Country guide west by Farm Business Communications

Here comes the neighbour's mega-farm14 | Pulses wow Toronto’s glitterati 10

WESTERN EDITION / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / March 1, 2016

COVER FEATURE PROFILE

Bulletproof

farm THE

Melvin Penner’s eight-point plan keeps H&M Farms growing  18

CROPS GUIDE

Waterhemp makes a dash for the border 41

Hybrids and new markets rebuild rye’s hopes 48 Eight years later, KVD finally on way out 50

PLUS: The 5% Solution, Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240

drives productivity for Kristjan Hiebert 24

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MACHINERY

Electric power 700-volt systems may be the kick-start the industry needs

ulsing in P Downtown Toronto Bean and lentil growers charm Ontario’s food industry with glitter and celebrities

Recipe and a Dream A In Saskatchewan alone, value add is on its way to $6 billion in sales. How much are you getting?

itfalls on the road P to Value Adding Experts and veterans share how success can be achieved in value adding, and where the dangers lurk

nowledge — K The next ‘commodity’ Sure, you can download from the ’net as fast as anyone. But how efficient are you at actually using that information?

Selling Our Consumers Farmers are trying to educate consumers; food companies are trying to bamboozle them

Settling Up German machinery maker Rauch is a lesson in how to compete in an uncompetitive country

at the door

44 Soil testing by laser beam

46 New life for triticale

48 Rye takes an

innovation jump

50 Can’t tell by looking

52 5 new winter

wheats evaluated at Cigi

54 Weather

Guide Life

72 8 Etiquette rules for the farm Smooth manners are becoming crucial for farm success 74 Health 75 Hanson Acres 76 Reflections

country guide / Vol. 135 Issue no. 4 / March 1, 2016

Business

CROPS GUIDE 41 Waterhemp

Inside

Columnists

8 Legal 69 AME-Management 70 HR

18 Bulletproof the farm Melvin Penner’s eight-point strategy protects Manitoba’s H&M Farms from strategic risks that you can’t buy insurance against. Plus, it opens the door to growth

Features 14 Sizing up the farm Yes, we’re entering an era of super-size farms. But no, says Lane Stockbrugger, they won’t be from Bay Street

24 The 5% Solution A sharp pencil and a commitment to HR add up to growth for Kristjan Hiebert

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. Occasionally we make our list of subscribers available to other reputable firms whose products and services might be of interest to you. If you would prefer not to receive such offers, please contact us at the address in the preceding paragraph, or call 1-800-665-1362.

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

EDITOR’S NOTE

1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 (204) 944-5765 Fax (204) 944-5562

Strategic thinking

about farm media Canadian agriculture is incredibly well served by farm media. Only a couple of countries can rival us. But that has to be a foundation to build on, not an excuse to say the job is done As you turn the pages of this Country Guide, you’ll notice some changes. The pages look different, the type seems somehow different, the “feel” of the stories is different. You might even think this is what the changes are all about, i.e. a skin-deep bit of cosmetic surgery rather than real innovation.

Farmers are a more sophisticated audience than virtually anyone else knows.”

I would understand. There was even a time when, with a wink, I used to say that a farm journalist is someone who goes to a meeting where some expert is talking about why farmers absolutely must get more innovative, and then pulls out a pen and paper to write it all down. But no more. It is a foundational belief at Country Guide that farmers are a more sophisticated audience than virtually anyone else knows. (I hope you agree, and that you sense it every time you open your new Guide. If you don’t, please give me a blast.) You might think that of all the changes I’ve seen in my career, the biggest change was from pen to touch screen, or the growth of web-based outlets, or the shrinking and virtual disappearance of ag coverage in the CBC and most other major Canadian media. All have been significant in their own way, but my vote for the biggest change has been in our attitude toward our readers. There was a time when the role of farm writers was to somehow be protective of them. Now, it’s to say something that might be interesting and helpful to them. That’s what led us some eight years

ago to adopt to our “Strategic. Business. Thinking.” tag line. If, when you put down the issue, you think to yourself, “There’s one or two things in there that I’m going to have to think about some more,” that’s what success looks like to me. That will still drive what we do, but now we’re ready for the next step. I compare these redesigned pages to a redesigned cab in a new combine. Appearance is crucial in the same way that operator comfort is crucial. None of us should downplay it. But the real drive behind this redesign is to put you in greater control. Science proves it. Different readers read in different ways, and our pages will be designed to accommodate this, with more ways to get to the heart of what is being said and discussed. We’re just beginning the process, and I admit that the design team and I feel the way you do when you get a new vehicle and you open the owner’s manual. We have barely begun to appreciate all the new capabilities that are here. Country Guide will always be a book about ideas, and how to execute on them. So the test will be, in coming months, are you getting to those ideas faster? Are you understanding them better? And, as always, are we getting it right? Let me know at tom. button@fbcpublishing.com. Tom Button Country Guide, Editor

EDITORIAL STAFF Editor: Tom Button 12827 Klondyke Line, Ridgetown, ON N0P 2C0 (519) 674-1449 Fax (519) 674-5229 tom.button@fbcpublishing.com Associate Editor: Gord Gilmour (204) 453-7624 Cell (204) 294-9195 Fax (204) 942-8463 gord.gilmour@fbcpublishing.com Associate Editor: Maggie Van Camp mvancamp@fbcpublishing.com (905) 986-5342 Fax (905) 986-9991 Production Editor: Ralph Pearce ralph.pearce@fbcpublishing.com (226) 448-4351 Design & Layout: Jenelle Jensen

ADVERTISING SALES Sales Director: Cory Bourdeaud’hui cory@fbcpublishing.com (204) 954-1414 Fax (204) 944-5562 Kevin Yaworsky kyaworsky@farmmedia.com (250) 869-5326 Lillie Ann Morris lamorris@xplornet.com (905) 838-2826 Advertising Services Co-ordinator: Arlene Bomback (204) 944-5765 Fax (204) 944-5562 ads@fbcpublishing.com Glacier Farm Media President: Bob Willcox bwillcox@farmmedia.com Publisher: Lynda Tityk lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com Associate Publisher : John Morriss john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com Editorial Director: Laura Rance laura@fbcpublishing.com Production Director: Shawna Gibson shawna@fbcpublishing.com Circulation Manager: Heather Anderson heather@fbcpublishing.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 $43 for one year, $64 for 2 years, $91 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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Am I getting it right? Please let me know:

tom.button@fbcpublishing.com 4

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

ISSN 0847-9178

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.

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C-52-01/16-10493542-E

Machinery

Electric

POWER

These 700-volt systems may be the kickstart the industry needs By Scott Garvey / CG Machinery Editor

or a group of young boys standing around the Fendt display at the Agritechnica machinery expo in Hanover, Germany, earlier this winter, the prototype model Former 12555X electric hay rake on show was a little like a video game. By sliding a finger across a screen, they could use the touch pad computer on the edge of the exhibit to individually change the rotation speed of each of the rake’s rotating wheels, which is exactly the kind of easy variability and efficient machine operation that has many people believing electric implement control is the way of the future. “You have an indirect efficiency gain leveraged from the controllability,” agrees Morton Bilde, research engineering manager for harvesting equipment at Fendt. There’s no doubt electricity is playing a much bigger role in agricultural implement design these days. Several air drill and planter brands, for instance, have already switched to electric meter drives. But so far, we still aren’t seeing a wholesale move from hydraulic to electric overall implement control, which was the dream of previous Agritechnicas. “The enthusiasm about electrification has plateaued,” acknowledges Bilde. “We’re now more realistic about it.” That includes recognizing that there are many farm jobs where hydraulics will make the most sense for many years to come. “Hydraulic will remain dominant for quite a while,” Bilde says. “Two years ago there was a lot of hype about electrification. Everyone wanted to electrify everything. I think what we have learned over the past two or three years is we need to be really selecting which (electrical) applications make sense and which applications do not.” At the 2013 Agritechnica, it was Fendt

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

that introduced the most significant contribution to electric implement control with the debut of its X Concept tractor based on the evolving industry standard of 700 volts DC, designed specifically to handle high implement electrical power requirements. “You can argue the rake is an attempt at justifying the tractor, right?” says Bilde rhetorically. “Because, who wants the tractor if you don’t have an electrical implement?” Even if the move toward electrification in ag equipment has seriously slowed,

Left: The Former 12555X concept rake from Fendt uses electricity instead of hydraulics as a main drive system.

Photos: Scott Garvey

Below: Morton Bilde is research engineering manager for harvesting equipment at Fendt.

At the 2013 Agritechnica, Fendt introduced the X Concept tractor, which is capable of delivering 700-volt DC power to implements. But it is not yet market ready.

no one thinks it has stopped entirely. At a press conference during Agritechnica 2015, AGCO executives talked about the electric rake soon becoming a market-ready product. But no one offered a definite timeline, and the X Concept tractor is still a few years away from commercial production. “At some point I think it (electric drives) will be normal,” Bilde says. “The more electrical implements that we get out there, I think it will be as natural plugging in for electrical power as plugging in hydraulic hoses.” In the meantime, however, there are still challenges ahead for the widespread development of electric implement control, and those challenges may include a re-examination of overall implement designs. “There are probably a couple of obstacles,” says Bilde. “Cost of components is one of them. Electrical components are still expensive. It’s not easy to leverage on the high volume of electrical motors (built) in the industry, because our applications are so unique. We have completely different specs. So it’s the cost of components and just the availability of them.” “For example, the volume in the automotive industry compared to agriculture is

so different that it’s hard to justify a unique motor for each different application. That’s why we need to leverage the economies of scale going forward. We need to start building more (common) platforms — product families in a sense.” The 12555X rake isn’t based on the kind of new product platform Bilde is talking about. Instead it is a conventional model converted to electric drive. “Now that we’re starting to have rakes and hay tools within our own portfolio, it made a lot of sense to electrify one of our own implements to get started,” he explains. “The tractor supplies 700-volts DC power. On the implement we then convert that in a controlled manner down to 400 volts AC. We’re working on a 700-volt DC standard across the industry. And from that, you can convert it to whatever makes the most sense for an application. AC has the advantage of being easy to control. So controlling speed and power, that’s why it makes a lot of sense.” Bilde thinks that once the electrification concept gains momentum and engineers start building “clean sheet” designs, there will be more significant efficiency gains that could begin to get farmers’ attention. CG COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / March 1, 2016

Guide Legal

By Nadia Campion / Lenczner Slaght

Estate planning: Part 3 If you wonder about challenging a will — don’t wait too long

f you are a beneficiary under a will, there is one thing you should know. If you believe you have been treated unfairly, voice your concerns immediately and take action. While you might feel inclined to assist in the administration of the will and collect your share of the assets, don’t. Otherwise, you may be prevented from later challenging the will and objecting to the manner in which the estate is distributed. In a recent case, the court dismissed a beneficiary’s will challenge, in part because he actively participated in� the distribution of the assets of the estate in question and as a result appeared to have accepted the terms of the will he then challenged. The case involved the estate of Eleanor Leibel, who passed away in 2011. She left behind two sons, Blake and Cody, and a husband from whom she was separated for many years. In her last wills and testaments, of which there were two, she named her sister and husband as estate trustees. At the time of her death, Eleanor’s assets consisted primarily of a house and shares of various corporations. Following her death, Blake moved quickly to sell the house, which had been left to him under Eleanor’s wills. It sold for $5.5 million, some of which was used to pay down the estate’s tax liabilities by way of a loan to the estate. With the exception of certain shares which were left Like us, judges are solely to Blake, the residue of human and will not the estate was left to Blake and Cody in equal proportions. As divorce the law from the with the house, Blake acted situation placed before quickly in assisting the estate them. The facts matter trustees to liquidate the shares left to him by his mother. One year later, before distribution of the residue of the estate to him and his brother, Blake challenged his mother’s wills. He asked the Court to declare the wills invalid. He alleged that his mother expressed wishes to him and others that he would be the sole beneficiary of her estate and that leaving the residue to him and Cody was not what she wanted. Blake testified that his mother had been separated from her husband for more than 30 years and that Cody had been living with him (the separated husband) since age 12. He also testified that each parent was financially responsible for the son who was living with that parent. The estate trustees took the position that Blake’s will challenge was too late and that he was statute-barred pursuant to the Limitations Act (Ontario). That Act imposes a two-year limitation period on claims calculated from the date a claimant knew or reasonably ought to have known that a claim exists. The estate trustees 8

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

also argued that Blake could not legally challenge the wills given his participation in liquidating and distributing the assets of the estate from which he benefitted. The Court dismissed Blake’s will challenge in part because he commenced his will challenge more than two years after having received a copy of his mother’s wills from the estate trustees. It found that Blake had all of the information necessary to begin a will challenge at the time of his mother’s death. As stated by the Court, “[h]e chose, instead, to take many of his benefits under the Wills before he commenced his Application.” The Court also determined that Blake was “estopped” from challenging his mother’s wills. It found as a fact that Blake co-operated with the estate trustees to distribute the estate assets until all that was left was the residue to be divided between him and his bother, at which point he challenged the wills. The Court concluded that Blake should not be allowed to “resile from all of the actions he took during the two-year period following Eleanor’s death.” The outcome in this case was influenced, at least in part, by the facts. First, Blake did not attend his mother’s funeral. Second, he took an active role in assisting the estate trustee to quickly liquidate the assets of his mother’s estate to his sole benefit because he needed the money. Having taken the benefit of the assets to which he was entitled under the wills, he then complained that he did not receive enough money from the estate. He sought to exclude his brother from the estate. The Court was not sympathetic to Blake’s request. We must remember that, like us, judges are human and will not divorce the law from the situation placed before them. The facts matter. More often than not, the conduct of the parties will have an impact on the outcome of a case. Judges will consider and balance the equities. They want to do justice between the parties and deliver a fair result. So, if you are a disgruntled beneficiary, you should act in a timely manner and avoid leading others down the garden path, lest you be faced with a disgruntled judge. CG Nadia Campion is a business litigator at Lenczner Slaght in Toronto. Campion’s clients include small- to medium-size businesses, individuals and associations across a range of sectors in civil litigation such as commercial disputes as well as wills, trusts and estates litigation. She can be reached at ncampion@litigate.com or 416-865-2974.

business

Pulsing in downtown Toronto To get Canada’s food elites excited about their farm products, Pulse Canada turns to three high-octane city buzzes... celebrities, glamour and nightlife

By Steven Biggs / CG Contributing Editor

“We are way past thinking about pea soup,” says farmer Lee Moats.

Ammeter steps down and Michael Smith, the celebrity chef and cookbook author, takes the stage. Smith is standing in front of a larger-than-life picture of himself in a farm field, windblown hair, with a handful of young lentil plants. “Hanging out in Toronto and talking about pulses. Who knew?” he says with a smile. He pauses. People cheer. He asks the farmers in the room to raise their hands, and then tells the audience that the 13 farmers in the room are the real stars. A pulse enthusiast these days, Smith says he didn’t used to realize that pulses grew in Canada. He thought lentils were from somewhere like France. But now, the UN has designated 2016 the International Year of Pulses. Some food trends come and go, Smith says, but the UN is far from trendy. He doesn’t think increased awareness of pulses will be a short-lived trend. An image makeover Consumers shop for beans or peas or lentils. Many don’t shop for “pulses.” Many don’t even know that the word has any sort of plant or botanical meaning. “It’s new to the sort of population we’re trying to reach,” Smith tells the crowd. One Twitter post about the event reads, “Pulses — it’s a new word to some, but you are probably eating them already: beans, chickpeas, peas and lentils.” These aren’t new crops or new ingredients. It’s not even a new word. It’s an old word going to a new audience. It’s an image makeover. Say lentils and shoppers might picture hipsters poring over a vegetarian cookbook — or delicious Indianstyle daal. Say pulses and… it’s a blank slate.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

PHOTOS: PULSE CANADA

he presentations begin. A woman takes the stage in the middle of the long, narrow, highceilinged room. Across from her, two slide shows project on the wall. On the left screen is a combine working in a large, flat field; on the right, gourmet food. The room hushes as Allison Ammeter, chair of the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission, speaks. “I grow pulses, which makes me a rock star, right?” she asks. The crowd applauds.

Hanging out in Toronto and talking about pulses,” chef Michael Smith calls out to the city's food glitterati. “Who knew?”

Pulse feast I’ve only just stepped into the long, narrow room when someone with a tray of fluted glasses offers a drink. Then a server stops with an appetizer tray to offer kidney bean croquettes with spicy aioli. A lot of pulse industry people in attendance wear name tags. And a few of them greet me. Jackie Tenuta, director of market development for Pulse Canada, says that the pulse industry is throwing this party to celebrate pulses, and they’ve invited chefs, bloggers, media, nutritionists, and people interested in food security and sustainability. “There are 111 events worldwide today,” she adds, explaining this is the kickoff to the International Year of Pulses. Brand PULSE Pulses have long been promoted as nutritious. Tonight they’re sustainable, affordable, environmentally friendly — and good tasting too.

