Grainews by Farm Business Communications

Volume 41, Number 18 | DECEMBER 1, 2015

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PRACTICAL PRODUCTION TIPS FOR THE PRAIRIE FARMER

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HOLY CANOLA! A 74-BUSHEL AVERAGE YIELD The Canadian canola yield average is still somewhere around 35 bushels per acre, but a lot of farmers are consistently seeing yields of 50, 60, and even into the mid-70s By Lee Hart

ith one southern Alberta farmer this year hitting a 74-bushel yield average on 320 acres of InVigor canola, the seemingly lofty challenge of hitting a 100-bushel yield in Western Canada sometime over the next three years may indeed be possible. The farmer we’ll refer to as Norman Napus — he asked not to be identified lest he sounded like he was bragging — says in his view 100 bushels “is possible” but figures it will take a combination of good management, good luck “and a whole pile of N fertilizer,” to reach the three-digit yield number consistently on a field. “This 74-bushel yield was the highest we’ve ever seen on our farm, although we did have a few mile-long swaths this year producing 80-bushel yields,” says Napus. “Other years we’ve hit an average high of 64 bushels, but even on those fields the yield ranged from 40 to 80 bushels to give you that 60-bushel average. So if you’re looking for a 100-bushel average, the range will likely be 80 to 120 bushels. I believe a 100-bushel yield is possible, but odds are it’s going to be tough.”

Great potential Napus says canola has great yield potential, but it needs the nutrition. On his 74-bushel crop he applied a total of 175 pounds of nitrogen, 60 pounds of phosphorus and 10 pounds of sulphur per ace. “I didn’t really target a yield, I just apply nitrogen until I get this heaving feeling in the pit of my stomach, in terms of input costs, and then I quit,” Napus half joked. “In my view with can-

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ola, the sky is the limit, potential-wise, so when it comes to input costs you just go with what your stomach can handle.” Napus says a couple of factors he feels which oddly enough contributed to the high yield — a bit of moisture stress and plenty of heat. “We had timely rainfall this summer which supported the crop, but there were also a couple drier periods which makes the canola put down roots,” he says. “The root system was there, we had enough moisture, and we had some good warm stretches which really helped the crop grow.”

Successful program Here’s the program Napus followed to produce that high-yielding crop. This particular field was seeded May 4, with good seedbed moisture. The crop was seeded with a Bourgault PHD (paralink hoe drill) into standing wheat stubble. He seeded Invigor L252 at a rate of five pounds per acre. A few days prior to seeding he float applied about 75 pounds of nitrogen. At time of seeding, he put together a dry-formulation fertilizer blend that included 100 pounds of nitrogen, 60 pounds of phosphorus and 10 pounds of sulphur. About one-quarter of that blend was applied in the seed row, and the rest of the blend was applied by mid-row banders. The Bourgault drill was set at 10-inch row spacing, the drill has a an opener with a two-inch spread tips. For weed control, the field received a broadcast application of glyphosate prior to seeding, and received two applications of Liberty herbicide in-crop. The first treatment was at 1.35 litre/acre rate, and the second at 1.1 litre per acre was also

tank mixed with DuPont’s grassy-weed product, Assure. For other pests, along with the standard treated seed, the crop was also sprayed with Proline fungicide, primarily to control sclerotinia, as well as with Matador insecticide mostly for lygus bug control. Both products were applied at the recommended stage — about 30 per cent flower. “And that was about it,” says Napus. “We made the usual treatments and then just waited. By late August the crop was ready for swathing and combined in September. It was a strange year in some respects. At times it was dry, but then we eventually got the moisture. I think canola usually grows better when it has a bit of stress — it helps it to put down roots.” Although he has no target yield in mind, Napus says he plans to follow the same program in 2016. As it was time for equipment change, he’ll be seeding with a Seed Hawk, paired row drill on 12-inch spacings. He says he’ll probably float apply nitrogen at seeding again in 2016, “because it is easy”, but he also considering using a delayed-release nitrogen product such as Agrium’s ESN.

Nutrient fact of life Supplying the crop with the nutrients it needs is key, no matter what the yield target, says Ross McKenzie, a long-time Alberta research scientist, who as a consultant has provided advice to Norman Napus over the years. McKenzie says just the cold hard facts of science shows a 50-bushel canola crop, for example, is going to need 140 to 150 pounds of nitrogen, 50 to 60 pounds of phosphorus, 95 to 120

pounds of potassium and 25 to 30 pound of sulphur (the NPKS). “To achieve that yield those basic nutrients need to be there,” says McKenzie. “And on most farms it is combination of what’s available in the soil as well as the added fertilizer blend. That’s why it is always recommended to start out with a soil test analysis — know what is available in the soil and then add from there.” McKenzie says as producers begin targeting higher yields, nutrient requirements increase accordingly. A 75-bushel crop is going to need 210 to 225 pounds of N, 75 to 85 pounds of P, 140 to 160 pounds of K, and 35 to 40 pounds of S. Targeting a 100-bushel yield is going to require about 300 pounds of N, 115 pounds of P, 200 pounds of K and 55 pounds of S. McKenzie says the challenge with the exceptionally high yields will be finding ways to apply enough product — particularly nitrogen — without damaging the crop. He says applying a controlledrelease nitrogen product such as ESN maybe an option. Research shows as much as 80 to 90 even 100 pounds of ESN can be applied in-row with the seed without causing seedling damage. McKenzie also says foliar treatments of macro- and micro-nutrients, sometimes used in-crop, has limited benefit. He says it is difficult to get sufficient plant uptake of a foliar-applied nutrient particularly if the plant has a large requirement for that nutrient. † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

In This Issue

» continued on page 4

Wheat & Chaff .................. 2 Features . ........................... 5 Crop Advisor’s Casebook . 6 Columns ............................ 20 Machinery & Shop............. 29 Cattleman’s Corner .......... 40

Potato storage

julienne isaacs page 8

The Honey tractor

scott garvey page 34

FarmLife ............................ 47

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Wheat & Chaff STAMPEDE

BY JERRY PALEN

Leeann Minogue

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U.S. subscribers call 1-204-944-5568 or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com If you have story ideas, call us. You can write the article and we’d pay you, or we can write it. Phone Leeann Minogue at 306-861-2678 Fax to 204-944-5416 Email leeann.minogue@fbcpublishing.com Write to Grainews, 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1

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Ask for hearts

When you renew your subscription to Grainews, be sure to ask for six Please Be Careful, We Love You hearts. Then stick them onto equipment that you, your loved ones and your employees operate. That important message could save an arm, a leg or a life.

’ll be honest right from the start. I didn’t really want to go. The conference was in Saskatoon — a 4-1/2 hour drive from our farm. I’d have to make plans for my son to go to a friend’s house after school on Monday. The conference hotel had long-since filled up, so I needed a place to stay. I had another meeting on the first day of the conference, so I’d have to reschedule or arrive late. But those logistical issues just scratched the surface. The event was Connect15: A Celebration of Women in Farming. I wasn’t convinced this was a great idea. If farm women want to go to a conference, I thought, why don’t they go to a conference where policy decisions are being made? Or a seminar where they can learn about agronomy, or grain marketing or farm finance? Or, I thought, if these women need a vacation, maybe they should save their conference registration fees and head to Vegas. (Or Winnipeg. It’s not as warm, but the exchange rates are better.) How can they even have a conference for “farm women?” I wondered. What exactly is a farm woman? Women living on farms span a pretty wide range. Some run their own farms, or are equal partners on a family farm. Other women on farms think of themselves as nurses or teachers or biologists who happen to be married to farmers. Then there are women who see themselves as “farm women” but don’t actually live on farms for one reason or another. “What kind of conference can this be?” I wondered. “A lot of fluff about shopping and cooking?” But, one of the things we try to do at Grainews, as our editorial director Laura Rance reminded me, is “go where our readers are.” So I reserved the guest room at my parents’ house in Saskatoon and packed up the car.

Turnaround I was late, of course. I couldn’t change my other meeting, so I turned up near the end of the first day of the two-day event. I’d asked my sister-in-law to meet me at the conference. She grew up in the city and is still new to farm life. I was worried she’d be sitting in a corner bored and fuming at me for abandoning her. But before I even got to Saskatoon, she sent me a text to say that hearing Grainews columnist Elaine Froese’s presentation had already made her trip to the conference worthwhile. By the time I parked the car and found her in the crowd of 300 women, my sister-in-law had already made a new friend — another woman who is also figuring out new-to-small-town-life challenges. My sister-in-law had been as skeptical as I was

before the conference, but I could already see that it was working for her. And, as far as I could tell, it was working for the other women too. After some high-quality presentations on the first day, then a few bottles of wine with dinner, this all-female crowd had settled in for a good time. Obviously, I wouldn’t know anything about this, but rumour has it that the hotel staff had to clear stray farm women out of the ballroom long after the end of the banquet, and then sweep a few more out of the hotel lounge after last call.

Aftermath At this conference, nobody talked about clubroot management or the future of farm safety nets. No one speculated about interest rates going up or canola prices going down. And, there were no awkward hallway conversations where business acquaintances make small talk to try to find something in common. Instead, there were great discussions about farm life, and how things were similar, but different for everyone in the room. Women talked about the challenges, but focused on the benefits of farm life. Finally — a room where everyone understood the weird quirks of being a woman on a farm. I’ve never been to a conference where people were so friendly and willing to open up. Of course, I’ve also never been to a conference where so many people had the last name “Minogue.” The conference was sponsored by Emerge Ag Solutions, a farm input retailer based out of Kyle and Eston, Saskatchewan. I grew up near Lacadena, right between those two towns. For me, the event was a little like a hometown wedding without a groom or any drunken uncles. Before the server took away the plates at the end of the Day 1 dinner, I realized that this conference was a good idea. If you’re a woman on a farm, no matter what your role, it’s sure to be different from the role of the men on your farm, and your life is definitely different than the lives of your friends in cities and towns. A conference about canola research can be interesting and can help make your farm more profitable, but it can’t be a place to talk about women’s roles in farm life. Sure, a weekend away with your women friends is a great deal of fun and everyone deserves a break now and again. But taking two days to focus on farm life and take home some ideas from talented motivational speakers left everyone re-energized and excited to get back to work — whatever that work is. Long after Connect15, Twitter was still abuzz with conference attendees writing in about how much they loved the conference. This event filled a gap some of us didn’t know was missing from the typical winter ag conference line up. A few days ago, the conference co-ordinator posted this on Twitter: “It’s just came to my attention that some media perceived our celebration as ‘farm women shopping and cooking.’” Touché. We’ll know better next time. † Leeann

Like us on Facebook! Grainews has a Facebook page. Find, read and comment on blog posts easily and with a thumbs up!

Find us on Twitter: Leeann Minogue is @grainmuse Lisa Guenther is @LtoG Lee Hart is @hartattacks Scott Garvey is @machineryeditor

After TV sensations the Property Brothers gave their presentation, they stood on the red carpet for hours, posing with everyone who wanted a photo. The Property Brothers are the two tall men in the back. The women are from Lacadena, Kyle and points in between. They are: Patricia Dyrland, Lindsy Smith, Amber Smith, Erin Beattie Minogue, Glenda Beattie, Ronda Minogue, Joanne Smith and Kim Minogue.

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Wheat & Chaff Farm safety

Gift the gift of safety for Christmas

ach Christmas season, there is a new, must-have gift. Chatty Cathy dolls, Cabbage Patch Kids and Tickle Me Elmo dolls were all at one point toys that caused parents to panic, children to hope and retailers to sweat. This year, instead of lining up for the latest fancy toy why not give the gift of farm safety to your family this year? Of course, everybody likes to see something in the stocking on Christmas morning, a pair of socks, maybe a box of candy and a tube of toothpaste. Why not shake things up this year and include some personal protective equipment (PPE) or other safety-related items in that stocking for the farmer you love? These things don’t have to be expensive

or very fancy, but basic items like a small first-aid kit, a flashlight or even some ear plugs all make great stocking stuffers. Other PPE items that could be wrapped up for a loved one this year include: • Work gloves. • Safety goggles. • ATV helmet. • Fire-resistant coveralls. • Respirator. • Fire extinguisher. • Steel-toed boots. When selecting these items, it’s important to think about a few factors. Fit, function and quality. Don’t cheap out! A good set of work gloves, that are of good quality, that fit well, is a better investment that a pair that will wear out or create a

Agronomy tips… from the field

Take your farming to Twitter

re you on Twitter?” That’s the question I find myself asking more and more when I’m at tradeshows and grower meetings. Social media sites, like Twitter, are revolutionizing the way you connect, expand your networks, share information and tell positive stories about agriculture. If you haven’t taken the Twitter plunge yet, here are a few tips to get you up and running. First, create a profile and share a few basic facts — Who are you? What do you grow? Where is your general location? Don’t forget to include a photo of yourself so that your fellow growers, friends and family on Twitter know it’s you. Once you’ve got your profile sorted out, start thinking about who you’d want to follow. “Following” someone on Twitter lets you see what they’re tweeting. For starters, follow other farmers in your area and across the Prairies, as well as ag media outlets, agribusinesses and provincial and national associations for industry news and agronomic advice. Remember: Twitter is a two-way street. The more you engage with others, the more you’ll ultimately get out of the experience. Through Twitter you can build a network of like-minded growers across the Prairies — and even the globe. †

hazard because of a poor fit. When selecting a respirator, choose the right one for the right kind of job. Make sure any respirator that you purchase is certified by the Canadian Safety Association (CSA) or another recognized North American standards agency. The same can be said for fire extinguishers and helmets. If you aren’t sure about what size or what the need might be, a gift certificate and a promise to go shopping with your loved one makes a great gift! Some people have all the things they need, but some lack training. Why not give the gift of a first aid course? Register and attend as a family a course that helps everyone learn what to do in an emergency. One of the most incredible gifts you

You might be from the Prairies if... By Carson Demmans and Jason

“

This agronomy tip is brought to you by Teresa Falk, digital marketing lead at Syngenta Canada. Follow her on Twitter at @teresadfalk.

Photo contest

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT Joanne Perih sent in the winning photo for this issue. This is Joanne’s 14-year-old daughter Megan with her heifer, Sweetie. Joanne says, “Megan loves to spend free time with her heifer. Megan and her brother, Tony, farm with their mom and dad, Joanne and Gordon Perih, north of Dauphin, Man.” Thanks for sending this in Joanne! We’ll send you a cheque for $25. Send your best shot to leeann.minogue@ fbcpublishing.com. Please send only one or two photos at a time and include your name and address, the names of anyone in the photo, where the photo was taken and a bit about what was going on that day. A little write-up about your farm is welcome, too. Please ensure that images are of high resolution (1 MB is preferred), and if the image includes a person, we need to be able to see their face clearly. Leeann

can give this year isn’t a physical item at all. It can’t be wrapped or opened. It’s the gift of you. It’s the gift of a healthy and safe farm family. Make a promise to each other to assess the hazards on the farm. Make a pledge to talk to each other about the risks associated with those hazards. Work together to address the hazards. Your life and the lives of your family members are worth more than all the gifts in the whole world combined. From all of us at the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, we wish you a happy, healthy and safe holiday season and all the best in the New Year. † For more information about farm safety, please visit casa-acsa.ca.

Win this book

Red combine in action

e’ve had a great response to our “Win This Book” contest! We asked you to send us photos of your combine. On December 5, we’ll choose one entrant and send them a copy of the coffee table book Red Combines from Octane Press. Joe Sawyer from Gilford, Ont., sent us this entry — a photo of his red combine out in a soybean field. On average, Joe wrote, “the crops this year were good. This picture was taken September 18, 2015. This combine was built in 1983.” † Leeann Minogue

You had to pick up your kids from school because the snow was too deep for the school buses to get through.

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Cover Stories Crop production » CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The Canola 100 challenge is achievable

1 6 6 6 D u b l i n Av e n u e , W i n n i p e g , Ma n. R 3 H 0 H 1 w w w. g r a i n e w s . c a PUBLI SHE R

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Edi tor

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Lee Hart Farml ife Edi tor

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If Manitoba canola grower Ed Rempel was 10 years younger and had more than one field, he’d be all over the Canola 100 challenge. Even as it stands, he may still throw his air seeder into the ring and join what is expected to be a few hundred Canadian farmers involved in a three-year competition to produce a record 100-bushel yield on a 50-acre plot of dryland canola, in a bid for bragging rights and a grand prize that includes timed-use of a fleet of John Deere equipment. “I think it sounds like just a crazy, fun challenge,” says Rempel, a semi-retired farmer from Starbuck who is also president of the Manitoba Canola Growers. “I’ve only got one field left and a I try to follow a four-year rotation, but I’m really tempted to try the challenge myself.” Rempel is referring to the Canola 100 challenge launched earlier this year in a joint announcement by the consulting firm Agri-Trend Agrology, Glacier Farm Media and John Deere. The challenge, which is open to all Canadian farmers (Ontario and west), is to produce a canola crop, sometime over the next three growing seasons, with an average 100-bushel yield over a 50 acre field. Farmers need to register for the competition, they can use just about any crop input tool they can find (except for a midnight irrigation treatment). Fields will be monitored and measured and the first grower to produce a 100-bushel

average wins the grand prize of 100 hours use of a complete fleet of John Deere equipment — tractor, air seeder, sprayer, swather and combine — whatever size fits their farm. At the end of the 2018 growing season if no one has reached 100 bushels, the prize will be awarded to the highest yield over the three years. Check out contest details at the Canola 100 website: www. agriprize.com

Enormous genetic potential “About 35-years ago when I was sitting in a soils lab at the University of Manitoba school of agriculture, there was a Professor Ridley and he talked about the enormous genetic potential there is in a canola seed,” says Rempel. “And he also told us that once that seed hits the ground it begins to lose potential. There is no doubt in my mind with varieties we have today the genetic potential is there to achieve a 100-bushel yield, we just have to figure out where the roadblocks are in production and let it grow.” Rempel says over the years he has achieved 65-bushel per acre canola yields on his farm — “that’s on good ground, but I didn’t do anything fancy,” he says. “I think whoever wins this is going to have to throw everything they can at this crop. It might be a cruel contest in terms of I doubt if producing that 100 bushels will be economi-

cally sound, but at least you’ll have bragging rights and it will be fun. I think the competition is a marvelous thing.” Rob Saik, CEO of Agri-Trend Agrology, who came up with the Canola 100 contest idea, says as of late November about 80 farmers had pre-registered for the competition. He expects by the time registration closes March 31, 2016 there will be a few hundred. “I believe this contest is going to create a small community of farmers all keen on this skillsbased competition,” says Saik. “Other than the crop has to be produced without irrigation, it is wide open. Farmers can use whatever genetics or seed treatments, herbicides, or foliar fertility they want to achieve this yield. And that is a pretty impressive prize at the end — 100 hours use of a complete line of John Deere field equipment has a significant value.” Canola 100 is looking for serious competitors. There is a $100 registration fee. Farmers need to submit the legal description of the field where the canola will be grown. There is also a $1,000 third-party verification fee to verify the size of the field, the production practices and the yield.

Hit 100 already While a 100-bushel canola yield may sound a bit whimsical considering the Canadian average yield is currently about 35 bushels per acre, Murray

Hartman, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry canola specialist says it isn’t an unreasonable goal. “We have achieved 100-bushel yields in some of our south central Alberta research plots,” says Hartman. “I know they are only research plots, but they were larger, fairly good size. In 2013 we were seeing 100-bushel yields and really we weren’t doing anything extra special to achieve that — it is pretty basic production.” Hartman says all the basic production recommendations still apply — proper seeding rate, shallow seeded into a firm, moist seed bed, proper fertility, and use of input tools to control weeds, crop pests and disease. “Of course with any crop the weather is going to be a major factor,” he says. “You need the moisture and ideal temperature — those will be the determining factors.” Hartman says a 100-bushel yield is attainable. There may only be “.01 per cent of farmers who will achieve that over a field, but it is possible.” While he realizes this is a contest, he says the one important factor that has to be weighed if that yield is ever considered on a commercial scale — does it make economic sense? “The bottom line is what is your net profit,” says Hartman. “You can spend the money to achieve the high yield, but what is your return per acre? A lower yield with reduced input costs may in fact be more profitable.” † Lee Hart

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Arlene Bomback Phone: (204) 944-5765 Fax: (204) 944-5562 Email: ads@fbcpublishing.com Printed in Canada by Transcontinental LGM-Coronet Winnipeg, Man. Grainews is published by Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3H 0H1. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Subscription prices: For Canadian farmers, $55.00 per year or $87.00 for 2 years (includes GST) or $109.00 for 3 years (includes GST). Man. residents add 8% PST to above prices. U.S: $43.00 per year (U.S. Funds). Outside Canada & U.S.: $79 per year. ISSN 0229-8090. Call 1-800-665-0502 for subscriptions. Fax (204) 954-1422 Canadian Postmaster: Send address changes and undeliverable copies (covers only) to PO Box 9800, Winnipeg, Man. R3C 3K7 U.S. Postmaster: Send address changes and undeliverable copies (covers only) to 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1 Grainews is printed on recyclable paper with linseed oil-based inks. Published 18 times a year. Subscription inquiries: Ca l l t o l l f r e e 1-800-665-0502 U.S. subscribers call 1-204-944-5568 o r email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com

Your next issue! You can expect your next issue in your mailbox about January 5, 2016

The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Grainews and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists and Grainews and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Grainews 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 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Features

New varieties

More seed for 2016 A few more seed varieties to consider for next season

n the last two issues of Grainews we’ve run lists of new seed varieties that will be available for the first time in 2016. With more than 20 seed companies on our variety list, perhaps omissions were inevitable. These varieties were accidentally left off our list.

New canola from Cargill VICTORY V-Class V12-3 This is the first specialty canola hybrid to combine clubroot resistance with multi-genic blackleg resistance. V12-3 has very good early season vigour and great yield potential with excellent stand ability. V12-3 matured a half day earlier and yielded 103 per cent of check 45H29 in first year co-op trials (all zones) 2014. V12-3 is part of the Cargill Specialty Canola Program.

PV 200 CL PV 200 CL is the newest highyielding Clearfield hybrid from Proven Seed and has a world class standability rating. PV 200 CL offers strong resistance to blackleg and fusarium wilt while bringing in high yields and profits for canola growers. XCEED X122 CL XCEED X122 CL is the newest canola quality Brassica juncea bred by Proven Seed specifically for the brown and dark brown soil zones to better tolerate heat and drought for consistent performance, reduced green seed, improved seed quality and higher yield potential. X122 CL is a Clearfield hybrid with world class standability plus improved

pod shatter resistance for better straight-cut performance.

