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The real dirt on food production

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BAYER Supporting Canadian Farm Families January 2016 路 $5

These farmers thrive on finding ways to do things better Technology

Plant expansion helps meet growing demand for InVigor

Business

Leverage crop and market data to maximize profit

Production

The path to a better yield may be right under your feet

Farm Life

How It's Made: pre-fabricated solid wood cabins

Weather or Not In farming, the only thing that’s predictable is how unpredictable things can get; but when you use Raxil® PRO Shield seed treatment with Stress Shield®, you can expect superior disease and wireworm protection, as well as improved yield performance. With three different fungicidal actives, you also receive full contact and systemic protection from the most dangerous seed- and soil-borne diseases, including Fusarium graminearum. With Raxil PRO Shield, what you seed is what you get.

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Always read and follow the label directions. Raxil® and Stress Shield® are registered trademarks of Bayer Global. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

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Publisher Bayer CropScience Inc. Editor Sherry Warner Associate Editor Dave Wreford Contributors Jennifer Barber, Dianne Finstad, Joy Gregory, Gerald Pilger

Volume 29 / Issue 1 / janaury 2016

FA R M L I F E

Design/Production Farm Business Communications Farm Forum is published seasonally by Bayer CropScience Inc. Contact Farm Forum at: Bayer CropScience Inc. Suite 130 160 Quarry Park Blvd. SE Calgary, AB T2C 3G3 T. 1 888-283-6847 F. 1 888-570-9378 E. farmforum@bayer.com www.cropscience.bayer.ca Contents of this publication are copyrighted and may be reproduced only with written permission of the publisher, Bayer CropScience Inc. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher. Publications Mail Agreement Number 40743517 Registered in Canada Copyright 2016 Website www.farmforum.ca Return undeliverable copies to: Bayer CropScience Inc. Suite 130 160 Quarry Park Blvd. SE Calgary, AB T2C 3G3

Prosko’s prosper from constant improvement | 14 BUSINESS

Leverage crop and market data to maximize profit

On the cover Jeff and Ebony Prosko, 2015 winners of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ Program for the Saskatchewan region, know that the success of their farm depends on constantly looking for ways to do things better.

T E C H N O L O GY

PRODUCTION

The path to a better yield may be right under your feet

Plant expansion helps meet growing demand for InVigor

Editor’s Note: knowledge is a powerful tool to help maximize profit

Farm tours: consumers get the real dirt on food production

11 22

How It’s Made series: do-it-yourself pre-fabricated solid wood cabins EverGol harnesses the power of Penflufen

Photo: Saskatchewan Agriculture

FARM FORUM / WINTER 2012

FARMFORUM.CA / JANUARY 2016

Editor’s note I n early January, while I was driving to an appointment, I

benefit from face-time with consumers. Showing consumers

listened to a radio talk show about how to get out of debt

how their food is produced goes a long way in building

— a popular topic after the busiest shopping season

confidence and trust in the foods they purchase every day

of the year. The talk show host’s guest told listeners that in

order to concur debt you need to know where you are before you can figure out where you’re going. That’s sound advice in any endeavour, and in particular, for growers competing in today’s global marketplace. In our story on page 5, market advisors talk about the importance of knowing exactly what you’ve got to sell in order to turn a healthy profit. They agree that farmers who know their break-even margins for every crop they grow and keep up-todate on world news, will find, and profit from, opportunities others miss. That’s also good advice for every farmer striving for better yields. Instead of investing blindly in things such as new crop varieties, new crop protection products or new tech, you should first look at the health of what’s right under your feet — the soil. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ensuring a healthy soil is one of the easiest and most effective ways to increase crop productivity and profitability. Turn to page 8 to find tips on improving soil health. Farm tours are not only a great way for farmers with

for their families. Read more about farm tours on page 11. In our cover story, we meet Jeff and Ebony Prosko, winners of the 2015 Outstanding Young Farmers’ Program award for the Saskatchewan region. The couple knows that in order for their farm operation to thrive, they need to always look for ways to do things better. Turn to page 15 to learn more about the Proskos. In Canada, canola is synonymous with InVigor, so it’s not surprising to learn that currently, 11 million acres of canola are seeded annually to InVigor hybrids alone. And Bayer’s $15.6 million expansion of its Canola Seed Processing Plant in Lethbridge, AB, helps the company keep up with the increasing demand for this high-value seed. For more on the plant expansion, turn to page 20. And finally, in our ongoing How It’s Made series, we take a look at how Edmonton-based Knotty Pine Cabins produces pre-fabricated solid wood homes. Knotty Pine cabins are available in several different sizes and are used for a whole range of purposes such as a craft shack, an office, or a

market-ready products to engage with their customers,

comfortable place to retire. Turn to page 22 to find out how

conventional farmers and the industry as a whole can also

you can get your own “little cabin in the woods.” — Sherry Warner

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

BUSINESS

Leverage crop and market data to maximize profit

By Joy Gregory While long-term demand for Canadiangrown crops holds strong even as some prices slide, business-savvy producers shouldn’t wait for premium market opportunities to make their move. Instead, say four market advisors, Canadian growers should take a good look at what they’ve got to sell and then target their real quarry — profit. The quest for profit begins when farmers know their own break-even margins for every crop they grow. “It all comes down to leveraging your own data,” says Brennan Turner, founder of Saskatoon-based FarmLead, an online and mobile grain marketplace. So where do Canadian farmers begin their market plan if they have crops to sell in early 2016? With the facts, says Turner.