A display explains what makes pulses an environmentally sensitive food choice. “Compared to other crops such as cereal and oilseeds, pulses have a smaller environmental footprint. Pulses need little to no nitrogen fertilizer, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. Pulses also use less water than other cash crops and they improve soil health,” reads the sign. I chat with farmer Lee Moats, a director with Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. He tells me why these days, red lentils make up most of his pulse acreage. He’s keen to point out that in addition to being part of a healthy diet, pulses are environmentally sustainable. We talk about promoting pulses. “Our effort is threefold,” says Moats, explaining that first they need to help consumers understand what the word “pulses” means. Second is helping consumers understand Continued on page 12

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

business

Lentil Hunter

Chef Michael Smith’s work with pulses isn’t new. On the lentils.ca website, funded by Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, Smith stars in a web series titled Lentil Hunter. “Chef Michael Smith scoured the globe to find the best lentil recipes on the planet!” declares a headline on the website. In one episode, Smith visits a Canadian lentil farm. Saskatchewan producer Lee Moats explains that this site was developed before the current push for the word pulse. “It’s our consumer-facing side,” he says.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Continued from page 11

the benefits of including pulses in the diet. Lastly, he talks about helping consumers fit pulses into their interest in food and their tastes. “It’s hearts and minds and stomachs of people we’re after,” Moats says. By the time Ammeter has taken the stage and talks about the smaller environmental footprint of pulses, it’s already the third time I’ve heard that message this evening. Nor is it the last. Varied and versatile The gourmet food served tonight shows the versatility of pulses. Four cooking stations — chickpeas, beans, lentils, and dry peas — feature three different recipes each. Staff members dressed in chef apparel offer me split pea bacon quiche, and it is delicious. Braised beef short ribs with lentil mushroom stew are my favourite. And the Indian chickpea stuffed crepe with chicken curry salad is nice. There are lots of others. Most are very good. A food writer next to me bites into a lentil burger, frowns, and then puts it on a tray. “Burgers should be made with meat,” she

says, and then talks about how great lentils are in many dishes — but wonders why anyone would try to make a burger out of them. “We are way past thinking about pea soup,” says Moats, adding, “There are so many fantastic ways of consuming pulses that are good for you… but they’re good!” The Pulse Market, a display near the exit, reminds attendees of the variety of pulses. It’s very attractive: red lentils against yellow; great northern beans and black beans; chickpeas and yellow peas; and many more. The small cloth sacks and scoops are there so that attendees can take samples to cook at home. Spreading the (new) word The party tonight is all about spreading the word: Pulse. Staff work the crowd, taking pictures of attendees holding signs for the Pulse Pledge. This pledge is to eat pulses once a week for 10 weeks. I hold up the sign as someone shoots my picture: it goes out on Twitter and I’m given a sticker saying that I took the Pulse Pledge. (The website, pulsepledge.com, reminds consumers that eating pulses is a good way to decrease your carbon footprint.) This event isn’t the only one in Canada

this year. There will be other activities to raise awareness of pulses. Tenuta says that events to help food processors use pulses are scheduled for later this year. As I get ready to leave, I see people taking selfies with Chef Michael. Later, on Ammeter’s Twitter feed, I see a picture of her, Chef Michael, and Canadian food writer Anita Stewart. I walk up Bay Street, behind people carrying small cloth bags filled with pulses. I hear the word more than I have in a long while. My father tells me about a new word he heard on the radio: pulses. My neighbour, Jim, emails to say that he saw a news segment about pulses (and emailed me because I’m in the background); and soon after that, my friend Bob in Vancouver emails to say he saw a segment on Pulse Feast on CBC’s “The National.” A word. A feast. A blank palette. CG

Pulse Tacos

The year 2016 has been declared the International Year of Pulses by the United Nations to celebrate one of the world’s most important foods: the edible seeds of the legume family. Beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils are packed with fibre, protein, nutrients, and flavour. Their nutritional intensity, inexpensive accessibility, and ease of cooking have made them indispensible staples to cooks all over the globe. Wherever we live we all do our best to make healthy choices at home but it’s a lot easier when those choices are delicious. These meatless tacos are stuffed with so much sunny southwestern flavour that no one will notice anything missing. What a great way for your family to join families around the world in a global celebration of flavour and nutrition! Makes 12 tacos. Serves 4 to 6.

For the pulse filling • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of canola oil • 2 onions, thinly sliced • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced • 1 heaping tablespoon (18 ml) of chili powder • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of ground cumin • 1 cup (250 ml) of green lentils • A 19-ounce (540-ml) can of your favourite beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained • 2 cups (500 ml) of water • 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) of salt • 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) of your favourite hot sauce

For the taco toppings • A head of Bibb or iceberg lettuce • 12 hard taco shells • A few handfuls of grated cheddar or taco-blend cheese • Your favourite salsa • A large bunch of fresh cilantro • 2 limes, cut into wedges

Make the lentil bean filling. Splash the canola oil into a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Sauté until the vegetables soften and the spice flavours brighten, 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in the lentils, beans, water, and salt. Bring the works to a slow, steady simmer. Cover tightly and continue slowly cooking until the lentils are tender, 35 minutes or so. Stir in the hot sauce. Assemble the tacos. Fit a full leaf of lettuce into a hard taco shell. This will hold the fillings in when the hard shell inevitably breaks. Fill each taco with a heaping spoonful of the lentil bean filling. Pack with cheese, salsa, and cilantro. Serve with the lime wedges and share! © Chef Michael Smith 2015

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

FEAture

Sizing up the farm

Lane Stockbrugger is betting that the age of the family farm has got a long ways to go yet

t was in the wide-open spaces of Saskatchewan where the trend was perhaps most apparent a few short years ago. A one-two combination had suddenly brought a lot of new attention to farming and farmland. First, crop prices spiked, creating attractive margins for the first time in a generation. Then, predictably, farmland followed suit, as prices on some of the most undervalued farmland on the continent began a string of double-digit increases. Some of that excitement rose from predictable sources — farmers themselves bought land and grew their operations. More came from farmers and aggies with agricultural roots but with a new interest in the region. But much of the heat came from even further away. Recent immigrants backed by money from home saw opportunity in farmland, and so did Bay Street hedge funds. Would this be the end of the family farm? In the end, even the free market Sask Party government of Brad Wall felt it had to step in, recently announcing new regulations to prevent non-farmers from buying Saskatchewan farmland, with the NDP only saying it didn’t go far enough.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Farm business analyst and farm management speaker Lane Stockbrugger says it’s not surprising this happened. Agriculture typically starves for capital for years on end, punctuated by brief, intense periods of interest when non-farmers suddenly see what look like unbeatable numbers. “They see good margins in production and rising land values,” Stockbrugger says, “and they think they can’t lose.” Of course, those with more experience in the sector could tell them it’s not only possible to lose, over time, it’s likely. Agriculture is and always will be a cyclical business, and managing through the downs is at least as important as enjoying the ups. It would seem the latest raft of newcomers are getting a taste of this too. Crop prices have retrenched, demand has slipped, and margins have tightened to a point where many growers once again find themselves scratching for black ink when they pencil out their crop budgets. Quietly, meanwhile, those newly minted corporate farms have one by one dropped by the wayside.

Photography: Richard Jenkins • Reflections by Richard

By Gord Gilmour / CG Associate Editor

Sure, a few remain in the business of owning farmland and then leasing it back to farmers, but very few remain in primary crop production. It begs the question — can a large-scale non-family corporate farm ever truly work? Or will the family farm, in its many modern incarnations, always be the basic unit of production, albeit in ever-larger multi-generational operations that encompass more and more land, and more and more family members? The question of commitment Agriculture economist Alfons Weersink at the University of Guelph suspects we’re going to see an evolution, over time, of the existing family-based businesses, rather than a revolution driven from outside. Weersink believes the commitment that farm family operations bring to the challenges they face is very hard to replicate in a business model where employees run the farm and don’t share the risk and rewards in the same way. In his view, it’s why existing farms have grown and taken on new management structures like incorporation and ownership stakes in multiple farms, but it’s still rare to see a newcomer enter the business and make a go of it. “There are all kinds of business structures out there,” Weersink says. “However, if you really look at these operations, behind the structures, they’re still mostly family businesses.” In large part, Weersink says, the issue with non-traditional farms might be that too much attention is paid to capturing economies of scale, without truly understanding how that function works. The research on the topic is quite clear — economies of scale do work in farming, but only to a point. Eventually, if the farm gets too big, a tipping point is reached where there are simply too many details to manage effectively and productivity begins to suffer — call it an economic death by a thousand cuts. Yes, over time, the maximum sustainable size is going up as equipment grows larger, agronomic systems are refined and other advances occur. Successful farms are definitely getting larger — but only so large, and only so fast. “If you’re small, and you get larger, your cost of production falls,” Weersink says. “But if you’re large and get too large, your cost of production can actually rise.” But didn’t WalMart face that same challenge?

Or perhaps the old theories could get disrupted by new technology, Stockbrugger says. Advances are happening so fast, it’s tough to tell where it will all end, but it could wind up with “smart” machines being able to make many of the decisions that farmers with very large operations don’t have the time to make for themselves. “Five or 10 years ago, if we talked about an autonomous, largely solar-powered robot that would scout our field for weeds, and perhaps even kill those weeds, nobody would have believed us,” Stockbrugger says. “I don’t think many would now doubt that something like that is conceivable in the future.” It opens the door to the intriguing possibility that farming will undergo a transformative technology revolution in the coming years that’s every bit as profound as the one that’s been radically altering other sectors of the economy, often to the point they’re unrecognizable. Growing a mega-farm Stockbrugger has a sneaking suspicion that if we do see the rise of mega-farms, it will be exactly that — the growth of them from today’s group of operations, rather than from some whiz-kids dropping in from the outside to show those yokels how it’s done. “I don’t want to say that you can only come into farming by blood, because that’s not so — there are examples of successful farms that have been established by people with no prior history in the business — but not having that background does make it more difficult,” Stockbrugger says. He and his brother and business partner, Lance, might be a good example of this. They’re from a farm family; the first Stockbrugger farmed the home place in 1909. Continued on page 16

Yes, farms will get bigger, and the trend will still be toward multigeneration units. But at their core, Stockbrugger argues, they will still be family farms.

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

FEAture family farm, and knowing that the first member of your family farmed it in 1909,” Stockbrugger says. “That’s certainly not unique to us — I think most farmers feel exactly the same way. It’s why they’re able to have this level of commitment to a business that’s extremely challenging many times.” In fact, Stockbrugger says as a group they’re so committed they can get themselves into trouble from caring too much — to the point of eroding their equity in an effort to keep a farm from going down, rather than, for example, making a difficult but more dispassionate decision to cut losses early and move on.

It’s a tough decision,” says Stockbrugger. “Do you want to be on the bleeding edge?” Continued from page 15

Both grew up on the farm, but the untimely death of their father in a road accident in the early 1980s saw the family leave the business. Later when older brother Lance was in university and Lane was still just in Grade 11, the pair began farming a single quarter section. Over the years, while working full time, they grew an operation that now encompasses 4,000 acres and supports both brothers, though Lane says both continue to dabble in consulting and public speaking, after his recent resignation from his longterm post at Farm Credit Canada. He admits the road from there to here was at times a bumpy one, but says the pair stuck with it in no small part because they had both financial skin in the game and family pride at stake. “There’s just this tremendous feeling of pride and accomplishment that comes with operating the 16

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Battle tested In fact, there can be upsides to a period of tougher times, though Stockbrugger, like other farmers, acknowledges that it sure won’t feel like it at the time. It’s out of some of the toughest times that agriculture has found its greatest achievements. When margins are lean, growers begin to focus on cost containment, then turn their eyes to innovative new strategies that might give them a leg up. Necessity drives invention. Probably the classic example of this is zero till, and how it swept over the Prairies a generation ago. It was first bandied about in the 1970s, and bleeding-edge innovators were pursuing the technique with an eye to soil conservation — but over time it became apparent the system was at least as big an economic winner. It eliminated multiple field operations, reduced machinery wear and tear and in many ways paved the way for a growth spurt in farm size. It’s likely another such wave could be just around the corner — but it’s not exactly clear what it will be. Perhaps technology-based precision agriculture will make farming truly high tech? Or will a more economically and environmentally efficient system enhance margins by reducing costs? Or will biotech innovations create new markets? Or is there an idea that hasn’t even been thought yet? Weeding through all the options

can be daunting, and wrong choices can lead you on wild goose chases. “It’s a tough decision,” Stockbrugger says. “Do you want to be bleeding edge? Leading edge? An early adopter? All have risks, including the risk of doing nothing and waiting too long.” In order to make sense of the chaos, he says Stockbrugger farms will be keeping a close eye on some key issues in the coming seasons: • C ost containment will be at the top of the list, making sure that the operation is spending its money wisely and targeting expenses to where they’ll do the most good, i.e. building efficiency and ultimately profitability. • B uilding and maintaining an equity “war chest” will also be a top priority, both to help the operation weather any downturns, but also to position it to be able to take advantage of any opportunities. It’s no secret that some of the farmers who expanded during the last downturn, using the opportunity to hunt for land and equipment bargains, ultimately fared better than others who built in better times. • The final goal will be to build better business relationships. That might sound a bit mom and apple pie, but Stockbrugger says there’s a sound business case for paying attention to the human side of the equation. “When you get the text everyone gets, ‘Canola at $10.50 a bushel, limited space,’ it’s too late,” he says. “You want to get the pre-call.” By building these relationships, you strengthen your market position and can garner some of the intangible but important benefits, like that break on grading, for example. Guelph’s Weersink says he’ll be encouraging growers to remember that there’s no one size fits all. Some small farms are very profitable, and some large farms too. Still, here are limits, and he encourages expansion-oriented farmers to figure out where the productivity sweet spot for size is for their type of farm, and to grow with that as a goal. Says Weersink: “It should help them identify opportunities.” CG

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feature

Extreme weather, volatile markets, government regulations, financial strains… The bullets are flying and they’re aimed straight at your farm. Here’s how Melvin Penner at H&M Farms is fighting back

Bulletproof farm THE

now pelts the metal siding so hard it rattles, but inside the farm shop, it’s warm with work and energy. Lined up in various stages of maintenance are a truck, tractor and corn planter, while in the corner, pouring over their field maps, the three owners of H&M Farms near Altona, Man., discuss the upcoming season. Today, like every day, Melvin Penner, Kyle Friesen and Kris Penner can sense the balance that is at the heart of this operation. Young optimism must work hand-in-glove with seasoned wisdom, technology with pragmatism, and business planning with the lessons learned from past battles. Melvin Penner himself has been farming since 1975. At the time the farm was 560 acres. Today H&M Farms Ltd. grows canola, wheat, fall rye, oats, corn, soybeans, sunflowers and edible beans on about 22,500 acres. In 2003 Penner added a hog barn to diversify income, and now the farm includes an early wean multiplier 2,750sow operation, and it finishes some gilts and barrows. It means there’s a lot at stake with every decision. For Penner, more importantly, it also means there’s a lot at stake for a lot of people, as in the family and staff who make the farm successful, and who benefit from it. Melvin’s son-in-law Kyle and nephew Kris are owner/ operators, and the farm employs 10-year round workers and hires about 15 seasonal workers. “It’s not all about expansion or money,” says Penner. “It’s about the person beside you.” Penner also knows it takes preparation, communication and planning to dodge or at least deflect the bullets coming at today’s farms from so many directions. And, if you take a hit, to keep on going. 18

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

C G A s s o c i at e E d i t o r

Expert farm business analysts agree, like Purdue ag economist Michael Boehlje, who sees a crucial distinction in the kinds of risks that today’s farms face. Production, operational and financial risks can be managed with insurance and effective marketing, Boehlje writes in his paper Managing in Turbulent Times: Positioning to Capture the Upside, Buffer the Downside. “But,” says Boehlje, “that is generally not the case with strategic risks.” Yet Boehlje also argues that strategic risks and uncertainties can provide significant opportunities for profits and growth, so transferring them to others would result in lost opportunities. Instead, managing these risks needs a different approach. It takes successful positioning to build the resiliency and absorptive capacity to handle the potential downside or negative consequences of an uncertainty, and it also takes agility to detect and capture the potential upside or positive consequences of an uncertainty. In other words, learn how to take the bullet so it doesn’t kill you. Then sell the lead. For Penner, many of the risks are just everyday facts. “Weather and market volatility are part of the game,” he says. “If you can’t be prepared for that, you shouldn’t be playing.” But in today’s world, it takes a higher level of management, he says, so here’s how the management team at H&M Farms built armour plating with the goal to not only survive, but thrive.

Continued on page 20

Photography: Steve Hiebert • Personal Reflections

By M ag g i e Va n C a m p

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / March 1, 2016

feature factors have an impact on cost of production such as efficient capital and labour utilization, marketing, and scale. These top farm managers know every detail of their production costs, and they are constantly striving for better, more effective ways of doing things, keeping good records and combining their farm’s information with other sources to make decisions.

Continued from page 19

1. Full capital utilization Even when the income side of the balance sheet looks weak, using assets and leveraging your position can drive growth. Penner remembers when the light bulb first came on. A neighbour had the same sugar beet harvester that he had, pulled by a similar tractor, all for a harvest that lasts only about one week a year. Then the two farms got together, sold one harvester and worked the other 24 hours a day, doubling their capital efficiency. It was an indication this was a strategy to build on, he now says, especially if you’re willing to work with others. Penner learned to think like this for everything in their business, from pickups to people. For instance, custom spraying creates a positive cash flow for their sprayer. They simply use this sprayer on their own farm and when done, do the custom run. When times are slow in custom spraying, they put the extra human resources to work somewhere else on the farm. They manage and match labour, carefully keeping the farm always current on their workload. It does take a kind of alertness from management. Penner and the H&M team look and plan for efficiencies every day, in all parts of the business. “Think about every move,” Penner says. “Don’t just do it.” To this point, they’ve always been expanding so they buy what equipment they need, but will need to address equipment turnover more carefully as the business matures. They’ve also been renting whatever they can find, and buying whenever they have an opportunity. Over the years, Penner has generally run at about 35 to 40 per cent rent to owned land. “Rentto-own ratio is kind of a fluid target,” Penner says. “If I could own all our land and it would cash flow it would be perfect. Normally rent is more cost-effective than owning, if you are only looking at cash flow.” 2. Low-cost production Although the kinds of challenges that farming faces in the future may evolve, Penner is convinced one thing won’t change: if you are the best in class, you will come out on top. Low-cost production matched with efforts to achieve the highest returns will always be a winning strategy. However, beyond direct expenses, many management 20

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

If you can build trust, you can build relationships,” Penner says. It’s not what you say that's important, he adds. It's what the other person hears

3. Contribution margins Penner’s marketing strategy is to manage his margins, not to chase the absolute top price. This involves pricing on the spread between their cost of production and the market, not speculative pricing, and it has kept them in business in tough times even though he sometimes misses out on the big wins. Penner summarizes it like this: “We didn’t make as much on hogs in 2014 as some farms, but in 2015 we still made money.” It starts with a detailed understanding of their costs per bushel and per kilogram, and then comparing them against current cash market prices, futures market prices adjusted for local basis, or cash forward contract prices to lock in positive margins when opportunities to do so are available. That may seem difficult for many farms, but positive margins are what can pay or “contribute to” fixed operating costs. Marketing is also integrated with input purchases and with cash flows; however, selling needs to be done with logistics in mind. In a hog context, Penner explains, it works like this: “Know your cost to produce the pigs, sell the pig, buy the inputs and target locking in margin.” To market crops, Penner uses a basic incremental selling strategy. He direct contracts about 10 per cent of their acres. Depending on price and delivery, Penner then usually pre-sells about 25 per cent of projected harvest even before the team firmly decides exactly what crops and acres to grow. Another 25 per cent is sold when the crop goes in the ground, and then another quarter when they’re getting sure they’ve got a crop. Some are in paper trades and some are deferred delivery contracts. The 25 per cent balance he speculates on. 4. Diversification In 2003 when Penner bought a neighbouring hog barn, he looked at it as a way to grow and also as a way to diversify for risk manContinued on page 22

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feature crops, including winter wheat, fall rye, oats, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, and pinto, black and kidney beans. Although the production risk and expertise is higher for growing some of these specialty crops, they cover it off with crop insurance. Not only do these crops deliver a premium, they create marketing opportunities and spread out workload and delivery for the farm.

