Gnn140318 by Farm Business Communications

Volume 40, Number 8 | MARCH 18, 2014

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PRACTICAL PRODUCTION TIPS FOR THE PRAIRIE FARMER

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Improving canola stand establishment Managing stand establishment through seeding practices could take canola growers one step closer to planting one to get one BY KARI BELANGER

n average, Prairie canola growers achieve about 50 per cent seedling emergence, even with the use of high-quality, high-germinating seed. Will western Canadian producers ever reach a point where they can plant one seed to get one plant? Autumn Barnes thinks so. The Canola Council of Canada agronomy specialist says many factors contribute to stand establishment, and while some are beyond producers’ control, there are other areas they can influence to improve stand development. “We can’t do much about our environmental conditions,” says Barnes. “The easiest way to manage stand establishment is through seeding practices.” For example, seeding depth and speed, soil temperature, pre-seed burn-down, herbicide choice, seed treatment and fertilizer placement all play a role in stand establishment and are factors within a grower’s control. Research compiled from hundreds of trials across Western Canada indicates canola typically needs a minimum of five plants per square foot to have a chance of hitting its full yield potential, says Barnes. At three plants per square foot, canola yield potential decreases

and its yield variability increases dramatically. Fields with three plants per square foot may reach from 65 to 90 per cent of their yield potential, depending on the year and the stresses on the crop. Emergence at 10 plants per square foot is ideal because it consistently yields within 10 per cent of its full potential, says Barnes. “At 10 plants per square foot you have some insulation from frost, insect or other damage that may threaten your plant density and yield,” she says. Recent field studies show that approximately 50 per cent of the plant stands examined on the Prairies contained five plants or less per square foot. Those fields are missing out on some yield, says Barnes. The percentage of seedling emergence, which is determined by comparing the number of plants that should be present in an area based on seeding rate and the number actually present in the field, can be used to determine an accurate and optimum seeding rate to achieve 10 plants per square foot. “It’s a good idea for farmers to go out every year and count their seedling emergence to figure out what percentage they’re getting. Recent surveys indicate average canola emergence on the Prairies is around 60 per cent. Some producers get higher and some get lower,” says

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PHOTO: CANOLA COUNCIL OF CANADA

Seeding practices play a large role in stand establishment and are one of the few elements within a grower’s control to improve seedling emergence and survival. Barnes. “If you’re not out counting and recording emergence, you’ll never know how much improvement you have room for.”

WHAT AFFECTS EMERGENCE Because seed size can vary in seed lots from year to year, producers should base seeding rates on thousand seed weight, notes Barnes. “If you have six grams

per thousand seed weight versus four grams and you’re seeding a set five pounds per acre, the number of seeds you plant per square metre will be very different,” she says. Soil temperature at seeding can also affect stand establishment. Seed when soil is between 8 and 10 C for improved plant establishment, says Barnes. “At 8 C you get a quick, even emergence and closer to 100

In This Issue

per cent germination. At 2 C you get slower, uneven emergence.” Although close to 100 per cent emergence may still be achieved when seeding into cool soils, germination may be delayed — at risk to seedling survival. According to recent data, says Barnes, most growers seed at soil temperatures between 4 and 6 C.

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Wheat & Chaff ..................

Features ............................

Crop Advisor’s Casebook

Columns ........................... 21 Machinery & Shop ............ 28 Cattleman’s Corner .......... 33

Australia tackles herbicide resistance LEE HART PAGE 9

The combine that never was, Part 3

FarmLife ............................ 38

SCOTT GARVEY PAGE 28

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MARCH 18, 2014

Wheat & Chaff STAMPEDE

BY JERRY PALEN

LEEANN MINOGUE

“He’s sprained his fat roll again.”

Write, Email or Fax SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (CST) 1-800-665-0502

U.S. subscribers call 1-204-944-5568 or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com If you have story ideas, call us. You can write the article and we’d pay you, or we can write it. Phone Leeann Minogue at 306-861-2678

haven’t been on a lot of bus tours or group tours, but my experience with this type of herd of people is that that there is almost always that one person who is really annoying. When my parents came home from a vacation early this winter, my father told me that the group was great. “Everyone got along really well. There wasn’t one person that caused any trouble.” I felt bad about it, but I couldn’t stop myself from telling him. “If you didn’t notice that one annoying person, odds are, it was you.” On a similar note, BASF had Ipsos Reid take a poll for them in mid-December. They called 400 Canadian farmers, with, as they say in their press release “minimum acre thresholds.” Of these farmers, 86 per cent said herbicide-resistant weeds are increasingly becoming a concern. But less than half of the farmers on the phone (only 44 per cent) suspect they have troublesome weeds. Keep your eyes peeled. It could be you. Ian Heap is the director of the International Survey of HerbicideResistant Weeds. He said in the press release that, of the 416 herbicide-resistant weeds in the world, Canada has 59. “One of the most

important things farmers can do to reduce the occurrence of herbicide resistance is mix things up — either by crop rotation, tankmixing or by simply using different modes of action in sequence.” While some farmers have herbicide-resistant weeds, Ward Cross probably doesn’t. On Page 8, Lee Hart has written about the onfarm policies Ward has developed to avoid developing resistance. “If we did start to see weeds develop herbicide resistance, the impact would be pretty substantial,” he told Lee Hart. Lee has also covered the herbicide resistance situation in Australia, on Page 9, Clearly, this issue is not going to go away. Hopefully, we can learn from Australia’s experience.

TAX TIME When you’re working out your farm’s taxes for 2013, don’t forget your tax credit. If you sold wheat and barley in 2013 and didn’t ask for a refund of the checkoff funding that went to the Western Grains Research Foundation, you’re eligible for the federal Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit. Your tax credit percentages for 2013 are 68 per cent of your wheat checkoff expense, and 71 per cent for your barley checkoff expense. These percentages have been calculated based on the portion of WGRF spending that goes directly to wheat and barley varietal research.

For 2012, we could write off 83 per cent of our wheat checkoff and 84 per cent of our barley checkoff. In its press release, the WGRF attributes this lower tax credit to legislative changes at the Canada Revenue Agency. Mike Espeseth, WGRF communications manager, says that CRA allowed checkoff agencies to use only 80 per cent of their eligible R&D expenditures for 2013, as compared with 100 per cent in 2012. “The amount WGRF is investing in wheat and barley year to year is very similar,” he says. In 2012 WGRF spent $3,875,370 on wheat and $724,398 on barley. In 2013, WGRF’s total research spending was $3,585,370 on wheat and $724,398 on barley. You would think that tax time would be less stressful on our farm, now that we’ve incorporated our farm and moved our year-end so it doesn’t fall at the end of the calendar year. It hasn’t worked that way at all. Now, we have “tax-time stress” twice a year: once in April when our personal taxes are due and once when we’re finalizing our corporate year-end statements. Not to mention trying not to miss the deadline for dividend declaration, and making sure the annual statements for all of our long-term loans line up with our corporate year-end. Sometimes, the more problems you try to solve, the more you create. Leeann

Farmers’ Choice Award

Tell us what farm machine you think is worthy of the Grainews ‘Farmers’ Choice All-Time Favourite’ award BY SCOTT GARVEY

Fax to 204-944-5416 Email leeann.minogue@fbcpublishing.com Write to Grainews, 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1

HEARTS

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

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

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

or nearly every farmer there’s at least one tractor, combine or other machine that stands out as being a favourite machine. Maybe it offered — or still offers — unbeatable reliability and efficiency, or its styling has proven to be elegant and timeless. Well, now’s your chance to speak up and get some recognition for that machine you think so much of. We at Grainews have decided to ask you, our readers, what farm machine is worthy of being awarded the title of “Farmers’ Choice All-Time Favourite.” Here’s the plan. Between now and April 25, the nominations are open. Tell us which machine you think deserves to win the title. Email your nominations to farmerschoiceaward@ fbcpublishing.com or fax them to 204-944-5416. Tell us in 200 words or less why you think the machine deserves a nomination. All nominations will go before a panel of judges who will select a group of finalists. They will be listed in the May issue of Grainews. Between then and the closing of Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina, Grainews readers will all get a chance to vote for their pick. Visitors to the show will be able

PHOTO: SCOTT GARVEY

This John Deere WA-14 was one of the first four-wheel drive-tractors to wear the Green brand’s name. Today, it’s rare and sought after by collectors. But is it unique enough to warrant the Grainews “Farmers’ Choice” title for all-time favourite machine? to vote in person at one of FBC Publishing’s display booths. More detailed voting information will be announced soon. Here are the rules: Only farm machines not currently in production can be nominated. But other than that, any farm machine that rolled off a production line in this century or the last is eligible. There will be three general categories, one for tractors, one for combines and one for all other types of farm equipment. A panel of judges will select a group of finalists from all the nominations. They will con-

sider four criteria when making their decisions, • Does the machine have a reputation for reliable performance? • Did it advance technology? • Does it have attractive styling? • Does it feature engineering that is simple, innovative and efficient (for its time)? Keep those considerations in mind when recommending a particular machine, and tell us how your favourite excels in any or all of the categories. Make your nomination now. † Scott Garvey

MARCH 18, 2014

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Wheat & Chaff Farm safety

By gord.coulthart

Orienting farm workers

ou know your farm like the back of your hand; but the same can’t be said for many of your workers, especially if they are young, new, or returning after a time away. And that can put them at risk of injury. So how do you convey details like hazards on the farm to them in a comprehensive and consistent way? An orientation program can help. Start with the basics. Review harassment and working alone policies, basic safety rules, and restrictions on smoking, drug and alcohol use. Go over standard operating procedures and other farm-specific practices and procedures such as livestock handling, farm vehicle usage, equipment servicing and safe zones where children or pedestrians may be present. Share specific hazards associated with your farm operation. Let workers know how they will learn about safety issues and how they can bring concerns to management. How

often will safety meetings be held? Who will conduct inspections? How are incidents handled and reported? Clarify who should be notified for each specific situation. Go over personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements and expectations and provide training on their proper use, care and maintenance. Do you require safe footwear, respiratory, hearing, or other forms of protection to be worn? And share your emergency contacts, locations of emergency equipment such as first aid kits, extinguishers, eye wash stations, muster points, rescue plans and emergency responsibilities with all new workers. Emergency response protocols should be a critical component of your orientation program. When it comes to orientation, young workers (16-to 18-yearolds) need the most support. They tend to generalize their skills from one task to another, feel they are immortal and “can’t

be hurt,” and believe they possess the size and strength to overcome any problem. Don’t take their word for it. Make sure to train, supervise and coach them in a way that matches them with suitable job tasks. New workers need a different approach, with a focus on onthe-job training. Don’t assume that they will know how to do something on your farm, even if they have performed a similar task at another operation. Every farm is different, so review all relevant points with new workers while they are actually doing a specific job task. Then evaluate their capability to perform the work according to your expectations. Once workers have proven that they can perform the job competently and safely, “sign off” on their performance. Then keep up supervision to confirm that they continue to perform the job tasks correctly and safely. Returning workers need time to review and refamiliarize them-

Before we go over the safety tips. I would like to welcome back those of you from last year. selves with your operation. Every year we spend our summers enjoying relatively safe driving conditions. When the first winter storm of the season hits, we scramble to recall how to drive safely. The same scenario applies to workers returning to the workplace after an extended period away. Revisit core training requirements with them to refresh their memory and renew their skills. For more information on orienting young, new or returning farm workers, visit agsafetyweek.ca/

Weather Lore

The way the wind blows

You might be from the Prairies if...

By Carson Demmans and Jason Sylvestre

Leeann

You wrote a protest letter to the CBC for suggesting that Tommy Douglas might not be the greatest Canadian,

Agronomy tips… from the field

Four tips to scouting success

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT Edie Verbicky sent in this photo of her grandson Josh eating rhubarb in his father’s garden at Bluesky, Alberta. Edie says, “It makes a nice light snack and doubles as an umbrella in the summer sun!” Thanks for sending us this great photo, Edie. We’ll send you a cheque for $25. Send your best shot to leeann.minogue@fbcpublishing.com. Please send only one or two photos at a time and include your name and address, the names of anyone in the photo, where the photo was taken and a bit about what was going on that day. A little write-up about your farm is welcome, too. Please ensure that images are of high resolution (1 MB is preferred), and if the image includes a person, we need to be able to see their face clearly.

ven the strongest weed-control programs are rarely perfect. Here’s how good scouting techniques can help ensure your crop yield and quality aren’t compromised by overlooked weed escapes. Timing: If you use Group 2 chemistry, wait 14 to 20 days for the herbicide to take control before scouting. For a Group 1 herbicide, you can scout earlier, typically seven to 14 days after application. Technique: Avoid drive-by scouting. Scout the whole field using a Z or W pattern, paying particular attention to low or high spots in the field. Note the level of control, and the distribution of any escapes.

This article was produced in support of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Week 2014 Let’s Talk About It! campaign, which encourages farmers to engage in conversations about safety. CASW is brought to you by the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, with support from the Government of Canada through Growing Forward 2, long-time corporate sponsor Farm Credit Canada, Ag for Life, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, CHS, Imperial Oil and Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited.

Photo contest

atching the smoke from chimneys is an easy way to tell which way the wind is blowing. And wind direction will tell you something about the upcoming weather: When smoke goes west, Good weather is past; When smoke goes east, Good weather comes niest (next). Smoke going west indicates an easterly wind, wind going east indicates a west wind and so on. An approaching low pressure system, bringing cloudy skies and possible precipitation is usually accompanied by winds from the south, east or southeast. High pressure systems with accompanying clear skies are usually paired with winds from the north, west or northwest. †

Shirley Byers’ book, Never Sell Your Hen on a Rainy Day explores over 100 weather rhymes and sayings. It is available from McNally Robinson at: www.mcnallyrobinson.com.

producer-tools and browse through over 20 free resources designed to help producers make their farms safer. †

Escapes: If you spot escapes, look for a pattern. Are there straight edges or irregular patches? Lines could mean an equipment issue (plugged nozzles or an inaccurate GPS) while patches might mean you are looking at herbicide-resistant weeds or a second flush. Flushes: I’m not a fan of the one-and-done approach because weeds don’t all emerge at the same time. I recommend scouting each field twice, roughly a week apart. This is time consuming, but it’s the best way to make sure weeds aren’t ambushing your crop while there’s still time to control them. † This agronomy tip is brought to you by Ryan Lorenz, agronomic service representative for Syngenta Canada Inc.

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MARCH 18, 2014

Cover Stories Crop protection

Handling herbicide persistence

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

Herbicides may stay in the soil longer than planned. Here are some factors that can affect herbicide carry-over

PUBLI SH ER

By rebecca Kuropatwa

John Morriss

henever herbicide is applied — whether at the recommended dose or not and whether or not it lands on the vegetation or soil — herbicide persistence occurs. Herbicides can continue to harm susceptible plants in subsequent days or even years. “When trying to predict the potential for carryover injury to rotational crops many things come into play, yet herbicide persistence is often measured in half-life,” said Nicole Kimmel, Edmonton, Alta., weed specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “This is the time required for half the chemical to dissipate or degrade, a process dependent on soil factors, climate, and herbicide properties. For example, under a wide range of climatic conditions, Roundup was found to have a half-life in field soil of 47 days, with a range from two to 197 days.” Here are four factors that can affect herbicide carry-over.

1. Soil factors Soil factors involved in herbicide persistence are soil composition, soil chemistry and microbial activity. Soil composition refers to the amount of sand, silt and clay present, as well as organic matter in the soil. “Generally, soils high in clay, organic matter or both have a greater chance for herbicide car-

ryover, because of increased retention due to binding, decreased leaching through soil profile, and reduced volatilization into the air,” said Kimmel.

2. Soil pH Herbicide breakdown is also affected by soil pH. Herbicide persistence is often higher in higher pH soils. “Soil microbes prefer warm, well-aerated, fertile soils with near neutral pH and their numbers will help determine how quickly decomposition of plant matter or a herbicide will occur,” said Kimmel.

3. Climatic variables Climatic variables that come into play in herbicide breakdown include moisture, temperature and sunlight. As moisture and temperature increase, herbicide persistence decreases. “Herbicide degradation is enhanced by sunlight and occurs in many herbicides, especially when in solution, mixed with water, and exposed on plant surfaces,” said Kimmel.

necessary to cause injury and the herbicide persists,” said Kimmel.

Look on the label Many herbicides state specific recropping restrictions on their labels. “The labels often refer to a specific time span needed to reseeding associated sensitive species,” said Kimmel. “Some labels go as far as to recommend a bioassay (biological assay) to confirm suitability. Some labels also dictate their suitability for specific soil pH levels.” An example of this is on the Ally Toss-N-Go label, which states “do not use on soils with pH greater than 7.9.” Other labels, like Assert, make recommendations based on soil zones, inferring moisture and organic matter. “Periods of unusual drought are also highlighted in recropping restrictions, prolonging the normal wait time needed,” said Kimmel. An example of this is Curtail M, which is delayed for an additional 12 months for field peas. Another example is the Everest label, which stipulates precipitation requirements.

4. Chemical properties

Field bioassay

The chemical properties of herbicide (solubility, vapour pressure, and a molecule’s tolerance to chemical and microbial alteration or degradation) contribute to a herbicide’s persistence. Crop or weed sensitivity, Kimmel said, “can play a role if only a small amount of residue is

If herbicide residue is suspected, a bioassay can determine if the residue levels are harmful. Producers, crop specialists, industry representatives, and others can conduct bioassays for herbicide residues. To do your own, plant some plants that are sensitive to the sus-

Lynda Tityk Associate Publisher/ Editorial director

pected herbicide in the soil. Plant them in the field, or bring soil samples inside. Some times when it might be helpful to do this are: • when newly seeded or established plants show abnormal growth injury; • when seeding or planting on areas previously treated with herbicides known to be residual; • when taking on abandoned farmland that may contain herbicide residues; • when beginning to farm noncropland (such as railways, roadsides, storage areas, and industrial sites) that may contain chemical residues; or, • when purchasing livestock manure or topsoil.

Improving canola stand establishment At 4 C it took 12 days to approach 100 per cent germination and four days at 8 C, says Barnes. “Between four and 12 days there’s a lot of room for things to go wrong and your plants are a little less vigorous when they come out of the ground. You still have some potential when you get down to 2 C or 3 C, but it’s less likely you’ll get 100 per cent germination.” However, if soil temperature is at 5 C and the forecast is for warm weather, growers should proceed with seeding, she notes, but recommends they hold off if the forecast is for cold weather and soil temperatures are low. Seeding depth is another production practice farmers can focus on to improve stand establishment. A grower survey spearheaded by the CCC and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada conducted last winter revealed trends in current canola production practices and characteristics associated with high and low productivity. According to the survey, at 58 per cent, more than half of the

Leeann Minogue fiel d Ed ito r

Lisa Guenther Cattleman’s Corner Editor

Lee Hart Farm life Edito r

Sue Armstrong Machinery EDITOR

Scott Garvey Pro duction Di recto r

Shawna Gibson Des igne r

Steven Cote MARKETING/CI RCUL ATION Dir ector

Lynda Tityk

Circul at ion manag er

Heather Anderson president

Preventing herbicide injury Some tips on preventing herbicide injury: • Check the recropping restrictions section on any herbicide label that you plan on using. • Do not plant a sensitive crop prior to the specified time or when any other applicable warnings are given. • Always apply the correct rate of any herbicide for your specific soil type and weed problem. Inaccuracies will fall outside label recommendations and will pose potential risk. “Avoiding herbicide persistence problems requires choosing herbicides with future cropping decisions in mind,” said Kimmel. “ † Rebecca Kuropatwa is a professional writer in Winnipeg, Man.

