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THERE’S NO REASON TO BE SPOOKED

IT’S GO, GO, GO FOR ALBERTA COUPLE

Expert says bats don’t deserve their bad rap, and are actually helping us out » PG 2

Canada’s newest Outstanding Young Farmers have no time to rest on their laurels » PG 38

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Wolves filling up on cattle in southwestern Alberta Cattle are the No. 1 prey of wolves where ranches and the predator’s territory overlap By Alexis Kienlen AF STAFF

f you ranch in southwestern Alberta, it might seem that the big, bad wolf is out to get you. Unfortunately, you’re right. A University of Alberta study that tracked wolves — and what they eat — found cattle made up 45 per cent of the predator’s diet during the grazing season. The study tracked wolf predation patterns in southwestern Alberta — from the Pincher Creek area north of Waterton Lakes National Park to the edge of Kananaskis Country — where ranches and the territory of the carnivores overlap. “Wolves are the real culprits and have been the biggest problem as it relates to beef producers,” said Mark Boyce, a wildlife ecologist and professor of biological sciences. “When we began our project, ranchers said they believed they were losing some stock to wolves, but through cluster methods, we were able to identify where the livestock went missing and what was taking it.” Boyce and his research team tracked wolves and their diets

see WOLVES } page 8

Big Blow-Up:

Workplace legislation has farmers up in arms

Skimpy consultation and lack of answers upsets Alberta farmers, even those who say the status quo wasn’t acceptable By JENNIFER BLAIR AF staff / Red Deer

he NDP government said it just wanted to make farms more safe, but instead ignited a firestorm. But faced with massive outrage and demonstrations from farmers and ranchers to Bill 6, the government backtracked and apologized for what it called “miscommunication.” “Myself, MLAs, ministers, and our premier have all heard from farmers and ranchers who are concerned this bill could hurt their way of life,” Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier told producers in Red Deer last week. “I take these concerns seriously because that was never the intent of this bill… We’re sorry. We should have provided the details on how we plan to protect farm and ranch families when we first introduced this bill.” Carlier then promised that Occupational Health and Safety regulations would only apply to paid employees on farms — not families or friends and neighbours who help out. Rules affecting hours of work and other employment standards won’t take effect until spring 2017 and only after extensive consultations. “We need to get the regulations right and work with you to do that,” said Carlier. “The farm life that everyone in this room holds dear will go on without government intervention.” The specific amendments were not released as Alberta Farmer was going to press, but Carlier said the rules would be “common sense” and practical. He also said

LEGISLATION } page 6

About 200 people gathered at the legislature on Nov. 27 to voice their displeasure with Bill 6. A second demonstration three days later drew 1,000 people and prompted the NDP government to amend the bill to make it clear that workplace safety regulations would only apply to paid employees, not family or neighbours. PHOTO: ALEXIS KIENLEN

GROWING DEMAND

AND SHEEP PRODUCERS CAN’T KEEP UP } PAGE 14

news » inside this week

inside » A WINNING COMBINATION Blending barley with wheat produces a flour with added health attributes

DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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IT WAS A HECK OF A RIDE IN 2015

BATTLING BILLIONS OF INVADERS

What to do when the bats come home to roost Bats in your belfry? Or rather, your barn or attic? “If you know that you have bats in your house, chances are it’s because there is not a good habitat for them somewhere else,” says conservation technician Lisa Card. “Most species would rather not be there, but their habitat has been altered and for whatever reason, they can’t find suitable roosting habitat.” Most people realize they have a bat problem when they hear them inside their house. There’s usually more than one, and likely a maternal bat colony. Bats have their pups between late May and August, and although big brown bats will hibernate in buildings, most species will vacate the premises in late August. It’s best to leave them alone during the summer. “This is not a good time to do bat exclusion because you will lock in the babies, and they will die and stink up your house,” said Card. Not all bats will leave the house every night either. The best time to do bat exclusion is in late fall, before it snows. “If you have bats in your home in the summer, use the summer as an experiment to see where they come in and out. They will usually have more than one exit or entry into the house. Watch and see where you will need to block it in the fall.” Most bats are very loyal to their maternal colonies and will make every effort to return to the same roost. They can squeeze into spaces that are smaller than the diameter of a pencil. “If they think your place is great, they will make every effort to come back to your place, so you need to be very thorough in blocking every single hole that a bat can get into,” she said.

The futures markets don’t tell you anything

Brenda Schoepp Why we need to get to know our soils better

FINALLY GETTING SOME RESPECT Forages are getting more support, says the Alberta head of national forage association

John Morriss

But the expanding U.S. herd means cattle producers will need sharp pencils

Clubroot infestation levels in Alberta are 100 times worse than other provinces

Albert Kuipers

You simply can’t beat the returns from feed testing

Misunderstood bats don’t deserve their bad rap Expert says bats aren’t a rabies threat but gobble up a lot of mosquitoes and pests like wheat midge By Alexis Kienlen AF STAFF

ats are associated with scary things like vampires and rabies, but it’s time to give the critters a break. “For some reason, bats have a negative image around them,” said Lisa Card, a conservation technician with Highway 2 Conservation, which serves Sturgeon, Athabasca, Barrhead, and Westlock counties. “It might be because they are nocturnal and we don’t know too much about them. Rabies may have been a problem in the past, but they’re really a beneficial species and there’s nothing to be scared of. “Their lives are worth something, so we have to find a way to coexist with them and dispel the fear and negativity around them.” That was the message Card delivered at recent bat information workshops in Barrhead and Westlock. Bats are the sole pollinators of about 300 species of tropical plants, and a 2011 American study estimated they save the U.S. agricultural industry $3.7 billion every year in pest control. In Alberta, bats are often hunting while wheat midge are active and one provincial species, the little brown bat, can consume as many as 6,000 mosquitoes in one night when feeding its pups. “If you have a colony of 50 bats, think of how many mosquitoes are taken care of in a night,” said Card. While some believe bats spread rabies, the critters are actually controlling dangerous pests. “The last case of rabies in Alberta was in 2006,” said Card. “Since 2002, we’ve had 680 cases of West Nile virus. Bats are doing a much better job of disease control than they are spreading disease.” Dogs are a more likely carrier of rabies, and rabid bats don’t attack people. In most cases, people who have been bitten by rabid bats were handling sick animals without wearing gloves. “If you see a sick bat, a bat that is acting abnormally or flying around during the day, just leave it alone and don’t touch it,” she said.

Bat houses

There are nine bat species found in Alberta. The most common are the big brown bat and the little

Big brown bats are one of nine bat species in Alberta.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

“They’re really a beneficial species and there’s nothing to be scared of.”

Lisa Card

brown bat. But their populations are declining due to wind turbines, habitat loss, and a disease called white nose syndrome. But agricultural producers can pay an important role in creating habitat for bats. A few years ago, Card studied bat activity in different landscapes in Alberta, and found bat activity was the same in naturally forested and agricultural areas.

“I was quite surprised because I thought that the natural areas would have the largest amount of feeding and calls,” she said, although larger species were found more frequently in naturally forested areas. Dugouts and other open watering sources can be attractive areas to bats, since they need places to drink and feed on the mosquitoes and other insects in the area. Bats

are also attracted to plants such as rosemary, thyme and evening primrose. To create a habitat that is inviting for bats, leave dead snags in trees, because bats like to roost in the holes in them. “If it’s not a safety hazard, just leave it up and think of it as mosquito control,” said Card. Producers can also build bat houses and can find designs on the Internet. Houses should be placed about 15 feet off the ground, south facing, and have a clearance of about 20 feet around them so bats can swoop in and out. Bat houses need to be in a spot that is warm, easy to find and not easily disturbed. Placing houses in trees isn’t the best option because the bats can be threatened by other species like blue jays or squirrels. “The most successful placement is generally on a pole in the middle of the yard,” said Card. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

How farm safety legislation played out in Manitoba like to see the rates come down a bit.” — Kevin Steeves, Rimbey

By JENNIFER BLAIR AF staff

he Alberta government has suggested its farm workplace rules are going to be very similar to other provinces So what does that look like? Perhaps the best example is Manitoba, where in 2009 the NDP government extended workplace, health and safety rules to farms and made workers’ compensation compulsory. Doug Chorney was president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, the province’s main farm group, at the time and was deeply involved as the new regulations and enforcement regime came into effect. He remains a member of the province’s workplace safety advisory council that reports to the labour minister. Most of the questions being asked here were raised in Manitoba and so Alberta Farmer asked Chorney to respond to a few from producers in this province.

Enforcement

“How are they going to come out to the farm and make sure we’re actually living by these rules? How many regulators would you need to run around and make sure every day that safety measures are being followed?” —Jeff Nonay, Legal Manitoba had a “pretty soft enforcement” when the changes came into effect in 2009. “They’ve been very engaged, but they’ve been fairly patient with producers,” said Chorney. “It’s an ongoing process. It’s not something you change in 12 or 24 months. It’s going to take time, and I think for the most part, our government has been pretty understanding of that.” Rather than taking a hardline approach to enforcement, the Manitoba government approached it from “an education standpoint.” “There’s usually insufficient resources to go and visit every farm in the province to ensure compliance,” said Chorney. “They’re going to be far more successful if they take the edu-

Jeff Nonay

Kevin Serfas

Kevin Steeves

The NDP government is promising “common sense” and practical workplace safety regulations and enforcement that recognize that farming is an occupation like no other. Photo: Thinkstock cation approach and help producers get into compliance. “They do understand it’s a learning curve, especially with agriculture.” Generally, inspectors don’t “nitpick” when enforcing regulations, he added. “They’re not trying to look at first aid boxes. They’re looking for high-hazard risks — things like enclosed spaces, ladders that are unguarded, unguarded farm machinery,” said Chorney. “They realize they’re going to save the most amount of producers by identifying and focusing on these high-hazard risks. That’s not to say you can ignore everything else, but that’s the approach they’ve taken in Manitoba.” There are about 150 Occupational Health and Safety inspectors in Alberta.

Work Hours

“My one biggest concern is the hours that guys are going to be able to work and over-

time. It’s hard enough to find people who want to come and work in the ag labour pool. If they all of a sudden start hammering us with overtime and hours of work, I don’t know where we’re supposed to find these people.” — Kevin Serfas, Turin Regulations around overtime are the same for every workplace in his province, said Chorney. But farms get cut some slack, he added. “The government realized that people harvesting crops in the outdoors are subject to a lot of variables beyond the control of the farmer, like weather and challenges getting crops off. In those cases, they were much more accommodating,” said Chorney. “There are still rules, but they don’t enforce the rules quite the same way.” The proposal for Alberta in regards to how long someone can work is “12 hours a day

except during critical times” — but whether harvest or calving would qualify as a “critical time” isn’t known yet. However, Chorney said the rules are more rigorous in high-hazard workplaces, so those types of farms are treated the same as a construction worksite. “There are different rate models for people who work in intensive livestock operations, like people who work in barns that are climate-controlled,” said Chorney. “We actually have different employment standards for things like overtime if you’re working in a climate controlled barn versus working outdoors.”

Cost

“I’m involved in the oilfield, so I have workers’ compensation for the oil side of things. It’s about a third of the cost for double the yearly income. That’s concerning. The rates are kind of out to lunch. I’d

Manitoba producers had “a lot of concern” about rates when WCB coverage became mandatory. “Initially, we had a guarantee from WCB that they would give us a locked-in rate for the first few years,” said Chorney. “It was a pretty competitive rate.” And by and large, the rates have dropped for most producers, with the exception of farms with major incidents, he said. “Our experience with the program so far has been that we’ve been able to improve our safety record and incidents have declined such that rates for many producers have gone down,” said Chorney. Right now, the Manitoba government is also phasing in a rate model change that will change the way farm accidents and fatalities impact rates. “In the past, the rate model that WCB used was very responsive to incidents,” said Chorney. “People who had a fatality or a major incident would quickly see their rates climb dramatically.” Rates in Manitoba, he said, started around $2.40 for every $100 in wages — “a very reasonable rate.” But farms that have had an incident could see their rates rise to $18 for every $100 in wages. “That gets to be a pretty substantive impact on a producer.” For the most part, though, the cost of coverage has been “very manageable,” said Chorney. “We get very little complaint from our members about the cost of WCB. We’re getting a fairly good value for our money with WCB rates in Manitoba.” The rates proposed for Alberta are $1.70 per $100 of wages for greenhouses and market gardens; $1.75/$100 for hog, poultry, goat, and sheep producers; $2.25/$100 for crop farming, and $2.97/$100 for cattle and dairy producers and feedlots. jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

EDITOR Glenn Cheater Phone: 780-919-2320 Email: glenn.cheater@fbcpublishing.com twitter: @glenncheater

Reporters Alexis Kienlen, Edmonton 780-668-3121 Email: akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

Agriculture is responding to climate change

Jennifer Blair, Red Deer 403-613-7573 Email: jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

CIRCULATION manager Heather Anderson Email: heather@fbcpublishing.com

PRODUCTION director

Warmer oceans and retreating glaciers are being felt at the farm level, but farmers are always moving forward

Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com

Director of Sales Cory Bourdeaud’hui Email: cory@fbcpublishing.com

By David MacTaggart

national ADVERTISING SALES Jack Meli Phone: 647-823-2300 Email: jack.meli@fbcpublishing.com

The following presentation won senior division honours in the Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto last month.

Local ADVERTISING sales Rick Dibbon Phone: 403-393-7493 Email: rick.dibben@fbcpublishing.com

rise of 0.8 over 130 years… Why are we paying attention to such a number? Why does it even matter? Because this rise of 0.8 C is affecting the way the world is fed! From the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta to the soybean fields of Argentina, things are changing. Floods are more frequent and droughts more severe. Here in Canada, agriculture is at the forefront of climate change. Higher temperatures are the root cause of increased pest populations in the East and lower water availability in the West. Good afternoon honourable judges, ladies and gentlemen, fellow competitors and guests. Climate change is also about extreme weather. And extreme weather makes the apple trees of Nova Scotia more susceptible to bacterial infection. This was seen in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Arthur in 2014 when winds of up to 110 km/h lashed the Maritimes for several days, leaving thousands of apple trees in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley with broken limbs. This exposed them to foreign invaders such as fire blight, a disease that deteriorates the structure of the trees. According to the Crown corporation Perennia, approximately 90 per cent of all Nova Scotia orchards were affected by the disease in some way after the storm. The only option farmers had to stop the spread

classified ADVERTISING SALES Sharon Komoski Phone: 1-888-413-3325 Fax: 204-944-5562 Email: sharon.komoski@fbcpublishing.com

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editorial director Laura Rance Email: laura@fbcpublishing.com

president Bob Willcox Glacier FarmMedia bwillcox@farmmedia.com 204-944-5751

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was by removing infected limbs or entire trees. Such actions added up to the removal of approximately 10,000 apple trees, while many thousands more were reduced to mere twigs jutting out of the ground. This caused severe financial stress on farmers, losing thousands of newly invested dollars put into high-production trees such as Honeycrisp and SweeTango varieties. The higher frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes like Arthur is directly connected to the global temperature rise of 0.8 C, specifically over the ocean. Rising ocean temperatures cause an increase in the intensity, frequency and duration of storms, which is measured by the PDI index. According to the research data of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the PDI has sharply increased over the last 40 years, with a spike in the past 10 years. So going into the future — as we face temperature changes beyond 0.8 C — farmers in coastal regions can expect to see more storms like Arthur. There’s no way around it. So it is our duty in the industry to adapt practices, such as breeding fire blightresistant apples such as the Enterprise and the Jonafree. This way, the Nova Scotia fruit industry can remain competitive and productive in the future. In my home province of Alberta, we’re facing the consequences of climate change as well. In the southern region, precipitation is already a limiting factor for production. Irrigation is truly a saving grace for farmers, opening new doors to crops like corn and sugar beets that help diversify the agricultural economy. But with rising temperatures, water availability is a primary concern for producers, especially when mountain run-off is occurring earlier and glaciers are

retreating rapidly. This is troubling because these sources supply more than 60 per cent of the water in southern Alberta’s primary irrigation region. In response to these changes, irrigation technology is becoming more efficient in three main ways — reducing seepage in delivery, evaporation in application, and field run-off in absorption. Excellent examples of this are the increased use of pipes in water delivery (compared to open air canals) and application with low-pressure centre pivot systems (which increases efficiency by 130 per cent compared to gravity-fed flood irrigation). Thanks to continued co-operation between the 13 irrigation districts of the province and the Government of Alberta, advancements like these augment field productivity in the face of adverse conditions. So climate change is negatively affecting Canadian agriculture, threatening us with extreme weather, pests, and disappearing water resources. But the people of the agriculture industry are not bowing down to these threats. We are rising to the occasion with scientifically driven innovation such as improvements in the irrigation sector or the development of fire blight-resistant apple varieties in horticulture. Every day we are moving forward. Together we will be ready to face the rise of 0.8 C today and beyond in the future. David MacTaggart, 17, is a Grade 12 student at Notre Dame High School in Red Deer. He lives on an acreage near Lacombe where he runs a small herd of Galloway cattle. He is currently the president of the Lacombe District 4-H Council and is an eight-year member of the Central Lacombe 4-H Beef Club. He hopes to study crop science at the University of Saskatchewan.

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Can you really afford not to feed test?

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You’re rolling the dice if you’re not testing feed, and it’s not hard to rack up a five-figure loss if you guess wrong

www.albertafarmexpress.ca or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com At Farm Business Communications we have a firm commitment to protecting your privacy and security as our customer. Farm Business Communications will only collect personal information if it is required for the proper functioning of our business. As part of our commitment to enhance customer service, we may share this personal information with other strategic business partners. For more information regarding our Customer Information Privacy Policy, write to: Information Protection Officer, Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Ave., Wpg., MB R3H 0H1 Occasionally we make our list of subscribers available to other reputable firms whose products and services might be of interest to you. If you would prefer not to receive such offers, please contact us at the address in the preceding paragraph, or call 1-800-665-0502. The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Alberta Farmer Express and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists and Alberta Farmer Express and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Alberta Farmer Express 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.

By Albert Kuipers Manager, Grey Wooded Forage Association

often hear farmers and ranchers say feed testing is expensive and I know lots of you guys don’t feed test. But feed testing and using that information to balance livestock rations is a whole lot cheaper than over- or underfeeding them. Let’s say you’re feeding your critters some pretty good-looking hay. You’re making sure they always have lots in front of them because, for sure, you don’t want to underfeed them. For example, let’s say that hay has a value of $200 per ton if you sell it, and its nutritional value is about 25 per cent higher than your 1,500pound dry, pregnant cows need. That means they could be getting fed 25 per cent more than they actually need. At two per cent of body weight, each of your cows would be eating about 30 pounds of hay per day on a dry matter basis, or about 33 pounds per day as fed.

That works out to about $3.30 per cow per day. With 100 cows and a feeding period of 180 days, the total cost is $59,400. But feeding your cows 25 per cent more hay than they need means you’re spending $2.48 per cow per day more than necessary — or $14,850 over the 180-day feeding period. Now, this is a very simple example to show you how this works. It does not factor in additional feed for cold weather, or the costs of a mineral program. The main point is that there are a lot of dollars to be saved by feed testing and ration balancing, especially in a year when feed prices are high. The cost of feed testing won’t come anywhere close to what overfeeding can cost you. Now let’s take a look at underfeeding. Let’s say the feed value of your hay is 25 per cent worse than you think it is and you’re feeding about two per cent of your cows’ body weight, or about 33 pounds/cow/day. You’re going to be shorting your cows 25 per cent of the nutrition they need

“The main point is that there are a lot of dollars to be saved by feed testing and ration balancing, especially in a year when feed prices are high.”

(and more when the weather is cold). This could result in your cows losing a body condition score, or more over the winter. Those cows would really suffer in cold weather and would actually require considerably more nutrition for maintenance and to gain weight to be at a healthy body condition score by calving time. Cows receiving 25 per cent less nutrition than they require will deliver calves that are small, weak, and have poor immunity to scours

and pneumonia, which are just waiting to take advantage of them in those first few days or even months of their lives. I’ve seen calf mortality rates of more than 20 per cent when cows are nutritionally underfed. On the other hand, cows receiving well-balanced rations usually have healthy, decent-size calves with good immunity starting from high-quality colostrum. Calf mortality in this case can be three per cent or lower. For 100 cows, losing 20 per cent of the calves versus losing three per cent of the calves is 17 calves. That’s a loss of $25,500 for the underfed cows versus the cows receiving a well-balanced ration. There’s no way that your feed testing costs would be that high. So, basically, we’re talking about a couple hundred dollars, or less to save $14,850 by reducing overfeeding and $25,500 by feeding a wellbalanced ration to your cows. That sounds to me like a solid management choice compared to what could happen if you don’t know your feed values and don’t properly balance rations.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

Don’t be fooled by market myths Public and private research should complement each other, and both farmers’ and end-users’ needs are paramount established a system that would allow them to trade contracts that would fix the price for delivery at an agreed date in future. Therefore, the futures market tells you today’s price for delivery in the future, not the future price. Maybe it’s nitpicking over terminology, but the misconception about futures has also led to the notion that farmers can “hedge.” A grain company can hedge because it makes two transactions — it buys from the farmer and sells the futures, and then sells to the customer and buys back the futures. That’s a hedge — offsetting and alternating “short” and “long” positions. Farmers only make one transaction — a sale. Therefore a farmer is always long. He or she can use a future, or a futures-related contract with a grain company, to lock in a price. That may be a sensible move, but it’s not a hedge — it’s speculating that you’re better off selling today rather than waiting.

BY JOHN MORRISS ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

“

isten to what the futures market is telling you.” It’s one of those phrases for which you’d like to have a dollar for every time you’ve heard it. It ranks slightly below the frequency for which you’ve heard a grain market adviser tell you not to wait for the highest price. That may be good advice, but listening to what the futures market tells you is not, because it tells you nothing. Or at least, nothing about the future. In fact, the reason futures markets were invented is precisely because it’s impossible to predict the future. Nineteenth-century grain traders found that they could buy grain in the country at a certain price, but by the time they delivered it to a customer at a mill or port, the price had often changed, meaning they could either make a profit or a loss. Not wanting to take such a risk, they

Supply and demand?

Another standard line about

futures markets is that they reflect supply and demand. If that were true, every time a sale was made, that would mean there was slightly less grain available, and the price would go up. But if you follow market reports, you’ll often see the market go down because business was done — somewhere else other than the U.S., that is. The problem is that the futures markets used by grain and oilseed traders are still in the U.S., even though that the largest exporters are now in other countries. So if there’s a tender and the business goes to the Black Sea or South America, the market often goes down because the U.S. didn’t get it. Large buyers have been known to take advantage of this effect, taking a short futures position and then disclosing a large nonU.S. purchase, which allows them to take a profit after the market drops on the news. This power of large buyers in the futures markets is becoming especially unsettling in recent years. In earlier days, grain companies,

exporters, importers and processors were all separate companies with separate futures positions. All the trading was done in the pits by men with loud voices and loud jackets, making for an environment where information flowed and leaked pretty freely. Today, single companies can own the whole elevator/terminal/exporter/processor chain. That means information is more tightly held by big players, and it makes for much less liquidity than in the past. That’s especially true for smaller futures markets such as canola, where there are also fewer “locals” trading for their own account. In former times, reporters could drop by the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange and “talk to the guys on the floor.” No longer. Computer-based trading has meant less rather than more information flowing to producers. There may soon be even more concern about concentration of power in the futures market, especially now that all or part of Viterra may be up for sale due to troubles

at parent company Glencore. COFCO, which is China’s government-controlled import agency, has recently spent $2.8 billion to purchase two agribusiness and trading companies. It has indicated that it’s interested in more, and plans a public offering to raise funds so that it can be a trader in the same league as the current “ABCD” companies that dominate world grain trade — ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Dreyfus. Imagine the power the world’s largest importer also being one of the world’s largest exporters at the same time. In the stock market, regulators would be all over this. In the futures market you hear nothing. The Canadian Wheat Board, founded in 1935 was often accused of being a relic of the past. The Chicago Board of Trade was founded in 1848. So perhaps we should listen to what the futures market is telling us — it may not be working in the interests of all participants, especially farmers. It’s time for a review.