Penner has little tolerance for guesswork and estimates. He looks for real numbers so the management team can integrate all aspects of the operation.

In my opinion, farming will continue to be a commodity game,” Penner says. “The low-cost producer will win. This will hold true for specialty crops and livestock as well… it’s just a matter of time.” Continued from page 20

agement strategy. The timing was right for the business to expand and the opportunity came up. The strategy has levelled out cash flow for the whole farm. However, there has also been a lesson learned over the years. Each enterprise must be self-sustaining, Penner says. “One part of the business cannot carry the other.” What Penner didn’t know was how challenging the hog business would become. Between 2006 and 2011, the number of hog farms fell by 35.9 per cent and the herd decreased 15.7 per cent, according to the 2011 Census of Agriculture. Influenza A (H1N1), incorrectly called “swine flu,” also damaged consumer confidence and closed some countries’ borders. Penner quickly developed an appreciation for the differences between the grain and livestock businesses. “It certainly made life a lot busier,” he admits. 22

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

He learned the differences in how lending institutions treat the two sectors, and that there are a lot more options for financing in the U.S. “Banks will play a lot longer on black dirt than they will on a hog barn,” says Penner. “When the price of hogs is in the tank, the bankers don’t really want to own them.” The farm survived the tumultuous hog market by tightly managing margins, building relationships, finding new opportunities and sometimes just rolling with the punches. Today, R12 Pork Ltd. is an early wean multiplier 2,750-sow herd for Danbred North America. The R12 barn has the ability to farrow 130 sows per week with a goal of shipping 1,400 weaned piglets per week, at about 20 days of age. The gilts are sold to commercial sow herds in the U.S., and barrows are sold locally. Another diversification path has been to actively seek specialty crop opportunities. Currently H&M Farms grows an amazing array of

5. Build Trust “If you can build trust, you can build relationships,” says Penner. But that requires communication and what he calls “a 100-year view” of building for the future and not letting your thinking get bogged down with small problems. Communicating w ith your creditors is extremely important. Every year H&M Farms sits down in the boardroom with the account managers of their two lenders to explain their game plan. They do an annual review together, so everyone knows the whole picture. “It’s not what you’re saying that is important, but what the creditor understands,” says Penner. As Penner approaches retirement, his son-in-law Kyle and nephew Kris Penner are taking over. Communication has become even more critical. Melvin mentors them and some staff, yet he’s happy to step back from making the day-today management decisions. The key to succession is having a vision of what you want it to look like before you go to the lawyers, says Penner. To do that took years, not days, of talking and accepting that the process is fluid and things will change as you go along. 6. Adopt technology “If there’s a fit for a new technology, we try it,” says Penner. The younger generation at H&M Farms is driving the uptake of new computer-based technology. Already the farm has loads of gadgets and tools, including GPS yield mapping, satellite imagery, auto steer, variable rate application and even drones. This year

they tried seeding 80 acres without a human touching the wheel. It worked perfectly. Penner believes the technological revolution on farms is just starting, so they better be part of it even if it doesn’t necessarily pay back yet. Penner says the drone they recently bought has been a good investment. One of their staff agronomists likes to use it, and with the size of their operation, it’s a tool for monitoring staging for weed control and fungicide applications. Also, when reviewing how seeding went, the drone images showed the operators the misses, an undisputable reminder how important it is to continually check their monitors. Penner points out another angle to the technology question: if they don’t invest in technology, they will miss out on good employees who expect and want to engage with new technology. In future, the technological skill of employees is going to be even more valuable for farmers, Penner believes. “Farming is going to need different people in the future,” he says. “In the past we needed a labour force that was mechanical and could operate machines — somebody who could change a 4020’s clutch was so valuable. In the future, maybe not so much.” The clutch-changing employees will still be valued, Penner says, but “we will also need technologically talented people.” 7. Prepare for the worst As much as you don’t like to think about it, Penner says farmers need to think about what could go wrong on your farm like accidents or spills and how they’d handle them. It’s why H&M Farms has a basic public relations strategy set up, just in case. Employees and management all know that if there’s a problem and the press wants to talk to someone on the farm, they’re not to say anything and direct the journalist to the president, Melvin, who will speak on the farm’s behalf. If the president isn’t available, they’re to direct them to Kyle.

It’s the things you can’t control or are not expecting that can derail a business, Penner says, so have a written agreement as a way to deal with death, disability, divorce and disagreements. Incorporation has also given them some more flexibility when transferring assets to the younger generation and with tax planning strategies. You also need to think about what could happen with employees. Recently, H&M Farms created procedures to prevent and deal with employee sexual harassment claims. The farm also carries insurance, including crop, life, health and accident and liability insurance. These policies are all part of a risk mitigation strategy. 8. Create a team of people Good employees can increase your farm’s ability to withstand problems, says Penner. “We treat our employees like part of the team.” The farm offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package, plus pension plan contributions after one year. They cross-train staff so if anyone is absent, someone else can step in and do the job. This also keeps people learning and engaged. They have written job descriptions, and an on-board training and mentoring process. Penner also finds it’s just as important to listen and give them the opportunity to contribute. “Annual reviews are a very good way to learn what is going on in their heads, but I try not to do a ‘performance’ review as they already normally know if they are doing what is expected,” he says. Penner has high expectations and everyone knows it. But that imposes a responsibility: the leadership team must communicate why the company is doing what it is doing. “We try to give our employees a clear direction as to where we are headed and their role in helping us get there,” Penner says. “They are also our ambassadors, and they need to understand that.” CG

Absorb and be agile Below are key recommendations from Purdue ag economist Michael Boehlje’s paper Managing in Turbulent Times: Positioning to Capture the Upside, Buffer the Downside (available via www.purdue.edu). Boehlje includes an assessment tool to test your farm’s ability to absorb bad news and to be agile. At the very least, it will get you thinking. The following 10 characteristics, Boelhje says, will equip your farm to accommodate and absorb unfortunate events. 1. Low fixed costs — These can help a farm weather a wide range of changes, such as price wars, higher raw material costs, and declining demand. 2. War chest of cash — Cash can be deployed against future contingencies that you cannot foresee. In Canada, AgrInvest can be an important tool. 3. Diversified cash flow — Diversification can help you withstand downturns in specific markets, and inventories can serve as a store of potential wealth that can be sold later. 4. Too big to fail — Large firms can survive by off-loading operations and reducing assets in crises. Size also increases the odds the government, customers, or suppliers will prop up an ailing business. 5. Tangible resources — Valuable resources like real estate serve as a store of potential value. 6. Intangible resources — Brand expertise and technology can insulate the farm against changes in the market in the short and medium term. 7. Customer lock-in — Prevent customers from easily jumping ship. Pump up service and look hard at pricing 8. Protected core market — Barriers to entry in a core market provide a safe stream of cash to weather storms. 9. Powerful patron — A powerful government, regulator, customer, or investor vested in the firm’s success can buffer it from changes. 10. Excess staff — The corporate equivalent of body fat, these employees serve as a store of value that can be shed in tough times. Railroad executives have been doing it for years.

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / March 1, 2016

feature

The

Solution On the Hebert farm, the momentum for growth is internal By Lisa Guenther / CG Field Editor

Looking for the five per cent Hebert earned a commerce degree at the University of Saskatchewan and worked winters as a chartered accountant with Meyers Norris Penny (MNP) before going back to the farm full-time in southeastern Sask 24

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Photography: Sandy Black

n Saskatoon in mid-January, Kristjan Hebert was at the podium of a banquet room, telling the crowd of farmers something that farmers have said all through the generations. Hebert and his family want to build a legacy farm. “And our definition of legacy is extremely simple,” Hebert continued. “We want to leave the land and the financial statements in a better state when we’re done than when we took it over. That’s it.” Yet creating a legacy farm has always been easier said than done, and today is no different. In fact, today’s challenges in some ways are different than ever before, and maybe tougher too. Even so, Hebert is hopeful that he’s found the approach that will get his family to their dream. It’s to value relationships, and to find a string of opportunities to make small improvements rather than looking for a chance to hit one out of the park. But what does that mean in actual practice?

atchewan. It was great training, he says. Not only did he have great mentors at MNP, but he also met with about 50 farmers a year, and he describes that on-the-job education as “farm management on steroids.” When Hebert was at Manitoba Ag Days with his farm crew Country Guide caught up with him shortly after his keynote presentation. Hebert tends to book meetings at farm shows since they draw movers and shakers from across the Prairies. Meanwhile, his farm crew scouts the grounds for practical tools to help back home. This approach also fits a farm management philosophy that focuses on improving things five per cent at a time, rather than chasing unicorns. The Hebert farm team looks first for improvements in production, Hebert says. “We use an immense amount of inputs, but in the right spot at the right time and the right source.” On the Hebert farm, that means variable rate nitrogen and potash. They use sectional control on every farm implement so inputs aren’t over-applied. They grid soil test every four acres to make sure they apply the right rate of nutrients to every acre and maximize yield potential. But like everything else on the Hebert farm, the focus is on integrating the best ideas into a complete package that delivers capital efficiency. On the operations side, for instance, it means timing fills for the seed drill, to keep them under half an hour. It also means that a pit crew fills that drill, greases the conveyor, and fuels it while the operator takes a much-needed break. And it also means encouraging suggestions from the crew to make things run better. It’s called a learning mentality, Hebert says, and it applies to the entire organization. It also signals a cultural value that permeates the farm. It’s being relentless in the search for improvement. Hebert’s motto is that if it ain’t broke, you haven’t looked hard enough. You can always find someone who is doing something better than you are, he says. In fact, as a farmer, that’s actually a big part of your job. Hebert practices what he preaches. In January, he and his farm team were creating repair budgets for each implement, so they can allocate costs to each quarter, based on previous years.

Our repairs dropped $5 an acre this year… “I was ecstatic.” Kristjan Hebert, shown above with father Louis and team member Bryce Olsen

“So if we’re two or three thousand bucks over that, why are we over?” It could be as simple as returning a wobble box, he says. “It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it’s 20 cents an acre, and every time you do that, it adds up to a dollar or two fast.” Hebert says they get pretty excited about finding small ways to improve things on the farm. “Our repairs and maintenance dropped $5 an acre this year,” he says. “I was ecstatic.” It’s about the people While Hebert’s accounting background might help explain why he’s a fan of incremental changes, operating margins, and the details of accrual accounting, he values relationships at least as much as numbers. Marketing is just one example. Hebert says they’re very comfortable with futures and options. But at the core of their marketing plan are their relationships with buyers. “That almost means more than price a lot of times,” he says. “That’s another way I’d say we maximize our top end.” continued on page 26

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / March 1, 2016

feature continued from page 25

Hebert says his wife, Theresa, his parents and his crew are what make the farm. He and Theresa are both very goal-oriented and were married young, so Hebert has benefited from their partnership since he was 20 years old. His parents, Louis and Karen, trusted him enough to hand over a large degree of control early on, he says, although they remain critical to the farms. Plus, the crew works like they’re family, Hebert says. In fact, he refers to them as family with a different last name, and Hebert Grain Ventures’ full-time employees include Bryce Olsen, Lori Dorma, and Travis Castle.

Employees have come to the farm through referrals and Twitter. Lori Dorma, an accountant, was Hebert’s co-worker at MNP. She divides her time between the grain farm and the Hebert’s risk management consulting company, which is associated with Global Ag Risk Solutions. Hebert’s recruitment strategy doesn’t focus on resumés. “It’s ‘Come have a coffee with me,’ and it’s a lot of gut feeling.” Of course, keeping good people is another matter. Employees are well paid, Hebert says, and they receive benefits and pension contributions. In that way, it’s not much different from working at MNP. The crew is also always looking for ways

HOT.

2647251-01 March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA DAS_Country Guide W Early Bird 15.125X6.5_a1.indd

COLD.

to improve the farm and their own performance. For example, employees fill out their own performance reviews regularly. Each crew member comes up with three personal strengths and three areas they’d like to improve in. They also provide the same critique of the farm as a whole. But perhaps the most important staff retention strategy is the workplace culture. It’s driven by two principles. The first is that when workers see someone doing a task that they’re better suited to, they should jump in. As a leader, part of Hebert’s job is to make sure everyone understands their roles, and that they know they’re as important as everyone else. “It doesn’t matter if you’re

BIG.

picking rocks, running a combine or talking to the banker. All those things have to get done at the same level of importance. It’s just whose skill set fits it better.” The second principle is that they are a team, Hebert says. That means if someone is shovelling grain at 5:45 p.m., everyone jumps in to help to get the job done more quickly instead of leaving for the day. The approach is designed to let people know their roles, feel valued, and yet avoid the “it’s not my job” mentality that simmers in some workplaces. Hebert knows he can’t do it all. He hires an agronomist. He’s “awful” at mechanics, he says, but Louis, Bryce, and Travis have

that covered. He says he also has trouble keeping focused on one thing for long. He’s like a boat motor, he says, and so Theresa, Lori, and Karen make sure things get done in his wake. Perhaps the proof is that when he’s asked how he figured out how to build such a positive workplace culture, he hesitates, and takes time to consult with some of his nearby crew members. He’s not sure where he picked up his human resource skills, he admits. His parents’ farm didn’t have many employees, and he says it’s hard to build that culture until you have a team.

I t doesn’t matter if you’re picking rocks, running a combine or talking to the banker. All those things have to get done at the same level of importance.”

continued on page 28

EARLY.

SMALL.

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feature

continued from page 27

That course really opened my eyes to what a network and a team culture could bring to a business.”

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

But he’s been working on it for a few years, ever since he took the Executive Program for Agricultural Producers at Texas A&M. “That course really opened my eyes to what a network and a team culture could bring to a business,” Hebert says. It turns out that this team culture, plus the focus on small improvements, has allowed Hebert Grain Ventures to do some pretty remarkable things, such as seeding 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But why go 24/7? Seeding is hectic for any farm, but few are as ambitious as the Hebert farm. They’ve been seeding round the clock, in shifts, since Hebert came back from that executive program in Texas a few years ago. Hebert says Danny Klinefelter, an economist at Texas A&M, “is the whole reason we run 24 hours.” But why do it? Hebert responds that seeding 24/7 allows the farm to use its machinery more efficiently. They can effectively seed more ground with less capital. It’s part of the reason they’ve grown the farm from 3,500 acres to somewhere between 11,000 and 12,000 seeded acres since 2004.

The 24-hour shift is part of their culture now, Hebert says. The team, which includes “very dependable” seasonal help, expects it. “If we take a day to just kind of ease into it, it’s almost like a let-down.” But implementing round-the-clock seeding operations wasn’t painless. Hebert describes a typical day on the farm as “organized chaos,” but he says there are days when they cross into gong show territory. “We crossed that line a lot more six years ago than we do now,” he says. Over the last six years, the farm team has gotten a lot better at figuring out roles, such as who is running the seed drills, who is running product and keeping the sprayer ahead, and who’s supplying fuel. More people can step into different roles now, Hebert says. And the crew works in shifts to prevent fatigue. They have standard operating procedures to keep people on the same page and avoid wrecks. For example, they want people to check the oil before starting any big motors on the farm. To keep everyone honest, they zip-tie keys to the oil dipsticks a couple of times a year. Louis likes to ziptie keys the most, so the crew did it back to him the other day, Hebert laughs. Despite the fast pace during seeding and harvest, they try to keep things enjoyable. Louis will have people laughing in the midst of the busy season, Hebert says. And they always shut down for half an hour for supper, when Theresa and Karen run fresh lasagna and garlic toast to the field (in addition to running combines and handling other tasks). To make the cooks’ jobs easier, the farm bought an old motor home so they could keep slow cookers and other kitchen implements in one mobile place. Hebert loves seeding and harvest, and he plans to be around for that part of it forever. “But every other day of the year, I want a team built that can completely handle all situations without me.” That would free him up to handle the business side, which is where his strengths lie. The farm isn’t there yet, mainly because they’ve expanded aggressively over the years, but they’re getting better, he says. As we end the interview, I ask Hebert whether he ever wondered whether coming back to the farm full-time was the wrong decision. “No,” he answers after a brief pause to reflect. “I guess I wondered why I didn’t do it earlier.” CG

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business

What does it take to add value to Canadian crops? Good entrepreneurial skills and, as you’ll see, a little bit more

A recipe and

a dream By Anne Lazurko / CG Contributing Editor

alue-added agriculture on the prairies might conjure images of a large-scale industry whose size reflects the immensity of the wheat, lentil and canola fields that stretch as far as the eye can see. And you might think it’s mostly farmers formulating products that add value to what they grow. After all, it sounds so right as a strategy, creating a guaranteed market and price stability. Yet beyond a huge canola crushing industry, the truth is that value-added on the Saskatchewan prairie is more likely to start with a gamble by a local entrepreneur with a good idea or a favourite recipe. That doesn’t mean the sector is small by any stretch. In 2104, Saskatchewan exported $14 billion worth of agricultural and agri-food products to 153 countries, according to Statistics Canada. Agriculture was 6.5 percent of provincial GDP, and valueadded processors shipped $4.3 billion worth of goods. The 2012 Saskatchewan government Plan for Growth: Vision 2020 and Beyond, set a goal for value-added agriculture in the province to increase to $6 billion in 2020, meaning that if current trends continue, those targets might just be achievable.