Think global, act local

Farmers who keep up-to-date on world news will find opportunities others miss, says Turner. He describes this as, “learning to sell on rumour and profit on fact.” By late 2015, for example, global

markets were rumbling with speculation about how low moisture levels might impact winter wheat crops in the Black Sea region. That, coupled with concerns about the quality of wheat harvested in Australia, could “create opportunities for one-off sales of maybe a couple truckloads, or maybe 10 to 20 per cent of your production,” he says. What matters most is the focus on profit versus premium, says Ed Baldwin, a market advisor with AgChieve Corporation, a grain marketing advisory service based in Winnipeg. World demand for Canadian-grown food is on the rise and the growth of middleclass consumers in countries like China and India signal increased opportunity for traditional crops such as wheat, as well as higher-value specialty crops. Those who worry about the end of the latest price rally in wheat or canola miss the point, says Baldwin. Rallies are for speculators, not business people. “Producers in Canada need to know their break-even price and to recognize profit when it’s offered to them,” he says. Fluctuations in currency rates present other opportunities for profit. Because »

“Farmers who keep up-to-date on world news will find opportunities others miss” — Brennan Turner, owner of FarmLead, Saskatoon, SK

FARMFORUM.CA / JANAURY 2016

the U.S. is the biggest buyer of Canadiangrown crops, a lower Canadian dollar makes Canada’s products more affordable to its main customer, says Todd Austin, marketing manager with Grain Farmers of Ontario. And that’s the good news. Keep in mind, though, that the Canadian dollar isn’t the only currency devalued against its U.S. counterpart. So what’s the bottom line? A lower Canadian dollar keeps Canada’s best customer looking north, but this is not a major advantage in some global markets. “In some markets, given the cheap cost of ocean freight … it’s basically a buyer’s choice of picking origins,” says Turner. The lower dollar does, on the other hand, improve market opportunities for producers with economical access to U.S. buyers. “In southern Alberta, honestly, I tell my clients the U.S. may be their best market,” says Brian Wittal of Pro Com Marketing Ltd. in Didsbury, AB. “If you’ve got a good product and someone down there wants it, it may be better to move it in that direction instead of domestically — as long as your transport costs still allow profit,” he explains. “The key is knowing what they are going to pay you so you can compare that to the dollars and cents here.” Many farmers in Eastern Canada also have a geographic advantage when it comes to selling wheat, corn and soybeans into U.S. markets, says Austin. Because growers in the east have better access to domestic millers and to export markets accessed through the St. Lawrence Seaway, it’s critical that their sales decisions take into account exactly who’s buying what, and what they’re paying.

“Many farmers in Eastern Canada also have a geographic advantage when it comes to selling wheat, corn and soybeans into U.S. markets” — Todd Austin marketing manager, Grain Farmers of Ontario

“If you know what you’ve got for sale, you can profit off those opportunities” — Brian Wittal ProCom Marketing, Didsbury, AB

“… growth of middleclass consumers in countries like China and India signal increased opportunity for traditional crops such as wheat” — Ed Baldwin

Know your product To take advantage of specific market opportunities, Turner encourages all of his clients to have their grain analyzed. In the months to come, he expects variable quality in the 2015 Australian wheat crop to generate, at least for a period of time, an uptick in prices paid for Canadian wheat sold into high-quality milling markets. That’s an opportunity lost for farmers who have high-quality, highprotein wheat in their bins, but don’t know it. That advantage also works closer to home, says Wittal. This fall, some of his clients in central Alberta trucked their grain a little farther than usual because

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

market advisor, Ag-Chieve Corporation, Winnipeg, MB

elevators in eastern Alberta paid a bit more for higher-protein wheat. “If you know what you’ve got for sale, you can profit off those opportunities,” he says. “If you don’t know what you’ve got for quality and protein levels, sooner or later you lose some opportunities to negotiate.” Wittal and Turner don’t see an advantage to holding onto canola grown in 2015; wheat’s another story.

“But if you keep something, keep the best,” says Wittal. The crux of a good marketing plan boils down to managing risk. “It looks like cash is going to be king for the next year to two years at least,” says Turner. That means decisions about what you grow have to be based on what you can sell, and the price you sell at should be based on calculated data, not speculation. FF

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Always read and follow the label directions. EverGol® and Trilex® are trademarks of Bayer Global. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

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PRODUCTION

The path to a better yield may be right under your feet BY GERALD PILGER

any growers search far and wide for new crop varieties, new fertility and crop protection products, new technology and even new equipment to increase yields and production when the answer to their quest may be right under their feet. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), “managing for soil health is one of the easiest and most effective ways for farmers to increase crop productivity and profitability while improving the environment.” Okay. But what is soil health? To some farmers, soil health is a trendy catch phrase for what used to be called soil science. But soil is not just a medium for growing crops. It’s a living ecosystem — and one that we can have a profound affect on, either good or bad. Dr. Ross McKenzie, adjunct professor at the University of Lethbridge and retired agronomy research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, says that before our prairie soil was broken, it was pretty healthy. It had good structure, a high amount of residue, balanced pH and minimal salinity problems.

That changed when farmers took on a wheat/fallow crop rotation designed to conserve moisture and control weeds. The detrimental effects of this system became obvious to everyone in the “dust bowl” years of the 1930s. Lesson learned. Since then, the widespread adoption of fertilizer and the transition to conservation, and then zero tillage, resulted in improved soil health — from soil structure, nutrient availability, water holding capacity and air exchange to levels of organic matter. McKenzie says farmers deserve much of the credit for restoring the health of prairie soils by adopting better stewardship practices like these. Soil health is a highly complex subject and we still don’t fully understand the intricate, specialized relationship between how what’s going on under the ground affects what’s growing above it, and vice versa. Still, we do know a lot about managing and maintaining good soil health — a lot of it good common sense — and as the research develops, growers need to pay attention.

Lesson one: tillage Jim Halford, a farmer from Indian Head, SK, is a leader in conservation tillage. He admits soil health was not the reason he quit summer fallowing. Rather, he was looking to stop wind and water erosion on his farm and he knew that keeping a residue cover on the soil helped. Through trials with modified seeding equipment he discovered that erosion was further reduced if the roots of the previous crop were left undisturbed. Armed with this knowledge, he designed and built the Conserva Pak seeding system in the 1980s. Halford's unique seeding tool was specifically designed for zero tillage seeding and offered excellent placement, depth control and separation of the seed and grain. (Since 2007, the Conserva Pak has been sold under the John Deere label as the 1870 Conserva Pak Air-Hoe Drill.) Halford quickly realized the Conserva Pak was doing a lot more than preventing erosion. Soil structure improved, organic matter increased, water holding capacity improved and crop yields improved — even

FARM FORUM / JANAURY 2016

when fertilizer rates were reduced. “In zero tillage trials on our farm, canola would still yield the same on zero tilled fields with 30 pounds less N being applied,” says Halford. “Wheat that was yielding 23 bu./ac. with 12 per cent protein under conventional tillage, yielded 45 bushels with 14 per cent protein under zero tillage. The zero tilled soil released an additional 30 pounds of N over the season.” He points out that zero tilled soil continues to improve over the long term. He has land that’s been in zero tillage trials for 22 years and it continues to outperform land that has been zero tilled for shorter periods of time.

