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December 2015 $3.50

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Kelly Dobson finds a path to manage better

PG. 14

CROPS GUIDE Learn from 2015, plan for ’16 • Crops • Diseases • Insects

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Contents

DECEMBER 2015

BUSINESS 10 MARKET NOISE

Could we see a Lehman Brothers-style collapse in grain markets? We ask market analyst to scope out the risks in the Glencore rumours.

18 4 WAYS TO STRUCTURE DIVERSIFICATION

Before rolling your new enterprise into your current farm business, our Maggie Van Camp helps you sort out what business structure will be best down the road.

22 AFTER IT WENT VIRAL

What it’s like to be the farm attacked by animal rightists and their video cameras? Even after a year and a half, dairy farmer Jeff Kooyman has difficult memories.

26 the QUALITY REVOLUTION

Business has changed. You can’t just build a tractor the way you used to. Farmers won’t let you.

36 A MILLION WOMEN FARMERS

In this exclusive interview, USDA deputy secretary Krysta Harden tells us there have always been lots of women farmers. We just haven’t counted them… or valued them enough.

42 THE GREAT DEBATE of our lives

Columnist Gerald Pilger plants GMO seed on his own farm but is alarmed by how little attention agriculture seems to be paying to consumers’ GMO concerns.

46 Guide HR — WHAT PRICE ARE YOU REALLY WILLING TO PAY?

PG. 14 THE LEADERSHIP EDGE

48 ASSESSING RISK IN THE FARM BUSINESS

More farmers are taking formal leadership training, and they’re reporting big paybacks on their investment, including better farm management, better human resources management, and better farm performance.

Sometimes it’s hard to see why a decision can be so detrimental to our farm. Work psychologist Pierrette Desrosiers explains why. Create your own heat chart the way other businesses do. AME’s Larry Martin says it’s a great first step for understanding and coming to terms with your business risks.

guide life — NETWORKING FOR BUSINESS AND LIFE Helen Lammers-Helps reports that if you cringe at the idea of networking, it probably means you’re doing it the wrong way. These pointers will help.

EVERY ISSUE 6 MACHINERY GUIDE

CNH introduces two new lines in the market for small-chassis, high-horsepower tractors.

53 GUIDE HEALTH

Ugghh… do we really have to talk about hemorrhoids? Just do it, says our Marie Berry. Some day you’ll be glad you did.

54 HANSON ACRES

Jeff thinks he knows. So does his Dad, and everyone else.

CROPS GUIDE 29 Leap into 2016

Here’s help from our Ralph Pearce to ensure you get to the winter meetings and workshops that will make the biggest difference to your farm.

32 THE case for long-term weed programs

The combination of more new technologies coming to the market, and more new resistant weeds coming to your fields means it’s time to take longer-term planning approach.

34 PEST PATROL

Mike Cowbrough helps us find the best strategies for getting glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane out of a corn-soybean-wheat rotation.

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DECEMBER 2015

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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 (905) 986-5342 Fax (905) 986-9991 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 Kevin Yaworsky (250) 869-5326 Email: kyaworsky@farmmedia.com

Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine

That hard-as-nails truth Every neighbourhood has its own stories of farmers who had to be hard as nails to survive, but who turned out to also be fired by a vital spark that could not be extinguished even by the heaviest, most wearying toil. It’s this combination — the toughness and the humanity — that makes them such heroes. On their own, neither trait was enough. In my own case, Alexander Sinclair was born on a Scottish farm but was brought to Canada with his parents in 1831 when he was 13. The family got rights to 200 acres of primeval forest just down the road from me, and Alexander farmed in the area the rest of his life. Despite the primeval forest with trunks of four- and even six-foot thickness, Alex wrote in a memoir when he was 76 that the only tools a pioneer needed were an axe, two iron wedges, a spade, a hoe, a handsaw and a couple of augers. With them, he could build a dynasty. Of course, the tools changed during Alex’s career. He cut his first 20 grain crops completely by hand, raked and tied them by hand, and then mostly threshed them by hand with a flail. Later in his time they got a reaper, although it still needed a man to rake sheaves off the table. Then the self-binder automated even that, and the farm soon enough had a mowing machine, a horserake and much more. In fact, you get a sense from Alex that 4 country-guide.ca

they might almost have got them too soon. “Farming is only child’s play when compared with what it used to be,” he wrote in 1894. Where I am now, the Ruddell family arrived from Ireland in 1820. They put themselves to it and dammed up the creek and built a mill that Alex would have known very, very well, carrying his wheat here in sacks on his back in the early years. At its optimistic best, according to letters the Ruddells left behind, their mill could grind six to eight bushels an hour. Today, I’m quick to look out the window at each new machine I hear on the road working up the hillside where the Ruddells bedded their dam. The horsepower today of course is of a different order of magnitude altogether. But what of the farmers? It turns out that it is still true. It not only takes all those hard-as-nails traits, like dedication, perserverence and single-mindedness to farm. In my neighbours and in the farmers I interact with every day, what I also see is that same vital spark, that extraordinary humanity that carries the belief that living isn’t only meant to be about being, it is also meant to be about doing. 2016 will bring its share of change, but as we stand at its brink, I hope you’ll raise a glass to the old ones from your own area and from your own family. There are lessons they can teach us for generations yet. Are we getting it right? Let me know at tom.button@fbcpublishing.com.

Head Office: 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 (204) 944-5765 Fax (204) 944-5562 Advertising Services Co-ordinator: Arlene Bomback (204) 944-5765 Fax (204) 944-5562 Email: ads@fbcpublishing.com Designer: Jenelle Jensen Publisher: Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com Associate Publisher: John Morriss Email: john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com Editorial Director: Laura Rance Email: laura@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. 13 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.

DECember 2015

â€œWe have a strategy. What we need is capital.â€? People who know Agriculture, know BDO.

The Agriculture Practice at BDO Changes throughout the industry have placed an entirely new set of demands on agricultural businesses, from family farms to national producers. BDO provides a partner-led, personal approach backed by the experience and resources of our national Agriculture Practice. We offer accounting, tax, and advisory services on a wide range of issues, including succession and estate planning, bookkeeping and payroll assistance, tax compliance, and more. Assurance | Accounting | Tax | Advisory www.bdo.ca/agriculture

Machinery

By Scott Garvey, CG Machinery Editor

More compact mid-range tractors CNH introduces two high-horsepower, small-chassis models n our last issue, Machinery Guide took a look at AGCO’s newest Fendt tractor, the compact 500 Series. It fits into a relatively new tractor market segment that offers higher horsepower in a compact package. This year CNH also threw its hat into that big-power, small-chassis ring with the introduction of two new models in both of its brands, New Holland and Case IH. The blue versions, introduced in July, are dubbed the T7 Heavy Duty models and offer 290 and 315 engine horsepower (240 and 270 at the PTOs). These tractors get a slightly longer wheelbase than standard T7s but bump up the available power to something previously only available in the larger T8 Series. The result, say marketing reps, is a very manoeuvrable tractor that can work well with the kind of PTO equipment livestock producers have in their sheds. Livestock and forage producers are the customers they believe will be the main buyers of these tractors.

“This machine now has a wheelbase within half an inch of the old 8970 Genesis tractor,” says Dan Valen, product marketing manager. “We’re talking something of a very similar size and capability. What sets these machines apart, really, is their versatility. What we start with is the horsepower-to-weight ratio. Up to 315 horsepower in a tractor package only slightly larger than the current T7 long wheelbase. Versus the T8, we’ve shortened up the wheelbase. The reason we’ve done that is to create a very manoeuvrable tractor. ” You might expect the trade-off for shortening the wheelbase length typical of a larger T8 would be the loss of some ride features and roading abilities. But the T7 Heavy Duty models can be spec’d out to compensate for that. The tractors come with standard cab suspension and can be fitted with a suspended front axle to further smoothen out the bumps and Continued on page 8

New Holland’s two new T7 Heavy Duty models are the brand’s offering in the compact, mid-range tractor segment. Photo: Scott Garvey

6 country-guide.ca

december 2015

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Both Case IH’s Optum and NH’s T7 HD tractors are compatible with the ISOBUS-based Charge and Slice Control features on each brand’s large square baler. Photo: Case IH

Above: New Holland is updating the look of its tractor lines with redesigned hood and side panels. Left: The T7 Heavy Duty models are available with an optional suspended front axle. Continued from page 6 even help increase traction in the field by keeping the tires firmly planted and pulling. “As you shorten up the wheelbase to get manoeuvrability, theoretically your ride quality will go down,” explains Valen. “We’ve changed that, and here’s how we’ve done it. We’ve done it with a class 4.75 saddle-mount suspended front axle. Along with that, there’s a suspended cab and a whole new family of seats. (The axle) is a little bit heavier than we have on the long wheelbase (T7s) but a little bit lighter than the T8s. The reason is we don’t have all the weight (of a T8).” Inside the cab, the T7 Heavy Duty models bring the same Sidewinder armrest control arrangement found in the brand’s larger T8 and T9 tractors. Under the hoods, you’ll find a 6.7-litre Fiat Powertrain six-cylinder diesel coupled to a CVT transmission. On the other side of the CNH family, the Case IH cousins of the T7 Heavy Duty, called the Optum line, were unveiled to the public at the U.S. Farm Progress show in August. These two models are numbered 8 country-guide.ca

the 270 and 300, which are also the available engine horsepowers in the brand reports, although they still end up with the same 240 and 270 PTO horsepower rating and rely on the same CVT-based drivetrains. The Optums get the updated body styling Case IH will eventually introduce across its entire tractor line. That includes a redesigned hood, grille and cab roof along with LED lighting packages. To put their horsepower to the ground, Optums are available with a range of tire options, including single tire configurations up to 900 mm wide and an anti-lock brake option to stop them safely when roading with something heavy behind the tractor. Just like their NH cousins, the Optums can be electonically linked through their Class 3 ISOBUS capability to the Feedrate Control feature on Case IH large square balers. NH calls its version of the technology IntelliCruise. Basically, it allows sensor input on the baler to control tractor speed and ensure the amount of hay feeding into the baler pickup remains consistent across changing field conditions, helping even inexperienced operators to dependably produce high-quality bales. CG december 2015

We all share the same table. Pull up a chair.

THE REAL STORY OF AG

“We take pride in knowing we would feel safe consuming any of the crops we sell. If we would not use it ourselves, it does not go to market.” – Katelyn Duncan, Saskatchewan

“The natural environment is critical to farmers – we depend on soil and water for the production of food. But we also live on our farms, so it’s essential that we act as responsible stewards.” – Doug Chorney, Manitoba

“The welfare of my animals is one of my highest priorities. If I don’t give my cows a high quality of life they won’t grow up to be great cows.” – Andrew Campbell, Ontario

Safe food; animal welfare; sustainability; people care deeply about these things when they make food choices. And all of us in the agriculture industry care deeply about them too. But sometimes the general public doesn’t see it that way. Why? Because, for the most part, we’re not telling them our story and, too often, someone outside the industry is. The journey from farm to table is a conversation we need to make sure we’re a part of. So let’s talk about it, together. Visit AgMoreThanEver.ca to discover how you can help improve and create realistic perceptions of Canadian ag.

36442 E AMTE Share the Table_8.125x10.75.indd 1

2015-11-19 1:59 PM

business

market noise Could we see a Lehman Brothers-style collapse in grain markets? We ask Errol Anderson, is it all just talk? By Gord Gilmour, CG Associate Editor

t the heart of the issue is something known as a letter of credit, or LOC. These are essentially promissory notes that are backed by a financial institution with credibility, and their purpose is to ensure the money is there. Now there’s a question hanging over global commodity markets in the form of the Anglo-Swiss commodity giant Glencore — you know them in Canada through Viterra. Market watchers are buzzing that they’ve overextended with a poorly timed expansion strategy that’s soured as commodity prices have fallen When a big player like Glencore and its finances come under the microscope, this system can be disrupted until trust can be re-established between buyer and seller. It’s not going to be 2008 all over again, by any stretch, but it could mean commodity markets and their global movement slow or even seize up for a time, especially if Glencore unwinds in a less-thanorderly fashion. If that happens, everyone is going to be glancing around, wondering who has been left holding what, and if they’re still good for the paper they’re issuing in the form of LOCs. It all adds risk to a global commodity system already under pressure. It also raises a series of interesting questions: how can you tell when something like this is for real, or if it’s just market noise? What does it mean for your marketing plan? We asked Calgary analyst Errol Anderson for help making sense of it all.

COUNTRY GUIDE: People are likening Glencore to Lehman Brothers. Is it really that serious? Errol Anderson: It is definitely a big

deal from a global trade point of view, and with a company as massive as Glencore, a crisis for traders could slow the recovery of commodity prices. Also seriously, it could hamper movement of all commodities including agriculture from country to country for a time. This could definitely affect us, especially in Western Canada.

