Country guide east

eastern edition

country-guide.ca

September 2015 $3.50

Can you score market wins this fall Despite china?

Weather wise marketing Tony Varekamp finds the silver lining �� 20

CROPS GUIDE First Look: elite new hybrids for 2016

Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240

Hit that burdock now, then again in spring

We’re just planting the seed…

Contents

september 2015

BUSINESS 8

better ag education Getting more of Canada’s teens to look to agriculture for a great career is an achievable goal, says Nuffield scholar Becky Parker.

12 german quandary

Germany’s global lead as a bioenergy producer sounds better before you talk to the farmers who are stuck in its grip.

16 the china factor

Market adviser Errol Anderson tackles the year’s toughest question: Can you make China’s troubles work in your favour?

26 the hub of an opportunity

These food hubs will help more medium-size farms diversify into lucrative local-food markets.

32 Guide HR — Are you ready for change?

Some farms are good at change. Others simply aren’t.

Are you really sure you know which camp you’re in?

34 the farmer as ceo

Bigger farms need leaders who function more like business CEOs. More difficult is knowing how to make the transition.

46 finding the ‘wow’ factor

Machinery makers reveal how to build machines you want to buy.

48 agriculture’s glass ceiling

If there’s no gender issue on the farm, why are so many women signing up for farm women conferences?

50 our toughest marketing challenge

We’re losing the public’s respect, writes farm columnist Gerald Pilger, who says the time to get it back is right now.

PG. 20 marketing in weather extremes Most farmers use their marketing skills to protect their incomes from extreme weather. Here, however, Tony Varekamp and Eldon Klippenstein explain how they use their marketing to find a silver lining in any cloud.

54 lgbt on the farm

These days, diversity on the farm is good for business, sometimes in some very surprising ways.

58 managing today’s diversity

CROPS GUIDE

62

35 Your next corn hybrids

If farms don’t learn how to embrace more diversity, they may soon find it impossibly tough to attract enough good workers.

g uide life — avoid overload

Burnout isn’t just a buzzphrase. It’s a real danger to your farm and your happiness. Here’s your defence plan.

It’s never been more important to make the right genetics choice. Here are 2016’s new candidates.

39 where water leaves the farm

EVERY ISSUE

This look at the quality of the water as it leaves your farm can actually improve farm profitability.

42 the dirt on soil tests 6 MACHINERY GUIDE

Machinery editor Scott Garvey launches his new series.

65 GUIDE HEALTH

Which iron pill is the right pill for you?

66 HANSON ACRES When his son fires up the combine, Dale knows what’s next.

Soil test scores are dropping across much of Eastern Canada.

How much lower can we afford to let them go?

44 PEST PATROL

Burdock has been around forever, but these new test results can give you the upper hand in controlling it.

Our commitment to your privacy 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 Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1.

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september 2015

country-guide.ca 3

desk EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: Tom Button 12827 Klondyke Line, Ridgetown, ON N0P 2C0 (519) 674-1449 Fax (519) 674-5229 Email: tom.button@fbcpublishing.com Associate Editors: Maggie Van Camp Fax (905) 986-9991 (905) 986-5342 Email: mvancamp@fbcpublishing.com Gord Gilmour (204) 453-7624 Cell: (204) 294-9195 Fax (204) 942-8463 Email: gord.gilmour@fbcpublishing.com Production Editor: Ralph Pearce (226) 448-4351 Email: ralph.pearce@fbcpublishing.com ADVERTISING SALES Sales Director: Cory Bourdeaud’hui (204) 954-1414 Fax: (204) 944-5562 Email: cory@fbcpublishing.com Lillie Ann Morris (905) 838-2826 Email: lamorris@xplornet.com

Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine

A better marketing idea Marketing is in a class by itself.

Nowhere else in agriculture is there so much more noise than information, or so many claims based on untested and untestable evidence.

As a rule, of course, the entire financial and business ends of farming let us down in this regard, and I have complained in this space in past that when it comes to the biggest decisions they will ever make — decisions about succession, incorporation, expansion, etc. — farmers need much more rigorous ways of evaluating their sources of information and advice.

This is especially true of marketing, where the lack of research is not only tolerated, it’s ignored.

It’s as if we don’t think that research into marketing can really help us because, let’s face it, any one year is likely to be so different from any other year, and any one farm or region is likely to be so similarly different from any other farm or region that it’s impossible to draw any permanent lessons.

What we actually haven’t faced, however, is the fact that, based on the bit of research that we do have, suggests more research is sorely needed.

It’s already been seven years since we reported on University of Illinois studies

by Scott Irwin and Darrel Good, comparing the performance of market advisory services.

The researchers subscribed to some 4 country-guide.ca

23 different market services from 1995 through 2005 and then tracked how farmers would have fared if they had taken their advice.

Farmers are used to hearing marketing experts chide them for proverbially selling two-thirds of their crop in the bottom third of the market. Yet it turns out that the best marketing services also struggle to sell in the top half.

And there’s worse to come because, according to the research, the fact that a marketing service beats the market this year doesn’t predict whether it will beat the market next year.

This doesn’t mean that advisory services aren’t worthwhile. Nor does it mean that there aren’t any meaningful differences between your potential sources of information.

But it does mean that we need more science in our marketing. The few studies that actually put different marketing strategies to the test do come up with meaningful results, often demonstrating that selling incrementally through the year provides the best long-term average price.

The point is, business research in Canada is sadly lacking, especially in agriculture, and until enough farmers pressure enough farm organizations to work for change, it will continue to be underfunded.

Yet few research investments could return more to this country’s farmers.

Let me know what you think. I’m at tom.button@fbcpublishing.com.

Kevin Yaworsky (250) 869-5326 Email: kyaworsky@farmmedia.com Head Office: 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 Fax (204) 944-5562 (204) 944-5765 Advertising Services Co-ordinator: Sharon Komoski (204) 944-5758 Fax (204) 944-5562 Email: ads@fbcpublishing.com Designer: Jenelle Jensen Publisher: Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com Associate Publisher/Editorial Director: John Morriss Email: john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com Production Director: Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com Circulation Manager: Heather Anderson Email: heather@fbcpublishing.com President: Bob Willcox Glacier FarmMedia Email: bwillcox@farmmedia.com Contents of this publication are copyrighted and may be reproduced only with the permission of the editor. Country Guide, incorporating the Nor’West Farmer and Farm & Home, is published by Farm Business Communications. Head office: Winnipeg, Manitoba. Printed by Transcontinental LGMC. Country Guide is published 13 times per year by Farm Business Communications. Subscription rates in Canada — Farmer $41 for one year, $61 for 2 years, $87 for 3 years. (Prices include GST) U.S. subscription rate — $35 (U.S. funds). Subscription rate outside Canada and U.S. — $50 per year. Single copies: $3.50.

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Call toll-free 1-800-665-1362 or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com U.S. subscribers call 1-204-944-5766 Country Guide is printed with linseed oil-based inks PRINTED IN CANADA Vol. 134 No. 10 Internet address: www.agcanada.com

ISSN 1915-8491 The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Country Guide and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists, Country Guide and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Country Guide 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.

september 2015

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Machinery

By Scott Garvey, CG Machinery Editor

Editor’s Note: With this issue, CG machinery editor Scott Garvey begins a new chapter for MachineryGuide with his industryleading reporting on machinery innovations that can make a difference for you, both in the field and on the balance sheet. This month, Scott goes deep into combine design with this exploration of the 2015 launches by AGCO and New Holland.

Elevation the key for these NH combines  Combine designers are doing more than just tinkering, as New Holland is showing with the particular attention it has paid this year to small grains growers, introducing new conventional and rotary machines designed specifically for that market.

In June, NH used Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina for the North American introduction of its completely new, two-model range of conventionals, the CX8 Series.

This line includes Class 7 and 8 models. The brand believes the larger CX8.90 will appeal strongly to small grains growers in Western Canada who also operate mixed farming operations and are willing to trade a little capacity in order to leave straw in good condition for baling.

“It (a conventional combine) is a little gentler on the straw but not quite as efficient in terms of capacity as a rotary combine,” says Nigel MacKenzie, New Holland’s marketing manager for combines and headers.

The CX8 models use the brand’s Opti-Clean cleaning shoe system, which was originally introduced on its large rotary. The company claims it offers a 20 per cent cleaning improvement over previous designs, because of the longer sieve stroke and steeper throwing angle, keeping material airborne for longer to enhance cleaning. To minimize the risk of blowing kernels out the back, the Opti-Fan automatically adjusts its speed to compensate for inclines.

For grain growers who like the idea of a combine tailored to their crops but don’t want the capacity drop associated with conventional models, NH also introduced a new rotary, the CR8.90 Elevation.

Both NH’s CX and CR Series combines will use the same cab, which the brand redesigned last year. It includes more interior space and glass area than the previous version.

Photos: New Holland Of course NH already builds a Class 8 rotary at its Grand Island, Nebraska, plant. So what’s different with this one?

“The elevation is the clue,” says MacKenzie. “The CR8.90 Elevation is a small-grain-focused machine. It has exactly the same cleaning shoe as in the 10.90. The Opti-Clean cleaning shoe, it’s optimized for small grains, that technology we’re bringing down into the Class 8 segment to offer alongside our Grand Island machines.”

Today’s engineers are creating specific combine designs for specific cropping demands

New Holland has unveiled a new two-model line of conventional combines aimed at the western Canadian and Northern Plains states markets in June.

6 country-guide.ca

S e p tem b e r 2 0 1 5

AGCO gives S8 Gleaner combines faster cleaning  When AGCO used Louisville’s National Farm Machinery Show in February to introduce its updated S8 Gleaner combine line, it was able to take along some extra bragging rights. Just days before the show, the work that the company’s engineers did to improve performance of these machines won the brand a prized ASABE 50 engineering award.

ASABE (The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) selects up to 50 new engineering designs annually for recognition with its ASABE 50 awards.

AGCO’s award was for its redesign of the perforated cascade pan at the front of the cleaning shoe, which is included in all three models in the Class 6 through 8 range. The redesigned pan is slanted at a six-degree angle, and the cleaning shoe has an additional 992 square inches of pneumatic cleaning area, bringing the Gleaners’ total cleaning area to 8,721 square inches.

It may not sound like a big increase, but the company claims this provides 10 per cent more cleaning capacity in tough conditions because it allows high-moisture crops to fall through sooner after coming through the accelerator rolls. This means the crop hits the sieve and clean-grain cross auger much faster.

“That gives us the capability to avoid the bridging that normally occurs in high-moisture crops (in all combine brands),” said Kevin Bien, Gleaner marketing manager, during an interview at the show.

“You get so much buildup, it wants to walk itself right out the back of the combine because it can’t get through the chaffer and sieve area and into the cross auger.”

As well, in the redesigned units, the forced air duct was moved forward, redirecting airflow.

“For the very first time, in 2015, Gleaner is totally pneumatic on our cleaning shoe,” Bien said. “That means we don’t have any area of our shoe that isn’t functional as far as giving us more capacity and more cleaning capability. This means a lot in high-moisture corn and high-

September 2015

AGCO’s Gleaner marketing manager, Kevin Bien, introduced the first S8 Series Gleaners to the farm media at the company’s Hesston, Kansas, assembly plant in 2013. density crops, because it gives us the capability to get more air to the crop. This cleaning shoe right now is about as large as some Class 9 cleaning shoes on the market with some competitors out there.”

AGCO claims this cleaning shoe design also reduces losses during side-hill operation.

“Cleaning is everything to a combine,” said Bien. “We’re really trying to figure out how we can give greater capacity to combines without adding weight to the machine and sacrificing some of the things that are most important to farmers… reduced compaction and increased fuel economy, and, more importantly, efficiency of the overall machine.”

Class 6 through 8 Gleaner combines get a new, more efficient shoe with a larger cleaning area, rivalling some Class 9 machines, according to the company.

Photos: Scott Garvey

country-guide.ca 7

business

Better ag

education

By Lois Harris

f you need to make a big splash, says Nuffield scholar Becky Parker, throw a big rock. A lot of little stones will only create a lot of little ripples.

It’s an insight that Parker has brought home from her Nuffield tour of Britain, New Zealand and Australia, and it’s among the strategies that she now believes could help Canadian agriculture cure the labour shortages that are hampering virtually all sectors of the industry.

Parker kicked off her spring tour at an international conference in France attended by 75 Nuffield scholars from around the world.

If we want the best and brightest kids to look at agriculture, Parker says, we must invest in really connecting with their lives 8 country-guide.ca

Getting more young Canadians more interested in working in agriculture can be an achievable goal, says Becky Parker, whose Nuffield scholarship is supported by Glacier FarmMedia. First, though, we need to learn some lessons for ourselves “When the speakers talked about the biggest challenges facing agriculture, almost every one mentioned human resources — whether it was a lack of skilled labour, training and education of staff, or an aging farmer population,” Parker says.

But Parker, who holds down a full-time job at Ontario Agri-Food Education (OAFE), also saw that Canada could be more effective in tackling our own workforce challenges.

In particular, we're hamstrung by duplication, working in silos, and inadequate funding.

The duplication comes from commodity groups, industry associations, education organizations and others all doing their own outreach to young people.

“There are multiple websites saying the same thing, and they are all developing similar pamphlets to go into classrooms,” Parker says. “It’s ineffective and a waste.”

The silos get built when commodity-specific groups don’t work together to encourage young people. If, for example, the fertilizer, food and machinery manufacturing industries focus only on their own needs, they wind up competing against one another.

“The average student sitting in a high school classroom doesn’t see the difference between sheep and dairy cows, tractors and combines,” Parker says. “Can’t we have a bigger impact if we come as the agri-food sector, and present the opportunities through one lens?”

Funding also affects everyone everywhere, but Parker thinks that collaboration and pooling efforts at fundraising would again make us more effective.

Parker’s scholarship is supported by a $15,000 sponsorship from Glacier FarmMedia, which publishes Country Guide plus Grainews, Western Producer and Manitoba Co-operator, among others. She has also received funding from CropLife Ontario Council and additional support from Litherland & Company, a recruiting and placement agency.

Continued on page 10 September 2015

SOIL CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF CANADA CONSEIL CANADIEN DE CONSERVATION DES SOLS SOIL CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF CANADA CONSEIL CANADIEN DE CONSERVATION DES SOLS

T

he Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC), established in 1987 has a successful history as the face and voice of soil conservation in Canada. The SCCC has created a broad network of stakeholders with interest in the agricultural landscape that provides a strong national base to advocate for and take actions on soil conservation and health in Canada.

In order to maintain a healthy organization that provides value to all its stakeholders the SCCC has undertaken a review of what we do and how we do it. We will play a stronger role in bringing governments, private industry, individuals and non-government organizations together to discuss current issues and solutions pertaining to soil conservation and health and sustaining the agricultural landscape. We will also continue to help stakeholders disseminate information and technology that supports sustainable land management practices and production systems.

Going forward, the key challenge for SCCC will be to bring national leadership to soil conservation and health. We believe it is critical that soil management and agricultural production systems are used in all regions of Canada to ensure

The face and voice of soil conservation in Canada Le visage et la voix de la conservation des sols au Canada the sustainability of our soil resources for future generations. SCCC’s network of members and partners provides a unique opportunity to understand the national and regional challenges and issues of soil conservation and health across the country and represent them to decision makers in government and industry. Conversely, that network can be utilized to disseminate information and solutions back to producers, conservation practitioners and others working on the agricultural landscape.

SCCC’s national and global network of partners was key to the success of the 6th World Congress of Conservation Agriculture (WCCA). SCCC and our partners hosted this event in 2014 which attracted over 400 people from 49 countries including United States, Australia, India, South Africa, Brazil, Tunisia and Ethiopia. It was an exceptional opportunity to showcase Canada as a world leader in the adoption of sustainable practices, such as direct seeding, science, innovation and high quality agricultural production and to learn from others around the world.

The upcoming Summit on Canadian Soil Health is another example of how the Council will play a leading role in advocating for soil conservation

and health. This SCCC hosted event will be held in conjunction with GrowCanada in December 2015 and will bring leaders in Canadian agriculture together to discuss a variety of issues of importance to the industry. SCCC will use this opportunity to highlight soil conservation and health as key issues in the future of Canadian agriculture.

The Summit will open with a luncheon and keynote address by Dr. David Montgomery, University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Montgomery is author of the best seller “Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations”. He will speak about the soil use and abuse from ancient times to present day and how we can avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

In the afternoon sessions presentations and discussions will lead to identifying current key issues of soil conservation and health in Canada. The summit will conclude with a “Call to Action” on how we can respond to today’s challenges to our soil resource. For more information visit us at www.soilcc.ca.

The legacy and vision continues.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE SUMMIT ON CANADIAN SOIL HEALTH Digging Into the State of Canada’s Soils – The Link Between Healthy Soil and Sustainable Crop Production

Tuesday, December 1ST, 2015 11:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Calgary, Alberta DETAILS AND REGISTRATION AVAILABLE SOON!

info@soilcc.ca

204-792-2424

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@soilcouncil

business Continued from page 8 Already, Parker has drafted a preliminary list of three tactics that could go a long way in helping the Canadian agri-food industry attract more young people. They include competitions, mentoring, and hands-on work experience.

Competitions are fun, engaging ways to get students excited about possible agricultural careers. In New Zealand, Parker attended a Get Ahead Experience Day co-ordinated by the Young Farmers Club in which high school kids were put into teams of six or seven who then competed against each other at interactive stations.

The 12 stations were run by companies and organizations in the industry, and the young people got to learn about everything from how to grade meat and how to align gears on a tractor to how to figure out which farm is the best to buy in terms of financing.

Teams were awarded points on how they worked together to solve problems, and the winning team took home prizes. The New Zealand beef, lamb and dairy industry organizations collaborated to sponsor the half-day event, which was put on in 10 locations through March and April in 2015.

“Students see competitions all the time on television — “Dancing with the Stars,” “Big Brother” — you name it, so it’s familiar to them,” Parker says.

Agricultural mentoring and ambassador programs are also effective tactics used by every country Parker visited.

Some countries highlight ambassadors by profiling them on video or having case studies written up about their careers, or by sending them into classrooms to talk about their experiences.

“The biggest takeaway I got from learning about this is that mentors and ambassadors have to be young enough to relate to the students sitting in the classrooms,” she says.

In Australia, Art4Agriculture is “a network of young people who share a passion to tell others about the pivotal role Australian farmers play in feeding the world,” according to its website.

Through a program called “Young Farming Champions,” young people are trained as positive spokespeople for the industry. The challenge they’ve set for themselves is to “be the change” that needs to occur.

A third strategy is to provide young people with hands-on work experience.

“We need to do a better job of getting kids in high school into the labs, offices and farms to get them hooked,” Parker says.

She recognizes there are already a number of programs in place — like co-operative work terms and apprenticeships that are available, but she thinks there needs to be more collaborative effort among the groups that are involved in delivering these programs.

All over the world, there are science, technology, engineering and mathematics networks, called STEMs, that encourage kids to take on careers that use STEM skills. The Scottish Food and Drink Federation has partnered with the U.K. STEM network 10 country-guide.ca

to ensure that agriculture and food careers are highlighted through that network.

Parker would like to see better co-operation among the industry and educational systems in Canada to produce a more structured approach to drawing young people into agri-food careers.

In many of the countries she travelled to, postsecondary institutions would offer “taster days” in which potential students could experience what exactly would be involved in studying different agrifood-related disciplines.

The way Parker sees it, two levels of encouragement are needed. The first level would be aimed at getting over the agri-food disconnect in the general student population by reaching out through ambassadors, competitions and other resources. A second level would be that, once interested, the students could engage in a hands-on way in a specific career while they’re still in high school.

“We already have co-op and apprenticeship programs in the education system — we need to get the agri-food sector to plug in better,” she says. “It’s a matter of determining what’s already in place, and how do we make the best use of it.”

Parker says that when she asked the average person in any of the countries she had been in what they thought when they heard “agri-food industry,” they all said “farmer” — as if the industry is only primary production.

“Even in my discussions with the agriculture people, I had to continually remind them that it’s about agriculture and food — we have to broaden the perspective of the people who work within the industry,” she says.

There was also the unfortunate and wrongheaded stereotype in the schools that she visited that if you’re not smart enough to go into other things, you can get into farming. In one of her ongoing blog posts (www.lessonsoftheland.com), she noted that during one of her many flights, she watched the movie “Interstellar.” In it, a young character was streamed into being a farmer because his test score wasn’t “high enough for college.”

Up next for Parker is touring the U.S. and Canada in 2016 and then reporting back in the fall. Country Guide will continue profiling Parker’s progress as she continues her Nuffield research. She can also be followed on Twitter at @becky_parker_2. CG

Useful websites Becky’s blog: www.lessonsoftheland.com Young Farming Champions (Australia): www.art4agriculture.com.au/yfc/ Get Ahead Experience Days (New Zealand): www.getahead.co.nz/get-involved/experience-days/ U.K. STEMnet: www.stemnet.org.uk Nuffield Canada: www.nuffield.ca

September 2015

The Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA) Inc. is a national, non-profit professional umbrella organization dedicated to assisting farm families and businesses by increasing the skills of farm advisors and consultants.

www.cafanet.com

I

t is with great pleasure that I write CAFA’s first article as a new contributor to Country Guide — Canada’s strategic leader in providing information on the business of farming – and CAFA certainly understands the business of farming. Let me introduce you to us!

The Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA) Inc. is a national not-for-profit, professional organization whose mission is to continually improve the quality of advice being given to Canadian farm families and businesses, by increasing the skills and knowledge of farm advisors.

CAFA members are farm advisors and include any individual who provides advice to agribusiness. Examples include, but are not limited to, accountants, lawyers, bankers, trust officers, financial advisors, realtors, insurance agents, agrologists, family coaches, marketers, risk managers, government, nonprofit associations and interested farmers.

In meeting its mission, CAFA achieves the following goals through regular local chapter meetings and annual provincial conferences: (1) Improve the level of education and professionalism of farm advisors by keeping them CURRENT with the agri-food sector they serve, and (2) Improve access to qualified farm advisors by offering local and provincial networking meetings to keep members CONNECTED to the other professionals and resources working with agri-food clients.

CAFA grants a certification to its Regular members, Certified Agricultural Farm Advisor (CAFA), based on meeting Continuing Professional Development credit requirements.

“CAFA is a great benefit to my clients. I’m able to get to know other CAFA members by attending meetings and conferences. I learn how they interact with other professionals. It is important to me and my clients that a farm advisor is not only knowledgeable but must be willing to work as a team player for the best interest of the farm clients. CAFA meetings are a great place to learn about what is new and who to go to for answers.

When I introduce clients to a CAFA advisor, I know they will be well looked after, this only increases the trust my client places in me as their primary advisor. It is great to be able to say I don’t know but I do know who does!!”

— Stan MacEwen, Laskowski Wright, Saskatoon, SK.

“After attending the CAFA meeting in Prince Albert as a guest, I cannot understand why any professional farm advisor wouldn’t want to be part of this. I wish when I farmed there was an organization like this. I could have used it.”

— Percy Woytiuk, Hafford, SK

“I’m a lawyer and a farmer. CAFA provides a great opportunity to meet professionals who share my interest in agriculture and to spend some of my “professional” time learning more about farming and farm businesses. When I need to consult with a professional in a different area than mine on issues related to agriculture, or need to refer a client, CAFA gives me a great group of people to choose from.”

— John Goudy, LLB, Partner, Scott Petrie LLP, Law Firm, London, Ont “Farmers are looking for expert advice more often to help them with the complexities they face in running their business. CAFA provides a medium for these experts to better understand how each of us can make our clients better off. I regularly reach out to my CAFA colleagues to leverage their expertise when my clients have a need I cannot satisfy. It’s win-win-win.”

Kim Gerencser, K.Ag. Growing Farm Profits Inc., Regina, SK

Info & EvEnts Plan to join CAFA for some timely information and great in-person networking with other farm professionals. Be sure to save the dates!

CURRENT & CONNECTED Conference Thursday, October 8th Lethbridge, Alberta

Farm Tax Update for Professionals Thursday, October 22nd Guelph, Ontario

More information available at www.cafanet.com/Conferences

Toll free: 1-877-474-2871 Email: info@cafanet.com PO Box 270 • Seven Sisters Falls, MB • R0E 1Y0

Follow us on Twitter @CAFANET

business

Since 2011, German farmer Norbert Mayer has grown all his crops for bioenergy.

German quandary German biogas producers generate as much electricity as two nuclear power stations. If that sounds like a great success, try talking to the farmers who grow the crops

By Marianne Stamm

t’s a perfect picture on a perfect day. A Claas chopper sends a steady stream of green rye into a tractor trailer while overhead, the main overland power line hangs in the blue sky.

It’s perfect too as a representation of the Mayer Energy Farm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where Norbert Mayer grows all his crops to feed his biogas plant, which then feeds power into the grid.

Germany is a world leader in the field of renewable energy. It introduced its first Renewable Energy Bill (EEG) in 2004, offering substantial incentives for the production of renewable energy, and it is now embracing a goal of producing 80 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2080.

Many farmers were quick to sign contracts to produce solar, wind and biogas energy. With the EEG2004 guaranteeing 0.55 euro (C$0.78) per kilo-

12 country-guide.ca

watt hour for the next 20 years, it seemed an easy decision.

Biogas seemed especially lucrative, so putting up a plant made a lot of sense at the time. After all, grain prices were still at their record lows, with wheat fetching only 80 euros per tonne (approximately $3.26 per bushel).

At those prices, energy definitely added more value to wheat than bread, which is why, by 2014, German biogas plants were producing more energy than two atomic power plants together, and a report by the Marktforschungsinstitute “Trend” in August 2013 found that more than 80 per cent of biogas plants and 21 per cent of solar plants were owned by farmers. Farmers were receiving more than onethird of the Renewable Energy Fund.

Norbert Mayer has turned all his crops into power since 2011. He made the switch to a bio-

September 2015

business

gas plant from a 3,000-head feeder hog operation when hog prices plummeted in 2009 and grain prices were still low.

There were several revisions to the EEG by then, and he was guaranteed a price of 0.25 euro (CS0.35) per kW-h. Mayer’s biogas plant produces 430 kW for almost 9,000 hours a year, adding up to 3.5 million kW. That’s enough power for more than 1,000 households.

“I produce more power than Stühlingen needs,” Mayer says of the nearby town of 2,000 people.

Power is produced by fermenting biomass such as plant products or liquid manure. The resulting gas is converted into power, which is fed into the local power system. It sounds simple, but it’s actually quite a complicated system, with added complications from numerous regulations.

For instance, to be eligible for subsidies for a biogas plant through the EEG program, 60 per cent of the biomass must be produced on the farm. There must also be a clear plan with signed contracts for the spreading of the liquid waste, which is highquality manure.

Mayer crops 225 acres, with corn taking 55 per cent of his crop, followed by sorghum, millet, wheat and triticale. When the corn and sorghum are harvested, winter rye is seeded which is silaged in the following spring, before reseeding to corn and sorghum.

Mayer still purchases a considerable amount of feed and he also buys liquid manure from surrounding farmers. By adding 35 per cent of liquid manure to the biomass he is eligible for a higher subsidy.

It’s clear he needs those subsidies to make it. In September 2015

recent years, Mayer lost some of his rented land.

Prices for land and rent have risen, mostly because of the nearby Swiss neighbours who can afford to pay more for land than the German farmers.

Rising grain prices and changing agriculture policy regulations such as rules on crop rotation have made margins slimmer. But Mayer can’t opt out now; he has invested too much.

“I could have built a dairy barn for 300 cows with the money the plant cost me,” Mayer says.

Instead, he needs to inject funds into paying the biogas plant off before the 20 years of guaranteed prices run out.

Mayer built much of the biogas plant himself with the help of his wife and three children. His daughter Lisa, 21, is studying agronomy and wants to take over the farm. He formed a company with her for the farmland. This company then sells its crops to the biogas plant, which is operated by a separate company owned by Mayer and his wife.

As Canadian farmers will understand from this, tax planning is a crucial part of the job.

The regular market price for power is currently 0.02 euro (just under C$0.03) per kW-h. No one can afford to run a biogas plant for that. “In 20 years, when all the guaranteed price contracts run out, there won’t be any biogas plants,” Mayer thinks, adding, “With the new EG2014 regulation, new biogas plants became completely unattractive.”