Cropping practices matter Halford says there are other things farmers can also do to improve soil health. “Use forage crops in your rotation,” he says. “Three to five years of forage and then planting cereals will really kick start the health of the soil. One year of forage equals two years of zero tillage, and it really increases the diversity of organisms in the soil.” He also recommends putting pulse crops in the rotation and growing cover crops instead of leaving land bare.

The value of long-term studies McKenzie says there is a continuing need for long-term soil research, and points to the ongoing crop rotation study at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) research station in Lethbridge, AB. Here, six cycles of a four-year crop rotation have been completed to try to determine the best sustainable rotation for brown soil. A 42-year rotational study by AAFC Lethbridge researchers Henry Janzen (soil biochemistry), Roland Kröebel (agro-systems modeling) and Elwin Smith (bio-economist) found that soil became incapable of releasing nitrogen after fallow. (The study compared rotations of continuous wheat-fallow-wheat and fallow-wheat-wheat and plots were split

for N and P treatments.) Frequent fallow also reduced productivity of the soil while reducing fallow and adding nitrogen resulted in higher soil quality. An even longer study can be found at the University of Alberta’s Breton Plots that were established in 1929 on gray luvisol soil, which is naturally low in organic matter, lacking in some nutrients and moderately acidic. Continuous research at the site has offered valuable insights into the effects of cropping systems and farming practices on soil health. For example, research found that soil organic matter decreased by 140 kg/ha each year under a two-year wheat-fallow rotation. Even the addition of nitrogen fertilizer to increase plant matter only slowed the decrease to 70 kg/ha per year. However, adding manure to the fields actually improved the amount of organic matter by 70 kg/ha. In a five-year crop rotation of wheatoats-barley-hay-hay, growers achieved an increase in organic matter of 40 kg/ha with no fertilizer, 140kg/ha with fertilizer and 280 kg/ha by adding manure.

Practical advice on new trends McKenzie urges growers to exercise caution when using some highly-touted soil amendments, speciality fertility products and new technology — and make sure the actual needs of the soil drive your purchasing decisions. For example, McKenzie says many agronomists encourage the use of copper speciality fertilizers. While there is no question that copper is deficient in some soils, McKenzie estimates this deficiency exists in only about one million of the 25 million acres of cropland in Alberta. Furthermore, soil tests are not conclusive in identifying copper deficiency, so he suggests before applying copper broadly across the farm, producers should apply copper in test strips within fields. Adding microbials to the soil is a hot topic these days, but McKenzie says that a handful of healthy soil likely contains about seven billion microbes already, and

questions whether the relatively small number of microbes being added makes a difference to crop performance. McKenzie suggests that farmers find out if the soil amendments they are considering using have been tested at a provincial or federal research station. Third party testing adds credibility to the products’ claims. And when using a new product McKenzie reiterates that farmers try it first on a portion of their fields, in test strips, to determine if it truly provides the benefits they are seeking. FF

Soil quality indicator sheets, USDA www.farmforum.ca/soilqualitysheets Soil health assessment training manual: Cornell University www.farmforum.ca/soilhealthmanual Soil health abstract: SciELO www.farmforum.ca/soilhealthabstract

Is Your Soil Healthy? According to the USDA there are four core principles to improving the health of your soil: 1. Keep the soil covered as much as possible. 3. Disturb the soil as little as possible. 4. Keep plants growing throughout the year to feed the soil. 5. Diversify as much as possible using crop rotation and cover crops. There are a number of management practices that can be used to achieve these principles. The USDA has published a checklist (see page 10) to enable growers to evaluate various soil management systems.

FARMFORUM.CA / JANAURY 2016

USDASoil checklist toManagement help you evaluate various soil management systems: Health Systems Include: What is it?

What does it do?

How does it help?

Conservation Crop Rotation

• Increases nutrient cycling • Manages plant pest (weeds, insects, and diseases) • Reduces sheet, rill, and wind erosion • Holds soil moisture • Adds diversity so soil microbes can thrive

• • • • •

Improves nutrient use efficiency Decreases use of pesticides Improves water quality Conserves water Improves plant production

• • • • • • •

• • • • • •

Improves crop production Improves water quality Conserves water Improves nutrient use efficiency Decreases use of pesticides Improves water efficiency to crops

• Improves water holding capacity of soils • Increases organic matter • Reduces soil erosion • Reduces energy use • Decreases compaction

• • • • • • •

Improves water efficiency Conserves water Improves crop production Improves water quality Saves renewable resources Improves air quality Increases productivity

• Reduces soil erosion from wind and rain • Increases soil moisture for plants • Reduces energy use • Increases soil organic matter

• • • • •

Improves water quality Conserves water Saves renewable resources Improves air quality Improves crop production

• Reduces erosion from wind and rain • Moderates soil temperatures • Increases soil organic matter • Controls weeds • Conserves soil moisture • Reduces dust

• • • • • •

Improves water quality Improves plant productivity Increases crop production Reduces pesticide usage Conserves water Improves air quality

Growing a diverse number of crops in a planned sequence in order to increase soil organic matter and biodiversity in the soil.

Cover Crop An un-harvested crop grown as part of planned rotation to provide conservation benefits to the soil.

No Till A way of growing crops without disturbing the soil through tillage.

Mulch Tillage Using tillage methods where the soil surface is disturbed but maintains a high level of

Increases soil organic matter Prevents soil erosion Conserves soil moisture Increases nutrient cycling Provides nitrogen for plant use Suppresses weeds Reduces compaction

crop residue on the surface.

Mulching Applying plant residues or other suitable materials to the soil surface to compensate for loss of residue due to excessive tillage.

Nutrient Management Managing soil nutrients to meet crop needs while minimizing the impact on the environment and the soil.

Pest Management Managing pests by following an ecological approach that promotes the growth of healthy plants with strong defenses, while increasing stress on pests and enhancing the habitat for beneficial organisms.

