The Agri Post
April 25, 2014
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April 25, 2014
The Agri Post
Rail Capacity Challenges Addressed in Legislation The Federal Government has introduced in Parliament the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act in response to the challenges currently facing western Canada’s rail shipping system. The legislation amends the Canada Transportation Act and the Canada Grain Act, providing additional measures designed to help the entire grain transportation system. The changes increase supply chain transparency, strengthen contracts between producers and shippers and help with some transport system efficiencies. Pulse Canada and the Canadian Special Crops Association (CSCA) welcomed the introduction of legislation. “Our sector has always been firm on the end result and flexible on the means to get there,” said Greg Cherewyk, Chief Operating Officer of Pulse Canada. “We are looking forward to the process of consultation on Service Level Agreements so that we can ensure that the right regulatory backstop is in place. We hope that this process can move forward quickly so that we can have something in place in the near future.” “The end result has to be improved predictability and performance for our buyers around the world,” said Nick Sekulic, Chair of Pulse Canada. “We have to develop a logistics system that serves the interests of farmers, avoids system costs that farmers end up paying and starts to restore the confidence in Canada as being a reliable supplier.” A number of Manitoba’s recommendations have been reflected in the federal bill, including a decision to
increase inter-switching distances. “The Manitoba government supports this move as it means trains will be able to travel longer distances along other rail companies’ tracks and will improve Manitoba’s access to the port in Churchill as well as important U.S. markets,” said Provincial Agricultural Minister Ron Kostyshyn. While the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association sees some positive elements in the legislation tabled in the House of Commons, it believes Bill C-30 does not go nearly far enough to address the serious breakdown in grain shipping capacity on the prairies. “These measures do not adequately tackle the backlog in grain shipments,” said Levi Wood, President of the Wheat Growers. “They also do not position our industry to meet the long-term needs of prairie farmers or our customers.” The Wheat Growers are disappointed the minimum grainshipping requirement remains fixed at one million tonnes per week from April 7 to August 3, 2014. This means the grain carryout on prairie farms will exceed 20 million tonnes heading into this year’s harvest, resulting in the continuation of severe price discounts, wide basis levels for the foreseeable future. The Wheat Growers had asked that the minimum grain shipments be increased to 13,000 railcars per week, approximately 1.2 million tonnes instead of 11,000 railcars per week. The backlog of grain orders is over 68,000 railcars representing six million tonnes of grain. “Grain prices to farmers will remain artificially depressed until the backlog is cleared up and the elevator system has the capacity available to offer competitive bids for our grain,” said Wood. “As long as the
elevator system remains plugged, price offers to farmers are likely to remain below market value.” The Wheat Growers had proposed several recommendations to expand rail-shipping capacity in the longer term, including an incentivebased revenue cap and measures that would allow shortlines and other rail operators to add capacity to the network when CN and CP are unable or unwilling to meet customer demand. These improvements were not included in the legislation.
The legislation appears to give farmers a good deal of what they were asking for, noted Doug Chorney, President of Keystone Agricultural Producers. “Bill C-30 extends the one million tonnes per- week-minimum the government ordered the railways to ship several weeks ago,” he said. “That will take us to the end of the crop year and after that the government will have the authority to re-set shipping minimums for the next two years, depending on the crop situation.”
Railways Need to Lose Their Entitlement Attitude The Wheat Growers are calling on the federal government to bring about more competition in the western Canadian rail sector, in light of chronic performance failures of CN and CP and their cavalier attitude toward the resulting losses suffered by prairie grain farmers. The Wheat Growers were reacting to comments made by CN CEO Claude Mongeau in a speech in Winnipeg recently. Mongeau spoke out strongly against a provision in Bill C-30 that would give shippers modest improved access to U.S. railways, referring to it as ‘poaching’. “What Mr. Mongeau calls poaching, we call competition,” said Levi Wood, President of the Wheat Growers. “Sadly, Mr. Mongeau seems to think no one else should have the opportunity to haul our grain, no matter how badly his company performs.” “Only companies with monopolies or near monopolies can get away with such an entitlement attitude,” said Jim Wickett, Chair of the Wheat Growers. “Parliament needs to give the railways an attitude adjustment.” The Wheat Growers note that CN and CP effectively operate side-by-side monopolies in western Canada. Only seven of the 342-grain elevators on the prairies have direct access to both CN and CP. The expanded interswitching provision, now contemplated in Bill C-30, the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act, would give about 40 of those elevators improved ability to access the shipping services of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp Railway (BNSF) a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A. Currently there is a backlog of nearly 70,000 rail car orders from grain shippers, representing more than 6 million tonnes of grain. The shipping backlog has resulted in artificially depressed prices to farmers that some market analysts are saying will last into 2015. The Wheat Growers have conservatively estimated bottom-line losses to farmers to be $2 billion and counting. They have recommended several measures that would bring about more competition and more shipping capacity in the western rail network, including expanded running rights.
The Agri Post
Urgent Need to Move and Process Last Year’s Grain
Mouldy Grain
One of Canada’s top experts on grain handling and food storage is warning farmers and producers of a potentially serious problem. Dr. Digvir Jayas, former Canada Research Chair in Stored-Grain Ecosystems and currently Vice-President (research and international) at the University of Manitoba, says there is an urgent need to take action to prevent spoilage of the 2013 food crop. With increased yields as high as 38 percent above 2012 levels for some crops in 2013, this positive news has been tempered by the lack of proper storage facilities on
of Silobags, Quonset huts and off the ground as soon as possible and loaded into bins with aeration before May. Research results from the assessment of Silobags used for storing canola at 12 percent moisture content showed that canola maintained its grade if unloaded before the ground is thawed, lost one grade if unloaded after ground thaw and became feed grade if unloaded after few summer months. Moister grain should be farms and elevators. Com- dried or processed first. bined with the slow move- Natural air-drying can be opment of grain out of western erated when the air temperaCanada, this has forced producers to place grain into temporary storage in Quonset huts, in Silobags or simply piled on the ground. As the weather warms up in the spring and summer, there is a great risk of grain spoiling due to insect infestation, mould growth or rodents. “Farmers need to take corrective action very soon,” advises Jayas, who makes the following recommendations to reduce quality loss in storage. Grain should be moved out Rusty Grain Beetle
ture is higher than 15 °C and relative humidity is lower than 65 percent. After the middle of April, weather conditions on some days can meet this requirement. Cold grain should be turned or aerated to raise the grain temperature to between 5 to 10°C to prevent moisture migration. Newly harvested grain should not be put on the top of the grain harvested in the previous year, instead it should go into bins cleaned of grain residues and approved insecticides applied to disinfest empty bins.
April 25, 2014
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More PPositive ositive TTest est RResults esults for PEDv in Manitoba The Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) has confirmed a small number of animals being held at a high-traffic site in western Manitoba that tested positive for the porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus. Based on the onset of symptoms and the CVO’s preliminary investigation, it is likely the pigs were infected with PED at the high-traffic site due to environmental contamination present on site and not on their farm of origin. As part of its investigation, the CVO will follow up with other farms and facilities that had contact with the site. The high-traffic site is fully co-operating with the CVO investigation and has taken measures to reduce the possibility of further transmission. The CVO had previously confirmed PEDv on a farm in southeast Manitoba and confirmed two positive environmental samples from high-traffic sites. None are currently believed to be linked to this case. PEDv is a reportable disease in Manitoba. Producers are encouraged to remain vigilant with the necessary biosecurity protocols that prevent the spread of PEDv and are reminded they must report all suspected cases to their veterinarian. The CVO will continue to work with the pork industry to help any affected producers eliminate the disease from their herds and prevent it from spreading. Producers who have questions about PEDv, biosecurity and related issues should contact the Manitoba Pork Council at 1-888-893-7447 or online at manitobapork.com. There are now 46 farm premises that have tested positive for PEDv across Canada including one in Manitoba, one in Prince Edward Island, one in Quebec and 43 in Ontario. Manitoba remains in regular contact with chief veterinary officers and industry stakeholders across the country on this issue.
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April 25, 2014
The Agri Post
The New CWB Builds an Elevator and That Is a Good Thing When Ag Minister Gerry Ritz changed the former Canadian Wheat Board from a single desk monopoly to a company, the feds gave them a 5-year program and some cash to make this transition work. And that is a good thing because the more options farmers have to market, sell and move their grain, the better off the system is, ultimately for the farmer and the rural communities. That is why this announcement is a good thing. We need more facilities, more competition, more options for farmers to move their grain. It is no secret, with new varieties, new management and production techniques, if the weather co-operates yields will continue to improve. Not only the yields, but also the varieties, and even the crops that farmers can grow profitably on their farms. I keep going back to my experience growing up on the farm and actually farming with my father, who always kept his eye on the next good crop, variety or process that would help him increase his profits on his farm. There are many varieties and different crops I remember growing that did really well for my father, but suddenly, and sometimes without warning, the niche market disappeared and part of last year’s crops sold for much less than he’d anticipated that year and much less than what he’d received in previous years. He didn’t rest on his laurels nor did he take much time crying over spilt milk, but looked for the next promising variety or crop. Invariably, another one would come along, and the last one quickly became a faint memory. So, I like the announcement by the the CWB, that is the new CWB, not the former single desk Canadian Wheat Board, that it is building its first state-of-the-art grain elevator west of Portage La Prairie in Bloom. The CWB says the elevator will be ready to receive grain for the 2015 harvest. Once completed, the facility will feature industry-leading railcar loading times and 33,900 metric tonnes of storage. CWB president and CEO, Ian White, said customer service is top-of-mind when choosing to invest in Bloom as the site for the company’s first elevator. “As one of the highest efficiency elevators in Western Canada, farmers will be able to pull in and out of our elevator yard in record time. The site is easily accessible from a number of highways, including the Trans-Canada and the Yellowhead, and it is located in an area with a clear need for more grain-handling capacity.” The CWB began elevator construction off of the TransCanada Highway, four miles west of the Yellowhead. The elevator will feature a 17,400 mT workhouse with cleaning facilities, and 16,500 mT of steel storage capacity. A 130-car loop track will facilitate fast and efficient car loading at up to 60,000 bushels/hour. The CN mainline will service the elevator. The building of this elevator marks CWB’s first construction of a grain-handling facility and adds to the company’s growing asset network that includes Mission Terminal in Thunder Bay, Les Élévateurs des Trois-Rivières in Quebec, as well as a minority interest in Prairie West Terminal. “Every tonne of grain delivered to Bloom will be tracked for the purposes of CWB’s farmer ownership plan. We want farmers to have a stake in their value chain after privatization,” said White. “As we continue to grow, the benefits to farmers will grow with us.” There is nothing wrong with what the new CWB is doing: I give them credit, and I hope it works out for them. In the five years since the monopoly disappeared the feds gave the new entity five years and x number of dollars per year to demonstrate it can actually make it on its own. CWB’s farmer ownership plan provides that farmers who deliver grain to CWB will receive an equity interest in the company after privatization and is the only opportunity for farmers to gain an ownership stake in a Canadian-focused grain company. On a similar note, it’s expected the federal government will table new legislation this week to address the challenges with grain movement by rail in Western Canada. Cabinet passed an order-in-council earlier telling CP and CN Rail to move one million tonnes of grain each week, but farm and grain industry groups say the system needs changes to the Canada Transportation Act that address ongoing issues surrounding grain movement. There are mixed thoughts on this one too. On one hand, someone needs to stand up the railways and make them more accountable. On the other hand, how far does the government go into a private business and determine how to manage that business. In this case, many can justify, and I’m one of them, the fact the railways have a combined monopoly and their collective performance, in many cases, has the reputation of Canada as a country at stake, if we don’t satisfy our customers.
