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DECEMBER 23, 2013

Potential catastrophe looms as clubroot infestation rates soar Provincial oilseed specialist Murray Hartman says the number of infested fields jumped by a third this year and will spread exponentially

BY JENNIFER BLAIR AF STAFF

T

he number of Alberta fields with clubroot jumped by more than one-third this year and provincial oilseed specialist Murray Hartman says exponential increases are likely unless canola growers lengthen their rotations.

“If the conditions are suitable, we expect to be seeing more cases every year,” said Hartman. “This year, we had the largest number of cases, and we should expect even more cases next year.”

Canola growers could be in for a catastrophe if they don’t change their ways, said the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development official.

“Some of them are underestimating the impact of (clubroot) once it gets established,” he said. “If you ignore it, it will quickly build up in a field so that you have very severe yield losses. In some cases, these patches will yield nothing.”

First detected in canola in 2003, clubroot was found in 1,500 fields this year, a sharp rise from the 1,100 fields last year, and it’s spreading by 20 kilometres annually. It’s akin to what happens in flu outbreaks, said Hartman.

“When the first couple of people get it, there’s a small increase in numbers. But after 100,000 people get infected, all of a sudden they’re infecting a lot of other people.”

Many canola growers still don’t understand the threat posed to their biggest money-maker, said Scott Keller, who farms at New Norway, south of Camrose.

“The more we look for it, the more we find it,” said Keller, who found clubroot on two different farmers’ fields in the Camrose area in the fall of 2011 while working for an agriculture retailer.

“Before that, it was always somebody else’s problem. We were definitely in denial.”

SEE CLUBROOT  page 6

UPOV ’91

First detected in 2003, clubroot was found in 1,500 fields this year, up from 1,100 in 2012.

FILE PHOTO

RITZ INTRODUCES A BUNDLE OF LEGISLATION CHANGES  PAGE 14

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SPELLCHECK PROD

news » inside this week

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inside » Jan Slomp new NFU president Q&A with Rimbey-area dairy producer

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

livestock

crops

columNists

More cattle wanted for testing

Soybean potential grows

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brenda schoepp Succession discussions need good help

Roy Lewis Hormone implants are safe and ‘gree’

A history of Prairie cookbooks University presents online exhibit of collection

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Canada needs to meet BSE sample target

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Shorter-season varieties provide more options

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Jet stream produces wild weather

Nuffield scholars say seeing the world makes it smaller

Australian’s manual sheep-shearing record has never been broken

Scholars obtain insights into ag issues through program that allows them to study topic of their choice in countries around the globe

staff

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Correction — ‘How to Kill Your Community’ A story titled How to Kill Your Community published Dec. 9 erroneously cited Chris Fields as author of 13 Ways to Kill Your Community. The authors are Doug Griffiths and Kelly Clemmer.

Crosby Devitt (Guelph, Ont.), (l to r) Daryl Chubb (Irricana, Alta.), Cheryl Hazenberg (Calgary), Brenda Schoepp (Rimbey, Alta.), Steve Wolfgram (Stratford, Ont.). PHOTo: Supplied

By Helen Mcmenamin

af contributor / lethbridge

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Daniel Bezte

Pricey pair of sheep shears

he Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that a pair of shears used by legendary Australian sheep shearer Jackie Howe has sold for $38,000 at auction.

The mechanical shears, used by Howe for many years, were listed for auction on Oct. 29 by Sotheby’s Australia. The auction house put an estimate on the shears of $15,000 to $25,000. A Sotheby’s spokesman said the auction was “hotly contested.”

Howe was a legendary Australian sheep shearer at the end of the 19th century. According to Wikipedia, on Oct. 10, 1892, Howe shore a record 321 sheep in seven hours and 40 minutes. He also set the weekly record, shearing 1,437 sheep in 44 hours and 30 minutes.

Howe’s daily record was beaten

by Ted Reick in 1950, but Reick was using machine shears.

Sotheby’s said an inscription on the handpiece showed it was presented to “Jack Howe” in January 1893 by the Wolseley S.S.M.C (Sheep Shearing Machine Company).

The ABC reported that Sotheby’s Australia chairman Geoffrey Smith said Howe was not only a champion of the shearing shed but a champion for the worker and contributed strongly to the Australian labour movement.

“While the man is no longer with us, his legacy remains through the tool of his trade.”

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eing a Nuffield scholar changed the way Crosby Devitt saw the world — and Canada’s place in global agriculture.

“My travels have been a time of personal and professional growth. I’ve made connections and friends from around the world — the world seems smaller now,” said the grains and oilseeds producer who farms near Lake Huron in Ontario.

“I didn’t expect such strong family connections from my Nuffield experience. We’ve hosted five scholars and others, some brought their families, and now my kids want to go to Australia to visit their friends.”

Devitt was recently in Lethbridge as part of an annual gathering of Nuffield “scholars” — people who have received a grant from the non-profit organization to travel and study agriculture in other countries.

His studies in 2012 on research partnerships in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Europe, demonstrated the

value of farmer organizations,” he said.

“We should embrace the opportunity we have to lead research and development,” he said. “I’m convinced the way ahead is through partnerships, public-private, national and international.”

“I’ve made connections and friends from around the world — the world seems smaller now.”

Crosby Devitt

Two of the three 2014 Nuffield scholars are Albertans and they heard from another Albertan, Brenda Schoepp.

Schoepp is a beef-marketing consultant and Alberta Farmer columnist and has become an advocate for gender equality on farms around the world

because of her Nuffield studies last year.

“In Canada, a third of the land base is owned by women,” she said. “But around the world, 50 to 99 per cent of the food is produced by women and they make up 50 to 99 per cent of the agricultural workforce. These women are integral to feeding the world.”

Whether it’s obtaining sheltered toilet facilities for women, dealing with “daughter-in-law problems, or trying to obtain credit, many women around the world often face gender bias.

But Schoepp said she found men and women in farming want the same things and that information travelled easily between them. It reinforced her belief in mentoring, she said.

“Mentorship is empowering, inspiring, liberating and engaging a person,” she says. “It’s not guiding them. It is giving them the right tools to bring out what is already in the person and unconditionally accepting whatever that is.”

This year’s Nuffield scholars are Cheryl Hazenberg, Daryl Chubb, and Steve Wolfgram.

Hazenberg, raised on a farm

in Ontario, now works for the Canadian Angus Association in Calgary. She’s still finalizing her study plans but is especially interested in consumers’ perceptions of their food and traceability.

Daryl Chubb was raised in Saskatchewan and is now an independent crop consultant based at Irricana, whose clients farm more than 30,000 acres, producing mostly small grains.

He plans to study plant nutrient efficiency and other agronomic challenges of increased crop production.

Ontario veterinarian Steve Wolfgram said he plans to examine economic, environmental, sustainability and health issues — such as food safety and antibiotic use and resistance — in different livestock systems.

“I realize it’s more than I can do as a Nuffield scholar,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll narrow it down once I get travelling.”

The trio will gather with Nuffield scholars from around the world in Australia in February and will spend a minimum of 10 weeks outside Canada pursuing their studies.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

Scientist extracts value from chickens by using protein byproduct to make glue Disposing of three million spent hens a year is a major headache for Alberta egg producers, but a protein chemist has an ingenious solution

By Alexis Kienlen af staff/ edmonton

I

f Jianping Wu’s technology is commercialized, your wooden chair could be held together by glue made from chickens.

The protein chemist and assistant professor at the University of Alberta has developed a new type of glue by recombining the protein components of poultry carcasses.

“When people think about the egg industry, they often think that the commodity is eggs,” said Wu. “The egg industry is a really complicated industry because you need to feed hens and make them lay eggs, but then you have to think about how to deal with the hens after they lay eggs for a year.”

The productivity of laying hens

falls off after about 12 months but getting rid of them is a major headache. In Alberta, 2.4 million laying hens and nearly 600,000 hens from the hatching egg industry are disposed of, composted, or rendered each year.

Since their meat is tough and low quality, it is only suitable for soup or pet food, and because laying hens have so little meat, it’s usually not economically viable to process them. Some are composted on farm, while other producers pay to have them removed.

That’s why the Egg Farmers of Alberta and other industry groups, such as the Canadian Poultry Research Council, support Wu’s research. He’s been on the hunt for a new use for spent laying hens for about four years, including turning them into a glue. Since the Sec-

“If we have this commercial application, we can make the egg industry even more environmentally friendly because we don’t have to dispose of those birds anymore. We can also make the industry more sustainable by getting extra value from the spent hens.”

Dr. Jianping Wu protein chemist and assistant professor at the University of Alberta

ond World War, most adhesives have been made from petroleum byproducts, but were once commonly made from animal protein including milk or blood.

“Historically, people made adhesives without really understanding the science,” said Wu. “We can make a better adhesive using the science and the modern technology available.”

Wu starts by grinding up the whole carcass, and then extracts protein and uses chemical processes to make a water-resistant adhesive similar to wood glues used in construction or furniture making. Wu spent three years creating the glue and has a patent application pending for his technology. Thanks to two years of funding from the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, he is now developing a cost-effective method of glue preparation, doing testing on a pilot-scale level, and hoping to commercialize the process.

“If we have this commercial application, we can make the egg industry even more environmentally friendly because we don’t have to dispose of those birds any more,” he said. “We can also make the industry more sustainable by getting extra value from the spent hens. In the future, there may be some real benefits that may even come down to the farmer.” akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

Jianping Wu, protein chemist and assistant professor at the University of Alberta, has created a glue using poultry byproducts.

Trains and trade top the agenda for new Grain Growers of Canada president Gary Stanford says grain can’t be shunted aside even though the railways are moving a lot more oil and fertilizer these days

By Alexis Kienlen af staff

G

Magrath-area farmer Gary Stanford is the new president of the Grain Growers of Canada.

rain movement is a top priority for the new president of the Grain Growers of Canada.

“The railways are getting so full with new products on the rail that we want to make sure that grain stays a high priority for the railways,” said Gary Stanford, a dryland and irrigation farmer who grows canola, barley, alfalfa, spring and winter wheat at Magrath, south of Lethbridge.

“There is a lot more fertilizer and oil that is using up the railways, and we don’t want to get pushed out because the railways are the only way we can get our grain to port.”

The Grain Growers just finished working on a railway review along

with the Canada Grain Council, the Western Grain Elevator Association, and several other groups, he noted.

Trade issues, including the recent World Trade Organization talks in Indonesia, are another key concern, he said.

“We want to make sure the voice of the farmer is being heard and the trade that (Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz) worked on is good news for grain farmers,” said Stanford.

His organization is also focused on the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement with the European Union, he said.

“We need to make sure that our grain is non-GMO so we can move into the EU markets,” he said. “So we have some work to do to make sure that the grain and pulses we ship are acceptable to the EU market.”

Stanford has been on the Grain Growers board for about six years, the last three as vice-president. He is also the Region 1 director for the Alberta Wheat Commission, sits on research committee, and chairs the winter wheat committee. Stanford first became involved in commodity organizations in 1996 as a director for the Alberta Winter Wheat Commission.

The Grain Growers of Canada is comprised of 14 different grain commodity groups — including pulses, soybeans, corn, oats, rye, barley and wheat — and has been ranked among the most active lobby groups in the country.

“We’ve actually become fairly high profile in Ottawa with all of the various government parties — the NDP, the Conservatives and the Liberals,” said Stanford. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

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DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

EDITOR Will Verboven Phone: 403-697-4703 Email: will.verboven@fbcpublishing.com

Reporters Alexis Kienlen, Edmonton (780) 668-3121 akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

Day of reckoning looms as impact of refundable checkoffs hits home

Jennifer Blair, Red Deer (403) 396-2643 jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

PRODUCTION director Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com

Director of Sales & Circulation

Alberta Beef Producers has seen checkoff refund requests hit the 30 per cent level, and that will not only impact it but also the effort to battle COOL and gain market access

Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com

CIRCULATION manager Heather Anderson Email: heather@fbcpublishing.com

national ADVERTISING SALES James Shaw Phone: 416-231-1812 Fax: 416-233-4858 Email: jamesshaw@rogers.com

By Will Verboven alberta farmer editor

I

classified ADVERTISING SALES

t feels ominous, but a financial day of reckoning may be coming for the Alberta Beef Producers (ABP). It was predictable, but it seems to be coming a lot sooner than expected.

It’s the consequence of the refundable cattle checkoff, a measure that was part of Bill 43, which is now almost four years old. At ABP’s recent annual general meeting, there were a number of resolutions demanding the provincial government reinstate the non-refundable checkoff.

No wonder — ABP has seen a whopping 30 per cent (and growing) checkoff refund request.

At that rate it’s starting to have some real impact, as reserves have been depleted to keep the operation going. When budget problems arise, the usual mantra one hears is that ABP will just have to make more cutbacks. That’s usually directed at administration costs, which many producers see as too big and fat. But that can only go so far. There comes a time when cutbacks are going to have real impact on services and programs.

In fact, the organization has already reduced some funding for assorted programs and research projects. That has serious consequences as many of those activities are funded with matching government grants. What has also become serious is the financial consequences on the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) to which ABP has been the main contributor. It should be noted that the mandatory national $1 checkoff does not cover any of the expenses of operating the CCA. The problem for ABP is it has agreed to pay a proportional share of the CCA budget. That share is not based on the retained per-head checkoff income and means the CCA share is consuming more ABP budget even as checkoff income declines because of refunds.

At the rate the decline is going, most ABP income will soon be going to maintain the CCA. That caught the attention of many

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

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PUBLISHER Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com

Associate PUBLISHER/ editorial director John Morriss Email: john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com

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delegates and there was a resolution to deal with that trend. A meeting of the financial officers of the CCA and its provincial members has been called. However, I expect it will not go well for the CCA as other provinces will be in no mood to ante up more cash, even though many of them have nonrefundable checkoffs.

After all, they’ll likely argue, it’s not their fault that Alberta went to a refundable checkoff.

However, the reality is if Alberta can’t meet its financial contribution to the national organization, there will be consequences to the operation of the CCA and its activities. Considering further COOL battles and ongoing market-access negotiations, this couldn’t have come at a worse time for the cattle industry.

Most folks who have any understanding of the machiavellian politics of the Alberta cattle industry pretty well knew this was going to happen. Most of the checkoff refund requests are coming from big feedlot operators. That was entirely predictable as that sector has fought and lobbied long and hard for a refundable checkoff.

The contention that a refundable checkoff would make ABP more accountable was nothing more than a red herring tossed out by its opponents. It always boiled down to power and money.

To be fair, at times when feedlot operators are losing money on every head they sell, it helps when they can get back their $2-perhead checkoff. That’s only human nature.

However, the irony is that one of the reasons prices have been depressed is the direct result of COOL stifling and depressing Canadian cattle marketing — and the only way that battle can be fought is by the CCA with a healthy war chest. But that needs to be supported by checkoff funds, which many Alberta feedlot operators are demanding be refunded to them.

You can see that something is amiss here, and those not demanding refunds are getting fed up with having to pay the whole bill, particularly for those who seemingly benefit the most from CCA lobbying.

Whether you are for or against the refund-

able checkoff, everyone would agree it’s in the hands of the Alberta government. It created this impending crisis and only the province can fix it.

And there is a political opening to do just that — the ag minister and many of the senior bureaucrats who ended the non-refundable checkoff are now gone.

One would expect the present minister and new senior staff are aware of the negative consequences of Bill 43, not just here but potentially across the country. As the cattle herd declines and refunds increase, it’s only going to get worse. Repealing the act would be the right thing for the government to do for the industry.

The feedlot sector also needs to revisit this issue. They are sophisticated business people who should understand the strategic nature of such issues as market access, trade restrictions, and industry regulations. They know what needs to be done, and they should be in the forefront of supporting the CCA in its battle with those who threaten the economic viability of the industry here or abroad.

Instead, they are seen by many to be undermining the industry with their fixation on the refundable checkoff. They also need to do the right thing by being the industry leaders they are and support a return of the non-refundable checkoff.

Perhaps there is another timely opportunity to take some positive steps.