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

• Increases plant nutrient uptake • Improves water quality • Improves the physical, • Improves plant production chemical, and biological • Improves air quality properties of the soil • Budgets, supplies, and conserves nutrients for plant production • Reduces odors and nitrogen emissions • Reduces pesticide risks to water quality • Reduces threat of chemicals entering the air • Decreases pesticide risk to pollinators and other beneficial organisms • Increases soil organic matter

• • • •

Improves water quality Improves air quality Increases plant pollination Increases plant productivity

United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service

PRODUCTION

Consumers ‘get the real dirt’ on food production

Photos courtesy Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan

By Joy Gregory Canadian farmers are using the oldest form of communication to talk to urban consumers about how their food is produced. A growing number of farmers from across the country are participating in farm tours, which allow them plenty of face-time with consumers whose closest contact with food production is shopping at the grocery store or ordering from a restaurant menu. Farm tours are an obvious marketing tool for farmers producing market-ready foods such as chicken, cheese, wine and vegetables. Indeed, participants in Alberta’s two-day Open Farm Days events in 2015 generated $100,000 in sales. “We hope to see this number grow even more in 2016,” says David Eggen, Alberta’s Minister of Culture and Tourism. Even though direct sales aren’t an option for conventional farmers, they still find ways to make field-side conversations work to the industry’s advantage, says Kelly Daynard of Farm & Food Care (FFC) Canada, a charitable organization based in Guelph, ON, that's committed to providing to consumers, credible, evidence-based information about food production. “The bottom line is that people are hungry for news about how their food is produced,” says Rick Stamp of Stamp Seeds and Stamp Farms near Enchant,

AB. Stamp participated in the Open Farm Days tour for the first time in August 2015, welcoming about a dozen visitors, mostly from Calgary, about a two hour drive away. Farther north, near Round Hill, AB, Humphrey and Terry Banack say their traditional grain farm had about 45 visitors that same weekend in August. Most were from Edmonton, 80 km away. While the Stamps focused their farm tour on the fundamentals of pedigreed seed production, the Banacks took a more hands-on approach. Most of their visitors harvested a few peas using the Banacks’ GPS-guided combine. They also saw and touched samples of wheat, flax, canola and peas grown on the farm. Each group of visitors to the Round Hill farm then took home a bag of peas, a few new recipes and some farm-fresh information about how the Banacks grow crops on their 7,000 acres of land.

Tour targets: ag tourist or foodie?

Not all farm tours are the same. Organizers in Alberta and Manitoba invite agricultural producers to participate, then advertise the dates and farm venues in agricultural and mainstream media to attract ag tourists. FFC Ontario offers a similar program for the general public. Its “Breakfast on the Farm” events attract more than 2,000 people a year. »

Top: Tierra Del Sol Farms near Saskatoon, SK, was a popular farm tour last year. The farm focuses on vegetables, fresh-cut flowers, flower bulbs, ornamental corn/ stalks, gourds and pumpkins and recently launched its own on-farm distillery, Black Fox Spirits (above), creating fine alcohols and liqueurs from Saskatchewan-grown products.

FARMFORUM.CA / JANUARY 2016

F F C o f f i c e s i n On t a r i o a n d Saskatchewan also invite local and international food influencers including chefs, culinary students, high-volume food buyers and food writers and bloggers to participate in organized bus tours. FFC Saskatchewan held its first two farm tours in 2015, one of which attracted 70 people after a culinary school in Saskatoon made student participation mandatory. “Next year we are planning a separate culinary/ farm tour for those students and will also reach out to students studying to be dieticians,” says Adele Buettner, FFC Saskatchewan CEO. Regardless of the tour’s focus, Stamp says conventional producers should get involved. “We just think people should be way more confident in their food production and we’ll do what we can to boost that confidence.” Stamp and Terry Banack say visitors asked few questions about GMOs or pesticides. But they did field plenty of questions about technology. “Telling people about how precision farming works to optimize production and protect the environment probably helped our visitors understand why we farm the way we do,” says Stamp. There is tremendous reassurance in showing visitors the precautions in place to guide farmers in the proper use of crop protection products and the important role technology plays in helping farmers apply crop protection products only where needed, says Daynard. Participants in this year's Ontario tour had an opportunity to see several new technologies in action. One conventional grain farmer, in particular, showed participants his GPS-guided tractor he controls from his iPad. “FFC Canada represents all types of farmers from small organic farms to large-scale conventional operations,” says Daynard. The organization's goal is to present science- or evidence-based information about how food is produced and let consumers decide what type of food they will buy for their families. Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG) shares that conviction. Knowing its growers are busy with harvest when Manitoba Open Farm Days are held in September, MPSG decided in 2015 to do what its producers couldn’t. Last fall, MPSG attracted about 80 ag tourists to a display they set up near an agri-food

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

interpretive centre close to Winnipeg. “People were especially interested in what we grow and where we grow it. They also wanted to know where they could buy Manitoba-grown products in the store,” says MPSG’s Roxanne Lewko.

Speakers Bureau FFC Canada also trains ag-industry insiders to take industry messages directly to community groups in urban centres. About 200 farmers, ranchers and others from Saskatchewan participated in the first round of training workshops in 2015. More workshops are planned throughout Saskatchewan for 2016, says Buettner. Workshop participants receive speaker training and a laptop-ready memory stick with five professionallyproduced presentations that include talks on farm animal care, farming and the environment and even farming myths. Trained speakers then present these talks — peppered with their own experiences — to participants in venues such as classrooms, church groups and urban libraries. “Research shows Canadians have food-related questions about health

and safety, the environment, animal care and farming methods and technology,” says Buettner. “Farm tours and speakers bureaus are good ways to spread information about ways the industry supports research and better practices.” “It’s all about relationship building,” adds Daynard. To that end, FFC Ontario also offers special tours for government employees working in areas related to food production and processing. “They’re engrossed in this topic every day, but many have not had a chance to get their boots dirty,” she says. “We need to get creative when it comes to finding ways to engage non-farmers and to talk about how the industry supports research and better practices,” adds Buettner. “That information builds public trust and supports the social license to farm.” FF Farm & Food Care Canada www.farmforum.ca/FFCCanada Alberta Open Farm Days www.farmforum.ca/albertafarmdays Manitoba Farm Days www.farmforum.ca/ manitobafarmdays

Get your own dirt! One-third of Canadians have questions about how their food is produced, says Adele Buettner of Food & Farm Care (FFC) Saskatchewan. That’s more than 10 million Canadians, hardly a statistical blip! Thanks to FFC Canada, help for farmers who want to talk to those consumers is a mere mouse click away. The Real Dirt on Farming, produced by FFC Canada and in its third edition, is an online magazine based on the real-world questions of about 1,200 Canadians, says FFC Canada’s Kelly Daynard. She encourages Canadian farmers to check out the virtual magazine and direct friends and neighbours to the site. People can also order print copies. FFC Canada’s The Real Dirt on Farming: www.farmforum.ca/ realdirtonfarming

Uncover the Problem. Even though it looks the same, it’s not. Volunteer canola can provide a host for dangerous diseases, steal nutrients and limit the yield performance of your crop. But moving forward, this doesn’t need to be a problem. Pardner® herbicide is now registered as a pre-season, tank-mix partner with Roundup® WeatherMAX® herbicide and other similar glyphosate technologies for control of all volunteer canola, even if they’re resistant to other herbicide groups.