10 country-guide.ca

CG: You’ve talked to us in the past about market noise and how to filter it out. Does that apply here? EA: No this isn’t market noise, this is a real issue that could delay the recovery of global commodity prices. But the effect on local grain movement hopefully is going to be relatively short. It should not impact the underlying fundamentals of the market. But make no mistake: I do hear market noise every day. I describe it as whatever the issue of the day is that’s capturing a lot of attention, but doesn’t truly affect the overall situation in a large or meaningful way. I’ve been analyzing markets for 30 years, and when I started, my tools were a calculator, a transparent ruler and a copy of the Wall Street Journal. That’s how we analyzed supply-and-demand fundamentals and their effect on price direction. These days, commodity funds can execute thousands of trades a second based on technical chart signals, exerting a huge impact on price direction, certainly in the short term. You can analyze a market fundamentally all you want, if these funds take the opposite technical view, it can be like getting run over by a freight train, at least in the short run. Funds have a huge say in price discovery and market volatility. So you can either grump at them or view their price power as an opportunity to add profit to farm production. A helpful illustration might be looking at the way a weather event can affect today’s market. Late spring, there was a lot of excitement over flooding in the U.S. Midwest. We did see corn and soybean prices move higher over a short period, mainly on commodity fund buying activity. But flooding doesn’t alter the underlying production of the market because, in reality, it doesn’t affect that many acres — when it does flood in the Midwest, it of course only floods Continued on page 12 december 2015

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business Continued from page 10 along the rivers, not the whole region, plus it offers an excellent start for crops outside the flood zone. I call this market noise. The media is hyping the event. Fund money pours into the long side of the market. But the impact of the flood is always short lived. However, it may turbocharge the futures market at least for a short while. The underlying fundamentals hadn’t changed. Excellent yields were on the way as a result of this heavy rainfall. As a farm manager, if past experience allows you to realize this as a short-term pricing opportunity, you may price a portion of your crop often above what the truevalue market fundamentals suggest.

CG: Is that why it’s so important to separate what’s real and what’s just noise? EA: Yes, but you also have

to understand the speed at which information instantly impacts prices and triggers almost immediate market volatility. Often markets react to news before the impact can really be understood. That’s because of the speed of trading, human emotion, and the power of commodity funds. These are speculative investors who don’t necessarily understand agriculture. What they’re trading is really immaterial to them. They could just as happily trade cardboard boxes if a futures market existed for them. So they’ll react and market prices may overreact. But from a farm manager’s perspective, this fund trading activity often provides excellent pricing and hedging windows. The risk is that you get caught up running with the herd, but commodity markets without fund activity would be a lot less exciting with fewer pricing opportunities.

CG: You talk about the emotions of a market, but at the same time a market can be pretty unemotional, can’t it? EA: The underlying fundamentals of a market have no emotions. But markets are made up of nothing but people and their emotions, and they can be highly emotional. These emotions affect the market for a short time, with movements well above and well below the true value of a commodity. 12 country-guide.ca

If you don’t get caught up in this whirlwind of emotions, market noise and the volatility, it can represent real opportunities for a farmer looking to price their crop and manage risk. Of course, farmers can have their own emotions too. You may get caught up in the hoopla of a rally and let your guard down expecting that higher prices are here to stay. During the last U.S. drought, some growers really did think $17/bu. soybeans were just a fact of life now, and $10/bu. corn too. However, farmers have already accepted the market has moved on. Farmers are really sharpening their pencils both in terms of their marketing plan and cost side of the balance sheet. It really is during tough times that good farm managers distinguish themselves. They’ll be the ones who have a marketing plan and stick with it, pricing on upticks in the market that they know offer better returns and often are short lived. Now more than ever, having that plan and executing on it will be vitally important. As a good marketer, you really need to strip the emotions out of the equation and be analytical, calm and clear headed, with ice water in your veins.

sellers are starting to buy back their positions. This is called short-covering and it is an indication a market bottom is near. This is not much different than pilots watching their gauges in crazy weather. Open interest is a technical gauge when price volatility becomes extreme.

CG: What about the saying that if prices seem to be too good to be true, they probably are? EA: Unfortunately, that is most often true. There’s been some wild price experiences in commodity markets over the past few years that have generated some amazingly bullish talk — $6,000 an ounce gold for example, or $10 per bushel for corn. It’s the sort of thing that’s easy to put in print, and hey, anything is possible. But market noise is easy to produce and its shelf life can usually be measured in a few days.

CG: Are there any reliable indicators for farm managers?

CG: This is complex stuff for those not familiar with the impact of market noise and volatility. It seems experience can be a real benefit — what about farmers newer to the game? Any suggestions for them?

EA: When markets act like a caged animal, whether up or down, one of the most telling indicators is open interest. Open interest is the total number of contracts for a given commodity that remain open in a trading month. When you get a lot of open interest in any given contract, it acts like the gas pedal for prices. Here are some scenarios: Let’s say the futures are surging into record-breaking territory. No one knows where the top is. Everyone’s a buyer, there are no sellers and the open interest is climbing. This situation suggests prices can go even higher yet. More buyers continue to pour into the heated market. But suddenly open interest drops off. This may be an early warning signal that a price peak is near. Long liquidation is beginning to take place. But let’s flip this bull market scenario to a bear market. Let’s say futures are in a dive and cash prices are plunging. If open interest is rising, this suggests more sellers are entering the market. Prices can fall further. But should open interest begin to decline, this now suggests the shorts or

EA: I think younger market participants, regardless of the sector, are at a disadvantage. Nothing beats experience when it comes to markets. Take interest rates, for example — we’ve had low rates for many years now and arguably there’s an entire generation of traders that haven’t ever seen a period of even normal interest rates, much less a period of rising rates. Younger traders and younger farmers should draw experience close to them. It can be a market adviser, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. It might be a government or university extension person or even an older farmer in their own community who has gone through the world of pricing knocks and is willing to share that experience. From there it’s really going to all be about understanding market fundamentals, understanding when you may be hearing market noise, and learning to take advantage of it. Having a plan and the discipline to execute it and not be distracted from it by market hoopla is advice that applies to all of us, regardless our experience. CG december 2015

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business

The leadership edge Across the country, more farmers are signing up for in-depth leadership training, and they’re using it to transform the way they farm and do business By Helen Lammers-Helps

Photography: Sandy Black

Kelly Dobson considered an MBA, but signed up for leadership training instead. It’s impacting his farm every day, he says.

here’s a saying that if you aren’t moving forward, then you’re falling behind. Never has this been more true than in agriculture today. But something else is equally true. It’s that more farmers are keeping up with this need for change by dedicating time and effort to cutting-edge studies on leadership. For 46-year-old Kelly Dobson, it meant enrolling in a graduate degree in leadership development from Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C., despite the demands of his 4,100-acre farm near Fairfax, Man., where he grows grains, oilseeds and confectionery sunflowers.

14 country-guide.ca

Dobson now sees his decision as a sort of foundation for how he is able to lead and manage his farm. “At the end of the day, I chose to study leadership over an MBA,” Dobson explains. Partly that was because he had been careful to observe more executives in other companies, and he could see how crucial leadership could prove for business success. Partly too, it was because as a farmer, he could hire accountants, lawyers, agronomists and others to source the advice needed to manage diverse aspects of his farm, “but you can’t contract out leadership.” Dobson says that today, he lools back and recognizes he had actually been hampered by shortcomings in his old business leadership, a key one being that he had felt that running a farm successfully really boiled down to financial management, marketing and operations. Today, when he thinks of that management style, he sums it up as thinking that, “All problems can be solved by lifting the lid of your laptop.” Now, he considers that short sighted, addressing only half of the challenge. Not to put too fine a point on it, the more he has learned about modern, scientific research into leadership, and the more he has seen how it can drive organization performance, the more he realized that there’s a danger if he as a farmer doesn’t keep up. “The attitude was that if you give orders, that makes you a leader,” Dobson says. “That isn’t going to get us where we have to go. “The goalposts in agriculture keep moving, and the human part of it — the emotional intelligence and the things that we never talk about — they’re all going to be crucially important.” The Royal Roads program covers a wide swath from systems thinking and organization design to specific, hands-on discussion of team building, communication, and how to manage change. To do December 2015

business

that, the program does requires significant investment. It takes two years, and although it is designed for working professionals, it still demands two residency periods, plus $23,000 tuition. For Dobson, though, it’s been a series of eureka moments, for instance seeing how Meyers Briggs personality assessments can be used to make a real difference not only in employee performance but also in employee satisfaction and commitment. It’s not about calling all the shots. “Shared leadership is necessary,” Dobson says. “No one person can have all the information. Nothing great that’s been achieved has been done by an individual. The reality is that it was a group of people working together collaboratively.” Meanwhile, 35-year-old Jennifer Doelman, who farms 2,800 acres with her family and runs a farm supply business in eastern Ontario, chose the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP), a 19-month executive development program based in Guelph, Ont. to further develop her leadership skills. Doelman credits the leadership skills she learned through AALP with helping her take their business to the next level, especially through improved insights and improved processes involving human resources. “We were able to find people with take-charge, ‘can-do’ attitudes who have the potential to really move our business ahead,” she explains. There are now three people doing the job that Doelman once did by herself. “We have a number of people in our business who are exceptional and bring more to their jobs than I could have on my own.” Doelman says that as a Type A personality, she had been guilty of doing everything herself. Now, she has learned to ask for help and to say “no.” She also learned tools to help her separate emotion from business, which can be especially important in a family structure. AALP helped her learn to find the strengths in people, to allow them to use their skills and interests for maximum benefit, and also to create synergy among team members, she explains. Doelman is also putting her newfound leadership skills to use at the community level, as a Certified Crop Adviser and president of the Renfrew County December 2015

Photography: Robin Andrew • unposed photography

For Jennifer Doelman, leadership training builds personal drive. “It keeps you from stagnating,” she says of the AALP program.

After taking leadership training, these farmers say their big discovery is how their farms were being held back by their old leadership style Soil and Crop Improvement Association. Doelman tries to represent agricultural interests, and she credits AALP with helping her bring a better perspective to those roles. She has also put her media training to use. “It taught me a level of professionalism that ag should be showing.” With two young children, Doelman has had to decline some volunteer work. “Part of being a good leader is knowing what skills you have and the commitment you can offer. “My leadership training has helped me to see the big picture,” she adds. “I can

connect the dots and act as a catalyst to help steer committees and projects at the ground level. My formal training helps me to effectively chair a meeting, as well as to set measurable goals and timelines.” Other AALP participants report similar gains. For instance, 27-year-old Sara Wood who farms with her family near Mitchell, Ont., says she got involved in AALP to build her leadership skills, but then learned a lot about herself in the process. Continued on page 16 country-guide.ca 15

business Continued from page 15 This self-awareness helps on the farm, Wood says, and it has also helped her become a better and more active board member, giving her the confidence she needs to participate in effective ways despite being in the minority. Not only is she usually one of only a few women involved, she’s also 30 or 40 years younger than most farmers. “I’ve learned to ask the right questions, and to challenge the norm,” Wood says. AALP has also exposed her to a professional standard that she might not have experienced in an on-farm environment — professional conduct and respectful workplace decorum can take second place when your boss used to change your diapers. There are other benefits too, Doelman adds. She finds for instance that her leadership training has been a fantastic networking tool. “I was a budding eastern Ontario agronomist, training side by side with egg farmers, dairy farmers, OMAFRA staff, managers from the seed industry, insurance and banking,” she says. “The transfer of information in a course like this with a tight-knit group of classmates is irreplaceable and absolutely necessary to move ahead in our industry… every day I find a new way to use the skills and information I learned during my AALP years.” Such views are shared by thought leaders in the

business community who say the role of leadership is changing and evolving. Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and author of Leadership: the Power of Emotional Intelligence, cites the ability to identify and monitor emotions (i.e. your own and others) and to manage relationships as being essential for leadership. His list of leadership qualities includes self-awareness, selfmanagement, resilience, empathy, and listening. Meanwhile, Terry Betker, president of Backswath Management in Manitoba agrees with Dobson’s take on the realities facing agriculture. He says there is a fundamental shift taking place, and farms are becoming more complex in how they’re structured. The needs of the farm family are outgrowing their skill sets, and can outgrow their advisory resources too, says Betker. Farmers tend to have a passion for operations, which is understandable, but many need to put more focus on management, says Betker. “They need to decide how they will manage the business, and to determine what they are good at and what their weaknesses are,” he says. “And they need to decide what is needed with regards to managerial development.” Once they have assessed their needs they can develop a plan for how they will fill the gaps. One of the challenges for everyone is to apply what they’ve learned. “It’s difficult to change,” says Betker. “That’s human nature.” One way to ensure that new skills are applied is to create accountability. For example, Betker suggests

“ Leadership training has helped me see the big picture,” Jennifer Doelman says. “I can connect the dots and act as a catalyst.”