The Straw Man Beef Industry Strategy plan has just been released and has received a positive response from most of the industry. Within the strategy recommendations, reference is made to checkoffs and how vital they are to moving industry development forward. This would seem a critical opportunity for the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association, ABP, and government to show real initiative and support the strategy by moving forward on how the non-refundable checkoff can be fully reinstated, made to work better, and maybe even extended to processors.

What a great leap forward that would be for cattle industry unity. It can be done. All it takes is real leadership from all sectors. will.verboven@fbcpublishing.com

There’s no turning back, traceability is a fact of life

By Will Verboven alberta farmer editor

I

t would seem some issues within the beef industry continue to just simmer with occasional flare-ups. That would be the case with traceability.

It caused a lot of consternation when the concept was first proposed, particularly as it was being imposed by the federal government by a certain deadline.

If there is one common trait the cattle and beef industry has from top to bottom, it’s an acute sensitivity to new regulations. Howls of protest emanated from various sectors — most of them related to costs. The feds certainly stumbled on getting the industry to cooperate and tried to mitigate a bad situation by pouring millions

of dollars to get the program going at different levels in the marketing chain. The problem for the industry was that there was not unified political consensus on how to handle the issue. One would hope the Straw Man Beef Industry Strategy would resolve that perennial problem. But I digress.

“It’s sure to come as consumers/buyers want more meat ‘attributes.’”

What needs to be accepted is that traceability is a fact of life for the cattle and beef business, and the feds are not going to retreat.

If resistance continues, you can expect regulations will rain down from above.

Some in the marketing side of beef have stated that traceability is of no value in the export market outside of it being traced to “Canada.” That would be similar to what our export competitors do in foreign markets.

If that’s all offshore buyers want to know about traceability, then so be it.

But I expect that will not be the situation with domestic and U.S. buyers. Maybe not immediately, but it’s sure to come as consumers/buyers want more meat “attributes.” One can almost certainly expect a com-

plete traceability requirement for future beef exports to the EU with the pending CETA agreement. In fact, it’s all but guaranteed to be demanded if crafty EU negotiators see it as a possible trade restriction. Remember they beat us on the hormone issue. This is just another skirmish for the EU to win.

The time is over to complain about traceability and give false hope to producers at meetings that somehow the feds are going to relent in their drive to impose this program. I expect marketers will use whatever aspect of traceability that they will need for competitive purposes and that’s as it should be. It’s better to have the program make that information available, than to lose markets because the info was not available.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

Keeping the farm organizations in line By controlling the research purse strings, the government can arrange for positive comments

By John Morriss editorial director

H

“

ardly a day goes by” may be an overused phrase, but not when it comes to the frequency of news releases from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada — we received 13 for the month of November. There’s nothing wrong with governments communicating with citizens, and some of the releases are pure business, such as brief notices of appointments to the board of Farm Credit Canada.

But more of the releases relate to the Harper government’s steady dribbing and drabbing of funding announcements, which are intended not only to gain publicity but maintain the divide-and-conquer strategy for farm organizations.

We don’t want to embarrass any particular organization by using an example because they all play the game. You can visit the AAFC news release page yourself to see the pattern, which goes something like this:

“Canada’s ruby red rutabaga industry is poised to make new inroads into the export market thanks to an investment of $100,000 announced today by Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Gerry Ritz at the annual meeting of the Ruby Red Rutabaga Association…”

The release will continue with a few manufactured quotes from Mr. Ritz, some (probably also manufactured) statistics about the importance of ruby red rutabagas to the Canadian economy, the name of the program under which the “investment” (it’s never a grant) was made, and of course a reference to that program being part of Growing Forward 2.

The release will also contain manufactured (with the help of the minister’s staff) complimentary quotes from the president of the association, which can be as blatant as, “This is another example of the results Minister Ritz has obtained for the Canadian ruby red rutabaga industry.”

As of early December there had been eight such releases since the

beginning of November, with announcements totalling more than $4 million. This of course was money that was already budgeted, and which may have been announced before.

On one hand you can’t fault the red rutabaga president for taking part in this charade, because what choice does he or she have?

AAFC has probably slashed if not eliminated red rutabaga research and the association has had to get a checkoff to do some itself.

If it wants to get AAFC to kick in some matching money (though less than it spent before), it has to play ball, including saying nice things in the government press release.

When money isn’t involved, this process is a bit more unseemly. For example, when the Canada-EU trade agreement was announced, there was a volley of releases from farm organizations praising the deal to the rooftops. The facts that the details hadn’t been finalized and that negotiations would take another two years somehow weren’t mentioned.

Speaking of unseemly, the relationship between the minister’s office and the Grain Growers of Canada is getting a little too obviously close, though in this case we’re not sure who’s controlling whom. Late on Friday, Dec. 6 the minister’s office announced he would hold a press conference on Monday in Winnipeg, which was obviously to announce Canada signing the UPOV ’91 international seed treaty. On Sunday morning, the Grain Growers issued a release with a letter to the minister calling for him to sign UPOV ’91. What a coincidence.

The message is clear. Farm organizations know that if they don’t support the government with rapid-fire compliments, they’re not going to be allowed in the game.

This process of the government pulling the farm organization’s PR strings has been ongoing for some time, but last week things were ratcheted up to a new level.

As we noted last issue, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz doesn’t accept grain company claims that the railways aren’t perform-

ing. Mr. Ritz is entitled to his opinion, but he is not entitled to enlist a supposedly independent Crown agency to express it for him. Every week for decades, the Canadian Grain Commission has issued a publication with statistics on grain movement. Never in our memory has the CGC issued a press release commenting on its contents — until earlier this month.

“This year, producers in Western Canada saw record yields. So while our data shows that grain is moving to export at a faster pace, this year, it feels like it’s taking a lot longer to empty the bins,” CGC chief commissioner Elwin Hermanson said in the release.

It’s embarrassingly obvious that either Mr. Ritz or someone in his office phoned Mr. Hermanson and strongly suggested if not ordered the commission to issue this release. This is highly inappropriate. The CGC is supposed to operate independently in the interests of producers and the industry, not defend politicians. john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com

Getting the mail — and much, much more Today we’re communicating more than ever, but are we really talking to each other?

By Laura Rance

editor, manitoba co-operator

T

ucked away in various corners of this old house are bundles of letters, held together by elastic bands or stuffed into a big envelope.

One of those bundles dates back more than 60 years. It was exchanges between two young people working in different communities the year before they married. That bundle of letters survived against all odds in the ensuing decades of their life together; it was even pulled from the burning barrel at the last minute, much to the delight of that couple’s grandchildren today.

It’s not because it’s steamy reading; in fact, it is pretty mundane. What is special about these letters is they offer a historical snapshot in the life and times of this family — glimpses of dayto-day living, the news events of the day and the reality that even 100 miles was a long way away in those times.

Another bundle of note is of airmail letters — as opposed to email — tiny scrawls on see-through paper exchanged between my 19-year-old self and my family while I was on an agricultural

exchange to New Zealand more than three decades ago. Even by airmail, it took those letters up to nine days to cross the ocean between Canada and New Zealand in the late 1970s — and it was expensive for the times.

But those letters captured the emotions, the excitement, the homesickness and the adventures of that trip in such a way that makes them fun to read and reflect on now. They are like miniature time capsules.

Thirty years later, my own daughter took a similar trip to the land Down Under. Her communications home were by Facetime or Skype and occasionally by email. Those communications were instantaneous, rich and interactive, but fleeting.

There is no lasting record, except in our memories, of how

her experiences changed her, helping her grow.

For all we’ve gained in immediacy — the instant access we have to all of our online friends and associates through venues such as Facebook and other social media — we are losing something valuable, as letters and the art of letter writing disappears from our culture.

Some social scientists worry that all of the conveniences offered by modern communications technology come at the expense of something else that’s precious — the art of conversation.

In his book The De-Voicing of Society: Why we don’t talk to each other anymore communications sciences professor John L. Locke writes that we have become so accustomed to doing our communications and business online

As those emails come in with people’s Christmas letters this holiday season, try printing out a few of them as hard copies.

in the digital age that people have stopped talking, as in having a conversation, with each other.

“Intimate talking, the social call of humans, is on the endangered behaviours list,” Locke writes.

Conversations in a group of people include eye and facial expressions, hand gestures and the rise and fall of human voices as they make a point, or laugh.

Capitalized words, exclamation marks and texted LOLs are a poor substitute.

In fact, many of us are starting to feel uncomfortable in social situations that require face-toface conversation. Ever notice how many people automatically reach for their iPhone or BlackBerry as soon as there is a lull?

“Without intimate conversation, we can’t really know others well enough to trust them or to work with them harmoniously,” Locke writes. ”We also lose track of ourselves, our sense of humour, our own particular way of looking at things. Our society is poorer and more fragile for being voiceless.”

So while it came as no surprise to learn that Canada Post is eliminating urban door-to-door delivery as a cost-cutting measure in the face of declining mail volumes, we can’t help but think

it might be a good thing. City folks will have to go to the box at the end of the street and actually meet their neighbours. Rural folks who have collected their mail from a post office for as long as we can remember know what happens when others converge on the same place at the same time with the same purpose in mind. They talk.

Usually, it is mundane grumblings over such things as the rising cost of postage stamps or the weather. But over time, as familiarity grows, they begin to talk about other things, such as their children or their views on community events or hot-button issues of the day. Sometimes they agree; sometimes they don’t. But they always walk away with a perspective they didn’t have when they came, often without even knowing it.

As those emails come in with people’s Christmas letters this holiday season, try printing out a few of them as hard copies.

Just for fun, pull them out and read them again in a few years.

And as your families and friends reconnect this holiday season try leaving the smartphones in the cloakroom. laura@fbcpublishing.com

6

OFF THE FRONT

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

CLUBROOT  from page 1 And that’s still the case, as many producers are on a two-year rotation with canola, he said.

“We’ve been doing absolutely nothing about clubroot. We knew about it, but nobody was doing anything.”

Growers in the area, including Keller, have begun growing resistant varieties in an effort to manage the disease.

“The important thing now is to manage that resistance,” he said.

But that could be a tall order.

Growing a resistant variety will prevent clubroot from becoming established in a field. But if you sow a resistant variety into a field with a heavy infestation, the disease exerts “monumental increase” on resistance, said Hartman.

“All around the world, clubroot resistance in brassica crops hasn’t been durable, and we shouldn’t expect it to be any different here,” he noted.

That would pose a serious threat to canola production in Alberta, he said.

“If we don’t have any other good resistant sources, we’re going to have to really back off the rotation,” Hartman said. “And that won’t be good news.”

Keller aims for a one-in-three rotation for his canola, but “there’s definitely been fields where it’s been a one in two,” he said.

But extending the rotation to more than three years isn’t in the cards on his farm, he said.

“You look at what’s happened in the markets, and it’s pretty tough to get excited about growing wheat,” said Keller.

WHAT’S UP

“We’ve been doing absolutely nothing about clubroot. We knew about it, but nobody was doing anything.”

Send agriculture-related meeting and event announcements to: will. verboven@fbcpublishing.com January 10/11: Peace Country Beef Congress, Exhibition Grounds, Dawson Creek, B.C. Call: Chris 250-784-4490

SCOTT KELLER

Producers are “really toeing that line” between what makes agronomic sense and what makes economic sense, he says.

“Farmers aren’t going to do anything different until they start going broke.”

It’s recommended that producers pressure wash equipment before moving from one field to the next but that causes delays that producers can’t afford during the short spring seeding season.

“The conditions in the spring where the spores spread are the conditions where they’re going to have the least amount of time to devote to cleaning,” said Hartman.

And many producers are still widely choosing non-resistant varieties because they’re cheaper.

“Producers are of the attitude that they’ll deal with it when it comes,” he said. “They’re looking at short-term economics and hoping that somehow the problem will go away.”

January 14: Manage & Market what you Measure, Legion Hall 11:00 am, Mayerthorpe.

Call: County Office 780-7853411 January 14/15: Agronomy Update 2014, Sheraton Hotel, Red Deer. Call: AGINFO 800387-6030 January 15: Manage & Market what you Measure, Community Centre 11:00 am, Leslieville. Call: County Office 403-845-4444 January 16: Farm Succession Workshop, Community Hall 10:00 am, Castor. Call: Meaghan 780-582-7308 January 16: Manage & Market what you Measure, Community Centre 11:00 am, Claresholm. Call: County Office 403-845-4444

The ‘red zone’ of clubroot infestation is spreading exponentially. MAP COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

January 21/22: Irrigation Crop Production Update, Lethbridge Lodge Hotel, Lethbridge. Call: Elizabeth 403-381-51118

jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

Love, power, and money — the family succession plan FROM THE HIP  Farm succession facilitators often need to manage an emotional atmosphere

BY BRENDA SCHOEPP

W

hile in Australia I was involved in several farm family succession planning meetings. As a guest speaker, I talked about the empowerment of individuals around the table. This is important so the truth is known and heard from all the individuals involved. The meeting leader followed with key points.

Love, power, and/or money can sum up the reasons why farm succession fails. When we try to do it ourselves, often the emotional side deafens our ability to listen or to be heard.

It is well known that 55 per cent of what a person hears is read through our posture and facial expression. You can’t disguise that kind of poison. So it is important when one goes into a discussion to ensure we are ready, and relaxed, honest and sincere. Our body will give us away if we are not.

The tone of our voice is 38 per cent of what is received. If we raise our voice then regardless of what we say, the other members of the family only will hear a third of it. The rest of the time they are emotionally responding to someone being angry.

Because the human brain seems to only be capable of getting the full meaning behind an emotional sentence seven per cent

of the time, it is important to choose words carefully.

Asking the other family members what they think, how they feel and how they visualize the changes are all key to a healthy discussion. Checking in once in a while with each person with a question like, “What have you heard so far?” is a healthy way to ensure the conversation stays on track.

Help needed

Sounds easy, but in reality it is very difficult to do without help.

It is important to have a neutral and qualified third party lead the discussion. We watched a disturbing video of a farm family succession planning meeting with a facilitator who berated one member of the family because it was the consensus that he would not move of the mark.

What the facilitator had totally missed was that the seemingly unmovable resolve of the father to stay on the farm was not driven by power or money, but by love.

Once the family discovered his motivation then it was easy to come to an agreement on a plan that worked for all parties. To the credit of the family they were able to find his reason despite the facilitators predetermined ideas. Engaging the right person for your family is important and a full debrief on his/her capabilities is perfectly acceptable.

Because succession planning is complicated and takes a long time, it is important to confirm often what has been agreed upon. Mental and physical exhaustion take their toll, especially if there are several of the players holding a position based on power. And although money is a negotiable area, there are many farms that take years to work this through. In several cases we examined, the family accountant or financial adviser was biased or worse yet, withheld information. As hard as it is to believe, these things do happen during the process of negotiation.

Engaging the right person for your family is important, and a full debrief on his/her capabilities is perfectly acceptable.

Business plan

The development of the strategic succession also includes a firm business plan for all parties. I have seen several where there is a buyout and in some cases the farm continues to support the parents with an annual payment.

Regardless of the details, it is real lives we deal with in succession planning and all parties have to feel secure that the decisions made will be honoured. The best honour system is to still have the written plan in place prior to any transfers. This way, when the going gets tough or someone is unsure, even in later years, all eyes can go back to the business plan.

The most tragic of circumstances occurs when there has never been a business plan and the children have worked on the farm, often for decades, under the assumption that they are entitled. One case involved not only the lack of a business plan, but the original owner took liberty to change verbal agreements. This is a power play.

Combined with a lack of correct information on how that business should have been run resulted in free labour for two decades for the original owners, and the adult children lost their land, home and health.

In another case we worked on it was the parents spoiling the adult children (love) and

those children now wanting it all (money) which would have impoverished the parents. In another example the parents were very quiet and seemed withdrawn. They were embarrassed to say that their off-farm investments failed and they could no longer transfer ownership because they had to sell. All parties were going to lose their dreams and their homes.