Besides, the politics aren’t simple. When asked about the food-versus-energy debate, Mayer says, “It’s a crazy contradiction. On the one hand we’re

Will the energy subsidies be there for the next generation?

If not, their outlook is cloudy.

Continued on page 14 country-guide.ca 13

business

Mayer produces enough electricity to power the nearby town of Stühlingen, population 2,000.

Continued from page 13 accused of taking away food with bioenergy production. On the other hand the government pays farmers to take land out of production.”

Government agriculture programs foster extensive as opposed to intensive forms of agriculture, for instance by promoting flower meadows instead of top wheat production. For many average Germans, Mayer says, bioenergy has a bad reputation. Corn is tall, easily seen and considered a monoculture that jeopardizes biodiversity.

Mayer insists that other crops such as wheat are no different. “I don’t use anywhere near the chemicals as I did before I used our crops for bioenergy,” he adds.

Ludwig Käppeler, agriculture officer for the Baden-Württemberg district believes the food-versus-energy debate in Germany doesn’t add up. There is no food shortage anywhere, he insists. “Just look at the low price of flour,” he says, “and what don’t we all throw away!”

Käppeler insists it’s the Americans who are using so much of their corn to produce ethanol that it affects food prices. “If something happens on the global scene, like a major drought, prices go through the roof,” Käppeler says. “It’s speculation, not actual shortage, that makes prices rise.”

There’s another consideration too; 70 per cent of Baden-Württemberg’s farms are part-time operations. That has a lot to do with the way land was passed on within the family. Instead of one child taking over the whole farm, the land was split 14 country-guide.ca

evenly between all the siblings, resulting in ever smaller parcels.

Efforts have been undertaken to merge land parcels, but the fact that much of the land is rented makes it difficult. Part-time farm operations are here to stay, Käppeler believes. But whereas farmers used to work in manual jobs such as bricklaying, where they could often take their holidays when it was time to make hay, today’s farmers often have more sophisticated jobs.

The system works as long as there are parents or a spouse at home who can manage the farm. Agriculture colleges are also now offering courses for parttime farmers, which are finding good resonance.

One way to improve farm income that requires little labour is to install a solar power system which sells to the grid. Markus Schaub of Dettighofen, BadenWürttemberg invested big into solar energy with the first EEG in 2004. That was a lucrative time with the highest returns. Solar energy panels, unlike biogas plants, require little maintenance once installed. After 20 years their output is still 80 per cent. There aren’t as many unknown financials as there are with biogas, and the return on investment can be easily calculated.

Schaub sells 234 kW-h into the grid, which generates 30 per cent of his farm income with the Baden-Württemberg district having the best total sunshine hours in all of Germany. Schaub’s large shed and barn roofs all slope in the right direction for maximum solar production. Almost all solar panels on farms are mounted on roofs. Germany has some fields of solar panels, but not yet on farms.

The Schaub farm lies idyllically among green September 2015

business rolling hills and small villages. The pastures are dotted with horses. Markus and his wife Birgitta board 100 horses in their stables, complete with a new riding arena. The horses provide 50 per cent of their income; the rest comes from growing seed crops on their 130 acres.

The solar panels are definitely the easiest money on the farm. “We need to rethink our strategy!” Birgitta exclaimed as she thought that over. “Solar power definitely outperforms considering the income versus labour and input ratios.”

Each change in EEG has meant a reduction in guaranteed prices for power produced. In recent years, however, the price of solar panels has also dropped considerably (once produced

by German companies, the Chinese now make them much cheaper) so solar can still be profitable, especially for smaller businesses.

In 2014 Schaub added solar panels on a shed, producing 17.5 kW-h which he uses for the farm. It makes for a power bill savings of 40 per cent. “You have to rethink your power usage,” Schaub says.

“We try to use our high-energy consumption items like the washing machine and oven during peak hours.”

Peak hours for solar energy are around noon. That’s also the hours of peak public consumption, a win/win situation. There are days now when Germany’s midday consumption is covered completely by solar power. The main challenge with solar energy is still storage. Research is working hard to find an answer but for now, storage ability is limited to batteries, which are expensive.

Schaub has less than 10 years to go on the EEG subsidy program. His solar plant will be more than paid for by that time, so he’ll still make a bit of money.

But the good days will be over. Most German farmers are heavily dependent on subsidies, which make up 30 to 50 per cent of their income.

“Without subsidies I wouldn’t start the tractor in the morning,” Schaub says.

Schaub farms 260 acres, half of which is pasture for the horses. That’s much bigger than the average farm size of the district. “I was fortunate that my father purchased land whenever it came up for sale,” Schaub says. He’s also lucky to be so close to the Swiss border. Most of their boarding horses come from Switzerland. For the Swiss, it’s much cheaper to board horses in Germany.

“The importance of the Swiss borSeptember 2015

der can’t be overestimated,” Käppeler says. “The economic impact for German farmers is immense.” For Schaub it works positively, but for many farmers the impact is negative.

Like Mayer, many are losing land to Swiss farmers who are more than willing to pay a higher rent or land price. Käppeler can get passionate when it comes to good farmland along the border falling way to big shopping malls catering

to Swiss customers. Many of Germany’s products, including food, are much cheaper than in Switzerland.

Times are tough, especially for the smaller German farmer, so it’s good that renewable energy production helps many farmers improve their income, Mayer and Schaub say.

If it’s going to continue to work for those farmers, however, politicians will have to keep being generous. Will they? CG

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business

the china factor Does China’s economic slowdown have to be bad news for Canada’s farmers? We ask Errol Anderson, does he see hope in the year ahead?

By Gord Gilmour, CG Associate Editor or the first instalment in our five-part series this fall and winter, we sat down with Calgary-based grain market adviser and regular Country Guide contributor Errol Anderson for his insights into what to look for in markets this year.

The billion-dollar question, Anderson says, is what will happen in China. Other issues are important too, such as Greece and the chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve could jump the gun on touted rate hikes, just as the economy shows signs of flagging.

And Canada? We’re likely already in recession but just haven’t recognized the fact yet.

It all adds up to a challenging — but not impossible — environment to market grain. Opportunities will emerge, but they’ll be fleeting, so having a marketing plan and sticking to it is going to be more important than ever.

COUNTRY GUIDE: What are the main economic indicators you’re watching these days? What’s your overall take on commodity markets?

Errol Anderson: We’re definitely entering a new marketing era for commodities. For a long time the emerging economies like the BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — have been growing very rapidly. Now we’re seeing these same countries encountering a significant slowdown with their economies turning recessionary. This has had a direct impact slowing global commodity trade. The most recent concern has been China. China’s stock market has been under considerable pressure and there are signs indicating their real estate bubble may be popping. If they’re not growing by six per cent or more, they’re really in recession. I know that sounds crazy, but the truth is their amazing growth has been so highly leveraged, they need that kind of growth to maintain the health of their credit markets.

What we’re seeing now is the early stages of their 16 country-guide.ca

credit bubble imploding. It’s going to have a real impact on commodities, and it’s going to be painful and take awhile. What’s staggering is that China’s economy now represents 39 per cent of the total global GDP growth. China is an economic giant, and its slowdown will impact markets globally.

I think Europe and Greece are really just a sideshow compared to China. It just boils down to the relative size of their economies. We pay a lot of attention to Greece because it’s right in Europe, and there could be some knock-on effects for other indebted countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal. But the loss of wealth in China due to the falling stock market is really going to affect consumption in China as well as global commodity trade. We can already see it weighing heavily on commodities like copper and iron ore. You can see it in shipping rates, with the Baltic dry index basically collapsed. Container ships are simply being dry docked.

CG: You paint a concerning picture.

Until recently we’ve seen fairly rosy economic data, especially out of the U.S. EA:

I don’t think the picture of the U.S. recovery has ever been as good as a lot of people thought it was. The U.S. has experienced a modest recovery since the 2008 financial crisis. But these gains are Continued on page 18 september 2015

soil matters………..www.ifao.com

Dr. David Montgomery – Author of “Dirt – The Erosion of Civilizations” written by Kate Procter

Dr. David Montgomery spoke at the Innovative Farmers Conference on the serious consequences of erosion and the opportunities to stop it and restore our soil.

2015 was named International Year of Soils for good reason. Soil degradation is one of the biggest threats to food security in the future, yet it rarely makes headlines or gets much attention beyond a few no-tillers and soil conservationists, such as Dr. David Montgomery.

In many circles, “it is an absolute sin to call soil ‘dirt’. But if you take soil, erode it, and move it off a productive field – it becomes dirt. This is the short version of the last 10,000 years of human history,” Montgomery told the audience at the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario (IFAO) 2015 conference.

Montgomery is a Professor of Geomorphology in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, and author of “Dirt – Erosion of Civilization”, among other things. Soil is a strategic resource, he said, and the global soil degradation crisis we are experiencing now also plagued ancient societies.

Some of the information Montgomery presented is downright scary. Over the last 40 years, soil erosion and degradation has caused farmers to abandon about 430 million hectares of arable land, an area equivalent to about one third of all present cropland. Recent archaeological studies have shown that soil erosion played a role in the demise of ancient civilizations of Neolithic Europe, Classical Greece, Rome, the southern United States, and Central America. 23 billion tonnes of soil is eroded per year, which works out to be about 0.7 per cent per year. If this were to continue, we would run out of topsoil in 200 years.

However, Montgomery is not all doom and gloom. He believes that changes in agriculture through the next 100 years will change our story’s ending. He presented a United Nations

“ keep the life in the soil as vibrant as possible,” map that showed the global pattern of soil degradation. Included on the map are areas where people have actually restored and built soil. “We can take those examples and make them the norm rather than the example,” he said hopefully.

Is soil restoration possible? "We can build soil surprisingly fast – faster than nature does,” said Montgomery. It takes organic matter, effort in the form of labour and energy, and biological assistance from microbes. “When I was taught about soils – it was all about physics and chemistry. Microbiology has a lot more to do with it than I realized,” he noted. Adding organic matter and restarting the soil formation process can help people build fertile soils.

Montgomery was asked to name two ways to prevent soil from transforming into dirt. “Keep the soil there and keep the life in the soil as vibrant as possible,” he replied. Keep the soil in place by protecting the surface from wind and rain using no-till and cover crops. It is also important to encourage the microbes in the soil to work for you. “We have to turn ‘conventional agriculture’ into something that does both of those things so that 100 years from now, that will be conventional agriculture.”

To view

Dr. Montgomery’s presentation

go to www.ifao.com.

business Continued from page 16 fragile and can come under pressure, especially with economic uncertainty around the globe causing the U.S. dollar to rise. That of course makes it much more difficult for American manufacturers and exporters to compete globally, which undermines their recovery. I think this likely means that, despite public posturing, in reality we’re in a low interest rate environment for several years.

An interest rate increase while economic recovery remains fragile is highly risky, and a gamble for the U.S. Federal Reserve.

True, we’ve already heard a lot of talk about U.S. interest rate increases, including some pretty strong language from Fed governors, but I think what they’re really doing is talking the talk, but not walking the walk. If the Fed does hike rates, it will be just a toe in the water to measure the potential market contagion that might occur both outside and within U.S. borders.

At the same time, we’ve seen both the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank request that the Fed leave interest rates untouched.

They’re concerned about what the global impact of that move would be, since the U.S. dollar is the de facto global currency. Take Brazil as just one example of what might happen — they owe a lot of money and it’s all in U.S. dollars. If U.S. interest rates rise, so will theirs, putting a lot of pressure on their economy just when they don’t need it, because commodity demand is falling. Also remember, by the time President Obama is out of office, the U.S. debt will have ballooned towards a staggering $20 trillion. The U.S. also has to service this debt with higher interest service charges.

It all adds up to a lot of talk, but no sudden moves. If they do move prematurely, it could seriously undermine the U.S. economy and slam the brakes back on. Global contagion could occur. In a lot of ways the U.S. is stuck in the same stagflation trap of chronic slow growth that Japan has found itself in for many years now.

As for Canada, I personally think we’re already in recession, government data just hasn’t caught up to it yet. If China sneezes, Canada catches cold. We can see this in recent moves by the Bank of Canada to reduce interest rates even further. Clearly it’s concerned with the fragility of the Canadian economy.

CG: That sounds grim. Can I safely put you on the bearish side?

EA: (Chuckles.) Sometimes I think I really need to stop being so cautious towards prices. But I’m not trying to sugar-coat commodity markets. This is the reality. Once the process of credit deleveraging occurs, commodities will again turn bullish. Commodity prices — from crude oil to precious metals to copper to grains — are going to remain capped. But there will be opportuni18 country-guide.ca

ties for pricing profits, if you’re watching for them and you’re ready to move when they occur. However, reducing your production costs and paying down debt will also be a big part of this business formula.

This is definitely going to be a year when having a marketing plan in place and doing your best to be disciplined and sticking to it will help business success.

I think probably the greatest danger is going to be for producers who fall victim to picking tops — markets will rally, but rather than sell at a profit, they’ll hang on, expecting prices to recover fully towards previous years’ highs. I really don’t think, given the overall global economic picture and what that’s doing to demand, that it is in the cards for the foreseeable future.

Market recoveries are going to be fleeting and what we’re really going to see is prices see-sawing up and down. Rallies will be short lived, and sell-offs can be swift. You have to be prepared for this. If you don’t understand the nature of this beast, pricing opportunities will be lost.

CG: You say planning will be very important. What would that look like?

EA: The two leading indicators for a farmer putting together a marketing plan are how much control they feel they have over their business, and how well they’re able to sleep at night. Those are the indicators that are really important, and it all starts with the farm balance sheet. It’s not rocket science, but it does require that you get a firm handle on the financial side of your business and understand what your obligations are and when they come due. You also need to have a really good handle on what you have for sale, how much in inventory, how much it cost to produce and what a profitable price will be.

Many farmers do a really good job of this stuff already, but I do think there are some farmers who could up their game a bit. Strong record-keeping is essential, as well as noting why key decisions are made. Try to document why you made a particular sale. Over time, as you collect more and more data and history, a pattern will appear. It’s going to reveal how you make sales and the reasoning behind cash sales. It might even help reveal patterns and market situations where you find yourself doing less-than-strategic marketing, like panic selling to meet a debt obligation or selling into a falling market.

Collecting this sort of information is really important and a valuable tool, especially over time.

As for the day to day, I can’t overstate this — don’t fall victim to pure speculation under the guise of marketing. Your goal as a grain marketer is to find opportunities to price profitably. Don’t hold on, hoping to hit the market peak. The reality is we’ve all tried, and almost none of us have succeeded. You don’t see a market peak with any certainty unless it’s in the rear-view mirror. september 2015

business Generally I recommend that growers use a mix of both cash contracts and the added horsepower of the tools you can find in a commodity trading account.

I’m also generally not a big fan of the extensive use of on-farm storage. Storage can be overused and abused as a marketing strategy. One of the fallacies, as I see it, is producers looking at stored grain as purely an asset, when in reality, I think it can also be seen as a bit of a liability. There are certainly risks tied to storage. Many farmers would be, when appropriate, better served by selling the physical grain and getting early cash flow to pay bills, then turning around and buying the paper in the form of call options, to capture future market upside. I recognize this might not be a big issue for some of your readers but it’s a strategy that bears consideration.

CG: Any last strategic points?

EA: If you believe the world owes you your cost of production, you are mistaken. It’s demand that’s driving this market, not supply.

Markets can and will remain below the cost of production for long periods of time. You’ve heard me say this before, but it deserves repeating — bear markets, on average, last more than twice as long as bull markets.

This is why it’s so very important to take emotion out of your business decisions. It’s why tracking the true cost of production, reining in expenses, understanding all the tools available in your marketing tool box and setting up and executing a marketing plan are so important. Over the next few years, these concepts will all be put to the test. CG

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September 2015

country-guide.ca 19

business

Disasters set the price in many markets, says Alberta’s Tony Varekamp. His goal is to anticipate them, and be poised to sell.

20 country-guide.ca

September 2015

business

Marketing in weather extremes

By Maggie Van Camp, CG Associate Editor

Photography: Chris Yauck Photography

Other farmers use marketing to cut the weather’s impact on their farms. These farmers build on it

September 2015

cross Canada, the late-summer reports were a wild mixture of good, bad and ugly. Crops seemed stellar in southeastern Manitoba, yet in parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, late rains couldn’t undo earlier drought damage, while in Ontario, the outlook swung from excellent to poor based on late frosts and excess rain.

In that context, C ountry G uide spoke with two farmers who were dealing with two very different weather situations. For Eldon Klippenstein in Manitoba, the year was shaping up to be bin busting. Conversely, in southern Alberta, Tony Varekamp was harvesting dryland winter wheat that was yielding about half of normal.

Over the years, most of us have eaten from both sides of this plate, and although we can’t control the weather, we have learned to mitigate the risk. We buy crop insurance and we diversify production. We add irrigation, or tile drainage. And we market around the weather.

There is a next level of sophistication, however, whose objective is to take advantage of the opportunities that the weather creates. It’s a strategy that requires recognizing the volatility of weather markets, tracking forecasts, and seizing the opportunities that line those clouds.

With margins that are tighter these days, and with weather variability that seems to be increasing too, survivors know how to execute smart, disciplined marketing in tough weather situations and how to wring as much out of the system as they can, when they can.

Make hay when the sun shines Brenda Tjaden Lepp, co-founder and chief analyst of FarmLink Marketing Solutions was driving from Winnipeg to Saskatoon in midsummer when Country Guide caught up to her. From her windshield, most crops looked great overall, although some fields had been damaged by the high winds and rain that had roared through the area, complete with an incredible three-hour tornado, the night before.

This year, Tjaden Lepp has suggested that her farm clients in this area stay with their marketing plan and avoid selling into the bearish harvest market. “If there’s no concerns about yield, we consider it safe to pre-sell 20 to 30 per cent of expected yields,” she said.

The tornado touched down about 175 miles from Eldon Klippenstein’s farm near Altona, Man., so his farm was unscathed.

When he had assessed the crops for yield potential in mid-July, they looked very promising. His estimates put overall yields up at least 10 per cent above average.

With the ideal growing conditions, and knowing his cost of production, Klippenstein wanted to catch a price rally earlier in the summer and he had the confidence to pre-sell aggressively. “At this point, production risk is fairly low,” he said. “If the crop looks good and the production risk is fairly low, I’ll forward price a lot.”

Continued on page 22

country-guide.ca 21

business Continued from page 21

Klippenstein focuses on building strong relationships with buyers to create a framework for his marketing.

“A lot” is a serious understatement. Overall, Klippenstein has about two-thirds of normal production pre-sold, and for the next third he has shorted the market on the board.

His confidence is built on a business plan of seeding a variety of crops, often for seed and via direct contracts set up the year before. He grows substantial acreages of soybeans and navy beans, plus CPS wheat and oats, with both cereals destined for milling.

This summer, a third of his wheat was under contract for seed production and 60 per cent of the remainder was already sold on a fixed-price, deferred-delivery contract.

A strong relationship with the buyer means he was able to market 100 per cent of the oat crop a year in advance. This relationship has been built up over years of working closely with the buyer and being up front with the production program. The pricing mechanism is set ahead through a written contract so each party remembers the details. He’s open with the buyer and tries to do things that make the buyer confident that the quality is consistently going to be there.

Both parties get what they need. Klippenstein gets a home for his crop, and the buyer knows they’re going to get all his production. “I don’t do anything that will jeopardize this relationship, and always give them a heads-up,” said Klippenstein.

“This opens the door to do some out-of-the-box marketing.”

Klippenstein hasn’t used any basis contracting this year.

“I see the merits of basis contracting but I do very little with basis,” he said.

Frank Backx, grain marketer for Hensall District Coop in southwestern Ontario also avoids basis selling and instead is a 100 per cent, flat-price seller, aiming to sell in increments into strong prices. “If I do basis wrong and Chicago falls, I get hit with a double whammy,” he explained.

This summer, Ontario basis was significantly impacted by the falling loonie. “I’m bearish on the Canadian dollar,” said Backx. “With the election coming, the government wants to stimulate the economy and is trying to do that by lowering interest rates. By the new year, a $0.72 Canadian dollar wouldn’t surprise me.”

The drooping Canadian dollar was a boost across the country. “I was way upside down in my hedge account until the Canadian dollar started dropping,” said Klippenstein.

The currency drop has also helped his navy beans that are heavily sold, with one-third of the crop pre-booked. “I’ve been able to capitalize on the foreign exchange.”

His dry edible beans hadn’t flourished as much as the other crops with the abundant moisture. As of the end of July it looked like the wet low spots would reduce yields 10 per cent, but Klippenstein was hopeful that their aggressive fertility program for dry beans will help them pull through better in August.

On the other hand, his soybeans were impressive. Klippenstein already had 80 to 85 per cent of average yields sold, including for seed production and deferred delivery, and he also had call and put hedges on the Chicago and Minneapolis markets. “I’m being super aggressive this year and added to sales during the June/July rally.

“If there are profits to be had, sell into the rallies,” said Klippenstein.

22 country-guide.ca

September 2015

Photography: Personal Expressions Photography

Basis and the dollar

business Track and react

gated some raging-bull activity on the markets. For five weeks starting in mid-June, there were some selling opportunities.

Backx said the other factor stimulating Chicago trading this spring was that the speculators were short on corn, soybeans and wheat. In four weeks, 340,000 corn contracts were bought — that’s 1.6 billion bushels, roughly the same amount as the USDA carry-out projected for this year. When they started buying, corn rallied $0.90.

There’s more volatility ahead before the crop comes off, predicted Backx. Farmers should try to track that volatility and take advantage, he said.

“In wet years, crops tend to disappoint, I think that will happen again this year.”

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Klippenstein does follow the weather, however.

Locally he looks at Accuweather, and on his own farm, operational decisions are helped by field stations that record and send data by email on wind and rain events. He also closely follows what’s happening in the U.S. Midwest by looking at the NOAA forecast and the five- to seven-day forecast.

Through the winter, when developing seeding and marketing plans for his soybeans, Klippenstein closely follows South American weather and he tracks seeding intentions in Brazil. “It tells me if I should be aggressive or patient in marketing the next year’s crops,” he said.

Closer to home, he utilizes Twitter. Klippenstein has a network of farmers and buyers in Ontario he follows for insight on the navy bean crop there and in Michigan. Similarly, he follows farmers in the U.S. and Brazil for soybeans.

Before he enters into a sale, he’ll sometimes converse with a FarmLink analyst to justify the move, using them as a sounding board and asking for additional research and to see if there’s anything he’s missed. “Farmers, traders and weather guys are my source,” he said.

In Ontario seeding was challenging with heavy rains and a late frost that nipped low-lying areas.

“Luckily the corn was less than the fifth-leaf stage so it should recover and the beans were mostly still below the soil,” said Backx.

Then in June it rained and rained, and rained some more. While rain gauges overflowed and sprayers sat idle in Ontario, south of the border comparisons flew around with the 1993 great flood of the Mississippi River.

Reports of the eastern Grain Belt being flooded and drought in the western U.S. and Canada insti-

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business Continued from page 23

Drought impact Near Bow Island, an hour and a half east of Lethbridge, Tony Varekamp was driving between fields, organizing crews and machinery to harvest winter wheat.

This year their five combines are driving a little farther to fill the buggies. “The winter wheat is only yielding 30 to 32 bushels on our dry land,” he said. “Normally I can count on 45 or 50 (bushels). Under irrigation it looks like it’s going to top 100 bushels an acre, maybe even 110.”

Varekamp had pre-contracted 2,000 tonnes of winter wheat which he thought he would meet and surpass because of the irrigated fields. He had booked about half of expected yields during the winter and sold some wheat into the summer rally.

The average price he got was $6.30 so he feels this was a conservative pricing strategy that he could easily get out of.

Like Klippenstein, Varekamp taps his own network.

24 country-guide.ca

With less than an inch of rain this spring and summer, the difference between the crops grown under the pivots compared to dry land was stark.

“Any rain in the forecast now isn’t going to help,” said Varekamp. “We needed it two months ago.”

On Varekamp Farms, canola was the worst hit by the drought and Varekamp estimated it will yield only 10 to 15 bushels an acre ­on ground where a 50-bushel crop is normal. They also grow 16,000 acres of peas, canola, and four different types of dry edible beans, sugar beets, potatoes, and winter and spring wheat. Some 70 per cent of their land is under pivots; on the rest they dryland farm peas, wheat and canola.

Varekamp pre-booked 20 bushels per acre and was pretty sure they won’t meet that target. It’s a little more than he normally contracts but once again he liked the price and they should easily be able to buy to fill those contractual obligations.

Normally, Varekamp tends to direct

sell in most months of the year. This year he was more aggressive and pre-booked solid prices in January, February and March, and then catching some of the spring/summer rally.

In early April the canola basis in Lethbridge skyrocketed. Although it levelled off by the summer, the NovemberDecember was still relatively strong and a definite opportunity.

For farmers who can hold off delivery until after harvest, there might be some opportunities on a basis contract or a fixed delivery contract, said David Lea, Market Place Commodities Ltd. in Lethbridge.

Some farmers get stuck in the watchand-hold mode, waiting for prices to go higher without taking advantage along the way by capturing returns over their cost of production. Others will take it to an extreme, holding out for a peak that they rarely hit.

With commodities like barley, where there’s no future’s market to hedge, Lea suggested booking 25 per cent at the beginning of the year and if the crop’s decent, preselling up to half the crop. This way, many marketers lock in cost of production.

“There were many reluctant sellers in the recent up move in the market,” said Lea. “The good marketers are willing to sell in an up market.”

In two days, barley dropped from $250 to $220 a tonne, said Lea, but the guys who sold right before had watched the forecast and knew decent provincewide rains were coming.

The drought might also create some local selling opportunities. Although barley acres are up across the province, Lea was expecting the lower yields and quality to be impacted.

Varekamp’s brother farms in Holland and the two exchange weather information so he has first-hand information on what the crop has been like in Europe and he shares how the weather is in the Prairies and keeps a close eye on Kansas and Texas. He also watches what the weather trends are in Australia, knowing that usually half that country is burning up and the other half is drowning.

Disasters set the price, said Varekamp.

He also keeps in mind the political disasters, like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I watch the news, the TV, read Market Sense, talk to Cargill,” Varekamp said. But still it takes judgment, he said. “After reading all those reports and combining them, I get some sense of the trends and go with a gut feeling.” CG September 2015

CHRISTIAN FARMERS FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 642 Woolwich St. • Guelph, ON • N1H 3Y2 Voice: (519) 837-1620 Fax: (519) 824-1835 Email: cffomail@christianfarmers.org Web site: www.christianfarmers.org

Stewardship of Soil and Water Suzanne Armstrong

T

he Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario’s focus on long-term thinking has turned our attention to the importance of water stewardship as an issue for agriculture, in Ontario and beyond, going forward.

Good water stewardship has the potential to increase productivity for many agricultural sectors. It also builds resiliency in the face of changing weather patterns which may mean more severe rainfalls or periods of drought. The potential impact of agricultural practices on the Great Lakes, and on water systems in general is a key concern, both north and south of the border. Good water stewardship on the farm contributes to the overall health of our shared water resources.

One of the important considerations for water stewardship is soil stewardship, as the two are closely connected.

Poor soil stewardship means that top soil and applied nutrients can leave fields and end up in water ways and lakes. Soils with low organic matter are less resilient to extremes of heavy rain or drought.

The quality of soil, and especially the organic matter in soil, improves both drainage and water retention. Farmers know this.

On our CFFO Winter Policy Tour, many farmers mentioned the importance of good crop rotations,

of leaving organic matter in fields, and of having buffer strips to keep soil and nutrients in farm fields and out of water systems.

Ontario is blessed with a very diverse agricultural sector.

While that is the case, experts at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada tell us that many farmers are still relying heavily on just two primary crops; corn and soy beans.

As soil researchers at University of Guelph are proving, diverse crop rotation benefits soil quality.

Adding other crops to the rotation, such as wheat, oats, or a forage crop does make a difference.

A general farm organization that is rooted in faith and guided by values

Farmers are always challenged to balance the ideal situation with the reality of today, be that the social, environmental or economic reality.

They have to make decisions that will keep their farms viable both now and into the future. Farmers are innovators, and find solutions that work on their own farms.