How Much Freedom Can W Wee Afford? There is a continuum from anarchy to a complete dictatorship and most of us would believe the best place for society is somewhere in between. The role of government is not the same in everyone’s eyes and that includes the eyes of government. The current administration in Ottawa is delivering on its promises of more freedom, they did away with the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board, the world did not end and many farmers believe they are better off. Then along comes a harsh winter and the railway decides to concentrate on other cargo and we have a farm community clamouring for the government to step in and get the railways back to moving grain. Apparently, they have. I have trouble understanding the role of government on this whole issue. Sometimes we want the market to work, other times we want the railway to work (moving our commodity). The railway cited a number of problems that slowed the movement of grain. The first issue was the large crop; truth is farmers are growing more grain thanks to the advances of technology. The size of last year’s crop is going to become the norm in the next few years. That is what the railway will have to deal with. The second issue was the cold weather, and yes, it was cold, a visit to any coffee shop in western Canada would confirm that but we have had winter every year and will continue. The global warming thing was overpowered by the Artic Vortex this year and it will happen again. Count on it. I am not an expert on railways or grain movement, but as a casual observer, I saw trains moving this past winter. It would appear that the railways put their emphasis on other cargo and moved it instead of the grain. Could it be that they make more money on moving other products and chose to do that instead? If that is the case, then we have the market at work, but in this case, we want the railways to work. So, in this situation it appears we need the hand of government to help the system work. I can even understand that there are some places we need government and other places work best without them, but my concern is who gets to decide which ones are which and more importantly whose interests does he (or she) have at heart?
The Cost to RRebuild ebuild Typically, you want to insure your buildings for the cost to rebuild, this is referred to Replacement Cost Coverage. You do not want to insure too high because you will not get more than it actually costs to rebuild and yet you do not want to insure too low, which leaves you, exposed at the time of the claim by not having enough insurance money to cover the costs to rebuild. Even with actual quotations from a contractor or having an appraisal completed, you do not know with absolute certainty what the limit of coverage should be. There are many outside forces that affect the replacement cost. A few examples are fluctuations of the Canadian dollar, varying material prices, government regulations, bylaws and fuel prices. No two buildings are the same. Options chosen and quality of equipment alter the replacement cost greatly. Similar facilities can differ in replacement cost by more than 25 to 50 percent. A consideration is the cost to clean-up debris prior to rebuilding. In today’s world of environmental considerations and government regulations, these costs can be substantial. In addition, you need to consider the extra cost associated with having to build in the winter because you may not be able to wait until summer to start rebuilding. Debris removal and winter build can increase the amount of coverage needed by 20 percent. Be sure to seek advice and purchase insurance from those who understand your business! Andy Anderson is an Associate Insurance Broker specializing in General, Life and Group Benefits for Farm, Commercial/Agri-business Ph 204-746-5589 F 866765-3351 andya@rempelinsurance.com /rempelinsurance.com /valleyfinancial.ca.
The Agri Post
An Almost Forgotten Nobel Hero Continues to Feed Billions
April 25, 2014
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Government Opens Door to Seed Oligopoly
Penners Points by Rolf Penner rolfpenner@agripost.ca
March 25, marked the 100-year anniversary of the birth of a real hero of science, Norman Borlaug. The anniversary got next to no coverage in the mainstream media, a shame because Borlaug is one of the greatest human beings who ever lived. His groundbreaking work on plant breeding saved more human lives from starvation compared with anything else in world history. As one blogger put it, “If you want to know why we live in a morally and intellectually declining world, the low profile of this man is a pretty good starting place.” Gregg Easterbrook nicely summarized Borlaug’s achievement in The Atlantic Monthly, “In 1950, there were 2.2 billion people in the world and they produced 692 tons of grain. By 1992, there were 5.6 billion people and they produced 1.9 billion tons of grain. That is, there was a 220 percent increase in global population but a 280 percent increase in global wheat production. For numerous food staples, this pattern held true. Furthermore, this increase in food production necessitated an increase of cropland of just one percent due to Borlaug’s more efficient agricultural techniques and improved genetic strands.” His efforts won Borlaug the Nobel Peace Prize back when it actually meant something. However, by no means is he a household name. His granddaughter, Julie Borlaug, the Associate Director for External Relations at the Norman Borlaug Institute, has an explanation. “He was not the best communicator. Scientists like my grandfather are better at doing science than talking about it.” Fair enough, but there is more to it than just that. The blog, ‘Gods of the Copybook Headings’ has some compelling theories. First, Borlaug was an agronomist and agriculture today just isn’t that sexy. Steve Jobs is worshiped because he gave rich westerners cool toys. “But in the grand sweep of history improved agricultural techniques have done far more for mankind than any fancy phone or electronic tablet,” the blogger noted. “Without cheap food nothing else is possible for a society.” Couple this, “With the unfortunate conceit that farmers are dumb yokels. Despite the fact that the typical farmer in modern North America has more real skills than the typical office worker.” It doesn’t help. Also working against him is his nationality, American. “It’s hard for many people in Europe and the developing world to admit that their lives and those of their countrymen, rest upon the innovations of an American genius,” adds the blog. The world loves to hate Americans; it is one of the last socially acceptable forms of bigotry left. This makes it next to impossible for some to admit that an ‘American’ actually did something good. It also doesn’t help that he wasn’t a ‘development aid scrounger’. He didn’t get in on the selfserving racket played by so many politicians, bureaucrats and do-gooders, a scam, which provides little real value to the intended recipients. Borlaug is someone who genuinely helped the poor. As the blog points out, “Compared to pious-sounding words, actual accomplishment is a dangerous embarrassment.” To today’s Left, one of Borlaug’s greatest accomplishments is probably also his greatest crime according to the blog, “He made the poor independent.” This may seem absurd, but as the blogger points out, “A great measure of their self-worth, as well as net worth, comes from attempting to help the less fortunate. Should the less fortunate ever improve their fortunes, the self-worth and net worth of the Enlightened Utopian Altruists would implode.” Borlaug was not a celebrity and not particularly interested in being one, “He didn’t appeal to the lowest common denominator. He didn’t say stupid or absurd things on television. Instead he made a real difference in the lives of billions. In our present tense culture that’s simply past understanding. If it does not amuse, entertain or flatter us it isn’t worth the bother. Previous generations made an effort to look up. Our culture makes a point of looking down into the dirt far deeper, and far less fertile, than that which engaged the energies of Norman Borlaug.” The man deserves to be remembered and his accomplishments celebrated. We have a lot of holidays, long weekends, and days off from work, for far less notable people or reasons. A Norman Borlaug Day would be far more appropriate than a lot of them.