At all times, it is important if you are working on a family farm to have written agreements and business plans that clearly state the roles and responsibilities and compensation for all parties. We could look back on these examples and ask, “What were they thinking?” But the reality is that people farm because it is what they love to do and it is easy to assume that your life will be the same tomorrow as it was today. We know that is not the truth and at some time the fair negotiations may be clouded with love, power or money or the unexpected. It is best to prepare now with the right people and for all the right reasons.

Brenda Schoepp is a Nuffield Scholar who travels extensively exploring agriculture and meeting the people who feed, clothe and educate our world. A motivating speaker and mentor, she works with young entrepreneurs across Canada and is the founder of Women in Search of Excellence. www. brendaschoepp.com

7

Albertafarmexpress.ca • december 23, 2013

Monsanto, Novozymes creating BioAg Alliance The new partnership will focus on developing biological products to boost crop yields

By Allan Dawson staff

M

onsanto and Novozymes are partnering to develop and commercialize biological products to boost worldwide crop production, company officials announced during a telephone news conference Dec. 10.

Their new “BioAg Alliance” brings Novozymes’ commercial BioAg operations, including microbial discovery, development and production together with Monsanto’s microbial discovery, advanced biology, field testing and commercial capabilities, the companies said.

Microbial-based products are derived from naturally occurring micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi. They can protect

crops from pests and enhance plant productivity and fertility, the companies said.

Biological-based products can also get to market faster than more heavily regulated traditional chemical-based pesticides. “(M)icrobial solutions offer tremendous potential to deliver sustainable, cost-effective solutions that can increase yield using less inputs,” the companies said.

Monsanto is well known for its seed business and its popular non-selective herbicide, Roundup (glyphosate). Novozymes is a major player in biological products, including JumpStart, an inoculant that grows along the root, making more phosphate available to the plant.

Biological products will play an important role in an integrated approach to boosting crop pro-

Customs agreement said positive, but little movement on agriculture

Reuters

T

he World Trade Organization reached its first-ever trade reform deal on Dec. 7 to the roar of approval from nearly 160 ministers who had gathered on the Indonesian island of Bali to decide on the make-or-break agreement that could add $1 trillion to the global economy.

“For the first time in our history, the WTO has truly delivered,” WTO chief Roberto Azevedo told exhausted ministers after the talks which had dragged into an extra day on the tropical resort island.

“This time the entire membership came together. We have put the ‘world’ back in World Trade Organization,” he said. “We’re back in business… Bali is just the beginning.”

Canada’s International Trade Minister Ed Fast on Friday described the Bali agreement as “a promising package that includes market access in agriculture, gains for least-developed countries and an important trade facilitation agreement that will improve the movement of goods across international borders.”

Trade skepticism

But there was skepticism how much had really been achieved.

“Beyond papering over a serious dispute on food security, precious little progress was made at Bali,” said Simon Evenett, professor of international trade at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

“Dealing with the fracas on food security sucked the oxygen out of the rest of the talks.”

The talks had begun under a cloud because of an insistence by India at the outset that it would only back an agreement if there was a compromise on food subsidies because of its massive program for stockpiling food to feed its poor.

India, which will hold elections next year, won plaudits at home for taking a stand on behalf of the world’s poor.

An eventual compromise was greeted with jubilation by Trade Minister Anand Sharma. While India had insisted on a permanent exemption from the WTO rules, the final text aimed to recommend a permanent solution within four years.

“Much of the focus was on shielding public stockholding programs for food security in developing countries, so that they would not be challenged legally even if a country’s agreed limits for trade-distorting domestic support were breached,” the WTO said in its release.

The agreement rescues the WTO from the brink of failure and will rekindle confidence in its ability to lower barriers to trade worldwide, after 12 years of fruitless negotiations.

The deal slashes red tape at customs around the world, gives improved terms of trade to the poorest countries, and allows developing countries to skirt the normal rules on farm subsidies if they are trying to feed the poor.

Produced by: SeCan Product/Campaign Name: SeCan Pasteur Date Produced: December 2013

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WTO overcomes last-minute hitch to reach first global trade deal

“It restores the effectiveness of a number of herbicides, including Roundup, the ALS-type chemistries and the HPDP-type chemistries,” he said.

“There is a lot of innovation possible in the genomics and microbials space,” Fraley said.

“Again, we’re really excited about how these new tools can be applied, to both let us test and characterize and produce and target fields with exactly the right products.”

Western Canadian farmers will Resistance challenge be getting some of the alliance’s Monsanto is already working on new products, especially with “BioDirect,” a new approach to corn and soybean acres expandkilling herbicide-tolerant weeds ing, said Trevor Thiessen, Novousing RNAi technology — the zymes vice-president and head “i” stands for “interference.” It of BioAg. makes herbicide-tolerant weeds “It is an important area for susceptible to the herbicides our research and development they had been able to survive, SEC_PAST13_T_AFE.qxd 12/11/13program 1:19 PMtoday Pageand 1 we anticiFraley said. pate that we will be going forduction along with plant breeding, biotechnology, chemicals and agronomics, Monsanto’s chief technology officer Robb Fraley told reporters.

Weeds and other pest are evolving and climate change is also expected to affect crop production, he said.

“I think for me it really points to the importance of having multiple new tools in the challenge of controlling new bugs and weeds,” he said.

ward with those crops grown in Western Canada,” he said, noting that JumpStart was discovered in Western Canada.

Monsanto and Novozymes will maintain independent research programs to identify microbials for agriculture. Novozymes will be responsible for production and supply of microbials. Monsanto will lead field testing, registration and commercialization.

The companies will co-manage the alliance and co-fund research and development efforts and share the profits.

Monsanto will take over marketing Novozymes’ current products.

The BioAg Alliance is subject to the approval of national antitrust authorities, but is expected to be approved early next year. allan@fbcpublishing.com

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NEWS » Markets

8

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Black Sea crops look good

U.S. wants China GMO approvals

Weather conditions so far this season have favoured winter grain plantings in Russia and Ukraine, enhancing the possibility of a good harvest in 2014, despite a decrease in the sown area and late sowing, officials said. A rainy autumn delayed the sowing campaign in Russia and Ukraine, two of the main grain Black Sea exporters with customers in North Africa and the Middle East, but an abnormally warm October and November extended the season. “The situation is better than last year,” Roman Vilfand, the head of Russian weather forecaster Hydrometcentre told reporters. — Reuters

U.S. officials are monitoring Chinese rejections of American corn shipments, which have helped drive down commodity prices, and have urged China to act promptly to approve genetically modified strains of corn, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office says. At least three shiploads of U.S. corn have been rejected by China’s quarantine authority in the past month on the grounds that they included an unapproved biotech variety produced by Syngenta AG known as MIR 162.

Corn futures fell to near a two-week low last Monday because of concern about disruptions in U.S. sales to China.

Bears beat down bulls on canola contract values A slew of ‘panic’ selling from farmers worried prices are going to keep tumbling lower weighed on canola values

photo: thinkstock

By Terryn Shiells

I

CE Futures Canada canola contracts moved to fresh contract lows for the second straight week during the week of Dec. 9 to 13.

Nearby contracts lost more than $30 per tonne, as there were more bearish than bullish factors pressuring the market. The January contract broke just below the key technical level of $440 per tonne on Dec. 13.

The surprisingly large 18-milliontonne Canadian canola crop continued to overhang the market, as did logistical issues and expectations of a larger than three-million-tonne carry-out this year.

Chart-based selling as futures broke through key levels of support added to the bearish tone, as did a technical bias that is now pointed to the downside. Speculative-based long liquidation ahead of the new year was also a noted feature.

A slew of “panic” selling from farmers, who are worried prices are going to keep tumbling lower, further weighed on canola values.

The losses in canola were also linked to spillover pressure from the weakness in outside oilseed markets, though the futures were said to be somewhat divorcing themselves from Chicago soybeans and trading on their own bearish fundamentals.

The canola market continues to be pointed lower, with large losses still possible before finding a true bottom. More speculative selling could build on itself if the January contract continues to settle below the $440-per-tonne level.

There will likely be corrective bounces here and there going forward. But any bounce will be seen as a good selling opportunity, which will curb the advances.

Chicago soybean futures were holding steady during the week. A positive U.S. Department of Agriculture report helped to support prices.

USDA estimated 2013-14 domestic soybean stocks at 150 million bushels, down from pre-report expectations of 153 million and its last estimate of 170 million.

Strong export demand, as the U.S. is one of the only places with readily available supplies, was also bullish.

If export demand stays strong, nearby soybean prices could still move higher.

Record-large global supply expectations, however, due to large crops out of the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay were bearish and could continue to put downward pressure on prices going forward.

Chinese cancellations worry

Traders are also worried China may start to cancel some previously purchased tenders of U.S. soybeans, though no cancellations were reported as of Dec. 13.

Worries about Chinese purchase cancellations were also noted in the CBOT corn futures, and helped to bring prices to lower ground. China was rejecting shipments containing non-approved GMO corn from the U.S. during the week, which sparked fears that they may also cancel purchases of dried distillers grains (DDGS) from the country.

Another bearish feature was the news that the U.S. government is thinking about eliminating the ethanol mandate.

For now, however, ethanol demand in the U.S. is strong, which helped to

limit the losses, as did good buying interest from exporters. Going forward, corn prices should avoid dipping too low as long as the demand remains strong.

USDA increased its estimates for corn exports and domestic ethanol usage in its December crop report, and it’s expected they will only get bigger in upcoming data.

Stocks weigh on wheat

Kansas City, Chicago and Minneapolis wheat futures moved sharply lower during the week, as the large global supply situation continued to weigh on values.

USDA unexpectedly increased its global ending stocks figure in its Dec. 10 report, with the reasoning being larger world production. U.S. ending stocks were also upped due to an expected increase in imports from Canada.

The government agency estimated global ending stocks for 2013-14 would total 182.8 million tonnes, up from the previous estimate of 178.5 million.

Terryn Shiells writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

9

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

New NFU president says agriculture heading in wrong direction Rimbey dairy farmer Jan Slomp says agriculture needs the National Farmers Union because it takes a long-term view and stands up for all farmers

By Will Verboven af staff

E

arlier this month, Rimbey dairy farmer Jan Slomp was acclaimed as president of the National Farmers Union (NFU), the voluntary member-based producer organization headquartered in Saskatoon. Recently, Slomp spoke with Alberta Farmer editor Will Verboven.

Alberta Farmer: Could you tell me a little bit about yourself, your background, and your farming operation?

Jan Slomp: I started farming

in the Netherlands in 1979, where we milked 50 cows and farrowed 100 sows for a number of years. We had no prospect of expanding much so we started looking around at other countries like Canada, and in the late ’80s we arrived here and started a dairy. We are in the dairy business and milked as high as 90 cows, but since then have downsized.

We use holistic practices in our operation and found we are just as successful with fewer cows as when we had 90 cows. We are self-contained, we purchase very little outside inputs. We are a mixed farm.

How long have you been involved with the NFU and what is the membership in Alberta?

I have been a member since 1989. I had an interest in the development of agriculture in Western Canada and being an NFU member gave me an education in its history and development for which I am very thankful. But I am concerned with the general direction of agriculture today. The NFU has thousands of members across Canada, but we don’t have a lot of members in Alberta. They are spread out across the province from Brooks to the Peace, but there is a concentration of members in the east-central area. We are not a checkoff organization. It’s completely voluntary.

Is consolidation in the ag industry with fewer farmers affecting your membership base?

Our membership peaked in the late ’90s, which is probably similar to other organizations.

Where we have seen expansion is with youth members. We have farmers who have 3,000 or 4,000 acres. We do represent a lot of small-scale and direct-market farmers.

Does the NFU have any regular meetings with the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development minister or any senior officials?

What’s your relationship with them?

No, we don’t meet with them much anymore. We used to, (but) they see us as irrelevant because they want to foremostly

Australia signs with Korea, Canada still talking

talk to the checkoff organizations. They seem to have more influence with the government.

The Wildrose group probably has the same experience, and that’s a sad thing. We feel we are a free organization that represents people who have a broad range of thinking that helps in developing long-term policy.

A number of years ago the NFU produced a study on the economics of the cattle business and cattle marketing. It was well received at the time.

Whatever happened to it?

It’s been updated in little pieces, it was prior to the BSE outbreak, but that report is still in effect in terms of our policy. It’s still relevant, particularly with the concentration of beef processing that affects the other sectors.

We either have to regulate cattle marketing or enforce competition. The primary producer is still in a bind and that’s a fact.

The big issue over the last couple of years has been the change to the way the CWB operates. Is the NFU still pursuing that issue or are you moving on with other issues?

Our western-based members are still very much involved, but it is lost and things have moved on.

But the fallout is affecting us now in moving the big crop with a backlog in grain movement.

Many producers can’t deliver on their contracts in 2014. We

have a monopolistic railroad system because we are missing the authority to tell the railroads to move grain as the CWB did.

They move what is most attractive to them and I see certain sectors in the chain becoming very powerful. We may have to enforce options better or regulate movement. Some could say we saw it coming. Our members are still in court with the CWB issue.

Where does the NFU stand on the COOL issue, which is having an impact on the cattle and beef industry in this province?

What we failed to do in the past was to sell a premium beef product different from the U.S. Instead, we have lowered our standards to those of the U.S. with the idea we would have one market. But that has never worked with the spread getting bigger and it’s not all due to trucking. We need to cater to markets that want reduced hormones that are available in other parts of the world.

Is the NFU still opposed to GM seed varieties? If so, is that not a problem considering the widespread use in canola, corn, and soybeans?

Our policy is not opposed to GM, but we believe in the cautionary principle. We have to have proper independent testing and not testing from companies that want to sell the product. That’s

Jan Slomp from Rimbey is the new NFU president. PHOto: supplied the core of our policy. We are opposed to GM alfalfa for that reason. It’s presented as innovation, but it’s based on a 20-yearold technique. I believe if we resort to one chemical, we will increase our problem. Roundup Ready products are not working as well, which is why we have reservations. We know some of our members are growing GM canola, so we have diverse opinion on the topic.

I understand the NFU is a member of an international peasant farmers’ union organization. Is that still the case, and how does that connect to producers in Canada, most of whom are commercial farmers?

Yes, we are members and I know the term peasant has a negative connotation over here. But I have travelled abroad and you would be surprised about how much we have in common with farmers in other countries when it comes to issues like marketing.

Still in good shape

Import tariff on beef lowered but still higher than for U.S. Reuters / staff

C

anada and South Korea are still talking free trade, but Australia has sealed a deal.

Australia and South Korea have signed a free trade agreement (FTA) that will eliminate tariffs of up to 300 per cent on Australia’s major exports, notably agricultural products and resources, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Dec. 5 Earlier last week the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association reported that free trade talks between Canada and South Korea, stuck on the back burner for months, had resumed with what appeared to be renewed interest in a deal.

On Dec. 4 the Yonhap news agency, quoting the South Korean government, reported that trade ministers of South Korea and Canada had agreed to work toward early conclusion of a bilateral free trade agreement.

The two met at World Trade Organization talks in Bali, Indonesia, last week.

“Minister Yoon Sang-jick and Canadian Minister of Inter-

national Trade Ed Fast noted that there had been significant progress in negotiations for the Korea-Canada FTA,” Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.

The U.S. and South Korea signed a free trade agreement last year, and Australia’s beef farmers had become increasingly concerned about losing market share to the U.S. It offered a 5.3 per cent lower tariff than Australian beef and veal.

The tariff on U.S. beef would be eliminated over 15 years.

“The deal is significant for beef,” Matt Linnegar, chief executive officer of the Australian National Farmers Federation told Reuters from Indonesia. “The differential between Australia and the U.S. stands at about five per cent... but it would have been eight per cent next year without the deal so we would have been at an increasing disadvantage.”

The tariff on Australian beef will also be removed in 15 years.

Until then Australian beef will face a higher tariff than shipments from the United States, but farmers said they will remain competitive.