New cereals from Proven Seed CDC Titanium CDC Titanium is the first midge tolerant CWRS from Proven Seed and has the highest fusarium resistance rating of all available midge tolerant varieties. Provides growers an excellent and flexible choice that resists lodging, allowing for maximum yield potential. CDC Titanium delivers excellent resistance to strip rust and FHB. 5605HR CL 5605HR CL offers the next step in Clearfield wheat with high

yields, heavy bushel weights and an easy weed management. It is an ideal CWRS variety where complex field conditions and crop rotation challenges exist. 5605HR CL offers a strong disease package including FHB resistance. CDC Fortitude CDC Fortitude is the first solid stem and sawfly-resistant CWAD variety, resulting in successful harvest results. An intermediate to moderate resistance rating for FHB plus strong standability makes CDC Fortitude an excellent option for high fertility or irrigation acres in the durum growing regions of the Prairies.

New soybeans from NorthStar Genetics NSC Watson RR2Y This line is exceptionally early with a CHU of 2225 or relative maturity of 0007. It has shown to have exceptional early season vigor and very good bottom pod height

NorthStar Genetics NSC Watson RR2Y This line is exceptionally early with a CHU of 2225 or relative maturity of 0007. It has shown to have exceptional early season vigor and very good bottom pod height which makes for much easier and quicker harvesting. It has a relatively tall stature and forms abundant cluster pods. Many pods having 4 or even 5 seeds. This line will be significant as it sets a new standard for maturity. NSC Gladstone RR2Y This line was introduced last year, but was limited due to seed availability. It will be available on a wide-scale this year. It has a CHU requirement of 2375 or relative maturity of 004. This line has an extremely aggressive growth habit forming a very branchy plant. Therefore it is well suited for wider row spacing (20 inches and greater) commonly found on modern planters. If it is solid seeded with an air seeder (12 inch row spacing or less) a lower seed rate is recommended (180,000 to 190,000 seeds per acre) in order to allow it to fill out properly. In demonstration plots, it has shown to be a top yielder under a wide range of environmental conditions.

New canola from Proven Seed PV 533 G PV 533 G is a new, high-yielding mid-season Genuity Roundup Ready hybrid. PV 533 G provides growers excellent standability plus a blackleg resistance package that is exhibiting high resistance, even by R rating standards. PV 580 GC PV 580 GC is the first true multigenic clubroot resistant variety available. As a new tool in clubroot management stewardship, PV 580 GC is a mid-season Genuity Roundup Ready hybrid that offers an alternative genetic package. It is part of a sustainable clubroot management approach for existing and high risk clubroot fields, allowing growers to protect their valuable canola rotations and yields.

Supporting your success in every seed Only the DEKALB® brand connects you to our team of experts who can help you unlock your seed’s full potential. From breeding and testing to agronomic advice for your region, you can have confidence in DEKALB seeds.

Learn more at DEKALB.ca/canola ALWAYS FOLLOW IRM, GRAIN MARKETING AND ALL OTHER STEWARDSHIP AND PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Details of these requirements can be found in the Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers printed in this publication ©2015 Monsanto Canada, Inc.

which makes for much easier and quicker harvesting. It has a relatively tall stature and forms abundant cluster pods. Many pods have four or even five seeds. This line sets a new standard for maturity. NSC Gladstone RR2Y This line was introduced last year, but was limited due to seed availability. It will be available on a wide-scale this year. It has a CHU requirement of 2375 or relative maturity of 004. This line has an extremely aggressive growth habit forming a very branchy plant. Therefore it is well suited for wider row spacing (20 inches and greater) commonly found on modern planters. If solid seeded with an air seeder (12 inch row spacing or less) a lower seed rate is recommended (180,000 to 190,000 seeds per acre) to allow it to fill out properly. In demonstration plots, it has shown to be a top yielder under a wide range of environmental conditions. † Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews.

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Features

Crop Advisor’s casebook

What’s hurting this canola crop? By Jason Sauchuk

red, who grows 4,500 acres of canola, wheat, barley and peas in Boyle, Alta., had a canola crop that was looking great up until the third week of June. A day after he’d applied a second pass of glyphosate in one field, Fred noticed the plants in it were taking a turn for the worse. Fred called me shortly afterwards to alert me to the problem. The plants, he said, were looking sickly, with cupped leaves that were turning yellow-red in colour. Fred suspected herbicide injury could be to blame, and he asked if I thought the glyphosate herbicide that he had recently purchased might have affected the canola in that field. I told Fred I’d come right out to have a look. When I arrived at the farm and walked through the problem field, I could see plenty of pale green plants with cupped leaves. The younger leaves on them were yellowing while older leaves were taking on a purplish colour. Vining was also very noticeable on all of the leaves. The sickly looking plants were scattered all over with no apparent pattern, and I estimated that 30 to 40 per cent of the plants in the field were affected. The trouble was isolated within this field, as the crop in all of Fred’s other canola fields, including one that had been sprayed with the same batch

of glyphosate right after the problem field, was healthy and vibrant. I inquired about the weather when Fred had applied the glyphosate to the problem field, and he recalled that it’d been close to ideal for spraying, with night-time lows of around 7 C and daytime highs between 18 to 22 C. There had been a couple of light rain showers around that time as well, so there was no suggestion that the plants had experienced either drought or heat stress. When I looked into how the fields had been seeded, I could see the seed used on all of Fred’s canola acres shared the same lot number. When I inquired about the history of the problem field, I learned that this was the first year that Fred had farmed this quarter section of land. A further investigation into the field’s fertility program yielded some important clues as to what was going on. Do you know what’s behind Fred’s ailing canola? If you do, send in your diagnosis to Grainews, Box 9800, Winnipeg, Man. R3C 3K7; email leeann.minogue@fbcpublishing.com or fax 204-944-5416 c/o Crop Advisor’s Casebook. The best suggestions will be pooled and one winner will be drawn for a chance to win a Grainews cap and a one-year subscription to the magazine. The answer, along with the reasoning that solved the mystery, will appear in the next Crop Advisor’s Solution File. †

Sickly looking plants were scattered all over with no apparent pattern. There were many pale green plants with cupped leaves. The younger leaves were yellowing; older leaves were taking on a purplish colour.

Jason Sauchuk is a sales agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Sprucefield, Alta.

Crop advisor’s solution

Fusarium causes ailing wheat By Alan Mittelstadt

uring the summer of 2014, I was contacted by growers in my area requiring assistance with a problem that was afflicting their wheat fields. Although the trouble appeared to be widespread, affecting numerous farms over a period from late June to mid-August, the reported symptoms were similar: lodging, empty spikes and black spots on plant heads. When I first went out to the farms to investigate, I noted a considerable amount of lodging in the affected fields and that it was occurring in a generally haphazard pattern, with stems going in all different directions. I also saw that the damaged plants appeared in patches, which corresponded with drier spots in the fields (areas that were higher or

had courser/sandier soil) that may have accentuated the symptoms. A closer examination determined the affected wheat plants were not in fact lodged, but were actually nearly broken off about one-third to halfway up the stems. The dried-up straw was dead tissue that was likely broken by wind, and helped explained the empty spikes. The affected plants were discoloured, with dark brown roots and dark tan to brown stems. The nodes above the crowns on some plants were also pink/orange in colour. A look inside affected stems revealed a pink discolouration near the base of the stems as well. While contemplating a solution, I considered whether sawfly or another insect may have caused the broken plant stems. However, I found no trace of any bugs in the soil or inside the stems that could have cut them. I also ruled out take-all root rot,

as the symptoms I was seeing didn’t match the indicators of that disease (shiny black roots and white stems and heads). In the end, it was the pink discolouration inside the affected plant stems that provided the strongest clue as to what was going on. When I saw that, I immediately thought of fusarium. On online search revealed that the pathogen Fusarium culmorum was the likely culprit. This was confirmed when one grower, still insistent that aster yellows may to blame for his ailing wheat, sent some of the pink stems I had collected to a lab. This lab ruled out aster yellows but verified my diagnosis of Fusarium culmorum fungus. This type of fusarium thrives in hot, dry weather. All of the affected fields had experienced some drought and unusually hot weather that summer. The black spots on the heads of some affected plants was likely black mould

(otherwise known as sooty mould), which is a saprophytic fungus that grows on dead tissue. This type of fungus typically breaks down straw after a wheat crop is harvested. What happened in my area during the summer of 2014 was something neither I, nor any of the growers, had seen before. It’s likely only a perfect combination of environmental conditions and their timing could have initiated the disease and allowed the Fusarium culmorum to proliferate to the extent it did. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much more the growers could have done to prevent the situation, since weather was the big driver. There wasn’t much they could do about their wheat yields either, which were severely affected by the Fusarium culmorum outbreak as well as that year’s drought conditions. † Alan Mittelstadt is a sales agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Hussar, Alta.

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Features

Disease protection

New CPS variety fights clubroot By Julienne Isaacs

ooking for a new tool for battling clubroot? Agrium subsidiary Crop Production Services (CPS) says help is on the way for 2016. The company launched Proven Seed PV 580 GC, the first “true” multigenic clubroot resistant variety, on October 27. PV 580 GC, a mid-season variety, is bred for resistance to the most common clubroot pathotypes currently plaguing western Canadian canola fields, as well as highly virulent clubroot pathotypes first identified as “5X,” now known to include additional virulent pathotypes. The variety is a Genuity RoundUp Ready hybrid that will be made available to producers in regions at higher risk of clubroot for the 2016 growing season. According to Bruce Harrison, director of research, development and innovation for CPS Canada, there has been some industry talk around referring to 5X as “unclassified pathotypes.” Whatever their title, they are a looming concern for producers, and a major research priority for CPS. “There are emerging virulent pathotypes out there, and you have to take a multigenic approach,” he says. “Our position is that no variety will be resistant to all of the strains, but what we’re offering now is an alternative resistance genetic source for growers in high-risk areas.” CPS has developed partnerships with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the University of Alberta’s canola breeding program to identify and develop new resistance genes from a variety of plant species related to canola. “We’re using unique gene resistance sources, and in each case bringing those forward into adapted hybrids as quickly as possible, and testing them to ensure we know their respective levels of resistance,” says Harrison. Harrison says the variety has an R rating for blackleg resistance as well as solid standability and yield performance. “We measure that utilizing canola performance checks relative to our Proven Seed variety PV 530 G, and it performed at 97 per cent,” he says. “We’re particularly proud of PV 580 GC for its multigenic clubroot resistance, but we’re pleased with its agronomic performance as well, particularly as it is the first clubroot resistant variety out of the program.”

varieties is breaking down, CPS recommends producers take a break. “Add some cereals into the rotation before you come back into canola,” Harrison says. “But as this is the first multigenic clubroot variety, used in combination with other genetics and using proper stewardship, PV 580 GC will offer growers more durable protection.” Dirk Vermue, a producer near Stony Plain, Alta., says his operation has been growing clubroot resistant varieties since they first came out in 2008. Vermue’s operation participated in field trials this summer and grew a limited amount of PV 580 GC, which, he says, performed well. “Up until about two years ago, a few old-timers were still growing non-resistant varieties and you

could see on a quarter section of about 10 to 20 acres, where the approach starts and where the equipment first enters the field, by harvest time it looked like there was next to nothing of the crop left. Ninety-five per cent of growers have switched,” he says. Vermue says that since his operation switched to resistant varieties, they haven’t had clubroot problems. “But we’re aware of the fact that there’s a limit to them,” he says. “It’s very important to have resistant varieties. They’re starting to talk about new pathogens in clubroot and some of the varieties they have right now are breaking that resistance, so every time there’s a new clubroot resistance available we jump on it.”

photo: courtesy cps

Crop Protection Services’ new canola seed is the first “true” multigenic variety

Agrium subsidiary CPS official launched Proven Seed PV 580 GC, a multigenic clubroot resistant canola variety, on October 27. Rotation is a key strategy on his operation as well. Vermue has moved to a one-in-four canola rotation, and switches between RoundUp and Liberty every second year to control volunteers. So far, it’s working. “I think it is

Setting New Standards

some of the most expensive seed you can buy, but it’s a small price to pay for being able to have a crop,” he says. † Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne. isaacs@gmail.com.

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Rotations are key Harrison emphasizes that PV 580 GC is just one tool in producers’ clubroot management portfolios, but it should be used in rotation with other genetics whenever possible in regions where clubroot is a threat. “PV 580 GC will offer additional protection in responsible crop rotations. When we say ‘responsible crop rotations’ what we’re really saying is that we don’t recommend growing any variety for three years where resistance has broken down or where clubroot is found. We’re not saying that growing this variety is the only thing you should be doing. You should also be thinking about proper stewardship,” he says. If clubroot is found in a field, or if resistance in formerly resistant

Visit brettyoung.ca 1-800-665-5015 BrettYoungTM is a trademark of Brett-Young Seeds Limited. Genuity® and Roundup Ready® are registered trademarks and used under license from Monsanto Company. Always follow grain marketing and all other stewardship practices and pesticide label directions. Details of these requirements can be found in the Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers printed in this publication. 5032 10/15

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Features

Potato production

Potato storage rots likely this winter Potato farmers storing record 2015 production may need to battle potato rots By Julienne Isaacs

his fall might be a tough one for a few Manitoba potato growers battling rots like pink eye, budend decay, late blight and leak in storage. Generally, these diseases are present in storages but the levels are not abnormally high, so a caution is warranted. According to Vikram Bisht, Manitoba’s provincial plant pathologist, leak and late blight infected tubers have already been found in some Manitoba storages. “There was a late season incidence of late blight disease, probably following September 4 to 6 thunderstorms and rainfalls,” he says. “Foliar late blight symptoms appeared soon after the rains and were first reported from Carberry, around September 8 and 9.” Neil Gudmestad, a distinguished professor of plant pathology at North Dakota State University, says growers in North Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba will also face issues with pink eye and leak in storage this fall due to lateseason rains.

Storage infections Storage infections are always a risk for potatoes because they damage relatively easily, he says. “Potatoes are much different than cereal or true seed crops because what you put into storage is a fairly fleshy thing. It bruises very

Storage infections are always a risk for potatoes because they damage relatively easily. easily and the bruises made during harvest are infection courts for pathogens.” Gudmestad emphasizes pink eye as a disease to watch. Though specific causes of the disease are still unknown, it is fairly easy to identify severely infected potatoes by pink to brown blotches of pigment under the tuber skin. In recent years, growers in potato growing regions have seen an uptick in pink eye incidence — particularly in years with excess moisture prior to harvest. Late season rains increase soil water saturation and, as a result, soil

microorganism activity. “Potatoes are a living breathing entity, and when you have soil saturation you end up with a film of moisture around the tuber,” says Gudmestad. In storage, the potato tubers continue to respire and that process builds up carbon dioxide. “When you have a film of moisture around the tubers, that’s like putting a plastic bag over a human’s head — the carbon dioxide builds up and the tubers suffocate,” says Gudmestad. Excess moisture is a double threat, as it also helps deliver bacteria to damaged tubers — infection that often does not appear until

potatoes are in storage, and liable to infect other potatoes. “We have a lot of pink eye and bud end decay this year in the North Dakota region. I’m talking 1.5 per cent. That might not seem like a lot, but if you are losing five bags an acre at the current prices, that’s a $40 to $45 per acre loss or more. It isn’t a bank breaker, but as those tubers are being harvested, a couple of things happen — tubers are wounded and smear on other tubers, and you get secondary infection after you put them in the bin,” says Gudmestad. Pink rot and leak are hard to

distinguish, he says. Tubers that are severely infected with leak will literally leak clear liquid when squeezed.

Management strategies Fortunately for growers, there are a variety of wet and dry potato rots to watch for in storage, management strategies are similar for all rots. Good cultural practices that start at the very beginning of the season are integral to mitigating the risk of rots in storage, says Gudmestad. Managing moisture availability is an important component of these

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Features

Manitoba hits record potato yields in 2015

015 will go down in the books as a record year for potato production in Manitoba. It was an almost charmed season for producers in the province, beginning with an early start to seeding, continuing with low pest pressures and good weather, and ending with excellent conditions for harvest. According to Dan Sawatzky, manager of Keystone Potato Producers Association, acreage was up about 4,000 acres from last year, with 67,327 acres planted in Manitoba. “Average yield will set a Manitoba record at 315 hundredweight per acre, up from 300 in 2014 and 310 in 2013,” he says. “Supply should be balanced to supply the market with what it requires.” Sawatzky says it was a relatively easy

practices. “We depend on the water moving through the soil profile,” he says. “So really good pre-plant tills is really important to make sure there aren’t areas where the water gets trapped.” Growers who use irrigation systems should ensure fields are properly watered prior to harvest, he says. “Carry adequate soil on the primary and the digger to reduce bruising,” he says. “Make sure the soil is pre-watered and the tubers aren’t dehydrated because dehydrated tubers will bruise more, which causes infection.” Bisht says growers should harvest low-lying areas last, particularly if excess moisture is visible in these areas. Gudmestad says a warm harvest also presents risks for growers. If possible, warm tubers— with tuber pulp above 18 C —should not be put in storage, as it increases infection efficiency. For non-seed potatoes, Bisht and Gudmestad both recommend applying a phosphorous acid treatment as tubers are going into storage, which helps control late blight and pink rot. Once tubers are stored, the most important rot management strategy is bringing in fresh air and good ventilation. “If higher than normal rot is expected in storage, running lots of air through the potatoes helps desiccate the rotting tubers, which helps reduce leakiness in storage,” says Bisht. “After suberization, it is important to bring down the storage temperature to as low as the possible for the grade of potatoes. Seed potato storage temperature can be brought down to close to 36 F (2 to 3 C), while the processing potato storage could be brought down to around 47F (8 to 9 C) for long-term storage. For higher levels of rots, it is best to get the potatoes processed as soon as possible. For temporary storage potatoes, with high priority for processing, do not go below 53 F (12 C), else the fry colour will be unacceptable,” he says. Bisht says airflow is crucial to minimizing storage rot losses. “Storage ceilings have to be kept dry with circulation fans,” he says. Condensation dripping onto potatoes from ceilings provides moisture that promotes bacterial rot in the piles. Constant monitoring of storages is recommended. †

year in terms of production. “Conditions were pretty good this year.” Vikram Bisht, potato and horticultural crops plant pathologist for Manitoba Agriculture, Foods and Rural Development, says there were a few recorded incidents of late blight in the province in early September that caused headaches for some growers and processors, but the main issue in terms of pest pressure was the unexpected appearance of European corn borer (ECB) in potato fields. ECB was a significant problem in corn in 2015, with levels higher than the past several years, and populations spilled over into potato fields in early to midJuly, causing some damage. “By then, it was too late to apply any insecticide to manage,” says Bisht. “Once

inside the stem, the larvae are not affected by foliar insecticides. In some fields there was significantly high number of plants with at least some ECB damage. This may have affected yields to some degree.” Early blight also had some impact, says Sawatzky, but not enough to significantly impact yields. “We had growth right through to harvest. Even into the end of September, we still had plants that were green and growing,” says Sawatzky. Conditions were fairly dry across the province, with occasional heavy rainfall events during the summer that leveled off during the fall. “I guess the latest area that had excess rain was toward the Eli area, so that kept fields wet there,” he says. “The Portage area was on the verge of being wet all the way through the growing season, with not much irrigation needed.”

One potential concern was unseasonable heat during harvest, which in combination with moisture can potentially lead to storage rot issues. “There’s a question there that growers can get their potatoes cool enough to prevent early spoilage, but we haven’t had that many wet conditions. There’s always potential for that, but this year it was not as great a concern as in previous years, despite the heat during harvest. Most guys will shut down if it gets too hot,” says Sawatzky. Heat caused only a brief stall in bulking in mid-August. “Harvest actually wrapped up earlier than the last few years because conditions were very good as opposed to the last few years. Potatoes came out in good shape.” † Julienne Isaacs

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Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne. isaacs@gmail.com. 8796_1CC_VibranceQuattro_Grainews.indd 1

2015-11-12 10:08 AM

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Features

Weed control

Battling with leafy spurge in Sask. Leafy spurge is persistent, invasive and hard to control. Know your enemy By Edna Manning

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

ne of the most persistent and problematic weeds to infest large areas of pasture and prairie in Western Canada is leafy spurge. It is even a larger problem in the northern U.S. — North Dakota, and parts of Montana are badly infested; Wisconsin and Minnesota are also dealing with it. Leafy spurge is not native to North America. It came here from Europe sometime in the mid- to late-1800s and has spread. “There are different corridors that it seems to spread along, such as railroads, highways, rural roads and waterways. Despite great efforts undertaken to control it, leafy spurge is spreading in Saskatchewan. The current control efforts are not consistent enough to actually make the overall population shrink,” wrote Harvey Anderson, invasive plant management co-ordinator with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM). This perennial weed spreads quickly and crowds out native vegetation overtaking large areas of open land and reducing land value. Horses and cattle avoid the plant because the stems produce a milky sap, which may cause scours and mouth blistering. Sheep and goats, however, will readily eat the weed without any apparent harmful effects. Leafy spurge spreads by seed and an extensive root system. Roots are known to go down 26 feet (eight metres) and spread laterally up to 4.5 metres a year. The plant grows to a height of 40 to 90 cm (15 to 36"), is extremely adaptable and thrives in a variety of soil and growing conditions. The roots release a toxin that inhibits other plant growth nearby. The plants’ ripe seedpods explode, scattering seeds up to five meters (six yards) in all directions. Seeds that do not germinate the following year can remain viable for at least eight years.

A noxious weed

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Leafy spurge is classified as a noxious weed under Saskatchewan’s Weed Control Act, which states: “Every owner or occupant of land shall contain and control any noxious weeds located on the land.” Control measures that were initially implemented included annual spraying with 2,4-D. “Later Tordon 22-K was used but some landowners have concerns. The active ingredients in Tordon 22-K do move into the soil, so it’s not recommended around flowing water sources or in sandy soils where it can move into groundwater. New products are being developed that are more environmentally friendly — products that don’t move into the groundwater and move very short distances from where it is sprayed,” says Anderson. Spraying is also expensive, difficult to carry out in rough terrain, and will not totally eradicate established patches of spurge. Other methods of control include regular mowing, the use of sheep or goats, and the introduction of beetles brought in from Europe. Mowing, if done before the plants go to seed, helps to curb the spread of the seed. However, like other per-

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Features to rural municipalities. He organizes collection days every year at several sites in Saskatchewan in early July before the females begin laying eggs. Volunteers, private landowners and agencies such as Ducks Unlimited, the city of Regina, the Saskatchewan Parks Department, and First Nations communities collect beetles with sweep nets. “It takes effort to collect the beetles. We supply people with equipment and teach them how to use it, as well as how to release the beetles. They prefer being released at the edge of a leafy spurge patch, rather than in the middle.” The beetles will not eliminate leafy spurge completely, Anderson says. Like other programs such as mowing, using sheep, or herbicides, beetles are a means of control rather than total eradication. “However, the success I’ve seen in the southern portion of the province is encouraging. This is where most of the spurge problem is. The northern half of the agri-

cultural portion of Saskatchewan has had more limited success. We don’t know all the factors involved as to why a beetle population grows and flourishes at one site more than another. Our approach more recently has been to distribute the beetles around over all the province where there is spurge, monitor the areas, and find out where it appears to be naturally successful,” Anderson says.