16 country-guide.ca

December 2015

business

“ I’ve learned to ask the right questions,” says AALP farmer Sara Wood. “And to challenge the norm.” time consuming and inconvenient but executive coaching can be an efficient use of time for farm managers, Painchaud says. “Effective coaching allows the business owners to have a customized learning partner that not only helps the owner learn and grow, but holds them accountable to that growth.” Dobson is already seeing a payoff on the farm from his leadership training. He says he’s become a better communicator and a better listener, and he is asking more questions. “This has improved the work environment, and we are having more fun,” he says. The level of management required to stay competitive has increased, says Dobson, especially with today’s volatile markets and weather. His work on the board of the National Sunflower Association of Canada and as the industry cochair of the Special Crops Value Chain Roundtable has also opened his eyes to the challenges and opportunities facing agriculture in the next 10 to 15 years. As farm business complexity increases, it will be impossible for a single owner to possess all the talents and knowledge needed to make the best decisions, Dobson believes. Farm owners will need help from skilled farm workers, and those workers are going to want to have input into how the work gets done. “Farmers with poor leadership skills may find it impossible to retain good help when better working environments

writing down your goals and then reviewing these goals six weeks later to see if there has been follow-through. Another option is to create an external check by buddying up with another farmer or hiring a consultant to keep you on track. Executive coaching is gaining ground in agriculture as an efficient mechanism for developing leadership skills. Michelle Painchaud, president of Painchaud Performance Group in Winnipeg says that as farms grow and become more sophisticated, with more regulatory issues and more staff, farm business owners and managers often find themselves feeling unskilled in some areas of business, particularly in the area of leadership. Traditional training can be expensive,

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Farms are great places to learn about crops, says Dobson, but not the science of leading.

can be found on the next farm,” Dobson predicts. Farmers are brought up to “do it our way,” says Dobson. This can be a strength, but it can also be a limitation. Being good at the technical, task-oriented skills will continue to be important, he adds, but it just won’t be enough anymore. As an example, Dobson thinks that as farm business gets more comples, communication and conflict resolution skills will prove increasingly valuable. “They can go a long way to avoiding unmet expectations and the inevitable anger and frustration,” he says. Unfortunately, continues Dobson, these aren’t the kinds of skills that farmers easily pick up around the farmyard. For example, he believes farmers don’t see good examples, so they often struggle with having difficult conversations and dealing with conflict. “We don’t tend to learn these skills anywhere,” he says. From her farm near Ottawa, Doelman shares Dobson’s goal of turning that farm limitation into an advantage. Besides, says Doelman, working toward improved leadership is also its own reward. “Leadership development is an ongoing process,” Doelman says. “Once you start to develop personally, it’s like a bug. You get hooked, it keeps you from stagnating.” CG

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business

ways to structure diversification

Before rolling a new enterprise into the main farm, stop, think and talk about how this is going to fit into your operation long term

By Maggie Van Camp, CG Associate Editor aybe it’s something you just want to do. It might be manufacturing a new farm widget or selling birdseed, or producing heritage pork, or grazing sheep. Or maybe your son or daughter has graduated from agricultural college and they want to come home after a few years working off farm. You know there’s risk with new ventures, but they’re brimming with ideas, they’ve got a plan, and you want to encourage them. You’ve run the numbers. It looks like the enterprise should eventually contribute to overall profits. But how should you structure it? Should you incorporate the main farm and start a separate sole proprietorship for the secondary business, or incorporate and put it all under one? Or how about keeping both as sole proprietorships under separate names? Or maybe you should go for a partnership? Or a joint venture? Set things up right from the beginning with your long-range vision in mind, advises Allan Sawiak, chartered accountant and succession expert with KRP in Edmonton. “What do you see this looking like in 20 years?” Sawiak asks. “Line up the business structure with that future vision.” The communication involved in this planning process is invaluable. It forces you to think the business through and to prove its value. It also involves figuring out how you want to take profits out of the farm, and it makes you look at who owns what assets, and to define where the startup money is coming from and the value of that venture capital. The other question you need to answer at the outset is why you want to do it. It might not be all about profits for everyone. Sometimes it’s lifestyle or for the good of the community. In Saskatchewan, a survey of farmers found they diversified mostly to use available management and labour, and to provide full-time, year-round employment for key hired personnel. The survey also found that these farmers 18 country-guide.ca

used diversification into off-farm ventures or through non-agricultural enterprises to reduce risk exposure to market and production risks. Of course, a separate category of diversification projects isn’t really designed with profitability in mind. It’s designed to create enjoyment, perhaps, or to provide purpose, but does not contribute financially. “If it’s unprofitable, it’s a hobby,” says Mark Fournier, a professor at Olds College. Whatever the motive, the project and the way it’s structured should match the farm’s risk tolerance, which means it needs to be talked about with everyone who’s involved. Share up front how much money you want to make, how much you’ll need to start and operate, and exactly where you’re going to get funding. There are many ways to structure the secondary business without putting it in the main farm, and although there are positives and negatives to each structure, there’s no right answer for everyone. When Country Guide spoke with three experts — Allan Sawiak at KRP, Mark Fournier at Olds, and Ontario farm adviser Carl Moore — each leaned toward a different format, or leaned away from others, all for good reasons.

#1 — Sole proprietorship Most farms in Canada are still sole proprietorships. It’s the easiest, cheapest way to do the books, and the land is in individual names. But is it still right when you diversify? “If you’re just testing the waters, it’s a lot less tax hassle and legalities. You just do your books and then go see your accountant,” says Fournier. “It’s easier to get started in a sole proprietorship and good for the first couple of years.” A sole proprietorship doesn’t require a written legal agreement to start a new venture, so one can be launched without a lot of cost. However, once you start dealing with multiple individuals (even parents or siblings), discussing and writing down the logistics become very important. Since sole proprietorships don’t have written rules of December 2015

business engagement, it’s even more important to communicate expectations and to respect each other. Tell one another what you hope the business will eventually look like, and do take care not to take essential management time and capabilities away from the core business. “Make sure the family has open communication and a method to resolve problems,” adds Fournier. When starting a new business, a sole proprietorship can be advantageous if you’re going to lose money for the first few years, since those losses can be put against your personal income. However, once your business starts making more money, you start paying at personal marginal tax rates that are much higher than the small business corporate rates. “Successful farm operations should not be in sole proprietorships,” Sawiak bluntly says. Carl Moore, farmer and adviser in Woodstock, Ont. is a proponent of keeping it simple, especially with succession. Generally he encourages his clients to not incorporate and to keep land out of a corporation to take advantage of the rollover provisions. In his experience, he’s found that farmers often can buy enough assets and inputs to mitigate some of the extra tax burdens of not incorporating. Compared with problems that he’s seen with more formal agreements, the cost of paying extra taxes can be a pittance. He warns that small business taxes and rules around incorporation are becoming more complicated with every government budget. “Every situation is different and will change, so keep it simple to get in and out of,” advises Moore. Instead of involving children as shareholders in the farm corporation, Moore says it’s often better for them to set up separate sole proprietorships and buy land under their own names with some help from the parents. A mortgage is the best way to motivate the younger generation, Moore believes. “It puts the responsibility right where it should be. If it’s all split into shares, passed down between several generations, it’s like no one owns anything, no one takes responsibility.”

#2 — INCorporation As a tax specialist, Sawiak sees many successful, forward-thinking farmers charging ahead with incorporation. They’ll have that structure in place before diversification is considered. This can work well for diversification projects, especially with pilot projects. Any losses can be put against the corporation’s earnings, and lower corporate tax rates allow for more dollars to put towards debt repayment or diversification. Corporations allow more ways to split income and to take money out of the businesses with fewer tax implications. Then, after a year or two, if it looks like the new business will be strong enough to stand alone, and if you are farming with your sibling and both are shareholders, consider splitting it out of the farm corporation right away. December 2015

“It becomes difficult and very costly to split it out of the corporation later,” says Sawiak. “Splitting any family farm corporation that involves siblings as shareholders is very costly.” Every year Fournier sees students go back to the family farm, many with business plans for diversification. The most successful tend to run small pilot projects under the established family farm corporation, much as any business would try a new product line. Once it’s big enough, the students might run it as a sole proprietorship or another corporation, or as a division within the farm corporation. Regardless of the structure, expectations need to be communicated and understood, and all parties must respect each other, says Fournier.

Fewer farms may be diversifying, and the costs are increasing. Getting the structure right is crucial By their very nature, corporations have better records, plus preplanned and written structures for transitions. It’s also easy to run several different enterprises under one corporation, which means that as the farm diversifies it can still operate under one set of books. Something to keep in mind is what the farm will look like in the future, and if the rules may change. From a tax perspective, farm corporations set up before 1985 missed out on using today’s farm tax advantages such as capital gains exemptions,” says Sawiak. The capital gains exemption came into law in 1985 but before this farmland was typically owned by the farm corporations. Dealing with a corporation can become more difficult as more people become involved, especially for future generations. “In my opinion, many farm corporations formed in the ’60s and ’70s are now a disaster area for the third generation,” says Moore. “Now with all the sons and daughters, spouses and children involved, there are too many voices.” Worldwide, about 90 per cent of businesses do not survive through the third generation, says Moore. “Why are we not planning for this rather than setting up business structures that will not exist for the grandchildren?”

#3 — Partnership With farms, business formats tend to be based on the tax level, says Sawiak. In his experience, it is usually tax planning that triggers changes to structures. “Farmers have deferred, deferred and deferred and pre-bought, pre-bought, and pre-bought, and have run out of options,” he says. Continued on page 20 country-guide.ca 19

business Continued from page 19

#4 — Joint venture

When a farm is at this point, Sawiak tries to move it to a partnership for two years minimum and then into a corporation. This interim step allows them some time to do some strong tax planning and it helps set up the family with future tax savings to grow the farm. Partnerships that have proper partnership agreements can also help avoid some of the tax problems triggered on death for family farms, says Sawiak. Before Fournier was a professor, he worked in loans and saw both failures and successes play out. “I’m not a big fan of partnerships,” he says. “When I was a lender there was a saying that was often true: The only ship that’s destined to sink is a partnership.” Fournier says the problems arise with partnerships if there’s no set agreement ahead of time to deal with problems. Most partnerships are still handshake deals and they can sound like a good idea at the beginning, but then the real world sets in. Things like spouses, splitting income or disability complicate the situation and cause problems. At least with a corporation you have to talk about it. It’s long term and formal. You’ve paid a lawyer to work out the logistics if something happens, and before you get into it, you have a buy-sell agreement and a way to deal with spouses.

Part of the problem and a serious limitation for diversifying today is the massive expense to start a secondary farming business that has the scale to compete. This is an even bigger issue for younger farmers. Joint ventures are a way to maximize resources, diversify, or try something new. Joint ventures allow the younger generation to start farming or diversify a farm at a competitive scale with relatively little capital. Older farmers often use joint ventures so they have more time off and can ease toward retirement. Carl Moore says although the risk is spread out, usually one individual loses in a joint venture. And usually that’s the more established party. The individuals involved own the assets and share net revenues, and joint ventures can be set up for whole farms, a portion of the farm, or even just a specific component, such as a combine. Joint ventures tend to be short-term operating structures and, unlike partnerships or corporations, they don’t require a business number, own anything, or pay income taxes. The joint venture legal agreement is simply the framework for the parties to work together, but it is vital, says Fournier. “Lawyers get the hard discussion done in advance. It’s cheaper to get them involved at the beginning of business than at the end.” CG

Fewer farms diversifying Over the last few years, Allan Sawiak of KRP in Edmonton has noticed a trend toward less diversification. Most of his farm clients are expanding or trying to improve their productivity in the sectors they already do well in, unless of course they’re landlocked, in which case the diversification tends to be directly related to their core production, for example a grain farmer growing or selling certified seed or growing other crops that complement the land and grain operation. Typically more money can be made by getting better first at the base enterprise before diverting attention and resources to a new enterprise. In the past, sometimes when farms have tried to start a new enterprise, they have taken their eye off the ball and it has resulted not only in the failure of the new enterprise, but damage to the main business too. Sawiak thinks this becomes more of a factor as farming has become more complicated, specialized and asset heavy. There’s no room for messing up, and there’s more risk getting into a new product range, he says. With the steep learning curve and huge dollars to enter at a competitive scale, diversifying has too many risks. The success rate of farm diversification efforts is probably not much different from any small business venture; the majority fail in the first five years and many don’t even make it past the first year. Based on the survival rate of other business ventures, only one in five will contribute positively to the financial health of the farm.

20 country-guide.ca

With succession planning and adding another family, farming tends to be about doing it bigger and better, and today, successful single or double family farms are doing so much more and are hiring people, says Sawiak “These farmers are looking for potential access to more profits and, even with higher land prices, are just waiting for the opportunity to expand,” says Sawiak. “There’s little hesitation.” Sawiak does see mixed farms making little adjustments for their children coming back to the farm, but staying in the same stream. “Heritage is alive and well,” he says. As farm assets increase in value, diversifying has become less popular, agrees Mark Fournier at Olds College. “It’s too risky to try new things and there’s big dollars at stake. Young farmers trying to make mortgage payments know that they need to make payments from Day 1, they don’t have time to mess around,” says Fournier. One interesting way to allocate diversification risk is for the senior generation to transfer the base farm to their children and then start a new enterprise as their semi-retirement project. The retiring generation is typically financially established and can put the time and patience into developing something new. Risk becomes less of a factor because they’re not necessarily relying on it for a living. As a result, they’re willing and able to experiment and be creative.