The Cereal Research Centre (CRC) is closing this month, marking the end of nearly a century of public plant breeding in Manitoba. It is another sorry landmark on the Harper government’s systematic path of destruction through Canada’s public agriculture institutions. Publicly funded plant breeding at the CRC, along with other Agriculture Canada research stations and several Canadian universities, has produced most of Canada’s cereal crop varieties, which are the foundation for our multibillion dollar grain industry. According to Industry Canada, approximately 50 percent of wheat and oat acreage in Canada is seeded to varieties developed at the CRC, varieties that represent a farmgate value of close to $2.5 billion. The federal government is not only closing the CRC, it is winding down all public funding for spring wheat plant breeding to make way for private sector investment. Agriculture Canada will allow scientists to continue work already in progress, however it will not support new breeding, nor allow current work to proceed to the final stage of producing the actual varieties that farmers can buy. The CRC’s top-notch spring wheat team has been broken up and only a handful of wheat breeders remain at the Brandon, Swift Current and Lethbridge research stations. At a 2013 meeting of the Canadian Seed Trade Association, Agriculture and AgriFood Canada (AAFC) Director General Stephen Morgan Jones laid out the federal
government’s vision; AAFC would “vacate” variety finishing. Germplasm developed by AAFC scientists will be sold to private companies, intellectual property rights rules will be redrawn to benefit private breeders and variety registration rules will be revisited. However, public plant breeding programs have proven to have a very high return on investment. Studies conducted by University of Saskatchewan Agricultural Economist Dr. Richard Gray show that every dollar invested in cereals breeding returns at least $20 and often more. When the federal government funds $30 million annually in wheat breeding it creates at least $600 million in value that is distributed among farmers in the form of better crops, providing income to pay wages, taxes and checkoffs for additional research, while supporting agriculturerelated businesses in rural communities and helping processors and consumers who benefit from better wheat. When private companies invest, these high returns go to mostly wealthy private stakeholders and non-Canadians. In the case of genetically modified canola, soy and corn gene patents, hybridization and contracts ensure companies can hold onto most, if not all of the returns by forcing farmers to buy expensive new seed each year. Dr. Gray’s research not only promises high returns compared to actual investment dollars for plant breeding, the research also documents that when private seed companies are involved (as is the case in canola) they reinvest only a
Avoiding Biting the Hand that Feeds You Dear Editor: A Manitoba Cooperator editorial, February 6, 2014, recognized the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of Keystone Agriculture Producers (KAP). The editorial attributed the organization’s recent growth in membership to its ability to avoid becoming embroiled in debates on controversial issues such as the retention of the CWB. KAP leadership decided not to become involved in the debate over the future of the CWB at a time when a majority of Manitoba grain producersKAP members favoured the retention of the CWB. It appears a lack of policy and leadership on this important issue was driven by a vocal minority within KAP, allied with one or more KAP commodity group members. A second important consideration for KAP leadership to consider at that time may have been its reliance on line grain companies to collect KAP and commodity group membership fees. The capacity of line grain companies to deliver or withhold KAP and commodity group membership fees introduces a market driven component to Manitoba/Canadian farm policy debate. Market driven farm policy has demonstrated a capacity to focus attention on issues such as the $5,000 cap on the reduction of education tax on farm land or the provincial ban on the cosmetic use of herbicides. Meanwhile, a $64 basis on CWRS or $87 basis on CPRS, $96-130 per acre on a yield of 1.5 tonne per acre is not considered worthy of a comment. Market driven farm policy can also ignore overwhelming evidence that UPOV 91 will increase a farmer’s seed costs while avoiding commenting on $600 a bushel Canola seed. The future success of check-off funded farm and commodity organi-
zations may depend upon their capacity to focus attention on important issues like timely rains, bountiful harvests, higher prices and lower taxes. The division and retention of the value of a farmer’s production will be deemed too controversial to discuss, requiring the abandonment of any responsibility to represent the farmer’s collective economic interest in the marketplace. Over the next year, millions of dollars in check-off fees will be collected by line grain companies and delivered to KAP and Manitoba commodity groups. Many meetings will be held. Most will be poorly attended. Busy work will flourish. Commodity group annual meetings may be conducted within the prescribed 40 minute time limit. Such restricted time allocations will not be applied to events held in some far away exotic and luxurious locations. Controversy will be avoided at all costs. Farmers will receive an ever declining share of the food consumers’ dollar. Farms will continue to fail while the check-off funded organizations will fund flourish. Editors of the farm press will often extol the virtues of those organizations that remain uncontroversial thereby removing any need to report on controversial issues, that if reported, may offend their advertisers. The same advertisers, that is, that collect the check-off fees that fund the uncontroversial market driven farm and commodity groups. Fred Tait Rossendale, MB
By Glenn Tait small portion of their returns into new research. Further research by Dr. R. J. Graf shows that private breeding is also less economically efficient. A comparable yield increase was achieved in wheat for a $25 million annual public investment however; a private program required $80 million to research canola breeding. Whether the federal government has decided to bring in UPOV ’91 via Bill C-18 in spite of or because of this disparity, it will guarantee the likes of Bayer, Syngenta, Monsanto and Dow a massive new revenue stream. By defunding and vacating public spring wheat breeding, the federal government is handing these companies an incredibly lucrative new source of profits. Under this new funding policy and the UPOV ’91 Plant Breeders Regime that underpins it, Canadian grain farmers not only lose the future varieties that the CRC would have developed, but will pay higher seed prices and increased royalties on the purchase of new seed or as end point royalties on crops harvested from farm-saved seed. If changes to variety registration rules proposed in May 2013 are adopted, companies will be able to deregister older varieties that no longer provide them with royalties, forcing farmers to choose among fewer and more expensive varieties. When the CRC’s predecessor, the Dominion Rust Research Laboratory, was established in 1925, prairie farmers were fighting for a fair share against the oligopolies of the banks, railways and grain companies and eventually built the Canadian Wheat Board as a counterweight with power to act in the farmers’ interest. Today, the Conservative government is now adding insult to injury by creating a new seed oligopoly. Glenn Tait is a National Farmers Union Board Member. He farms grain and cattle on his family farm near Meota, Saskatchewan.
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April 25, 2014
The Agri Post
A New Game for Beef FFarmers armers I want to ponder the new game we are playing in, called commodity production versus the export game. As you know, a big chunk of our production is exported to other countries, 40 percent according to the beef advocacy and educational resource group. Our two largest export locations are currently the United States and Mexico. Recently, there have been new trade opportunities opening up to us, but what does that really mean for us here in Manitoba? Let’s have a look at three of the new export opportunities for the future trade of your beef. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which will soon be concluded, is the free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union (EU). This is a high value market that we, Canadians and in particular the beef sector, have not had a lot of access to in the past. An agreement in principle has been signed and it is hoped that final negotiations will conclude shortly. The full agreement will come into effect in 2015. CETA will result in immediate duty-free trade for almost 94 percent of agricultural product lines exported. Once fully implemented, opportunities to export our beef duty-free will increase to 65,000 tonnes annually.
This is a specialty market, thus there are conditions for accessing the EU such as plants being federally licensed and certified to export to the EU. In addition, meat processed for export to the EU must come from animals that are hormone and ractopamine free. Now you may think, “That does nothing for me,” however, I would suggest that this is just another market opportunity, or tool, for producers and processors who wish to pursue it. The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA) is a market that is returning to us after the long cold winter (pardon the pun) since BSE in 2003. This too should come into effect in 2015 and open the door for more beef to move into South Korea (Republic of Korea). The Republic of Korea is the fifteenth largest market in the world with 50 million people. Even though they are only fifteenth, this still is approximately 15 million more people more than Canada’s population. In the last 30 years, the Republic of Korea’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) hasn’t just doubled or tripled, it has increased more than six times. GDP is just the way economists measure the economic health of a country and it allows us to compare how we are doing year to year. Melinda German, is General Manager of Manitoba Beef Producers.
Versatility, It’s Strong Suit By Les Kletke Jeff Owens likes raising alpacas because of the animal’s ability to get along by itself. He also likes the market opportunities that the animal provides. He acknowledges that at this time the alpaca population is too low to provide meat but he sees that as a possibility down the road. Alpaca meat, or la vianda, has been eaten for years in South America and has been offered in some Alberta restaurants, but the small number of the animals in this country has restricted that aspect of marketing. Owens has 40 of the animals on his farm at Alexander and says this year was the first time he saw one being born after raising the animals for 13 years. “They normally go off by themselves and give birth,” he said. “They are kind of a drop and go animal and birthing is not a problem.” The female gives birth to one cria a year, twins occurring less than one in a thousand pregnancies. The gestation period is 11 months and a year to nurse the young one means an increase in population is somewhat slower than other breeds of livestock.
Jeff Owens and Pat Lovatt shared a display at Brandon’s Royal Winter Fair… they also share an appreciation of Alpacas. Photo by Les Kletke
“We are still selling breeding stock and it will be a few years before we see a meat industry,” says Owens. “But it will come and the meat is considered a delicacy where ever it has been served.” For now he is content to build his herd and shear the animals once a year. He shares a booth at the Royal Winter Fair with Pat Lovatt who has six of the animals and not only shears the animals but turns the wool into value added products. “I shear and spin and weave and felt,” said Lovatt. “I had as many as 20, but am now down to 6 and can’t decide if I want to rebuild my numbers or concentrate on the other parts of the
business. She has had the animals for 14 years and agrees that they are one of the easiest animals she has ever worked with. She spins the fibre to wool, which she then knits into socks, mitts or other garments. She also offered skeins of the wool at the booth at the Royal Winter Fair. The fibre is popular for garments because it is non-allergenic. It does not contain lanolin that is found in sheep wool so it is not resistant to water. Owens and Lovatt agree that the animals are ready to move past the novelty stage and into a more commercial situation but they both admit that for them they still have some pet-like attraction.
The Agri Post
April 25, 2014
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The Agri Post
April 25, 2014
Mar Mac Farms Raises Money for Regional Health Foundation By Joan Airey Mar Mac Farms and guests not only participated in a bull auction they also helped to raise money by auctioning off two cheesecakes at their tenth annual Bull Sale. The proceeds of the
cheesecake auction were donated to Brandon Regional Health Foundation in memory of Andrew Mooney and Rick Potter. The first sold to Moose Creek Red Angus of Kisbey, Saskatchewan for $450 and the second cake to Sandy Margetts of
Brandon for $500. “We raised $1,111 for the Foundation in honour of our friends who lost their battle with cancer in 2013,� said Lois McRae of Mar Mac Farms. The top selling Simmental Bull Mar Mac Johnny Cash 102A, son of Sawn Lake Tombstone sold for $10,000 to Wayne and Therese Heinrich of Brandon. Simmental Bulls at the sale averaged $4,051. Highest selling Red Angus Bull was Red Mar
Mac Determined 31A son of Red Lazy Me Detour 2W sold for $6,100 to Ken and Rebecca Mackenzie of Manning, Alberta. Red Angus Bulls averaged $3,302. Top selling Black Angus Bull Mar Mac Cornerstone 2A, son of SAV Final Answer sold for $6,250 to Troy Reynolds of Carberry. Black Angus Bulls averaged $4,017. In all, seventy-nine bulls sold for a total of $300,200 with an average sale price of $3,809.
Lois McRae talks with Darren Ippilito of Moose Creek Red Angus and Sandy Margetts from Brandon, after they purchased the cheese cakes auctioned off in memory of Andrew Mooney and Rick Potter at Mar Mac Bull Sale.