Co-operative weed management For the last 10 years Anderson has been promoting co-operative weed management with other municipalities by pooling funds to fight the spread of leafy spurge on a larger, more effective basis. “It’s being accomplished through encouragement and example, and it’s been quite successful,” he notes. For more information contact Harvey Anderson at handerson@ agr.gov.sk.ca. †

photos: courtesy of harvey anderson

ennials with lateral roots, mowing encourages the plant to regenerate itself by sending up sprouts from the lateral root system. Sheep have been used extensively in the U.S., Alberta, Manitoba, and to some extent, in Saskatchewan, to control leafy spurge. Sheep will selectively graze leafy spurge and reduce its density and prevent plants from going to seed. They crop the young plants close to the ground, which, over time, weakens the plants so they become susceptible to disease. Spurge provides a good source of nutrients to the sheep. There is also the benefit of revenue that can be generated from the sheep; bearing in mind there will be associated costs, such as fencing, water and shelter for the animals. Predatory control is another factor sheep owners need to take into account. “Sustaining a flock takes effort by the producer, but I do encourage the use of sheep. It’s an ecologically sound way to go,” says Anderson.

1. A pasture infested with leafy spurge. This perennial weed spreads quickly and crowds out native vegetation. 2. Leafy spurge in flower. Leafy spurge spreads by seed and an extensive root system. 3. Leafy spurge stems contain a milky sap, which may cause scours and mouth blistering in horses and cows.

Edna Manning writes from Saskatoon, Sask.

Beetles as control The use of beetles is the most cost-effective way to control this weed. Once the insects become established, they are self-sustaining. According to Anderson, 19 species of leafy spurge beetles were brought into Canada for biocontrol purposes, with the first releases over 30 years ago. “Most of these 19 species were released at one site south of Weyburn on six quarters of pasture land covered with leafy spurge. Over the years, some of these species have died off, but we believe we have three species remaining,” he says. These three species are the brown dot spurge beetle Aphthona cyparrissiae and the black dot spurge beetle Aphthona nigriscutis, both of which require full sun and sandy soil conditions to thrive. The black spurge beetle Aphthona lacertosa prefers clay/loam soils and will tolerate some shade. The beetles are small — about the size of a match head — and have similar life cycles. The adults emerge from the soil in late June or early July and feed on the uppermost parts of the spurge plants. They mate and the females will lay their eggs beneath the soil surface at the base of the plants. Females, depending on the species, can lay up to 300 eggs in a season. When the larvae hatch, they begin feeding on the small roots and continue on the larger roots. This weakens the plant by impairing its ability to take up moisture and nutrients. Plants become more susceptible to diseases. The larvae become dormant in the soil over winter. In the spring the larvae resume feeding for about three weeks before they pupate and emerge as adults. “With the use of beetles, we know it takes several years before you see a noticeable reduction of spurge,” notes Anderson. “But over the last five to 10 years of the 30 years since the beetles were first released at the Weyburn site, there is very little spurge left on the six quarters that were once completely covered. In fact the beetle population has dropped down to the point now where we won’t be using it as a bug collection site this year. In its heyday, we could collect 2,500 beetles in 45 minutes. We’ll be collecting them at a site west of Moose Jaw this year.” Anderson has a contract with SARM to oversee an invasive weed program and provides weed management support and education

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Always follow grain marketing, stewardship practices and pesticide label directions. Varieties that are glyphosate tolerant (including those designated by the letter “R” in the product number) contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate herbicides. Glyphosate herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Pioneer ® brand products are provided subject to the terms and conditions of purchase which are part of the labeling and purchase documents. ®, SM, TM Trademarks and service marks of DuPont, Pioneer or their respective owners. © 2015, PHII.

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Features

Variety development

Training the next generation of plant breeders

U of M students get hands-on experience developing herbicide-tolerant rapeseed hybrids By Julienne Isaacs

ccording to Rob Duncan, professor in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Manitoba, the university is ahead of the curve in terms of canola/ rapeseed breeding in Canada. “Most public breeding programs don’t necessarily release cultivars anymore,” he says. “They’ll do germplasm development or work on trait development, but to work on breeding projects that result in a commercially grown cultivar is quite rare in Canada.” Duncan is head of a $3.7 million canola/ rapeseed cultivar development project that has already seen the commercial release of two hybrids through industry partners. The first variety released through the program, HYHEAR 1, is the world’s first Genuity herbicide-tolerant rapeseed hybrid. “We’re in the process of registering a significantly improved cultivar and there are others up and coming,” says Duncan. The project’s main goals are to develop cultivars with improved characteristics such as high yields and high meal protein and oil content, and to train students in a commercially viable breeding environment. The project’s funding comes chiefly from a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) grant,

which matches funding with industry partners DL Seeds and Bunge Canada. The grant, which runs until 2018, is the third-largest overall and the largest CRD ever awarded in biological sciences and agriculture in Canada. The main part of the CRD is focused on the university’s High Erucic Acid Rapeseed (HEAR) program, which aims to produce HEAR cultivars with increased levels of erucic acid in the oil portion of the seed. Duncan’s research partners on the CRD grant are University of Manitoba plant science professors Dilantha Fernando and Genyi Li. “We’re focusing on improving the hybrids and capitalizing on heterosis,” says Duncan. “Before 2013, everything that was released from the HEAR program was an open-pollinated population, so we’re trying to capitalize on the benefits of hybrids — yield, quality and disease resistance.”

Students are hands on But what’s perhaps most remarkable about the program is the opportunity it provides graduate students to gain handson research and industry level experience developing cultivars for commercial release. “Students conduct research on a scientific project that they can publish. It has to be innovative and novel research. So they work on basic science that may

not directly translate into an immediate impact for the farmer today,” he says. “But at the same time, they gain experience in our commercial breeding program’s technical group. It’s almost like they’re doing an internship with a small company. “It’s a really wonderful opportunity for students coming in because they get that exposure and are better prepared to work in the industry.” Corey Lees, a graduate of Duncan’s canola/rapeseed breeding program who now works as a breeder-in-training for DL Seeds, says the program offered invaluable hands-on industry experience. Lees’ research work focused on heterotic gene pool development. “When you want to make a hybrid cultivar, some of the best hybrid cultivars are from genetically diverse backgrounds,” he explains. “So it’s really important that we characterize these gene pools into diverse gene pools that we can breed from. The underlying goal of my project was to characterize some of the University of Manitoba germplasm that is in commercial development for hybrid production, and figure out how to utilize these genetic resources properly.” Out in the field, Lees did “pretty much what a breeder in a commercial company would do,” evaluating rows of parents for agronomic qualities like height, lodging resistance and flowering time.

“We did all those field evaluations ourselves, which is exactly what a commercial breeder would do. Then we made the decisions and Dr. Duncan made selections based on our phenotypic results,” he says. Valeria Lobos, a PhD student in the program who aims to continue her career as a plant breeder following graduation, says she joined the program after she became interested in studying seed quality and agronomic improvement of rapeseed restorer lines. “My previous research was in plant biotechnology and I was eager to learn about developing and improving commercial crops,” she says. “I enjoy being able to follow my plants through the entire process, from the molecular lab, tissue culture techniques, greenhouse, and then getting to see them growing in the field. It has given me a wellrounded perspective on what being a breeder entails.” Duncan says that the program’s advancements in rapeseed development will pay off down the line for Canada’s canola growers. “They may not see the results tomorrow necessarily, but these are longer term investments that will pay dividends in future canola research,” he says. † Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne.isaacs@gmail.com.

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DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Features

Grain marketing

There’s a new giant on the block Change is in store for farmers with the sale of Legumex Walker’s Special Crops Division By Patty Milligan

n November 9, 2015 Legumex Walker shareholders voted overwhelmingly to accept The Scoular Company’s offer to buy its Special Crops Division for $94 million. The completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of November. This marks the end of Legumex Walker’s journey as one of the largest special crops processors in Canada. Over the past four years, it has come to operate special crops processing facilities in the Canadian Prairies, the American Midwest, the U.S. Pacific Northwest, and China. It also owns 84 per cent of Pacific Coast Canola, “the largest commercial-scale canola oilseed processing facility west of the Rocky Mountains.” PCC is also on offer and with its sale, Legumex Walker will wind up operations. Legumex Walker took off in 2011 when it united several locallyowned special crop processors in Saskatchewan and Manitoba into a larger public company. It went on to purchase facilities in the American Midwest and in China while at the same time setting up Pacific Coast Canola, an entirely separate division, in Warden, Washington. The outlook was optimistic: an international company with larger capacity could “play in the global marketplace” and create more opportunities for Canadian producers in a way that smaller companies couldn’t. Legumex Walker CEO Joel Horn and others emphasized the benefits of consolidation: lower shipping rates; access to wider markets; distribution of risk by working with a wider variety of crops and a larger growing area. Farmers and shareholders would both be better off. But things seemed to go south, particularly with the newlylaunched Pacific Coast Canola. The months-long railway delays in 2013 had a huge impact. So did low exchange rate, low prices for canola oil and other economic factors. Soon, a major creditor demanded repayment. In March, 2015, a review was launched to come up with “strategic and financial alternatives” to maximize plummeting shareholder value. That review recommended the sale of the Special Crops Division. Though sales slumped in 2015, the SCD was still performing well. On September 14, 2015, Legumex Walker announced its intention to sell the division to The Scoular Company. Over the past four years growers have jumped from dealing with a smaller, locally owned company to a larger, Canadianowned company, and now to very large U.S.-owned company. Now what is in store?

Continuity The Scoular Company’s chief operating officer Bob Ludington says that, despite the change in ownership, it’s business as usual. “The producers will deal with the same people; they’ll call the same phone numbers.” By buying the Special Crops Division, Ludington believes, “What we’re really getting are the people — the employees, the customers. The people are what make the business.” Over the past 60 days, teams from Scoular have visited the offices and the facilities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and met with the approximately 330 employees. For Ludington, a smooth transition means harnessing current

employees’ skills, knowledge, and passion. He is glad that they will now have “a nice stable work environment.” With security comes possibility and optimisim: “They can build and grow with us. That is pretty empowering.” Farmers can be reassured that all contracts on the books have integrity. “The only thing that will change is the name on the cheque.” And, Ludington says, farmers should know that it’s coming from “a stronger entity — a company that has been in agriculture for over 120 years.” The Scoular Company was founded in Nebraska in 1892. Today, it is one of the largest private companies in the U.S., with yearly sales of $6 billion. It oper-

ates 90 facilities internationally, employing more than 850 people. Scoular in the “business of buying, selling, storing, and handling grain and ingredients as well as managing transportation and logistics worldwide.” Scoular has been in Canada since the mid-1990s, quietly maintaining an office in Calgary and awaiting the right market opportunity. Expansion became possible with the dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board. Ludington says, “We’ve been looking to get into specialty crops since about 2000.” Scoular has a wide range of customers demanding products that Canadian farmers can supply, including peas, lentils, and flax. Scoular’s presence means

wider market opportunities for Prairie producers and also more competition. Ludington is optimistic about the growth of the special crops market. “We’ll look at introducing other specialty programs as our customers demand, for instance, growing specific varieties that have unique milling qualities.” Ludington sees growth opportunities in handling and processing. Much of what the Scoular Company wants to achieve echoes Legumex Walker’s aspirations four years ago. Perhaps Legumex Walker laid the groundwork. And now we hope The Scoular Company is in a position to deliver. † Patty Milligan is a freelance writer based at Bon Accord, Alta.

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Features

Weed control

Look out for the Devil’s trumpet Jimsonweed, also known as Devil’s trumpet is a highly toxic weed By Melanie Epp

ccording to provincial weed specialists in Alberta, jimsonweed, a highly toxic and problematic weed species, was found in three Alberta canola fields (Barrhead, Leduc and Westlock) last month. Growers are currently working with their provincial departments and the CFIA on an eradication strategy, although they are not considering it a major problem at this moment. Jimsonweed, also known as Devil’s trumpet, is hard to miss. It grows to two metres high, towering over crops like canola. It has a reddish-purple stem, trumpet-shaped flowers, eggshaped spiked pods and a repulsive sour odour. The leaves have irregular toothed margins that are 10 to 20 cm long. The trumpet-shaped flowers are white to purplish and have five points. The seedpod is two to five cm wide, has spines and contains 600 to 700 seeds per capsule.

Once the seeds are mature, the seed capsule explodes, expelling the seeds. Jimsonweed is more commonly found in canola crops in the United States and Eastern Canada, although it has recently been found in western Canadian fields. “Jimsonweed became evident late in the fall when it began to tower over the crop and drew attention from farmers while swathing,” says Mike Long, communications director, Agriculture and Forestry, Alberta. “While most cases were found in canola, it also showed up in some other crops.”

Controlling jimsonweed Since jimsonweed is a prolific seed producer, if not addressed, it could quickly spread. Early detection and eradication is needed to curb any further escalation of the problem, says Long. A routine application of broadleaf herbicide will control the plant. Jimsonweed plants can and

should be removed by hand, but take great care when doing so. Gloves and long sleeves should be worn to protect themselves from exposure to toxins. The weed should be double bagged for landfill disposal. Long notes that jimsonweed should not be

All parts of the plant are poisonous composted or burned, as exposure to toxins is still highly possible. Since all parts of the plant are poisonous to humans and livestock, canola stubble shouldn’t be baled for feed where plants have been found. These practices will increase risk for poisoning in livestock feed, says Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Finally, Long recommends following good crop rotation practices, rotating from canola to

grains and vice versa, as it will help minimize impact. Alberta Forestry will continue to monitor occurrences in the coming spring. At that time, jimsonweed will be hard to spot, since it doesn’t mature until later in the season. But, says Long, a routine application of a broadleaf herbicide will kill the plant.

Health concerns unfounded In a recent release, the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) said that while growers should continue to keep an eye out for jimsonweed, health concerns around potential toxicity in canola oil are unfounded. “While jimsonweed itself can be poisonous, the heating process in canola oil and meal processing denatures toxic alkaloids, so there isn’t a health concern in processed canola products,” says Curtis Rempel, vice president of crop production and innovation at CCC.

“It’s also important to remember that it’s the dose that makes the poison, and the high LD50 of scopolamine, the major toxic alkaloid in jimsonweed, even further supports the fact that this weed isn’t a concern in canola oil or meal.” Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is working closely with Health Canada to gather further information. “The occurrence of the weed in our fields is minute,” he says. Generally, he continues, only one to three plants have been found in each field and the number of fields is less than a fraction of one per cent of all canola fields in the province. “Our eradication measures look to halt any further spread of the plant,” he concludes. Should you find jimsonweed in Alberta fields this fall, please contact Nicole Kimmel, weed specialist, Agriculture and Forestry at (780) 422-0885 or by email at Nicole.kimmel@gov. ab.ca. † Melanie Epp is a freelance farm writer.

photos: nicole kimmel, alberta agriculture and forestry

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1. Jimsonweed has a reddish-purple stem, trumpet-shaped flowers, egg-shaped spiked pods and a repulsive sour odour. 2. A routine application of broadleaf herbicide will control the plant. 3. Once the jimsonweed seed is mature, the seed capsule explodes, expelling 600 to 700 seeds per capsule.

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

EXTENDED OUTLOOK FOR THE PRAIRIES Weather Forecast for the period of December 6, 2015 to January 2, 2016

Southern Alberta

Peace River Region December 6 - 12 Unsettled on a couple of days with intermittent snow and drifting. Temperatures will be seasonal to cold. December 13 - 19 Near to above normal temperatures. Periodic snow is expected during this week. Chance of brisk winds. December 20 - 26 Variable, as mild days alternate with colder ones with higher windchills. Often windy with occasional snow and drifting. December 27 - January 2 Generally settled with seasonal temperatures, but a couple of milder days bring intermittent snow.

-19 / -8 Grande Prairie 26.9 mms

December 6 - 12 Unsettled on a couple of days with intermittent snow and drifting. Temperatures will be seasonal to mild. Risk of freezing rain.

December 6 - 12 Mainly mild temperatures under fair skies, but with periodic snow and some cooling. Windy at times with blowing or drifting. Expect higher windchills on some days.

December 13 - 19 Near to above normal temperatures. Windy with some snow and drifting and a chance of rain.

December 13 - 19 Often fair with seasonal to mild temperatures. Some snow and drifting on 2 or 3 days. Risk of rain in southwest. Blustery.

December 20 - 26 Variable, as mild days alternate with colder ones with higher windchills. Often windy with occasional snow and drifting.

December 20 - 26 Unsettled on a couple of days. Temperatures vary from mild to cold. Windy at times with a few higher windchills. Flurries, colder in north.

December 27 - January 2 Generally settled with seasonal temperatures, but a couple of milder days bring some snow. Blustery with some drifting.

December 27 - January 2 Mostly settled, but some snow and blowing in south. Seasonal to mild, but brisk winds cause some higher windchills.

Precipitation Forecast -18 / -7 Edmonton 22.2 mms

-14 / -6 Jasper

26.8 mms

-14 / -5

34.6 mms

Banff

-14 / -2 Calgary

Forecasts should be 80% accurate, but expect variations by a day or two because of changeable speed of weather systems.

Saskatchewan

13.2 mms

BELOW NORMAL

-18 / -6 Red Deer 18.8 mms

-14 / -3 Medicine Hat cms Lethbridge 16.219mms 20.1 mms 26 cms-13 / -1

-20 / -10 North Battleford

Manitoba December 6 - 12 Fair overall, but a couple of colder, windy days bring snow to many areas, with blowing snow in the south. Temperatures swing from seasonal to mild. December 13 - 19 Temperatures fluctuate under brisk winds but lean to the mild side. Mainly fair, but snow and drifting on a couple of days. December 20 - 26 Variable conditions and temperatures, as cold and mild air collide. Some snow and gusty winds. Blowing snow in south. December 27 - January 2 Seasonal to mild. A few higher windchills. Some drifting. Generally fair, but expect light snow on a couple of occasions. NEAR NORMAL

-23 / -14 The Pas

-22 / -11 Prince Albert

Precipitation Outlook For December

22.0 mms

19.1 mms

19.0 mms

-19 / -9 Saskatoon 17.2 mms

-20 / -10 Yorkton

-20 / -10 Dauphin

Much Above Normal Below Much above normal normal below normal normal

-20 / -10 -18 / -8 21.0 mms 20.5 mms Gimli -17 / -6 Regina -16 / -6 Moose Jaw 15.9 mms 26.2 mms BELOW Swift 18.8 mms -19 / -9 NORMAL -20 / -10 Portage -19 / -10 Current -16 / -7 Brandon 22.2 mms Winnipeg 21.5 mms Weyburn 18.9 mms 18.6 mms 19.0 mms -16 / -6 Estevan Melita -19 / -7 18.1 mms

19.7 mms

HOW CUSTOMERS USE CANADIAN FIELD CROPS

Temperatures are normals for December 15th averaged over 30 years. Precipitation (water equivalent) normals for Dec. in mms. ÂŠ2015 WeatherTec Services www.weathertec.mb.ca

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Features

Irrigation

Prairie land use and water rights Alberta’s Western Irrigation District finds its way while it straddles the urban-rural divide

photos: lisa guenther

By Lisa Guenther

traddling the urban-rural divide is an uncomfortable balancing act. Alberta’s Western Irrigation District, headquartered in Strathmore, has kept its balance by co-operating where it can, and getting tough when needed. For years, the irrigation district had a rocky relationship with the city of Calgary. Stormwater from the city would wash contaminants such as salt, phosphorus, and nitrogen into the Bow River. The irrigation district draws from the Bow, just downstream of the Calgary zoo. And so those contaminants made their way into the irrigation canals. Eventually the irrigation district took Calgary to court to get the city’s attention, Erwin Braun tells us during a media tour in late September. Braun is general manager of the Western Irrigation District. Ultimately that hard ball tactic paid off. Calgary and the irrigation district came to a settlement through a mediator. Calgary paid for its “past sins” in the settlement, Braun says. Calgary and Alberta Environment also created the Shepard Wetland to clean stormwater before it washes into the Bow River. The wetland is 385 acres, making it Canada’s biggest constructed stormwater treatment wetland. It can hold over six million cubic metres of water, giving it the ability to handle a one in one hundred year flood, according to the city of Calgary website. But Calgary is far from the only urban community the irrigation district needs to work with. The city of Chestermere has about 380 residents right on Chestermere Lake, Braun tells us. Chestermere Lake is a reservoir managed by the irrigation district. Water from the Bow runs through a provinciallyowned canal to Chestermere Lake. Canal systems then funnel water north and south of the reservoir. “This is an example of how not to have a reservoir,” Braun says. It’s easy to see how building houses right up to the water’s edge would cause problems for the irrigation district. And city residents dealt with summer flooding just this summer. The irrigation district used to butt heads with Chestermere, Braun says. But these days the irrigation district tries to make friends before calling in the lawyers. One of the irrigation district’s biggest problems is it can’t control land use. The district sold Chestermere the land under the docks, giving it the power to manage that area. The city in turn passed bylaws to control waterfront activity. Today the irrigation district has a comprehensive agreement with the city, Braun said,

1. An irrigation canal meanders through Lakes of Muirfield. The Western Irrigation District has been managing competing water uses and growing urbanization within its borders. 2. Golfers teeing up on the 18-hole course that neighbours the Lakes of Muirfield housing development. 3. Erwin Braun, general manager of the Western Irrigation District, speaks to reporters on the Chestermere Lake dam. that allows it to operate. The district even keeps Chestermere Lake high enough throughout the summer to satisfy recreational users, lowering the level after Thanksgiving. It’s not just existing towns and cities that pose potential problems for the irrigation districts. While standing on the Chestermere Lake dam, Braun points out a small development outside the city. The houses sit downstream from the dam. The irrigation district follows stringent dam safety rules, says Braun, but he doesn’t like to see houses popping up in the flood zone. But the Western Irrigation District’s canals and reservoirs are an attractive feature for developers. After Chestermere, we travel to the Lakes of Muirfield, a new development in Wheatland County. Muirfield’s developers seem to follow the “if you build a golf course, they will buy a house” school of thought. The backyards overlook the golf course. You could imagine these homes in Sherwood Park, if it weren’t for the wide-open prairie and irrigation canal separating the backyards and the course. You have to be proactive with developers, Braun says, or else you’ll end up with a situation like Chestermere. And so when the irrigation district got wind of the Muirfield development, it was ready. The district made the developer contribute to a storm water fund to build a treatment plant. There’s a setback between the canal and homes. And backyards are fenced to keep toddlers from tumbling into the canal. Braun is very aware of the challenges facing agriculture in an increasingly urban

society. As Alberta urbanizes, people have less connection with the land, he tells us. The irrigation district is trying to keep its social licence while protecting its own interest. It leases water to CN’s intermodal terminal northeast of Calgary. And it partners with the Calgary Farmers’ Market, displaying information about irrigation, giving out free corn, and soliciting donations for the food bank. But as Braun watches this patch of Alberta bleed farmland and inherit more infrastructure hassles, he’s wondered about a farmland freeze. Plans cross his desk for farmland, in the middle of nowhere, being rezoned, he tells us. “Okay, now you need an interchange. You know what an interchange costs,” he says, adding that money could build schools or hospitals instead. “Now you’ve got stormwater issues. Now you’ve got water, sewer, transportation because somebody wants to get a lift on development.” We watch golfers navigate the Lakes of Muirfield golf course as we contemplate Braun’s take on the new developments. The developer-built community numbers around 100 people. But right now residents are on the hook for costs such as trucking out sewage, the Strathmore Standard reported in the spring. “Somebody’s putting that in their pockets because somebody’s changed the use on (the land),” Braun says of the money to be made flipping farmland. “Somebody’s made a decision about that land. That’s what we see.” † Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.Guenther@fbcpublishing. com or on Twitter @LtoG.

