eAstern edition
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Five years
March 31, 2015 $3.50
Cost of Living
of red tape
how much is right? PG. 16
Cocchio family Wins, converting hog barn to shrimp, PG. 32
+PLUS A better way to get started with family meetings CROPS GUIDE move over auto steer. Here come robots
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Contents
march 31, 2015
BUSINESS 8
young and old An injection of youth helped this Alberta partnership make the transition into food distribution.
12 a little bit wild North of the Arctic Circle, the business of producing food is still business, and the emphasis is still on marketing.
16 the costs of living When farmers earn more, they spend more. But if commodity prices fall, will you be able to cut back on living expenses?
20 Get in shape for family meetings Whether you’re a rookie or a seasoned veteran at farm meetings, check out this strategy for meetings your family will be proud of.
23 financing proposals — what to take to the bank Here’s how to impress your lender at your annual review and increase your probability of getting the financing you need.
24 plan for value-add success Why do 80 per cent of startups fail, while 95 per cent of franchises succeed? It’s all in the planning.
32 from hogs to shrimp Really? Five years of red tape to convert a hog barn to shrimp? Ontario’s Cocchio family persisted, and are in business now.
46 Guide HR — what is success? You want to succeed, but will you know when you’ve arrived? It may not be quite as simple, or quite as hard as you think.
48
g uide life — when things get busy… keep your sanity!
PG. 26 finding the peace As associate editor Gord Gilmour discovers, times may be changing in northern Alberta, but the Peace River district is still unlike anywhere else in the country. So are its farmers, it turns out. Read Gord’s road-trip report, then start plotting your own adventure.
Here’s practical advice on how to boost your efficiency and work hard without hitting the red zone.
CROPS GUIDE EVERY ISSUE 6 MACHINERY GUIDE Mid-size tractors are blending the best of power and agility.
47 GUIDE HEALTH Corticosteroids can help your skin, but do use them wisely.
50 HANSON ACRES Ouch! Now the Hansons really need help.
36 silage populations get new look Research pinpoints population target for feed quality.
38 brain plus computer Simulators help meld your brain with tractor computers.
42 here come the robots Robotic tractors are already in the field, with more on their way.
44 PEST PATROL Your white mould control strategy from Albert Tenuta.
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march 31, 2015
country-guide.ca 3
desk EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: Tom Button 12827 Klondyke Line, Ridgetown, ON N0P 2C0 (519) 674-1449 Fax (519) 674-5229 Email: tom.button@fbcpublishing.com Associate Editors: Maggie Van Camp Fax (905) 986-9991 (905) 986-5342 Email: mvancamp@fbcpublishing.com Gord Gilmour (204) 453-7624 Cell: (204) 294-9195 Fax (204) 942-8463 Email: gord.gilmour@fbcpublishing.com Production Editor: Ralph Pearce (226) 448-4351 Email: ralph.pearce@fbcpublishing.com ADVERTISING SALES Sales Director: Cory Bourdeaud’hui (204) 954-1414 Fax: (204) 944-5562 Email: cory@fbcpublishing.com Lillie Ann Morris (905) 838-2826 Email: lamorris@xplornet.com
Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine
Brothers versus sisters History will judge today’s farm families based at least in part on how they treat their brothers and sisters. At this point, it’s far from clear that history’s judgment will be kind. If you have sons and daughters in your family, they know this and they are thinking it (actually, they are thinking a lot about it), even if they don’t say it out loud. It’s hard enough when multiple brothers want to become full-time farmers in their own right. But at least with boys, we start with a bit of a leg up. Boys mature and they acquire physical and mental capacities at about the same speed, which in turn makes it easier for parents to gain insights into their sons’ characters, and also for the boys to compare and evaluate themselves too. Despite our schools, boys pretty quickly figure out who is fastest, who is cleverest, who is the best leader, and more. Plus, the boys tend to get thrown together while they’re growing up on the farm, and they learn how to coexist and how to make peace, often by carving out different areas in which to excel. That still isn’t enough to make succession easy for Mom and Dad. There’s still all the usual family stuff to get in the way, but at least you feel you have a chance. Nor is it quite so difficult when you compare two daughters. But now more and more farm families have both sexes with farming ambitions. For parents who confront it, it can 4 country-guide.ca
be a tough spot, despite the fact that it is becoming increasingly common. Even on the farm, brothers and sisters tend to grow up as different species, partly for cultural reasons of course, but also because they acquire different skills at different times. Girls excel at school. Just check your local high school’s results. Meanwhile, boys enter a period of doldrums in their teens, from which they often don’t wake up until they are in their 20s, after which they may, or may not, blaze with energy. Science is finding physiological reasons for this, but our point is that fair, longterm comparisons between brothers and sisters are devilishly difficult and uncertain. But as always, you aren’t farming in a vacuum. Recognize the brother-sister issue. Talk about it with your spouse, and keep your ears and eyes open to watch how it plays out around you. Also learn from your children, your relatives and even from the media about gender equity in schools, organizations and non-farm workplaces. And recognize that the challenge before you is, at its core, a tremendous opportunity. It’s a chance for you to decide. What is fair? What is good for the farm? Yes, your parents said that if the girl wants to farm, she should marry a farmer. But that’s dinosaur thinking that can tear your family apart. Are we getting it right? Let me know at tom.button@fbcpublishing.com.
Kevin Yaworsky (250) 869-5326 Email: kyaworsky@farmmedia.com Head Office: 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 Fax (204) 944-5562 (204) 944-5765 Advertising Services Co-ordinator: Sharon Komoski (204) 944-5758 Fax (204) 944-5562 Email: ads@fbcpublishing.com Designer: Jenelle Jensen Publisher: Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com Associate Publisher/Editorial Director: John Morriss Email: john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com Production Director: Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com Circulation Manager: Heather Anderson Email: heather@fbcpublishing.com President: Bob Willcox Glacier FarmMedia Email: bwillcox@farmmedia.com Contents of this publication are copyrighted and may be reproduced only with the permission of the editor. Country Guide, incorporating the Nor’West Farmer and Farm & Home, is published by Farm Business Communications. Head office: Winnipeg, Manitoba. Printed by Transcontinental LGMC. Country Guide is published 13 times per year by Farm Business Communications. Subscription rates in Canada — Farmer $41 for one year, $61 for 2 years, $87 for 3 years. (Prices include GST) U.S. subscription rate — $35 (U.S. funds). Subscription rate outside Canada and U.S. — $50 per year. Single copies: $3.50. Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
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Call toll-free 1-800-665-1362 or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com U.S. subscribers call 1-204-944-5766 Country Guide is printed with linseed oil-based inks PRINTED IN CANADA Vol. 134 No. 6 Internet address: www.agcanada.com
ISSN 1915-8491 The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Country Guide and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists, Country Guide and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Country Guide and Farm Business Communications assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any reader for this publication based on any and all information provided.
march 31, 2015
SOIL CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF CANADA SOIL CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF CANADA CONSEIL CANADIEN DE CONSERVATION DES SOLS
The face and voice of soil conservation in Canada
NATIONAL SOIL CONSERVATION WEEK provinces but what seemed to be lacking was a body that could provide a national “voice” for soil conservation needs. In 1987, Senator Sparrow became the Founding President of Soil Conservation Canada, which would become the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC).
N
ational Soil Conservation Week is a legacy of The Honourable Senator Herbert O. Sparrow, a passionate champion for protecting Canada’s soil. Senator Sparrow’s 1984 motion to the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry “…to examine the subject matter of soil and water conservation throughout Canada”, produced the report, Soil at Risk – Canada’s Eroding Future. The Senate Committee travelled across Canada interviewing farmers, academics, government officials and individuals and “…determined that we are clearly in danger of squandering the very soil resource on which our agricultural industry depends.” Some action was already being taken by local groups in the
As thoughts turn to spring planting and seeding, so do thoughts regarding soil preparation. While pondering their spring tillage options, farmers should take a few minutes to seriously consider the impact on the soil. Although tillage may provide perceived benefits, the damage done to soil structure, organic matter and soil micro-organisms can be devastating. Soil erosion continues to be a major concern across Canada and eliminating tillage is one way of keeping the soil in the field. Dust storms across the Prairies, phosphorus entering the Great Lakes and fish kills around Prince Edward Island can be partially attributed to soil erosion due to tillage. With direct seeding or no-till planting, huge reductions in soil erosion are achievable. No doubt that Senator Sparrow would be pleased that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared 2015 International Year of the Soils. “The multiple roles of soils often go unnoticed. Soils don’t have a voice, and few people speak out for them. They are our silent ally in food production” stated José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General. Canada’s contribution to the UN-FAO’s report on soils for International Year of the Soil is led by Dr. David Lobb,
Department of Soil Science, University of Manitoba. “Healthy soils are fundamental to the sustainability of agriculture in Canada. Erosion removes topsoil, reduces soil organic matter and contributes to the breakdown of soil structure. This adversely affects soil fertility, movement of air and water into and from the soil surface and, ultimately, crop yields and profitability. Yields from severely eroded soils may be substantially lower than those from noneroded soils in the same field”, said Lobb. Canadian farmers have already done a lot to help conserve soil resources, although more needs to be done. More extension efforts in the area of soil conservation and a greater awareness of the problems and potential solutions need to be explored and promoted. The SCCC will be leading the charge as the face and voice of Soil Conservation in Canada. Paul Thoroughgood, chair of SCCC, stated that “Every single Canadian should be concerned about soil health and soil care. Stewardship of our soil is fundamental, not only for our survival, but more broadly for the environmental values Canadians often take for granted.” National Soil Conservation Week is a wonderful way to celebrate Senator Sparrow’s dream, his mission and our role in continuing his legacy. SCCC is a national, non-governmental, independent organization, formed to provide a non-partisan public forum at the national level for soil conservation. New members and collaborators are needed. Simply visit www.soilcc.ca and click on ‘Join SCCC.’ The legacy and vision continues.
NATIONAL SOIL CONSERVATION WEEK April 19-25, 2015
www.soilcc.ca
@soilcouncil
Machinery
By Ralph Pearce, CG Production Editor
With the horses to tackle heavy-going conditions, yet fast and flexible enough to adapt to an amazing range of jobs on your farm, today’s so-called “mid-size” tractors are getting smarter by leaps and bounds, and more capable too. If you haven’t put a new model through its paces in the last two or three years, be prepared for some surprises. Speed and efficiency are better than ever, and so is your ability to call on reserve power. So whether it’s in the field at planting or on the road hauling heavy loads, these models stand out. Plus, they have the value and durability that farming demands these days. As always, however, if you’re in the market, get ready. You’ve got some serious homework ahead.
Massey Ferguson (AGCO) 8700 Series With its 8700 series tractors, Massey Ferguson really is trying to deliver the best of both worlds. The company has two models in this series that run into the high-horsepower class (i.e. above 325 hp) but three models in the 220- to 325-hp mid-size range, including the 8727 (270 hp), the 8730 (295 hp) and the 8732 (320 hp). Billed as “the best engine in its class,” the 8700 series comes with the advanced Engine Power Management (EPM) system, including a six-cylinder, 8.4litre engine, capable of generating an additional 30 hp when needed. Whether it’s for seeding and tillage, moving square bales or hauling a manure spreader, the company says there’s little that AGCO’s Tier 4-final, Power 84 engine can’t handle. And it comes complete with higher performance at lower r.p.m.s, plus its Dyna-VT transmission, with no clutch packs, and no shifting or clutch burnout. There’s also a new Clyclair cooling package to increase cooling capacity, and with the Dynamic Tractor Management (DTM) system, the engine and the transmission can work together, increasing fuel efficiency.
www.int.masseyferguson.com
New Holland ‘Golden Jubilee’ T7 For 50 years, New Holland has based its production in the United Kingdom, with its plant at Basildon dating back to the days of Ford’s farm equipment lines. Now, near the end of its golden anniversary, New Holland is offering its “Golden Jubilee” models of its T7.270 Auto Command tractors. The T7.270 and a smaller model, the T6.160, are both available in North America. The tractors boast all of the same attributes of the standard T7.270 model, with the only change being a different shade of blue paint with some gold highlights on the grilles, exhaust guards and identification badges. The cab also sports a more luxurious interior, including optional leather seats and leather-wrapped steering wheel.
www.agricuture.newholland.com
6 country-guide.ca
M a r ch 3 1 , 2 0 1 5
New Holland Genesis T8 SmartTrax New Holland is another manufacturer with a series that overlaps — from high-horsepower brute strength to something a little leaner (power-wise) that can still push the limits and perform. In all, there are three models in the 220- to 325-hp class, including the T8.300, the T8.330 and the T8.360. But what makes the Genesis T8 series a greater value is the SmartTrax system, a combination of manoeuvrability with front wheels, and traction that comes from the rear rubber tracks. Tracked options are becoming more of a staple on farms, but the one drawback to a twin-track design is that an operator needs to slow down while making turns to avoid berming at the end of rows or even damaging the soil. With the half-track system on the Genesis T8 SmartTrax, the wheels up front reduce that potential for soil damage, and also offer a tighter turning radius. With the half-track system, there’s more balance and comfort, and a choice of belt widths from narrow tracks of 16, 18 and 24 inches to wide-track versions of 24 or 30 inches. The overall track width is also adjustable, from 76 to 152 inches, meaning the SmartTrax system can be used for either rowcrop or broad-acre management practices.
www.agriculture.newholland.com
What’s on the horizon in agriculture? Watch This Country Called Agriculture and be informed. This Country Called Agriculture is a new on-demand video series that delivers relevant news & information on the agriculture industry. Host Rob Eirich interviews ag pioneers, professionals and academics that offer insight into today’s trends and what the future holds for agriculture – on and off the farm. Video topics include: Sustainability Starting a new farm
Ag innovations Renewable energy
Exporting Alternative energy
New technology Food production
Production
& fuel sources AND MORE
and marketing
TCCA CURRENT EPISODES Consumer Benefits from Genomics Rob Eirich talking with Tom Lynch-Staunton of Livestock Gentec, and Colin Coros of Delta Genomics, about the benefits of animal genomics for consumers.
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March 31, 2015
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business
8 country-guide.ca
march 31, 2015
business
Young and old Separated by 52 years, Rudy Knitel and Corne Mans find how to succeed at food distribution By Steven Biggs, CG Contributing Editor s good as you or better,” says Rudy Knitel when I ask him what he was looking for when he went in search of a business partner. A sense of humour apparently helps. Aged 74, Knitel did find his business partner, though. He’s Corne Mans, aged 22.
Farm to distributor Knitel and Mans met when Knitel was making the rounds for his business, called Galimax Trading. “I was buying milk,” recalls Knitel, explaining that Mans is the son of one of his suppliers. “I met Rudy while working on the farm,” agrees the much younger Mans. Mans admits that in those days, he had a thought circling about in his head. “Coming from a big family,” he says, “it’s hard to know if you will end up with the farm.” When he saw Knitel, the idea crossed his mind that making the transition from farmer to food distributor might be part of the solution. “I like farming,” Mans says. “This way, you’re still involved with farmers.” Knitel farmed too, having studied agriculture in Holland. “My wife and I, we farmed for many years,” says Knitel as he talks about clearing land in Peace River country with his wife Faye and their three daughters. “We didn’t quite go broke… but we walked off the place and gave it all back to the bank,” he says.
Photography: Chris Yauck
Into the food distribution
A 52-year age difference might seem like a lot. It might even seem insurmountable, but Knitel and Mans have come to see it as a plus. “It’s a perfect combination,” says Mans, explaining that he is young and that there are lots of benefits he can get from Knitel’s experience. On the flip side, Mans contributes considerable drive and energy to the partnership. “We both have equal input,” says Mans. It’s a sign of what it takes to succeed in food distribution, where anything that gets in the way has to be overcome with a combination of grit and personality, and a willingness to do things that other people say can’t be done.
march 31, 2015
After leaving the farm, Knitel worked in a few jobs and ended up in the hay business. When he was 60, Faye, who had a decent job, suggested he slow down. “That’s not me,” laughs Knitel. “I was in Italy for the hay business,” he recalls. “I’m not really a foodie, but I ate food there.” It was a transformative moment. “I didn’t think food could taste that good!” he says. That sense of awe launched him into food distribution. Knitel and Faye started Galimax in 2001, with a focus on importing high-end European food for the restaurant market in Calgary. Knitel says they imported for about four years. “It was two steps ahead and three back at times,” he continues. While Knitel liked the business, the model had one big flaw: distance. “Every once in a while a shipment went wrong,” he explains. Long-distance mishaps aren’t quickly corrected. Continued on page 10 country-guide.ca 9
business Continued from page 9 He credits Faye for suggesting they switch to more affordable foods and staples, which in turn evolved into a focus on Albertaproduced food. “I said, I got this client base of high-end hotels and restaurants, and I’m going to switch over,” he recalls. Knitel wasn’t ready to retire, but says Faye had had enough. He chuckles, adding, “She said, ‘You’re too much of a risk-taker.’” That’s when he started looking for a new business partner. He and Mans hit it off, and Mans now owns 49 per cent of Galimax Trading, and has been with the company for almost four years. During that time he has also completed a business administration diploma at Lethbridge College.