We need to dig deep and better understand our soils Healthy soil is our greatest asset, and farm practices focused on just the short term undermine our competitive advantage By BRENDA SCHOEPP AF columnist

believe that at some point in history, we will fully appreciate and understand that healthy soil is our greatest competitive advantage and the most valuable asset on Earth. As agriculture is the foundation of all civilization, we cannot ignore the evolution of food production. We have gone from gathering food to industrialized agriculture and now are looking down at the property of soil in our future. To fully appreciate the role soil plays in our lives, we must prepare to unearth her secrets and shift our lofty perspective. Most folks, including farmers, look at the top of the ground or the top of the topsoil and amend it according to their needs. And although our environmental footprint in agriculture is very low compared to other industries, we continue to just maintain or deplete soil rather than feed it. To fully appreciate the property of soil, we must dig below the surface. Plant matter, the stuff we see, covers the soil thus keep-

ing it cool. This trash becomes humus which is where carbon converted into CO2 and with sunlight is synthesized as sugar in the plants. This feeds the plants and wards off pests. As the plant matures, the sugars go back down into the soil, feeding the microbes, and the biological process is repeated. It has been said there are more micro-organisms in a spoon of healthy soil than there are human beings on Earth. These micro-organisms feed on organic matter, producing nutrients which are taken up by the plant. When there is an imbalance, such as a shortage of CO2, the soil is bound, so to speak, and can’t take on extra responsibility. For example, if CO2 is not present in abundance, then nitrogen cannot be metabolized. Adding extra N does not build soil — it is the CO2 that is needed by the plant to metabolize the nutrients, convert to sugar and feed it. The plant will draw that from both the soil and from the air where it is sequestered through the leaves. Nutrient deposit is visible when you look at soil in a cross-section. The entry point

of an earthworm will be darker, regardless of the depth, as this is an indication of nutrients. The root of a brassica, such as radish, will be long and strong when the plant has a balanced nutritional profile based on CO2. The question is: In times of extreme growth, will the plant have enough CO2 to meet its nutritional needs as the metabolism of all other nutrients is dependent on this? It is argued that as we clear land and fail to leave material for humus, we can deplete the soil to the point where amending the surface will no longer be viable. The practices of no-till seeding and rotational grazing are used by farmers to ensure there is always enough humus decaying to produce CO2. Most of our annual plants are progeny of perennial plants that had time on their side to guard the humus, grow the roots, and remain in production for long periods of time. Plant breeding has asked these same species to perform the equivalency in a short period of time as annuals without the advantage of allowing the soil to work through the process and “store” the carbon needed. The result is a marathon of actions to entice

the soil to perform without understanding the cycle of life beneath the surface. The primary requirement of all plants is CO2 because without it no sugars are formed. There is not enough CO2 in the air to support intensive food production, so it needs to also be pulled up from the soil. Trees and grasslands are fabulous sequesters because they have a relatively uninterrupted life cycle, farmed crops and heavily grazed lands need extra support. The whole respiration process can be viewed in a human analogy. When you have asthma there is a shortage of vital oxygen which feeds the body and the brain. It is important to safeguard against respiratory distress. Plants and soil respire, and we must safeguard against respiratory distress by ensuring that carbon is both captured and created. Experts put the visual of good soil into perspective saying it should look like black cottage cheese. They also remind us to work with the adaptability of soil in our management practices. A good example is the use of herbicides. The treatment of the same weed in the same

field at the same time can only result in resistance — which is a natural response. Rotation and the inclusion of competitor plants is a cost-effective and healthy alternative. (To learn much more about soil health, attend the Western Canada Conference on Soil Health in Edmonton early December www.albertasoilhealth.ca/ conference.) As we look ahead in agriculture and the challenge of feeding so many, we may want to unearth the beauty of soil — and consider that nutrient density is our destination and will never be an accidental outcome. For me, the driving reason to understand soil is to understand ourselves and our relationship between healthy soil, healthy plants and healthy bodies. This is soil’s greatest secret and she has held it deep in her heart, waiting for us to rediscover the foundation of all life. Brenda Schoepp is a farmer from Alberta who works as an international mentor and motivational speaker. She can be contacted through her website www.brendaschoepp.com. All rights reserved. Brenda Schoepp 2015

Off the front

december 7, 2015 • Albertafarmexpress.ca

LEGISLATION } from page 1 workers’ compensation coverage would only be mandatory for paid employees and would be implemented in the spring (instead of Jan. 1). Employees will be given the right to unionize, but Carlier said the province has no choice in the matter because of a recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling that gives all workers that right. “But when the law comes into effect, your employees will not automatically become union members,” said Carlier. “In fact, in other provinces with this legislation already in place, the rate of unionization is extremely low.” Those assurances won Carlier a brief round of applause at the Red Deer meeting, but the anger stirred up by Bill 6 (the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act) may take a long time to subside.

Anger ignited

The Red Deer meeting was second in a series of consultations — initially set at five, then nine, and now apparently extended throughout the winter. The first, in Grande Prairie, was the match that lit the fuse of farmer indignation across the province. “The meeting was not what people were expecting — either on the government side or on the farmer side,” said Greg Sears, a Sexsmith producer who attended the Grande Prairie meeting on Nov. 26. Farmers were looking for answers to specific questions while government officials were “looking for input,” he said. Facilitators had planned to have people circulate through information stations to have their questions answered, but that idea was shot down quickly by the packed room of angry producers. “It wasn’t a very comfortable place to be for the first hour,” said Sears. “People do not feel that there’s been appropriate consultation for a very emotionally charged issue for most of the

Athena Dyck from Winfield brought her pet turkey Buddy to the first demonstration at the Alberta legislature. While some miniature horses were quickly removed from the legislature grounds, Buddy was allowed to stay and spent most of the rally walking among the crowd. PHOTOs: ALEXIS KIENLEN agricultural community, whether you support the legislation or not. “It’s a very emotional, very personal thing for people.” Producers were also furious that the original bill had already passed first reading before the first consultation took place. “It’s happened so quickly, and when anything like this happens quickly, you start to wonder what the problem is and why the sense of urgency is so high so fast,” said Lee Markert, a farmer from Vulcan and chair of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission. Alberta Canola and a few other farm groups met with government officials in the summer and again in October, and along with Alberta Wheat met with Alberta Jobs, Skills, Training, and Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson. “At that meeting, we basically just expressed how we are in fact in favour of safer farms, but also that we’re large proponents of the education aspect of it,” said Markert.

“We feel that there’s a road to safer farms and better farm safety awareness through extension and education of producers. We cautioned the government on regulating for the sake of regulating and that perhaps there was a more streamlined approach to dealing with farm safety as a whole.” Instead the government opted to quickly push ahead with legislation, introducing a “vague” bill that “doesn’t really tell us anything,” he said. Kevin Steeves was one of thousands of producers trying to make sense of how the legislation would affect farmers — and why the government initially seemed intent on rushing it through. “There’s still so many unanswered questions,” said Steeves, who runs a mixed farm with his family near Rimbey. “Producers will do whatever it takes to be safe, but they want to be consulted. And they want to make sure that it’s actually going to work.”

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Peri Phillips,(12), a young cattle producer from Waskatenau and Kaycee Scobey, (13), a young cattle producer and horse enthusiast from Newbrook, attended the rally against Bill 6. ‘Status quo isn’t acceptable’

Despite the outcry over the lack of consultation, farmers like Kevin Serfas think the legislation is “a long time coming.” “Let’s be honest — some of this stuff should be legislated,” said Serfas, who runs a large mixed operation near Turin. “We’re not in the 1950s anymore. These workers need to be protected somehow.” About five years ago, the Serfas family had a farm accident that “opened (their) eyes about farm safety.” “My brother’s leg got crushed by a motor, and from that time forward, we’ve carried private benefits, and all of our workers are covered under workers’ compensation,” said Serfas. Beiseker-area farmer Patrick Kunz — who doesn’t have employees — agrees there’s a need for workers’ compensation coverage, but he doesn’t know how Occupational Health and Safety regulations are going to fit. “Farming does need some changes, obviously,” he said. “It’s a different industry, but that doesn’t excuse it.” The Alberta Federation of Agriculture supports workers’ compensation coverage as a “good risk management tool,” while Alberta Canola is in favour of some workplace safety regulations, such as the ability to investigate on-farm fatalities. Alberta Beef Producers said it “accepts” having Occupational Health and Safety inspectors investigate fatalities and serious injuries on farms. It also supports insurance coverage for employees — but said employers “should have the option of selecting the most appropriate insurance for their employees.” The legislation does have some good in it, said farmer Jeff Nonay, who runs a mixed dairy, grain, and potato farm near Legal. “There’s a legitimate reason for the government to want to do these things,” said Nonay, who has eight to 10 employees. “We need to recognize that the status quo isn’t acceptable, but feeling like we’re being dictated to by a government that was elected outside of the rural areas makes it really uncomfortable.” Alberta is the only province that doesn’t have these rules, he said, adding that “sometimes (the industry) can’t see the forest for the trees.” “Maybe we need to look at what they’re telling us about what looks unsafe from an outside perspective,” said Nonay. “That’s where it

“It’s a very emotional, very personal thing for people.” Greg Sears

would be nice to have some outside consultation. That doesn’t seem to have happened.”

Focus on regulations

Consultation is critical, said Doug Chorney, former president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, Manitoba’s main farm group. “Often, the people who are going to be responsible for enforcing these regulations haven’t got the farm experience or background,” said Chorney, who grows grains and vegetables. “Helping them develop regulations that are manageable and, in fact, practical is critical.” “In Manitoba, we had the benefit of that. I would encourage Alberta producers to become engaged in that discussion as well.” Manitoba amended its Workplace Health and Safety Act and made WCB mandatory in 2009. “We had the government regulators at the table asking us the questions they felt they needed answers to, and I think that was a critical part of our process,” said Chorney. “Alberta could benefit from looking at that process and listening to farmers before getting down to the final regulations… There’s no sense in bringing in regulations that are unenforceable or that will never work for the industry.” The focus should be on the regulations, said Sears. “We know this is a special situation. We live where we work. We need to address all those concerns about lifestyle and family in the technical regulations,” he said. “That’s where we need participation from producers, who need to step up and do it in a respectful manner.” jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

Albertafarmexpress.ca • december 7, 2015

Farm groups reject anti-GM crop report claims The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network questions whether yield gains are due to GM technology BY ALEX BINKLEY

AF contributor / OTTAWA

report that claims genetically modified crops are no more productive than conventional ones doesn’t match the reality of what Canadian farmers find in their fields every year, farm leaders say. The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, which opposes GM crops, says in a report that yields of GM and conventional crop varieties “have increased at a similar rate in Canada, and there are no clear patterns to show that GM crop yields have increased more than those of non-GM crops.” Not so, said Don McCabe, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. “I get five times the yield with GM corn on the same land,” McCabe said at a recent symposium on food security and climate change.

The network’s claim GM seeds have greatly inflated farm expenses was also dismissed. Farmers wouldn’t spend “hundreds of millions of dollars to buy higher priced seed which has no benefit,” said agriculture commentator Terry Daynard. “Premiums in the vicinity of $100 an acre are needed to entice Ontario farmers to grow non-GM soys,” he said. Numerous studies show that GM crops combined with good farming practices produce higher yields per hectare, he said. It’s generally estimated that 97 per cent of canola grown in Canada is GM along with 80 per cent of corn and 60 to 80 per cent of soybeans. Higher yields are only one attraction of GM seeds, said Brian Innes, vice-president of government relations for the Canola Council of Canada. Other benefits include reduced field work, soil erosion, and fuel emissions, all of which are environmental pluses.

A new report from an anti-biotech group says genetically modified crops don’t deliver benefits to producers, but farmers say otherwise. PHOTO: THINKSTOCK “There’s a dramatic improvement in weed control costs,” he said. “Our research shows an overall financial benefit from growing GM. The returns are higher than from conventional seeds by a significant amount.” The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network report also raised the issue of growing weed resis-

tance to certain pesticides. These weeds “are creating new costs and complications for farmers. The biotechnology industry’s solution to this problem is to sell new GM crops that are tolerant to different herbicides, an approach that will further drive up herbicide use and speed up the spread of herbicideresistant weeds,” its report said.

Herbicide resistance has been a problem since pesticides were first introduced, said Innes. But crop rotation and using different products can go a long way to prevent the spread of herbicide resistance, he added. “It comes down to the way farmers manage their land year after year.”

Ritz, Warkentin take new posts in Conservative caucus ALEX BINKLEY AF contributor

fter eight years as agriculture minister, Gerry Ritz has become the opposition critic on international trade. Alberta’s Chris Warkentin (Grand Prairie-Mackenzie) is the new ag critic while former transport minister Lisa Raitt has moved on to the post of finance critic. Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose announced a sweeping shuffle of the responsibilities of the Conservative MPs that seems to have left no one in the role they had before the party’s ouster from office in the Oct. 19 election. Bev Shipley, chairman of the Commons agriculture committee, will be the rural affairs critic, and the deputy ag critic is Quebec MP Jacques Gourde. The NDP has selected Quebec MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau as its agriculture critic. Linda Duncan from Edmonton will be the transport critic.

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december 7, 2015 • Albertafarmexpress.ca

WOLVES } from page 1 over several years using GPS tracking. When packs were clustered in an area for several hours, field researchers would go to the site afterwards to see what the wolves had been feeding on and to collect scat for analysis. The 45 per cent figure applies to cattle killed by wolves and does not include anything from boneyards (which was classed as scavenging). Deer, elk, and small prey animals (such as bobcat or beaver) ranked behind cattle as prey during the grazing season. During the non-grazing season, cattle slip to the third most important prey after deer and elk, Boyce said during a recent Beef Cattle Research Centre webinar. The study also found other large carnivores are not as much of a problem as wolves in southwestern Alberta. Cougars like llamas, but will rarely kill beef cattle. Grizzly bears will occasionally kill cattle, but favour boneyards, which they regularly visit. Boneyards are permitted in Alberta as long as no one complains and they became more prevalent after BSE hit the province in 2003. But experts say they have numerous drawbacks compared to composting deadstock

While wolves prey on large ungulates, in southwestern Alberta, their diets also include a large amount of cattle. PHOTO: COURTESY MARK BOYCE (see story on page 9) and that includes attracting predators. “They are a bad idea because it brings large carnivores in proximity to ranching operations,” Boyce said in a followup email interview. “We do not know if developing a taste for cattle makes wolves more likely to kill cattle, but it

seems like a reasonable hypothesis.” The current wolf population in Alberta is between 6,000 and 7,000 animals. The provincial government has conducted a controversial wolf cull program in the northwestern part of the province, something critics — including Boyce — say

is ineffective because eliminating wolves in one area eventually results in higher populations as females will have more pups when there is open territory nearby. But the situation for ranchers is different, said Boyce. “There are wolf packs that are well behaved and do not prey

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on cattle,” he said. “These packs should not be culled because they maintain territories and exclude other wolves. Bad behaviour cannot be corrected, however, and generally predator-control agents agree that the best strategy is to remove the entire pack.” Wolves may be hunted without a licence during all seasons on privately owned land by the owner or occupant, and on public land by a person authorized to keep livestock on that land. Trapping is allowed on a seasonal basis. “Yes, the population will rebound and vacated territories will quickly (attract) new wolves (and) it’s a crap shoot as to whether these new wolves will be well behaved,” said Boyce. “But good husbandry can reduce the chances that wolves will develop bad behaviours.”

“Wolves are the real culprits and have been the biggest problem as it relates to beef producers.” Mark Boyce

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Ranchers who lose cattle to wolves, cougars, or bears can receive compensation funded by revenues from hunting and fishing licences, paid by the Alberta Conservation Association and the provincial government. “If you have a confirmed loss due to predation for any animal except for coyotes, 100 per cent of the market value is reimbursed,” said Boyce. In the case of a probable loss from predation, only 50 per cent of the market value is reimbursed. There is no compensation for missing animals. Southwestern Alberta accounted for 37 per cent of provincial claims, even though the area is only three per cent of the province’s land base. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

Composting fastest and cheapest way to deal with deadstock The process is relatively simple and can be done on almost any farm By Alexis Kienlen AF STAFF

n e of t he fa st e s t a n d cheapest ways to dispose of deadstock is to compost them — and you can even do it in winter. “As soon as your compost heats up to 40 C, it doesn’t smell like a carcass anymore... it’s not,” said Kim Stanford, a beef research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “Good mortality composting takes some time and effort, but really, it’s something that you can adapt to most farms.” When a compost pile is working properly, a dead cow of average feedlot weight can be broken down in about nine months, she said during a recent Beef Cattle Research Centre webinar. The site should be accessible year round and close to compost amendments, such as straw, manure and sawdust. It shouldn’t be close to wells or livestock pens, and be in a welldrained area with a catchment for run-off.

“It’s something that you can adapt to most farms.”

There are other options for dealing with deadstock but all have drawbacks. Boneyards (or natural exposure) can lead to problems with disease, odour, flies, water contamination, and predation. On-farm burial is also permitted, but the hole must be four feet deep and located 500 feet from a well and 350 from a barn or dwelling. Burial can also affect the water table, create odour, and get expensive as new sites are required. Burning is illegal and incinerators able to handle cattle are rare and not legal in all areas. A biodigester is an option, but there are operational challenges and they are expensive. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

A good pile of compost breaks down quickly and doesn’t smell. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

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“The goal of composting is to maintain happy aerobic bacteria and fungi — those are the organisms that do the hard work of breaking down the carcasses,” said Stanford. “The secret to composting is to set up your piles well and if you do that properly, there are no worries and it just composts by itself.” The compost pile should be six feet tall and constructed in layers over dead cattle laid on their sides (but not touching). “Just use whatever you’ve got on hand,” said Stanford. “Composting is a really forgiving process and you can use things that are waste products that are on your farm,” she said. Old straw, manure, sawdust, wood chips, and even spoiled silage can be used, but the amendments can’t be too wet. The base layer should be as dry as possible. For a compost to be active and work properly, it has to contain oxygen. When building the compost, windrows need to be built so water runs off and doesn’t pool on top of them. If the windrows are too small, they can dry out or get too wet when it rains. Compost needs to be turned — Stanford and her research team did that three times in a nine-month period. After nine months, the compost should look like dirt and have no smell. It the pile reached 55 C, pathogens are killed. The piles can be started in winter as long as they are dry and warm manure is used to start the composting process.

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NEWS » Markets

DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Potash miners eye premium products

Lower freights a boon for Canada

Potash companies are looking to support sinking profits by boosting sales of higher-margin specialty products. The pink fertilizer’s price has fallen sharply this year, under pressure from bloated capacity, soft grain prices and weak currencies in Brazil and India, spurring PotashCorp, Mosaic Co. and Belaruskali to slice output. With no quick rebound expected, companies are looking at boosting output of premium-priced products such as polyhalite and sulphate of potash. Mosaic is considering combining potash with micronutrients to “de-commoditize” its product offering. — Reuters

The Baltic Dry Index fell to its lowest levels ever last month, which bodes well for the export competitiveness of Canadian grain. The gauge of global ocean freight price dipped below 500 points for the first time since records began in 1985. The index was trading above 1,200 as recently as the beginning of August. An overcapacity of ships, a slowdown in Chinese demand for building materials, weakness in crude oil and declining commodity prices have all been cited as contributing factors to the lower freight rates. Lower freight rates help to even the playing field with competitors such as Australia. — CNS Canada

More farmer-friendly Argentine government pressures prices Argentina’s planned cuts to export taxes could see large amounts of soybeans come onto market

anola chopped around the week ended Nov. 27 before finishing slightly lower. The January contract has moved back within a trading range of $460-$470 per tonne. The election in Argentina cast a bearish tone over the beginning of the week as president-elect Mauricio Macri campaigned on a desire to lower the country’s corn and soybean export taxes. That has prompted some fears the country’s farmers could dump a large pile of soybeans onto the market. Already there are reports of vast stockpiles within Argentina, piled there by farmers and dealers waiting for the day the tax comes down. Other factors pressing on canola were European rapeseed futures, which tested resistance at mid-week, and Malaysian palm oil, which had been trending lower but surprised many with some upward movement. The U.S. Thanksgiving holiday also played a factor in the week’s activity. Speculators moved early to exit long positions while crush margins were relatively flat. Reports indicated the downing of a Russian jet by Turkish forces may have caused traders to be especially careful when staking positions over the holiday, for fear of being caught in too deep while a major world event unfolded.

U.S. markets were closed Nov. 26 while Canadian markets stayed open. While canola lost over $4 that day, most analysts said the losses were exaggerated by the thin volumes. Spreading was a dominant feature as the number of spreads was within sight of the number of actual contracts traded. Friday also saw limited trading hours for U.S. markets, which caused bulls to exit the market an hour ahead of Canadian traders. Canola had been significantly higher when that happened, but quickly fell back to earth in the final hour, ending mixed. Attention has shifted to Statistics Canada’s crop estimates, which are due out Dec. 4 and which most analysts expect will show a much larger canola crop than previously reported. Some pundits feel 16 million tonnes is not out of the question. In U.S. corn and soybeans, Argentina’s election probably caught the attention of stakeholders the most. Argentina’s corn export tax is pegged at 20 per cent, while the soybean tax is a much stronger 35 per cent — and Macri has laid out plans to slash the tax on soybeans by five per cent and get rid of the tax on corn as well as a 23 per cent tax on wheat. A strong U.S. dollar and losses in crude oil weighed down corn near the end of

the week, while reports of U.S. livestock owners importing fodder supplies from Brazil continued to haunt the Gulf Coast. The soybean market was mostly a subdued affair in and around the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday with many traders sticking to the sidelines. Weekly export sales were decent but the strength of the U.S. currency made life difficult for many exporters. U.S. wheat was generally softer on weak export data. Improving moisture conditions in the U.S. southern Plains were also bearish, while short-covering at the lows provided the market with a bit of support. Dave Sims writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

Photo: istock

For three-times-daily markets reports and more from Commodity News Service Canada, visit the Markets section at www. albertafarmexpress.ca.