December 2015

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business

After

it went viral What’s it like for a Canadian farmer at the centre of an international animal rights media frenzy? By Nicolas Mesly

year and a half later, Jeff Kooyman is still disturbed by a video produced on his farm, Chilliwack Cattle Sales, by the advocacy group Mercy for Animals. Broadcast during prime time on CTV national news on June 2014, the video let the whole world see young workers shouting “f***ing bitch” at cows, kicking one cow on the head while she was laying on the floor, beating the backs of others with a stick, and hanging one from a chain attached to a tractor bucket. The video instantly went viral on Facebook and Twitter, and a tsunami of insulting letters and email flowed from Canada and all around the globe to the family farm’s administration office, including death threats. Chilliwack is a regional agricultural centre nestled in the fertile Fraser Valley, and it proudly asserts on its website that it is home to B.C.’s biggest dairy farm, the Kooyman operation known by its initials CCS. Suddenly, however, Chilliwack became the “town where cows are murdered.” More than 100,000 angry consumers signed the Mercy For Animals

After the video — and despite repeated positive inspections of the farm by the province — milk processor Saputo still refuses to accept CCS milk

22 country-guide.ca

online petition. They also threatened to boycott Saputo products, since the Montreal-based company is Canada’s largest dairy processor, and its largest supplier is CCS. Milking 3,000 cows, CCS accounts for nearly five per cent of B.C. dairy output. In other words, a black eye for the Kooyman farm can damage the public image of the entire industry. At the CCS farm office, however, an earnest Jeff Kooyman maintains that his cows benefit from effective, humane care, and that the four-minute video “does not reflect the reality.”

A black eye for the dairy industry Kooyman knows he is at the centre of media furor that has slammed a dairy industry that accounts for $19 billion of Canada’s GDP. It’s not a feeling you’d want to experience, especially when you reflect that what is happening on your farm could be impacting 12,000 other dairy farmers across the country. Kooyman manages CCS with his seven brothers, and they have transformed the little family farm from 60 cows in the 1960s into a huge, Californiastyle facility. The farm’s rotary parlour works round the clock to milk 3,000 cows, with 70 employees on the payroll. The eight employees filmed on the video were working during the night shift, and they were all immediately fired. Without excusing their behaviour, Kooyman describes them “as good working kids from the town who made youthful errors.” However, they still face criminal charges. “We still don’t understand why these employees have not been judged for their misconduct,” says

December 2015

business

Geoffrey Urton, senior manager of stakeholder relations for the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who has handled the CCS case. Although CCS is still under investigation, and although their lawyer has advised against it, Jeff Kooyman agreed to our interview, accompanied by Diana Barchard, the farm’s chief financial officer. It becomes clear he wants to give his version of the story after being crushed by the national and international press and the worldwide social media machine. In the hours following the release of the video, a brigade of independent experts and veterinarians invaded CCS, and the BC Milk Marketing Board (BCMMB) refused to market the farm’s milk during the time needed to evaluate the situation. More than 35,000 litres — enough milk to have supplied 140,000 school kids — had to be dumped into sewage lines.

December 2015

The milk board returns Under tremendous pressure from Mercy for Animals’ petition, Saputo still refuses to process CCS milk, even though BCMMB gives it a green light. “After checking that CCS milk was produced accordingly to the Code for Practices and Handling of Dairy Cattle, we had no choice but to redirect the milk refused by Saputo,” says Vicky Crites, manager of policy and communications at BCMMB. The CCS milk was then redirected to a biodigestor located in Washington state at cost of $200,000, paid by all B.C. producers. Since September 2014, three months after the video, the code has been mandatory for B.C. producers. Created in 2009 by the National Farm Animal

Despite his lawyer’s advice, Jeff Kooyman discusses the MFA video, and the steps they have taken in its wake.

Continued on page 24

country-guide.ca 23

business

Farmers and processors must present a united front against such attacks, Kooyman says, warning, “What happened to us can happen to any dairy farmer.” Continued from page 23 Care Council, the code protects the well-being of cows across the country. British Columbia has appointed the milk marketing board to ensure the code’s best practices are followed by the province’s 500 producers. (So far, the board has contracted six independent inspectors to conduct these inspections and 40 farms have been inspected through a random process. All have been found to comply with the code. The board also says a total of five inspections, two unannounced, have been made at CCS. The farm passed them all.) “The code is about animal welfare and not animal cruelty, but if our inspectors find out that cows are distressed because they lack water or feed, we can immediately suspend milk collection and revoke the farm’s licence to produce,” explains Crites. She adds also that an agreement has been reached between the board and the industry under which none of the 39 provincially licensed milk processors can refuse a producer’s milk if the farm meets the code of good practices. “This agreement will prevent another SaputoCCS situation,” Crites says.

The lessons learned Since the scandal, CCS has appointed a director of human resources. Employees go through three days of mandatory training on animal care and handling, and they all work not only under appointed supervisors, but also under the eyes of various surveillance cameras installed in the farm buildings. “We can monitor what is going on 24 hours by looking at our cellphones,” says Kooyman. Some animal practices and care have also been changed. A down cow stuck in the milking rotary is no longer moved with a chain attached to the tractor bucket, although that practice was approved by their veterinarian. It now takes seven men armed with straps to remove a 600-kg animal from the area. “It’s time consuming,” agrees Kooyman. Apart from having an animal density that is a little above normal, the only criticism from experts visiting CCS came from a Californian veterinarian. “He said that our cows were too thin, but it is the way we like them,” says Kooyman, who points out that a CCS cow, Apple 3, was crowned International Red & White Show Grand Champion at the World Dairy Expo held in Madison, Wisconsin in 2013.

24 country-guide.ca

More has to be done Although the code gives good recommendation on practices such as dehorning calves, “Canadian producers will have to do much more to eliminate lameness problems within their herds. It is their main challenge,” warns Anne-Marie De Passillé, animal welfare expert and professor at the University of British Columbia, based in Agassiz. Her observation comes from a study she and her colleagues did on 110 farms all over the country. The code sets a target of a lameness rate under 10 per cent. However, her research team found that fewer than a quarter of the freestall barns they studied actually met that goal. Jeff Kooyman admits that some lameness problems exist in his herd, although at a far lower rate than the video shows. “Our veterinarian and our hoof trimmer are here once or twice a week, and I can assure you that our lameness rate is less than five (per cent),” Kooyman says. The CCS video was filmed by an employee who worked one month at the giant B.C. farm in May 2014. In reality, this employee worked as “an undercover investigator” for Mercy For Animals (MFA), says Krista Osborne, Canadian director for the organization since January 2015. Chilliwack is the group’s eighth covert investigation in Canada, Osborne says. In addition to exposing animal cruelty, the Hollywood, California-based organization also promotes vegetarian and vegan diets to consumers.

Should they sue? Does the Kooyman family intend to sue their spy employee for damaging their farm’s reputation? It is happening in some U.S. states where it is possible for business owners to sue an employee who has sought employment under false pretences. But this family wants to turn the page on this painful chapter, CFO Diana Barchard says during our interview. To a degree, it will be a while before the hard feelings are completely forgotten. Kooyman says that he has been deeply hurt by the first reaction of BC Milk Marketing Board and then by Saputo “which has bowed to MFA lobby.” Still, Kooyman thinks that the Canadian dairy industry should present a united front on the animal cruelty issue instead of splitting processors against producers. “What happened to us,” Kooyman says, “could happen to any dairy farmer.” CG

December 2015

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business

The quality revolution Business has changed. You can’t build a tractor the way they used to. Farmers won’t let you By Scott Garvey, CG Machinery Editor

Workers at Massey Ferguson’s Brantford, Ont., combine plant in the early 1980s install cabs on the assembly line. Photo: Sourced by Ray Bianchi/Dave Nicolle collection

t first, we all thought he must have been exaggerating. It was 2013 and we were at the Hesston, Kansas combine assembly plant where Hans-Bernd Veltmaat, AGCO’s senior vice-president was discussing the plant’s US$40-million expansion, which included a new state-of-the-art paint system. “This paint centre is a major building block for AGCO,” Veltmaat said. “With this paint centre we are in the same league as Daimler, BMW, Lexus and so on.” No one actually winked or gave us a nudge in the ribs with their elbow, but in case you missed it, those car brands are luxury brands, associated with some of the highest build quality in the world. Really? Our next Gleaner and Massey Ferguson combine is going to have that kind of quality? It turns out, though, that Veltmaat’s claim wasn’t exactly off the cuff. Far from it, in fact, because the whole point of inviting the media and customers through those factory doors was to see their efforts to hit a new high in manufacturing. The Hesston plant had also just implemented a new testing regimen, requiring all combines to pass a 100-point inspection and a simulated harvesting test in a dyno room before moving out the door. “There is no combine leaving this factory which has not passed this test,” Veltmaat promised.

26 country-guide.ca

“We have to become (at AGCO) a culture of total quality,” agreed Robert Crain, senior vice-president and general manager for North America, speaking at the same event. “That’s our next great stride as a company. That’s the reason we made this investment.” The core message put out that day was, we build quality. That message has been repeated at many other factories owned by many other brands that I have visited over the years, where executives want to emphasize their company’s dedication to the industry’s current, almost universal, focus on quality. Of course, that isn’t to say there aren’t farmers who have had warranty problems with a piece of equipment lately. Nor is it to deny that the frantic work pace on factory assembly lines over the past five years has somewhat negatively affected build quality as companies have struggled to keep up with customer orders. But contrast those statements made in Hesston with the situation back in the 1970s and 1980s at the Brantford, Ontario factory that built Massey Ferguson combines when the company was under very different ownership. It makes the evolution in attitude very obvious. Dave Nicolle, the former head of quality assurance at the Brantford plant in the 1980s spoke to Country Guide about how quality was perceived in those days. “I was the quality guy in the plant, and it was very, very hard sometimes to get through to the upper management and even the union guys that we have to make a perfect combine,” Nicolle recalls. “We didn’t always have that culture in the combine plant.” The repercussions sometimes caused problems for dealers and customers. “Sometimes we would ship a new machine to a customer and he was absolutely irate with it for whatever reason,” Nicolle says. “Even though the dealer had done everything he could to get the machine back up and running again, the customer was so irate he said, ‘I want to speak to someone from the factory.’ So, I would fly to wherever it was in North America. I would show up with the dealer. The customer would run up one side of me and down the other, letting me know whatever was wrong. “I’d take notes and take pictures… and pacify him anyway I possibly could. Then I’d come back to the factory and have a debrief with the guys. But it was so difficult, because the management that was responDecember 2015

business

Today, manufacturers welcome customers and visitors to their assembly plants to see first hand how companies focus on build quality. Photo: Scott Garvey

sible for not letting things like this happen really didn’t care. I’d given my word to the customer that I’d make sure this wouldn’t happen again, but in my heart I knew that would be very difficult. Unless it was

something concrete, like you could change a piece of equipment, it was very hard to get a mindset change in the factory.” A few weeks before Massey Combines Corp. fell into bankruptcy in 1988, Nicolle left to take a similar job at Toyota’s Cambridge, Ont. car assembly plant. And he found the attitude toward quality was much different there. “I often reflected back, if Massey had run its business the way Toyota ran its, we’d still have been in business (in Brantford) today,” Nicolle says. “By that I mean they worked as a team, from the president to the guy on the floor putting the car together. Everyone was focused on quality. The top guys were 100 per cent committed to quality, and also to cost reduction, productivity and looking after people, all those things. But quality was the driving force.” At Toyota, the strategy was based around team work. “So if there was a problem, it wasn’t just your problem, it was ‘our’ problem,” Nicolle says. “It wasn’t like that at Massey. It (Massey) was a traditional North American-type company.”

Today, however, virtually every ag equipment-manufacturing plant has moved away from what was arguably the typical North American attitude toward manufacturing, which didn’t focus strongly on quality through the 1970s and 1980s. And manufacturers did learn from those Japanese automakers, at least in part. Consequently, customer expectations have grown significantly. Now, there is little tolerance among customers for poor workmanship in either cars or farm machinery. “They (farmers) actually had an expectation that the machine was going to have quality issues when it was delivered to them. And they lived with it,” said Peter Clarke, president and CEO of Seed Hawk, a Saskatchewan seeding equipment manufacturer, during an open house event at that company’s factory in October. That is far from the case today, however. “We’re trying to keep pace with the expectation of the farmer,” Clarke says. “You can’t do that unless you change the Continued on page 28

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business Continued from page 38 due to the farm-to-table movement. More women are jumping into actual farming and not necessarily exclusively as partners with their husbands — they sometimes find a niche market or manage a smaller property. “Many women want to get into it,” Saylor continues. “It’s near and dear to their hearts and they just need training on how to manage a business. I encourage women to become involved in agriculture, whether it’s in production agriculture, in advocating for agriculture, or in science. Saylor believes women have a strong connection with the land and are very interested in the processes used to grow food, and they see the importance of combining that love of agriculture with the business side of it.