The Agri Post
Dairy Rewards Found in Trace Minerals with Greater Bioavailability Trace minerals make up a very small portion of the diets of high producing dairy cows yet have a tremendous impact upon their health, reproduction and milk production status. That’s because they play vital roles in the activation of enzyme systems that drive almost every biochemical reaction in a cow’s body. Of particular importance are trace minerals such as copper, zinc, manganese and selenium, which might be contained at high levels in a wellbalanced dairy diet, but are of no nutritional use to dairy cows unless they have a high degree of bioavailability. Reliable sources of these trace minerals with superior bioavailability should be fed in the dairy barn so their natural benefits are profited. Consequently, a working definition of ‘Bioavailability’ of trace minerals in dairy cows usually refers to an essential trace mineral source that is consumed, digested and absorbed by a dairy cow in a form that can be metabolized and finally utilized in order to meet the dairy cows’ specific trace mineral requirements. The feed industry has routinely supplemented commercial dairy feeds with different inorganic mineral salts with varying degrees of ‘bioavailability’. These compounds have different solubility, molecular mass, electrical charge, pH properties and chemical reactive states that affect the way and degree in which they are absorbed and retained in the cow. For instance, dairy research done over the years has shown the relative bio-availabilities of ‘rock’ sources of dietary copper follows the rank of highest to lowest absorption: copper sulphate (bluestone), copper carbonate and copper oxide (virtually unavailable). Despite feeding a dairy diet with a good suitable level of essential trace minerals (often based on NRC requirements), there are many dietary factors that will adversely reduce trace mineral bioavailability and thus affect how much essential mineral the dairy animal finally receives or can utilize. Some of these dietary factors bind ingested trace minerals in the gut and make them unavailable for absorption in the small intestine. For example, high levels of molybdenum in the dairy diet combine with copper digested from the feed in the rumen and render it insoluble for absorption. In response to such biochemical obstacles to good trace mineral absorption and metabolism in dairy cattle, the use of ‘chelated organic’ trace minerals in dairy diets has become mainstream nutrition. Chelated/organic mineral compounds are positively charged trace minerals chemically bound to organic compounds. They are produced by a specialized manufacturing process that takes a metal element (i.e. copper) from inorganic rock sources and attaches it to an organic molecule. These are often derivatives of a protein molecule such as a peptide or amino acid. Examples include zinc methionine, copper lysine, and manganese methionines as well as non-specific trace mineral proteinates. Subsequently, it should be noted that selenium cannot be truly chelated. Rather, organic selenium is produced by feeding inorganic selenium to yeast, which incorporates it into their body proteins. Similar to these organic metallo-proteins, a new category of chelates, known as hydroxyl trace minerals, has been introduced to dairy nutrition as a new source of bioavailability copper, zinc and manganese. They are well-defined crystalline structures held together by covalent bonds (similar to those found in proteinated trace minerals), which render them nonhydroscopic (do not absorb water), and non-oxidative (non-reactive with other nutrients such as fats and vitamins). Unlike organic trace minerals, which contain between 10 - 15% specific trace mineral, hydroxyl trace minerals are available in higher trace mineral concentrations such as: copper chloride (54% copper), zinc hydrochloride (55% zinc) and manganese hydroxyl chloride (44% manganese). Regardless of the chelated source, some scientists think a trace mineral chelate’s superior bioavailability has more to do with its reduced electrical charge that makes it less reactive with other molecules that may bind it and thus make it unavailable for absorption. Organic mineral compounds are also believed to be less susceptible to possible changes in pH, which as mentioned above, also affects inorganic mineral absorption. Studies that demonstrate the visible benefits of feeding chelated minerals with higher bioavailability than inorganic minerals to dairy cattle have been variable. In one experiment, researchers at North Carolina State University (NSCU) fed marginal copper deficient heifer replacement calves either organic chelated copper, inorganic copper sulphate, or inorganic copper carbonate. The researchers concluded that organic copper may have the same bioavailability as inorganic copper sulphate under normal dietary conditions. However, in a second NCSU experiment, they fed the same treatments, but in the presence of high dietary molybdenum, known to be antagonistic toward dietary copper. As a result, the organic copper was then shown to have greater intestinal absorption and liver retention in the animals than the inorganic copper sources. Such evidence pointed to the advantage of using chelated minerals under special conditions in dairy nutrition. To help iron out of such inconsistencies, a new statistical review technique called metaanalysis has been applied to such practical field studies in order to determine common patterns, areas of disagreement among treatment results and any significant experimental interactions. For example, a 2010 meta-analysis examined 20 dairy research papers and reports performed by the Zinpro Corp a manufacturer of organic chelated minerals for livestock. The meta-results of this review demonstrated that organic chelated trace mineral supplementation in dairy diets improved health status, milk production and reproduction performance in lactation dairy cows. Such field trial reviews are useful in demonstrating that the source of essential trace minerals for dairy cattle should contain high bioavailability. One also might extrapolate that our precious time, effort and money are not wasted by ineffective over-formulation of dairy diets with inorganic minerals. Instead, we should rather fine-tune the dairy diet with various sources of essential trace minerals. Reliable rock trace mineral sources might work satisfactorily in modest situations, while chelated trace minerals with higher bioavailabilities are effective for more high performance or challenging environments. Successful dairy cows should not only consume adequate amounts of an essential trace minerals, but ones that can be effectively absorbed, retained and metabolized in their body and ultimately contribute to high performance and financial rewards.
April 25, 2014
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MPC Hopes Moratorium on Hog Production Ends Soon By Harry Siemens The higher prices for pork and live hogs and the lower feed prices seems to be the best incentive to get people in the pork industry out to an annual meeting. The recent AGM of Manitoba Pork Council (MPC) was no exception. Producers hope a tentative agreement with the provincial government will end the 2011 moratorium on new swine barn construction or expansion in Manitoba. Michael Teillet Manager, Sustainable Development Programs with MPC, said that for the most part the hog industry is in slow decline in the last two to three years resulting in a shortage of pigs for processing. The decline was a direct result of the moratorium, high feed costs and lower prices, but now with aging infrastructure and barns combined with poor prices over the last five to seven years the industry needs breathing room, room to expand. The Pork Council is not sitting back to wait for things to change. Pork Council representatives are at the table with the government, educating and negotiating. “We have reached a tentative agreement, we believe, with the government and it involves three different aspects,” said Teillet. One aspect is that producers who build new barns must inject manure into their fields, must have a multi-cell manure storage system and there would very likely be a limit on the total amount of phosphorus allowed to accumulate on farm fields. “We always refer to the moratorium as a barn ban,” said Teillet. “In reality we could theoretically have built new barns if we had added anaerobic digesters with the new barn but they are so expensive, in the million dollar plus range, that nobody has built new barns because of that.” “This alternative of using a multi-cell lagoon system is a much more reasonable and a practical solution which will, we believe, allow us to build new barns,” he said. Teillet stressed that this is still a tentative agreement and they are waiting for final approval. MPC Chair Karl Kynoch said fighting for survival in the last five years has left the hog industry with poor and deteriorating barns and infrastructure. Kynoch said hog producers built only four new hog barns in Manitoba between 2008 and 2013. That number needs to be closer to 20 to 30 each year, estimates MPC, to sustain the pork sector in Manitoba. Kynoch said the biggest challenge is having the cash to replace them and the moratorium keeps producers from even trying to build new barns. Even with record high hog prices due to a North American hog shortage, lenders are still reluctant to invest in pigs because producers carry heavy debt loads after years of low or negative margins. He is hoping the provincial government will relax the hog barn moratorium and some of the environment-related rules governing hog production. Another issue at this year’s MPC AGM surrounds the new requirements for reporting pig movements in Canada and the tools in place to do so. Amended regulations that take effect on July 1, under Canada’s Health of Animals Act, swine traceability will need to be accommodated. Anyone moving pigs must report those movements to the PigTrace Canada database. Jeff Clark, the Manager of PigTrace Canada, an initiative of the Canadian Pork Council, said both shippers and receivers must report movements. He thinks it will be a bit easier to encourage and enforce this requirement because of the biosecurity needs surrounding the PED virus crisis. Clark explained that producers have seven days to report information and movements to the PigTrace database. “We are targeting to get that information reported as soon as possible, hopefully in real time,” he said. “When pigs leave one facility to go to another, both the shipper and receiver must report key movement information and that is the departure and destination locations, the date and time of loading and unloading, the number of animals as well as the vehicle licence plate and any animal identifiers that are required to go on the animals.” According to Clark, producers can use many reporting options in their operations. “We have a lot of electronic based tools that can help facilitate movement reporting as quickly as possible, such as a mobile application, desktop application on the web and different programming instructions for programmers to link commercial herd management software with PigTrace with a toll free number.” He said over the next couple of weeks provincial pork organizations will receive education kits across Canada, including a cover letter outlining specific provincial information, and then they will distribute the packages to anyone who handles pigs.
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The Agri Post
April 25, 2014
Spring Prevention of Grass Tetany in Beef Cows By Peter Vitti Many parts of western Canada suffered through one of the longest and coldest winters in decades. It is anybody’s guess if arctic temperatures and belly-high snows predispose beef cows to grass tetany when green lush grass sprouts across pastures. However, proper nutrient supplementation to the cows’ early spring diet eliminates any guesswork since this magnesium- deficiency disease is highly preventable. Reported cases of grass tetany or hypomagnesaemia often affect mature cattle grazing rapidly growing pastures, which are magnesium deficient. Symptoms of grass tetany in beef cows may start with extreme nervousness; progress to a lack of muscle coordination and spasms, staggering and finally failure to stand. If not immediately treated, most animals suffering from tetany symptoms die. The risk of grass tetany in beef cattle seems to be higher in a number of grazed cool season pastures of fescues, timothy, orchard grasses, brome-grass and vested wheatgrass. It rarely appears in legume pastures containing clovers or alfalfa. Normal magnesium levels for these common grass and legume species usually measure 0.20-0.25 percent, which is enough to support the magnesium requirements of beef cows. The NRC Mg requirement is about 13-15 g/hd/d for gestating cows and about 20-22 g/hd/ d for early stages of lactation. In contrast, when grass tetany develops in the above highrisk pasture grasses, their magnesium levels are measured below 0.10-0.12 percent and consequently the magnesium requirements of beef cows cannot be supported. Fortunately, it takes specific climatic and field conditions to come together to drop magnesium levels to deficient levels in pastures that cause grass tetany in cattle. The highest risk occurs in cattle grazing succulent grasses that seem to appear from nowhere in warm periods of 10-15 C after weeks of cool, wet and cloudy weather. If there is high potassium and nitrogen levels in the soil such as from the previous fall’s applied fertilizers, there is an added risk that these two elements interfere with magnesium’s uptake into the plants’ roots. Such grass tetany risk for cattle seems to decrease substantially when day- and night-time temperatures rise above 20 C as grass is able to draw more magnesium from the soil. One should also keep in mind, some of these conditions that predispose cattle to grass tetany occur after the cow takes its first bite of lush pasture! When beef cows graze magnesium-deficient pastures, these grasses often contain very high levels of potassium that tend to follow and interfere with the ruminal absorption of what little magnesium is ingested. As far back as 1957, research illustrated that when the ratio of dietary potassium to the sum of calcium and magnesium or ‘tetany ratio’ was less than 2.2, the incidence of grass tetany affected less than 1.0 percent of a group of beef cattle. The incidence of grass tetany increased to nearly 7 percent in another group of cattle when this tetany ratio was greater than 2.2. Note: The exact equation to determine the tetany ratio is based upon milli-equivalents of potassium, magnesium and calcium, which takes into account the molecular weight and electrical charge of each of these elements. Regardless of a ‘tetany ratio’, the predictability of grass tetany has remained unclear. Some newer field trials have shown that cattle can be affected in some magnesium-deficient pastures, while not affected in others. Upon closer observation it was shown that cattle fed loose salt (sodium chloride) on a free-choice basis are rarely affected by grass tetany. In contrast, cattle even provided with magnesium supplements on pasture with low sodium or salt intake may come down with grass tetany. Speculation behind these phenomena is that lush pastures that cause grass tetany are very high in potassium. This high concentration of potassium may interfere with magnesium absorption in cattle rumen, but when salt is fed on the same pasture it counteracts excessive dietary potassium, while restoring any metabolic electrolyte imbalance in the cattle caused by the potassium in the first place. As a result, there is more magnesium absorption and the threat of grass tetany in cattle is decreased. A beef cow that receives inadequate magnesium or utilizes it poorly in its body from grass tetany pastures usually comes down with deficiency symptoms quickly. Although 70 percent of magnesium is stored in the skeleton, with the remainder in the soft tissues and fluids, this macro-mineral is poorly retained compared to other minerals stored in the body. Luckily, there are several methods to prevent grass tetany on pastures each spring. Such sound grass tetany preventative measures are: - Feed a ‘high magnesium’ mineral (with vitamins) that contains at least 15-20 grams of magnesium oxide in every 100 grams of mineral mix. Provide this mineral mix to cattle about two - three weeks before cattle are released to pasture. Continue to feed a high Mg mineral for the first part of the pasture season when the grasses are in their lush growing stages. - Assure that all cattle are consuming about 100 grams of this mineral mix in order that they receive the recommended amount of dietary magnesium. In addition to the prescribed cattle mineral, feed salt (sodium chloride) at the rate of 15-30 grams per head per day, preferably in loose form. This salt might also be mixed with the high magnesium mineral. - Consider turning cattle out to pastures later. Once grass plants are over 6 in. tall, much of the inherit risks of grass tetany are past. Some producers continue to feed some grass hay during the early parts of the grazing season. - Make it a point to observe beef cows at least two times per day when grass tetany is a high risk. Symptoms of grass tetany are similar to milk fever and other ‘downer cow’ syndromes. Consult with your veterinarian. Beef cows that are diagnosed early with hypomagnesaemia are often treated with intravenous or subcutaneous administration of magnesium-containing solutions. Older beef cows grazing lush cool season pastures can be susceptible to grass tetany during early springtime. Even without seeing one affected cow, grass tetany can be effectively prevented by making sure that all essential nutrients (including magnesium) are balanced in the beef cows’ overall diet.