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Always read and follow label directions. Pardner® is a registered trademark of Bayer Global. All other products mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

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FA R M L I F E

Jeff and Ebony Prosko, winners of the Outstanding Young Farmersâ€™ Program award for the Saskatchewan region, with their two daughters, Harper and Londyn.

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

Prosko’s prosper from constant improvement B y J e n n ifer B arber

eff and Ebony Prosko have learned that in order for their grain farm to be successful, they need to always look for ways to do things better — whether that’s maximizing inputs, getting outside advice on soil testing and field mapping, or opening their own retail outlet. “We do a lot of little things that add up in the end,” says Jeff. “When my dad was farming in the 1990s, margins were tight and there wasn’t as much opportunity to adapt to grow your profits. Now we are pretty aggressive in our farm management,” he explains. “We work with a professional agronomist to make sure we are fertilizing what we should, and at the best rates. Our goal is to maximize every acre.” The Proskos are the 2015 winners of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ Program for the Saskatchewan region. They participated in OYF’s national event in Edmonton last November and while they didn’t take away the top prize, they say the experience was invaluable. The couple’s banker nominated them for the award. And that’s something the Proskos say is a huge compliment. “When the guy who’s lending you money thinks you are doing a good job, that has to mean something,” says Ebony. “I would encourage anyone who has

the opportunity to get involved with this group to do so. It has been an amazing experience. We have met so many positive, like-minded people who have many similar challenges and opportunities and we have learned so much through this process.” Jeff was raised on his family’s farm near Rose Valley, SK. Today, that 20,000-acre landbase makes up the family’s overall farming operation, which is now broken up into smaller farms run separately by Jeff and Ebony, his parents and his two siblings. Ebony grew up about 10 miles away, not on a farm, but in a small agricultural community. Today, they grow grains and oilseeds on 6,000 acres, and they also own and operate a retail business. “Some people diversify into other crops but we decided to diversify into another segment of agriculture by setting up our ProSoils retail store,” says Ebony. “It can be hard to differentiate yourself from some of the bigger players in retail, but we think we do so by targeting our local market and making sure we get them what they need, rather than what we want to sell.” They opened ProSoils two years ago with the aim of providing farm supplies and services based on small town, rural values. The retail outlet offers the standard seed, chemicals and »

FARMFORUM.CA / JANUARY 2016

“Some people diversify into other crops but we decided to diversify into another segment of agriculture by setting up our ProSoils retail store” — Ebony Prosko

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

to get their canola seed in and the crop off during a very narrow window. “This year we switched to straight cutting our canola and we got the best yields we’ve ever had,” he says. “It turned out amazingly well, and our guys doing the harvest said it was really fun (because) it was so quick and efficient,” added Jeff. “It was a wet harvest but we got everything done quickly and our field was really clean. We desiccated by air which worked very well, and we have virtually no regrowth on our straight cut fields.” The Proskos seeded InVigor L140P for its pod shatter technology, but also seeded traditional canola varieties. All performed well with straight cutting, but Jeff admits there’s a bit of a trick to getting it right. The canola has to be cut in different directions, depending on lodging, and your equipment has to be set up properly. But if you do it correctly, he says it’s no different than straight cutting wheat. »

to photo: genesis studtio, bottom, shutterstock

fertilizer as well as high-end equipment rentals and a custom application service. “Our rental equipment is not just there to get the job done, it’s the type of equipment you’d choose if you want to do the job really well,” says Jeff. “We do custom application and combining, and dry grain as well. Our customers know us on a personal level so we have established a level of trust you might not find elsewhere.” They have four full-time staff at ProSoils, and their combined family farming operation employs up to 30 people in season, and five full-time workers throughout the winter. Jeff says that farming better is the best way to get the most out of their grains and oilseeds business. For example, their land-clearing strategy cuts down on overlap when bringing equipment into the field, which reduces lodging issues for an easier harvest. Also, they start with a clean field to minimize inseason issues and do whatever they can

FARMFORUM.CA / JANUARY 2016

“I always say you don’t go broke making money, so if there’s a chance we will make a decent return we take it” — Jeff Prosko

“Making changes like switching to straight cutting make the farm more efficient and helps us get better yields. It also gives us more time in the summer,” adds Ebony. “We have two young daughters and it’s nice that we get some time together in the warmer months. All three siblings have young families who will be growing up together on the farm, and it’s good for them to see that farming is not all work.” The Proskos have a family-owned elevator and ship their oats directly to customers in the U.S. including the Quaker Oats facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “That direct-with-the-end-user relationship also helps set us apart,” says

The Prosko family from l to r: Jeff, Harper (two), Londyn (one) and Ebony.

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

Ebony. “We can talk to our customers and ask them exactly what varieties work best for them, and give them what they need.” While they follow market reports, they handle all the marketing for their farm operation themselves. “I always say you don’t go broke making money, so if there’s a chance we will make a decent return we take it,” says Jeff. “You don’t have to hit grand slams all the time and although we may sometimes leave some money on the table, we are always very careful to manage our costs of production so we know what we need to come out on top. This approach sets us up well going forward.” FF

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T E C H N O L O GY

Plant expansion helps meet growing demand for InVigor

By Jennifer Barber In the heart of canola country, Bayer’s Canola Seed Processing Plant in Lethbridge, AB, is humming along — manufacturing and bagging InVigor hybrid canola seed for the upcoming 2016 growing season. Following a $15.6 million expansion in 2015, the facility is now able to keep up with a steadily increasing demand for this high-value brand. “This expansion makes Bayer’s Lethbridge facility the largest canola processing and storage facility in the world,” says Dr. Marcus Weidler, head of seeds for Bayer CropScience Inc. “The InVigor lineup is very diverse, and as we continue to expand into new traits and technologies we need the