Maintaining a diverse crop rotation can be part of the solution. The benefits of good soil and water stewardship are felt directly on the farm, but extend far beyond.

Farming well promotes good crop yields along with the health of soil and water over the long-term.

• 21 District Associations Across Ontario • Supporting our members since 1954 • A Professional Organization of Entrepreneurial Farming Families

www.christianfarmers.org

A professional organization of entrepreneurial farming families

business

Just opened, Ontario’s new food hub is building on a continental strategy to take the cost out of value adding.

The hub of an opportunity Food hubs are moving north, making it easier for medium-size farms to break into ‘local’ sales without all the marketing

By Lois Harris rissia Mellor is on a mission to boost the sustainability of farmers and small businesses in eastern Ontario. In Northumberland County’s economic development and tourism department, she’s the energetic agriculture manager, and she’s also heavily involved in getting the new Ontario AgriFood Venture Centre (OAFVC) up and running.

The venture centre is one of a growing number of regional food hubs in Canada that is using consumers’ appetite for local food to benefit local farmers, small businesses and rural communities.

“We are helping farmers find ways to grow their business without putting them at a disadvantage,” Mellor says of the centre’s work.

Food hubs can be bricks-and-mortar regional warehouses where local farmers’ products are gathered and distributed to retail and institutional outlets. Or they can be digital, a sort of virtual gathering place where producers and buyers connect to make business transactions.

Obviously, there’s a lot of opportunity nearby.

Some food hubs offer processing services, or they conduct business and marketing workshops for 26 country-guide.ca

farmers. Some provide cooking classes to teach consumers how to prepare healthy local food. Some are co-operatives, some are private companies, and some others are publicly owned.

They're also a hot trend. A survey of national food hubs in 2013 conducted by Michigan State University and the Wallace Centre at Winrock International found that 61 per cent of the 222 U.S. hubs they studied were less than five years old.

While there are many different kinds of food hubs, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) working definition of a food hub is “a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution and marketing of sourceidentified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen the ability to satisfy wholesale, retail and institutional demand.” It’s a mouthful, but the direction of it is clear.

The survey also showed that food hubs are generating positive cash flows whether they are old or new. Even so, the most successful hubs are the ones that have been in business for 10 years and have Continued on page 28 september 2015

Measure it up

Counting bales doesn't tell you how much feed is in the yard

CANADIAN FORAGE & GRASSLAND ASSOCIATION

www.canadianfga.ca • Ph: 506-260-0872

It could be said that there are two measures of yield — total tonnage and total nutrition. While tonnage is the easiest to measure, just knowing how many bales or tonnes you have on hand isn't necessarily an accurate depiction of if you've got enough feed to get through winter.

The earlier you can assess actual yield (a function of both tonnage and nutrient levels), the more time you have to prepare for a shortfall in stocked feed.

While late-spring seeding with an eye to fall grazing can help stretch winter feed needs, it's September — what action can you take now to make sure you're ready for the months ahead?

First off, if you're not in the habit of feed testing, this may be the year to start. Cattle don't just eat pounds of feed, they ingest nutrients — bales of equal weight can have vastly different nutritional profiles.

Testing hay is always a good idea, but can be especially beneficial when feed is tight or very expensive. And remember — visual assessments of feed may be

able to quickly split feed into high- vs. low-quality categories, but this isn't enough to build a balanced ration from.

Once you've determined what amount of energy and protein you have, it's time to flex those networking muscles. Even if you have tried-and-true hay suppliers you go to, you may already have had to go outside your typical sourcing area to find feed.

This is where getting creative may help — is there the possibility of fall grazing some non-traditional acres?

What about non-traditional feed sources like silaged canola or straw/residue? If you've got cattle that respect hot wire, the possibilities to stretch the grazing season well into the fall could buy you a much needed reprieve on feed costs.

While tight feed supplies and poor forage growth are the immediate concerns, there's a second valuable side to having an accurate measure of the nutrients coming off the field — determining your true cost of production both of the hay and silage and of the cattle, but we'll discuss that in our next feature.

The Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association is online with a newly refreshed website and online resource.

Connect with CFGA on Twitter @CFGA_ACPF and on Facebook!

Canadian Forage in the International Year of Soils – Capture the Intensity!

November 17 – 19th, 2015 Sheraton Cavalier Hotel, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan With the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization having declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils, what better opportunity to showcase the contribution of forages to profitable livestock production, healthy cropping systems, and overall ecosystem health for Canadian society.

The 6th Annual CFGA conference will highlight the profitability of intensive forage production systems and the potential of forages to provide ecosystem goods and services for all Canadians.

Join us this November 17- 19th, 2015 in beautiful downtown Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for Canadian Forage in the International Year of Soils – Capture the Intensity!

www.canadianfga.com

business

The hub’s flexible line eliminates the need to invest the $100,000 for even a simple food process.

Exchange rate makes the time right, says GFS’s Crawford Continued from page 26 many farmer suppliers. About 40 per cent of hubs are privately held, and another 32 per cent are nonprofits, including producer-owned co-operatives.

Most of the suppliers to these food hubs are small- to medium-size producers.

The idea is catching on in Canada. Vancouver and Edmonton are among several cities that have food hubs as part of their food strategies. Just Foods is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “work towards vibrant, just and sustainable food and farming systems in the Ottawa region.” Its main motivation is increasing access to healthy local food for everyone in the area.

Ontario’s Local Organic Food Co-ops is conducting a regional food hub expansion project in four locations including Sudbury, Ottawa, Thunder Bay and London with more than $73,000 in help from the province’s Local Food Fund.

As well, Gordon Food Services (GFS), a U.S.based food distributor, is working with the Greenbelt Fund to help develop food hubs in different areas across the province. It already has more than 600 local Ontario products in its offerings.

When asked if food hubs make farmers more money, Pete Bozzer, local food sales specialist at GFS 28 country-guide.ca

says, “Market value will be market value. What the hub does for farmers is it allows them to minimize costs by providing one central distribution point and co-ordinated volume purchases and packaging, as well as sales and marketing.”

Three key factors that the big food distributors are looking for are food safety, traceability and consistent, standardized packaging, according to Steve Crawford, business development specialist for produce, dairy and local at GFS. Crawford has been working on the local food file for five years and thinks there’s tremendous opportunity for local farmers to supply larger buyers, but they need to work together.

“And now’s the time to take advantage of the exchange rate — if we do a good job now as a company and with our customers, it will help us maintain markets later, when things change,” Crawford says.

His company has a deal with Woolwich Dairy to act as a food hub for artisanal cheese makers like the Thornloe Cheese Factory north of New Liskeard and the Upper Canada Cheese Company in the Niagara region. Woolwich aggregates the cheese at its factory in Orangeville and Gordon Food Service picks it up and distributes it.

Back at the Agri-Food Venture Centre, a May 1, 2015 launch by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne september 2015

business was followed quickly by equipment testing and clients lining up to use the state-of-art facilities. The centre offers services including cutting, washing, bottling, packaging, flash-freezing and labelling. It also has a laboratory for recipe development and refrigerated storage space.

The centre’s mandate is diverse, including supporting farmers seeking value-adding opportunities, helping foodies with recipe development and working with food processing startups and expansions.

The idea for the $2.4-million facility came out of a Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) project through the Ontario agriculture ministry.

Funding for the centre itself came from a variety of sources, including the provincial and federal governments, several eastern Ontario municipalities and a local federation of agriculture.

While the centre only recently opened, the plan is to break even within the next 2-1/2 years.

“As a publicly owned, non-profit institution, we are completely open and transparent about what we are doing with the money we receive,” Mellor says. “Any profit will be reinvested back into the facility.”

Mellor says the centre offers farmers a way to add value to their products without having to break the bank. He points out that individual pieces of food-processing equipment can have prices tags of $80,000 to $100,000, and farmers would also face the costs of meeting health and safety regulations, plus the possibility of increased property taxes.

When talking to farmers, Mellor says, “we have the equipment available for you when you need it and you don’t have to pay for it when you’re not using it.”

The centre is already popular — Mellor says she gets about six calls a day from farmers and entrepreneurs — and while it’s just starting up, there’s a lot of research that shows facilities like this can boost bottom lines for farmers and everyone else in the community.

Cornell University completed a U.S. study in December 2013 that said food hubs made more local farm products available and helped farmers expand their businesses through access to better freight and storage as well as increased exposure to large urban wholesale customers.

Medium-size farms did the best in terms of getting more opportunities for sales.

In terms of the effect of food hubs on the local economy, the study found a 63 per cent increase in demand for other industrial products for every additional dollar spent on food hub products.

A January 2013 USDA study on the role of food hubs in local food marketing said that farmers who supply The Local Food Hub in Charlottesville, Virginia reported an average 25 per cent increase in sales as a result of working with that hub. All 60 farmer suppliers have small- to medium-size businesses and take advantage of a large menu of services offered by the hub — from networking to insurance coverage to rental space in cold storage, discounted seeds, and inexpensive website development.

But all is not rosy on the food hub front. In the same USDA study, several drawbacks were documented, including insufficient capital, a lack of risk management planning, Continued on page 30

REPRESENTATIVES WANTED SIGA Farm Software has been in operation since 1981 and provides high-quality farm management software to farmers and their consultants (bookkeeping, field and crop, least-cost ration formulation and herd management).

SIGA is looking for motivated representatives based in Ontario to promote, sell and support our software locally.

This could be a great opportunity for agents already working for another company who want to expand their product line and offer quality Canadian softwares to their clients.

Please contact Steve Letendre 1-800-567-0915 Extension 233 steve.letendre@siga.net

> Empty Pesticide Container Recycling Program

There are many reasons to rinse. #1

Only rinsed containers can be recycled

#2

Helps keep collection sites clean

#3

Use all the chemicals you purchase

#4

Keeps collection sites safe for workers

#5

Maintain your farm’s good reputation

No excuse not to!

more information or to find a collection { For site near you visit cleanfarms.ca

Now, take your empty fertilizer containers along for the ride!

september 2015

country-guide.ca 29 10901A-CFM-5Reasons-QRTPage-CountryGuide.indd 1

4/2/14 11:59 AM

business

Planning, logistics and sales strategies all get a leg up, thanks to hub.

Continued from page 29 human resource and staffing issues, poor access to food-processing facilities, difficulty obtaining contract and food safety liability insurance, the costs and time of complying with regulations and more.

Because of the alternative nature of the business models, most new food hubs can’t get financing through traditional channels and have to turn to micro-lenders, non-profit organizations or government for grants or loans.

Back in Ontario, the FoodHub pilot project was initiated by the South Central Ontario Region Economic Development Corporation (SCOR), which includes Brant, Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin counties. It has 20 to 30 producer suppliers, depending on the time of year, and customers can order products online at their website www.localfoodmarketplace.com/ scorfoodhub.

More info Nourishing Communities: Sustainable Local Food Systems Research Group (Ontario) www.nourishingontario.ca Greenbelt Fund Food Hubs page (Ontario) www.greenbeltfund.ca/tags/food_hubs Local Food Fund (Ontario) www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/about/localfood.htm FoodHub (Ontario) www.localfoodmarketplace.com/scorfoodhub/ The Role of Food Hubs in Local Marketing (USDA) www.rd.usda.gov/files/sr73.pdf National Good Food Network (U.S.) www.ngfn.org USDA Agricultural Marketing Service www.ams.usda.gov/

30 country-guide.ca

FoodHub has four product drop-off locations, including White Crest Mushrooms, VG Meats, Norfolk Fruit Growers and Froese Vegetables.

The FoodHub has been up and running for only a year and a half.

“We ran into some difficulties last year, so things didn’t get done, and we had limited sales,” says Kim Earls, SCOR’s regional economic development coordinator. “But the producers and hubs stuck with us — I’m so thankful for them.”

Since then, they’ve hired a dedicated sales and customer relations person and a food hub co-ordinator who takes care of matching up the orders on the website and arranging deliveries.

“For us, logistics is a make-or-break component of the business,” Earls says.

The FoodHub’s customers include Gordon Food Service, which uses the FoodHub to meet its 25 per cent local food target. The hub also supplies the local student nutrition program that feeds 900 schools in three counties. A major customer is MealSource, a non-profit organization that handles food contracts for 34 hospitals and other health facilities throughout Ontario. Wendy Smith, a contract specialist with MealSource, is a member of the steering committee of the FoodHub. “Having a clear picture of who you want to sell to is a must for any food hub,” says Earls. “We were fortunate to have MealSource as an anchor customer.”

The next steps for SCOR are to continue building relationships with producers and reaching out to new customers. Eventually, the business will be turned over to the producers and hubs.

Nick Vranckx, owner of Blueberry Hill Estates in Norfolk County likes selling his products through the FoodHub because it streamlines the process of finding suppliers, because of the handy drop-off location in Simcoe and because of the $100 lifetime registration fee.

He would like to see more people signing up for the service, and has high praise for the people running the hub. Vranckx employs 100 to 150 pickers and supplies fresh blueberries to Longo’s grocery stores as well as making several products on farm, including blueberry wine and pickled blueberries.

“It’s almost too good to be true,” Vranckx says.

“I know of growers who have to pay the (Ontario) Food Terminal up to 15 per cent of their sales.” CG september 2015

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HR

Are you ready for change?

By Pierrette Desrosiers, psychologist and coach

arwin demonstrated that human beings, like all species, must constantly adapt to change or risk disappearing. In agriculture, as in business, we adapt, changing in order to survive effectively in a competitive world.

In fact, change is the only constant. However, change for its own sake is far from beneficial, either economically or from a human perspective.

“How do we make sure that we are changing for the better?” my clients frequently ask.

One thing is certain. There are no guaranteed outcomes to any decisions we make. Nevertheless, the coaching approach provides us with some interesting questions we can ask ourselves about the prospective changes we think we must make, whether they are small (e.g. changing cellphones) or big (e.g. building a new barn or buying land).

These questions may increase your chances of making successful changes. Try them out before making your next change!

First, ask yourself…

What will this change most improve in my life?

How does this change fit with my values, needs, and farm/life mission?

What results do I want? If I am in the process of changing, is it because I want a result different from my current situation? How am I going to measure that result? What methods will I use to gauge the success of this change?

How do I make the change? What resources are available to me to make this change, and what others will I need? Prepare a list of your resources, including time, money, materials, skills, etc.

How much time do I have? Do I want to make this change immediately, by the end of the month, or by the end of the year?

Do I have a margin of error? If I am mistaken about this change, what will be the consequences?

Could I live with them? Are they irreversible?

What would happen if I did not change or did not make this particular change?

What are some alternatives to this change? Could I find some other solution that is less expensive in time, energy, money and risk? Sometimes people confuse the means with the end. They confuse the strategies with the bigger goals.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of these alternatives compared to this initial desired change? Prepare a pros and cons list.

What is the cost of this change? Cost includes every potential drawback, including stress (all changes produce stress), money, energy, time and more.

32 country-guide.ca

Am I really ready to pay the price for this change?

How do I usually react to change?

Second, ask others…

Who else does this change affect? Have they been consulted? Are they involved in the decision? Are they willing? Don’t assume you know what they will say. Actually ask them.

What do they have to gain or lose?

What is the true cost of this change for them? Are they ready to pay it? Can they pay it?

Do my team and I have the resources to implement the change?

Every change has a cost. As humans, we have a limit to the number and nature of changes we can endure in a certain period of time. A change can be imposed by external factors or not (for example, if your house burns down, you have to build a new one). Change can also be pleasant or not, and it can be planned or not. When we perceive that we have made a decision and that we are in control of the change, and that it will be pleasant, we anticipate a more positive transition. However, we have to remember that every change introduces stress, even positive changes.

When we undergo change, our brain works hard.

We plan, organize, evaluate, and make many more decisions than usual. All these CEO tasks require resources (glucose, oxygen, nutrients) from the executive part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex. Because these are limited resources, we become exhausted when faced with important changes. We suffer from what has been called “decision fatigue.”

Clients rarely tell me that their project (new acquisition, construction, expansion) was easier than they expected. People generally underestimate the time, energy and cost of a change. Perhaps we must be a little bit naive to fully invest ourselves in a new project. Who really knew what it would be like to be a parent? To be married? To run a farm?

The idea is to be realistic. We have to be prepared for change because the project that starts as a dream could become a nightmare.

After all, says Darwin, it is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change. CG Pierrette Desrosiers, MPS, CRHA is a work psychologist, professional speaker, coach and author who specializes in the agricultural industry.

She comes from a family of farmers and she and her husband have farmed for more than 25 years ( www.pierrettedesrosiers.com ). Contact her at pierrette@pierrettedesrosiers.com.

September 2015

Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association

SOIL CHAMPION Recognizing outstanding achievements and advocacy in the cause of soil management excellence

Soil Champion’s fields could unlock corn yield potential

By Lilian Schaer, for Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association The fascination with Dean Glenney’s soil continues unabated.

The Dunnville, Ontario area farmer first started turning heads in 2010 when he won the Dupont-Pioneer corn yield challenge –and credited an unusual crop growing approach called fence row farming.

For two decades, he has planted every corn or soybean crop in twin rows into the rootball of the previous year’s crop, always in exactly the same location. He always runs his planting and harvesting equipment down the exact same paths too, and he’s getting yields that are double those of other farmers in his area.

Media interviews and speaking engagements began rolling Glenney’s way, along with other accolades like Haldimand County Farmer of the Year and being named the 2015 Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) Soil Champion this past winter.

“George started doing research here on bacterial colonization and because we don’t disturb the soil, bacteria is being colonized specifically to provide the nutrients that corn needs,” Glenney explains, adding that cultivation makes bacterial colonization more random.

“There is 20 years’ worth of crop residue in the ground feeding my microbial livestock.”

Glenney’s heavy clay soil is covered by six to 12 inches of sand-loam-clay mix, resulting in near zero natural drainage. The soil is very sticky, he says, and builds up on everything when wet; working it results in serious ponding issues and poor root penetration.

And although the organic matter in the soil tests has not increased dramatically – still around three per cent – Glenney says the entire crop residue is gone by the next year.

The new research now involves field trials to identify the bacteria and fungi in the soil that contribute to its health, with A&L partnering with researchers at Western University to complete the three year project.

Since receiving the OSCIA honour, his soil has become the subject of a multi-year, federally funded research project headed up

by George Lazarovits, research director at A&L Biologicals in London, Ontario, who is keen to unlock the Glenney field secrets and learn what is behind those large yields.

As part of the work on Glenney’s farm, Lazarovits convinced him to work up a piece of his ground last year and again this year so the research team can study what happens to yields on both the tilled and untilled soil over several years. Glenney has noticed far fewer middens in the worked soil, showing a disruption in earthworm activity.

Lazarovits and Glenney first met in Montreal at a Dupont-Pioneer farm meeting, and Glenney’s description of his fence row farming technique led Lazarovits to believe his yields were the result of not just healthy soil structure, but also the microorganisms within it.

“When you till the soil, it’s like unlocking a bank account,” says Glenney. “When you first work it, you’re making a withdrawal, and your yields will spike at first. But they’ll decrease over time if you continue to till, just as your bank balance decreases as you continue to take out money. Tillage is a way to mine the soil.”

Lazarovits’ work showed it was the microorganisms in the soil that gave the corn its boost, rather than fertilizers or manure, and that by not disturbing those microorganisms through tillage, they were creating an ideal growing environment for the crop.

Lazarovits and his team are regularly visiting the Glenney farm to take samples, look at the root systems of the growing corn plants, and conducting various tests. Ultimately, the goal is to determine what can make a plant produce more while using the same amount of fertilizer; the long term results could lead to microbial fertilizers, for example.

In the meantime, Glenney is also doing his own experiments in an effort to continue boosting his yields, which he says have plateaued somewhat over the last couple of years. He has modified a sprayer to specifically fit his row widths and is applying foliar fungicide to his crops this year for the first time.

He also used a new chopper this year to chop crop residue before planting. What he didn’t count on was the chopper’s efficiency: it left such a thick mat of material it was difficult for the planter to work through it and it took a bit of time for Glenney to get the planter adjusted to handle the loose residue.

“It was 20 acres before the planter was putting the seeds exactly where I wanted them. These contests can drive you crazy,” he admitted, referring to the yield challenges. “But you have to get the fundamentals right.”

Do you know someone worthy of the title Soil Champion? For the application form and details, visit: www.ontariosoilcrop.org

Grassroots Innovation Since 1939

ame-management

The farmer as CEO

By Terry Betker

n Internet search will reveal several definitions of the roles and responsibilities for the chief executive officer (CEO) of a business. The degree of formality of the actual position and its title varies considerably from business to business, depending on size, complexity, and organizational preferences. Potential roles and responsibilities of the CEO are summarized below.

CEO roles and responsibilities Leadership: • Promote change related to the mission and vision of the business.

• Motivate family and team members.

• Work to increase shareholder (or owner) value.

• Manage succession.

• Liaise within the community.

Vision: • M onitor industry developments and look for future opportunities.

Management and decision-making: • Oversee operations and plan implementation.

• Manage human resources.

• Manage investment and related financial performance.

Risk management: • Analyze risk.

• Develop and implement mitigation strategies.

Management evolution on a farm More farms are finding themselves in situations where they are considering a CEO-type application for their businesses. The farmer, early in his or her career, provides all labour and management to the operation. As the business evolves, they take on the role of teacher as there are new employees (or family members) who provide some of the labour component.

The farmer’s role advances to where the function then more closely resembles that of a manager. This is the most common, and at the same time challenging situation farmers find themselves in. It is challenging in that many farmers find it difficult to fully engage as managers, which requires more time be spent in the office and less time in the field.

For some, it is a question of what they enjoy doing. For others it is a function of value. Is an hour in the office equal to an hour in the field? The answer to the question has direct correlation to the purposeful, personal advancement of the farmer through to a manager and then to a CEO. The difference between the leader and manager function is subtle, and can best be described by looking at the actions of the people who provide the labour component. Where a farmer is functioning as 34 country-guide.ca

a manager, the people providing the labour component will be doing so because they’ve been told what to do. Where a farmer is a leader, by contrast, the people providing the labour will be doing so because they want to — because they’ve embraced the vision and plan as presented by the leader.

It is increasingly difficult to advance through the different phases of management evolution, but the farm or business should see the positive results of the advancement. Employees working with a leader versus a manager will generally be more productive. For example, on a farm, more care will be given to production details resulting in better yields when people working on the farm are working for a leader. There will be less downtime due to equipment breakdown, and there will also be improved employee retention.

These in turn improve the farm’s financial performance, which then increases shareholder value, which, as noted above, is one of the responsibilities of the CEO.

CEO position application Clearly, leadership can be attained without the formality of the CEO title. The title alone will not get the desired results.

However, where there is motivation to formalize the position, the first thing is to develop a detailed position description. There can be challenges in situations where there are partners (husband/wife; brothers) involved. Who should be the CEO? How will the decision be made?

When there are multiple partners involved, a specific and/or limited role that best represents the needs of the farm is one option. Or there could be a rotation where one partner is CEO for a couple of years, with another partner then assuming the responsibilities for a term. Often, people will decide they don’t want to take on the position as it will require, depending on the description, some change in what they do on a day-today basis; in other words, less time “in the field.”

The CEO function can also be effective in succession planning. A senior family member can take on the CEO position and transfer managerial and operational duties to the incoming generation. This provides opportunity for the next generation to assume some responsibility and autonomy. It also creates a structure that can endure through the full transition when the senior member fully retires.

There are courses or workshops that provide instruction and training in leadership. These may be a useful first step in a longer-term plan to develop the CEO position on a farm. CG Terry Betker is a farm management consultant based in Winnipeg, Man. He can be reached at 204-782-8200 or terry.betker@backswath.com.

September 2015

September 2015

Ready for More corn

Farming for profitability pG. 6

For young farmers like Billy Beaudry, it‘s all about technology

Moving north pG. 10 A year to manage risk pG. 18

PG. 3

Today’s IPM challenge.......... pg. 12

When good isn’t good enough.... pg. 15

Search for a ‘tipping point’.....pg. 16

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Cornguide

Maximize efficiency above all else

East of Montreal, Billy Beaudry knows he’s under pressure to choose the right corn technologies

By Ralph Pearce, CG Production Editor

Photography: Stephanie Mantha PhotoGraphe

F

“ When we do try something, we try it as a side-by-side comparison, so we know what’s going on.”

— Billy Beaudry

arming in Quebec typically calls to mind those long, narrow ribbons of land that run inland from the St. Lawrence River. But that’s not the reality that Billy Beaudry and his family face on their farm about a third of the way toward the U.S. border, on a plateau between the St. Lawrence and the Appalachian Mountains.

The Quebec stereotype (like farm stereo-types all across Canada) might also call for a farmer who is a grey-haired veteran steeped in tradition.

As you’ll see, that isn’t his reality either.

Beaudry and his family are based near Saint-Valérien-de-Milton, about 20 minutes southeast of SaintHyacinthe, just east of Montreal. Billy is a third-generation farmer and graduated from McDonald College at McGill University in 2006. His uncle took over the family dairy operation, so when Billy’s father Alain started farming in 1982, he began with a small sow barn and then started purchasing more land to go with it.

Today, the family operates on roughly 1,500 acres, with mostly corn and soybeans grown on the plateau’s variable ground, where soil types frequently change within individual fields.

The Beaudrys also do some sharecropping, usually based on wheat although there have been years where they have turned to barley and oats, with the occasional contracts for seed oats. In addition to the cropping operation, the family has kept their hands in the pork industry, operating Beau Porc, a 100-sow farrow-to-finish operation with as many as 2,100 finishing hogs under contract.

Keeping everything manageable is a Continued on page 4

Corn Guide, September 2015

3

Continued from page 3

complex process, yet the focus on the farm seems to be on finding operating efficiencies, including working with a relatively small group of full-time employees. In all, there are four members of the family who work on the farm: Billy, his parents, Alain and Sylvie, and his sister, Cindy. During spring planting and fall harvest, they also bring in as many as four seasonal employees to help with the duties.

In addition to juggling crops and livestock, Beaudry says the soil variability is one large challenge, and the weather often makes it even tougher.

“Even though all of our land is tiled drained, we do a lot of surface drainage every year,” Beaudry says. “We are working with an RTK system to make some topographical maps to level our soil. But it still seems as though the rain events are a lot bigger than they used to be.”

Frost is slow to leave such soils, so even though low commodity prices can increase the incentive for getting a good start, the reality of spring weather can make things very difficult.

Land prices not the same impact Just as prices for land are on the rise across the country, it’s the same in Quebec. Beaudry knows of two neighbours who were vying for the same piece of land. The bidding process escalated before the deal finally closed for nearly $22,000 per acre.

“We can only plant 2700 or push it to 2800 heat-unit corn,” says Beaudry. “It’s not like in the Saint-Hyacinthe area where the soils are great and it drains the water so well, and they usually have a half a tonne per acre more yield than we do, doing the same kind of work.”

He expects regional land prices will ease, either coming down slightly or at least staying relatively stable. In the meantime, Beaudry says he continues to look to improve efficiencies on his farm, using new technologies and systems, as well as learning from other growers in his area.

“The most important thing is that when we do try something, we try it as a side-by-side comparison, so we know what’s going on,” he says. “If it’s valuable, then we know how much more money we’re making, and if it’s not, it helps to understand why it didn’t work. It’s more a matter of trying to get the idea of what 4

other people are doing that’s good, and trying to replicate it on our farm.”

2015 is also the fourth year the Beaudr ys have been using the GreenSeeker technology, trying it first in 2012 in side-by-side comparisons in two fields with their dry fertilizer applicator.

In those trials, Beaudry says they could see the technology was working, but to get the full potential, they had to apply later in the season. That’s when they decided to go with the Y-Drop system and found it to be the perfect companion to the GreenSeeker units.

“With that technology, we’ve changed the way we’re fertilizing our crops now, and we’ve learned a lot, too, because even with the rain we have, we’ve been side dressing for a long time,” says Beaudry, noting that his father started the practice about 15 years ago. “But during trials, we realized that sometimes we’re probably not putting down enough N early in the season, and then we would come back too late, and that would cost us a bit of yield. Now we have a starter at about 50 kg of N per hectare (roughly 47 lbs. of N per acre) and then we come back at the two-leaf stage and add another 50 kg of N per hectare. So mainly half of our nitrogen is put down early, and after that, I go with the Y-Drop and the GreenSeeker system at the 12-leaf stage, at least.”