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Crop production » CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Edi tor

growers who were considered high yielders seeded canola from 0.5 to 0.75 inches, whereas 41 per cent of the growers who were considered low yielders seeded from 0.5 to 0.75 inches. “More high yielders are seeding at a shallower depth while low yielders are seeding deeper,” says Barnes. When productivity and seeding speed were considered, survey results indicated 37 per cent of high yielders seeded from 4.5 to 4.9 miles per hour compared with 25 per cent of low yielders, and 24 per cent of high yielders travelled from 4.0 to 4.4 miles per hour compared with 15 per cent of low yielders. “High yielders tend to be going slower and low yielders tend to be going faster,” says Barnes. Whether it’s faster than six miles per hour, slower than four or somewhere in between, Barnes recommends travelling at a speed that will allow accurate seed placement, good separation of seed and fertilizer, and a consistent shallow depth. The message may have been around for some time, but its meaning is no less important today: slow down and shallow up, says Barnes. Growers will also improve emergence rates by stopping frequently to check for consistent seed placement and separation between

the fertilizer and the seed. For an accurate picture of seed placement, examine the field at least 100 feet behind equipment, says Barnes. Frequent calibration and drill placement checks are also important when seeding. “Everybody has different equipment, so it’s best to talk with equipment manufacturers about drill calibration. Drills (should be) levelled from front to back and side to side,” she says. Management of crop residue, herbicide residue and pests are other areas where farmers can influence stand establishment. For example, trash management will be particularly important next year after this year’s record harvest. “Make sure (crop residue) is spread evenly or chopped so that when you seed your canola you’re not going through huge clumps of straw — that will negatively impact your emergence,” says Barnes. At seeding time, all crops, including canola, will benefit from the establishment of an even seedbed, she says. Year-round weed management through control of winter annuals in the fall, pre-seed burndown application and early control of weeds in season will decrease competition, and “canola will do better early in the season,” says Barnes.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Subscription prices: For Canadian farmers, $52.00 per year or $83.00 for 2 years (includes GST) or $104.00 for 3 years (includes GST). Man. residents add 8% PST to above prices. U.S: $43.00 per year (U.S. Funds). Outside Canada & U.S.: $79 per year. ISSN 0229-8090. Call 1-800-665-0502 for subscriptions. Fax (204) 954-1422 Canadian Postmaster: Send address changes and undeliverable copies (covers only) to PO Box 9800, Winnipeg, Man. R3C 3K7 photo: courtesy of autumn barnes

Autumn Barnes is an agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. While seeding practices can take growers part of the way to realizing their full yield potentials, continued research to answer fundamental questions — such as what happens to the seeds that don’t emerge, or the relationship between seed size, vigour and survival — is also needed to improve stand establishment. “There are plenty of opportunities in stand establishment… We can get there with canola,” says Barnes. † Kari Belanger is a freelance writer writing from Winnipeg, Man.

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 1-800-665-0502.

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Your next issue! You can expect your next issue in your mailbox about April 8, 2014

The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Grainews and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists and Grainews and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Grainews and Farm Business Communications assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any reader for this publication based on any and all information provided.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Features Seed and seeding

Chickpea seeding rates Experts warn against seeding too heavy or seeding too light. The optimal seeding rate for chickpeas will vary by type By Melanie Epp

hile most farmers know the optimum seeding rate for both desi and kabuli chickpeas, some don’t know why that number is recommended. And others, say researchers, are still getting it wrong.

Heavy seeding can increase disease risk Depending on the chickpea, you’re looking for three to four plants per square foot, says Troy LaForge, senior agronomist with Ultimate Yield Management Institute at Swift Current, Sask. “If you seed too heavy, you’re going to have too heavy of a canopy and create an environment for increased disease problems,” he says. For the most part, chickpea growers are worried about ascochyta blight. “We don’t tend to worry about a lot of the other diseases much in chickpeas,” says LaForge. “Fusarium root and seedling blight can be an issue at emergence if the seeds aren’t treated appropriately, but generally when we’re talking about plant stand management, we’re talking about ascochyta and managing for that disease.” To manage ascochyta, growers will do anywhere between two to four fungicide applications per season, depending on the variety, the severity of the disease and the environment that year. But if the canopy is too thick, it’s difficult for the fungicide to get coverage on the stems and the undersides of leaves. “Fungicides are only so effective,” says LaForge. “Fungicides are to help you along. They’re not the be all and end all.” In fact, creating such a dense canopy will render the fungicides ineffective. In Western Canada, chickpeas are planted with air drills for the most part. There is a little bit of work being done with planters in pulse crops, though, says LaForge. Chickpeas, he says, tend to respond a little better to wider rows. “I think that’s because you get more space between the rows and that helps to keep the canopy drier and disease stays down a little bit as well. But only from a disease perspective.” LaForge can’t say as to whether or not wider rows make a difference in terms of yield. But it’s also important to cover the canopy, too, says LaForge, so it’s always a question of which one is more important. When the July heat comes, it helps to keep the crop from losing valuable water, but when it comes to disease management, wider rows make for less moisture. LaForge says it’s a question that often comes up when farmers are choosing their row spacing. To reduce the risk of disease, LaForge emphasizes the importance of crop rotation. If you can go more than three years between chickpea crops, he says, that’s ideal.

chickpeas for decades. In the late 1990s, Gan conducted research that looked more closely at desi and kabuli chickpeas to see if they required different management practices. He calculated the number of viable plants you could get out of five different seeding rates, ranging from 20 to 50 plants per square metre. In desi chickpeas, the researchers discovered that as seeding rates increased, so did yields. Although they could have gone higher, they determined that 45 to 50 plants per square mete was optimum. In kabuli chickpeas, however, the results were somewhat different. Yields, they found, were dependent on water availability in the soil.

“When we had very good soil water, as the plant population increases, the seed yields increase,” says Gan. “However, in a dry year where the soil water is low, much like in 1998 or when we grow chickpeas on wheat stubble, in that case, when seeding rates increased from 20 plants per square metre up to about 35 plants per square metre, the yield increased. Beyond 35 plants per square metre, actually, as plants further increase, yield will decline.” In high moisture situations, during summer fallow or in wheat stubble with good precipitation, after 40 plants per square metre, regardless of soil water availabil-

ity, it seems plant yields do not further increase, he says. “Therefore, we had recommended that for large kabuli chickpeas or smaller kabuli chickpeas should target about 35 to 38 plants per square metre.” In a dry year, however, even at the targeted rate, yields will be somewhere around the 20-plant per square metre mark, he says.

Low seeding rates Generally, chickpea producers don’t have issues with over-seeding, says Gan. He thinks that’s due to the seed’s high cost. However, he often sees farmers seeding fields at rates lower than recommended.

When plant populations are lower than 25 plants per square metre, he says, farmers will have two major issues. One problem is weeds. When there’s excess space between plants, weeds become more aggressive and actually compete with the chickpeas. “Another issue is once you have a lower plant population, that plant will produce lots of branches,” says Gan. Pods that grow on those branches will mature at different rates, and come harvest, many will still be immature, resulting in a mix of mature and immature seeds. To avoid over- or under-seeding, both LaForge and Gan recommend that farmers do their 1,000-seed weight test. “In kabuli chickpeas, seed weight is so variable,” says Gan. “If farmers plant based on how many pounds per acre, that is not an accurate calculation.” † Melanie Epp is a freelance writer who specializes in writing web copy for small businesses. She is based in Guelph, Ont., and can be found online at melanierepp.com.

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MARCH 18, 2014

Features Crop disease

Rhizoctonia is growing concern No canola varieties are completely resistant to rhizoctonia, but management techniques can make a difference By Julienne Isaacs

hizoctonia is a fungus affecting crops across Canada, from row crops to field crops. The “type species” of Rhizoctonia is Rhizoctonia solani — in other words, R. solani is the species usually linked with the term “rhizoctonia.” It’s also the species that is increasingly affecting canola in Western Canada. According to Sheau-Fang Hwang, research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development and adjunct professor in Plant Pathology at the University of Alberta, R. solani belongs to a disease complex that also includes Fusarium spp. and Pythium spp., all of which affect canola in the field. “The reason we call it a disease complex is because these are three important soil-borne pathogens that affect canola at the seedling stage or even before,” says Hwang. “But they are different in terms of what conditions they prefer. The warm, dry soils are more favourable for rhizoctonia and fusarium blight.” Pythium, by contrast, takes off when soil conditions are damp and cool. Particular, identifying features of R. solani affecting canola include reduced seed germination and seedling establishment, along with seedling blight, root rot or wire stem, and a kind of “girdling” or constriction of the basal stem. “Rhizoctonia seedling blight has been a serious impediment to stand establishment in the Canadian Prairies for many years,” Hwang and her co-authors argue in a soon-to-be-published study, entitled, “The effect of seed size, seed treatment, seedling date and depth on Rhizoctonia seedling blight of canola.” “Earlier studies reported that most canola fields in the Peace River and central regions of Alberta are affected by R. solani, with up to 80 to 100 per cent infected plants and yield losses in excess of 20 per cent… In 2005 and 2006, seedling establishment was poor in over 20 per cent of fields surveyed in central Alberta.” The study claims that no cultivar of canola currently grown in Western Canada has resistance to

R. solani, but there are differences in susceptibility. While the evidence is clear that R. solani is negatively impacting crops in Western Canada, Hwang says in recent years not enough research has been done into possible management techniques — hence this study, to be published in the Canadian Journal of Plant Science, is long-awaited.

Management techniques Management techniques such as crop rotation and manipulation of seeding depth have been used to reduce the impacts of R. solani on canola stands. Crop rotation is an excellent technique, according to Hwang, but growers have to be careful in their choice of rotation crops. Within the species R. solani, there are multiple Anastomosis Groups (AG groups) that affect different crops to greater or lesser degrees. The group AG 2-1 affects canola primarily, and AG4 impacts pulse crops, while the group AG8 impacts cereal crops. AG4 can also affect canola, however, so rotating canola with pulses can backfire. The best rotational crops for canola, according to Hwang, are cereals. But Hwang’s study’s results point to fungicidal seed treatments as the best management technique available to growers. Early seeding was tested as a possible management technique, and while it generally improved emergence under R. solani-inoculated conditions, it did not consistently improve stand establishment or yield under high disease pressure. Seedling depth and seed size, similarly, did not have noticeable impacts. By contrast, the use of seed treatments such as Prosper FX or Helix Xtra resulted in significant improvements in seedling emergence and yield — even under high inoculum pressure. “The results of this study suggest that the manipulation of seeding date, seeding depth and seed size is unlikely to significantly improve seedling emergence under heavy disease pressure by R. solani, while fungicidal seed treatments can play an important role in stabilizing canola stand establishment under

the same conditions,” concludes the study. According to Ted Labun, Syngenta’s seedcare technical lead for Western Canada, growers’ options for fungicides to control R. solani are widening. “On canola we’re finding that rhizoctonia is an important disease,” he says. “One of the key components is that our rotations have become quite short. It’s not unusual to have wheat on canola on wheat, and the pathogen builds up with particular types of residue.” Syngenta’s fungicidal seed treatment Vibrance, says Labun, has performed extremely well against rhizoctonia in trials. Beyond its effects on canola, rhizoctonia has also shown negative impacts on wheat, he says, specifically affecting root health.

photos: sheau-fang hwang

The plants on the left are healthy, with healthy root systems. The plants on the right are affected by R. solani. “The window of infection is right at germination to four to six weeks after planting. With the introduction of Vibrance, we found we were able to extend that protection extensively.” According to Labun, early stand establishment sets the stage for yield potentials. Fungicidal seed treat-

ments such as Vibrance, through protecting crops against soil borne pathogens such as R. solani, can help provide growers with uniform stand establishments, even under heavy disease pressure. † Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne.isaacs@gmail.com.

Suc

• Gr • Hi • Su • Yo

The soil in the cup on the left is normal, healthy soil. The soil in the cup on the right was inoculated with R. solani.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Features Crop disease

Managing soybean seedling diseases A number of different diseases can hit your soybeans early in the growing season and cause significant yield loss By Rebeca Kuropatwa

arly in the growing season, soybean seedlings can encounter big trouble, especially in a cool wet year. “Typically we call this ‘root rot complex’ and it’s a number of diseases, such as rhizoctonia, fusarium, and pythium, and they’re often difficult to distinguish,” said Horst Bohner, provincial soybean specialist, with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. These diseases attack plant tissue. If the plant cannot overwhelm the disease, the disease overwhelms the plant. The result can be death. To help the plant overwhelm pathogens, Bohner and team have conducted a number of seed treatment trials over the years, finding some measured improvement with the use of fungicide seed treatment — so much so that they recom-

mend using fungicide seed treatment for all Ontario soybeans. “The best way I can describe the economics in the fungicide seed treatment trials we’ve conducted is that the average response is about 1.2 bushels to a fungicide yielding spawn,” said Bohner. “So it’s not a huge number, but it’s a statistically significant real number. So, considering the cost, there is a small benefit to the producer.” These early seedling diseases can reduce yield by as little as five per cent or as much as 20 per cent, depending on circumstances. Bohner said that, in severe cases, it can be much higher. How hard the pathogens hit the plant depends on how fast the seed germinates and, more importantly, how fast it emerges from the ground. The longer the seed is in the ground, the more likely it is that disease will impact the seedling. “We don’t spend a lot of time

trying to decide which disease it is, from an agronomic production standpoint,” said Bohner. “From a production standpoint, if you’ve got early seedling diseases, it’s going to be a number of different organisms.” If Bohner wants a specific diagnosis, he takes samples to the best diagnostic tool to be DNA multiscanned toward determining the genus, species, and specific disease. With only a handful of seed treatments available on the market, to cover a fairly wide spectrum of diseases, some products are better than others. “With these seedling diseases, unless they’re severe, their impact is limited,” said Bohner. “They reduce the stand, but soybeans have such an ability to compensate that if the plant survives, it will overcome early problems,” Bohner said. Seedling diseases’ impact is usually patchy within a field. “Most growers have very few

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problems with seedling diseases, but in a cool wet year they can be the difference between a full stand and a re-plant situation.”

Disease prevention The best way to prevent seedling diseases is crop rotation. The more diverse the crops grown in a field, the healthier the soil, and the build-up of disease. “Generally, we’d say that, for 100 per cent soybean yield potential, you should only grow soybeans one out of four years,” said Bohner. “Typically, in Ontario, we have many producers using a three year crop rotation of corn, soybeans and wheat.” An increasing number of Ontario farmers are getting into a corn-soybean rotation, similar to what exists in the U.S. Midwest, increasing the rate, prevalence and severity of these diseases. “While one in three works quite well, one in four is ideal,” said Bohner. “But one in two is not a good idea, especially with some growers on clay who’ll grow soybeans every year. That, of course, really increases the amount of disease.” Using a good fungicide seed treatment and a small amount of tillage to warm the soil is another preventative method growers can adopt — not ploughing, just a small amount of residue management. “Crop residue management helps reduce the level of inoculum of the disease to some degree,” said Bohner. “We found a small benefit in tillage during a wet year to reducing some of these early seedling diseases.”

A three-step prevention strategy Soybeans have been bred with a fair amount of resistance or tolerance, and plant breeders are always trying to find those varieties that have stronger tolerance. “We really should use the word ‘tolerance,’ because there are no truly resistant varieties,” said Bohner. “For an overall strategy, first worry about variety selection. There are huge differences in yield potential in soybeans, so you have to go to whatever performance trials are available in your area. There can be as much as a 10 bushel difference in yield potential. “Second, make sure your nutrients are in place, especially phosphorous and potassium. A 50 bushel crop removes 70 pounds of potassium from the soil, so that needs to be replenished. “Third is crop rotation.” Even with the possibility of disease, Bohner believes soybeans are very easy to grow compared to other crops. “They’re probably one of the easiest crops to grow in the world, which is why they’re grown on every continent in the world (except Antarctica) because they’re very adaptive,” said Bohner. “Over the last 20 years, production has almost doubled and demand continues to go up every year. That’s why prices are so good right now compared to the other big crops.” † Rebecca Kuropatwa is a freelance writer in Winnipeg, Man.

photos: horst bohner

This hoop was used to determine plant stands in narrow rows. This is a poor stand, due to seedling disease.

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On the left side of this photo, untreated seed resulted in a reduced stand. The seed on the right was treated with a fungicide/insecticide seed treatment and shows an increased plant stand and vigour.

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MARCH 18, 2014

Features CROP PROTECTION

Rotation tools help fight weed resistance Saskatchewan farmer Ward Cross has implemented strict guidelines to avoid developing herbicide resistance BY LEE HART

askatchewan farmer Ward Cross doesn’t want to end up in the same mess as his Australian counterparts when it comes to dealing with herbicide resistance in weeds. Cross, who farms with family members at Kipling, southeast of Regina has over the past dozen years paid particular attention to management practices, which reduce the risk of herbicide resistant weeds of developing on his 2,700 acre grain and oilseed operation.

“We were probably thinking about it before it became the popular topic it is today,” says Cross. “We stopped growing Roundup Ready canola about 15 years ago, just because we didn’t want to overuse the glyphosate. I don’t believe we have any herbicide resistant weeds on the farm today, but we still have a few of the Roundup Ready canola volunteers showing up and we haven’t grown it in years.” Cross’s program to avoid herbicide resistance in weeds includes a proper crop rotation, a proper rotation of herbicide groups, and

using tank mixes of two different herbicides to provide a one-two punch against weeds. While he has practiced direct seeding for about 20 years, he does heavy harrow fields in the fall to manage crop residue. This may help stimulate some annual weeds to germinate, which will be killed over winter. He also maintains recommended-to-higher seeding rates to provide strong crop competition against weeds. Cross says he hopes he never sees the problem of weed resistance he’s read about in recent

reports from Australia. Weed specialist, Michael Walsh, with the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative spoke recently at the FarmTech Conference in Edmonton. Walsh painted a challenging picture of how Australian grain producers are resorting to fairly elaborate and mechanically expensive measures to deal with herbicide resistant weeds. Cross, who farms with his family along with his parents, was born and raised on the family farm, homesteaded by the Cross family 132 years ago. He follows a rotation that includes canola, wheat and oats and depending on the year sometimes barley, canary seed and flax. He hasn’t grown any pulse crops for several years. “We stopped growing Roundup Ready canola and then quite a few years ago we began making a point of rotating chemical groups in our herbicide program,” says Cross. “We try to stick to our rotation and we haven’t grown any back-to-back crops.” Glyphosate is still an effec-

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tive tool for providing weed control as a pre-seeding burn off. He tries to use it sparingly to avoid herbicide resistant weeds, because he doesn’t want to go back to tillage.

STICK TO ROTATION Cross follows a rotation that includes wheat, followed by canola, and then back to a cereal which is usually oats, or might be barley or wheat. He applies a pre-seeding burn off treatment of glyphosate tank mixed with another herbicide. He used simple 2,4D at one time and in recent years alternates between tank mix products such as Heat and Express. Heat, marketed by BASF, enhances the effectiveness of the glyphosate and is effective against Group 2 herbicide resistant weeds. Express from DuPont, is a Group 2 product that works well with glyphosate to control some of the tougher weeds such as dandelion, narrow-leaved hawk’s beard, stinkweed and volunteer canola. For in-crop weed control in cereals, Cross applies a combination of grassy and broadleaf products and alternates with products from different active-ingredient groups to avoid herbicide resistance. He always applies products at the recommended rate to optimize weed control. “It is tempting sometimes to reduce the rate, to reduce costs but we don’t,” he says. “We don’t want to risk it.” Since dropping Roundup Ready varieties, he grows mostly InVigor canola applying Liberty herbicide and usually tank mixes in a grassy herbicide at a one-third rate “for added insurance against control of problem weeds, such as wild oats”, says Cross. Depending on the year and weed conditions he may apply a preharvest treatment of glyphosate to control weed patches in cereals, and/or a post-harvest treatment with glyphosate tank mixed with product to control winter annuals. To reduce weed pressure he maintains recommended-orhigher crop seeding rates. “I know there has been a lot of interest in reduced canola seeding rates, to cut costs and I believe it can work, but we still seed canola at four to five pounds of seed per acre to reduce the weed competition,” says Cross. Similar to wheat, he aims for at least a two bushel per acre seeding rate, and with oats seeds as much as four bushels per acre. “It can make for a very thick stand, but it keeps the weeds in check,” he says. As a committed direct-seeder, Cross says he wouldn’t want to return to full tillage to control weeds. Heavy harrowing in the fall helps to manage crop residue and even out any rough areas in a field. The harrows will also expose some soil which forces weeds to germinate and “blackens” a bit of the field to improve crop germination the next spring. Along with that, with his onepass Seed Hawk seeding equipment set on 15-inch row spacing, he uses a three-inch wide twinwing opener which also causes a bit of soil disturbance to blacken and “warm up” the seed row. “If we did start to see weeds develop herbicide resistance, the impact would be pretty substantial,” says Cross. “If it got out of control about the only tool we’d have left is tillage.” † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Features Crop protection

Australia tackles herbicide resistance Farmer Down Under are looking to mechanical weed control to deal with herbicide resistant weeds By Lee Hart

he expensive and time consuming weed control measures most Australian grain farmers are facing should stand as a clear warning to western Canadian farmers not to take the issue of herbicide resistant weeds lightly. Australian weed researcher, Michael Walsh, recently speaking to prairie farmers at the FarmTech Conference in Edmonton, made it abundantly clear if herbicide resistance ever gets out of hand, it literally threatens the economic-life of crop production. Walsh showed a map of the country, which has 61 million acres of annual cropland, covered with red stickpins identifying farms affected by herbicide resistant weeds over the vast majority of seeded acres. “We got to the point, after 30 years of conservation farming, and 30 years of development of herbicide resistant weeds where we had to ask ‘with so much resistance is that the end of crop production in Australia?’” says Walsh. “We couldn’t rely on herbicide control of weeds so our options were greatly diminished.” For the past 15 to 20 years Australian farmers have been gradually clawing their way back to some manageable level, resorting to a range of mechanical weed control measures at harvest. Fire is also used to some extent to burn weed-seed laden chaff windrows and piles. Because of the risk of serious soil erosion, tillage is seen as a last-ditch option.

