides quickly and easily could boost their sales for a new grain bag market.
In early august 2010, they took their newly designed zipper and tool to a farm with grain bags at portage la prairie. They worked out the design kinks at Moran Farms. and by the end of august, they were ready to manufacture for fall sales. Today, several shortline equipment dealers
ABOVE: The Grain Bag Zipper system has been installed and tucked under the end, and the grain bag is ready to fill.
Photo
on the prairies are carrying Curry Industries’ grain Bag Zipper system. a dealer network is starting to develop in the northern United States.
In the 2010 field research, Mike Curry learned some things. “one of the first problems identified by early users was trying to keep the coils straight,” says Curry. “now, you anchor the channel with butterfly bolts, tighten up both ends, put your material over it, set up the zipper tool at one end and clamp in the insert. once it’s clamped, it takes less than a minute to slide the zipper closed.”
The inventors came up with a sturdy, simple kit for the product. The kit is meant to be reusable for up to 10 years. “We found that when 20 feet of poly film is stretched out in a field, you have a lot of factors to keep it from moving around,” he notes.
Today, their kit has five pegs, two anchors, the new zipper tool, a hand roller, a slicer (to cut the bag as it is sealed), a push-pull device and a 20-foot universal piece of poly-Fastener that accommodates both silage bags and heavier grain bags. The zipper tool can be used with either heavy or light poly. pins fasten the poly bag end to the ground so it is stabilized for a few minutes. Similarly, anchors are there to tie down the poly channel, so that the coils inside can be stretched out straight and flat.
James Valley Colony, at elie, Manitoba, was one of the first Manitoba farms to bring in a grain bag system as a harvest aid to supplement their conventional steel storage bins and sheds. Six years later, for the 2012 harvest, they put a big portion of their feed grain crop into grain bags.
“We use them mostly for barley, wheat, corn and oats,” says Joshua Wurtz, an assistant in the grain division.
James Valley Colony worked out an approach to seal the bags and
protect them from spring flooding. The bags would sit on dirt pads, side by side, perhaps a foot above the field level and with a drain between each pad. If the field floods in spring and the bags still have grain, they will stay above the water line.
For years, they sealed the grain bag ends with pairs of wood 2x4 studs, about 12 feet long. They would sandwich the plastic between the studs, screw the studs together, roll them two or three times and put in more screws so there was no risk of moisture getting through. The system worked pretty well most of time. Sometimes, they would partially unload a bag, close it up, and come back later to finish.
“The problem with closing it up after it has been opened is moisture can get in past the 2x4s,” says Wurtz. “If it’s not sealed properly, you can get rain running up the side of the bag and toward the seal, and working its way through the 2x4s.”
For the 2012 harvest, James Valley Colony purchased Curry Industries’ grain Bag Zipper system for each end of each grain bag, and a few spare zippers. Two men now are able to close a bag end in three or four minutes.
By January 2013, they had emptied a dozen bags. “There’s pretty much no moisture inside. We maybe lost one or two shovels per bag, so that’s not too bad,” notes Wurtz, who estimates a $39 zipper can be used for several years.
The zipper can be cut off with a knife then separated for use on another bag. If they need to open a small part to monitor grain quality in the fall, they can and then reclose it easily. “It’s very quick, a must-have for serious baggers,” says Wurtz. “We really like the water- and air-tight seal the zipper provides.”
Photo by John dI etz.
Photo courtesy of c urry Industr
TOP AND ABOVE: An installation tool developed by Curry Industries makes zipper installation a quick and easy procedure. The tool guides insertion of the strip that seals the bag, and takes less than a minute after the system is set up (top). A grain bag that has leaked moisture into the grain (above).
c PSR vS . c WRS –
david vS . g oliaT h, oR
oPEN M a R k ET RE ali T y?
Will there be an appreciable growth in CPSR acres on the Canadian Prairies in this open
market environment?
by andrea Hilderman
According to Statistics Canada, there has been an increase in all spring wheat acres from 2012 to 2013 on the prairies, from just over 22.6 million acres in 2012 to just over 24.7 million acres in 2013. Canada Western red Spring (CWrS) wheat makes up about 65 per cent of that acreage each year. Canada prairie Spring red (CpSr) has increased from just under three per cent to just over four per cent of total wheat acres, or 642,000 acres in 2012 to 930,000 acres in 2013.
CWB monopoly period
During the heyday of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), that organization was able to effectively utilize its monopoly to position Canadian wheat, especially CWrS and Canada Western amber Durum (CWaD) as the best in the world – along with organizations like the Canadian grain Commission, Cigi and agriculture and agriFood Canada. However, CpSr never seemed to achieve the marketing potential it possessed as a medium quality baking wheat.
So will this new open-market environment allow for an appreciable growth in CpSr acres on the Canadian prairies? over 25 years of breeding have improved CpSr wheat to the point where it is now considered to have hard kernel texture and strong dough properties. It has very good milling performance with high flour yield comparable to CWrS and, according to Dr. Bin Xiao Fu, research scientist at the Canadian grain Commission’s (CgC) grain research Laboratory, CpSr could be a valuable alternative to higher protein wheat, like CWrS, in those baked products where high protein content is not a requirement.
“protein levels required depend on the type of bread being made and the process to some extent,” explains Fu. “CpSr will usually struggle to get over 13.0 per cent protein consistently and has lower water absorption, but it does have desirable strong gluten properties and much better baking performance than the older CpSr varieties.” CpSr is also suitable for making certain types of asian noodles.
The CpSr class was established in the mid-1980s to be a lower protein alternative to CWrS. It was known at first as the “3M” wheat, meaning medium protein, medium kernel hardness and medium dough strength properties. There were two colour sub-classes – CpSr or red kernels and Canada prairie Spring White (CpSW) or white kernels.