The move to more intensively evaluating new technologies on the family farm has also encouraged better tracking of crop histories. Based on in-season monitoring, Beaudry and his family have a better idea of what to expect in the fall.

Use of basic GPS technology and the GreenSeeker system allows him to keep better records and then try to narrow the focus on particular parts of the field according to specific soil types.

Importantly, by developing more precise plans, Beaudry is able to get closer to maximizing crop production and reducing the costs that go with it.

“It’s also great for record-keeping and making things simpler, always calculating our cost of production for every field, every year, so we know where to go after,” he explains. “We always try for better yields — that’s the main thing for us. But we’re also taking a good look at our cost of production, to make sure we’re not buying those yields. That’s our goal every year — to beat our record year — but at the same time, we’re slowly trying to move towards more reduced tillage.”

Quebec farmers have it “covered” The Beaudrys also make use of cover crops, wherever and whenever possible, including into corn. There are some in his region who do more with cover crops but Beaudry is well experienced with ryegrass given the soils and types of drainage he has on his land. Again, depending on the year and the crop rotation, he likes to spread seed early, seeding into corn after the second glyphosate application, around the fiveto six-leaf stage.

And he always grows a cover crop after his wheat, noting that there’s more time to do what he wants in advance of seeding. If it’s a sharecrop, he can level

Corn Guide, September 2015

the land, put down some manure followed by lime, and then subsoil everything, after which he can plant ryegrass or blend it with oilseed radish.

In 2014, he also tried peas in the mix, acknowledging that the seed is a little more expensive, but that he’s been told it can reduce nitrogen costs.

“It’s kind of a trial that we’ll see this year, if the part of the field that had some peas on it last year has even better yields in corn, and if I can put less nitrogen and reduce my costs,” says Beaudry. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Slow and steady For now, Beaudry, his parents and his sister take a more methodical

approach of managing their farm.

They’ll assess any new trend or practice, performing the side-by-side compar isons that prov ide reasonably conclusive results, and find the right fit for their operation — first and foremost.

Although he sees himself as open minded and willing to try new things, it’s always with the same “slow and steady” approach. It’s easy, he has found, to get caught up in the trap of buying newer and bigger technology without first determining a system’s cost-benefit.

It’s also important to share information, he believes. Beaudry was among the first in Quebec to use the Y-Drop

system, often hosting other farmers to see first hand what the system can do.

“We t h i n k w e s t i l l h ave s o m e things to maximize on the land we have,” says Beaudry, adding that their goal is to be sustainable while casting an eye on the future (he has two children and another on the way, and his sister has a son and is considering having another) and a desire to keep farming in the family. “We want to be ready if there are a lot of people interested in farming. Obviously in the long term, we think about increasing the size, but we’re not in a big rush because now it doesn’t make sense.

You have to capture your net income to have more land.” CG

“We always try for better yields — but we’re also taking a good look at our cost of production, to make sure we’re not buying those yields.” — Billy Beaudry

Corn Guide, September 2015

5

Cornguide

Farming for profitability Precision ag systems can take your ability to analyze profits way past yesterday’s cost-revenue calculations

By Ralph Pearce, CG Production Editor

6

I

t’s been the mantra of agricultural economists, bankers and even agronomists for the past 20 years. “Know your cost of production.” At every podium at every conference, you can almost guarantee the question is going to get asked. How can a farmer farm successfully without knowing their cost of production?

We’re always told every successful corporate executive outside of agriculture knows the cost of their widgets or grommets, usually down to the last fraction of a penny.

Then the question comes again: Can agriculture afford to be different?

But agriculture HAS changed, especially in the past 10 to 15 years, maybe not because the idea of farming for profitability is so new (it isn’t) but because farmers now have the ability to measure specific properties on the farm, from fertility levels to soil organic matter percentages to cation exchange capacity.

Of course, farming has also changed because the numbers are getting so much more volatile, which puts additional pressure on farm decision-making, not just from year to year but sometimes from one week to the next.

The equipment and systems used to support these decisions are far more complex than they were even five years ago, just as the complexity of our seed technologies has leapt ahead, with double- and triple-stacked traits as well as drought toler­ance and above- and below-ground pest protection. It’s a new universe compared to when Bt genetics first hit the market in the early 1990s.

All of these things have changed the landscape in which farmers conduct business. Yet the focus in the fields still tends to be centred on productivity. How is your company rep or your ag dealer helping you drive yield? In spite of the layers and the complexity, yield remains the single most-important factor in measuring

success, and some are arguing that’s only because there’s a comfort level that comes with yield, along the same lines of “if it’s bigger, it must be better.”

Now it’s all being challenged by individuals including Mike Wilson, a certified crop adviser with Thompson’s Limited.

For the past two years, Wilson has been building tools that can monitor, measure and collate farm details into a workable program to increase profitability.

“A lot of this is still in the experimental stages,” says Wilson, who’s based at the company’s Blenheim, Ont. office. “With some of our key customers, we’re starting to see some really positive results, and it’s starting to confirm that we are on the right track and it is something that we’re going to be able to take to the mainstream as we move forward to develop into a more encompassing program for all of our customers.”

Contrary to the perception that “preci-

“It’s not precision ag anymore, it’s agronomy.”

— Mike Wilson, Thompson’s Limited sion ag” is something new, it really has been around for 20 years, if GPS-based yield monitors represent its beginning.

The yield monitor quickly evolved towards variable-rate technology (VRT) but then developed at a much slower pace, if for no other reason than the theory of VRT was created without farmers necessarily having the ability to make full use of the data.

Now that hardware exists and is being upgraded constantly, there are more growers willing to adapt to it, in spite of the steep angle of its learning curve.

It’s in recognition of these changes, along with multi-hybrid planter units and automated down-pressure systems, that Corn Guide, September 2015

The precision with which practices can be measured means that everything done on the farm — planting, spraying, harvesting — can be layered together with other facets to create a complete picture of that farm.

Wilson has renamed his department “Advanced Agronomy.”

“It’s not precision ag anymore, it’s agronomy,” Wilson says, noting how it’s been influenced by a number of different catalysts, from land prices to commodity price volatility, and from input costs to market demand.

“That’s how we’re going to farm in the future and that’s how we’re going to be more profitable,” Wilson continues.

“The progressive farmer, the farmer who’s in it to make money and treat it as a business, this gets their attention every time. They want to be more profitable and usually with profitability comes more bushels anyway — we wind up being more productive as well.”

It’s interesting that in the past, the two have been positioned as exclusive aspects of farming, much like oil and protein in soybeans, where you can’t have high levels of both, only one or the other.

Wilson believes the idea that profitability leads to improved productivity may be a starting point for the discussion.

There are some fields in Ontario, he says, that are incapable of producing more than say, 125 to 150 bushels, and that no matter how much fertilizer is applied, or how high the plant densities are pushed, Corn Guide, September 2015

they can’t produce more. Wilson has witnessed one field where the combination of low yield potential and high fertilizer and chemical inuts was costing the farmer $400 per acre every year.

The challenge is convincing growers that in spite of combining more corn and thinking they’re making more money, they may actually be losing money by doing so.

What helps is Wilson’s system, where there are multiple layers of data and calculations that can show land or rent prices, fuel costs, inputs and fertilizers, so the losses become easier to outline on the page or the computer monitor.

Maybe the farmer can just cut back on seeding rates or drop fertilizer allotments, thereby improving per-bushel cost enough to net more per acre.

It’s similar to a pitch senior agronomist Dale Cowan made several years ago: stop growing corn on the headlands where the yields are at their lowest. Those numbers are just dragging down the field’s average, he once said.

Instead, throw down the cheapest cereal or grass seed you can find, let it grow for two or three years, and let the roots break down the compacted layers and add some organic matter to the headlands.

Wilson agrees. “If we’re farming based on your farm’s average, we’re going to continue to produce average yields,” he says. “If we start creating management zones and farming the farm based on zones, then we increase profitability, because that spot of the field that only yields 125 bushels, we’ve been wasting money on for years. Let’s save our money, or better yet, let’s spend it where it’s needed. That area of the field that yields 250-plus because it’s the best spot on the farm and we’ve been fertilizing for 180 bushels, can it yield more?”

Wilson insists it can, and that with the latest upgrades in measuring nutrients and performance, farming by zones also becomes more economical.

“Now we’re getting more bushels off the farm for the same amount of money, or we’re getting the same bushels for less money,” Wilson says. “It can shake out many different ways.”

It also starts with the essential step of a yield map. Without some form of precision agriculture, decisions based on management zones are not possible. And there are some misnomers tied to this trend.

Wilson has actually proved some of the Continued on page 8

7

Continued from page 7

systems that fall under the umbrella of “precision ag” may not help drive profits.

The ultimate goal for Wilson is to have the recommendations from the advanced agronomy calculations match the variation in the field. If grid sampling can’t match what the customer knows is happening in the field, then the information is incomplete.

What has to be kept in mind is that the customer’s stake in this is the biggest factor to be considered.

What’s changed in the last few years isn’t just the layering of information that’s become available. It’s that we also have the means of analyzing and incorporating that information.

We can look at yield zones on a map, bare-ground imagery that shows colour variation and variability, or even an elevation layer from RTK or a UAV flight, and if those components can be combined, and the customer agrees that this is the shape and condition of the field, that’s the most important facet.

“Then we can start measuring more of what’s happening with greater specificity, and have a stronger correlation to the results, because we’re actually applying in those yield zones more accurately,” says Wilson. “It gives farmers a better in-depth look at each zone, and allows them to make better decisions on things they may have questioned before.”

On a much smaller scale Chris Boersma, who farms around Ridgetown, Ont., has been working with Wilson for the past year or two but has been engaged in improving his profitability since the late 1980s, when

Current Farming Practices

Current Farming Practices Yield vs. Inputs (Farming with Average’s) 450 400 350 300 250 200 150

Under Application Loss of Yield Potential Over application Wasting $$$ Environmental

100 50 0

Low Productivity Areas Current Yield

Medium Productivity Areas Current Imput level

Yield Goal

High Productivity Areas Input Goal

The current practice in agriculture is still focused on maximizing yield.

Technology will change our Future

Technology will Change our future Yield vs. Inputs 450 400

Targeting Maximum Yield Potential

350 300 250 200 150 100

Very little Waste

50 0

Low Productivity Areas Current Yield

Medium Productivity Areas Current Imput level

Yield Goal

High Productivity Areas Input Goal

Using data that is being collected already, the drive is to farm the best acres for profitability; costs will be reduced on poorer soils, and productivity will increase.

Mike Wilson, CCA-ON • Thompson’s Limited

8

“You understand that the crop is influenced by 100 different factors and you’re trying to manage 80 of them.”

— Chris Boersma, Ridgetown, Ont.– area farmer he was involved with a group called “the Most Economical Yield.”

For Boersma, it’s not a new concept; what’s changed is the capacity to measure against the expectations of farmers who consider using this relatively new system.

“It’s more intensive now; there are a lot more details to it and there’s more paperwork involved, and a lot more to consider,” says Boersma. “You understand that the crop is influenced by 100 different factors and you’re trying to manage 80 of them, so there’s more intensity, without a doubt. But you have to be of the mind and have the resources to do it, and if a farmer doesn’t have that, they’re not likely to see the benefit of it.”

Plus there’s the level of the return on investment; it isn’t a dollar at a time. Instead, with this management zone or Advanced Agronomy concept, the farmer is aiming to shave a few pennies here, or maybe a nickel or a dime there.

But together, they might add up to dollars per acre.

It’s a longer-term process and it requires greater management input, but once you get started with it, the benefits only continue to grow, especially as the equipment and software continue to drive deeper for more detail.

But Boersma agrees that convincing a grower that there’s value in a process that might cost a dollar or two — or more — per acre to get started is a difficult pitch. The value of that information, generated on a 12- or 30-square-foot basis, continues to build. Added to that is the potential for measurements to become better defined, similar to being able to measure parts per million.

Now there’s the capability to measure in parts per billion and parts per trillion, and that’s opened the door for better standards and more specific applications.

As the scale continues to shrink, the value only gets bigger.

“Now because of technology, I can get the percentage return on any one product based on a number of different scenarios, without a lot of extra labour or work throughout the season,” explains Boersma. “That’s because every implement’s record­ing what’s applied, and the combine’s picking it up, and it’s all reporting that if we spent $1 per acre on product A, we got $1.10 back or $1.80.”

It’s not necessarily an indication of increased yield, it’s a reflection of the product applied, and a return on that investment, so the correlation is much more direct.

Prerequisites In some ways, Advanced Agronomy is similar to other trends where there are innovators and then early adapters. There are two primary differences, says Boersma. The first is the capital investment and the size of the farm play a role in that investment.

Smaller farmers are less likely to be able to justify that kind of financial commitment.

The second difference from other trends is the learning curve, which tends to be more vertical.

“With the technology, the equipment is data logging everything,” says Boersma, noting that he can see a spot in the field where a spray application was missed or went awry. “It’s probably a combination of things, but everything comes together.” CG Corn Guide, September 2015

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

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

Cornguide

What do climate change and western corn share?

“Plenty,” says Jeff Rubin

By Ron Friesen

10

Moving north J eff Rubin is former chief economist for CIBC World Markets, now a best­ selling author, and he believes a warmer climate will result in a longer growing season and more heat units on the Canadian Prairies. This, he suggests, could turn the region into the new North American Corn Belt as production inevi­ tably creeps northward.

“The migration of the Corn Belt to the Canadian Prairies could be a double win for Canadian farmers. By switching to corn (and other cash crops like soybeans), farmers would significantly increase the cash flow from their acreage, setting the stage for marked appreciation in farm­ land values,” writes Rubin in his recent book The Carbon Bubble.

“Rising temperatures and drought should reduce corn yields and hence pro­ duction in the U.S. Midwest, with some prime growing areas becoming unsuit­ able for corn cultivation. Given how important the U.S. is to world produc­ tion, any reduction of U.S. supply is almost certain to put upward pressure on world corn prices, making the crop all the more valuable for those who can grow it.”

Mind you, Rubin has been spectacu­ larly wrong before. His previous book, Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller, predicted world oil prices would top $200 a barrel by 2012, profoundly affecting economic drivers in industrialized countries. We all know how that turned out.

But something is happening which makes you wonder if the agri-industry isn’t anticipating Rubin’s prognostica­ tions. Already, major seed-producing companies are announcing bold plans to develop corn hybrids suitable for Western Canada with the goal of expanding corn acreages significantly.

First out of the gate was Monsanto Canada in June 2013 when it raised eye­ brows by launching a 10-year, $100-mil­ lion program to develop earlier relative maturity corn hybrids adapted to Western Canada. “Taking into consideration crop rotations, this could result in an estimated annual western corn market of eight to 10

million acres by 2025,” a Monsanto news release stated.

Not to be outdone, DuPont Pioneer announced on July 30, 2014 it would con­ struct a multimillion-dollar research facil­ ity in Lethbridge “focused on developing ultra-early-maturity corn products for growers in Alberta and Western Canada,” according to a company statement.

All this activity gives the distinct impression of companies trying to turn a currently marginal crop on the Prairies into a major one.

While they don’t say directly that a warming climate is one of the motivators for their research efforts, they imply it.

“It’s certainly something that we’re thinking about,” says Dan Wright of Monsanto Canada. “We certainly believe it’s not going to get cooler in Western Canada. It will continue to get warmer.”

To call corn a minor crop in Western Canada right now would be an under­ statement. Monsanto estimates the cur­ rent annual acreage ranges between 300,000 and 500,000 acres, much of it confined to southern Manitoba. That’s barely a sliver of the 16.64 million acres of canola that Prairie farmers were expected to seed this spring.

For Monsanto’s 10-million-acre dream to come true, corn would have to expand far beyond a small corner in Manitoba.

This raises an important question: where would all that corn be grown?

“I would say the logical area for it is in the southern half of our growing areas where the combination of shorter season varieties and time to maturity could result in reasonably sized production,” says Bruce Burnett, a CWB weather and crop specialist.

The main reason why southern Manitoba is home to most of the corn currently grown in the West is climate.

The region generally receives more pre­ cipitation and has a longer growing sea­ son. Take corn out to semi-arid regions in Saskatchewan and Alberta and you could see it looking like onions shrivel­ ling in the dry ground, especially this year when the western Prairies experi­ Corn Guide, September 2015

“There are risks, but there are risks with growing any type of crop,” says Manitoba Pam de Rocquigny.

“It’s up to each individual producer.” enced some of their driest growing conditions in years.

“Corn will not perform well under drought conditions. There’s no doubt about it,” says Burnett. “We can’t become the new Corn Belt without reliable rainfall.”

Climatologists generally agree the longterm trend on the Prairies is toward warmer weather and a longer growing season by perhaps 10 to 15 days. But the outlook for moisture is less certain. “We shouldn’t expect a large increase in the amount of precipitation we have, even with a longer growing season,” Burnett says.

That said, Burnett acknowledges Monsanto and DuPont are both very market-savvy companies and may be on to something if they are willing to plow millions of dollars into developing corn hybrids suitable for all of Western Canada, not just part of it.

Monsanto’s Dan Wright says he is “extremely excited” about the progress his company has seen in its corn program after only two years. Wright says Monsanto had nearly 90 test plots this year, with locations ranging from Manitoba’s Red River Valley (the heart of the province’s Corn Belt) to Saskatoon, down to Lethbridge, up to Edmonton and Corn Guide, September 2015

as far north as Grande Prairie, Peace River and “the edge of failure,” just to see if it’s possible.

While admitting this year’s drought was hard on Monsanto’s test plots, Wright says the company is making progress on lowering heat unit thresholds from 2150 to under 2100. A new variety released this year, DKC23-17RIB, is at 2075 heat units.

Wright says the goal is to get down to 2000 heat units, which would be a breakthrough for an early hybrid.

Another goal is to produce hybrids consistently yielding 100 bushels an acre or more, generally considered the threshold for a commercial corn variety. Here, too, Monsanto is making progress, says Wright.

“We’ve found lots of areas across Western Canada where we’ve put our test products in and said, you know what? We’re close.”

Morgan Cott, a field agronomist with the Manitoba Corn Growers Association, is skeptical about corn expanding into non-traditional areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta, despite shorter-season varieties. She believes most expansion will come from existing growers increasing their own acres.

“I would expect producers just to be growing more of their own acres, not necessarily growing much farther north

or in areas that might not be great for corn,” says Cott.

“It wouldn’t be a quick growth geographically,” Cott believes. “It would be a slow sort of thing.”

However, Burnett believes corn could have a future outside Manitoba, depending on how effective companies are at getting varieties to yield well in a shorter growing season.

“You could conceivably grow it in a large portion of the Prairies if you got the length of the growing season short enough,” says Burnett. “(But) I don’t know whether you can do that with acceptable yield results for corn.”

Another factor to consider is frost.

Even if prospects are favourable for expanding corn acres, Western Canada is not Iowa or Indiana.

The growing season is shorter. No matter how you cut it, corn takes longer to mature than cereals do and the threat of damage from an early frost is always real.

“You can see an increase in your growing season but if your climate still remains quite variable and you still occasionally get these frosts on August 20, that’s another thing to consider,” Burnett says.

Still another potential problem is the fact that corn is a high-residue row crop.

As a result, it is not always suited to parts of the Prairies where minimum- and notill cropping systems predominate.

Breaking up corn residue after harvest can require special tillage equipment.

Would corn force producers to open up no-till systems? It’s a question worth asking.

“There are a lot of areas that are no-till production as you move farther west,” says Pam de Rocquigny, a Manitoba Agri­ culture, Food and Rural Develop­ment cereal crop specialist. “How does corn fit into that in terms of a high-residue crop where we need to incorporate that residue?”

But you never say never when it comes to new crops on the Prairies. There was a time when growing winter wheat in Western Canada was considered doubtful.

No one expected Saskatchewan to become one of the world’s largest lentil producers.

And look what happened with soybeans, which used to be the preserve of the U.S. Midwest but now are the third-largest crop in Manitoba.

“There are risks, but there are risks with growing any type of crop,” says de Rocquigny. “It’s up to each individual producer to pencil out what makes sense for their farming operation.” CG 11

Cornguide

Today’s IPM challenge Are you keeping on top of all these new pest-control opportunities?

By Ralph Pearce, CG Production Editor

12

T

he term has been around for decades, and it trips off our tongues as easily as “no-till management” and “cover crops.” Yet one of the challenges, even for those in search of a silver bullet in crop management, is the constant evolution of the term “IPM.” Its meaning is rapidly evolving, and so are the ways of practising it in order to achieve better pest control at lower cost.

Part of the challenge, in fact, is how easily the terminology is tossed around.

Are we all really talking about the same thing?

Definitions of the “pest” part of integrated pest management have had to stretch a lot in the past 10 to 15 years, and so have the tools we can use to keep on top of them. Seed traits and technologies have come to the fore, but there are new chemical innovations too, and even strategies such as precision agricultural systems and cover crops that focus on soil health.

Even among the experts, the definition can differ from one agency or individual to the next. The United States

Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) states IPM is “an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices.” It goes on to state that IPM is “best described as a continuum” where most growers identify their pests before spraying while a smaller group use “other methods.”

The University of California-Davis says IPM is based on scientific research, and that it focuses on “long-term prevention of pests or their damage by managing the ecosystem.” It goes on to note that IPM brings together approaches that are often grouped as biological, cultural, mechanical and physical, and chemical controls.

One of the more extensive resources on IPM is found on the Ontar io Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) website. The information and guidelines there reflect the province’s multi-faceted agri-food industry, with everything from fruits and vegetables to field crops, and from beneficial insects to weeds and diseases.

Corn Guide, September 2015

Photo credit: Tracey Baute, OMAFRA

The introduction of biological controls looks and sounds impressive, but like any of the other pillars of IPM management (cultural, mechanical/ physical or chemical), it takes time and sound management skills.

The evolution of IPM Differing definitions are only part of the confusion surrounding IPM. There’s also the hard-to-escape fact that, as the tools of IPM evolve, so do our opportunities for using them, whether they are new traits, crop protection materials, or new trends in cultural practices.

The upshot is, wherever you look, there is no easy route for defining IPM, or for implementing its many facets.

That’s a concern for Tracey Baute. As the field crops entomologist with OMAFRA, she’s seen how the definitions have changed, along with perceptions of what constitutes IPM. In the wake of the current controversy surrounding the use of neonicotinoid-based seed treatments, she notes that growers are accused of not following IPM, under the misconception that chemical seed treatments cannot be part of an IPM strategy.

“Yet IPM is incorporated in almost everything farmers do, to some extent, so to say that they’re not doing it is not correct,” says Baute. “Chemical control, no matter what kind it is, is part of IPM. IPM isn’t going to suddenly save the world: we’ve been doing it all along, and in some cases, chemical control is still necessary.”

According to Baute, there are several messages that need to be reasserted in the farming community, including the four pillars of IPM — biological, cultural, mechanical (physical) and chemical. Each has its unique strengths and weaknesses, and all have their uses from one growing season to the next.

But it’s the idea that IPM is a holistic or total-package approach that can be most important.

“One step in the process, and it is one that I think everyone takes for granted and doesn’t realize is part of IPM, is taking the preventive measures — the crop rotation, or planting early or late, depending on what pest might be a problem, or proper fertility,” says Baute. “All of those aspects help improve the system in a bigger-picture approach, and I think they’re dismissed and growers don’t realize that they’re part of integrated pest management, where you’re doing these things likely for other reasons too, but in some aspects, it’s preventing the issue from the very beginning.”

Of course the other factor to keep in mind is that none of the four pillars of management in IPM are inexpensive, simple answers to the challenges that growers face. Beneficial insects are part of Corn Guide, September 2015

the biological controls, but balancing their introduction with existing cropping practices is both long term and complex.

Adjusting planting dates can be a cultural control, yet weather patterns are often more of an influence on performance and yield. Different forms of tillage can provide physical control of weeds, yet there are always concerns about compaction and increased cost. And chemical controls are still a vital part of that holistic approach, sometimes for a pest that has passed its threshold, but sometimes too as a prophylactic measure.

“We’re constantly integrating pest management in what we do, so maybe it’s blurred a bit as to what is IPM now,” says Baute, noting that Bt corn has been one of the biggest advances in IPM, allowing less use of broad-spectrum foliar insecticides. “Some will argue it’s still an insecticide, it’s still a chemical control, but it’s almost more like a genetic control because it’s in the plant. But it’s our way of being able to successfully control a pest

grubs, as an example. “Homeowners can afford to try nematodes but that’s done at a totally different scale — those things have to be pampered and irrigated. But you take that same concept to a field scale and that’s $400 an acre, and farmers just can’t do that. Not every aspect of these possible control measures is going to be economical or feasible for a grower.”

The use of cover crops is another component. It’s been refloated as a saving grace for growers, and a way of improving soil health, boosting yields and encouraging a symbiotic relationship between certain cropping practices and beneficial insect species. But as Baute points out, there are also risks, including finding the right cover crop species to suit current cropping practices. What’s the best timing for planting? Is it easy to kill or easy to plant into?

“You could actually increase your insect pressure, depending on how you manage the cover crop, so it really comes down to modifying based on your needs and what

“When it comes to something like seed treatments, it seems as though it’s seed treatments or IPM, yet chemical control is part of IPM.” — Tracey Baute, OMAFRA entomologist like corn borer that was a continuous problem that always needed to be controlled. And you’re reducing these insecticides, which lessens the impact on all other pollinators and predators that are present. I don’t think growers necessarily think of that as IPM anymore — it’s now just another crop to grow, but in all aspects, it is IPM.” That’s also why it’s harder to establish a rigid definition of IPM. The changes in technology that have altered the agricultural landscape are myriad, but it’s true too that no two farms are the same. In the past 10 years especially, industry stakeholders have recognized that farmers, whether they live across the highway from each other or across the province, are farming on different soil types, or with different pest or weed species, tillage practices or crop rotations. There is no one plan that works for everyone.

“That’s why any decision on pest management usually comes down to economics, first and foremost,” says Baute, pointing to discussions about controlling

your ultimate pest issues are,” says Baute.

“The concept that by excluding chemical control, IPM will save us is not the case.

IPM has to have chemical controls there as options, because with some pests, that is the control measure that we have to turn to if we want to produce a viable crop.”

Bigger and better?

One important consideration impacting the scope and definition of IPM is the phys i c a l s i ze of s o m a ny f a r m s .

Technology like GPS systems or data transfer has provided more layers of information and greater scale. But renting or acquiring more land challenges the incorporation of any or all of the many facets of IPM, something Paul Sullivan has noticed in the past few years.

“Time is a premium for a lot of growers and it’s hard for them to step back and spend enough time assessing and evaluating, and they can get all kinds of information,” says Sullivan, an agronomist and independent Continued on page 14

13

Continued from page 13

certified crop adviser from Kinburn, Ont., just west of Ottawa. “That becomes an important part of making the best decision you can make. Some of the things that come into play for farmers aren’t properly evaluated a lot of times, just because in the race to get everything done and then start the season over again, there can be a lot of loose ends that don’t get looked after.”

Much of what can be learned in a season can also be forgotten in the time between harvest and the next planting season, and often a grower will default to the familiar. Farmers are tied to tradition, says Sullivan, and generally they don’t change things very quickly in spite of how fast things around them may be changing.

Partly that’s because farmers know there’s a price that will be paid if their strategies don’t work. Partly, too, it’s because they know better than anyone else how important it is to have realistic job lists that they can actually get done.

“We probably look at pest management on a fairly regular basis, but don’t recognize that we do,” Sullivan adds. “It’s a total-crop sort of scenario because as we look at some of the technology that continues to evolve and be used by farms, in some cases, some things work for growers and some don’t work at all.”

One example is fungicide in corn.

Sullivan notes there’s a group of growers that consistently makes money putting fungicide on corn, and there’s a group that’s tried it and it didn’t work, and it won’t go back to it. But he believes success using fungicides on corn relates to what’s in the field: nutrient levels and the combination of conditions that boost yield might be related more to the genetics and not just the fungicide.

“It’s the same with fungicides, it’s the same with varieties, it’s the same with a lot of things,” says Sullivan.