Though planted late in about the third week of November and despite a recent cold snap, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service on Dec. 10 said much of the wheat in the Texas Panhandle still showed good tillering and good potential for spring growth, with this photo as an example. Photo: Calvin Trostle, Texas A&M

10

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

They’re at it again — boomers are changing the food marketplace Beef producers told to focus on quality and health, and put a face behind the product so they win the trust of boomers and millennials

By Jennifer Blair af staff / calgary

B

aby boomers are key to bringing more Canadian beef to grocery store shelves, says a retail grocery industry analyst.

“Baby boomers continue to lead the market, particularly the food market,” John Scott said at the recent Canfax Cattle Market Forum.

“They’ve got a lot of money, and they’re used to spending it on highquality products.”

Grocery chains have begun to offer higher-end goods and food products in an effort to appeal to boomers with disposable income, said Scott, former president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers.

“Traditional supermarkets that are getting into markets that are a little bit more upscale will be investing in things that affect your industry, like butchers on the floor and fresh, high-quality meat,” he said.

Health sells

Boomers, and their millennial children, aren’t just focused

“Baby boomers might have thrown their pizza at their kids, but they’re not throwing it at their grandkids.”

John Scott

Whether the benefits of organic are real, the point is that health sells, says a retail grocery analyst. PHOTo: thinkstock on quality, but also health, Scott said.

“We call millennials the spoiled kids of the ’80s, and we might have thrown pizza at them and a few doughnuts,” said Scott. “But they’re not doing that to their kids.”

In fact, millennials are influencing their parents’ dietary choices, and this has led to a “dramatic” increase in products such as freerange poultry, organic vegetables, and antibiotic-free beef, he said.

“If you check your supermarkets this Christmas, you start to see the number of people who are walking out of there with free-range

organic turkeys. Real or perceived, they believe that that’s the very best for their family. The point is health sells.”

Buying confidence

Trust in how food is produced is also a rising trend, he said.

“We used to say ‘buy local.’ It’s not ‘buy local’ anymore — it’s confidence.”

Costco used confidence in USDA beef to its advantage when it entered Canada’s marketplace and distinguished itself with its high-quality beef. As the Canada Beef brand has grown, however, Costco has changed its focus and

now promotes Canada AAA grade beef.

“You think you’ve got a brand?

Oh, you’ve got a brand, all right,” Scott told the Canfax attendees.

“And you’ve got a brand because people have confidence in it, and they have confidence in you.

That’s what buy local is all about.”

Consumers don’t just want to know what’s in the product, but “who stands behind it,” and food marketing needs to capitalize on that, he said.

“I want to be able to promote those people.”

Sobeys’ recent promotion with chef Jamie Oliver has attempted to

capitalize on these changing consumer values.

“He’s introducing you to the people behind the product, and that creates confidence,” said Scott.

While producers may not be able to connect directly with their endusers through a national advertising campaign like the Sobeys’ promotion, understanding a retailer’s marketing approach is very important, he said. “You can’t sell to all stores the same way,” he said. “Every one has a strategy. If you understand the strategy, you can help them with that strategy.” jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

Vitamin E supplements may improve beef Researchers developing guidelines for optimum concentration in rations

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staff

V

itamin E supplements in cattle feed can improve the shelf life of ground beef and may provide human health benefits, says Mike Dugan of Agriculture and AgriFood Canada.

In a research project funded by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA), Dugan’s initial findings show that supplementing vitamin E in cattle diets improves the colour of the meat and the trans fatty acid composition.

“The trans fatty acid composition is one of the most important improvements with increased levels of vitamin E,” Dugan said in an ALMA release.

“There is more and more research pointing towards

trans fatty acids not all having the same health effects. It is, therefore, important to be able to optimize the composition of ruminant-derived trans fatty acids which may be able to help reduce some risk factors associated with diabetes, obesity and heart disease.”

The research showed vitamin E helped maintain ground beef colour, but had limited effects on steak or ground beef taste and texture.

“At the optimal concentration, vitamin E will help in the production of a more visually appealing ground beef that enjoys a longer shelf life and superior taste profile. We are also looking towards supplementation in combination with other antioxidants to further enhance the trans fatty acid profile,” Dugan said.

11

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

French horsemeat fraud

U.S. court lifts horse slaughter ban

Police arrested 21 people in raids on the horsemeat industry across southern France last Monday on suspicion that horses used to develop medicines were sold fraudulently for food.

A public prosecutor said about 200 horses unfit for human consumption had been given false veterinary certificates and slaughtered for meat by an organized ring involving cattle traders, vets and butchers. A spokesman for pharmaceutical company Sanofi said some of the horses had been used to incubate antibodies to manufacture serums for everything from rabies to snake bites, and while in good health were certified as unfit for human consumption. — Reuters

Horse slaughter could soon resume in three U.S. states after a federal Appeals Court in Colorado vacated a temporary ban on inspections at slaughterhouse facilities. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver said Dec. 13 that animal protection groups had “failed to meet their burden” for continuing an injunction barring the U.S. Department of Agriculture from providing horsemeat inspection services to three firms. The decision could pave the way for the first horse slaughter operations in the United States in more than five years. — Reuters

Dairy and cattle producers urged to have suspect cattle tested for BSE In the wake of BSE, Canada agreed to test 30,000 brain stem samples annually but officials say test numbers are falling

By Alexis Kienlen af staff

C

anada is in danger of breaching its commitment on BSE testing, and producers need to be more vigilant in having suspect cattle tested, say industry officials.

Canada made a pledge to the World Organization for Animal Health that it would conduct extensive testing, and that promise has trade implications.

“We’ve also made a commitment to the countries we trade with to test 30,000 head,” said Doug Sawyer, past chair of Alberta Beef Producers.

We all do things to help our industry, whether it’s giving tours or promoting our products. This is just one more way to help and you get paid to do it.

Albert Kamps Chair of Alberta Milk’s animal health committee

“As of September, we were right around 24,000. That puts us on target to possibly make our target by the end of the year, but it’s also cutting it pretty tight.”

It’s not known what the repercussions could be if Canada doesn’t meet the testing targets.

“I would hope it’s not a huge issue, but when it comes to international trade, you just never know,” said Sawyer.

The matter needs to be discussed with trading partners and there is a good argument for lowering the number of tests, he added.

“Our cow herd has dropped, so the 30,000 is a much higher percentage of our animals than what it ever used to be,” he said.

Officials noticed a drop in the number of brain stem samples from Alberta and Saskatchewan dairy and beef farms being sent for BSE testing about a year ago. That prompted a recent awareness campaign delivered at producer meetings and through industry newsletters.

Any cow over the age of 30 months that unexpectedly dies, cannot stand or walk, or needs to be euthanized because of distress or disease should be tested.

Dairy producers need to do their part, too, said Albert Kamps, a dairy producer from Lacombe and an Alberta Milk director who has served as chairman of its animal health committee.

Apathy may be part of the reason for the decline in testing, he said.

“BSE was 10 years ago and people seem to have forgotten about (the need for testing),” said Kamps.

He noted testing is free and producers receive $75 when a sample is taken from one of their cows.

This is a good time for testing, he added.

“We’ve targeted the fall season because it is much more popular to leave the cow in the yard in the winter than in the hot summer sun,” said Kamps.

Producers should call a veterinarian to arrange for a brain stem sample to be taken. The vet will come within three days. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

Doug Sawyer says the test numbers are on target so far, but the deadline is approaching.

12

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Hormonal implants are efficient, effective, economical and safe beff 911 } Hormone allows more beef to be raised on

less feed and a smaller environmental footprint By roy lewis, dvm

I

mplants in the cattle industry have been used on hundreds of millions of cattle in North America and other countries. We all know the benefits that come with a very small amount of hormone in the right proportions placed in the ear give us both increased gain and feed efficiency. Gains will increase (10-25 per cent) and feed efficiency will rise up to 15 per cent. The amount of improved gain depends on the cattle type which includes such things as breed, gender as well as phenotype. The amount and quality of feed as well as the type of implant (concentration of the androgenic and estrogenic hormones) as well as the length of time the implant lasts all have a bearing on the final improvement in gain.

You can start with some implants as soon as castration occurs and it is wise to implant your non-replacement heifers as well. Younger calves have a better feed conversion rate so the younger you start the quicker gains are realized. Work with your herd veterinarian on an implant program that best maximizes the gains possible on your ranch and stick with it.

The extra effort is well worth it.

Handling

With chutes now having neck restraint bars and shoulder restraint devices it is much easier to implant. Guns are designed so crushing of implants as well as bunching are pretty much a thing of the past. Make sure and swipe the implant needle through a disinfectant after use.

We want to implant properly to get the maximum benefit but we always say the worst-case scenario comes from not implanting at all. Make sure and work out with your veterinarian an implant program customized to your farm.

There have been hundreds of trials comparing implants against one another or comparing calves implanted versus not implanted. Hundreds of these trials go back over the decades and now the only trials one sees is when a new implant hits the market. Weight gains vary from 20 pounds to much more than that with the longer-lasting finishing implants. Most of the implants use a combination of estrogens and androgens (either natural or synthetic) to achieve better weight gains. The synthetic androgen TBA trenbolone acetate has more of an impact on growth and less on behaviour as the natural hormone testosterone. Hundreds of millions of cattle have been implanted over

the years and most multiple times with no real side-effects.

Returns

Implants will return a conservative 15-25 to 1 return. If you don’t implant you should consider it as otherwise you are leaving many dollars on the table. As soon as bull calves are castrated is a good time. Remember that young calves have a greater feed efficiency and conversion rate (four pounds of feed for one pound of gain) so younger is ideal to start most implant programs. The only few exceptions to this would be keeping heifers for breeding or intact bulls. If you can market into a branded program where calves with no growth promotants are to be enrolled; that is fine but those calves should be worth in the neighbourhood of 20 per cent more to compensate for the extra gains and feed efficiencies you are forgoing from not being able to use the growth-promoting technologies (implants, deworming, ionophores and beta-agonists). Without the implants it simply takes more time and more feed to produce the same weight of calf.

Safety

We all need to know how safe growth implants are. They are all given in the ear so none of the

residual product enters the food chain. Hence all the implants have a zero meat withdrawal. It would be a loss of money to give the implant too close to slaughter so most astute producers have the implant running out just prior to slaughter.

Most of the three big pharmaceutical companies that produce implants spend resources explaining to producers and the general public about the safety of implants. They are so safe it is really a non-issue in my opinion. It is too bad big business such as A&W in their recent ad campaign tries to cast doubt on the subject. The fact of the matter is that ranching is more sustainable with the use of implants among other things to assist in growth.

A lot of countries such as many in the European Union raise and slaughter intact bulls so not the need to implant. Other countries calve on vast stretches of land so don’t handle the cattle enough to implant. Other species such as bison utilize the natural hormones by leaving bulls intact and maximize their growth that way. North America has a much more hands-on style of management so might as well get maximum production fully utilizing the genetics and growth potential of their cattle by implanting.

Many plant products that we consume have much higher levels of estrogens than our implanted beef. We need to all take the next message forward to the consuming (urban and rural) public as often we get push-back as they have been ill informed or simply have a total misconception about the safety of implanted beef. Even some producers have this illconceived notion.

Again unless calves are in some branded or naturaltype program 95 per cent of calves entering the feedlot are implanted immediately. This is again why A&W has had to go out of country to places like Australia and the U.S. to get enough no-added-hormone product for its burgers.

The reality is from a green perspective faster-growing cattle produce less greenhouse gases, utilize less land and drink less water over their lifetime and are thus more efficient. If no cattle were implanted, dewormed or given other growth-promoting technologies beef would cost even more to raise.

Roy Lewis is a large-animal veterinarian practising at the Westlock Veterinary Centre.

His main interests are bovine reproduction and herd health.

Vermilion-area rancher recognized for environmental practices Rancher recognized for efforts that not only preserve the environment but boost pasture productivity and reduce costs

By Alexis Kienlen af staff

T

aking care of his land is a matter of the heart for Sean McGrath.

But it works for his pocketbook, too.

“It’s a non-debatable, nonnegotiable issue,” said the Vermilion rancher. “We’ve learned that if we work with nature, our costs go down and our margins go up.

But also our productivity goes up so we can produce more on the same acres at a bigger margin.”

The McGrath family — Sean, wife Tanya, their three children, and his parents, Fred and Anne — was recently given the 2014 Environmental Stewardship Award by Alberta Beef Producers.

Round Rock Ranching is a fifth-generation cow-calf operation breeding 180 head on 80 per cent native rangeland. The McGraths background calves, sell F1 replacement heifers, feeder calves, and grass-finished beef on 3,000 acres of rented, cropshared, leased and owned land.

McGrath credits his parents for emphasizing environmental

sustainability on the ranch and describes the process as a “positive feedback loop.” Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the cows that drive the revenue on an operation, he said.

“What actually generates revenue on the ranch is sunlight hitting blades of grass,” he said. “If that’s your focus, your cattle can be managed to fit your grass. But you have to have grass before you can grow cows.

“I always raised that way. The first thing you look at when you look at any place is the grass and the water. Then you look at the cows.”

The McGraths winter graze, which is rare in northeastern Alberta.

“Lots of guys are bringing their cows in from grass and we’re taking ours out,” he said.

Rake bunching, which the McGraths have practised for three years, helps them make good use of their grass.

“We might graze a paddock through once or twice in the summer, and then we come through with an old steel dump rake and pull the hay up into big piles and then the cows can graze on it

through the wintertime. They can get at it through more snow than a typical swath.”

Keeping the cows on pasture, keeps their nutrients there, too.

The McGraths also bale graze their backgrounded calves and herd their cattle the old-fashioned way, using horses rather than quads.

Through Alternate Land Use Services (ALUS), a pilot project operating in several areas in Canada, the McGraths generate revenue from their environmental goods and services.

“It’s basically a pilot project that is a way to sell or market the fact that we produce clean water, wildlife habitat and sequester carbon,” he said. “We provide scenery and biodiversity preservation, all those intangibles that benefit society.”

The McGraths were the first operation in Alberta to sign an ALUS agreement and have been in the program for five years. The family has also partnered with Cows and Fish to do rangeland assessment and yearly monitoring of riparian zones on the ranch.

“This way, we can measure and document if we’re changing and

Sean McGrath and son Billy take in the beauty of their home at Round Rock Ranching near Vermilion. McGrath and his family recently won the Alberta Beef Producers Environmental Stewardship Award. in which direction we’re changing,” said McGrath.

McGrath also works with Land EKG Canada to monitor changes in the landscape over time. Working with these groups and using envi-

ronmentally friendly practices has not only boosted pasture productivity and slashed his fuel bill, but also made him a better manager, he said. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

13

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

Brazil farmers contemplate two soy crops this season Low corn prices prompt ideas of double cropping beans

By Gustavo Bonato sao paulo / reuters

F

armers in Brazil’s largest agricultural state, Mato Grosso, may plant a second annual crop of soybeans instead of corn starting in January, after harvesting the main crop.

Second-crop corn and advances in tropical agricultural technology have nearly doubled Brazil’s annual corn output in 10 years. But faced with leftover stocks and low prices, farmers are contemplating a different strategy this season.

“I still don’t know how much it will be, but second-crop soy is a reality,” said Laercio Lenz, the president of a local growers’ association in Mato Grosso’s Sorriso municipality.

Americans warned against ‘cannibal sandwiches’ Raw ground beef cited in several cases in Wisconsin last year

Prices for December corn contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade are down 36 per cent from their peak in September 2012, when drought struck the world’s top corn exporter, the United States.

After a record corn crop in Brazil last season, mostly due to the second harvest, prices in remote areas like northern Mato Grosso are not compensating for high shipping costs to ports.

In these regions farmers are serious about planting more soy, even with Brazil looking to harvest a record crop of above 88 million tonnes early next year.

“I’m hearing about this every day,” said Nery Ribas, technical director at soy producers’ association Aprosoja.

But second-crop soy can be a risky bet, analysts said.

“Productivity falls to around 40 bags per hectare, although costs also fall,” said Leonardo Sologuren, director at Minas Gerais-based Clarivi consultancy.

Brazil’s crop supply agency Conab expects Brazil’s first crop of soy to yield about 50 60-kilogram bags per hectare this season.