Green, yellow peas stop moving in tandem Yellow peas are in high demand, but despite lower prices, green pea sales are off last year’s pace BY JADE MARKUS CNS Canada

anada’s green and yellow pea markets typically move together, as each pulls the other up or down. But they seem to have broken out of that cycle, a Victoria-based trader says. Green pea prices have edged lower on a lack of demand, while yellow peas have gained ground. The last time yellow held a premium over green for an entire crop year was 2006-07. “We usually get the green peas going and pulling the yellow peas with them, or the yellow peas going and pulling the green peas with them, but there seems to be no correlation between the two,” said David Newman of pulse trading and processing firm Commodious Trading. Yellow pea prices are moving higher on short supply and strong demand from

India, he said, adding his green pea sales are behind last year’s pace. “It seems like when things are really rolling China is buying green peas, and we just haven’t seen it this year.” Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said in its most recent principal field crop report that pea exports will likely hit 2.9 million tonnes in the 2015-16 marketing year. That compares with three million tonnes the year prior, but the data doesn’t distinguish green pea sales from yellow pea sales. Newman called the current lack of demand for green peas shocking. “With the rest of the prices of commodities being so soft, there’s no interest in that item with a fairly reasonable price. It makes no sense,” he said. “But it’s the way it is.” Recent delivered elevator green pea prices are sitting at $8 to $8.50 per bushel, and yellow peas are bringing producers $8.50 to $10 per bushel, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.

Photo: Thinkstock

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

Before the trimming, pick the right Christmas tree

Alberta beef ambassador honoured

Here are the basics when buying and caring for your tree this holiday season Alberta Agriculture and Forestry release

ore than two million Christmas trees are harvested in Canada each year, but if you don’t cut your own, check to make sure it’s fresh. “When buying a Christmas tree, be sure to conduct a freshness test,” said provincial woodlot extension specialist Toso Bozic. “Grasp a branch between your thumb and forefinger and pull it towards you. If the tree is fresh, no more than five or 10 needles should come off in your hand, unless it is very cold and dry outside, and then a few more needles may come off.” Here are some other Christmas tree tips: • Measure the height and width of the area where the tree will be displayed. Cultivated Christmas trees tend to have an 80 per cent taper. This means that a tree that is two metres tall will be approximately 1.6 metres wide (seven feet tall will be five feet, six inches wide) at the bottom. • Some species have more open foliage, stiffer branches or longer needles — find out about different species at www.realchristmastrees.org. • Look for a retail lot that keeps its Christmas trees fresh in a protected area. • S tore the tree in a cool place, out of the wind and rain, until it is ready to be brought indoors. • Ensure your tree stand is large enough to hold four litres of water. • C ut one to two centimetres off the tree stump within four hours of placing it in water. (Otherwise sap will seal the cut and prevent the water from rising, thus drying out the tree.) • T he first water fill should be with very warm water enabling the sap to flow readily. No additives are required. A tree will drink several litres of water every day for the first week or two. “Safety is a consideration when having a real Christmas tree in the house,” said Bozic. “It’s a wonderful family tradition, but be sure to follow the instructions for keeping the tree watered so that it doesn’t dry out and present a fire hazard.”

FARMING IS ENOUGH OF A GAMBLE...

Photo: Thinkstock

Alberta Beef Producers congratulates its longtime ambassador, Chuck Groeneveld, on winning a 2015 Western Legacy Award from the Calgary Stampede in the Sustained Contribution – Individual category. Chuck and Lorraine Groeneveld have spent many years travelling and promoting Alberta Beef Producers and the Alberta beef industry at parades, fairs and shows across the province. They have been enthusiastic and tireless advocates for our organization and our industry. Chuck also spent many years as the “Barn Boss” at the Calgary Stampede helping 4-H kids and ranchers who brought animals to the shows there. — ABP release

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Laycraft new global roundtable president Dennis Laycraft is the new president of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. Laycraft is executive vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and a spokesperson for the beef cattle industry on trade, product safety, and animal disease issues. The global roundtable was established in 2012 with a wide range of stakeholders, including McDonald’s, JBS, Cargill, Walmart, Merck Animal Health, the Nature Conservancy, and the World Wildlife Fund. Its goal is to foster a global beef supply chain that is environmentally sound, socially responsible and economically viable. — Staff

Feedlot numbers decline again The number of cattle placed into U.S. feedlots in October hit its lowest level for that month since the USDA began collecting such data two decades ago. The numbers — 2.281 million head — nearly matched forecasts by analysts, who cited burdensome supplies of heavier animals that weighed on cattle prices and eroded profit for feed yards. Abundant grazing pasture and affordable feed allowed ranchers to grow cattle outside of feeding pens longer as leverage against lower prices for their animals. The numbers in all weight classes declined save for cattle above 800 pounds. — Reuters

What a year for cattle — but sharpen your pencils for 2016 Market expert Anne Wasko says a 3.5-million-head increase in the U.S. herd is going to be the story going forward By JENNIFER BLAIR

AF staff / rocky mountain house

attle prices may be ending the year on a low note, but even so, it’s been a recordbreaking run. “Averages are averages, but 2015 will go down in the record books for the cycle highs for Canada,” said Anne Wasko, marketing analyst with Gateway Livestock Marketing. “Everybody’s focusing on today, and of course, the market’s not as good as it was. But when we step back and look at this market in a historical basis, we’re going to say that 2015 was an absolutely amazing year.” The low Canadian dollar was a major factor, Wasko said at Clearwater County’s Cattlemen’s Day last month. “We’re looking at a weak Canadian dollar that’s certainly helped support our Canadian prices in the last year,” she said. “On the flip side, the U.S. dollar has been very strong, and a strong dollar doesn’t bode well for exports.” As a result, cattle prices were up across the board all through 2015, she said. Fed cattle prices, for instance, averaged 20 per cent higher than they were at the same time last year, while cow prices have seen a 23 per cent increase over the last year. “We’ve got some big volatility and ranges within prices, but all of these numbers are all-time record highs,” she said. But “things are changing, and changing quickly,” she cautioned. “The American herd has expanded, and it is expanding quickly. That’s what’s changing everything.” Wasko credits the “big profitability” American cattle producers have enjoyed over the past decade for the herd expansion south of the border. “The American cow operator, on average, has had a pretty good stretch. He’s been generally profitable for a long period of time,” she said. “Even with the forecast going into 2016, it’s still going to be a profitable year based on their forecasted calf prices. “They took off with the cow herd and grew the cow herd as soon as the rains came. They had money in the bank, and we didn’t.”

The U.S. herd will be up 3.5 million head by next year — an increase equal to the entire Western Canada herd — and that will ‘drive the boat’ on prices. PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

“When we step back and look at this market in a historical basis, we’re going to say that 2015 was an absolutely amazing year.”

Anne Wasko

After bottoming out in 2014, the U.S. cow herd has moved into an expansion phase, with experts forecasting a four per cent herd increase — 1.3 million cows — by Jan. 1, 2016. And there could be another five per cent growth in the coming year. “From the bottom of the cycle, at 29 million beef cows, to where

they’re going to be by the start of 2017, they’re going to add about 3.5 million head of beef cows in the U.S. to get them up to about 32 million,” said Wasko. “By 2017, the U.S. will have added as many cows as we have in Western Canada. Understand who’s driving the boat. We’re in the canoe behind the boat.”

In contrast, “we haven’t done anything” for half a dozen years, with herd numbers in Western Canada staying between 3.3 million and 3.5 million head of beef cows during that time. “We’re not going to grow the herd now. The cycle highs have happened. So what we see is what we get.” Producers aren’t retaining heifers — and that’s the only way to grow the herd, said Wasko. “Since 2007, our replacement numbers in Western Canada have been stuck in this 525,000 to 580,000 range,” she said. Because herd expansion likely isn’t in the cards for the coming year, producers have “got to have a plan” if they want to stay profitable, said Wasko. “We’ve come through major market highs, but even in lower trending markets, there’s always opportunities,” she said. “But

you have to take the emotion out, have that game plan, and wait for these opportunities. “They will happen — but they won’t happen when you want them to happen if you don’t have that game plan.” Wasko suggests using hard data to drive those decisions. And that includes sharpening the pencil when building a budget. “Watching costs is hugely important to being profitable these next few years,” she said. “It’s not going to be the money we made in 2014 or even 2015. But for those who are below cost on average or better on efficiency levels, they’ve still got some profitable years ahead. “Last year was a great year for profitability, and this year will still be a good year.” jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

New study says this job doesn’t need doing Routine sheath cleaning is unnecessary for most male horses By carol shwetz, dvm

heath-cleaning enthusiasts present a sensible argument for addressing the hygiene of their male horse. Yet a new study presented in Denmark has shown routine/regular cleaning of a horse’s sheath to not only be unnecessary, but disruptive to the healthy populations of “friendly” micrograms that call this location “home.” The sheath surrounding the penis, also called the prepuce, is a double layer of sliding skin that covers the drawnup penis. The internal fold of skin contains numerous sebaceous glands that secrete lubricating oils. These secretions, together with sloughing skin cells and dirt, form a grey to black, thick, waxy and/or greasy and/or gummy material called smegma which collects in the folds of the sheath. These secretions can vary in nature, sometimes appearing as yellowish wax-like deposits or dry, hard flakes. When a stallion or geld-

ing extends or ‘lets down’ his penis, one can readily see the accumulation of smegma. This material is continually secreted and its purpose is to lubricate and protect the penis. Smegma is normal and individual horses can produce different amounts, colours, and consistencies of it. Smegma may vary in quantity and type, but all of it is normal and in fact the study determined smegma to serve a physiological advantage providing a natural protective covering. Proteins from the smegma were found to have important antibacterial properties. Under study, not only did bacterial numbers increase following sheath cleaning, but surprisingly it was discovered that smegma production rebounded within three weeks following cleaning. Whilst geldings and stallions may not need routine sheath cleaning, it’s still essential husbandry practice to examine the sheath and penis regularly for lesions and other signs of trouble. Usually in the day-today activities around the horse, opportunities arise for a visual

A “bean” is a buildup of smegma, dirt, and the mineral salts from urine which form a hardened clay-like ball of debris at the end of the penis.

inspection. Any difficulty or discomfort in urinating such as an interrupted urine stream, spraying or dribbling of urine, reluctance to drop the penis while urinating or unusual posturing and/or behaviour while urinating, suggest something is amiss. It is not uncommon for older male horses with a “bean” to exhibit such signs of urinary discomfort. A “bean” is a

buildup of smegma, dirt, and the mineral salts from urine which form a hardened claylike ball of debris at the end of the penis. Beans can vary in size from a pea to the size of a kidney bean. They accumulate in the urethral diverticulum which is a small pocket or “cul-de-sac” near the urethra. Depending on the size and makeup of the bean it can cause considerable irritation as the horse attempts to pass urine and cannot do so comfortably. Removal of the troublesome “bean” brings noticeable relief to affected horses. Veterinarians will generally examine a horse’s sheath or check for a “bean” during tranquilization for routine procedures such as dentistry. Tranquilizers cause the penis to relax and extend, making evaluation and necessary procedures much easier. A “dirty sheath” is oftentimes blamed for swelling of the sheath. This is rarely the case though. Since the sheath is located on the underside of the horse, it is a natural low point where fluid accumulates by the forces of gravity.

A swollen sheath is more commonly a symptom indicating low protein levels in the blood, poor circulation, parasite infestation, or liver disease. Horses that are overweight or lack movement tend to accumulate “swelling” in the prepuce. The prepuce may mistakenly appear swollen when it is fat laden. During the winter, horses confined to small feed yards lack the movement necessary to support optimum circulation and can potentially develop preputial swelling. Exercise resolves the unwanted swelling. Although mares do not get smegma per se by definition, they can accumulate a smegma-type material between their mammary glands. Mares with an uncomfortable buildup of thick plaques may tail rub, fence sit, and gait abnormally. Simply resolving the buildup when indicated can have surprisingly gratifying results in the mare’s behaviour. Carol Shwetz is a veterinarian focusing on equine practice in Millarville.

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Sheep producers wanted as demand for lamb outstrips supply Canada already imports 60 per cent of its lamb but consumers will pay more for local lamb By Alexis Kienlen AF STAFF / Edmonton

he want ad isn’t officially posted, but the notice is given: There’s a “great opportunity” for Albertans interested in becoming sheep producers. “Right now, we only produce 40 per cent of the demand for lamb in Canada — there’s a huge market there,” said Lorna Gibson, a sheep producer from Tees. “There’s a real demand and a great opportunity.” New Zealand and Australian lamb is filling the void, but consumers here want Canadian lamb and are willing to pay for it. “The Canadian lamb market is looked at with envy because it is one of the highest paying in the world,” said Susan Hosford, sheep industry specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “Imported lamb is a big part of our industry. What we’d really like to do is take a little more back from those imports every year, but we can’t do that if we have declining numbers. So when you’re thinking of sheep flocks, think of the opportunity.” Ethnic markets, foodies, and those who want to ‘eat local’ are all driving demand. There are also some attractive factors on the production side, starting with the fact that sheep — on a pound-for-pound basis — are incredibly efficient. “A 150-pound ewe can outproduce a dairy cow as she raises twin and triplet lambs,” said Hosford. “Based on her body weight, that ewe can wean more meat in less time than a beef cow.”

“When you’re thinking of sheep flocks, think of the opportunity.” Susan Hosford

Producers like Lorna Gibson can’t keep up with growing Canadian demand for lamb. PHOTOs: SUPPLIED And getting them to market doesn’t take as long. “If you lamb in March or April, by the end of the year, you can have those lambs sold, so you can have a quicker turnaround in your finances,” said Gibson, who has been raising lambs for three decades.

As well, sheep can flourish on a smaller land base and are easier to handle. They can also make use of other farm buildings (like an abandoned pig barn) while feedlot capacity in the province has doubled in the past year and Alberta has the only federally inspected plant (SunGold Specialty Meats in Innisfail).

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Still, Alberta’s sheep sector has been slow to develop. Large flocks account for 70 per cent of production, but most producers are either medium size (200 to 600 lambs) or have small flocks. “The margin in lamb production is there for the top producers,” said Hosford. “For average producers, the margin is there when prices are high. Producers who are in the bottom half of the industry don’t have an excess margin to invest in updating their facilities, systems and equipment. “If you’re looking at sheep as a business, you want to be at the top, not at the bottom.” Another issue is that since the majority of lamb hits the market in the fall, prices decline at that time. More experienced producers are able to breed and lamb out of season, but the rest must live with the seasonal price dip. “The prices you get as a producer have a lot to do with the amount of lamb that there is available for the processors right now,” said Hosford. But while it takes about 600 sheep to make a living, they can also be incorporated into a cattle operation. Sheep and cattle can graze together in a so-called ‘flerd’

There’s a ‘great opportunity’ in the Alberta sheep sector, says Lorna Gibson, a veteran producer from Tees. or be put into a rotation one after another. Sheep are excellent grazers and will clear away weeds and brush that cattle won’t touch. But sheep operations need good handling systems as well as a good fence to keep sheep in and coyotes out. “You need to have your facilities ready before the sheep come to your farm,” said Gibson. Would-be producers also need to do their homework and be aware of things such as shipping costs (which tend to be high) and labour requirements, as well as understanding production (including sheep nutrition and the need to cull hard). “You need to make sure you’re prepared for the sheep,” said Gibson. “Have a business plan and go to seminars. Go visit successful producers, and buy sheep from a reputable breeder.” akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

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Sheep are ideal for producers with a limited land base, but they can also graze with cattle — a grouping known as a ‘flerd.’

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

Efforts to boost forage research paying dividends Forages are getting more respect since the founding of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association six years ago BY JENNIFER PAIGE Staff / Saskatoon

wareness of the role forage plays in a healthy agricultural sector is growing. That was a recurring message at the recent annual conference of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, which was founded in Olds six years ago. “As recently as two years ago, the dairy industry had no interest in investing in the research and development of forages,” said outgoing chair Doug Wray, a rancher from Irricana. “I believe that this organization has done a great job at shining the light on the importance and opportunities that lie in the forage sector. “And we can see the progress that has been made by the various sectors’ shift towards investing in forage research.” Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada launched a new research endeavour last year, with an advisory panel whittling down a list of possible projects to a set of five key projects, said Bill Houston, senior range and forage biologist with the department. The first is focused on extending the grazing season through bale or swath grazing. “Recently, a paper was released on the economics of extending the grazing season and it has shown that swath grazing can reduce cattle overwintering cost from between 37 and 60 per cent compared to more traditional overwintering,” said Houston. “These practices have certainly been looked at in Western Canada, but the opportunity that we saw when we discussed it with the advisory committee was in Atlantic and Eastern Canada. We are working to promote these practices in those areas — but in order to do that we need to get the economics of how this may work in those regions.” Second on the list is sweet or high-energy forages, specifically how to increase the sugar content of forages, the best species to select, the best time to cut, how to fertilize, and wilting techniques. “Research in the dairy industry shows that cows eat more forage that is higher in sugar content,”

Forages are starting to get some much-needed attention, Doug Wray told attendees at Canadian Forage and Grassland Association’s annual conference. Photos: Jennifer Paige

The sixth annual Canadian Forage and Grassland Association conference was held in Saskatoon on November 17 to 19. said Houston. “Researchers are also seeing a corresponding increase in milk production, up to eight per cent. Economics are important so this summer we hired a summer student to dig into the economics on sweet forages and we are just finalizing the analysis and doing a review on that right now.”

‘Good support’

The project will also develop forage species and agronomy, as well as pasture rejuvenation — taking existing research from the plot to field level. “In Western Canada, there has been quite a bit of research done on pasture rejuvenation. So now we have the opportunity to take some of that science and update it with current conditions, latest technology, and do a little bit of economic analysis on today’s dollars and what the cost-to-benefit ratio would be on some of this rejuvenation work.” Finally, the project will look at managing manure nutrients in forage production, how these are best utilized in both forage and livestock operations.

Alberta SPCA

The Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Alberta SPCA) is a provincially incorporated charity dedicated to the welfare of animals. The Alberta SPCA’s mission is to protect, promote and enhance the well-being of animals in Alberta. The Alberta SPCA is responsible for addressing animal care issues for both livestock and companion animals in rural Alberta. It promotes the humane treatment of animals through the enforcement of provincial animal protection legislation and through community education.

The Alberta SPCA is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors with authority designated under the Societies Act of Alberta. The Board of Directors has the responsibility to set the strategic direction of the Alberta SPCA, to ensure that a strong framework is maintained for Board governance, and to develop and preserve the operational policies of the Board.

Interested in being involved with the Alberta SPCA? The Alberta SPCA is looking for people to join its volunteer Board of Directors. Prospective Board members should have a genuine concern for animal welfare; the ability to think strategically in response to emerging animal welfare issues; the ability to work collaboratively within a diverse framework; and political sensitivity. Experience

with large animals and animal husbandry practices would be very beneficial. For information about the expectations of Board members, meeting schedules, etc., contact Doug Sawyer, Director, at 403-598-5144 or ghostpinealberta@gmail.com or Terra Johnston, Executive Director, at 780-732-3737 or execdir@albertaspca.org.

“We really want to work closely with industry and make sure that the transfer of information we are trying to achieve is something they are interested in,” said Houston. “And what I really like about this project is that we have good support from industry, from AAFC management as well as our forage scientists. It is a really good structure to be successful.” The conference also had presentations on soil health; producer experiences on growing, grazing and marketing forages; forage varieties; technology advancements; and an update on forage-breeding initiatives. “The presentations were well positioned to build on one

another,” said Wray. “Starting with soil health and the benefits of building the soil to production practices, research and development to a discussion on the adoption of the practices and the roadblocks producers may be dealing with in the adoption of many of these techniques.” The conference attracted more than 100 people. “I have watched the group during the breaks and that is really when you can see the benefits of gatherings like this,” said Wray. “The networking that has taken place is the best part of the whole event.” jennifer.paige@fbcpublishing.com

A new research effort is focused on several key areas, said Bill Houston, senior range and forage biologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

More disasters more often

Temperature records fall this year

Drought, floods and other weather extremes have become more frequent and severe in the past 30 years and pose a rising threat to food security in developing countries, says the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Weather disasters occurred twice as often as in the 1980s and caused worldwide damage worth $1.5 trillion between 2003 and 2013, the agency said. The damage is most keenly felt in developing economies, which are more dependent on farming. The report singled out the damage that drought has done to food processing in Kenya, and the effect of floods on cotton and rice production in Pakistan. — Reuters

This year will be the hottest on record, and 2016 could be hotter due to the El Niño weather pattern, says the World Meteorological Organization. Global average surface temperatures in 2015 were likely to reach what the agency called the “symbolic and significant milestone” of 1 C above the pre-industrial era. Climate experts say a rise of 2 C will lead to massive climate change. From January to October, the global average surface temperature was estimated at 0.73 C above the 1961-90 average of 14 C and around 1 C above the pre-industrial 1880-99 period, the agency said. — Reuters

The weather outside hasn’t been frightful, nor has the snow come It was a warm November across the Prairies, but especially in the Peace and Manitoba BY DANIEL BEZTE

know I have promised to take a look at big snowfall events for a while now, but I kind of forgot that the end of the month was coming and that is typically when we do our look-back and look-ahead at our Prairie weather. Besides, the way the weather is going it doesn’t look like we’ll have any big snowfall events happening, at least until the middle of December, if not later. Another month has come and gone, and while it will take a while for the global temperatures for November to come out, across the Prairies it has been a pretty darned warm month. All three Prairie provinces recorded mean November temperatures well above the long-term average, with the warmest values occurring in the eastern Prairies. The three main regions of agricultural Manitoba recorded mean monthly November temperatures that were about 4.1 C above average. Usually, when you get monthly values that are this far above average you would find at least a few days that broke record highs, but during the month very few if any daytime records were broken. While there were definitely some warm days with highs in the low to mid-teens, it was the overnight lows that really made the difference. For example, Winnipeg, on average, will see about two days with overnight lows above the freezing mark. This November, the city recorded 10 days with overnight lows above freezing. The mild temperatures were also felt in Saskatchewan, with both Regina and Saskatoon recording mean monthly temperatures that were about 3.5 C above average. Across Alberta the warmest temperatures compared to average were found in the Peace River region, where the monthly mean was just shy of 3.0 C above average. In both the Edmonton and Calgary regions, mean monthly temperatures were between 1.5 and 2.0 C above average. While November temperatures were uniformly warm across the Prairies, precipitation was not quite as even. In Manitoba, central regions were the driest, with

1 Month (30 Days) Accumulated Precipitation (Prairie Region) October 28, 2015 to November 26, 2015

0 mm 0 - 5 mm 5 - 10 mm 10 - 15 mm 15 - 20 mm 20 - 25 mm 25 - 30 mm 30 - 40 mm 40 - 50 mm 50 - 60 mm 60 - 70 mm 70 - 80 mm 80 - 90 mm 90 - 100 mm 100 - 125 mm 125 - 150 mm 150 - 200 mm > 200 mm Extent of Agricultural Land Lakes and Rivers

Produced using near real-time data that has undergone initial quality control. The map may not be accurate for all regions due to data availability and data errors. Copyright © 2015 Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Prepared by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s National Agroclimate Information Service (NAIS). Data provided through partnership with Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and many Provincial agencies.

Created: 11/27/15 www.agr.gc.ca/drought

Normally around this time of year I put out the first snow cover map, but due to the light and variable amounts of snow received so far this year the map was basically a mess. Instead, I have gone with a map showing total precipitation during the 30-day period ending Nov. 26. While not all of this precipitation fell as snow, regions with the highest amounts currently have the deepest snow cover.