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

capacity and the flexibility to manage an ever increasing number of hybrids. This expansion allows us to do so while ensuring we continue to deliver the highest quality seed to our customers.” The expansion doubles the footprint of the plant, increasing its processing capacity from eight tonnes per hour to 12. The 43,000 sq. ft. building also has five additional acres of storage bins and conveyances, bringing the total processing capacity of the site to over 30,000 tonnes per year. The expansion also doubled plant staff to 53 full-time and seasonal positions. “Western Canada is InVigor country. One in every two fields of canola is seeded to an InVigor hybrid,” says Al Driver, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience Inc. “When we opened this

facility in 2006, it was hoped we would eventually clean seed for five million acres under the InVigor brand, which we considered at the time as a stretch goal. We really wondered if we could ever fill our storage bins. Now 11 million acres of canola are seeded annually to InVigor hybrids alone, and this expansion allows us to meet the demands of a growing market.” “We always want to make sure everything works in the best possible way for our customers, and one way we addressed this, in this expansion, was to create small-scale versions of all the cleaning and processing equipment,” says Weidler. “We now have one room with smaller versions of all of our machinery, which allows us to do a lot of research on how we can refine and

Photos: BAYER CROPSCIENCE inc.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of Bayer’s $15.6 million expansion of its Canola Seed Processing Plant in Lethbridge, AB, attracted several distinguished guests. From L to R: Rob Southwell, Lethbridge plant manager; Marcus Weidler, head of seeds at Bayer CropScience Inc. (BCS); Lethbridge Mayor, Chris Spearman; Lethbridge East MLA, Maria Fitzpatrick; Al Driver, president and CEO of BCS; and Kevin McKnight, seeds processing and logistics manager at BCS.

improve our processes with the ultimate goal to further maximize the quality of our InVigor seed for the benefit of our customers.” An opening ceremony was held at the Lethbridge facility last October to showcase the expansion. Distributors, retailers, local politicians and growers from the area had an opportunity to tour the facility. The opening was initially slated for the spring of 2015 but was delayed because an unprecedented frost in Saskatchewan and Manitoba forced the plant into production to help meet the re-seeding needs of growers in those areas. “It was a very good test for this facility,” says Weidler. “Most of our seasonal employees had already left, so we really had less than half the staff. But in less than a week a small, dedicated crew made the most of our new technology and produced more than our company produces in Europe in an entire year. Our team worked day and night and was able to get growers in those areas the seed they needed in a timely manner

Guests at the grand opening last October, of Bayer’s Canola Seed Processing Plant’s $15.6 million expansion, enjoyed a tour of the facility.

to preserve their season.” Over the past decade, Bayer has invested hundreds of millions in canola research and development. “This facility will help us continue to deliver the highest

quality InVigor seed to the market,” says Weidler. “We will continue to invest in upgrades to the Lethbridge plant over the next few years. This facility underlines our commitment to the Canadian grower.” FF

Making bigger work better

oubling the handling capacity of Bayer’s Canola Seed Processing Plant in Lethbridge, AB, created an opportunity to better manage the movement of product through the facility. To improve the plant’s process flow, Bayer sought advice from its Germany-based engineering colleagues, a group recognized for its commitment to efficiency. “Back in 2012 when we started to investigate the options for our expansion, we asked for input from Bayer Technology Services in Germany,” says Rob Southwell, Lethbridge site manager with Bayer CropScience Inc. “An engineer visited Lethbridge and spent a couple of weeks with us to learn how our business ran, looked closely at our throughputs in terms of how much cleaning we did in an hour and how much packaging was completed in an hour,” he says. A detailed capacity report was then prepared by the engineer and used when designing the expansion. The report had two main recommendations to improve efficiency in a bigger facility. The first was to upgrade seed conveyance movements in the “bin farm,” the area that is home to the facility’s 160 grain bins. The capacity of the existing farm could not keep up with the demand, so Bayer had to use third party, off-site storage to hold seed after cleaning and then return it to the site for treating and packaging, which resulted in delays in the treating and packaging process, not to mention additional costs. “Based on the recommendations, we added three separate sections to the new bin farm and included an elevated load-out consisting of 10 bins,” says Southwell. “On top of being able to manage capacity better, we can now handle our InVigor seed in an even more gentle way.”

The second recommendation was to simply straighten out an L-shaped production line. An earlier, smaller scale expansion in 2009 resulted in large equipment being retrofitted into a smaller room. Turntables were needed to manage movement of the seed pallets, and automation wasn’t possible because of the roundabout way product was moved. Part of the current expansion involved knocking out a wall to straighten the line. Also, pallets can now be shrink-wrapped automatically, adding an additional 10 per cent capacity to the already improved packaging line. Southwell says these recommendations were incorporated into the initial design concepts for the new facility. Engineers then sought further input from Bayer Technology Services based in Texas, which completed a logistics study on all seed movement within the bin farms and the plant. This group focused on current and future estimated movement of product — both in bulk form and finished product. “The process of this study was a very effective way to remove bottlenecks and potential hazards in a much bigger facility,” says Southwell. The Lethbridge plant is now running at full capacity, receiving raw seed from Bayer’s 250 contract growers and completing the cleaning and packaging schedules required for this spring’s planting campaign. Southwell says that, so far, everything is going according to a very carefully developed plan. “We doubled our staff with this expansion, and we had everything geared up in time for our busy fall and winter season. Our bins are filling and the plant is running as expected — and we know we have the processes in place to do this as efficiently as possible while still providing growers with the high-quality product they expect.”

FARMFORUM.CA / JANAURY 2016

fa r m l i f e

HOW IT’S MADE:

DIY cabins B y D i a n n e F i n s ta d

f a “little cabin in the woods” is on your bucket list, an Edmontonbased company offers an easy way to make that happen. Knotty Pine Cabins produces prefabricated wood homes ranging in size from a 12 x 12 ft. cabin all the way to a 2,000 sq. ft. home. The company specializes in user-friendly DIY kits that many customers put together themselves. The kits consist of pine panels (sourced mainly in Alberta), ready for assembly. “It gives that rustic look,” says Alana Depelteau, co-owner of Knotty Pine

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

Cabins along with her father Andre and fiancé Jeremy Comartin. “The great thing about pine, too, is it has that nice smell. And it keeps that nice smell, as long as you don’t seal your interior.” The cabins have become a popular fit for folks wanting to downsize, or setting up a comfortable place to retire. They’ve been used for a whole range of purposes such as a craft shack, an office, or once, as a place for a massage therapist to set up shop. Some RV parks have even added them as rental options for guests. “Probably about 75 per cent of our customers are farm people,” says