I made a call,” says flax entrepreneur Kelli Skwark. “You take that chance, and who knows, you might get a positive response. One door opens, and then another… ”

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Somebody clearly will be earning some serious dollars. To support its initiatives, the government established a Ministry of Agriculture Value Added Strategy to conduct market research, develop trade, and attract investment. The whole effort is so new it’s difficult to gauge its success, but today we have over 300 food processing companies employing 5,000 people, and the province’s food and beverage industry makes up 22 percent of total manufacturing and processing output. And the variety of products is impressive: flour products and bakery mixes; things done with peas, lentils and chickpeas; beef, chicken and pork products; jams, jellies and other preserves; organic cereals and meats; specialty foods, snacks and confections, and the list goes on. From Saskatchewan. Who knew? Scientists know. Fully one third of Canada’s biotech industry can be found in the province with over 700 scientists in 30 public and private research facilities. Facilities like the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre (Food Centre), a non-profit organization that provides expertise and facilities for entrepreneurs to create products and add value to agriculture. So Who’s Involved? “Everything from mom and pop to multi-nationals,” says Food Centre communications manager, Carmen Ly. “Entrepreneurs come to us for product development, processing, packaging and labelling. Others want further large-scale processing, or require a federally certified facility for exporting.” With a pilot plant for incubation of an idea/product, to extrusion equipment aimed largely at pulse innovation, and a development kitchen to test recipes and formulations, services are provided at different stages depending on the product. A separate contract is signed for each. Staff includes food science, culinary and processing experts whose services can also be part of the contract. “It’s a federally certified facility that is used on a rental basis with project timelines of anywhere from two months to two years or more,” says Ly.

It Starts Small: Flax to Go Entrepreneur Kelli Skwark knows the drill. She went to the Food Centre with an idea and a dream and is effusive in her praise of the staff who helped bring her wellness bar, Flax to Go, to the market. After more than 20 years as a dietitian in Winnipeg counselling on the health benefits of flax (cholesterol-lowering omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), plant lignans and soluble fibre), she and her husband moved to Saskatoon. Instead of carrying on a private practice she decided to make the leap to product development. “I wanted to make something that uses a good amount of flax, is healthy and convenient, and most importantly tastes good,” she says. Her kitchen became her lab. Skwark spent a year working at different recipes because getting just the right amount of flax in the bar was tricky. She also wanted to incorporate oats and other healthy ingredients. Developed with the Food Centre, the resulting Flax to Go bar contains “nine ingredients you can pronounce, and that’s it,” she says. “It’s vegetarian and naturally gluten free.” The majority of Skwark’s ingredients come from Saskatchewan farms. The flax and gluten-free oats are milled in Regina, and the honey is from Manitoba via Tisdale, Sask. “I am sourcing as locally as possible,” she says. “My

suppliers provide quality, top-of-the-line product… When I tell people it is locally produced, their eyes light up. People care about that… In Saskatchewan there is so much in terms of food production, and so much potential globally in terms of addressing hunger and in sustainability.” For a transplant she has a lot of green Saskatchewan pride showing. And she gives credit to many other Saskatchewanians for her success thus far. Like Linda Braun, former executive director of the Saskatchewan Flax Growers Association, who took an early version of Skwark’s flax bar to showcase at an international flax conference, providing feedback Skwark used to make adjustments. From there it was perfected, processed, packaged and labelled at the Food Centre. That makes it sound like a lark, but as Skwark will tell you it’s a long process. Making a few bars is one thing, but scaling up to full production is quite another. At the Food Centre, Carmen Ly says that after a product is perfected at the pilot plant, it takes a day or two to scale up, tweaking the formulation to work at the larger scale, and ensuring packaging is appropriate for shelf life. Once things have been ironed out, the client is then able to gauge their maximum capacity and a pricing structure. Continued on page 32

Photography: David Stobbe • Stobbe Photography

The idea may come to you in a eureka moment, Skwark says. But the reality is that getting a product into the marketplace takes hard work, endurance, and a refusal to accept anything less than a great result.

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / March 1, 2016

Business

Local, minimally processed farm ingredients create instant consumer interest.

More Help Along the Way So that’s production. What about capital? Not everyone can simply go to the bank with a good idea. Like many other Saskatchewan entrepreneurs, Skwark turned for funding and business expertise to the Saskatchewan Agriculture Value Added Initiative (SAVI). It has been run by the province since 2009 under the federal Growing Forward programs. SAVI provides assistance for small- to mediumsize agri-businesses — defined as under 250 employees — with information services, business analysis and funding, as well as support for skills and training development. Developing a business plan was critical to Skwark. “It makes you focus and think through the steps and follow them,” she says. Flax to

Go has been on the market since September 2015 and is now in nine Saskatoon locations. Skwark plans to branch out from there using the plan she developed with SAVI, which includes a vision, competitive analysis and risk assessment, costs, distribution, management strategies, and marketing. “The most successful entrepreneurs are those with a strong business plans,” says Shawn Gibson, program manager with SAVI. “It’s the biggest advantage people can give themselves.” The program also provides money, up to 50 per cent of the costs for a value-added agricultural business in the province. “Anybody with a good idea and sound banking is eligible as long as they are using Saskatchewan products,” he says. “It’s part of the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth and helps to meet the targets of this program.”

I’ve never worked harder, physically, in my life,” Michaud says. “There were times when I thought, ‘Oh my Lord, what am I doing?’” 32

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Gibson admits SAVI is a highrisk program. The food industry is very competitive. And it’s not always easy to track success because private enterprise doesn’t always divulge their financials. “People like the program,” Gibson says. “They mostly accomplish what they’ve set out to do; 80 per cent of people who completed projects were still in business after the Growing Forward 1 program ended in 2012 (the program has continued under GF2). That is very good for a high-risk, food-based business.” And It Grows: Gravelbourg Gourmet Mustard Val Michaud took the plunge into that high risk arena, using SAVI funding and expertise to buy and expand her business, Gravelbourg Gourmet Mustard. The slogan for largely bilingual Gravelbourg, Sask., population of 1,100, is A Touch of Europe on the Prairies. Michaud took that phrase to heart, focusing her efforts on providing a variety of otherwise imported gourmet mustards to outlets across the prairies and into British Columbia. Just as Kelli Skwark has a passion for flax, Michaud sees mustard growing in the fields around her and takes great pride in processing it at home. “It’s so disheartening to see our raw product go to Europe,” she says. “I have a passion to keep it here.” She certainly does. Michaud bought the business in July of 2011

PhotoGraphy: Top: David Stobbe • Stobbe Photography, LeFT: Gravelbourg Gourmet Mustard

Continued from page 31

and by October had developed a 100-recipe cookbook nominated for a top cookbook award. Of the original four products, three were reformulated and she developed two new flavours as well as two dry formulations for rubs. On her own she expanded the business by 75 percent in four years, now producing 30 kgs of each flavour, which amounts to 75,000 jars of mustard. When demand grew, she hired a co-packer to help with supply. “I’ve never worked harder, physically, in my life,” she says. “There were times when I thought ‘Oh my Lord, what am I doing?’ But the passion remains. When I get comments like ‘it’s the best mustard I’ve tried,’ it makes up for the hardships.” There are more uses for mustard than you can imagine. Really. “Mustard is not just a hamburger, hotdog thing,” Michaud says. “You can use it in all kinds of ways — in rubs, sauces, dressings, appetizers. Even a mustard martini.” Now that does sound like Europe on the Prairies, doesn’t it? With numerous retail vendors and a couple of wholesale distributors throughout the West, Michaud says finding more distributors is key to expansion, because distribution is a huge job. And it’s all part of growth. Another part is finding and using all the resources at her disposal. Michaud has aligned herself with the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission. And besides using the services of first the Food Centre and then SAVI, she is a member of STEP, the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, an organization she says assisted her expansion to different provinces and one she hopes will help as she looks to exporting outside the country. Back in Saskatoon, Kelli Skwark says her work with the Flax to Go bar has been a team effort and she suggests that anyone venturing into value-added endeavours would be well advised to seek and accept help from anyone with something to offer. “I’m just a little part of the team,” she says. “I’m grateful. I made a call. You take that chance and who knows, you might get a positive response. One door opens, and then another… It’s been a wonderful learning experience.” There is no manual for this, though Skwark says one would be very helpful. But she has managed to meet like-minded people who share ideas. “It can save you a lot of money and time if you’ve got a core group of people who help one another.” While Val Michaud’s challenges with

her gourmet mustard are now more business related, one of Skwark’s biggest challenges is being patient. “You have to let the journey take its course and realize that everyone has to go through it,” she says. “Stick with it. Talk to people and realize that ‘my beginning is not the same as someone else’s middle’.”

Beginning, middle or end, what these value-adding entrepreneurs hold in common is a desire to use the resources of the prairie fields that surround them, to add value, to be their own boss and to dream big. Part of the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth? Not entirely, but they just might be the ones making it happen. CG

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business

Pitfalls on the road to value adding So you’ve got a great idea. But can you actually grow a solid business around it?

t first glance, creating a value-added business may seem a lucrative way to increase profits and employ family members, but the road to success can be filled with potholes. Below, our experts and experienced value-adders list the dangers, and provide advice on how to avoid them.

eing star-struck by B your own product Gary Morton, a Nova Scotia ag business consultant with 25 years experience says the mistake he sees most often starts when producers are product driven, not market driven. “Too many are in love with the concept but haven’t validated the market,” he explains. “Don’t trust family and friends,” Morton continues. “The only opinion that counts is the person giving you money to buy it.” Morton says he’s seen people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop a product that has no market. Getting funding isn’t necessarily validation of an idea, he adds.

ot knowing N your real costs John Jaques owns Sunshine Farms in Thamesville, Ont., which produces and sells 23 kinds of pickles. He says that when he is approached by someone wanting him to process a product using their grandmother’s recipe and get it to market, they rarely have an accurate picture of the costs. Jaques says that when he goes through a cost of production analysis with them, they are usually shocked. If they’ve been making pickles on their kitchen stove using 34

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

cucumbers from the garden, they likely haven’t accounted for the cost of insurance, electricity, labour, buying the cucumbers, storage or transportation. “The actual costs may work out to more than what they’ve been selling them for,” Jaques says. Jessica Kelly, the Ontario agriculture ministry’s program lead for direct farm marketing calls this “farmer math.” “Farmers laugh when I say this because they know it’s true,” Kelly says. “Too often they don’t put a cost on their labour or using their vehicle.” The cost of certification alone can add up to tens of thousands of dollars. Jaques is certified for organic, kosher, and the On-Farm Food Safety Program, and is working on Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification. Jaques says “people’s mouths fall open when I tell them the costs involved in obtaining these certifications.” Once you go beyond selling at the local farmers market, there are other fees that value-adders may not be aware of. Jaques says he regularly receives invoices for thousands of dollars from grocery stores charging him for in-store promotions, listing fees, and breakage. “If they drop a case in the warehouse, I get an invoice,” he says. He also pays a distributor and

By Helen Lammers-Helps

brokerage fees to ensure his product is actually on the store shelves. “If you’re going to take that next step, there are likely going to be a lot more costs than you anticipated,” he warns. A mentor can help you avoid some of these pitfalls, says Morton. Other farmers who have gone down this path can save you a lot of time and expensive mistakes, he says. Kelly agrees. In her experience, most value-added business owners are keen to work together and help each other out. “You can’t put a price on that kind of advice.” Jason Persall, owner of Persall Fine Foods in Waterford, Ont., says while farmers shouldn’t underestimate what they are capable of, they should focus, plan and not be afraid to ask for help.

I nsufficient research Kelly sees too many farmers who haven’t done enough research into what will be involved in producing and selling their product. What impact will zoning have on your value-added business? What are the insurance implications of having people come on your property? Will your value-added business trigger a property tax increase? Also be sure you do thorough research into your product, and into your customer too. Morton sees too many value-adders who don’t really understand who their customer is. It helps if you go through a process to put your thinking into actual words. “It’s important to understand what problem it solves,” Morton says. Develop a value prop-

osition, he recommends. This is a single sentence that explains why someone would want to buy your product. Such a statement will help keep you on track, Morton says, and it will be a touchstone for making critical marketing decisions, such as packaging and points of sale.

nderestimating U the complexity of value adding Value adding requires a different skill set than primary production. “Be prepared for a big learning curve,” says Janet Horner, a hog farmer who ran a full-service catering company for 30 years. Horner currently serves as executive director of the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance for Greater Toronto, which has a goal of growing the second-largest food cluster in North America through a collaboration of municipalities, farmers, researchers and the food industry. Value adding often requires skills that farmers don’t already have, such as direct marketing, social media, customer service and human resource management, explains Horner. “Farmers are great ‘do-it-yourself ’ folks who can usually find a way to fix anything around the farm, but that may not apply to a value-added business. You may need to hire technical expertise in food science or technology.” Says Horner: “Many farmers are comfortable with a barn full of livestock but should never deal directly with people.”

Not scheduling downtime With two enterprises on the go, especially if one of them is dealing with the public or direct marketing, there can be a tendency to work seven days a week. But watch out. It can be a recipe for trouble, cautions Horner. She recommends scheduling at least one day a week when you can renew your energy.

ot having a N plan for how to get out Many value-added operations are located on-farm, but this can be a problem when you want to sell, says Horner. “If you try to sell the operation, you’ll be selling a business that includes primary production, the secondary business and your home.” Farmers may be wise to locate the valueadded operation away from your home farm, she says.

ot knowing N when to pull the plug Even if you do the market research and spend the necessary time and money to develop your product, your value-added business may not be successful, says Horner. “Know when to pull the plug before you drain your original enterprise. Have qualified advisers, and keep them informed of your business successes and failures.” CG

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Knowledge

The next ‘commodity’ By Amy Petherick / CG Contributing Editor

It doesn’t take a genius to haul megs and megs of farm-based info off the ’net. But actually using that information to build a better business? It turns out you can get good at that too

o you get Country Guide. Probably you also subscribe to other publications too, on top of the ones that your commodity associations send you. Maybe you get freebie updates from your machinery and chem companies as well, plus all the e-newsletters from marketing analysts, bankers and accountants, not to mention everything you get from the ’net or via social media or your customized phone apps. The surprise is, few farmers say they feel overwhelmed. Instead, they’re hungry for more. Russell Jeffrey of FarmShift Inc. recently surveyed the media consumption habits of farmers across the country and found that farmers largely plan to keep consuming more... of everything. “Today’s farmer is more educated and has more of an appetite for how to do things better than ever before,” Jeffrey says. It sounds like a great step forward, and it probably is. But knowing how to benefit from that clutter of information is also becoming a crucial skill. At the very least, the job has become so important to your farm that it’s worth investing a few minutes to think more clearly about how well you’re doing at it. 36

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Just ask yourself this, for instance. Are you better at looking for information, or for ideas? Which should you be looking for? And when you find them, do you prioritize them according to their importance and usefulness, or do you tuck them all away in the same place, where there’s a good chance they’ll never again see the light of day? Let’s face it. We all need to get better at this, and the best place to start, our experts say, may be to get rid of a lot of the misconceptions that most of us are carrying around. The changing media world Farmers are changing the nature of the media that they consume. Sometimes, the changes are fairly straightforward, such as the way that much of what farmers used to get on radio and television has moved to blogs, specialty apps, e-newsletters, and of course YouTube. Other times it’s more complicated. The shift at Country Guide to dedicate more pages to business issues is an obvious example. Nor is today’s evolution showing any signs of stopping. Data speeds are still an issue in many rural areas, but technology is provid-

ing answers, so we’re seeing more electronic discussion groups, more online how-tos, and just generally more, more, more… It’s a challenge for ag suppliers too. What’s the best way to talk to farmers about your new tractor or your new herbicide? Do you have to be everywhere, all the time, in order to be sure you’re where you need to be when you need to be there? Can suppliers afford to be everywhere all the time? Those are the kinds of questions they ask Jeffrey, as well as wanting to talk to him about farmers’ interest in trade shows, or their desire for one-on-one consultations with company reps. But then, there’s also that other troubling question. Do farmers only want pieces of information, or are they also looking for ideas? And if you’re interested in ideas, can you absorb and evaluate them the same way you go about investigating the best timing for your fungicide application, or do you need a different process? Even with data, it turns out, Jeffrey says that information retention really isn’t anyone’s main objective. “Farmers are multi-tasking, thinking about where they can get help, what their best sources are, and what’s new or happening,” Jeffrey says. “It’s not so much that they’re going to retain it all, it’s much more about scanning what’s available than really studying and learning something.” Your two objectives So where does this leave farmers who are trying to improve both their management and their pro-

ductivity, and to do it in the most efficient way? Pascal Thériault, a faculty lecturer at McGill University’s MacDonald campus, is teaching his students what he believes will prove one of the most critical skills they’ll need as young farm managers. Thériault finds too many of the kids who have come to his classes in the last 10 years are so focused on specifics, they easily lose sight of their farm’s bigger picture. “I find they have a hard time trying to set long-term goals and a long-term vision,” Thériault says. It’s something he finds himself telling them again and again because, he says, repetition goes hand in hand with retention. Part of the reason why electronic tactics work, he says, is because the same bits of information often get repeated time and time again. It’s why scanning strategies, where for instance you simply glance at a social media message instead of really sitting down to memorize it, can eventually produce good results. Farmers who aren’t already absorbing information this way may feel overwhelmed with the amount of information they’re bombarded by. They’re the ones you may hear publicly lamenting how it’s all just too much. “They don’t have to read everything,” is Thériault’s secret for these individuals. Nor do you have to know everything, because so much information is retrievable on the Internet, or is accessible through your agronomist, mechanic, or other specialist. Still, the best managers also make time to step back from the technical part of their job and consider how their farm is running from other angles too, Thériault says. They also know that, beyond simple repetition, there are other strategies that actually work on the farm. Think of learning as a layering process, Thériault suggests. A farmer who attends a seminar on farm transfer and then follows that by reading an article about farm

transfer, or vice versa, will actually get more out of both, he says. Even better, they’ll emerge with a clearer sense of what the most important points are. In part, it’s because of repetition that we talked about, but it’s also because we have different learning pathways. Sometimes we need visuals. Other times we need an opportunity for discussion. ‘Mind management’ Jonathan Creaghan, a business management consultant, says it isn’t time management but really mind management that more farm managers could benefit from. Even

a single thought takes time, and if you don’t give the thought the time it needs, you end up being distracted and disconnected, which leaves you wasting even more time. Whenever possible, Creaghan says, if you hear your phone beep, force yourself to wait until you’re finished with whatever your mind is presently fixed on before you open that new text. It applies to bigger issues too. “From my experience working with business owners particularly, including farmers, they get distracted by day-to-day minutiae that Continued on page 40