Farmers can plant seeds harvested in the first crop and don’t need to invest as much in fertilizer, but they may need to spend more on pesticides.

Planting soy several times in a row without rotating crops could bring on new pests in a country that has a history of Asian soy rust and has struggled to control the Helicoverpa caterpillar this year.

Almost time to plant again; a soybean field in Brazil PHOTo: thinkstock No one has an official estimate of how much extra soy could be planted, but Aprosoja has heard estimates of around

one million hectares (2.5 million acres), compared with 8.3 million hectares planted for the main crop.

We have half a million parts To get you back in the Ɵeld fast

By Eric M. Johnson Reuters

R

esidents in the upper U.S. Midwest should ditch their seasonal tradition of eating “cannibal sandwiches” made of raw ground beef, health officials warned, citing multiple outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.

Gobbling up raw ground beef spread on sandwich bread or crackers with onions and other seasoning led to more than 50 cases of foodborne illness in 1972, 1978 and 1994 in Wisconsin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in a report released last week.

Raw beef “cannibal sandwiches” have also been linked to at least four cases, and possibly more than a dozen, of sickness tied to E. coli bacteria in the central region of Wisconsin over the 2012 winter holiday season, the CDC said.

The bacteria can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure.

“Despite ongoing outreach efforts addressing the dangers associated with consuming undercooked or raw ground beef, this regional holiday tradition continues to be associated with outbreaks,” the CDC said.

Jubilant amateur chefs can be seen in web videos dining on blood-red beef chunks dusted with pepper, topped with onions, packed with capers, and piled onto sandwich bread with cheese and mustard.

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14

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

UPOV ’91 coming through ‘Agricultural Growth Act’ Besides stronger plant breeders’ rights Bill C-18 proposes changes to feed, fertilizer and advance payments legislation

By Allan Dawson staff

C

anada has started the process of implementing UPOV ’91 — a stronger form of plant breeders’ rights that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says will encourage more private-sector plant breeding and is also expected to see farmers pay breeders more in royalties.

The changes are part of Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act, introduced in the House of Commons Dec. 9.

Bill C-18 not only proposes to amend the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, but also the Feeds Act, Fertilizers Act, Seeds Act, Health of Animals Act, Plant Protection Act and the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act. All fall under the the purview of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

The bill also amends the Agricultural Marketing Programs Act (AMPA) and Farm Debt Mediation Act (FDMA) under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

“The Agricultural Growth Act is good news for Canadian producers because it will increase farmers’ access to new crop varieties, enhance their trade opportunities and reduce the red tape burden,”

the cash advance program. Farmers will be able to fill out application forms once every five years instead of annually, cutting red tape, he said. And more farm products will be eligible for interest-free loans of up to $100,000, including breeding stock.

The Feeds Act, Fertilizers Act, Health of Animals Act and Seeds Act will be expanded to include international scientific research when approving new agricultural products, reducing red tape, CFIA said in a release.

CFIA will get stronger tools to protect Canada’s plants and animals. For example, CFIA will be allowed to order non-compliant agricultural products immediately out of Canada. Penalties for noncompliance are being increased.

Amending the Feeds Act and Fertilizers Act will allow for licensing and registration of fertilizer and animal feed operators and facilities that import or sell products across provincial or international borders.

This will align legislation with key international trading partners, help Canadian feed and fertilizer industries maintain their export markets and provide a more effective and timely approach to assuring products meet Canada’s stringent safety and other standards.

Ritz said Dec. 9 when announcing the legislation at Canterra Seeds in Winnipeg.

Ritz said he hopes the bill will be law by the start of the new crop year Aug. 1, 2014, but added it depends on the will of Parliament.

UPOV (the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) was established in 1961. It was founded to protect plant breeders’ rights and by doing so “encouraging the development of new varieties of plants, for the benefit of society,” according to its website.

Provisos

The Grain Growers of Canada want UPOV ’91 adopted “as soon as possible,” president Gary Stanford said in a letter to Ritz Dec. 6.

“We think UPOV ’91 will help pave the way for much greater investment in the development of new seed varieties for Canadian farmers, which will be needed to meet the greatly increasing global demand for food.”

The Alberta Wheat Commission supports UPOV ’91, but with some provisos. The AWC says farmers must be able save seed. It also wants Ottawa to continue funding pre-breeding genetic research.

Farmers and the public’s stake in the development of cereal germplasm the past 100 years also needs

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says he hopes the bill will be law by the start of the new crop year Aug. 1, 2014. to be recognized, AWC said in a Nov. 18 letter to Ritz.

The Canadian Seed Trade Association, which represents most of the private seed companies in Canada, welcomed Ritz’s announcement, said president Peter Entz, who is also assistant vice-president seed and traits for Richardson International.

“We are optimistic that this will create the level of investment in plant breeding and development that will take variety development to the next level,” he said in an email.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) opposes UPOV ’91.

“We absolutely don’t need it,” said past NFU president Terry Boehm. “Our plant breeders’ rights legislation conforms with all of our international trade obligations. This is simply a mechanism to extract more dollars out of the farmers’ pockets. Full stop.”

Ritz told reporters farmers will be able to save and plant their own seeds under UPOV ’91.

Cash advances

allan@fbcpublishingcom

The bill also proposes changes to

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GREAT GORP PROJECT Triathlete creates home-grown energy bar » PAGE 44

The pros and cons of applying in dry soil » PAGE 17

OCTOBER 11, 2012

Communications breakdown added to emergency Firefighting made more dangerous without communications

By Lorraine Stevenson CO-OPERATOR STAFF

V

olunteer firefighters racing to reach fire-threatened Vita last week passed hundreds of vehicles headed the other direction and wondered what they were headed into, said veteran firefighter Alain Nadeau.

“I’ve been doing this for 33 years and this was the scariest I’ve seen,” said the weary La Broquerie fire chief on Friday after an exhausting week.

The air was so smoke filled around the southeastern village “we could barely breathe,” he said.

SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | VOL. 70, NO. 41

GOT SEED?

By Daniel Winters CO-OPERATOR STAFF / MELITA

R

ising corn acres and severe drought in the Midwestern United States may crimp supplies of popular corn seed varieties for the com-

ing year.

“It’s really short,” said Ron Rabe, a Dekalb agronomist, who gave a brief talk on corn production in Manitoba at a recent WADO field tour.

Derek Erb, who farms near Oak Bluff and sells Pioneer Hi-Bred corn

|

$1.75

MANITOBACOOPERATOR.CA

Corn seed might be tight next spring Rising demand and dismal growing conditions in the drought-stricken United States may limit supplies seed, said farmers looking to secure seed for next spring should act quickly to secure their supplies, even if it means placing orders earlier than usual.

Pioneer Hi-Bred’s top varieties, which include D95 and D97, account for roughly half the acres seeded in the province. Erb said that with the harvest and quality testing still underway in some areas, it’s difficult to estimate how much corn seed will be available for next year.

One thing’s for sure, waiting until Ag Days in January to secure supplies will

be too late. “I would pretty much bank on that,” said Erb. Dry conditions throughout the province have seen the corn harvest arriving about a month earlier than usual, and seed orders have started coming in sooner than usual too.

Even with the possibility of a shortage of corn seed, Erb doesn’t expect the price of Pioneer’s supplies to rise much more than it has in recent years.

Rob Park, of RJP Seeds in Carman, who deals in Hyland seed varieties, See CORN SEED on page 6 »

15

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

Australia drives domestic and export demand through beef-branding program A 15-year effort to develop the Chinese market is now paying dividends, with beef sales to the Asian powerhouse driving a sharp increase in cattle slaughter

By Jennifer Blair af staff / calgary

I

t takes time, but sustained and focused marketing is worth the effort, according to a senior official with Australia’s beef-marketing agency.

“We were in China 15 years ago, just trying to get the brand Australia established — it’s only been in the last 12 months that we’ve really started to see the benefit of that,” Tim McRae of Meat and Livestock Australia said at the recent Canfax Cattle Market Forum.

In fact, exports of chilled cuts, briskets, and high-value cuts have soared from $150 million to $600 million over the past six months, said McRae, manager of market information and analysis for the producer-owned organization, which devotes most of its market development dollars to Asia and Southeast Asia.

“We have an additional 600,000 to 700,000 head of cattle slaughtered this year, and most of that product has been consumed in China,” said McRae. “Our exports have gone from about 16,000 tonnes in 2010 to 160,000 tonnes now.”

Australia exports about a million head of live cattle and water buffalo annually into Indonesia and Southeast Asia, but countries such as Japan and China are primarily after high-value cuts.

But his organization has been very selective in its marketing efforts, McRae said.

Rather than promoting Australian beef in China’s largest cities, it has focused on second-tier cities.

“We just don’t have the product that would be ready to go if all of a sudden they gave the go-ahead and said, ‘Send us all of what you’ve got.’”

And rather than targeting consumers directly, it targets chefs through food demonstrations and competitions.

“It’s about penetrating the Chinese cuisine,” said McRae. “We’re not trying to teach them how to eat it differently. We’re trying to adapt our product to fit their cuisine.”

His organization also closely tracks changes in buying patterns.

“We’re selling products to what the consumer and what the buyers in these markets want,” he said. “We will tailor our product to that market.”

In the past, Australia promoted its pasture-finished beef in markets such as the EU and the U.S., but that’s changed.

“We’ve built a lot of our exports on that model of grass-fed beef, but we’re also more and more becoming a cut-oriented business,” said McRae. “We don’t do beef anymore. We do cuts of beef.”

Domestic markets

Another key has been an overhaul of its grading program. The

country now uses the Meat Standards Australia grading program, which allows consumers to purchase beef based on the specific quality and cooking purpose of the product.

“The design of this is to remove the guesswork for Australian consumers on purchasing a piece of meat,” said McRae. “Now they know they can go out and buy a piece of beef, and it will meet their expectations. There’s nothing worse than getting a piece of meat and eating it, and it didn’t live up to expectations.”

More than 30,000 Australian producers are now accredited to produce beef for the program.

“To meet the requirements is actually not that hard for Australian producers in a good season,” said McRae. “Pretty standard

production practices will get you accredited and in the system.”

The program, launched almost a decade ago, has only gained traction in the last two or three years, when two of Australia’s major retailers — Woolworths and Coles — adopted it. Woolworths, Australia’s largest retailer, now accounts for 32 per cent of all beef sales with a Meat Standards Australia sticker on it.

It’s been such a hit at home, the beef sector is now looking at using the same system for exports, he said.

“We really are doing anything we can do to make sure our export markets not only stay open to Australian product, but are more likely to buy it.” jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

Don’t try to change customers’ eating habits — adapt your product to their cuisine, says Aussie beef marketer. PHOTo: thinkstock

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DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Brazil rains spur soy rust concern

Europe frost damage unlikely

A rainy December in Brazil’s main soy-growing areas is increasing cases of Asian rust, a fungus that has caused losses in output in previous years, specialists said Dec. 6. Farmers had been focused on controlling a new type of caterpillar, the Helicoverpa armigera, before it munched through what is expected to be a record soybean crop of around 90 million tonnes. But the rain is making rust a bigger concern, and 37 cases have been observed in the current 2013-14 season, mostly in Goias and Sao Paulo but with some incidents in top growing state Mato Grosso. — Reuters

Winter cereal crops across the European continent were expected to remain free of frost damage last week as they are sufficiently strong to cope with forecast temperatures, the European Union’s crop-monitoring unit said last Monday. No winterkill is estimated to have occurred so far and this situation is likely to continue until at least Dec. 23, the MARS unit said in a monthly crop report.

Crops in Russia and Ukraine have recovered from a delayed start to sowing due to heavy rain, with mild weather in October and November letting farmers catch up. — Reuters

A curvaceous jet stream equals wild weather Several spots across the Prairies saw new record lows earlier this month by daniel bezte af contributor

O

ver the first half of December the Northern Hemisphere has seen some fairly wild weather.

Our part of the world has seen some record cold weather, whereas Alaska and Florida have seen record warmth. Over Europe and the Middle East there have been wild temperature swings and early-winter snows in places that rarely see snow. What has been causing this wild weather? Well, it seems as if the jet stream has been meandering a little more than usual so far this month.

What exactly does this mean?

The jet stream is a ribbon of high-speed winds that flow eastward across the Northern Hemisphere and form along the boundary between warm air in the south and cold air in the north. As the jet stream flows along it develops waves — that is, the path it takes begins to curve north and south, much like a meandering river. If one of these waves pulls the jet stream north of a location, that region will see warm weather; if the jet stream moves to the south of a location, colder air moves in.

In the summer, the jet stream is usually well to the north of our region and we stay mostly on the warm side. In the winter the jet stream sags to the south and we tend to be on the cold side.

The waves or meanders in the jet stream do not usually get that large — that is, we don’t see the jet stream going really far north and then diving way south over a short distance.

Instead, the meanders tend to cover a fairly large distance, bringing periods of warm or cold weather to a region. This December the jet stream has not been behaving as usual; instead, the meanders have become exaggerated and as a result, there has been some very unusual weather.

Let’s start in North America.

Earlier this month we saw the jet stream become very exaggerated as a strong series of ridges and troughs forced it to climb way north over Alaska,

then dive deep into the southcentral U.S. before climbing well to the north over the Atlantic. This brought some of the coldest weather central North America has seen since at least January 2011 for Canada and all the way back to 1990 for regions farther south.

Record lows were set in several locations across the Canadian Prairies and the northern U.S. As far as I was able to find, only one location set an alltime record low during the cold snap. Lakeview, Oregon hit -32.8 C on Dec. 8, breaking the previous all-time cold record of -31 C set way back on Jan. 15, 1888.

But Alaska warm

While those in our region were freezing their butts off, Alaska and the southeastern U.S. were breaking heat records. The north coast of Alaska was particularly warm, with temperatures near +4 C being reported near Prudhoe Bay, with rain falling! This reading may be the warmest temperature ever recorded in December along the Arctic coast of Alaska. Farther south, temperatures also soared, but to a different level. As the jet stream swung north, warm air flooded into the southeastern U.S., pushing temperatures to near 30 C in some places; this came close to or tied some alltime December records.

Over Europe a pattern similar to ours developed and brought with it some extreme temperature patterns. In Sweden, temperatures on Dec. 3 were well above freezing, with temperatures in the northcentral region being in the +5 C range. By Dec. 9, temperatures had plummeted to near -40 C in this region. But wait, it gets better: by Dec. 11, temperatures soared once again and to new heights, with high temperatures pushing close to +10 C in some regions! This broke several all-time records for December. In Umea, Vasterbotten, the official high was +9.5 C, which broke the alltime December record of +9 C set back in 1932.

This large northward swing in the jet stream meant that it also had to swing way south.

This issue’s map shows the total snow cover across the Prairies as of Dec. 13. The map was originally created by Environment Canada, but I do a lot of “cleaning up” to make it easier to read. For this reason some of the data has been lost, so the map should only be used to give a rough idea as to how much snow cover there actually is. Overall, it has been a fairly snowy start to the 2013-14 winter season with most areas of the Canadian Prairies seeing fairly significant snow cover for mid-December.

This southward dip allowed cold air to pour into the eastern Mediterranean. Snow was reported at low elevations in Jordan, Israel and Egypt. While it is not super-unusual to see snow in these regions, it is unusual to see it this early in the winter. As can be expected nowadays, some of the reports from these regions have been exaggerated. Cairo was

reported to have received snow for the first time in 112 years, but weather historian Christopher C. Bert of the Weather Underground points out that no snow actually fell in Cairo; instead, it was small hail, with the Cairo airport reporting rain and an air temperature of +5 C. So, what does this mean for us and the weather for the rest

of this winter? Well, the real answer is “Who knows?” If this pattern of unusually large meanders in the jet stream continues, then we should expect these large swings and variations in temperatures to continue — along with the unusual weather that comes with them. daniel@bezte.ca

17

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

EARLY REGISTRATION FOR IRRIGATED CROP UPDATE

Value-added opportunities grow alongside Alberta soybean acres Strong yields and prices are making soybeans a more viable cropping option for Alberta producers

BY JENNIFER BLAIR AF STAFF

S

oybean acreage hit a record high in Manitoba this past growing season, and at least one Alberta producer sees that same potential for them here.