The yield advantage CpSr had over CWrS is now starting to
narrow as breeders release better CWrS varieties with high yield potential. But CpSr still has an edge over CWrS and that, together with less consistent protein premiums for CWrS, may be all it takes to make CpSr more attractive to producers.
There are other breeding advances that have occurred over the years as well such as increased yields, earlier maturity, improved resistance to pre-harvest sprouting and the introduction of the Sm1
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iMPRovi Ng S oil f ERT ili T y
a N d W h E aT c RoP
m A nAG ement
A long-term study of cereal crop rotations in Canada provides new insights.
by Brian arnall and Fernando garcía
Long-term fertility trials are established and used across the globe. Unfortunately, for many reasons long-term trials are regularly discontinued. These trials are a wealth of data and information laden with golden nuggets of new and amazing insight. In this article, such nuggets gleaned from long-term wheat trials in Canada are presented.
The Swift Current “ o ld Crop” rotation is located in southeast Saskatchewan and was established in 1967. Swift Current is located in the driest portion of the Canadian prairies and is known for its long, cold winters and short growing seasons. This report will focus on four of the original 12 treatments implemented in 1967: fallow-wheat-wheat (FWW) with n and p fertilizer (F np ); fallow-wheat-wheat with p fertilizer only (F p ); continuous wheat with n and p fertilizer (C np ), and continuous wheat with p fertilizer only (C p ). o n average, all cropped treatments designated to receive p received nine to 10 kg p/ha/yr. The data, figures and results are derived from Selles et al. (2011).
To evaluate trends over time, the data set was evaluated as three periods identified by water deficit estimations of 1967 to 1979; 1980 to 1993; and 1994 to 2005. The response in o lsen p (0 to 15 cm) soil test values were significantly affected by treatments among the three periods. During the first 12 years, there were no differences among the four treatments. During the second period, treatments began to separate, due to the higher frequency of cropping and therefore fertilization, and as a result the o lsen p of the CW rotations became significantly higher than the FWW. In the third period, F np had significantly lower o lsen p than the other treatments. p hosphorus balance, calculated as fertilizer added-grain p removal, of the CW rotation was significantly higher than the FWW. During this time period, FWW received 43 kg p/ha less than the CW treatments. In the second period, p balance of the FWW was significantly lower than the first period and again significantly lower than the CW treatments. By the third period, the p balance of the F p and C np was similar and the C p significantly higher than other treatments. The p balance of the F np became negative; however, the o lsen p level was
0.64 kg P/ha/yr
0.56 kg P/ha/yr
0.68 kg P/ha/yr
0.45 kg P/ha/yr
1: Trends in Olsen P for the original plots, 1967 to 2005.
still significantly higher than at establishment. The temporal trend in o lsen p levels was also assessed (Figure 1). a ll treatments showed linear positive trends that persisted for the first 20 years of the experiment. The p only treatments, C p and F p, maintained the increasing trend over the duration of 0.68 and 0.45 kg p/ha/yr, respectively. The rotations receiving both n and p created linear trends of 0.64
Figure
NP: fallow-wheat-wheat with N and P fertilizer
FP: fallow-wheat-wheat with P fertilizer only
CNP: continuous wheat with N and P fertilizer
CP: continuous wheat with P fertilizer only
* Significance between P applied and P withheld at p < 0.05.
and 0.56 for C np and F np, respectively, for the first 20 years of the experiment then o lsen p stabilized for the remainder.
Many long-term trials have opportunity to incorporate split plots; the o ld Crop rotation is one of those. In 1993, the researchers decided to split treatments receiving p fertilizer to provide an area in which p fertilization was discontinued. Withholding fertilizer p had no impact on grain yield in either treatment in the FWW rotation; however, 10 per cent reduction in grain yield was observed in the CW systems (Table 1). Selles et al. (2011) noted that the yield reduction in CW was not consistent; however, for both C np and C p there were two years in which yield reduction was more than 35 per cent.
The results demonstrate that residual soil p accumulated during the previous 27 years (1967 to 1993) remained in forms
readily available to the crop, confirming that in soils with high levels of residual p, crops rarely suffer production losses when fertilizer p is not supplied.
Dr. Arnall is Assistant Professor, Precision Nutrient Management, Oklahoma State University, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences; Dr. García is Director, IPNI Latin America – Southern Cone. Reprinted from Better Crops with Plant Food, with permission of International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI). Content from this article originally appeared in F. Selles, C.A. Campbell, R.P. Zentner, D. Curtin, D.C. James, and P. Basnyat. 2011. Phosphorus use efficiency and long-term trends in soil available phosphorus in wheat production systems with and without nitrogen fertilizer. Can. J. Soil Sci. (2011) 91:39-52. Table 1. The effect of withholding P on total wheat grain production during the period of 1994 to 2005
cPSR vS. cWRS – david vS. goliaTh, oR oPEN MaRkET REaliT y?
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14
gene for orange blossom midge tolerance. Most recently at the spring registration meetings, a CpSr was registered stacked with a consistent r rating for both Fusarium resistance and midge tolerance. These advances will go a long way toward protecting grade and will be quickly adopted by producers if the adoption of such advances in the CWrS class is anything to go by.
Seed companies generally are looking to acquire genetics that they determine will see demand in the marketplace from commercial growers. Canterra Seeds, like others, has invested in the new wave of CpSr varieties that are now being commercialized. according to Brent Derkatch, director of operations and business development at Canterra Seeds, CpSr is a growing market.
“growers like the agronomic attributes of CpSr varieties,” he says. “With 10-20 per cent yield advantages over CWrS depending on the variety, and with protein premiums fluctuating for CWrS, the net cash return on a per acre basis for CpSr is very attractive.”