Quest for proof

You’ve done the research but is it statistically significant? Outstanding farmers have always pushed the envelope trying new things, new ways. Today they measure it and call it R&D. Thanks to GPS-enabled crop production technologies including lightbar navigation, auto steering, variable-rate controllers, and yield monitors, on-farm research is more feasible than ever before. Precision agriculture technology has allowed for on-farm research on the fly without disrupting the commercial operation. It’s also usually not shared, except with the farm’s buyers and suppliers. However, true research isn’t only about recording history, it’s about predicting future responses. Variability in soil, weather, and other stresses makes it difficult to duplicate a test. You can never

be 100 per cent certain that the measured yield differences in a trial are solely due to the variable being evaluated, which is why statistical analysis comes into play. This analysis plus sound research design means the results are valid. In the U.S., on-farm research networks have popped up in several states and some are nationally run programs. For these networks, university or government scientists do the statistical analysis. It looks like a growth trend, says T. Scott Murrell, director of the International Plant Nutrition Institute in his paper, On-Farm Trials and Statistics. “In the future, freely available statistical tools may help transition farmers and agricultural industry professionals to conduct more sophisticated analyses such as multi-site, multiyear studies and, rate studies.” COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

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Talk to your retailer or visit GenuityTraits.ca Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for cultivation in the U.S. and Canada, and for import in Australia/New Zealand, Colombia, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The single events in this product have been approved for import in the EU. As of February 2, 2016, E.U. stack approval is in the final stage of approval and is expected but not guaranteed to be received in the near future. 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. Growers should refer to http://www.biotradestatus.com/ for any updated information on import country approvals. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, an active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides, and dicamba, the active ingredient in XtendiMax™ herbicide with VaporGrip™ Technology. Agricultural herbicides containing glyphosate will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate, and those containing dicamba will kill crops that are not tolerant to dicamba. Contact your Monsanto dealer or call the Monsanto Technical Support Line at 1-800-667-4944 for recommended Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System weed control programs. Genuity®, Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™, Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup®, VaporGrip™ and XtendiMax™ are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Monsanto Canada, Inc. licensee. ©2016 Monsanto Canada Inc.

business Continued from page 37

SR&ED reminder Canada’s Scientific Research & Experimental Development program gives tax credits to businesses that invest in research. Administered by the Canada Revenue Agency, the SR&ED program provides more than $3 billion in tax incentives to over 20,000 claimants annually. You could be eligible for tax credit if you’re developing a new product or process, improving an existing product or process, or reducing the environmental impact of your farm. Generally, a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC) can earn an investment tax credit (ITC) of 35 per cent up to the first $3 million of qualified expenditures for SR&ED carried out in Canada, and 20 per cent on any excess amount. Other Canadian corporations, proprietorships, partnerships, and trusts can earn an ITC of 20 per cent of qualified expenditures for SR&ED carried out in Canada.

The SR&ED program provides more than

$3 billion in tax incentives

to over 20,000 claimants annually

“Uptake for the SR&ED program has been in the billions of dollars,” says Mike McCreight, SR&ED partner for BDO. However, his company only processes 30 to 40 for agriculture, mostly larger farms. To make it worthwhile for BDO to do the paperwork, he says you need at least a $20,000 credit which means you’d spend $40,000 to $50,000 in expenditures directly attributed to the research. Although open to all sizes and types of businesses, the project must meet the criteria. The research and development process normally must include some or all of the following: projects or programs, new products, improving production methods or processes, improving a commodity, technology advancement, and productivity improvement.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

isn’t relevant to their role and where they want to go,” Creaghan says. “So the first thing you need to be clear on is why you need the information and what you need it for.” In his book, Thinking Differently about… Getting More Done, Creaghan explains how our brains can operate at three distinct levels. The synopsis below will sort of explain his concepts, but is mainly meant to help you decide whether you want to learn more. That, after all, is the sort of efficient decision-making that this whole column is all about. The shallowest of Creaghan’s trio is what he calls the Thinking Mind, which tends to operate as a running commentary. The Thinking Mind personalizes information as it relates to your own values, so it doesn’t just notice that your brother is wearing a hat today but that it’s a hat you either like or don’t like. In other words, it’s a kind of thinking that mixes emotions with facts, which isn’t always a great mix when your goal is high-quality farm management. “The less time and energy you spend on emotional interpreting, the more likely you are to find the information that you need,” Creaghan says. “Emotion-free decision-making is the recognition of the outcome and the goal that you need from the information itself, so that you don’t get distracted.” Anyone who has ever lost themselves in a task knows what it’s like for their mind to be operating on a deeper level than what the Thinking Mind tolerates. This deeper level, which Creag han calls the Working Mind, is the mind of action and is responsible for directing behaviour, reasoned thought, and how best to use intelligence to serve the need of the moment. This is the mind at work when you get so focused on a job that you lose all track of time or don’t hear when someone is talking right next to you. Now instead of deciding just how ugly your brother’s hat is, your brain is free to notice he’s putting the keys to the farm truck on the counter, which is information that could be critical later that day when you need to go to town. “Observing without judgment

allows you to reconnect to your environment,” Creaghan explains. “As business owners, we need the truth, and the only way you can see the truth is by reconnecting to the information in a more non-judgmental way.” But learning to think free of emotion and stay focused on the present isn’t easy. Creaghan likes to compare it to doing martial arts for the mind. When mastered, however, clients report understanding their monthly income statement, production reports, or staff reviews much better. “There is no question that as you become more connected to your moment, the better your decision-making is and the higher your performance because the Thinking Mind shuts down.” The other advantage of shutting down the emotion-laden Thinking Mind is that it encourages more activity in the deepest part of the brain, the Aware Mind. This is where the most efficient kind of thought process happens. When it’s in control, you get what you probably call “gut feelings,” and not only do you lose all track of time, you lose all track of thought process. You hop to conclusions. We all do it, yet anyone familiar with these hunches also usually knows how difficult it can be to operate on them. Unless there’s a crisis situatio, the Thinking Mind keeps second guessing what the Aware Mind is telling us to do. It becomes a great feedback loop, and we do get very good at knowing when to trust our instincts, and when to think them through. But the same happens when we’re information seeking, because we may not pause long enough for the Thinking Mind to ask its questions. This in turn is especially important when we make a snap decision not to read something that we later wish we had. Again, we’ve all done it. The point is, just knowing about this kind of process can help us manage our way to better information outcomes. Becoming more in tune with instinctive decision-making can be the key to processing more information than ever, Creaghan says. So if you really want to absorb better information, work harder to stay focused on your immediate environment. CG

PG. 46 New look at triticale

as crop with potential PG. 48 Rye grabs headlines

with hybrids, new markets PG. 50 Wheat KVD finally gone

CROPS GUIDE

Photo: Iowa State University

Each waterhemp plant can produce one million seeds, with some producing up to five million.

Waterhemp at the door This cousin of the feared Palmer amaranth has reached the Canadian border, and could soon begin marching across the West By Ron Friesen

Surveys show waterhemp is capable of reducing corn and soybean yields by anywhere from

15% 44%

new alien is lurking in the fields of North Dakota and Minnesota, preparing to invade Canada and cause no end of trouble. The potential enemy is a noxious weed called waterhemp, a member of the pigweed family and a cousin of Palmer amaranth, a glyphosate-resistant weed currently plaguing cotton and soybean growers in the southern United States. Like its pesky southern relative, waterhemp is increasingly resistant to glyphosate. And like other weed pests, its growing presence in the

U.S. means it’s likely to eventually cross the 49th parallel. In fact, it has already been reported at Cando, N.D. just an hour’s drive south of the Manitoba border. “It just seems to be growing and growing and moving north every year,” says Richard Zollinger, a North Dakota State University extension weed specialist in Fargo. As happened with the varroa mite, zebra mussels, soybean cyst nematode and other invasive species which originated in the U.S., waterhemp will ultimately make its way into Canada. “It’s probably not ‘if’ we get the

weed. It’ll be ‘when.’ So we should be prepared,” says Jeanette Gaultier, a Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development weed specialist. Just how much damage waterhemp could do to Canadian crops is unknown. But Zollinger’s research is far from reassuring. His surveys show waterhemp is capable of reducing corn and soybean yields by anywhere from 15 to 44 per cent. “There are fields in North Dakota where you can hardly find a soybean, it’s so thick,” Zollinger says. As its name implies, waterhemp likes wet conditions to germinate and grow in. Northern U.S. states have been in a wet cycle for several years, encouraging the spread of waterhemp seeds overland and along major waterways such as Continued on page 42

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

crops Guide Areas and counties of North Dakota and Minnesota having confirmed and suspected glyphosate-resistant weeds 1 0 – 90% 5 – 95% 5 – 85% 5 – 95%

Soybean fields Gly-R common ragweed All fields Gly-R waterhemp All fields Gly R kochia All fields Gly-R giant ragweed & waterhemp

2013

★ Gly-R horseweed/ marestail

▼ Gly-R kochia ◆ Gly-R common ragweed ● Gly-R giant ragweed ✚ Gly-R waterhemp 40 – 75% 20 – 40% 15 – 40% 5 – 20% < 5%

All fields Gly-R giant ragweed & All fields Gly-R waterhemp All fields Gly-R common ragweed All fields Gly-R waterhemp Soybean fields Gly-R common ragweed

2008

• Black symbols: Confirmed resistant cases • Blue symbols: Highly suspect Chart recreated with info provided by: Dr. Jeff Stachler, Jeff Gunsolus, Mike Christoffers and Kirk Howatt

These maps produced by Jeff Stachler of NDSU show the progression of glyphosate-resistant weeds in North Dakota and Minnesota from 2008 to 2013.

Continued from page 41

the Red River. Although there are other ways of spreading the seeds (e.g. by machinery), high water and overland flooding are the main methods. In Manitoba, the situation is similar. “We’ve been in a very wet cycle. We do have the same flooding issues. We’re going to see that plant here at some point,” says Gaultier. Besides being water-borne, another reason for waterhemp’s rapid spread is its heavy seed set. Studies show waterhemp can produce more than a million seeds per plant. Zollinger says scientists have detected up to five million seeds per plant in some cases. Yet another reason is the weed’s unique biology. The male and female flowers are on separate plants (a characteristic known as dioecious). The male plants produce pollen and the female plants make the seed. This outcrossing creates huge genetic diversity, which can produce biotypes resistant to certain classes of herbicides, including glyphosate. The classic reason for glyphosate resistance is the continuous use (and overuse) of glyphosate, especially on Roundup Ready crops such as sugar beets, corn, soybeans, cotton and canola. It’s hardly surprising that glyphosate resistance is on the rise in North Dakota and Minnesota, since the first three crops are grown extensively there. That’s particularly true for soybeans, which are expanding rapidly in those states as the American soybean belt moves gradually northward. Zollinger says North Dakota now has the fourth-largest soybean acreage in the U.S. behind Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota. It is also the fifth-largest in total production. Compare that to Manitoba, where, within the last 10 years, soybeans have grown to become the third-largest crop in the province behind wheat and canola. Nearly all those soybeans are glyphosate tolerant. With soybeans increasing in popularity, the last thing growers in the Keystone province want is a new glyphosate-resistant weed. Multiple resistance It’s not just glyphosate, either. Zollinger says waterhemp in some U.S. states is also starting to exhibit resistance to other classes of herbicides, including Group 2 ALS/AHAS inhibitors.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

weed management “Every population that would appear in Canada would be ALS Group 2 and glyphosate resistant,” Zollinger says. Although it is a pigweed, waterhemp is a summer annual that germinates much later than other pigweed species, from mid-June to July. Zollinger says flushes can appear as late as August. A herbicide application may control the first flush, but any sunlight getting into the crop as the season progresses will stimulate new flushes. Waterhemp is a tall weed and, once established, competes well with annual crops. Herbicides tend to work best on weeds when they are small, and can be less effective on tall ones. So controlling waterhemp is a never-ending battle during the growing season. Zollinger says glyphosate-resistant weeds such as waterhemp are a growing economic problem in North Dakota and Minnesota. To control them, producers have to double or even triple their herbicide costs. Although resistance makes fewer post-emergent options available, growers are slow to adopt

pre-emergent herbicides because they are expensive and commodity prices aren’t as high as they were a few years back. Getting ready So what should farmers do to prepare for waterhemp’s arrival? Gaultier encourages growers to get to know waterhemp’s biology, scout fields and monitor them for signs of a weed that looks different. Identifying waterhemp in its early stages can be difficult because most pigweeds appear similar at the seedling stage. However, Gaultier says the cotyledons of waterhemp are a little smaller than redroot pigweed and the leaves tend to be longer and more lance-shaped than other members of the pigweed family. Zollinger agrees surveillance is key to stopping waterhemp before it spreads. He encourages farmers to map their fields and identify weed patches. “Sitting on a combine is the perfect place to map your fields. If you see some

areas where waterhemp is in patches, that is where you can concentrate your herbicides. You can map the fields and, in the coming spring, put on appropriate herbicides.” Zollinger urges producers to exercise both crop and herbicide rotations to keep waterhemp in check. Wheat is an early emerging crop and its canopy can help limit flushes. Wheat and other cereals also offer options for herbicides that are not available for genetically modified corn and soybeans. Then if you do spot a few waterhemp plants from the cab, get out and pull them up. If you have a field-full in three years, you’ll wish you had. It’s an open question if waterhemp could spread to other parts of Western Canada. Gaultier says it prefers wet conditions, such as in the eastern Prairies. But Gaultier says waterhemp appears able to adapt to different conditions, so don’t be complacent. “I wouldn’t recommend that folks further west be any less vigilant in their scouting than folks in the Red River Valley.” CG

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COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

crops Guide

Soil testing by laser beam A Quebec company has developed a soil-test system using laser technology that reports more accurate results in just three days By nicolas mesly

ké Nault regularly stops his ATV on a 25-acre freshly cut hayfield belonging to a producer from Howick, 30 kilometres south of Montreal. Probe in hand, the young technician methodically collects soil samples. Each stop is georeferenced as a green dot on a field map on his cellphone screen. It really is “space age” technology, because in 2020, a metal hand on the Curiosity robot, 560 million kilometres from Earth, will take a soil sample on the surface of Mars using the same science, called laserinduced plasma spectroscopy. But Nault is using an even more sophisticated version developed by Logiag, a company based in Chateauguay, Que. “We were inspired by the mining industry,” says Iké’s father Jacques Nault, an agrologist and Logiag’s vice-president. The mining industry had been using laser technology to detect the presence of copper in ore samples, but it did not indicate the quantity. That required excavation and further testing to determine whether a deposit is economic. Working with the National Research Council in Boucherville, Que., Logiag developed the laser technology so that it could precisely measure all the mineral contents as well as organic matter of a soil sample. “NRC researchers had embraced this incredible challenge to develop a laser capable of analyzing the soil matrix,” says Nault. He also credits the perseverance of Logiag’s research director Dr. Luc English, who used his knowledge of medical spectroscopy to develop the Logiag system. The development took five years and $2 million in investments from various sources including Business Development Canada and Investissements Québec. Named SOLID for the contraction of the words “soil” and “identification,” the system is now patent-protected in 148 countries. Once Iké Nault has collected his soil samples in small cups identified with a bar code, he scans them with his cellphone. He

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Dairy producer Alain Rouleau (l) and Logiag vice-president Jacques Nault describe how each soil sample is georeferenced.

then brings his samples to Logiag’s laboratory in Boucherville where each cup is scanned with the SOLID laser beam, which heats the sample to a temperature between 20,000 C and 25,000 C. “This tremendeous heat creates a plasma where the electrons are freed from their orbit,” says Jacques Nault. “The energy released by these electrons allows us to identify different atoms in the sample.” Each sample is bombarded 3,000 times by the laser beam to make 100 analyses per second. All the elements from the periodic table, including nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, are identified and quantified. “We are the new field of atomic analysis,” says Nault. “There is no longer the need for chemical products, beakers and flasks, used up until now by conventional laboratories to do soil analysis.” According to Nault, the old method

Soil is collected and scanned with a laser that heats the sample to a temperature between

20,000 C

and 25,000 C. Each sample is bombarded 3,000 times by the laser beam to provide 100 analyses per second and identify its nutrient content.

precision ag allowed a margin of error of 25 per cent, while SOLID’s margin is only five per cent. In addition, Logiag clients can expect their results and recommendations within three days instead of two weeks or more with the conventional soil analysis system. The SOLID system is intended primarily for crop advisers and service providers. “Logiag is a kind of back office rather than a direct service offered to the producers,” Nault says. Dairy farmer Alain Rouleau, whose hayfield is being tested by Iké Nault, says he likes the Logiag system. “It all starts with the quality of my soils. That’s what creates the quality of my forages, which in turn keep my herd healthy,” Rouleau says. The speed of the analysis and recommendations is key for this dairy producer, who every year limes one-sixth of his 300 acres. Quebec’s rainy climate tends to acidify the soils. Rouleau says that by having his lime recommendations two or three days after harvesting hay, oats or wheat, instead

of waiting two or three weeks for the conventional soil analysis, he can better plan his field work, including crop rotations. “I manage my fields like my group of cows, or even cow by cow,” he says. Rouleau estimates that he spends $3,000 per year to lime 50 acres, so every penny counts. Logiag’s SOLID soil service analysis was officially launched on September 1, after being tested among 20 of the company’s 4,000 clients. Logiag is waiting for its official credentials from the provincial accreditation agency, as well as its accreditation to the international ISO1705 standard. “We should obtain these accreditations within the next six to 12 months,” Nault says. The system has already won a provincial innovation award, and attracted interest from outside Quebec. Logiag was also invited to participate in the Ag Innovation Showcase in St. Louis, Missouri, last September. “We met with the industry top players and we are following up the discussions to develop our market,” Nault says. CG

The georeference for each sample is recorded by cellphone.