Winnipeg recording less than half of its average. Amounts increased as you moved west, with both the Brandon and Dauphin regions seeing nearaverage amounts. This pattern continued across Saskatchewan with both Saskatoon and Regina reporting near-average amounts for the month. In Alberta, southern regions also reported nearaverage amounts, but both the Edmonton and Peace River regions reported below-average amounts. To summarize, all three provinces reported well-above-average temperatures and near-average amounts of precipitation, with the exception of central Manitoba and central and northern Alberta, where below-average amounts were recorded. Looking at the different longrange forecasts that were made for November, I would have to say

that none of them were perfectly on the mark. But the closest two were Environment Canada and my own forecast that both called for above-average temperatures along with near- to slightly aboveaverage amounts of precipitation. Looking ahead to December, most of the medium-range weather models are pointing towards a continuation of wellabove-average temperatures and below-average precipitation, but these models only predict out to about the middle of the month. So what are the longer-range monthly forecasts calling for? Environment Canada is following the lead of the mediumrange forecasts and sticking with an El Niño forecast, which means a continuation of mild dry weather. The Old Farmer’s Almanac, if you recall, called for very cold weather to move in during the last week of November

and predicted this cold weather (which never happened) would continue right through December. Interestingly, along with the cold weather, it predicted belowaverage amounts of snowfall. The Canadian Farmers Almanac, which predicted stormy weather to end November (which also never happened), appears to be calling for near-average temperatures in December as it mentions cold weather once and fair weather twice. It does seem to be leaning towards above-average amounts of snowfall with several mentions of stormy weather, especially during the holidays late in the month. Finally, my long-range forecast. According to the number of birds I am seeing outside in my backyard it must mean that it will be a cold month coming up… oh wait… that might have to do with two new bird feeders!

Actually, I am going with Environment Canada and predicting that El Niño will help to continue our mild weather trend with a very warm first half of the month. It then looks like things will cool down a little bit during the second half of the month, but still be above average. Along with the cooler weather during the second half of the month will come a better chance of seeing some snowfall, but overall, most regions will see below-average amounts. In the next issue I promise we’ll look at the history of big winter snows… really, we will! Daniel Bezte is a teacher by profession with a BA (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the U of W. He operates a computerized weather station near Birds Hill Park. Contact him with your questions and comments at daniel@bezte.ca.

Trim: 10.25”

Canola trial data available Canola Performance Trials (CPT) 2015 small-plot data on canola seed varieties is now available. CPT 2015 had over 25 small-plot sites across the Prairies. The booklet includes results from short-, medium- and long-season zones, with yield and agronomic performance, as well as gross revenue for each variety and location. The trials provide science-based, unbiased and timely performance data that reflects actual production practices, as well as comparative data on leading canola varieties and new varieties. It can be found at www.canolaperformancetrials.ca (click on ‘performance trial summaries’). — Alberta Canola Producers Commission release

It was a year like no other for canola crops By ALEXIS KIENLEN STAFF / WESTLOCK

Alberta fields are seeing massive numbers of clubroot spores, but new research has found a 90 per cent drop-off after a two-year break By Alexis Kienlen AF STAFF / WESTLOCK

lubroot’s march through Alberta is relentless and the level of infestation here is 100 times — or even 1,000 times — worse than in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. But there is a bit of good news: Moving to a three-year rotation is more effective than previously believed, says a Canola Council of Canada agronomist. “New work in Canada has shown that 90 per cent of (clubroot) spores are gone after a two-year break,” Dan Orchard told an Alberta Canola Producers Commission meeting here. “You need to have a crop rotation and it has to work. It’s up to you to decide the rotation, but this is valuable news.” But moving from a canola-wheat rotation is a challenge for many producers, he conceded. “How do we stretch that out to three years?” asked Orchard. “It would make such a difference and there would be fewer pathogens shifting to a new strain.” In 2015, more than 1,500 fields in Alberta were found to be infested with clubroot, with the disease spreading at a rate of about 30 kilometres a year. Even though 2015 was a dry year, there were still hundreds of new cases. The new research that found there

Trim: 15.58”

It was a year when breaking the rules paid off for canola producers. Seeding deep and seeding late frequently produced better results than seeding early and shallow, which is rarely the case. And reseeding paid off, too. “There were a lot of things that worked this year that I hope you don’t do next year,” Dan Orchard, an agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada, told producers here. After slow establishment and a dry start to summer, most canola crops were looking pretty ugly on July 1. Yet somehow, most bounced back. “I still think it was surprising and shocking and defied the laws of science a little bit with the amount of rain we had and the yields we got,” said Orchard. Reseeding was another surprise. “When we advise against reseeding, we usually tie it to economics,” he said. “It was my understanding that growers could get free seed somehow to reseed this year. Some were even making money on reseeding. Typically, leaving a canola crop that has two or three plants per square foot is better than reseeding. But that didn’t happen this year.” Everyone had a different reason for why reseeding seemed to work. Entomologists speculated that reseeded or late crops fared better because they outgrew the insect pressure. Fertility experts figured canola seeded at the regular time might have been burned by fertilizer and so reseeded crops looked better in comparison. Disease specialists said the soil warmed up and there was not as much seedling disease in late-seeded or reseeded crops. “It’s probably a combination of all of these things to some degree,” said Orchard.

The clubroot onslaught continues — but there is some hopeful news

Agronomist Dan Orchard had good and bad news for growers at a recent Alberta Canola Producers meeting. PHOTO: ALEXIS KIENLEN is a 90 per cent drop after two years, also concluded it takes about 20 years for the remaining 10 per cent of spores to disappear. And that’s a major problem because clubrootinfested soil in Alberta typically

akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

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contains a million clubroot spores per gram. In some areas, the spore load is so heavy that a billion spores can be found in a gram of soil. This

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Barley and wheat a winning combination The beta-glucan in barley makes a wheat-barley flour a winner on the health front, and a new study says milling won’t be an issue By Shannon VanRaes STAFF

he term ‘barley sandwich’ is about to get a whole lot more literal. An Alberta-funded project has found blending barley into traditional wheat flour can improve both nutritional properties and milling performance. On its own, barley can be difficult to mill, often clumping and clogging machines. But the study by the Canadian International Grains Institute found hulled barley could make up as much as 50 per cent of a wheat-barley blend with only a few milling adjustments, said Ashok Sarkar, Cigi’s senior technology adviser and the project’s leader “Milling barley is very much like milling soft wheat,” said Sarkar. “And although there are often separate mills for hard wheat and soft

wheat, you can achieve reasonable results milling soft wheat in a hard wheat mill.” The only catch is that the load must be reduced by about 25 per cent to make it work. “So barley is very similar to this, it doesn’t sift properly and the endosperm is very gummy or woolly… so you have to open up the apertures or screens in order to allow the material to move,” he said. “It needs help, but when you blend wheat with it, it acts like sand almost, allowing it to flow through.”

Big on beta-glucans

The project was funded by Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions and the Alberta Barley Commission. They also provided the Cigi team with samples of three different types of food barley to work with — a nonwaxy variety with normal starch, a partially waxy variety, and a fullwaxy one with high starch content.

These were blended with wheat at different ratios and milled in pursuit of higher betaglucan levels. A beta-glucan health claim was approved by Health Canada in 2012 and now foods with at least one gram of barley beta-glucan per serving can be promoted as a way of lowering cholesterol. “Barley is high in beta-glucan content, which is a dietary fibre,” said Elaine Sopiwnyk, Cigi’s director of grain quality. “Wheat essentially has no betaglucan content, wheat has some insoluble fibre, but the levels can be really, really bumped up by including barley.” And since the U.S. also allows for barley beta-glucan health claims — it gives manufacturers, distributors, millers and bakers yet another reason to include this often-overlooked cereal in their products. “The excellent thing about bar-

Elaine Sopiwnyk (left) and Ashok Sarkar have completed a year-long project looking at how to co-mill wheat and barley. Photo: Shannon VanRaes ley, is that there is no problem with the taste either. It actually tastes good,” Sopiwnyk added. “So if we can produce products that meet that health claim, tasting good, it is an advantage.” Consumption of beta-glucan

can also lower a person’s risk of coronary heart disease and possibly certain cancers, said Sarkar. Because of barley’s beta-glucan content, as well as the antioxidants, vitamins and phytonutrients contained in the cereal, it’s also known for its ability to regulate blood glucose levels. “And this is something that could especially assist those with diabetes,” he noted.

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Cigi first looked at wheatbarley flour 15 years ago, and while trials were successful from a milling perspective, the work was put on the shelf until a year ago. The notorious Wheat Belly book also played a part. Although its pseudo-scientific attack on wheat is discredited, the book is hugely popular and influential. So there was pressure to make wheat a healthier option, said Sarkar. “Our customers overseas have been very interested in this and also in North America where health and nutrition are a major focus — especially after the Wheat Belly book, the gluten free and all of this,” he said. “The response to all of this is to come up with a healthier bread or end product, using other cereal crops.” Bake tests were not the primary focus of the project, but the flour performed well in limited testing although it requires more liquid as a result of the high fibre content, said Sopiwnyk. “There was also a very slight reduction in volume at some level, but not enough to be considered a defect,” she said. More baking trials will likely be done in the future. “But the milling part has been very critical, because nobody wants to invest money to try something new that they don’t know if it works,” said Sarkar. “Launching any new product is expensive, so it was very important for us to learn from this project, and gain information we could provide.” The next step is to let people know that milling barley and wheat is an option that works and offers nutritional benefits. “We also need help from the producers’ side,” said Sarkar, adding millers may have difficulty finding enough hulless barley to add to their wheat until the word gets out. “So we hope that one day, sooner rather than later, that this gets out and becomes more popular,” he said. “There’s no reason it shouldn’t be.” shannon.vanraes@fbcpublishing.com

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

PFRA’s disappearance cripples West’s ability to cope with drought The rural west needs another PFRA to help farmers adapt to climate change AF contributor / ottawa

liminating the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Agency stripped western farmers of their best tool for coping with droughts and other climate change challenges, says Dave Sauchyn, a researcher at the University of Regina. The folding of the PFRA into Agriculture Canada’s bureaucracy removed the extension workers from the field at the time when the farmers need information on adapting their operations to the risks of higher temperatures and less precipitation that accompanies climate change, Sauchyn told a symposium on food security and climate change. In public meetings with researchers across the Prairies, “farmers told us they needed help in adapting to climate change,” he said. “They need someone to improve their understanding of risk of hotter, drier summers. “We need a co-ordinating agency to provide them with the expertise to provide the technical information they require,” he added. “The PFRA had been able to fill that role.” The former Conservative government withdrew from the PFRA community pastures, turning them over to the provinces or private groups, and eliminated the extension personnel who could have helped, he said. The agency was created in 1935 to help farmers recover from a prolonged drought that devastated western farming. It provided trees for shelterbelts and training in agriculture practices and water management to farmers so they could better cope with future dry spells. Measurements of the South Saskatchewan River back to 1108

have found dry years are far more common than wet ones in Western Canada, he said. Alberta and Saskatchewan are especially dependent on water from the snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains. “Irrigated land is consistent in output while the areas dependent on natural precipitation are erratic in output,” said Sauchyn. “There is a clear connection between water and yields.”

Average?

The idea of an average year for western farmers “is a strange concept in Western Canada because almost every year there is too much or too little precipitation,” he said. “In the future, the range between wet and dry years will become even more extreme. The wet years will be wetter and dry years drier.” With the help of PFRA, Prairie farmers restored the region’s agriculture capability while adapting to dryland farming, he said. Crop yields have risen by 228 per cent since the 1930s. Research in recent years has shown the Prairie growing season is three weeks longer because of climate change, but midsummer water supplies are lower. To prepare for climate change, the West needs to introduce adaptive planning from communities on up to make the region more resilient to extreme weather. That means “involving the right people with clear responsibilities and leadership to the communities informed,” said Sauchyn. While individuals “can prepare to some extent for water scarcity and excess water, there is a definite need for watershed and regional proactive planning, involving multiple agencies and orders of government.” Watershed groups should be “recognized as among the bestequipped groups to test out and implement local changes and adaptations,” he said.

is in sharp contrast to areas of “They need to clean everything Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where an average gram of soil bigger than a wheelbarrow, from an infected field contains whereas we need to clean only 10,000 spores. “You can understand the mageverything bigger than an nitude,” said Orchard. “If you are M&M.” moving a gram of soil, they need to move a wheelbarrow of soil to have the same risk. They’ve got such low levels that when they Dan Orchard are cleaning their machinery, they need to clean everything bigger than a wheelbarrow, whereas we need to clean everything bigger than an M&M. actually be fostering new strains have to look at cultural manage“It’s just a function of the spore of the pathogen. Nine new strains ment techniques as well as genetload in the soil. We let the spore were found in Alberta in recent ics. A researcher in Saskatchewan loads get too high, and now there years. is looking at older lines that have are a billion spores in the ground.” “Researchers from other coun- some boron tolerance. At high levOrchard doesn’t want Albertan tries warned us that after grow- els, boron can combat clubroot, producers to forget that clubroot ing one or two resistant vari- but that can also kill canola. Still, is a soil-borne disease, and to eties, there could be a shift in older boron-tolerant lines could think about soil movement when pathotypes,” said Orchard. prove valuable, said Orchard. going from a canola field to other As well, 32 new fields in Alberta “We need to look at a whole fields. developed big patches of clubroot bunch of these cultural ideas And think twice before accept- even though they were growing a rather than just throwing geneting topsoil from other areas, he clubroot-resistant variety. ics at it every time we have a new warned. It’s long been known that club- strain,” he said. “Relying on genet“In Leduc, there’s a lot of con- root is found at field entrances, ics isn’t going to work. We need to struction and they’re giving away but it can also be found at alter- have a multi-pronged approach, topsoil. I wouldn’t take it. Growers nate entrances where equipment so things like boron-tolerant are filling in the low spots in their is pulled off at the edge of the road, canola, liming the fields, fumigatfields and basically spraying club- entrances to highways and yards, ing and crop rotation. root around their farm.” and around grain bins. It’s also “All of these things are going to Although new clubroot-resis- common on untreated seed and be needed.” tant varieties have been devel- in low areas of standing water. oped, that’s not a fix and may 2015-10-14 To fight clubroot, SEC-REDW15-T_AFE_SEC-REDW15-T_AFE.qxd 12:55 PM Page 1growers will akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Quebec moves toward limits on neonics New rules on neonics, atrazine herbicides, and chlorpyrifos insecticides to be put in place next fall BY DAVE BEDARD Staff

he Quebec government plans to hold consultations ahead of legislation that could limit farmers’ use of neonicotinoid seed treatments and certain other pesticides. The government of Premier Philippe Couillard plans to “protect the health of the population, pollinators and the environment” when amending its pesticides act. New regulations, to be in place by next fall, will end the non-essential use of chemical pesticides in urban areas and reduce farmers’ use of pesticides deemed to be of greater risk. Those pesticides include neonics, atrazine herbicides, and chlorpyrifos insecticides. The legislation, if passed, would require any farm use of neonics or other “greater risk” pesticides to be reviewed beforehand by certified agronomists in “100 per cent of cases” — a move the Quebec government said goes well beyond the measures Ontario adopted last summer on neonic use.

A government strategy document also calls for economic incentives to encourage the use of corn and soybean seed not treated with neonics. Quebec producers are currently estimated to use neonic-treated seed on nearly 100 per cent of corn acres and more than 50 per cent of soybean acres. Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis hailed the proposed strategy, saying it will protect the health of the general public, but also of “the farmers who are (these products’) principal users.” Marcel Groleau, president of Quebec’s politically influential Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), called the proposed measures “bureaucratic solutions disconnected from the reality on the ground.” Quebec farmers, he said, work in increasingly open markets and their competitors in the U.S. and elsewhere aren’t subject to the same requirements. “Are we doing all this just to consume, in the end, more imported products?” he asked.

Quebec’s new pesticide strategy calls for farmers to get advance approval before any use of corn or soybean seed treated with neonicotinoids. Photo: syngenta.com

*For commercial use only. Offer subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. See your New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. standard terms and conditions will apply. Depending on model, a down payment may be required. Offer good through December 31, 2015, at participating New Holland dealers in Canada. Offer subject to change. Taxes, freight, set-up, delivery, additional options or attachments not included in price. © 2015 CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. All rights reserved. New Holland Agriculture is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. CNH Industrial Capital is a trademark in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates.

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FARM F ARM EQUIPMENT L LTD. TD. 725008

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2005 John Deere 9660 Combine, L/A, Guidance,

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USED COMBINES

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667978

2011 Case IH PH800

Air Drill, 60on10,DS,VR, TBT 2010 3430 tank

$200,000

*0% – 24 month on Select Case IH Combines 2013 Case IH 9230, 847/615 hrs, duals, loaded ...........$299,000 2013 Case IH 9230, duals, loaded, 1035/761 hrs ...................................................... $299,000 2013 Case IH 9230, 1041/746 hrs, Guidance, L/A, duals, PU header .......................................................$299,000 2013 Case IH 9230, duals, guidance, 1147/827 hrs .....$299,000 2013 Case IH 9230, new cab, 660/529 hrs, loaded ......$389,000 2013 NH CR9090, 520/350 hrs, L/A, duals, guidance ...................................................................$350,000 2012 NH 9090, loaded, 670/500 hrs ...............SOLD $310,000 2012 NH CR9090, 1240/910 hrs, Guidance, DSP, diff, duals .............................................................$299,000 2012 Case IH 8230, L/A Duals, 752/578 ......... SOLD $315,000 2011 NH CR9080, Deluxe PSD Chopper, Guidance, Leather, HID, 620 Duals, 1005/730 hrs...........................................$229,000 2011 NH CR9090Z, 1026/724 hrs, L/A, duals, guidance ...................................................................$289,000 2011 Case IH 7120, duals, Guidance, PU, 1100/805 hrs ............................................................$249,000 2010 NH CR9090Z, 850/650 HRs., Guidance, L/A, PU header .............................................SOLD $289,000 2010 Case IH 8120, Guidance, 1424/1126 hrs, sm tube RT, fine cut chopper ........................SOLD $249,000 2009 Case IH 6088, YPM, Leather, Ext wear, 950/750 hrs ..............................................................$195,000 2009 Case IH 8120, 1850/1250 hrs, L/A, duals, hopper top ......................................................$210,000 2009 Case IH 8120, duals, L/A 1643/1357 hrs SOLD $210,000 2009 NH CR9070, 1350/1200 hrs, Duals, L/A, SOLD $215,000 2009 NH CX8080, L/A, 1750/1300 hrs .........................$189,000 2008 Case IH 7010, duals, fine cut chopper, L/A, 1661/1249 hrs ...................................................$210,000 2007 Case IH 2588, 2500/1925 hrs, chopper, HID, Duals ...................................................$149,000 2007 NH CR9070, L/A, 1542/1264 hrs .........................$199,000 2007 Case IH 7010, duals, 2630/1630 hrs, P/U header, L/A .................................$149,000 2006 NH CR960, 2300/1900 hrs, Pickup Header..........$119,000

725012

2009 Case IH 4420 Sprayer, 2550hrs, 120’ boom, AIM, 2 sets of tires, viper

$239,000

2006 NH CR960, 2050/1687 hrs ......................SOLD $99,000 2005 JD 9660, 2187/1629 hrs, guidance .....................$149,000 2004 Case IH 8010, 2006 2016, L/A, singles, 2663/1968 hrs..............................................$169,000 2004 Case IH 2388, AFX rotor, chopper, AFS, 2357/2028 hrs., L/A, 2015 swathmaster PU ................$99,000 2003 Case IH 2388, 2580/1992 hrs, L/A, PU Header ......$95,000 1999 Case IH 2388, hopper top, 4100/2876 hrs, 1015 PU header, L/A ....................................................$89,000 1992 Case IH 1680, 4033 hrs, L/A, 1015 PU header ..........................................................$25,000 1986 Case IH 1680, PU header, 25’,4200 hrs .................$22,900

USED WINDROWERS

2013 Case IH WD1903, 36 ft, shears, deluxe cab, 110/60 hrs.................................SOLD $114,000 2012 Case IH WD2303, 36 ft, 550 hrs, shears ..............$110,000 2011 MacDon M205, 30 ft, 950/686 hrs ......................$125,000 2008 WD1203, 36ft, hyd roller, 550/403 hrs...................$95,000 1998 Macdon 4920, 30ft, PU Reel, 1700 hrs .....SOLD $45,000

USED 2WD TRACTORS

2014 Case IH Farmall, 140A, Loader, MFD, 830 hrs ........$86,000 2012 Case IH Farmall, 140A, Loaded, MFD, 700 hrs .......$89,000 2008 Challenger MT565B, MFD, Loader/Grapple, powershift ......................................................SOLD $79,000

USED HAYBINES

725013

725014

2013 Case IH 9230

2013 Case IH 9230 Combine, loaded, 1035/761 hrs, duals, spreaders

Combine, hopper top, 4100/2876 hrs, 1015 PU header, L/A

$299,000

$89,000

Combine, Loaded, 847/615 hrs, duals, spreaders

1999 Case IH 2388

2013 NH T9.615, 1020 hrs, luxury, 36” Tracks, HID, Cab Susp, guidance ..............................SOLD $389,000 2013 Case IH 600 Quad, PTO, 1700 hrs ..........SOLD $399,000 2009 Case IH 485, 800/38 Duals, Diff Lock, 5 Hyds, Guidance, HD Hyd ......................................................................$239,000 2008 Case IH 535 Quad, 3380 hrs, diff lock, guidance, PTO ...........................................................$239,000 1993 Ford 876, 5800 hrs, duals .....................................$49,000 1981 JD 8440, 9400 hrs, 18.4/38 duals, 4 hyd ..............$19,000

2012 Case IH 4430, 120 ft aim, viper, guidance, loaded, 1275 hrs .......................................$279,000 2011 Rogator 1194, 120 ft, sectional, viper, 2250 hrs, 2 set tires ..................................................................$205,000 2009 Case IH 4420, 120 ft, Aim, 2 sets tires, viper, 2550 hrs ..........................................................$239,000 2009 Case IH 4420, Guidance, 120ft, Aim, auto box, 2 sets tires, 2200 hrs ................................................$239,000 2007 Rogator 874SS, 3100 hrs, 320-50, 800 gal, fenders, 480/42 tires .................................................SOLD $119,000 2007 JD 4720, 90ft, Guidance, 1490 hrs......................$189,000 2 - 2014 Case IH 3162, 45’, auger, transpeed ................$89,000 2005 Rogator 1074, Auto Boom, 2 sets of tires, 2011 Case IH 2152, 40 ft auger, single knife, 3700 hrs, 100’ .............................................SOLD $115,000 no adapter......................................................SOLD $40,000 1998 Tyler Patriot XL, 5147 hrs, 750 gal, 90’ booms, 2008 MacDon D60, 40 ft, adapter, auger, trans ..............$38,000 12.4/38 tires, 3 way nozzle bodies ..............................$45,900 2008 NH 94C, 36 ft, adapter, trans, auger .........SOLD $45,000 2005 NH 994-30, 30 ft U2 pickup reel, tx adapter ..........$27,500 2005 NH 94C-30, 30 ft hyd fore/aft.,trans, gauge wheels .$39,500 2011 Case IH PH800, 60on10, DS, VR,TBT 2010 3430 $200,000 2005 NH 94C - 42 ft., transport, auger, 2010 Case IH P800/3430 Tank, 70ft, 12inch, DS ..........$149,000 CR adapter .....................................................SOLD $39,000 2008 Case IH SDX40/ADX3430 tank, VR, 40ft, 3 - 2004 MacDon 973, headers, auger, liquid kit ....................................................................$139,000 transport, CR adapters....................................SOLD $35,000 2008 Seedmaster 50ft, 10”, NH P1060 430 B, tank, 2004 Honeybee, GB36, 36 ft, Split Reel, DS, liquid tank on board ............................................$169,000 transport ........................................................SOLD $39,000 2007 Seedhawk 66’, 12”, Bourgault DS ..........SOLD $110,000 1994 Macdon 960, 30ft, tr adapter ...............................$10,000 1997 Bourgault 4300 Tank, DS ......................................$35,000

USED HEADERS

USED AIRDRILLS

USED ROUND BALERS

USED DISCS

2004 NH BR780, 590 pto, STD PU, Auto Wrap ................ $16,900 2010 Lemken, Rubin 12S/1200, 40ft new blades .........$139,000

2009 NH H7460 discbine, 16 ft, 1000 PTO, rubber/rubber ..............................................................$29,000 1999 NH 1475, 18ft ....................................................... $11,999 2008 Riteway 8168, 68 ft, Hyd. Pressure .......................$35,000 2012 Case IH, 1240 Pivit Planter 16/31 rows, bulk fill ....$99,000 1999 NH 1475, 16’, rubber rolls .....................................$16,000 2004 Brandt 7000, 70 ft, Hyd. angle ..............................$28,900 1999 Riteway 77 ft, Hyd. angle ......................................$22,000 2014 Unverferth 1610, U-Harvest, scale, tarp, tracks ................................................................$149,000 2006 Highline 8000, 1000 PTO ......................................$12,900 *0% for 24 Months on select Case IH Sprayers 2013 Unverferth 9250, scale, tarp ..................................$52,000 Hesston BR25, tub style ......................................SOLD $3,999 2013 Case IH 4430, 120ft, loaded, 983 hrs ..................$329,000 2013 Unverferth 1315, scale, tarp ..................................$82,000 2012 Case IH 4430, 120ft, 1082 hrs, AIM, *0%/24 months or 4.25 for 84 months Guidance, Dividers, 2 sets tires ..................................$299,000 2008 Case IH 485 Quad, diff lock, guidance, 2013 Case SV250, cab/AC,heat, radio, 2 spd, 2775 hrs, 2012 Case IH 3330, 100ft, Aim, 2 sets tires, 30” tracks, 4500 hrs .................................................$229,000 autoboom, accuboom, 1300 hrs ................................$269,000 new tires, hyd coupler, H controls ................................$42,900

USED HARROWS

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NEW GRAIN CARTS

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USED 4WD TRACTORS

* See Dealer for Details, Restrictions May Apply.