The business Knitel says a lot of small farm and food businesses don’t have the time, skills, or equipment to market and sell food products into the restaurant sector. Galimax focuses on fruit, vegetables, dairy products, and eggs, with some specialty items such as vinegar. They don’t sell meat, which he finds more complicated to manage since many restaurants want only the top cuts, while producers want to sell the rest of the animal too. Farmers make deliveries twice weekly to the company’s CFIAapproved facility in Nobleford, Alta., near Lethbridge. It includes a warehouse, cold storage, order assembly area, and egg-grading station. Annual sales are $1.6 million. Galimax Trading sells mainly to restaurants, but also to a couple of health food stores. Knitel says the restaurants are both medium and high end. “It’s not all foo-foo food,” he says with a laugh. The customer base has grown beyond Calgary to include places such as Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise. Mans feels the key to their success is being able to offer a reliable supply of key menu items. But with good customers, it can work the other way around too, and chefs build menus around what Galimax has on offer. “Often what they do is they run a feature menu,” he says. The features are a way for chefs to take advantage of some of the less-mainstream items that Galimax can get. For example, this year, some chefs designed features made with specialty cauliflower or dragon-tongue beans (flat beans with unusual colouring). Knitel is excited about the egg business. They sell approximately 2,500 dozen eggs per week to hotels and restaurants. “We have our own rules,” says Knitel, as he talks about the requirements for their local network of egg producers. Right now they have 22 egg producers, mostly teenagers for whom it’s a part-time business. Each producer can have up to 300 chickens (to avoid quota problems with the egg marketing board), must use feed from the supplier specified by Galimax, and give indoor-outdoor free run. “We’re constantly short of eggs,” says Mans as he talks about a demand that would allow them to double their sales.
Business thinking One aspect of this business model that Knitel thinks is very important is that all of the food Galimax Trading distributes is presold. “Most businesses, all the money is tied up in stock,” says Knitel. Without unsold inventory, he faces less risk. To foster loyalty and grow new customers, Knitel arranges an annual chef’s tour, where he rents a couple of coaches and takes chefs to visit farms. “We feed them and make it a nice day,” he explains. When I ask about the feedback he gets on the tour, he says, “Oh, fantastic!” 10 country-guide.ca
He makes sure to include line cooks and wait staff on the tour. The executive chefs, he says, have already been converted to Galimax Trading and Alberta-grown food. “You want people who are on the way up.” He says he gets calls from people who were on a past tour, saying something like, “I was on your tour three years ago when I worked for so-and-so. I’m now the sous chef and want to order from you.” I ask Knitel what’s important to him when dealing with people. “The secret is, when you talk to somebody, you have to smile over the phone,” he says.
People Today, Galimax Trading has 11 people on the payroll. Knitel says staffing is his biggest challenge. “We find it very hard to get good people,” he says, pointing out that he’s competing with the oilpatch. To find good people, he has an unconventional interviewing technique. He sits interviewees down, gives them a sheet of paper, and says, “I give you 10 minutes to write down why you want to work here.” The results, he says, help him understand motivations, and also communication skills. If he’s satisfied with what has been written, the interview continues. As a small company, the roles of the partners are not cast in stone. Although Knitel prospects for new customers and does public relations, as with any small company, he wears many hats. “I also drive truck,” he says, talking about their three reefer trucks. Knitel is stoked about the future of the business, saying, “We’re very, very busy and have all sorts of expansion plans.” Mans is bullish about the local food sector, saying, “It’s growing, no doubt about it.” “We have a lot of fun,” exclaims Knitel. Knitel is pleased with the partnership and its outlook. “If you’re more than 20 years in the driver seat you’re ancient and should move on,” he says. He is sharing the driver’s seat. He adds, “A lot of old people think, ‘This is the way it should be — we’ve done it this way and it was successful.’ They become inflexible.” CG march 31, 2015
Greenbelt Fund Advertorial Series
The New Farm gives optimism to fellow small-sized farming operations Farmers teach other farmers how to scale up and enhance profitability Soon after The New Farm began selling high-quality produce at Ontario and Greenbelt farmers’ markets and to high-end restaurants, the demand for supply grew, and so did the pressure to scale up. The New Farm, located just outside the Greenbelt, was challenged on its 100-acre farm to implement enhanced processes to ensure consistency in its organic produce and to successfully meet other distributor needs.
Overcoming the challenges “Our distributors wanted to sell more of our product, but we didn’t have the volume to say yes,” said Gillian Flies, owner of The New Farm with her husband Brent. “We needed to scale up and that’s when we approached the Greenbelt Fund.” The Greenbelt Fund invested $59,000 which has led The New Farm to finance a CanadaGAP food safety certification upgrade, install an additional cooler, provide on-farm pickup, and purchase an irrigation system for timely germination. This, among other operational advancements, has allowed The New Farm to extend their growing season and give other small local organic operations a place to store and ship their vegetables. “We didn’t know how to engage with larger distributors or public sector institutions such as hospitals,” said Flies. “Working with the Greenbelt Fund, we were able to find out what their requirements were and learn how to sell to them.” “Our work is all about making sure Ontario’s farmers and Ontario’s processors can access new and different markets,” says Kathy Macpherson, Vice President of the Greenbelt Fund. With support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) the Greenbelt Fund is investing in the agri-food system, not just in the Greenbelt, but across the province. It connects people throughout the food supply chain and makes investments at critical points to encourage more use of Ontario and Greenbelt-grown food. At nearly two million acres of protected green space and fertile farmland, the Greenbelt is a catalyst for strengthening the viability of agriculture across the province. In addition, The New Farm invested in two cold frames where they grow English style cucumbers. This endeavor landed
The New Farm co-owner Brent Flies, left, discusses local organics with Ryerson University tour attendee.
business from a new distributor and an opportunity to sell to the public sector at an appealing price.
Reaching local buyers “The processes and infrastructure that were put in place have doubled the amount of produce we’ve been able to put into the market,” explains Flies. The New Farm has already pre-booked $100,000 worth of extra produce for next season. They have grown to be a fiscally viable, sustainable organic farm but Flies recalls a time when a good business model for a small-scale farm was hard to find. “As a small farm starting up, you often wonder if you’re ever going to be able to make a living on your farm,” says Flies. “We are proof that it is possible to be a profitable small-sized organic grower in Ontario without compromising quality, sustainability or our values, which is why we want to share our knowledge with as many farmers as possible.” The New Farm will often invite groups such as Ryerson University and chefs from various organizations to come visit their farm to skate on the pond, cook together, and talk about local organic food. “We give them the opportunity to experience local food first hand and explain the value in consuming it,” adds Flies.
The Greenbelt Fund’s goal is to create systemic change to permanently increase the amount of local food consumed in the province. For every dollar the Fund has invested, seven more dollars in Ontario food has been purchased.
GB1513 NewFarm Adv#2_CGe_FPg.indd 1
2015-03-06 2:18 PM
business
A little bit
wild Even north of the Arctic Circle, the business of producing food is real business
hen he lists the challenges of operating a business in Canada’s northern reaches, Stephane Lacasse, general manager of Kitikmeot Foods in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut mentions Mother Nature. Twice. It’s enough to make him sound like a farmer. That impression gets even stronger when he continues his list by saying that having a Plan B is essential. After seven years at the helm, Lacasse also says that on his list are transportation, logistics, and breakdowns that he can’t fix and that slow everything down until a mechanic can get on site. “You have to be a bit of a hybrid type of worker here,” Lacasse says. “You’re way in the North, so you need to learn different skills and tasks to make it.” But despite the challenges, he’s an optimist, and he tries to keep everything in a long-term perspective. (Did I already say he sounds like a farmer?) Says Lacasse: “If it happened 10 years ago, and it’s happening again today, it’s going to happen in 10 years.” Located at 69 degrees north in the country’s youngest territory, the community of Cambridge Bay is north of Canada’s mainland, on the coast of Victoria Island. Cambridge Bay has a population of 1,666, the majority of whom are Inuit, and in the local language called Inuinnaqtun, Cambridge Bay is called Iqaluktuuttiaq, meaning “good fishing place.” It turns out to be a fitting name in any language, because this is a place rich in Arctic char. In fact, community members began looking at how to build a business based on their resources of both char and muskox in the 1970s, and Kitikmeot Foods was launched in 1990. Today, Kitikmeot is one of four fish- and meat-processing plants operating in the territory as a subsidiary of the Nunavut Development Corporation (NDC), a Nunavut government corporation. Kitikmeot Foods runs year round, with a staff of six to eight in the plant. This number jumps to 15 workers in the plant during the summer harvest when teams of local fishermen, adding up to an extra 10 to 15 people altogether, are hired to harvest the char on four rivers close to the community. That season starts at the beginning of July and lasts one to 1-1/2 weeks when the fish are running to the sea. For about a month afterwards, no fishing is done while the char are in the sea, feeding and reproducing. The fishing starts again in midAugust and continues until the second week of September. 12 country-guide.ca
Photography: Denise LeBleu Images
By Stephanie McDonald
March 31, 2015
business
For Stephane Lacasse, the challenge is to find the best business tools to achieve financial goals, and also a valued way of life
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, whose staff is on site to monitor the harvest, sets the quota for how much fish can be harvested, currently at 98,000 lbs. of char per year. On two of the lakes, the char are caught with a V-shaped trap called a weir. At each end of the weir is an opening where fish can enter and exit. Most swim forward through a narrow channel and end up in what Lacasse calls a “sock.” Once the weir becomes full, it’s pulled up out of the water. In the other two lakes, char are caught in nets. The fishermen are paid per pound of fish they bring in. Back on shore the fish are cleaned, put on ice in Styrofoam boxes, and transported by float plane to the community. After being washed and graded in the plant, the fish are packed in ice again and shipped out by commercial airline. This whole process is usually completed the same day the fish is caught. Other products are processed or packaged and put into the freezers, ready to be shipped year round. The fish is a vibrant orange and the plant makes char fillets, steaks, and jerky — the most popular item — as well as candied and smoked char products. “Char is almost like salmon, but the taste is more wild,” Lacasse says. “The char that we have is a lot higher in omega-3 and oil content. And has less fat.” Until 2013, Kitikmeot Foods had also organized a commercial muskox hunt and processed the meat. That ended when the number of muskox close to the community dropped and disease was found in the animals across the territory. Muskox products had accounted for 25 to 30 per cent of the company’s sales. To compensate, the plant committed 100 per cent of its time to char and pushed sales of the fish.
Local in the Arctic The char caught in the rivers around Cambridge Bay and processed by Kitikmeot Foods is shipped to customers and high-end restaurants across America and Canada. It has been written about in the New York Times. However, despite a North American marketplace that is hooked both by the quality of the char and by the Inuit-caught backstory from the Canadian Arctic, the focus for Kitikmeot Foods is to have its products available within the territory. Continued on page 14 March 31, 2015
country-guide.ca 13
business Continued from page 13 “Our emphasis is the Nunavut marketplace. Inuit are our clients, they are our core focus,” says Darrin Nichol, president of the Nunavut Development Corporation, the 98 shareholder in Kitikmeot Foods. “We’re not against selling product outside of the territory, we don’t discourage that, but our emphasis is in Nunavut.” “It’s a highly competitive environment. There are char farms, there are lots of options for fish outside of our product, and it can be an expensive endeavour,” Nichol says. “The markets in Nunavut tend to be closer, the marketing emphasis doesn’t have to be as high, and the people tend to appreciate our product more for what it is, recognizing that it’s caught by the Inuit of Nunavut and provided back as a finished good.” At the core of NDC’s mandate is creating employment, Nichol says, as well as generating income-earning opportunities and providing business support. NDC also works in sectors that people rely on for employment, although these sectors tend to be high task, low return. NDC is also interested in ensuring that local food is available to the local population. Nichol speaks of walking into a grocery store in southern Canada. No matter the section of the store, locally produced food is usually available. “That’s economic development, that’s people supporting people, providing quality product for the clients of that grocery outlet,” he says.
The bright-orange char filets are marketed under the ‘Truly Wild’ brand, with potential demand outstripping sustainable supply.
NDC has worked with northern retailers to have food from their four plants available in each of the territory’s 25 communities. The demand for locally harvested food has increased as the cost of hunting equipment rises and as more of the territory’s citizens work in their communities, limiting the time that can be dedicated to hunting and fishing. The meat and fish products from the four Nunavut plants are marketed under the brand “Truly Wild.” The logo has a fish making a splash as it jumps out of the water, with icebergs in the background. A lot of work was put into creating the brand and it has been officially licensed. Nichol says that the “Truly Wild” brand is recognized, but reiterates that their focus is on the local market. “Marketing is fine as long as you have the capacity to deliver what you’re marketing,” Nichol says. “Over the years — and I’ve been at this for a long, long time — where we do have to be a little bit careful, especially when you’re marketing in the south, is that you don’t overstate your ability to supply.”
Future plans Kitikmeot Foods is preparing for growth, but it will be slow, measured growth. Lacasse says there are no expansion plans in the near future. They will continue to harvest and prepare products to be put back into the Nunavut marketplace. Because they fish sustainably and under a quota system, what they can harvest is not unlimited. While he’d like to see the muskox population bounce back, he doesn’t expect it to happen any time soon. Both Lacasse and Nichol see a market for caribou, but the feasibility of the hunt first needs to be assessed. “Logistics-wise, to carry caribou it’s not cheap. The caribou don’t stay put. They are that kind of animal that like to travel, travel, travel so much a day, so they’re always on the move. It’s not like the muskox,” Lacasse says. Going forward, Kitikmeot Foods will continue to operate on the business model it has built up over the past 24 years, sharing the fish that the rivers around Cambridge Bay have been endowed with. Kitikmeot will also continue to provide employment for community members and local food for the territory’s population in a prohibitively expensive business environment. The vagary of Arctic animals means the company must remain flexible. And Kitikmeot Foods will continue to contend with its No. 1 challenge, Mother Nature, which as farmers know is always fickle, with a mind of her own. CG
From the NDC Annual Report, 2012-13 Kitikmeot Foods Ltd.
2013
2012
Revenues
$1.45 million
$1.28 million
Expenses
$1.08 million
$1.38 million
Surplus (Deficit)
$376,100
$(99,200)
Jobs Created or Maintained
10.41
11.20
Subsidy Fund Contributions
$330,000
$330,000
Capital Fund Contributions
$395,000
$53,000
*Subsidy and Capital Fund Contributions from NDC are included in revenue
14 country-guide.ca
March 31, 2015
Spotlight on Crop AdvAnCeS Crop Advances is an annual report that summarizes applied research projects involving the OMAFRA Field Crop team, in partnership with commodity groups, industry and the OSCIA. www.ontariosoilcrop.org/en/resources/cropadvances.htm
Haskap - a new crop opportunity for northern Ontario farmers By Lilian Schaer
A new cool climate berry crop could present market opportunities for northern farmers. The North Eastern Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (NEOSCIA) have just completed a two year project looking at how to best grow Haskap in northern Ontario – and the results are very promising. “We’ve always had wild blueberries in northern Ontario, but it would be really nice to have a plant that would be more viable to grow in the north that we could use as a major agricultural producer,” says Graham Gambles of the NEOSCIA. “We need something different from what other people have that has a high market value and where competition from the south may not be a concern.” Project results show the solution could lie with Haskap, a berry that is high in antioxidants, tastes similar to blueberries, and grows well in northern climates. How was the research conducted? NEOSCIA purchased 2,000 plants in 2013 and 16 growers across northern Ontario each planted 100 “companion” plants (25 of each of four varieties developed by University of Saskatchewan) and a dozen “pollinator” plants of a European variety. Growers were responsible for their own site selection and management practices. Survival and growth measurements were taken in the fall of 2013 and again in 2014, along with basic soil tests and plant leaf tissue analysis. What has the project found? In the spring of 2014, most growers reported having lost only one or two plants over the winter, which could have resulted from shipping and transplant stress in the previous year. There are currently no official soil or fertilizer recommendations available for Haskap, but soil analysis of the best four sites showed a history of high manure
Photo: University of Saskatchewan Fruit Program application and generally significant calcium content, and had the greatest growth rates for all four Haskap varieties in the trial. “Haskap is ideally suited to production in northeastern Ontario, from Muskoka to Moose Factory, and from the Quebec border to Wawa, and we’ve found it to be winter hardy in climate zones one through four, even in the winter of 2013-14, which was the most severe winter in decades in this region,” says Gambles. “In northern Ontario, there are no climate or soil limits that we could see for Haskap.” Although the trials wrapped up in 2014, Gambles will continue to visit participating growers to track continued growth and fruit development on the existing plots. Future information will be shared through the NEOSCIA newsletter. Where can I get more information? More information on this project can be found in the Crop Advances section of the OSCIA website at http://www.ontariosoilcrop. org/en/resources/cropadvances.htm.
ONTARIO SOIL AND CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
How was the research funded? The project was funded through an OSCIA regional partner grant, with support also provided by Phytocultures Ltd., SGS Agrifood Laboratories, and South Temiskaming Community Futures Development Corporation. OSCIA assisted with communication of research results.