“We’ve been raising them for the last eight years (and) ever since that time, I’ve seen potential for these things in southern Alberta,” said Patrick Fabian, a seed grower who started with six acres of soybeans on his farm near Tilley.

Unlike Manitoba and Eastern Canada, soybean acres in Alberta have been growing slowly in the past decade, hitting a high of 6,500 acres in 2010 before a cool summer resulted in an acreage crash.

It’s now hovering around the 4,000 mark, but consistently strong performance in southern Alberta could see that number grow.

“Soybeans performed very well this year,” said Fabian. “We’re starting to get a track record of consistency where our producers are seeing some decent yields that are translating over to good returns.”

Viable cropping option

This year, typical yields ranged from 38 to 56 bushels, said Fabian, with some producers breaking the 60-bushel mark.

Yields tend to be higher in the irrigation districts, where the majority of Alberta’s soybeans are grown, but a Ponoka producer trying soybeans for the first time saw yields of 35 bushels an acre — about average for a firsttime grower. “We tell our first-time growers to expect 40 bushels an

acre,” said Fabian. “More experienced growers get around 50 to 60.”

Between solid yields and good prices, soybeans are becoming more attractive for producers who are looking for different cropping options for their rotations.

“Canola has been the golden child for many producers,” said Fabian.

“However, in recent years, disease and insect pressure has become so severe that a lot of producers’ bottom lines have been eroded.

“Producers are always looking for a viable alternative to give them different cropping options.”

Shorter-season varieties have been the driver for Manitoba’s soybean surge — which hit a whopping 1.08 million acres this year. But Manitoba’s warm nights create a “different dynamic” in that province and growers here need varieties that can prosper when temperatures drop below 10 C – as it frequently does during Alberta’s growing season, said Fabian.

“That’s problematic for soybeans,” he said. “If the temperature drops much below 10° at nighttime, the plant tends to stall off and stay almost dormant for two days until it gets going again. That can impact yield.”

Breeders are working on new varieties that are better suited to Alberta’s growing conditions, with good results so far, according to Fabian.

“We’re getting more every day.

There are a number of varieties that would have the maturity available.”

Shorter-season varieties will expand soybean acreage into new parts of the province, he predicted.

“As varieties are getting shorter seasoned, we’re able to go farther west and farther north with them,” said

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The Irrigated Crop Production Update is being held at the Lethbridge Lodge and Conference Centre Jan. 21 and 22. The agenda includes presentations on agronomic management, pest management, irrigated crops, irrigation equipment, water management and financial management. The early conference registration fee is $85 and includes two lunches, snacks, a social mixer and all of the speaker presentations. Early registration deadline is Jan. 10, 2014.

Later registration fee is $100. For more information visit www.farmingsmarter.com.

Tilley-area farmer Patrick Fabian has seen solid yields and strong returns from his soybeans.

Fabian. “But right now, we need the proper growing conditions to make sure that the people who grow soybeans have a success every time.”

Growing markets

Southern Alberta producers may be able to grow soybeans. But can they sell them?

It seems so. They’re fetching about $12 a bushel and soybeans are “easier to move and market than barley,” said Fabian.

“Marketing has not been a problem in all the years I’ve grown them.

We’re seeing more opportunities open up every year.”

Parrish and Heimbecker in Medicine Hat now has dedicated bin space for soybeans, making it one of the only local outlets in southern Alberta that handles soybeans.

“We don’t have to look any longer at shipping them to Manitoba and down into the States,” said Fabian.

But there’s opportunity for growth

in local markets as well, especially as feed. In 2012, Alberta imported 120,000 tonnes of American soymeal valued at $54 million, with Alberta livestock producers paying around $95 a tonne above the U.S. Midwest price.

“Why, when we could have that product processed right here in Alberta?” said Fabian. “If we were able to get that market established here, that would make the livestock industry that much more lucrative.”

A soybean crusher operating west of Lethbridge has set up shop, crushing Alberta soybeans and selling the oil and meal locally — and that’s a good sign, he said.

“I am very excited about the future of soybeans in southern Alberta and, in time, all throughout Alberta as new varieties are developed. This could usher in a whole new era of value added for our Alberta agribusiness industry.” jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com

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18

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Terry Boehm steps down after four raucous years heading NFU The Saskatchewan grain farmer had many issues to deal with, including internal ones in the NFU

By Allan Dawson staff

T

erry Boehm says his four years as National Farmers Union (NFU) president were “tumultuous.”

The grain farmer from Colonsay, Sask. stepped down at the NFU’s 44th annual meeting in Ottawa last month. Jan Slomp, a Rimbey, Alta., dairy farmer, was acclaimed the NFU’s new president.

Boehm said one of the biggest blows came when the federal government ended the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly — the last vestige of the century-old co-operative grain movement.

While fighting to save the board, Boehm was grappling with internal matters, including staff changes and an Ontario government tribunal decision to not allow the NFU to register as an accredited farm organization eligible to receive checkoff funds. That cost the NFU thousands of dollars in lost membership revenue and legal bills.

In October the Ontario Superior Court of Justice overturned the tribunal’s decision.

“We came out of that strong and united,” Boehm said in an interview.

“After a judicial review the tribunal was admonished very hard by the judge and ordered to accredit us. All the objections raised... were all false so I feel quite vindicated. But that consumed a lot of time and effort.”

Despite the setbacks the NFU, created as a pan-Canadian farm organization by an act of Parliament in 1969, survived and

remains true to its members’ goals, Boehm said.

“We are steadfast in our democratic structure and in our analysis,” he said. “We have never wavered or been co-opted in anything whether it’s intellectual property rights or trade agreements.

“It’s the product of an organization that has always understood who it represents and that’s farmers.”

Stands alone

The NFU stands alone among Canada’s farm groups in opposing the Canada-European Trade Agreement known as CETA (Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement). According to Boehm it’s because, unlike other organizations, the NFU has closely analyzed leaked drafts of the proposed accord and concluded the deal will undermine Canadian sovereignty.

Among other things, it will prevent favourable treatment for local food production over imports.

The deal contains “draconian” intellectual property rules, which will penalize suspected violators before they are proved guilty, according to Boehm.

“Any alleged infringer before the merits of the case is heard shall be subjected to the precautionary seizure of their movable and immovable assets (and) the freezing of bank accounts... “ he said.

The same applies to any third party alleged to have assisted in the infringement.

“A farmer accused of having a patented gene in his crop could be prohibited from seeding or harvesting,” Boehm said. “A seed cleaner could see his assets seized

if he’s part of one of these so-called alleged infringements.”

CETA is a complex agreement, which will have a negative impact on all of Canada, not just farmers, according to Boehm.

“To my great disappointment no other farm organizations have read the leaked drafts, they haven’t looked at the agreement... they’ve not done the analysis and they jumped on the cheerleading bandwagon without any idea that this agreement will destroy the sovereignty of our country and our ability to manage our economy in our own interests.”

There are lots of battles ahead for the NFU including preserving Canada’s crop variety registration system and the cap on the total amount the railways can earn shipping western Canadian grain.

Opposes UPOV ’91

The NFU will also try to block the federal government from ratifying UPOV ’91, an international treaty that gives plant breeders more powers to collect revenues from the seeds farmers buy. While proponents say it will encourage more private plant breeding, the NFU argues UPOV ’91 will enrich multinational seed companies at farmers’ expense.

While the United States and many other countries have signed UPOV ’91, others including Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Belgium have not. About two-thirds of the world’s nations haven’t signed any of the previous UPOV agreemenst, Boehm said.

Boehm, who served as NFU vice-president for six years before becoming president, will continue

Terry Boehm steps down as NFU president. to follow trade, seed and intellectual property issues closely for the NFU, he said.

The NFU couldn’t save the wheat board and it’s unlikely it will stop Canada and the EU trade deal, but that doesn’t mean the NFU shouldn’t try, Boehm said.

Even slowing down such changes benefits farmers, he said.

“The farm movement built organizations to rebalance the power in the farm economy,” he said. “They include the Canadian

Grain Commission, the wheat pools, the Canadian Wheat Board, the variety registration system, the Canada Grain Act, the Crow rate. All these things have been attacked or dismantled, but nevertheless we always did, I think, a good job of arguing our case for retaining these things or improving them.

“We can rebuild and maybe even rebuild a better structure.” allan@fbcpublishing.com

NFU acclaims, elects new executive Jan Slomp of Rimbey, Alberta was elected president of the National Farmers Union (NFU) by acclamation, at its 44th annual convention in Ottawa, November 27 to 30.

Ann Slater of St. Marys, Ont., was acclaimed as first vice-president (Policy).

Coral Sproule of Perth, Ont., was acclaimed as second vicepresident (Operations).

Joan Brady of Dashwood, Ont., was acclaimed as NFU women’s president.

Marcella Pedersen of Cut Knife, Sask., was elected as NFU women’s vice-president.

Alex Fletcher of Victoria, B.C. was acclaimed as NFU youth president.

Lisa Lundgard of Grimshaw, B.C. was elected NFU youth vice-president.

Canada’s Annual Ag Outlook Conference

February 24 & 25, 2014 The Fairmont Winnipeg Speakers include: • Red Spring Wheat - Trevor Letkeman, Parrish & Heimbecker • Durum - John Griffith, CHS • Malt Barley - Ronald Volpi, Rahr Malting • Canola - Tracy Lussier, Louis Dreyfus Every farmer has been a marketing genius for the last two years. 2012 saw a good crop and the best prices we’ve ever had. 2013 saw the best crop ever grown in western Canada and still decent prices.

You’ll have to sharpen your pencil for 2014 however. Two years of good prices have farmers around the world producing to the max. Making money will be a challenge in 2014.

Arm yourself with information on the market outlooks for the various crops we plant in western Canada. Wild Oats Grainworld 2014 will provide you with detailed outlooks from traders who handle the crops.

• Soybeans - Karl Skold, Bunge • Corn - Nicholas Hoyt, Informa Economics • Barley - Jim Beusekom, Market Place Commodities • Oats - Randy Strychar, Ag Commodity Research • Peas - David Katerynych, Alfred C. Toepfer (Canada) • Canary - Kevin Hursh, Hursh Consulting • Paul Stow, OmniTRAX Canada • Dale Alderson, DA Seed • Todd Hyra, SeCan In addition, hear Charlie Mayer with a few thoughts on farmers, a rail transportation panel, a review of where the seed industry is headed and Dennis Gartman, publisher of The Gartman Letter, on financial policy.

Join us at the Fairmont Hotel at the corner of Portage and Main in Winnipeg. Early-bird registration is $400 and includes all sessions and meals.

Register at wildoatsgrainworld.com or call 1-800-567-5671.

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

ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for corn is a combination of four separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, and clothianidin. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for canola is a combination of two separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients difenoconazole, metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil, thiamethoxam, and bacillus subtilis. Acceleron and Design®, Acceleron®, DEKALB and Design®, DEKALB®, Genuity and Design®, Genuity Icons, Genuity®, RIB Complete and Design®, RIB Complete®, Roundup Ready 2 Technology and Design®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup Transorb®, Roundup WeatherMAX®, Roundup®, SmartStax and Design®, SmartStax®, Transorb®, VT Double PRO®, YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2®, YieldGard Corn Borer and Design and YieldGard VT Triple® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. Used under license. LibertyLink® and the Water Droplet Design are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. Herculex® is a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Used under license. Respect the Refuge and Design is a registered trademark of the Canadian Seed Trade Association. Used under license. ©2013 Monsanto Canada Inc.

New FAO farm implement inspector Agri-News

T

he Farmers’ Advocate Office (FAO) has welcomed Cal Vance as Farm implement inspector. “I was born and raised on a mixed farm near Madden, Alberta, and attended high school in Airdrie and then SAIT for four years obtaining my mechanics licence with a red seal,” says Vance. “I owned and operated a small repair shop for many years working on everything from lawn mowers to four-wheeldrive tractors and most everything in between.”

From there Vance then entered into the oil and gas industry, starting as a mechanic and then moving up the line holding various management and director positions with several service companies specializing in failure analysis, technical support and administering warranty and product performance issues.

Anyone requiring information or assistance regarding farm implements, parts availability, farm implement dealer/distributor licensing, warranty issues, failureto-perform inquiries or the obsolete parts directory, are asked to contact Vance toll free in Alberta at 310FARM (3276) or go to the Farmers’ Advocate Office website.

10801A-Gen Legal Trait Stewardship-AF.indd 1 7/26/13 2:33 PM

19

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

Opportunities and challenges follow demographic changes Immigration is feeding the Canadian population, but agribusiness needs to figure out what is feeding immigrants

By Shannon VanRaes staff

T

he face of Canada is changing — or more correctly, the faces of Canada are changing.

“Canada is rapidly moving from being a white country to becoming a brown country,” Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, told attendees at the recent GrowCanada conference in Calgary.

And that’s something that should get those in agriculture and agribusiness thinking, he said.

“What are you doing for these consumers?” Bricker asked, noting in recent years 300,000 new immigrants have been arriving in Canada annually, only three per cent of whom are refugees.

Forty years ago the most immigrants came from the United Kingdom and the United States. Now the Philippines, followed by India and China, are Canada’s leading sources of new citizens.

Bricker notes that by 2015, Canada will have more senior citizens than youth, something else that doesn’t bode well for Canada’s dairy industry.

“We realize now that most calcium needs and other things that an elderly population will consume, are found in substitute products,” said Gervais. “Dairy is going to go through some really important industrial changes, — I mean that domestic consumption is going to change and they will have to react; I think they have started to realize that.” Bricker said these demographic changes will also lead to opportunities, such as developing alternatives for Canadians who now prefer rice.

And with women living five years longer on average than men, meeting their needs could prove lucrative as well.

“So anyone in the commercial grocery sector — what are you doing for elderly women living alone?” asked Bricker. “They are going to be a very interesting consumer segment to focus on.” But even with boomers tipping the scales in purchasing power, generation Y can’t be ignored either. Gervais noted that that younger demographic has its own tastes and trends that affect food choices, including a growing interest in organics.

But overall, more needs to be done to determine where future growth will be in the food market and how farmers can meet consumer needs, he said. “I don’t think we know exactly what our aging population and a more ethnically diverse population in Canada is going to really want,” Gervais added. shannon.vanraes@fbcpublishing.com

Jean-Phillipe Gervais, chief agricultural economist for Farm Credit Canada speaks at the GrowCanada conference in Calgary. Photos: Shannon VanRaes

Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs speaks at the GrowCanada conference in Calgary.

Push model over

Jean-Phillipe Gervais, chief agricultural economist for Farm Credit Canada, agrees it’s important to determine what products and even staple foods are wanted by newcomers.

“We need to talk about the consumer, because quite frankly the supply chain model is totally different than what it was 20 years ago and even 10 years ago,” Gervais said. “Before we had a push model... ‘this is what I have on the farm right now, I’m gonna bring it to the market, I’m gonna ask what it’s worth... and the processors, the buyers are gonna take it to the consumer.’”

Not so today. Now the marketplace is seeing a pull model.

“The consumer is really making known what their preferences are, and retailers are relaying this to processors, and processors to farmers and producers,” he said.

And those preferences often depend on the types of food common in their country of origin. Given that immigration is heavily weighted towards Asian and South Asian countries at the moment, Bricker notes this will have a particular effect on the dairy industry.

OUR SINCERE THANKS TO THOSE WHO PROTECT WHAT MATTERS MOST. At DuPont Pioneer, we strive to increase awareness of safe practices on the farm and at home through our employees, sales representatives and customers. But when accidents happen, it’s peace of mind to know local rescue workers are prepared to step in.

In 2013, Pioneer was happy to help promote safety in rural communities across Canada through our Funding Initiative for Rural Emergencies (F.I.R.E.) program. We delivered over $100,000 to rural fi re departments and emergency services.