USED SKIDSTEER

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

Bear market intact with soybean market dropping to a six-year low It’s been a long slide from three years ago when beans almost hit $18 a bushel By David Drozd

he soybean market has been under pressure since it topped out at the historical high of 17.945 on September 4, 2012. This was a pivotal day, as it marked the end of the bull market rally and the beginning of the ensuing bear market. Now down to $8.44, the soybean futures market has lost 53 per cent of its value. When the market first turned down, it could have been construed as just another pullback, but a two-month reversal developed at the market high indicating a possible change in trend. A two-month reversal is illustrated in the accompanying chart. It occurs when on the first month (at a top), the market advances to new highs and closes strong near the high of the month. The following month, prices open unchanged to slightly higher but quantity selling appears early in the month to halt the advance and prices begin to erode. By the end of the month, the market drops to around the preceding month’s low and closes at or near that level. The two-month reversal indicates a sharp turn in sentiment. On the first month the longs are comfortable and confident. The market’s performance provides encouragement and reinforces the expectation of greater profits. The second month’s activity is a complete turnaround from the preceding month, which shakes the confidence of many who are still long the market. Longs respond to weakening prices by exiting (selling) the market. The following month’s weakness provided further confirmation of a possible top, as it led to the development of a V Top formation.

V Top

To begin with, prices must be in an uptrend with the futures contract more apt to be in a near vertical rise. A pivot point is reached marking the extreme high price level wherein the buying pressure reaches a climax. This is followed by the sudden emergence of a downtrend. An aid in recognizing this downtrend at an early stage is to compare the slope of prices during the incline to the slope of prices after the pivot. If the angle of

decline is approximately equal to the angle of advance, the pattern is more likely to be valid. Dynamic and substantial price moves often follow V Top formations.

Market psychology

Since the market is likely to be in a vertical rise prior to the V turn, the longs are making money and the shorts are being wiped out. Suddenly, a dramatic shift in psychology drives the longs to cover (sell back) their positions as the motivation to preserve profits quickly takes hold. They find they have plenty of company, as potential new shorts also want in. Without news to explain the sudden turn, longs may at first misjudge the turn as being merely a pullback. With profits on the books, they are going to wait and see what happens, which turns out to be a big mistake. The market is driven lower by aggressive new shorts and longs trying to make the best of a rapidly deteriorating position. As a new downtrend begins to emerge, sell orders materialize but many are at a limit price above the market. Some of this selling is satisfied when prices rise, but a portion of the demand is not satisfied so when prices again begin to move down, some of these sellers jump in. The balance of unfilled selling will continue to trail the market in hopes of catching a retracement. However, much of the patience of those waiting for a big rally will wear thin, resulting in more selling being thrown into the market at the prevailing price level. The increasing willingness of sellers to short the market causes the lower highs and lower lows in a bear market, making it all the more difficult for grain producers to sell soybeans at the previous high. Send your questions or comments about this article and chart to info@ag-chieve.ca. David Drozd is president and senior market analyst for Winnipeg-based Ag-Chieve Corporation. The opinions expressed are those of the writer and are solely intended to assist readers with a better understanding of technical analysis. Visit Ag-Chieve online at www.ag-chieve.ca for information about our grain-marketing advisory service and to see our latest grain market analysis. You can call us toll free at 1-888-274-3138 for a free market consultation.

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2009 Bourgault 3310 . . . . . . . . . $175,000 2005 Case IH RBX562 . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,995 2010 Bourgault 3310 . . . . . . . . . . $225,000 2011 New Holland BR7090 . . . . . . $15,500

BALE PROCESSOR

2009 New Holland BR7090. . . . . . $19,995

2014 Highline CFR650 . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL 2014 Highline CFR650 . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL 2015 Highline CFR650. . . . . . . . . . . . . CALL 2015 Highline CFR651 . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL

2010 New Holland BR7090 . . . . . . $25,300

COMBINE

2005 New Holland BR780. . . . . . . $19,500

DISC MOWER CONDITIONER

2006 New Holland BR780A . . . . . $19,500 2009 New Holland H7460 . . . . . . $31,500 2006 New Holland BR780A . . . . . $16,995 2010 New Holland H7550 . . . . . . . $25,995 2006 New Holland BR780A . . . . . $12,995

FORAGE HARVESTER GRAIN CART

2012 Brent 1082 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL

Chart as of November 25, 2015

2013 New Holland BR7090 . . . . . . $45,000

2005 New Holland BR780. . . . . . . $17,995 2007 New Holland CR9070 . . . . . $162,000 2005 New Holland BR780. . . . . . . $16,995 1997 New Holland TX66 . . . . . . . . $55,000 2005 New Holland BR780. . . . . . . .$11,995

2003 New Holland FP240 . . . . . . . $23,400 CHART CME SOYBEAN MONTHLY NEARBY

2011 New Holland BR7090 . . . . . . $28,995

HARROW 2012 Degelman Strawmaster . . . . $47,500

MOWER CONDITIONER

2007 New Holland BR780A . . . . . $17,995 2006 Vermeer 605M . . . . . . . . . . . $21,194

TRACTOR 1967 John Deere 4020 . . . . . . . . . . .$7,995 2012 New Holland TS6.110 . . . . . . $74,995

VERTICAL TILLAGE

2007 New Holland 1475 . . . . . . . . $23,500 2015 Lemken Heliodor . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL 1998 New Holland 1475 . . . . . . . . $14,995 2014 Lemken Rubin 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL 2015 Lemken Rubin 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL RAKE 2008 Case WRX301 . . . . . . . . . . . . $12,500 WINDROWER 2014 Jiffy 912 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CALL 2003 New Holland HW320 . . . . . . $55,200

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

End of the line for northern Port of Churchill? OmniTrax says it hasn’t made money for 10 years, and the port needs either subsidies or a new owner BY ALLAN DAWSON Staff

T *For commercial use only. Offer subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. See your New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. standard terms and conditions will apply. Depending on model, a down payment may be required. Offer good through December 31, 2015, at participating New Holland dealers in Canada. Offer subject to change. Taxes, freight, set-up, delivery, additional options or attachments not included in price. © 2015 CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. All rights reserved. New Holland Agriculture is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. CNH Industrial Capital is a trademark in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates.

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2003 John Deere 1895 Air Drill, Good cond., 430 Bu 1910 Air cart

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1996 Agco 9635 Tractor, 4WD, 9944hrs, 135HP

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HAYING EQUIPMENT JD 945, ‘00, 13’ Disc Mower . . . . .$12,700 NH 688, ‘00, bale comm., 17, 694 bales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$12,000 NH BR780, ‘03, w/net, wide PU

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he owners of the Port of Churchill and the rail line serving it say it’s up for sale unless governments agree to provide more support. Shipments at Churchill dropped to just 186,000 tonnes this year, well below the average of 554,548 tonnes over the past years. “Obviously after a tough year in the grain industry we’ve looked at a lot of things and come to the conclusion that either the railway or the port needs more support, or perhaps another owner or operator could take it over and see what they could do,” OmniTrax Canada president Merv Tweed told a Saskatchewan radio station. “We’ve spoken to both levels of government and suggested to them that the railway truly is a utility into the North and should be treated that way.” Denver-based parent rail company OmniTrax bought both the port and rail line in 1997 for $50 million, and has invested nearly $100 million in addition to government programs since then. Tweed would not say what price the company wants, or how much government support it needs to keep it operating. But he said it has commissioned studies that found the line’s value to the northern economy is in excess of $40 million annually. “I think it’s really important for people to understand this about service to communities that live along the line to the Port of Churchill, and for them to continue to receive the services.” The line runs from The Pas to Churchill and for many communities along it, it’s their only land link. Tweed said OmniTrax has spoken to both levels of government. It wants answers before the end of the year. The Hudson Bay Route Association — an organization of farmers and citizens that supports the port — met with Tweed and OmniTrax North America CEO Kevin Shumba last month, said association president Sinclair Harrison. Harrison said OmniTrax attributed the decline to farmers in the Churchill catchment area not delivering grain during late summer leading up to Churchill’s short, three-month-long shipping season.

“They told us they haven’t made money for 10 years… ”

Sinclair Harrison

While exporting grain through Churchill can save on ocean freight to Europe, west Africa and South America, grain companies prefer to export through their own terminals. They also want to segregate their grain, adding to logistical problems, Harrison said. There were predictions Churchill exports would decline after the Canadian Wheat Board — the port’s main and sometimes only grain customer — lost its marketing monopoly in 2012. To help with the transition the federal government allocated $25 million over five years to offer exporters a $9-a-tonne subsidy to use Churchill. Global warming has already extended Churchill’s shipping season, which is expected to lengthen more in coming years, but warmer weather also makes the rail line, much of it built on permafrost, less stable. OmniTrax had said it wanted to export one million tonnes of grain but peaked at 710,000 tonnes in 2002. It has tried to diversify traffic, importing Russian fertilizer one year. It also proposed moving light sweet crude in 2013 but put that plan on hold following opposition to it. “They told us they haven’t made money for 10 years,” Harrison said. But he argued the port could make financial sense with the right owner, such as a grain company. “When you own a terminal and you don’t have a collection system in the Prairies it certainly does complicate the issue,” Harrison said. The port made sense for the wheat board to use because it didn’t own terminals and had the flexibility to move grain to Churchill during the winter when the rail line was more stable. The Hudson Bay line was completed in 1929 at a cost of $45 million, but it wasn’t until 1931 that the grain terminal at Churchill began operating. allan@fbcpublishing.com

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OmniTrax aimed to ship one million tonnes of grain a year, but it never came close and moved just 186,000 tonnes this year. FILE PHOTO

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

Gowan buys DNA herbicide line from Dow Agro Gowan Company has agreed to buy the global dinitroaniline (DNA) herbicide portfolio from Dow AgroSciences. The acquisition includes Treflan, Edge, Team, Bonalan and Sonalan, as well as intellectual property for herbicides based on the molecules trifluralin, benfluralin and ethalfluralin. A formulation and packaging facility in Sturgeon County is also part of the transaction. DNA herbicides were one of the first families of selective soil herbicides and have been a part of weed management programs for over a half-century. The global DNA business to be acquired by Gowan has a broad regulatory presence with active registrations in 22 countries including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, and parts of Europe. The products control annual grasses and small seeded broadleaf weeds in a wide range of crops including cotton, beans, canola, cereals, crucifers, cucurbits, and vegetables. — Staff

Fertilizer market quiet — for now It could be the lull before the storm. “Not a lot is happening in the fertilizer market right now as it is one of the slowest times of year for it,” said Todd Bergen-Henengouwen of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “There has been little trading as fertilizer buyers in the U.S. continue to wait for the fertilizer market to bottom out before they start building up their stocks for the 2016 seeding season. As one would expect, fertilizer prices have been falling since the end of autumn.” Nitrogen fertilizer prices are currently below the five-year average for this time of year while phosphate is above the five-year average. “Nitrogen-based fertilizers are likely being pressured by low energy prices as well as by lower commodity prices,” said BergenHenengouwen. “Higher-thanaverage phosphate prices are likely being held up by the weak Canadian dollar when compared to the U.S. dollar.” Historically, fertilizer prices are the lowest in the December/ January months and begin to rise as spring approaches. “It might not be a bad idea to start considering your fertilizer needs for next year if bin space is available,” he said. — AAF release

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Red tape seen costing hemp growers market share C

Hemp producers are hopeful a new federal government can help them bring more of each plant to market. photo: jennifer blair

anadian hemp producers are missing out on a potential billion-dollar market opportunity due to government regulations, says an industry group. Canadian hemp farmers are only permitted to use the stalk and seeds of the plants they grow, and so are missing out on some potential markets, said Kim Shukla, executive director of the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance. The organization is pushing for reform on the regulations that control how much of the plant can be used. Industrial hemp plants contain low levels, about 0.3 per cent, of the psychoactive

ingredient THC, compared to five per cent or more for marijuana. The parts of the plant that can’t be harvested also contain cannabinoids such as cannabidiol, used to treat schizophrenia, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. “While we are struggling and fighting against these archaic regulations, other countries are beginning to really come on as powerhouses,” Shukla said. Despite strong market demand, the Canadian industry has struggled to build a processing sector, and she said that will keep hemp acres static at 100,000 acres next year. — CNS Canada

DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Any windbreak is good when wintery winds blow

A small herd of horses pastured near Okotoks, Alta., hunkers down around a diamond willow bush, bracing against a frosty morning. Photo: Wendy Dudley

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.”

Nufarm closing manufacturing plant in Calgary The 53-year-old facility formulates and packages herbicides, fungicides and insecticide seed treatments Staff

– Katelyn Duncan, Saskatchewan

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

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

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

Crop chemical manufacturer Nufarm plans to make its North American business more “cost effective” by shutting its plant in Calgary and shipping production work to Chicago. The “rationalization” in Calgary is expected to be complete by next fall, Nufarm manufacturing group executive Elbert Prado said in a release. The Australian company has retooled and expanded its Chicago Heights herbicide plant and will be able to “respond quickly to the needs of our Canadian customers (and) proved a more efficient approach than expansion of the Calgary site,” he said. The company is also closing two plants in Australia and one each in New Zealand and the Netherlands. The Calgary facility has about 18 full-time staff and 30 seasonal workers. Nufarm has operated the 53-year-old Calgary facility since 1997, when its then-parent, New Zealand-based Fernz Corp., bought French chemical firm Rhone-Poulenc’s North American phenoxy herbicide business, which included products such as 2,4-D and MCPB. Operating as Nufarm Agriculture in Canada since 1998, the company built up its Canadian market presence through sales of generic off-patent herbicides while also buying rights to older “name” brands such as Assert, Achieve and Curtail M.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

China a big opportunity for Canadian ag, says expert Colin Carter says China is only self-sufficient on paper and wants more high-quality food from countries like Canada BY ALLAN DAWSON STAFF

hina has beaten back the famines that claimed millions of lives five decades ago, but it still faces daunting food challenges, says an economist who has spent his career studying the country’s food policies. “In fact in China today, obesity in children is a bigger problem than malnutrition,” Colin Carter, a researcher at the University of California, said following a presentation at the University of Manitoba. But the country — which is both the world’s biggest producer and consumer of food — is likely to become increasingly dependent on exporters such as Canada in the years to come, said Carter, who is originally from Grand Prairie and obtained his masters in ag economics at the University of Alberta. Since 1978, China’s average agricultural output has increased by almost five per cent a year versus two per cent in the U.S. On paper, China was self-sufficient in food in recent years — not bad considering it has just 10 per cent of the world’s arable land and is feeding 20 per cent of its people. But that productivity has come at a high cost, however. “If you look at the whole story of China’s agriculture it’s one of very intensive use of chemicals and energy… with all kinds of consequences for food safety and environmental impacts,” Carter said. “The soil is polluted, the water is polluted. It’s just shocking and sad to see the change in the environment in the last 30 years.” The Chinese apply 10 kilograms of pesticides per hectare compared to just one in Canada. In 2013, Chinese farmers applied 44 million tonnes of chemical fertilizer — almost three times what American farmers use, Carter said.

Poor farmers

Besides that, China doesn’t treat its farmers very well, he said. Despite the tremendous rise in wealth in China, its 242 million farmers are almost as poor now as they were 30 years ago. And the income gap between them and their urban counterparts is rising. “The farmers are not treated as normal citizens,” said Carter. “You talk to government officials or other people and they don’t give a damn even though it’s a communist country.” Chinese farmers make up 31 per cent of the labour force and contribute 10 per cent of the country’s GDP, but their operations — which are an average of one acre each — are inefficient. “That one acre may be cut up into three or four plots, so it’s very fragmented,” he said. “So that structure is simply not sustainable. The big issue in China of course is land tenure.” Land tenure would allow some farmers to sell their land and move to apartments in the cities, opening an opportunity for the remaining farmers to expand and become more efficient. But he said local officials in charge of land allocations are reluctant to give up control. “So it’s not an easy solution,” he said.

Rising demand

The Chinese government is buying

foreign farmland and food companies, partly to secure food, but also to get new technology, he said. But he predicted it will also turn to foreign suppliers to keep food prices stable as its economy grows. “I don’t think there is any question that China will become more dependent on international (agricultural) trade,” Carter said. “The middle class in China will demand higher food quality. It is going to be more interested in importing products.” China doesn’t want to rely too heavily on the United States — its economic and political rival — for food imports, and that bodes well for Canadian farmers, he added. Already the world’s biggest soybean importer, there’s speculation it could become the biggest corn buyer, too, Carter said. The debate

continues over whether China will import feed to support growth in its domestic livestock industry or opt to import more pork, which would lessen the environmental concerns over excess hog manure. In a soon-to-be-released paper, Carter argues China is poised to become an increasingly important market for Canada, especially in pork and dairy products — if the supply-managed industry here is allowed to return to exporting. “I think we (Canada) have a comparative advantage in animal agriculture,” he said. “There’s growing world demand for some of our supply-managed commodities and we’re not participating. We have such a small market (domestically).” allan@fbcpublishing.com

The level of pollution caused by unbridled use of herbicides and fertilizer in China is “shocking and sad,” says Colin Carter, an Alberta-raised economist who is an expert on the country. PHOTO: REUTERS/ Nir Elias

DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

FarmLink picks up mobile management app

AVIAN ACROBAT

A Saskatchewan-developed, cloud-based mobile app for farm management is being uploaded into Prairie grain-marketing consultancy FarmLink Marketing Solutions. Winnipeg-based FarmLink will merge Farm At Hand, the software platform developed by Kim Keller and Himanshu Singh, into its operations. FarmLink said Farm At Hand’s policy of not sharing farmers’ information with outside parties will continue. Keller and Singh, who launched Farm At Hand in Saskatchewan and made their app available in 2012, relocated to Vancouver the following year and have since expanded their business to include seven staff. The free Farm At Hand app is now used by about 21,000 farmers in North America and overseas, and a paid version, designed for agribusiness, is expected to be rolled out by early next year. FarmLink, founded in 2004, bills itself as Canada’s premier source for grain-marketing advice, with market advisers in all three Prairie provinces, including three offices in Alberta. — Staff

A female hairy woodpecker uses its stiff tail feathers for balance, while clinging to a bird feeder filled with peanuts, on a ranch near Millarville, Alta. Photo: Wendy Dudley

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Oats futures at the Chicago Board of Trade have been creeping higher, which a U.S.-based analyst attributes to increasing demand for minor feed grains. Sorghum and barley commitments are mostly above the fiveyear average, which indicates stronger demand for minor feed grains including oats, said Terry Reilly, senior analyst at Futures International. A weaker Canadian dollar is lending a hand to Canada’s oat exports, he said. So far, demand for Canadian oats has stayed near steady with last year’s pace. As of Nov. 2, Canada has exported 324,200 tonnes of oats versus 318,500 tonnes a year earlier. The CBOT December oats contract broke above the 100day moving average to close at US$2.4775 on Nov. 19. “So from the technical side it’s very friendly,” Reilly said. — CNS Canada

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

From the kitchen to the marketplace Here are the key steps to consider if you want to sell a product you produce on your farm Alberta Agriculture and Forestry release

hat does it take to get a new product from your workshop or kitchen into a buyer’s hands? “Lots of time, patience and attention to detail,” says a provincial new-venture specialist. The first step is to do a selfassessment, said Elaine Stenbraaten. “Are you an entrepreneur? Understand that with a business you start, you assume the risk of profit or loss. It’s important to decide if you have the personality, skills, family, and lifestyle to run a business. Are you and your family prepared for what it takes to run a business full time?” If the answers are yes, then evaluate your idea and do some market research. “Although it’s always good to listen to your friends and family, it’s also important to get people who are not tied personally to you to evaluate your idea as well as your product,” she said. “A feasibility assessment includes who your customer is, where the market is, what your cost to produce the product is, what the cost to market will be, as well as other considerations. This step is critical to your success. Can you make the product, deliver it to your customer for prices they are willing to pay and still have room for profit?” Understanding who your customer is and who buys your product makes for more effective marketing at a lower cost, she said. “An inexpensive way to test market your product is to sell your product at an Alberta Approved Farmers’ Market,” she said. “It can also verify your market and gives you the opportunity to tweak the product based on your customer’s direct input. It’s a great way to see if the product is accepted by the market and customers.” A proper business plan is also critical. “Business plans allow you to develop a working plan to carry you to profitability. It also allows you to review how to minimize your risks and what you’ll do to limit the impact.” All of those factors are important to lenders, she added. There are also other business considerations to keep in mind. “You may need to consider how your business is structured, how it is regulated, and what permits and business licences you may need. Determine a business structure that will work for you. You may want to consider how you will set your business up so you can easily leave it. An exit strategy for the business is something that should be considered at the start.” Finally, seek out advisers and mentors, she said. “There are three important skills in a business — finance, marketing, and production. While most of us can’t be good at all three skills, we’re usually good at two of the three. Consider hiring for what you’re not good at. Listen to advice from advisers and mentors, but trust your instincts. If you’ve done your homework, and researched the idea and market, you’ll be the expert. “If you’ve taken these steps, developed your idea and business plan, and ensured financing is in place, you’re on the road to success.”