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Women farmers around the world deserve targeted support, says USDA deputy secretary Krysta Harden, seen here with dairy farm owner Ms. Yetemwork Tilahun on Tilahun’s farm near the city of Mojo, about 50 miles south of Addis Ababa, Ethopia. Photo: USDA In fact, Saylor feels women even have an edge because they have a tendency to be risk takers. “I think, with women, if they believe in a product and they think it’s going to make their life and the lives of women in this country better, they will promote it,” she says. “They will be willing to step in. They appear to be more entrepreneurial.”

The value of mentoring Meanwhile, the USDA’s Harden has launched Ag Women Lead, a mentoring network for women in all aspects in the industry. “This is a way for women to communicate with each other, to share information, to share best practices, to encourage each other, and to really make sure women are connected,” says Harden. This began as a personal project, where Harden would collect contact information from women she encountered through her work. These women would often ask if Harden could link them with other women who could provide them with advice. Other women would sometimes tell Harden that they felt they had acquired

skills and insights that they could share with new women farmers. “So, we formed this network and we already have almost 800 women across the country involved,” says Harden. “We look at all aspects of the industry, with everyone coming together to say, ‘you’re not alone, we’re here to share and to grow, to encourage each other.’” Harden feels women are networkers by nature and she is pleased to have found a way that the USDA can help connect women with other women in the field. And the network is not limited to the U.S. There are women farmer members from around the world, including Canada. “We’d love to have more women from Canada involved,” says Harden. “Some of our states are probably closer to Canada than other parts of the country, so they’ll have a lot in common. Again, it’s just about helping, promoting, encouraging, supporting, and being there for other women, wherever they are. We’d certainly welcome them and encourage them to join the network.” For more information about Ag Women Lead, visit agwomenlead@usda.gov. CG December 2015

THE ONTARIO AGROLOGIST A conversation with Maria Derkacz, P.Ag., Research Scientist, Plant Nutrition & Soil Fertility, and co-owner of INPRAS Consulting, in Vineland, Ontario. Tell us about your background as a research scientist in plant and soil science.

proud that over the past 13 years, I

For over 20 years my work has focused

horticultural operators to support

on development and implementation

research and development in plant

of new agronomic methods to improve

and soil science and innovation.

horticultural crop production and crop quality in the grape, tender fruit, stone fruit, strawberry, greenhouse vegetable and floriculture sector, as well as ornamental plants. I am most passionate about improving soil and plant health and soil sustainability. Over a decade of working experience with OMAFRA and the University of Guelph made me confident that R&D is the key for sustainable horticulture. I have worked with regional and provincial marketing boards, grower associations and individual field crop, orchard and vineyard operators. Today, INPRAS Consulting works to assist our clients in technology transfer and technology adaptation. Quite simply, this means

have brought over 5 million dollars to Niagara Region growers and

A lot of people in the ag-sector say that they don’t want or need to be accredited by the OIA because it is not mandatory here like it is in most of Canada. Why did you choose to become professionally accredited? Shortly after defending my thesis I joined (then) the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, in Vineland. At that time,

and tailoring the options for a specific type of operation or soil. What does being a Professional mean to you?

I was encouraged by my colleagues

My professional practice is busy, stressful

to become accredited by the OIA,

but always rewarding. I don’t get asked

which I did. There remains a strong

anymore what “P.Ag.” means. My

need for the OIA and professional

professional accreditation is trust for

registration since registration equals

growers and operators. As a P.Ag., I am

credibility. My clients demand it.

part of a network of proven experts in

You are clearly passionate about soil conservation. What trends are you seeing today?

agricultural and environmental business. I rely on this network and vice versa, it relies on me. Much of my business is

Frequently, our soils are being

dependent on my interaction with the

degraded by practices that don’t use

network. For those who are working in

sustainable approaches. My focus in

this sector that are not OIA members

soil management consulting is returning

yet, I strongly encourage them to

to the soil what has been depleted.

consider the needs of your customers,

In my consulting practice, I develop

your clients and to meet public

and test with my clients the ways

expectations. Ag and environmental

(be it the procedures or products) to

students you need to know that the

improve the soil. I work impartially as I

future requires connectedness. It is

am not affiliated with any product or

up to you to take your education,

firm. I guess you could say that I work

professionalize it, and put it into practice

My clients are individual growers, for

as an independent since I provide

in a way that supports sustainability

profit and not for profit organizations,

my clients with options based on

approaches. Ontario needs more P.Ags

fertilizer manufacturers and distributors,

their needs and sound science. There

and T.Ags to bring sound science and

wineries, vineyard, orchard and

are a growing number of organic

professionalism to grow the potential

greenhouse operators. All these clients

options and bio-fertilizers that can

of this vital economic sector.

are in need of research results and

bring life to depleted soils. Successful

You can contact Maria at:

research supporting funding. I am

technology application requires testing

mdinpras@cogeco.ca

that efforts are directed toward improving profitability and reducing crop loss due to environmental effects, pests and disease. Additionally, development and implementation of sound nutrient management strategies, research trials that collect thorough data, of crop production and soil conservation result in increased sustainability of agricultural operations.

www.oia.on.ca

business

The great debate of our lives I plant GMO crops, but I’m alarmed at how little we listen to the concerns of the anti-GMO lobby. The risk is huge By Gerald Pilger

he biggest threat to farming as we know it in North America isn’t low commodity prices, high input costs or the lack of skilled labour. It isn’t even climate change. Instead, our worst threat is the growing perception that the food we produce is not safe. This fall, the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) released its new Ipsos Reid poll showing 59 per cent of Canadians oppose using genetically modified crops or animals to produce food, 48 per cent support a ban on all genetically modified food, and 88 per cent want mandatory labelling of GM foods. Of those who said they want all GM foods labelled, 55 per cent are concerned about food safety, 58 per cent are concerned that not enough research has been done on the long-term health and environmental impacts, and 57 per cent are not confident in the government’s safety and regulatory systems for genetically modified foods. “Consumers have lost trust in food safety,” says Lucy Sharratt, co-ordinator of CBAN. Meanwhile, confronted by an audience that doesn’t believe their food is safe, Sharratt says our government and industry have been saying GMOs don’t need to be labelled because they ARE safe. Before any more GMO crops are commercialized, Sharratt says, there must be labelling of food, and there must also be an evaluation of the first 20 years of GMOs in Canada, plus more transparency and more discussion by producers, consumers, government and industry. Rachel Parent is a Toronto-area high school student. She is also becoming the face and voice of the anti-GMO movement in Canada. Her opposition to GMO grew out of a school project when she was just 12 years old. Since then she has been interviewed many times on radio, television and online media. She has started her own foundation “KidsRightToKnow” which focuses on food safety issues. Parent speaks at rallies and events, but she is best known for challenging CBC’s Kevin O’Leary to a debate on GMOs and food safety. That debate was posted to YouTube and viewed two million times in two months. Parent’s primary goal is mandatory labelling of all foods containing GMOs. While I was unable to talk with Parent, she did answer my questions via email (see sidebar). 42 country-guide.ca

The anti-GMO push is not limited to young consumers, however. Dr. Thierry Vrain, retired from the position of head of biotechnology at Agriculture Canada’s Summerland Research Station warns of pesticide-resistance problems, genetic contamination of non-GMO crops, genetic pollution of the environment, and the possibility of health problems due to allergens and toxic proteins arising from GMO technology. “There may or may not be a concern with GMOs,” says Vrain. “We just don’t have the science.”

Farmers question GMOs Even some farmers are opposed to GMO technology. One of the most outspoken is Joel Salatin, the owner of Polyface Farm of Staunton, Virginia. Besides managing his 650-acre operation raising beef, laying hens for eggs, broiler chickens for meat, pork, turkeys, rabbits, lamb, duck eggs, and forestry products (lumber and firewood), which he describes as “beyond organic,” Salatin has written nine books promoting holistic and sustainable food production, and he spends about 100 days a year taking the antiGMO message to colleges and environmental groups. Salatin believes he knows what the consumer wants when it comes to food. After all, he markets all of his farm’s production to roughly 6,000 customers within a four-hour drive of the farm. “We have no desire to sell to supermarkets,” Salatin says. “They should be obsolete.” As with several other sources for this article, when I asked Salatin why he is opposed to GMOs, he preferred to be interviewed by email, not telephone. Below is his complete, unedited response: “Every month it seems like a new study is showing direct health problems, whether it’s tumours, sterility, autism or whatever. It took 14 years to connect the dots of infertile and malformed amphibians to DDT. Nature is resilient, but eventually, assaults yield their condemning data, and that is where we are with GMOs. The impugning data that was merely a trickle five years ago is a veritable flood now. We’re connecting the dots, and it’s not pretty. Anybody who denies the increasingly damning science either doesn’t know about it or refuses to believe it. “Second, the production claims are simply not true. They are not really more productive on an energy-in, energy-out assessment. Just because a plant produces Continued on page 44 December 2015

The Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA) Inc. is a national, non-profit professional umbrella organization dedicated to assisting farm families and businesses by increasing the skills of farm advisors and consultants.

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Building Your Professional Network Craig SwiStun, ViCe PreSident CC&L PriVate CaPitaL Ltd.

ave you ever heard of the expression “jack of all trades, master of none”? Its origins trace back to Elizabethan England, but today the expression is used to describe someone that has managed to obtain skills in a number of different areas without becoming exceptionally talented in any. They might be good… but they aren’t great, and that’s why in order to do things right, we need experts. Whether personally or for business, hiring professionals makes sense. These individuals have spent time becoming experts in a particular area. You consult with professionals regularly—doctors, dentists, electricians—but what about the professionals you should be working with, but aren’t? What about those required to help you in the future? Who will you turn to when you need… whatever it is that you need? Your Network StrategY The first step to building out your professional network begins by defining your needs. Clearly, “needs” breaks down into more than one category. There are the shortterm needs: “I have a problem that needs solving immediately!” as well as longer-term needs: “I need to do something about this at some point in the future.”

Pause and take stock of your specific situation. Determine the list of professional services you might need—not actual people, but tasks that require outsourcing to experts—for both your short- and long-term objectives. I can’t stress this enough. Write these down. The act of physically writing something down helps to focus your thinking. Then—and this is the important part— after a day or two to let things sink in, take your written list and ask someone you trust to review it—a friend, business associate, family member. Often the process of waiting will cause you to rethink the list, and having someone you trust review it will help create a final list. Pay careful attention to how you feel about working with people that are close to you. For personal or sensitive business issues you may feel more comfortable working with an independent provider than a family member or someone from your immediate community. BuildiNg Your Network Now that your list is complete, you’ll want to start finding the experts to work with. Usually, you will already be working with one or two professionals (an accountant, lawyer, financial advisor). These can be excellent starting points because I find referrals are the best way to build your network. Start by tapping into your current professional network by asking them if they could make an introduction to someone they know who specialises in the area you need. From my perspective, this is the best time to review your current relationships as well. Ask your lawyer if they can recommend any accountants. Ask your accountant if they can recommend any lawyers. Tell everyone, openly and honestly, that you are reviewing all of your professional relationships to make sure you are getting the best independent advice for your situation. A great way to build your network is by consulting associations that specialise in a

Toll free: 1-877-474-2871 Email: info@cafanet.com PO Box 270 • Seven Sisters Falls, MB • R0E 1Y0

specific area. For example, I am a member of the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA). CAFA members understand the needs of people and business in the agricultural sector. If you count yourselves in that group, tap into these resources easily by looking up a Chapter in your local area. I know that making lists and interviewing professionals isn’t fun, but it’s important. Before deciding to work with someone, take stock of a few important details: • Have they served you well in the past? • Have they been recommended by someone you trust? • Are they a respected member of their profession? • Can they refer you to satisfied clients? Your Network, Your future Building out a network of professionals is critical to personal and business success. As your needs change, so too will the type of experts that you need to help you solve your life and work problems. Needs evolve over time, and being aware of how they change and taking an active approach to building and maintaining your network will put you on a solid foundation, helping you accomplish your personal and professional goals. Craig Swistun is a Vice President with CC&L Private Capital Ltd. and can be contacted at cswistun@cclgroup.com. Connor, Clark & Lunn Private Capital (CC&L Private Capital) is an investment counselling firm that provides traditional and alternative investment solutions to high net worth individuals, foundations and endowments, first nations and trusts. The firm has over 30 investment professionals, manages over $5 billion in assets and is a part of the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd., a multiboutique asset management firm whose affiliates are collectively responsible for the management of over $63 billion in assets.

business Continued from page 42 more per square foot does not make it a net positive gain. If it takes way more energy or erosion or wildlife death, for example, to get that increase, the negatives outweigh the positives. GMO cotton, for example, is less frost resistant. GMO corn is so hard a pig can’t eat the kernels; they have to be ground prior to feeding. “Third, it violates nature’s patterns. This is not a modern permutation of Mendel’s peas. Mendel was crossing peas with peas, not peas with corn with grasshoppers with salmon. The fact is that nature has tremendous barriers to keep GMOs from happening: by definition they could not happen, ever, in nature. To disregard these boundaries and wade into it like a bunch of swashbuckling drunken conquistadors is hubris turned to madness. When the sexual plumbing doesn’t match, it just ain’t right.