With more demand from end-users for medium protein wheat, Derkatch believes there is good upside to CpSr acres. “From a
seed perspective, we are also seeing investment from both public and private sources into CpSr breeding programs, so there will be continued improvement in this class of wheat,” he notes. “additionally, the Quality evaluation Team on the Wheat, rye and Triticale recommending Committee has expanded some of the quality parameters for the CpSr class.”
Canterra Seeds, like other seed companies, is prepared for increased CpSr seed demand, launching Conquer VB in 2013. “Breeders are introducing much-needed resistance to various diseases and insects that can cause yield loss and quality downgrades,” says Derkatch. “Conquer VB is an example. It’s the first midge resistant CpSr registered and commercially available.”
It seems that as the western Canadian wheat market adjusts to more direct signals for different types of wheat apart from CWrS, there will be upside potential for wheat classes like CpSr and others. This trend will be bolstered by the decades of research that are now bearing fruit in terms of the strengths new varieties are bringing to bear on the farm.
Residual P remains in forms readily available to crops.
c oNSidER chloRidE iN
cRoP NuTRiTioN
Chloride deficiency could be holding back yields, leaving cereal crops susceptible to disease.
by John Dietz
An outbreak of questions about using chloride treatments for wheat fertility and disease protection can be expected this year, says Dr. Jim Beaton, a senior agri-coach with agri-Trend.
according to Beaton, chloride fertilizer has potential to boost yields and reduce leaf diseases – but results will be highly variable. Beaton advised farmers at an agri-Trend event to consider putting in roughly a 30 lb/ac rate of chloride fertilizer if soil tests show chloride deficiencies in fields planned for wheat, barley or other crops such as canaryseed.
“It depends on where you are, but if you had a soil test that said there was less than 60 pounds of chloride in the top two feet of soil, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get a response to chloride,” says Beaton, who adds that average yield responses are five to six bushels per acre, “so it pays for itself quite nicely. For sustainability, we used to say that 30 lb of K2o would roughly replace the amount of potassium being removed in the grain. If the crop is up and you’re concerned it might lack chloride, foliar sprays of ammonium chloride or magnesium chloride can be used.”
Chloride has other benefits besides an increase in yield, according to Beaton. He contends chloride will suppress disease and enable crops to withstand drought better. It’s involved in photosynthesis, it has some metabolic functions and it is very active within plant cells.
While Beaton’s comments are based mainly on research in the
1980s and 1990s, he maintains that was the heyday of looking for wheat responses to chloride in Western Canada. In the first dozen years of this century, prairie science has pretty much ignored the subject.
Photo courtesy of bILL May, aafc
TOP AND ABOVE: Dr. Jim Beaton (above) says the addition of chloride can increase yields, suppress disease and enable crops to withstand drought. (Top) canaryseed treated with K2O on left.
Photo by John dI etz.
However, in 2012, chloride testing for canaryseed response was reported by Bill May and other researchers at the agriculture and agri-Food Canada (aaFC) research centre at Indian Head, Saskatchewan.
Canaryseed response
according to a recent four-year study at sites across Saskatchewan, canaryseed appears to be more responsive to chloride fertilizer than to wheat and other cereal crops. May, a crop management agronomist with aaFC, says that approximately 9 lb/ac chloride (20 lb/ac potash) is enough to increase canaryseed yield by 10 to 30 per cent.
Visual differences between deficiency and adequate chloride fertility only appeared when seed began to fill. Canaryseed without a chloride fertilizer produced fewer seeds. all the canaryseed cultivars responded to chloride in a similar way. May says research efforts are now focused on developing a recommendation, based on a soil test, for when to apply chloride for canaryseed production.
“Chloride applications can increase canaryseed yields in Saskatchewan when 70 pounds of chloride is available in the top six inches of the soil,” he notes. “Compare this to the recommendation for winter wheat in north Dakota. They say it doesn’t need chloride when the residual level is 60 lb/ac or more in the top 24 inches. That will start to give you an idea of the chloride response differences between canaryseed and winter wheat.”
May suggests canaryseed growers apply 20 lb/ac of potash (KCL), regardless of what the soil test says, to be confident that yield response won’t be limited by a lack of chloride. “Chloride is acting more like a micronutrient than a macronutrient. once you have enough, the response is pretty small.”
Winter wheat response
Brian Fowler, former winter wheat breeder at the University of Saskatchewan, last worked with chloride in a program that ended in 1999. His average yield benefit was about three per cent, but it did reach as high as 13 per cent in some trials.
Fowler says northern great plains winter wheat varieties have a physiological response to chloride, but it isn’t consistent and there’s speculation that the response may be linked to cold soil conditions and early root growth.
Fowler tried to pin down the response, but couldn’t get it to show up on a regular basis. “Quite often, it showed up on lighter soils. The next year we wouldn’t get the physiological response with leaf spotting symptoms that we had the previous year.” as well, Fowler makes three other points about interaction between the cereal and the nutrient.
• physiological leaf spot symptoms are strongly associated with many of the best winter wheat varieties.
• Winter wheat yield response to chloride is independent of whether the particular variety develops physiological leaf spot symptoms.
• a chloride treatment can suppress strong physiological leaf spot symptoms that sometimes occur in winter wheat. “By deduction one would assume that physiological leaf spot is an indicator of chloride deficiency,” he says.
Chloride history
Jim Beaton retired in 1994 at Saskatoon as international director of research and development for the potash and phosphate
Institute (ppI). In the late 1970s, Beaton learned of Saskatchewan trials where farmers were getting responses from rather modest rates of potash (potassium chloride or Mop), placed near the seed, in soils that were very high in potassium.