Unique Animals Find Unique Uses By Les Kletke Pam Heath is with the Rare Breeds Association and would like nothing better than to see some of the less used breeds of cattle and sheep find their way into the market place. She believes that the best way to save a breed of livestock is to use them. Her display at the Royal Winter Fair in Brandon featured a basket of wool from various breeds of sheep and assorted other species. She offered information on the advantages to various wools and the animals that yield the harvest. “In Britain there are 60 different breeds of sheep,” said Heath. “And they each have specific traits that make them valuable.” Many of the breeds are named for the area they originated or where production is concentrated. “The Cotswold is a great big fleece and has fibre six inches long,” said Heath. “A knitter might be able to make a garment or pair of mitts from a single fleece.” Heath is finding support for her cause in a new generation of knitters who value the various wools and their specific traits. Some may purchase a single fleece from a large sheep like a Cotswold and take it through the entire process of cleaning, carding, spinning and knitting themselves. The display also featured various art forms created from wool. “There is an increasing amount of fibre artists,” said Heath. “And their work is as individual as the artist.” She said the characteristics of the wool, like the thickness of fibre or the way it accepts a dye, make certain wools more attractive to different projects. The initial Manitoba Fibre Festival held last year at the St. Norbert Farmers market
Pam Heath says the revival in spinning and knitting has increased the demand for different types of wool from unique breeds. Photo by Les Kletke
attracted nearly 20 exhibitors and good attendance despite inclement weather. This year’s event is scheduled for September 6 and already has exhibitors committed. That is exactly the kind of thing that Heath wants to see to help preserve the breeds that are falling from popularity or have never gained a major foothold in this country. “We need to have more people see the value of the various types of wool and that increases the demand. When they are commercially viable, a breed is not at risk of becoming extinct. The greater the demand the more it will be produced.” Heath’s message is most easily applied to small animals that yield products used in weaving rather than to breeds of horses or cattle.
The Agri Post
Canada’s Livestock Breed Registry in Danger By Les Kletke The reputation of Canadian cattle in the international market may be in question if plans to cut funding to the Canadian Livestock Record Corporation continue. Pam Heath Manitoba’s Manager for Rare Breeds Canada said that funding is being cut to the organization and the only alternative is privatization. “We don’t know what will happen with a cut in government funding and it is impossible to get more information,” said Heath, who was part of the Rare Breeds display at the Royal Winter Fair in Brandon. Her concern with the government support of the breed registry goes beyond her role with the Rare Breeds Association. “If the funding is cut this could have a dramatic impact on the registry system in place for any breeds in Canada,” she said. “The current Canadian system is the envy of many countries and we are in danger of losing it.” The breed registry maintains the breed book for all species but is particularly valuable in the cattle industry where exports total millions of dollars annually. Canada has not been a hot bed of new breeds but has contributed significantly and in particular with breeds that work well in Canadian conditions. The Canadienne is the only breed of dairy cattle developed in this country and originated in Quebec as an out crossing from cattle imported in the 16th century. It is still popular in Quebec. The Hays Converter developed in Alberta and Shaver from Ontario breeds are noted for beef production. The Speckled Park is Canada’s newest breed and was developed in Saskatchewan. Heath’s concern is for more than just the breeds that have been developed in this country. “It is not just these breeds but all the breeds and for the integrity of the livestock industry it is important that the breed books be maintained by an impendent source,” she said. Heath has been frustrated by the lack of answers she has received when asking about the future of the Canadian Livestock Registry. “We have not been able to get any answers from the government on this and it appears that with the retirement of people in key roles the registry may fade away and become privatized,” said Heath. She encourages livestock producers to pursue the issue through their breed associations and with Members of Parliament.
A Long Winter Fair Tale By Les Kletke Fred Gilbert remembers his first Royal Winter Fair and that was a while ago, he was only seven years old at the time and his dad and uncles were showing horses. “It was 1957,” he said with a hint of pride. “We’ve worn out a few barns and a lot of people along the way, but we’re still coming and enjoying it.” Gilbert is the current generation of Gilbert Farms that has had show horses at the Brandon institution for nearly 60 years. Over the years he has seen a lot of changes and he rates the Brandon Keystone Centre as one of the best facilities in the country to show horses. “That is one of the reasons people keep coming here,” he said. “It is all under one roof and when they get here they can stay inside. There is no other facility with the kind of warm-up facilities we have here. That is a big plus for this show.” When he began coming to the Fair it was housed in several barns with outdoor warm-up areas. While the facility in Brandon has become one of the country’s best, he said the selection of horses has not improved accordingly, and that does not reflect on the Manitoba city but on the number of horses in the country. “The selection of horses is not as good and that is a function of the numbers,” said Gilbert. “There just aren’t as many horses to choose from in breeding programs. There are
Fred Gilbert has been showing horses in Brandon since he was 7 and plans to continue for a long time. Photo by Les Kletke
some very good horses but the selection of breeding stock has narrowed.” Gilbert concentrates on Hackney ponies, which he said were bred as coach horses. “They were originally bred to pull the Queen’s coach. They were working horses,” said Gilbert. “I think that sometimes we concentrate too much on the refinement and have lost the strength. They are frail and weaker. They don’t have the heart and stability they were originally meant to have as a coach horse.” He acknowledges that may be what judges are looking for in the ring and it is his preference to see the heat of a working horse. The pony by definition is under 14.2 hands or 58 inches at the withers (bottom of the mane). One thing that hasn’t changed in his mind is the crowd. “The crowd is what makes the show and for us to go in the ring and perform for an appreciative crowd makes it all worthwhile,” said Gilbert, who works with trainers across the continent to get the right horses in his stable.
April 25, 2014
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April 25, 2014
The Agri Post
The Agri Post
Mother Nature is Still Teasing Us
Carmen greenhouse cucumbers (Stokes) grown in a large pot.
By Joan Airey It is officially spring, but in Manitoba Mother Nature is teasing us! It is still cold out and our frostfree dates are still many weeks away, but we are all eager to get gardening. First, the hard job of soil preparation, which is the most important step. Many articles suggest the best rule of thumb is to roto-till in fall and only top dress in the spring. Every year in fall or spring, it is a good idea to add new organic matter such as aged manure or wellturned compost. Rule of thumb with aged organic matter is you can never add too much one time and an
inch or more if possible every year. You should roto-till down at least six inches more to grow carrots and potatoes.
Vegetables that like to grow in cool weather, like lettuce, spinach, carrots, radish beets and onions, should be planted first. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and potatoes should be planted next. In Manitoba, this year, it looks like it will be early June before we can plant out tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. After all, many of us received two or more inches of snow this past weekend so gardening outdoors will have to wait awhile. Remember not to plant your tomato plants in the same place as last year, a three-year rotation is recommended and avoid where potatoes, eggplant and peppers were grown. Many tomato plants (seeds) have initials beside their name that means a variety has tolerance to diseases. The letter V denotes Verticillium, F for Fusarium, N is Nematodes and T is for Tobacco Mosaic. A garden needs one inch of rain or water each week and early morning is the best time to water. Evening watering is less desirable because plant leaves that remain wet through the night are more susceptible to fungus diseases. Frost-free dates for Brandon in a normal year are between May 27 to September 10m, Winnipeg from May 25 to September 22 and in the Rivers area there was no frost in 2013 until late September. A gardening friend of mine tried planting lettuce, radishes, spinach and carrots last fall. I’ll let you know if it worked for them. I do know it does work because I did try this method several years ago. We have been eating lettuce grown in our bay window box for three weeks and have cucumbers ready to pick.