A wide range of tools Herbicide resistant weed management has become a multipronged approach for Australian producers — proper crop rotation, a proper rotation of herbicide chemical groups where they work, and mechanical measures that includes collecting chaff (and weed seeds) at the combine for burning, baling and removing chaff from

the field, and a $240,000 unit that crushes and destroys weed seeds at the back of the combine. All these measures haven’t eliminated herbicide resistant weeds, but make the problem somewhat manageable. “The problem developed because we had very effective and relatively low cost herbicides and farmers kept using them repeatedly,” says Walsh. As well, to reduce costs instead of spending $20 per hectare on herbicides, some producers cut the rate to $10 per hectare — a move that just hastened the selection of herbicide resistant plants. The herbicides were effective and made good economic sense for a while, but through years of regular use, herbicide resistant weeds began to appear and rapidly spread. While they have multiple weeds resistant to herbicides, the main yield robbers are wild oats, wild radish and annual rye grass. “These weeds have adapted so well to growing conditions,” he says. “They are aggressive and often they stand above the crop canopy so there is no way to avoid them at harvest.” They found cutting a crop with a 15 inch stubble collected about 30 per cent of the weed seeds, while leaving a four inch stubble collected about 80 per cent of the weed seeds. As farmers and weed specialists looked at the herbicide resistance issue, they realized in the absence of no or fewer in-crop weed control tools, they could perhaps tackle the problem by first reducing the amount of weed seed going back on the land to reinfect next year’s crop. “We found that 80 to 90 per cent of weed seeds could be collected in chaff by the combine, so we looked at ways to intercept weed seeds at harvest,” says Walsh.

Mechanical measures Working with farmers, one of the earliest tools tried in the 1980s was a chaff-cart collector. They

photos: australian herbicide resistance initiative

This combine modification channels chaff (and weed seeds) into a 20-inch wide swath which is later burned. worked with all makes and models of carts, and one Australian producer, Lance Turner, built a system that included a chaff cart fed by a conveyor system from the back of the combine. The chaff cart collected weed seeds, but the issue became what to do with the chaff piles. The chaff can be fed to livestock, but if farms had no cattle the chaff piles had to be moved. They are light, hard to pickup and trucking costs are high. Many are just burned. In a similar vein, other producers designed a chute system for the back of the combine, which deposited chaff on the ground in a 20-inch windrow. Again, these windrows had to be burned. “I understand that burning on this scale in Canada isn’t an option,” says Walsh. Although allowed in Australia, it is not a perfect solution. Burning conditions have to be right to avoid causing widespread stubble fires, the piles and chaff rows are slow to burn and smoulder for days, and manpower is

an issue too. Under reasonable conditions, four men can set fire to chaff windrows on 1,000 acres per day. Another option tried involved baling chaff and weed seeds directly as they came off the back of the combine. It can be done, but there is a limited market or use for baled chaff, so that option has limited appeal. One of the better options, still with limited use, is a machine known as the Harrington Seed Destructor. It was adapted by a farmer familiar with crushing mills used to crush coal into powder. Chaff and weed seeds are fed by conveyor into the portable mill, pulled behind the combine. The mill is driven by a 200 horsepower gas engine. While it took several modifications, Walsh says they now have a working model, worth about $240,000 per unit, which is effective in crushing and destroying 90 per cent of weed seeds collected by the combine. Straw is chopped and blown off to the side by the combine. The Harrington Seed 2

1: Chaff and some straw is baled immediately behind the combine, although there isn’t much use for the finished product. 2: Collecting chaff and weed seeds in a chaff cart was one of the first options adopted, but the challenge is what to do with chaff piles left on the field. Many are just burned. 3: This $240,000 Harrington Seed Destructor crushes weed seeds, but isn’t a cheap option.

Destructor will be demonstrated in Canada in 2014.

Making progress Use of mechanical weed control tools isn’t perfect but it is helping, says Walsh. Studies show, on average emergence of rye grass weeds was reduced by about 57 per cent when mechanical tools are used. In extremely high weed populations it was only reduced by about 30 per cent. In other trials they found just using herbicide alone, could leave as many as 25 herbicide resistant weeds per square metre. However with a combination of herbicides and mechanical weed seed control, resistant weed numbers could be reduced to about one plant per square metre. Dealing with herbicide resistant weeds is an ongoing challenge, “but it is not the end of cropping, despite the widespread problem,” says Walsh. † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@ fbcpublishing.com.

/ grainews.ca

MARCH 18, 2014

Features FARM MANAGEMENT

Estimating costs of production If you haven’t calculated your costs of production on your farm, government numbers can help get you started BY LEEANN MINOGUE

arket analysts don’t always agree on price forecasts, but at every farm marketing presentation at least one analyst gives out the same piece of advice: know your cost of production. Calculating production costs is time consuming and frustrating. As soon as you’re done, the prices change. Here are four reasons to do it anyway: • If you know what it costs to grow your crop, you’ll know how much money you’ve made when you sell it. • Knowing costs and potential profit for each crop can help you

decide what to seed, when you have agronomic flexibility. • If you’re thinking of buying more land, knowing the rest of your current costs can help you decide if you’ll still be profitable after adding in high land costs. • If your costs are significantly higher than average, you can take a closer look and see why that is.

GETTING STARTED If you haven’t done this before, the easiest way to start is to begin with someone else’s numbers, then tweak them to match your situation. The governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba all

provide basic data you can use as a starting point. In Saskatchewan, Glenn Payne, Saskatchewan Agriculture’s provincial specialist, agribusiness, is responsible for developing the provincial Crop Planning Guide. “These numbers and budgets are just guides for producers to consider,” Payne says. “We strongly encourage you to use all of your own prices and costs, and tailor the results to your farm. Only you are going to know the situations you face.” The Crop Planning Guide includes not just costs, but also revenues. Tailoring these numbers to your situation will be most important when it comes

to selling prices, especially in a year like this. “We generated our price forecast early in December,” Payne says; things have changed substantially since then. When you’re forecasting your own prices, Payne says, “you really have to reevaluate and see what the marketing and commodity market forecasting experts are saying, combined with your own thoughts or forecasts, and the pricing opportunities available to you. That’s such a key component of your revenues.” Fertilizer is another fairly substantial component of cost estimates. “And they can have fairly volatile prices. Growers really need to look at that closely as spring approaches,

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if they have not already locked in prices or supply.” While the published numbers are a great starting point, over time it makes sense to use your own numbers for every cost on the list. “Throw your own numbers in there,” Payne says. “Factors change and everyone’s farm situation is unique to them.”

FINDING STARTING NUMBERS Find the cost estimates that are closest to your situation. Manitoba: The government of Manitoba has cost of production data online in a spreadsheet, or a pdf you can download. (To find these files, at www.gov.mb.ca, search for “cost of production.”). If you use the spreadsheet option, it will be simple to fine-tune the data for your own farm right in Excel. There are separate cost estimates for eastern and western Manitoba. The eastern Manitoba numbers are intended for farmers in the area around the Red River Valley, where, as the guide says, farmers use “higher input levels to match high productivity of the soils.” The spreadsheets include three cost categories: fixed (land, machinery and storage), variable (per acre costs such as seed, fertilizer, and chemicals) and labour. Remember to look at the “assumptions” section of the files, so you’ll know which numbers are more likely to apply to you. Staff who developed these numbers put quite a bit of thought into each calculation. Here’s an example: The per acre figure for storage costs assumes farmers need storage for 30 bushels per acre — half aeration bins and half non-aeration bins. Annual depreciation and investment costs are estimated at $3.26 for non-aeration bins, and $3.79/bushel for aeration bins, for an average per bushel storage cost of $3.52/bushel. Saskatchewan: For Saskatchewan numbers, at www.agriculture.gov. sk.ca, search for “crop planning guide” (or visit your local office for a hard copy). This file is a pdf. To find the Excel version of the spreadsheet, search for the “Crop Planner.” You can modify the budgets as much as you like or as little as you like with your own yields, prices and costs. You can also use some additional spreadsheets to compare total returns from different rotations (there are not in the hard copy or pdf version.) Saskatchewan estimates costs for three different soil zones: brown, dark brown and black. As with Manitoba, these numbers are based on several assumptions. Be sure to read these first — you might need to tweak some of the numbers to fit your operation. For example, pesticide costs are set at Suggested Retail Prices, with full rate application. Alberta: The government of Alberta has created an entire computer program to help farmers calculate production costs, profit margins and break even sale prices. At www.agric.gov.ab.ca, click on “decision making tools,” then scroll down to “CropChoice$ Computer Software.” You’ll have to download this program and install if on your own computer to see the cost data. Once you’ve done that, the software includes provincial Crop Insurance prices and yield data, specifically for each area, as well as other cost data. The data is updated every year. † Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews.

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MARCH 18, 2014

Features CROP PRODUCTION

PURPLING WHEAT CROP PERPLEXING

CROP ADVISOR’S CASEBOOK

Left: Kim Brown-Livingston is a regional agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Dauphin, Man. Right: All of the plants were damaged in exactly the same spot on their flag leaves, which were now all bent over in the same direction away from the stems. BY KIM BROWN-LIVINGSTON

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onald has a 1,800-acre spread just west of Dauphin, Man., where he grows wheat, canola and a small amount of ryegrass. He called me back in early July to say his wheat crop just didn’t look right, and to ask for my help. The problem, he explained, was discolouration of the wheat leaves — something Donald initially thought might be caused by herbicide drift originating from a different crop, but he said things didn’t really add up. “It’s odd,” Donald said. “It looks like it might be herbicide drift, but I’m not sure where it could come from since the field is surrounded by wheat on all sides. But what else could it be?” When I arrived at Donald’s wheat field, the discoloured crop was clearly evident from the road. It seemed worse on the headlands, but as Donald and I walked through the field, we could see most of the plants had some kind of purpling, giving the whole field an off-colour appearance. A closer look revealed the purpling plants were now turning

CASEBOOK WINNER

his issue’s Casebook winner is Janet Cusack. Janet lives on a grain farm near Clandonald, Alta., with her husband and two sons. Thanks for entering Janet! We’ll be renewing your Grainews subscription for a year and sending you a Grainews cap. †

Leeann Minogue

BY DAN PIRARO

Bizarro

manainc.ca

® Alias, Arrow, Badge, Bengal, Bison, Bromotril, Bumper, Ladder, Priority, Pyrinex, Silencer and Thrasher are registered trademarks and ™ Blanket AP, Overall, Phantom, Rush 24 and TopLine are trademarks of Makhteshim Agan of North America, Inc. All others are trademarks of their respective companies. Always read and follow label directions. 13037.01.14

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Features Crop production

Crop Advisor’s Solution By Dean McDermott

t was back in August 2013 when I got a call from Richard, who operates a 2,000-acre farm near Carrot River, Sask. Richard, whose rotation includes mainly canola and wheat with an occasional field of peas and oats, was having trouble with his canola crop and asked me to come out to have a look. “There’s something wrong with the home quarter. I was checking yesterday to see if it was ready to swath and it looks like the canola hasn’t set seed,” he said. When I arrived at the field, I inquired about Richard’s fertility program and his use of herbicides and fungicides, but there didn’t seem to be any

issues there. Richard said he’d scouted for insects earlier in the year and had found lygus bugs at early bloom, but they hadn’t reached sufficient threshold numbers to warrant using an insecticide. When I asked Richard when he’d first detected a problem, he said he’d been checking for colour change in the canola pods for swath timing when he noticed blanks on the stems where there should have been pods. There were also some oddlooking flowers that were closed up and brown. The damage was very unusual, but I had a hunch as to what was causing the problem. I examined the flowers on the affected plants closely, and then did some pod counts on a sampling of plants

SWEDE MIDGE THE CULPRIT IN DAMAGED CANOLA The reason to do pod counts through the entire field to get a handle on the extent of the trou- on affected and unaffected plants ble. What I found confirmed my was that not all plants or areas of the field are infested at the suspicions. The problem with Richard’s same level. Because midge adults canola field was an infestation are tiny, weak flyers, the edges of swede midge, a new insect of an infected field where the pest in Western Canada that has insects first enter usually exhibit only been identified in the last the worst damage. This is particularly true if the field borders two years. Like the lygus bug, the swede canola stubble. The good news for Richard midge can cause blasting of flowers on canola plants. The was that the extent of the probinsect can also cause abort- lem wasn’t as bad as he first ed flowers that shrivel up thought. The swede midge damand shrink while remaining age was mostly limited to the attached to the stem. These perimeter of his canola field, and characteristic shrunken brown in the end the actual damage flower buds were the best way amounted to less than 10 per I knew to identify midge dam- cent of Richard’s crop. age, because this type of damThe bad news is that while age was unlike any other I’d research is ongoing, chemical B:8.125” seen in this crop or in my area. control options are very limited T:8.125”

and in most cases not economical to use. The latest research from Ontario, where this insect is a very serious problem, indicates a four-year rotation of canola and related crops can help keep swede midge levels down, but it’s unknown if this will work in Western Canada. Obviously, it is important to find solutions for this pest before we are faced with infestations that will cause significant losses to canola crops. Early identification and reporting to research scientists that are working on swede midge will be critical to ensuring the long term sustainability of canola in Western Canada. † Dean McDermott is an area marketing representative with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Carrot River, Sask.

S:8.125”

brown, indicating dead tissue. All the plants had the damage in exactly the same spot on their flag leaves, which were now all bent over in the same direction away from the stems. The purpling was worse where the leaves started to bend, and from the bend to the leaf tip was generally discoloured. Donald took me to see a few more of his wheat fields, and all of the crops were displaying similar symptoms, to varying degrees. There were no signs of nutrient imbalance in previous soil tests, and Donald had a good fertility program for his wheat crop. There were no indications of any diseases, either — apart from the purpling, the field looked to be faring quite well, with a good plant population and few weeds within the crop. It did strike me as odd that there was no discernable pattern in the discoloured plants, other than they appeared to be more prevalent in the headland areas. When I asked Donald about what the weather had been like lately, I began to zero in on the cause of the problem. If you think you know what’s behind Donald’s purpling wheat plants, send your diagnosis to Grainews, Box 9800, Winnipeg, Man., R3C 3K7; email leeann. minogue@fbcpublishing.com or fax 204-944-95416 c/o Crop Advisor’s Casebook. Best suggestions will be pooled and one winner will be drawn for a chance to win a Grainews cap and a one-year subscription to the magazine. The answer, along with reasoning that solved the mystery, will appear in the next Crop Advisor’s Solution File. †

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Kim Brown-Livingston is a regional agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Dauphin, Man.

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/ grainews.ca

MARCH 18, 2014

Features Farmer Panel

Too early to panic over spring moisture Some forecasters are predicting record droughts in parts of Alberta, but farmers are taking a “wait and see” approach By Lee Hart

hile spring moisture maps are showing dry conditions in parts of east central Alberta and Saskatchewan, farmers contacted for the March Farmer Panel aren’t pushing the panic button just yet. While most report dry soil conditions last fall, that has been followed by reasonable to high snowfall over winter. Some say timely rainfalls between April and June will hold the trump card for yields.

Nick Sekulic Rycroft, Alta. Nick Sekulic says he is a firm believer of “wait and see” when it comes to predicting spring moisture conditions. Sekulic, who produces grains, oilseeds and pulse crops in the central Alberta Peace River Region says despite heavy snow fall in December a lot can change between now and seeding. “I have seen all kinds of winters and all kinds of springs,” says Sekulic, who farms at Rycroft north of Grand Prairie. “Right now I would say we are not moisture deficit, but if we get a few warm days in April with a howling wind that dries everything out, that can change,” Sekulic says they had good growing-season moisture last summer that produced an excellent crop, but the fall was dry. They had “very significant” snowfall in December that was waist-high on the level, however most of that disappeared with warm and windy conditions in January. “We had a lot of snow but no frost, so I think when it did melt most of the moisture went into the ground,” he says. “With warm temperatures in January we had dugouts filling and water running in the ditches.” Although he doesn’t agree with the correctness of all the boundaries on the soil moisture maps, he figures his immediate area is better off than other parts of the prairies. While there will likely be moisture to get the crop started, the important part is how much rain they get during the growing season. “We need moisture at seeding to get the crop started, but then we need rain after the crop has emerged. “With direct seeding and soil conservation measures we are better off today than we were years ago with conventional tillage,” he says. “We are prepared to some extent — our conservation strategies have paid off. I always say every spring we start with 100 per cent or more yield potential and then we work our way down from there.”

duces grains, oilseeds and pulse at Minburn, east of Edmonton. “But we could get a foot of wet snow in April, or a good rain and it can change pretty quickly.” Peden says his area had lots of snow earlier in the winter, but quite a bit melted during a warm spell in January. “In a lot of places it is just a sheet of ice now, so any melting could just run off anyway. “The way it stands now we are definitely dry, but this is Alberta and if you wait five minutes the weather changes,” he says. “So I’m not too worried. There isn’t much we can do about it except take what comes.” Peden plans to stick to his usual crop rotation “we don’t chase

markets, and there is certainly no point in trying to chase the weather,” he says. He’ll stick with cereals and canola with peas as the main pulse crop, although he is trying some faba beans this year to see how they perform. Peas can have harvestability issues, and yields have been down, so if faba beans do well, they may replace peas.

Chad Krikau Waldheim, Sask. Although it was a dry fall in his area north of Saskatoon, Chad Krikau says he expects to be in good shape for moisture to establish the 2014 crop.

says they’ve had average to above average moisture this winter with “a good snow pack.” “I am not concerned that we will have too much or too little moisture at seeding,” he says. “We will have good crop establishment, but then we will need some timely rains during the growing season.” He says yields might be a bit lower in 2014 simply because there isn’t sub-surface soil moisture. Last year, he estimates 10 to 20 per cent of yield was carried by sub-surface moisture “and we don’t have that this year,” he says. “If we don’t get rain, we won’t

» continued on page 15

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Andrew Peden Minburn, Alta.