Four questions for Rachel Parent Toronto-area high school student Rachel Parent has become the face of GMO opposition in Canada. We were not able to arrange a telephone interview, but below is her email response.

1. Are you opposed to GMO and GMO technology? Why? GMOs were introduced without adequate, independent, pre-market safety testing. When I met with Health Canada officials, I asked and found out that neither Health Canada nor the FDA do any of their own studies on the safety of GMO crops. There’s a lot of research indicating that GMO crops and the toxic chemicals used with them are hazardous to human health and the environment, but unfortunately, there’s no safety monitoring.

2. Do you consider GMO foods safe? Why, or why not? Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies have linked GMOs to organ damage, digestive disorders, tumours and reproductive problems. Many studies have also shown the environmental hazards of GMOs, including cross-contamination of organic and non-GMO crops, increased use of herbicides and pesticides, super bugs and super weeds, and the dying off of monarch butterflies and bees with potential to affect our food supply.

3. What if any action do you think needs to be done with respect to GMOs? We need long-term, independent studies to determine if GMOs are safe. Until then, no new GE crops should be approved, and all products containing GMOs should be labelled, like they are in 64 countries around the world, including China and Russia.

4. If the above action(s) were taken do you feel you and consumers would be more accepting of GMOs? If GMOs were proven safe through independent studies, consumers would be much more accepting of them. Unfortunately, the only studies being relied on for safety are provided by the biotech companies, the same companies that stand to benefit by product approvals. Consumers don’t trust these corporations as they’re solely driven by profit, and spend 10s of millions of dollars opposing GMO labelling and consumers’ right to know what’s in our food.

44 country-guide.ca

“Fourth, it has resulted in some 300 million pounds of increased pesticide use. Rather than delivering on its promise to reduce pesticides and herbicides, it has actually done the opposite. This is not good for our ecological womb. “Fifth, it represents the most egregious violation of private property mankind has ever seen. In order to work, it must be promiscuous. But this promiscuity respects no boundary fence. Here we have completely alien life forms, owned by one person, trespassing on neighbours’ farms and creating life forms both foreign and abhorrent to the farmer. And, in the wisdom of the U.S. Supreme Court, rather than holding the trespasser liable, the victim must pay a royalty fee for the privilege of having his property violated. It’s as if a rampant bull came over and stomped your flower bed and rather than having the owner of the bull pay restitution for damages, you have to pay for the privilege of having your flower garden stomped. Nothing could be more uncivilized. GMOs give the evil mind an unprecedented power to act like a barbarian. “Sixth, GMOs view life as fundamentally mechanical rather than biological. This is the heart of the industrial agriculture and it explains why we have an entirely new lexicon of tragedy: campylobacter, lysteria, E. coli, salmonella, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, C.diff, MRSA, food allergies. These are all modern inventions that have occurred as we’ve moved to a mechanical view of life. No longer do we ask how to ensure the pigness of the pig or the tomatoness of the tomato. The only question is can we grow it faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper. “Any society that views its life from this base, manipulative, mechanical philosophy will view its citizens the same way and other cultures the same way. If we want to preserve a place where the Maryness of Mary and the Tomness of Tom is something to be reverenced, then it starts with the pigness of the pig. It’s how we respect and honour the least of these that creates a moral and ethical framework to honour the greatest of these (humans). “By embracing GMOs, our culture has slipped down the ultimate slope toward eliminating any sacredness to life and have exchanged human slavery for overall life slavery. That is not a positive exchange.” While some will argue that Salatin, as an organic producer, is mainly interested in increasing demand for organic production, many of his concerns are echoed by conventional producers. Wendall Lutz is a conventional soybean and corn producer from Dewey, Illinois. He does not grow herbicide-tolerant soybeans because of his fears about weed resistance, but he does plant BT corn because of the need to control insects in his corn. Even so, when I spoke with Lutz, he was in Washington, D.C. lobbying for mandatory labelling of GMO food. D ecem b er 2 0 1 5

business What must be done? When conversations turn anti-GMO, probably the most common reaction for the majority of North American farmers is to roll their eyes, shake their heads, and walk away. But simply ignoring the antiGMO movement is not a solution. Do not forget that only 28 countries allow GMO production, and since Scotland recently voted against the growing of GMO crops, that number is shrinking. Instead of walking away, farmers need to listen to those opposed to GMOs and understand why they are concerned. The best advice for a farmer wanting to save GMO technology, however, comes from a most unlikely source. Mark Lynas is considered the father of the anti-GMO movement. Back in the ’90s he wrote the first article citing the evils of GMOs. He admits to the vandalism of GMO crops and field trials. But on January 3, 2013 he reversed his position. During a speech at the Oxford Farming Conference Lynas said: “I’m also sorry that I helped to start the anti-GM movement back in the mid-1990s and

that I thereby assisted in demonizing an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment.” Today Lynas is a visiting fellow at Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and currently works with the Cornell Alliance for Science. Like Salatin, Lynas insisted on being interviewed by email, not by telephone (I guess when you’re as controversial as they are, you learn to be extra cautious and to do everything you can to avoid misinterpretation.) Lynas has this advice for farmers: “I think the Canadian farming sector has to be very clear that it is supportive of both transparency and sustainability. That means improving its performance in both these areas, and demonstrating why GMO crops can help deliver a more sustainable agricultural system with higher productivity and minimized use of chemical inputs. “It also means showing how no till and other recent innovations facilitated by GMOs have helped make farming friendlier to the soil and to the local and global environment. But it also means acknowl-

edging that there is much more to be done — and being part of the resulting conversation rather than standing against change. “In my view transparency is good, because it means that farmers and producers can make the case for why new breeding technologies are worthwhile. On the other hand if you hide the presence of GMOs in food, you are not in a very good position to talk about their benefits. I would like to see a much more proactive approach — what we want to see are informed consumers, so how do we best facilitate this rather than being opposed?” Lynas adds: “My view is that farmers have to tell their stories better. Big Ag is not considered a credible voice — but farmers, especially family farmers, can tell an authentic story about the reality of farming today, the kinds of decisions they make and why. The fact that so many otherwise rational people believe that Monsanto has somehow enslaved a generation of North American farmers testifies to these same farmers’ failure to explain why they choose GMO seeds. In my view communication is far too important to be left to the professionals.” CG

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What price are you really willing to pay? By Pierrrette Desrosiers tell my young children that every decision they make or don’t make has a cost. Each time they say yes to something, like hanging out late with friends and going to bed after midnight, they are also saying no to other things, like feeling energized the next day. Since they don’t have unlimited resources — time, energy, and money — they can’t do everything. I also tell this to my clients. Too often we avoid thinking about the consequences of our actions and our inaction, and of our words and thoughts. Everything has a cost. Consequences can be minor or significant, positive or negative (rarely neutral), and short term or long term. They can affect your mental or physical health, finances, productivity, well-being, or relationships. They can also impact others — your loved ones, neighbours, employees or society. These consequences also deserve careful contemplation when we’re making our decisions, although of course, it would be insane to try to evaluate everything that we do, think and say. We make thousands of micro-decisions, say thousands of words, and have about 50,000 thoughts in a day. It would be a full-time job. However, people don’t usually paralyze themselves with too much self-analysis; more often, we do not take enough time to evaluate our habits. As a leader, your job is to craft a vision, communicate it, and plan accordingly. But don’t get so caught up in your ideas that you can’t carefully consider their impacts. Because each thing we do has consequences, it’s wise to stop from time to time to reflect on our choices. I once heard a client say, “I told my spouse that my business is No. 1, and she is No. 2.” And he acted accordingly. I asked him if he was really aware of and willing to accept the consequences of that choice. Let’s think through a few situations: If you decide to buy equipment or land you can’t really afford, are you aware of the consequences? Or are you lying to yourself that everything will be fine? If you decide to not eat and exercise properly for years to save time, are you aware of the consequences? Are you really willing to jeopardize your health and your long-term productivity? If you decide to push your child to take over the farm when it’s clear their heart is somewhere else, are you willing to face tension in your relationship? When you strive to win first place in your category, what other things in your life will you abandon? Even very small decisions create an impact. If I decide to yell at someone because he hurt my feelings, I’m choosing to hurt him and cause damage to 46 country-guide.ca

our relationship. If I choose to not say, “I’m sorry,” I choose to miss an opportunity to nourish our relationship. When I log on to social media, I choose to be less productive, efficient and focused. When I choose to be a workaholic and never rest, I choose to let my physical and mental health break down. Life is a series of decisions. We open some doors and close others. Those who live happy, productive and successful lives make decisions based, at least in part, on an analysis of the possible consequences of their choices. It’s like farming. If you plant corn, you will harvest corn. If you seed wheat, you will harvest wheat. And if you choose to ignore the weeds coming up in your field, you’re choosing to let the weeds choke out your good harvest. If you don’t keep your soil in condition, you’re choosing to let your yields wither. When real farmers do such things, we call them foolish and short sighted. But sometimes we don’t see how some of the choices we make are just as detrimental to our personal lives and careers. So what does this look like? • If I invest my time in cultivating my relationships, I will harvest more harmony in my life. • If I invest in my employees, I will harvest more productivity, engagement, and a positive work environment. • If I eat well, get my eight hours of sleep and exercise, I will harvest more physical and psychological health in my life. • If I take time for self-care, I will harvest a stronger sense of self-control and will be less prone to burnout. • If I think about my values and priorities and act accordingly, I will harvest more satisfaction. • If I live with honesty and integrity, I will harvest more serenity. Next time you’re faced with a set of decisions — and we’re faced with decisions at every moment of the day — take a moment to contemplate the direction that your choice is leading you. When you say yes to this thing, what are you saying no to? And is that an outcome you’re willing to face? Life is not a goal, it is a journey, so be a leader not just of your business but of your life, making informed choices and reaping the positive consequences. 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. Find her at www. pierrettedesroiers.com, or contact her at pierrete@ pierrettedesrosiers.com. December 2015

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Dr. Hatfield is the Laboratory Director and Supervisory Plant Physiologist, with US Department of Agriculture. His research emphasis is on the interactions among the components of the soil-plant atmosphere continuum and their linkage to air, water, and soil quality. His focus has been on the evaluation of farming systems and their response to water and nitrogen interactions across soils and the evaluation of remote sensing methods to quantify spatial variation within fields for application to risk management tools.

What can be done to influence consumers perception about Animal welfare? Dr. Grandin is a world renowned Animal Behaviourist and has worked globally to improve animal welfare in livestock handling facilities. She has worked with farmers, agribusiness and the food processing, retailing and restaurant trade. All the more remarkable she has done this by overcoming many of the constraints that face people with autism. Hers is a remarkable storey of courage, gut instinct, hard work and challenging the status quo on many fronts. Join Dr. Grandin for this enlightening talk.

Explore how to optimize your crop production system through a full day program of talks, demonstrations, farmer panels and Q&A sessions. You will gain a better understanding of the principles of Yield and how changes in the system and management decisions are interconnected and impact the performance potential in the future. This full day program will help participants understand where yield comes from and how we can move to more resilient systems by following steps and always monitoring the progress. Please visit the FarmSmart website for full program details.

Check our website for details of our Youth and Women in Agriculture programs. Watch for program brochure insert in the Ontario Farmer in January or visit the FarmSmart website to learn about other Speakers and session highlights.

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Assessing risk in the farm business By Larry Martin, Agri-Food Management Excellence

Potential Impact

he process of assessing risk in a farm business is no different than in any other business. In agriculture, however, the types of risks in agriculture can be unique. How an individual views risk, how much they want to accept and how they manage it varies from person to person. Even so, there is a widely accepted framework that forms a logical and comprehensive process to assess and determine your approach. This article describes the framework and gives some suggestions on how to use it. Extreme

High

Medium

Low

Negligible

Remote % ranges

0-10%

Unlikely Possible Likelihood >10-25%

>25-50%

Likely Probable >50-90%

>90-100%

Risk ‘Heat Charts’: The chart is called a heat chart. The more intense the colour, the more “heat” the business takes from an adverse event. Developing a heat chart for your farm is done in a series of steps, which are explained below.

Step 1: Identify things that can go wrong This may be the most important step because it can be easy to miss or to avoid thinking about the very thing that causes the business to fail: this is the “Black Swan” concept, based on the book that was quite popular a few years ago. It’s important to be thorough and comprehensive. In our management courses we use the external and internal environment models developed by Michael Porter at Harvard to gauge risks faced by a farm business. They are simply comprehensive approaches to thinking about the risks in the external environment and internal environment.