“The question became, if the soils are so rich in potassium how come this small amount is providing some benefit? Could this be coming from chloride, the other nutrient in Mop?”
potassium chloride (commonly referred to as muriate of potash or Mop) is the most common potassium source. It accounts for about 95 per cent of all potash fertilizers worldwide. The nutrient composition is approximately 50 per cent potassium and 46 per cent chloride.
according to Beaton, several researchers in Western Canada and the western U.S. began looking at chloride in the 1980s as a separate nutrient. results were mixed.
Beaton was amazed by research results with winter wheat supplemented by chloride at oregon State University, Corvallis (funded in part by ppI). Later University of Saskatchewan trials with spring wheat, under Don rennie, compared potassium chloride to potassium sulphate. “There was a decided benefit in favour of the chloride,” recalls Beaton.
In the 1990s, Beaton says, Cindy grant, researcher at aaFC in Brandon, Manitoba, looked for chloride responses on two different soils in her research program. “There were some positive results. I don’t think she found any negative effects.”
Manitoba research focused on the fact that chloride is extremely variable in soils. It’s also extremely mobile in plants, and moves in readily from the soil. results from one soil test to the next were unpredictable.
Today, it’s possible to find widespread support for judicious use of chloride fertilizer from Texas to Montana and north Dakota,” says Beaton, adding it’s even cautiously recommended on the prairies.
In 2012, Manitoba soil specialist pam de rocquigny advised growers that physiological leaf spot in wheat is associated with low chloride levels in the plant and the soil. on its website, the Saskatchewan Ministry of agriculture states that chloride in the plant is involved in controlling water loss, maintaining turgor, transportation of K, Ca and Mg within the plant, and photosynthesis. It further states that recent research has indicated that Cl assists in reducing the incidence of root diseases as well as helps reduce the incidence of some leaf spotting diseases of winter wheat, and that chloride also impacts on n uptake.
north Dakota winter wheat growers get a similar recommendation from their extension department. Chloride is considered adequate only if soil testing shows a level of 60 lb/ac or more in the top two feet.
“There’s a groundswell of fertilizer dealers and soil fertility specialists recommending around 20 to 30 lb of K2o close to the seed,” says Beaton. “Some say the response is due to potassium and others say it might be the chloride, or both. It doesn’t matter really. If I was an agronomist, I’d say put on a modest amount of Mop this spring; it can’t do any harm and there’s a chance it could be beneficial, especially if you’re aiming for maximum yields.”
For more on crop fertility and nutrients, visit www.topcropmanager.com.
cRoPPi Ng SySTEM foR S oy BE a NS i MPRov E d
Monsanto is set to launch a new weed control option.
by Donna Fleury
Soybean growers across Canada will soon have access to new soybean technology and new options for weed management. Monsanto recently received full regulatory approval to introduce the next genuity trait for soybeans, the genuity roundup ready 2 Xtend soybeans, which is a stacked trait with dicamba tolerance. This new trait is part of Monsanto’s roundup ready Xtend Crop System, which will combine genuity roundup ready 2 Xtend with glyphosate and dicamba herbicide products.
“The new trait comes with proven yield performance and offers growers a new tool for weed management,” explains Bill Lester, corn and soybean trait marketing lead for Monsanto Canada. “growers will still be able to continue to use glyphosate or any other current soybean product they are finding value in today, but now have the new option to use dicamba where it has a fit to help tackle tough-to-control weeds and also offer some extended residual control.”
according to Lester, field research data has shown that dicamba can provide residual value under certain conditions, helping to extend the weed control window and protect yield. “This new stacked product will give soybean farmers the option of applying roundup WeatherMax in conjunction with dicamba, separately or as a tank mix.”
Dicamba is a product that most corn growers are familiar with, providing some early season residual control. However, this new product will be the first opportunity for growers to use this chemistry in soybeans.
“Dicamba has a long history of use and we are introducing a new use pattern for dicamba in a new crop,” notes Lester. “Dicamba provides some short-term residual control but does not hang around in the soil and therefore does not present any cropping restrictions.
growers are very familiar with the weed control expectations that dicamba will be able to bring them.”
Dicamba is a group 4 chemistry with a strong track record of being able to control a broad spectrum of weeds. This product provides a new weed management solution to help growers utilize an additional mode of action to control weeds and prevent the development of resistant weeds happening on their farms. It also provides a new tool to address difficult weed problems.
“We have a lot of internal research with Monsanto across Canada with this new trait,” explains Lester. “The University of guelph has also undertaken some specific trials to assess dicamba performance on some glyphosate-resistant weeds in eastern Canada. Their trial results to date, coupled with our own Monsanto trials, indicated that dicamba will be a great tool to effectively manage two glyphosate-resistant weeds known in eastern Canada today, glyphosate-resistant giant ragweed and glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane populations. This is a great new tool for those growers.”
The new dicamba option in soybeans will also offer improved control of other populations of herbicide-resistant weeds, such as those that are resistant to group 2 or group 5 chemistry, which are also known to exist in Canada.
Monsanto expects to have the new genuity roundup ready 2 Xtend soybeans commercially available in Canada in 2014, pending key global export market approvals. Lester adds that Monsanto makes a significant effort not to introduce any new trait to the market until those key export markets have provided approvals, so
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
ABOVE: Western Canada soybean growers will have the option to use dicamba to help tackle tough-to-control weeds with extended residual control.
Photo courtesy of Monsanto
What fertilizer are you using?
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Every granule offers perfect distribution of nutrients for uniform coverage, and improved nutrient uptake. For more information, visit MicroEssentials.com, or speak with your local fertilizer retailer.
liNkiNg agRoNoMicS
aNd EcoNoMicS
Agronomic research results plus proper economic analysis provides best information.
by Donna Fleury
Agronomics is considered a cornerstone of best production practices, but having good agronomic research information and economics together is the best strategy. Dr. ross
McKenzie, alberta agriculture and rural Development agronomy research scientist (retired) at Lethbridge, alta., says it is important to link agronomics and economics in order to provide better information to farmers.