He had one half section on his Waldheim-area farm he was planning to till with a “spike” tool after harvest because it had a number of ruts from earlier in the year, but because it was so dry he just left it. “We were dry so I didn’t want to do any tillage that would possibly lose any moisture that was there,” he says. “And I wasn’t sure if spikes would do a good job anyway. It might leave too many lumps of dirt. So I just left it. There was a good cover of crop residue so hopefully that holds some moisture.” Krikau who produces wheat, canola, some barley and oats and is doing some trials with soybeans,

It is certainly dry in his area, but Andrew Peden says a lot can happen between March and seeding. “We haven’t had any measurable rain since the first of August and the ground is dry and cracked,” says Peden, who pro6306-1J_SYT_ROI_ad_ES_Grainews.indd All Pages

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Features Crop production

How plants talk to each other Plants may seem silent and still, but they have ways of communicating, even sharing warning signals and chemicals By Shirley Byers

he idea that plants can communicate, that they can signal for help when under attack, warn other plants of danger and even call in specific beneficial insects to fight off pests may seem a bit… well, hokey, but it’s been proven by several accredited scientists. Yuanyuan Song, working with Suzanne Simard at the University of British Columbia, showed that plants communicate through friendly fungi, or mycorrhizal networks, on their roots. She grew tomato plants in different chambers with isolated pathways

between them. When she injured one of the tomato plants with a fungus, that plant began creating defence compounds. It moved those defence compounds to the next plant through mycorrhizal networks. When the neighbouring plant detected the compounds it started up-regulating its genes that produce defence enzymes. When attacked, it showed increased resistance against the fungus. Plants communicate above ground too. At Exeter University, scientists found that cabbage plants, when their surfaces were cut or pierced, emitted a gas, methyl jasmonate, to warn their neighbours. When the gas was emitted

nearby cabbage plants began to produce toxic chemicals on their leaves to fend off predators. Just as human bodies produce antibodies to fight diseases, many plants produce beneficial toxins and compounds. The toxins kill invading insects and the compounds slow down or even stop a bug’s ability to digest the plant. The process begins the moment the pest bites into a leaf. The plant recognizes compounds in the insect’s saliva and initiates a defence. If that doesn’t work, the plant may release a blend of airborne chemical repellents. In a U.S. study, Ian Baldwin, biologist and director of the Molecular

Ecology Department at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany and grad student, Andre Kessler, were able to isolate some of these emissions from a wild tobacco plant. When they mixed the specific chemicals into a paste and smeared it on plants not yet attacked, hawk moths avoided laying eggs on them. Through further experiments, Baldwin showed that three of the compounds emitted by the tobacco plant seemed to attract G. pallens, a natural predator. Through this natural ability to release certain volatiles, Kessler estimated a plant can reduce the

number of herbivores attacking it by as much as 90 per cent. Quoted in Discovery magazine in 2002, Baldwin said, “Eventually, we will use the information we get here to breed agricultural crops that call out to their insect allies more loudly and more consistently.” This strategy is already at work in East Africa, where planting molasses grass with maize and sorghum crops slows down the stem-borer caterpillar. The grass emits airborne chemicals, some of which repel the caterpillars, while others attract a parasitic wasp which feeds on the pests. Planting other crops that stem-borers like to feed on around the fields further mitigates the problem 204-944-95416 c/o Crop Advisor’s Casebook Editor’s note: This article originally ran in “Small Farm Canada” and is reprinted here with permission. † Shirley Byers is a freelance writer based in Saskatchewan.

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

Too early to panic over spring moisture have that sub-surface moisture to carry the crop.”

Bill Rosher Kindersley, Sask. Bill Rosher says his west-central Saskatchewan farm is in the drier zone this year, although being on the northern edge of Palliser Triangle that isn’t unusual, either. It was fairly dry last fall, but they’ve had some snow this winter, which he expects will produce some moisture this spring. “We had some pretty nice crops last year, but it did get dry into fall, so we are on the drier side of things this winter,” he says. Rosher, who operates an organic grain, oilseed and forage crop operation says while there should be moisture to get the crop started, timely rainfall will be needed during the growing season. An organic operation since 2000, about one third of the farm is in hay, with the annual cropped acres seeded to wheat and flax.

Chris Christensen Edgerton, Alta. Chris Christensen says there is good snow cover at his farm near Wainwright in east-central Alberta but he’s not sure how much moisture isJOB in ID: it. 6306 1J “We’ve a long cold spell and DATE:had MARCH 18 I think it freeze-dries the snow,” CLIENT: SYNGENTA CANADA he says. Even though conditions are quite dry he’s not too worried PROJECT: ROI AD – ES about seeding. PUBLICATION: “Most years itGRAINEWS all depends on the timing of the rain anyway,” DESIGNER: JEFF ANTON says Christensen, who crops ) MECHANICAL ( ) PDF/X about( 6,000 acres, has about 800 acres of hay and runs a 300 head FINAL SIZE: 17.4" X 10" cow-calf herd. “I remember we 240% in 2000 and it was had aUCR: drought a year when we had lots of snow. CLIENT SERVICE It really depends on whether we PROOFREADING get April showers. Last year, there was good growART DIRECTION ing season moisture to produce wheat,PRODUCTION canola, oats and barley, but then it turned dry at harvest and there hasn’t been much moisture since. † Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com. 14-02-18 6:59 PM

/ grainews.ca

MARCH 18, 2014

Features LAND MANAGEMENT

Tile draining installation on the rise Buoyant crop and land prices are driving an increase in tile draining installation in southern Manitoba BY ANGELA LOVELL

t seems that everywhere you go in southern Manitoba these days there are coils of large, black pipe on the edges of farmers’ fields. Tile drainage installations in Manitoba over the last couple of years have exploded. “I’d say there has been at least a 100 per cent increase in tile drainage (installations) over the last couple of years,” says Joel Classen, coowner of Northern Plains Drainage Systems Inc. in Carman, Manitoba. It’s being driven by a few things; the rising value of farmland, higher grain and oilseed prices and increased acres of longer season crops like corn and soybeans, which require farmers to seed as early as they can and means they don’t have the option to wait around for wet fields to dry out in the spring. “If tile drainage costs $800 an acre and land prices are hitting $3,000 to $4,000 in some areas, it makes a lot more sense for guys to improve the land that they’re already farming rather than expanding their farms,” says Classen.

WHAT IS TILE DRAINING? Tile drainage is artificial subsurface drainage,” says Dr. Gary Sands, a drainage expert at the University of Minnesota who teaches courses in tile drainage design. “Many of our most productive soils lack good internal drainage by natural proc-

esses, which impede the productivity of these soils. Tile drainage permits these soils to drain. In general, we’re talking about soils that have high clay content or soils that have impeding layers deeper in the soil profile that restrict downward movement of water.” A tile drainage system consists of corrugated, high density polyethylene pipe that’s installed in the ground and connected to lateral field pipes which then connect to main pipes usually at the edge of the field. The main pipes transport excess water in the root zone away from the production area into a ditch or other suitable outlet.

WHAT DOES IT COST? Installing tile drainage depends on a lot of things including the topography, soil type, extent of the area being drained, size and spacing of pipe and accessibility to a drain or outlet. In some cases a pump or lift station may need to be installed to get the water to an outlet. “It’s very dependent on the situation and the thing that impacts the cost the most is the spacing of the tile,” says Bruce Shewfelt of PBS Water Engineering Ltd in Morden, Man. “If the tile is 50 feet apart rather than 100 feet apart it’s going to cost twice as much for the laterals, which is a significant part of the overall cost.” “I would say $800 an acre is a good average cost,” says Classen. “If you start dealing with lift pumps, if

PHOTOS: NORTHERN PLAINS DRAINAGE SYSTEMS, CARMAN, MAN.

Almost all operators are using RTK-GPS control systems, says Joel Classen. there is no suitable gravity outlet then the price goes up. For material costs I would say you’re looking at anywhere from $400 to $600 an acre and then there’s contractor’s charges above that if you’re having it custom installed.” Some farmers are opting to purchase the tile plow and other equipment that is needed and install tile drainage themselves. Purchasing your own equipment

to self-install can be costly and probably starts at around the $60,000 mark. There’s also some fairly advanced technology used to install tile drainage which can further add to the cost. “Almost all installers are using RTK GPS now as opposed to lasers,” says Classen. “With GPS technology we have sub-inch accuracy which makes it a lot easier for guys to pick up on the operating side of it.”

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WHAT ARE THE AGRONOMIC BENEFITS? There are many benefits to tile drainage, with increasing the window that a farmer can travel on the field and reducing crop stress from moisture levels being big ones, says Classen, who installed some tile drainage in the heavy, Red River clay soils on his Dad’s farm last year. “The major benefit that we’re finding is we can travel on the fields seven to 10 days earlier in the spring than the un-tiled ground,” he says. “A lot of other associated costs are affected by drainage such as use of chemicals and fertilizers but the biggest ones are the direct impacts to the crop growth and development and the efficiency aspects of the field operations,” says Sands. “Another big one is soil quality and soil productivity, because when producers are compelled to get out into fields when they’re too wet, compaction takes place and that’s another big productivity loss.” Data from Ontario and Quebec has shown average yield increases after tile drainage was installed of 34 per cent on corn, 32 per cent on soybeans and 47 per cent on wheat. Matthew Dixon began installing some tile drainage on his farm near Swan River two years ago and has already seen a 50 per cent increase in yields over the areas that he has not yet tiled. “This is only our second year with the tile drainage, but last year you could see the benefits from a mile away where the crop was drowned out to where the tile had been installed and the crop was thriving,” he says. “It wasn’t hard to differentiate where we had installed and where we didn’t. At harvest time, we were expecting two-thirds of a crop in the areas even where the tile drainage was due to the excess moisture and it turned out to be a crop and a half.”

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When used properly, tile drainage is an environmentally beneficial practice, says a 2001 paper from the University of Guelph. Tile drainage can increase water storage capacity by removing excess water

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Features more quickly from fields rather than waiting for it to evaporate. “Surface runoff tends to be peaky and drains quickly, so it doesn’t last very long typically but the flow rates can be high,” says Sands. “With tile, the water comes out slowly and evenly and over longer periods of time. It changes the timing and the dynamic of the water that leaves the field. We’re basically talking about the same (volume of) water it just takes a different path to leave.” Improved infiltration means that the soil acts as a buffer to high rainfall events and decreases peak flows and surface runoff, which reduces soil erosion and sediment loading in streams and lakes by up to 40 per cent. Because crops get off to an earlier start and protect the soil, it can also reduce the effects of wind erosion. Decreasing surface run off helps to reduce losses of phosphorus and potassium, which do not move easily through the soil profile. Nitrogen losses, however, can be increased depending on conditions. Studies in Quebec to assess pesticide loading have shown that it can be decreased by tile drainage as compared to surface runoff, but will be dependent on a number of factors including weather conditions, type of pesticide, tillage practices and application timing. Risk of pesticide contamination is always highest shortly after application especially if it rains soon after, and increases on sloping land, and where pesticide application is high. Earlier crop establishment and good crop growth due to tile drainage may reduce the need for pesticides by encouraging the development of healthier plants that can better resist disease and pests.

IS THERE A DOWN SIDE? No system is perfect and in a dry cycle there could be some downside potential with tile drainage. “You could envision the scenario where perhaps drainage had taken some water away from the field that would have been beneficial later on in the season,” says Sands. “It is possible but not probable.” That said, there are some things to consider before installing a tile drainage system, especially the type of soil and the depth of the tile. “If tile goes in too deep on certain soils and these are soils that have a higher organic content, it’s possible to get the water table too far away from the bottom of the root zone,” says Sands. “That could impact the soil and a crop in drier times.” Shewfelt says that in many Manitoba soils the shallow groundwater is a significant component of the water supply for plants, especially for imperfectly drained soils. “It’s important to examine tile design in that light,” he says.

“Options include shallower tile systems with closer spacings and/or controlled drainage, both of which will allow sufficient drainage for early seeding but also feed crop use in July and August through upflow from that shallower water table.” Also on the negative side, although sediment and phosphorus losses are typically reduced, nitrogen losses can be increased. “That’s one of the big trade-offs and that does become an issue not so much for our fresh water ecosystems but for our salt water ecosystems,” says Sands. “Nitrate is very soluble and once it gets into a drainage ditch it’s probably going to ride all the way to the coast.” A good nutrient management plan, which ensures that only required amounts of fertilizer are applied, will go a long way to help minimize N and P losses. “If surface drainage gets into tile for example, via surface inlets, you can expect phosphorus in the discharge, which is more common in heavy soils such as clay,” adds Shewfelt.

Tile drainage may not be a fit in every situation either. “It’s not warranted if you already have reasonably drained soil and you’re trying to prevent against the rainfall that occurs infrequently,” says Shewfelt. “There will sometimes be a rainfall that will overcome even the tile system. What you should have an idea of is if that situation is happening frequently enough to impact farm economics. That’s the first test.” Many farmers already have precision ag tools and yield monitors and it makes sense, says Shewfelt to go over that information and yield mapping data with your agronomist and target the problem areas if you have them. “It doesn’t take much to drill a hole in the ground, put a piece of pipe in and monitor where the water table is,” says Shewfelt. “If the tiles are above the water table there’s not going to be any water in the tile. Special care should be taken to understand geologic conditions which can impact neighbours, such as intercepting artesian flows.”

Most installers and even farmers who have installed the system themselves have to do a lot of homework to make sure that a tile drainage system is installed correctly, and it’s probably well worth hiring a specialist who can help with the design and planning of the system, at least when starting out with tile drainage, says Classen. “At least get some kind of consulting to get started and do things properly right off the hop,” he says. “Tile drainage is a huge investment and it needs to be installed correctly. It should work for generations but if it’s installed off-grade or the wrong materials are used then it can stop working within a few years,” he says. “It’s very important to do it right whether you’re doing it yourself or when you’re hiring somebody else. That’s the main consideration.” † Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.angelalovell.ca.

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“Drainage can make or break production.” — Dr. Gary Sands

THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS? “Drainage can make or break production,” says Sands. “Most of the time, with tile drainage, you’re looking at favourable effects in every year. You won’t have make or break years every year but you’ll have some kind of impact in many years.” Although tile drainage is going to really show its benefits and pay dividends in wetter years and maybe less so in dry ones, it’s a long-term investment that Dixon knows is going to pay off. “If I would have started five years sooner, I probably would have saved two or three crops,” he says. Payback on the investment is going to vary from farm to farm, but if land prices remain high it’s going to be a lot faster for some than others, says Classen. “We’ve got some farmers that own land and have never farmed it because it’s always been too wet and they’ve just opened it up with tile drainage,” he says. “Now they’re farming that land and that land is worth $3000 per acre. If they opened up that land for say $600 or $700 doing it themselves, they just purchased land for $600 or $700 per acre so the payback is going to be a lot faster for them.”

MAKE IT NEXERATM

AND MAKE MORE.

According to Canola Evaluation and Intentions, Canada, 2012, Stratus Agri-Marketing, Inc.

†

TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow. ® All other products are trademarks of their respective companies. 0114-36473_36511 GN

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MARCH 18, 2014

Features Farm management

Do-it-yourself tile drainage Combine easy-to-use GPS technology with high land prices, and more Manitoba farmers are installing their own tile draining By Angela Lovell

ile drainage has become increasingly popular in Manitoba. With only a few installers to go around and costs anywhere from $800 to $1,000 per acre, some adventurous farmers are opting to give it a go themselves. Northern Plains Drainage Systems Inc. of Carman has sold over 50 tile plows to farmers across Western Canada in the last two years and says interest is growing fast. “The demand for tile drainage has been there for a long time in potato and vegetable production,” says co-owner, Joel

Classen. “The biggest increase that we’re seeing now is in grain and oilseed farms.” For Matthew Dixon who farms near Swan River, Manitoba, it was the lack of installers in his area that made him decide to try installing tile drainage himself. “We’re far enough north that we’re out of the way of the general contractors and for us time is a major concern. In the fall we sometimes only have a week or two to get certain things done,” says Dixon. “That was the main reason for us getting our own equipment.” Dixon had struggled through four consecutive years of excess moisture and finally decided

technology out there today, the actual installations have become a lot easier. The plow control system is automated and will keep the tile on grade within the depth parameters you set for each install,” he says. “It’s not something you just decide overnight that you’re going to go throw some pipe in the ground,” says Dixon, who attended workshops and did a lot of homework before taking the plunge. “It takes a lot of time and planning to organize everything and learn exactly how to do it and it’s all dependent on the project. Some projects are small enough that it’s pretty well

enough was enough. “We farm a lot of heavy land and once the soil gets saturated there’s not much you can do because the soil profile is so full of water and the heavy clay has slow internal drainage, so it just drowns out the crop,” he says. “We had been getting three or four inch rains and it was frustrating to see all that time and effort wasted away. That’s why I decided to try tile drainage.” Most farmers start off slow, adds Classen. “They’ll pick their worst areas and start with those,” he says. “They’re coming to our workshops, taking their time and learning as they go. With the

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common sense that you know what should be done. Generally, you farm the land, so you know where the water wants to go.”

Considerations for DIY-ers There are trade-offs that are important for the self-installer to consider, says Dr. Gary Sands, a drainage expert at the University of Minnesota. “It’s not a simple thing to do drainage well, even with the fancy tools that are out there now, GPS guidance and software and so forth, one still has to understand what goes into a good drainage system,” he says. “Regardless of where a person is on that scale from a farmer self-installer to a contractor, a person needs to understand how these systems work, what goes into a good system, what things to avoid in the field and the do’s and don’ts of installation and troubleshooting. A lot of farmers who do their own installation started out by observing the pros doing it first.” Dixon turned to some professional help for larger projects on his farm. “For the more complicated, larger projects you should get help and just not wing it and try and do it yourself,” he says. “Do the full survey and the pipe sizing. When we planned a couple of big projects here I got Joel Classen and his business partner, Simon to do the surveying and design a grid system. They have the experience to know what works and what doesn’t.” It’s questionable whether a self-install will actually save the farmer much up-front money. Equipment costs, which include a tile plow, RTK-GPS control system, a backhoe and tile trailer are likely going to set him back $70,000 to $100,000 or more. The cost of materials can range from $400/acre to $600/acre depending on a number of different factors that will influence the design and installation of the system and labour is extra. “I think there’s the temptation when a farmer looks at this to say, with a relatively small investment in a plow and some software, I could go out and do this very inexpensively,” says Sands. “I think that’s a mistake. First of all anyone’s time is worth money and if you’re out there doing drainage work there’s something else you’re not doing, and you can’t do it alone. You ideally need a crew of four to six people to do the work. Then you’ve got to invest the time in learning how to design and so forth, so I think there is really more cost there than a lot of producers give credit to.” An advantage for the do-ityourself farmer is that he may have some of the equipment and technology needed on the farm already. “One major cost is the horse power of the tractor, so if it’s a tractor drawn plough then they already own 80 per cent of the cost of the unit to get started,” says Classen, and some GPS guidance systems already in the tractor cab may be compatible with the plough’s RTK GPS

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Features control system, depending on the manufacturer. The benefits for Dixon on the land he tiled were immediate and visible. He could easily tell where he had tiled and where not because his tiled crops were no longer drowned out and he got a 50 per cent yield advantage in those areas. He’s also seen less soil erosion during heavy rainfall and less runoff. “The water is soaking into the land and draining slowly and we get drier, warmer soil in the spring so we get better crop development early on,” he says. “There are less weeds because the crop’s more competitive, so there are many benefits.” The only negative aspects are the labour needed for the installation and the fact that it can take a year or two to get the land back into shape afterwards, adds Dixon. “We do the installation in the fall but we don’t go back until spring to finish it off just because we want to do as little disturbance to the soil as possible,” he says. “That’s our preference; everybody has a different way of doing it. Some people, right after installation, they’ll go and level off the ridges but we know our dirt and that if you just leave it, maybe you’ll prevent some frost going down and the soil will heal naturally and settle naturally.” There are a lot of things to consider before you start tile drainage but an important one to remember is the neighbours, says Dixon, who, being something of a tile drainage pioneer in his area, found himself a lead topic of conversation for a while. “You want to keep everybody in the loop with what you’re doing because there might be a time when you have to go onto the neighbour’s land a little bit to put an outlet in or you’ve got to go across the neighbour’s field,” he says. “Sometimes what you are doing is to the neighbour’s benefit because if the water’s running off your land onto their land and you eliminate that, it benefits them in the end too. I think as years go on, there won’t be any objections to tiling because I think everybody will start to see the benefits.” The economic benefits of tile drainage are going to be as individual as the farms it’s installed on, and most farmers won’t make the investment if it doesn’t pay. Dixon knows that his investment is long-term, but is sure it’s going to provide ongoing benefits to his farm. “You’re not going to sink $1,000 per acre into marginal land that’s only going to produce marginal profits,” he says. In his case he’s saving crops on productive land. “We wouldn’t be doing more (tile drainage) if we didn’t feel it was beneficial. You can try and control everything like your seed and your fertilizer and your chemicals but you can’t control the amount of moisture you get. This gives us an option to keep the crop alive when we get these heavy rains and there are ongoing benefits that we see more and more every year. Once you get a crop growing on that land every year you’re producing a better crop and your land is able to handle more water.” † Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www. angelalovell.ca.

photos: northern plains drainage systems, carman, man.

Left: This farmer is doing a diy tile draining installation. Right: Joel Classes says the plow control system is automated and will keep the tile on grade within the depth parameters you set for each install.