Logic and common sense Sometimes it’s best if a farmer tries to keep things uncomplicated and not overthink IPM with its many tools, layers and systems. Sullivan sides with Baute on the notion that some growers don’t realize that crop rotations are a part of IPM. Common sense and logical, basic crop production practices become the basis for the foundation of pest management. And that allows the crop to resist some of the things that could become a bigger issue.

“Keeping a field clean of weeds helps 14

Cultural practices such as no till or reduced till and maintaining rotations can be a form of IPM.

Further reading For more information on definitions and the parameters affected by integrated pest management (IPM) guidelines, check the following websites: www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/insects/ipm.html#stats_facts www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/newslett.nsf/all/agnw23482 www.epa.gov/opp00001/factsheets/ipm.htm www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/GENERAL/whatisipm.html to eliminate cutworm moths from coming in,” Sullivan explains. “And good weed management with a burn-down in the spring, ahead of soybeans, reduces the risk of glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane from becoming an issue.”

To Sullivan, that burn-down isn’t just a payback to the grower, it also sets the stage for IPM practices later in the year, and it builds on control measures that will be a benefit during the following season. At that point, the grower has a cleaner field that’s easier to control weeds in the subsequent wheat or corn crop.

Yet as much as the technology has added and enhanced IPM practices, Sullivan believes there’s more that advisers, agronomists and dealers can do to help smooth the way as IPM continues to evolve.

“As advisers to growers, we respect their experience, we respect their perspective, but in some cases, I don’t think we’re counselling farmers enough — we don’t try hard enough to help them understand what’s happening,” says Sullivan. “If they decide that that’s not something they’re going to do or that they are going to do, when in our assessment it doesn’t make sense to do it, it’s understanding the parameters that are

there. And I think that as a support level for growers, CCAs and other advisory staff within the industry, we have to help growers understand their risk or the actions they’re taking and how those become important considerations.”

Some growers, Sullivan adds, can take the concept of IPM and move it ahead faster within their operations. Often­ times, these are the innovators and early adapters, and they’re usually the site of more attention and resources — as a means of spreading the word and sharing ideas. In addition, there are growers who are as comfortable purchasing new equipment as they are in fielding advice via social media from Dave Hooker or Peter Sikkema at University of Guelph’s Ridgetow n Campus, or from Bob Neilson at Purdue University. They can incorporate data points from their yield maps and pinpoint fertility issues, and mesh them with weed, insect or disease challenges.

“It’s not that those guys didn’t exist in the past — they did,” says Sullivan. “But we have a sector of growers that is more tech savvy, who have the ability to sort through and apply some of that technology better than a generation ago.” CG Corn Guide, September 2015

Cornguide

When good isn’t good enough How do you go from good to great at marketing? With volatile years ahead, these five steps will help

By Lisa Guenther, CG Field Editor

N

eil Blue cut his grain-marketing teeth as a farmer in the bad ol’ ’80s. He had no choice. It was either that or rack up loss after loss.

“Now the second and sometimes the third generation of farmers are learning about these things,” says Blue, today a m a r ke t i n g a n a l y s t w i t h A l b e r t a Agriculture and Forestry. “Some of them are coming out to courses, too. Some of the parents are sending them to courses.”

It’s a good start, Blue says. But it takes more than education. You also have to figure out for yourself whether you’re doing a great job at sales, or merely good.

It isn’t as simple as you might wish, but here are five steps that will help. #1 can you rein in your ego?

To start, avoid getting caught up in the daily market swings, Blue advises. Yes, you need to follow the markets, but you don’t need to track them as closely as traders.

It’s advice to heed as you improve.

Moving to the next level introduces a new set of hazards.

First is trying to hit home runs, making every sale at the very top. Instead, Blue recommends hitting more singles, even if it doesn't always give you bragging rights.

If you crave the big thrill, you can still have it both ways by only trying to catch the highs with a small portion of the crop. Just make sure you’ve already covered your costs before you swing.

Blue also suggests metering out sales throughout the year to manage risk. But remember, he adds, “It’s generally better to price into a rising market than to try to hit the price highs.” #2 Do you Have a plan?

“Flexibility is required because things can arise — and they generally do arise — that catch you off guard,” says Blue.

Be prepared by having not only a Plan A, but also a Plan B to switch to if conditions change.

A solid marketing plan requires numbers. Blue recommends knowing breakevens per unit of production to set price Corn Guide, September 2015

targets. You can also use break-evens per acre, but Blue says using units of production allow the calculation to change with yield.

Also identify your cash flow needs and how to use strategies including cash advance programs to ensure you are forced to sell at poor prices to make a payment.

Importantly, written marketing plans will ultimately help you evaluate your marketing year. You can see whether you hit your price targets, says Blue, and you can evaluate whether other marketing tools might have made a difference.

While many farmers consider a oneyear marketing season, it could easily be an 18- to 24-month period once you factor in planning, Blue says. #3 Do you Know the Big numbers?

On the fundamental side, knowing which supply-and-demand factors are at play is helpful, says Blue. Farmers can subscribe to a marketing service or find the information themselves.

But it takes time. You might need to set aside five hours a week to study markets, he says. And that’s a year-round job, not just while selling the crop.

And farmers can’t ignore the technical side entirely, either.

“It’s easier to understand how it works than to use it,” Blue agrees. Even so, the more basic ideas are the most important ones for farmers to wrap their heads around. Trend lines, support and resistance are probably the most watched and most important signals, he adds. #4 Do you get good advice?

Some farmers enjoy marketing.

Others would rather just focus on the production side. For those who don’t enjoy studying markets, hiring marketing services can help, says Blue. Even farmers who like following the markets might subscribe to a marketing service or seek professional advice.

But how do you know if you’re getting good advice?

Farmers still need to follow the markets enough to know whether a consultant’s advice is good, says Blue. You need to know what your alternatives are, and to ask informed questions.

But no one actually knows what’s going to happen in the markets, says Blue. This makes measuring the value of marketing services, or one’s own performance, difficult on a one-year basis. A three- to five-year period is a better indicator of how things are going. #5 Do you pay attention to the fine points?

Some farm marketers could stand to improve their awareness of pricing and delivery alternatives. Many still only price check with traditional market outlets such as large grain companies and crushers, Blue says. He recommends using a cash grain broker, even if it’s only to shop around and gather advice on what’s happening in the market.

Savvy marketers also track basis separately from cash and futures prices, says Blue. “Basis gives some important signals on change in demand or relative to how the futures prices move, and what the buyers are thinking or reacting to in terms of price.”

Another signal to watch is carry in the futures market. Carry refers to the price difference between contracts for different delivery months. If the price is going up from one month to the next, that’s positive carry.

“When there’s strong carry in the market, it’s a signal that the market is fairly well supplied in the nearby,” says Blue.

But when there’s not much carry in the market, it’s a sign of strong nearby demand. Using such signals can help you react to opportunities as they come along, Blue explains.

Farmers will probably never be pricemakers. And grain and livestock will keep swinging from high to low and back again.

But the good news is today’s farmers are more skilled at riding out that volatility than ever before. And maybe that first idea isn’t so bad. Is it time to sign up for a marketing course this winter? CG 15

Cornguide

Search for a

‘tipping point’ Is corn ready for prime time on these Saskatchewan fields? Maybe yes, if we can get the marketing right

By Gord Gilmour, CG Associate Editor

16

W

hich has to come first, the acreage, or the market to justify it? That’s exactly the chicken-or-egg, catch-22 sort of situation that farmers on the Prairies have found themselves in repeatedly in past years as their cropping options have changed.

First it was the canola revolution of the 1970s and ’80s which made Canada into the world power in healthy rapeseed oil, complete with its own unique take on the oil profile of the crop. Then there was the pulse crop explosion just a few years later that suddenly saw lentils and chickpeas become a realistic alternative.

Now, with industry lining up to promote grain corn for the region and talking of targets as big as 10 million acres, growers are faced with perhaps the ultimate irony. One of the most widely grown crops throughout the world is, in the western Canadian context, just another specialty crop without markets or infrastructure.

Market analyst Frank Letkeman, of Winnipeg’s Ag-Chieve grain market advisory service, says he appreciates the irony, but nobody should be terribly surprised by the impasse.

“This sort of thing happens every time we see a new crop emerge in the region,” Letkeman says. “We are an exporting region and we don’t ever have markets large enough to consume our production domestically — but developing those international markets can take time, and to do it, you need to have the product.”

It’s not that the crop is a totally unfamiliar one in the region. It’s long been produced in Manitoba’s Red River Valley and under irrigation in a few pockets of southern Alberta. But now it’s starting to creep out of the cradle and pop up in places like southern Saskatchewan, where it’s been virtually unknown.

In no small part that’s being driven by shorter-season hybrids bred specifically for the area that require fewer corn heat units.

The latest ones come in at around 2100 CHU, which opens the door to vast swaths of the Prairies, not to mention the major recent investments by ag companies like Monsanto and DuPont/Pioneer that suggest even shorter-season varieties are just a matter of time. But Letkeman cautions that it won’t be as simple as just getting the requirements for CHU down in this heat- and moisture-loving crop.

Corn Guide, September 2015

“There’s also the question of reliable rainfall,” Letkeman says. “This is a crop that definitely needs moisture to reach its full potential.”

That suggests that the drier portions of the Prairies might not be suited for non-irrigated production, and the shorter-season northern areas are always likely to be better wheat, barley and canola country rather than corn-soy ground. Then there’s the on-farm infrastructure problem. Unlike soybeans, it’s still an open question whether corn can be adapted to solid seeding with the ubiquitous air seeder, or whether it will remain a row crop. So far nobody’s recommending sowing with an air seeder, though some are beginning to experiment with it.

Other on-farm infrastructure challenges remain as well, mainly in the area of farm equipment. Planters are north of $200,000, corn headers will be in the $100,000 neighbourhood and then there’s the question of handling the corn after it’s harvested. Right now the current varieties come off wet — in the high 20 per cent range, and even up into the low 30s, and it won’t store safely until it hits about 15 per cent.

“There are a lot of farmers who, if they want to seriously grow corn, will need to buy a grain dryer,” Letkeman says.

Here again another small irony emerges. Grain dryers are a reasonably common sight on farms in the region, but growers in the southern Prairies, where corn seems to be best suited, are the least likley to have them. They’re much more likely to see their crops dry

Corn Guide, September 2015

reliably in the field, and therefore have forgone this expense, whereas growers in parts north have been forced by the reality of a perennially short season to make this investment.

“That’s a challenge for farmers — right now growing corn does seem to require more specialized equipment and management,” Letkeman says. “I think that may limit acres for a while.”

Another thing that could give potential corn growers sticker shock is the cost of inputs. Corn is a higher user of nitrogen and phosphate than crops traditionally grown in Western Canada, and given that the practice of planting it is also a bit riskier, some growers may hesitate to give it a try. Offsetting that, however, is greater productivity and therefore potentially higher returns.

It is, Letkeman says, the eternal challenge of farmers learning and adopting a new crop. Techniques from other areas aren’t necessarily going to transfer straight across to the new growing area, and therefore there’s going to be a learn­ing curve.

“We see this period of trial and error with every new crop,” Letkeman says.

As the kinks get ironed out, acres will come, and the production from those acres will begin climbing and growers will really dial in on corn.

That’s when marketing will become a challenge, since currently domestic animal feeders are showing enough interest in corn to keep demand healthy for the relatively small amount produced. As recently as this spring, the farm press was suggesting that demand was out-

stripping supply, keeping prices healthy — but Letkeman doesn’t think that will last when production starts to seriously climb. However, he’s also confident that the region’s grain companies are set to rise to the challenge, though it may take a bit of time and see a few growing pains.

“I do think that the grain companies — organizations like Viterra and Rich­ ard­­­sons — are beginning to develop these global export markets that we’ll need in the long term,” Letkeman says.

“In the end most of this crop will wind up going offshore, or even just down to the U.S. — but it will be exported.”

Letkeman says this developmental work will have to happen, because reputation is everything in the global grain market and it will take time to convince buyers that the crop is more than a flash in the pan or one-off.

“It’s going to take time to develop the market for this crop, for Canada to be seen as a ‘go-to’ place for corn,” Letkeman says. “We just haven’t grown enough of it in the past to have developed that reputation yet.”

If industry production targets are going to be met, however, that market development is going to have to come very quickly. Currently about half a million acres of corn are being planted, meaning hitting 10 million acres by 2025 is going to see nearly a million acres a year added, though of course the pro­gress won’t likely be linear. Instead a tipping point will be reached and acreage will suddenly jump. CG

17

Cornguide

A year to manage risk C

It’s going to take skill to navigate your way to healthy prices in a year when volatile currency markets will make our price swings even wilder

By Philip Shaw

18

orn farmers continue to be bedevilled by low corn futures prices. In Ontario just over a year ago, for instance, the December 2015 corn futures price on August 4, 2014 closed at $4.15 per bushel. This year on August 5, the December 2015 corn futures price closed at $3.78.

In the history of agriculture, this type of price movement is very common. It isn’t unusual to see the price of a particular commodity lower than it was the year before. In the case of corn, new technology and modern management methods have certainly given producers the ability to produce in spades, and we have also seen a fluid market environment, where the whole world has begun to enjoy growing corn, especially at the price levels we’ve seen in the recent past.

Of course, that $3.78 corn futures price on August 4, 2015 is a long way down from corn’s record level of $8.49 achieved in August 2012, but it’s hard to forget how much fun corn production can be at those futures price levels.

What has also become apparent since then, however, is that everyone wants a share of that pie. Even though global demand has been increasing at record levels, supplies have been keeping up and ending stocks have grown over time.

Nobody knows the future, and the 2015 crop is not in the bin yet, but its potential is still huge, and Canadian farmers will have to use their best market acumen to garner profits from corn moving ahead.

According to the July USDA report, there were 88.9 million acres of corn planted in the United States in 2015. The USDA has pegged corn production at 166.8 bushels per acre for an impressive 13.530 billion bushels.

This is not a record crop, but it is still one of the largest of all time. At the same time, the USDA reports that total use for the 2015-16 marketing year will be 13.735

billion bushels, which is at record levels, so ending stocks should move down as long as demand is maintained.

In the 2015 growing season, corn production in the United States has been severely impacted by wet conditions in June, which at the time of this writing had not been estimated. For instance, large expanses of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa received excessive amounts of rain in June. This is likely to affect corn yields as well as harvested acres in later USDA reports. This may factor in a smaller U.S. corn crop being realized in the later months of 2015.

The size and the scope of the 2015 U.S. corn crop is still to be determined.

Futures prices will react to whatever the market feels the value of corn will be at any future date. However, the real story for Canadian grain farmers in 2015 is the precipitous drop in the value of the Canadian dollar.

In fact, you could argue that this has been the whole story for Canadian agriculture since the dollar was at par in December 2012. The simple fact is that grain and other agricultural commodities are priced in U.S. dollars. It is the default currency of the world. Our Canadian cash prices are largely based on the foreign exchange calculation and as our Canadian dollar gets cheaper compared to the U.S. dollar, Canadian cash prices to producers are higher. In many ways, this devaluation in the Canadian dollar has shielded Canadian farmers from the futures price malaise in corn.

Of course looking ahead to the devaluation of the Canadian dollar gives us opportunity, but it remains an extra layer within Canadian grain-marketing management to get right. As producers, how do we hedge our risk with regard to the futures value of grain, versus the value of the Canadian dollar? Many times those two factors do not move in the same direction and it makes for a more complicated Corn Guide, September 2015

marketing decision. Just looking at grain futures without a keen eye on the move­ ment in the Canadian dollar can lead to frustration. It is all part of risk manage­ ment, and with corn looking ahead it will remain a very important part.

What are some of the factors that may affect the Canadian dollar movement going into winter? Simply put, the Canadian dollar is traded on currency markets every day and its value is a mea­ surement of its demand.

Interest rates are a key factor. When the Bank of Canada raises interest rates, typically the Can­adian dollar goes up and when it lowers interest rates, typi­ cally the value of the Canadian dollar is down. At the same time, the Canadian dollar typically has an inverse relation­ ship to the value of the U.S. dollar.

keting year will largely impact the corn basis. Daily intelligence is key.

There is opportunity here for eastern Canadian corn producers. With the Can­ adian dollar down it has mitigated the price drop in futures. However, don’t be fooled by the optics. If futures prices ever rise substantially, with the Canadian dol­ lar at the 75- to 80-cent range, cash prices will go much higher. It is all about the relationship between futures values and the value of the Canadian dollar. When the value of the Canadian dollar is sub­ stantially lower than par, movement in cash prices can be even more volatile.

The road ahead will certainly be an important one for market action.

Monthly scheduled USDA crop reports will continue to serve as flashpoints for corn futures price movement. The

The low loonie has shielded our farmers from weak corn prices. But be alert, Shaw urges. Grain and currency markets don’t always move in the same direction In the last several months the U.S. dol­ lar has been gaining in value, partly because of the healthier U.S. economy and the outlook for the U.S. Federal Reserve to increase interest rates. This constant move­ ment of U.S. and Canadian variables has a distinct impact on the Canadian dollar and thus our Canadian grain prices.

Although the Canadian dollar is an extremely important factor affecting cash basis values for corn, there are historic factors that always come into play with regard to the behaviour of the Ontario corn basis.

Historically, Ontario exports corn into the United States at harvest time to create space and then imports it back in the fol­ lowing late spring or summer. This cre­ ates a very low basis at harvest and possibly a higher “import” basis later.

However, in later years Ontario has pro­ duced more corn, which sometimes means we export all year. 2014 was not one of those years. Much Ontario corn was exported out early with U.S. corn being imported later. In 2015 we have approximately 2.055 million acres of Ontario corn, which may produce 325 million bushels of corn.

How this is used throughout the mar­ Corn Guide, September 2015

October USDA report and the final USDA report in January 2016 are very important reports which can spur violent price movement. This is in addition to any other news from USDA. There are also all the other macroeco­ nomic factors that can and will affect the grain futures markets. The continuing pressure on the euro from Greece and strength of the U.S. dollar will continue to weigh on grain futures prices.

As well, corn from areas like the Black Sea region and South America will con­ tinue to find its way into world markets, and late-summer and fall weather in the United States will impact U.S. crop size.

In sum, rallies within this marketing environment surely need to be rewarded.

With new-crop cash corn currently running at $4.25-bushel in southwestern Ontario, as of August 5, 2015, it is a leap of faith looking forward.

There may even be a “black swan” event affecting the market, which may change everything. The challenge for corn farmers looking ahead is to assess all of these factors and how they will affect futures values and basis.

Risk management never grows old.

The challenge is to keep on top of it. CG 19

Trust is earned when performance delivers.

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CropsGuide

By Ralph Pearce, CG Production Editor

your next corn hybrids Corn is still king in Eastern Canada, and these new hybrids should help guarantee a long reign espite the fact that soybeans actually get planted on more acres, corn is still the driver of row-crop production in the East. At 3.3 million acres in 2015, it’s true that Canada’s farmers planted less corn than the 3.6 million acres they put in the ground in 2013, but it would be a mistake to read that as saying growers are losing interest.

Already, those growers are writing their lists of hybrids to consider planting in 2016. Now, here are some more to watch.

Below are brief glimpses at the offerings of seven seed and trait companies, with more than 50 new hybrids for next spring. Hybrid selection has been identified as one of the five most important factors in superior corn production, so be sure to check this handy guide and the brief descriptions from each of the companies.

Country Farm Seeds CF377 is a hybrid for the 2775 crop heat units region and comes with the VT Double Pro Corn trait, along with the convenience of Refuge in a Bag (RIB) technology. This provides protection against corn earworm, European and southwestern corn borers and fall army worm. This hybrid also comes with tolerance to Roundup brand herbicides.

CF610 is a conventional hybrid adapted to 3050 heat unit areas and suitable for all rotations with good standability and grain quality.

CF416 brings Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete technology for the 2825 crop heat unit areas. This hybrid provides superior technology for above- and below-ground pest control, as well as the convenience of using Roundup brand herbicides and refuge technology already in the bag.

CF182 is a basic Roundup Ready2Yield hybrid, new for 2016.

CF186 is a sound performer, complete with the VT Double Pro Corn trait and RIB technology.

It’s suitable for use with Roundup and capable of standing up to above-ground insect challenges, from European and southwestern corn borers to fall army worm.

CF660 is another of Country Farm Seeds’ conventional hybrids, with suitability for the 3150 crop heat unit regions. It comes with good grain quality and standability.

CF662 is another hybrid that’s suited to those parts of eastern Ontario with 3150 CHUs. Its Roundup Ready2Yield trait provides that second generation of glyphosate tolerance for solid weed management across cropping systems.

CF686 helps in the 3200 heat unit region with strong yields and the Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete technology. This is another high performer that provides below- and above-ground pest control, along with Roundup Ready technology and convenience through RIB control.

CF320 is a conventional hybrid for the 2725 heat unit region.

Continued on page 36 September 2015

country-guide.ca 35

CropsGuide Continued from page 35

Croplan/Winfield 3134SS/RIB (VT2P/RIB) is a new hybrid for the 2700 crop heat unit region with excellent offensive top-end yield potential and early flowering. It is best suited to better soils with moderate populations and aggressive management practices. Seedling vigour is very good, its ear height is medium to high and it has good drydown and drought tolerance.

3909SS/RIB (VT2P/RIB) is also new for 2016 and is targeted at the 2925 CHU area, with superior yield potential, strong emergence and vigour, later flowering and a loose husk enabling fast drydown. It’s heat driven and can handle stress in all yield environments. Seedling vigour is rated as very good, as are stalk quality, root strength and drought tolerance.

It also fares well in cool-year response, and scores a “best” in hot-year response.

Dow Seeds 4085 features strong, early-season vigour and emergence for cold, wet soils. Early flowering with hard-textured grain also makes it suitable for northern adaptation.

DS90R27RA is a new hybrid with great yield potential which is broadly adapted across variable environments. It has a semi-flex ear to support more moderate plant densities, and a loose husk in the fall for faster drydown.

3425 is a consistent early-flowering hybrid with strong grain finish. It offers strong season-long stalk and root strength, and sound late-season intactness.

It also has a very good disease package including moderate tolerance to Goss’s wilt and Northern corn leaf blight, plus excellent drought stress tolerance and yield stability for low- to high-yield environments.

DS01C77RA has medium-length ears with good kernel size and great kernel depth. It develops strong roots with average late-season stalks, and is good in areas with potential nitrogen deficiencies.

DS02J52 is a hybrid with a new genetic package with strong yield potential. It is a tall plant with medium ear height, plus consistent ear development and a semi-flex ear type that supports variable plant densities.

8669RA is another of the Dow Seeds corn hybrids with a new genetic package featuring outstanding yield potential. Solid agronomic characteristics include an excellent leaf disease package, strong stalks and roots, and good drought tolerance. The ears produce very good-quality grain with good husk coverage.

BMR97B34 is a brown mid-rib (BMR) hybrid with a tall plant stature with excellent yield potential. It also has the potential for strong tonnage with high starch, plus above-average scores for eyespot and Northern corn leaf blight.

BMR10B27RA is another of the brown mid-rib hybrids with a medium to tall plant stature and a full canopy. It also offers improved Northern corn leaf 36 country-guide.ca

blight and grey leaf spot (GLS) protection, plus tipfill and ear consistency.

TMF86H77RA provides consistent yield and good digestibility, with high tonnage and excellent starch scores. A semi-flex ear provides flexibility across variable plant densities. It’s also widely adapted for variable soil types.

TMF91Q25 is new among corn hybrids with a very tall and robust plant and new leafy genetics, plus attractive ears with an adequate husk coverage and excellent disease scores.

TMF94L37 has excellent eye appeal among hybrids and consistent ears down the row. Strong emergence and early vigour are also key features, as is excellent disease tolerance.

TMF99Q47RA is unique among Dow hybrids, offering silage genetics with the SmartStax trait.

This is a tall and dense hybrid with medium ear placement, moderately soft kernel texture, excellent digestibility and starch scores.

TMF09H97 is a tall and leafy hybrid that will produce very high tonnage. It offers excellent digestibility with very good starch quality. It’s a very attractive plant type with a full, dense canopy and good leaf disease tolerance.

Monsanto/Dekalb DKC23-17RIB is an early-flowering, early-maturing hybrid with excellent harvest appearance and test weight and fast drydown. The hybrid comes out of the ground with very good emergence and seedling vigour and stands throughout the growing season with very good stalk and root strength. This DeKalb Genuity VT Double PRO RIB Complete hybrid brings improved yield potential to the earliest relative maturity zone.

DKC23-21 is a very good hybrid for early-maturity zones with cooler weather at time of emergence.

This hybrid has very good seedling vigour and above average plant health and disease tolerance. DKC2321 has excellent harvest characteristics, including: stalk strength, drydown and test weight. It’s an earlyseason Roundup Ready Corn 2 hybrid with a solid agronomic package.

DKC32-12RIB is a new Genuity VT Double PRO RIB Complete hybrid that offers top-end yield potential and improved agronomics and a shorter stature compared to existing DeKalb products with an 82-day relative maturity. This hybrid has good ear flex and performance when under drought stress and finishes the year with excellent test weight and grain quality.

DKC37-93RIB is a hybrid that is strong all season long. It offers excellent seedling with outstanding lateseason appearance, excellent grain quality and drydown and upper-end yield potential. This hybrid has very good stalk strength and test weight and provides dual modes of action for above-ground insect protection with the Genuity VT Double PRO RIB Complete trait.

DKC40-35RIB is a strong and stable hybrid that is versatile across all soil types and yield environments. It has excellent top-end yield potential and a great disease package, emerging strong out of the September 2015

crop production ground with excellent seedling vigour. This DeKalb Genuity VT Double PRO RIB Complete hybrid is a medium plant height with very good stalk strength, drydown and test weight.

DKC48-56RIB is a widely adaptable hybrid with top-end yield potential. This hybrid comes with the Genuity SmartStax RIB Complete trait, covering the broadest spectrum of above- and below-ground insect protection and providing maximum yield potential for both corn on corn and rotated ground.

This hybrid’s excellent stalk strength contributes to its nice late-season appearance and standability. It has shown very good test weight and grain quality.

Pioneer P7632AM (AM, LL, RR2) is a new performance leader rated at 2225 heat units with Optimum AcreMax, a single-bag refuge solution for above-ground insect protection. It has excellent root lodging tolerance with low plant stature and ear insertion plus good Northern leaf blight tolerance and average test weight.

P8387AM (AM, LL, RR2) is another Optimum AcreMax product with single-bag refuge for aboveground insect protection. Rated at 2500 heat units, it is an excellent dual-purpose product for grain corn or silage, with good standability and average test weight.

P8542AMX (AMX, LL, RR2) is an outstanding new product rated at 2550 heat units. This is another Optimum AcreMax Xtra product with single-bag refuge and above- and below-ground insect protection. A taller plant with low ear insertion, it shows good drought tolerance and its “good” disease protection package includes good tolerance to Northern leaf blight. Test weight is rated average.

P9188 is a new conventional version of leader genetics for the 2650 maturity area. This hybrid offers high yield performance and early flowering plus excellent root and stalk strength, and superb test weight.

P9224AM (AM, LL, RR2) is an exciting new

Optimum AcreMax product. A single-bag refuge solution for above-ground insect protection, this hybrid is rated at 2675 heat units and is a solid companion to P9188AM or P9188AMX. It demonstrates excellent yield stability across different environments, with short stature, excellent disease tolerance and above-average test weight.

P9840AM (AM,LL,RR2) is a hybrid with strong yielding new genetics rated at 2925 heat units. It’s also an Optimum AcreMax product, a single-bag refuge solution for above-ground insect protection, and an excellent companion product for P9644AM and P0157AM. Short statured with relatively low ear placement, this hybrid offers excellent root strength and good drought tolerance, plus very good staygreen and good tolerance to Northern leaf blight.

P0157 is a conventional version of leader genetics for the 3000 heat unit maturity, with late flowering and very fast drydown. It’s an Optimum AQUAmax product that provides exceptional drought tolerance and a short plant with low ear insertion. It’s rated high for test weigh, very good for root strength and average for stalk strength.

P0242AMXT (AMXT,LL,RR2) is a new silagespecific product with Optimum AcreMax Xtreme, a single-bag solution for above- and below-ground insect protection. It’s a good option for corn-on-corn silage acres, with excellent tonnage and silage quality.