Depelteau. “It’s huge. We do a lot of secondary residences on farms like mother-in-law suites or guest cabins as well as primary homes. “We did a large home in Grande Prairie this year, and the customer got all three of his sons small ones, so it’s kind of cool. He’s got a little Knotty Pine village on his land!” So, how is a DIY cabin made? The milled tongue-and-groove pine wall panels are put together with 2 x 6 studs and 3/8-inch plywood. Insulation

is added once the panels are set up. The panels are formulated according to each customized plan with pre-cut openings for windows. In addition to the panels, the kit comes with a door and two slider windows, roof trusses and a metal exterior roof. Add in the hardware, screws and bolts and the kit is ready to be shipped on a flat deck trailer to the customer’s site. Many customers assemble the cabins themselves but Knotty Pine will put your new cabin together on request. »

Top: The team at Knotty Pine Cabins, from L to R: Jeremy Comartin, Alana Depelteau, Chuck Depelteau and Andre Depelteau.

FARMFORUM.CA / JANUARY 2016

The combination of price point and quality for a solid wood home that offers winter warmth and a cool summer getaway has made Knotty Pine a busy place

FARM FORUM / JANAURY 2016

For the do-it-yourselfers, you basically follow a pattern, says Depelteau, “Everything is labelled, so each panel is marked A, B, C and so on. You follow the manual and go around your cabin and lift each wall based on the letter. It’s framed as per the way you’ve designed it with us. “One nice thing about us is we’re a small business so if people have any questions they can always give us a call and we’ll answer and be able to guide them through their build,” she adds. If Knotty Pine does the build, crews take the cabin to the lock-up stage. Plumbing, electrical and fixtures are all owner responsibilities. Usually the cabins are put on screw piles, about two and a half feet off the ground, with skirting to finish. But if other foundation options are chosen, like a basement, the cabin is engineered accordingly.

The combination of price point and quality for a solid wood home that offers winter warmth and a cool summer getaway has made Knotty Pine a busy place. The company has expanded several times in the last decade. Knotty Pine’s current 14,000 sq. ft. location allows for indoor assembly and serves customers from all over Western Canada. If you’re anxious to check that “little cabin in the woods” off your bucket list, you’ll need to plan ahead. Depelteau says the season ramps up when the snow melts, so the sooner customers get their orders in, the more likely they can get a dream cabin in place by fall.

For more information visit www.knottypinecabins.ca

HOW DO YOU SEED OPPORTUNITY? Looking beyond the obvious choices is what you do. It’s how you find the right opportunities to achieve better results year after year. And that’s exactly what EverGol® Energy with Stress Shield® insecticide offers: an effective, more economical way to give your soybean seeds a head start. With this powerful combination, EverGol Energy and Stress Shield, you can confidently plant seeds with superior disease and insect protection to give you healthier plants and higher yields.

TO SEED THINGS DIFFERENTLY, ask your seed dealer for EverGol Energy together with Stress Shield.

EVERGOL ENERGY

cropscience.bayer.ca

1 888-283-6847

FIT + STRESS SHIELD =

FAST

FIRST

Higher Healthier Quicker Emergence Yields Plants

@Bayer4CropsCA

Always read and follow label directions. EverGol® and Stress Shield® are registered trademarks of Bayer Global. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

R-28-12/15-10477088-E

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

EverGol harnesses the power of penflufen

he next level of seed treatment protection can be found in the power of the EverGol® active. Penflufen is Bayer’s first fungicidal active ingredient engineered specifically for the seed treatment market. Penflufen is a unique Group 7 chemistry that protects your crop from disease early in the season to help your plants develop stronger roots and allow better nutrient uptake, which enables better vigour and a healthier emergence. You can find EverGol in Trilex® EverGol for pulses, Prosper® EverGol for canola, and EverGol Energy for soybeans. Protect against pea leaf weevil For protection against insects, add Stress Shield® to your Trilex EverGol

Add Stress Shield to EverGol Energy for improved insect protection, along with contact and systematic disease protection in your soybean crop seed treatment. Stress Shield curtails the negative effects of plant stresses by supplying a supplemental energy pool for internal repair, and also helps protect your seed from pests such as pea leaf weevil. Stress Shield can last on the seed for up to three weeks, and remain on the plant for an additional three weeks, throughout the pea leaf weevil

larva stage. Stress Shield keeps pea leaf weevils from feeding on your crop, while also preventing the adult weevils from laying eggs. Keep flea beetles off seedlings Flea beetles can cause a lot of damage in a very short period of time. Prosper® EverGol can protect your crop from that damage. Flea beetles locate and defoliate seedlings, and feed directly on the stems of the plant shortly following emergence for significant early season crop damage. This insect has cost North American growers 10 per cent of their annual yield potential, with an estimated $300 million in damage each year.* Prosper® EverGol stops flea beetles before they can steal your yield.

* Source: Knodel, J.J. and D.L. Olson, D.L., 2002. Crucifer flea beetle: biology and integrated pest management in canola. North Dakota State Univ. Coop. Ext. Serv. Publ. E1234. North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND.

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

Raxil® PRO Shield controls disease and insects for healthier plants

ST DU

H E AT

NUTRIE

NTS

GAS

ABIOTIC BIOTIC

CT SEED DISEA N TA S

DS WEE

BACTERIA

EP R

E IO N

SS SHIELD

STRE

AL STRESS DR OUG

HANIC

To learn more about Raxil PRO Shield, visit: cropscience.bayer.ca/Raxil

MEC

Support for healthier plants Stress Shield’s active ingredient helps support plant health by fighting off external stressors in the first few weeks following seeding, resulting in better root systems for more robust growth. It redirects energy stores to help protect and initiate repairs caused by that stress. Raxil PRO Shield’s formulation also offers complete systemic and contact control of all seed treatment fungicides, for full spectrum disease protection. Its single-rate, micro-dispersion formulation means an easy-to-apply product with more thorough coverage.