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MARCH 18, 2014

Features Crop protection

Check before you mix Mixing more than one product in one spray pass can save you time and money. If you have the right mix By Rebeca Kuropatwa

age to the crop,” said Hornford. “No one wants to be shut down on the one calm day you have that week to spray.” On the positive side, using tank mixes widen the spectrum of herbicides to catch more weeds and can play a critical role in managing and preventing herbicide resistance. “When you talk about herbicide mixes with either fungicides or insecticides, it can make a lot of sense to do both jobs at once, if it makes agronomic sense and the products are compatible,” said Hornford.

hat largely drives the idea of mixing everything from pesticides to fertilizers into one sprayer pass is the desire to save time and money. Robert Hornford, senior technical development specialist with BASF Canada warns that if you’re going to do it, do it right. There is a science for mixing chemicals that should be reserved for the lab. “If you get the mix wrong, the result could be a plugged sprayer in the middle of your busy season, Assessing compatibility poor performance by one or more ABIC2014_Grainews-Junior.pdf 1 25/02/2014 4:04:55 PM of the mix products, or even damTo assess compatibility, do a lit-

CMY

tle research and ask the right questions. Suppliers and manufacturers can support mixes even if they do not appear on the label. The first step is to read the label, then contact your retail or product supplier representative to see if a mix is compatible. “Growers can always do a jar test, but that won’t tell you how the products will perform in the field — so this is a question of ‘ask first and avoid a disappointment later’”, said Hornford If the chemicals are compatible, they will mix well, not cause issues in the sprayer, and perform as expected in the field. “Often, there are differences in the adjuvants, surfactants

and other components that can determine if products will mix or not,” said Hornford. “Mixes can be very specific, so it is always better to ask. One supplier may support the mix and another may not.” In the future, Hornford predicts mixes will continue evolving and changing, as new products and formulations appear every year, along with new combinations of pest issues to deal with that determine the right mix.

Mixing guidelines Changes in mixing guidelines in the last few seasons have been a big help to both growers and agronomists, providing advice about achieving the right product combination on the field for the right reasons. According to Al Eadie, market development manager for Bayer CropScience Inc., the selections of products that could be added to the spray tank at any point

during the growing season continues to increase each year. Growers are advised to exercise caution when it comes to what they opt to add to their basic product applications. Eadie described one particular example of where it may not pay. “Combining fungicides with herbicides is a common practice, because it saves a trip over the field,” he said. “But the timing may not be appropriate to get any real yield return on investment for the fungicide. And often, that suboptimal timing may be combined with a cut rate of the fungicide being added to the tank, knowing the timing for that application isn’t ideal. So, you get minimal benefit and potential development of resistance, due to a sub-lethal rate of the fungicide being used.” Although you may be trying to realize a small yield increase through the addition of a secondary product to the tank, that yield increase may be negated if the tank mix combination causes crop injury. Herbicide and fungicide efficacy can also be harmed through tank mixing. “These product formulations are finely tuned during development so optimum penetration and transfer to the site of action within the target occurs,” said Eadie. “But that objective can be altered significantly if one or more other products are thrown into the tank.” Foliar fungicides can have a fairly aggressive adjuvant system to ensure the active ingredients get into the crop to provide protection from the inside. Adding micronutrients to the tank can quickly make that application too hot, resulting in leaf injury or burn (though the intention may have been to increase the crop’s photosynthetic capability). “Bayer CropScience provides recommended tank mixes on our product labels and on our Approved Off-Label document,” said Eadie. “Product combinations that appear on these sources have been tested over multiple sites to ensure crop injury and product efficacy aren’t negatively influenced.” † Rebeca Kuropatwa is a professional writer in Winnipeg, Man.

Use an app

ere are four apps that can make tank mixing easier on the go. And most of them are free. • TankMix, by DuPont (this is not available for Android) • Tank Mix and Rainfast Guide, by Beyond Agronomy (for iPhone or Android) • Mix Tank, by Precision Laboratories (for iPhone or Android) • Tank mix Calculator, by TapLogic LLC (for iPhone or Android) † Leeann Minogue

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Columns OFF-FARM INVESTING

Selling rules can preserve profits Whether you’re selling stocks or canola, using selling rules can help you make a profit and save your attitude ANDY SIRSKI

hether you grow grain for sale or invest in stocks, good selling rules can help you crystallize profits, preserve net worth and likely save your attitude. I admit I’m not perfect at using selling rules but I am getting better. Yes I know it’s hard to sell canola, wheat, steers or stocks at the top. If you want to understand the psychological barriers to selling at the top buy yourself the book titled The Little Book of Behavioral Investing by James Montier and then read it at least once a year. Montier spends quite a bit of time on the challenges people have with selling near the top. This year a lot of canola growers wish they had sold at least some of their 2013 canola when the price dropped 15 per cent from its top. Or even when it dropped eight per cent from the price at harvest time. W.J. O’Neil pretty well invented the “sell when you’re down eight per cent rule” in one of his books, How to Make Money with Stocks. While he doesn’t write about selling grain, the same rule can apply to your crop as he uses for stocks. To be more precise, O’Neil uses several selling rules. One is to sell when a stock (or your crop) is down 15 per cent from its top. The other is sell when your stock is down eight per cent from your cost. With stocks it’s quite easy to figure out your cost. The prices for canola and wheat have fallen a lot more than eight or 15 per cent. Okay, with some crops you might not be able to deliver when you want to or you might not be able to get a contract at something close to your total cost. Then you have to look at your cash costs and find out if you can sell for enough to cover the cash and at least some of the fixed cost. That is how most businesses have to think. Costs like capital cost allowance are fixed and they are there whether you make a buck on your crop or not.

http://futures.tradingcharts. com/menu.html. This one is free and has lots of data. Anyone following charts could have sold canola in December 2013 at around $500 per tonne. For stocks I often use a free site called www.stockcharts. com. I actually subscribed to the paid service this year so I can do scans for various groups of stocks but the free version will give you lots of information on gold, silver, stocks and various indexes. Again if you need help send me an email to sirski@mts.net or call me at 1-204-453-4489 and I will call you back.

WEEKLY CALLS AND SPREADS I have had pretty successful weeks when it comes to selling weekly covered calls and doing various spreads this year. My take home pay has been from about $450 to $3,900 a week. The two weeks I took in the lower number were when I did not obey selling rules. One was with Apple (AAPL). I had done a bull put spread for the next Friday (bullish outlook) and the stock decided it wanted to be bearish. I had one sell signal when the candlestick on the chart had a lovely

wick above it. That’s usually bad news. Another sell signal was when the price dropped $8 in one day from around $550 to $542 or so and that’s usually bad news. And the third sell signal was when the price dropped through the 10-day moving average going down at $534 or so. Closing the spread at any one of those sell signals would have saved me a lot of cash. Sure, it was market money but I had it and gave it back. So I made only about $1,500 that week instead of $3,900. Fortunately I had sold weekly calls and done other spreads so I still had a good week.

Another low week was when Tesla suddenly jumped. I had collected about $280 on a bullish put spread one week. Since the charts looked like TSLA wanted to head up I did another bull put spread for Feb 28. I did other spreads and sold some calls so I was up about $3,400 for the week. Then I had the bright idea that TSLA couldn’t possibly jump $18 or so from $220 to close to $240 in one day so I did a bear call up around the $240 strike price. Someone came out saying that TSLA had all its ducks in a row

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Always read and follow label directions. INFERNO and the INFERNO DUO logo are trademarks of Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC. Arysta LifeScience and the Arysta LifeScience logo are registered trademarks of Arysta LifeScience Corporation. All other products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies. ©2014 Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC. INF-020

PRICES AND CHARTS FOR CROPS AND LIVESTOCK You can get market prices and charts for farm commodities on several web sites. One is on www. barcharts.com. You might have to give them your name and email address but it is free. It’s likely easier for you to roam around that site to find what you want than for me to try to explain it in print. Or, call me or send an email and I will help you. Once you register you can click on Barchart opinion which will lead you to a site. When you see the word “Trendspotter,” click on it and you should see a chart. Another site has the address:

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MARCH 18, 2014

Columns OPEN FIELD

Proven inputs still the best bet for “ultimate” canola Data from the Canola Council of Canada’s 2013 Ultimate Canola Challenge supports tried and true practices SARAH WEIGUM

hey say, “No news is good news” and this is a “no news” kind of column. If you’re already following best management practices for canola, you’re probably not going to see a big yield bump from any of the various crop enhancement products on the market — at least not according to the data from the 2013 Ultimate Canola Challenge. The challenge, run by the Canola Council of Canada, compared either six or 13 treatments at various plots in Alberta and Saskatchewan, with nine sites producing usable data. Neil Harker of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Lacombe and Murray Hartman, provincial oilseed specialist with Alberta Agriculture established the UCC protocols. The purpose of the challenge was to put some newer products like seed primers, foliar micronutrients, and stress relief products to the test, and also to see how upping your standard input rates on seed and fertilizer could affect crop yield and the economic return on investment. Harker framed the basic question of trial, asking, “If you wanted to put a few extra dollars into some-

thing, what would you put it into?” So far, there is no evidence that any of the novel agronomic products can deliver a statistically significant yield bump or economic return over the checks. While the overall results didn’t seem surprising to the researchers or the agronomists I talked to, they were a little surprising to me. Product manufacturers inundate consumers with messages about why we need what they’re selling, and farmers are big-time consumers. Throw enough bar graphs and testimonials my way and eventually I’ll start to think, “Gosh, this stuff must work.” That’s where local, replicated, third-party data becomes a producer’s guiding light. As of 2013, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency no longer regulated the efficacy of fertilizers and supplements. A press release from the CFIA said that products registered through the streamlined system must “identify on their label the limited extent of the evidence used to assess product efficacy.” According to CCC agronomist Autumn Barnes, this new system left producers with plenty of questions. “We thought we should do an independent trial to see what kind of response we got to these newer products that we were being asked about,” said Barnes. The check in all the trials was seeded at

100 seeds per square metre, with rates of the four main nutrients at 100 per cent of soil test recommendation. The trial managers at each site chose the best canola variety for their area, using the same variety for all the plots. They used appropriate herbicide and scouted the plots for disease and insect pressure, treating the crop as needed. It’s important to note that this is one year of data and as Harker pointed out, 2013 provided ideal canola growing conditions across the Prairies. “Who’s to say that if we did the trials under different conditions we might get different results,” he said. Nevertheless there are some results worth noting. Barnes pointed out that even in sites where the soil test recommended boron, there was no response from applying boron either at the four- to six-leaf stage or at five per cent flowering. Certain products specifically formulated to help relieve stress on plants showed no results on hail-stressed plants. A treatment that Harker favours is high seeding rate, which he said did not give a significant yield increase because there was such good germination of the seed in the spring.

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK Even with this result, Harker and Barnes both suggest that

extra money would be better spent on traditional inputs like higher nitrogen and seeding rates, than additive products. As Harker said, skimping on the seeding rate can have other negative effects. “Even if the yield is good, sometimes the quality isn’t there because the canola tries to compensate with more branches, so you get more green seed issues.” When it comes to evaluating a new product, Harker’s colleauge, Murray Hartman has a useful rubric. There are “likelies” which will give you a positive economic response more than 50 per cent of the time; “maybes” which will pay off 25 to 50 per cent of the time; and then there’s “unlikelies” which give a response less than 25 per cent of the time. “These things are promoted as cheap insurance, but if I’m not getting a response more than half the time, then I’m donating my $5 an acre,” said Hartman. When researching a product, Hartman reminds farmers to look for independent testing where all responses, both positive and negative are shown. With canola prices lower this year, I doubt there will be as many producers going after the miracle product in an attempt to squeeze an extra few bush-

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

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for its price to head for $320 and soon. The stock jumped to $240 at the open and kept on going up. By the time I saw that, a few minutes after the market opened, I closed the spread at a cost of $2,795. Fortunately I had collected something around $3,400 for the week but again I gave the market back some nice profits. An experienced chart reader told me that doing that bear call was a very dangerous idea. In his opinion I was standing in front of a fast train. But the market was closed and TSLA opened up 20 bucks and there was nothing I could do but close the contracts. In this case, as with Potash last summer, the shares opened with a big change and there was nothing I could do but close the contracts. With that Apple spread I saw the sell signals and I was right there, but I didn’t follow the selling rules. Much like my situation, a lot of canola growers didn’t sell at $12.25 or $11.50 and now would be lucky to get something close to $9 a bushel. Their losses make my losses look like a pimple on an elephant. I heard of one farmer who lost half a million bucks on the drop in the price of canola. Makes my losses look like a church picnic. And people are afraid of stocks? At least I can get out of my contracts and they won’t heat in the bin.

Treatments used

he best management protocol determined by Canola Council agronomists was 100 seeds per square metre, no primers and no foliars, fertilizer to 100 per cent of soil test recommendation, fungicide and herbicide as required. †

Sarah Weigum

els out of their canola acres. However, the UCC will make a return appearance at research plots across the prairies in 2014. “It’s nice to have the research there when crop prices do make it worthwhile,” said Harker. Another year of trials will bring the number of site years closer to 20, which is the minimum Hartman likes to see when evaluating a product. I started off this article with a cliche and I’ll end it with another newsroom cliche: “If a dog bites a man, that’s not news. If a man bites a dog, that’s news.” People favour unusual or extraordinary results. The fact that proven inputs are still the best way to produce a solid canola crop doesn’t seem newsworthy. But as new products hit the marketplace annually and the advertising mill churns out those tempting messages, it’s important that we understand the probability of a product affecting our bottom line based on local data, verified by thirdparty data. † Sarah Weigum grows pedigreed seed and writes at Three Hills, Alta. Follow her on Twitter: @sweigum.

I recall when canola was $15 a bushel, $16 a bushel and topped out at $17. One farmer I know sold a truckload at the top price. Another farmer I heard of in Manitoba sold all of his canola at $15 and was quite happy as the price dropped to $12 and kept going down. The point is that when prices start dropping they often drop a lot more than we can imagine. That is the nature of the beast. The normal thinking is that prices will go back up. But prices might not go back up before you need money or get discouraged. You could sell your canola at market prices and if you really think prices will go up you could buy calls and let them go up as the price of canola goes up. You also could have bought puts as prices started to drop and the puts go up as prices fall. All of this is much the same thinking and skill I use with my stocks. Maybe it’s time you learned this skill so you could apply it to your crops and to stocks. As the saying goes, “farming now is not your daddy’s farming business.” Maybe you need to learn a few skills that your daddy didn’t need. I teach readers of StocksTalk these skills and they can use them for stocks or canola or whatever. † Andy is mostly retired. He plays with his granddaughters, gardens in summer, blows a lot of snow in winter and publishes a newsletter called StocksTalk. There he explains in detail what he does with his stocks. You can read StocksTalk free for a month by sending an email to sirski@mts.net and Andy will personally see you are signed up for the free month. He teaches readers all the time.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Columns CAN’T TAKE THE FARM FROM THE BOY

Making changes on the farm Back on the farm after time away, Toban Dyck finds himself trying to fill some big workboots TOBAN DYCK

t was a thick book. That’s all I remember. But I was very young in the mid to late ’80s. So was my dad, though. He was ahead of his time. Whatever forces pushed him to stay one step in front of anticipated trends I can’t say, but he did so. It was the manual for the accounting software he purchased to use on one of my family’s very first computers. He read the whole thing. And, now, my dad can outcode your dad. He can outcode me. “Computer ownership and Internet connectivity are lower for individuals in older age classes but, within each age class, rural individuals are less likely to own a computer or to be connected to the Internet,” according to Statistics Canada. I almost wish this were the case on our farm. He may tell you different, but there’s little I can bring to the table that he hasn’t heard of or thought of. I’m hoping this man will hand me the farm’s reigns, and I’m desperately trying to prove myself as someone who will continue this operation’s legacy of staying one step ahead. To come to him with something he hasn’t heard of before, and is something that could revolutionize or make the farm more profitable, is my challenge. And I’m failing.

tion, and clinically addicted to my smartphone. My instincts are not as strong, nor my intuition. These farm details and the ability to input and update them on my smartphone are paramount to me. And FCC’s software such as their more accounting-heaving AgExpert allows for all this. The records my father keeps are detailed, to a degree I haven’t yet been exposed to. But this spring, I will be looking into purchasing Field Manager Pro to start keeping records on my own, familiarizing myself with the complex, detailed income statements germane to most successful farm operations. And exploring how such new

technologies can change and improve how we farm. This move to smartphone compatibility will receive little opposition at my operation, I’m guessing. In fact, my father may be the one showing me how to use it.

NEW CROPS This is a tricky one. My generation tackles things with a general distrust of instinct and a sickening reliance on technology; access has replaced retention. So, when I said, proudly, “Hey, dad, you ever thought about growing hemp?” he responded politely with a history lesson on how hemp has been tried in the area, but hasn’t caught on due to a still

weak market and the potential havoc it can wreak on machinery. I hadn’t done such research, just saw it written about and thought I had discovered the Holy Grail. He did say, though, that the hemp market was something to watch and may be a good crop to explore at some point. Right now, the crop seems to be experiencing an upswing that instills confidence and smacks of staying power. I’m referring specifically to the hemp fibre processing plant slated for construction in Alberta that will extract oils and a binding agent from parts of the plant, creating biofuel as a byproduct. Its potential in the area seems to be increasing.

Quinoa is a grain crop harvested for its seeds and served as something I’m told is good for you. Last year, Kroeker Farms from Winkler grew 70 acres, but consecutive exposure to heat at a time when the plant doesn’t want it ruined the crop. The crop’s value chain is still weak, and as such, it’s an unattractive option when wheat and soybeans do well enough. The ancient grain has potential, though. And many will say its time is yet to come. So, to grow it now may be staying one step ahead. I’ll try, record the growing season on my smartphone and report back in fall. † Toban Dyck is a freelance writer and a new farmer on an old farm. Follow him on Twitter @tobandyck or email tobandyck@gmail.com.

Let your flag leaf fly.

My dad can outcode your dad The shoes I need to fill are large. The generation-specific challenges many farmers taking over their family farms face are often as simple as introducing the use of computers to keep records. But when one has learned to use Quicken on an HP 286 there is nothing in the computer world that would present a challenge, short of programming a brand new combine. But there are a couple things I hope to change, computer and crop related.

SMARTPHONE INTEGRATION Farm Credit Canada’s Field Manager Pro 360 or Field Manager Pro are not free, but from what I can tell, after hearing the programs pitched at every FCC course I’ve attended this winter, they are worth it. Intuition and feeling guide many farmers of an older generation. They have a general sense of input costs, and some don’t feel the need to add fuel, labour hours, or depreciation to the spreadsheet. Those expenses are important to track but needn’t play in the same area as seed and chemical costs. I’m 34, nervous about taking over a successful farm opera-

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MARCH 18, 2014

Columns UNDERSTANDING MARKET BULLS AND BEARS

Understanding market bulls and bears At least we can learn something from the price and transportation problems of this past winter BRIAN WITTAL

n my last column, I discussed problems in the grain transportation and handling system. Now I’ll pick up where I left off. What is going to have to happen to fix these problems in the short term (the next six months)? We are going to have to have some very nice weather from now until summer so that there are no further rail disruptions. We need to see a marked improvement in

the number of cars shipped to port every week to help fill the vessels waiting at port and to move the backlog of grain that is sitting in the country. If these things can happen, grain companies can start to aggressively sell more old crop grain to help move out some of the excess inventory. If they start to make more new sales, basis levels should return back to more normal levels. With the collapse that we have experienced in the canola futures the past few months there will come a point soon when Canadian canola will become very attractive again to buyers and then demand and sales will soar once again.

This will likely happen as we head into the fields this spring to seed. A good strategy to consider to help you market some more of your canola is to decide on a price that you can be happy with and do a target price contract with your local grain company. That way, if and when the price starts to rebound you won’t get miss out when you’re busy seeding. Do target prices at various levels starting with your ”I need to sell some for cash” survival price as your lowest bid and then escalate the prices by $5 or $10 per tonne in the hopes of picking up some additional profit if the price continues to climb. Your focus needs to be on moving the

grain when there is a profitable price so you have cash flow to pay those spring bills.