“When we know the agronomic benefit of practice or input, then we can determine if it is economical,” explains McKenzie. “Without agronomic knowledge, you can’t do the economics to determine the financial benefits of an agronomic practice. For example, some of our good agronomy research around seeding rates and seeding dates has helped us understand the impacts. By increasing seeding rates, we found there was an increase in yield for four wheat types; malt, feed and barley silage; canola and flax, but only to a certain point and it was different for each individual crop. The same for delayed seeding, the timing affects different crops differently.”
The results of a previous four-year study for irrigated crops in southern alberta confirmed that seeding earlier was a benefit, but researchers were surprised by how great a benefit. The results clearly showed that seeding date significantly affected the yield of all cereal and oilseed crops. although seeding in april usually didn’t show much variation, the yield potential significantly declined for every day after May 1 that seeding was delayed. Therefore, if farmers are seeding after May 1, then they may want to seed canola first, followed by wheat and barley then flax,
to maximize the benefits of seeding early. McKenzie emphasizes that although this research has provided very good information for irrigated crops in southern alberta, there is limited recent research information for the various agro-ecological areas across alberta or the prairies for both dryland and irrigated crops.
“We know that early seeding is often better, be we don’t know by how much or how it impacts different crops across the various agro-
TOP AND ABOVE: Replicated plots are the cornerstone of sound agronomic research (top). Agronomic research centres are needed across the Prairies (above).
WHICH SEED IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
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ecological areas,” he notes. “We have anecdotal information from crop insurance that shows that earlier seeding is better. However, their information covers several different varieties of wheat and canola, and a number of different farmer management practices that may be better than or not as good as, on average. Therefore, to really understand the impact of early seeding, research needs to be done uniformly with the same varieties, the same seeder type under the same conditions all at the same time in order to be able to compare apples to apples. We can’t determine the economics of an agronomic practice if we don’t have sound agronomic research information.”
Agronomics + economics = optimum crop production
There are a number of different groups across alberta and the prairies doing research, but McKenzie believes there is a need to co-ordinate and integrate agronomic research in the key agro-ecological areas in a much more organized approach. Farmers need to know which soil management practices, crop rotations, crop varieties and crop inputs are best for optimum crop yield for different crops across the various agro-ecological areas of the prairies.
“There is a need for the various research partners across alberta to establish agronomy research centres to conduct applied and adaptive agronomic research,” says McKenzie. “research agronomists, economists and farmers need technically advanced, unbiased crop production information. We also need highly skilled technical people and highly trained researchers, such as those who have master’s or phD level research training, grew up on Canadian farms and understand western Canadian
agricultural soil and crop conditions. research agronomists and ag economists must work collectively to provide consistent, best management recommendations for alberta farmers.”
McKenzie is concerned there are some people who want to be researchers, but are not educated and trained to conduct proper soil and crop field research. Their results, particularly from non-replicated field trials, provide mostly meaningless results, but the information is sometimes used to make “questionable” recommendations to farmers.
McKenzie cautions that not all research is equal and recommendations from questionable research are not always consistent or accurate. Farmers should carefully asses the information they are getting, determine if the sources are credible, and if the proper checks and balances have been put in place for a research project, before making an investment. Talk to the people doing the research, he says, to try to glean the essence of the results and how applicable they are. He believes there definitely is a place for both academic research and farm-scale applied research, but in order for the results to be meaningful the project must have followed proper research protocols including replications. an excellent understanding of soil variability is also a given.
“If farmers are interested in a new product or technology, give it a try but don’t spend a lot of money until you are sure it provides an economic return,” says McKenzie. “First look at the agronomy research and then trial it on a smaller scale in controlled test strips on your farm. To get meaningful results and account for field variability, you need to replicate the test strips.”
For example, select three strips in a field as control, then use the new product or technology on three strips in adjacent, different parts of the field. Harvest each strip separately, record the yields and compare the results. If each strip of the new treatment/technology provides an increase of a few bushels, then there might be an economic return. However, if one strip of the new treatment yields higher and two yield slightly lower, then it likely tells you there isn’t enough difference to be economical.
“By jointly linking both disciplines of agronomics and economics, research agronomists and ag economists can provide technically advanced, unbiased crop production economic and extension information to farmers,” says McKenzie. “With a co-ordinated and integrated agronomic research effort across the uniquely different agro-ecological areas of alberta and the prairies, then you can do the economics to extend reliable and consistent crop production recommendations for farmers.”
For
cRoPPiNg SySTEM foR SoyBEaNS iMPRovEd
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22
there isn’t any disruption to commodity trading. If all of these approvals come through globally, then Monsanto will be in a position to launch this new trait for the 2014 growing season.
“The first introduction will likely be limited to eastern Canada, with introduction to Western Canada anticipated as early as 2015,” says Lester. “This is strictly because of the breeding efforts it takes to get this new trait introduced to the earliest maturing varieties more suited to Western Canada.
“We are continuing to introduce soybean genetics with earlier maturity, which helps with the expansion of soybeans in Western Canada,” he adds. “not only are growers seizing the opportunity to grow a new crop, but the maturity of the newest varieties is starting to be timely enough to allow the crop to expand further west across the prairies. Soybean varieties with the genuity roundup ready 2 Xtend trait will offer new opportunities for growers across Canada.”
Combining agronomic research with economic analysis serves to illustrate the benefits of a new practice.
It starts with the passion needed to fill each day with possibility.
Driven by the satisfaction of creating something out of nothing.
Mixed with the ambition to go beyond what other people can’t see.
It’s why you get out of bed each and every day.
SToR ag E Bag S S av E T i ME a N d MoNEy
Three brothers are thinking outside the bin for on-farm storage.
by Madeleine Baerg
With consolidation a major trend in agriculture today, many farmers who take on additional acres are running into a costly side effect of growth: the need for more – often a lot more – grain and fertilizer storage space.