Irrigation by the numbers Just how important is irrigation to southern Alberta? • Alberta’s 13 irrigation districts provide water to 1.4 million acres of farmland. • The Western Irrigation District alone supplies water to over 400 farms and 96,000 acres. • Farmers aren’t the only ones who rely on the Western Irrigation District. Four different communities, with a total of 12,000 residents, get municipal water from the irrigation district. Across southern Alberta, 42,000 people source their household water from irrigation districts. • Alberta’s irrigation industry adds around $3.6 billion to the province’s GDP each year. Every dollar invested in irrigation by the provincial government created $3 in revenue provincially and federally. Sources: www.wid.net and www.aipa.ca. † Lisa Guenther

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Features

Crop production

Sask. mustard: small but mighty 2015 challenged Sask. mustard growers, but the outlook for mustard is good By Julienne Isaacs

015 was a challenging year for many crops across the Prairies, and mustard was no exception. But Saskatchewan growers say the outlook is good. Although mustard acres decreased in Saskatchewan in 2015 — by as much as 100,000 acres, to around 300,000 seeded acres in the province — mustard prices remain high, ranging from 30 cents per pound for brown and oriental seed to 45 cents per pound for yellow. According to Richard Marleau, chair of the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission (SMDC), Saskatchewan is the world’s largest producer of mustard seed, followed by Ukraine. The province produces three-quarters of Canada’s supply, destined for markets in the U.S., France and Germany. This year, Saskatchewan growers faced their share of bad weather, says Marleau. “In my area we were fortunate to get some rains early, and that tided things over. But in the western part of the province there were some really dry areas,” he says. “Dry conditions and crop establishment were an issue for some growers, and late-spring frosts and some flea beetle pressure. There was also inadequate rain throughout the growing season.” In recent years, Saskatchewan’s mustard industry has seen a small revitalization. In 2007, SMDC and the Canadian Mustard Association (CMA) partnered to build Mustard 21, a non-profit organization that works on strategic development of the mustard industry in the province.

mitments and they need something they can readily convert, and canola offers that, along with good agronomic attributes and weed control. I think that’s why canola acreage has expanded and mustard acres are contracting,” he says. “I’m not in a large acreage expansion mode — my acres are not increasing by multiples every year — so I don’t require that cash flow to meet my obligations. It’s a different mindset.”

The bright side of mustard Marleau says there are many benefits to growing mustard, beyond prices and the benefits of including an oilseed in a rotation. Once established, mustard is rela-

tively hardy and naturally chokes out weeds. In good years, insect pressure is relatively low. Mustard genetics are also good. Most varieties are pod-shatter resistant varieties that can be straight-cut. “You plant it and watch it but you don’t have to babysit it,” he says. Barbara Ziesman, Saskatchewan’s provincial specialist for oilseed crops, says the biggest agronomic challenge for mustard growers in 2015 was stand establishment. Growers can get strong early development by following a few key guidelines. “The biggest one is to seed early to allow the crop time to reach its full yield potential. Mustard can germinate in soil as low as 4° but

will grow faster and more vigourously in warmer soil with the optimum soil temperature occurring at 10°,” she says. “And it’s best to seed into moisture, but as shallowly as possible, at about 1.5 to 2.5 centimetres — very similar to canola. If you seed too deep, deeper than five centimetres, if the plants do emerge, they’ll be weak.” But perhaps Ziesman’s most important recommendation is not to cut seeding rates. “If you’re going into challenging conditions where the plants will face stresses such as cold soil, early season frost, and early pest pressure, the biggest thing is to ensure seeding rates are adequate,” she says. “If you have more plants you have a

higher chance of getting a dense plant stand. Once you cut rates, minor stresses will influence your crop stand a lot more.” Ziesman and her colleagues at Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Agriculture and at the SMDC are developing a new mustard growers’ manual, to be released in early 2017. The manual will include guidelines on variety selection, staging and pest management. “This manual will be very comprehensive, and include all the information you might need if you want to get into mustard. And it will all be available online,” says Ziesman. † Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne. isaacs@gmail.com.

G E N E R AT IONS O F

Firsts in the Field

There used to be more growers out there “The goal is to work together for variety development and then also expand the markets for mustard — new uses and novel uses for mustard seed,” says Marleau. But the mustard industry is changing, with many growers moving toward canola and other oilseeds, and only a “core group” of mustard growers remaining in the province. “We’ve had this discussion at the board level and one of the things that keeps coming up is the change in farm size and amalgamation of land bases,” says Marleau. “There used to be more growers out there numbers-wise, and they might have 100 to 500 acres under production in any given year. A lot of those producers have been bought out or absorbed, and the canola acreage keeps on expanding.” Marleau says the marketing aspect of mustard might be contributing to the trend. Mustard takes longer to market than canola, unless the market is very tight. “As the farmers expand, I imagine they’ve got cash flow com-

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Features

Ag retailers

Building an ag retail business Andy and Christina Stender have grown Crowfoot Ag from scratch to a booming retail operation By Lisa Guenther

of the three of us who are sales agronomists.” Crowfoot’s staff, who total eight people, focus on bumping their customers’ production and profitability, Andy says. And Christina adds that they don’t head to the farm just to sell. “We do have the passion for it,” she says. Once the seed is in the ground, Christina is excited to see what they can do to push the production envelope, she says. And she likes a good outcome. This fall, she was in a customer’s combine, watching the yield monitor as the canola climbed past 70. “All of a sudden it hit 81 and I screamed,” she laughs. Both Andy and Christina work in sales and with part of the cus-

tomer base. Andy also serves as general manager, handling banking and cash flow, along with ordering inputs. Christina works on the human resources and has claimed the CFO title (Chief Fun Officer). Their passion for agriculture and love of fun is on display in Crowfoot’s office building. A grain bin serves as a façade at the entrance. Encased canola seed forms a countertop. The meeting room has a popcorn machine, which they served during a media tour this fall. But it’s the concrete dome in the yard that’s most striking. It’s the first of its kind in North America – a structure that contains both fertilizer storage and blending capabilities. “It is a custom design. There

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isn’t another one like it,” says Andy. The dome provides a sizable storage facility on a small footprint, Andy says. It also provides extremely safe storage against the elements. The concrete dome requires very little structural maintenance, compared to a wooden building or bin system, he adds.

Barriers remain to on-farm data collection Crowfoot Ag does everything from soil sampling to post-harvest meetings to analyze the crop year. That gives them a chance to see what’s happening on the farm. Andy says it’s exciting to see how much technology is available to farmers today. For example, “good old-fashioned GPS” capabilities have really picked up in the last few years with autosteer, variable rate functions, and sectional control on the drill, he explains. But barriers remain. For one, yield data collection isn’t being used as much as it could, Andy says. Sometimes it’s a question of the data itself. If the combines weren’t all calibrated the same, a farmer will get different results within the same field, Andy explains. But there are algorithms that can adjust for those differences, he adds. It’s not just a matter of getting good information, though. It’s a question of what to do with it. For example, if yield data shows good and poor-yielding areas in the field, farmers have to decide whether to spend money on soil analytics. “And I think that’s where the real disconnect is currently sitting,” says Andy. Will the time, effort and money translate into an economic return, he asks. “I’m not sure anybody’s quite got the answer to that yet.” † Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa. Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

photos: lisa guenther

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few years ago, Andy and Christina Stender were looking for a change. The couple, who both have agronomy backgrounds, were ready to leave their jobs. They went on holidays, and when they got home, a message on their answering machine would change their career paths. Someone had called about a business opportunity. Greg Andrukow, an Alberta businessman, was looking for partners to open new ag retailers. The Stenders met with him and talked about what they thought an ag retailer should look like. They had a lot of ideas in common, so the Stenders put together

some numbers, and soon they were launching Crowfoot Ag Solutions. Within five years, they’ve built a customer base of over 100 farmers, a state-of-the-art fertilizer facility, and a very successful business, says Andy. It’s been fun to build the business from scratch, he adds. “We’re young but not inexperienced, is what we like to say,” says Andy. Asked how they compete, he says their customers value service. Crowfoot Ag has three business agronomists with knowledge and experience that can’t be matched by any other single retailer, he says. Customers are confident that they can get a “reasonable, qualified answer, and pretty much the same answer from any

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Top. Christina and Andy pose beside Crowfoot Ag Solution’s fertilizer dome. The dome is a storage and blending facility. Bottom. Crowfoot Ag Solution’s office building. The ag retailer is located in the Strathmore, Alberta area.

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10/29/15 8:37 AM

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Features

Soil management

Licensed to turn waste into fertilizer Lystek International received authorization for another wastewater conversion facility By Julienne Isaacs

ystek International has received another federal registration for its award-winning biosolids and organics processing technology. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has certified the company’s St. Mary’s, Ontario, facility for the production of LysteGro, a biofertilizer that can increase organic matter in the soil. LysteGro is made by treating sludge from municipal wastewater at approved facilities. “The Lystek process is a thermal hydrolysis process that uses heat, alkali adjustment and high speed shearing to produce a high solids (about 15 per cent) liquid fertilizer,” explains Mike Dougherty, manager of fertilizer production and distribution for Lystek. “Through the Lystek process, the material is hydrolyzed and stabilized — the process removes all pathogens — resulting in a consistent liquid material with high macro- and micronutrient content and organic matter,” he says. Each facility requires its own specific registration from CFIA. Lystek’s technology is now registered at six Canadian facilities, with a seventh project underway in Fairfield, California. In Western Canada, the company’s product is only available out of a wastewater treatment facility in North Battleford, Sask. But Dougherty says there is a strong likelihood of expansion. “There is significant interest from municipalities and industry in Western Canada, so it is expected that material will be available out of other locations in the coming years,” he says. The company’s six facilities are capable of converting 350,000 tonnes of biosolids and other organic materials into biofertilizer products annually.

explains Dougherty. “By injecting it you’re putting it closer to the root zone, and minimizing runoff potential. In terms of nitrogen you’re retaining more, and also mitigating any odours.” Prices quoted to producers include application costs, which are calculated based on hauling distance and other factors. Saugeen Agri Service Ltd., a Kenilworth, Ont.-based liquid manure spreading company, is contracted to apply LysteGro for producers in the Dundalk, Ont. region. According to owner Harvey Martin, there’s a very high demand for the product in the area. “Usually, producers are willing to try it, and if we do an application they want to spread

it on more land the following year,” he says. “We should have more of these plants going, because there’s no need for hauling the waste sludge into a landfill, and if they can recycle it and get it into commercial fertilizer it’s a win-win for everyone,” he says. LysteGro prices vary depending on location. Within a 20 kilometre radius of the plant in Dundalk, customers pay $22.50 per 1,000 imperial gallons. Most customers in the region use between 3,000 and 4,000 gallons per acre.

Paying the premium Jim Patton, who owns a poultry and cash crop operation on

3,500 acres near Alliston, Ont., has been a Lystek customer since the company received its CFIA registration in the region. He says LysteGro — so far — has been worth the premium. “Right now they have upped their price a bit but it’s a more concentrated product, so we’re paying about $50 to $100 bucks per acre depending on the rate,” he says. “But it’s for long-term building. The Alliston area is known for a lot of potato production. Potatoes take quite a bit out of the ground, so with some of the farms we buy, we’re finding that LysteGro has helped bring these farms back to life,” he says. Patton says they apply LysteGro

Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne. isaacs@gmail.com.

Across Canada...

the Legend is Growing.

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The Legend variety soybeans have always been my top-yielding beans and have consistent yields year after year.

Art Wall

Wall Farms Ltd.

I have grown Legend Seeds for many years and have always been satisfied with the agromonics of growing soybeans in general. They are an extremely tough plant in a variety of conditions, most notably in wet times, where Legend soybeans consistently outperform other crops.

High nutrient content In Ontario, the company’s primary customers are cash croppers with a high demand for increasing organic matter in the soil. “Crops that LysteGro is used to fertilize are typically corn, wheat, canola, soybean, hay, alfalfa, rye and sod,” says Dougherty. LysteGro fertilizer is considered a “complete” fertilizer treatment, with high concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, along with a suite of micronutrients including calcium, magnesium and copper. “The material is in a similar form to liquid manure, though more concentrated and consistent,” says Dougherty. “Total volumes applied are greater than that of synthetic chemical fertilizer, but total nutrient loadings are based on agronomic requirements of the soil based on soil samples and projected crop removal.” LysteGro application is contracted out, with the company organizing application via injection for producers. “It involves fairly specialized, higher-end liquid manure injection equipment that a lot of guys don’t have,”

selectively on farms that need organic matter “rebuilding,” when water holding capacity and nutrient holding capacity have been depleted. Patton uses a fertility rotation on all of his farms, and LysteGro is a good fit for his program. “We really like LysteGro — it’s worth the premium. But we’re selective with the farms we choose — we use it as part of a larger program. We use a good rotation of different types of commercial fertilizers and chicken manures on selected farms. This is one piece of the puzzle,” he says. †

Dean Moxham Moxham Farms

The support I have received from the Legend Seeds staff has been remarkable. My Legend Seeds agronomist is dedicated to ensuring that I have the best soybean crop I can. His soybean knowledge has made me a better farmer.

Derek Trinke

Willow Bluff Farm Ltd.

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Columns Can’t take the farm from the boy

The stuff of my new small town life

A picture of my yard, where I’ll happily spend my entire winter, occasionally heading out for pizza and groceries.

Toban Dyck

o have met someone I knew wasn’t what made the encounter rare and memorable. No, it was

more than that. I rarely go to town. But I did the other day. I rarely engage in anything but the most surface, innocuous chats with the people I meet. But I did the other day. It’s the stuff small-town rural life is all about. It’s validating, rewarding, and just nice. If you’ve eaten DJ’s pizza, you’ll know it as perhaps

Winkler’s best contribution to the world. And, nine times out of nine, when my wife is gone for the night, I order a large pie to nibble on. I do this because: A. tradition (and I don’t break from tradition easily), and B: to force myself out of the house and into civilization. My fields are all ready for winter, and, if left to my own devices and DJ’s

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delivered to my house, I’d stay on my yard until spring. The pickup area was full when I got there. I was wearing — it mostly doesn’t matter what I was wearing, save for the fact that the Blue Jays were about to play Kansas City and I had my Blue Jays cap on. “So, are they going to win tonight?” “I hope so, but who knows,” I said. I didn’t recognize the man chatting with me. I didn’t even try to place him. I was happy to chat Blue Jays. I was looking forward to the game.

I was starting to get emotional It’s a tiny area, a roughly six by six square with a bench and a large soda fridge. There were five adults and a carriage packed into it. We were all waiting for pizza, or some other menu item (of which I couldn’t name a single thing — maybe Coke and chicken). Before it was my turn at the counter, the lot of us were all talking Blue Jays. I think the topic got unanimous support because it was a great way to break the palpable tensions that exists when six strangers share a tight space. “Your name?” “Toban. Toban Dyck.” The gentleman — scruffy, smiley, middle-aged — sitting on a bench behind me waiting for his pizza stood up, walked over, looked into my eyes and said, “Toban? Do you remember me?” I did. But I couldn’t place him. It was the same guy who asked if the Jays were going to win tonight. It was him and I who got the whole pick-up area chatting about their experiences either watching or playing baseball. One woman didn’t like that the Jays were in the playoffs,

as it had rendered her husband basically useless. There were moments in our chat when I’d think, “Man, I know this guy.” But I didn’t take it further. Lots of people in Winkler are familiar to me, but only because I’ve seen them around. “We worked on that potato storage together for Pete’s Concrete.” I remembered. Absolutely, I remembered. I loved that job. It was good, honest work with great people. “Aw, man, I remember when you started. You were young, scrawny, and I thought, ‘oh great, another kid who doesn’t know a thing about construction.’ Then, you offered to relieve me on a welding project. I didn’t think you’d be able to do it, but you did. Then, you told the whole crew that one day you were going to be a writer and live in Toronto. I read that you did it. You did what you said you’d do.” He was smiling and happy to see me. He seemed proud of me, and I was starting to get emotional at the restaurant. I didn’t cry. I didn’t even come close. He was smiling the whole time. His tone was cheerful and conversational, and I don’t think he realized how meaningful the whole thing was to me. “When I heard that you had returned to the area to farm, write, and brew beer, I thought, ‘if Toban wants to do it, he’ll make it happen.’” His name is Ed. He’s worked construction in Winkler his whole life. I’ll never forget our chat today. It meant a lot to me. It was the kind of conversation that makes you slow down and appreciate good relationships, good people, and the real stuff of life. If you need a bobcat, look up Bill’s Custom Bobcat Work. Thank you, Ed. † Toban Dyck is a freelance writer and a new farmer on an old farm. Follow him on Twitter @tobandyck or email tobandyck@gmail.com.

photo: toban dyck

In a small town, simply getting a pizza can bring back memories and renew old friendships

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Columns Understanding market bulls and bears

Canada’s ever-changing grain scene Keep your eye on the changes underway in Canada’s grain and ag retail industries these days Brian wittal

here are a lot of changes underway that will have significant impacts on the future of our grain buying and ag retail business. This is my second column on the Canadian grain scene.

Viterra/Glencore We know the history behind Viterra/Glencore’s evolution from the days of the Prairie Pools to today’s corporate entity

known as Viterra. Manitoba and Alberta Pools formed Agricore, then United Grain Growers joined and the name was changed to Agricore United. Then the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool joined to create Viterra. In 2012, Glencore, a Swissbased world-leading commodity trading and mining company, along with Agrium and R i c h a r d s o n ’s I n t e r n a t i o n a l acquired 100 per cent of Viterra’s shares. They split up the assets of the company with the majority of the retail ag facilities going to Agrium and some strategic grain handling facilities, ag retail locations and processing facilities going to Richardson International (Pioneer).

When the acquisition took place, farmers I talked to had concerns. Not so much about the change of ownership of the company, as about the sale of

Ag retail is a capital intensive industry the majority of ag retail outlets to Agrium. Farmers saw this as the elimination of a competitor, giving Agrium dominance in an ever-shrinking retail marketplace across the Prairie provinces.

Over the past 12 months, the world economic downturn has hurt Glencore. Its share values have fallen over 70 per cent. Glencore recently announced a range of cost-cutting measures, including selling some assets and suspending production at copper mines in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has axed the full-year dividend payout to shareholders, due in 2016, as well as next year’s interim dividend. This series of measures is expected to find the company an extra $10.2 billion, which will be used to pay down some of its current $30 billion debt. Those assets they are looking at selling off are some or all of

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its ag related assets, which of course includes Viterra. All of a sudden some grain handling facilities and/or port facilities in Canada may be coming up for sale. This no doubt may pique the interest of a few different competitors in the grain business here in Canada and abroad. As mentioned in my previous article the one thing G3 (the former CWB) is lacking is a West Coast port facility. Once the company solves that problem it would no doubt expand its grain buying presence into the Alberta/B.C. Peace region to supply a West Coast facility or two.

» continued on page 22

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Columns Reporter’s notebook

Book tour road trip Lisa Guenther has been promoting her book Friendly Fire with a Prairie road trip

ome people in my family suffer from itchy feet. We tend to blame it on one ancestor, Everett Parsonage. In the 19th century, Everett settled near Fort Walsh, Saskatchewan, where he ranched with his wife, Bethea. He would set out to check cows, and then disappear for weeks. I often wonder what Bethea said to him when he resurfaced. These days Bethea and Everett’s descendants travel via plane, train or automobile. Regions that were once far, far away can be reached in hours instead of weeks. We might never know any land as intimately as Everett, who moved through it slowly. But driving is a pretty good way to see Western Canada, especially when the weather is good. And a book tour is a good excuse for a road trip. Road trips are more fun with someone else, though, so I invited my friend Carmen Lončar to come. Carmen, a music therapist based in Saskatoon, launched a new CD this fall. She performed her songs, and I read passages from my novel. It went together like apple pie and ice cream (or cheddar cheese, if you prefer). We took a week to travel from Calgary to Turtle Lake, Sask. Then, after a break, we traveled from North Battleford to Maple Creek. We then drove all the way to Winnipeg before looping back to Saskatoon. In total, we performed at 13 different cities and towns. Some of the stops on the tour were familiar favourites, such as Drumheller. I always love how the badlands seem to sneak up on you around Drum. One minute you’re driving through the Prairies, gazing at rolling farmland that seems to stretch forever. Then you drop into the Red Deer River Valley and the landscape shifts to hoodoos and eroded coulees. Other places were new to me. I’d never driven to Winnipeg before this trip. I was struck by the windmills around Moosomin, the horsehead pumps near Weyburn, the salt piles at Chaplin, and the crop residue burning in southern Manitoba. And the landscape was always morphing from prairie to parkland and back again. Carmen and I concluded that people who find the Prairie provinces boring aren’t paying attention. I don’t know much about Everett Parsonage’s treks through the Prairies, but I imagine he must have stayed with people he knew, at least some of the time. That was my strategy, too. For the most part, Carmen

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

Canada’s everchanging grain scene So now we have Viterra, whole or in part, possibly up for sale with West Coast port facilities and a network of country grain terminals across the Prairies that would fit very nicely into G3’s business growth strategy. Let’s see how this scenario plays out over the next few months.