Green Forrest pelleted lettuce seed (Veseys) grown in a planter from seeds started at the end of February. The lettuce has been cut off several times and comes back within a week. Photos by Joan Airey
April 25, 2014
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The Colour of Silks
Ted Eastley has been competing at the Royal Winter Fair since 1995. He says the blue and black silks were his design and add colour to the competitor’s ring. Photo by Les Kletke
By Les Kletke Mitch Eastley has no plans of breeding the next great show pony. He enjoys competing and acknowledges that horses are his hobby. Eastley works full time for the City of Steinbach and acknowledges that it is a long way from his home in Nesbitt where he keeps his horses. “I have a place in Steinbach for the week and get back on the weekends,” he said. “It is a bit of travel but I enjoy the time on the farm.” Eastley has established a lengthy string of years competing at the Royal Winter Fair in Brandon and plans to keep on coming back. “It has been 20 years,’ he said, adding, “I missed 1995 because my horse was sick. That is the way things go and there is nothing you can do about it.” Eastley has shown with his father Ted over the years and the two have been competitors in the ring. “He is slowing down a bit and not as involved,” said the younger Eastley, but the pictures on the enclosure of MTM stables at the Fair have pictures of both in the competitor’s arena. Mitch said that as he began competing he chose his own colours for his silks, which are worn in the ring in the roadster competition. “They are like jockey silks and each competitor has their own colours and designs a particular style,” he said. “There is no particular meaning to the design but most people choose the colours that represent their stable.” Next door to Eastley at the Fair was the Gilbert Farms display with its traditional red and black draping. Fred Gilbert said the colours that he has, have been a tradition with the farm for years but he has used other colours in the ring. “I purchased a set of silks at an auction in Montreal,” he said. “They were from a well known harness driver that had donated them to the fundraiser and my daughter wears them in competitions.” Gilbert said that most drivers design their own silks and have the colours and various designs incorporated into the outfits. “They get established and people recognize them for the stable they represent,” said Gilbert. “People recognize the driver by the colours and the design and it just adds a bit of colour to the event.”
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The Agri Post
April 25, 2014
Winter Wheat is a Waiting Game By Les Kletke It is too early to tell how winter wheat came through the extended winter; plants have not yet begun to green and while producers would like to make evaluations and seed plans accordingly it might be another two weeks before evaluations can be made. Dennis Lange with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (MAFRD) in Altona said that it will take a couple of weeks for soil temperatures to warm to the point where the plants will come back to life. Despite the length of the winter, an adequate snow cover should help plants survive. Plant populations have a dramatic impact on yield potential and a stand of 30 plants per square foot has the potential to yield 60 bushels an acre while a stand of eight plants drops down to 47 bushels per acre yield potential. John Friesen at Lowe Farm would like to know if he will need seed for the quarter section of winter wheat that he planted into canola stubble last fall but is content to wait and see. “The plants emerged last
Farm Income to Drop Slightly By Elmer Heinrichs
Winter wheat has not made any move to emerging at this point and it could take until mid-May before a decision can be made on the viability of plants. Photo by Les Kletke
fall and it looked like we had a good stand,” he said. “But we have not seen any activity in the plant this spring with the cold soil temperatures.” Ducks Unlimited (DU) has developed a test to see the viability of the plant growth that speeds the process. DU agronomists recommend digging out the plants from several areas of the field and rinsing of the soil, then trimming off the roots and leaving about an inch of stem above the crown. The samples should be placed in Ziploc bags, stored at room temperature, and rinsed again every two days. If they do not develop new white roots in six days, they should be con-
sidered dead. If new roots develop, then the plants are viable and the stand should be left. Friesen said he is not going out to buy seed for replanting his acreage and will begin seeding the rest of his land before making a decision on the crop. “When it dries up we have lots of other work to do and we’ll leave the winter wheat to see how it greens up and if the stand is good enough across the entire field,” he said. “Then we will make a decision and sometimes nature can make that for us. If it gets too late, the winter wheat might be the best crop we have seeded.”
In its annual income forecast issued on April 16, Agriculture Canada said aggregate net cash income will slip five percent this year to $12.6 billion, but will still be 23 percent above the average for the period of 2008-2012. It says farm-level average net operating income will similarly decline by five percent to $65,243. Crop receipts are forecast to total $29.1 billion in 2014, three percent below the projection for 2013, but 17 percent higher than the 2008-2012 average. “It is expected that there will be higher grain and oilseed marketing, but lower prices,” the report stated. “Increased marketing will result from large carry-in stocks that farmers held following the record harvest of 2013.” Western farmers have been complaining about a rail transport backlog that’s slowing the movement of grain, one of the factors, department officials said, contributing to lower prices and higher stocks. Grain farmers produced a
record crop of 96.5 million tonnes of grain in 2013 due to historically high yields and ideal weather conditions. Aggregate farm cash receipts for livestock are forecast at $21.5 billion in 2014, just below the record level of 2013. “Relatively low supplies of cattle in North America and expectations of increased heifer retention should translate into fewer animals available for slaughter and higher cattle prices in 2014,” the report stated. Hog prices in Canada should increase slightly due to tight U.S. supplies. There may also be ripples from the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus that hit the U.S. last year and has found its way into Canada recently. Agriculture officials said they are watching the virus, but they added that Canadian producers generally have strong safeguards in place to keep the disease out of their barns. Egg producers and chicken farmers are expected to see declines of nine percent and eight per-
cent respectively, due to lower prices resulting from lower feed costs. In 2014, program payments are forecast to rise by eight percent, or $199 million, to a total of $2.8 billion. “These latest forecasts show how the agriculture sector continues to be a strong driver of the Canadian economy,” said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “Canada’s agriculture and food industry has grown into a modern, technologically-advanced, export-oriented sector that is among the elite performers in today’s’ highly competitive global marketplace and the outlook is bright for our farmers.” For 2013, the department expects net farm incomes will be just shy of the historical peak seen in 2012, despite a reduction in program payments and a decline in crop prices in the fall. Net cash income for 2013 is projected to total $13.2 billion, only one percent lower than 2012. Farm-level average net operating income is forecast to be $68,498, an all-time high.
The Agri Post
April 25, 2014
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April 25, 2014
The Agri Post
Young Vets Get to Practice By Les Kletke Dr. Andy Allen had no shortage of visitors at his display of x-rays that were part of Through the Farm Gate at the Royal Winter Fair in Brandon. Allen is an instructor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon. His display featured x-rays from various species of the animal world and challenged youngsters to identify them. “They do amazingly well,” said Allen. “They are not bound by what they think the item might be, they look at the shape and offer their best guess and many times they are right.” His x-rays featured items from broken bones to turtles and lizards.
Young would-be doctors had the opportunity to see what might be causing their dog’s stomach ache in a mini operating room at the Royal Winter Fair. Photos by Les Kletke
Dr. Andy Allen lets young visitors guess the subject of x-rays at the University of Saskatchewan’s display at the Royal Winter Fair.
The display is a public relations venture much more than a recruitment exercise since the school has a limit on the number of students accepted and that number is exceeded by applicants every year. Manitoba is allocated 15 of the 80 spots open to first year students. Myrna MacDonald is the Communications Officer for the School and was also part of the exhibit, alternating her time between answering questions about the school and helping out with Operation Doggie, which had a large stuffed canine under a sheet and allowed young would-be doctors to remove the items that could be causing a problem in his stomach. They included
mainly plastic toys. “That might not be quite the real items vets find,” joked Allen. “But the event is real and vets do perform those types of operations and find some pretty strange things in dogs’ stomachs.” Allen also commented that it was the dog’s version of what many dairy men refer to as Hardware Disease. “But usually refers to a piece of wire or some metal object,” he said. MacDonald said that many students are choosing the path of large and small animal practices, which is ideal for rural areas. A few years ago there was concern that many of the students entering the instruction where choosing to specialize in small animal practices, which allowed them to concentrate on pets and keep better office hours than a vet in a rural situation who may face calls at any time of the day or night, especially during calving season. The Saskatoon institution is one of five in Canada, along with Guelph, Ontario, Calgary, Charlottetown and the newest college in British Columbia at UBC. Not many of the visitors will end up in vet school but they certainly enjoyed looking at what might be in a dog’s stomach or reading a real x-ray.
More Soybeans Acres Planned By Elmer Heinrichs Altona farm production advisor Dennis Lange sees growers in Manitoba increasing soybean acreage again, this time to between 1.2 and 1.3 million acres. It’s only a year ago that growers here grew a record one million acres of soybeans. Lange adds that Manitoba growers are also likely to increase acreage in dry beans from last year’s 95,000 acres to perhaps 130,000 or even 140,000 acres. A corn specialist said Ontario farmers would likely follow the lead of U.S. farmers and switch some fields from corn to soybeans this year. Greg Stewart does not expect a dramatic increase of acreage, although corn is a more input-intensive crop and soybeans have the potential to be slightly more profitable this year. Stewart also pointed out there could be problems if the traditional rotation of corn, soy and wheat is adjusted. He said soybeans are harder on the soil and a dramatic swing towards soybeans in any rotation could result in a decline in soil health and structure over the long-term.
CYL Announces Mentorship Recipients The Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) program recently announced its 2014 national mentorship recipients. In total 16 recipients were selected following the final selection round. There were 26 semi-finalists vying for a spot in the national youth initiative of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. This year’s graduates and mentorship recipients included three young leaders selected from Manitoba. Andrea Bertholet (Hartney), Austen Anderson (Swan River) and Carollyne Kehler (Steinbach) will be paired with a mentor for an eight-month mentorship.
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The Agri Post
April 25, 2014
Manitoba Bulls in Demand Across Canada
Photo by Joan Airey
Craig Fewelling, Ringman, takes a bid on HTA Texas 318A which sold to Hunter Charolais of Roblin, Manitoba at the HTA’s Charolais and Guests Bull Sale in Neepawa at the Plains Ag Complex on March 26. Forty-five bulls sold for $244,550 with an average price of $5,375. HTA Stratford 320A, sired by RGP Remington 101Y, sold for $13,500 to Keith Caul of Devlin, Ontario. HTA Nevada 317A, sired by Winn Mans Quigley 539X, sold for $12,750 to Pleasant View Farms of Irma, Alberta. HTA Enfield 384A, sired by RGP Remington 101Y, sold for $10,750 to Cam Stewart of Paynton, Saskatchewan.