NEOSCIA’S tOp HASkAp tIpS fOr fArmErS • Soil should contain calcium for best growth and everyone should be applying some agricultural limestone. Haskap plots in the trial grew best on sites with a lot of manure. • Lay down plastic mulch and plant into the plastic. • Plants start producing fruit by their third year; optimum production is in years five to 10. • Prices for Haskap berries should meet or exceed those of wild local blueberries in the north, which is usually about $8 per pound most years.
Mission: Facilitate responsible economic management of soil, water, air and crops through development and communication of innovative farming practices
www.ontariosoilcrop.org
business
The costs of living When farmers have more, they spend more. The question is, can farm families stop spending if they have less? By Maggie Van Camp, CG Associate Editor
aybe the biggest surprise is that the numbers aren’t all that surprising. Average family living expenses skyrocketed from about $53,000 per farm in 2004, say researchers at the University of Illinois, to $81,000 in 2013. After starting at $84 per acre, living costs jumped in that one decade to $121 per acre in 2013. Nor is it a surprise that the increase followed corn prices. Researchers Brad Zwilling, Brandy Krapf and Dwight Raab looked at the financial data from the 1,300 members of the Illinois State Farm Business Management Association whose families have three- to five-member families. On average, non-capital family living expenses on those farms (mainly grain farms) in 2013 were 5.3 per cent higher than the year before. When they added in capital expenditures, like the portion of the vehicles not used for the farm, family living expenses increased to $89,130 for 2013, a $4,118 increase per family from the previous year. Other numbers in other states are similar. For instance, David Kohl, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech, reports the average farm family living cost in Nebraska for 2011 was $85,733, up from $79,250 the year before, based on annual family living cost summaries provided by the professionals of the Nebraska Land Farm and Ranch Management Education Program.
Figure 1. Total family living expenses per tillable operator acre, 2004-13 130
$ per tillable acre
120 110 100 90 80 70
2004
2005
2006
2007
Source: University of Illinois
16 country-guide.ca
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Then Kohl, who is also president of AgriVisions and part owner of Homestead Creamery, drilled down further to find how much these living costs were eating into corn profits that year. For a farm of 1,000 acres with 150-bushel corn yields, about 80 cents a bushel went toward living expenses and taxes. Kohl is concerned that the nine-year supercycle occurring in the grain and row-crop sector is being built into the family living budgets of many producers, and it’s going to be difficult to cut back. Nor is this spending pattern restricted to farm families south of the border. From 2010 to 2013, when total farm cash receipts for Canada increased by more than $10 billion, rural spending followed suit. According to Statistics Canada, average rural household expenditures (i.e. for Canadians living outside of population centres of 1,000 or more) climbed to $72,040 in 2015 from $61,735 in 2010, up nearly 20 per cent. Of course, the picture is complex. Farmers make up only about 10 per cent of the six million folks considered as rural population in Canada. Plus, at least half of census farms had one or both spouses with non-farm occupations, and their household expenditure patterns are likely similar to any other rural household. As well, with such a small population sample, numbers can jump significantly from year to year, says Ray Bollman, research affiliate with the Rural Development Institute at Brandon University and adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan. Tax management can be a big factor too. When the Illinois researchers looked at what those family dollars were actually spent on, they found that income and social security tax payments rose to 31 per cent in 2013 from 12 per cent in 2004. In Nebraska social security and income tax for 2011 was over $40,000. Once incomes rise to a certain level, prudent tax planning can make a huge difference. Non-farm expenses devoted to income and Social Security taxes rose from 12 per cent in 2004 to 31 per cent in 2013. Also, Kohl noted that the largest individual cost in this U.S. group was for medical expenses, including health insurance premiums. They were over $12,000 in 2011, nearly tripling in a decade.
March 31, 2015
business
How do you compare? Manitoba-based farm family coach and succession planner, Elaine Froese says one of the starting points for succession planning is nailing down how much families need to live on. (She asks her clients how they plan to be fair to non-farming family members, and where they are going to live.) It’s a sum that can vary a lot from farm to farm, Froese says. Jonathan Small agrees. Over his years as farm management consultant with MNP, he has seen a wide range of expenditures, anywhere from $30,000 to $200,000 a year. Yet when Froese and Small ask families what they live on, very few farmers seem to know. “About 70 to 75 per cent of my older-generation clients just don’t know what they need,” Small says. Many older parents have never lived on a written budget and are transitioning into a new spending phase of their lives. Some older-generation farmers will set unrealistic budgets that are so high, the kids don’t have a chance. Others are extremely frugal. This generation somehow made it through some very lean times and is used to big fluctuations in farm income. “There are farm families that have spent 40 years living on fresh air,” says Small. “They can’t change from this Prairie mentality.” One of the facts of life for farm and ranch families is income irregularity, either in amount or timing, and many farms have built a resilience into their DNA that helps them deal with downturns.
March 31, 2015
Profits left in the business grow your net worth. Living expenses boost someone else’s “These farms have set a big gap between personal needs and profits. They want to be able to handle a disaster of biblical proportions,” says Small. “They can weather the storm.” By contrast, more younger-generation farmers have worked off the farm and they are more likely to understand personal budgeting. Of course, they also have a very different commodity-price business experience in the last few years, and they have different expectations on the income side of the budget. Culture is a huge part of setting living expenses, says Froese. For example, all Hutterite members take a vow of poverty, renounce private property and hold all their possessions in common. They devote all of their time, labour and energy to the community. In Froese’s perspective, it’s also about fundamentally understanding what makes you happy. Maybe you prefer to save for the next generation, or maybe you like to donate profits, or maybe you just want to buy a boat. Those are personal choices, but the choices must respect your budget, and the decisions must be made in the light of how they will impact the future of your farm business. Continued on page 18
country-guide.ca 17
business
Continued from page 17 MNP’s Small sees another cultural impact in more densely populated regions, where farmers’ friends and neighbours are living on higher, more consistent wages from jobs in the city. These farmers want to live more extravagantly too, and with big fluxes in farm income, there are some years they can afford to keep up. However, Small has also seen how difficult it can be to pull back in the lean years, because this higher standard of living becomes part of the farmer’s culture. “Living expenses are inelastic,” says Small. “This can be a blessing and a curse.” Small has witnessed spending increases reach a certain level, then plateau. The farmers are comfortable and busy and don’t have that much time to spend the money. This point of inflection is different for everyone, but is affected by culture, time and discipline, says Small. Once farmers reach that point of spending, any additional money left in the farm rapidly increases their ability to buy land and invest. The other side of the coin is that some farmers don’t give themselves raises. They’d prefer to cut their lifestyles or find off-farm work to fund them. This has helped people get through sustained downturns and generate wealth in the business while staying relatively small. Small talks about one client who has two sons interested in farming. They crop only 2,000 acres but over many years have accumulated nearly $2 million in cash.
How much do you spend? Three approaches can help you understand your personal living expenses, says Small. If you have time, you can simply write down what you spend as you go. Alternatively, you can go back through your records and piece together how much the family used from previous years’ statements. Make sure you include all the expenses, including the ones put through the farm books as business expenses, and use an average from several years. The third way is to test what you can afford by paying a set salary and seeing if you can live on that amount. However, the problem of shining a spotlight on income is that people tend to adjust expenditures to stay within the salary, says Small. If the goal is to find out what you need, you don’t want it to be artificially set. By writing your living expense budget on a monthly basis and adding 25 per cent for unexpected expenses, you’ll get a better idea of personal cash flow. This is really important because of the seasonality of the business. It can also help improve your perspective if you have a separate account for household expenses,
18 country-guide.ca
and then you compare it to business expenses. Having only one chequing account makes it more difficult to control family living expenses. The business expenses are just relatively so much bigger. A helpful fact sheet on how to manage farm family living expenses, called Taking Control, by Kathleen Prochaska-Cue and Sandra Preston, is at www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/live/g2072/build/g2072.pdf.
Competing for equity Farm family needs compete with the business enterprise for cash. Both must be healthy. A key objective in farming is to generate net worth, says Small. That’s how the farm builds wealth. Profits that are left in the business are how we accumulate net worth. By contrast, draws for living expenses and extras go into someone else’s business. They do not build farm assets. “Taking a $10,000 vacation is basically piling that money and setting it on fire. It’s gone,” says Small. “It might be fun, and a break might be needed but it’s still not available for further expanding the business.” In England, Small saw clients’ personal expenses outstripping the farm’s ability to earn. To compensate for this, the farmers would slowly sell off highvalued assets. Eating up assets enabled them to keep operating, yet these farms were dying piece by piece.
Watch these ratios On corporate statements, payment for effort is reflected in retained earnings on the balance sheet. If it’s too low relative to the size of the farm or the productivity, there could be a problem. Basically this means that the farm isn’t able to accumulate equity, except in the appreciating value of the land or quota. Cost-of-production calculations should include fair market value for labour. If they don’t, they can be really misleading, says Small. “Your effort should impact the bottom line instead of ownership.” A couple of key financial ratios can send warning signs that your living expenses are dipping into your farm business too much. For example, if you are seeing a gradual trend of decreasing current ratio, you might want to look to see if your living expenses are using up too much of your available equity. Another red flag to look at is any change in your farm’s debt structure ratio. If the short-term debt (for example, operating lines or credit cards) divided by long-term debts is getting gradually bigger, you could be headed toward problems. When Froese helped with farm debt mediation, she said one big warning sign was using credit cards to farm. Although the numbers indicate a potential problem, it’s important to look at the whole picture and communicate with everyone involved. CG
March 31, 2015
soil matters………..www.ifao.com
Blake Vince on Conserving and Improving Soil with Cover Crops written by Kate Procter
Blake Vince was a speaker at the Innovative Farmers Conference speaking on the topic of Conserving Farmland with Cover Crops and Increased Biodiversity. “I have never plowed a field,” Blake Vince says proudly. Vince, a Director on the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario (IFAO) board, is passionate about protecting soil and leaving his farm in better condition for future generations of farmers. Vince, who farms with his father, Elwin, and uncle, Tom Vince, near Merlin in southern Ontario has inherited the belief that “if we look after the soil, it will look after us,” he says. The family farms about 1,300 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and cover crops and started using no-till methods in 1982. Their land was originally covered with Carolinian hardwood forest and the soil type is Brookston Clay. “We don’t want to do anything too aggressive with tillage because then we don’t get the desired result at the end of the year,” says Vince. While he acknowledges that some farmers have gone back to the plow in order to gain a yield bump, Vince is convinced that this short-term gain will result in long-term pain. In addition to conserving soil, Vince is adamant that using conservation tillage methods and cover crops also helps to control costs by reducing the number of tillage passes. “I can see where farmers are going – we’re all in business to be profitable. But at what expense? Soil is non renewable at this rate. I try to look at the grand picture. Instead of physical yield, I worry about financial yield – the two are not equal,” says Vince. The family has tried different conservation tillage techniques over the years, including no-till and strip till, and now Vince is experimenting more and more with cover crops to let the roots do the work that used to be done by a machine.
Vince won a Nuffield Scholarship, which he has used to increase his knowledge of cover crops and biodiversity by studying agriculture practices around the world. Blue-green blooms in Lake Erie have also provided much motivation for Vince to work towards a better understanding of how farmers can prevent such problems caused by run-off and erosion. The United Nations declared this the decade of biodiversity, “but here in North America, corn is king,” says Vince. For farmers who are considering trying conservation tillage methods and cover crops, Vince encourages people to experiment in their own fields, with their own machinery, risk tolerance, and dollars at stake. “Don’t take someone else’s data because it doesn’t always fit,” he adds. Every farmer has to decide – “what are my goals?” “I use cover crops to fix nitrogen,” says Vince. But he has a long list of the additional benefits of growing cover crops – they help increase biological activity in the soil, reduce erosion, capture solar energy 12 months of the year, and increase water infiltration and water holding capacity as well as financial yield. Farmers need to realize there is no silver bullet, says Vince. “What we’re trying to do will not necessarily be seen in the first year. It is like investing – we don’t immediately expect a shortterm return. Most times we should be looking at the long term investment.” “Regardless of who takes over the farm – we try to leave our farms in better condition for future generations. The soil is a long-term investment – not just for our own immediate financial gain.” To view Blake’s complete presentation go to www.ifao.com.
business
Get in shape
for family meetings What kind of meeting athlete are you? Check out this new take for meetings your By Amy Petherick family will be proud of
Are you a couch potato when it comes to talking to your family about critical farm decisions? The comparison isn’t so far fetched. In a way, family communication is a lot like physical fitness. Even the best of us have areas that need a little toning, while many more of us need to spend serious time just learning how to make communication a more routine part of our lives. It’s similar in this way too. Communication skills are like muscle groups. The “use it or lose it” rule definitely applies. So let’s begin right there… at the beginning. What’s your communication fitness level? What kind of communication athlete are you? Because the goals are worth it — a healthier family, and tighter family decisions.
If you’re a couch potato Yes, your family sits down to talk about farm business, if it’s Christmas, someone’s birthday, or some other family dinner. Shauna Feth, executive director of the Alberta Family Business Institute says if this is you, then you’re not getting the most out of the exercise of having family meetings. Instead, Feth says farm meetings will be a lot more effective if they’re conducted with a more formal structure. She likes to promote the idea of working on building up your meeting skills the same way you would build a muscle. Start with the equivalent of the stretching you’re supposed to do before you work out. In a meeting context, Feth says this means agreeing ahead of time on an agenda. This is a basic starting point because it allows everyone the chance to come into the meeting with well-thought-out ideas. 20 country-guide.ca
It’s also an easy first step for establishing a new routine, and although it will take a bit of effort the first few times you do it, practice will soon make perfect, Feth says. Remember, you don’t have to go for the big agenda items right at the start. Instead of discussing succession, why not get together for an hour or two to discuss how you will work together as a family to get the field work done this spring, and who will be responsible for what. “Like a muscle, once you start, exercise it all the time,” Feth recommends. “Then everybody starts falling into the process and it gets so much easier.” Morgan Knezacek, a human resources and communications professional based in Manitou Beach, Sask., recommends that families start by focusing directly on the purpose of each meeting, with clarity about what you are trying to achieve. March 31, 2015
business Knezacek says this makes the meeting targeted, and as a farm partner herself, she knows that no one has time to waste on a pointless meeting. “Because otherwise you can meet for hours,” Knezacek sighs, “and you don’t have time to meet for hours!” A simple way to control the time dedicated to meetings is to divide them into daily, weekly, and monthly discussions. Knezacek recommends a daily check-in to share schedules and activities planned for the day; a weekly review with all farm stakeholders to assess the week’s key activities, determine expected outcomes, and resolve obstacles; and then a monthly meeting for strategic discussions on those critical issues that require analysis, brainstorming, and decision-making. “Once you’re having the meeting, be clear about what’s at stake, and what could happen if bad decisions are made,” Knezacek recommends. Like a good exercise routine, she says deciding which combination of issues belongs to which meetings can take some time at first. Her training advice is to set up a whiteboard in a common area so anyone can add to the working agendas for weekly and strategic meetings. Betty Hansen, a family business facilitator based in Mossley, Ont., agrees completely that separating
issues into different types of meetings is crucial. She also believes it’s important to name meetings with care, considering what types of meeting your family needs as you are defining what each meeting’s purpose is. “Let’s categorize them appropriately so that people don’t get their nose out of joint because they’re not at the table when they think they should be,” says Hansen. For instance, Hansen explains, having a “family meeting” without inviting the brother who works off the farm could easily cause friction, but a “stakeholder meeting” or “operational meeting” is a different story. Choose your words wisely, she suggests.
Even terminology can help, says facilitator Betty Hansen. Maybe it isn’t a “family meeting,” it’s an “operational meeting.” Continued on page 22
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March 31, 2015
country-guide.ca 21
business
If you’re a weekend athlete You refer to your family discussions as meetings. You can even produce some financial statements or other written evidence afterward. But you only meet “as needed” and not on a schedule. An important element of successful meetings is keeping them focused. Family business facilitator Betty Hansen points out that having strict time limits will make everyone more likely to commit. For daily meetings, aim for a maximum five-minute discussion. Weekly meetings can stretch into 30 or 45 minutes. Monthly meetings should allow for one to two hours of conversation. Each family’s needs are different, but whatever is agreed upon, Hansen says it is absolutely imperative that the meeting end on time. “If we haven’t come to a resolution, we schedule another meeting,” Hansen says. “I’d rather have a meeting that’s scheduled for an hour and finishes in 45 minutes with a couple of good decisions made.” Creating a neutral tone for meetings will help in keeping the meeting focused, but Shauna Feth of the Alberta Fam-
ily Business Institute confesses this can be especially difficult when the people involved are family. A lot of baggage easily finds its way to the table. “If you want to professionalize the business, you really have to separate the conversations that would happen as a family versus as a business,” Feth says. Deciding on a code of conduct for your meetings and making sure that everyone follows it is one way to achieve this. For example, everyone can agree not to interrupt someone who is speaking. A calm, professional atmosphere will help everyone feel comfortable expressing their ideas, even if those ideas lead to conflict at the table. For people who don’t want any conflict in their meetings, HR consultant Morgan Knezacek says there’s no gain without some pain. But just as there is good muscle pain and bad muscle pain, there is good and bad conflict in meetings. “Sometimes in these meetings we can drift off into that bad conflict, so I encourage people to stay on track and shift to good conflict,” Knezacek says.