Please see your Pioneer Hi-Bred sales representative for details about how your community can get involved with the F.I.R.E. program in 2014.

We wish you a safe and happy holiday season!

HERE ARE SOME OF THE PROJECTS F.I.R.E. CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PAST YEAR. “I typed in ‘Asian cuisine and cow’s milk,’ you know what came up?

Nothing.”

Darrell Bricker Ipsos Global Public Affairs

Dundalk Fire Department Air bottle containment fill station • Chesley and Area Fire Department Rescue tool replacement • Petrolia and North Enniskillen Fire Department Training facility • Service des Incendies de St-Liboire Extrication equipment and training • Norwich Fire Department – Station 2 Thermal imaging camera • Tweed Fire Department Air bottle containment fill station • Borden-Carleton Fire Department New radio system • West Lincoln Fire and Emergency Services Grain extrication tool • Ottawa Fire Services Grain extrication tool • Strathroy-Caradoc Fire, Mount Brydges Station Ventilation fan • Grenfell Fire Department Fire suits • Hartney Fire Department Equipment upgrade • Somerset Volunteer Fire Department Personal protective equipment upgrade • Melville Fire & Rescue Quad rescue trailer • Canora and District Fire Department Grain extrication tool • Munson Firefighters Association Gas detection / rescue winch • Arborg Bifrost Firefighters Jaws of life • Taber Emergency Services Turbo draft fire eductor • High River District Health Care Foundation Wheelchair replacement • Chatham-Kent Fire Station #17 – Merlin Rapid response cribbing kit • Township of Uxbridge Fire Department Self-contained breathing apparatus replacement • Chatham-Kent Fire Station #15 – Raleigh North Equipment upgrade • Huron East Fire Department – Brussels Station Equipment purchase • Service incendie St-Narcisse de Beaurivage Positive pressure ventilator • Hanover Fire Department Rope rescue / High angle equipment • North Glengarry Fire Department All-terrain vehicle with pump • Belleville Fire Department Farm safety public education campaign • Amherstburg Fire Department Safety vests • Malahide Fire Services Station #1 Portable in-line foam eductor • STARS Manitoba Emergency rescue project • Brooks Fire

Dairy challenges

Even a quick Google search can demonstrate the issue faced by milk producers,” Bricker said.

“I typed in ‘Asian cuisine and cow’s milk,’ you know what came up? Nothing. Why? Asian cultures do not consume milk as a beverage.”

Increasing, cultural diversity is also changing the tastes of established Canadians of British and French descent as people try new foods and discover they enjoy them.

However, Canada’s population isn’t just getting more diverse, it’s also getting older.

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DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Digital exhibit brings history of Prairie food to your homes Items selected from the University of Alberta’s Bruce Peel Special Collections Library show the history of cookbooks in Western Canada

BY LORRAINE STEVENSON STAFF

C

ompiling a food history is complicated — it has to include culture, economics, politics, gender roles — and of course, recipes for chiffon pie. “Culinaria — A Taste of Food History on the Prairies,” a new digital exhibit by the University of Alberta, has it all.

Co-curator Caroline Lieffers says she’s certain others will be as delighted as she has been by what they discover.

The documents come from U of A’s library’s extensive collection of western Canadianfocused, food-related publications. Lieffers began looking at them while studying for her master’s degree in history.

“I was studying the history of cooking and housekeeping, and I found stories that were just fascinating, and so rich and wonderful, and I wanted to bring them to a larger audience and make them more public and accessible,” said Lieffers, who is now a research and collections assistant at the university.

The digital exhibit created with co-curator Kristine Kowalchuk includes titles like The Saskatchewan Homemakers’ Kitchens c. 1955 and the United Farm Women of Manitoba Cook Book 1929 plus about 80 other items chosen for how they reflect food history in Western Canada.

These are documents that make the history of food really interesting to learn — and personal, says Lieffers.

“It’s the history of everyday life,” she said.

The website is organized into four categories. A “business and branding,” section of the site features titles such as the 1918 Robin Hood Flour Cook Book: Recipes by Mrs. Rorer, and the 1915 Five Roses Cook Book from the Lake of the Woods Milling Company.

These are cookbooks part of a huge genre of marketing material that influenced people to use companies’ products, says Lieffers. “They’re fascinating because they show you how these manufactured goods found their way into people’s homes, and how people were taught to use them.”

Also found in this section are titles such as Saskatchewan farm woman Mrs. Mary Berkner’s Country Cook Book: With Special Recipes for Making Cookies and an Improved Method of Making Sugar-Beet Syrup, and a 1928 Canadian National Railways; Dining Car Menu for Little Folks with a charming poem about “where all things good in the way of food are served by the CNR.” Cookbooks that reveal the multi-ethnic settlement of the Prairies include titles such as a 1945 Ukrainian-English Cook Book, written in Ukrainian and including recipes

Cookbooks such as this Robin Hood Flour Cook Book: Recipes by Mrs. Rorer, published around 1915, helped market Robin Hood flour for domestic use and make it iconic in Canadian baking.

The Ukrainian English Cook Books, published around 1945 by Winnipeg’s Ukrainian Bookstore and Press, follows a traditional household cookbook style by Published in 1950 by Manitoba Department of Agriculture Extension Service, Potatoes: Facts and Recipes was one including both culinary recipes and of many free publications produced at the time by provincial and federal departments to encourage homemakers instructions for preparing home to use local products. IMAGES COURTESY OF BRUCE PEEL SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA remedies. for mushroom “catsup” and a home remedy for lockjaw, and Das neue Nordwesten Kochbuch with wild meat recipes and a German-English glossary to help housewives of the day place orders with the grocer.

Home economics textbooks that instructed generations of Prairie-raised kids about nutrition and proper table manners are included in a section on “health and education.” Here is where Rural School Lunches describes a 1918 Alberta Department of Education program for introducing hot lunches in rural schools because “most children brought a cold lunch to school and ate it haphazardly throughout the day.”

A category devoted to “war, politics, and social engagement” shows how Prairie women have been involved in community building over the decades, says Lieffers. “That was one of my favourite ones to put together,” she said. “It brings out these examples of how women used cookbooks

as a way to be active in their communities, even before they had a chance to vote.”

This is where you can find The Alberta Home Maker produced by the Social Credit Women’s Auxiliaries of Alberta around 1947. It contains recipes for Debt Free Fruit Cake and Scripture Cake — deciphered by first looking up the appropriate Bible verse. You can also see the contents of the 1929 United Farm Women of Manitoba Cook Book with its Manitoba Telephone System ad declaring the telephone as “the unfailing friend on the farm.”

Other gems on the site include a 1923 report from the Alberta Dairyman’s Association, Oleomargarine and its Relation to Canadian Economics calling for the renewal of the margarine ban temporarily lifted in 1917 during the First World War butter shortages. There’s Starting a Farm in the Bow River Valley, Southern Alberta, Canada, published around 1909, by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company Colonization Department to

Culinaria: A Taste of Food History on the Prairies can be viewed online at: http://omeka.library.ualberta.ca/ exhibits/show/culinaria/intro.

For those closer to Edmonton, visit “Collecting Culinaria,” another public display until Feb. 7 at the University of Alberta’s Bruce Peel Special Collections Library. It includes the cookbooks and household manuals donated to the University of Alberta from the estate of cookbook collector Linda Miron Distad.

If you would like to direct questions or comments to Lieffers she is reached at caroline.lieffers@ualberta.ca.

promote its three-million-acre irrigation block, a project begun east of Calgary to lure farmers west during the dry spell of the 1890s. Cooking the Co-op Way pays homage to the extensive Prairie retail co-operatives which eventually formed Federated Co-operatives Limited.

Lieffers, an Edmonton resident with family across the Prairies, says those who view the site are sure to feel the same personal connection to the materials that she did.

“That’s what I love about this exhibit. It can really resonate with people. It’s a way of making history a really intimate and personal experience.”

Lieffers urges trying a recipe or two to get your own taste of Prairie food history.

“The story of food doesn’t just live in cookbooks. It’s in our kitchens and out in communities and our families and our memories.

Everyone is part of this story.” lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

21

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

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spray days. Less stress.

That’s the R&D I need.”

We hear you.

Visit GoTechTour.ca to see how we’re redefining herbicide performance.

Growers in Western Canada asked us to “make spraying less complicated.”

So, our R&D teams are focused on finding solutions. Enter to WIN an LED Sprayer Nozzle Light Kit at GoTechTour.ca.

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22

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

1-888-413-3325 • abclassifieds@fbcpublishing.com

inDEx Tributes/Memory Announcements Airplanes Alarms & Security Systems ANTIqUES Antiques For Sale Antique Equipment Antique Vehicle Antiques Wanted Arenas AUCTION SAlES BC Auction AB Auction Peace AB Auction North AB Auction Central AB Auction South SK Auction MB Auction Parkland MB Auction Westman MB Auction Interlake MB Auction Red River Auction Various U.S. Auctions Auction Schools AUTO & TRANSPORT Auto Service & Repairs Auto & Truck Parts Autos Trucks Semi Trucks Sport Utilities Vans Vehicles Vehicles Wanted BEEKEEPING Honey Bees Cutter Bees Bee Equipment Belting Bio Diesel Equipment Books & Magazines BUIlDING & RENOVATIONS Concrete Repair Doors & Windows Electrical & Plumbing Insulation Lumber Roofing Building Supplies Buildings Business Machines Business Opportunities BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting Financial & Legal Insurance/Investments Butchers Supply Chemicals Clothing/Work wear Collectibles Compressors Computers CONTRACTING Custom Baling

Custom Feeding Custom Harvest Custom Seeding Custom Silage Custom Spraying Custom Trucking Custom Tub Grinding Custom Work Construction Equipment Dairy Equipment Electrical Engines Entertainment Fertilizer FARM MAChINERy Aeration Conveyors Equipment Monitors Fertilizer Equip Grain Augers Grains Bins Grain Carts Grain Cleaners Grain Dryers Grain Elevators Grain Handling Grain Testers Grain Vacuums haying & harvesting Baling Equipment Mower Conditioners Swathers Swather Accessories Haying & Harvesting Various Combines Belarus Case/IH Cl Caterpillar Lexion Deutz Ford/NH Gleaner John Deere Massey Ferguson Versatile White Combines Various Combine Accessories Hydraulics Irrigation Equipment Loaders & Dozers Parts & Accessories Salvage Potato & Row Crop Equipment Repairs Rockpickers Snowblowers/Plows Silage Equipment Specialty Equipment Spraying Sprayers Spray Various Tillage & Seeding Air Drills Air Seeders Harrows & Packers Seeding Various Tillage Equipment Tillage & Seeding Various Tractors Agco Allis/Deutz

Belarus Case/IH Caterpillar Ford John Deere Kubota Massey Ferguson New Holland Steiger Universal Versatile White Zetor Tractors 2WD Tractors 4WD Tractors Various Farm Machinery Miscellaneous Farm Machinery Wanted Fencing Firewood Fish Farm Forestry/Logging Fork Lifts/Pallets Fur Farming Generators GPS Health Care Heat & Air Conditioning Hides/Furs/Leathers Hobby & Handicrafts Household Items lANDSCAPING Greenhouses Lawn & Garden lIVESTOCK Cattle Cattle Auctions Angus Black Angus Red Angus Aryshire Belgian Blue Blonde d'Aquitaine Brahman Brangus Braunvieh BueLingo Charolais Dairy Dexter Excellerator Galloway Gelbvieh Guernsey Hereford Highland Holstein Jersey Limousin Lowline Luing Maine-Anjou Miniature Murray Grey Piedmontese Pinzgauer Red Poll Salers Santa Gertrudis Shaver Beefblend Shorthorn Simmental

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Published by Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 WINNIPEG OFFICE Alberta Farmer Express 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 Toll-Free in Canada 1-888-413-3325 Phone 403-341-0442 in Winnipeg FAX 403-341-0615 Mailing Address: Box 9800, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3K7 • •

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AGREEMENT The publisher reserves the right to refuse any or all advertising for any reason stated or unstated.

Advertisers requesting publication of either display or classified advertisements agree that should the advertisement be omitted from the issue ordered for whatever reason, the Alberta Farmer Express shall not be held liable. It is also agreed that in the event of an error appearing in the published advertisement, the Alberta Farmer Express accepts no liability beyond the amount paid for that portion of the advertisement in which the error appears or affects. Claims for adjustment are limited to errors appearing in the first insertion only.

While every endeavor will be made to forward box number replies as soon as possible, we accept no liability in respect to loss or damage alleged to a rise through either failure or delay in forwarding such replies, however caused, whether by negligence or otherwise.

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(2 weeks prior)

REAl ESTATE Vacation Property Commercial Buildings Condos Cottages & Lots Houses & Lots Mobile Homes Motels & Hotels Resorts Farms & Ranches British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Pastures Farms Wanted Acreages/Hobby Farms Land For Sale Land For Rent RECREATIONAl VEhIClES All Terrain Vehicles Boats & Water Campers & Trailers Golf Carts Motor Homes Motorcycles Snowmobiles Recycling Refrigeration Restaurant Supplies Sausage Equipment Sawmills Scales SEED/FEED/GRAIN Pedigreed Cereal Seeds Barley Durum Oats Rye Triticale Wheat Cereals Various Pedigreed Forage Seeds Alfalfa Annual Forage Clover Forages Various Grass Seeds Pedigreed Oilseeds Canola Flax Oilseeds Various Pedigreed Pulse Crops Beans Chickpeas

FAx TO: 403-341-0615

TRAIlERS Grain Trailers Livestock Trailers Trailers Miscellaneous Travel Water Pumps Water Treatment Welding Well Drilling Well & Cistern Winches COMMUNITy CAlENDAR British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba CAREERS Career Training Child Care Construction Domestic Services Farm/Ranch Forestry/Log Health Care Help Wanted Management Mining Oil Field Professional Resume Services Sales/Marketing Trades/Tech Truck Drivers Employment Wanted

PhOnE in: Toll-Free in Canada 1-888-413-3325 OR (403) 341-0442 in Alberta

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All classified ads are non-commissionable.

advertising deadline Wednesday noon

ORGANIC Organic Certified Organic Food Organic Grains Personal Pest Control Pets & Supplies Photography Propane Pumps Radio, TV & Satellite

Lentil Peas Pulses Various Pedigreed Specialty Crops Canary Seeds Mustard Potatoes Sunflower Specialty Crops Various Common Seed Cereal Seeds Forage Seeds Grass Seeds Oilseeds Pulse Crops Common Seed Various Feed/Grain Feed Grain Hay & Straw Hay & Feed Wanted Feed Wanted Grain Wanted Seed Wanted Sewing Machines Sharpening Services Silos Sporting Goods Outfitters Stamps & Coins Swap Tanks Tarpaulins Tenders Tickets Tires Tools

AD ORDER FORM

adveRtising Rates & infoRmation

RegulaR Classified

Miscellaneous Articles Wanted Musical Notices On-Line Services

South Devon Speckle Park Tarentaise Texas Longhorn Wagyu Welsh Black Cattle Composite Cattle Various Cattle Wanted lIVESTOCK horses Horse Auctions American Saddlebred Appaloosa Arabian Belgian Canadian Clydesdale Draft Donkeys Haflinger Miniature Morgan Mules Norwegian Ford Paint Palomino Percheron Peruvian Pinto Ponies Quarter Horse Shetland Sport Horses Standardbred Tennessee Walker Thoroughbred Warmblood Welsh Horses For Sale Horses Wanted lIVESTOCK Sheep Sheep Auction Arcott Columbia Dorper Dorset Katahdin Lincoln Suffolk Texel Sheep Sheep For Sale Sheep Wanted lIVESTOCK Swine Swine Auction Swine For Sale Swine Wanted lIVESTOCK Poultry Poultry For Sale Poultry Wanted lIVESTOCK Specialty Alpacas Bison (Buffalo) Deer Elk Goats Llama Rabbits Emu Ostrich Rhea Yaks Specialty Livestock Various Livestock Equipment Livestock Services & Vet Supplies Miscellaneous Articles

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PLEASE PRINT YOUR AD BELOW ______________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CAUTION The Alberta Farmer Express, while assuming no responsibility for advertisements appearing in its columns, exercises the greatest care in an endeavor to restrict advertising to wholly reliable firms or individuals.