LESSONS LEARNED This world grain market correction has been a shock and an eye opener for many. Few would believe there could be such a dramatic turnaround to world stocks in just one year. The shock is wearing off and the new reality is staring us in the face. What can we take away from all this? Do the math: Knowing your business is critical. Know your costs of production: debt, expenses, etc. Do the math — the numbers don’t lie. You may not like what they tell

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you but at least you’ll know the reality, and you can make strategic decisions. Look at insurance: One of the key components of knowing your numbers is understanding the types of crop and revenue insurance programs available to you, and which ones you should use. Regular crop insurance, hail insurance, the Spring Price Endorsement, and AgriStability are the most common and have been around the longest. There are other companies now like Global Ag Risk Solutions (agrisksolutions.ca) that offer cost of production and revenue insurance. This can go a long way to helping you protect your bottom line year after year. What is the best blend of insurance for your farm? The people at Global Ag Risk Solutions can walk you through that process with their insurance calculator program and show you what would be best for you on your farm. It’s worth the time to check it out. Communicate: Keep your key business partners informed as to what you are doing on your farm. Your spouse, parents or children who farm with you, your accountant, banker, and ag consultants. If the numbers don’t look good and you need to make some changes you need to keep your business partners informed so that they can help advise you as to your options. Update them regularly as to your progress throughout the year in case things start to change again. Find expert advice: Farming is big business. In today’s world it would require a degree in several various disciplines to be able to run such an operation, so you had better have some outside expertise helping you make your business successful. If you don’t have the expertise you need, find it and then use it because you can’t do it all yourself. Focus on marketing: Market your grain year around and a year in advance. This year has shown many that if you take your focus away from marketing for even a day or two you can lose big time or get completely shut out of the markets. The losses that some producers are experiencing because they didn’t market their grains earlier are comparable to having one-third to one-half of your crop wiped out by hail or drought and not having insurance. You grow the grain to sell it so shouldn’t you spend at least as much time planning to market and sell your grain as you spend on planning to grow it? If you start to market your crop a year in advance that gives you plenty of time to research, follow and lock in prices well in advance to allow you to meet your cash flow needs, make your payments on time and not be pressured to sell prematurely or in a shortened time period when pricing opportunities may not be as good. Market cycles and fluctuations are a fact of life. The reality is that they are getting more volatile. It is up to you to protect your business and your livelihood — no one else will do it for you. † Brian Wittal has 30 years of grain industry experience, and currently offers market planning and marketing advice to farmers through his company Pro Com Marketing Ltd. (www.procommarketingltd.com).

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Columns MANAGEMENT MINUTE

Success or a mess

COMMUNICATION

For family farm transfers to go smoothly, all of the parts must work together ANDREW DERUYCK

MARK SLOANE

ver the past number of years we have worked with a wide variety of farm operations undergoing business transition. Recent profitability in the grain sector has spurred many young people to consider farming as a career choice. We are increasingly receiving requests to assist family farm businesses in their transition efforts. This prompted us to look back over the past 10 years and identify numerous success stories and a handful of messy disasters. We dissected each and every one of these stories like a frog in a Grade

8 biology class. It was not for people with faint stomachs but we learned a lot! Our intention was to identify what went well in moving transition forward and if the succession went off the rails what caused the derailment. Out of these dissections we compiled an exhaustive list that included everything from a week-long business retreat to celebrate success to an irate father threatening to beat his son with a hydraulic hose (both true stories)! From here we started to look for commonalities in both the successes and the messes in an effort to categorize best management practices and map out the successful transition. We are not talking environmental farm plan BMP’s here — we are talking about behaviours that are actually going to make a difference! (Just kidding.) It became very apparent that many parts of a successful transition were highly dependent on numerous other areas within the dynamics of the farm business. If we were to draw a map, we’d circle back on to ourselves more often than a dog trying to sniff itself.

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES These BMPs seemed to naturally fall into five areas, none of which exist or operate completely independently of the others. It was at this point in our process that we understood succession not as a single destination to which we draw a map but rather a highly functioning machine. Our final model for helping clients through this difficult stage is not unlike a planetary, in that there are numerous components that all need to work together in order for the planetary to work properly. No one piece of the planetary can work independently of the others. Similar to the five gears in this planetary we have identified five main components to a successful succession plan. We have the three planetary gears: family, farm business and asset ownership. These are all driven by our center gear — goals. On the outside we have the ring gear which holds everything together: communication.

FAMILY

BUSINESS

GOALS OWNERSHIP

Our aim over the next number of issues is to share with you the strategies and approaches in each of these areas that have either proven to be successful in keeping things moving, or the cog that broke causing planetary failure. As we delve in to each area, you will meet some interesting characters, sharing in

their successes and shuddering at their messes. † Andrew DeRuyck and Mark Sloane manage two farming operations in southern Manitoba and are partners in Right Choice Management Consulting. With over 25 years of cumulative experience, they offer support in farm management, financial management, strategic planning and mediation services. They can be reached at andrewd@goinet.ca and sloanefarms@hotmail.com or 204-825-7392 and 204-825-8443.

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MARCH 18, 2014

Columns SOILS AND CROPS

The food security buzz The buzz word “security” has been added to food. Les Henry is not convinced that this will make a difference LES HENRY

ver since the horrendous 911 events the world is all strung out about security. It is very well that police and military folk maintain a close watch — and they have apprehended mindless terrorists before the balloon went up. Thank goodness for that. But security is the buzzword and we now are bent out of shape about water security and food security. Some government agencies are even renamed to include the buzzword. Our very own University of Saskatchewan established a “ Global Institute of Water Security” a couple of years ago. So far, I am unimpressed.

FOOD SECURITY The latest buzz is food security. The world population is going to outstrip the food supply. What can we do to feed the nine billion hungry mouths that will be wandering our planet by 2050? We must gear up and beat on our farmers and give them all the technol-

ogy and knowledge to grow all that food. Well, Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) shocked the world 200 years ago by pointing out that food growth was linear and population growth exponential. During Christmas holidays I read his original piece and all the fallout that followed. Malthus and his original idea have hung around for 200 years only because it was a simple message easily understood. But that does not mean he was correct — if it was we should have eaten ourselves out of house and home long ago. Just as farmers were gearing up to make serious money growing all the food to feed the hungry world, along came 2013. A record crop at the same time as good crops elsewhere, so back to $5 wheat and $8 canola. And our transportation system cannot handle record production anyway. So much for global food security.

FOOD SECURITY CONFERENCES In October, 2013 the “First International Conference on Global Food Security” was held in the Netherlands. At least they claimed it was the first. Read on. At total of 600 folks from 65 countries gathered in

a great talk fest for four days. The cost was likely many millions of dollars. Titillating titles such as “Internalizing externalities of decision making in multifunctional landscapes: Rewards, rules and reciprocity.”

Food security is way overblown As it turns out McGill University in Montreal has had an annual “Global Institute of Food Security” every year for several years. On October 8-9, 2013, they held the “Sixth McGill Conference on Global Food Security.” The truth is that those who go to bed hungry will do so no matter what we grow. Sub Saharan Africa and parts of Asia and South America are where real hunger occurs. High priced conferences with three-piece suits and fancy Powerpoint presentations will do little to alleviate the real hunger. Now the high priced help at our very own University of Saskatchewan has jumped on the bandwagon with yet another “Global Institute of Food Security.”

WASTED OPPORTUNITIES I had the opportunity to spend two years on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with my family. We were there to learn how to grow wheat in that environment and to transfer the technology to local folks. Easy to say! We saw banana belly and worse. We were greatly frustrated by “one week wonders” that would fly in from places like Ottawa to do a quick tour and pretend they could go home with any understanding of what really goes on. When our tour of duty was over it was my conclusion that the land area of Tanzania could keep the African continent awash in wheat. To make it happen, big changes in infrastructure and farm structure would be needed. The other issue is the wastage in the food system. In developing countries transportation and storage are the sources of much food loss. In rich countries like ours food wastage is at the consumption stage. Nearly half of the food that gets to a supermarket is wasted. Much of the waste is in the home and a lot in public eating establishments. At your next restaurant visit, just watch the plates go away from the table still half full of food.

Folks that do not see it happen would not believe the perfectly good food that is taken straight from the supermarket to the dump. Even a small town grocery store tosses away huge amounts of perfectly good food. There is little reason why food banks need to buy or beg for food. The problem is the “best before” label. It is interpreted as “poison after,” which is untrue. The supermarkets can not give the food to the food bank for fear of bad publicity and potential lawsuits. If all the food that is nearing or at the “best before” date was handed over to a food bank, they would be awash in good food. It is my thinking that food security is way overblown and much of the “feel good” money that is spent does little to alleviate the real problems. Anyone who has not spent at least two years in the middle of a problem will be hard pressed to understand the real problems. † J.L.(Les) Henry is a former professor and extension specialist at the University of Saskatchewan. He farms at Dundurn, Sask. He recently finished a second printing of “Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water,” a book that mixes the basics and practical aspects of soil, fertilizer and farming. Les will cover the shipping and GST for “Grainews” readers. Simply send a cheque for $50 to Henry Perspectives, 143 Tucker Cres, Saskatoon, SK, S7H 3H7, and he will dispatch a signed book.

Tanzanian wheat production

t university we were left with the impression that tropical soils were worn out sand piles with few nutrients and low productivity. In November 1972 I landed on the slopes of Kilimajaro in Tanzania on what had been a British Coffee Research Station. There was room enough for wheat variety work so on the first day I was shown the plots. The first photo shows plots of 50 bushel wheat crops. My first question was, “How much fertilizer did you have to pour on to get this crop?” The answer? “None.” These soils were developed from fresh volcanic activity by Mount Kilimajaro only a few thousand years ago. † Les Henry

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Top: Harvesting plots on Kilimanjaro. Bottom: Variety plots on Kilimanjaro.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Columns Farm financial planner

Retiring and selling out With no children to take over the farm, this Manitoba couple is planning to sell and retire By Andrew Allentuck

estern Manitoba farmers we’ll call Jack (64) and Frankie (55), expanded their ranch in 2002. They built a new home, taking on a $220,000 mortgage with the expectation that beef prices would rise and produce a hefty income. But in 2003, the BSE scare, albeit based on relatively few cases in Canada and the U.S., closed many export markets and drove down beef prices. The couple had to use up their retirement savings. Both Jack and Frankie found off-farm work. The plan was to use what they earned in their town jobs to rebuild their savings. They kept the farm and, at present, have 1,600 acres of pasture which the couple uses for seasonal summer grazing. There is another 750 acres of cropland rented to a neighbour. Don and Erik Forbes of Don Forbes Associates/Armstrong & Quaile in Carberry, Manitoba, worked with the couple to develop a retirement plan.

fees charged for advice on nonregistered accounts would be deductible from taxable income. Assuming that they can build a total of $398,600, by Frankie’s age 61, when Jack is 72, they would have total RRSP, TFSA and nonregistered financial assets totalling $322,000 and land with an estimated value of $2.6 million for a total estate of about $2.9 million.

The long run Their financial assets, invested to yield three per cent per year over inflation of three per cent per year would generate $14,800 in the 34 years to Frankie’s age 95. Having started CPP at 60,

Jack would have $3,240 per year, Frankie $4,560 per year when she is 60, then each will get Old Age Security at $6,618 per year, Jack at 65, Frankie at 66. They can add income from their land rental at $42,000 per year and custom grazing at $10,000 per year for total income of $87,836 per year. After splitting of qualified pension income, which includes RRIFS and CPP but not business income or OAS, and paying an average tax of 20 per cent on income, the couple would have $5,855 per month to spend, Erik Forbes estimates. That would be sufficient to support present lifestyle expenses of $4,000 per month and even addi-

tional lifestyle expenses for more travel which would increase their budget to $5,000 per month when both are retired. Jack and Frankie are in their second marriages. There are four children who, they have decided, should share equally in the estate. There is no plan or requirement that the kids, who are in their 30s, take over the farm. So at the demise of the last partner to die, the entire farm would be sold. The estate could use the farmland capital gains exemption of $800,000 each for a total of $1.6 million dollars. That exemption would cover most of their accrued gains, leaving a net estate of $2.6 million in 2014 dollars. The couple has no life insurance to cover other taxes, however. Potential estate issues can be anticipated in their wills, but the overhanging problem remains tax. The farm house, as a principal residence, would not be subject to tax. Given the small potential tax on accrued but unrealized gains on any non-registered assets and the

likelihood that taxes on the farmland over the adjusted cost base would be small, the need for life insurance and the cost for a term policy priced level premiums to age 90 or 100 would also be modest, Don Forbes says. All of the couple’s registered assets would be taxable in the year of death of the surviving spouse. The tax payable could be offset or pre-paid by use of a term insurance policy with premiums level to age 100 in a joint and last to die policy. A $200,000 policy at their present ages would cost $4,000 per year. An interesting option would be to designate a registered charity as the beneficiary. Any donation receipt issued to the estate would then reduce income tax payable by 49 per cent of the value. “This is an example of a farm and family with very simple issues,” Erik Forbes says. † Andrew Allentuck’s latest book, “When Can I Retire? Planning Your Financial Life After Work,” was published in 2011 by Penguin Canada.

C S

P C W

The situation Frankie now runs a flower shop. Cash flow from the shop is going to retirement savings. The breeding cows are gone. They may continue to graze cattle in summer, but, at present, their corrals are empty. Jack figures he can start an organic feed business to pay off debts and build savings. They estimate that they can pay off the remaining balance of $140,000 on their mortgage in three years. The plan is for Jack to convert his RRSPs — which have a current value of $62,000 — into a registered retirement income fund and take out $2,000 a year tax-free after age 65, using the pension income tax credit. The RRIF payment will rise to $6,000 per year when he turns 71. Cash flow from the seasonal grazing operation and land rent will go to building the organic feed business, Don Forbes says. Frankie expects to work another six years. She estimates her personal income from the business will be $80,000 and that she will be able to contribute $12,000 per year to her RRSP for the next six years. Then, at age 61 she can begin to take out $1,700 per month for the next 30 years. She also expects to maximize her tax-free savings account contributions each year to raise the total balance of the account from $35,000 to $102,000. The couple plans to save $18,000 per year in addition to what will be in their RRSPs and TFSAs. Jack and Frankie should establish a joint investment account with each other as survivors when the first partner dies. That will allow a taxfree transfer to either spouse. In 10 years, with an estimated return of three per cent over inflation, the account would have $174,000. For all their RRSP, TFSA and non-registered accounts, Jack and Frankie should use low cost pooled and mutual funds or exchange traded funds. These products have low management fees. If an adviser charges fees,

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MARCH 18, 2014

Machinery & Shop Machinery history

The combine that never was, part three White’s attempt at creating a pull-type combine with rotary threshing technology came crashing down in the mid-1980s. Here’s why By Scott Garvey

fter emerging from bankruptcy protection in 1981, White Farm equipment intended to come roaring back to the marketplace — in part with a new fourmodel line of rotary combines. Its first rotary model, the 9700, had been launched in 1980. It was later updated and renumbered the 9720. The new combines would compliment that model and round out the company’s offerings. The engineering staff initiated a five-year plan in 1983 to create and be ready to manufacture those additional rotaries before the end of the decade. The 9550 would be the only pull-type model in the group, and it was to be based on the mid-sized of the three self-propelled combines, the 9520. But by 1984, the plan was changed. It became obvious it wouldn’t be practical to develop the 9520 self propelled, because it had only marginally better capacity than the smaller, proposed 9320 but its production costs would be much higher. So the revised plan called for only two self-propelled models, the 9720 and 9320. Cancelling the 9520 meant the pull-type 9550, which was based on the 9520, also had to be cancelled. But by 1984 there was

already a working prototype of the 9550 undergoing field trials. “When White made the decision to not proceed with the mid-sized 9520 combine, further work on the 9550 pull type was also stopped,” says Murray Mills one of the engineers involved in the creation of the new combines. “The decision, however, was made to use the valuable information gained through the development and testing of this pull type to change the design to a unit with many similarities to the planned 9320 self-propelled combine. This machine would be code named the 9350 pull type, and plans were put in place to build a prototype in 1985.” So White’s plan B for the pull type involved a do-over, aiming for a smaller combine with the same capacity as the 9320 SP model. The 9550 project was scrapped. However, the 9320 only existed on paper at that time, and only its specifications had been finalized. There was still design work to do on it. So the 9350 pull type was a long way from becoming reality. Then came another unexpected changeover in corporate ownership at White, which resulted in a disruption of the engineering staff. Dave Houston, who had been the primary engineer on the 9550 project, left the company briefly and returned about a year

later after the company had been financially stabilized yet again. He found during his absence the prototype he had been working on had been modified in a very unexpected way. Another engineer, Ted Donaldson, had used the prototype 9550 to create the basic design for the first self-propelled 9320 prototype. The changes in design made to create the larger pull-type were so good, engineering management decided they should be carried back to the self-propelled model it was supposed to be modeled after. A reversal of usual direction for engineering concepts. “I went back to White Farm around February of 1984,” remembers Houston. “I found Ted Donaldson had taken the layout of the pull type... and came up with the 9320. He thought what we’d come up with on the pull type was worth pursuing because it was pretty cheap (to produce). It had a grain bin that was easy to put together.” “In fact, a number of these designs can still be found in the current Massey and Challenger combines manufactured by AGCO,” adds Mills. By 1985, the 9320 that evolved from the features originally built into the 9550 prototype was in the final stages of development, but the new pull-type equivalent was not. Work on the smaller pull type was abandoned when it was realized

the factors driving market demand for this type of combine were rapidly changing, and demand for pulltypes was fading fast. “Up until the mid ’80s, swathing crops in Western Canada was the normal harvesting practice,” explains Mills. “This method of harvest had become popular over the years so the crop could be cut before it was ready to combine, which then allowed the crop and weeds to dry in the windrow and be more easily threshed. “A few things happened that began to change this practice. Crop scientists were developing varieties that were less prone to wind shatter and the use of chemicals to control weeds was more common. This resulted in swath pick up-equipped, pull-type combines losing ground to self-propelled machines fitted with wide cutting tables. “Another thing that affected the pull-type combine market was the fact that during the sky high interest rate period in the late 70s and early 80s a considerable number of farmers who normally bought new combines were forced into the used combine market, and many bought their first self propelled machines. They discovered that these combines had a number of advantages and most did not return to the pull type.” “Pull-type sales took a nose dive. Recognizing how these market changes would affect future prof-

itability, all work was stopped on the pull-type combines.” With that, the company’s last pull-type project was over. The 9550 prototype was to be the last pull-type combine developed in Canada, and it would be the only one ever built. By April of 1985, White was in receivership, and Massey Ferguson purchased its rotary technology. MF loaded up the machines and components it needed and moved production of the existing 9720 and smaller 9320 to its own plant a few miles down the road in Brantford, Ontario. They would later become Massey’s 8590 and 8560 combines. The White plant and any remaining equipment went under the auctioneer’s hammer a few months later. That included the remains of the 9550 prototype. It was purchased by a local farmer who still lives a few miles from Brantford, where the combine was built. “A couple of years ago I spoke to the farmer who bought it,” adds Houston. “And he said he wanted it for a grain cart. But it was just too big and heavy for that, so it ended up just sitting there.” Today, the remains of the 9550 are still sitting on the edge of that Southern Ontario farmyard, kind of a sad monument to an engineering design whose time has passed. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

photo: dave houston

photo: ray bianchi

1: Pictured outside the company’s Brantford offices in 1984, the 9550 prototype was ready to start field trials. 2: Nearly hidden by weeds on the edge of a farmyard, the machine has sat unused since it was auctioned off by the receiver during White Farm Equipment’s dispersal sale. 3: The company experimented with this paint scheme for the combine, but it ended up sharing the same red paint as the 9720. 4: Engineer Murray Mills (left) and astronaut Neil Armstrong stand in front of the 9320, which was created from the original prototype of the 9550 pull-type machine, at the launch of the 9320 in the Southern U.S.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop TECHNOLOGY

One brand, one system With just one brand, this farmer can push the limits BY SCOTT GARVEY

“

don’t want to pretend we’re on the very cutting edge, but we do try and adopt newer technologies,” says Jordan Kambeitz, who farms more than 20,000 acres near Regina. “We’re working right now with variable rate seeding and fertilizer. We’re working on inter-row seeding in canola with RTK. We’re using sectional control on our drill.” And he’s analyzing the benefits and opportunities these systems provide by collecting and blending field data from all of his machines. To best do that, he has adopted a single-brand equipment strategy. He believes — among its other benefits — using only one machinery brand across his entire fleet allows him to collect more and better management data than he could with a mixed fleet. Kambeitz’s equipment fleet is now entirely blue. “Using one brand creates a simpler approach,” he says. “Not only is it simpler and easier for the staff, it creates a (digital) platform that is a lot more integrated, and it’s easier to get help (when things go wrong). “We’re using some of the precision land management software through New Holland,” he explains. “We’re starting to integrate a lot of the processes in the operation since we’re using all the same brand of equipment. It’s a lot easier now to do mapping and data analysis at the end of the year. “All of this stuff sounds easy when you look at the brochures, but when it comes to down to it, in the heat of the moment, you want to get the seed in the ground or the chemical applied. The user-friendly nature of some of these systems is the difference between doing it and talking about it. We’ve had lots of different (brands). I think the fact that we’re sitting with a single supplier with an integrated system is what makes it easier for us to adopt a lot of these new precision ag and software tools.” Recently, his management techniques caught the attention of people at New Holland’s head office. He is one of several farmers the company is profiling in its 2014 marketing campaign.