It’s important to remember that good conflict is never personal. Taking a curious approach to discussing an issue often builds trust and respect among the group. “Seeking opposing views is good problem solving and good leadership. You’re gaining perspectives for decisionmaking,” Knezacek says. Always separate the people from the problem so that the focus is on “the betterment of our farm” from every perspective. If your family has developed bad habits in the conflict department of your meetings, one thing to reconsider may be your seating arrangement. Research from UBC’s Sauder School of Business shows that seating arrangements can have a major impact on the way people think. If the farm family is sitting in a circular formation, everyone will be more likely to want to belong to the group and less prone to antagonistic behaviour. In contrast, researchers found that people are more likely to look out for No. 1 if they are seated in an angular arrangement, as they would be at a traditional boardroom table.
For extreme bodybuilders You meet regularly, produce agendas and keep minutes, and your farming family is always looking for new ways to make sure they’re having the best meetings ever. A body can become accustomed to routine exercise, so experts advise dedicated athletes to make frequent changes. The same principle needs to be applied to your meeting muscles. “Make sure everyone takes turns with recording notes at the meeting, so it’s not just one person,” advises HR consultant Morgan Knezacek. This fosters appreciation, which she believes can be hard for farm families to express. “I think we’re often really hard on ourselves as farmers, and we’re pretty humble people, so we don’t really give ourselves kudos when we deserve it,” Knezacek says. Appreciation is a layered thing, she explains, and it’s learned too. Practising appreciation is just inherent on some farms, but others are more accustomed to tough love. 22 country-guide.ca
“Just saying to somebody, ‘I don’t say it very often, but I know how hard you worked to get this farm to where it is today, and we really appreciate it,’… those are the kind of things that can make all the difference in the world,” family facilitator Betty Hansen says. “The odd little bouquet of flowers wouldn’t hurt either.” Showing appreciation and being respectful are the most important elements in setting the tone of your farm meetings. Hansen says setting the right tone is largely impacted by the type of language that’s used in meetings. When she is leading workshops, she likes to demonstrate this point by asking the group what kind of time frame they’re thinking of when she says, ‘we’re doing it soon.’ “I’ll go around the room and I’ll have anything from ‘in two hours,’ to, ‘in 10 years,’” she says. Of course, even if you’ve addressed these pitfalls in the past, time has a way
of impacting the urgency different farm family members feel. Shauna Feth of the Alberta Family Business Institute says more farms involve two or even three generations who bring different goals and skills to the table, none of which remain static. The world of agriculture is constantly changing, and Feth has observed how young people connect easily to new ideas, while older generations offer valuable experience and knowledge of what’s been tried before. Feth cautions even the most skilled families to remember that each generation has important insights to contribute to the business as time passes. “You’re not going to perform surgery on yourself just because you think you know how from the Internet,” Feth says. “There’s a lot of experience and a lot of intelligence around what’s happened in the previous generations that can’t be lost.” CG March 31, 2015
A M E - ma n a g eme n t
Financing proposals — what to take to the bank By Heather Broughton, Agri-Food Management Excellence n farming, where access to adequate financing is key to success, lender relationships can’t be ignored. Nor can you neglect your approach to your annual review meeting with your lender. This is an important management function that needs focus. How can we best manage those relationships and your annual review for long-term positive outcomes? “Lending transactions incur risk,” says Dennis Jones, branch manager, Servus Credit Union in Ponoka, Alta. This supports the first principle that AME teaches in our finance modules; banks always get paid. Understanding how you manage in general (your skills) and how you manage risks (operational, financial, pricing, succession, and outside agreements) is key for lenders when making decisions on lending you money. How can you help them better understand you and your business, and then better assess you in terms of risk? They may turn down loan applications when they aren’t comfortable with the risk they believe they are taking on. First, the work starts long before the annual review. Lending depends on relationships, and it’s essential to start building and refining that relationship before you need that new loan for an expansion, not just when you arrive for your annual review. Sitting down and having a discussion early on about your business, your goals and intents, successes and challenges, gives the lender a background about what you do, who you are, and what kind of manager you are. Over time, it better defines the relationship between you and your lender. Better relationships yield better results. Touch base two or three times a year. In order to understand what they are looking for, learn what financial ratios are important to your lender or if any of their policies have changed. When considering changes or expansion, use your lender as a sounding board on the project before you ask for the loan. Use them as a member of your team in the project assessment. As the relationship develops and loans are made, if troubles are looming, be proactive in communication. Talk to them before trouble hits, instead of reacting after the bottom falls out. This communication needs to be open and honest. The lender is in a much better position to help you before disaster happens than after. Remember, lenders don’t like surprises. You’ve worked on communication to provide the March 31, 2015
background. Now it’s time for the annual review. What should you present? 1. Bring your strategic and operating plan because your farm is unique. Providing a written plan is optimal. Share your vision for your operation, where you want it to go in the future, how will you get there, and what resources are required. Who are the key members of your team? How do you use them? Include staff, your accountant, agronomist, advisers or consultants, and mentors. Also include your knowledge about issues in your industry or marketplace that can impact your business. 2. Share your projections. Being realistic, not idealistic in the values adds to your credibility. 3. Include your financial statements. “It’s important to review and understand your financials before the meeting,” says Craig Guthrie, senior relationship manager, Business Banking, Servus Credit Union, Ponoka, Alta. “Areas of concern? Point them out. If an event or circumstance took place that had a significant impact on them, be clear on what happened, and how you will manage it differently next year.” Take the initiative. Understand the numbers and their implications before you get to the bank. Invest time with your accountant or adviser reviewing your statements and understanding your ratios. Demonstrate you have the financial knowledge and management skills required to assess needed changes. 4. Discuss your succession plans and risk management strategies. Sharing these with your lender will give them assurance about farm viability and security as the farm is transitioned to the next generation or if there is a loss of a key member of the farm team. Is there key-man insurance, which is standard in businesses outside of farming, to provide resources to hire someone to replace a key position if they suddenly pass away? Do you understand the tax strategies, tax implications and financial resources of transition? Management skills are key factors considered in a lender’s credit analysis. Demonstrate them. If you’ve taken some courses, let them know. These suggestions are applicable for both your primary and secondary lenders. The larger the “ask,” the more work and detail will be necessary in the presentation. It’s about demonstrating your knowledge, ability, management skill, and yes, the numbers to help your lender become comfortable with the assessment and his risk in lending to you. CG Heather Broughton is co-owner and president of Agri-Food Management Excellence. country-guide.ca 23
business
Plan for value-add success In the third of her series, Helen Lammers-Helps talks to farmers about how the time they spent planning their new value-added ventures saved them money and aggravation By Helen Lammers-Helps here’s a business school maxim that says, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Based on the experience of Canadian farmers, it’s certainly true of value adding. Gary Morton, a Nova Scotia ag business consultant who has helped farmers launch value-added products for more than 20 years, likes to begin talking to those farmers by pointing out that while 80 per cent of small business startups fail, 95 per cent of franchise business startups succeed. The reason, says Morton, is that franchises have a step-by-step blueprint for success. They know what to expect, and how much time and energy it will take.
Here’s proof that planning works. Half of new businesses fail, but 95 per cent of franchises succeed It’s too easy to dangerously underestimate how much time and cost is involved in launching a new product, Morton warns. Even so, farmers can boost their odds by planning, says Jessica Kelly, direct farm marketing program lead with the Ontario agriculture ministry. Planning helps you predict obstacles and weed out bad ideas. It also helps prevent those nasty, stressinducing surprises that cost you time and money. When you start the planning process, Andreas Boecker, ag business professor at the University of Guelph, recommends you focus on your goals. (Boecker has worked with about 25 farmers studying their value-added businesses, and a link to a summary of his work, along with other valuable online business analysis tools, is in the resources section at the end of this article.) “You need to understand your motivation,” Boecker says. Is it to put bread on the table for your family, or is it primarily a retirement project or a hobby? Is it to create jobs for your kids? Or is it to help keep valuable employees on year round? Your goals will determine how much income you need to generate, says Boecker. 24 country-guide.ca
Once you’ve got that basic perspective, agrees Kelly, it’s time to tackle specific areas of your business plan, including detailed subplans for marketing, finance, human resources and production/ operations. Your plan doesn’t have to be a glossy showpiece (it may be more useful if it isn’t), but it should define your goals, outline responsibilities, and set benchmarks for assessing progress. Plus, it should project finances. The business plan should also provide the essential documentation usually required by financial institutions and government funding agencies. In the planning stages, it’s essential to trace the production process from the beginning right through to delivery to the customer. Estimate how much space is needed to house production equipment, store inputs and store market-ready product. How will your product get to the market? What are the risks? How does it fit with your current business? What quality control procedures will be needed? Farmers really need to do their homework on the regulations and rules involved in taking their product to market, cautions Kelly. There may be strict regulations on labelling their products or on the size and type of packaging they can use.
Learning from farmers Fully understand what regulations apply to your business idea, recommends Katie Normet, whose River’s Edge Goat Dairy near Arthur, Ont. makes and sells products from their goats. Although it can be a lot of work to really get to know the regulations, Normet says, understanding the intent behind them will make it easier to ensure you are in compliance. Ontario’s Kelly advises farmers that there may be several levels of government that have regulations that apply to your business. For example, your local municipality may have rules on the signage you can use on your farm. There may be bylaws that control the type of business you can operate on your farm. Adding a processing facility to your farm could also affect your property taxes. Inspection of certified kitchens may fall under the jurisdiction of your local health unit. March 31, 2015
business
Be prepared for what may turn into a sizable job, advises Cindy Wilhelm, co-owner of Dragonfly Garden Farm in Chatsworth, Ont. “The amount of regulation you need to know to run a farm business can be exhausting and frustrating.”
The nitty-gritty When it comes to marketing, develop a strategy based on your target customer. What makes the product unique? What are the benefits to the end-user? Why would people buy your product instead of the competitor’s? What are the marketing channels? What is your story and where will you tell it? For the financial planning phase, you will need to set financial targets and estimate the cost of production and capital costs, project cash flow and identify sources of financing and possible funding sources. Kelly recommends including optimistic, realistic and pessimistic bench marks for both sales and costs. The benchmarks you use will depend on the reason for the value-added business, adds Kelly. “If you’re expanding so you can keep good staff on year round, then you’ll compare your profits to the cost of keeping the employee.” One mistake many entrepreneurs make is not determining an accurate cost of production, warns Kelly. “They overlook things,” she says, so don’t forget to include your time, electricity used and trucking costs (e.g. gas, maintenance, depreciation). Wilhelm agrees. “Know and understand each expense, know your cost of production, and know how many pounds, kilos, cans, jars, bars or baskets of whatever you sell it will take to break even.”
New ventures often get caught in a cash flow crunch. “When you spend money to run and expand your business, you need to understand how long it will take for that expense to generate sales,” says Wilhelm. Tim Barrie, owner of Barrie’s Asparagus Farm and Country Market near Kitchener says that by the time he develops a new product and the packaging, he doesn’t make anything on it the first year. It’s also frustrating, he says, that after you do all that work, others may copy your products, Barrie adds. You’ll need to give some thought to who will do the work and what kind of skills they will need. What skills will you need to hire in and what will you outsource? What kind of training will staff need? What are your responsibilities as an employer — safety, training, government deductions, insurance, etc. And how will you prevent entrepreneurial burnout? Meghan Snyder, co-owner of Snyder’s Family Farm, a pumpkin farm near Plattsville, Ont. that specializes in agritainment, agrees on the need to adapt. “It’s a rapidly changing industry,” she says. “These days people really want you to create an experience for them.” Some of the changes Snyder has seen over the past few years include customers who are increasingly safety conscious, who want to buy online, who demand a good website because they want to know what to expect before they come, and who want good signage onsite. Belonging to organizations like the Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association helps her to stay on top of changing trends, Snyder says.
While the amount of planning needed depends on the experience of the entrepreneur and whether it’s a completely new venture or an add-on to an existing enterprise, all businesses will benefit from creating a well-thought-out plan. But it’s also essential to maintain some flexibility, even in terms of the plan itself. “It’s a living document,” Kelly says. “Be prepared to adapt and change.” Morton agrees. Planning is a circular process, he says. As you learn more you will always be going back and revising. CG
Resources Dr. Andreas Boecker’s case studies, Best Management Practices for Direct Farm Marketing and business tools available here: www.omafra.gov. on.ca/english/busdev/directfarmmkt/. Farm Management Canada has lots of great resources and webinars. Webinar by Prof. Andreas Boecker (University of Guelph) about direct marketing and innovation available at: www.agriwebinar.com/. Information on how to prepare a business plan can be found at the Ontario ag ministry website at www. omafra.gov.on.ca/english/busdev/facts/08051.htm. Other useful sites: www.canadabusiness.ca www.canadaone.com www.sbinfocanada.about.com www.communityfuturescanada.ca
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2015-02-27 10:59 AM
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Finding
the Peace Times might be changing, but Alberta’s Peace River Country is still like nowhere else By Gord Gilmour, CG Associate Editor
t was the height of summer and what should have been late evening when the engines of the small regional jet slowed almost imperceptibly and the craft began to make its gentle descent into the northern Alberta city of Grande Prairie. The first thing that grabbed the eye was mile upon mile of yellow-blossomed canola setting seed under the harsh, bright subarctic sun. Crops seemed to flow endlessly towards the horizon, only occasionally broken by an equally oversized patch of green where a cereal crop had just started to ripen. It was closing in on 9 p.m., with the sun promising at least a couple more hours of gleaming daylight before it would let dusk begin to gently settle over the scene. This is the near-mythical Peace Country, a land of fertile plains in the valley of the Peace River, one of the major tributaries of the Mackenzie River system. If the Canadian Prairies were the “Last Best West” as they used to be touted to settlers, then this northern Eden is the special reserve edition, or, as more than one resident will remind me during my stay here, God’s country.
Oversized Early the next morning, it was time to meet Gregory Sekulic, the local agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada who lives on a nearby acreage and works throughout the region. Sekulic grew up on a farm here before leaving for university. Now, with the busyness of the field-call season just nicely quieting down, he has a little slack for introducing a visitor to the lay of the local land. The first challenge is finding the trendy coffee shop we’ve agreed to meet at. It’s supposed to be here in this maze of bigbox and outlet stores. This retail complex, by the way, seems way too big for a city of 55,000 until someone explains their trading area runs as far north as Yellowknife, N.W.T., encompassing several hundred thousand people. 26 country-guide.ca
Once we’ve found each other and settled down over a cup of java, Sekulic explains what, in his view, makes his home a very special place. “I always say — and I’ve certainly heard other people including my predecessor say this — that the Peace is as much a state of mind as a place,” Sekulic says. The Peace is defined both by its place and its people, he tells me. When the first farmers arrived, they found fertile grasslands and aspen parkland competing with fingerlings of boreal forests, all with a healthy dollop of muskeg thrown in, making travel extremely difficult in the early years. To that extent, it wasn’t unique. “Anyone who grew up in that transition zone, this is going to look a lot like home to them,” Sekulic says. He’s right. I grew up on the northern fringe of farmland in Saskatchewan, and March 31, 2015
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this is familiar. But it isn’t the same, and the major difference is the question of latitude. Across Western Canada, the switch from field to forest starts near Winnipeg and angles steadily northwest, following the southern boundary of the Canadian Shield, climbing higher and higher towards the Arctic. Here at its northernmost, it takes on a distinctly subarctic flavour, especially with the extremely long days and short nights at the height of the summer. At summer solstice, for example, the sun sets just after 11 p.m. and rises just after 4:30 a.m. and much of what’s left isn’t truly night, but a twilight that seems to linger. In winter, though, the days are brutally short, and the nights are cruelly long. It isn’t a place for everyone, Sekulic concedes, which helps explain the local agriculture industry’s ongoing struggle of finding enough workers, although Sekulic also insists this is actually a great place to make a home.