D OL

DISEA

ake three top performing fungicides and add in an insecticide with proven plant health benefits and you have the ingredients for a high performing crop. Raxil PRO Shield fungicides include prothioconozole for protection against fusarium, true loose smut and a wide variety of additional seed- and soil-borne diseases through both contact and systemic activity. Over the past decade, wireworms have increased in number and the geographic area in which they are found is spreading. Living deep in the soil, wireworms will hollow out a seed before it can germinate, and will feed at the base of the seedling, which may cause uneven crop establishment, bald patches in the field, thin plant stands and even plant death. The addition of Stress Shield® in Raxil PRO Shield prevents wireworms from feeding on your crop and provides additional plant health benefits. Through both contact and ingestion, Stress Shield stuns the wireworms, placing them in a coma-like state to prevent them from feeding on the plant. The effects last throughout the lifecycle of the wireworm, until they are no longer a problem for your crop.

SEED CONTACT+ SYSTEMIC

SYSTEMIC SYSTEMIC

SYSTEMIC : TEBUCONAZOLE SYSTEMIC : METALAXYL CONTACT + SYSTEMIC : PROTHIOCONAZOLE

FARMFORUM.CA / JANAURAY 2016

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

Treated seed pays off

or a crop with a strong emergence, solid plant stands and higher plant counts, be sure to use treated seed. Seed- and soil-borne diseases are a reality across the prairies and throughout different crops. Treating seed today is a simple, effective way to make sure you are getting the most out of your crop from the very beginning through to harvest. Bayer’s SeedGrowth™ Specialists can help you mitigate any concerns you may have with treating your seed. Below are some common questions and their responses:

Q: Are seed treatments messy? A: Seed treatment packaging today is in a closed system for greatly reduced mess. Q: Are they hard to clean up? A: Water based micro-dispersion formulations reduce dust for easier application and cleanup. Q: Do I need special equipment? A: While pumps and nozzles may need to be re-calibrated, or restrictor plates added, these are easy adjustments and generally no new equipment is necessary. Q: How hard is it to calculate rates? A: Calculating rates is simple when you know the flow rate of your chemical, your grain and your seed density.

FARM FORUM /JANUARY 2016

Q: How do I keep treated seed away from untreated seed and grain? A: To avoid cross-contamination, dispose of leftover seed based on local guidelines, and store treated seed separate from other products. Treating your seed gives high-yielding

crop at harvest. It takes some of the guesswork out of in-season disease possibilities that are often weather dependent. Seed treatments not only tackle seed- and soil-borne disease from the ground up, they also keep pathogens from spreading.

For more information on effectively treating your seed, and on how to contact a Bayer SeedGrowth specialist, visit: cropscience.bayer.ca/SeedGrowth or call 1-888-263-6847

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

Know your specific disease threat

hile disease can rob your crop of its yield potential, not every crop is susceptible to the same diseases, and not every disease has the same affect on different crops. Being aware of your local disease profile and knowing which disease is a threat to your crop will help you choose which seed treatment will work best. An example of this is rhizoctonia. On peas and canola it can result in major losses, but the strain present in Canada is not a threat to the yield or quality of your wheat crop. Knowing your risk for disease is also important. While there is a persistent myth that disease requires warm, moist conditions in order to be a threat, some disease such as fusarium flourish in dry, warm weather. Others, such as pythium, take off under wet but cool conditions. Ask the experts Bayer SeedGrowth™ specialists provide fully integrated seed treatment support, including technical support, testing, training and advice. They will work with you and your retailers to help cut through the clutter so you can choose the seed treatment that is most effective for your crop and your farm.

InVigor Choice: performance you expect with options

f you are looking for InVigor® yield performance with increased weed control options, look at new InVigor Choice. InVigor Choice allows you to choose the performance of an InVigor hybrid with weed protection that’s right for you. InVigor Choice hybrid has been bred with both industry- leading trait technologies LibertyLink® and Genuity® Roundup Ready®. With InVigor Choice, you get options

in weed control without having to sacrifice yield, allowing you to maximize your profit potential and minimize your risk. This option will fit well if you are a canola grower struggling with tough weeds such as cleavers and Canada thistle. In addition, if you were unable to complete a pre-season burn-off due to weather, you can now clean up your field with Roundup WeatherMax® after seeding.

Bayer is committed to the sustainability of Canadian agriculture and contributes substantial investments towards the research and development of new InVigor hybrids annually. As the global leader in canola, our goal is to provide growers with the latest innovation and technology to solve their evolving farming challenges, and help realize their opportunities.

InVigor Choice may not fit in every farm rotation. To find out if InVigor Choice is right for you, please visit: cropscience.bayer.ca/InVigorLR250

FARMFORUM.CA / JANUARY 2016

WHAT’S NEW WITH BAYER PRODUCTS

BayerValue helps you save more on high performing Bayer Crop Protection Products Throughout your growing season, taking advantage of Bayer’s complete family of products provides a considerable return on your investment. Start with a minimum 300 acres of InVigor® hybrids for automatic savings on canola, cereal and pulse products. In addition to what you already save with the BayerValue Program, you can also save up to $2 per acre on your Bayer herbicide purchases with the Incredible Bulk Offer. To see how much you can save, check out the BayerValue Calculator at cropscience.bayer.ca For more information, visit cropscience.bayer.ca/BayerValue, call the Bayer Rebate Centre at 1-888-283-6847 or visit your local retailer.

The results are in!

It still pays to spray!

This year’s fungicide results are in. And for the eighth consecutive season, in almost every situation, you will have a positive return on investment following a fungicide application in your cereal crops. New this year are results from trials conducted on pulse crops and a comparison to other pulse fungicides available on the market today. Visit www.itpaystospray.ca for results specific to your location.

Photos: Bayer CropScience, top: weber/leifels , bottom: Torben Åndahl

FARM FORUM / JANUARY 2016

Stand your ground. Whether it’s wireworms or other seasonal stresses like drought, nutrient loss, and frost, the addition of Stress Shield® in Raxil® PRO Shield helps provide superior emergence, increased vigour and a healthier plant resulting in a higher yield. With the power of three different fungicide actives, Raxil PRO Shield also provides comprehensive systemic and contact protection from the most serious seed- and soil-borne diseases in cereals, including Fusarium graminearum.

cropscience.bayer.ca

1 888-283-6847

@Bayer4CropsCA

Always read and follow the label directions. Raxil® and Stress Shield® are registered trademarks of Bayer Global. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

R-41-12/15-10477088-E

cropscience.bayer.ca

@Bayer4CropsCA

1 888-283-6847

Always read and follow label directions. InVigor® is a registered trademark of Bayer Global. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada.

0-66-12/15-10477088-E

BCS10477088_InVigor_Innovation_106.indd InVigor Innovation

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