A great product is just the first step in creating a business. PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

The best managers produce the best beef — and it costs them less We think otherwise, but it actually costs less to produce quality, says an American cattle expert BY LORRAINE STEVENSON Staff / Carman, Man.

ou only hit whatever you aim at, so you’d best aim high. However, it helps to know what the target actually is. In the beef business that means producing the highest-quality beef possible, an American cattle expert said at a recent backgrounding and feedlot school here. “Ultimately, our industry is built on this demand by the consumer and the consumer wants a highquality product,” said Darrell Busby, manager of Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity Co-operative and retired extension beef specialist for southwestern Iowa. It costs less to produce that quality than we tend to think, he said. “It’s an accumulation of doing the right things,” he said. “I think oftentimes when we talk about producing high-quality beef people say, that costs money to produce.

“It is actually more economical to produce quality beef.” Darrell Busby

“Our data shows it does not cost more. It is actually more economical to produce quality beef.” His Iowa service co-op provides quality comparisons to help producers add more value to their production. It was founded by producers asking one key question, ‘What is the most profitable steer to feed?’ The program dates to the early 1980s, but became a service cooperative in 2002 owned by cowcalf consignors from southwest Iowa, said Busby. They share the view that everyone benefits when information is shared towards meeting a high-quality target. “Our competition is not each other,” Busby said. “Our board has felt very strongly that we have to work together to become more efficient. That’s what the hogs and poultry have done. It’s our responsibility to share that information.” Since 2002, a total of 97,446 steers and heifers have been consigned to the co-op, with their consignors receiving reports with information on their animals’ performance at the feedlot, including average daily gain and carcass data. The cattle mostly come from Iowa and states south and east, but some have also come from Manitoba. “You get to see all the data in the final report of all the cattle in the pen so if you want to compare how your cattle gained and graded compared to your neighbours, that’s your opportunity,” he said. Nearly three-quarters of the cattle marketed today are priced on their individual carcass merit in the food chain, he added. “In the U.S. system 74 per cent of fed cattle marketed today are on some kind of reward system for higher-quality calves,” he said.

“There are rewards for producing higher-quality animals.” About 35 per cent who participate in the program say they’re pleasantly surprised to find out just how good their calves are, while another 55 per cent say it’s enabled them to look for ways to improve, Busby said. Not everyone’s happy though. “Ten per cent are disappointed and think the TCSCF program is the worst idea in the world,” he said. “Telling a cow-calf producer his calves are not the best is worse than saying his daughter is real ugly.” More information about the TCSCF Co-operative can be found at TCSCF.com and IowaBeefCentre.org. lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

Producing higher-quality beef doesn’t cost more, but you need data to improve your herd, says Darrell Busby, manager of the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity Co-operative in Lewis, Iowa. PHOTO: LORRAINE STEVENSON

FACT #1: Proven® Seed is the total, all-around package for success in canola and cereal crops. It’s NEW genetics and seed varieties. It’s also 25 years of groundbreaking research — plus leading agronomics, field trials and distribution networks. FACT #45: Proven Seed integrated all the way from R&D to the farm — through breeding, production, seed treating, distribution and retail. Which means quality seed you can count on. FACT #74: Proven Seed has over 25 years of continuous research in Western Canada. The CPS R&D team includes more than 50 dedicated staff in Canada and Australia with three research farms and 35 research sites across the Prairies.

is put to the test by farmers to ensure it performs best where it counts — on large-scale, producermanaged fields. See for yourself at provenseed.ca/performance-trials. FACT #29: Seed production is a priority for Proven Seed. We work with CSGA growers to produce,

FACT #10: Proven Seed set the bar in standability. New hybrids, like PV 200 CL, build on this world class standard while offering high yield potential and a non-GMO premium contract option with the Clearfield® production system. FACT #51: Manage your acres and harvest timing. PV 531 G brings strong yields, excellent standability and early maturity so growers can manage harvest windows without sacrifice. Suitable for the short growing zones of the Prairies, this Genuity® Roundup Ready® hybrid lives up to the name Proven Seed.

IT’S A PROVEN FACT (that 25 years adds up to a lot of facts)

FACT #88: Clubroot is a potentially devastating soil-borne disease that causes swelling or galls to form on roots in canola, ultimately killing the plant. The next generation of advanced CPS-bred Brassica napus canola hybrids demonstrate high levels of resistance to clubroot pathotype 5X, and will mark a first in the fight against the growing threat of this disease. FACT #133: The Proven Performance Trials program is the largest retail comparison program in Western Canada. With over 200 trials in 2015, the Proven Seed portfolio

clean and test our seed to ensure the highest level of quality control. Through an accredited seed laboratory, we screen every seed lot extensively for disease, purity and germination — to give you confidence in your seed investment.

FACT #47: Proven Seed products are only available at CPS retail locations across Western Canada. Your CPS advisor will guide you through seed, fertility and crop protection requirements to find a solution tailored for your farm. Find a retailer near you at provenseed.ca/find-a-retailer.

PROVEN WHERE IT COUNTS — ON A FARM NEAR YOU. See for yourself at provenseed.ca

FACT #46: Proven Seed PV 533 G is a new Genuity® Roundup Ready® hybrid allowing you to push your yield potential, while getting excellent standability and blackleg resistance. PV 533 G is a great choice for your best performing fields. See for yourself at provenseed.ca/canola.

Genuity® and Roundup Ready® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, used under license. CLEARFIELD® is a registered trademark of BASF. Proven® Seed is a registered trademark of Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc. CPS CROP PRODUCTION SERVICES and Design is a registered trademark of Crop Production Services, Inc.

DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Revised code spells out acceptable practices The underlying principles are the same, but the new code gets into the specifics when outlining things like humane treatment BY RON FRIESEN AF contributor

Poultry raised for meat doesn’t get a lot of public attention, and a more detailed code of practice should help keep it that way. photo: Thinkstock

proposed new code of practice for the Canadian feather industry doesn’t contain many changes, but does get a lot more specific about how to raise poultry. Besides offering guidance, the new code outlines detailed requirements and recommended practices for the care and handling of broiler chickens, turkeys, breeders and hatching eggs. It goes into much greater depth than the current code about acceptable management practices, especially humane treatment. For example, the current code says handling should be done humanely, but the proposed new code gives detailed guidance about acceptable methods and how to perform them.

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?

“I think it has taken a much more formalized approach. That’s really the biggest change,” said Phil Boyd, executive director for Turkey Farmers of Canada. The draft poultry code is the latest revision by the National Farm Animal Care Council for its codes of practice covering the care and handling of farm animals. The pig code was recently revised, and those for bison, layers, rabbits and veal calves are currently under revision. (Layers have a separate code from other poultry.) The proposed revision is led by a 15-person committee, which includes producers, animal welfare representatives, processors, transporters, researchers, veterinarians and government. The current code dates back to 2003. “I think producers are well prepared for the new code. It’s not that much different from the old one,” said Vern Froese, a Manitoba Chicken Producers director on the committee. One new change, if adopted, will require a four-hour dark period per day for broilers and turkeys. This helps them to sleep and develop 24-hour day/ night rhythms which promote growth rates and general health. Many broiler producers are already doing that, said Froese.

“I think it has taken a much more formalized approach.” Phil Boyd

Are you ready to experience industry-best levels of grain cart productivity, performance and equipment options that meet all your harvesting needs? Then you’re ready for the Brent 82 series grain carts. • Corner-auger positioning for 100 percent unloading visibility • Industry-best unloading height and reach • 60° turret-style downspout for precise grain placement • Unloading speeds up to 625 bushels per minute • Undercarriage options – tracks, high-ﬂotation singles, straddle duals, walking-tandem duals • 750- to 1,200-plus bushel capacities When you know you’re ready for the best, you’re ready for Brent. Stop by your nearest Brent products dealer today for a ﬁ rst-hand look at all the industry-leading features of the Brent 82 series grain carts. Or, visit Brentequip.com.

Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc. • P.O. Box 357 • Kalida, OH 45853 • 419.532.3121 • 1-800-322-6301

Unlike some other livestock sectors, poultry does not have hot-button issues such as battery cages for layers and gestation stalls for pregnant sows, which arouse public concerns about animal welfare. Broilers and turkeys in Canada are raised almost exclusively in free-run environments. Controversial practices in the U.S., such as neutering roosters and controlled moulting of birds, are rare in Canada, although the code does refer to them. As a result, poultry mostly tend to fly below the radar when it comes to matters involving humane practices. But it’s still important to have a code of practice to demonstrate standards the industry follow, said Steve Leech, national program manager for Chicken Farmers of Canada. The new code represents a “huge shift” in spelling out requirements and recommended practices for raising poultry, he said. “The code is what’s held up in a court of law, really,” said Leech. “So when we have these requirements and recommended practices, it becomes that much more important and necessary to follow them because that’s what the industry will be judged against.” AG DEALS TO GO!

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

USED EQUIPMENT 519766

696649

2008 New Holland CR9060 Combine, 1030hrs, Excellent cond.,

2013 Schulte SDX-117 Snow Blower, Excellent cond., 1000PTO

$179,000

$14,900

HARVEST EQUIP

698190

1989 New Holland 846 Tractor - 4WD, 4WD, 7400hrs, Fair cond., 12 speed standard, 14’ Degelman blade

$49,500

0% 30 MON USED COMBINES NH CR8090, 2013, 400sep, dsp, gps . . . . . . . . . . . . $345,000 NH CR8090, 2012, 625sep hrs, gps . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,000 NH CR9060, 2008, 940 sep hr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $175,000 NH TR95 combine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 CIH 2388, 2005, 1650sep hrs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $95,000 CIH 2388, 2002, 1750sep hrs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $85,000 NH 840CD-30 like new, crossauger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $64,500 NH 840CD-30, header height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $59,500 MacDon 972-30’ header, TR/TX adptr . . . . . . . . . . . $20,000 NH 971-30’, header, batt reel trspt TR-TX adapter . . . $4,500 CIH 1010-25’, trspt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,000

TRACTORS

0% 36 MON USED 4WD TRACTORS NH T9.450HD , 2013, 1000PTO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $265,000 NH T9.450HD, 2014, 1000pto, 620hrs . . . . . . . . . . . $310,000 NH T9.450HD, 2013, 2250hrs, 1000pto . . . . . . . . . . $250,000

711354

718049

2009 Case IH PS160 Sprayer, Good cond., 1600 gal, 100’, dual wheels, ISO control

1983 International 684 Tractor, 3700hrs, 65HP, Good cond., 2 speed ps, loader, grapple

2015 New Holland Rollbelt 560 Round Baler, Excellent cond., 1000 PTO, Specialty Crop, 500 bales, warranty

2006 Case IH MXU135 Tractor, 6700hrs, Good cond., 750 ldr, grapple, 3 point

$38,500

$11,000

$52,500

NH T7.235, 2260hrs, ldr, 3pt, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . $131,000 NH T7.235, 2575hrs, ldr3pt, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $129,500 NH T7.200, 1650hrs, ldr, 3pt, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . $129,500 NH TJ530HD, 2007, mega flow, 6 hyd, GPS . . . . . . . $229,500 CIH Puma 140, 1000hrs, PS, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $110,000 CIH 9270, 6300hrs, PS, 20.8R42 duals. . . . . . . . . . . . $65,000 CIH 9370,5000hrs, std, PTO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $59,000 CIH MXU135, 6600hrs, ldr, 3pt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $52,500 Steiger Panther 1000, PS, 14’ blade . . . . . . . . . . . . . $58,500

SWATHERS

NH H8040-30’, 2 roto shears, Trimble easy pilot, 2013.410hrs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $129,500 NH M130-30’ swather, 2 roto shears, auto steer . . $149,000 Macdon M150-30’, 2RS, canola roller, 2011, 850hrs, (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $115,000 Macdon M155-25’, 2012, auto steer, 2 RS, canola roller (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $125,000 Westward 7000-25’ 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 Westward 3020-25’ pto swather, pur . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 Swath Rollers available 8” steel & polly . . . . . . . . . . .$1, 200

725253

LAWN GARDEN

730275

Deines 1800KT-60” front mower, 320hrs . . . . . . . . . . $4,900 Cub Cadet RZR50, zero turn mower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,950 NH G4050 xero turn mower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,250 Grasshopper T616-48” front mower, powerfold . . . . . $7,900

SEEDING & TILLAGE

Bourgault 6000-70’ mid harrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35,000 Morris 725-25 cutivator, harrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,900 Flexicoil 5000-33’ 7”air drill, 2320 tbtwn cart, ss . . . $35,000 Wil-Rich 24’ double disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $24,900 Rockmaster R-77 pto rock picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8,500

SPRAYERS

FlexiCoil S67XL, 100’, scrns, SP655, mrkrs . . . . . . . . $11.500 NH S1070-100’, suspended boom, scrns, auto hght, Trimble control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $45,000 CIH PS160-100’ suspended sprayer, duals . . . . . . . . $38,500

HAYING & LIVESTOCK

Tycrop 12 12 ton 16’ hidump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $9,500 Sitrex 10 wheel V-rake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,500

736468

739624

2007 New Holland 2012 New Holland CX8080 TJ530HD Tractor - 4WD, Combine, 900HP, Good 2650hrs, Good cond., cond. mega flow, GPS, 6 couplers

$229,000

$269,500

NH RB560 net/twine, specialty, 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . $52,500 NH BB340S 2014, 14000bales, tandem. . . . . . . . . . $115,000 Highline 8100 bale processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,500 Haybuster 2650 bale processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $16,500 JF Stoll 1360 for age harvestor . . . . . . . . . .$49,500 $49,500 $39,500

AUGERS Sakundiak HD8x1200, mover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,500 Sakundiak HD8x1400, 27hp, mover, clutch. . . . . . . . . $8,900 Sakundiak HD8x39’, 27hp, mover, clutch . . . . . . . . . . $7,900 Sakundiak HD8x1400.27hp, mover clutch . . . . . . . . . $5,900 Sakundiak HD12x2400 swing auger . . . . . . . . . . . . . $14,000 Westfield MK130x71, hyd swing & lift . . . . . . . . . . . $16,500 Farm King 1370, electric swing & lift . . . . . . . . . . . . $14,500 Brandt 5000 grain vac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12,900 Turbo 990 grain vac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,900 Rem 27 Hundred grain vac, 225hrs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $16,500 Rem 552 grain vac. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,950

Linden Agri-Centre Ltd.

(403)546-3814

www.lindenag.com

(403)263-4688

Sales Manager - Ken Toews 888-8109 (cell) 546-2634 (res) • Ian Anhorn 888-8121 (cell) 631-2260 (res) • Kevin Helmer 373-5554 • Andy Nelson 588-4355

14250 – 100 Street, Grande Prairie, AB T8V 7C7 Phone: (780)532-5344 • (888)532-5344 • Fax: (780)532-2457 11508 – 8th Street, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4H3 Phone: (250)782-7511 • (800)663-3572 • Fax: (250)782-7511 TRACTORS NH L230 2011 3000lb Lift Capacity, Full Load, High Flow Hyds, Hyd Q/A, 550 E016122 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $49,500 CIH TR320 2012 3200lb Lift Capacity, Tracked Machine, 1500 . $57,900 NH Boomer 3050 2013 50hp, Cab, Loader, CVT Tranmission E016646 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $38,500 JD 4020 Loader 5500 E016278. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $9,500 NH TV140-TV6070 Loader, Grapple, 105 PTO HP Starting At: . $32,900 NH T6.175 2014 Loader, Bucket, Low Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . Coming In Cat 75 E016131. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $32,900 NH T9060 Triples, 57gpm Hyds. 1300 E014421 . . . . . . . . . . . $225,000

SPRAYERS FC Used Pull Type Sprayers, Various Models Starting At: . . . . . $21,900 Apache AS1210 2009 100ft, 1200 gal, AutoBoom, 5 Section Boom, Envizio Pro 850 E015883 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $155,900 Wilmar 8100 1997 E016135 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35,000 Apache AS1220+II 2014 NEW Units, 100’ Booms, Duals Available, Raven GPS Starting At: NEW . . . . . . . . . . . $274,900

FEEDING Haybuster 2650 With Grain Tank E013339. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $18,600 Haybuster 2650 With Grain Tank E015596. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,900

TILLAGE & SEEDING Summers 60ft Heavy Harrows E014008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22,900 FC 820/1720/Pack 33’x9”, Single Shoot, TBH, Air Seeder, Packer Bar E015372 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22,000 FC 5000/1720 33’x9”, Single Shoot, TBH, 4” Rubber Packers E015789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30,000

NH P2060/P1060 2009 70’x12”, TBH, Variable Rate, Double Shoot, AgTron Blockage Monitor On Seed Runs, 4” Paired Row Atom Jet Openers, 5.5” Rubber Packers, Clean Unit. E013197 . . . . . . $125,900 NH P1060 Mechanical Drive, 8 Run, Tow-Behind Air Cart E016853 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $67,900

COMBINES & HEADERS 0% for 30 Months OAC Followed By CQR NH CX8070 2008 1000 T Hours 1300 E014437 . . . . . . . . . . . . $169,900 NH CX8080 2009-12 9 Available Starting At: . . . . . . . . . . . . . $175,000 NH CX8090 2013 Cast Drum, Tier IV, GPS, Duals, 200 T Hours 270 E013496 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $325,000 NH CR9080 2010 Duals, RWA, GPS, Lux Cab, 850 T Hours. 1100 E016610 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $225,000 NH CR9090 2012 c/w Pickup Header, RWA, GPS, Luxury Cab, 690 T Hours 870 E016124 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $310,000 NH Selection Of NH Straight Cut & Draper Headers Various Sizes Available Starting At: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22,000 New Units Also In Stock at Great Pricing!!!

GRAIN CARTS & BAGGING EQUIPMENT Demco 1150 2014 1150 Bu, Black or Blue, PTO & Hyd. Drive, 900 Tires, Tarp & Scales Starting At: New. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $59,900 United Farmer 750bu. Hydraulic Drive Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13,700 Akron 9250D 9’ Bagger E014522 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $14,900 Richiger R1050 10’ Bagger E014819 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $19,900

SWATHERS CaseIH 6000 25’ Draper & 14’ Mower Conditioner, Excellent Condition 2700. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,900 Premier 2930 1998 25’ 960 Header, 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25,000

Westward 9352 2002 25’ 972 Header, Swath Roller, Mint Condition 940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $52,900 MacDon 4952 2000 30’ 972, New Drive Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $47,900 Westward 9352i 2005 30’ 963 Header, Premium Unit 1150. . . . $59,000 MacDon M150-M155 30’ & 35’ D60/D65, Double Knife, Trans, Triple Del, Swath Rollers Available Starting At: . . . . . . $97,900

DISCBINES/HAYBINES/RAKES

CIH 8360 12ft Hydroswing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,500 CIH 8380 16’ Hydroswing E016393 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,500 NH 1475 2006 16ft Hydroswing E014022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $17,500 NH 1431 13’ Discbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20,000 NH H7450 2011 13’ Discbine, ShockPro Hubs, Premium Shape $34,900 Sitrex MX12 12 Wheel V-Rake E016379 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,500 NH HW305s/HS16 2006 16’ SP Haybine 1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $52,900

BALERS

JD 567 2006 Twine Wrap, Wide P/U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,900 NH BR7090 Specialty Crop, Wide P/U, Twine & Net Wrap, Excellent Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coming In NH BR780A 2007 Auto Wrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coming In

CONSIGNMENTS

FK Y720 Farm King 72” Rotary Cutter E016017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,700 Wheat-Belt Never used 20’ Electric Bale Elevator . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,900 Kub ZG227 54” Zero-Turn Mower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8,500 DR Pro Lawn Vac & Chipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,600 NH Boomer 3040 2012 40hp, Loader, Skid Steer Q/A, CVT Trans. E016441 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $39,000 JD 701 10 Wheel V-Rake E016365 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,900 NH Boomer 25 2013 Loader & 60” Belly Mount Mower . . . . . . $21,900 *For commercial use only. Offer subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. See your New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. standard terms and conditions will apply. Depending on model, a down payment may be required. Offer good through December 31, 2015, at participating New Holland dealers in Canada. Offer subject to change. Taxes, freight, set-up, delivery, additional options or attachments not included in price. © 2015 CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. All rights reserved. New Holland Agriculture is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. CNH Industrial Capital is a trademark in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates.

DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

IT’S INNOVATION. NOT IMITATION. Meet the New John Deere 9RX Series Tractor The New 9RX Series Tractor is no copycat. We kept innovation at the forefront, using your feedback to make it right. The result is a game-changing 4-Track tractor that’s anything but ordinary. Just how unique and innovative? The upswept axle component is the largest cast our foundry pours and allows the 9RX to have a larger drive wheel, putting more power to the ground and increasing reliability. The e18™ Transmission with Effciency Manager helps keep productivity levels high and inputs low. It responds quickly and automatically in intense feld conditions to actively improve the tractor’s performance and your drive experience, while reducing fuel consumption. Under the hood, you’ve got a horsepower range of 470 to 620. Pair that with increased hydraulic fow and the 9RX is ready to cover large acres and pull big implements in less time. Bring on the sloped, wet, and loose feld conditions too, because the 9RX’s unique track design adds to its superior and agile performance in the feld and on the road. The larger articulated footprint allows for more fotation and better grip resulting in less berming and reduced soil disturbance, improving yield potential. The 9RX also comes JDLink™ Connect and AutoTrac™ ready to boost performance and effciency even more. We could go on, but we’ve run out of room. Visit your John Deere Dealer today, and test drive our most anticipated tractor yet, the New John Deere 9RX Series Tractor. Nothing Runs Like a Deere™.