It’s as much a state of mind as a place, says Sekulic (l), while Newman adds, outsiders “think we’ve just stepped off a bloody iceberg.” “It can be difficult to attract people here, and to retain people,” Sekulic says. “But those who do come, stay and get involved, I think the community and industry really embrace them.” Later that morning, the rental car pointed north on Hwy. 2, and the trip began through the rolling fields and wide open skies of the southern Prairie-like portion of the region, through towns like Sexsmith and Rycroft before giving us our first real glimpse of the river at the crossing at Dunvegan. The Dunvegan Bridge is a surprise, looking for all the world like a small replica of the Golden Gate Bridge set in northern Alberta. This time of year, the river is flat and slow moving, but a band of silt on either shore suggests this isn’t always the case, hinting at wild spring floods and fluctuating water levels. To the north, everything seems subtly March 31, 2015
different. It’s not like you’re suddenly in the middle of the wilderness. It’s still very much farm country. It’s just a bit wilder, and it feels just that bit more remote. We strike a line straight north, aiming for High Level, our first overnight stop. As the hours klick off, the feeling of isolation only increases. Longer and longer patches of forest interrupt the farmland, until during the last portion of the drive, nearly an hour passes with evergreen forest on both sides of the road. Finally, though, it opens up as we approach High Level, and the farmland appears and rolls out for miles toward the east, forming the Northern Block of the Peace District. As the day winds down, the town seems to wait for darkness to fall, and I finally head up to bed in a midnight twilight. In the morning, two remarkable things become apparent. The first is a sign just outside the hotel, indicating the southern border of the Northwest Territories is just 190 kilometres to the north. The second can be seen just peeking above a row of trees that isolates the railway line and industrial area from the highway. It’s an unassuming-looking oldstyle wooden elevator that’s unique not because of its design, but its geography. What we’re looking at is the most northernly grain elevator in the Western Hemisphere, and perhaps in the world. We hear both claims made about the facility — though the staff are reluctant to make the second. “Nobody’s really sure… I don’t know what they’ve got in places like Sweden and Russia. Do they even have elevators there? I’m not sure,” explains one elevator employee, taking a few minutes to talk during the facility’s annual maintenance shutdown, which sees industrial mechanics swarming the facility to service it. The facility is part of the Richardson International network, and it’s the sole elevator serving close to 300 farm clients, though many also haul a portion of their crop hours to the nearest large concrete facilities to the south, many clocking four- and five-hour one-way hauls. It highlights a perpetual problem for growers in this region. They struggle with long distances to elevators, and with what they say is spotty rail service. While the region is far less isolated than in past years, few would argue it’s anything but the end of the network.
Our birthplace From here, though, we’re off to visit the unlikely birthplace of agriculture in Alberta. It’s the height of the summer in Fort Vermilion, and Greg Newman breaks for lunch at a roadside restaurant on the banks of the Peace River and considers how outsiders perceive the unlikely prospect of farming in this part of the world. He’s heard the shock from strangers, acquaintances, and even from good friends in other parts of the province. “They think we’ve just stepped off a bloody iceberg and fought off a polar bear or something,” Newman says with a hearty laugh. Newman farms some 2,300 acres of grain and, by any measure, is one of the most northerly grain growers on the continent, yet his hometown has the distinction of being among the oldest settlements in Alberta, founded in 1788. Newman notes proudly too that farming goes back almost as far, starting earlier than almost anywhere in the province. It wasn’t until the early part of the 20th century, though, that farming really took off. That’s when transportation links to the rest of the province were established, and the land was opened up to homesteading. It’s how Newman’s family came to be farming in the area for the past 85 years. Continued on page 28 country-guide.ca 27
business Continued from page 27
Fast-forward
Still, a strong sense of the frontier past lingers, right alongside a progressive farm community that pushes as hard as any other. On the one hand there are massive fields amalgamated in the name of efficiency that can run two or three miles along the road in canola and wheat. On the other hand, there is still new land being wrested from the bush as producers clear part of an expected 136,000 acres that were recently earmarked for sale and breaking by the provincial government. All in all, it’s an agricultural oasis in the middle of the boreal forest, at turns isolated and unlikely yet also wildly beautiful and productive. Travelling through it, it becomes clear just why it has become the stuff of legend, and lwhy it’s a place that attracts an unlikely cast of originals and iconoclasts.
Just a few hundred metres down the highway from the restaurant, Jacob Marfo is simultaneously at home and a fish out of water — at home because his blunt honesty and sense of humour fit right in with the rest of the locals, but out of place because the last thing you might expect to find in such a northern outpost is a transplanted Ghanian. Marfo, an agronomist, comes to Fort Vermilion by way of Thunder Bay’s Lakehead University, where he earned a doctorate in forestry and natural resource management. These days he lives and works at the River Road Experimental Farm, a former federal research facility that’s now managed by the Mackenzie Applied Research Association, a joint venture of the local government and local growers. Marfo concedes with a chuckle there’s been a bit of an adjustment, especially with the sunlight that in summer never seems to quit. The facility he manages has a twin focus. It performs contract research for
In the long summer days, says research manager Jacob Marfo, crops grow at blinding speed various entities looking for site locations. It also performs field-scale trials using commercial equipment to test various techniques and products. Greg Newman, who chairs the organiza-
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business tion’s board, says the commercial-scale efforts are particularly important because their unique environment can affect how things work. “Some of these products are a pretty penny, you really want to make sure they work,” Newman says. One of the things Marfo has noted during his two years here is just how fast the crops develop under the long, bright days. Sometimes, in fact, they grow too fast for the research protocols designed by centrally located scientists. “There was a seed company we were working with which sent us some information about what they wanted us to do in a couple weeks, when the wheat was heading out,” Marfo says. “I had to tell them that the plots were already headed out. They couldn’t quite believe it.” “The crops move fast,” Newman agrees. “It seems like you just finish seeding, and you’re spraying weeds, then it’s right on to fungicides, and then you might take a couple days off and it’s time to start thinking of swathing and combining. I’d estimate that they’re at least 10 per cent faster than down south, maybe more.” As Marfo shows off the facility, a portrait of a venture still in development emerges. Several old outbuildings from its days as a federal research facility are still present in various states of decay, as well as obvious evidence of several buildings that have been demolished, interspersed with new buildings constructed for the facility’s new purpose. Marfo says the goal is a facility that’s right-sized to the new group’s work, while the previous incarnation was simply too grandiose and would have proven impractical to maintain. Newman says he can understand how people might marvel a bit at the prospect of commercially growing grain this far north, but he insists that it’s not like he and his neighbours are living a second-class lifestyle or anything like that. “We have pretty much everything someone living down south would expect to have, in terms of services and amenities,” says Newman, a former reeve of Mackenzie County. “In fact, I’d put the municipal services up against anyone’s.” Leaving Marfo and Newman, it’s time to press on, this time taking a big loop to pass through the former Métis community of La Crete, now largely populated by Mennonite families who have settled there in recent years. This is one of the areas where new land has been made available for sale, and the signs of land being broken are all around. Trees are pushed up into piles and, of course, there’s a hint of smoke in the air. All this is part of an at times controversial land swap with the province that Newman worked closely on in his role as a municipal leader. In the end they’re hoping to get something close to 136,000 acres opened to agriculture, the amount of land they signed away in remoter locations back in the mid-’90s. Newman says that’s been a struggle and he adds that so far the numbers fall far short. He also insists the land isn’t the great deal that many from the outside view it to be. It’s selling, unbroken, for as much as $100,000 a quarter, and then the cost of breaking the land has to be factored in. “Sometimes, just for fun, people have teased me a bit about why I haven’t taken any of this land myself,” Newman says. “I joke right back that I plan to pick it up at the auction sale in a few years.” We cross the Peace River again on the La Crete ferry, where super-Bs hauling grain to the elevators in the south make just enough room for a passenger car to squeeze in, and the drivers gather, telling tales of grinding a full load down and up these steep valley roads in the dead of winter. Just a few more miles on, we rejoin Highway 2 and head for Manning, named for a former premier, where we stop for the night. March 31, 2015
from across the world The following morning we join Peter Bigler at his farm a few miles to the south along the highway, near the small community of Hotchkiss. Bigler’s story is at once familiar and different, starting with him realizing while working on the farm as a boy that he wanted a farming life. The difference is, that farm was in Switzerland, owned by an uncle, and Bigler knew if he wanted to chase the dream of farming, it wouldn’t happen there. “If I had stayed in Switzerland, there’s no way I could have farmed,” Bigler says. It was on a student farm employment exchange that he first became acquainted with farming in Canada. Then, in the early 1990s, he emigrated permanently, bringing his young family with him. First they settled in central Alberta, where they were in the dairy business, but expensive quota made that business a tough one. About 10 years ago, they moved north to the current farm, where they raise crops and cattle on about 1,200 acres. During our conversation on a bright, hot afternoon, Bigler talks of opportunities both won and lost, of land that has suddenly got expensive, leaving him to wonder of the long-term viability of his operation, while at the same time wondering if the near-monoculture practices of some of the other local producers will prove any more sustainable over time. Continued on page 30
Swiss immigrant Peter Bigler knew he and his family could never farm in his native Switzerland. For him, the Peace is “an opportunity to try.” country-guide.ca 29
business Continued from page 29 In the meantime he works both on and off the farm, including work for other local producers and driving truck to haul grain to market, while he and the family brainstorm about what the future of the farm will be. “We’ve thought of all sorts of things, like marketing directly to the Arctic, but that brings a whole set of challenges,” Bigler says. “What it really boils down to, in the end, is we have to give someone a reason to buy something from our farm, rather than any of the other farms.” In a geographically isolated area, Bigler concedes that’s a challenge, but he says it’s a challenge he’s willing to take on in order to farm. “At least I got the opportunity to try,” Bigler says. From here it’s a few miles back up north to a spot near Keg River, where the Freeman farm is nearly an hour from the nearest community of any consequence. Here David Freeman and his father Les are working hard on getting the water system up and running after some problems, but they pause for a few minutes to have a coffee and talk about the life of the parttime farmer in the Peace. Les was the local elevator agent until that facility closed in the late 1990s during the wave of elevator consolidation. He retired, but continued to farm, having
started farming organically a few years earlier. Today David is a maintenance manager with an energy company, and he makes no bones about loving to farm, but also makes no claims to be a fulltime producer. “Well, my tax return says I’m a hobby farmer,” he says with a chuckle. “It is what it is.” Les says the early days of the business were tough, especially marketing the crops. Finding buyers was a constant struggle, but these days it’s all changed. “With the Internet, you can find buyers almost anywhere,” Les says. Farming just a few hundred acres, the business won’t make anyone rich, but it gives them both enormous satisfaction, something that’s evident in the enthusiasm they show while talking about the farm. David says the long-term fate of the farm is still up in the air. Both he and his dad still like to farm, but Les isn’t getting any younger. A third generation, David’s son, has been involved in the farm, but may or may not decide to take it over in time. “Right now he’s happier riding a bull than a combine,” David laughs. Heading back out into the yard, we discuss getting a photo in front of the bins, and Les speaks up, saying he hopes it won’t give anyone a false impression. “Whatever you do, don’t make us look rich,” he says with a deadpan expression.
“ With the Internet, you can find buyers almost anywhere,” says former grain merchandiser Les Freeman, who farms with son David 30 country-guide.ca
McIntyre: ‘that drive to improve yourself’ The final stop is south near Fairview to visit Kelly McIntyre, whose immaculate farm site is just a couple of miles outside the town. He listens with patience to my impressions of it to date before speaking up himself. An Alberta Canola Producers Association executive member, he finds himself travelling regularly for meetings. “It’s definitely not as isolated as it once was,” McIntyre says. “We have excellent roads now, and the airport at Grande Prairie with connections to anywhere you need to go.” Nor has the information revolution bypassed the region. McIntyre has just as good a sense of what’s moving grain markets as any grower in the country. In fact, if remoteness is an issue, it might be what McIntyre calls “the Peace advantage.” It often takes years longer for crop pests or diseases like blackleg in canola to find their way here. “Really, if I had a message for your readers, it would be to invite them to come here to see it for themselves. It really is the sort of place you need to see first hand,” McIntyre says. “It’s still Canada, it’s still the same country, but yes, we are a bit unique up here.” I notice the “we.” It isn’t just the land, so when I mention that a lot of the farms seem to also have non-farm businesses, and I wonder why, McIntyre ponders this for a moment, then reaches for the “p” word we might never use anywhere else. It’s the ethos of the place, he explains. It isn’t just the drive for self-improvement as you might see it anywhere else. Says McIntyre: “I think that might be a bit of the pioneering spirit remaining.” CG March 31, 2015
MAKE THE CFFO YOUR FBR
CHOICE IN 2015
The CFFO is THE accredited general farm oRganization that is rooted in faith and guided by values.. cffomail@christianfarmers.org 519.837.1620
CFFO KEY POLICY ISSUES FARMLAND PRESERVATION The.CFFO.is.concerned.about.the.long-term.protection.of. our.best.farmland.for.farming..The.CFFO.believes.that.the. land.should.be.set.to.its.best.purpose..The.best.food.growing.land.should.be.tasked.with.growing.food.
www.christianfarmers.org 1.855.800.0306 TODAY’S ISSUES
NEONICATINOIDS AGGREGATES GREAT LAKE PROTECTION ACT ROAD SAFETY LAND USE PLANNING
WATER STEWARDSHIP Ontario.agriculture’s.future.success.in.both.productivity. and.stewardship.will.rely.on.water.policy.in.this.province. that.encourages.optimal.use.of.water.for.food.production.
PROJECTS
JOBS IN AGRICULTURE The.CFFO.believes.that.the.agriculture.and.agri-food. sector.can.be.a.cornerstone.of.the.Ontario.economy..We. want.commitment.from.political.parties.to.wrestle.down. the.rate.of.increase.in.energy.prices.
CFFO IN ACTION
CANADIAN FOOD GRAINS BANK SUPPLY MANAGEMENT FULFILLING ONTARIO AGRICULTURE’S SOCIAL CONTRACT WATER & AGRICULTURE
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS The.CFFO.regularly.meets.with.stakeholders.and.is.effective.in. bringing.forward.it’s.key.policy.issues.by.hosting.face.to.face. meetings.with.decision.makers.
BENEFITS
POLICY TOURS IN EACH DISTRICT The.CFFO.believes.that.every.member.should.have.their.voice.heard.. Each.district.has.the.opportunity.to.hear.the.CFFOs.key.policy.. issues.as.well.as.voice.other.issues.concerning.them.in.their.district..
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Districts.hold.annual.meetings.and.BBQs.to.get.to.know.their. community.and.other.members.within.the.district..It’s.a.great.way.to. meet.new.people.and.eat.lots.of.food...
BUILDING FUTURE LEADERS Every.year.the.CFFO.holds.a.Leadership.Summit.for.our.district. leaders.in.order.to.prepare.them.for.the.year.a.head.and.to encourage.future.leaders..
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business
From hogs to shrimp Who knew it would take five years of red tape before Paul and Tracy Cocchio could convert their hog barns into Ontario’s first shrimp farm?
32 country-guide.ca
By Amy Petherick
March 31, 2015
Photography: Deb DeVille
business
alking into Paul and Tracy Cocchio’s barn on a chilly Ontario morning feels like a visit to the tropics, and rightly so, because the livestock the Cocchios are raising originate in decidedly warmer parts of the world. You might say the barn is a kind of greenhouse for the animal side of agriculture, with the couple becoming Ontario’s first shrimp farmers. It’s probably also the first time any of us have read the words shrimp and farm in the same sentence. Aptly named, Ontario’s First Shrimp Farm is the first commercial shrimp operation in the province, and it just celebrated its very first harvest in January. But it was a celebration that had been a long time coming, with the Cocchios now in their fifth year of pioneering a new Canadian agricultural sector. Located in Campbellford, two hours east of Toronto, Paul and Tracy weren’t always quite so unique. In fact, they fit right in with all the neighbours back in 1991, when they purchased the family dairy farm. Paul’s father had been a true “cowman” and had built up the family farm from scratch. But Paul was more attached to the idea of being a farmer than he was to the idea of milking every day, and he soon started to consider a big change. “We thought hog farming was the way to go,” Paul says, and then laughs. March 31, 2015
Tracy recalls it with a small shake of her head too: “I was looking forward to cooking our own pork chops.” Paul remembers how they had considered making their move for quite some time before finally deciding. Tracy says it was really when the neighbouring parcel of land came up for sale, that it seemed the stars were aligning in their favour. They purchased it and built three new barns there in 1998. They tried to juggle the dairy and pork businesses for the first six months, but they soon got a taste of the lifestyle hog farming offered. It wasn’t long after that, however, that it became obvious that luck hadn’t been on their side after all. “I forget what year the price fell apart exactly, but we decided we were done with hogs,” Paul said flatly. Cash cropping mercifully proved more profitable through the early 2000s but the problem of what to do with the barns still had no answer. “The floors wouldn’t hold cattle, we tried a few other things but they wouldn’t work either,” Paul admits. When they finally heard about retrofitting for aquaculture, they were ready to pencil out just about anything. “They’re changing barns in Indiana, mostly chicken barns, and they’re growing shrimp in them,” Paul told Tracy. After touring operations in Maryland and Indiana, they finally discovered an arrangement they could envision in
What do you do with a hog barn when markets go south? If you’re Tracy, Paul and son Brad Cocchio, you look south too their own barns. “We had to pull all the slotted floors out, and the posts and the beams, have new concrete walls put in, and then there was getting the linings in,” Paul says. Even with the considerable help and guidance from their mentor, a shrimp farmer based in Indiana who was just a few more years ahead of the Cocchios himself, they say the transition has been challenging to navigate. In fact, the mentor was the one who finally nixed their idea to seal the concrete dividing walls instead of accepting the added cost of shipping up liners from an American supplier. “We can pick up the phone and call him any time,” Paul says gratefully, acknowledging that there have been many times when they needed a sounding board. The red tape involved in their undertaking has seemed incredibly excessive. To begin with, it took three years just Continued on page 34 country-guide.ca 33
business
With a goal of 800 pounds a week, Paul (l), and son Brad are finding ready buyers in local markets. Says Paul: “No one says no.”