It’s a situation albert, paul and Ken Wagner, brothers who together grow grain and oilseeds near Stony plain, alberta, know well. Short storage space for about 100,000 bushels of grain and looking to store more fertilizer on-farm, their decision to buy a grain bagger six years ago instead of constructing new bins was based on sharp financial calculations. But, they have since learned that grain bags offer hidden side benefits: convenience, flexibility, time savings and – for farmers who make the leap to storing fertilizer as well – very considerable input cost savings.
“Switching to grain bagging, especially switching fertilizer storage to bags, needs a bit of outside-the-box thinking,” says albert Wagner. “But, if you can make the mental leap, there’s a fit
on most farms that do a fair volume of production, in particular if the land is spread out. There are downsides to using grain bags, but we think they are manageable and the upsides certainly outweigh them.”
The Wagners’ decision-making process started with a “back of the napkin” cost calculation comparing building traditional bin space versus buying bagging equipment.
Six years ago, albert Wagner estimated that constructing traditional steel bin storage cost in the range of $2 per bushel, or $200,000 for 100,000 bushels of storage space. given their stage of life, Wagner estimated financing the bin over a decade at six per cent per year, or an additional $120,000, bringing the total cost to $320,000. He then estimated that at the end of the imagined decade, the bin would be worth in the range of $75,000,
ABOVE: Using grain bags in the field decreases the Wagners’ turn-around time and increases overall efficiency.
Photo courtesy of aL bert Wa G ner.
leaving a total residual cost of $245,000, or $2.45 per bushel of storage over 10 years.
Then, he estimated the costs associated with bagging grain. at the time, a bagger cost about $26,000 and an extractor about $27,000. Using the same borrowing estimates (six per cent per year over 10 years), Wagner calculated financing costs of $31,800. The bags themselves cost eight cents per bushel per year, or $80,000 over a decade for 100,000 bushels of grain. even if residual value of the machinery were $0 after a decade, the total cost of the grain bag storage would be $164,800 over a decade, or $1.65 per bushel. Comparing the $2.45 per bushel for traditional storage versus $1.65 for grain bagged storage, Wagner calculated an annual savings of $802 and a total savings over a decade of about $8000.
“But the real savings is in the decreased cost of trucking and manpower,” he adds. “Storage in the field means you don’t have to truck to a bin yard, which in our case was quite a distance away from certain fields. Using grain bags in the field significantly decreased our turn-around time and increased our overall efficiency.”
Wagner says this method of storage offers grain quality benefits as well. So long as the bag is sealed correctly and has no holes, air cannot move inside the bag, which means that heat and moisture do not migrate, and hotspots – common in a traditional bin – cannot develop. Further, because the bag is long and low, the heat caused by downward pressure in a traditional bin is not an issue, resulting in another reason for decreased spoilage.
“We found we can store grain at a higher moisture content: we put barley in at the end of September at 19 per cent moisture. There’s increased surface area so it cools faster, and it’s also airtight, so it doesn’t go bad,” says Wagner.
Based on the first harvest’s grain bagging success, the three Wagner brothers wondered if they might be able to store their fertilizer similarly.
“people are leery about putting fertilizer in bags because they see this pile of fertilizer, which is a pile of money, and they say ‘if this doesn’t work, I’ve got a problem.’ You do have to go on a bit of trust that ski-doers aren’t going to run over your bags; that the wildlife will stay away,” says Wagner. “But, using a bagger to store fertilizer offers a number of advantages, so we decided to try it even though no one else that we knew of was doing it.”
The biggest benefit of bagging fertilizer is unlimited storage space, which means a producer can buy more cheaply in the offseason. Wagner estimates the cost saving of buying 600 tonnes of fertilizer in the fall, including financing the necessary money, compared to buying the same amount of fertilizer in the spring covered the capital cost of the bagger and extractor in just two years.
and, bagged fertilizer offers enormous convenience. Farms located far from fertilizer dealers, like the Wagners’, can have fertilizer not only on-farm and waiting come seeding time, but in handy locations throughout the property to decrease turn-around time.
Six years of bagging grain and fertilizer have taught the Wagners some valuable tricks for success. For best results, choose a knoll as a storage location so that the ground slopes away from each bag end to ensure the ends don’t ever end up sitting in water. When loading, carefully monitor the stretch of the bag to make
sure it doesn’t burst, especially if you are filling bags in cold weather when the material has less stretch. and, check them often for damage: they are not a good fit for someone who plans to be away for long periods over the winter.
The Wagners view grain bags as temporary storage only and try to move the grain during the winter, mostly because the risk associated with any kind of bag damage goes up once precipitation turns from snow to rain. an added reason to move the stored product over the winter is that convenient in-field storage locations at harvest are supremely inconvenient come seeding.
Most importantly, Wagner says, “really, really clean up spills, even if the spill is only a shovel full. If wildlife figures out what you have in the bag, you have a problem. We’ve had deer find stuff under 18 inches of snow. If they don’t know what’s in the bag, they’ll leave them alone.”
Coyotes like the view from the top of a grain bag, and their claws can punch holes in the material. Wagner has found that laying a plastic snow fence along the incline at the tail end of a filled bag is enough to keep them off. Likewise, net wrap from hay bales seems to help keep birds from landing on filled bags because they don’t like the uneven surface.
The Wagners’ good success suggests grain bagging may suit other prairie producers. If you are in the market for storage and have an open mind, run numbers specific to your own operation to calculate whether bagging grain and fertilizer could have a fit on your farm.
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.
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS.