P0496 is another conventional version of leader genetics for the 3100 heat unit maturity. This is an Optimum AQUAmax product for exceptional drought tolerance and excellent yield potential, plus balanced agronomics for variable soils. It grows as a taller plant with very wide leaves for great standability.

P0677AMX (AMX,LL,RR2) is a new full-season brown mid-rib (BMR) product, for outstanding agronomic performance. It has the digestibility you Continued on page 38

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CropsGuide Continued from page 37 expect from a BMR with tremendous yields, high starch, strong drought tolerance and robust disease package. It’s another Optimum AcreMax Xtra product, a single-bag refuge solution for above- and below-ground insect protection.

P1197AMXT (AMXT,LL,RR2) is a full-season product rated at 3400 heat units. It’s a yield leader for maturity for grain corn production and also has excellent silage tonnage and quality. This hybrid boasts extraordinary plant health and staygreen capacity, plus very good standability and moderate to tall plant height. It’s also an Optimum AcreMax Xtreme product, a single-bag refuge solution for above- and below-ground insect protection.

Pride Seeds A4199G2 RIB is a new Pride Seeds G2 RIB Complete hybrid delivering above-ground insect control rated at 2175 CHUs. It offers very good drydown with visually attractive late-season appearance, plus strong agronomics with excellent spring vigour and a very early-flowering product with competitive yields.

A5095G2 RIB is an exciting new PRIDE Seeds G2 RIB Complete hybrid delivering above-ground insect control and conventional hybrid choice for 2475 CHUs areas. It features early flowering and finish, with long ear length and girth. It also features excellent kernel quality with high test weight and strong late-season stalk strength and intactness.

A6455G8 RIB is a new introductory Pride Seeds G8 RIB Complete hybrid delivering above- and below-ground insect control at 2825 CHUs. It’s high yielding with exceptional stalk and root strength, very solid agronomics to go with stable consistent yields, and reliable performance in many environments and soil types.

A6744G8 RIB is another new Pride Seeds G8 RIB Complete hybrid delivering above- and belowground insect control at 2900 CHUs. Exceptionally high test weight with excellent late-season intactness and uniformity in plant and ear size, plus a wide harvest window for added management flexibility.

A6967 marks the introduction of the conventional version of proven yield leader Pride Seeds A7270G8. Highly consistent top-end yield rated at 3000 CHUs, this hybrid offers outstanding emergence, spring vigour, drought and stress tolerance. It also boasts exceptional late-season intactness, standability and drydown, making it an excellent dualpurpose silage and grain choice.

A8177G2 RIB is an introductory Pride Seeds G2 RIB Complete hybrid delivering above-ground insect control rated at 3325 CHUs. It’s a very showy plant with outstanding yield performance featuring healthy plants, great fall appearance and staygreen capacity, along with exceptional ear size consistency and attractive grain aspect. It also provides late-season standability for harvest timing freedom.

A8303G8 RIB is another new Pride Seeds G8 RIB 38 country-guide.ca

Complete hybrid delivering above- and below-ground insect control. A full-season 3400 CHU grain and silage hybrid, it comes with exceptionally high yield performance and potential, as well as great yield stability in stress environments. It’s promoted to have excellent ear size and heavy weight, with visually appealing grain and excellent disease and drought tolerances.

Syngenta N27P is a new NK corn hybrid, with a 2750 CHU rating, producing exciting yield levels and performing well across a range of soil types and under various conditions. Producing superb stalk strength for ease of harvest, N27P offers very good staygreen and drydown. This hybrid also contains Agrisure Artesian technology for healthier yields in dry years.

N33W is another new NK corn hybrid, offering great top-end yield and very good drought tolerance. At 2825 CHUs, this hybrid emerges strong and vigorous, and produces excellent grain quality and test weight. This hybrid includes the Agrisure Viptera 3110 trait stack for excellent control of aboveground insects.

N40F is a new NK corn hybrid that produces outstanding stalk strength for ease of harvest. Offering excellent drydown and good grain quality, N40F is a top yield performer. At 2950 CHUs, it contains defensive agronomic characteristics and superb tolerance to Northern corn leaf blight, making this hybrid an excellent choice to protect yield. This hybrid has the Agrisure 3010 trait and features season-long protection from European corn borer as well as herbicide flexibility with both glyphosate and glufosinate tolerance.

N50D is another new NK corn hybrid which adapts broadly and boasts top-end yield potential.

With a 3100 CHU rating, N50D consistently produces excellent grain quality and test weight, making this a go-to hybrid. With a medium plant stature and strong stocks, N50D offers outstanding staygreen and plant health. Containing the Agrisure 3010 trait, it’s also protected all season from European corn borer and is tolerant to both glyphosate and glufosinate.

N58S is another NK corn hybrid, with top-end yield and sound agronomics for maximum performance. This is a great seed choice for highly productive and variable soils. With a short plant stature and very strong roots, this 3225 CHU hybrid boasts outstanding drought tolerance and dependable standability for consistent yields.

This hybrid series is available with the Agrisure Viptera 3220 E-Z Refuge trait stack, the Agrisure Viptera 3111 trait stack or the Agrisure GT trait.

N66V is a new 3400 CHU NK corn hybrid, offering outstanding test weight and a great choice for growers cropping in this later-maturity group of Ontario. A strong foliar disease package helps to maximize yield potential, while excellent drydown and very good grain quality make this hybrid an exceptional choice for variable soil types. Triple stacked with Agrisure 3000GT, N66V provides glyphosate and glufosinate tolerance while protecting corn from corn borer and corn rootworm. CG September 2015

By Ralph Pearce, CG Production Editor

CropsGuide

where water leaves the farm Improve your productivity by starting where water leaves your farm, and then work backwards n the chase for higher yields and improved production, farmers have tapped into everything from precision ag systems to a return to cover crops. Now comes a concept that might not only boost yields and enhance soil health, it might also alleviate some of the pressure on farmers that starts with surface run-off heading into the Great Lakes.

Don Lobb, a retired Huron County farmer and long time advocate of soil conservation and tile drainage mentioned this concept at the 2015 annual meeting of the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario (IFAO).

“ This is no longer an ‘ag issue,’” says no-tiller Don Lobb. “It is a public issue.”

Tile drainage is an effective tool at managing water quality and subsequently improving management of soil health and related issues.

In Lobb’s view, the quality of the water as it leaves our cropland is an obvious measure of our soil management. This means that if we take steps to improve that water’s quality, we will also be improving soil management and thus the long-term productivity of our soil.

It may not be a new concept, judging by some farmers who are urging that more must be done to control the amount of sediment and nutrients leaving farms, particularly in southwestern Ontario.

A midsummer editorial in the W indsor S tar worried that the algal bloom in western Lake Erie in 2015 could get as bad as in 2011, which in turn sparked a 2012 study by the International Joint Commission (IJC).

What’s interesting is that 2015 has seen more severe rain events and less spreading of phosphorusbased fertilizer. And, as one senior agronomist in southwestern Ontario observed in 2014, sales of fertilizers in general are less than half of what used to get sold 20 years ago.

There’s also a political angle to consider. According to census figures, 10 million Canadians live in southern and western Ontario. For them, water pollution ranks with bee health and use of transgenic traits in corn and soybean production as key concerns about agriculture.

From the farm community’s point of view, those concerns can get labelled as overreactions based on misinformation spread by special interest groups that are often opposed to crop production methods. Yet Lobb believes there’s as much to be gained focusing on water quality from an urban viewpoint as there is from a farming perspective.

“The public judges our competence as land managers by what they see in their water, so land management becomes a societal issue,” says Lobb.

Most cropland water enters waterways as surface run-off or through subsurface drains. Surface water run-off almost always carries sediment and nutrients. By improving soil aggregation, Lobb says, we can decrease sediment loss and increase water and nutrient infiltration.

The result is clearer water leaving cropland through drains, and healthier, more productive soil.

Farmers are well aware of the benefits of subsurContinued on page 40

September 2015

country-guide.ca 39

CropsGuide The Production wheel Two years ago in the September edition of Country Guide, we ran a sidebar about a “complete systems” approach to production agriculture, including the depiction of a “production wheel.” The image comes from Don Lobb, an advocate for improving soil health and tile drainage. He created the guideline in a circular or wheel configuration, and it’s worth reprinting two years later, given the increasing scrutiny that’s following agriculture — from lake pollution to bees to GMOs. Marked with “Adopt a Conservation Crop Production System” at its hub, the wheel contains 11 crop production components: fertility, weeds, disease, pests, cover crops, residue, soil ecology, tillage, rotation, drainage and varieties. The arrows point both inward and outward because they reflect a complex set of relations between various practices and the impact (or impacts) each can have on other parameters. Each time we change any one component of a crop production system, the change can impact or require different management for each other component — often with chain-reaction implications. For instance, a change in tillage practice can affect weed species, which in turn can affect herbicide options and this in turn can affect crop variety or hybrid choices. Bottom line: the best combination of components will result in the best crop production system.”

It took several years of on-farm tests and working with researchers for Lobb to amass the data that supports this view, and he first created his wheel depiction in 1982. Through the years it’s been adopted and amended by various individuals. Lobb’s initial intent was to provide a framework to analyze a crop production system, with enough clear definitions yet the flexibility to recognize the differences from one farm to another, and allow for widespread adoption by more farmers. Since he first published it, it’s been used by the University of Guelph, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), among others.

Continued from page 39 face drainge, but encouraging farmers to look at the link between the quality of the water coming off the farm and how it relates to reduced soil and nutrient loss is taking that concept one step further.

To Lobb, the word “drainage” in an agricultural context can be part of the problem. To an urbanite, the word conjures up images of storm sewers, pollution and algal blooms.

From a farm perspective too, it can encourage producers to think of drainage simply as a means to remove excess water so they can get their crops planted faster.

The real reason for drainage “The modern role of subsurface cropland drainage (tile drainage) is much different,” says Lobb.

“It’s root-zone soil moisture management.

“We want a favourable balance of air and water in the root zone, while also maintaining water at the base of the root zone to supply water during dry periods.”

A well-designed subsurface drainage system allows for this, Lobb says.

At the same time, well-managed fine- and medium-textured soils with good aggregation and little compaction allow precipitation to move down through the soil to subsurface drains and to the subdrain water reserve.

This movement filters and purifies water that would otherwise leave the field as surface run-off, something that’s been visible and prevalent in fields across much of southern Ontario in 2015.

“On well-managed soils, the end result of subsurface drainage is cleaner water and reduced peak flows in our waterways,” says Lobb.

During storms, a subsurface drainage system combined with no-till practices and the use of check dams can further protect cropland and water quality.

What’s at stake, ultimately Lobb’s view is unequivocal. In his experience, tillage is an unnecessary contributor to water degradation.

He knows many farmers still believe that tillage increases profits and that plowing is a valuable contributor to soil productivity. But he maintains this is incorrect.

In fact, argues Lobb, there has never been any conclusive research that indicates plowing increases productivity.

“Tilled soils have little or no soil aggregation, and clay soils are almost always compacted,” says Lobb.

“With these conditions, subsurface drains can then contribute little to reduce run-off of water sediment and contaminants,” he continues. “When tillage-degraded soil cracks, water easily reaches subsurface drains.

“This does lead to water degradation in drains and outlet channels, and is really the outcome of bad soil management, not the use of subsurface drains.”

Lobb makes five key recommendations for reduc-

40 country-guide.ca

September 2015

sustainability ing run-off contamination, and he believes these recommendations will also work backwards to help boost productivity through healthier soils: 1. Stop compacting, the sooner, the better. Tillage is the primary contributor.

2. Add organic matter, be it from manure or cover crops. Tillage destroys organic matter.

3. Protect soil biota, which is linked to recommendations #1 and #2. Tillage destroys biota.

4. Improve soil aggregation, which is linked to all three above. Tillage destroys aggregates.

5. Use nutrients wisely. Test for the need for supplemental nutrients, and do not surface apply.

With these five practices, however, another dimension has to be factored in. That is time. It takes time to see the benefits from these measures, but the sooner they’re implemented, the sooner the benefits will become visible.

To continue to ignore the issue of water pollution and surface run-off is to invite urbanites and other non-farming special interests to become involved, usually to the detriment of primary producers. Even if Lake Erie pollution is found to originate primarily from livestock farming along the Maumee River watershed in Ohio, or from sewage discharges by the cities of London, Windsor and Detroit, farmers in Eastern Canada are under increasing scrutiny. Degraded water will bring

regulation because the public sees algae in our waterways.

“Reduced compaction and improved soil aggregation will reduce run-off contamination,” says Lobb. “We can see dirty water or soil erosion, and through regulation we can attach monetary penalties to degraded water, or treat water degradation as disgraceful and irresponsible. This is no longer an ‘ag issue.’ This is a public issue as it affects sustainable soil production, air quality and water quality.”

The public and policy-makers are growing impatient, Lobb says. “They can impose rules for soil management. Farmers need to figure out now how they’re going to reduce negative soil management outcomes, or the public can simply look at their water and say, ‘Fix it!’” CG

Additional resources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEOyC_tGH64 The slake test and demonstration give a very visual representation of well- and poorly aggregated soils and their reactions in water. Hosted by Ray Archuleta.

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country-guide.ca 41

CropsGuide

the dirt on

soil tests

ewer farmers are sampling their soils. In Ontario, the numbers say fewer than 30 per cent of farmers test every three years, even though this trend is leading to a data gap at a time when everything else seems to be changing too, such as the rapid climb in yield potentials, and elite corn hybrids that are so much more efficient at extracting nutrients.

Also worrying is that the experts are lining up to tell us that, one way or another, more farmers are mining their soils.

“Test levels are declining across North America,” says Jack Legg, branch manager and agronomist with SGS Agri-Food Laboratories in Guelph, Ont. Legg believes a key issue is crop removal, especially with rising yields. For instance, there’s a common view that soybeans “don’t use anything,” which Legg notes is just wrong. A corn crop might remove around 75 pounds (or more) of phosphorus, but soybeans can still take 45 pounds and wheat 60 pounds.

“It’s suggested that for every 28 to 35 pounds removed, soil test P would drop one part per million (ppm), and in fact, the average of all soil tests has dropped about one ppm per year,” says Legg.

Soybeans may not show a strong response to applied fertilizer, but they still remove more nutrients on a per-bushel basis than other crops, such as 0.9 lb. of P2O5 per bushel, and 1.56 lbs. of K2O. Legg sees little that’s wrong with our sampling procedures, only that sampling needs to be done more frequently. Once in three years is fine, he says, but three years can go by quickly and soil sampling and testing can easily be forgotten.

Adjust the thinking Some agronomists aren’t so surprised that only a minority of farmers routinely sample. It’s the 80/20 rule, says Wayne Black, a former grower and now seed sales and production specialist with Devolder Farms near Chatham, Ont. In other words, 80 per cent of production gets done by 20 per cent of farms, and most of those 20 per cent are routine samplers.

But even they need to recognize that the ground is changing under their feet, Black says. “The new genetics that we’re using in corn hybrids today utilize 37 to 40 per cent of the N after tasselling,” he points out. “In the past, it was much lower, so that’s where the idea of soil sampling every three years came from. But what I’m looking at today is, there are other opportunities out there where we need to soil sample at different times of the season.”

This is where Black sees the potential value in the growing interest in putting the fertilizer needs for 42 country-guide.ca

By Ralph Pearce, CG Production Editor

With soil nutrient levels dropping, how do you need to change your soil-testing program and fertility rates? a corn crop into a band. If a farmer has good soil structure and subsurface nutrient levels, the roots are able to access micronutrients that farmers aren’t necessarily applying. That approach, adds Black, may be more helpful than randomly applying nutrients across a field.

Such an approach is worth considering because heavy rains in June and early July can increase the loss of non-banded nutrients in any run-off. It’s also an opportunity to make more efficient use of available technologies, including GreenSeeker and 360 YieldCenter, to take samples through green tissue analysis or normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) readings at various points of the season.

“What I’m looking towards is using new tools and new technologies,” says Black, noting that by testing throughout the season he could reduce environmental concerns while also ensuring the crop is optimally fed. “That’s taking it to the extreme where the guys who don’t want to do grid sampling aren’t going to like my idea,” Black says. But, he counters, “Are we going to just keep doing it like we’ve always done and wait until the government tells us to do it, like the neonic issue?”

Getting off to a good start If you ask Felix Weber, it isn’t so much the sampling procedures or the soil-testing standards, it’s more the consistency of following the procedures.

From his perspective, there are three things that can confound the issue: getting a good start, having a reason for testing the soil and whether all the variables at play in the soil are being considered. Weber cites the use of manure as an example, adding that it introduces a large number of variables into the soil test results.

Everything has an impact, he says, from the depth of the soil to the cropping system to rotations to the timing of the samples in spring or fall or the use of synthetic fertilizers or manure. Soil sampling, nitrate sampling — they’re all tools to be used.

But it’s the start that’s the most important.

“You have to start with a good sample that is representative and comparable, and that will tell me first if we’re actually building or if we’re mining the soil,” says Weber, president of Ag Business & Crop, based near Palmerston, Ont. “If the nutrition removal standards are too low, it should be proven and a good job should be done with accurate sampling.”

Weber always asks his clients why they’re sampling.

Often, he finds, it isn’t about the nutrients in the soil.

“One client said it the best way — he said: ‘I just want to know whether I’m building or if I’m September 2015

NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT mining,’” says Weber. “I have a soil type that produces tremendously in one location but not in another, it doesn’t matter what soil type it is, there’s more than one condition that releases those nutrients than just the soil type. You can’t just say that Listowel loam is supposed to give me so much yield — there’s so much more to it.”

And that’s why sampling (and getting it right at the start) and lab analysis are so important. Weber’s theory is that sampling is the base. Over a longer period of time, it becomes a tool to record whether that grower is mining, or building.

“I’m a strong believer that it starts in the field, and if you do a poor job of sampling in the field, anything afterwards can’t be as good as you want it to be,” Weber says.

There’s also some doubt as to the consistency of different labs: is one as good as the other? Weber points to an experiment conducted by OMAFRA, in which a sample was split and sent to two different labs to determine the variation in either sampling methods or testing standards. There were some slight differences between the two, but in the final analysis, the samples showed very similar results: no more than 10 per cent variation, according to Dr. Bonnie Ball, field crops soil specialist with OMAFRA. It’s worth noting that labs are accredited on the basis of consistency in their results. The higher the variation between different labs, the greater the risk of losing accreditation.

“There are so many variables all along,” says Weber. “The more we can take out variables, the better.” SG

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Commercialized products have been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship.

ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for canola contains the active ingredients difenoconazole, metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil and thiamethoxam. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for canola plus Vibrance® is a combination of two separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients difenoconazole, metalaxyl (M and S isomers), fludioxonil, thiamethoxam, and sedaxane. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for corn (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination of four separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, and clothianidin. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for corn (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin and ipconazole. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for corn with Poncho®/VoTivo™ (fungicides, insecticide and nematicide) is a combination of five separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, clothianidin and Bacillus firmus strain I-1582. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for soybeans (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination of four separate individually registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin, metalaxyl and imidacloprid.

Acceleron® seed treatment technology for soybeans (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin and metalaxyl. Acceleron and Design®, Acceleron®, DEKALB and Design®, DEKALB®, Genuity and Design®, Genuity®, JumpStart®, RIB Complete and Design®, RIB Complete®, Roundup Ready 2 Technology and Design®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup Transorb®, Roundup WeatherMAX®, Roundup®, SmartStax and Design®, SmartStax®, Transorb®, VT Double PRO®, and VT Triple PRO® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Used under license. Vibrance® and Fortenza® are registered trademarks of a Syngenta group company. LibertyLink® and the Water Droplet Design are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. Herculex® is a registered trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC. Used under license. Poncho® and Votivo™ are trademarks of Bayer. Used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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September 2015

country-guide.ca 43

CropsGuide # PestPatrol

with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

ave a question you want answered?

H Hashtag #PestPatrol on twitter.com to @cowbrough or email Mike at mike.cowbrough@ontario.ca.

What is the best way to get rid of common burdock? nowing how this plant reproduces will influence how you manage it. Burdock is biennial and reproduces only by seed. Following seed germination in the spring, burdock will grow into a large leafy rosette plant with a large taproot that allows it to overwinter. In the second year, burdock will flower and produce the burrs we all know. Each burr will contain about 30 to 40 seeds, with an entire plant producing anywhere from 9,800 to 17,000 seeds.

In late April, go where you’ve seen burdock and you should find both established plants with large leaves that have emerged from the large taproot as well as young seedlings that have germinated from seed in the spring (Figure 1).

Although the young seedling plants are easy to kill in the spring, the larger overwintered plants are more easily controlled the previous fall. Table 1 lists the results when herbicides were sprayed

against large established burdock rosettes in late September 2014 and evaluated in spring 2015.

A couple of things stand out in Table 1. First, none of the fall treatments were all that impressive several weeks after application. But be patient: control of those plants in the spring has been very good (Figure 2). Second, nothing applied in the fall stopped seed from germinating in the spring. Management of these seedlings in early May with either tillage or herbicides is important to stop the cycle of established overwintered plants that eventually produce seed. Figure 3 shows a significant flush of new seedling plants coming through a treatment that was successful at removing the established plants.

Recap: Apply effective herbicides against established rosette plants in the fall and then deal with young seedlings in the spring with tillage or effective herbicides. Because seed may be viable for two or three years, this may need to be repeated. CG

Figure 1. On April 30, 2015, leaves have emerged from the large taproot and tower over newly emerged seedlings.

Figure 2. On the left, an unsprayed area from last fall versus, on the right, a fall-applied herbicide treatment.

Table 1. Control of established burdock and new seedling plants after herbicide applications in late September

Herbicide

Rate/ acre

Established plants Control — 21 days

Established plants Control — April

New seedlings Control — April

MCPA Ester 600

660 ml

40%

100%

0%

2,4-D Ester 700

520 ml

40%

100%

0%

Banvel II

500 ml

50%

100%

0%

Glyphosate 540 g/l 670 ml

50%

100%

0%

Enlist Duo

60%

100%

0%

44 country-guide.ca

1.7 l

Figure 3. Although effective at controlling established plants, none of the fall treatments stopped new seedlings. september 2015

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business

Finding

the ‘wow’ factor

CNH managers speak candidly about the challenges of engineering an all-new machine from the ground up

By Scott Garvey, CG Machinery Editor

esigning a new piece of farm equipment and getting it market ready today is easier, thanks to technology.

But it’s also more complicated, thanks to… well… technology. The complexity built into modern machines is stunning and it continues to grow. In fact, from a machinery company’s perspective, it has to grow. Unless new designs offer farmers ever more efficiency, they won’t generate sizable sales numbers.

Even before the long process of development and testing can begin, company managers must establish that the brand will see a financial return for that investment. Any new machine has to appeal to buyers with chequebooks in their pockets. Getting that right is where the whole process kicks off.

When Case IH invited media to its Saskatoon training facility to introduce its newly designed 5 Series air carts earlier this summer, Country Guide spoke with the brand executives about what it takes to park a completely new machine in the showroom.

The Saskatoon assembly plant that builds CNH’s new air carts is building on its heritage as an early innovator in the dryland seeding industry, according to brand managers.

Photos: Scott Garvey

46 country-guide.ca

“We do something we call CDPD, Customer Driven Product Development,” said Gord Engel, the brand’s seeding product manager. “We sit down with customer focus groups. We ask them things like what would you like to see different than what you’ve got today, and flesh out all those details. What can make this product better for them? With that you always find these little nuggets. Sometimes it’s not very apparent at the time, but something all of a sudden pops up. And we say wow, if we could do that it would give them that wow factor. Those are the types of things we’re looking for in the product definition.”

It would have been easy, however, to overshoot the market while focusing on that wow factor and adding features to the carts farmers might like but just aren’t willing to pay for. Deciding where that dividing line lies, it turns out, is no easy task.

“You have to balance it off; customers are looking for value,” Engel said. “You have to draw that line between reality and not hitting the mark at all.”

There were some must-haves, the focus groups told the 5 Series engineers. Topping the list were features that can help reduce input costs.

“Right now with the cost of inputs, everybody’s looking for something with section control,” Engel said. “That was one of the key things they were looking for, trying to save input costs there.”

Of course, knowing what customers want is one thing. Creating a machine capable of giving it to them is entirely another. Computer simulations contributed to shortening the total development time.

“From the initial concept to today, you’re looking around that four-year time frame,” said Engel. “Had we tried to do this 10 or 15 years ago, the time, for sure, would have been longer. We have a digital simulation group and it can do some amazing things with fluid dynamics. Looking at an air system, just with a computer model, it can determine where it’s going to go and how it’s going to react. I’m sure that knocked nine months to a year out of our timeline by using that kind of technology.

“Now you can predict what’s going to happen, build a model in a lab and validate it,” Engel said.

“Fifteen, 20 years ago we would build it, try it, stick it in the field and go yeah, that’s not working. Let’s try something else.”

Once the company settled on a prototype design, it turned back to those customer focus groups to see if it had created something that would get farmers to say, “I want that — and I’m willing to pay for it.”

But rather than head out to the field to take a look September 2015

business

Joe Michaels is senior director of Case IH specialty business. at a camouflaged machine parked well away from unauthorized eyes, customers went back inside to take advantage of another aspect of modern technology: virtual reality.

“We now have a VR (virtual reality) room here in Saskatoon as well,” said Engel. “You can take a look at that computer model and really get a feel for it, what it’s like to get around it and service it. Seeing is believing.”

But while technology can be used to test and validate systems, it can’t take the place of the inspired engineers needed to create all those things farmers tacked on to their wish lists. That takes old-fashioned brain power. To build the current generation of 5 Series carts, inspiration came from a wide range of resources, including discussions with engineers who pioneered early air cart development when the Saskatoon facility was owned by Flexi-Coil, which Case IH eventually purchased.

“We’ve tapped into that heritage,” explained Joe Michaels, senior director of Case IH specialty business. “Some of the engineers who worked on the original metering system 20 years ago came in and had conversations. That’s the level we did it at. It wasn’t a formalized thing.”

Michaels believes blending input from experienced innovators along with younger minds familiar with the latest in cutting-edge technology can produce results like no other process.

“When you get (older engineers) together with (younger engineers), that is a synergistic relationship when it comes to product development,” Michaels said. “Because when you have that wisdom and experience together with that enthusiasm and knowledge of the current capabilities of technology, you get magical synergistic results.”

September 2015

But Michaels believes the new 5 Series carts embody not only the results of that engineering exercise, but they are also the product of a renewed focus on the same spirit of innovation that led to the creation of the original Flexi-Coil machines. That emotion is something he wants to solidify in the current corporate psyche of the big red brand.

“Specialty manufacturers out there really do drive a lot of innovation in this (seeding) industry,” Michaels said. “What I’ve been charged to do in my position is bring that specialty culture to a major full-line equipment manufacturer. That’s really the spirit that we’re going on. There is a renewed effort.

We have a great heritage here, Flexi-Coil heritage here, at this Saskatoon facility and the people. And they still talk about it.”

That pride in their heritage has apparently also created a sense of competition within the workers at the Saskatoon assembly plant that builds the air seeders. The facility has earned the highest efficiency rating among the CNH and parent company Fiat’s North American assembly plants, according to Michaels.

“This facility here is No. 1 in North America,” Michaels said. “And within the CNH group it’s the No. 1 rated plant worldwide in quality and delivery.”

Michaels thinks that is an even more significant achievement than it sounds, because staff at the Saskatoon plant have one of the most difficult assembly jobs in any industry, the result of a wide diversity in machines moving down the assembly line.

“There is infinitely more variability on these than there is on a Fiat 500,” Michaels said. “And the volumes are lower. So it’s more important that you have your systems in place to create consistent quality on the line.” CG country-guide.ca 47

business

Agriculture’s glass ceiling Photos: the Advancing Women Conference

If gender isn’t a big issue on the farm, why are so many women signing up for women’s organizations and conferences?

By Helen Lammers-Helps

o maybe today’s farmers don’t absolutely need the muscles of a Schwarzenegger, especially on farms with employees. Still, that doesn’t mean the door is open to women farmers, or that our modern agricultural system is really as modern as we like to think.

Women who want to farm do face challenges not experienced by their male counterparts. Nor, importantly, are all those barriers unique to agriculture.