Continued from page 33 to get the government to list “Pacific White Shrimp” as a species to be grown in Ontario. Then they had to conduct a lengthy study that proved the saltwater species could not survive outside of the barn, for which, Tracy admits, they leaned heavily on the provincial aquaculture specialist, Steve Naylor. Then it took another year to get all the heating, aeration, and filtration equipment shipped across the border, in addition to ensuring they would also be permitted to ship up fish food. “We tried all over Canada to get somebody to make us feed, but we don’t use enough for them to want to do it,” Paul explains. “We were stressed out thinking, ‘are we going to get feed or not?’” Tracy adds. So it was a good day when the baby shrimp finally arrived from Florida. They come in batches of 11,000, each one the size of an eyelash. Their son, Brad, joins as we talk about the shipment, and then he’s quick to pull out his phone and show me pictures. Educated as a large-equipment mechanic but working just down the road at the local cheese factory, Brad details the type of pellets being fed at each life stage, and he talks of the critical levels of ammonia, nitrites, and oxygen that they test for three times daily, and how algae break down feed for the shrimp to consume. 34 country-guide.ca
There’s clearly a lot of science and technology to shrimp farming, and with half the facility’s 16-tank, 208,000-gallon capacity running at this stage, Paul and Tracy find it takes four to five hours a day for feedings and water sampling. But you’d never know Brad wasn’t there full time himself, and Tracy says that Brad is the one who makes climbing into murky pools of creepy-crawly creatures fun. “Someday, he’ll hopefully take over and we can retire,” Tracy muses, “but I don’t know when that’s going to be.” All three agree that it’s a much different way of raising livestock. One of the best parts is that the relationship between the algae and the shrimp, coupled with the need to recycle water for nutrient and heat retention purposes, means there is very little waste to handle. On the other hand, though, it’s nervewracking for all of them that the clay-based feed and the algae make it impossible to see the shrimp in the bottom of the holding tanks. “You can’t see them, so you don’t know what’s happening,” says Paul. “Our first crop was terrible, the second one will be much better, and the third one looks like, hopefully, we’re starting to get onto the right track.” But Paul says they’ve been assured this is just the nature of the business. The family tells me that when they shared their first harvest counts with Steve Naylor, he congratulated them for being honest, noting that if their first
report had been any better, he would have suspected them of plumping up their results. Further advice from Indiana was that it will be a full year before their water fully stabilizes and, until that happens, they won’t get a truly representative crop. Eventually, they tell me, they’ll be able to produce 800 lbs. of shrimp on a weekly basis, without even touching the two remaining empty barns. Not that they have any intention of retrofitting another building any time soon. After five years, the Cocchios insist they are focused on generating a return on the time and resources they have already invested, and Brad says the local food movement is creating an extremely favourable market. “There’s nowhere to get fresh shrimp,” Brad says. “It’s all imported.” Paul says before they ever spent a dollar on the barn, they conducted market research in the food retail business and received enthusiastic responses from potential buyers. During the fall prior to their first harvest, they had already received two inquiries from large food suppliers, and word of their first harvest has spread rapidly through the local community, resulting in regular calls and emails to the family about where people can go to start buying their shrimp. “Let me put it this way,” Paul offers, “no one says ‘no.’” CG March 31, 2015
THE ONTARIO AGROLOGIST A conversation with Karen Robinson, T.Ag. and an Independent Consulting Agrologist Q: Can you give a synopsis
something is probably going to just
of your career to date?
agree, and go from there. My purpose
Karen: About 30 years ago I moved
is to take a more objective view. I’m
to the Dehi area, in the tobacco sand
bound by a code of ethics and that
plains region of Norfolk County, to
relates to due diligence on my part,
work with producers there and with the
so it’s incumbent on me to do the
agricultural industry to look for potential
best job that I can for the client. As an
alternative crops. This continues to
accredited professional I’m obligated
be the ongoing focus of my career.
to look for gaps and potential flaws in
I received my T.Ag., or Technical Agrologist designation, in part through an associate agricultural diploma from University of Guelph, in part through
the project. Then it’s my job to inform the client and to help work to improve the process in order to make for a more successful overall project.
Maple sugar is a premium product so it has potential for profitability, and we
continuous learning in my work within
Q: How do you generate business
the industry and through my consulting
for yourself as an Independent
work, as well as through the courses and
Consulting Agrologist?
examinations provided by the OIA.
Karen: I work mostly with food crops and
years ago showing that we have more
Q: What does this T.Ag. designation
I’m always looking for that new Ontario
available trees here than in Quebec.
mean to you as a working professional?
crop. I look for something that can
I’ve sent out some samples to industry
be profitable, and fills a marketplace
sectors and there is interest from the
gap – something that meets needs in
beverage ice cream industries. And
the food industry and for consumers.
because the syrup used to make the
when you’re able to show credentialed
Q: Are you working on a project
sugar is lighter, the maple flavour can
qualifications, your clients and your
that you can discuss?
colleagues understand that you
Karen: Yes, a big project involves my
have a foundation of adequate
client Jakeman’s Maple Products in
training, and that you’ve invested
Woodstock, where we’re processing
your time to learn about the area
maple syrup into maple sugar. This
Karen: It seems that everyone working in a relatively specialized field today needs some kind of certification. So
that you’re working in, which shows a sense of responsibility on your part.
maple sugar product is an improvement over sweeteners currently on the market
have a market for it. From a capacity standpoint, the Ontario Maple Syrup Association conducted a study some
be increased or decreased to match the end product. We hope to have a maple sugar product out this fall. I’m very excited about this new ‘made in Ontario’ product and project. The Ontario Institute of Agrologists represents nearly 500 Professional
Q: What is a client’s expectation
which seem to be lacking nutrient
of a Consulting Agrologist?
value. For example, maple sugar has
Articling (A.Ag.) Agrologist
Karen: A client is looking for
more potassium than banana, while
members across Ontario’s
accountability from the person being
the more common sweeteners such
diverse agricultural industry. The
hired to do a job. When a client is
as cane and beet sugars are lacking
OIA is based in Guelph. For a
embarking on a project, that person
in potassium. In fact, studies have
current listing of OIA Members,
probably thinks that project is the
shown that most consumer sugars
events and information go to
best of its kind in the world. Now,
are inert of any nutrient value with
the website shown below.
someone who’s trying to sell that person
the exception of carbohydrate.
(P.Ag.), Technical (T.Ag.), and
www.oia.on.ca
CropsGuide
By Ralph Pearce, CG Production Editor
Silage populations get new look New research pinpoints the link between population in the field and quality in the barn he past 15 to 20 years have seen a tremendous evolution in corn breeding and trait development, from Bt and corn rootworm hybrids to stacked trait technologies, not to mention the adoption of multi-purpose hybrids. In that same time frame, however, there’s been a display of defiance from producers who demand a dedicated silage hybrid for their operations. The development of brown mid-rib (BMR) hybrids is just one indication of that specialization, much the same way some growers opt for identity-preserved (IP) soybeans versus glyphosate-tolerant varieties. That there is such a specific demand for silage hybrids only strengthens the resolve of certain companies to do more — not less — for silage research and breeding. Such is the case for DuPont Pioneer. Since 2012, the company has been refocusing its research on increased silage populations and the impact on milk production and feed quality. Most of that work has been carried out in New York state, plus some sites in Vermont. The 2014 growing season was the first year the same research was conducted in Ontario, specifically in the east. According to Paul Hermans, area agronomist for eastern Ontario and the Maritimes, and Martina Pfister, dairy specialist, the plan for 2015 is for Pioneer to expand beyond the 20 plots in eastern Ontario in 2014 and to have some farther south and west in the province, as well as in Quebec. Increasing plant population has been a primary step in pushing grain corn yield for the past decade, especially across the U.S. Midwest and into Ontario. Dr. Fred Below, corn physiologist from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, cites plant population as one of his “Seven Wonders” of corn yield, ranking fifth behind weather, nitrogen, hybrid selection and the previous crop. Seeding rates and
Figure 1: Silage Population Trials in Eastern Ontario, 2014 Plant populations (seeds/acre)
30,000-33,000
33,000-42,000
Silage yield (tons/acre)
23.27
24.00
Lbs. of milk/acre
28,181
29,100
% fibre digestibility
51.8
51.8
% starch
30.4
31.0
Source: DuPont Pioneer (Canada)
36 country-guide.ca
plants per acre have become integral terms in many discussions, from residue management to soil fertility levels, and from tillage practices to the development of markets for corn residue byproducts. But what’s integral to one facet of corn production may not have the same impact in another. Yield is seemingly all that matters in grain corn, so pushing higher plant densities translates to more bushels per acre. But milk production and digestibility are just as vital in silage hybrids. Indeed, to some producers, they’re more important. So driving higher plant populations must be tempered with the impact on the crop’s quality, and that’s not a linear relationship. “Sometimes you can have a hybrid that’s not the best from a grain standpoint, but we take a look and determine what silage characteristics it has, and whether it meets our criteria that would make it a good silage hybrid,” says Hermans, based in Richmond just southwest of Ottawa. “Then we make a recommendation to advance that product just for a silage-only type of hybrid.” Now, the milk-per-acre and milk-per-tonne calculations are also key determinants in silage trials. And Pfister agrees that what may look promising in a grain corn hybrid may not measure up in its value as a silage option. Starch content and digestibility for a dairy cow — and how those translate to milk production — also must be examined in higher population scenarios. “We have a calculator that determines what more starch is worth,” says Pfister, who’s based near Baltimore, Ont., north of Cobourg. “We’re feeding corn silage for the energy that’s going to help us make the milk. So in our case, we’d average around $10.61 worth of more starch per acre to make milk.” That $10.61 value is based on a corn price of US$4.50 per bushel.
Earlier U.S. research In the U.S., DuPont Pioneer has been researching different components of corn silage production for the past three years. Among the company’s trials, there has been research on plant population effects on corn silage yield (2013) and plant population effects on BMR silage yield and quality (2012 to 2013 and again in 2014). There were also general corn silage performance trials in New York and New England (2012 to 2014) and a variable-rate seeding trial to determine the effect on BMR silage yield, conducted on three fields in central New York in 2014. March 31, 2015
Crop Management In the three trials measuring silage yields and quality parameters, the first (plant population effects on corn silage yield — 2012 to 2013) saw five silage hybrids grown across different locations, with plots planted at 37,000 and 42,000 plants per acre. The results showed that increasing the population by 5,000 plants per acre increased yield without significantly affecting quality. The higher populations also tended to increase starch and neutral detergent fibre digestibility (NDFd), although not at significant levels in the latter. In the second study (plant population effects on BMR silage yield and quality), two silage hybrids were planted in seven locations (five in New York, two in Vermont) with three plant populations — 32,000, 36,000 and 40,000 plants per acre. This trial found that 36,000 plants per acre was optimal, primarily due to yield but also due to lodging potential, which was higher at 40,000. The starch percentage also appeared to peak at 36,000 while NDFd values did not show any significant difference. In the 2014 version of this same study, 10 locations with four hybrids and the same three plant populations were tested, with 36,000 again providing the best yield and standability scores. Of interest, three of the hybrids in 2014 had higher starch levels at 40,000 while only one appeared to peak at 36,000. Results for NDFd continued to hold to the previous tests.
In Eastern Ontario In the first year of Ontario-based research, planting populations consisted of two ranges — 30,000 to 33,000 and 33,000 to 42,000. Two BMR silage hybrids were used (P0783XR and P1180XR), and planted in strips a minimum of three rows wide, 500 feet long (versus the 2013 New York study that was planted to a minimum of six rows at 350 feet long). The Ontario results followed along the same lines as the U.S. results (see Figure 1): increasing plant populations into the 33,000 to 42,000 range increased yield 0.7 tons per acre, while starch increased 0.6 per cent. Using the corn price of US$4.50 per bushel, that equates to $10.61 per acre profit. As with the U.S. study results, pounds of milk per acre and NDFd in the eastern Ontario tests remained the same (no significant increase). The starch component actually defies previous studies, which indicated that starch may decrease with increased plant populations. Hermans notes that 50 per cent of dry matter from silage comes from the grain portion, so if there’s an increase in grain corn, the same thing should apply in silage, since higher yields mean more grain per acre. In the 2014 results, that is what actually happened. Starch content did increase with the plant population. All the more reason to continue testing in 2015, he adds. Pfister adds another consideration. “A lot of guys also think that if we make a higher population stand, we’re going to lose on digestibility, and yet there was no difference in fibre digestibility,” Pfister says. “I think the genetics have helped us accomplish this as well, but it’s nice to show producers that they don’t need to worry, and that the quality isn’t going to go down.”
Close to home The decision to engage growers to participate in this type of on-farm research comes not only from the perspective of “the more you know, the better you grow,” it’s also a reflection of the change that’s occurred in the seed trade. Gone are the days when seed companies recommended Canadian growers default to hybrids and varieties suited to the northern-tier states in the U.S. In the past 20 years, there’s been the growing recognition March 31, 2015
The trials done in Ontario on silage hybrid plant populations showed an increase in starch but no significant impact on digestibility. that Ontario, like all regions of Canada, is different. That’s part of Pioneer’s drive to see how silage hybrids respond to varying agronomic conditions, not just in eastern Ontario but into the southwest part of the province as well. Hermans and Pfister explain that some hybrids have a regional or even functional selectivity to their potential. Others may be rejected because of their susceptibility to disease, such as gibberella or northern leaf blight. Hermans points to recent efforts to develop a white mould-resistant soybean variety that’s suited to conditions in eastern Ontario. They’re trying to do much the same thing for silage hybrids. “We offer a lot of different hybrid options, and the motto we go with is ‘the right product for the right acre,’ and some growers want that dual-purpose, high-starch hybrid, and to get that it needs to be a good grain-yielding hybrid first,” says Pfister. “But then some growers want the milk per acre, so good quality but with lots of tonnage. Not everybody wants a tall, showy hybrid.” The two are also trying to encourage more growers to participate in these types of trials, especially on a local basis. It provides relevant data for Pioneer but it also helps the grower determine the best course of action on his or her farm based on soil type, rotations, tillage, fertility and weather conditions. “Every year your economics change,” says Hermans, pointing to the volatility of commodity prices. “You want to be financially productive, but without having your own information, you really can’t make that good decision. Either in populations or fungicides, as an industry or as growers, we have to do more of that.” CG country-guide.ca 37
CropsGuide
By Gord Leathers
Brain Plus computer Simulators are helping engineers finally figure out how best to get your brain and the tractor’s brain working together
At the University of Manitoba simulation lab, engineers explore how to get computers and farmers to communicate better.
t’s a good run with the tractor this time. The driver has no trouble piloting a straight line across the field, the machine is humming happily, and the display monitor confirms that all is well. The discs are cutting nicely through the field trash too, and the seed is getting dropped right on target. Then reality returns. The “tractor” stops, the room lights come up, and the driver steps out of the cab and into a small theatre that has a white curved screen where, only a few seconds ago, it had looked like there was a field. Behind the cab there’s another wall separating the theatre from a bank of computers where a group of grad students and technicians is tweaking the simula-
tion program that runs the on-board monitor as well as the projectors that cast the moving image of the field onto the screen. It’s the tractor simulator in the biosystems engineering department of the University of Manitoba. Unlike an airplane simulator where a pilot sits in a closed cockpit and looks into a landscape shown on the simulated windows, the operator sits in an actual tractor cab surrounded by a projected farmscape. The research job is to find the best way to divide the different tasks between the two operators — the human at the wheel and the computer in the wiring of the machine. There are some tasks that computers are really good at but, despite their growing power and capabilities, there are still jobs better suited to the human brain. This project is to look at what goes on during the seeding operation, strike the balance between who should look after what, and devise the best way for operator and machine to talk to each other. “Right now we’re looking at automating various subsystems,” explains Danny Mann, head of biosystems engineering. “We need to know what is the right level of automation that keeps the human in the control loop so that if a problem arises, the human can still get up to speed very quickly and know what to do to take the corrective action.” Farmers from a few generations back worked with a semi-autonomous machine called the horse that had a brain and a complex sensory system. A few thousand years of selective breeding gave us the draft model for pulling implements either by itself or in teams. It could be programmed with a few simple commands: go (giddy-up), stop (whoa), turn right (gee) or turn left (haw). An experienced horse could walk a reasonably straight line at a constant speed so it could pull a small seed drill up and down a field leaving the farmer to manage the drill and make the occasional correction. The farmer would take over on the big turns and get the drill oriented along the line again. With the development of the tractor, the farmer had complete control of speed and direction. Today’s modern machines can haul big, wide implements up and down enormous acreages with no breaks for feed and water.