Logiag’s SOLID soil service analysis was officially launched on September 1, after being tested among 20 of the company’s 4,000 clients

Each sample is placed in a box which is sent to the Logiag lab in Boucherville. The results are available in three days.

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

crops Guide

New life for triticale High yield, high nutrition, disease resistance and swath grazing potential are among the attractions of this wheat/rye hybrid By angela lovell

Top: New triticale varieties have reduced awn, which makes them more suitable for swath grazing. Above: Alberta’s West Central Forage Association has issued a report on swath grazing with a combination of winter and spring triticale.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Triticale for grain New spring varieties include Brevis, Sunray, Tyndal, Bunker, Pronghorn, Ultima and Taza, which are high yielding and have a number of other production advantages that make them suitable for either grain or silage. “These varieties typically yield 10 to 15 per cent higher than wheat,” says Mazen Aljarrah, a plant breeder at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AAF) Feed Crops Branch. “We have made them earlier maturing because that was an issue for farmers in the past who wanted to grow triticale for grain. We also reduced the height so growers can avoid lodging in high-moisture areas, and they can apply higher levels of nitrogen to push the yield because it won’t lodge. It’s also fairly drought tolerant and will yield better than wheat even in dry conditions.” Triticale is also highly disease resistant. “One of the major advantages of growing triticale in Western Canada is we don’t have any problems with diseases, so farm-

ers don’t need to apply fungicides, which lowers their production cost,” says Aljarrah, adding that it’s also a good crop to add to a rotation to break disease cycles. New varieties have dramatically improved resistance to ergot by introducing some specific genetic traits from wheat. “Wheat is completely self-pollinated and this is why it has less ergot. Triticale is still five to 10 per cent open pollinated but by crossing it to wheat and then backcrossing it to triticale we have improved ergot resistance,” says Aljarrah. Winter varieties are also earlier maturing to make them more attractive for grain production, and also to offer the potential for double cropping. “One of the things I am trying to facilitate through my breeding program is to make triticale head out earlier, similar to rye, so farmers could grow it and take it off as silage and then go in with another crop afterwards,” says Dr. Jamie Larsen, a rye and triticale breeder with AAFC in Lethbridge. Silage potential By reducing the height of new triticale varieties and maintaining a high leaf-stem ratio, breeders have improved their digestibility and dry matter yield. “In our trials over many years we have always produced 15 to 20 per cent more dry matter yield over barley with these triticale varieties,” says Aljarrah. “The quality is very comparable to barley, so triticale is very promising for silage.” Triticale is also showing promise to help producers extend the grazing season. New varieties have reduced awn, which makes them more suitable for swath grazing. “Triticale has tremendous potential for swath grazing because of its high yield and because it meets the nutritional requirements of over-wintering cows,” says Vern Baron, a forage research scientist at AAFC Lacombe. “By using triticale we have reduced the daily cost of winter feeding compared to barley substantially.”

Photos: borrom: West Central Forage Association, top: Mazen Aljarrah/AAF

riticale was introduced to Canada in the 1960s and got a bit of extra fanfare from a mention in the famous Star Trek episode “The Trouble With Tribbles.” Interest soon waned, but the wheat-rye hybrid is now getting some renewed attention as a versatile crop with potential for grain, forage and ethanol production. Breeding programs in Alberta have married Canadian and European germplasm to produce both winter and spring varieties that are cold tolerant, high yielding, earlier maturing and shorter for better grain production, and with improved digestibility and smaller awns for forage uses. Alberta and Saskatchewan farmers grow most of Canada’s triticale, and seeded acres have increased more than 75 per cent in the past four years, from around 45,000 acres in 2012 to just over 80,000 in 2015.

triticale

New uses for triticale

Breeding programs in Alberta have married Canadian and European germplasm to produce new winter and spring varieties for the Prairies.

Baron’s swath grazing trials assessed the costs of winter feeding 100 cows for 100 days on triticale versus barley and corn over the cost of feeding the same number of animals for the same time in a confined feeding system such as a yard or feedlot. The study found that using barley for swath grazing saved about $7,400, and using corn saved around $9,000 over the 100 days. “With triticale, because of its high yield and carrying capacity the savings were $12,000. On a percentage basis we are saving 61 per cent by swath grazing triticale over the cost of feeding hay at a confined site.” Planting winter varieties in June When winter triticale varieties are planted early in the season they can also provide additional options to help producers lower feed and handling costs by developing a year-round grazing system. “Normally winter triticale is planted the last week of August or first week of September for grain production,” says Baron. “To get a lot of green biomass we’re planting winter triticale as early as the first week of June, which gives high-quality, mid-season pasture in late July when the perennial pastures that were grazed in May or June are decreasing their productivity. This allows the perennial pastures to rest long enough to allow regrowth, so a producer has stockpiled grass for September and October.” Farmers should also plant spring triticale for swath grazing around the first part of June, so it can be swathed in mid-September and grazed in the swath from November on. “In February and March the producer

Since triticale has a higher yield and starch content than wheat, it has attracted interest for other uses such as ethanol production, chemicals, biomaterials and biocomposites.

could switch to bale grazing. There’s a whole chain of things which can be used to lower the cost of harvesting, hauling, processing, manure removal at a feeding site,” says Baron. INDUSTRIAL AND OTHER MARKETS Varieties such as Brevis and Sunray have higher levels of starch and lower protein, which is perfect for ethanol production. A 10-year Canadian Triticale Biorefinery Initiative looked at ways to develop triticale as a bio-industrial crop for ethanol production. (See accompanying story). Triticale probably won’t be showing up as a major ingredient in the bread aisle any time soon, because it has poor falling numbers and isn’t generally suitable for milling. There are some Canadian breeders, however, who are working with varieties from California and Europe that have better breadmaking qualities to see whether they can be adapted for Western Canada. “Triticale will never take over from wheat but if it could be blended in, there is some interesting potential there because a lot of small bakeries are trying different things,” says Larsen. The Alberta Beef Producers and AAF have launched the new Alberta Beef Forage and Grazing Centre this winter to provide research and extension information to producers on forage crops, including triticale. AAF’s program will also release three to four new triticale varieties for registration next year that have five to 10 per cent higher yields than Brevis, currently the highest yielder. As new varieties come to market, and new uses emerge, triticale could become a viable option as a high yielding, low-input crop for more prairie farmers. CG

The Canadian Triticale Biorefinery Initiative (CTBI) is a 10-year program to develop triticale as a dedicated bio-industrial crop. It has looked at these potential uses as well as at its dried distillers grain as a potential feed for livestock. Another project assessed the energy potential of using triticale straw and distillers grain from ethanol production to generate energy via an anaerobic digestion system. Research found that electricity generated from triticale straw would cost between $75 and $90 per megawatt-hour to produce, thanks to the high biomass yield of the crop. The optimum size for a power plant would be 250 to 300 megawatts to remain economically feasible. Other projects looked at alternate uses for triticale fibre, such as a replacement for wood or flax fibre to reinforce petroleum-based polymers and to create products ranging from car parts to fast-food packaging. New triticale cultivars developed as part of the BCTI have specific starch profiles making them better for ethanol or bioplastic production, and breeders continue to work on developing winter triticale varieties with higher yields, improved pest resistance and enhanced starch content. “The best success of triticale remains in the feed and grazing end-uses,” says François Eudes of AAFC’s Research Centre at Lethbridge, who was a lead researcher with the CTBI. “Future research will look at improving the agronomics such as maturity and yield, and attributes such as fibre digestibility, reduced lignin and high starch yield to further improve its competitiveness in new markets, while meeting the needs of the feed market.”

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

crops Guide

Rye takes an innovation jump Hybrid varieties and new specialty markets are breathing new life into what had become the poor cousin of the Prairie cereal family By angela lovell

ome new varieties and new markets may signal the end of a long decline in Western Canada’s rye production. The 1990s started with rye area pushing the 1.3-million-acre mark, yet this year only 220,000 acres went into the ground. But some of those acres were planted with new hybrid varieties that have produced some eye-popping yields as well as improved quality. Will van Roessel of Specialty Seeds at Bow Island, Alta., had to measure twice because he didn’t believe the yield he got from Guttino, the hybrid variety that he grew this year. “I got 153 bushels under irrigation. It yielded 1.45 times what my winter wheat did in a small, fieldscale trial,” says van Roessel, who is also the chair of SeedNet, a group of independent Alberta seed growers distributing Guttino. The new hybrid varieties — Brasseto and Guttino — average 25 to 30 per cent higher yields than older, open-pollinated rye varieties and give 45 to 55 per cent more yield than winter wheat. German seed company KWS Cereals developed the varieties, which have been evaluated for three years in co-operative field trials prior to their full registration in Canada. “It’s a good alternate crop that delivers high yield and has a very ready market at a premium,” says Rod Merryweather of FP Genetics, the western Canadian distributor for Brasseto. “Some growers in the Red River valley of Manitoba under dryland conditions are getting around 92 bushels an acre and prices (in August) were $6.75/bushel, which is a huge return.” Brasseto is grown under identitypreserved contracts with three companies — Paterson GlobalFoods,

North American Food Ingredients and Scoular Grain. Farmers grew around 1,000 acres of Brasetto during its introduction year in 2014, but 2015 seed stocks quickly sold out, and at least 20,000 acres were planted this past fall. Greg Stamp of Stamp Seeds says he’s seeing a lot of non-traditional rye growers in his area interested in growing hybrid rye under irrigation. “They’re willing to spend extra money on the seed because they have that water constant and can really push the yield. Hybrid rye suits them well because it’s a highyielding, high-return crop.” Market potential There are plenty of traditional and some new marketing options for these new varieties. Traditionally, much of the rye grown in Alberta goes to distillers in Calgary, and there’s a growing niche market of craft breweries who are malting rye to produce specialty beers. A certain amount of rye has always gone to the milling industry, but Merr yweather believes the

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

improved quality of hybrid varieties gives good potential to expand its use for bread-making. “Most rye bread has five to 10 per cent rye and the rest is wheat, primarily because the bakers can’t get high enough quality rye to add more to the mix,” he says. “The hybrid rye varieties generally have falling numbers of 60 to 80 points higher than open-pollinated rye, which is ideal for making bread. We’re hoping ultimately that they will increase the amount of rye that’s used in making bread because we can deliver better quality.” Rye also finds its way into the feed market for use in feedlot and dairy rations, and the new hybrids have attributes that make them more suitable than older varieties for livestock feed. “The main advantage for the feed market is the yield,” says Van Roessel. “These varieties yield much higher than traditional feed crops like barley so it makes them competitive from a production point of view.” Data from KWS research feeding trials of young bulls show that as the rye content increased in the ration,

Will van Roessel reports a 15-bushel yield from Guttino rye harvested this fall.

hybrid rye the amount of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E in the meat also increased. The research suggests 20 per cent rye content in the feed ration is optimum for fattening bulls. Other research trials indicate higher daily gain and more carcass yield in pigs fattened with dry feed rations containing rye than barley. Stamp says that KWS researchers hope to work with some Canadian feedlots in the future to do similar trials. That said the biggest barrier for the feedlot market in the past has been uncertain supply. “A lot of feedlots have never tried rye because there has never been enough volume to work with,” says Stamp. “They need enough volume to justify having it as part of their ration.” Management critical Brian Fowler of the University of Saskatchewan believes that we haven’t seen the top end of the yield potential of hybrid rye yet. The current cultivars were developed for Europe, but breeding efforts have started to focus on designing varieties specifically selected for Western Canada. He believes farmers will eventually be able to push hybrid rye yields to 130 or 150 bushels an acre on dryland in good moisture years and higher under irrigation, although proper management is and will be critical. “If it has the water and the nutrients, the yield potential of these hybrids is phenomenal,” Fowler says. “Rye is much more adaptable to cold conditions that any of our other crops and it’s usually six inches tall before the winter wheat really gets growing in the spring, which means it needs nitrogen (N) applied much earlier in the spring than winter wheat.” Growers also need to make sure they don’t have a phosphate deficiency because the rye gets started so early in the spring that the soil is still cold, Fowler adds. Root growth is slow in cold soils and limits the

The new hybrid varieties average

25% 30% to

higher yields than older, open-pollinated rye varieties.

root-feeding area. Because soil phosphate isn’t mobile, phosphate placed near the seed during planting will give a boost to plant growth early in the season, which will ultimately translate into much higher grain yield. The ergot problem Rye is susceptible to ergot, but it’s not generally as big a concern for farmers as it is in wheat, says Jamie Larsen of AAFC Lethbridge. “In rye we expect ergot and will clean it out if it exceeds the tolerances set by the Grain Commission,” he says, adding that his program and another led by Kelly Turkington at Lacombe have developed ergot screening nurseries to improve resistance. In the meantime, because environment is the biggest factor in ergot infection, there are limits on what farmers can do. “If you get a lot of rain right around flowering you will see a lot more ergot than if it’s dry, but growers can try to reduce infection by removing grass at the edges of their fields the year prior to and the year of a rye crop. This will limit ergot bodies that could overwinter and

lead to primary infection during flowering or flowering grasses that could be a secondary source of ergot infection during the crop year.” Another potential issue with rye has always been volunteers, which is why Larsen suggests farmers use a good rotation. “If farmers go with something other than a cereal after the rye — a pulse or canola, for example — they can spray out any of the volunteers through their regular herbicide management plan,” he says. “They need to follow rye with a good crop rotation to keep their fields clean.” FP Genetics is also introducing Bono, a second-generation hybrid which yields 10 per cent higher than Brasetto and Guttino. “This variety will put farmers to over 100 bushels an acre on dryland if they are providing a balanced crop inputs plan,” says Merryweather, who says the company will switch to Bono over the next two or three years. “We’ve got a good pipeline with KWS and expect new, improved hybrids on a regular basis, and we expect that acres in Western Canada will grow to 100,000 or more in several years.” CG

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

crops Guide

Can’t tell by looking KVD ended on paper in 2008, but new changes to wheat classes mean it will also end in practice By gord gilmour / associate editor

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

You can tell the difference now, but it will be more difficult after major changes to the quality system in 2018.

Big change in 2018 The effect on the overall system so far is similar to steering a large ocean ship — it takes a while to respond to a command from the wheelhouse. In the same way, there can be a long lag before the effects of regulatory changes are felt, says one grain quality specialist. Daryl Beswitherick, the Canadian Grain Commission’s program manager of quality assurance, says most of the wheat classes still more or less conform to KVD, despite the passing of nearly a decade. “A trained inspector still can, for the most part, distinguish the wheat classes today,” Beswitherick says. “It’s really held together for a long time after the regulatory change.” On August 1, 2018, that’s all going to change dramatically. That’s the date new regulations are proposed to come into effect creating two new wheat classes — Canadian Northern Hard Red (CNHR) and Canadian Western Special Purpose (CWSP). The milling quality standards for CNHR mean that it will include about 30 varieties currently in the CWRS and CPRS classes, giving breeders another wheat class to target their breeding efforts toward. CWSP will essentially replace the current Canada Western General Purpose wheat class. It will include varieties that don’t fit within the parameters of any of the other western wheat classes, and will likely be the home of varieties destined for feed and ethanol use, and perhaps even for specialized niche markets. There will be no quality

parameters for the class. It might sound like a simple administrative matter, but in reality it’s going to be a leap forward in the wheat class modernization effort that the Canadian Grain Commission has long been championing — and a stake through the heart of KVD. For the first time, large numbers of varieties are being moved from class to class, dramatically and decisively ending the era of inspectors being able to tell the class from the kernel’s physical appearance. “This really will be a significant change, the one that will make it much more difficult to visually tell the difference between classes,” Beswitherick says. That’s no cause for worry, however, as the framework for the new system has several years behind it, and has built up an admirable track record of assuring quality for end-use customers, he says. Growers have been signing variety declarations since 2008, and there’s been no flood of customer complaints or chronic problems. “I’m not saying it’s a perfect system and it never happens — but there certainly hasn’t been a flood of problems,” Beswitherick says. “There are tolerances, and I think some blending even happens.” Lead time Following industry consultations, the implementation date was pushed back a year from the original August 1, 2017, to ensure enough time for the value chain to prepare for the changes. “It would be fair to say that right now the

Photo: CGC

or decades, it was “What you see is what you get” when buying Canadian wheat. Not only did new varieties have to perform well in the field and in the bakery, they had to look similar to all the other varieties in their class. That helped ensure the consistency which has been such a strong selling feature for Canadian wheat, but there was a downside. New varieties could perform well, but couldn’t be registered if they couldn’t be visually distinguished from other classes. The policy was controversial for decades. Proponents called it a keystone of Canada’s wheat quality brand. Critics called it a needless barrier to registration of otherwise desirable varieties. In 2008, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz sided with the critics and discontinued the requirement for kernel visual distinguishability (KVD) for registering new varieties. It was replaced with a system of grower variety declarations and sampling. Legendary Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada wheat breeder Ron DePauw, now retired and acting as SeCan’s science adviser, says the change removed a barrier for wheat breeders. This was important because wheat breeding is already a tough numbers game. Wheat is a hexaploid plant, meaning it has six sets of chromosomes on which to draw, making for seemingly endless variations. Throw kernel appearance into that mix and it was a bridge too far, DePauw says. “What KVD did was eliminate between five and 10 per cent of your crosses due to not having the right appearance and kernel shape,” DePauw explains. “That represented an expense and lost opportunities.” Since being freed from those constraints, breeders have definitely taken advantage, DePauw says. You’ll hear few complaints about the demise of KVD emanating from Canada’s wheat breeding programs, yet the move hasn’t actually translated into significant yield gains in the field. “The breeding cycle for wheat varieties is eight to 10 years, so you won’t see any direct effects from this until 2016 to 2018 or something like that,” DePauw says.