TEN PER CENT SAVINGS While Kambeitz says it’s difficult to put an exact dollar figure on the value of having highly integrated digital management information, the benefits of some of the precision farming features on his equipment are easier to measure. Sectional control on his air drills is one that stands out. “The single, largest dollar savings four us has come from sectional control” he says. “Many farmers have been presented with the formula (from manufacturers) that it will pay for your drill in five years. Realistically, though, I’m seeing a 10 per cent reduction in input costs.” “That 10 per cent doesn’t sound like much. But to give you an example, the very first year we had to quit using our sectional control because there were some glitches with it. Near the end of the (seeding season) I calculated my fertilizer input requirements at what my

seeded acres were plus 10 per cent. That 10 per cent overage actually turned out to be 20 per cent (at the end of the season). When you take 10 per cent of 2,000 tonnes of fertilizer, that’s quite a bit. That’s $100,000 give or take.” The kind of opportunities an integrated digital management system offers allows him to better build on those kinds of efficiencies, because the compatibility of data coming from seeders, sprayers and yield monitors on combines is better than he had in the past when using a mixed fleet. “We used to not do it at all,” Kambeitz says. “Then it got to the point where we would look at data separately and try to infer something from that. Now, all the data coming from that same system

overlaps and integrates very easily. It becomes a lot easier now to chart, plan and look at trends and do better analysis.” With such a large farm, the stakes are high. “In the days of $13, $14 canola you weren’t forced to analyse the details as much,” he explains. “It allowed you to be a little bit looser in the operation. Times of adversity call for better analysis.” “We put so much time and effort into trying new chemicals, seeding rates and seeding dates, at the end of the day why don’t we do a better job of analyzing all those things? ” Says Kambeitz, “I think (digital technology) is another tool. It’s more information. Information is power.” † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

PHOTO: NEW HOLLAND

Jordan Kambeitz who farms near Regina believes using a single-brand equipment fleet makes collecting digital management information much simpler.

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MARCH 18, 2014

Machinery & Shop COMBINE HEADERS

In the field evaluating a Capello header Grainews climbs into a combine cab to check out how a Capellobrand corn header performs in tough field conditions BY SCOTT GARVEY

“

PHOTOS: SCOTT GARVEY

In October Tri Star Farm Services, a Saskatchewan short-line dealer, invited farmers and the media to a field to see a Capello-brand corn head go to work.

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looked at all the headers out there,” said Kellen Huber, owner of Tri Star Farm Services in Emerald Park, Saskatchewan. “I decided this one is best suited for our conditions.” He made those comments on the edge of a field as his dealership was demonstrating the Capello corn header in a test plot near Regina. When looking to add a line of corn headers to his short-line dealership, Huber says he took a close look at what was available from all the aftermarket header manufacturers selling into the North American market. After investigating the options, Huber Believes the Italian brand, Capello, offers a blend of features that makes it ideally suited to growing conditions in Western Canada. One of the most notable of those is the way the Capello header cuts stalks. The mower-style rotating knives under the table are mounted farther forward than those on other brands that offer cutters — and not all do. This knife position ensures the stalks have already been fed into the paired knife rollers on the header but are still standing up straight when cut, which helps minimize shelling. “That’s better for the short corn stalks we have up here,” explains Huber. “It cuts them before the stalks get pushed forward. It’s a patented design.” With shorter stalks, the ears hang lower to the ground than on taller stands common to areas with longer growing seasons. If a header pushes shorter plants forward before cutting them, some ears could go under the table, increasing harvesting losses. The rotating knives also create a more consistent stubble height. To help prevent damage, each row unit on the header is protected by a slip clutch, which will allow that section to stop independently of the others without damaging the main drive components. On each side of the unit are totally enclosed chain drives, which keeps them lubricated and protected from the elements to increase component life. Headers BY DAN PIRARO

Bizarro

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop 1

1: Capello, an Italian brand, offers corn headers in sizes from four to 16 rows. 2: Height detection sensors under the snouts provide automatic height adjustment and protect the header from contacting the ground. 3: Mower-like cutters under the header are positioned farther forward than on most other headers, which helps minimize losses in short corn stands. 4: Flaps behind the snouts help keep cobs and other material from sliding forward and falling off the header before they can be swept up into the feeder house. larger than 12 rows get sealed gear boxes instead of chain drives. To prevent the header from digging into a high spot in the field, Capello units offer automatic header height protection. Metal bars under the polymer snouts act as sensors and contact the ground when the header is too low, sending a signal to the hydraulic system to raise it before damage occurs. The deck of the Capello header has a relatively gentle 17-degree slope that ensures loose kernels and cobs are easily swept into the feeder house. “It’s near the middle of the range (of other corn headers),” said Huber. “Some are higher and some are lower.” The gap between the gathering chains is hydraulically adjustable from the cab. The combine operator can easily close or widen the gap to match field conditions and prevent material from falling through. Near the front of the gathering chains are flaps that prevent cobs and material from falling forward off the header until it can be swept up into the feeder house. Watching the Capello harvest corn, it was clear those flaps were a useful addition and did their job well. The gathering chains are heavier than those on some competing models and use a polyurethane, large-diameter drive sprocket at the front for longer sprocket and chain life. The unit demonstrated at the Tri Star field day was an eight-row head, but Capello offers a range from four to 16 rows. “We decided to start off small,” said Huber of the test unit. “But they (Capello) have a full range of working widths. And they’ve been in the business for quite a while. The company started out in the early ’60s.” † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

By Dan Piraro

Bizarro

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MARCH 18, 2014

Machinery & Shop AGRITECHNICA COVERAGE

Tire inflation and fuel economy Students and staff show how ag tire performance is affected by inflation pressure BY SCOTT GARVEY

erforming for a crowd that gathered around them every half hour during the day, two John Deere tractors made a pair of passes over a specially-built demonstration track made up of loose soil that was meant to mimic field conditions. The two 6R tractors were connected to each other, with the first tractor pulling and the second unit providing braking and acting as a drawbar load. These demonstrations were performed by students and staff from the Southern Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, and the intent was to show the relationship between tire inflation pressure, traction and fuel consumption during field operations. Each time, the results were clear and probably a little surprising to some of the onlookers.

With the inflation pressure in its tires set to about 26 PSI (1.8 Bar in the metric measurement used in Europe) on the first pass down the track, the lead tractor struggled to get a grip in the loose soil. It was clear the tires were displacing a lot of dirt and creating excessive compaction. To allow the crowd to clearly see how much fuel the tractor drank in the process, the engine drew diesel in from one of two clear, graduated tubes mounted on the hood, and the level in the first one fell steadily as the tractor spun its way down the track on the initial run. Before the start of the second pass, the lead tractor’s tires were deflated to about 11 PSI (0.8 Bar). This time the tires were much more efficient, easily generating traction as they clawed their way through undisturbed, loose soil. For this run the tractor engine was fed fuel from the second glass tube.

“On the first drive we had higher pressure of about 1.8 Bar,” explained Georg Ebbeler, one of the members of the university team conducting the test. “There we saw we had some wheel spin and instead of going forward the tractor just moved some soil backwards. On the second drive we lowered the pressure and the back tractor provided the same braking.” It was easy to compare the volume of fuel consumed from each tube at the end of the two passes. The lower p.s.i. setting made the tractor’s engine much thriftier. Fuel consumption fell by 14 per cent in the first test I watched. A half hour later when the team performed the comparison test again in front of another crowd, the reduction was calculated at a similar 11 per cent reduction. There was bound to be some

small fluctuation in the exact numbers due to the short length of test track. But the conclusion was hard to ignore, and the trend was consistent.

LOWER PRESSURE The John Deere tractors were equipped with Michelin High Flexion AxioBib radial tires that provide a much larger footprint in the soil at lower pressure settings. But the overall concept that lower inflation pressure translates into better traction and reduced fuel use in the field applies to any modern radial tractor tire. “(With lower pressure) the tire has a bigger contact (area) with the soil,” Ebbeler went on. “When we look at those two tubes, we can see what is the result of that. By just lowering the tire pressure we can reduce

the amount of fuel we use by 10 per cent and more. And we have some side effects, like greater (operator) comfort and lower soil compaction.” Tire manufacturers generally provide inflation pressure tables for each tire model and size that provide a range of safe working pressures based on the exact axle load. Accurately determining that, however, may require putting the tractor on a set of scales. The Agritechnica demonstration shows that keeping the inflation pressure of modern radials near the low end of a manufacturer’s recommended range for fieldwork will save producers a lot of money. For a video look at this demonstration, visit grainews.ca/videos and scroll down to the listing of e-Quip TV episodes. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

Further demonstrating the negative consequences of higher wheel slip rates which are aggravated by high inflation pressure, this display claimed a 30 per cent increase in fuel consumption when slippage (“Schlupf” in German on the sign) rose from 10 per cent in the image on the top to 20 per cent in the image on the bottom. The tire also created a deeper, more compacted track.

A demonstration by staff and students from the Southern Westphalia University of Applied Sciences on the grounds of Agritechnica demonstrated the link between tire pressure and fuel consumption in the field.

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Drawing diesel first from the glass tube on the left during operation at maximum tire inflation pressures, then from the tube on the right at minimum pressures, this test showed a 14 per cent reduction in fuel consumption when pulling the same load in field conditions with softer tires.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner LIVESTOCK COMPOSTING

Cardston County finding a fit for livestock compost Ranchers concerned about confidentially concerning livestock mortality BY MIKE LAMB

here’s a whole lot cooking these days at the Cardston County cattle composting centre in southern Alberta. Nearly 500 calves and cows, along with the odd horse and pig, are steaming hot, naturally baking at a temperature of between 40 C to 50 C between layers of straw that are rotated and turned by tractor every few months. As “good bacteria” eats away at the pile, natural cooking heat is produced. Ever so quickly, the steaming carcasses shrink and decompose into a black soil-like mixture. Arrangements to use the compost for potting soil and land reclamation are being finalized between Cardston County, Alberta Environment, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Until BSE struck 11 years ago, rendering plants turned deadstock into meat byproducts. Since then, the solution has been burial or a burn-pile for cattle that die by accident or while calving. The former led to scavenging by a growing number of grizzlies and wolves that also inhabit the county, which borders Waterton Lakes National Park to the west. Locals and biologists alike believe the “boneyards” of today are encouraging large carnivores to increasingly move into calving stations, corrals, and even ranch yards. More than four dozen grizzlies now move through the area.

CARDSTON’S PIONEERING PROJECT A few large ranches and feedlots have operated small composting operations for decades, but the Cardston project is the first largescale municipal deadstock composting facility in Canada, and remains under the watchful eye of the two departments to ensure the end-product can be put to good use safely.

Cardston has been at this for only a year and much of the indoor processing remains under constant review and change. “We’re experimenting, learning a lot as we go,” says Stephen Bevans, Cardston’s assistant agriculture field man. It costs roughly $45 to handle each carcass, but much of the process is subsidized by the federal and provincial governments. Still, only about 25 per cent of Cardston County ranchers utilize the service, he adds. “Many are concerned about privacy and reluctant to disclose information on herd mortalities,” says Bevans. Others feel it’s more economical to try and burn or bury their dead livestock, he says. “Some say the easiest way of disposal is dumping it (deadstock) into the coulees… they say the coyotes need something to eat.” Burial and incineration are both legal means of disposal, however animals — grizzlies especially — will dig up and scavenge what ever has been bulldozed below. “Ranchers who aren’t having any difficulties with bears or wolves tend to deal with (disposal) matters on their own,” says Bevans. “It’s the ones who suddenly have grizzlies showing up in their yards and corrals that are looking for alternatives like ours.” Although 500 carcasses sounds like a large number, they will only produce about 20 dumptruck loads of compost once the cooking process is complete. Compost made from deadstock could be a tough sell, he admits. “That’s why we’re still working on coming up with a really good finished product. A nice black, appealing product.” Once guidelines for compost applications are drafted the facility will be able to handle twice as many carcasses. That will be key should a catastrophic event, such as a blizzard or flood, take a toll on local herds, he says.

MONTANA PROJECT A similar project has been underway near Missoula, Montana for the past 11 years with growing support from the ranching community. Cardston officials used Montana’s “Blackfoot Challenge” composting project as a rough blueprint for handling carcasses from southern Alberta’s beef producers. When the Blackfoot open-air project started in 2003, there was “very low participation” by local ranchers, but that’s changed, says Seth Wilson, Blackfoot Challenge co-ordinator and co-founder of People and Carnivores. He now works with about 120 ranchers across 1.2 million acres in western Montana. The project is also supported by the Montana Department of Transportation. “We started the program because grizzly bears began finding and exploiting boneyards during late spring after den emergence,” he says. “Predators that are drawn onto a ranch because of livestock carcasses may be tempted to kill live calves or lambs or raid grain bins, bee hives and chicken coops. They become unwelcome and persistent visitors.” The project grew in popularity once ranchers realized animal husbandry matters would be treated privately. “The confidentiality aspect is a big deal, and it took us a good year or two for us to gain their trust,” says Wilson. “It is this type of sensitivity that we learned about. We take measures to never make public any association with the numbers of loss on any particular ranch. This is the type of trust that we’ve built within the ranching community. It takes time since credibility isn’t an app you can just download.” The deadstock compost, called ‘domestic compost’ in Montana, is now used exclusively for roadside revegetation projects. † Mike Lamb is a freelance writer based at Burmis in southern Alberta.

PHOTO: MIKE LAMB

Stephan Bevans of Cardston County monitors the livestock composting process.

Montana Fish and Wildlife biologist Jamie Jonkle investigates a hole dug by a grizzly bear to get at a buried horse carcass.

PHOTO: BRUCE FRIEDE

The well-established Blackfoot Challenge Livestock Compost operation near Missoula, Montana.

CALF MANAGEMENT

Tips for preventing scours in calves HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

cours is the most common illness in young calves. Veterinarian and researcher George Barrington of Washington State University says 5.5 per cent of beef calves die from diarrhea during the first three weeks of life. Barrington says the two major strategies for disease prevention are reducing risks for introducing infections into the herd (external biosecurity such as not bringing

in new cattle that might expose your cattle to new pathogens), and reducing the likelihood of transmitting a disease that is already present (internal biosecurity).

DON’T BRING IT HOME On the prevention side, the best advice is to never bring home dairy calves to replace beef calves that died. A dairy calf might introduce salmonella, cryptosporidia, or even Johne’s disease into a beef herd. Along with that, make sure your cows calve on new, clean ground — rather than in the winter feeding area — to minimize the risk of newborn calves’ coming in contact with fecal material and contamination.

“You want to keep the pathogens away from the youngest calves, and keep these babies away from the pathogens,” says Barrington. The most frequently recognized disease agents causing diarrhea in young calves are normal inhabitants of the GI tract of healthy mature cattle. These organisms exist in low concentrations and without clinical signs of infection. “Most cattle are exposed to continuous low doses of these pathogens, shed by subclinically infected or immune herdmates,” he says. “When young, immunologically naive calves are exposed to low doses, they can

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

This treated calf is making its recovery from scours.

PHOTO: HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

/ grainews.ca

MARCH 18, 2014

Keepers & Culls Get the facts, speak up, be an advocate LEE HART

ust about every sector of animal agriculture has been emphasizing the importance of educating the public about how animals and food are produced in Canada: If you want to stay in business, tell the world about the good job you’re doing. That message doesn’t always hit home with the average cow-calf producer as they’re busy producing beef and thinking “What can I do?” or even “Someone else will do it.” But, if you have ever been in a position where you wanted to correct or inform someone about some aspect of the beef industry or clear up a misconception about food safety, but didn’t feel you had the facts… well, now there is a new on-line program available to provide the information you need. Earlier in March, the beef industry rolled out the Beef Advocacy Canada program — find it at www.beefadvocacy.ca. It is a twolevel, online course providing a wide range of information about all aspects of the Canadian beef industry from pasture to plate. And it is free. The first level is geared for consumers and mostly has topics related to food quality and food safety. The second level is more for producers, and gets into production

details and sometimes controversial issues such as animal welfare and anti-microbial resistance. The idea of the advocacy program is: If you’re in the business and want to stay in business, become informed by spending two to three hours to take the course, and then be prepared to speak up on behalf of the beef industry. This doesn’t mean you’re planning to address the United Nations. It just means have the facts and next time you’re listening to comments in a line-up at the post office, speaking to someone after church, or hearing comments at the coffee shop you can say, “Here are some of the facts regarding that topic.” You may get so excited you will want to address the UN, but for now it is just about being informed yourself, and then be able to pass that on to someone else — even just one-on-one — so they can be better informed too. It is a “little bit here, a little bit there” approach that overall could help protect the beef industry’s bacon.

Write, E-mail or Fax Contact Cattleman’s Corner with comments, ideas or suggestions for and on stories by mail, e-mail, phone or fax. Phone Lee Hart at 403-592-1964 Fax to 403-288-3162 Email lee@fbcpublishing.com Write to CATTLEMAN’S CORNER, PO Box 71141 Silver Springs RPO, Calgary, Alta. T3B 5K2

IT ONLY TAKES A SECOND

These photos tell the story of what happens when a spark goes wild during a simple welding project. The rancher was making a relatively straightforward repair on the loader of this tractor, and even had shields in place as a precaution. But a spark found a small wad of oily chaff, and the rest is history. He managed to back the tractor out of the shop before the whole thing went up, but even for a non-mechanical person like myself, I am guessing this baby is a writeoff. The unit can and will be replaced, but it was a favoured tractor for feeding hay in the winter, so he’s making do with another machine which isn’t as convenient, but will get it done.

The program was put together with assistance from several industry players including Canada Beef, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, Canada Beef Breeds Council, Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, Beef Cattle Research Council, Canfax, and the Verified Beef Program. There’s a lot of knowledge in that group. It’s hoped consumers take the first level to better understand the beef production system, and be assured in regard to the quality of Canadian beef and food-safety issues, says Canada Beef spokesperson Annemarie Pederson. The advocacy part really kicks in with level two, but producers will be required to register and complete the first level before moving to the second stage. Pedersen says it probably takes about one or two hours to complete each level, you can work on line at your own pace, and then there is a quiz or test to make sure people understand the material. Once you’re through that you are an advocate. Whether producers become advocates, or are just better informed when those one-on-one conversations come up, it’s a win for the beef industry, she says. “Farmers and ranchers hold a lot of credibility with consumers,” says Pedersen. “People like to know where their food is produced, connect with actual producers, and know how their food is produced.” Farmers and ranchers are a pretty believable bunch. So take the program, learn something about the whole beef production chain — not just about getting a live calf on the ground — and then be prepared to carry that information to consumers who are far removed from the farm and often bombarded with a lot of misinformation.

MANITOBA INCREASES CHECKOFF Manitoba Beef Producers, at their recent annual general meeting, have agreed to increase their provincial beef checkoff by $1 per head, to a total of $3 per animal. “Beef producers have been expressing the need for additional financial resources for their organization for some time,” said Heinz Reimer, MBP president. “Producers made it clear that increased investment in MBP is needed when they brought forward and approved resolutions to increase the checkoff at MBP’s 2013 district meetings and when they passed the checkoff increase at the annual meeting. The checkoff increase will help us sustain our future as we work to promote and defend beef producers’ interests and livelihoods.” The $3-per-head levy takes effect July 1, which is the beginning of MBP’s fiscal year. Producers also pay Canada’s national beef levy, which is $1 per head. The national levy funds the market development work of Canada Beef Inc. and the research funded through the Beef Cattle Research Centre. There were 22 resolutions debated at the recent AGM, with 16 carried and six being defeated. MBP members passed resolutions on the administration of the checkoff, the Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council, production management, community pastures, animal health, government programming, and the ongoing impact of the 2011 flood. Questions regarding the checkoff increase can be directed to MBP at info@mbbeef.ca or by calling 1-800-772-0458. Producers can also visit www.mbbeef.ca for a review of the outcome of the vote on each of the resolutions brought forward from MBP’s district meetings.