Richardson Pioneer Richardson International Ltd. or JRI or Pioneer are all part of the same Company . It is a privately held Canadian agricultural and food industry company that was started in 1857 and is headquartered in Winnipeg. Over the past number of years Richarsdon has been continually expanding its presence in the grain, processing and Ag retail sectors across Canada and beyond. In March 2012 in the Glencore/ Agrium/Richardson International takeover of Viterra, Richardson

and I only performed in towns where we knew a few people. They promoted the show ahead of time for us, came to the show, and even brought friends. And they’d let us crash at their homes and even feed us. Some of the people I stayed with were friends in the farm media. Others were family, other writers, former colleagues, childhood friends. I didn’t realize how many friends I had in Western Canada until I set out on this tour.

photos: lisa guenther

Lisa Guenther

Taking a few risks Of course, these types of ventures carry a little risk. Everett Parsonage likely got into a few scrapes while he was traveling, but that didn’t deter him. When Carmen and I set out on this tour, there were so many things I was worried about: 1. No one showing up at our shows. 2. People disliking the book. 3. People disliking our show. 4. Messing up while I was reading. 5. Having some sort of technical failure with our sound equipment. 6. Someone getting really upset because my book deals with violence against women. 7. Blizzards, freezing rain, or losing a wheel on the highway. A strange thing happened once we got a couple of shows under our belts — I stopped worrying about most of these things. Not everyone was going to like my book, or what we were doing, but that was fine. We did have a technical failure at our first show, but the show went on. I would surely make mistakes, but that was okay too. As for upsetting someone in the crowd who may have lived through, or watched people they loved live through, violent situations, I did my best to let them know I was on their side. I tried to prepare the audience before the heavier scenes without screaming “TRIGGER WARNING!” There were a few teary moments and hugs after a couple of the shows, but I think it was okay. Being brave isn’t the same thing as being fearless. It’s about having the guts to do what scares us, and to step outside our own comfort zones sometimes. Sure, there’s risk in doing this. But if we don’t push ourselves a little, our world shrinks instead of growing. If you’re curious about Carmen’s music, check out www.bestkeptsecretgirlfriend.bandcamp.com. †

Top: My aunt and uncle’s ranch south of Maple Creek, which was one of our stops on the tour. Middle: Cattle crossing the road that leads to Fort Walsh. Bottom Left: Lisa Guenther’s new novel, Friendly Fire.

Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

acquired 19 grain elevators, the oat and wheat milling business in Canada and the U.S., a terminal in Thunder Bay and a share of Cascadia terminal in Vancouver. From 2013 to 2015, a number of expansions and upgrades took place at grain and crop input centres. A new terminal was opened in Estevan, Sask., and expansion plans to add 80,000 mt of storage at the Vancouver terminal were done. They also started work on a new terminal in Dauphin, Man. to be completed in 2016. Richardson recently completed a new fertilizer distribution center at Carseland, Alta., its sixth fertilizer distribution warehouse in Western Canada. Richardson recently announced plans to build a new fertilizer blending facility at its Olds, Alta., facility and a new crop inputs center at Three Hills, Alta. Needless to say, Richardson International is serious about being a major player in the grain and ag retail business in Western Canada as is evident by their activities over the past few years. Keep an eye on this company.

CHS CHS is the largest ag co-op in the U.S. It has business interests in countries around the world (learn more about it at www.chsinc.com.) In 2012 CHS bought out DynAgra Corp., an ag retail business with four locations in Alberta. This is CHS’s first Canadian acquisition. In August of 2015, CHS and fertilizer maker CF announced a strategic business venture where CHS will invest $2.8 billion into CF Nitrogen and enter into a supply agreement giving CHS access to up to 1.7 mt of nitrogen fertilizer annually from any of CF’s three nitrogen facilities in the U.S. This transaction is the largest investment in CHS history. The news that Glencore may be selling all or part of Viterra brought comments from CHS Chief Executive Carl Casale that CHS Inc. would be interested in the Canadian grain handling assets, but only if they came at the right price. Another potential suitor looking to get into the Canadian grain industry? The most recent announcement was October 14 when CHS and UFA announced a joint venture under

the name of Bridgeland with plans to build a fertilizer and ag retail outlet in the northern peace region near Sexsmith Alta. Canada’s grain and ag retail industry is continually in flux. Ag retail is a capital intensive industry with tight margins. Unless you have production capacity to help build your margins you are in a game of very small returns for the dollars invested. The grain industry is not a lot different. Large amounts of capital are required to build facilities to move grain to market or process grain, but there seems to be some potential for profits — especially for companies that are integrated in the business already with processing or freight and transportation expertise. Is it a coincidence that we are seeing more first time foreign entities enter this marketplace since the demise of the wheat monopoly in 2012, opening the market up to anyone willing to take on the risk? It may be as simple as the ability to access high quality guaranteed products from a reliable supplier from a safe part of the world where minimal disruptions would affect business or profitability.

Whatever the business rational, be assured that there will be more such transactions like these in the future.

The future of the industry The world needs food and Canada can certainly grow it. We can’t consume all we grow so there is a great business opportunity there for those who have the knowledge and capital to do so. Trade deals are another piece of the puzzle. They help reduce barriers and tariffs to allow for freer trade between countries, which opens up new markets providing new opportunities for companies to transact business around the world. The Canadian grain industry is in the midst of transformative change. You need to be aware and stay engaged to ensure your interests are looked after as these changes happen. † Brian Wittal has 30 years of grain industry experience, and currently offers market planning and marketing advice to farmers through his company Pro Com Marketing Ltd. (www.procommarketingltd.com).

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Columns Hart Attacks

Crop diversification opportunities If you get rich on either of these ideas, Lee Hart wants either fruit or a piece of pie

ith an ongoing commitment to bring farmers new cropping ideas, I have two. The first one I consider a sleeper crop... literally. The second falls into the category of “who knew?” If you are interested in a high value, slow return crop I recommend avocados. It is truly a sleeper, or plant-and-go-fishing, or plant and then get a sixmonth, off-farm job, come back and see if anything has happened type of crop. Personal experience — my son eats lots of avocados. They are good for you. They have monounsaturated fat, which may help promote normal blood cholesterol levels. They also supply antioxidants. I like them made into guacamole with plenty of tortilla chips — a dollop of sour cream is great too. He decided it would be a great idea to grow an avocado plant from the pit. Seems to me we tried this when he was small 25 years ago too, with minimal success, but I forget. For germination, submerge half of the pit in a glass of water and wait. Once it sprouts, then you plant in soil. How hard can that be? Not hard, but don’t get in a rush. I think it took at least three months in water for some noticeable root to appear and finally a tiny shoot breaking through the top of the pit. I planted it in soil. It has been nearly a month now, and the stalk is about four inches tall, and my eyes may be deceiving me, but it appears it may be ready to open a leaf. We started this project in July. He was hoping to have fruit by December. With avocados costing about $1 each at the grocery store, homegrown fruit would really help cut down on his grocery bill. Well, we’ll be lucky if there is a leaf by December let alone fruit. I don’t know how these things flourish in a natural environment, avocado growers must have imaginable patience. But, if you are looking for a crop to plant and forget, I recommend avocados.

It’s all about colour Continuing on the horticulture theme, the next opportunity to catch my attention was white pumpkins. Yes white pumpkins. Who knew? I get a fruit grower magazine written and edited by my friend Karen Davidson, (a former field editor with Canadian Cattleman Magazine). In the last issue of Ontario Fruit Grower in a listing of new varieties to watch for, Stoke’s Seeds had a new white pumpkin variety. Ever since I did a story on black Charolais cattle a few years ago, I

Visit grainews.ca to sign up for enews.

thought my career had peaked on the colour-change movement. It hadn’t. Looking online it appears white pumpkins have been around for a while. In fact, forget orange it’s old news. Pumpkins are also available in white, green, yellow, red, blue and even tan-coloured shells. Again, who knew? And more importantly perhaps “why?” It’s all about decoration. All these great, odd pumpkin colours apparently makes our twomonth-long holiday extravaganza known as Halloween (what happened to the one night event?) much more fun and exciting — can’t get enough of that. And if you are looking for a distinctive centerpiece for an upcoming wedding, funeral, or CWB resur-

rection meeting don’t over look white pumpkins. I don’t know what I would do if someone served me a piece of white, blue, or red pumpkin pie. Well, I would definitely eat it, but how would I feel? Would I feel satisfied, or cheated, or tricked? I would probably need a second piece and just keep my eyes closed, to see if it made a difference. But what’s next? If John Deere starts introducing a new line of red, blue or yellow farm tractors I may just have to look at another career. Some changes I don’t handle well. † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

photo courtesy shawna coronado at www.shawnacoronado.com

By Lee Hart

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Columns Farm financial planner

Pay off debts before selling the farm This Manitoba couple can pay off their debts and look forward to a reasonable retirement By Andrew Allentuck

n south central Manitoba, a couple we’ll call Herb and Cathy, both 64, are looking ahead to their future. They have farmed grain for more than two decades and have two children, a son age 40 and a daughter, 42. Each has a career off-farm and neither has an interest in returning to the family farm. Herb and Cathy have concentrated on producing wheat and canola, but they were late to the business and therefore incurred high costs for equipment. Added to that, there were years of crop failures. They scraped by on the modest payouts of crop insurance. Nevertheless, they have substantial farm losses they carry forward. Farm Financial Planner put the problems Herb and Cathy face to Don Forbes and Erik Forbes of Don Forbes & Associates/Sterling Mutuals in Carberry, Manitoba. The couple should be able to retire with no debt, says Don Forbes. He notes that recently, after two years of exceptional yields and good commodity prices, they have eliminated much of their debt and decided to quit and retire. Their grain inventories, machinery and income from their farm corporation will use up all their loss carry-forward credits, making all income tax-free. Herb and Cathy have a farm corporation with a half interest held by a silent partner. Along with the land, inventory and machinery, they have three quarter sections of farm land they own personally and other machinery and inventory they own personally.

The recommendation Best bet: sell all remaining grain inventory in the 2015 tax year or at least as much as possible. The income from sale will be covered by the existing carry forward capital losses, about $247,000, rendering most of that income tax-free, Erik Forbes says. The sale of two of three quarter sections of personally owned farm land this year will probably generate large capital gains, but all of those gains will be tax exempt via the farm land capital gains tax exemption, Erik adds. In 2016, they can sell any remaining machinery and take a capital gain on the sale of the last quarter section of land. If they get $200,000 from sale and apply $126,000 of book value and $74,000 of recaptured depreciation, they will have no tax exposure, Forbes notes. Herb and Cathy are each eligible for $813,600 of capital gains exemption on their personally owned farm land. Although the entire three quarter sections will be eligible for $1,627,200 capital gains exemption, the Alternative Minimum Tax will apply. A few thousand dollars of AMT will be due for 2015 but can be recaptured in future tax years, Don says. Herb and Cathy each have about $10,000 of Locked In Retirement Accounts from years past when they worked off-farm. They can unlock the accounts for 2015. All of Herb’s LIRA and half of Cathy’s can be taken out, subject to provincial legislation. If put into cash accounts, the money can be withdrawn as needed. Cathy can use up her money relatively quickly to use up her

AMT credit after the 2015 tax year. If she does not use up her AMT credit in 2016 or 2017, it may not be useable, as the couple’s future income will be relatively modest. If the couple sells $29,000 of inventory in 2015 and $69,000 of land in each of 2016, 2017 and 2018 and pays taxes of $3,200 for 2015 and then $13,000 in each of the three following years, they will have remaining cash of $193,800. The total gain on the land sale will be $173,000, which will be subject to tax on half the gain — $13,000 will be the tax payable in 2016 to 2018 inclusive, Don estimates. There is an alternative to taking taxable dividends. That is to issue shareholder bonuses which are a 100 per cent expense to the farm corporation. This would be advantageous to Herb, though Cathy, with a lower tax bracket, would not benefit as much, Erik notes. In retirement, the couple’s retirement income would be a total of $1,010 from the Canada Pension Plan, full Old Age Security benefits of $1,140 in total and investment income from capital released from the farm of $1,740. That adds up to $3,590 each month before tax or $43,080 annually before tax. Their tax would be negligible, Don says.

Enjoying retirement What sort of retirement will $3,590 a month buy? If the couple allocates 25 per cent of income for rent, $898 a month, they will get at most a modest apartment outside of a major city. The remaining $2,692 would allow $200 a month for car expenses, $800 for food, $200 for cloth-

ing, $300 a month for travel, $200 for entertainment, $200 for charity and gifts, $300 for health related costs and $492 for discretionary spending. Comfortable, yes, but not lavish. Assuming that after sale of farm property, including the farm house, the couple has $375,000 to invest, the question arises — how to do it? The usual answer is mutual funds, yet over a long term, average mutual fund fees of 2.5 per cent on equity funds add up to 25 per cent over ten years and a whopping 50 per cent over 20 years, Don Forbes estimates. The remaining issues concern end of life. Chances are that Herb and Cathy will have a few good decades together, but if they persist in their frugal ways and have moderate success with their investments, they are likely to pass with substantial residual assets. Their children will be in their sixties in this scenario and contemplating retirement, Erik Forbes observes. In their wills, Herb and Cathy may want to contemplate a generational shift in their assets with bequests to good causes, to their grandchildren, or to more distant family members. The cost of discussions with their lawyer and accountant of the tax implications of generational shifts of property will be money well spent, Forbes says. “This couple can go from today’s burden of debt to a future of relative prosperity with a new problem of wealth administration,” Don Forbes says. “They need to be ready for that change.” † Andrew Allentuck’s latest book, When Can I Retire? Planning Your Financial Life After Work, was published by Penguin Canada in January, 2011.

Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. 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. 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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DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Columns Agronomy management

Western agronomy research cuts Funding cuts have left gaps in the unbiased agronomy research that Prairie farmers need

Research scientists Sadly, the level of soil and crop research in Western Canada has been slowly diminishing. The number of research scientists employed by Agriculture and AgriFood Canada (AAFC) has declined by more half in the past 30 years as research stations are closed or downsized. In 2012, AAFC staff was reduced by 150 people in Western Canada. In spring 2013, AAFC announced staff layoffs of 125 people across western Canada. Those layoffs represented 20 per cent of the Western Canada AAFC staff. Since then, the Research Centre at Winnipeg has been closed. AAFC Lethbridge Research Centre substations at Stavely and One Four in Alberta have been closed. Both substations focused on grazing management in the foothills and short prairie grasslands areas, respectively. Now, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have only six AAFC research centres to cover almost 70 million acres of annual crop production on a wide diversity of soil and climatic regions. Downsizing and staff reductions have affected other agencies. In 2002, at Alberta Agriculture (now Alberta Agriculture and Forestry), lay offs and redeployment affected almost half of the plant industry division research staff. They were responsible for Province’s soil and crop research across Alberta. At the same time, Alberta Agriculture crop extension staff were reduced from 45 to eight, and further reduced to only two staff by 2010. Crop research and extension in Alberta has suffered severely in the past 13 years. Prairie farmers spend about $2 billion annually on fertilizer to optimize crop production and maintain healthy, fertile soils. In Alberta, farmers spend about $750 million annually on fertilizer. Until 2001, Alberta Agriculture took the lead role in conducting and co-ordinating fertilizer and nutrient management research across the province. Five researchers that conducted soil and ferti-

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ver the past 100 years, agricultural research scientists, innovative farmers and private industry have done a remarkable job to develop and improve crop production practices across Western Canada. Advances in crop breeding, sustainable crop rotations, development of direct seeding technology, development of fertilizer and nutrient management practices and improved management to control weeds, insects and diseases have all contributed to improved crop production. Soil and crop scientists continue to work with farmers and industry organizations to focus on ways to improve soil quality and increase crop production potential.

lizer research across Alberta. By 2002, there was only one person to conduct and co-ordinate fertilizer research for the entire province. Doon Pauly, my replacement when I retired in 2013, is presently the only soil scientist in Alberta with significant time devoted to fertilizer research. AAFC does not have even one research scientist in Alberta dedicated to conducting soil fertility and fertilizer research. There are a few small fertilizer studies conducted by the University of Alberta, AAFC and several applied research associations. But there is no co-ordinated provincial soil fertility and fertilizer research to update fertilizer recommendations for various crops, test new fertilizer products or address new emerging fertilizer issues. At one time Alberta had a Soil Fertility Advisory Committee made up of researchers, industry agronomists, soil testing labs and fertilizer industry representatives. In the past, industry took an active role in fertilizer research in Alberta. For example, Westco had a strong research program conducting fertilizer research in Alberta as well as in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. However, this research program was terminated. There is no longer any ability to co-ordinate fertilizer research and fertilizer recommendations for Alberta farmers. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, things are a bit better. Both still have Soil Fertility Advisory Committees. But there are minimal resources to look at maintaining and updating fertilizer research information for soil testing labs to ensure farmers are getting the best, most up to date fertilizer recommendations that are based on current, local field research.

There is a real need for wellco-ordinated, on-going soil fertility and fertilizer research and good agronomic research across Western Canada in the various unique soil and climatic areas of the prairies. Research must be conducted by well-trained soil and agronomy researchers with AAFC, universities and provincial ag departments. Agronomy research programs need to be adequately funded, have qualified technical staff, and have up-to-date field research and laboratory equipment. Presently, the soil and crop researchers that are left must go on bended knee to research funding agencies to do “piece meal” research. Researchers should have adequate long-term funding so they can focus on research and extend their research results to SEC_PAST14_T_GN.qxd 11/10/14 farmers and industry agronomists.

Farmers need access to upto-date research information to know when crops will or will not respond to various types of fertilizers, optimum rates, best placement and right application timing. This information is critical for farmers to determine what fertilizer practices are economical. Information needed by farmers does not end at fertilizer management. Prairie wide focused agronomy research is needed for crops in all agro-ecological areas of the prairies. Weed, insect and disease management are important research components that need prairie wide co-ordinated research. Long-term crop rotation and cropping system studies are important to understand the interactions of various practices and inputs. Even basic examin6:13agronomic PM Page research 1 ing optimizing seeding times and

seeding rates of crops grown in each agro-ecological area need to be constantly re-evaluated and updated as crop varieties are improved and our climate gradually changes. If Prairie farmers are going to continue to manage their operations sustainably and profitably, they need excellent, unbiased and reliable agronomic field research that pertains to their local region. Co-ordinated agronomic research conducted across the prairies is essential to achieve this goal. Soil and crop research across the Prairies needs greater attention and support to ensure a strong agricultural sector in the future. † Ross H. McKenzie, PhD, P. Ag., is a former agronomy research scientist. He conducted soil, crop and irrigation research with Alberta Agriculture for 38 years. He has also been an adjunct professor at the University of Lethbridge since 1993, teaching four-year soil management and irrigation science courses.”

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Soil and crop research across the Prairies needs greater attention Best practices Prairie farmers are being bombarded with new yield-increasing products and practices. Scientific research often has not been conducted with new products to allow farmers to know if and when a new product or practice may result in an economic yield increase. With changes to Canada’s Fertilizer Act, registration is not required for new products. Great claims now seem to be made for various crop growth promoting and yield boosting products, micronutrient seed treatments, micronutrient fertilizers, various in-crop fertilizer practices and variable rate fertilization. For many products and practices, farmers end up using the “by guess and by golly” method to find out if a product or practice works or not. More often than not, farmers learn costly lessons when products don’t work as promised.

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Columns Off-farm income

Seasonality and southern travel Andy Sirski’s take on the lumber industry, the U.S. economy and corporate earnings reports ANDY SIRSKI

he technical analyst group I belong to had a very good seminar on October 17. Don Vialoux was a very good speaker. If you watch BNN, you’ve likely seen and heard him. He’s a student of seasonal investing and he gave us some ideas on seasonality.

The lumber sector Lumber and timber are two seasonal sectors. If you go to the home page on Stockcharts, click on free charts and go to the bottom of the home page you will see the words “create a seasonality chart.” If you type in the symbol “$lumber” the seasonality chart will show that, in the past, the lumber sector was very bullish in December but not so much in November. Part of that is because the construction/housing industry orders and or buys lumber and lumber products so they can be delivered for spring construction season. I own shares in a lumber company called Western Forest Products Inc. with stock symbol WEF.TO. It has timber property in B.C. and California and, more important, the company does not own any pine timber. As you likely know, the pine beetle has chewed up thousands of acres worth of pine trees on the west coast. I was in Prince George in the middle of the pine tree infestation and saw firsthand how the pine beetle destroyed pine trees.

Earnings reports have become more important WEF pays a nice dividend and its outlook sounds good. Plus WEF has a good business exporting lumber to China, Japan and the U.S. The 10-year lumber agreement with the U.S. ended earlier this year and no new agreement is in sight at this time, which might hurt sales to the U.S. But, buyers in China and Japan like the lumber from WEF. I called the company and asked if fires in California were damaging WEF’s timber. I was told “no,” but they did have issues in B.C. from time to time. I bought shares in WEF at around $1.90. I owned shares last winter and sold them as the daily price dropped through the 10-day moving average last winter/spring and recently bought shares as the sector came in season. So far so good. Earnings were good as reported in early November and so was the outlook. But I don’t think this is a buy and hold stock so if or when the price drops through the 10 dma I will sell some or all of the shares. As I write on November 6 the price

has come up quite a bit so it would be a good idea to be careful.

Traveled the U.S.. In late October my wife and a granddaughter and I took a short trip to Mount Rushmore and area. We drove quite a few miles, stopping quite often. I saw at least five help wanted ads on the doors of businesses. So I started thinking... many believe the U.S. economy is on the ropes with little future growth. I do agree the U.S. economy will grow slowly in the coming years mainly because the baby boomers are not going to borrow and spend a lot of money like they used to. But the U.S. has lots of cheap

energy and lots of most other commodities. It has people because of its immigration policies. The country has moved towards being a consumer economy so it doesn’t have to go through the agonizing process of growth shrinking from 11 per cent to six to seven per cent, to finally three per cent which is about the growth a consumer economy can likely grow. Plus, the U.S. has an education and training system that can teach people trades that people and businesses need. The country has lots of entry and exit jobs which do not pay big bucks but can top up a family’s income as a new job for a young person or older retired person or a second job — many people either want or need one of those.

Earnings reports These days, earnings reports have become more important than in the past. The main reason is that some businesses are able to do well in this slower economy and some cannot. Often, a business’s outlook can change from positive to negative in a few months. When a company’s earnings report says the outlook is weak, shares get attacked by short sellers and shareholders sell. The two can drop the price of shares a lot in a day. As things look to me, stocks with high SCTR (StockCharts Technical Rank) numbers seem to survive weaker outlook numbers than stocks

with low SCTR numbers. But that is not foolproof. I’m going to study stocks I own and follow and see if I can find a pattern that can help us see in advance which stocks could survive a poor earnings report and which ones might not. My short study so far shows that Taser (low SCTR number) dropped while shares of Neflex, Disney and a few others kept on going after earnings were announced. Theses have high SCTR numbers. † Andy is mostly retired. He travels a bit with his wife, has a small tax business and manages his family’s investments. Andy also publishes an electronic newsletter where he tells all, win or lose and passes on information he has learned from his technical analysis work, reading and talking to people. You can read Andy’s newsletter StocksTalk free for a month by sending an email to sirski@mymts.net.