New genetics and technologies improve establishment and efficiency of dedicated biomass crops.
by Donna Fleury
Opportunities and demand for biomass feedstocks and purpose-grown crops continue to expand. new energy Farms (neF) Ltd. of Leamington, ontario, is an integrated company that has extensive experience in commercial production of high-yielding energy grasses and other crops. neF operates in the US, Canada and the eU with vertically integrated operations from plant breeding and crop production, through to commercial supply of feedstock suitable for thermal, liquid, anaerobic digestion and animal feed applications.
“What started as a search for biomass crops to heat our greenhouses on our farm has evolved to become neF,” says Dean Tiessen, president. “We began looking for a long-term energy supply that was cost effective and environmentally friendly in 2008. Miscanthus was the first crop we focused on, which has expanded to include other biomass crops. We realized that the development of new cultivars was essential to increase yield, expand geographic production areas and facilitate new end uses.”
With one of the world’s largest energy grass germplasm collections and internal breeding programs, along with trial sites in Canada, the U.S. and europe, neF set out to improve the genetics of miscanthus and other crops. “one of our main priorities has been to help primary producers get vegetative and seeded varieties established more cost effectively and at scale,” explains Tiessen.
“Using miscanthus as an example, the cost of establishment is about $500 per acre on your own, or about $800 to $1,000 per acre
if done by a service provider. This is a one-time cost, and an average well-managed stand should produce for at least 30 years or more. The returns on biomass in ontario at the end of 2012 ranged from $140 to $180 per tonne FoB and on average miscanthus can yield 10 tonnes
TOP AND ABOVE: Established miscanthus field at New Energy Farms (top). Dean Tiessen of New Energy Farms with tall miscanthus crop (above).
TIGER ® SULPHUR – MORE than the 4th Major Nutrient
Every year more businesses realize the value of TIGER® Sulphur as a crop nutrient. In fact, Sulphur is often called “The 4th Major Nutrient!” But did you know TIGER® Sulphur is much more?
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Innovate | Excel | Perform
g oi Ng g REEN PRESENTS chall ENg ES
But the dream is still alive.
by Shari narine
Chris and Harold perry are fourth-generation operators with a vision of green. The perry family farm, located in Chin, alberta, in the Municipal District of Taber and on the border of Lethbridge County, is 4000 irrigated acres of mainly potatoes, contracted to Frito Lay and McCain.
“We use significant resources in agriculture – energy, fuel, water, fertilizer. We need to be more accountable for this, for the sake of future generations,” says Chris perry. “There is definitely a drive for us to be innovative and progressive, at the lead. and I just get excited about the opportunity, about what it can present.”
after years of talking the dream at producer forums and hosting open houses, the perry brothers discovered that making biomass energy and using data-driven agriculture at the family farm level is far more challenging than they expected.
They incorporated growtec, which stands for grow the energy Circle, as the means to deliver their goal of lessening the environmental footprint of their farm. But poor decisions that at the time seemed like the right choices, overreaching, challenges in funding, and operating in an environment where fossil fuels are the easiest, cheapest route to go have all added up to disappointing delays.
The perrys had hoped to have their anaerobic digester operating by January 2013, but that hasn’t happened. However, they were successful in implementing data-driven agricultural practices in one field last year.
“It’s easy to sell the story,” says Chris perry. “It’s just the capital.”
Anaerobic digester
Turning waste potatoes from their farm along with manure, culled onions and organic waste from the neighbouring area into biofuel for energy to run the family farm went from a $5 million project to a $9 million project. Competing with the same services required by the oil and gas field as well as a desire to design their own system using a technology
which is new in this demographic drove the costs up.
“We’re trying to figure out how to make this go. It’s not even economically close to viable where we’re sitting,” says perry, who took two years off from farming to pursue this initiative. He notes that the engine to run the anaerobic digester has been purchased and is waiting in rotterdam.
now, the perrys are looking to downgrade by embracing a prepackaged “cookie-cutter solution” that uses existing technology.
“We still love the digester because it’s such a nice loop on the farm and that’s why we called it a total energy circle, closing the loop on waste and energy on the farm,” says perry. as well, the digester would produce fertilizer, which meant the perry Farm could reduce its use of synthetic fertilizer.
a vice-president of energy/project manager was hired in 2012 to take on this work with the goal of getting the digester in operation in 2014. The provincial and federal grants that had been secured last year had to be returned because the deadline could not be met. application has been made for a larger CCeMC grant, as well as other grants. perry hopes the requested funding will cover half the cost of the anaerobic digester, which he feels is required to make the project feasible. He expects to find out in May if the project will go ahead.
Using real-time data
In 2012, the perry brothers did a trial run with one of their fields, using multi-spectrum images acquired through a variety of sources to determine when they irrigated and when they fertilized. They used two of the first full-scale variable rate irrigation systems in Canada and drove their nutrient prescription through that technology. While the trial field
ABOVE: The Perry farm potato domes are a well-known landmark along Highway 3 in southern Alberta and are part of Grow-tec’s renewable energy project, which will see the waste potatoes turned into biofuel.
The data-driven agriculture tool Veris field mapping is a GIS map created by a Veris machine. The layers of information include topography, fertility, texture zones and more, which are then used for real-time applications.
provided some data, perry says it was more about testing the equipment and system.
The idea for using real-time sensor networks (such as soil moisture, nutrient levels and other variables) came about following a discussion with Sunrise ag’s Jeff Bronsch. as it stood, the data collected from remote sensing satellites was provided a few days after being collected.
“We said that if we can have this stuff in real time, we can make our decisions based off of that information,” says perry. Those decisions would drive pivot and fertilizer decisions in the season and could be used to build variable rate irrigation and fertilizer prescriptions.
The perrys and Bronsch put together a team of scientists, software engineers and sensor experts. The goal was to use a variety of real-time information, such as weather data, nitrogen levels in the upper canopy and carbon dioxide levels, and map the fields using soil analysis to determine the best nutrient prescription to be employed in specific zones.