Worthless Land Is Priceless By Bill Stilwell With colonized sand dunes up to ten metres high and dotted with open sandy areas known as ‘blowouts’, the Oak Lake Sandhills natural area is unique. Here rare and endangered plants and animals flourish. Protecting this habitat is a priority for one conservation minded family. From an agricultural perspective, this land is virtually worthless, according to Jon Drinkwalter. However, from a recreation standpoint and for biological diversity, it is priceless. This tract of sandhill habitat, located southeast of Virden, provides a home for many plants and animals. Jon and Angie Drinkwalter are not your typical landowners. This conservation minded family feels that protecting habitat is more important than the economic return and as a result they opted to place a Conservation Agreement (Easement) on their property, covering parts of a three quarter-section. “It’s all wild with big rolling hills,” said Drinkwalter. “When a study was done they found endangered species and species at risk.” “The Oak Lake Sandhills and Wetlands Natural Area (OLSW), located southeast of Virden, supports dozens of discrete sandhill areas that rise as much as 10 metres above the plain, supporting a mixture of aspen woodland and sandhill prairie,” explained Josh Dillabough the Natural Area Coordinator with Nature Conservancy Canada - Manitoba (NCC). “The property itself is a stabilized sand dunes system with a mix of sandhill woodlands and sandhill grasslands habitats.” “The sandhill slopes alongside are host to a suite of rare plants such as Sand Bluestem, Spiny Star, [a cactus] and Silky Prairie Clover.”
Cactus.
The OLSW Natural Area is one of the Nature Conservancy’s priority areas due to the diversity of plants and animals found here including a lengthy list of rare and endangered species. Protecting fragile habitats like this is important as it helps maintain biodiversity. Who knows what yet undiscovered creatures live here and in other threatened habitats. The Drinkwalters bought this property as recreational land. Their family and friends often join them to sit around a campfire, picnic, camp, and hike and enjoy other fun outdoor activities. Since they have a horse, they might eventually use it for pasture on the part not covered by the easement. In the fall, several groups of hunters continue to get hunting permission and enjoy the property. The family especially enjoys the peace and quiet the place offers. “The only noise you hear is from the road. It’s so peaceful, no noise, no light, just the stars and there’s a million of them. It is quiet, peaceful, recreation land.” “We don’t want it for farming, it is our hobby Tiger Beetle.
land,” he explains. “Everybody is happy, the Conservancy got a big slab of protected land and we paid off our mortgage, so it is good for everybody.” “We have pictures of bears from a trail camera,” said Drinkwalter. “There’s a good sized black bear and a cinnamon coloured one as well. “There’s lots of deer, coyotes and bald eagles.” On one occasion their daughter saw a big cat with a long tail. They think it was likely a cougar. “One of the stranger creatures here is the Tiger beetle, which is quite unusual and they are found in the sandy blowouts on the Drinkwalter property,” said Dillabough. “Manitoba is home to 19 species of these sand beetles,” said Dr. Bob Wrigley Chair of the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s volunteer Scientific Advisory Committee for Manitoba. “They all have highly specific habitat requirements and so, typically occur in isolated colonies, with many yet to be discovered. Several species are currently at risk, with small populations found at only one or a couple of localities. Manitoba’s largest species, the Big Sand Tiger Beetle, inhabits the sandy blowouts of the Drinkwalter property. Due to its relatively undisturbed nature, the property no doubt provides essential habitat for literally thousands of wildlife species,” said Wrigley. “I would absolutely recommend easements to other landowners,” said Jon Drinkwalter. Permanently protecting the habitat on their property seemed to be the right decision for this family. “Absolutely, I would do it again in a heartbeat!” A conservation agreement is a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and a conservation organization that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values. For more information, contact The Nature Conservancy of Canada natureconservancy.ca, manitoba@natureconservancy.ca or call 1-866-683-6934.
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A Model Railway Moving Grain By Les Kletke Brian Harvey could not count the number of comments he got on ‘An Effective Railway Moving Grain’ for his display at the Royal Winter Fair in Brandon. “There were a lot,” he said with a smile. “Lots of farmers want the railways to move more grain, but this little one has been working pretty steady.” The railway was part of a display that Harvey, his brother Jerry and daughter Meredith have built over the years to explain the grain system in western Canada. It has grown to include a working threshing machine. The project started with a request from the Swan River Agricultural Society and Harvey began building a working elevator complete with an operating Gerber floor that allows for grain to be channelled to various bins or loaded to the Brian Harvey’s model elevator and working railway proved a big hit at the Royal Winter waiting railcar. He estimates the project took Fair. He can not keep up with the requests about 2,200 hours. to “build his system” at other events. “The elevator has 2,200 individual shingles that
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my daughter cut with the chop saw,” he said. “There are no models available so we had to design and build everything ourselves.” Harvey is a retired farmer and had worked at the local ski resort in winter before turning his attention to the elevator and subsequent railway that comes by to pick up grain. He has added a farm site with a radio controlled truck that delivers grain to the elevator after passing under the track. The display had youngsters waiting to operate the truck and train at the display, which was part of the Through the Farm Gate at the Royal Winter Fair. He and his brother also built the working threshing machine to show people how the machines of the past worked, and it is the same concept used in today’s combine. The threshing machine is not built to pattern of any specific machine and he estimates it to be ¼ size. “We wanted to show people who worked the machine more than a model of a specific machine,” said Harvey. “So there are features from a number of different machines.” The model is powered by an electric motor and works on a sample of wheat ingesting the heads and delivering a quality sample at the other end. Harvey said he is inundated with requests to take the display to fair and farm events but has to be selective because of the time involved in dismantling and reassembling the display on location. “We get a lot of requests,” he said. “But we can’t handle them all. This was a great event and we had help from some volunteers to set up and run the display.”
Heavy Horses Big Drawing Card at Royal Manitoba Winter Fair
This working threshing machine is not an exact copy of any machine but Brian Harvey wanted it to show the process of threshing, and it does that from a head of wheat to a clean sample. Photos by Les Kletke
Photo by Joan Airey
Kimberly Fargo guides her heavy horse through the obstacle course at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair while her father, Rob Fargo, walks the course to show the audience what path the drivers will need use to guide their team of heavy horses and wagon. “About five years ago they added the obstacle course to the heavy horse show at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. The obstacle course tests horse and driver. They are scored on driving, quality of horses and equipment, how horses perform, and overall appearance,” said Brenda Hunter of Hamiota. Included in the obstacle course are many challenges such as pylons set up to make sharp turns without driving over them, planks to cross and backing a team and wagon into a narrow space with little manoeuvring room.
U.S ejects Labelling Challenge .S.. Court of Appeals RRejects The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) is disappointed to learn that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a food industry challenge to block the implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s final rule on country of origin labelling (COOL). “The Canadian Pork Council participated in the U.S. meat industry legal challenge as co-plaintiffs in the hope that a more expeditious and effective resolution of the matter could be achieved. It is essential that there be a legislated change for the U.S. to come into compliance with its WTO obligations on COOL,” stated CPC’s Chair Jean-Guy Vincent. “We are exploring several options to secure this objective. The court challenge is a separate and distinct process from the WTO dispute settlement and our primary focus is prevailing at the WTO compliance panel. Failure to accept a result favourable to Canada and to make WTO consistent amendments to the COOL measure could lead to retaliatory tariffs against US exports.” The legal challenge represents a third channel by which the CPC is seeking a resolution to COOL and its discrimination against Canadian livestock exports. The CPC will continue to work closely with the Government of Canada on the WTO challenge and to lobby for the U.S. Congress to make a legislative change that would remove the discriminatory impact of COOL.
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April 25, 2014
Starlite Colony Reclaims Barn Space By Harry Siemens Things are changing, and changing rapidly, for the hog industry in Canada because the perfect storm is blowing in the right direction with higher prices, lower feed costs and even the exchange rate is right for Canadian producers. These three things are pushing back at restrictions that stifle hog production. M-COOL is keeping hogs from travelling south and financial holes dug during the last three to five years. When asked what do producers do now, James Hofer, the hog barn Manager of the Starlite Colony near Starbuck said, “We ship heavier pigs. We ship them at the top end of the grid, maximize and take advantage of a situation of low costs and high returns.” Hofer said, for him things do not really change because the goal is always to do things in an optimum way instead of taking corrective action once prices go up or down. The Starlite Colony has a 600 sow, farrow to finish operation that is moving to group housing by reclaiming more barn space for their grower finisher pigs. “What we’ve done in our situation is to take advantage of every square inch we have in our barn,” he said. “Every barn has alleyways which is really a convenience for you to walk in and check the pigs.” Hofer said producers should never have walked the alleyways to check the pigs. Instead they should walk the pens. “You walk in through the pigs so you don’t need an alleyway,” said Hofer. “So we’ve taken the alley way space to give the pigs more room. We didn’t add more pigs but assured the pigs have adequate space.” Hofer said the nursery is the biggest area that will have the greatest challenge in meeting the new Pig Code with the nursery space requirements. “Finishers are okay because with finishers you are taking off five to 10 percent in advance of the whole group so that acts like a sleeve and gives all the pigs more room, but in the nursery it is an all in, all out,” he said. “So it gets to the point where it gets full. That is why the code has a little sleeve in it allowing you a 15 to 20 percent sleeve. It is not unlike you getting into an airplane where you put up with a little less space but only so long.” Hofer is confident the hog industry will adapt to the group housing for sows as dictated in the new Pig Code. “The way I feel about that, is it will evolve because it always has, and the industry has always chosen the best method,” he said. “That is why we are in it and I think very few new buildings will ever be built again with stalls. If I had the choice, I would not put stalls in but go to group housing.”
Hog producer James Hofer listening intensely to Dr. Denise Beaulieu, research scientist at the Prairie Swine Centre in Saskatoon telling producers how to manage smarter as feed prices drop and pork prices rise.
As far as the economic up turn, Hofer said producers have had five years of financial bleeding. Now producers are making some money, some good money. “You could almost say this is a lifesaver year. There are many producers on life support and maybe we can now unplug the life support machine,” Hofer said. “Look after our own affairs and be able to sustain an industry that has sustained itself for many years. There were so many events that were not the fault of the producer, all happening at the same time and were simply too much for some people. Management cut back on costs and then cut back some more, but management going forward will be equally as important during these better economic times for hog farmers.” Producers have to balance out low cost feeding by experimenting he explained. “You still have to ship the pork and maybe now is the time. Just like driving down the highway. You can afford to drive a little faster and you aren’t worried about miles per gallon because you have the money to pay for it,” he said. “Some producers have taken positions in future contracts, now pigs have exceeded those positions. My brother had said don’t worry about it, at least we’re in the game. When gold is 600 bucks and you don’t have any gold you’re not in the game.”
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Time to Maximize Profits and Pay Back Losses
Dr. Denise Beaulieu, a nutrition research scientist with the Prairie Swine Centre, said lower feed costs and higher live hog prices are allowing pork producers to refocus on maximizing the productivity of their herds.