ASSUIE BEEF PROMOTED Kim Nielsen, an Alberta rancher who spends a good part of the year in Australia, included this information in a recent article he wrote on that country’s beef industry. “Australia, being a large island country with low population and challenging transportation logistics, has fostered an amazing shop-Australian slogan not rivalled, to my knowledge, by any other country,” says Nielsen. “I found it interesting, for example, a McDonalds Big Mac meal has a very telling story inside each hamburger box illustrating where in Australia the beef, the fries, and the wheat (for the bun) came from. As well, they sell a prime beef burger — The Grand Angus and The Mighty Angus — with much success. And Angus is the dominate breed in the country. Elsewhere on the domestic front, the CAAB logo (Certified Australian Angus Beef) dominates the high-end store market, says Nielsen. CAAB beef is DNA traceable (100 per cent Angus genetics), grain fed for a minimum 120 days, all cuts aged for 21 days and the strip loin aged for 28 days. Just over the hill from where Nielsen lives is a paddock-to-plate success, Hopkins River Beef www.hopkinsriverbeef.com, which he will describe in a subsequent article. †

COMING EVENTS FUTUREFARE 2014 IN JUNE Free registration is now open for the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency’s (ALMA) FutureFare to be held this year at the Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort June 16 and 17. Although the final agenda is yet to be released, the theme of the event is “Feeding the Demand.” With a focus on consumer expectations, topics will include animal and food safety, sustainable production practices and livestock and meat research. More information is available at: http://www.futurefare.ca

WOMEN IN AG LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE The first Woman in Ag leadership conference is planned for Calgary April 28 and 29, at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino, 1000, 11500-35 Street SE, Calgary. This is a conference for women in agriculture and for those who want to achieve their goals in life. Do you need to review and realign

your goals in both your work and your personal life? Do you want to learn how to work more effectively with people of different generations? Do you struggle with balancing your work and home life? If you answered yes to any of these questions, organizers say this is the conference to attend. Visit the conference website at: www.advancingwomenconference.ca to view the list of speakers and to register. Or for more information please call 403-6868407. A block of rooms have been reserved at the Deerfoot Inn until early February at a rate of $169. per night plus taxes. To book a hotel room, phone 403236-7529 or 1-877-236-5225. The group code: GKYIRIS.

JUNE BEEF FIELDAY The Western Beef Development Centre Annual Field Day will be held June 24, 2014 (Tuesday) at the Termuende Research Ranch in Lanigan, Sask. Visit the centre website for details: www.wbdc.sk.ca.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner RANCH MANAGEMENT

Listen to those you don’t always agree with BY SEAN MCGRATH

believe that one of the important things for any business is to invest in its most valuable assets, which are the people who manage and run the business. Without people, even a business with millions of dollars in assets is just a collection of items and is not producing a product more valuable than the sum of those inputs. While investing in people includes making sure you take time off from the business, it also includes continuous learning. We probably have the most opportunities we have ever had in our industry to pursue this. For example, there are field days, courses at colleges and universities, Internet-based learning, industry press and trade shows that all provide great learning opportunities. Across all of this there is a general human tendency to gravitate towards things we like or are interested in. I gravitate towards cows and grass and away from bookkeeping. As well, there is a human tendency to gravitate towards “likeminded” individuals when we pursue personal development. In some respects this may be due to industry structure or the unique differences emerging between managers at ground level. For example, it’s unlikely an organic producer directmarketing vegetables will attend the same educational opportunities as a conventional grain producer farming 15,000 acres.

other farmers with opposing views to your own are one of the best introductory sources of information since they do all the assimilation of ongoing research and provide a one stop introduction to a topic.

RELAX AND LEARN If you can learn to take a deep breath and realize that just because someone does not agree with how you do things does not mean you do have to change or abandon your principles, there can be a wealth of information out there. For example, many consumer-direct marketers have a lot to teach commodity producers about understanding consumer demands in a real-world way and targeting those markets or

providing different perspectives on sustainability. Many high-tech producers may have some good ideas on feeding burgeoning populations and production technologies that can cross the lines between production systems. Truly listening to the opposite side of the fence on issues and making yourself uncomfortable can make some pretty major management light bulbs come on. I believe this approach in some respects can create faster transformational change in a business, if required, since we are actively seeking out the black to our white. I have been pretty lucky to submit articles to Grainews over the years and to receive phone calls or emails back from producers

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PHOTO: FILE

Peace River region organic farmer Peter Eggers, second from right, wasn’t necessarily trying to convert conventional ranchers to organics when he spoke to the Foothills Forage Association a couple years ago, but he did have some interesting insights into soil fertility and plant health. either like minded and seeking/ providing further information or completely disagreeing with what I have written. This has been a fantastic learning experience for myself and hopefully for them as well. I would encourage all of you to get more comfortable with

GETTING OUR PIECE OF

being uncomfortable and uncovering the management treasures hidden within. † Sean McGrath is a rancher and consultant from Vermilion, Alta. He can be reached at sean@ranchingsystems.com or (780)8539673. For additional information visit www. ranchingsystems.com.

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Global Markets --------------------------------------

BEEF 2014: INTERNATIONAL LIVESTOCK CONGRESS

MENTORS ARE IMPORTANT It is important to have mentors and consistently seek out those who do things that drive your own business better than you do them yourself. In our situation this means seeking out folks who are superior graziers or cattle breeders or marketers of various products. If you are grain farming it may mean seeking out expertise in soils or crop fertility or even machinery options. These learning opportunities are usually fun as you get to compare notes or learn from folks with a similar mindset or even from people partnering on a common venture.

VALUE OF OPPOSING VIEWS Conversely I believe it is also important to seek those who disagree with your general approach to your own business. Ask them questions and listen to the answers. You can easily tell who these people are because you will generally find yourself getting angry within the first five minutes of the conversation. For example, this may include the very uncomfortable position of talking with animal rightists, or for a large-scale conventional producer exploring the world of “local, organic” production. As mentioned, a brief flicker of fear or a feeling of angst or anger is a pretty good indication you are out of your comfort zone. Managers with vastly different perspectives will typically follow different fields of “like-minded” research and thus are an immediate treasure trove of otherwise untapped information. In fact,

Beef 2014: International Livestock Conference This year’s conference will focus on the opportunities of marketing the whole carcass. With the trends that are taking shape today, there are many opportunities for the future. Hear an update on the economy – local and globally, the market opportunities of the whole carcass locally and globally – and what you can do to enhance this opportunity and why it is important to you.

ILC Beef 2014: Wednesday July 09, 2014 Deerfoot Inn & Casino, 1000, 11500-35 Street SE, Calgary, Alberta

Cattle photo courtesy of Canada Beef Inc.

/ grainews.ca

MARCH 18, 2014

Cattleman’s Corner MARKET OUTLOOK

Calf marketing options for 2014 Fed market could track sideways during the last half of the year JERRY KLASSEN MARKET UPDATE

eeder cattle prices reached all-time record highs this past January and I’ve received a few inquiries regarding the feeder cattle outlook for 2014. Many cow-calf producers have diversified their marketing schedule with various calving periods throughout the year. This allows producers to sell into various fundamental situations as we all know how the markets can change within a short period. Producers have also become aware of futures and options strategies or the provincial price insurance programs can help limit the downside risk in the marketplace. It is important to discuss market dynamics that will influence the feeder market over the next 12 months. This can help producers with their risk management strategies by knowing what to watch for and also plan their marketing schedules. My dad always said the most money made on an operation is in studying markets and sharpening your pencil after suppertime. Planning one, two and five years ahead induces confidence and overall profitability for the cow calf producer.

FEED GRAIN SITUATION Feeder cattle prices started to strengthen last summer as the market became more comfortable with the feed grain supply situation. The record corn crop in the U.S. along with largerthan-expected barley production weighed on local feed grain prices. Burdensome supply of all crops caused many farmers to sell lowquality milling wheat into feed channels, which compounded the heavy supply situation and we now find feed wheat and feed barley trading at $152/mt delivered in the Lethbridge area. Feed grain prices are expected to trade sideways until late March. However, cow-calf producers need to watch upcoming seeding intentions. Analysts now are expecting a year-over-year decline of three to seven per cent in U.S. corn acres. This will make the feed grain complex quite sensitive to weather at seeding and during the growing season. I’m expecting a volatile corn market during the pollination season, especially if the crop is on the drier side. Therefore, the corn market could incorporate a risk premium during the summer months due to the uncertainty in production. Canadian barley acres are also expected to be down by approximately five to eight per cent this spring due to the burdensome carryout stocks. Remember, producer selling usually subsides during road ban season and

spring planting, which causes the cash barley market to strengthen. In summer, feed barley exports will likely increase as well causing barley in the central and northern regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan to move offshore. Overall, the downside the risk in feed grain prices is limited from current levels, which will temper the upside in the feeder cattle prices. Secondly, the risk points to slightly stronger barley and corn values during the summer and fall period. On the outside probability that drier conditions materialize in Western Canada, barley prices would likely strengthen during the fall period also weighing on the feeder market.

FEEDER PRICES The second major factor influencing feeder cattle prices is the price of fed cattle and the potential margin structure over the next four to six months. As of mid-February, year-to-date U.S. beef production is running about 10 per cent behind last year, which has caused the fed market to surge to all time record highs. However, we will see a quarter-over-quarter increase into the summer as larger fed cattle numbers come on the market. Lower feedgrain prices usually cause heavier carcass weights as well. The main point is beef supplies will increase in the summer months and in past years, we have seen upward revisions as time progresses. I believe the market has currently factored in a “worst-case”

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

2010

2011

2012

Est 2013

Est 2014

6,251

6,411

6,283

6,172

5,830

6,547

6,559

6,475

6,517

6,235

6,768

6,737

6,584

6,608

6,225

6,741

6,492

6,571

6,420

6,030

Total

26,307

26,199

25,913

25,717

24,320

scenario on beef production and as a result, the futures market has incorporated a risk premium due to the uncertainty in production for the summer and fall. The June live cattle futures are currently trading at a $9 discount to the April contract so Canadian feedlot operators can expect prices to be about $10/cwt to $15/cwt below current levels depending on the basis risk and Canadian dollar. Therefore, fed cattle prices are expected to trend lower into the summer, which will weigh on feeder cattle prices.

BREAK-EVEN PRICES Given the recent jump in feeder cattle prices, my rough calculations point to a break even of about $128/cwt to $130/cwt for fed cattle during the June and July timeframe. If we start to see feeding margins move into the red this will sharply pressure the feeder market. At this time, it appears feedlots have bid up the price of feeders so there is minimal margin for the summer fed market.

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33

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develop immunity and not show signs of disease. “However, if young calves are exposed to high doses, two things can happen. First, these calves develop clinical disease. Second, they become ‘super shedders’ and release billions of viral particles per gram of feces. This super shedding contaminates the environment very quickly and puts other calves at a much higher risk for disease.” Younger calves with less resistance, or that become exposed to a high level of pathogens in the environment, are most at risk. “There are some nasty bacteria — like salmonella — that you don’t want to bring into your herd, but most of the others are already there,” Barrington says. “Most of the viruses (rotavirus, corona virus), protozoa (coccidia, and sometimes cryptosporidia) and even many E. coli are usually present in the herd. Preventing scours in young calves is mainly a matter of minimizing the exposure of young calves to these pathogens.”

EXPOSURE BUILDS IMMUNITY It doesn’t hurt to have some exposure, because this stimulates the young calf to start building immunity against the

The downside risk in feed grains is limited and there is potential for slightly higher prices and volatile periods during the summer for corn and barley. Fed cattle prices usually make their highs in the first quarter and then taper off in the second quarter. Cow-calf producers want to be selling their feeders in the first quarter. Feeders sold in the second and third quarter should probably have a risk management strategy in place to protect the downside. Backgrounding operators reloading after selling fall calves should also have some protection for the summer months. As it looks now, the fed market from June through December will trade relatively sideways. Don’t bank on these current feeder prices holding throughout the year because the risk reward favours weaker values April forward. † Gerald Klassen analyzes cattle and hog markets in Winnipeg and also maintains an interest in the family feedlot in southern Alberta. For comments or speaking engagements, he can be reached at gklassen7@hotmail.com or call 204 899 8268.

pathogens. Calves become sick when they are exposed to an overwhelming pathogen level. Since most of the pathogens that we’re concerned about are passed in the feces (from adult cattle and from older calves that have come into contact with these pathogens), we want to keep young calves in a relatively clean pasture. “Realizing calves will get exposed, it’s a matter of controlling the level of infection in a calf’s environment,” says Barrington. “We know the pathogens are there, so we try to spread the calves out and minimize grouping/congregating them in small areas.” This helps ensure that they don’t encounter a high level of contamination. Feeding is often necessary when winter and early spring pastures are not nutritionally adequate for the cows, but feeding concentrates cattle into a smaller area and presents more challenge with contamination. He suggests feeding in a strategic manner, to promote more dispersal of the animals. And the Golden Rule of calf health: “Make sure calves nurse colostrum soon after birth,” says Barrington. This gives calves the important antibodies they need, to fight off the most common pathogens they will soon encounter. † Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband Lynn near Salmon, Idaho. Contact her at 208-756-2841.

MARCH 18, 2014

grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner CANADIAN EXPORTS

Cdn. bison needs better EU promo The meat isn’t well known, and the price keeps it out of the reach of many consumers BY MARIANNE STAMM

ucked in a side street of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, down by the Rhine River, is a popular Italian restaurant, the Ristorante Pizzeria Romana. It’s not the place a person would expect to eat Canadian bison. But there it is, in the specialty section of the menu card, just after the truffles. Il Bisonto. Translated: bison. The description (in German and Italian) reads, “From the wild pastures of Canada come the best cuts of this low-fat, low-cholesterol meat.” There are two items — rump steak with wild rice, and entrecote (premium steak) with potatoes. Menu prices are between $65 and $70 Canadian per item. Giorgio Allieri has been serving bison at his ristorante for five years. He discovered it when one meat distributor advertised the product. A passionate believer in good, healthy food, he was intrigued by its health claims. “We offer bison because it is a tasty product, low in fat and cholesterol,” says Allieri. “That’s the trend right now.”

Prime cuts from these Alberta bison (l), could one day be on the menu of restaurants like this one in Switzerland (r). problem for Canadian producers wanting to deliver bison to Switzerland. The country, which is not a member of the EU, has a quota system for imported meat. Bison is part of the beef quota, and so only the best cuts get shipped, without

bone or fat, says Ackermann, who has been lobbying for changes to the import restrictions. Swiss distributors only want high-end bison products such as filet, he says. Consumers won’t pay the high price the cheaper

Bison fits the Swiss tastes perfectly. That’s why it can be found even in a small traditional Italian restaurant by the Rhine. † Marianne Stamm is a freelance farm writer from Jarvie, Alberta and can be reached at marerobster@gmail.com

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NOT WELL KNOWN Bison isn’t the biggest hit on the menu, nor is it the cheapest. “Bison isn’t well known,” Allieri says. “Many could afford it, but they don’t know what it is. Those that know it, order it.” It would help if producers and distributors did a lot more to promote the product. “Maybe they could do something with the price too,” he adds. Bison meat has become cheaper lately, but his restaurant purposely doesn’t offer filet, the most expensive cut. “Our target is not the high-paying guest, but the ordinary person — good food shouldn’t have to be expensive,” he says. And Allieri believes in good food. “Of course we offer the boring pizza,” he says. “And we can’t avoid (spaghetti) carbonara.” It’s mostly his regular guests — who range from blue-collar workers to lawyers — who order bison. Allieri gets his bison meat from three large distributors. All advertise, but to retailers, not consumers, and so the average person doesn’t know anything about bison, he says.

cuts such as brisket or hamburger would end up costing, with the quota tariffs. “But every bison only has two tenderloins.” Switzerland’s consumers are welleducated and very health conscious, with a high disposable income.

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SUPPLY IS LIMITED Canadian Rangeland Bison and Elk, of Lacombe, Alta. supplies bison to one of the Swiss distributors. Rangeland’s CEO and marketing manager Thomas Ackermann, who is originally from Switzerland, says they’ve been shipping bison there for 12 years. Ackermann has done much to develop the market in Switzerland. While he understands Allieri’s thoughts about promoting bison to the Swiss consumer, he notes Canadian producers are not able to supply more prime cuts of bison to Switzerland than they are currently doing. The high retail price has little to do with the actual price from the producer, but with distributor and retailer margins and import tariffs. Import tariffs are the biggest

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/ grainews.ca

MARCH 18, 2014

Home Quarter Farm Life SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Extended in-laws When you are marrying you are also becoming part of the extended family web ELAINE FROESE

Note: DIL equals daughter-in-law, MIL equals mother-in-law, FIL equals father-in-law hen we think of inlaws, we often think of DILs, MILs, FILs, but in-laws also include the sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law who may be involved in the farm with you, or are impacting you from afar. In larger farms, cousins may also be part of the mix, along with multiple generations including grandparents or uncles. So, beyond the nuclear family unit, they are many configurations that you need to be aware of, and become part of the communication web. Oh, and don’t forget about the step-relatives. The critical thing is that when you are marrying, you are also becoming part of the extended family web. Some folks don’t realize the negotiating or impact that the extended family’s expectations can make on their family and the business vision.

One DIL shared with us that the marriage of a younger brother really changed how things worked on their farm. The new bride wanted nothing of a farming career while the DIL and her hubby, the older brother, have embraced farming’s lifestyle, including late-night decision-making. Thus, the relationship between the DIL and her brother-in-law was shifted, as did the dynamics of the farm. The old passion and focus for all things farm, now had to be negotiated with the brother-in-law’s new urban-focused bride. The reach of the extended family in decision-making on the farm, may be global. Some immigrant families still lean hard on the elder wisdom of grandparents across the pond. This has angered the adult grandchildren and their spouses who are trying to have open, honest, respectful conversations for their business futures, without the judgment of the elder generation. Secret family interventions usually lead to more conflict and lack of trust. So be careful how you embrace the wisdom of the elder generations: do it openly. One of the challenges with sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law is that they are often compared to

each other in terms of what they’ve accomplished, their work ethic, their children, and their relationships. Comparison and the implied competition may seem harmless, but it is actually quite destructive. Competition wears down selfesteem and can be emotionally draining as farm team members try hard to please the “judges” instead of focusing on working together as a team. As Marilee Adams, author of Change your Questions, Change your Life encourages, you can choose to have a learner mindset and not get caught in the judger pit. Often family gossip from the extended family focuses on a sense of judgment and competition, which is not helpful to resolving unrealistic expectations. Family gossip can be curtailed when folks no longer participate in it or choose to focus on the positives. Instead of talking about what people are doing wrong, how about choosing to focus on accomplishments or ways to be supportive? David Chilton, author of The Wealthy Barber, has suggested that Canadians are suffering from “granite countertop syndrome” as a measure of success. If you have granite countertops in your kitchen, you have arrived! This is a great

word picture to compare the value differences in farm sibling in-law relationships that cause competition or friction. Your DIL from a meagre background may be frugal and willing to live on less whilst her sister-in-law really is only happy when she has granite countertops in her designer kitchen. So, here’s some things to remember with extended in-laws. Values or cherished beliefs may be different in each family unit. It is not our job to convert others to our way of being as long as what they are doing is not harmful or damaging to others. It is our duty to be respectful to others, and accepting. The question of, “How much is enough?” is a curious driver on farms. Some folks choose to live simply, and others are driven to always acquire more. This is a good conversation starter when you are revisiting the business plan for growth of the farm. Often siblings and cross-generations make assumptions what “should” be enough for someone else. Judgments about lifestyle abound and these judgments can be very destructive and stifling. Many farms depend on the cash flow injection from off-farm work. The reality is that the involvement of spouses and family members with time committed to the farm may vary depending on the demands of the off-farm employment. There needs to be a discussion about fair compensation for time. Respect needs to be given for the choices made. There are only so

many hours in a day, and long days on the farm may be the norm, but it is up to individuals and spouses to agree on the balance between work and family time. Be sure that the compensation for labour is fair regarding money, skill and time. Also consider, there are some inlaws who do not want any involvement at all in the farm business. Is this OK with you? People are happier when they are following their passion. If a farmer’s spouse draws very clear boundaries and keeps away from the farm, they may not know all the workings of the business. They cannot expect to be making decisions about the farm, as you can’t have people parachuting into the decision-making process. In some cases having someone who is not happy on the farm, yet is forced to be involved may deter the future generations from engaging in the farm. For a great read on boundaries, see Cloud and Townsend’s book Boundaries. The distant relatives, uncles and cousins for example, can have a big impact on the dynamic of farms and families. The willingness to be positive, be flexible and have collaborative decision-making is key. For example, some farming uncles treat their nephews better than some fathers treat their sons. The extended family can help out by selling land at a fair family price rather than full market value. Equipment sharing is another example of how resources can be shared via the extended family to give a “leg up” to the relatives. I

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