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DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Columns Kelly’s AgExpert Tips and Hints

Editing transactions with AgExpert Even the best bookkeepers don’t always get it right the first time. Here’s how to fix it Kelly Airey

double entry, can be done in a few simple steps

Find the transaction

aking corrections to previously posted AgExpert Analyst transactions is something every user will inevitably need to learn how to do. My mistakes in data entry often happen when I’m trying to multi-task, in a rush, or working late at night. Most busy producers can relate! Thankfully, making corrections and changes to an account number or amount, changing a date, or completely reversing a

First, open the Edit or Reverse Transaction Screen: To do this, from the main menu, select Transactions > Edit or Reverse Transaction. Or, if you’re already in the Transaction Entry Screen, Point of Sale, or General Journal, then click on “filing cabinet” icon button at the bottom left hand side of your screen. Or, you can use a quick keyboard shortcut [Alt] + [E]. Next, find the specific transaction you wish to correct. 1. You can search by transaction “Type.” I normally set mine to

“show all” transactions. However, from the drop down list you have several search options that allow you to narrow down the list. 2. You can further search the transaction list by typing into the “Search” box more detail. If you’re looking for a transaction that is for $12.50, type in “12.50” and it will bring you to any transactions with that amount. You can also type in a specific reference number, audit number, or supplier name for example. Another great feature is being able to sort the list by column headers. If you use your mouse to click on the “date” column header, it will sort the list of transactions by date. Example: I’m looking for a

transaction from my local co-op between January and June for approximately $1,000, but I’m not sure of the exact amount. This is one way I’d search for it. 1. Type: “Show All” From: 1/1/2015 To: 06/30/2015. 2. Search: local Co-op. 3. Click on the “Total” column header. This will sort all the local Co-op transactions between January and June by amount. From here I could easily scroll down and find any local Co-op transactions within the $1000 range.

Viewing, editing or reversing transactions Did you know? AgExpert Analyst maintains an audit trail. Recorded transactions can’t be

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deleted. If you need to change a recorded transaction, you must either edit or reverse it. First, click on the transaction to highlight it. Then at the bottom of the screen, chose one of the five options. 1. View: displays all the transaction information, but won’t allow you to make any changes. Close when done. 2. Full Edit: allows you to make a change to any field including bank accounts, amounts, posting account types and account numbers. After you make the changes, record the transaction. The Full Edit will automatically create a reversed transaction, then post a new transaction to reflect the changes. Example: If you did a Full Edit of Audit #100, the original transaction will be Audit #100, the automatic reversal will be Audit #101, and the new transaction reflecting the changes will be Audit #102. Tip: When viewing any AgExpert Report containing a blue audit number, clicking on the audit number will take you straight to the Full Edit Screen. This is a great time saver if you spot something that needs to be changed while viewing your reports. 3. Quick Edit: allows you to partially edit a transaction to change the date, reference or description. You can also add or change a note attached to a transaction, or print a cheque after recording the transaction. Note: When you do a Quick Edit, AgExpert doesn’t create a reversal, and the original audit number stays the same. I recommend using the Quick Edit, for simple changes.

I recommend using the QuickEdit for simple changes 4. Reverse: Select the transaction to be reversed, click “Reverse” and “Yes.” A reversed transaction will automatically be posted containing amounts opposite to the original, which negates the original. This works well if you have double entered a transaction by mistake. Hint: Reversed transactions must be set to “Show” under Setup > Preferences in order to see them in the Edit or Reverse Transactions List. I personally like to “Show” them as I’m doing my day-to-day entering, but I like to “Hide” them when I print out my reports. You can change your preference at any time. 5. Print Preview: allows you to print a transaction report of the transactions displayed in the list. Tip: Use the search options to downsize the transaction list to exactly what should be printed. Did you know? In the 2016-01 version of AgExpert, there is a great new feature in the Edit or Reverse Transaction Entry Screen — a note icon on the right side of the list will show you which transactions have notes attached. † Kelly Airey is a producer and Ag Consultant in Western Manitoba. She offers software setups and training, and discounts on software purchases. Contact Kelly at kelly. agconsulting@gmail.com or (204) 365-0136.

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Columns Soils and crops

Catalogue houses: Eatons and others

photo: les henery

Looking for information about a catalogue house in your area? Les Henry may be able to help

The Kevin McGrath home near Fielding, Sask., was built by his parents Martin and Katie in 1916.

les henry

have a longstanding interest in catalogue houses. In fact, I’ve written a book with the same title as this column (see below for details). My interest in mail order houses comes honestly. Seven sisters and I were raised in a large 2-½ storey square house much like many of the catalogue houses of that era. Ours was built in 1917 — hot and cold running water, flush toilet, electric lights. The running water was pressured by a hand pump in the basement. When Mother turned on the tap and the flow was weak I knew the next command. “Les, get down there and pump up the pressure.” It also boasted central hot water heating with a big coal and wood furnace in the basement and cast iron registers in each room — toasty if you porked in the coal. The only wood at Milden was scrap lumber and railroad ties cut to size by a buzz saw driven by a tractor with flat belt pulley. The buzz saw was a dangerous beast that injured or killed a few folks, but none in our area. The total bill for the house was $5,000, a princely sum in those days. But wheat was $30/bu. (in 2015 dollars) so it was no trouble to pay for such luxury. Most big houses were built in 1917 or 1918. If Captain John Palliser could have flown over the famous Palliser Triangle in 1917, he would have had to eat his words of 1857. But the glory years did not last. In the 1930s the batteries for the 32 volt light plant wore out. There was no money to replace them, so it was back to the coal oil lamps. The sewer had a field drain that plugged up, so back to the bucket.

The mail order companies There were several companies in the mail order house business. Aladdin: Aladdin was huge all over North America and shipped overseas as well. United Grain Grower: United Grain Growers (UGG) was also in the mail order house business until its mill at Hutton B.C. burned down in 1926. Some older folk will remember UGG as a farmer-owned grain company. Grainews was started by UGG in 1975 as a free publication for its members. Sears: Sears was big in the U.S. Western Retail Lumberman’s Association: The Western Retail Lumberman’s Association also did mail order business. The WRLA still exists and holds an annual convention in Saskatoon each January.

T. Eaton Co. Ltd. But, the most famous Mail Order House Company was the T. Eaton Co. Ltd. The business was centered at its Winnipeg branch. Eaton Houses were made for Western Canada, and most of the houses are found on farms. They had dozens of different models but the most popular was the Earlsfield — a 1-½ storey house with a double Gambrel (we say hip) roof. The barn-like roof made for very efficient use of lumber to provide a lot of living space. The materials cost for the Earlsfield in Fall and Winter 1917-18 was listed at $1,193 (that’s $16,482 in 2015 dollars). Inflation was rampant in the teens so they quit posting prices in 1919. Lumber was shipped by rail from mills in BC and millwork from Winnipeg. To fill a boxcar you had to order a big house. Many bought a house and a barn, or neighbours went together and ordered two houses. The Kevin McGrath home near Fielding, Sask., was built by his parents Martin and Katie in 1916. The materials cost was $880.50 ($16,458 in 2015 dollars). Kevin passed on a few years ago but his niece and nephew have all of the original paperwork — some of it is reproduced in Catalogue Houses. Kevin was a kind and gentle person. We tried to see the house moved to the Western Development Museum in North Battleford or Saskatoon but costs were prohibitive. The WDM in Saskatoon does have the façade of an Earlsfield from Rockhaven, Sask., displayed proudly in its “Winning the Prairie Gamble” exhibit at Saskatoon. It is worth the visit if you come to Saskatoon. My book is really about the people and stories behind the building of the houses, and the big wheat/flax/oat crop or inheritance that allowed folks to upgrade to a fine new home. Most of the contacts I had for writing the book have now gone to their eternal harvest. We did it just in time. If readers have a house they would like to know the pedigree of I am always delighted to help if I can. Mail or email (jleshenry@shaw.ca) photos of the exterior of the house from at least two sides and a sketch or description of the original floor plan and I will make a match if I can. There are great stories to tell about the “matchmaking.” When a match happens it is great excitement for all. But, I must warn you that many do not find a match. † J.L.(Les) Henry is a former professor and extension specialist at the University of Saskatchewan. He farms at Dundurn, Sask. His book “Catalogue Houses; Eaton’s and Others” is now in 3rd Printing. It makes a great gift for someone who has everything. If you would like a copy simply send a cheque for $45 to Henry Perspectives, 143 Tucker Cres, Saskatoon, Sask., S7H 3H7, and he will dispatch a signed book. For Grainews readers we cover shipping and tax.

This is the Earlsfield house, as it was originally advertised in the 1919 Plan Book of Modern Homes.

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

Tillage special

Deere introduces TruSet on its 2730 Ripper New feature allows implement adjustment on the go, right from the tractor cab

Yellow

John Deere introduces TruSet adjustment feature to its 2730 Combination Ripper.

Available 2016 See your dealer for details

By Scott Garvey

ohn Deere has bumped up the technology level on its 2730 Combination Ripper by allowing operators to make tillage adjustments on the fly, right from the brand’s GreenStar 3 2630 in-cab display. Want to adjust packing pressure on the rolling baskets or work a little shallower on hilltops? Then just make the adjustment on the monitor and the tillage parameters change within six seconds. There’s no need to get out of the cab and make manual implement setting adjustments. “As conditions change throughout the field, operators running the 2730 with TruSet can quickly and efficiently respond to varying soils, compacted areas, heavier residue, and moisture,” says Nathan Kramer, product marketing manager for John Deere, in a corporate press release. “Making customized adjustments that respond to these agronomic factors help customers maximize their yield potential.” TruSet gives operators the opportunity to pre-set up to four memory settings, so adjustments for differing field conditions can be made with just the single touch of a button. “Once the actual set point is validated and configured to the display in the cab, operators are able to make independent adjustments to the discs, rippers, or closing discs with extreme accuracy, up-to one tenth of an inch,” Adds Kramer. The 2730 Combination Ripper is available with the TruSet feature in working widths up to 26 feet. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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photo: john deere

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Machinery & Shop

Seeding equipment

New air cart has liquid N option

pplying liquid rather than granular nitrogen in the spring has become a pretty popular choice among western Canadian growers. For most, though, that has meant adding another cart equipped with a liquid tank to an already long train of equipment behind the tractor in order to make a seeding pass. Now, however, growers can get a single air cart that is liquid ready right from the factory. At Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina in June, Salford pulled the wraps off its brand new 945 bushel AC4000L air cart, configured to apply both dry and liquid fertilizer along with seed. “We had a producer who was very interested in modifying his AC3000 Salford cart to have a liquid tank on it,” explains Anson Boak, Salford’s marketing manager. “And we started to get other requests to add liquid. When we saw this one fellow who was about to strike out on his own, we thought, hey, we can facilitate this and developed the unit we have here, with 505 bushel dry capacity and the 4,000 gallon liquid tank.” In other configurations, the AC4000 can be built with additional dry product capacity instead of a liquid tank. The modular design of the carts allows for combinations of up to five poly tanks, including a 65 bushel canola tank. Salford can provide poly tanks in 140, 180 and 220 bushel sizes. Because the tanks are independent, a scale option is available so operators can continuously monitor the amount of product inside them. “The liquid tank could come off and we could have two more 220 bushel dry tanks on the back,” he adds. The AC4000 Series also stretches

the previous overall capacity limits of Salford’s air cart line. At 945 bushels, it is the largest model the company has yet produced, and the brand is now ready to fill customer orders for it. The new series also incorporates some design improvements that will eventually be made available on all the company’s air carts. “We’re capable of putting a smaller liquid tank onto smaller carts as well,” adds Boak. “What will trickle down from the 4000 cart to most of the series new models is creature comforts. Little things like the platform, we’ve gone to a deck that’s all one level. It’s raised up the height of the cart, but it’s made it much safer.” The carts use a stainless steel meter with interchangeable rollers for different flow rates. The liquid N systems use a Hypro 9300 pump on hydraulic variable-rate models and a John Blue pump on ground driven machines. To address the almost universal concern among producers, which is to keep fill times down, the AC4000 Series gets a 16-inch conveyor belt that runs inside a 10-inch tube and is capable of lifting 67 bushels per minute into the compartments. “We’ve worked very hard with Convey-All to work on this hydraulically remote-operated conveyor system,” he continues. “With the amount of product and the capacities, the fill times guys were looking to achieve and the auger system we had weren’t cutting it. This has come a long way. “We took a lot of small cues from producers this season to put into the design of this cart — some nice tweaks to really make it nicer to operate.” † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

photo: scott garvey

By Scott Garvey

photo: salford

Salford’s AC4000 Series air carts can be ordered with both dry and liquid fertilizer systems

Top: Salford introduced its 945 bushel AC4000L air cart in Regina in June. It can be configured to work with both dry and liquid fertilizer. Bottom: The AC4000L comes equipped with a loading conveyor rated at 67 bushels per minute.

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DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

mong Salford’s several newproduct launches at Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina were two new tillage implement models, the 1-2200 and I-4200. According to Anson Boak, Salford’s marketing manger, these two machines are the result of several years of R&D with the existing I Series vertical tillage models. “It started in 2011 and culminated in 2015,” he says. “The main thing we achieved on the I Series line is to update the frame technology to improve lift, fold and durability on the machines. The goal has been to be able to take the existing blade mountings and be able to make more configurations.” Compared to the existing I-2100 and I-4100 models, the two new versions get more blades per foot of working width in order to leave a finer field finish. Both machines use a five-inch blade spacing.

“So in 2015 we see the 4200 and 2200 machines are upgraded and more aggressive compared to their counterparts the 4100 and 2100,” he adds. “We’ve added more blades to these machines. This is the first time these spacing options have been available.” “The biggest thing with the upgraded frame technology is we’re able to carry and manoeuvre more weight in the field, and that’s meant for even finer field finishes. The weight per foot has increased but the weight per blade hovers around the same, maybe reduced a little, because we have more blades.” The new models are meant to compete with the growing number of compact discs and other more aggressive tillage implements that have come onto the market in recent years, making the range of available tillage implements from all brands one that offers buyers a lot of choice.

The company considers the I-2200 “a true vertical tillage machine”. So it uses coulter blades that run straight up and down for minimal soil disturbance. In its press release announcing the introduction, the company says it considers the I-2200 to be “one of Salford’s more aggressive vertical tillage designs.” The I-4200, on the other hand, is what Salford labels a “hybrid,” combining both vertical and conventional tillage configurations into one machine. It gets both concave disc blades and wavy coulters. The company claims this allows it to perform better in high residue or wet conditions than compact discs or gangstyle vertical tillage implements. “We’re competing against short discs and some other types of tillage units,” Boak says. “I’d say these machines perform better in the sense that we’ve maintained our obstacle clearance and main-

photo: salford

Salford introduces new tillage implements

The I-2200 vertical tillage implement (shown here) and the I-4200 hybrid are new designs. They have heavier frames and more discs per foot than the company’s existing models to provide a finer field finish. tained our vertical tillage advantages. Issues of compaction or creating layers of residue in the seed zone are just a nonissue with these machines.” The 1-2200 and 1-4200 are available in working widths up to 50 feet. † Scott Garvey

Canada’s Farm Progress Show

Lemken stretches the Hiliodor

6230 Tandem Disc Harrow

The compact disc now available in a 52-foot working width

Cut your heaviest residue down to size while eliminating ruts.

By Scott Garvey

emken reps were proud to display the latest version of the Heliodor high-speed, compact disc at Canada’s Farm Progress Show in June. The company has now increased the maximum working width of the Heliodor from 40 to 52 feet, which company reps say is a direct result of feedback from Canadian broad-acre farmers who have high-horsepower tractors. The larger model also features a new forward-folding design to put the disc into transport position. †

Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott. Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

Tillage special

AGCO introduces the SF6830 A new high-speed, vertical tillage implement for the Sunflower brand By Scott Garvey

Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott. Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

photo: agco

n August, AGCO introduced a new vertical tillage tool into its Sunflower line of implements. The SF6830 model is one of a number of recent additions to the brand. Designed for high-speed field finishing, the SF6830 includes four types of ground engaging features in one vertical tillage implement. The front row on an SF6830 Series machine is made up of a gang of 20-inch, low-concavity blades set at an 8° angle, which the company says will provide just the right amount of lateral soil movement to level the field and anchor residue. Behind those blades are sealed, service-free disc gang reels that turn at twice the speed of the disc blades. The gang reels aggressively break up clods, while limiting lateral movement of the soil and prevent ridging. Wavy coulter blades are positioned in a gang behind the blades and reels, which size crop residue and fracture the soil. The final element on the SF6830 Series is two intermeshed gangs of Rotary Spider Tines. They are designed to ensure that the soil is levelled and that crop residue is equally mixed across the entire width of the tool, leaving the seedbed flat and even. Aside from the SF6830, the brand also introduced smaller 11- and 14-foot versions of its 6610 vertical tillage implements. And it added the new 4630-09 heavy disc ripper to its 4630 Series, which are implements designed to deal with residue, break up soil compaction and leave a prepared seedbed. 4630 models are available in sizes from seven to 13 shanks. † The SF6830 vertical tillage implement is new from AGCO’s Sunflower brand.

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Machinery & Shop

Classic machines

Tractor built to meet farm needs The tractor the Honey brothers built in 1979 has become a mascot for their business By Scott Garvey

f there was one stand-out display that caught farmers’ attention at this year’s Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina, it was the unique, home-built tractor that has now become a kind of corporate mascot for Honey Bee Manufacturing. The tractor, originally built in 1979 by the Honey Brothers who went on to found the company that bears their name, had an almost constant crowd of people around it during the show. “They like it,” said Greg Honey, president of Honey Bee, as he stood beside his tractor fielding questions from admirers. “They liked it in ’79 too (when it was first displayed at the show).” Before Greg and his brother Glenn went into the ag equipment manufacturing business, they decided they needed a very high horsepower tractor for their farm near Bracken, Saskatchewan. Greg had been working for a heavy equipment builder before returning to the farm, so with that experience under his belt the brothers decided to build their own tractor. “I’d worked in a place where we built big equipment in Calgary,” he said. “So I had some experience. When I came back to the farm in ’77, we needed a bigger tractor. We thought we’d try something on our own.”

To keep the design simple, they decided on a two-wheel drive configuration. Then, they set about sourcing parts, many of them salvaged from other types of heavy equipment. “The engine came out of an ore truck in Butte, Montana,” he explains. “The rear axle came out of a rubber-tired dozer. Then we just rounded up hydraulic pumps and stuff like that. We had everything all rounded up by the fall of ’78.” After finding a suitable workshop they could build the tractor in, they started work at the beginning of January 1979, and by March they had a running tractor. “We built it and got it running,” he said. “Then we took it apart and painted it. We had to paint it outside, because we couldn’t do it in the shop.” By April the tractor was at work seeding their crop. To get the power-to-weight ratio they needed, the brothers used very heavy gauge steel throughout the chassis, including the hood, which is made from quarter-inch steel plate. Each frame rail weighs 3,000 pounds.

photos: scott garvey

The design

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

1. This 500 horsepower, two-wheel drive tractor was built in 1979 to work on the Honey Brothers’ farm near Bracken, Saskatchewan. 2. A redesigned pickup truck slip tank is used for the tractor’s fuel tank. 3. A 13-speed truck transmission delivers power to the Clarke rear drive axle. 4. The insulated cab is built out of 2x2-inch square tubing and has a large roof to shade the glass from the summer sun. 5. The dashboard was fabricated out of 14-gauge steel. 6. Greg Honey is president of Honey Bee Manufacturing. “The frame rails are two-inch plate,” added Honey. “The fenders are three-eighths plate.” They put some thought into the design of the cab, which ended up being a more advanced design than some commerciallyavailable tractors on the market used at the time. And it’s very spacious, with enough room to accommodate two buddy seats. The operator’s seat is mounted on a swivel, a feature that has only become widely available in tractors built by the major brands in the last few years. “We wanted to give it (the cab) some shade from the sun,” he said. “That’s why the top is wider than the bottom. It’s just 2x2 square tubing, 14-gauge. We insulated it and put the upholstery inside on Masonite. It’s quiet.”

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The specs The tractor’s specifications are impressive. The Cummins VTA1710 (1,710 cubic inch) V-12 is rated at 500 horsepower. It uses a 13-speed truck transmission and a Clarke 85000 Series planetary drive rear axle. It can carry 300 gallons (1,135 litres) of diesel and move down the road at 21 m.p.h. (34 k/hr). Air brakes get it to stop. And when it moves down the road, it takes up a large part of the available space. The tractor is 19.5 feet wide, 20 feet long and 12 feet high. The tractor was used to pull a 60-foot air seeder and the same size cultivator on the farm before being retired from service. Two years ago, the brothers disassembled the tractor for a major refurbishment, media blasting and repainting it. The tractor has been standing guard in front of the Honey Bee plant in Frontier, Saskatchewan, since then. It will likely remain a mascot for the company, and not see regular field work again. However, a second similar tractor the brothers built in 1980 is still on the farm and may soon see field duty again. Both were built the same way but use different engines. “It works well,” said Honey summing up the design. “It rides really good. It’s quiet. It pulls good. It steers good. It doesn’t really take a backseat to anything.” † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Machinery & Shop

Shop class

How to overhaul your trailer brakes In this installment of Shop Class, we inspect and repair the brakes on an old livestock trailer By Scott Garvey

photos: scott garvey

ost provinces require all trailers with a gross weight of more than 950 kg (2,000 pounds) to be equipped with working brakes. Along with extra stopping power, they provide stability when braking, especially during hard brake applications and on slippery roads. So pulling a loaded trailer without them is just plain dangerous. And like any other mechanical system, they need regular maintenance to stay in good working condition. Here’s a look at what you’ll find when you pull the wheel hubs off, and what you need to consider doing to keep trailer brakes in good condition.