Risks in the external environment: • Markets and customers: This can include anything from declines in commodity prices to loss of an important customer. The latter can include a range of negative events from a customer 48 country-guide.ca

switching to another supplier, to a customer in financial difficulty who fails to pay a significant receivable. (Each event should be given an identifier: a price decline could be 1a; switching to another supplier 1b; failing to pay 1c, and so on for all the events identified.) • Policies, laws and regulations: Many farmers are keenly aware of changes in environmental, land ownership, pesticide or animal welfare regulations, or changes in BRM payments or procedures. • Socio-economic factors: This could, for example, include consumer concerns about red meat, pesticides, changes in ethnicity. Are there trends that threaten the market for what you produce? • Competitors: Some farmers don’t consider others as competitors, but they can be if, for example, they adopt effective technology that drives their costs down. They certainly can be competitors for land that you want to buy or lease. Also, think about competitors in other countries; for example, Brazil is a growing competitor against Canadian grain and oilseed producers.

Risks in the internal environment: • People: This includes death or serious illness of a key person, including yourself; a key employee quitting; loss of support of key management in a related company; divorce; family feuding over any number of things that families feud over, especially in succession planning. • Assets: Obviously this encompasses fire, property damage, hail, important off-farm investments. • Finance: This requires understanding your financial position, especially debt service capacity and how it interacts with both production and markets. • P rocesses: Business process involves all the activities from obtaining inputs to delivering and collecting on final products. Risks then include the possibility of breakdown, sabotage, or becoming outdated.

Step 2: Estimating potential impact Once the potential events are identified, the next question is how bad will it hurt if each occurs? This will vary with the event. It often helps to get input from key employees or others familiar with your business. The bottom line is that you need to be realistic about the damage an event would cause, both in the short term and long term. Also, it’s important to be as realistic as possible. Look again at the heat chart, and note that it is set up as five levels of impact from negligible to extreme. These categories can be converted to dollar amounts that fit your farm to make the process more vivid. december 2015

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This step is as described. Assign a likelihood on whether the event will occur. Note that the heat chart has five categories from remote to probable, which are translated into probability ranges. As with the potential impacts in Step 2, it is important to be as realistic as possible for each potential event.

Completing the Heat Chart

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ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for canola contains the active ingredients difenoconazole, metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil and thiamethoxam. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for canola plus Vibrance® is a combination of two separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients difenoconazole, metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil, thiamethoxam, and sedaxane. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for corn (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination of four separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, and clothianidin. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for corn (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin and ipconazole. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for corn with Poncho®/VoTivo™ (fungicides, insecticide and nematicide) is a combination of five separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, clothianidin and Bacillus firmus strain I-1582. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for soybeans (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination of four separate individually registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin, metalaxyl and imidacloprid. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for soybeans (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin and metalaxyl. Acceleron and Design®, Acceleron®, DEKALB and Design®, DEKALB®, Genuity and Design®, Genuity®, JumpStart®, RIB Complete and Design®, RIB Complete®, Roundup Ready 2 Technology and Design®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup Transorb®, Roundup WeatherMAX®, Roundup®, SmartStax and Design®, SmartStax®, Transorb®, VT Double PRO®, and VT Triple PRO® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Used under license. Vibrance® and Fortenza® are registered trademarks of a Syngenta group company. LibertyLink® and the Water Droplet Design are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. Herculex® is a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Used under license. Poncho® and Votivo™ are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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When you have the impacts and likelihoods estimated for each possible event, plot them into the various cells in the heat chart, using the identifiers for each. This will give a visual representation of the risks and their distribution. Some people then use a minimum numerical score (e.g. 10 and above) to decide which risks to manage. This then leaves the final step of developing a risk management plan for those events that qualify. The appeal of this approach is that it gives managers the opportunity to be as comprehensive as possible in identifying potential risks and it forces them to think seriously about their likelihood of occurrence and impact on the farm business if they occur. CG

Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. Commercialized products have been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship.

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life

Networking for business and life If you cringe at the thought of networking, it’s a good sign you’re going about it the wrong way By Helen Lammers-Helps hile in the stands at his son’s hockey game, John got a recommendation for an accountant from one of the other parents. At a conference, Chris met a group of farmers who were also interested in experimenting with cover crops. At the end of a long day of combining, Tara shared her frustrations about work-life balance with a group of fellow female farmers on Facebook. What do all of these scenarios have in common? They are all examples of people successfully using their networks to solve a problem. When people think of networking, they often imagine having to clock all sorts of hours attending events for the express purpose of growing their list of contacts. Instead, the potential to network is everywhere — coffee shops, planes, conferences and community events — and we should be making use of those opportunities, professionally and personally. “Effective networking is both a business and a life skill,” says Courtenay Wolfe, a Toronto-based finance executive and popular speaker on the topic of networking. “Happiness is built more through connection than through individual achievement.” Most people cringe at the thought of networking but that’s because they are going about it the wrong way, says Wolfe. “It’s not about selling, it’s about giving,” she explains.

The goal when you meet someone is to help them achieve what they need. Eventually you’ll also be rewarded by receiving help with the things you need. Wolfe has a simple strategy for networking. When you meet someone new, introduce yourself and ask questions about their interests, passions and even their hobbies. Find out what they need and want. She sums it up by saying: “Lead, listen and learn.” So yes, if you want to expand your network, you may have to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, says Susan Regier, publisher of NetworkingToday.com in London, Ont. But there are simple approaches to make this a lot easier and more successful. For instance, don’t sit with your friends at a conference, since this limits your potential to meet new people. Calgary’s Iris Meck, who organizes the Advancing Women in Agriculture Conferences agrees with Regier. “Be open and engage those around you. Use the receptions, trade shows and buffet lines at conferences to meet other people.” Networking isn’t simply about collecting as many business cards as you can, cautions Wolfe. “It’s about building relationships.” It’s about quality not quantity — a few good connections will be much more valuable than a stack of business cards, she adds. After meeting someone, Wolfe recommends making notes on the back of their card for future reference and adding them to your contacts on LinkedIn or other social media networking site.

Use social media to network There’s still nothing better than meeting people face to face, but social media tools are useful for making new contacts outside your geographical area and for staying in touch. There are many social networking sites but the big three are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn bills itself as a professional social networking site. It’s a good way to stay in touch with people you meet at conferences or other events by linking profiles. Facebook groups are a way to interact with a community of people with similar interests. You can join an existing group or start your own. These do not have to be official groups and can be open or closed. Twitter can seem overwhelming but following people or groups who are doing work you are interested in can tame the noise. Use hashtags (the # symbol) to start a conversation or search on keywords to find like-minded people to follow. You can be active or passive with social media. You can “listen in” (recommended for a while until you get a feel for the social media channel) or be active by posting comments and articles. It’s best not to post anything on social media that you wouldn’t say publicly. And remember to keep it positive.

50 country-guide.ca

December 2015

life Then, focus on nurturing those relationships. Wolfe and Regier say there are many ways you can stay connected. For instance, says Wolfe, you can email an article they might be interested in, or introduce them to someone you think could be helpful. Invite them out for coffee or send a new chew toy if they just got a new puppy, suggests Regier. Whatever else, make sure you actually do the things you promise to do, says Wolfe, who finds 80 per cent of people drop the ball and don’t follow through. The Internet is opening up new opportunities for networking. For farmers who work long days, often by themselves, this can be a particularly useful tool. Grace Vanderzande who has been a beef farmer in Napanee, Ont. for 37 years started her blog (www. buttonsthoughts.ca) five years ago as a means of connecting with others. Her husband works off farm, her daughters are grown and have moved away, and she knew some of her own family members didn’t know what she did every day. Vanderzande blogs about her experiences on the farm, posting pictures of newborn calves and the changing rural landscape. Today hundreds of people read her blog posts and through the blog she has become friends with farm women in Montana, Pennsylvania and Nebraska. “We understand each other, we’re all in the same boat,” says Vanderzande. CG

Tips for meeting new people • H ave a goal in mind. Who are you hoping to meet? What are you looking for? • Go early. It’s easier to meet others when there aren’t many people there yet. • F irst impressions are important so dress appropriately. Unless indicated otherwise, a pair of dress pants and a polo shirt are fine. Forget the ripped jeans and faded shirt. • D on’t sit with your friends. Use break time to mingle with others. • Relax and think of everyone as a friend. Be genuinely interested in them. • Be open to meeting new people. Stay off your smartphone. • W hen following up, use the person’s preferred method of contact. • U se social media such as LinkedIn to stay connected afterwards.

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

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country-guide.ca 51

w e at h e r MILDER THAN NORMAL

C Sn old sp ow ell y s

** **

MILDER THAN NORMAL WITH NEAR- TO BELOW-NORMAL PRECIPITATION

Mild nal sio Occa snow rain /

Mild Scattered snow

U AT ER P EM LL L T WFA A O M OR SN R-N AND A E

Mild ed ter Scat / rain snow

Sc Mild sno atter w / ed rai n

NEAR NORMAL

December 13, 2015 to January 16, 2016

ONTARIO

Dec. 13-19: Changeable skies but mainly fair although snow occurs on two or three days in central and northern regions, mixed with rain south. Blustery winds bring thawing south. Colder in the north. Dec. 20-26: Fair but expect unsettled conditions on a couple of days this week with snow in many areas, chance of rain in the south. Temperatures trend to the mild side in the south, near normal in the north. Dec. 27-Jan. 2: Mainly mild and fair on most days but look for a couple of snowy days in central and northern regions, chance heavy in places. Chance of rain southwest along with gusty winds. Jan. 3-9: Colder with a few higher wind chills. Blustery winds create heavier snow in the lee of larger lakes. On a couple of milder days expect some snow, risk of rain southwest. Jan. 10-16: Generally fair in southern regions apart from a few periods of snow, heavier near larger lakes. Seasonable to cold with some higher wind chills. Mostly clear and cold in the north.

QUEBEC Dec. 13-19: Variable and changeable this week as milder air interchanges with colder air. Fair overall but heavier snow on two to three occasions, at times mixed with rain in the south. Gusty winds. Dec. 20-26: Unsettled on a few days as fair skies alternate with snow. Chance of heavy snow in places with a risk of rain in the south. Blustery at times. Seasonable to mild south, near normal north. 52 country-guide.ca

Dec. 27-Jan. 2: Expect a couple of days with snow but otherwise fair skies with seasonable to mild temperatures. Brisk winds at times cause higher wind chills. Heavier snow near larger lakes. Jan. 3-9: Seasonable temperatures but colder air and gusty winds on two or three days bring a few higher wind chills and some snow, heavier in the lee of larger water bodies. Settled, cold in the north. Jan. 10-16: Fair in the south aside from a few periods of snow, heavier near open waters. Blustery at times with seasonable to cold temperatures and a few higher wind chills. Clear and cold in the north.

ATLANTIC PROVINCES Dec. 13-19: Mostly fair but look for snow or rain on a couple of days this week. Chance of heavy snow in the north and west, rain in the east. Windy. Variable temperatures leaning to the mild side. Dec. 20-26: Unsettled as disturbances bring heavier snow in the west, mixed with rain and thawing in the east and in coastal areas on two or three days. Temperatures vary and trend to the mild side. Blustery. Dec. 27-Jan. 2: Windy and a little colder with a few higher wind chills. Fair aside from snow on a few days, heavier and more frequent along windward coasts, mixed with rain in southern coastal areas. Jan. 3-9: Often fair with mild temperatures but a couple of colder, windy outbreaks bring snow to many areas, heavier along windward coasts and in Labrador. Higher wind chills far north.

Jan. 10-16: Seasonable to mild although blustery winds on a couple of days usher in a few higher wind chills. Fair skies alternate with periodic snow, heavier and more frequent along windward coasts.

December 13, 2015 to January 16, 2016 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS Mild temperatures associated with an El Ni単o event will dominate the weather picture across most of Canada. Past records indicate that El Ni単o often leads to drier-than-usual conditions across our country. With this being the coldest time of year with the shortest days, however, occasional cold snowy outbreaks can still be expected from time to time. These inclement weather conditions are likely to be most prevalent in far northern regions of Canada.

Prepared by meteorologist Larry Romaniuk of Weatherite Services. Forecasts should be 80 per cent accurate for your area; expect variations by a day or two due to changeable speed of weather systems. December 2015

h e a lt h

Uhh… all about hemorrhoids By Marie Berry hen you even hear the word “hemorrhoids” you probably wince with discomfort. With treatment, however, you can be comfortable and prevent complications. Hemorrhoids or piles are very common, with about 75 per cent of the population being affected, most notably adults between 45 and 65 years old. Hemorrhoids are inflamed and swollen veins in the anal and rectal area. The veins are actually part of the vascular cushioning structures which control the passage of stools. The most common cause is constipation and the straining needed to pass a dehydrated hard stool. Pregnancy can cause constipation and may also result in hemorrhoids. Chronic or acute diarrhea can mean straining with resulting hemorrhoids. Sitting on the toilet, physical exertion caused by lifting heavy weights, and sitting for long periods of time (for example, at a desk job) can also cause stress on the vascular cushions and veins, resulting in hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids seem to affect women and men equally, with the exception of the pregnancy risk, but men more often require medical intervention. With age, the connective tissues that are part of the vascular cushions weaken, thus the risk for hemorrhoids increases for older individuals. Children are not as often affected by hemorrhoids, although they can be. However, their symptoms should be checked to ensure that hemorrhoids are the cause. Internal hemorrhoids, just as the term suggests, lie inside the rectal area and do not usually cause symptoms. External hemorrhoids protrude outside the anal opening, and because this area has a rich supply of nerves, can be painful, itchy, and swollen. Hemorrhoids are described by the degree to which they lie outside or inside the anus. First degree ones remain internal; second degree may protrude but return after a bowel movement without any intervention; third degree remain externally after a bowel movement but you are able to manually replace them; and fourth degree cannot be replaced, remaining externally.