“What we’re really focusing on is irrigating in season. Having realtime information when we want to go turn on a pivot,” says perry. “It’s actually what’s happening within that field and that’s the difference.”
Funding last year focused on soil sensors. That work evolved into wanting that information in real time. perry is hopeful this season will see the work continued at an advanced level. a project manager has been hired and a proposal for funding has gone in to the provincial government, through alberta Innovates.
“If we are successful with the proposal, then we hope to have a working mobile application mid-season that will need a lot of tweaking, but it will be evolving together and learning,” he says.
Funding issues
asking for government funding to move both of the perry projects forward has been difficult for Chris, but he has learned to accept the necessity of looking for dollars outside of his own pocket.
“I’ve really changed my scope in not being scared to ask for funding because you need it. It’s a lot of time and effort and it costs. people can’t understand how much it costs – everything from manpower to risk,” says perry. “The crop yield lost last year on our trial field trying to get all the application technology in place was significant.”
and that’s why existing government programs, which help producers take on leadership roles while advancing technology and innovation in commercial production, are in place.
“It’s fantastic that we have a government that supports this innovation,” he says.
Many would ask perry, why do it? after all, aren’t a producer’s days full enough without having to trudge through the endless quagmire of research and development?
The answer is remarkably simple. “It’s always difficult just being on the leading, bleeding edge but we certainly enjoy that aspect of what we do,” he says.
Everybody is watching perry is certain that some back room head scratching has been going on as people talk about growtec and the direction the perry family farm is headed. “There are a lot of people watching us, wondering how this waste-to-energy process is going to go,” he says, adding that whatever is accomplished on the perry farm will benefit the industry.
and despite all the setbacks, perry is confident the family farm is moving in the right direction. “The story is still sound,” he says. “When we talk about all the food-for-fuel debate out there, with the biofuels, and you look at the wind energy and sun, does it really make sense? There’re always a lot of questions. But the one thing that’s sound about this, is the actual waste-energy piece, there is no real hole in the story other than the economics. It’s dealing with waste challenges, it’s reducing the footprint.”
Perry brothers Harold (left) and Chris are the fourth-generation operators of the family farm.
a dva Nc EMENTS i N BioM aSS f EE d STock S a N
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30
per acre per year,” adds Tiessen. “no other field crop can beat that profitability today.”
neF works closely with partners to provide either genetics or the full opportunity as it relates to managing a project. “genetics is an area that has been changing very quickly,” says Tiessen. “For example, with miscanthus a number of companies including ourselves will be introducing new cultivars to the market over the next 12 to 18 months. This will be an investment that was started back in 2008, and we will start reaping some rewards of that investment in the next 13 to 15 months.”
neF recently developed a key technology called the CeeDS system, which is focused on getting a range of high-yielding energy grasses established easily and efficiently, not just the ones that could be easily propagated. Many of these crops can now be seeded in minimum-till systems using conventional drills and CeeDS planting propagules. This reduces establishment costs of miscanthus by more than 50 per cent and transport logistics for planting material by up to 80 per cent, as well as improves crop establishment, growth, vigour and yields.
“The platform we are working with through CeeDS has allowed us to diversify into various other species very quickly,” explains Tiessen. “We have purpose-grown biomass feedstocks that are suited for energy or fibre or other uses, or crops specifically for feed. neF has seeds available for trial and for some commercial applications, as well as propagation material that has been available from the beginning.”
CeeDS has three different types of cultivars available for various uses, including dry, intermediate and wet feedstocks. The dry feedstocks, such as miscanthus, have a high cold tolerance and are suited for power uses. The intermediate feedstocks, such as arundo donax, have a medium cold tolerance and are suited for mixed uses. The wet feedstocks, such as napier grass and energy Cane, require warmer climates, have a low cold tolerance and are suited to liquid fuels.
once the genetics and species are in place and in the required format, then neF plans the feedstock supply. “We developed a software program called Biomass Direct in partnership with Muddy Boots that manages the feedstock supply for farmers, farm groups or end users,”
says Tiessen. “Biomass Direct is a software system that enables total traceability, sustainability and verification through the biomass supply chain, including crop agronomy, yield prediction, collection and logistics, direct feedstock trading, sustainability audits, and royalty collection.”
although it takes a lot of time and resources to move emerging economies and opportunities forward, Tiessen is pleased to be seeing a high percentage of neF projects moving forward from concept to pilot scale demonstration to commercial applications. “We have been developing new technologies and formulations under the Sunatura brand to be able to take some of these plant fibres and put them into consumable products that are finding acceptance and competitive advantage,” he notes. “For example, we have a joint venture that has commercialized a technology from the University of guelph to produce composite replacements for styrofoam or plastics such as food packaging or containers. our first commercial trial is a bolt bin available in Home Hardware stores across the country that is doing very well, and we are getting ready to scale up production.”
one of the challenges is scaling up, which is required in most cases to be able to seize opportunities. “We also have an animal bedding opportunity that will be set up at satellite locations and in partnerships with groups over the next two years, including four locations in Canada, six locations in the U.S. and four locations in europe,” says Tiessen. “our biggest challenge is many large retailers want to have products available in all of their distribution centres across north america or europe, not just in one region.”
Therefore neF wants to set up regional distribution and production of various products, and hopefully partners can create other new opportunities within that sector. “Having a portfolio of potential end uses is much needed, balancing energy with forages or bedding or some other agricultural-based opportunity that can potentially move into a direct replacement for consumer products,” says Tiessen. “From the neF point of view, we are very excited about the opening up of enormous opportunities for primary producers and other partners.”
Miscanthus propagation in the greenhouse.
Biomass product samples produced from miscanthus and other biomass crops.
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