Books like Lean In by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg have documented problems that prevent women from rising to the top in other sectors too, whether it’s in business, the non-profit sector or politics.

Nor are women the only ones struggling for change. Men are also seeking balanced lives, with more time with their families.

Whether it’s on the farm or in agribusiness, says Christie, “talking brings the issue to light.”

Still, women and agriculture is a big topic, and it is a real one too. It is also a topic that needs more discussion not only in our farm organizations and in our boardrooms, but also around our supper tables.

For example, this past April, 600 women attended the Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference in Calgary. “This was the largest gathering of (ag) women ever held and their wish list for information was long and varied,” says conference organizer, Iris Meck. There was no one major common theme but most of the topics come as no surprise: work-life balance, time management, stress management, how to be a spokesperson for agriculture and dealing with intergenerational issues. At least one 48 country-guide.ca

At conferences, speakers like Saskatchewan’s deputy minister of ag Alanna Koch chart a path for women’s progress. attendee was explicitly looking for information on “understanding how men view us and how to build a bridge in the workplace.”

As well, in Ontario, a group of young women working in agriculture started the Ag Women’s Network as an informal forum to network and share information. The Facebook page for the group has 400 followers, mostly from Ontario but from other parts of Canada and the U.S. too.

Jennifer Christie, dealer development manager at John Deere and one of the founders of the Ag Women’s Network says the group this past February, for instance, participated in a discussion on maternity leave benefits. It’s a hot topic especially for self-employed farmers, but women working in agribusiness and who have better access to maternity benefits than many women on the farm also want their company HR staff to be more forthcoming with explanations of maternity benefits and maternity leave policies.

The group knows there are men who would like to see a more open discussion of parental leave options too, and that some men would like to access parental benefits but are deterred from doing so because a company is very traditional in its mindset.

It’s another indication that a wider discussion is needed, says Christie.

Still, for women who work in sales positions that are based on commission, taking time off after the birth of a child can mean losing clients and jeopardizing their long-term income potential, although having the option to work in teams is one possible solution that would allow women more flexibility.

Primary producers at the meeting also raised concerns about the lack of access to childcare for their small children. “There are a lot of playpens and strollers in the milkhouses and parlours,” says september 2015

business

Resources Sandi Brock, a sheep farmer from Hensall, Ont. When her children were young, Brock had off-site childcare but had to pick the kids up promptly at 4 p.m. every day. “Balancing farm work and childcare was hard,” Brock says. “Sometimes things go wrong but both your livestock and your children are counting on you.”

A lack of work-life balance is an issue that’s raised over and over again by working women. On top of their jobs, women are spending twice as much time as their husbands doing housework and three times as much time on childcare.

“You feel guilty and you end up rushing a lot with too much to do,” speculates Brock. “It seems to be different for guys. Guys seem to shut it off... they aren’t thinking about whether or not there are groceries in the fridge.”

Too often, farm women are unable to work to their full potential, says farm family coach Elaine Froese of Boissevan, Man. As someone who works closely with farm families, she has seen daughters overlooked as potential successors solely because of their gender. She has also seen cases where women are actively involved in farm operations but their opinions aren’t valued, and she has seen daughtersin-law who have no voice except through their husbands.

Age and gender also come into play. As a woman, Brock wonders if she had to work harder than a man to prove herself when she first began farming a dozen years ago. Whether it was because of age or gender, it’s hard to say, she says. “I’m more confident now, more comfortable with decision-making.”

A lack of confidence can hold women back, agrees Meck, who says this is one of the benefits of attending conferences geared to women. “By listening and learning they’ll gain confidence,” she says.

Christie agrees. “Sometimes the barriers are our own internal limits about what we can achieve,” she says. “By networking you realize others have doubts, worries and guilt, even though they seem very much in control on the outside. This boosts confidence.”

Some companies are making it easier for women to network and find mentors by holding internal meetings. For example, Christie says John Deere holds women’s forums where participants are able to discuss leadership development and barriers. Not only are these forums helpful to women, but Christie says about a third of the attendees are men who have said they had no idea that some of these issues existed.

“Talking brings the issues to light,” says Christie.

On the farm, that can mean a need for unique solutions. For example, Brock uses Twitter and Facebook to connect with other women farmers.

“Sometimes it’s just nice to have someone to commiserate with… someone to vent to who is not your husband.” CG September 2015

The Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council (CAHRC), a national non-profit organization focused on addressing human resource issues facing agricultural businesses, has initiated a threeyear project to support women reaching higher executive roles in agriculture.

Currently in its first year, the project team is doing background and secondary research, but this fall and winter will conduct surveys and focus groups.

Then the project will develop tools to support leadership development and create opportunities for women to network, primarily through social media, togther with cloud-based options for sharing and collaboration.

Project manager, Debra Hauer, says that since the project was announced in April, it has received more interest than any other project they’ve ever been involved in. “Many women have come forward offering to help in some way,” says Hauer. There are opportunities for women to get involved in working groups. If you are interested, contact Debra Hauer at hauer@cahrc-ccrha.ca.

Ag Women’s Network Facebook group https:// www.facebook.com/groups/490235661074691/.

Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference East in Toronto October 5-6, 2015. http://www. advancingwomenconference.ca/2015east/index. html The conference is open to both women and men, says organizer Iris Meck.

Tables are full, speakers are world class, and women are taking control of their ag destiny.

country-guide.ca 49

business

Our toughest marketing challenge Farmers are losing respect. Now is the time to win it back, before the costs get even worse

By Gerald Pilger

odney Dangerfield built a comic career on his signature line: “I don’t get no respect.” But for the agricultural industry, loss of respect is no laughing matter. The public perception of agriculture is steadily eroding.

Last fall, Harris Interactive asked 2,537 Americans to name the most prestigious occupations. As you might guess, doctors topped the list. Farming didn’t make the top 10. In fact, only 14 per cent of those surveyed felt farming has a great deal of prestige. And 22 per cent of the respondents felt farming had no prestige at all.

Not surprisingly, the younger the respondent, the lower the prestige score given for farming.

In March of last year, AAFC commissioned the Strategic Council to conduct focus groups to determine the Canadian public’s perception of the agrifood industry. Among the study’s findings: “… a relatively low level of awareness, particularly among urban dwellers, of the current state of the sector and its contribution to provincial, regional and the national economy.”

Canadians seemed somewhat more pessimistic than optimistic about agriculture. Reasons included concerns about GMOs, factory farms, perceived

unsustainable or environmentally damaging farming practices, and declining interest in the industry.

Participants did not feel agriculture is innovative, and they felt there has been little change in the last 10 to 20 years.

The only good news is that participants expressed a real desire to learn more about agriculture and food.

Robert Saik, founder and CEO of Agri-Trend, warns: “We have a real problem. Traditionally, farmers were trusted like doctors and firefighters.

Today, if you ask people if you trust farmers, they answer yes. But if you ask, do you trust agriculture, they say no. The public has a romanticized view of farming and only trust the image they have in their minds. They do not trust the industry.”

According to Saik, there are a number of reasons for this disconnect. “Only 1.5 to two per cent of North Americans are farmers; the other 98 per cent are getting more removed.”

Saik believes social media is also leading the public to question the industry. Misinformation can spread rapidly and there are parties with vested interests that are using social media to sow seeds of Continued on page 52

Nurse loves farmer Sarah Schultz is a city girl turned farmwife and mother. She started her blog www.nurselovesfarmer.com because “I was seeing a lot of concerns over how our food was raised and a lot of myths about agriculture regarding GMOs and pesticides.

“Consumers seem to put more faith and trust into celebrities like Dr. Oz and the Food Babe when it comes to nutrition and food production, instead of talking to the real experts in the agriculture industry,” Schultz says.

Schultz is worried. “Food activists can, will, and have changed agriculture policy already,” she says.

But at the same time, Schultz notes, “Consumers, especially the millennials and the young moms, want to know more about food production and farming. This is why I feel it is so important, perhaps now more than ever, for farmers to reach out to consumers to tell their farm-to-food stories and to answer consumers’ questions.”

“I would encourage farmers to be transparent and honest about what they do and why they do it on their farms. Find a common ground with consumers who have questions and sincerely listen to those questions and concerns. There are far more people in the “movable middle” who are skeptical of agriculture practices, but are open, willing and wanting to learn about what farmers do, than those of the activist mindset who already have their opinions formed and their minds likely won’t be changed.”

50 country-guide.ca

September 2015

THE ONTARIO AGROLOGIST A conversation with Jaye Atkins, P.Ag., Chief Executive Officer, Agricultural Credit Corporation (ACC) based in Guelph. ACC is the second largest administrator of the Advance Payment Program in Canada serving growers and producers.

Why are your programs, such as the Advance Payment Program, important in meeting the needs of today’s growers and producers?

emerging new agricultural markets. As

The Program allows the borrowing of

miscanthus and all the traditional pro-

up to $400,000 with the first $100,000

duction. We are still doing a lot of grains

interest free and the remainder of the

but markets outside of traditionally sup-

loan at prime. It is federally-funded

ply managed commodities represent a

and in operation for 20 years. It is the

growth area today. Producers in these

federal government that pays the

new areas have difficulty accessing

interest on the $100,000. Our challenge

funds so the Program fills a financing

lending that claim to be ag experts

is getting knowledge of the Program

need where, historically, producers

but lack the designation that proves

out there so producers can benefit. So

have difficulty getting financing.

competency. We tell producers that a

we are very active speaking to com-

We pride ourselves on being knowl-

modity associations and agricultural

edgeable in agriculture. So if a grower

groups across Canada to make their

wants to talk about cranberries in Nova

members aware of the Program.

Scotia or chrysanthemums in BC we

How has the ACC positioned itself to meet producer needs in a growing competitive agri-finance sector?

have the people. To be knowledgeable

ACC is a not-for-profit organization.

We provide the channel for access to interest free and low interest funds. We also recognize the challenges on the business side of operations so have taken steps to reduce the traditional loan application paperwork. Coming

an example, we fund biomass products, forage, sod, Christmas trees, goat, mink,

in 5,000 different products while knowing the marketplace and commodity trends, it’s the education, training and experience we get as Professional Agrologists that allows us access to the resources of a network of licensed and accredited Professional and Technical practitioners to fill information gaps.

P.Ag or T.Ag is not just handed out or is a piece of paper you got attending a 2 day course. I believe respect and credibility is in short supply today, but not within ACC. Being designated professionals helps us be better finance people. Having the P.Ag. is good for our business, good for our customers and is a good business practice.

For growers and producers how can they get more information on your programs or contact ACC? We provide financing in all areas from planting, through harvesting, storage

knowledgeable complement of staff

You have indicated the value of qualified and knowledgeable staff linked to professional designation. Does professional licensure enhance the credibility of ACC staff?

on hand to help producers complete

When we are talking with organizations

producer on an application. Getting

their applications over the phone and

and producer groups we promote the

low and no interest funds out there to

answer any questions.

fact we are Professional Agrologists. We

those that need it is what we strive to

can demonstrate that we understand Today, ACC administers loans on over

do every day. Agriculture is our only

the grower and producer perspec-

5,000 different agricultural products

business and helping producers is our

tive and that we understand on-farm

across Canada. So if you grow it or raise

number one objective.

operations. The designation is what

it in Canada we can administer the

gives us credibility with producers. That

Program on it. In particular, ACC is help-

level of comfort is important today.

ing Canadian producers in niche, and

There are too many in finance and

in November, we are releasing the ability to do on line applications. We can assure producers that we have a

and right until the product goes to market. Contact any of us including me and we would be happy to explain the Program and work with any grower or

@agcreditcorp facebook • twitter • linkedin 1-888-278-8807 • www.agcreditcorp.ca

www.oia.on.ca

business Continued from page 50

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doubt about the food sector. They are doing this for their own reasons, which can include their own gain.

Farmers and the industry simply cannot counter these messages on social media.

Saik points out that one of the most popular agricultural Twitter accounts has 67,000 followers. This number pales in comparison to organic proponent Whole Foods with 4.4 million followers.

Academics Review recently released its study of the marketing of organic foods entitled “Organic Marketing Report” (available at academicsreview. org) which found that food safety and health concerns are the primary drivers of organic sales and that without these, organic sector sales opportunities would be limited.

CEOs of organic companies routinely get quoted in news stories about food scares without anyone pointing out that the food scares drive their organic businesses, the review notes. “Some (organic execs) openly acknowledge that the industry should engage in fear-based marketing.”

There is no question companies are either implying or directly asserting there are food safety risks arising from conventional agricultural practices. Saik suggests the A&W and Ben and Jerry’s ad campaigns prey on consumers’ fears of the food system.

Unfortunately, we are likely to see continued growth in such advertising.

Academics Review estimates the combined annual budgets of anti-GMO and anti-pesticide advocacy groups promoting organics at over $2.5 billion.

With this much money questioning the quality and safety of our food and industry, is it any wonder trust in agriculture is diminishing?

What is being done?

The ag industry is waking up to the fact that modern farming and foodprocessing practices are under attack.

Industry is responding with some very effective programming.

Ag in the Classroom ( www.aitccanada.ca) now reaches over a million students in Canada. It is industry funded and strives to provide agricultural awareness through the school system.

Farm and Food Care (www.farmcare foundation.ca) has taken the trust-in-food message out of the school to the general public. It is working to build public confidence in agriculture through direct presentations to audiences, through hosting special agricultural events, and with the publication and distribution of the booklet Real Dirt, a fact-based look at both conventional and organic production.

Farm and Food Care is also producing “Know GMO,” a $1-million documentary that looks at the science behind GMOs and tackles the myths and misconceptions about genetically engineered crops (www.knowgmothemovie.com).

Agriculture More Than Ever (www. agriculturemore­thanever.ca) is an industry initiative which offers actual participants in the farm and food sector a forum where they can tell their own stories.

What must farmers do?

“Farmers are guility of not arming themselves to talk about how they produce food,” Saik says.

Saik feels farmers do not know how to respond to criticism of the industry.

Many farmers will simply ignore misinformation about farming and agriculture instead of responding to it. Instead, Saik says farmers need to use these moments as an opportunity to teach the person about farming.

To do this, Saik says a farmer needs to correct misinformation rather than blowing up.

Farmers also need to use the chances they get to explain why we use science in crop and livestock production.

And it is critical that farmers financially support the work that agricultural associations are doing to increase consumer awareness of farming and the agricultural industry.

Most importantly, Saik says farmers must advocate for the industry.

Saik has taken his own advice to heart and has become a leading advocate for farming: Earlier this year he produced a TedX talk entitled “Pushing Boundaries in Agriculture,” available on YouTube. It is an excellent resource for farmers wanting to equip themselves with facts and information to respond to attacks on our industry. CG

September 2015

Spotlight on Crop AdvAnCeS Crop Advances is an annual report that summarizes applied research projects involving the OMAFRA Field Crop team, in partnership with commodity groups, industry and the OSCIA. Go to the Resources page at www.ontariosoilcrop.org

Multi-year project highlights cover crop benefits

By Lilian Schaer

There are many benefits to growing cover crops, like protecting against erosion, adding organic matter, stimulating soil life, providing or retaining nitrogen, reducing compaction, managing pests, and improving how soil holds and absorbs water.

A multi-year project has just wrapped up in Southwestern Ontario that evaluated planting various cover crops after winter wheat or into standing corn.

Led by Adam Hayes, Soil Management Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), the study has generated some solid results on cover crop options.

How was the research conducted?

Seven trial sites were established in Essex, Kent and Lambton Counties in 2012, and increased to 12 in 2013 and 2014. A variety of drills and planters were used to seed various cover crop mixtures at different times following winter wheat harvest each year. Two-way, three-way, and six-way mixes were planted. Cover crops were also hand-seeded into standing corn each year.

What has the project found?

Three years of plot trials and data analysis have generated the following: • Increase in earthworm populations: Significant increases in earthworm populations were recorded in the cover crop strips compared to the check, says Hayes. Earthworms help with nutrient cycling, improved drainage and soil aeration, and breaking down crop residues.

• Manageable residue levels: Many growers are concerned about too much cover crop residue in the spring, residue cover crop measurements completed each spring showed this wasn’t an issue.

“We did the counts and looked at the residues in the spring, and the levels weren’t overwhelming so it was easy for growers to no-till right into it,” explains Hayes.

A six way cover crop mixture.

Photo courtesy Adam Hayes, OMAFRA

“The key is a planting rate for cover not forage production,” adds Anne Verhallen, OMAFRA’s Soil Management Specialist for horticulture.

• Early planting matters: Plots that were planted in the last week of July or the first week of August had more growth than those planted during the second half of August.

“We had one plot one year where we couldn’t get it planted till midSeptember and we didn’t get a lot of growth, so it really shows the importance of getting cover crops in in a timely fashion,” says Hayes.

• Mixes – cost vs. benefit: Hayes looked at two-way, three-way and six-way mixes throughout the project, and found good cover with all mixtures. Sorghum sudan and sunn hemp, which were included in some of the six-way mixes, did not do well as they are both warm season cover crops that are sensitive to frost and cold temperatures. Sorghum sudan can do well if planted early.

“From an economics perspective, the cost per acre increased as we increased the number of species in the mix,” he says.

“But even growers using a two-way mix will still see soil structure improvements and other benefits from the cover crops.”

ONTARIO SOIL AND CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION

Verhallen adds it’s important to choose the species carefully to improve the diversity beyond corn and soybeans.

What’s next?

Funding is in place for a new, five-part project delving deeper into cover crops. This includes looking at how many species are needed in an optimal cover crop mixture, studying nitrogen availability to the corn crop following a cover crop and cover crop impact on phosphorous, setting up demonstration farms “Learning Farms” for field days and meetings, and looking at soil insect and soybean cyst nematodes populations in fields where cover crops are grown.

The new project will cover the St. Clair region, as well as an area spreading east from Lindsay to the Quebec border.

Where can I get more information?

More information on this project and two other OSCIA cover crop projects can be found in the Crop Advances section of the OSCIA website under “Resources”.

How was the research funded?

The project was supported by an Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association regional partner grant and by a grant from the Southwest Agricultural Conference. OSCIA assisted with communication of research results.

Mission: Facilitate responsible economic management of soil, water, air and crops through development and communication of innovative farming practices

www.ontariosoilcrop.org

business

LGBT on the farm On these farms, diversity is good for business

ow 33, Otis Bell admits he’s outside the mainstream of agriculture.

Growing up in Seattle, Bell next lived in Olympia, where he got his first taste of growing plants and gardening, and where he decided to get more directly involved with farming.

“I think being queer made me take a step out of some of the normal streams that people just flow into,” says Bell. “I started to look at the world through a critical lens, looking to really be part of a positive movement of life that was going to sustain us in a healthy community, in a healthy way.”

That’s why he and his Canadian partner moved to Vancouver Island last year, where they had discovered Saanich Organics, near Victoria.

“I became a resident here and chose this area, because it has a city I could study acupuncture in,” said Bell. “But it also has a farm community accessible to the city. Balance of those two worlds is important to me.”

54 country-guide.ca

Saanich Organics is a collective of three women, each of whom has their own heterosexual family.

The three run farms close together and market their food co-operatively. They also sell for a handful of other small enterprises, mostly run by women.

“They are very feminist,” says Bell. “Two friends of mine who identify as transgender and gender queer were working for them and told me what great allies they are. They don’t just tolerate queerness.

They celebrate it and really invite it.

“It’s incredible to find common ground, a place where I can feel truly liberated and grow strong.”

Robin Tunnicliff is one of the three women from Saanich Organics. Her farm is located half an hour west of Victoria, where she grows a variety of vegetables year round. Her output is distributed on the island to stores, farmers’ markets, and directly to customers.

A few years ago, Tunnicliff recalls, she hired a lesbian woman as farm manager. That manager then hired from her circle of friends.

“Before we knew it, we had an almost entirely queer workforce, which was really fun,” says Tunnicliff.

There’s something in it for both sides, Tunnicliff says.

She sees some of the struggles and issues that some of her staff have faced, and she likens it to a sort of posttraumatic stress from having been born different from the norm and subsequently being marginalized.

“I think the hard work and positivity that come from nurturing plants is therapeutic to them,” says Tunnicliff. “Farming is different. It can be a solitary activity where you’re always on your own on land, and it can also be an intense time pressure getting ready for harvest.” september 2015

Photography: AJ Photography

By Rebeca Kuropatwa

business

When Alberta farmers Kate Hook (left) and Dawn Boileau (right) announced they had married, the common question was, “To whom?”

Farm work can be therapeutic for gays.

It’s the quality of the work, not your identity that counts.

“ I’d definitely hire them over a straight farmhand,” Tunnicliff says. “For them to get where they are has taken a lot.”

But she also sees benefits for the farm. “Farming and distribution are tough nuts to crack. It costs a lot of money to grow food well,” Tunnicliff says. “I really welcome new subsets into agriculture. Queer thinking is different. It comes from a creative side. Queers are different in the way that they approach problems.”

“We definitely benefited from having a queer staff,” Tunnicliff adds. “I’ve seen them marketing in different ways that I hadn’t thought about, getting food into the urban core. I don’t know that it has to do with being queer or if it’s just because they are exceptional individuals.”

It brings a smile to Tunnicliff’s face when her employees dress up to go to work on the farm… and then it gives her opportunity for reflection.

“One time, one of the farmhands who was biologically female just really wanted to work with his shirt off,” said Tunnicliff. “I hadn’t ever thought about what a challenge that might be. We just have a lot of experiences on the farm where it gave me a lot of opportunity to reflect on my privilege of fitting into the norm. It was humbling.”

Still, a lot gets accepted simply by having an september 2015

employee who shows up to work with a positive attitude, a willingness to work, and the dedication it takes to get the job done.

“I think there’s room in agriculture for willing hands, hearts, and minds,” says Tunnicliff.

“There are so few people willing to work really hard that when these workers do appear, it really moves the farmers,” Tunnicliff says. “That can go a long way to having people accepted and welcomed into a community where they haven’t been before.

“When I come across a confident, happy queer person, I think I’d definitely hire them over a straight farmhand, because I know that, for them to want to work in a non-traditional career, for them to get where they are, has taken a lot.”

But it’s also important to let LGBT employees be themselves, she adds. “I remember when they suggested Dress Up Fridays, I worried about how very much work we had to get done. But, it didn’t take any more time out of their days and it added tons of spirit to the farm atmosphere.”

Tunnicliff would be the first to agree that sometimes conversation with LGBT staff can end up in places you may be uncomfortable with, but she has learned it is important to “let people be free” and know that all workplaces are equal.

“It doesn’t matter to us how you dress at the farm as long as you can get the rows hoed and the carrots binned,” Tunnicliff says. “That said, we have a delivery boy right now who is a flamboyant cross-dresser.” Since he is the face of the operation, Continued on page 56 country-guide.ca 55

business Continued from page 55

The prairies

Tunnicliff had to create a dress code for him. But otherwise, it’s pretty much a free-for-all, within the spirit of getting the work done.

Near Onoway, about a half-hour northwest of Edmonton, Dawn Boileau and her wife, Kate Hook, built Sunrise Gardens.

It’s rural Canada, which means it isn’t exactly the kind of place that gets automatically pictured as gay friendly. But times are changing on the back roads too.

“When I was talking to Kate (Hook) about this interview, we could only think of two times we’d ever had someone not buy our stuff because they found out we were married to each other,” says Boileau. “Both times, they were elderly and religious.

“I’ve experienced a lot more issues about being female than about being queer,” Boileau continues. “Around here, if you’re a woman, you’re the farmer’s wife.”

Hook and Boileau work with four full-time employees to supply vegetables in season, as well as some out of season in cold frames and as shoots, micro-greens, and wheatgrass year round, and they sell their produce at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market year round, as well as at Booster Juice and other sellers.

Farmers’ kids and LGBT staff According to Tunnicliff, the farm kids have had an easier transition time than the farmers themselves. “We just said, ‘Look, Jessica was a girl and now is a boy, and we’re going to call him Dennis,” said Tunnicliff. “It wasn’t an issue. There were a couple of questions, but the kids are way better able to accept it than adults.”

Tunnicliff believes it is good for kids to see this, since the more LGBT individuals become empowered and accepted, the more they will be working the land. “I think it’s good to build acceptance into our world,” she says.

There are three kids working on Tunnicliff’s farm who came of age right when the farm had hired the LGBT staff. These three boys all went to the Pride Parade and, she said, “They couldn’t be more straight.

“Good people are wonderful to have around,” Tunnicliff says. “It doesn’t matter if they are queer or not.”

Hook and Boileau find more stigma from being women than guy. “Around here, if you’re a woman, you’re the farmer’s wife.”

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september 2015

business They also find the community to be accepting of them as a couple, says Boileau.

Yet Boileau feels that this is partly because the farming community itself isn’t that tight. If you have under 1,000 acres in Alberta, you’re considered a small farm and “you don’t really count,” Boileau says. “We’re generally dismissed by the farming community.”

Even at farmers’ markets, however, the first question Boileau or her partner hear is, “Where’s your husband?”

Just after Hook and Boileau were married and shared the news with some of their regular customers, the question they heard in reply was, “To whom?”

It was a question they learned to answer very directly, with a, “To each other,” says Boileau. “We’re very comfortable and very free with who we are.”

Besides, Boileau says, when it comes to farming, and to treating people with respect on the farm, it comes down to the quality of your work. “There are a lot more important qualities than sexual orientation.” CG

On your farm Across the country, labour is in short supply. For farmers, in fact, it can be the greatest threat to their ability to grow.

So, should you be promoting your farm as a place for LGBTs to work?

“Farming tends to be represented so homogenously,” says Moss Dance, an LGBT farmer from Vancouver Island who helped form an LGBT support group for farmers and farm workers there called The Rainbow Chard Collective.

“When I see images of farmers in the media, it’s often people who are male, and a farm family is usually a heterosexual couple with some children, often also white,” Dance says. “Our whole thing was to redefine the family farm… to insert food for thought.

“In some farming communities, it’s obvious I don’t fit,” says Dance. “But we want other queers around the country to know that farming is an option for them.”

Although Dance has never experienced negative comments about her being LGBT, she has definitely felt it on a subtle level.

Dance recommends that farm employers be “open to the possibility that a good person for your farm is also queer. That is a great start.”

Then, promote the fact that you’re open to having an LGBT person apply for work with you. “The best way to allow this person to even consider you as an employer is to list in your wanted ad that you own a progressive farm that would welcome diversity in its employees.

“I would think that any employer would want to cast a wide net to catch all kinds of diversity. I really see the value in having people with diverse ideas, life experiences, and backgrounds on the farm. Everybody brings specific gifts. It’s less about attracting diverse sexualities, but more about attracting diverse profiles.”

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business

Managing today’s diversity How you’re prepared to deal with diversity in your work crew and even in your family can help or hurt your farm business

By Amy Petherick f the new Canada is supposed to be a cultural mosaic rather than a melting pot, you wouldn’t guess it by attending most agricultural trade shows. From the 2011 census, we know that 72.5 per cent are men and 48.2 per cent are over the age of 55. The mother tongue of 72.3 per cent is English, and 73.7 per cent identify themselves as Christians.

It’s enough to make you think there’s nothing diverse about agriculture. But you’d be wrong, says Michael Bach, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion.

Bach makes his point by turning the concept on its head. “Diversity,” he says, “includes straight, white, able-bodied, middle-aged men.”

In other words, if “straight, white, able-bodied, middle-aged” describes you, you’re just part of the range that we accept and value within a modern Canada.

Increasingly, farms that close themselves to diversity will face a tougher and tougher time finding good employees in the new Canada He isn’t playing with semantics. “Human beings are all different,” he wants us to know. “We’re all diverse.”

Nor does Bach want every farmer to run right out and hire workers because of any perceived problem with the demographics of Canada’s farm population.

“Don’t do it because it’s the right thing to do,” Bach says emphatically. “That’s not what gets people out of bed in the morning!”

Bach insists there are really only two reasons any business owner ever needs to actively strategize for greater diversity inclusion; if their talent pool is shrinking, or if their customer base has evolved.

58 country-guide.ca

Yet that’s what is happening in many farm sectors, just as it is with the country as a whole, and Bach says that if you are finding it difficult to find good help, it might be time to make changes that will attract different kinds of employees.