JohnDeere.ca

64301-5_9RX_Intro_1p_CA.indd 1

10/28/15 1:45 AM

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

New barley director elected

Tingley’s joins forces with JCB

Two directors have been acclaimed and one farmer elected as a director-at-large following Alberta Barley’s 2015 regional meetings. Region 5 director Bryan Adam (Stony Plain) and Region 6 director Gerald Finster (Valleyview) will return for a second term, while Shane DeBock (Barrhead) will replace Richard Mueller (Barrhead) as director-at-large, who will finish his second three-year term this month. DeBock grew up on a family farm near Barrhead and returned to farming with his father six years ago. The directors’ terms officially commence on Dec. 10. — Alberta Barley release

Tingley’s Harvest Center is partnering with JCB and its dealerships in North Battleford and Lloydminster will now be called Tingley’s JCB. The business was founded in 2002 by Shane Tingley as a full-service CLAAS dealership. In addition to combines, forage harvesters, balers, hay tools, seeding and tillage implements, the dealership will now carry JCB’s articulated telehandlers, skid steers, wheel loaders, excavators, tractors, and track loaders. Partnering with JCB will “provide our customers with the most productive agricultural equipment in the industry,” said Tingley. — JCB release

HEARTLAND

Manitoba precision ag company has global plans Started in a basement in a small town a decade ago, Farmers Edge aims to manage 35 million acres by 2021 BY ALLAN DAWSON Staff / Winnipeg

any farmers are already using big data to improve productivity without even realizing it, says the co-founder of one of the fastestgrowing precision agriculture services firms on the continent. “They’re doing it in the coffee shops,” said Wade Barnes, CEO of Farmers Edge. But while sharing yield data over coffee is often about bragging rights, Farmers Edge is aiming to make that info bankable. The Manitoba company — founded in a basement in Pilot Mound (population 700) — a decade ago captures farmer’s own field-centric data, analyzing it, and then helps the farmer build a recipe that cuts input costs while increasing yields. Farmers Edge now manages four million acres in Canada, the U.S., Australia, Brazil and Russia, but is shooting for 35 million by 2021. “We’re just getting started,” said Patrick Crampton, Farmers Edge’s chief products officer. “At the end of it, agriculture is just math, but you’ve got to have the right data feeding into the model or you’re not going to get the right answers. “By using data science we can

provide a farmer with a recommendation that has probabilities around it. You can’t guarantee the weather. You can take the history of the farm, the view of where the weather is, forecasts, and apply these models. You can give them a scientific recommendation with risk associated to it so they can make an informed decision.” Too many farmers still take their agronomic cues from neighbours, said Barnes. He points to a large Saskatchewan farmer who told Barnes that he needed another agronomist — not a data system — “because I didn’t spray my lentils on time.” The farmer didn’t spray on time because he was waiting for his neighbours to spray first, and they were probably waiting for him, Barnes said. “If one alpha farmer is making that mistake, multiple people are making that mistake,” he said. As an agronomist, Barnes used to think models, including those used to make fertilizer recommendations, didn’t work. The problem wasn’t the models, it was the data going into them. “Good data going into a computer model works,” he said. That’s why industry giants like Monsanto have entered the fray, which was a wake-up call for his company, he added. Initially, Farmers Edge focused on variable-rate fertilizer, plus a

“By using data science we can provide a farmer with a recommendation that has probabilities around it.” Patrick Crampton

la carte offerings. To better compete, that business model has been revamped by focusing on adding value to farmers’ operations at an affordable price. “We stripped away every part of our product offering that wasn’t scalable and didn’t meet the needs of farmers around the world and… distilled it into five precision solution offerings,” Crampton said in a presentation at the recent Agri-Innovations Forum. “We are selling the same offerings in Brazil as we are in Russia as we are in the U.S., Canada and Australia — because it fits every farmer.” At the core of its services is a package called Smart Solutions, which includes a weather station for every 2,500 acres of land, soil sampling, remote imagery every six days during the growing season, and CanPlug telematics,

which the firm uses to collect data from every field operation then processes and analyzes it. That package costs $1.95 an acre. An extra $2 more an acre adds a variable-rate fertility program. But to get that price, a farmer must sign up all his or her entire acres for four years. That helps keep costs down but also allows the company to refine its offerings to customers as it collects consecutive years of data. Monsanto is formidable competition, but Crampton said Farmers Edge has some competitive advantages having grown “from the ground up” in Western Canada. The key is offering something that isn’t too complex and offers good return on investment, he said. “We have the 20-minute rule,” Crampton said. “If you can’t fix that farmer’s problem in 20 min-

utes he’ll pull the card out of the monitor and he’ll flat rate (fertilizer) and do what he did last year because it worked. We’re trying to make them better, but it has to be easy and it has to have support to make it work.” The company also has two important patents. One prohibits any other company from making fertilizer recommendations based on yield maps combined with remote sensing photographs, Barnes said. The patent, which expires in five years, was purchased from Mosaic. The other, which is pending, allows Farmers Edge to calibrate other combine yield monitors from an already calibrated monitor, while still having each combine track the yield it collected separately. “Yields from yield monitors are notoriously inaccurate,” Crampton said. “We believe we have the most accurate yield maps in the industry.” To fund its global expansion, the company has sought venture capital and obtained an undisclosed amount from Silicon Valley’s Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers a year ago. The firm has invested in such giants as Google, Amazon, Uber and Spotify, and counts former U.S. vice-president Al Gore as a partner. allan@fbcpublishing.com

Your local UFA Cardlock now accepts Interac at the pump. You can now use your debit card with your Fuel Link card. Sign up for your Fuel Link card today; call 1-877-NO-1-FUEL (1-877-661-3835) or visit us online at UFAPetro.com.

12744_UFA DebitCard_Launch_10_25x5.14in.indd 1

2015-10-28 8:41 AM

DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Ripe kiwifruit comes at a premium New Zealand made kiwifruit a global hit, but now it’s battling international competition and a major disease threat BY SHANNON VANRAES Staff

omehow, the name Chinese gooseberry didn’t quite fit the bill for a fruit grown in New Zealand. Was it a real gooseberry? Was it from China? Was it subject to berry tariffs or possibly a melon tax? These were the questions that plagued the furry brown fruit until 1959 when producer Jack Turner suggested rechristening Hayward’s Chinese gooseberry as kiwifruit. There was only one problem. “It didn’t become part of our intellectual property,” said Mark Gardiner of Whitehall Fruit Packers, New Zealand’s largest producer of organic kiwifruit. “It’s a pity we didn’t make use of that… now just everyone has kiwifruit, Italy and Chile and everywhere, even though that particular cultivar came from New Zealand.” In fact, New Zealand is no longer even the world’s largest kiwifruit producer — Italy is. But that doesn’t mean New Zealand growers, who sell through a single-desk system under the brand name Zespri, are letting go of the country’s namesake fruit. Zespri has partnerships with growers in Italy, France, Japan, South Korea and Australia. It has also trademarked and protected new golden varieties of the kiwifruit to ensure it can capitalize on future growth in the industry by protecting intellectual property.

Kiwifruit grower Mark Gardiner at his orchard near Hamilton, New Zealand. Photo: Shannon VanRaes Currently, Zespri’s biggest competition comes from Chile. “Its cost of production is somewhere close to 50 per cent of ours,” said Zespri chief operating officer Simon Limmer. But he added the Chilean threat doesn’t just come on the basis of price and market share. Limmer said the biggest danger with kiwifruit from Chile is that it could turn people off from the fruit altogether as a result of different harvesting and shipping practices that see fruit hit grocery store shelves before it’s actually ripe and ready to eat.

“If you have that bad eating experience of a sour green, hard kiwifruit… you don’t come back in a hurry,” he said, adding that Zespri kiwifruit are sold at premium that works to guarantee only ripe, sweet fruit make it to market. Innovative packaging that cradles the fruit is also used to ensure it survives shipping — some packaging also includes a tiny spoon and knife combination, in addition to instructions on how to best eat the fruit’s bright flesh. About seven per cent of Zespri’s revenue goes back into marketing, Limmer said.

“The real focus is on taste and on nutrition,” he said, adding they are also working on inroads to Chinese markets. Not surprisingly, the Chinese gooseberry is widely grown in China, but the country doesn’t export and there is a growing opportunity there for premium products. But in the short term, the biggest issue facing New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry is PSA, or Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae. The bacterial disease wiped out 100 per cent of the fruit’s golden variety in Italy by 2011, only three years after being discovered there.

It then destroyed 90 per cent of the golden orchards in New Zealand. The industry is rebuilding with a new, resistant golden kiwifruit variety. But Gardiner said living with the disease has become a reality. “It’s still a challenge, right now we’ve got people out there cutting out vines, and cutting out bits and pieces that have PSA,” he said, adding the new variety combined with fresh approaches to biosecurity and disease removal have been key to recovering. “In New Zealand, people think about biosecurity all the time — but really only when coming and going from the country,” said Shane Max, Zespri’s orchard productivity manager. “With PSA people had to think about it going from one orchard to another, they had to suit up to visit a neighbour… and that was all new.” While orchards are recovering, the costs of dealing with PSA are still cutting into grower income. Gardiner said as a larger producer, he has the scale to keep making a living, but that some smaller producers left the industry. Despite the setback, New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry has still doubled production over the last 15 years. The last season saw 2,500 growers produce 450,000 tonnes of kiwifruit on about 3,000 orchards, mostly in the Bay of Plenty region, and Zespri now sells in more than 50 countries. shannon.vanraes@fbcpublishing.com

What’s on the horizon in agriculture? Watch This Country Called Agriculture and be informed. This Country Called Agriculture is a new on-demand video series that delivers relevant news & information on the agriculture industry. Host Rob Eirich interviews ag pioneers, professionals and academics that oﬀer insight into today’s trends and what the future holds for agriculture – on and oﬀ the farm. Video topics include:  Sustainability  Starting a new farm

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

New ‘superbug’ gene resistant to antibiotics alarms experts Heavy use of colistin in China may be the cause and experts say there must be a quick end to ‘all unnecessary use’ BY KATE KELLAND London / Reuters

new gene that makes bacteria highly resistant to a lastresort class of antibiotics has been found in people and pigs in China — including in samples of bacteria with epidemic potential. The discovery was described as “alarming” by scientists, who called for urgent restrictions on the use of polymyxins, a class of antibiotics that includes the drug colistin and is widely used in livestock farming. “All use of polymyxins must be minimized as soon as possible and all unnecessary use stopped,”

said Laura Piddock, a professor of microbiology at Britain’s Birmingham University. Chinese researchers found the gene, called mcr-1, on plasmids — mobile DNA that can be easily copied and transferred between different bacteria. This suggests “an alarming potential” for it to spread and diversify between bacterial populations, they said. The team already has evidence of the gene being transferred between common bacteria such as E. coli, which causes urinary tract and many other types of infection, and Klesbsiella pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia and other infections.

“All use of polymyxins must be minimized as soon as possible and all unnecessary use stopped.” Laura Piddock

This suggests “the progression from extensive drug resistance to pandrug resistance is inevitable,” T:10.25”

the researchers said. “Although currently confined to China, mcr-1 is likely to emulate other resistance genes… and spread worldwide.” The discovery of the spreading mcr-1 resistance gene echoes news from 2010 of another socalled “superbug” gene, NDM-1, which emerged in India and rapidly spread around the world. Piddock and others said global surveillance for mcr-1 resistance is now essential to try to prevent the spread of polymyxin-resistant bacteria. China is one of the world’s largest users and producers of colistin for agriculture and veterinary use. Worldwide demand for the anti-

biotic in agriculture is expected to reach almost 12,000 tonnes per year by the end of 2015, rising to 16,500 tonnes by 2021. For the China study, researchers collected bacteria samples from pigs at slaughter across four provinces, and from pork and chicken sold in 30 open markets and 27 supermarkets in Guangzhou between 2011 and 2014. They also analyzed bacteria from patients with infections at two hospitals in Guangdong and Zhejiang. They found a high prevalence of the mcr-1 gene in E. coli samples from animals and raw meat. Worryingly, the proportion of positive samples increased from year to year, they said.

T:11.4286”

BayerCropScience.ca/InVigor or 1 888-283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative. Always read and follow label directions. InVigor® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group. Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Three tips for feeding heated canola seed Mouldy seed should be tested, it can gum up a mill, and don’t put too much in a ration Alberta Agriculture and Forestry release

hen it comes to feeding heated canola seed to ruminant animals such as cattle or sheep, there are a few things to keep in mind. “Canola seed that is heated might be discoloured and have a smell to it, but can still be used,” said provincial beef forage specialist Barry Yaremcio. “If there is a lot of mould, you should have it evaluated before you feed it, but most of the time it can be used in rations.” Protein content ranges from 20 to 24 per cent, while energy content is higher than barley due to the amount of oil (115 per

cent total digestible nutrients versus 83 per cent for barley). “ T h i s m e a n s t h a n f e e ding one pound of canola seed could replace about 1.5 pounds of barley in the ration,” said Yaremcio. Processing through a roller mill or a hammer mill can be a problem due to the high oil content, which can gum up the rollers or the hammers and screens. “However, research from the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission indicates that digestibility and energy of the whole seed is only 10 per cent less than the processed version,” he said. The biggest concern with the canola seed is the high fat content, which can be up to 42 per cent. “If you exceed a total of six per cent fat in a beef ration

it can interfere with the rumen function,” said Yaremcio. “Even though the rumen turns properly, the rumen material does not. Feed intakes go down and chances of bloat go up.” It’s recommended that rations contain no more than three pounds of canola seed per day for mature cows and about 1.5 pounds for 800-weight backgrounding calves. “However, you can’t just start with three pounds,” said Yaremcio. “You should feed one pound for three to five days and watch the manure and make sure everything is normal. “For the next five days, go up to two pounds, and then after the full 10 days go to the full three pounds for the cows. The incremental increase is the same for the steers.”

Heated canola seed can work well in rations, but the high fat content means it has to be used sparingly. fILE pHOTO

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Stretching your winter feed dollar Ration-balancing program designed to reduce costs while improving herd nutrition Alberta Agriculture and Forestry release

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Forage prices are high, and that makes the ration-balancing program CowByte$ all the more valuable, says a provincial forage specialist. “When feed costs make up approximately 70 per cent of the variable cost of keeping a cow over winter, anything that can be done to reduce costs improves net profit,” said Barry Yaremcio. “For every $1 winter feed costs are reduced, net return or benefit to the operation is $4.28.” Cowbyte$ allows producers to make the best use of their own feed and reduce feed purchases, he said. And alternative feeds or byproducts can not only reduce winter feeding costs, but improve nutrition, he added. Providing a cost-efficient balanced ration also impacts cow productivity. “Pregnant and lactating cows that have an adequate ration that meets nutritional requirements impacts milk production and reproductive performance in the next breeding season,” said Yaremcio. “Having more cows conceive earlier in the breeding season increases the number of calves available to sell (and possibly larger calves) which increases total income.” Cowbyte$ is compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 operating systems. It can also be run on a Mac in conjunction with Boot Camp, Parallels, Fusion or Crossover. The program costs $50 and can be found at www.agriculture.alberta.ca (search for ‘cowbytes’).

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

USED FARM EQUIPMENT *For commercial use only. Offer subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. See your New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. CNH Industrial Capital Canada Ltd. standard terms and conditions will apply. Depending on model, a down payment may be required. Offer good through December 31, 2015, at participating New Holland dealers in Canada. Offer subject to change. Taxes, freight, set-up, delivery, additional options or attachments not included in price. © 2015 CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. All rights reserved. New Holland Agriculture is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. CNH Industrial Capital is a trademark in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates.

AIR DRILL Bourgault 3310, 2011 ..................... $158,000 Bourgault 3310, 2009 ..................... $148,000 Bourgault 3710, 2013 ..................... $198,000 Bourgault 3710-50, 2012 ............... $159,000 Bourgault 5710, 2008 ..................... $108,000 Bourgault 5710, 2002 ....................... $55,800 Bourgault 5710, 1997 ....................... $48,000 Bourgault 5710, 1998 ....................... $59,900 Flexi-Coil 5000/3450, 2003 ............. $89,000 Flexi-Coil 6000 / 3450, 2002 ......... $115,000 Flexi-Coil P2060, 2010 ..................... $68,000 NH SD550, 2008 ............................. $59,000

AIR TANK/CART

Bourgault 3225, ................................ $13,500 Bourgault 3320/L6550, 2013 ......... $289,000 Bourgault 5440, 2001 ....................... $48,000 Bourgault 6450, 2010 ..................... $108,000 Bourgault 6450, 2012 ..................... $125,000 Bourgault 6650, 2010 ..................... $115,000 Bourgault L6550, 2009 ................... $105,000 Bourgault L6550, 2011 ................... $105,000 Bourgault L6550, 2009 ................... $105,000 Bourgault LFC2000, 2000 ................... $8,200 Case IH ATX700/3430, 2007 ............ $79,000 Flexi-Coil 3450, 2001 ....................... $39,500 Flexi-Coil 3450, 2000 ..................... $115,000

BALER/ROUND

Case IH RBX562, 2004 12600 Bales .. $13,800 NH BR7090, 2009 ............................ $29,800 NH BR780, 2003 .............................. $11,800 NH BR780, 2003 ................................ $7,900 NH BR780, 2005 .............................. $13,500 NH BR780A, 2006 ........................... $14,500

BLADE Leon Q5000, 2012 ........................... $33,000 Leon Q5000, 2013 ........................... $33,000 Leon Q5000, 2013 ........................... $33,000

COMBINE

AGCO Gleaner S77, 2012 Eng Hrs: 423 Sep Hrs: 323 ....................... $298,000 AGCO Gleaner S77, 2012 Eng Hrs: 446 Sep Hrs: 346 ....................... $298,000 Case IH 2388, 2000 Eng Hrs: 1986 ... $58,000 Case IH 8010, 2000 Eng Hrs: 1728 Sep Hrs: 1322 ............................ $189,000 Claas 760, 2013 Eng Hrs: 361 Sep Hrs: 233 .................................... $389,000 John Deere 9860STS, 2005 Eng Hrs: 1497 .................................. $148,000 John Deere 9860STS, 2007 Eng Hrs: 1627 Sep Hrs: 1161 ............ $208,000 NH CR8090, 2012 Sep Hrs: 480 ..... $339,000 NH CR9070, 2007 Eng Hrs: 1710 Sep Hrs: 1253 ............................ $179,000 NH CR9070, 2008 Eng Hrs: 1489 Sep Hrs: 1020 ............................ $195,000 NH CR9070, 2008 ......................... $179,000 NH CR9070, 2008 Eng Hrs: 1434 Sep Hrs: 1023 ............................ $189,500

NH CR9070, 2010 Eng Hrs: 1616 Sep Hrs: 1190 ............................ $189,000 NH CR9070, 2010 Eng Hrs: 1655 Sep Hrs: 1239 ............................ $189,000 NH CR9070, 2007 Eng Hrs: 948 Sep Hrs: 780 .............................. $198,000 NH CR9070, 2009 Sep Hrs: 920 ..... $239,000 NH CR9070, 2010 Eng Hrs: 1654 Sep Hrs: 1240 ............................ $189,000 NH CR9080, 2011 Eng Hrs: 1067 Sep Hrs: 824 .............................. $289,000 NH CR9080, 2011 Eng Hrs: 945 Sep Hrs: 692 .............................. $309,000 NH CR9080, 2009 Eng Hrs: 1347 Sep Hrs: 980 .............................. $249,000 NH CR9090, 2012 Eng Hrs: 860 Sep Hrs: 630 .............................. $359,000 NH CR9090, 2012 Eng Hrs: 546 ..... $369,000 NH CR9090, 2010 Eng Hrs: 1165 Sep Hrs: 796 .............................. $318,000 NH CR9090, 2012 Eng Hrs: 635 Sep Hrs: 458 .............................. $369,000 NH CR9090, 2011 Eng Hrs: 1069 Sep Hrs: 827 .............................. $308,000 NH CR9090, 2012 Eng Hrs: 677 Sep Hrs: 542 .............................. $369,000 NH CR970, 2005 Eng Hrs: 2459 Sep Hrs: 1821 ............................ $138,000 NH CR970, 2005 ........................... $138,000 NH CR970, 2006 Eng Hrs: 1400 Sep Hrs: 1100 ............................ $178,000 NH CR970, 2006 Eng Hrs: 1547 Sep Hrs: 1219 ............................ $189,500 NH CR970, 2006 Eng Hrs: 1861 Sep Hrs: 1300 ............................ $169,500 NH CX8080, 2012 Eng Hrs: 1029 Sep Hrs: 836 .............................. $289,000 NH CX8080, 2007 Eng Hrs: 1002 Sep Hrs: 785 .............................. $189,000 NH CX8080, 2012 Eng Hrs: 977 Sep Hrs: 790 .............................. $289,000 NH CX8080, 2008 Eng Hrs: 2009 Sep Hrs: 1522 ............................ $238,000 NH CX8080, 2008 Eng Hrs: 2005 Sep Hrs: 1538 ............................ $238,000 NH CX840, 2002 Eng Hrs: 3700 Sep Hrs: 2500 .............................. $78,000 NH TR98, 1997 Eng Hrs: 3058 Sep Hrs: 2357 .................................... $28,000 NH TR98, 1997 Eng Hrs: 2740 Sep Hrs: 1934 .................................... $48,000 NH TR98, 1996 Eng Hrs: 2931 Sep Hrs: 2211 .................................... $39,000 NH TX36, 1993 Eng Hrs: 3079 .......... $25,000 NH TX66, 1997 Eng Hrs: 3754 Sep Hrs: 2781 .................................... $38,500 NH TX66, 1998 Eng Hrs: 3438 Sep Hrs: 2643 .................................... $39,500 NH TX66, 1999 ................................ $48,000 NH TX66, 1996 Eng Hrs: 2796 Sep Hrs: 2188 .................................... $48,000

DEEP TILLAGE

SPRAYER

FEED WAGON

SPRAYER/HIGH CLEARANCE

Mandako MT3620RB, 2013 .............. $65,000 Flexi-Coil S65, 1993 ........................... $7,900 DISK Flexi-Coil S67, 2003 ......................... $19,500 Kello-Bilt 225, 2004 .......................... $15,800 NH SF115, 2008 .............................. $24,900 Cattlelac 330, 2002 .......................... $18,500 Case IH Patriot 3320, 2008 Eng Flexi-Coil 2320, 1995 ....................... $13,500 Hrs: 3030 .................................. $148,000 Lucknow 285, 2003 .......................... $12,800 John Deere 4830, 2011 Eng Hrs: 1820 ....... $0 FIELD CULTIVATOR Valmar 3255, 2014 .......................... $12,800 NH SP240F, 2011 Eng Hrs: 747 Spray Hours: 542 ....................... $268,000 GRAIN AUGER RoGator 1396, 2011 Eng Hrs: 900 .. $288,000 Brandt 1390, 2001 ............................. $9,000 NuVision 5395, 2010 ....................... $21,000 SWATHER