By Harry Siemens Dr. Denise Beaulieu, a nutrition research scientist with the Prairie Swine Centre said lower feed costs and higher live hog prices are allowing pork producers to refocus on maximizing the productivity of their herds. Beaulieu told producers at a recent Prairie Swine Centre producer’s meeting that the biggest change in the past few months was the drop in the cost of feed grains and the increase in pig prices. This means producers can shift their focus away from decreasing the cost of feed and look at investing more money to increase the rate of gain of
those animals. “We’re still seeing these changes happening,” she said. “But certainly we could put some more money, perhaps into feed, where we were really focussed on before, doing everything we could to decrease the cost of feed and it was profitable even if it meant slowing the rate of growth down.” According to Beaulieu, now with the increased futures prices for the pigs, a producer could spend a little bit more money for their feed if it means increasing the rate of gain of those animals. They can afford to invest once again in the feed if it improves the performance.
“What the producer always wants to be concerned about is their net returns so they need to model their whole system, not just look at one component in isolation,” she said. “If they’re going to put a little bit more money into their feed they have to know how that affects the performance of those animals and what they get from those animals as an overall return when they sell those pigs and they have to be able to know the return on that investment, just like any other business.” Dr. Beaulieu encourages producers to review their lowest cost diet formulations to take full advantage of the positive changes. Each producer needs to consider a system revaluation of diets and perhaps a reformulation those diets. She believes it is a combination of treating the animal better and helping the producer make more money so that the producer has better margins and more cash flow. “Our goal would be, for example, to help the producers make more money that allows him to treat the animals better and vice versa,: said Dr. Beaulieu. “Not that they’re not treating them well now but to improve their care and wel-
fare and still be able to make money.” She said over the past several years, net returns were not always about growing the pig at an optimal average daily gain. Most producers made money by decreasing feed costs even if it meant the pigs weren’t growing quite so fast. “However, we think now the situation is changing and has changed quickly enough to kind of rethink that scenario,” said Beaulieu. “Dietary costs could increase and you could still improve your net returns if you can increase the daily gain of those animals and maintain carcass values.” For example, the producer could reformulate their diets by looking at the model on their own farm. “If they increase average daily gain, look at the returns they would get for that and how many more animals could they put through that barn in a year if they shorten the days to
April 25, 2014 market and that is just one example,” she said. With producers trying to recoup large losses this does not mean some producers may be tempted to shorten the process. “I don’t see them taking real short cuts, but we hope that what they do is, perhaps change their focus,” said
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Beaulieu. “They are going to make money, but how can they really optimize those returns and make as much as possible, so they have a little to go to the bank and invest in their facilities. Many have facilities that need some investment because producers made very few barn improvements over the past five years.”
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“Determined to Remove Grievance of Farmers”
This 1910 historic news head line ‘Remove Grievance of Farmers’ had Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier meeting with western grain growers in Brandon over their concerns on eastern grain mixing practices.
‘Sir Wilfred Declares Government Has Secured Evidence of Mixing of Wheat and is Pledged to Punish the Guilty Parties’, reads the title of a front page article in the Manitoba Free Press on Tuesday, July 19, 1910. The historic news article reports on a meeting between Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier and the Grain Growers Association (GGA) at the Brandon City Hall on July 18, 1910. The Association presented to the Prime Minister testimonies on the issues of Canadian tariffs, reciprocity with the U.S.A., government ownership of port terminal elevators and the export trade in dressed meat. Prime Minister Laurier stated that the government had evidence on the mixing of wheat and pledged to punish the guilty parties. He went on to say, the government recognizes this as, “An evil that must be remedied.” This strong statement may puzzle today’s farmers because ‘mixing’ is the term applied 100 years ago to what the current grain industry knows as ‘blending’. The Manitoba Grain Act of 1900 prohibited mixing in section 18 of the act which, stated, “In no case, shall grain of different grades be mixed together while in store.” By current standards, the ban on mixing or blending of grain that was in place 100 years ago comes as quite a surprise. The no mixing or blending rule arose from the belief that the interests of the Canadian grain grower and Canadian grain trade would be best served by exporting properly cleaned grain that was separated into average quality of the grades. For example, a customer purchasing Number 2 Manitoba Hard Red Spring wheat would only buy cargo that was made up of various parcels of wheat that were all graded at No.2 at the first grading. It became illegal to combine different grades of wheat. The rule emphasized the importance for growers that producing grain of the highest quality protected the reputation of Canadian grain and this reputation rested in their hands. The ‘no mixing’ rule had the support of the majority of Canadian farmers because they realized that price and reputation for the western grower was paramount. High quality grain mixed with lower grades
would result in cargoes grading at the bottom instead of at the average standard of the grade. The difference while subtle would be noticeable to customers of western Canadian wheat who would then be less willing to purchase our wheat. As well, farmers lacking the ability to mix grades on the farm would have little to no opportunity to profit from blending. In addition, grain traders largely supported the ban on mixing. In 1899, the Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange Council passed the resolution, “The Exchange expresses its positive conviction that no mixing of grain should be permitted at terminal elevators and also that no mixing should be permitted in a cargo shipment unless the inspection certificate issued therefore shall have written across the face, a statement defining the various grades entering into the composition.” Two contributing factors motivated grain traders holding this view. In the early days of the prairie grain industry, the port terminal facilities were largely owned by the railways or by organizations, which did not own country elevators. Most grain traders had limited opportunity to mix since the best place was only at the port terminals. The second contributing factor was from western farmers struggling to make their own voices heard on the decisions for grain grading. Eastern grain interests had significant power and input into the grading system. Most grain industry decisions were made in Montreal and Toronto. The rules were such that eastern Canadian wheat was allowed to be mixed into cargoes of western wheat passing through the east on its way to markets in Europe. Eastern wheat was considered a softer variety with lower gluten content and needed to be mixed with Red Fife wheat otherwise, it performed poorly when the blend was milled and baked. Customers in Europe wanted the high quality bread made from western Canadian Red Fife wheat and were prepared to pay for this quality. Some customers apparently refused to accept wheat shipments with an eastern Canadian inspection stamp. Only a western Canadian inspection stamp was acceptable because this showed the shipment passed through eastern Canada intact. Any ‘manipulation’ in the east resulted in an eastern Canadian grain inspector stamping the paperwork. By 1890, the grading of western Canadian grain was largely in the hands of the west. The price and customer problems for western grain farmers had demonstrated how important the reputation of quality western wheat was in making sales. The first private grain terminal was built at the Lakehead in 1907. These terminals handled grain purchased by the terminal owners exclusively. Since these terminals were private, they were not subject to the
Manitoba Grain Act, reducing the concern over mixing and by 1910; railways were beginning to sell off their port terminals to grain companies. The profits from ‘mixing’ were so attractive that the people who were engaged in lending caused concern, so farmers demanded action. However, it should be noted that the ‘no mixing rule’ resulted in some significant challenges to farmers and the grain trade. The ‘no mixing rule’ directly contributed to grain elevators being declared as, “Works in the general advantage of Canada.” This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the Manitoba Agricultural Museum, ‘Manitoba’s Diamond in the Rough’. If you have not been to the Museum for a number of years make 2014 your year to drop by to help us celebrate our 60th. For more information on the Manitoba Agricultural Museum, see the Museum website or call the Museum office at 204-637-2354. The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is open year round and operates a website at ag-museum.mb.ca.
Soil Conservation in Spotlight It is a movement being felt around the world. Conservation agriculture is in the spotlight in Canada and internationally. Canadian farmers have been leaders in developing and adopting soil management practices that help anchor conservation agriculture. The progress Canadian farmers have generated will be highlighted as part of a special international conservation event that Canada will host in Winnipeg this summer. “Farmers understand that all of society is interested in sustainable soil management today,” said Glen Shaw, Executive Director of the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC). “The techniques Canadian farmers have been part of pioneering, such as reduced tillage farming and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are revolutionizing cropping systems.” Innovations in no-till or zero tillage seeding equipment where crops are planted into the soil protecting residue cover of the previous crop, have been led by Canadians, says Shaw. No-till planting technology based on Canadian designs has been exported to countries around the world. “At one time soil conservation simply meant controlling erosion to most people,” said Shaw. “Today, consumers want to know where their food comes from. Producers’ farms are part of broad food production and sustainable soil management systems and soil conservation is seen as essential to feeding an increasing world population.” Addressing environmental challenges is directly linked with issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration, water quality, air quality and biodiversity. The global emergence of a new generation of farming will be featured at the Sixth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture (SCCC). SCCC, in partnership with the Conservation Technology Information Centre (CTIC) is bringing this event to Winnipeg, June 22 to 25. “This conference will showcase North American farm developments such as no-till farming systems to the world,” said Don
McCabe, SCCC President. The Congress will focus on growing more, more efficiently, weather proofing agriculture and increasing the adoption of sustainable practices through innovation. The event will feature 90 speakers, with up to 700 attendees of which half are expected to be producers. New ideas from around the world will be showcased and producers will have an opportunity to speak directly with industry representatives, scientists and leading growers.
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Western Livestock Price Insurance Available Applications are now being accepted for a new livestock price insurance product designed to help cattle and hog producers manage unexpected price declines. The Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP), announced by federal and western provincial ministers on January 24, enables livestock producers to purchase price protection on cattle and hogs in the form of an insurance policy over a defined period for producers in
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Administration costs are covered by the federal and provincial governments through Growing Forward 2 while premiums are fully funded by producers. “This spring, western cattle and hog producers are encouraged to make livestock price insurance an integral part of their business plans,” said Gerry Ritz, Federal Agriculture Minister. “WLPIP is an important new risk management tool for Manitoba’s livestock producers. Now that applications are being accepted, I encourage beef and hog producers to learn more about the program and how it can provide price protection on their farm,” commented Ron Kostyshyn, Minister of Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. “We encourage beef producers to investigate this new program and consider it as a risk-
management tool for their use,” said Heinz Reimer, President of Manitoba Beef Producers. “The combination of livestock price insurance and forage insurance will give beef producers a strong and bankable risk management package.” To purchase market price protection on cattle and hogs, Manitoba’s producers will need to contact a Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation insurance office and complete an
initial application. Once this process is complete, the producer will receive information on creating an online account, purchasing policies, monitoring premiums and coverage levels, paying premiums and filing claims. More information is available online at wlpip.ca or by calling 1844-782-5747. WLPIP is available-year round for feeder cattle, fed cattle and hogs. Calf price insurance must be purchased by May 29.
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