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First, you need to understand how they work. Electric trailer brakes use a slightly different mechanism than you’ll find on a car or truck. When electrical current runs to the brakes from the towing vehicle, that causes an electromagnet in each trailer hub to slide outward along a short shaft and attract itself to the inside of the rotating drum. As the drum turns, it pushes the magnet toward the rear of the trailer. The magnet is connected to a lever arm which turns an eccentric forcing the brake shoes outward into contact with the drum providing friction and, therefore, braking. Because the magnet also comes into contact with the drum, there is an additional wear surface on the drum, one on the face where the magnet rubs against it and the other where the shoes touch. And the magnet is subject to wear, just like the drum. To inspect and repair trailer brakes, first pry off the dust cap in the centre of the hub that covers the axle nut. Remove the cotter pin and nut, which allows the drum to slide off the axle. Be prepared to catch the outer bearing, which will fall out from behind the nut as you slide the drum off. Inspect the inside of the drum and ensure the wear surfaces where the magnet and shoes contact it are smooth and there isn’t excessive wear. Drums can be resurfaced on a special lathe at a brake shop if there is enough thickness remaining. If not and there are wear grooves, you’ll need to replace it. The shoes should be changed if you replace or resurface the drums. Check the shoes for material thickness, too. If the surfaces are worn down close to the rivet heads, replace them. Check the magnet for wear. On the face of new magnets are four shallow holes that serve as wear indicators. If they are no longer visible, replace the magnet. Apply special braking system grease to the bar the magnet slides on and the lever pivot point. Don’t use regular grease. If there is a lot of wear on the brakes, simply replacing the entire backing plate assembly and fitting a new drum may be the cheapest and easiest option. Inspect the two wheel bearings, the inner and outer, and repack them with fresh grease. (You can use ordinary grease here.) To get at the inner bearing, you’ll have to pry off the grease seal, which will have to be replaced with a

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop 3

1. In this instalment of Shop Class, we tackle a wheel hub inspection and electric brake service on an old livestock trailer. 2. To get the drums off, pry off the dust cap and remove the axle nut. 3. Be ready to catch the outer wheel bearing when removing the drum. It will fall out. 4. Electric trailer brakes have a second wear surface on the drum where the magnet comes into contact with it. 5. The wear indicators are no longer visible on this magnet, meaning it is ready for replacement. Remember, brake shoes on old equipment may be made of asbestos. Don’t use compressed air to blow out debris. Use only liquid brake cleaner and wear a dust mask for safety. 6. The four wear indicator holes are visible on the magnet in this new backing plate assembly. Because of the way electric brakes work, there is a left and right side assembly. Don’t mix them up.

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?

new one. To repack the bearings, put a large lump of grease in the palm of your hand and push the wide edge of the bearing into it repeatedly until fresh grease oozes out the top. Do this around the entire bearing. A handy tip when replacing the grease seal is to use a short piece of 2x4. Put the seal in position and place the 2x4 over top of it. Hit the 2x4 with a hammer to force the seal into position evenly, without damaging it. Seat the seal flush with the surface of the drum. Don’t over tighten the axle nut when reinstalling the drum. Start by spinning the drum by hand as you tighten the nut to where it just stops the drum from turning, then back the nut off until the drum turns freely. That seats the bearings. The sweet spot for securing the axle nut is where the drum turns freely but has no free play, meaning you can’t wiggle it on the axle. Remember to adjust the shoes after installing the drum. That is done by sticking a screwdriver (or special brake tool) through a slot in the rear of the backing plate and turning the adjuster mechanism. Turn the adjuster until the shoes touch the drum, then back them off about five or six notches. And the rule of thumb on brake repairs is whatever you do to one hub, you should do to its partner on the other side of the axle to ensure even braking on both sides. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Machinery & Shop

Classic machines

Old Chevy gets a new makeover By Scott Garvey

ean Foote of Killarney, Manitoba, wrote to tell us about the 1955 Chevrolet barn-find truck he and his family recently restored. Here’s what he had to say. “When I found this truck, it had been stored in a garage for the past 20 years. The previous owner had thoughts of restoring it one day and had completely removed all of the dash components and the truck wiring. It was all rolled up in a mess in a box sitting on the seat, but it was all complete. We towed it out of his garage to find that the brakes had seized up from sitting. “Thanks to the Internet and advice and guidance from several helpful people, I found out that it was a 1955 Second Series, one ton truck (Model 9430). It has a 235 Chev engine in it with a four-speed transmission with the granny gear. It has the nine-foot box with a wooden floor and a hoist. When we got it home, we had to take apart the wheels and free the brakes up and do a major check over. The parts that were needed on the chassis were replaced. Next, we had to do some makeshift wiring to see if we could get the engine running. All was good and we had it running like a top; we even took it for a four mile ride with a makeshift tank in the back of the truck with the gas line hose running past the passenger side window, resting on the mirror and back down the hood to the

carburetor. My wife didn’t like this as you could see the gas running through the fuel line to the engine compartment. “At that point, we knew now that it ran and that we could drive it; so now it became a family build. First of all, we tore the body off, right down to the chassis. We stripped everything apart and took just the chassis to get sandblasted, primed and painted. All parts were sandblasted and the body parts were soda-blasted, primed, and painted. The chassis, wheels, hoist, and plumbing were all done. Next, we installed the 235 original motor back into the truck after refurbishing it and putting in the transmission, connecting the driveline to the rear end. After we had gotten all the primed and painted body work back from the body shop, we installed it all back together. All of the linkages from the brakes, throttle, and emergency brakes had to be reinstalled. “Then, the biggest thing was all the wiring that had to be figured out and done, which was very time consuming and required a lot of mental thought; checking and rechecking everything to ensure that it all works from the wiring to the hydraulics for the hoist, brakes, and everything else to make sure it was in good running mechanical condition and was deemed safe to drive on the road. The original chrome was also sent away to be re-chromed. After completing our project, we found out from GM of Canada there where only 465 of these trucks built in Oshawa, Ontario, that year and the motor

photos: dean foote

An on-farm restoration brings a rare 1955 Chevrolet back to life again

that is in it was the original motor from the factory. Of these 465 trucks that were built, this truck was the 208th one that was built of that line. “Since finishing this project, I have enjoyed taking this truck out on the road for leisure drives to town as well as various car shows around southwestern Manitoba. Since finishing this truck, I am now working on my latest (and third) rebuild project, which is a 1950, fivewindow Chev 3100 1/2 ton.” Dean, thanks for sharing that with us and our readers. An official Grainews cap

is on its way to you, and we’re renewing your Grainews subscription for one year. Do you have a classic farm machine or vehicle you’ve restored or just kept running over the years. If so, let us know about it. Send some information a few high-resolution images to me, at scott.garvey@fbcpublishing.com and we may feature it in an upcoming issue of Grainews. If we use your submission, we’ll also send you a Grainews ball cap and a free year of Grainews for your efforts. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

Top Right: The Chev in Dean’s workshop part way through the restoration process. Bottom Left: Here’s the result of Dean’s efforts. The Chevy has new paint and a new lease on life.

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DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

Tillage special

Case IH introduces the True-Tandem 375 New disc harrow lets farmers configure the implement to meet their needs By Scott Garvey

Publication

photo: case ih

or those who want to continue to use — or return to using — tillage in their operation, Case IH has just introduced a new tandem disc model, the True-Tandem 375, which gives growers another tillage tool to consider when shopping for an implement. Despite the fact there is certainly a lot to choose from in the tillage implement market these days, marketers at Case IH say the True-Tandem 375 is worth a close look, because it offers some updated features they think farmers will like. And it gives farmers the option to configure the implement to exactly meet their needs. Among the new design features is the disc arrangement. To help ensure a complete and even cut, discs on the back gang track between the those on the front row. That also allows the True-Tandem to do a thorough job of burying field residue. “Saturated soils and heavy, stubborn crop residue this year have reminded producers about the importance of crop residue management and soil tilth,” said Chris Lursen, Case IH Tillage marketing manager in the company’s press release. “Our new True-Tandem 375 disk harrow helps improve soil tilth on every front, from crop residue management to reduced surface compaction and thorough soil mixing.”

Case IH’s newest tillage offering is the True-Tandem 375 disc, available in working widths up to 37 feet. The disc uses 24-inch, crimp centre discs made of “Earth Metal,” a name the company uses to describe a proprietary process used to produce the steel alloy they’re made from. The company claims that makes the blades stronger and more durable. And they can be resharpened if necessary. Buyers can select the shape of blades they want. They can opt for shallow concavity blades on the front gang and standard concavity on the rear, which increases the maximum possible ground speed and provides better soil penetration. Alternately, they can choose standard

MacDon: Jason Zeinstra Source: Grainews, 1/2 page, 10.25x7.75", CMYK, December 1

concavity blades on both the front and rear to maximize soil and residue mixing for improved soil tilth. There are choices for the trailing end as well. The True-Tandem 375 is available with a new optional, hydraulically adjustable “TigerPaw Crumbler” rolling reel or spring pressure applied coil-tine harrow to help produce more-uniform clod sizing and residue distribution. Disc gang angles are set at 18°. And they are connected to a frame made of heavy-walled steel tubing. The “Perfect Hitch” feature and extended frame size

are designed to add stability and balance in the field in order to keep penetration even across the full width of the disc. And all that rides on tires resistant to stubble punctures. “It provides better residue cutting, sizing and distribution into the soil,” Lursen added. “Yet, it accomplishes that with a smoother finish out the back for a highquality seed bed.” True-Tandem 375 models are available in working widths from 22 to 37 feet. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Cattleman’s Corner grazing management

Forage blend really produced the feed A pasture seed mix with 10 to 12 different forages shone in a somewhat mediocre growing season BY LEE HART

CO-OPERATIVE VENTURE

or the beef handlers at Walter Farms in central Alberta it was actually a good sign — a neighbour called one day to alert them to the fact the cows were in a field of canola or corn or some type of good-looking cash crop. While the neighbour’s concern was appreciated, the cowmen weren’t worried. The cattle were supposed to be there, and the crop was actually a 50-acre field of a new annual forage blend that included grass, legume and brassica forage varieties. People we noticing and wondering what that crop was. “It certainly doesn’t look like your average pasture,” says Ernie Lange, who is one of five partners operating the mixed crop and livestock operation near Camrose, southeast of Edmonton. These were yearling cattle and they just about disappeared in the tall, highly productive forage stand being tested on the farm. The annual forage blend seeded by Walter Farms in 2015 and supplied by Alberta-based Union Forage (www.unionforage.com), might be the key to help the beef producers pasture more cattle at home. The farm runs an 800 head Angus-cross cow-calf herd, they background their own calves, and supply yearlings to a finishing feedlot for a specialized natural beef market. The farm crops about 5,300 acres, and has another 300 acres of hay land, but pasture is spread over several Alberta locations. For easier management and better access to cattle to supply their marketing program, it would be better to pasture more cattle at home. One option was to increase the productivity of the farm’s pasture land, and this new forage blend may be the solution.

The long-established Walter Farms and W-over-Diamond Ranches has been operating as a co-operative for the past 16 years. The five partners involved include Chris Walter and his father Sam Walter, brothers, Ed and Ernie Lange and neighbour Ralph Buhler. The co-operative shares ownership of equipment and inventory including the cattle, while each farmer owns their own land. “We were all either smaller operators or in a position where we needed some help on our farms,” says Ed Lange. “We had always helped each other a bit with farm work, but decided to make it a more formal arrangement.” What really got the ball rolling was a plan by Ed to start a custom feedlot. The others joined in the project. They ran the feedlot jointly for 10 years, which also gave them the opportunity to expand the cow herd. As the Angus-based beef herd grew, they also got involved in a specialty beef opportunity. Walter Farms initially was a supplier of natural, hormoneand antibiotic-free beef to the Heritage Angus Beef program, and that program is now one of the brand name products handled by the Ontario-based One Earth Farms. The cow herd begins calving on grass in late April, remains at home until mid-June and then is distributed to various parcels of deeded and rented pasture until returning home in early November. Calves go into a backgrounding program on the farm after weaning while cows are put into a winter corn grazing program that carries the herd through until calving. The calves are backgrounded over winter and then pastured the following year to about 850 pounds, before heading to

a nearby finishing feedlot at nearby Pine Haven Colony. “It depends on the year and cash flow needs,” says Ed Lange. “Some of the bigger calves may be sold in June, but the rest will be on pasture until they reach 850 pounds.” With home pasture limited, Walter Farms looked for some options. It was actually the manager at Pine Haven Colony who pointed them towards forage blends marketed by Union Forage. Graeme Finn, a principle of Union Forage and technical representative in Alberta and Saskatchewan ,says the company offers some unique, yet highly productive forages, which not only put pounds on beef, but also help improve the soil. That combination appealed to the Walter Farms group. They were familiar with a program used by Gabe Brown, a U.S. beef producer, who has talked widely in Canada and the U.S. about the benefits of growing a forage blend with as many as 20 different crops. They didn’t want to jump to that extent but were interested in trying a blend.

TRIAL PROJECT FOR 2015 Working with Finn, they developed a trial program in 2015. They took a 150-acre block of farmland — 50 acres were dedicated to their standard grass pasture and left as a check, another 50 acres were broadcast seeded and harrowed to a blend that included forage brassica, Italian ryegrass and oats, while a third 50-acre parcel was seeded with a drill to what Union Forage calls the “Peace Diverse Mix” of annual forages. Although it was customized a bit for Walters Farm, the blend included four types of forage brassica, forage sorghum, forage millet, Italian ryegrass, 4010 peas, crimson clover, hairy

vetch and a few oats and wheat. The hairy vetch and clover are annual legumes, the sorghum and millet are considered warm season forages, while the Italian rye is a cool season grass. The forage brassicas are different creatures — Winfred is a cross between kale and turnip, Hunter is a cross between turnip and Asiatic leaf vegetables, Corinne is an Ethiopian cabbage, and Graza is a fodder radish. All grow well in most of Western Canada. The broadcast forage mix was seeded May 15, while the drill seeded block was seeded in late May. The Walter Farms group didn’t know how these blends would produce. They added some oats and wheat to the blends just for insurance. They hoped the 150 acres would support 150 yearlings for the summer. Cattle were turned into the standard grass paddock June 25, then later moved to the broadcast seeded block (it was divided in half) and finally moved into the drill-seeded block with the Peace forage mix (it was divided into five paddocks with portable fencing). “With dry conditions, (about half the normal rainfall) it was actually a poorer growing season,” says Ed. “The broadcast seeded area got off to a slow start. It actually became quite weedy so at one point we had to silage part of it just to control weeds.”

AND THEN IT GREW But with a bit of rain in July the pastures really took off. While the broadcast-seeded blend performed well, the Peace-drilled seeded blend really shone. The cattle moved through those five Peace blend pastures (being moved every few days) three times during the summer and early fall, the farmers also cut about 10 tons of silage off part of the block during the late summer, and into October it was still growing.

“We actually could have run quite a few more yearlings but we didn’t know what to expect,” says Ed. “We will increase cattle numbers next year. If we had just been using our standard grass pastures there is no way a quarter section would have supported 150 head for the summer. We probably would have needed three-quarters or even a section, so the forages greatly increased carrying capacity.” Ed says the Peace forage blend isn’t a cheap to establish, but it did greatly increase carrying capacity, put pounds on the yearlings, and also saved on the cost of trucking cattle to pasture. He estimates it cost about $75 per acre for the seeding. That included $28 per acre for the seed, $22 per acre for seeding costs with the drill, about $10 per acre for a preseeding glyphosate treatment and another $15 per acre to vertical till the field before seeding. Walter Farms is planning to grow about 100 acres of the Peace forage blend in 2016 and may also consider seeding some for swath grazing for cattle at weaning. A couple points they will be monitoring include how to control weeds in the forage blend — with such a diverse blend chemical weed control isn’t an option. And they also want to monitor soil compaction to see if that becomes a concern. “At one time over the years of past management the soils on this farm had some of the lowest organic matter content of any in the county,” says Lange. “But over the years as we apply conservation farming practices and keep all the manure from the cattle on the land we are now getting to where we have some of the highest organic matter content. And if you have productive soil, your crops will be productive too.” † Lee Hart is editor of Cattleman’s Corner based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

the Markets

Cattle margins struggling amidst lower prices Jerry Klassen Market Update

estern Canadian fed and feeder cattle prices have experienced severe volatility over the past month and it appears that this price behaviour will continue over the winter. While the market continues to factor in growing beef supplies, retail and restaurant demand remains uncertain. Alberta packers have been buying fed cattle in the range of $170 to $172 in mid November and current purchases will only be picked up in early December.

Feedlot margins continue to hover in red ink with break-even pen closeouts in the range of $195 to $200. Despite the negative margin structure, feeder cattle prices have actually held up fairly well with 800-pound steers trading in the range of $245 to $248 in central Alberta. It usually takes one full round of negative margins before feeder cattle drop to levels where feedlots can make a profit. Most feedlots were carrying minimal numbers through the summer and early fall so we’ll only see the extent of the negative margins on the feeder market in early spring. There are many factors to consider moving forward and cattle producers should be aware of the expected price environment over the next four to six months.

U.S. PRODUCTION INCREASING In the first half of 2016 the USDA is projecting a year-overyear increase of 215 million pounds during the first quarter and a whopping 605 million pound increase in the second quarter. Production from the April through June of 2016 will be very similar to 2012 and 2013 and during that time, the live cattle futures traded in the range of US$120 to US$130. As of midNovember, the April 2016 live cattle futures were near US$133 while the June contract was closer to US$125. Therefore, we can say that the downside risk in the June live cattle futures is limited from current levels whereas the April contract is probably fairly priced. Breakeven pen clo-

U.S. QUARTERLY BEEF PRODUCTION (MILLION POUNDS) Quarter

2012

2013

2014

EST. 2015

EST. 2016

6,283

6,172

5,868

5,664

5,915

6,475

6,517

6,183

5,855

6,460

6,584

6,608

6,179

6,066

6,330

6,571

6,420

6,021

6,130

6,145

Total

25,913

25,717

24,251

23,715

24,850

Source USDA

seouts on replacement cattle are near $200 for April and with the current cash price near $170 in Alberta, it is difficult to justify a $30 rally even if we see further weakness in the Canadian dollar. Overall demand will likely remain stagnant moving forward with potential seasonal rallies. The U.S. unemployment rate in October was five per cent,

which is close to pre-recession levels of 2009. We may see some marginal changes on either side of this level over the next month but nothing significant to realize a shift in the demand equation. Secondly, disposable income levels is expected to remain

» continued on page 42

BUILDING TRUST IN CANADIAN BEEF

How data will drive the beef industry It’s the biggest opportunity on the horizon for beef improvement

If you watch professional sports, you will hear the word analytics used often. That’s the science of using data to track athletic performance. Player statistics, once casual terms used mainly by announcers interpreting the game, have moved into the business side. Teams use data to strategize business development, select athletes and determine how they are rewarded. In many ways that is the future of data in agriculture. The ability to collect and move information has grown exponentially. But the biggest change on the horizon is the ability to interpret that data for decision-making and make that knowledge seamlessly available to more people. In Canada’s beef industry one of the most innovative front-line players is the Beef InfoXChange System (BIXS). BIXS is a database and web application to assist in the capture and exchange of economically beneficial individual animal and carcass data across the Canadian beef supply chain. With the new emphasis on data, BIXS now hovers on the edge of a revolution for industry management.

Sharing drives progress

The anchor part of the BIXS industry model is information sharing. The industry has long understood the potential to capture and exchange economically beneficial individual animal data, says Deborah Wilson, senior vice-president for BIXS. “We deliver that data to benefit the entire supply chain by improving communications and sharing across the entire beef chain.” Here are the key things she believes producers should watch on the BIXS and data front. Understanding the economic value of data. “Imagine if we could eliminate the bottom 10 or 20 per cent of worst-producing animals in a lot of different categories,” says Wilson. “Think genomics, if we could track animals with superior carcass quality. What would that mean to packers to have better cutability, better marbling or more predictability? What if we age verified and could show some animals

Many producers keep effective records and BIXS can transfer info to help tell the beef story.

finish months earlier than others? That’s less feed, less carbon footprint and many associated economic benefits. “Once you start really looking at data objectively, you understand the power it brings,” she says. “And it applies to small herds as well as large.” Building marketing advantages. There are real potential benefits to the individual producer to communicate, build business opportunities and hone marketing programs. Feedlots may be willing to bid more actively for animals that come with a birth report. And packers can improve market intelligence and capitalize on deeper post-slaughter analytics.

Positioning sustainability. Food industry players are looking for ways to prove sustainability and producers are feeling pressure to meet obligations. Data management can help. Adding new partners. As interest in data management grows, companies and others in industry are getting on board. BIXS is building a strong partnership base which will add value to all players, says Wilson. Learn from the best. “While part of the beef industry has made real progress with data, the fact is beef is behind other industries,” says Wilson, “and we have to learn from others. Dairy is a good example of using data to improve animal and industry performance.”

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Cattleman’s Corner Animal Health

The importance of responsible use of drugs Know the proper product for the proper treatment, if treatment is warranted Roy Lewis animal health

ith today’s tightening controls on residues in meat and milk, we as members of the animal agriculture industry must have the utmost responsibility about how we treat our livestock in general. Proper production practices benefit our verified beef production system and with antibiotic resistance increasing producers must be prudent in the use of antibiotics and other drugs involved with livestock production. With the help of your veterinarian, consider areas where for the size of your operation the proportion of certain products used might seem excessive. Perhaps changes to management, feeding programs or prevention measures such as vaccination, proper nutrition and deworming will all help reduce the use antibiotics. Healthy, low-stress cattle provided with good nutrition develop healthy immune systems and are less likely to get sick.

MORE ISN’T BETTER If you do need to treat, your veterinarian can provide professional advice on the best product and dosage for the job. Drugs have all been formulated and the dosage tested for the optimal

response. Realize that more is not better. This only increases the cost, lengthens the withdrawal period and produces no better results. Stacking drugs only works if they operate synergistically with one another. Often they will work antagonistically and you get less response then say if one antibiotic was used by itself. In treating conditions such as injuries sprains or strains, some producers feel the need to give the animal something, often antibiotics. With many of these foot and leg injuries, time to convalesce is what is most needed. Painkillers can be given if in your or the veterinarian’s judgment they are necessary. If animals keep eating they keep healthy and are quite able to heal. Depending on the extent of the injury, an experienced vet will give you an idea of prognosis and time needed for convalescence. Pain killers may facilitate walking on an already-injured area and worsen the condition. Use all painkillers with caution. Without these products you truly can see if the condition is improving.