Wheat Genetics grain handlers are thinking very hard about how they can ensure segregation within the supply chain,” Beswitherick says, adding he is confident they’ll come up with workable solutions to the challenge. From a farmer perspective, little should change — there will still be variety declarations to sign — so the lone issue they’ll need to be aware of is that some varieties will now be in new classes. “There’s a bit of education that needs to happen there, but from their perspective it will really be a minor change,” Beswitherick says. He also stresses that growers won’t lose any varieties. They’ll just be delivered as different classes. “I think there’s a bit of misinformation out there about that point,” he says. “They won’t be forced to change varieties. They’ll still be able to grow the wheat varieties that suit their farms and deliver them.”

On the breeding side of the equation, DePauw said he expects the incremental advances from this policy change to begin showing up shortly, adding to the already rising yield gains. It will, in essence, build on the growth that began in the 1990s with improved funding for varietal development through the Western Grains Research Foundation, he says. “We’ve seen productivity gains roughly double since then, and I expect this will only add to that trend.” On the other hand, the changes will mean tighter specifications, especially on gluten strength, and therefore many “near misses” for CWRS, DePauw says. “Therefore these regulatory changes will adversely affect CWRS for sure and possibly CPS.” CG

I think it would be fair to say that right now the grain handlers are thinking very hard about how they can ensure segregation within the supply chain.”

For more information on the wheat class changes, visit the Grain Commission website: www.grainscanada.gc.ca.

Daryl Beswitherick, CGC

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COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

crops Guide cigi

By Ellen Goodman / Canadian International Grains Institute

new winter wheats evaluated at Cigi Flour yield and colour have been found to be better than in U.S. varieties

covering in fall and winter. Winter wheat also helps offset annual pests in wheat and is less disturbing to wildlife such as waterfowl. With a focus on quality and enduse opportunities, Cigi aims to work in conjunction with other interested organizations in the promotion of CWRW, says Akriti Sharma, Cigi’s winter wheat technical specialist. “CWRW has shown to be well suited for the production of hearth breads, various types of flatbreads, pizza dough and crackers. It also makes quality pan bread in a blend with CWRS and shows good colour, texture and balanced dough properties in Asian end products like noodles and steamed buns.” Over the past year, five new CWRW varieties have been analyzed and evaluated at Cigi for quality in lab milling, baking and in Asian products (noodles and steamed buns), Sharma says. The varieties Flourish, Moats, Gateway, Emerson and Chase were compared to commercial samples of U.S. Hard Red Winter wheat. “We found that these CWRW varieties were higher in flour yield and had better colour,” she says, noting that high flour yield is important for millers. “We were unable to source U.S. samples with equivalent

Photo: Lisa Nemeth

nvestigation of the quality of Canada Western Red Winter wheat varieties has been ongoing at the Canadian International Grains Institute in support of the industry with an aim to increase awareness of its quality potential for both customers and producers. In 2014, Cigi created a winter wheat technical specialist position with funding from the Alberta Wheat Commission, the Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission and Winter Cereals Manitoba. The position was established to help develop global markets for Canadian winter wheat through technical marketing support for domestic and international customers on milling and end-use applications, by co-ordinating research on winter wheat quality, and by analyzing market demand for quality. Compared to other wheat classes, growing winter wheat has proven to have several benefits for producers as well as for the environment and wildlife, as promoted by organizations such as Ducks Unlimited and the Western Winter Wheat Initiative. Benefits include higher yields, avoiding seeding in late wet springs, an earlier harvest than spring wheat, helping to manage herbicide resistance and providing a protective soil

protein to make a proper comparison this time but the gluten strength (of the CWRW samples) was still good as was dough strength. It has good stability and mixing tolerance. Overall I’d say the varieties are competitive, if not better than the U.S. HRW samples. It’s very typical of what we’ve been seeing as a trend for new varieties in this class.” The goal this year is to bring in more samples of each variety and make a composite, Sharma says. “We are attempting to bring in the U.S. wheat again to do a similar comparison but it will be a more robust analysis which will give a true commercial milling comparison that we haven’t had an opportunity to try yet. The next step will be to make up a one-tonne sample sourced from multiple locations.” Sharma says results to date have been communicated to winter wheat growers, adding that the new variety Emerson has shown improved fusarium resistance. “The growers love it. In locations where fusarium can be an issue and producers like to grow winter wheat, it really appeals to them.” Last year Cigi also presented some findings to customers in Latin America, Sharma says. “They were quite interested in the quality. This year we’ll be focusing on customers as they come into Cigi and if there is an opportunity, we’ll take the data out to customers.” She adds that other new winter wheat varieties coming out are expected to undergo the same progression of testing as they become available. CG

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

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Crops GUIDE weather MILDER THAN NORMAL

Sn Co sp ow ld el y ls

MILDER-THAN-NORMAL TEMPERATURES NEAR- TO BELOW-NORMAL PRECIPITATION

Variable Mild Rain / snow

l na o i w s ca / sno c O in ra

British Columbia

Scatt rain / ered snow

TO L E- MA ES V O OR R AB R-N ATU N A R NE MPEAND ATIO T E I T IP EC R P

S to at t rmy ime s

NEAR NORMAL

Saskatchewan March 20 to April 30, 2016National

• Mar. 20-26: Seasonable to mild. Occasionally windy. Fair aside from coastal rain, periodic snow or rain with some frost elsewhere. • Mar. 27-Apr. 2: Wet, cool days interchange with sunny, mild days. Fair, seasonable elsewhere with scattered rain or snow. • Apr. 3-9: Highs hit the teens in many areas with one or two cooler days bringing rain except snow and frost at higher levels and north. • Apr. 10-16: Blustery but seasonable to mild. Fair apart from scattered showers, changing to snow and frost higher elevations. • Apr. 17-23: Seasonable to mild and often sunny south. Scattered rain on two or three days. Frost, heavier snow in the mountains. • Apr. 24-30: Pleasant and mild most days but scattered rain, gusty on two or three occasions. Frost pockets inland.

Alberta

• M ar. 20-26: Blustery with some highs double digits south. Sunny skies alternate with heavier snow or rain and frost. • Mar. 27-Apr. 2: Windy. Mild to cool temperatures. Often sunny apart from rain or snow on two or three days. • Apr. 3-9: Seasonable to mild but expect cooler, windy outbreaks to bring heavier snow or rain on two or three days. • Apr. 10-16: Changeable as sunny, mild days alternate with cool, wet days. Chance heavier snow in places. • Apr. 17-23: Blustery. Some highs in the 20s south, teens north. Sunny aside from scattered showers, snow/frost north. • Apr. 24-30: Pleasant, mild overall although rain, chance heavier snow on a couple of days.

• M ar. 20-26: Changeable as fair skies interchange with rain or snow except heavier snow north. Windy. Seasonable to mild. • Mar. 27-Apr. 2: Temperatures thaw and freeze. A couple of colder, windy days bring snow or rain, chance heavy in places. • Apr. 3-9: Variable from cool to mild. Gusty winds. Sunny apart from rain or heavier snow on a couple of days. • Apr. 10-16: Pleasant mild days are interrupted by cooler, windy days and occasional rain, chance of heavy snow in places. • Apr. 17-23: Sunny and mild overall but rain occurs on a couple of occasions. Slight chance of snow. Often windy. • A pr. 24-30: Milder and sunny with blustery winds on most days. Scattered showers, mixed with heavier snow north.

Manitoba

• Mar. 20-26: Windy. Thaw/freeze cycle. Variable skies as sunshine exchanges with rain or snow. Cool, snowy north. • M ar. 27-Apr. 2: Mainly sunny aside from a couple of unsettled days with snow or rain. Blustery. Mild to cool. • Apr. 3-9: Highs rise to double digits south. On cooler, gusty days expect some rain or heavier snow. Cool, snowy north. • Apr. 10-16: Mild and cool air exchange to bring sunshine and occasional rain, some heavier snow. Windy at times. • Apr. 17-23: Sunny and milder on most days. Often windy. Scattered shower or flurry activity, heavier snow north. • A pr. 24-30: Pleasant, windy overall with mild temperatures. Scattered showers on two or three days, frequent snow north.

highlights March 20 to April 30, 2016 Spring is expected to begin early across most of Canada this year due mainly to a waning El Niño and a milder-than-usual weather pattern. Changeable weather and rapidly warming temperatures normally characterize the weather during the spring months. Drier-than-usual conditions are likely to accompany the milder spring weather in most areas. The only exception may be in parts of southern Ontario, eastern Quebec and Atlantic Canada where disturbances will bring a few cool, wet periods from time to time. 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.

Editor’s note Where’s my weather page? Look in every second issue for your month-long Country Guide weather forecast during the winter months when we’re publishing every two weeks.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

A special supplement brought to you by Canadian Forage and Grassland Association

Forage & Grassland Guide is produced in partnership by the Canadian Forage & Grassland Association (CFGA) and Farm Business Communications and distributed through Country Guide, Canadian Cattlemen and Le Bulletin des agriculteurs. It focuses on forage and grassland issues of importance to crop and livestock producers across Canada.

Making hay of environmental goods and services Researchers wrestle with turning an abstract concept into concrete profits for producers By jeff melchior

f you were to ask most cattle producers about the goods and services their grasslands provide, it might seem like an obvious question. Most would say that quality forage promotes the health of their cattle, provides high-quality protein and boosts their bottom line. Others might talk about how their grazing practices promote biodiversity and overall environmental health. Both are fundamentally correct in their definitions of the environmental goods and services (EG&S) provided by grasslands. But those answers are only the beginning of what is currently a somewhat vague and academic concept. If EG&S such as carbon storage and biodiversity have the potential for a dollar value, should producers be paid for owning and managing those services? And if so, how do you assign that value and develop a system of trade to support it? It’s the job of researchers such as Edward Bork to help answer such questions. Bork, a researcher with

2016

Forage & Grassland Guide

In many grasslands, including those of Western Canada, moderate grazing actually boosts overall plant diversity.

the University of Alberta’s Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science department, says understanding these services is more crucial than ever in an era of escalating stresses such as grassland conversion and climate change. “What we’re starting to recognize as a society is that these perennial systems, particularly our native grasslands, provide benefits to society that go far beyond forage and livestock commodities. Those benefits affect all of us,” he says. “We want to develop solid baselines for the biophysical contributions from grasslands, whether it’s carbon storage or pollinator diversity. If you don’t have that baseline information, then it’s impossible to attach a dollar value to it. Once the important task of quantifying the size of those benefits is done the next step is to find the right policy mechanisms to promote, conserve or even increase them from these systems.”

Grazing a fit for EG&S

One thing that makes EG&S so hard to define is that they cover pretty much everything in the agro-ecosystem. These “goods” include habitat, water and millions of species including animals, plants and even soil organisms that haven’t yet been fully identified. “The services include the provision of wildlife habitat for both consumptive — those we hunt — and nonconsumptive species. They include rainfall infiltration, flood mitigation and water purification since a lot of our rangelands are also major watersheds. It also includes carbon storage, which is obviously an important good and service because if carbon is stored in the ground it’s not in the atmosphere contributing to rising CO2 levels,” says Bork. The good news is that good rangeland management already promotes these values. Continued on page 56 COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

A special supplement brought to you by Canadian Forage and Grassland Association

Continued from page 55 “If you look at these rangelands they evolved with grazing and often plenty of it,” says Bork. “It is well known that in many grasslands, including those of Western Canada, moderate grazing actually boosts overall plant diversity.” Overall, producers have done a good job of maintaining grasslands, using conservative stocking rates and giving the land time to regenerate, says Bork. “What we don’t necessarily understand is how the other environmental goods and services, the ones we know are out there but may be not be as well understood, how do they respond? Although research will continue to reveal how producers can hone their practices, Bork does not foresee any findings that could negatively affect grazing as a viable, socially acceptable facilitator of EG&S. If anything, the results of a study Bork led with support from the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA) suggests the biggest threat to these goods and services, aside from urban development, may be market-driven incentives to switch land use to forms of agriculture that provide fewer EG&S. “Just by flipping native grasslands into cropland you’re eliminating upwards of 40 to 50 per cent of the carbon stores. But what incentive is there for a farmer to retain grasslands for carbon storage? There isn’t one. So until there’s a market mechanism to reward producers for that they’re not going to change their management to accommodate the service.”

Potential for pollinators

One of the keys to discovering the value of EG&S is finding the species that deliver them. The collapse of bee populations throughout the world has brought new focus on the role of pollinators in crop production. A U of A study seeks to take the discussion beyond honeybees towards the countless other unknown, unnamed pollinators. “If we can start understanding 56

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

which species of bee are really doing this pollination work, then we can start to figure out their contributions to canola and other flowering crops and their contributions to the production of flowering plants within rangelands,” says Cameron Carlyle, a fellow rangeland researcher with the U of A. “From there we want to figure out what systems of cattle management might benefit these pollinators and reap the benefits in terms of forage.” Carlyle’s team has identified 140 bee species in Alberta so far. “We found there’s a great deal of variability in their numbers and abundance across the province. Depending on where you are there are differences in abundance of species between rangelands and canola fields. We have 15,000 bees to identify one at a time so it’s a bit of a slog.” Another issue is parasites on commercial honeybees. “We’ve been finding the same or similar parasites on native bees but we don’t know if they’ve always been there or whether this is a new thing,” Carlyle says. Even if species can be identified it is difficult to know how to conserve or manage them. “With a lot of species we don’t even know if they nest in the ground, if they nest in trees or stems or if they prefer one species of flower over another. There are so many species.”

Carbon storage questions

A major question around EG&S is how much carbon the soil can hold under drought conditions, which are expected to intensify with climate change. The U of A is embarking on a three-year study looking at carbon storage and the resilience of forage production under extreme drought. “With climate change we are expecting the amount of rainfall in the Prairies to actually go up,” says Carlyle. “However, accompanying those wet years will be increases in temperature and increases in year-toyear variability in precipitation that will likely lead to extreme drought

“ Just by flipping native grasslands into cropland you’re eliminating upwards of 40 to 50 per cent of the carbon stores. But what incentive is there for a farmer to retain grasslands for carbon storage? There isn’t one.” — Edward Bork, University of Alberta years that are really going to limit our agro-ecosystems.” Using large structures to simulate a number of rainfall conditions and clipping to mimic grazing, Carlyle and his team will attempt to discover which management practices work best. “The basic question is whether these different defoliation regimes modify the plant community in a way that makes it more resilient to grazing and allows it to still put plenty of carbon into the ground,” says Carlyle.

Patience is key

In Alberta, the government and the scientific community have only recently taken their first steps towards discovering the price of various EG&S. However, this process will likely prove difficult. How, for example, does one put a dollar value on a concept as vague as biodiversity? “One of our upcoming projects, which we’ve nicknamed the beef and biodiversity project, and again funded by ALMA, is a good example of that,” says Bork. “One of our goals with that study is to find out how ecosystem biodiversity, either in whole or in part, can be incorporated into the routine livestock management practices of ranchers. The challenge is that different species have different values to society. If it’s an invasive species do you count that as a negative if it is displacing native species or as a positive if in the end it is increasing forage production and carbon storage? There are all sorts of complexities.” n Forage & Grassland Guide

2016

Spring is closer than you think Do you have a plan for seeding pastures and annual forages?

CANADIAN FORAGE & GRASSLAND ASSOCIATION

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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!

For many of us, winter provides the cold needed to encourage a bit more time in the office. If you’ve decided to reseed a pasture stand, or to seed perennials into your crop rotation, the winter months pre- or post-calving are an ideal time to do a little preemptive planning.

Next, you’ll want to re-visit soil samples taken in the fall, or (better yet), take some right before spring seeding. Good fertility is crucial to developing seedlings, and the best way to know is by taking a representative soil sample and getting it tested.

First, you’ll need to decide on the intent behind seeding. Are you hoping for a silage crop in the first year? Will you be grazing or harvesting the established forage?

When it comes time to plant (early spring, ideally), know what’s listed on the forage mixture label, and understand that the percentages listed are not good indicators of the plant populations you’ll get, as they are typically listed by weight, as opposed to number of seeds.

Once you’ve answered those questions, it’s time to think about forage species. If you’re seeding a grazing pasture, consider using at least two legumes and two to three grasses, depending on the variability of soil conditions. The mixture should include a variety of species able to colonize all areas of the pasture, provide good growth, and good animal nutrition. When selecting species, consider their ability to handle pasture pressures like pH, salinity, texture and moisture, as well as their winter hardiness and lifespan. If you’re planting a companion crop, think about using a less competitive annual, to allow the proper establishment of your perennial species. Also think about reducing the seeding rate and harvesting it a little on the early side.

Once you’ve got your crop into a good seedbed, with few weeds, the proper inoculant and ample (but not too ample) fertilizer, it’s time to give it some space. Crop scout regularly, but don’t plan on turning animals out until the second year, if possible. If it isn’t possible to wait, ensure a good root system for the grasses, and avoid disturbing legumes when they are preparing for winter. If you end up needing more resources to prepare for planting, you’ll no doubt find an incredible number online, including, likely, information from your provincial government’s agriculture ministry. For further information and advice, consider phoning your local agronomist, forage specialist or provincial forage association.

A special supplement brought to you by Canadian Forage and Grassland Association

Stocking rates key to climate change adjustment Low defoliation rates and leaving lots of litter are best for coping with weather variations from year to year

ast and hard? Slow and easy? And how many animals per acre? Stocking and defoliation rates are a complex and even controversial issue, and depend a lot on the weather. Climate change could make them even more complex. To get a better idea on how producers should respond, Edward Bork and a team from the University of Alberta recently completed a threeyear research project looking at forage growth response to variation in summer rainfall, heat and grazing intensities across the Prairies. Although research is ongoing and

By jeff melchior

may reveal new management practices in the future, Bork says the best practice right now is to utilize low to moderate stocking. “You can’t prevent risk but you can reduce it,” says Bork. “Use the general recommendations associated with good management, particularly conservative stocking rates — certainly no higher than moderate — and leave plenty of litter to conserve soil moisture. In our study we had several different defoliation intensities and the heaviest one was always the worst in terms of forage production penalty. This is particularly important in drought years.”