GRAIN VAC

MacDon 6030, 2009 ................................. $0 REM Mfg 3700, 2008 ....................... $22,000 MacDon M105, 2013 Hours: 170 .... $138,000 HARROW MacDon M150, 2010 Hours: 950 .... $109,500 Bourgault 6000, 2007 ....................... $25,000 MacDon M150, 2009 Hours: 911 ...... $89,000 HARROW HEAVY MacDon M150, 2011 Hours: 871 .... $125,000 Bourgault 7200, 2011 ....................... $47,000 Massey Ferguson 9740, 2012 ........... $98,000 Degelman 7000, 1995 ...................... $28,000 NH H8060, 2010 ............................. $89,000 Riteway 8100, 2010 ......................... $36,000 Premier 2952, 2003 Hours: 2098 ...... $48,000 HEADER COMBINE Westward 9352, 2005 Hours: 1450 .. $69,000 Honey Bee HB36, 2008 ..................... $48,000 Honey Bee SP25, 1996 ..................... $18,500 TILLER Honey Bee SP36, 1994 ..................... $19,500 Buhler C2540, 1988 ........................... $1,600 John Deere 936D, 2008 .................... $39,900 TRACTOR MacDon FD70-40, 2012 ................... $78,000 MacDon FD70-45, 2011 ................... $75,000 Case IH 7240, 1995 Eng Hrs: 5863 ... $49,500 MacDon FD75 -35, 2013 .................. $78,000 John Deere 4850, 1986 Eng Hrs: 11460 ......................................... $58,000 Massey Ferguson 5100-35, 2010 ...... $58,000 NH 88C-36, 2006 ............................ $58,000 Kubota M135 - LDR, 2014 Eng Hrs: NH 88C-42, 2009 ............................ $68,000 1150 ........................................... $78,000 NH 94C-30, 2008 ............................ $39,500 McCormick TTX230, 2009 Eng Hrs: NH 94C-30, 2009 ............................ $39,800 1640 ........................................... $99,000 NH 94C-36, 2008 ............................ $49,500 NH 8970, 1994 Eng Hrs: 9250 ......... $48,000 NH 94C-36, 2003 ............................ $39,500 NH 994-30, 2000 ............................ $38,000 NH T6030 - LDR, 2009 Eng Hrs: 4550 $89,000 NH 994-30, 1999 ............................ $29,500 NH T7.170 - LDR, 2011 Eng Hrs: NH 994-36, 1998 ............................ $19,000 1850 ......................................... $119,000 NH 994-36, 1998 ............................ $19,000 NH T7.270 AutoCommand - LDR, NH HB30, 2006 ............................... $26,000 2011 Eng Hrs: 2360 ................... $178,000 NH SP30, 1998 ................................ $28,500 NH TG210, 2004 Eng Hrs: 5845 ................ $0 NH SP30, 1994 .................................. $9,800 NH SP30, 1992 .................................. $5,800 NH TM125 - LDR, 2001 Eng Hrs: 7435 ........................................... $48,000 HEADER DRAPER MacDon 960, 1998 .......................... $25,000 NH TV6070 - LDR, 2009 ................... $89,000 MacDon 960, 1998 ............................ $9,500 NH TV6070 - LDR, 2009 Eng Hrs: 4660 ........................................... $95,000 LAWN TRACTOR Husqvarna 2754GLS, 2008 Hour NH TV6070 - LDR, 2008 Eng Hrs: Meter: 99.9Hours ........................... $2,200 4555 ........................................... $79,500

HAYBINE

John Deere 1600, 1992 ...................... $5,800 MacDon 5010, 2000 ........................ $12,000 MacDon R85, 2012 ................................... $0 NH 1475, 2006 ............................... $21,500 NH 2216, 1995 ................................. $7,500 NH 2216, 1995 ................................. $9,500 NH 2300, 2000 ............................... $10,500 NH H7150 / HS16, 2010 .......................... $0 NH H7460, 2013 ............................. $37,500 NH H7560, 2012 ............................. $28,000 NH HS18, 2006 ............................... $24,500

TRACTOR 4WD Buhler Versatile 500, 2012 Eng Hrs: 925 ........................................... $285,000 Case IH STX535Q, 2009 Eng Hrs: 3103 ......................................... $278,000 NH T9.615, 2014 Eng Hrs: 1263 ..... $338,000 NH T9.615, 2012 Eng Hrs: 2706 ..... $259,000 NH TJ450, 2002 Eng Hrs: 9000 ...... $138,000

VERTICAL TILLAGE Salford 570 RTS, 2010 ...................... $68,000

BOX 89, PARADISE HILL, SK. S0M 2G0

1-306-344-4448 • 1-877-344-4433

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DECEMBER 7, 2015 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Community news and events from across the province

Busy Ponoka couple captures national honours

what’s

Send agriculture-related meeting and event announcements to: glenn.cheater@fbcpublishing.com Dec. 8: Farm and Ranch Townhall Session on Bill 6, Hall A Social Centre, Vegreville (also Dec. 9 in Olds and Dec. 14 in Athabasca). Contact: Dean 310-3276 Dec. 8: Working Well Workshop, Sedalia (also Dec. 8 in County of Wetaskiwin). Contact: Heather Dickau 780-352-3321, x 2270 Dec. 8-9: Farming Smarter Conference, Lethbridge Coast Hotel & Conference Centre, Lethbridge. Contact: Jamie 403381-5118 Dec. 8-10: Western Canadian Conference on Soil Health, Radisson Inn, Edmonton. Contact: ARECA 780-612-9712 Dec. 15: Trends and Trade Opportunities in Beef Markets, Athabasca & District Agriculture Society, Athabasca. Contact: Megan 780-349-3202 Dec. 15-16: The Hedging Edge Commodity Marketing Course, Holiday Inn, Red Deer. Contact: Rick Taillieu 780-678-6167

Patrick and Cherylynn Bos worked with companies from Holland, Israel, and Ponoka to create the most technologically advanced goat-milking parlour in North America. PHOTO: ROCK RIDGE DAIRY BY GLENN CHEATER AF EDITOR

am packed doesn’t begin to describe it. On Nov. 20 in Edmonton, Patrick and Cherylynn Bos were named co-winners of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers award. Then it was back to Rock Ridge Dairy near Ponoka to fire up the most technologically advanced goat-milking parlour on the continent and train 700 skeptical does to use the parlour. And then the couple hosted a meeting of dairy goat producers from across Alberta and B.C. — part of their ongoing effort to grow the western Canadian dairy goat industry. Sharing the Outstanding Young Farmers national award (with Ontario hog producers Amy and Mike Cronin) was “humbling,” said Cherylynn. “We were with some amazing people and I don’t think you can say one couple was more deserving than any other,” she said. “You could have put all the names in a hat, swished them around, and pulled two out and we all would have been fine with that because everyone was really outstanding.” The couple began farming 18 years ago, purchased their first milking goats in 1999, and began milking for a Ponoka-based processing company while also working off the farm. In 2004 the plant closed, and it was touch and go whether they could pay the bills and continue farming. “We were there for a long time in our first years,” said Patrick. “But we always tried to look at the situation without blinders on and say, ‘These are the good things and these are the bad things. What can we do to build on the good things and overcome the bad ones?’”

The couple eventually decided to build a goat milk- and cheeseprocessing facility on the farm, and their milk and cheese are now sold through major grocery chains across Western Canada under various labels as well under the Rock Ridge brand. The new milking parlour was also a result of regularly assessing what’s working and what isn’t. The couple, who has four children, want to expand production but milking 700 goats twice a day in their old parlour was already an exhausting nine-hour process. The original plan was to buy a system from Europe. “This was something we’d be using for 25 years and when I looked at the systems out there, none of them had everything I wanted,” said Patrick. They ended up working with a Ponoka company to modify a Dutch system using new software developed by an Israeli firm. The system was ready to go in early November, but commissioning was delayed for the five days of the Outstanding Young Farmers event. The parlour, which can milk 900 goats an hour, was “running flawlessly,” Cherylynn said after the first week of operation. “Now we just have to convince the goats to co-operate just a little bit more,” she said, adding every single goat had to be led into the parlour on Day 1 but were catching on by week’s end. “Goats can be very sweet and cooperative just like dogs, but they can also have a lot of attitude.” The farmers they met in both the regional and national Outstanding Young Farmers events also have an attitude, one that Patrick described as, ‘Don’t tell me I can’t do something. Let’s find a way to do it.’ “It makes you look at your whole business with different eyes, and

2016 Jan. 12: Pricing Principles (for retail sales), Agri-Food Business Centre, Leduc (also Jan. 14 in Airdrie). Contact: Ag-Info Centre 1-800-387-6030 Jan. 12: Hortsnacks @ Night - Human Resources, Chinook Honey, Okotoks. Contact: Ag-Info Centre 1-800-387-6030 (also Jan. 13 at Arber Greenhouses, Wetaskiwin and Jan. 20 at Green Island Garden Centre, Fairview) Jan. 14-16 and 21-23: Holistic Management Course with Don Campbell, Valleyview Ag-Plex, Valleyview (also Jan. 28-30 ad Feb. 4-6 in Demmitt). Contact: Stacy 780-835-6799 Jan. 19: FCC Ag Outlook 2016, Centennial Civic Centre, Strathmore. Contact: Farm Credit Canada 1-888-332-3301 Jan. 19-20: Agronomy Update 2016, Sheraton Red Deer Hotel, Red Deer. Contact: Ag-Info Centre 1-800-387-6030 Jan. 19-20: Irrigated Crop Production Update - 2016, Lethbridge Lodge Hotel, Lethbridge. Contact: Ag-Info Centre 1-800-387-6030 Jan. 20: Marketing Made Easy, West River’s Edge, Fort Saskatchewan. Contact: Eileen Kotowich 780-853-8223

Adelle Bos brought her mom Cherylynn a napkin to wipe her tears after she and Patrick were named co-winners of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers award. PHOTO: BRUCE SARGEANT makes you think more about your future, where you’re heading, and why you’re heading that way,” said Cherylynn. “Even though their farms are different, they approach

things with great enthusiasm and innovative ideas that you can apply to your own business.” glenn.cheater@fbcpublishing.com

Jan. 23: Ladies Livestock Lessons, Weedon Pioneer Community Hall, Cochrane. Contact: Carrie 403-335-3311 x 204 Feb. 10: Getting Into Farmers’ Markets, Peace River Provincial Building, Peace River. Contact: Eileen Kotowich 780-853-8223

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 7, 2015

A trip to a youth conference changes farm girl’s view of the world Bailey Gitzel wanted a life away from agriculture but now has a mission to help feed the world BY LORRAINE STEVENSON Staff / Winkler, Man.

ou learn a lot growing up on a farm. Manitoba farm girl Bailey Gitzel jokes she’s already starting to look back to when she was “a kid with too many chickens.” “I’ve had some life-changing experiences between then and now,” said the 17-year-old student from Graysville in the south-central part of the province. Her foray into poultry at age 13 became the catalyst for two other farm ventures, honey production and selling her baking as ‘The Farmer’s Daughter’ vendor at a farmers’ market. Those experiences taught her a lot about the world of business, including supply and demand. “I miscalculated how many chickens a family of five needed — we were overrun with eggs and giving them to anyone who wanted some,” she said at the recent Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference here. This ‘farmer’s daughter’ has had some more recent opportunities to

Manitoba student Bailey Gitzel decided on a career in agriculture after attending a conference on global hunger. She lives on a farm with parents Robyn and Glennis, and two younger brothers. PHOTO: LORRAINE STEVENSON take in national and international events that are helping to shape her future. This fall, Gitzel took part in an international student delegation attending the World Food Prize’s Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, Iowa. The event attracted 1,300 people from more than 60 countries to discuss global hunger and food security issues. The presentations opened her eyes, said Gitzel, who was able to hear speakers and presentations

from some of the world leaders in industry, science, and policy. “It was an amazing experience to meet leaders from around the world who are having an impact on global food security and to hear some of the stories about how one person has had an impact on others’ lives,” said Gitzel, who is president of her school’s student council and local 4-H Beef Club. But the highlight was a simple, symbolic meal that brought to life the reality of hunger and poverty. “That experience came during the

Oxfam Hunger Banquet. During the banquet participants were asked to step into someone else’s shoes for one meal. I was a part of the poorest of the poor.” It meant sitting on the floor eating a single handful of rice from a shared bowl while others milled around eating a meal that was much more filling. “Others had rice and chicken,” she said. “The wealthiest people of the exercise got a three-course meal.” That made the hunger statistics come to life, she told her pin-drop quiet audience in Winkler. “I’ve read statistics about hunger and they’ve had little meaning to me,” she said. “But as I sat there I had a new perspective. The hunger statistics weren’t just words to me anymore. I was able to see how, in other parts of the world, people struggle to even have food every day. I realized how privileged I was to be able to say I haven’t gone hungry. “I’m just a farm girl from rural Manitoba but it’s my generation that will be feeding the people of the future. I want to help.” The Grade 12 student plans to

study plant biotechnology at university, a decision she made after attending a Grow Canada Conference in Ottawa last year. She had planned to study medicine, but the conference opened her eyes to how diverse and wide the careers are in agriculture. “I feel that nowadays not all young people are looking to agriculture for their future, and especially a lot of kids who see their families struggle and so they want to get away from the farm,” she said. “I definitely didn’t realize that I could study science at such a high level and still be in agriculture. Agriculture today is so much more than just farming and there’s so many different areas in agriculture it’s easy for young people to find something they find interesting.” She’s grateful to have those experiences, combined with a homegrown education as a young farm entrepreneur, Gitzel said. “Growing up on the farm has allowed me to have some incredible opportunities,” she said. “I’m very proud that I come from a farm.” lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

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ORGANIC Organic_Certified_ Organic_Food_ Organic_Grains_ Outfitters_ Personal_ Pest_Control Pets_&_Supplies_ Photography_ Propane_ Pumps_ Radio,_TV_&_Satellite_ REAl ESTATE Commercial_Buildings_ Condos_ Cottages_&_Lots_ Houses_&_Lots_ Land_For_Rent_ Land_For_Sale_ Mobile_Homes_ Motels_&_Hotels_ Resorts Vacation_Property_ Farms & Ranches British_Columbia_ Alberta_ Saskatchewan_ Manitoba_ Acreages/Hobby_Farms_ Farms/Ranches_Wanted_ Pastureland_ RECREATIONAl VEhIClES All_Terrain_Vehicles_ Boats_&_Water_ Campers_&_Trailers_ Golf_Carts_ Motor_Homes_ Motorcycles_ Snowmobiles Recycling Refrigeration Restaurant_Supplies Sausage_Equipment_ Sawmills_ Scales_

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BUILDING & RENOVATIONS BUILDING & RENOVATIONS Building Supplies YEAR END SALE: Ardox nails & fence staples 5016 Case, $30 plus tax or 4/$100, no tax. Phone:(780)542-5667.

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

HAYING & HARVESTING Various

RON SAUER

NH 358 MIXMILL W/BALE shredder, 1000 RPM, good shape, $5,000. (780)848-2529

STEEL STORAGE CONTAINERS, 20-ft & 40-ft. Wind, water & rodent proof. 1-866-517-8335, (403)540-4164, (403)226-1722 magnate@telus.net

BUSINESS SERVICES BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting

FARM CHEMICAL / SEED COMPLAINTS We also specialize in: agricultural complaints of any nature; Crop ins. appeals; Spray drift; Chemical failure; Residual herbicide; Custom operator issues; Equip. malfunctions. Licensed Agrologist on Staff. For assistance and compensation call

Back-Track InvesTIgaTIons

1-866-882-4779. www.backtrackcanada.com

FARM MACHINERY FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous 2004 ROGATER 1264, 1200-GAL., 80-ft outback auto steer, Raven auto rate, Raven GPS w/mapping, rear duals, 2 sets of tips, $63,000; 2007 Lexion 570W, 1420-sep hrs, Swath Master, chaff spreader, Outback autosteer, $100,000. 2006 Macdon 873 adaptor to fit on 500 series combine, $5,500; 2008 JD 568 mega-wide, kicker, JD moisture tester, inoculant tank, $3,345 bales. $27,000. Call:(403)665-2341, Craigmyle, AB. ACREAGE EQUIPMENT: 3-PT. CULTIVATORS, Discs, Plows, Blades, Harrows, Etc. (780)892-3092, Wabamun, AB.

25’ Hesston PT Swather ..........................................$3,000 25’ 725 CIH (MacDon) PT Swather .........................$3,000 40’ Morris 3100 Hoe Drills, mover and hitch ............$10,000 946 Versatile Ford Tractor, 5,000 hrs, 24.5 x 32 D....$50,000 265 MF Tractor & Loader, diesel, multi power, 3 pth, Eeze-On loader, looks & runs great ................... $13,000 B275 IHC Tractor & Loader .....................................$3,500 560 Hesston Round Baler, 1,000 PTO ................... $5,500 660 NH Round Baler, 540 pto, nice shape ..................$5,500 30’ 4590 EEZEON Double Disc, good condition .... $36,000 44’ 820 F.C. Deep Till Air Seeder, harrows ................. CALL 2320 F.C. TBH Air Tank, complete with 320 - 3rd tank ... CALL 40’ 340 F.C. Chisel Plow & 75 Packer Bar, P30’s... $30,000 Degelman Dozer Frame MF 4000 Series 4WD .....$1,000 41’ Flexicoil 300 B Chisel Plow, 3 bar harrows ..... $12,500 Flexicoil 6 Run Seed Treater....................................... $750 100’ 65XL Flexicoil Sprayer, complete with windguards, elec. end nozzles single tips, auto rate, excellent condition ... $12,500 29’ 225 DOW Kello- Bilt Tandem Disc, 28” smooth front & rear blades, 10.5” spacing, oil, bath bearings, as new .... $60,000 47’ 820 Flexicoil Chisel Plow, 4 bar harrows ......... $67,500 2009 GMC Topkick 20 ft. Grain Truck, automatic, silage gate, air ride suspension,approx. 7,000 kms ....$105,000 New E-Kay 7”, 8”, 9” Bin Sweeps available .......... CALL HD 8 x 1200 (39.37’) Sakundiak Grain Auger, E-Kay mover, belt tightener, spout, 20 HP Kohler, nice shape...$8,750 HD 8 x 1600 (53’) Sakundiak Grain Auger ..........$1,250 8” Wheat Heart Transfer Auger, hydraulic drive .......$1,500 New Outback RTK BASE stn............ Clearance Price - Call New Outback MAX & STX Guidance & mapping........In Stock New Outback E-Drive, TC’s......................................In Stock New Outback E-Drive X, c/w free E turns.................In Stock New Outback S-Lite guidance ...........**In Stock** $1250 New Outback VSI Steering Wheel Kits .................. In Stock Used Outback E-Drive Hyd. kits .................................. $500 **Outback GPS Systems, E-Kay Custom Augers, Movers, Clutches, Bin Sweeps & Crop Dividers, Kohler, Robin Subaru & Generac Engines, Headsight Harvesting Solutions, Greentronics Sprayer Auto Boom Height, Kello-Bilt Discs**

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Wanted WANTED: NH BALE WAGONS & retrievers, any condition. Farm Equipment Finding Service, P.O. Box 1363, Polson, MT 59860. (406)883-2118 WANTED: USED LOW HR self propelled forge harvester. Please contact Gord @ (780) 831-6872

HAYING & HARVESTING

REDUCED FARM ACREAGE. 1989 Chevy C-70 fuel truck, complete w/2,000-gal tank; REM 2500 grain vac, complete w/hoses, 549-hrs; 1999 8825 CIH 30-ft swather, 1,207-hrs; 1999 2388 CIH combine, 2,188 rotor hrs; 1984 4694 CIH, 4WD 12-spd, 7,574-hrs; 1990 976 Ford(Vers.), blue, 360-hwp, 9,798-hrs, 12-spd w/duals. Taking offers. Phone: (306)547-8337. Preeceville, SK.

WANTED: JD 7810 c/w FEL & 3-PTH; sp or PTO bale wagon; JD or IHC end wheel drills. Small square baler. (403)394-4401

TRACTORS Various

SPRAYING EQUIPMENT Sprayers

Combines

MACHINERY LTD. (403) 540-7691 ronsauer@shaw.ca

BUILDINGS

SPRAYING EQUIPMENT Sprayers

COMBINES Accessories RECONDITIONED COMBINE HEADERS. RIGID & flex, most makes & sizes; also header transports. Ed Lorenz, (306)344-4811 or Website: www.straightcutheaders.com Paradise Hill, SK.

TracTors TRACTORS Various JD 4230 loader available JD 4250 FWA, with 280 loader JD 4430 comes with loader JD 4440 comes with loader JD 4455, FWA, loader available JD 7600, FWA, loader available JD 7700, FWA, with loader 3 pth JD 7710 FWA, loader available JD 7720 FWA, loader available JD 7800 FWA, 740 loader with 3 pth Clamp on Duals, 20.8x38-18.4x38 FINANCE, TRADES WELCOME 780-696-3527, BRETON, AB

JD 9400, 9420, 9520, 8970 JD 9860, 9760, 9750, 9650, 9600 JD 9430, 9530, 9630 Case STX 375, 425, 430, 450, 480, 500, 530 CIH 8010-2388, 2188 combine CIH 435Q, 535Q, 450Q, 550Q, 600Q pto avail. JD 4710, 4720, 4730, 4830, 4920, 4930 SP sprayers JD 9770 & 9870 w/CM & duals CIH 3185, 3230, 3330, 4430, 4420 sprayers

S670/680/690 JD Combine low hrs 4730 JD Sprayer, 100 ft. 854 Rogator SP Sprayer, complete with JD auto steer, swath pro Special 450 CIH Quadtrac with big pump 554 Rogator Sprayer SP 4840 JD 2WD, low hours, new tires GOOD SELECTION OF JD & CASE SP SPRAYERS AND 4WD TRACTORS

“LIKE MANY BEFORE, WE’LL HAVE YOU SAYING THERE’S NO DEAL LIKE A KEN DEAL” • Phone: (403)330-7847 • Cell: (403)504-4929 • Email: kendeal@shaw.ca SPRAYING EQUIPMENT Sprayers

SPRAYING EQUIPMENT Sprayers

Go public with an ad in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. Phone 1-800-665-1362.

Big Tractor Parts, Watch your Inc. profits grow! Geared For The Future

STEIGER TRACTOR SPECIALIST

RED OR GREEN 1. 10-25% savings on new replacement parts for your Steiger drive train. 2. We rebuild axles, transmissions and dropboxes with ONE YEAR WARRANTY. 3. 50% savings on used parts.

HAYING & HARVESTING Baling Equipment

1-800-982-1769

Advertise with AFe Classifieds Place your ad today call

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www.bigtractorparts.com TRACTORS Various

TRACTORS Various

SPECIAL EDITION Manitoba Ag Days Taking place Jan. 19, 20 & 21, 2016 at the Brandon Keystone Centre

The Manitoba Co-operator is presenting a great opportunity for you to feature your business, products or booth at Manitoba Ag Days in the Jan. 7th edition. The Manitoba Ag Days Show is a winter indoor exposition of agricultural production expertise, technology, and equipment held in Brandon every January. The Show attracts exhibitors and visitors from across Canada and North Central United States and provides an annual opportunity for producers to comparison shop for everything they need for their agricultural operations.

DEADLINE: DEC. 21st · ISSUE DATE: JAN. 7th Contact your Manitoba Co-operator Sales representative to book your space today!

Terry McGarry Ph: 204-981-3730 Fax: 204-253-0879 Email: trmcgarr@mts.net

Warmer Winter, longer seasons

Butter is Back

David Phillips sees more climate change » PG 3

Consumption up six per cent last year » PG 15

November 5, 2015

SEE YOU AT THE SHOW!

The new government’s ag ‘to do’ list Ralph Goodale says improvements to grain transportation and trade are top priorities, but safety nets and research are also on the agenda BY allan DaWson Co-operator staff

rain transportation and trade are top of the new Liberal government’s agricultural agenda, says veteran Saskatchewan MP and former agriculture minister Ralph Goodale. Other priorities include determining if farm aid programs are adequate, investing in infrastructure to protect soil and water and refocusing the government’s role in scientific research. The Canadian Wheat Board is

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Concerns expressed over loopholes in farmland ownership act The Manitoba Farm Industry Board asks for feedback on how to strengthen legislation preventing foreigners from buying farmland

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