The first step, in Bach’s two-step process, is to consider your own written or unwritten policies and procedures. “You want to make sure there are no barriers in place that are inadvertently excluding any one group,” Bach says. “People who are engaged are more productive, so if a person has to leave something at the door, if a woman has to ‘act like a man,’ or if a person who is Muslim can’t talk about their faith, or an LGBT person has to stay in the closet, then there’s no way they can be fully engaged in their work.”

Once you’ve considered the culture your business currently presents, address any weak areas by starting at the top and working your way down. “You’ve got to make sure your existing people understand why this is important.”

Bach says change is hard to implement, so a zerotolerance stance on workplace behaviours such as making disparaging jokes need to be enforced immediately. Offensive humour makes a good example of the seemingly innocent ways invisible minorities are excluded in business settings.

“If you’re a woman, if you’re from a racialized group, if you have a visible disability, you can’t necessarily hide,” Bach explains. “For some LGBT people, the invisible minority that they are, you’re hidden in plain sight; I could be there at an ag conference, hanging with the buddies, listening to gay jokes.” Then he adds, “How connected can I feel at that point?”

The invisible minority experience A 2012 Forum Research Inc. poll found that 5.3 per cent of Canadians identify as either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. That’s one in 20.

No one really knows how many work in the agricultural industry, and Colin Druhan, the executive director of Pride at Work Canada, tells me it’s very common for people from the LGBT community to not be “out” at all in their workplace.

In fact the Out Now Global LGBT2020 study, an international report produced by a firm based in the Netherlands, found that only 41.8 per cent of LGBT workers are out professionally in Canada.

Not only is that bad for individuals who are primarily affected, but it isn’t good for their employers either. “Concealing your sexual orientation at work Continued on page 60

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business Continued from page 58 can actually reduce productivity by up to 30 per cent,” Druhan says.

Druhan says his organization was formed in 2008 primarily by people working in financial services to provide training and education for businesses, as well as networking opportunities for employees of partnering companies. Currently none of the 56 member companies are agricultural or even rural. But Druhan says they do still reach out into rural communities across the country, just through partners that are headquartered in Toronto like big banks and franchise companies.

“Larger cities tend to have broader support systems for LGBT people in general, so you see a lot more LGBT people who are out in the workplace,” Druhan says. “In smaller workplaces LGBT workers rely on allies for support.”

Druhan says “ally” is a term typically used to describe people who don’t identify as LGBT but are supportive of LGBT individuals. Engaging allies is particularly

“ Concealing your sexual orientation at work can actually reduce productivity by up to 30 per cent,” says Colin Druhan, executive director of Pride at Work important in areas where there isn’t a high concentration of people who are out at work because these are the places where people may be most afraid of drawing undue attention to themselves by participating in an employee resource group.

But Druhan believes that initiating conversations with people who don’t identify as LGBT can be incredibly important. “My experience in working with people who want to learn isn’t so much they’re not interested, they just don’t know where to start,” he says. Many LGBT people don’t realize that the acronyms and terms that are common to the community can be intimidating for others. “They don’t want to do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing,” he says.

“Sometimes that is the biggest barrier.”

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Once there’s open dialogue, LGBT allies and employers can start to get answers to their questions about making workplaces more inclusive.

Building an inclusive workplace The legal firm Norton Rose Fullbright is a partner of Pride at Work Canada and has a national LGBTA committee. Its Calgary representative, Lucy L’Hirondelle, also practises some labour and employment law and occasionally works with agribusinesses.

To become a more inclusive workplace, there are a number of things employers may want to look into, starting with their benefits package. There’s

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september 2015

business no requirement for employers to provide benefits in Canada of course, but L’Hirondelle says that if you do offer benefits, you must offer them uniformly.

Third-party benefit providers create the specific terms of these plans and would do so in accordance with human rights legislation that prevents discrimination. “One piece of advice for employers would be to look at their plan when they’re deciding who to use as a third-party benefit provider, to confirm that the provider allows coverage for same-sex and common-law spouses,” suggests L’Hirondelle. In most if not all cases, employers would find the terms provide very good examples of exactly how to create gender-neutral policy for their own business.

One written policy that employers may especially want to consider when hiring a diverse workforce is a dress code.

“For dress codes, the No. 1 consideration is safety,” she says. “Employers are required to abide by occupational health and safety legislation, and that comes before individual style or expres-

sion, regardless of gender.” Long hair, for example, can be addressed as a safety hazard but employers may only require employees to tie loose hair back or wear a hairnet, not require specific hair lengths.

Even without safety concerns, L’Hir­ on­delle says employers are still allowed to impose defined appearance standards, but the application of such codes has to be carried out in a non-discriminatory fashion. “It has to be applied uniformly, that’s the most important thing,” she explains, “and that’s the pitfall employers need to be wary of.”

Once employers fail to enforce the dress code for one individual, they begin to flirt with discrimination. L’Hirondelle says misunderstandings may still arise, where the employer and employee understand “business attire” to mean two different things when it comes to skirt length for example, but these can be amended in the policy by adding definitions if necessary. “But it has to be for a legitimate business purpose, not just because you don’t like how someone dresses, not to

exclude someone,” she says. “As long as the employee meets these rules, his or her biological sex or gender identification should not even come into play.”

Accommodating employee gender identification, particularly those who are transitioning, really demands no more common sense than accommodating any other personal request, L’Hirondelle says. “I cannot point you toward a single piece of legislation that requires any employer to provide a gender-neutral washroom or change room, but the law does require all employers to make reasonable accommodations for their employees, and they cannot discriminate against employees who make such requests,” she says.

As long as the individual can communicate a legitimate reason for making their request, the employer has a duty to look into available options. But not every request can always be reasonably accommodated, she says. “What is considered reasonable will depend on the size and the structure of the workplace.” CG

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country-guide.ca 61

life

Avoid overload Of course you take pride in how hard you work. For your own sake, however, and for the good of the family and the farm, it may be time to inject some balance

By Helen Lammers-Helps

Y

ou work hard because you know the benefits are worth it. But are they? If you don’t take care to recharge, says Beverly Beuermann-King, a stress and resiliency specialist in Little Britain, Ont., sustained overwork can lead to reduced productivity, failed relationships, an increase in injuries, and physical and mental illness. In case after case, as well, it leads to burnout.

Women in particular are in danger of getting stretched too thin, Beuermann-King says, because when they take on expanded management roles on the farm, they continue to do the bulk of childcare and housework.

“ There will always be more to do,” Katz says. “But you need to look after yourself.”

Pat Katz, a well-being strategist in Saskatoon, reports that she finds the overloaded feeling is becoming all too common. “The first thing I tell people is: ‘it’s not just you,’” Katz says.

First off, Katz recommends looking at the source of our stress. Is it the result of jobs we generate ourselves, or is it because we’re trying to meet other people’s expectations? To live a life in balance, it’s necessary to look at all three levels of our lives: individual, team and work culture, she says.

For instance, at the individual level we can set boundaries around our volunteer commitments.

“You can have a Sanity Policy that states you don’t sit on more than two boards,” says Katz.

Beuermann-King agrees it’s important to sign up for volunteer commitments carefully. “Choose the ones that you enjoy, not the ones you feel obligated to do.”

62 country-guide.ca

Katz also stresses the importance of practising self-care. “There will always be more to do, but you need to look after yourself, or you will not be thinking clearly,” she says. What does self-care look like to you? A stroll after dinner? Time to play with your kids? “Build it into your schedule even if it seems impossible,” says Katz.

Beuermann-King agrees that downtime is a necessity. We need to press the “pause button” during the day, she says. Otherwise we end up dealing non-stop with issue after issue. Instead she recommends taking regular breaks to stretch, breathe, walk around, relax and reflect. Be more mindful of what you’re eating too, she adds. “Don’t just gulp it down.”

Staying connected to the higher purpose of our actions can also reduce stress. Instead of being irritated about having to cook dinner for your family, Katz suggests seeing it as a privilege and an act of love for your family.

Being aware of your self-talk is helpful too, continues Katz. Avoid the tendency to jump to the worst conclusion, she says. Change the ongoing lament, “I’ll never get this done,” to, “I will get the important things done.”

Be intentional with your time, adds BeuermannKing. Sometimes planning to “quickly check your email” turns into hours spent mindlessly at the computer but without much to show for it.

Turn the TV off so you can go for a walk or a bike ride with your kids, she continues. That way you accomplish two goals at once: spending more time with your kids and getting some exercise.

Too often people are slaves to their technology, says Beuermann-King who has seen parents on their phones while on vacation at Disney World. “They’re not really giving their attention to their kids,” she points out. Her advice is to limit yourself to checking email morning and night while on vacation.

Don’t let perfectionism get in the way of a fulfillSeptember 2015

life

ing life, says Beuermann-King. “That might mean settling for a house that is less clean so you can have more time with your kids,” she explains.

Philadelphia writer and time management expert, Laura Vanderkam dispels the myth that women “can’t have it all,” in her new book, I know how she does it. She interviewed more than 100 women with young children who were earning in excess of $100,000 per year to gather data on their time-use patterns.

Vanderkam found that these women were working an average of 44 hours per week and were still sleeping almost eight hours per night. This left them 70 non-working hours for other things.

To maximize time with their kids, many of the women worked what Vanderkam dubbed “a split shift.” These women would leave work at 5 p.m. so they could have dinner with their kids. Then they would work an hour or two after the kids went to bed. They also tended to work part of the weekend, usually Saturday mornings and Sunday nights, which also allowed them to work shorter days during the week.

In line with Beuermann-King’s recommendation, these women were intentional with their time. For example, they only watched four to five hours of TV per week, restricting themselves to shows they actually enjoyed instead of mindlessly watching for hours.

If you want to use your time more efficiently, Vanderkam recommends logging your time for a week or two. Once you are more aware of how you are currently spending your time, you’ll be in a better position to make changes.

To assess your current satisfaction with how you’re spending your time, Beuermann-King recommends ranking each of the 10 major life areas. These include: 1. Family 2. Friends 3. Career 4. Health (includes sleep, fitness, doctors’ appointments, meals) 5. Personal growth (schooling, professional development) 6. Spirituality 7. Fun and relaxation 8. Romance 9. Community (volunteering) 10. Physical environment (chores) This will allow you to focus on the areas of your life most in need of improvement.

When the demands on our time are made by others, Katz suggests actually tackling the issue by asking, “How can we support each other on the farm team?” She recommends having a collective conversation around priorities. “Some things may need to go on the back burner until later,” she says.

Delegate tasks respectfully, she continues. “Don’t assume everyone has time to take on more work. Ask first if they will need to reset priorities.” At the same time, she recommends not agreeing to more work until September 2015

you’ve thought it through. Instead, it’s better to say, “I need to think about how this fits; I’ll get back to you.”

It’s also important to ask questions before taking on more work. Try to get an accurate estimate of how long something will take, she says. “Especially if you tend to be overly optimistic,” she adds.

At the broader scale, a farm organization can create policies and a culture that supports everyone.

What kind of policies can be put in place? Flex time? Time for elder care? Fitness? Play? What about ensuring people take their vacation time? “It’s an investment in health and productivity,” says Katz.

As the need for time to recharge becomes increas­ingly apparent, some organizations are building in planned time-outs, says Katz. This is a time to slow down, reconnect and reorganize. “If these aren’t happening naturally,” she says, “then you need to create them.” CG

RESOURCES Bev Beuermann-King’s website, www.worksmartlivesmart.com Pat Katz’s website, www.pauseworks.com Laura Vanderkam’s website, www.lauravanderkam.com

Beuermann-King’s tips for being more efficient around the house 1. Have a permanent place for your keys, school bags, cellphones, etc. so you can find them easily.

2. S chedule time each day to tackle cleaning chores instead of saving them for the “big” cleaning day.

3. Enlist the help of other family members to do laundry, vacuum, prepare meals, etc.

4. Develop a meal plan that rotates every 14 days.

This makes grocery shopping easy but keeps enough variety in your menu.

5. S implify and declutter. You’ll spend less time looking for things and feel more relaxed with an organized space.

Around the office 1. Make use of folders and directories on your computer to save time looking for things.

2. Have a designated thinking space where you can go to read reports or problem solve. A change of scenery promotes creativity.

3. Limit the number of piles on your desk. You’ll feel more in control in an organized work space.

4. Add some life to your office. A scented candle, a framed painting, or family photos enhance your work space and make it more enjoyable.

5. Invest in a good office chair and desk. Nothing can tire us out faster than an uncomfortable chair.

country-guide.ca 63

w e at h e r

Sca tte rain red MILDER AND DRIER THAN NORMAL

ld Mi ry D lls e sp

NEAR NORMAL

MILDER THAN NORMAL

** Scattered rain Frost

Cool Some snow

**

NEAR-NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION

M Ra ild sp in el y ls

COOLER THAN NORMAL

Changeable Scattered rain

September 13 to October 17, 2015

ONTARIO

Sept. 13-19: Highs in the 20s in the south and mainly sunny apart from scattered showers or possibly heavier thundershowers on a couple of days. Highs in the teens in the north with frost patches.

Sept. 20-26: Pleasant temperatures most days under considerable sunshine but nighttime frost central and north. Expect some rain on two or three occasions, chance heavy in a few areas.

Sept. 27-Oct. 3: Cooler air moves into the north bringing wet, windy conditions and frosty nights. Changeable in the south as fair skies interchange with rain and gusty winds.

Oct. 4-10: Unsettled and changeable as fair, mild days alternate with heavier rain and cooler, windy conditions. Frost on a few nights in the north, some lows approach zero in the south.

Oct. 11-17: Seasonable to occasionally cool with blustery winds on a few days.

Fair but intermittent rain on two or three occaions, changing to wet snow in the north. Frost pockets in the south.

QUEBEC Sept. 13-19: Mostly sunny and seasonable in the south with scattered showers or thundershowers on a couple of days.

Cooler in the north with periodic rain, winds and some frost.

Sept. 20-26: Nighttime frost central and north with some lows near zero south.

Fair but occasional rain, possibly heavy in places. Changeable temperatures and windy at times.

64 country-guide.ca

Sept. 27-Oct. 3: Fair skies alternate with some rain in the south. Highs often in the teens with a risk of frost. Cooler in the north with intermittent rain and occasional frosty nights. Blustery.

Oct. 4-10: Fair overall apart from two or three days of windy, wet and cooler weather this week. Frost occurs in a few areas on cooler, clear nights. Often rainy, cool and windy in the north.

Oct. 11-17: Fair and warm conditions will be interrupted by cooler, windy outbreaks bringing rain, at times heavy, to the south.

Frosty nights. Intermittent wet snow and frost in the north.

ATLANTIC PROVINCES Sept. 13-19: Lingering warmth on many days this week under sunshine but showers on a couple of days, thundershowers west. Risk of heavier rain, gusty winds in eastern regions.

Sept. 20-26: Seasonable and occasionally warm although frost threatens a few inland and many northern areas. Fair aside from rain on a couple of blustery days. Chance of storminess east.

Sept. 27-Oct. 3: Variable weather as rain interchanges with fair skies. Windy at times as disturbances move by and threaten heavy rain. Frost pockets inland and north.

Oct. 4-10: Unsettled on several days this week with intermittent heavier rain. Temperatures fluctuate from mild to cooler under windy conditions. Frost is common inland and north.

Oct. 11-17: A weather system threatens with heavy rain and strong winds on two or three days. Otherwise fair with seasonable to occasionally cool temperatures. Periodic snow and frost in the north.

September 13 to October 17, 2015 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS A dominant high-level ridge is expected to prolong the warm and relatively dry conditions in British Columbia and most of the western Prairies. El Ni単o is likely to reinforce this trend and then shift the warmth eastward into Manitoba by mid-October.

Meanwhile, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will experience typical fall weather with temperatures fluctuating but running close to longtime normal values.

The long-range winter outlook from British Columbia to the Great Lakes calls for the milder-than-usual temperatures and lighter-than-normal precipitation often associated with an El Ni単o event. Similar weather results may spread to Eastern Canada later in the year.

Prepared by meteorologist Larry Romaniuk of Weatherite Services. Forecasts should be 80 per cent accurate for your area; expect variations by a day or two due to changeable speed of weather systems.

September 2015

h e a lt h

Which iron is the right iron?

By Marie Berry ou need iron in your body for your red blood cells to have enough hemoglobin to carry oxygen through the blood system to your cells. A reduced number of red blood cells (i.e. erythrocytes) is called anemia. Iron-deficient anemia is the result of low iron levels.

Your body contains about 3.5 grams of iron, of which 2.5 grams are in the red blood cells. A blood test will determine your iron levels and help diagnose iron-deficient anemia.

Incidentally, there are other types of anemia depending upon what is causing your drop in red blood cell numbers. Causes range from excessive bleeding (from trauma, heavy periods, or even a bleeding ulcer) to low levels of vitamin B12 or kidney disease.

Anywhere from nine to 13 per cent of Canadians have iron-deficient anemia, with women being the most commonly affected. Anemia usually develops slowly. Paleness and tiredness are the most commonly noticed symptoms, although you may misattribute these symptoms to overwork, stress, not eating well, lack of sleep or the like.

Weakness, dizziness, increased heart rate, and decreased capacity for any physical activity are signs of more severe anemia. People often overlook the symptoms of anemia, but if they do happen to you, don’t ignore them. Get them checked out.

Iron is the treatment choice, but there are several formulations. Ferrous sulphate which comes in red tablets is 20 per cent elemental iron; ferrous fumarate, which is a dark-red tablet, is 33 per cent; and the green tablets of ferrous gluconate are 11 per cent.

Ideally, you want to take the formulation that gives you the most elemental iron, but ferrous sulphate and ferrous fumarate can cause more stomach irritation than ferrous gluconate. Taking the iron with food or a meal will reduce this adverse effect.

Because iron is better absorbed in an acidic environment, drinking a glass of orange juice along with the iron will increase both the acidity of your stomach and the iron’s absorption.

Antacids, calcium, and even some drugs such as the tetracylcine antibiotics can impair the absorption of iron, and it can be advisable to avoid taking your iron within three hours before or two hours after taking these drugs to avoid the problem. (Some multi-vitamin and mineral-combination products include both calcium and iron in their formulations, which means neither mineral is being absorbed.

Choose a multiple vitamin product with either calcium or iron, not both, then take the other mineral as a single-ingredient tablet separately from the multiple vitamin.)

If you do not want to take iron tablets, then dietary sources of iron may be an option along with treating any underlying cause, for example a bleeding ulcer. Meat is high in iron content and it contains a type of iron known as heme-iron which is well absorbed by the body. Non-heme-iron is iron found in plant sources such as beans, green leafy vegetables, and dried fruits such as raisins. Unfortunately, nonheme-iron is less compatible with your body and you need two to three times as much. As well, many cereals and foods are fortified with iron.

If you do take an iron supplement, remember to store it safely out of reach of any children because iron is among the top 10 medications involved in accidental childhood poisonings. The tablets themselves are brightly coloured and a child may think they are candy.

When children are given iron, their dose needs to be calculated based on their weight. Both drops and liquid iron preparations are available, but the two do not have the same concentration of elemental iron.

Before you give a child any iron supplement, it is essential that the child needs the iron, that you have accurately calculated the dose based on your child’s weight, and that you have the correct concentration.

If you are not sure, ask your pharmacist to check your numbers. You certainly do not want to add to the accidental poisoning statistics!

Marie Berry is a lawyer/pharmacist interested in health and education.

Manufacturers are continually updating the mechanics of their inhalers. Their goal is to improve the delivery of the medication to your lungs, but sometimes with the variety of delivery systems, it can be confusing. Next month, we’ll look at some of the new inhalers, because after all, you want to get the most from your inhalers.

September 2015

country-guide.ca 65

acres

By Leeann Minogue

Just get in that combine and drive The big milestones don’t always come with brass bands hat are you waiting for?” Jeff asked his father. “Get in the combine and let’s get going.

These peas aren’t going to harvest themselves.”

Dale stood with Jeff, looking up at the cab.

“You go ahead. You can make the first round this year.”

Jeff looked surprised. “But you always combine the first round of the first field. I’ve been standing around waiting for you to get here for half an hour already!”

“Huh. No sense in that. It’s no big deal. You go ahead.”

“OK Dad. If you’re sure,” Jeff said, one foot already on the ladder. Grinning. “Can you and Grandpa bring the truck out from the yard? Won’t be long until I get a full hopper.”

“Of course we can,” Ed said. “We’re not a couple of feeble-minded old men.”

“Speak for yourself, Dad,” Dale muttered to himself.

Dale hadn’t been feeling too confident this season. While he was seeding, distracted by a broken ankle, a ringing phone, and neighbours driving by on the road, he’d missed a spot. Then, when Jeff realized there was a problem in that part of the field and brought in experts to diagnose it, Dale had been too embarrassed to tell anyone what he’d done. Finally, Jeff had figured out the problem.

“I’m sorry,” Dale had mumbled, red faced.

“It’s OK Dad,” Jeff had told him. “It was pretty good entertainment, actually. You should’ve seen that hotshot agronomist coming up with crazy hightech theories.”

Jeff hadn’t lost any sleep over it, but the incident had really thrown Dale. When it was time to get the GPS system set up in the swather, he wasn’t sure he had it right. “I’m going to call the dealership,” Dale told Jeff. “We’ll just get that guy from Weyburn out here to make sure I have it right.”

“It looks good to me, Dad,” Jeff said. “You had it running fine last year.”

Midsummer, when Jeff was trying to decide if he 66 country-guide.ca

should put on a second round of fungicide, Dale had been left almost speechless with indecision. “Geez, son… could go either way.”

Dale’s father, Ed, had been off in the corner of the shop that morning, making himself an Italian espresso in the one-cup machine his girlfriend Helen had bought for him. When Jeff had left the shop, Ed called Dale over to the coffee pot.

“What’s going on here? You’re acting like some retiree who’s about to sell his place and move out to Vancouver Island. Spend your days trying to get palm trees to grow in your backyard.”

“They can grow palm trees out there?” Dale asked.

“You should see those yards! Helen and I could hardly believe it when we were driving through there in June! They can grow darn near anything… Wait, you changed the subject! What’s going on with you these days? You can’t set up the swather. You can’t make a decision. Donna probably had to tell you what shorts to put on this morning.”

“I guess… I’m just worried…”

“Everybody’s worried. All the time. That’s farming,” Ed said, with no trace of sympathy.

“I guess you’re right,” Dale had said, putting an end to the whole conversation.

Things had gone downhill from there when Dale had managed to gouge the corner of the shed with the edge of the lawnmower at the end of July.

Luckily, Jeff had been off at the lake with his wife and kids that afternoon, so he hadn’t been there to see the damage. Dale was able to fix the shed reasonably quickly once he found the spare tin at the back of the shop. But his confidence had suffered a hard blow.

And now — now that it was time to get in the combine and put the first of the 2015 crop through the header, Dale didn’t feel up to it.

Dale and Ed stood back, watching Jeff start up the combine and cut into the peas. Then Dale walked into the flying dust and chaff and got down on his knees behind the combine to look at the losses.

“Wish I could still get down on my knees like that, and be sure I could get back up!” Ed joked.

“What’s the damage?” september 2015

“Looks good. I think we just about have that combine set right,” Dale said.

“Must be killing you not to be running it.”

Dale didn’t answer.

“I know why I’m not up in that combine as much as I used to be,” Ed said. “But I don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve been acting strange all summer.”

Dale kept running his hands through the pea stubble, pretending to look for stray peas.

“I know you’re worried. I haven’t seen the books, but after all that flooding, then the hail, all that disease. I imagine pulling this crop off is pretty important,” Ed said.

“Yup,” Dale said. “But it’s not just the farm. It’s…

Well, it’s me.

“You? Is something wrong with you?”

“No. Yes. Maybe? I’ve been worried ever since I had that miss at seeding. I’m not as sharp as I used to be.”

Ed rolled his eyes and brushed some stray pea straw off of the shoulder of his shirt.

“Don’t act like it wasn’t a big deal. That sort of thing shouldn’t happen. I let Jeff down… I’m… I’m getting too old for this.”

With that Ed snorted in disgust. Then he laughed. “If I’d quit and run off to the campground complaining I was too old every time I made a stupid mistake around here, you wouldn’t have seen me since 1997!”

A trace of a smile came to Dale’s lips, and he said, “Well, there was that day you drove the combine into the shed before you rolled the door up far enough in 1996…”

Then Ed and Dale both started laughing.

“People get older,” Ed said. “Beats the alternative.”

“Dad, I just don’t want to screw anything up. Jeff needs to get off to the best start he can. He doesn’t need some old man weighing him down.”

“No, but he does need an old man as part of his crew.

And someone he can get some advice from now and then.” Then Ed pointed at himself. “Heck. The kid needs one old man, and one really old man.”

They both laughed again, then neither one spoke for a few seconds.

Dale finally broke the silence. “I’m not in charge here anymore.”

“Look at it this way,” Ed said. “You always wanted to be able to pass the place on to your son.”

“Yeah. But it’s hard.”

“Tell me about it,” Ed said. “At least your son isn’t as big a bonehead as mine was.”

They chuckled together.

“And look at it this way,” Ed said. “You always get more vacations when you’re not in charge.”

Dale’s cellphone rang. When he answered, they both heard Jeff on the other end. “Are you two going to get that truck moved out here soon? I’m going to need it!”

“Yup, be right there,” Dale said, and hung up, still chuckling to himself.

“Let’s go,” Ed said. “Don’t want to let the boss down.”

Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews, a playwright and part of a family grain farm in southeastern Saskatchewan. september 2015

“Not another freight train!” It is Canada Day, July 1. My wife Jacqueline and I are celebrating a significant wedding anniversary with a train trip from Montreal to Saskatoon. The dome of the observation car is filled with people fascinated by the constantly changing landscape. The train crew bring champagne and cake for Canada Day. Progress west is slow. The passenger train is pulled over onto siding after siding to allow fast-moving freights to pass.

Long trains haul lumber from British Columbia, oil from Alberta, potash from Saskatchewan and grain from Manitoba.

We started our journey west in the Isles-de-la-Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Our tour bus took us to a cheese factory. The owner, Jeremie Arseneau, brought a herd of 60 Canadian cows — a breed better suited to the area than Holsteins — to the islands by ferry. Canadian cows are a dairy breed developed in French Canada and the only dairy cow breed native to North America. They thrive in this maritime environment.

Cheese produced from their raw whole milk is delectable.

One evening we were entertained by a Madame Bolduc tribute artist. Madame Bolduc was a popular Quebec singer and songwriter in the 1920s and ’30s. I did not think anyone, French or English, could sing so fast! Afterwards the singer, Sylvie, told me Madame Bolduc combined traditional folk music of Ireland with French Canadian folk tunes. Her songs incorporated realism and humour, with an array of ordinary folk from priests to policemen that contributed to her enormous popularity.

We were enthralled by magnificent scenery and met many interesting people. We ate and danced with seniors’ groups in the middle of the afternoon. In Quebec we saw huge colonies of birds never seen on the Prairies. We passed by a moose with two calves in Ontario. Deer and coyotes observed the train with curiosity on the Prairies.

When our cruise ship began plowing up the St. Lawrence, I reflected on all those immigrants from Europe and Great Britain. This was their first sight of Canada. A long train trip by colonist car would bring these would-be farmers to their land.

During a station stop in Winnipeg I recalled reading how the homesteaders were accosted by merchants around the railroad terminal there. Many homesteaders had little experience of farming.

They were merchants, civil servants and school teachers led to Western Canada by the lure of a quarter section of land for $10.

Shifty merchants made a fast buck selling tools the would-be farmers did not need, and animals ill suited to farming.

Waiting in line to reboard, I chatted with Brian Dillon from Riversdale, New Zealand. I told him my version of how scoundrels fleeced the homesteaders on their way west. He said the rascals had branch offices in New Zealand. We talked about the smoke in the air from forest fires in the north and the drought gripping the Prairies. Brian said his farm produces four cuts of hay each year. He described how timing and technologies combine to get maximum growth.

Meeting new people, seeing new places and having new experiences reinforced my conviction; we live in a wonderful country. Waiting on railway sidings for the next freight train to thunder by gave me time to say a prayer of thanksgiving.

Suggested Scripture: Psalm 27, Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 Rod Andrews is a retired Anglican bishop. He lives in Saskatoon. country-guide.ca 67

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