However, please do not send money to a Manitoba Co-operator box number. Buyers are advised to request shipment C.O.D. when ordering from an unknown advertiser, thus minimizing the chance of fraud and eliminating the necessity of a refund where the goods have already been sold.

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., Winnipeg, 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 (204)-954-1456.

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 Communication assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any reader for this publication based on any and all information provided.

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23

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 23, 2013

FARM MACHINERY Grain Handling

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted

BUSINESS SERVICES

FARM MACHINERY

BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting

FARM MACHINERY Haying & Harvesting – Baling

FARM CHEMICAL SEED COMPLAINTS

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

BOW VALLEY TRADING LTD.

WE BUY DAMAGED GRAIN

AGRI-VACS

Tired of shovelling out your bins, unhealthy dust and awkward augers?

Walinga manufactures a complete line of grain vacs to suit your every need. With no filters to plug and less damage done to your product than an auger, you’re sure to find the right system to suit you. Call now for a free demonstration or trade in your old vac towards a new WALINGA AGRI-VACS

Wheat, Barley, Oats, Peas, etc.

Green or Heated Canola/Flax

1-877-641-2798

BUYING:

HEATED & GREEN CANOLA

Fergus, ON: (519) 787-8227 Carman, MB: (204) 745-2951 Davidson, SK: (306) 567-3031

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted BUYING HEATED/DAMAGED PEAS, FLAX & GRAIN “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252 BUYING SPRING THRASHED CANOLA & GRAIN “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252

• Competitive Prices • Prompt Movement • Spring Thrashed “ON FARM PICK UP”

1-877-250-5252

We know that farming is enough of a gamble so if you want to sell it fast place your ad in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. It’s a Sure Thing. Call our toll-free number today. We have friendly staff ready to help.

1-888-413-3325.

AUCTION SALES Auctions Various

Buying Tough, Heated, Green, Canola, Freight Options, Prompt Payment Bonded and Insured

CALL 1-866-388-6284 www.milliganbiofuels.com

2003 GM 1500 PICK-UP, 5.3 V8, auto trans., complete w/topper. Good winter starter, excellent condition. Phone:(403)886-4285.

1-888-413-3325

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

COMBINE WORLD located 20 min. E of Saskatoon, SK on Hwy. #16. 1 year warranty on all new, used, and rebuilt parts. Canada’s largest inventory of late model combines & swathers.

1-800-667-4515 www.combineworld.com

ENGINES

BUILDINGS STEEL STORAGE CONTAINERS, 20-FT & 40-ft 1-866-517-8335, (403)540-4164, (403)226-1722

ASSORTED DEUTZ & OTHER Diesel engines.

KMK Sales, (800)565-0500, Humboldt, SK.

BUILDINGS

BUILDINGS

Combine ACCessories FARM MACHINERY Combine – 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.

AUCTION SERVICE LTD. General Auction Services since 1960

FARM MACHINERY Parts & Accessories

40’ X 60’ X 16’ RIGID FRAME STEEL BUILDING

$28,418

Email: john@shieldsauctionservices.com • Phone: 403-464-0202

Stretch your

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Various

1980 Caterpillar D7G Crawler Tractor Engine recently overhauled, undercarriage redone 2 years ago, tracks redone, showing 4,965 hours, all bills of service available. Reason for selling: upgrading. Call Gilbert for more info (204)745-8029 $65,000

AUTO & TRANSPORT Trucks

FARM, RANCH, REAL ESTATE & COMMERCIAL

ADVERTISING DOLLAR!

Combines

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

AUTO & TRANSPORT

AUCTION SALES Auctions Various

SHIELDS

We also specialize in: Crop Insurance appeals; Chemical drift; Residual herbicide; Custom operator issues; Equipment malfunction; Yield comparisons, Plus Private Investigations of any nature. With our assistance the majority of our clients have received compensation previously denied. Back-Track Investigations investigates, documents your loss and assists in settling your claim.

Licensed Agrologist on Staff.

For more information Please call 1-866-882-4779

CANOLA WANTED

Hit our readers where it counts… in the classifieds.

Place your ad in the Alberta Farmer Express classifed section. 1-888-413-3325.

When you go with steel you get the right deals!

Farming is enough of a gamble, advertise in the Alberta Farmer Express classified section. It’s a sure thing.

1-888-413-3325.

Call toll free 1 (877) 525-2004 or see us online at www.pioneeronesteel.com

NEW WOBBLE BOXES for JD, IH, MacDon headers. Made in Europe, factory quality. Get it direct from Western Canada’s sole distributor starting at $1,095. 1-800-667-4515. www.combineworld.com

Pioneer One Steel Buildings

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

Go public with an ad in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. Phone 1-888-413-3325.

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

SPECIAL EDITION Manitoba Ag Days Taking place Jan. 21, 22 & 23, 2014

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. 10th 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: JAN. 2nd · ISSUE DATE: JAN. 9th 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

SEE YOU AT THE SHOW!

RISKS AND REWARDS OF FALL

GREAT GORP PROJECT Triathlete creates home-grown energy bar » PAGE 44

The pros and cons of applying in dry soil » PAGE 17

OCTOBER 11, 2012

Communications breakdown added to emergency Firefighting made more dangerous without communications

By Lorraine Stevenson CO-OPERATOR STAFF

V

olunteer firefighters racing to reach fire-threatened Vita last week passed hundreds of vehicles headed the other direction and wondered what they were headed into, said veteran firefighter Alain Nadeau.

“I’ve been doing this for 33 years and this was the scariest I’ve seen,” said the weary La Broquerie fire chief on Friday after an exhausting week.

The air was so smoke filled around the southeastern village “we could barely breathe,” he said.

SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | VOL. 70, NO. 41

GOT SEED?

By Daniel Winters CO-OPERATOR STAFF / MELITA

R

ising corn acres and severe drought in the Midwestern United States may crimp supplies of popular corn seed varieties for the com-

ing year.

“It’s really short,” said Ron Rabe, a Dekalb agronomist, who gave a brief talk on corn production in Manitoba at a recent WADO field tour.

Derek Erb, who farms near Oak Bluff and sells Pioneer Hi-Bred corn

|

$1.75

MANITOBACOOPERATOR.CA

Corn seed might be tight next spring Rising demand and dismal growing conditions in the drought-stricken United States may limit supplies seed, said farmers looking to secure seed for next spring should act quickly to secure their supplies, even if it means placing orders earlier than usual.

Pioneer Hi-Bred’s top varieties, which include D95 and D97, account for roughly half the acres seeded in the province. Erb said that with the harvest and quality testing still underway in some areas, it’s difficult to estimate how much corn seed will be available for next year.

One thing’s for sure, waiting until Ag Days in January to secure supplies will

be too late. “I would pretty much bank on that,” said Erb. Dry conditions throughout the province have seen the corn harvest arriving about a month earlier than usual, and seed orders have started coming in sooner than usual too.

Even with the possibility of a shortage of corn seed, Erb doesn’t expect the price of Pioneer’s supplies to rise much more than it has in recent years.

Rob Park, of RJP Seeds in Carman, who deals in Hyland seed varieties, See CORN SEED on page 6 »

24

DECEMBER 23, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Spraying EquipmEnt

Spraying EquipmEnt

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

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

CIH 9380 Quad w/ PTO and New motor 9280 Power Shift New Michelin Tires 9280 12 speed with 80% rubber 4720 JD Sprayer w/ boom track autosteer, 4700 90 ft very clean Fendt 920 low hrs GOOD SELECTION OF JD & CASE SP SPRAYERS AND 4WD TRACTORS

Tillage & Seeding

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Various

ACREAGE EQUIPMENT: CULTIVATORS, DISCS, Plows, Blades, Post pounders, Haying Equipment, Etc. (780)892-3092, Wabamun, Ab.

CARBIDE DRILL POINTS & openers for air drills.

VW Manufacturing Ltd Dunmore (Medicine Hat) (403)528-3350 US: Loren Hawks Chester, Montana (406)460-3810 www.vwmfg.com

We know that farming is enough of a gamble so if you want to sell it fast place your ad in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. It’s a Sure Thing. Call our toll-free number today. We have friendly staff ready to help.

1-888-413-3325.

Degelman 10 ft. Snow Pusher Blade Versatile 875 JD 4250 FWA, 280 loader JD 4440 loader available JD 2950 Complete with loader JD 7700 FWA loader JD 4230 loader available JD 4020 Complete with loader JD 2550, FWA ST 250 Steiger, tires new 20.8 x 38 CAT 272D Skidsteer, 800 Hrs Clamp on Duals, 20.8x38-18.4x38 158 & 148, 265, 740.280, JD loaders FINANCE, TRADES WELCOME 780-696-3527, BRETON, AB

Big Tractor Parts, Inc. 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.

1-800-982-1769 www.bigtractorparts.com

WANTED: NH BALE WAGONS & retrievers, any condition. Farm Equipment Finding Service, P.O. Box 1363, Polson, MT 59860. (406)883-2118 QUONSET NEW IN CRATE, 35x52x18, $20,000; JD dozer blade w/guard fits 8970 16-ft. 6 way, $15,000; MF 860 & 20-ft. straight cut, $7,000; Ford 5000 w/loader, $7,500; Vac sewer tank & pump, $14,000; Rotex SR7 power parachute 300-hrs, for parts, $3,000; Tree Farmer skidder $4,500; Bison head squeeze, $4,500; 2004 Rumble Bee short box, $11,500; Stock trailer, 43-ft. 3, 12,000-lb. axles gooseneck, no price.

OBO. Downsizing!

(306)236-8023.

HEAT & AIR CONDITIONING

RON SAUER

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

895 Versatile 4WD Tractor - 30.5 x 32 M & 24.5 x 32 duals, 6,000 hrs., clean unit, runs great ................ $29,500 B 275 IHC Diesel Tractor, 3 pth, pto, runs good ......$4,250 31’ Flexicoil B Chisel Plow Extensions Included, extends to 41’, 3 bar harrows, excellent condition.............. $12,500 Flexicoil 6 Run Seed Treater .............................. $2,000 134’ Flexicoil S68XL Sprayer, 2007, suspended boom, auto rate, joystick, rinse tank, triple quick jets, auto boom height, electric end nozzle & foam marker............. $39,500 100’ 65XL Flexicoil Sprayer, complete with windguards, elec. end nozzles dual tips, markers ........................ $5,500 30’ 8230 CIH PT Swather, PU reel, nice shape, . $10,000 25’ 8225 CIH PT Swather, PU reel, nice shape .... $9,500 25’ 1200 Hesston PT Swather, bat reel, good .... $5,500 30’ 4600 Prairie Star PT Swather, bat reel, good ....$5,500 30’ 1900 Premier PT Swather, bat reel, good .... $5,500 10 Wheel MATR (Italy) Trailer Type V-Hayrake, hyd. fold, as new.................................................. $5,000 14 Wheel Enorossi V-Hayrake extra contour wheels, as new .............................................................. $11,500 8 x 1200 Sakundiak Auger, 25 HP Koehler, Hawes mover, clutch, nice condition .............................................. $12,500 7 x 1200 Sakundiak Auger, 18 HP Koehler engine, looks and runs good..................................................$3,500 8 x 1400 Sakundiak Auger, 25HP Robin, Hawes mover, clutch, excellent condition ....................................... $12,500 8 x 1400 Sakundiak Auger, 25 HP Koehler, Hawes mover, clutch, reversing gear box, lights, spout, excellent condition ................................................. $13,000 8” Wheatheart Sweep, complete with motor & pump, like new ..................................................................$1,250 New E-Kay 7”, 8”, 9” Bin Sweeps .........................Call Jiffy Feed Wagon, like new, hardly used, shedded .....$9,250 8” Wheat Heart Transfer Auger, as new............ $1,500 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 $900 New Outback VSI Swather Steering Kit...........In Stock New Outback E-Drive Hyd. kit, JD 40 series ........ $1,000 Used Outback E-Drive Hyd. kits..............................$500

ORGANIC

SEED / FEED / GRAIN

ORGANIC Organic – Grains

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Feed Grain

Bioriginal Food & Science Corp., based in Saskatoon, is actively buying Organic Flax from the 2013 crop year.

If interested, please send an 8lb sample* to the following address: Attn: Sandy Jolicoeur Bioriginal Food & Science Corp.

102 Melville Street Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7J 0R1 *Please state the Variety & Quantity for Sale

For more information, please contact Sandy at:

The Icynene Insulation System®

“LIKE MANY BEFORE, WE’LL HAVE YOU SAYING THERE’S NO DEAL LIKE A KEN DEAL” • Phone: (403)526-9644 • Cell: (403)504-4929 • Email: kendeal@shaw.ca

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Wanted

306-975-9251 306-975-1166 purchasing@bioriginal.com

• Sprayed foam insulation • Ideal for shops, barns or homes • Healthier, Quieter, More Energy Efficient®

www.penta.ca

1-800-587-4711

Remember that story you wanted to read again from a few months back?

Network

NORTH CENTRAL CATTLE CO-OP

Up to $1500 per bred heifer or $1700 per cow/calf pair.

PAUL MOWER

DAVE KOEHN

403-304-1496

ALL GRADES Prompt Payment

403-546-0060

LINDEN, ALBERTA CANADA BUYING ALL TYPES OF feed grain. Also have market for light offgrade or heated, picked up on the farm. Eisses Grain Marketing 1-888-882-7803, Lacombe.

FEED GRAIN WANTED! ALSO buying; Light, tough, or offgrade grains. “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252

PETS

TIRES

PETS & SUPPLIES

FEDERATION TIRE: 1100X12, 2000X20, used aircraft. Toll free 1-888-452-3850

PEDIGREED SEED PEDIGREED SEED Specialty – Various

Search news. Read stories. Find insight.

LIVESTOCK Cattle Various

Competitive Rates

Border Collie Pups: Out of good working parents.

Over 20 years breeding - pups guaranteed. www.riverhillsranchltd.com Pam McIntyre (204)365-0372

SEARCH

LIVESTOCK

NOW BUYING OATS!

Bioriginal Food & Science Corp., based in Saskatoon, are looking to contract Borage acres for the upcoming 2014 growing season.

�

� �

Great profit potential based on yield, prices and low input costs.

Attractive oil premiums and free seed delivery and on-farm pick-up.

Flexible contracting options available as well.

For more information, please contact Carl Lynn P.Ag. of Bioriginal at:

306-229-9976 (cell) 306-975-9295 (office) crops@bioriginal.com

New 30.5L-32 16 ply, $2,195; 20.8-38 12 ply $795; 18.4-38 12 ply; $789; 24.5-32 14 ply, $1,749; 14.9-24 12 ply, $486; 16.9-28 12 ply $558, 18.4-26 10 ply, $890. Factory direct. More sizes available new and used. 1-800-667-4515. www.combineworld.com

TRAVEL

AGRICULTURAL TOURS

India ~ Feb 2014 Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand ~ Mar 2014 China ~ March 2014 Ireland & Scotland ~ June 2014 Ukraine ~ June 2014 Australia/New Zealand ~ 2015 *Portion of tours may be Tax Deductible

Select Holidays 1-800-661-4326

www.selectholidays.com

LOW FEES!

Administration 1.75% Insurance $5.00 per head.

Prairie-Wide Display Classifieds

For more information please call: Coralea Pavoll | Secretary/Treasurer 780-724-3872 Harry Jacula | Supervisor 780-853-2361

**NuVision, Sakundiak & Farm King Augers, Outback GPS Systems, EK Auger Movers, Belt Tighteners, Bin Sweeps, & Crop Dividers, Kohler & Robin Subaru engines, Degelman, Headsight Harvesting Solutions, Greentronics Sprayer Boom Auto Height, Kello-Bilt Discs**

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Contact Sharon

Toll Free: 1-800-782-0794 Email: sharon.komoski@fbcpublishing.com ALBERTA

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