Continued on page 40 38 country-guide.ca
March 31, 2015
See the lAteSt in the FielD
Welcome to Ag in Motion – Western Canada’s only outdoor farm expo! 16
LANGHAM
SASKATOON
July 21 – 23, 2015
15 min. NW of Saskatoon
Join us at Ag in Motion – the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with today’s agricultural technology. Experience live demonstrations of field equipment, crops, livestock and services all together on 320 acres near Saskatoon. Come to the farm show where there’s room to see it all – and how it all fits together.
™
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tOUCh Innovation
™ Denotes a trade-mark of Canada’s Outdoor Shows Limited Partnership.
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www.aginmotion.ca
CropsGuide
Computers are great at repetitive functions, but humans outscore them for agility and adaptability. For engineer Danny Mann, the challenge is to mesh the two brains so one plus one equals three
Continued from page 38 One problem for operators of these larger and faster machines, however, is dealing with huge amounts of information coming in from all corners. Unless you have another set of eyes set in remote places, you can’t see trouble coming or react to it when it gets there. With myriad small procedures making up the seeding operation, we now need to split these assignments between the machine’s electronic silicon brain and the operator’s organic wet one. “A computer is very good at doing routine or mundane tasks,” Mann says. “We’ve talked about auto steer where we’re using GPS so we can program in the width of the machine and the boundaries of the field. The auto steer gets the information from the GPS satellites, does quick calculations and decides whether to turn the steering wheel three degrees to the left or five degrees to the right. It can be doing that same calculation once every millisecond.” 40 country-guide.ca
The human, on the other hand, is more instantly adaptable. Computers require programming, which means you’re presenting a series of logical rules that the computer must follow. For example, you can program a computer to recognize a coffee cup and then program it to fill the cup if it’s empty. Computers are binary creatures. The program has to give them a choice of one action or another because they can’t handle any more then two options at a time. This is called binary logic based on an IF/THEN/ELSE scenario. You tell the computer: IF you see a 10-ounce container with a handle on the side and it is empty THEN you pick it up and fill it with nine ounces of coffee ELSE ignore it and move to the next object. Problems arise when the task becomes somewhat more complicated, for instance if the light changes. When the shadows change, the computer sees a different shape. A human still knows it’s a coffee cup but the different shadow completely bamboozles the computer. March 31, 2015
new in machinery
“It’s only one tiny little piece of information that has changed but it can no longer function to deal with it,” Mann explains. “Whereas we human beings have that ability to say that we now have one extra piece of information, but it’s irrelevant. I’m just going to ignore it and I’m going to pick up the coffee cup.” That’s why the auto steer moves the machine down a perfectly straight line according to information provided by the GPS, but the human operator still has to take the wheel for the wide turns at the edge of the field. The human knows there’s a ditch with a barbed wire fence there and has the eyeball judgment to know where to start the turn to avoid them. It’s a good way to make use of the strengths of both brains. The computer’s precision makes a straight line with no overlap while the human’s flexibility negotiates the obstacles. The first step in this is to break down the operation into its distinct tasks. “There are about seven different subsystems on an air seeder system that we can look at,” Mann says. “We can choose to automate one of them and compare it with automating another and see how this influences overall system efficiency.” What they’re really looking at right now is how a machine equipped with sensors can monitor these different subsystems and keep the operator informed through the on-board display screen. They’re also working on an efficient way to get machine and operator to communicate with each other. The computer tells the operator what it knows by showing it on the screen, but we don’t want to overwhelm a human with too much information coming too fast. The operator also has to tell the computer what to do through some kind of input device. “I have to use the keyboard or mouse to tell my laptop what to do and I get information back from my laptop via the screen,” Mann says. “It depends on the layout of the icons and how that is all arranged that defines how efficiently the computer communicates with me. That’s the same type
of approach that we’ve been trying for designing an integrated air seed display for that system.” So the computer gathers data from the different sensors and then relays information to the monitor. The next question for the simulator is how the monitor should display it so that the operator can make sense of it. There’s a fine line sometimes between sending enough information and sending too much. It’s up to the people working in the simulator to find out that balance. “For example, we have the parameter for the seeding depth and a red flashing light that informs me there’s a problem and I have to make the necessary correction,” Mann says. “We could have a very low level of automation for any one of those subsystems where you have a sensor that detects a problem and it simply alerts a driver that there’s something wrong.” From there we can test increasing levels of automation where a computer with greater processing power can deliver a detailed analysis of what’s tripping the warning light. A more advanced system could automatically make the correction and deliver an onscreen message explaining what it’s doing and how it’s adjusting the seeding depth. Computer technology marches on and we’ll continue to develop smaller computers with greater processing power. Along with that we’re developing a variety of sensors that can feed more and more detailed information into a machine’s brain. Ultimately we will have machines that can go to work while the farmer stays home and watches through his laptop working on some accounting spreadsheets. What may be satisfying to some of the oldschool operators out there is the real goal of machine programming. The greatest success will be measured in how much the on-board computer will behave like a really competent human operator. After all, it’s still an experienced human mind that programs that computer, and a human hand that tests the program in a mounted tractor cab. CG
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2015-02-27 10:53 AM
CropsGuide
By Gord Leathers
here come the robots Robotic tractors are already in advanced field tests, and the results are producing great optimism
Robotic grain carts are just the first wave of a new generation of robotic farm applications.
hil Jennings of Kinze Manufacturing gets a big kick out of riding in their modified tractor when it’s hauling one of their grain carts during a real Iowa harvest. When the call goes out for the cart, the tractor starts chugging across the field to where the combine is working. Jennings just sits there and doesn’t even set a hand on the steering wheel. The tractor is autonomous. Guided by a computer, it sets off after the combine and runs the cart under the auger while the big harvester empties its hopper. “I’ll tell you,” Jennings laughs, “it’s fun to sit in the cab when you know you don’t have to touch anything, and to see if it reacts the same way you would if you were the operator, or some of the ways it reacts differently. It’s been neat to see the system’s ability to do that.” Jennings is the service manager for Kinze at its factory in Williamsburg, Iowa. There, the company has been working with Jaybridge Robotics of Cambridge, Mass. to integrate more capability into farm machinery. Its first major project is the autonomous tractor and grain cart. Ever since the development of auto steer, there’s been a concerted effort to get farm machines to do more and more. Now, a number of factors have
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come together to help make this possible. Computers are smaller, cheaper and more powerful than ever. Navigating technology and geographic information systems such as GPS are more accessible and, while farms and machines get larger, the labour pool available to run them gets smaller. As well, farm operations such as seeding and harvest are highly time sensitive, so expenditures to improve logistics could pay off handsomely. “If the guy who we need to run that extra piece of equipment or run that grain cart is not readily available, that labour is at a premium,” Jennings says. “Without that grain cart, I lose the efficiency of my combine and that’s really where your return on investment is going to be, not specifically in a paycheque for a person but in the efficiency of the harvest by keeping the combine moving.” That’s why Kinze made its first demonstration video with a driverless tractor suddenly sputtering to life all on its own and scampering out over the field to meet a moving combine. The tractor manoeuvres alongside, places the cart directly under the auger, and a torrent of corn starts pouring out. Just after the four-minute mark, the real show begins as the combine goes into a series of tight turns in several different directions. In a strange ballet, the tractor matches the combine step for step and keeps the cart perfectly positioned right under the spout of the auger. Not one kernel of corn hits the ground, no matter how wildly the combine steers. “We give that tractor its own vision from sensors all around it — and inside the combine there is a tablet,” Jennings says. “Essentially the combine operator still orchestrates that part of the operation, and all of its cues as to what it should be doing still come from the combine.” The combine is the heart of the system and the driver possesses the brain, so it’s still a human being making the decisions and directing the operation. The tablet in the cab has a map of the field with all the different obstacles placed in position and this is transmitted to the tractor. It knows, according to the map, where the crop has been cut and where it’s still standing. It’s aware of tile outlets or any other structures in the field. The operator has the advantage of the high seat and, if unmapped obstacles appear, they can feed new information into the tablet while driving the combine. “The push of the touch screen can enter any other obstacles,” Jennings says. “If you want to make sure that it goes around a creek or a ravine or something, you can just draw around it with your fingers like March 31, 2015
New in Machinery finger paint on the screen. You can say go here but don’t go there.” The other thing an operator can do is tell the tractor to idle and stand where it is while the combine makes another pass around the crop. At the push of the screen button, the tractor will start up again and catch the combine. “When the combine operator says, ‘Hey, I’m on a nice, fairly straight stretch and I’ve got two-thirds of a tank and I want to get it emptied,’ they can press a single push button that says, ‘Unload,’ and it will come up, pull around the side and sync with the speed and distance as well as front to back. The combine can dump the grain on the go.” To fine tune the system even more, the tractor has a series of on-board sensors that also feed information into its own computer. There are cameras mounted on strategic points in front, behind and off to the sides. If it stops, it feeds real-time video into the combine’s tablet so the operator can see why the tractor isn’t moving. If there’s an obstacle not entered into the tablet, the tractor will spot it with its own set of eyes. The tractor is fitted with a radar system that sends pulses of radio waves out and measures what bounces back. Radar can see metallic things like other machines or equipment, as well as anything containing water. Since living things, such as wildlife, livestock or people are largely water, the radar can see them and the computer tells the tractor to act accordingly. Radar can’t see wood or plastic so fence posts or PVC pipe might go unnoticed if it weren’t for another set of eyes called lidar. Lidar is a laser beam that will register objects that radar can’t, so the tractor can see just about anything that might be in that field. It also has an inertial measurement and GPS unit that uses satellite information, accelerometers and gyroscopes to tell the tractor what direction it’s going in and how fast. All this information is fed into that on-board computer which is “ruggedized” in order to withstand the jarring a tractor takes as it moves up and down a farm field. The computer calculates the tractor’s speed and direction as well as noting its surroundings. Since computers work as fast as they do, it can turn with the combine almost perfectly. Once it’s full it can be dispatched back to its starting point where a truck March 31, 2015
With so many farm operations being so time sensitive, and with farm labour so hard to find, it makes economic sense to take a hard look at robots
driver climbs into the tractor cab and unloads it into a truck. “The other thing is that the system is always running in a safe mode and what that means is that if there’s ever any question whether it’s a distance from an object or if one of the sending units reads something that it doesn’t like or isn’t expected or normal, it shuts down,” Jennings says. “There’s also a number of different manual safety devices on the exterior so that if you’re in and out of the vehicle to load the truck or you’re on the road or something, whenever you roll the steps down to climb into it, it’s in manual mode and it can’t be taken out.” There are visions of the future where farm machines programmed for com-
plex tasks could work on their own without a human operator in the cab. There’s no denying that other operations such as swathing or seeding are a lot more complicated and will require a great deal more study. The grain cart was one of the simpler operations and a good place to start. “The autonomous grain cart that we’re doing today has a relatively low input from an operator’s standpoint,” Jennings says. “As we look at machine functionality we’ll just grow on that and be able to add additional functionality for other machine types.” If you want to have a look at the autonomous tractor and grain cart you can see YouTube video at: www.youtube. com/watch?v=nj_EYZeSkhM. CG
How a drone tractor works Iowa-based Kinze Manufacturing Inc. has partnered with Jaybridge Robotics of Massachusetts to develop an autonomous agricultural equipment system. The system is designed to increase productivity, reduce input costs, and operate safely and efficiently. The system’s components include:
Sources: Jaybridge Robotics; Kinze Manufacturing. Inc.; Capital Press research; Alan Kenagai, Capital Press
country-guide.ca 43
CropsGuide # PestPatrol
with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
ave a question you want answered? H Hashtag #PestPatrol on twitter.com to @cowbrough or email Mike at mike.cowbrough@ontario.ca.
Get ready for white mould n 2014, we saw a lot of white mould in the Ontario soybean crop, so I asked Albert Tenuta, our provincial field crops pathologist (@alberttenuta) for the best way to minimize this disease for 2015 and beyond.
Figure 1 A soybean field in August showing significant white mould damage. Figure 2 Sclerotia in the soil will produce mushroom-like structures called apothecia that eject spores onto the soybean plant. Figure 3 After the spores inoculate the plant, the fungal pathogen grows and consumes plant nutrients, which cause the stems to girdle. This kills any plant tissue above and results in injury as shown in Figure 1.
Factors Favouring White Mould 1. High yield potential crop/field 2. Field history of white mould 3. Susceptible variety 4. Short soybean rotation 5. Dense canopy — high plant population, narrow rows and early planting 6. Poor weed control (which provides hosts) 7. In-season weather conditions — cool and moist are favourable for white mould
IPM for White Mould Management 1. Keep good field records of disease levels 2. Variety selection a. Best available level of tolerance b. Appropriate maturity c. Upright, non-bushy with good lodging tolerance 3. Cultural practices such as: a. Reduce plant populations and increase row width b. Rotate with non-host crops (two to three years of non-hosts such as corn and wheat) c. Reduce tillage but avoid soybeans on soybeans, which creates a high-risk situation 4. Fungicides — target fields at risk (above) a. Many chemical/biological options b. Proper timing and coverage critical — first spray at R1 (first flower) with second application at R3 (pod forming) if necessary
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Figure 4 The black sclerotia, as seen here attached to a soybean seed within the pod, which when reintroduced to the soil will start its life cycle all over again. 44 country-guide.ca
March 31, 2015
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HR
What is success? We invest a lot in the idea of success, but we often take more time to plan a vacation than to plan our lives By Pierrette Desrosiers, psychologist and coach e all want to succeed in life. But how do we define success? Success in your personal life is connected to success in your business, and vice versa. It’s like having two containers that are connected together. Each one influences the other. It’s hard to be energetic when you are haunted by negative emotions. It is also difficult to have positive relationships if you are constantly upset. We only have a certain amount of energy. If we spend it on things that we can’t control, we can’t devote that energy to other people or projects. Every minute spent on something is a minute lost. You don’t have the luxury of spending your time and energy everywhere and anywhere. Therefore, our lack of energy, internal dilemmas and unsolved conflicts will affect our ability to make good decisions. It will affect our productivity too, and ultimately it will affect our ability to be successful in life. Indeed, the discipline to define success and to spend your energy wisely is even more important because you set the tone in your circles of influence. According to some experts, six characteristics are the foundation for success in your life. As you develop these characteristics for success in your own life, you will also influence your team and family. 1. Peace of mind, which involves freedom from anger, resentment, anxiety, hopelessness, shame and guilt. As a leader, remember that your emotions are highly contagious. You have a great impact on your team. Be sure to manage your emotions first. Inspire them. Be positively contagious. 2. A high level of energy and health, which involves feeling that your body is in harmony with your spirit, and having the energy to invest in your goals. As a leader, you are a model. So be aware and encourage your team to adopt healthy habits. Everyone will win. 3. Positive relationships, which involve developing and maintaining meaningful, positive and mature relationships with others. Leaders make positive environments a priority. Conflicts affect the wellbeing and productivity of everyone. 4. Financial independence, which involves not feeling constantly worried about money, and also involves forming the right financial habits to feel safe and meet your needs. Your employees should also be able to meet their basic needs. 5. Goals and ideals which are demanding and chal46 country-guide.ca
lenging and give you a reason to get up in the morning and a place for you to invest your energy, time and money. Are you and your team stimulated by your responsibilities? 6. S elf-actualization, which involves feeling that you are reaching your potential, and that you are expressing and activating all your capacities. As a leader, try to set the conditions so that everyone is in the right place, “the good seed in the right soil.” Do we need to have all of these characteristics to feel successful in life? Of course not. But the more we have, the more we benefit. We should not see these ideas as fully absent or present in our lives, but rather on a continuum. We can also see that we have great influence on the degree to which we exhibit these characteristics. For example, it’s up to us to stop maintaining self-hatred. And this is also true for the rest of our emotions. We cannot control certain events in life, but we do have the power to choose our reactions. It is also up to us to make choices about our lifestyle, including diet, sleep and exercise. We can also make choices with the financial resources available, even if they are sometimes limited. Finally, we can set goals and objectives that are stimulating and constructive. We must take the time to look at the resources we have and define what are realistic goals that suit us in different spheres of our lives (relationships, personal, family, business...). How can we achieve this? Here are some tips: sharpen your sense of observation, be realistic about who you are now, have a clear picture of who you want to be, and understand that your actions, thoughts and feelings help or hinder your success. Remember, as a leader, you can’t work directly on those six characteristics for others, but you can set work conditions that will influence them. Moreover, you are a model, like it or not. So remember that the way you act and react, and what you choose to do or not do and to say or not say will influence others. You can’t control anyone, but you can inspire many. It’s up to you. CG Pierrette Desrosiers, MPS, CRHA is a work psychologist, professional speaker, coach and author who specializes in the agricultural industry. She comes from a family of farmers and she and her husband have farmed for more than 25 years ( www.pierrettedesrosiers.com ). Contact her at pierrette@pierrettedesrosiers.com. March 31, 2015
h e a lt h
Topical corticosteroids — use them wisely By Marie Berry
teroids in the body are normally produced by your pituitary gland and regulate your body’s growth and functioning. They have a common carbon-based structure and range from substances like estrogen and testosterone to cortisol and prednisone. First identified in the late 1850s, oral formulations were developed by 1933 and topical versions by 1973. Topical corticosteroids are applied directly to the skin where they reduce skin redness, swelling and inflammation. The mechanism of action involves blocking inflammatory substances, constricting the small blood vessels or capillaries in your skin, and affecting the immune system. As you can imagine, they are ideal for skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and even poison ivy.