KNOW THE PROBLEM Very few foot rots are actually that. Many are injuries or conditions related to hoof cracks, arthritis or laminitis. Some of these need hoof care which is why preventative trimming especially in herd bulls or cows with bad feet eliminate a lot of treatments for lameness. A product applied to the local

area is better than systemic products. The two best examples are mastitis and pinkeye. If the cow is not sick, mastitis responds well to stripping out milk and applying specific mastitis tubes up the infected quarters. This provides the maximal level of antibiotics where it is needed most. Pinkeye responds just as well to a low dose of penicillin injected into the conjunctiva around the eye than systemic injections of tetracyclines. The convenience factor when using different products is often the deciding factor. When injecting the eyes you need good restraint and the head immobilized with a halter. If practiced the level of antibiotic used is greatly decreased. A common mistake with pinkeye is to treat long after the infection is healed. Once the eye stops running and you see the whiteness develop, the infection has been cleared. The white is the resulting scar and may take a long time to get smaller. Some remain permanently so further treatment is not necessary. Producers must recognize some conditions such as lumpy jaw, navel infection and other injuries and abscesses may remain as a blemish for the life of the animal. No amount of antibiotic treatment will resolve the situation. In treating lumpy jaw, the object is to stop the infection and the large lump will remain. As long as the condition is not worsening the infection has been stopped. If large enough, abscesses need to be lanced as drugs won’t penetrate

the capsule that surrounds them. Navel infections often leave the scarred navel stump and may even have a slight permanent discharge. Scarred areas or areas where cartilage is present (such as the voicebox) have poor blood supply so antibiotics can’t penetrate these areas either. It is often pointless to treat these conditions.

READ THE LABEL Wherever possible, use antibiotics that have on their label the conditions you are treating. The pharmaceutical companies have tested them against the organisms causing these diseases and found them effective. You may, in some cases, find the older family of drugs such as the penicillins or tetracyclines equally as effective as the newer more potent and expensive drugs. Save the big guns for the severe pneumonias and diarrheas where specific products are necessary. Approach treatment under the direction of your veterinarian, as he/she will know the best choice taking into account severity, type of organism and geographic location. They may even recommend a culture and sensitivity. This is where the organism is grown in a lab and the effectiveness of individual drugs are measured against it. You are then treating specifically with the product that “should” work the best. Remember antibiotics don’t work against viruses. The newer macrolide family of antibiotics such as

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 40

Cattle margins struggling amidst lower prices rather constant now that U.S. consumers have adjusted their home budgets to lower energy prices and the stronger greenback. Therefore, we may see a minor increase in beef consumption levels in December in line with the seasonal tendency but then consumers tend to cut back sharply in January and February. Once packers cover their needs through December, the fed cattle market will become vulnerable to softer demand and growing supplies in January in March.

FEEDER MARKET GLOOMY

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I’ve received many calls during the past month from backgrounding operators wondering about the price outlook for calves and yearlings next spring. The feeder market has held up remarkably well despite the inability to lock in a profit on calves and yearlings. The market may hold value for the time being until feedlots have sufficient ownership but the outlook for January through April is somewhat gloomy. During declining markets, the futures tend to lead the cash market lower making it very difficult for producers to hedge or lock in a margin. If a

Zuprevo and Draxxin and others are very big molecules with built-in mechanisms to eliminate resistance. Vaccination is the number one prevention treatment for anyone concerned about biosecurity. Some producers, however, get overzealous and vaccinate for diseases cattle are either unlikely to get, have no consequence, or the efficacy of the vaccine is poor. Veterinarians will select the right combination of products for your farm. They can recommend competitively priced products, and will shy away from products they know are unnecessary or poor quality. Heed their advice. You may find over vaccination is being practiced. Anthrax puts fear in producer’s eyes but if you are a long ways from any infected herds it may not be prudent to vaccinate. This is for you and your veterinarian to work out. If there is no chance of recovery as with chronic arthritic infections consider humane issue. Have the animal put down and an autopsy performed if you need to clarify the condition, or send the animal for salvage slaughter if possible. By following some of these recommendations we will all cut down drug usage somewhat and our herds will be just as healthy. We will save some money and time in the process plus it will be much easier to comply with Beef Quality Assurance principles. † Roy Lewis is an Alberta-based veterinarian specializing in large-animal practice. He is also a part-time technical services vet for Merck Animal Health.

grain trader bought wheat that he could not sell at a profit, he would be led out the door immediately. This grain trader would be considered insane. However, with cattle operations it’s a bit different because I’m seeing backgrounders load up on cattle like there is no tomorrow. The only words of advice for producers are not to load up and carry minimal numbers until the market levels out and it will level out at some point. I’ve heard excuses like tax reasons or weather is optimal or cattle quality deteriorates in December but none of these excuses justify buying cattle when you can’t at least see a profitable period looking forward. Cash for a feedlot operator is like a hammer to a carpenter. Remember, markets tend to over-extend themselves on the way up and on the way down. Backgrounding operators need to buy lightweight calves next March or April so these cattle will hit the fed market in November or December of 2016. This is probably the opportunity given market behaviour from past cycles and current beef production estimates. † Jerry Klassen is manager of the Canadian office for Swiss based grain trader GAP SA Grains and Products Ltd. He is also president and founder of Resilient Capital —a specialist in commodity futures trading and commodity market analysis. Aside from owning farmland in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, he’s a University of Alberta graduate who grew up on a mixed farm feedlot operation in Southern Alberta, which keeps him close to the grassroots of grain and cattle production. He can be reached at 204 504 8339.

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner Better bunks and pastures

Corn residue can cut winter feeding costs Cows can find at least 1,250 pounds of feed per acre after corncobs are harvested PETER VITTI

or years, I have seen cornfields popping up over the Prairies (sorry for the pun). Much of this crop is harvested for corn silage, but significant acres are picked for grain. When just the cobs are harvested there is a tremendous amount of residue left on the ground. This is an abundance of forage for early gestating cows after weaning. I recommend cow-calf operators with access to corn residue, don’t let it go to waste. Graze it as part of your cowherd’s overwinter feeding program as a low-cost feed. Corn residue or stover left for grazing is produced when the combine moves from acre to acre leaving cornstalks, leaves, husks as well as intact ears in its wake. It is estimated by the North Dakota State University extension service about 50 lbs. of total residue for grazing beef cows is left behind per bushel of corn harvested. The edible amount is about 25 per cent useable feed due to weather degradation and cattle wastage.

This means if a producer grows a 100-bushel per acre corn crop; it yields approximately 1,250 lbs. of consumable forage by grazing beef cows. Given that a beef cow has a daily dry matter intake of about 25 lbs., corn residue has the potential to support a substantial portion of her nutrient requirements for approximately 50 days (re: 100 x 50 x 0.25 = 1,250, 1,250/25 = 50). Parties interested in utilizing their corn residue for beef cows should first outline a plan of 40 to 60 post-weaning days; estimating one cow per acre when grain yield from suitable cornfields exceeded 100 bushels per acre. They should also consider doubling this rate to one cow/ two acres, which promotes the cows’ natural selective grazing and thus greater access to higher quality portions of available corn residue. A two-month plan should start within days of the ears being harvested from the crop. This period coincides with the best nutrition provided by corn residues for early to mid-gestation cows. Because the feed value of corn stover is very comparable to wheat or barley straw, corn residue can support early to mid-gestation beef cows with the right amount

and type of nutrient supplements (re: nutrient requirements, which are at their lowest points compared to any other time of the year). Specifically, these cows need to consume about 52 to 55 per cent TDN and eight to nine per cent crude protein feed on a daily basis for body maintenance, to keep warm during the winter and to support an early-term fetus.

SUPPLEMENT OPTIONS There are many energy and/or protein feed supplements available, which compliment an overwintering cow grazing corn stover program. For example, many producers across Western Canada have access to dried distillers’ grains (75 per cent TDN and 28 per cent crude protein). It’s as simple as adding 3.5 lbs. of DDGS which can raise a diet of 23 lbs. of corn residue from five to eight per cent protein. Other producers rely upon commercial 18 to 30 per cent protein range cubes or pellets, commonly made from the same distillers’ grains and other byproducts such as wheat shorts or canola meal. Although, they tend to be more costly, distillers’ grains- or molasses-based lick blocks (70 per cent TDN and range from 20 to 40 per

cent crude protein) can also be supplied on corn stover fields. Along with these energy/protein supplements, it’s also important to put cows on a well-balanced mineral program either incorporated in these feeds or fed in loose form. Like other corn-based feeds, corn stover is low in calcium (0.20 to 0.25 per cent) and phosphorus (0.15 to 0.20 per cent) and deficient in many trace elements such as copper, zinc and selenium. It is my personal perference to balance corn stover and independent of added supplements with a loose-fed 2:1 or 18 per cent calcium/nine per cent phosphorus cattle mineral with adequate levels of above trace minerals as well as fortified levels of vitamins A, D and E; fed at 85 to 112 g per head per day. Loose salt can be mixed in with the mineral or fed in blocks.

LOOK AT THE COSTS With a complete grazing program in place for 60 days, the universal question “Is how much money does grazing corn stover save me?” Let us consider a straightforward example: 1. Conventional grass hay and minerals: 4 cents/lb. x 25 lb. hay +

12 cents of 2:1 mineral and salt + 30 cents/head/d yardage = $ 1.42 per head per day. 2. Corn Stover and DDGS and minerals: 1.5 kg of DDGS @ 0.25 + 12 cents of 2:1 mineral and salt + 30 cents/head/d yardage = $ 0.79 per head per day. 3. Savings (1) – (2) = $0.63 or 44 per cent Keep in mind I quickly penciled out the feed cost-savings, given a typical beef cowherd grazing corn stover by determining the cost of conventional feeds it replaces and subtract any purchased feed to supplement any lacking nutrients that the gestating cows may need. Note: I did not include in my calculation, the initial set-up nonfeed costs of possibly providing a new water source, running a solarpowered electric fence throughout the cornfield (control grazing activities) and extra yardage to periodically move this fence. For a more detailed look, beef producers might find it helpful to download the Corn Stalk Grazing Calculator (excel spreadsheet) from the University of Nebraska website (http://beef.unl.edu). † Peter Vitti is an independent livestock nutritionist and consultant based in Winnipeg. To reach him call 204-254-7497 or by email at vitti@mts.net.

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/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

Cattleman’s Corner equipment management

A good winter-ready checklist Time spent preparing vehicles for winter will reduce risk of damage and save time come spring BY MICHAEL THOMAS

t’s that time again. The days are growing shorter, black clouds loom overhead, snow is in the air, the mornings are brisk, and harvest is done — but is your farm equipment ready for winter? A good pre-winter checkup will help prevent downtime regardless of whether it is a piece of equipment or truck that you use every day to provide feed for your cattle or don’t use again until next year to farm and harvest. • Power washing. When preparing motorized equipment and trucks for winter, begin by cleaning old oil and debris from the motor with a steam cleaner, power

washer or a few cans of engine degreaser and a garden hose. Determine whether there are any system leaks. • Change oil. It is a good idea to change the motor oil to prevent particulate sedimentation and remove moisture that has collected over the course of the summer. Over winter, the solids in motor oil fall out of suspension and collect in the bottom of the oil pan. Once on the bottom of the pan this sediment is not easily removed with subsequent oil changes, but can be dislodged under stressful operating conditions later, fouling filters and causing unnecessary wear. • Check coolant level and concentration. Use a coolant concen-

tration tester to make sure that your engine is protected to the coldest temperature you anticipate during the winter. A 50:50 ratio will protect your engine to -36 C, and will also raise the boiling point and protect your engine under extreme hot temperature operation. In addition it is important to drain and replace coolant periodically. Coolant particulates will precipitate over extended periods of non-use and can occur after new coolant has been added to old coolant. And make sure to use a high-quality fleet coolant with an anti-electrolysis additive. In the case of heavy trucks, change the coolant filter. And last, due to most tap water

containing minerals, whenever possible, blend your coolant with distilled water to retard particulate formation and coolant breakdown. When you have completed this process, start the engine and allow it to come to operating temperature to properly circulate coolant through the engine. • Check the engine fan for any wobble in the bearing. In engines where the fan is mounted off the water pump this play will indicate the onset of bearing and seal failure. Before leaving the coolant system check all the drive belts for the fan, alternator, etc. for damage and wear. This is a good time to get a jump on next season and replace these items. • Clean or replace air filters.

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Over the winter, moister can collect in the solids within the air filter causing the dirt to solidify. Once the dirt has caked it is very difficult to effectively clean the air filter in the spring without damaging the filter. • Check batteries. If the battery cells are not sealed, make sure the fluid levels are correct and refill with distilled water as needed. Remove any corrosion between the cable ends and the terminals. Use a terminal brush and a good terminal cleaner to neutralize and remove the corrosion. If you do not have a can of terminal cleaner, you can mix a quart of warm water with a couple teaspoons of baking soda to neutralize the acid buildup on the battery and terminals. After wiping the terminals and the cable ends and allowing to dry, apply a couple coats of corrosion sealant to the terminals and cable ends. To reduce the risk of batteries going dead over winter, leave the battery cables disconnected until the first time you need the truck or equipment. • Check air brakes. In the case of trucks and trailers with air brakes check for air leaks and fix them. Drain air storage tanks to remove any moisture. If the truck has an air dryer system, change the element to prevent problems later. • Check hydraulics. While changing the hydraulic filters pay attention to the appearance of the fluid. If the fluid is cloudy or milky, this indicates the presence of moisture. Water in the system will dramatically shorten the life of pumps and seals, leading to costly repairs. • A good cleaning. After servicing the engine and hydraulic system, use water or air to clean crop waste/chaff, dirt, and oil/grease from the body and frame. • Get the grease gun. Fully grease all fittings. This will push any water or dirt out of the component and fill the void so moisture cannot enter over winter. Before moving on, be sure to check the fluid level in all gearboxes. If the fluids are low, check for leaking seals and refill to the proper levels. • Top up fuel. In areas of high humidity it is a good idea to fill the fuel tanks to capacity to prevent excess condensation. Unless absolutely sure you won’t need to start a truck or piece of equipment with a diesel engine until the temperatures rise in the spring, treat the fuel in the tank with a good diesel fuel water dispersion additive and run the engine long enough to circulate the fuel. One last note on the issue of condensation: if, at some point during the winter, you need to use a trailer with air brakes that has sat idle in the yard, pour a bottle of airline dryer in the air supply and service lines before you hook them to the tractor. • Check the air pressure in the tires to make sure they are properly inflated. Periods of extended under-inflation can damage tires, and in the least, cause added labour in the spring when you find the tire flat. † Michael Thomas operates Thomas Ranch along with family near Salmon, Idaho. Contact him at: Thomasranch@centurytel.net.

DECEMBER 1, 2015 grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner Rancher’s Diary

Heading into winter with venison in the freezer heather smith thomas

OCTOBER 25

e’ve had rain and cold weather. Last Tu e s d a y A n d r e a took Sam for her doctor’s appointment and an MRI to check her ankle. It showed the fracture in the growth plate has healed, but there is still a problem with a bone in her foot, and her heel. The doctor said she needs to be on crutches again for six to eight weeks. All the kids bought deer tags. We have a lot of deer on our creek, especially whitetail (about 30 to 40 in our fields all summer, and eating our haystacks in winter) so it’s time to harvest a few. Our freezers are empty. Michael got a deer and Andrea started cutting it up (she’s the best butcher in the family) and then Thursday evening after school Charlie shot a deer. Friday Dani rode with me to the 320 to check cows, since we hadn’t made it up there for several days. A dozen were in the bottom corner; the cold weather had them thinking it might be time to come home. We moved them back up to the top. While moving those cows, we looked across the canyon and saw a cow standing next to the range fence. It seemed strange she’d be off by herself, especially on that hillside that’s been grazed off. After we checked the top ridge gate, we went to check on her. By that time we’d seen all the other cows, and realized that it was Buffalo Baby (a daughter of Buffalo Girl) over there by herself. We could no longer see her, but rode across the canyon and up that hill, and found her lying down in tall sagebrush. When we made her stand up, we saw she’d lost weight and was very lame, with a swollen hind foot — a bad case of foot rot. Dani and I slowly brought her down off the steep mountain. She probably hadn’t gone to water for a couple days, nor grazed. When we got her down to Baker Creek she drank and drank. Then we slowly moved her up over the ridge. It took a while to bring her 1.5 miles down to the corral on our upper place. We then trotted down to Michael and Carolyn’s house and told Carolyn we’d put Buffalo Baby in the corral and needed to hurry home: it was time for Andrea to take Dani and the other kids to Mark for his weekend. Carolyn and Nick doctored the cow for us.

NOVEMBER 1 Last Sunday Emily rode with me to the 320 to check the cows. She rode Sprout. Andrea spent the day grinding hamburger (altogether she’s had eight animals to process this fall), and sent 70 pounds of meat home with Carolyn. I cooked supper

and we fed everyone after Andrea and Robbie went to town to get the kids from Mark. We shut off water to our ditches so they won’t make ice flows across the fields. By Friday Andrea got caught up enough with the meat processing to ride with me and we checked the cows again on the 320. Yesterday we had more rain, but Lynn was able to bring a couple big alfalfa bales for Rubbie and Veggie from the haystack before it started raining, and we got a tarp over them. Those two old horses have bad teeth and can’t eat grass hay unless it is very fine, so I’ve been feeding them some leafy alfalfa. Last night it warmed up and

rained part of the night, with a strong wind. Andrea stayed up late and finished boning out Emily’s deer to put the meat on ice (for later grinding); it was too warm for it to continue hanging by the shed. Friday Dani rode with Andrea and me to check the water trough and cows on the 320. Andrea cleaned debris out of the overflow pipe, but it was working fairly well. The cows were happily grazing on the mountainsides. Whitetail deer were getting into our haystacks every night. Robbie put plastic “deer wrap” around one of the stacks on Friday, and yesterday Andrea and Lynn helped him wrap the other stack.

Emily has surgery early this morning in Idaho Falls to remove her wisdom teeth. She and Andrea drove over last night and stayed in a motel. We hope her surgery goes well; her wisdom teeth are adversely affecting the jawbones. The proofs for my next book, Ranch Tales — Stories of Cats, Dog and Other Crazy Critters, arrived last week for me to check over. The editor sent a choice of two cover photos (Andrea at age five, holding her brother’s cat, and the other choice is a photo of Dani petting three calves). This book will be available in time for Christmas gifts. † Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband Lynn near Salmon, Idaho. Contact her at 208-756-2841.

photo: heather smith thomas

First snow hasn’t stopped the cows from grazing

Emily with a deer she shot. It is one of several that will be on the Thomas dinner menu this winter.

/ grainews.ca DECEMBER 1, 2015

The Dairy Corner

Hutch-reared calves need good diet and TLC Keeping them dry, out of drafts and well fed leads to a healthier calf BY PETER VITTI

ach year, I literarily see hundreds of preweaned dairy calves overwintered in outdoor calf hutches. Most perform well, but there are also more “poor doers” than I care to see. I find that each poor calf tells a similar story. Some of the mediocre calves are shivering, others are skinny, a few calves are coughing (with nasal discharge), while others are scouring. These are familiar signs of cold stress, which lead to a high degree of morbidity (sickness) and mortality in calves. I recommend dairy producers take a brisk walk along a row or group of their hutches looking for ways to prevent or reduce any signs of cold stress in calves with a good winter action plan. From a practical standpoint, cold stress in dairy calves arises when either dietary energy intake is inadequate or body heat loss is significant or both occurs. When this happens preweaned dairy calves tend to divert precious feed energy meant for good growth and strong immunity to just keeping warm.

SHIVERING ONLY GETS WORSE Under moderate cold conditions, we might see dairy calves (as I first mentioned), simply shivering. When it gets just a few degrees colder, there is an almost invisible breakdown of limited fat reserves in a short period. As temperatures and wind chills become more extreme, calves seem to “give up” and become despondent as their natural thin

layer of body fat disappears. These preweaned calves are often found dead as “starve-outs.” Environmental research studying cold stress (and explains starve-outs) in dairy calves has demonstrated for every drop of the thermometer by 1 F below 50 F (10 C), a calf requires one per cent more energy (excluding other environmental factors such as wind chill and wet weather). Back on the dairy farm, it means that dairy calves overwintered in outside hutches on a brisk winter day of -15 F (-25 C) require at least 65 per cent more dietary energy compared to their counterparts raised in a heated calf barn.

SIMPLE STEPS To cover this extra dietary energy, there are many simple things producers can do to implement a good winter action plan, so winter nutritional status of preweaned dairy calves is achieved: • Adjust hutch placement. A row of hutches should be positioned so it’s not in the direct path of cold northwest winds, such as near a row of trees, fence or other suitable windbreaks. Individual hutches should also be positioned so cold drafts and snow are prevented from circulating around or even inside each hutch, and a few hours in direct sunlight does not hurt, either. • Elevate dietary energy intake. Feed whole milk or high-fat (20 to 25 per cent) all-milk milk replacer. Increase the amount of milk or milk replacer fed by two per cent for every 1 C degree, the temperature drops below 10 C

(re: one per cent for every 1 F degree below 50 F). This advice means that if five litres of whole milk or milk replacer are routinely fed to each calf and the temperature drops from 10 C to 0 C (re: five litres x two per cent x 10 degrees drop = +1.0 litre), then a total of six litres of milk or milk replacer should be put in front of each calf. I would implement a third feeding, if this amount is too much for baby calves to consume. • Maintain a good calf starter program. Calf starter should also be introduced to outside dairy calves just as those calves fed at any other time of the year. Two-week old calves won’t eat a significant amount of calf starter, but they will nibble on it. When they become five to six weeks old, one calf should consume to a kilo of calf starter per day and then can be weaned. In the winter, a dairy friend cleans out the old calf starter every morning and replenishes hutches from calf starter stored in the breezeway of his barn. He feels that feeding frozen calf starter is like feeding ice pellets to his calves. • Keep calves clean. It might be hard to clean dirty hutches in winter. However, replacing wet, soiled bedding with a good layer of fluffy straw effectively insulates calves from the cold. It also acts as a moisture barrier to keep them dry. One winter guideline for bedding suggests enough clean straw should be provided, so one cannot see the animals’ feet when they stand up. I would also wash the buckets in which milk replacer and calf starter are fed in the barn.

• Provide more TLC. From the start, people who use blankets on their calves in the hutches seem to have better winter-adjusted calves. I have also seen people that check on the condition of their calves in hutches more frequently, seem to catch the ones that are struggling (re: gaunt, have runny noses or loose manure) and treat them faster for a more effective recovery. It has been my experience that these five practical recommendations lead to betterquality dairy calves raised in hutches over the winter. To me, it’s a tale of two dairy farms that I presently visit on occasion. The first dairy farm lays a row of dairy hutches, just outside of the milking barn in the path of a direct arctic airflow with little bedding provided in the hutches. These calves are fed twice a day, a medium-fat milk replacer and calf starter buckets are filled every third day. The second dairy farm has a good winter action plan: a row of calf hutches are placed away from any buildings near a long portable windbreak. Their calves are always nicely bedded with lots of clean straw. They are fed a high-fat milk replacer, three times a day and a high-quality calf starter, which is freshly provided every day. Compared to the first dairy farm, the second dairy barn is well-known for producing healthy and frisky calves all year round. † Peter Vitti is an independent livestock nutritionist and consultant based in Winnipeg. To reach him call 204-2547497 or by email at vitti@mts.net.

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