Ideally, you want to prevent hemorrhoids, so preventing constipation is key. A diet high in fibre and fluids as well as exercise is an easy and effective help in preventing constipation. Regular bowel habits are important, as is not delaying or “holding it.” The colon is the most active in the morning, making it an ideal time for bowel movements. Some drugs, most commonly narcotic pain relievers, cause constipation and often a laxative is recommended to be taken at the same time. Being overweight is associated with constipation and hemorrhoids, thus weight loss may be a good idea. Obviously, you want a healthy diet and exercise, but if you do experience hemorrhoids, there are nondrug approaches. A sitz bath, that is a warm, shallow bath, will relieve symptoms, but you may need to use it up to four times daily. If the hemorrhoids are external, they should be replaced with a soft moist tissue followed by a gentle soap and water wash to keep the area clean. Hemorrhoid creams and suppositories contain a variety of ingredients to reduce the symptoms, for example local anesthetics, anti-inflammatory agents like hydrocortisone, astringents like zinc oxide and witch hazel, protectants like glycerine, and vasoconstrictors like phenylephrine. Suppositories are best used at bedtime because they slip into the rectum and during the day will “melt out.” Creams and ointments are easy to apply and can be used both externally and internally. If the symptoms persist or get worse, then they need to be checked. Bleeding occurs because hard stools pass over the swollen blood vessels and in fact your noticing blood on toilet tissue may be your first indication of hemorrhoids. However, this bleeding may be a sign of more serious hemorrhoids and if the blood is dark in colour or if there are large quantities of blood, you certainly do want your condition evaluated. Hemorrhoids may be uncomfortable and embarrassing, but they can be treated and prevented. Who can argue with a high-fibre diet, exercise, weight loss, and plenty of liquids? Marie Berry is a lawyer/pharmacist interested in health and education.

With school-aged children, head lice can be a concern. However, an infestation of lice doesn’t mean children are “unclean.” Instead, it’s more likely to mean that they socialize well with many of their peers. Next month, we’ll look at some myths about head lice and some treatment options.

December 2015

country-guide.ca 53

acres

By Leeann Minogue

Hmmm…what’s that under the tree? Jeff thinks he knows. So does his Dad, and everyone else addy! Which ones are mine?” Fouryear-old Connor was jumping up and down in front of his grandparents’ Christmas tree. He grabbed a box wrapped in glittering Rudolf paper and held it up. “This one?” Jeff read the tag. “This one’s for me. Let’s keep looking.” Jeff picked up a large snowman gift bag with Connor’s name on it. “This one’s from your Grandma Donna and Grandpa Dale. You can shake it, but we can’t open any until after supper. Grandma’s rules.” Connor took the bag and shook it, grinning, while Jeff picked through the stack of gifts. He saw four tagged with his own name — all exactly the same shape and size. His grandfather, his mom, his wife, even his sister. He didn’t need to open them, he could guess what was inside. His family had been polite enough not to say much about the incident since it happened back in midNovember, although Jeff was sure if his Grandpa Ed was home instead of in Arizona he would have made some comments. Jeff knew it had been his own fault; he wasn’t surprised he was going to hear about it again. November had been perfect. A late fall. Warm weather, no snow. “We barely even need coveralls to work outside!” Jeff’s father Dale said more than once. This was the first year in a long time that the Hansons were finished harvest early enough to get to other farm work before freeze-up. “We’re even going to get all of those soybeans through the cleaning plant before it’s too cold for them,” Dale said one morning while they were in the shop for a break. “We might even have time to take a day off this month!” “You know what you should do,” Jeff’s Grandpa Ed said while he drank a caramel cappuccino from the machine his girlfriend had brought for the shop. “You ought to mow down those weeds at the edges of the 54 country-guide.ca

sloughs. Especially on that west quarter. You could gain back some of the land we haven’t been able to farm since 2011.” Most of the Hansons’ land had been too wet to seed in the spring of 2011. Since then, their sloughs were bigger than usual. They’d lost a lot of acres, and with changes to Crop Insurance, they couldn’t collect Unseeded Acreage payments on land that wasn’t in shape for spring seeding. But now that the sloughs had dried up a lot, with the cattails and weeds at the edges cut down, the Hansons could reclaim quite a few acres. “I’d get out there myself,” Ed said, “But I’m busy getting my trailer road-ready for the trek south.” “He’s got an idea, Jeff,” Dale said. Jeff nodded. “Yeah. But it would take a few days. We’ve got a little extra time this fall, but maybe not that much.” That afternoon, Jeff found Dale sweeping out the cleaning plant. “Grandpa’s right,” he said. “We should tackle those sloughs. I’ll take the combine out in the morning.” “Really?” Dale asked. “I thought we’d use the mower.” “I can finish twice as fast with a 40-foot header than with the 15-foot mower,” Jeff answered. “But… do you really want to wear out the combine, when you could put the hours on a $25,000 mower instead? And there’s a lot of tough weeds out there. Are you sure you want to put them through the combine?” “If we’re cleaning it up, we might as well do it right,” Jeff said. “The combine’ll chop up the straw better.” Besides, Jeff figured to himself later, if he used the mower, he’d still need to put hours on the tractor to pull it. And they could earn the cost back by having that land ready to seed. That night Dale complained to his wife Donna. “The kid doesn’t listen,” Dale said. “I’ve got decades of experience, and he wants to do everything his own way.” december 2015

“This isn’t a big deal,” Donna said. “We have to let him make decisions.” “On a worn out combine,” Dale grumbled as he crawled into bed. By Tuesday morning, Jeff was on his second day of sloughclearing. He was in the tractor cab, eating his roast beef sandwich a little on the early side. He could never resist a full lunch cooler. “92 acres already. And it’s only 11:00 on Day 2,” he wanted to text his dad. But he didn’t. He was trying to be mature. And he didn’t want to get mustard on his iPhone. When he finished his sandwich and wiped his hand, Jeff snapped a quick photo of the cattails in front of the cab. “It’s like a wetland jungle out here,” he thought. Then he sent the photo to his wife Elaine with a note. “Dad said this wouldn’t work, but I’m making great time and everything’s going just fine out here.” Then he opened his cooler again and rooted around until he found one of his wife’s homemade chocolate chip cookies. As he bit into it, he thought he noticed a strange smell. Before he had time to investigate, or even finish chewing, an alarm clanged in the cab. He swivelled in his seat and saw a trail of flame building in a line behind the cab. At least a quarter of a mile as it bent around the slough. Cattail fluff must have built up around the engine and caught fire. Now burning embers were drifting in the light breeze. Not only was Jeff in trouble — the field was on fire and the combine was on fire — he was also living the most humiliating moment of his life. He swallowed hard and clenched his teeth before he called his dad for help. Then he grabbed the fire extinguisher from the ladder and climbed down to get to work. Donna drove out with more fire extinguishers while Dale took the cultivator out, disking wide circles around the slough to stop any flames that might spread from a stray spark. Luckily there wasn’t much wind, and most of the weeds were tough and damp. Jeff had most of the flames under control before there was even enough smoke to attract the neighbours’ attention. “I’m OK,” Jeff assured his wife later. “But I singed holes right through the soles of my favourite running shoes!” “Your dad was right,” Elaine said. But that was the last anyone said about it. Dale was happy to be right, but also worried about the cost of fixing the combine. And Donna had threatened Dale with his life if he even imagined saying anything like, “I told you so.” Nobody mentioned it to Jeff again all fall, except to talk about who would call the dealership to have the combine hauled in for repairs, and who would finish cutting the sloughs (this time, with the mower). But now, six weeks later on Christmas Eve, Jeff was 98 per cent sure that four boxes under the tree with his name on them held new running shoes to replace the ones he’d burned. He practised his “good sport” smile as he gathered his kids and headed to the table for his family’s Christmas dinner. Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews, a playwright and part of a family grain farm in southeastern Saskatchewan. december 2015

The people on my Christmas card list and I have rejected electronic cards. We send greetings in the mail. The annual exchange renews connections with old friends. I value the relationships even if we don’t meet often. The words in a country song warn, “It is hard to make new old friends.” Memory takes me back in time. Dreaming carries me forward. With each card I recall shared experiences and conversations. Hearing from old friends, looking back and dreaming ahead contributes to my Christmas celebrations. Christmas cards bring messages of joy and sadness. A friend in Alberta has always been healthy and energetic. His wife writes saying he has suffered a major stroke. A lady writes from Ontario that her husband has died. I remember Christmas dinners around their table when we lived far from family. I wonder how she is doing without him. A widow my age reports she has been going out with a special man. The new and unexpected relationship is making her happy. A word embossed in silver on a card catches my eye: JOY. I am using it for a bookmark in Unwrapping the Gift. The book is written by a clergy friend, Curtis Almquist, who lives in Boston. Curtis describes flying home from the west coast of the U.S. The weather was stormy, the turbulence constant. Flights were delayed and cancelled. “Late in the afternoon the skies were definitely not friendly, nor were my fellow passengers. I got off a late plane and was hustling in a kind of anxious daze to get to my next gate… then the most amazing thing occurred. “In an airport lounge are half a dozen couples, dressed to the hilt, as handsome as models in Vanity Fair.” Curtis wonders if they are a welcoming troupe engaged by the city or a convention. “Actually they are dancers, ballroom dancers. Amid the cacophony of airport announcements and the bustling and bumping that goes on, these couples are waltzing to the music of a string quartet. I stop dead in my tracks — as does most everyone else. People let their luggage slide to the floor. A man standing near to me — a high-powered executive type — has tears streaming down his cheeks. It is beautiful: the music, the form and flow and the gorgeous grace of these dancers.” Curtis continues: “One of the women dancers walks through the empty space created by the travellers. She walks to the edge of the circle to a man, simply another traveller, a guy with a plane to catch. He looks as much a mess as the rest of us. She whispers something to this traveller. He sets his briefcase on the floor and allows himself to be escorted into the centre of the improvised dance circle. The music begins again. Within seconds the man, a fellow stranger along the way, starts waltzing with the dancer. It was a stunning moment, resplendent with energy and flow and delight. It soared with the movement of a crescendo. It was pure joy! The spontaneous and thunderous applause the couple received drowned out the sorry weather of that afternoon.” Curtis says to have joy — to do joy — is to rejoice. To rejoice is to have a deep sense of delight. He says joy comes when we take time to smell the flowers. “Take the time to let the fragrances and aromas of life penetrate to the deepest part of your being.” Wishing you the joy of Christmas and joy throughout the new year. Suggested Scripture: Isaiah 9:2b-7, Philippians 4:4-9 Rod Andrews is a retired Anglican bishop. He lives in Saskatoon. country-guide.ca 55

YOU COULD WIN UP TO

IN PIONEER® BRAND PRODUCTS OVER 25 YEARS

Purchase Pioneer® brand corn products and be automatically entered to win the grand prize of Seed for Life (up to $1.25 million in Pioneer® brand products) or one of ﬁve secondary prizes of Seed for a Season (up to $10,000 in Pioneer® brand products).

Visit seedforlife.ca to ﬁnd out more.

PION2000_Country_Guide_East_Ad_ENG_MILE_004_Final.indd 1

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to a Canadian corporation, company, partnership or natural person that owns or leases a corn or soybean farm located in the provinces of ON, QC, NB, NS, PEI and NF, and, where applicable, who is at least the age of majority. Contest runs Sept.1/15 to Aug. 1/16 at 11:59:59pm ET. Limit: max. 200 entries per person regardless of method of entry. Odds depend on number of entries received. Prizes incl. account credit redeemable for purchase of any Pioneer® seed products for use on plantable acreage of a designated farm and based on farm size at the time of notiﬁcation of winning. 1 Grand Prize: up to $50,000 account credit per year for 25 consecutive years. 5 Secondary Prizes: up to $10,000 account credit redeemable before June 1, 2017. Account credit not transferable between farms; account credits end if farm operations on designated farm ceases. Details & Rules: www.seedforlife.ca I *An account credit redeemable for the purchase of the manufacturer’s recommended quantity of any DuPont Pioneer seed product per plantable square acre located on one (1) corn or soybean farm located in the Territory to be designated by entrant, that is owned or leased by entrant at the time of notiﬁcation of winning. Unless indicated, trademarks with ®, TM or SM are trademarks and service marks of DuPont, Pioneer or their respective owners © 2015 PHL.

Use winters to even out your farmer’s tan.

15-10-09 12:05 PM