Topical corticosteroids can help your skin, but so can some non-drug measures Topical corticosteroids are available as ointments, creams and lotions. Ointment bases are greasy and remain on your skin the longest, making them more potent. They are best for dry, scaly skin, such as psoriasis. Cream and lotion bases contain more water, meaning they are easier to remove and less potent. Creams are best for weeping skin lesions, and lotions are ideal for hairy areas like your scalp. Occluding the application site with plastic film or even wearing gloves or socks will keep the steroid ingredient in contact with your skin longer. However, you should never do this unless it has been recommended. You need to use topical corticosteroids wisely. You don’t want to apply them to skin that is infected or has open wounds. Skin areas that are tender such as the face, genitalia, or even young children’s softer, thinner skin should be avoided. Wash your hands before and after application and, of course, avoid your eyes and mouth. If your skin is wet, the steroid will penetrate deeper into it than if it is dry.
Often people don’t know how much to apply. Only a thin film is needed. One “fingertipful” will cover both sides of your hand. The usual application recommendation is twice daily, but recent research shows that once-a-day application is just as effective because the steroid remains in a reservoir in the skin. Applying these products in the same direction that your hair grows has been shown to not only be easier, but it also achieves better results. Overuse or application to more delicate skin can result in thinning skin with a “stretch marklike” appearance. This is the tachyphylaxis reaction. Ideally, you want to apply a topical corticosteroid for no more than one or two weeks at a time, giving your skin a drug holiday in between. You should see your skin condition improve within a week, but if you don’t or if it worsens, you need to stop the topical corticosteroid and get your skin condition checked. The topical corticosteroids are classified according to potency with several of the mildest being available without a prescription. Clobetasol is superpotent and often used in chronic skin conditions like psoriasis. Betamethasone is a midstrength type, which means it is used in a wide variety of inflammatory skin conditions. Clobetasone and hydrocortisone are milder options and do not require a prescription, but remember to consult your pharmacist about your skin symptoms before you purchase them as your symptoms could be something else entirely! If your skin is itchy, red and inflamed, topical corticosteroids will certainly help, but sometimes common-sense measures may work as well. They may even augment the treatment. Check for any environmental factors such as dust mites or pet dander that may be causing your rash. Wear gloves when doing tasks like washing dishes that can damage your skin. Moisturize dry skin to keep it healthy and less prone to damage, and avoid perfumed products because the additives can cause skin reactions. Marie Berry is a lawyer/pharmacist interested in health and education.
Hearing loss can be so gradual that you may not notice it, until you realize that you are missing whole conversations. Older age and a history of working around loud noises are often causes of hearing loss, but drugs can sometimes be involved. Next month, we’ll look at some causes of hearing loss and even some drugs that may diminish it.
March 31, 2015
country-guide.ca 47
life
When things get busy… keep your sanity! How do you manage today’s increased workload without hitting the red zone? By Helen Lammers-Helps rowing up on a farm in upstate New York, Julie Gray thought she was learning lessons that she could share with executives and entrepreneurs in virtually every other line of business. It turns out she was learning lessons that today’s farmers need to learn too. From her office near Washington, D.C., Gray is now an internationally recognized time coach, with clients all over the world, including Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Most come to her feeling overwhelmed and close to burnout. Sometimes, her advice is highly practical. Among Gray’s first questions for clients, for instance, is to ask how much sleep they get. “You’re going to feel disorganized if you are not getting enough sleep,” she explains. While our natural tendency is to steal from our sleep hours in order to add more work hours to our day, sometimes the cure for not having enough time is to take a bit of time off. As counterintuitive as it sounds, productivity research shows the importance of taking breaks, says Gray. Giving yourself permission to “be off” at times through your day will go a long way to restoring your focus and energy. Another problem she sees frequently is people who are trying to hold too much information in their heads. You need to build a system to get the information out of your head and into a notebook or phone app, she says. The important thing is to find systems that work for you. We all have different strengths and our brains work in different ways, she says. But time management is also a sophisticated science. Not all generic time management information
Gray’s resources For her own de-stressing, time coach Julie Gray likes www.calm.com. Her favourite book is the Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. At Gray’s website www.profound-impact.com you’ll find tons of time management information, including a Time Type Finder that will help you identify your time management gifts and challenges while providing strategies for working more efficiently.
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will apply to every individual or circumstance. Nor will all time coaches recommend the same strategies. For example, some time management experts are adamant that you should never touch a piece of paper or read an email more than once. Gray says the problem with that is that it can backfire, because some people will become paralyzed by the extra pressure they perceive with this approach. To find strategies that work for you, Gray recommends that when you read a piece of time management advice that resonates with you, “Try it out. Experiment with it. Notice what works for you and what doesn’t. Tweak it from there.” Gray also emphasizes the importance of thinking in terms of holistic time management. Your best success will come if you balance your mental, physical, spiritual and emotional needs. As the pace of life speeds up, it is increasingly common for more and more distractions to pervade our day, sapping our brain’s energy and leaving us exhausted, whether those distractions are technological or otherwise. Gray is a big believer in unplugging for one hour each day while you focus on what you really need to accomplish. Take five minutes at the start of every morning to get clear on your three biggest priorities for the day, she says. Email has become ubiquitous in business communications and can be both a time saver and a time waster. On the plus side, you have more control over your time with email. You can answer emails whenever suits you and you can avoid playing phone tag. Bruce Court, owner of Court Farms near Courtland, Ont. says communicating via email and text messages frees up a lot of time. This is especially good if it is just a quick question, he says. “There is less small talk,” he says. The other advantage is that you have a record of what happened during the day and can look back and see if there is anything you need to do when you get back to the office. Rhonda Driediger, owner of Driediger Farms and Blueridge Produce in Langley, B.C. agrees. She says her iPad and iPhone are her most important timesaving devices. “I have switched most of my customers over to texting or email so I no longer have to answer the phone day and night.” March 31, 2015
On the downside, if we’re not careful, email can gobble up hours every day while not really accomplishing much. You may not even be aware of how much time gets wasted. For example, if you get 100 emails in a day and you spend 30 seconds reading each one, that’s almost an hour spent just reading emails. And then if you spend 10 minutes answering even five of them, that’s another 50 minutes. In total, that’s 100 minutes, more than an hour and a half, spent on email. By the end of the week, you’ve spent almost a whole day emailing. This underscores the need to use email efficiently. Don’t “cc” people who don’t really need to know. Unsubscribe from email lists that aren’t useful (or use a separate email address so you can more easily choose a different time to read them). Pick up the phone if it will be faster than writing a long email or a series of emails. And if it’s a sensitive topic, be aware that it is difficult to convey emotion in an email. Some discussions are better done in person or by phone. Gray also recommends processing email in batches. It’s more efficient to set aside small chunks of time to deal with email rather than jumping back and forth between tasks, she explains. Many of us sit down to read our emails first thing in the morning, yet time management experts are dead set against this. They say this time of day should be reserved for the tasks that are most important and valuable to you. Often they recommend getting the jobs you really dislike out of the way while you are still fresh. Sharing the workload is another important time management strategy. “Farmers need to move away from the ‘I might as well do it myself’ mantra and work instead to identify what skilled employees can bring to their operation,” emphasizes Driediger. “Now that we have several full-time skilled staff members, I am free to do more business development that focuses on improving our bottom line.” Gray also advises looking for opportunities to outsource jobs that aren’t a good use of your time. Housecleaning, mowing the lawn, and cooking are jobs that could be given to others. There are also virtual and personal assistants that can be hired to help out. With the cost of technology always coming down in price, what technologies could you use to save time? Driediger installed cameras throughout her facilities so she can answer questions without having to track down an employee for an answer. With the cameras she can see whether trucks have arrived, how much fruit is in the cooler to be packed or shipped, etc. Court says auto steer and a smartphone have made it a lot easier for him to stay in touch during the day by answering text messages, emails and phone calls on the go. While it’s important to make sure that field equipment is ready to go for the planting season, Court makes sure he is ready to go too. He tries to schedule all of his meetings, licensing courses, and appointments with doctors and dentists during the winter months so there isn’t anything that gets in the way during the busy seasons. “Otherwise,” he says, “it never fails that those things happen on the nicest harvest and planting days. CG March 31, 2015
“Gossip about me is all over town. What people are saying is not true.” Rumours abounded about a man I knew. The stories, all based on hearsay, were magnified as they moved from coffee shop to curling rink, and along the party line. The man was bewildered and hurt. The rumours reached the church hall. People would lower their voices and ask, “Have you heard about… ?” The gossip did not seem plausible. I had known the man for a few years. Admittedly, I did not know him well. He had come to church a few times. The rumours did not equate with what I knew about him. He phoned and asked to meet. I assured him I would try to determine why ugly accusations about him were circulating. A few phone calls and street corner conversations produced an explanation. Another man from a nearby town had a similar name. The other man was charged with a crime and his name appeared in a big-city newspaper. People misread the article and jumped to erroneous conclusions. Tongues began to wag and the rumours ballooned. The wrong man’s reputation was on the line. I was reminded of a campfire skit from summer camp. Some 10 or 20 campers are lined up. A leader whispers in the ear of the first person. The message is whispered to the next person and passed down the line. What emerges from the last person’s lips invariably bears little resemblance to the first message. James, a writer in the Bible wrote about the viciousness of slander. He uses colourful language to describe the hurt caused by gossip. “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire… but no one can tame the tongue — a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” A man had a reputation as the village gossip. He loved to spread false rumours about his neighbours. People were getting hurt. The rabbi was asked if he would speak to the man. The rabbi knew that quoting the Bible, or preaching, would not solve the problem. The next time the religious leader met the master of gossip he said, “I have a task for you. I would like you to gather a sack of feathers and place a single feather on the doorstep of each house in the village. When you have finished come back to me.” The man did as requested and soon returned to the rabbi to announce that the task was complete. “Now,” the rabbi said, “I want you to go back and collect all the feathers.” “But Rabbi,” the man protested, “the feathers will be impossible to collect. The wind will have blown them away.” “So it is with the lies we tell about our neighbours,” the rabbi said. “They can never be retrieved. They are like feathers in the wind.” Betty, the town gossip and self-appointed supervisor of the town’s morals, kept sticking her nose into other people’s business. Most local residents were unappreciative of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake when she accused Ted, a local man, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked outside the town’s only bar one afternoon. Ted, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and walked away. Later that evening, he parked his pickup truck in front of her house and left it there all night. Suggested Scripture: Proverbs 11:9-13, Ephesians 4:25-5:2 Rod Andrews is a retired Anglican bishop. He lives in Saskatoon. country-guide.ca 49
acres
By Leeann Minogue
Ouch!!!... Now the Hansons really need help The question is, is Elaine’s idea for finding that help as harebrained as one person in particular seems to think? hanks, Elaine,” Donna said, watching her daughter-in-law clear the supper table while Elaine’s son Connor wandered off to play and the baby napped in the corner. “You two need all the help you can get,” Elaine laughed, looking at Donna’s casted foot resting on a flowered pillow. Dale hadn’t wanted to say, “I told you so,” when his wife flew home from Peru, exhausted, with her broken ankle in a cast. But when he saw how much pain she was in, he wished he’d never let her go away without him. This would never have happened if he hadn’t been so stubborn and had just gone on vacation with her like she’d asked him to do, he thought. But instead of saying all that, he’d accidently led with, “I don’t want to say, ‘I told you so,’” while he was pulling her luggage off the carousel. Donna insisted that Peru had been perfectly safe. She’d broken her ankle tripping in a muddy parking lot. “It was the kind of silly accident that could happen just as easily on the farm,” she said. “Well, it didn’t,” Dale said. But then, the very next morning, after he’d insisted on helping Donna get dressed, Dale had an accident of his own right out in the yard. Luckily, Dale and Jeff had been working together to change 50 country-guide.ca
the tank lid seals on the air cart, so Jeff had been there to drive Dale to the hospital when Dale slipped off the top platform and flailed down to the ground. “At least it’s my left ankle,” Dale said when he limped into the house. “I can still drive.” “I don’t want to say, ‘I told you so… ,’” Donna had begun. “Then don’t!” Dale said. That night, Jeff and Elaine had come over with the kids and a casserole to share dinner with Dale and Donna, and to talk about their plans to hire someone to work on the farm for the summer. “It’s a good time for you to be out of commission, Dad,” Jeff said. “Damn road bans. I’ve got three guys waiting to clean seed, and I wanted to get that fertilizer picked up.” The phone rang and Jeff got up to answer it. “That’ll be Grandpa. I said we’d put him on the speakerphone while we decide who to hire.” Jeff passed the phone to Dale, who made small talk with Ed about life in Arizona while Jeff put the office phone on the table and figured out how to set it to speakerphone. Finally, they could hear Ed. “Did you see my photos? Helen dragged me into a hot air balloon,” Ed said. “For someone who once went 17 years without a day off, you’re really living the life, Dad,” Dale said. March 31, 2015
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“Let’s get to work,” Donna said. “Jeff, did anyone answer your ad?” After the Hansons decided to hire farm help, Jeff had advertised in the local paper and on a couple of Internet sites. “There’s 18,” Jeff said. “If you count the guy who wants to know if we’d let him work here while he collects EI. And the woman from Thailand who’s never been on a farm, but wants to move here. Once I narrowed it down, there’s three we could hire.” “You know any of them?” Ed asked. “One,” Jeff said. “Alan Chambers, from down by Estevan.” “I knew his granddad,” Ed said. “That guy knew less about farming than the neighbour’s cat. Next.” “Slow down, Ed,” Elaine said. “I’ve been reading some articles.” “Oh, here we go,” Ed said. Elaine’s husband defended her. “This is how businesses operate these days, Grandpa.” They heard Ed snort in the background. “Here’s a good one,” Elaine said, passing out photocopies of an article to Dale, Donna and Jeff. “Sorry you can’t see this Ed.” “I’ll get by,” Ed replied. “See the first thing on the list?” Elaine asked. “Develop a job description.” “Oh boy,” Ed said. Then they heard his muffled voice call into the background. “Helen, can you get me a drink?” “I know this isn’t the way you usually do things around here,” Elaine said. “So I started with a draft. Jeff helped out.” She passed copies of another sheet of paper around the table, looking at each of them hopefully. “It’s just a first draft. We can make changes.” “Job description?” Ed said. “This oughta be good.” Dale and Donna looked over the list while Jeff went to the kitchen for the coffee pot to refill everyone’s mugs. “Well?” Ed asked. “What’s it say?” Dale read aloud from Elaine’s list. “Operating machinery. Often working alone. Basic machinery maintenance. Some manual labour.” Ed snorted again. “You don’t know what he’s going to be doing. What if we need him to go to town for parts? Or pull someone out of a muddy field? “It doesn’t have to include everything,” Elaine said. “It’s just a guideline.” “Here’s a guideline,” Ed said. “Just have the list say, ‘Don’t be an idiot.’” Elaine went on, undaunted, handing out more paper. “I’ve also made a list of the qualities we’d like to see in an employee.” Then she pointed. “See? It’s the next item in the article.” March 31, 2015
Dale read aloud from the new sheet. “Mechanical ability… Shows initiative… Responsible...” “This is crazy,” Ed said. “I’d never have gotten a job if everybody had a list like that.” “Besides this farm, did you ever have a job?” Elaine asked. “Well… no,” Ed said. “That’s a good point,” Donna said, looking at Dale. “I guess the kids know more about what goes on in the workplace these days than we do. Do you have resumés from the three you’re looking at?” “Resumés?” Ed said. “Best trucker I ever met could barely sign his name, let alone write a resumé. Why don’t we just have them all come out to the farm and show us how well they can back up the rock picker?” “That’s not a bad idea,” Dale said.
“ Here’s a guideline,” Ed said. “Just have the list say, ‘Don’t be an idiot.’” Elaine went on undaunted “We have their resumés,” Elaine said. “All three look good.” “So should we set up interviews?” Donna asked. “Yes,” Elaine said. “Once we agree on the list of things we want, that’s the next step.” “Could we set it up next week?” Donna asked. “I don’t know if you need me there, but you and Jeff and Dale should all make time for this.” “You’ll have to do it without me,” Ed said. “Unless you want to send me videos of these guys backing up the rock picker.” “One’s a woman,” Elaine said, knowing it would egg him on. “Oh geez,” said Ed. “I’d better get home.” After Ed had hung up and Elaine and Jeff had cleaned up and gone home, Dale and Donna picked up their crutches and tottered to the living room. “Guess you were right,” Dale said, looking at his foot. “This could happen anywhere.” “That’s nice to hear, but I am sorry you’re hurt,” Donna smiled. “Do you think all these articles and resumés are going to get us a better hired man?” Dale asked. “Hired person,” Donna said. “Whatever.” “I don’t know,” Donna said. “But we might as well give it a try.” Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews, a playwright and part of a family grain farm in southeastern Saskatchewan. country-guide.ca 51
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