The study also helped clarify some other mysteries surrounding climate change. “For example, although a relatively small increase in temperature of 2 C only had a moderate impact on forage production, it’s the likelihood of increasing water demands under warmer conditions accompanied by extended drought that presented the most risk. Warmer conditions can increase evaporation of soil moisture and reduce water use efficiency by plants, further jeopardizing forage production.” Bork notes that previous studies have shown as much as 60 per cent of production can be lost in arid prairie grasslands of Alberta with the removal of litter.

General trends

Over the course of three growing seasons Bork and his colleagues studied the effects of climate change on native grassland, focusing on changes in grass, forb and total herbage producContinued on page 60

Studies in three Prairie provinces used covers to block rainfall and simulate various levels of drought.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Forage & Grassland Guide

2016

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Continued from page 58 tion under controlled conditions at three locations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Alberta site was located 140 km southeast of Edmonton in a fescue grassland within the Parkland. The Saskatchewan site was a mixed-grass prairie 130 km south of Regina, while the Manitoba location was a moist grassland in the Parkland-Boreal transition 200 km northwest of Winnipeg. The researchers simulated tem-

Edward Bork and a team from the University of Alberta recently completed a three-year research project looking at forage growth response to variation in summer rainfall, heat and grazing intensities across the Prairies.

“Heavy defoliation exasperates the effects of drier and warmer conditions because of changes in rooting patterns. As a result, producers who want to mitigate that risk by maintaining a healthy root system should use low to moderate stocking.”

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

perature increases by situating plots in small fibreglass greenhouses which increased daytime temperatures during the growing season by 1 to 3 C. Shelters were used to decrease precipitation by 60 per cent. Various grazing regimes — heavy, light and none — were simulated by clipping forage annually at peak growth. Increased heat played a role in decreasing richness, the number of species present and forage availability at all three sites. However, heat itself had a relatively minor impact compared to decreased precipitation and clipping intensity, revealing as much as a 32 per cent loss in forage under highintensity defoliation. Although the results varied by location, growing seasons and combinations of treatments, the general trends showed that reduced precipitation cut overall forage availability by 25 per cent and heating by eight per cent. Low-intensity clipping accounted for a 13 per cent loss of forage. “Although there’s an effect with warming itself, it’s quite small in relation to the precipitation reduction,” says Bork. “But those go hand in hand, especially if you have a drop in precipitation during extended warm periods because more rainfall is needed to make up for the greater water loss due to evaporation and increased demand for water by stressed plants.”

Regional variability

Responses to reduced precipitation varied markedly among the three locations tested. At the Saskatchewan site, for example, researchers saw little loss in forage due to reduced precipitation while the Manitoba and Alberta plots experienced a forage drop of 20 and 43 per cent respectively. “While we thought the Saskatchewan site would go down the most in production due to its inherently arid environment, it did not, potentially because these grasslands are better adapted to extended periods of low moisture. Mixed-grass vegetation

has up to 85 per cent of its biomass below ground as roots, which may render it less susceptible to drought. For the vegetation found there, it’s just another day at the office,” says Bork. “Meanwhile, areas traditionally more reliant on moisture, such as in north-central Alberta and Manitoba, were more prone to production declines when the taps were turned off. Thus, the risk to livestock producers may be much higher there. Does that mean Saskatchewan is immune to climate change and drought? No. These studies were completed over a three-year period and if we were to continue on for several more years these systems may eventually change in response to repeated water stress.” Another component of their study, which looks at root responses to warming and drought, is refining our understanding of the relationship between root growth and climate. Again, Bork emphasizes the importance of reduced stocking regimes. “Heavy defoliation exasperates the effects of drier and warmer conditions because of changes in rooting patterns. As a result, producers who want to mitigate that risk by maintaining a healthy root system should use low to moderate stocking. Otherwise you put your grassland at greater susceptibility to drought and warming effects, with heightened forage loss.” Bork notes that any tendency among central Alberta producers to overstock their grasslands likely comes from a long history of relatively consistent weather patterns. “Throughout the ’70s and into the ’90s the Parkland in north-central Alberta saw pretty stable production and rainfall throughout the growing season. In contrast, over the last decade and a half we’ve seen a sharp turnaround with half a dozen of the driest years on record. It’s those producers who don’t necessarily think about adjusting their stocking rates and fail to leave sufficient litter to conserve moisture during wild swings in moisture that end up paying the greatest price.” n Forage & Grassland Guide

2016

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A special supplement brought to you by Canadian Forage and Grassland Association

Forage breeding faces funding challenges Government has cut back, private companies are not keen on crops that don’t need to be reseeded every year, and you can’t check off sales to farmers’ own livestock By ron friesen

orages are Canada’s biggest crop but you wouldn’t know it because of the few resources that go into breeding them. You’d think that, given its size, forage would be a giant in the world of plant breeding. Unfortunately, it’s more of a midget. Canada has only four major publicly funded programs for breeding tame forages, along with two smaller programs for native grasses. Research funding has been static for the last 10 years except for some from the Beef Cattle Research Council. It’s estimated that only about one-third as much forage research is being done nationally as in the 1980s. Research today concentrates on major species such as alfalfa, clover and grasses because there aren’t enough breeders to cover all the others. “Considering the importance of the crop, that is a small breeding effort, especially when you consider the number of species to be worked on,” says Bruce Coulman, a University of Saskatchewan forage breeder who works on dryland grasses such as brome and wheatgrass.

Similar in the U.S.

In the U.S., the pattern is similar, despite more private companies involved in forage research. Mike Peterson, the global traits lead for Forage Genetics International in Janesville, Wisconsin, says variety evaluation is “way less” than it was 10 or 15 years ago. He recalls that an alfalfa-breeding group meeting in the U.S. used to draw 300 people. Now only about 60 attend. “It’s crazy. It’s just eroding,” Peterson says. “We have almost as many acres of alfalfa and we’re just not doing the research that we used to.” Peterson stresses the work that is 62

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

being done is cutting edge and high quality. It’s just that the talent pool is so thin. “The quality of the work has never been higher. There’s just not enough of it.” Another problem is a lack of uptake for the research that is being done. “The work that our breeders are doing is certainly very valuable. But we also don’t have a huge uptake from industry to use a lot of these new varieties,” says Cedric MacLeod, executive director of the Canadian Forage & Grassland Association.

“It’s just eroding. We have almost as many acres of alfalfa and we’re just not doing the research that we used to.” — Mike Peterson, Forage Genetics International “There is some reluctance by growers to adopt the newest technology. It’s hard for the public purse and private industry to justify the expense that goes along with breeding new varieties because the return on investment is a difficult case to make.”

No checkoff revenue

The nature of forages can make it difficult for breeders to target traits to select for. Because most forage is fed by farmers to their own cattle, their production tends to fly below the radar. Even basic data is sometimes lacking. Yields and value often have to be estimated because they are not actually documented, as they are for grains and oilseeds. “The variability in itself makes it

hard for us to get a handle on what really needs to be done,” MacLeod says. “And it makes it difficult for the breeders to pinpoint what it is they should be breeding for.” Surya Acharya, an AAFC forage breeder at Lethbridge, Alberta, thinks breeding programs in the past placed too much emphasis on yields and not enough on quality. Part of the reason may be that beef producers, who use the bulk of forages, do not require the same high-quality forage that dairy farmers do. Acharya believes higher quality would give forages a market advantage for exporters

Enhanced management

Most in the industry agree forage producers need to take management to a higher level, given the escalating cost of farmland. Peterson does some work near Kitchener, Ontario where land can cost up to $20,000 an acre, making it hard for forages to compete with corn and soybeans. “You really need to pretty much pull an annual grain crop off that land to make it pay. Or you need 10 tons of alfalfa per year.” But Acharya believes there are ways for forages to be competitive through enhanced management. One way would be to stop growing forages as a monoculture in grazing situations. Acharya is currently working on sainfoin, a forage legume which can be grown in a mixed stand with alfalfa. Not only does this mixture reduce bloat, it produces greater yields with a higher quality. “We should be working in a more innovative way to produce more from a unit area without only concentrating on genetic yield increases,” Acharya says. n Forage & Grassland Guide

2016

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Business

Selling our consumers

While farmers strive to educate consumers, marketers bend the rules By Gerald Pilger

It takes an average of 13 years to get a GMO seed approved by the government for safety…” Denise Morrison, CEO, Campbell Soup

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

ernment for safety,” Morrison added. “Ingredients derived from these crops are in many of our products. We also believe that GMOs and other technologies will play a crucial role in feeding the world.” Unlike other kinds of food labels, GMO labelling is not done for nutritional or health purposes. It is primarily a marketing statement, focused on consumer perception. In that way, Campbell isn’t actually breaking new ground. Labelling is increasingly used by food companies to differentiate their products. A&W launched their “Better Beef ” campaign in 2013 which promised consumers that all its burgers are made from beef that “doesn’t contain added steroids, hormones, preservatives or additives and is supplied from ranchers who are committed to ethical and sustainable practices.” In the 2014 annual report for the A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund, John R. McLernon the fund’s chairman states: “Looking forward, the trustees are confident that A&W Food Services’ strategic initiatives will continue to attract new customer visits, grow same store sales and consequently grow royalty income in the fund. The most significant of these initiatives is the differentiation of A&W with “better ingredients,” including beef with no added hormones or steroids, eggs from hens fed a vegetarian diet without animal byproducts, and chicken raised without the use of antibiotics.” Most recently A&W has added an organic coffee guarantee to the menu. It is strategic marketing such as this that has enabled A&W to grow their

sales for 23 straight years. Clearly, Campbell Soups wants in on that kind of windfall. Growth of organics Building on consumers’ unease about conventional and “factory farming” practices, such marketing of organic, pesticide-free, non-GMO, and “natural” has made organics the fastest growing segment of the food industry. According to the 2014 Organic Market Overview produced by the USDA Economic Research Service, organic products are now sold in over 20,000 natural food stores and nearly three-quarters of conventional grocery stores, with double-digit growth in consumer demand for organic food. The USDA ERS Overview notes: “U.S. sales of organic products were an estimated $28.4 billion in 2012 — over four per cent of total food sales — and will reach an estimated $35 billion in 2014, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.” However, few consumers actually understand what the terms organic and natural mean. In 2012 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency commissioned EKOS Research Associates Inc. to survey Canadians to determine their understanding of food labelling. Included in the survey were questions about the terms “Organic” and “Natural.” The final IKOS report, Canadians’ Understanding and Acceptance of Composition and Production Claims states: “When asked, unprompted, to explain their understanding of the term “natural,” respondents provided

n Januar y 7, the N ew Y ork T imes covered the news that Campbell Soup would become the first major U.S. food company to come out in support of mandatory GMO labelling. It was the same day that Campbell’s CEO Denise Morrison sent a letter to her employees, saying the policy change came from the company’s focus on its customers, “so they can feel good about the choices they make, for themselves and their loved ones.” What the Times didn’t mention, however, was the second half of Morrison’s letter. “I want to stress that we’re in no way disputing the science behind GMOs or their safety,” she wrote. “The overwhelming weight of scientific evidence indicates that GMOs are safe and that foods derived from crops using genetically modified seeds are not nutritionally different from other foods.” “It takes an average of 13 years to get a GMO seed approved by the gov-

a number of interpretations, with the plurality (30 per cent) suggesting that a “natural” product is derived from natural ingredients. One in five (20 per cent) feel that natural products are not processed or modified in any way, and one in seven believe that “natural” implies no preservatives (16 per cent), no pesticides or herbicides (14 per cent), or no artificial flavours or colours (13 per cent).” “These respondents were also asked, unprompted, to list their reasons for purchasing natural foods. The most common reasons identified for purchasing these products are: they contain no artificial flavours or colours (69 per cent), they contain no food additives or preservatives (69 per cent), or they contain exclusively natural ingredients (62 per cent).” Canadians perception of “organic” was even more interesting. The report states: “Respondents were asked, unprompted, to give their interpretation of the term “organic.” In contrast to the word “natural,” respondents are largely in agreement in their interpretation of the word “organic.” Six in 10 (62 per cent), believe that an organic product is one that contains no pesticides or herbicides.” These respondents were similarly asked, unprompted, why they purchase organic foods. A clear majority (72 per cent) cited the absence of pesticides and herbicides, and almost the same number pointed to the fact that organic food is free of additives and preservatives, and it includes only natural ingredients. But organic foods are not pesticide free. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed are buying organic because they believe organic means pesticide free. In fact, in 2014 CBC News investigated pesticide residues on organic fruits and vegetables and, based on CFIA tests obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, 45.8 per cent tested positive for trace levels of pesticides. Organic producers are also allowed to use a number of nonsynthetic and naturally occurring pesticides. Natural pesticides are not necessarily any less toxic than manufactured pesticides, however. A complete list of pesticides and food

additives that organic producers can use can be found on the Government of Canada website at: www.tpsgcpwgsc.gc.ca/ongc-cgsb/programmeprogram/normes-standards/internet/ bio-org/lsp-psl-eng.html#anna.

On the American Council on Science and Health website, the council’s Dr. Josh Bloom writes, “The distinction between natural and synthetic pesticides is both artificial and manipulative. As I have said dozens of times, it makes no difference where a chemical comes from — only the properties of the chemical itself.” Besides a misunderstanding about how organics are produced, consumer perception that organics are nutritionally better and safer is not supported by studies. In a January 2015 web posting, the Dietitians of

Canada stated: “There is not enough scientific evidence to say that organic food is more nutritious than nonorganic food or that there are any health benefits to eating organic foods. Some foods grown organically may have more nutrients, and some may have the same, or even less, than those grown on non-organic farms.” Likely the most comprehensive review of organics was done at Stanford University. Researchers analyzed 237 studies of organic versus conventionally produced foods and reported their findings in September 4, 2012 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The Stanford study found little nutritional or health benefit from eating organic foods. Studies of this kind make us ask: Is Campbell’s Morrison respecting her consumers, or misleading them? CG

Print your label Can you really market your food as organic, natural, non-GMO, pesticide free, free range, grass-fed, hormone-free, steroid-free, cage-free, antibiotic-free, or locally produced, just because you say it is? In Canada, it turns out, all such labelling terms are voluntary. There is, for instance, no requirement to tell consumers if a product is organic or genetically engineered. But there are standards… sometimes. According to a Canadian Food Inspection Agency spokesperson, if you are shipping organic products across provincial borders, or if you are using the Canada Organic label on your products, they must be certified, and “these products can only be certified when they meet the requirements of the Canadian Organic Standards.” The Canadian Organic Standards can be found by searching at www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca. Standards for genetically engineered claims should also be met before a product is labelled as GMO-free. Those criteria can be found at: www.inspection.gc.ca. When asked about labelling a product as natural, CFIA responded: “Claims such as “natural” on food labels or advertisements should not convey the impression that “nature” has made some foods nutritionally superior to others. Also, foods or ingredients

of foods that have undergone processing that has significantly altered their original physical, chemical or biological state should not be described as “natural.” For more, search for “natural food labelling” at www.inspection.gc.ca According to CFIA, the primary requirement for the use of any voluntary labelling claim is that “the claim must be accurate, truthful and not misleading. Labels must meet the Food and Drugs Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and all applicable regulatory requirements.” “The verification of voluntary claims used on food labels such as method-of-production claims (pesticide-free, free range, cage-free, no antibiotics, hormone-free and grass-fed) are part of the CFIA’s regular inspection activities. These claims are subject to the Food and Drugs Act and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, which prohibit statements and claims that are false, misleading, deceptive, or that create an erroneous impression regarding the product. This includes the method of manufacture.”

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / March 1, 2016

Business

Settling up Moving onto a former Canadian military base in Germany is only one in a series of smart decisions by this machinery shortliner By Scott Garvey / CG Machinery Editor

t was to be our second stop that day on a week-long media tour that was winding its way through Germany. We were visiting a long list of German machinery manufacturers, and it was dark when we pulled up to fertilizer spreader manufacturer Rauch’s assembly plant adjacent to the Baden airport. It was clear the company now occupied some old aircraft hangers, but it was a glimpse of the former Royal Canadian Airforce roundel painted on the side of a Cold War-era concrete hangar that grabbed my attention. As it turns out, Rauch’s newly built assembly plant and its R&D centre now occupy part of what was once Canadian Forces Base BadenSoellingen, which closed in 1993. With the end of the Cold War, our military pulled out of Europe, vacating a lot of prime real estate in a country where space is at a premium. It was the perfect opportunity for Rauch. “Here we were able to get seven hectares of land without taking the slightest bit away from farmers,” explained Jens Hille, marketing manager at Rauch, speaking in German. “The farmers are our clients, and we have a very close relationship with them. The last thing you want to do is make your clients angry by taking away their land.” “The factory was built in 2009, in only nine months. We’d already designed a new plant on paper and were looking for the right plot of land. Most companies do it the other way around, they buy the land and then try to somehow build a factory.” 66

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

TOP: Fertilizer spreader manufacturer Rauch invited an international group of journalists to tour its production facility in Germany. ABOVE: Jens Hille is Rauch’s marketing manager.

Focusing only on fertilizer spreading and metering technology, Rauch, a fourth-generation, family-owned business, has captured a dominant share of the market in Europe. Now it’s working on developing a more global presence. “Every second spreader sold in Germany is a Rauch,” said Hille. “We’re represented in 40 countries around the world. It’s our goal to be a global leader in spreading and metering equipment in both agriculture and municipal services. Last year our turnover was 76 million euros. That means 16,000 fertilizer spreaders, with 60 per cent of our production exported to 40 countries.” But cost-competitive manufacturing in Germany, a country with one of the most expensive labour costs in the world, and meeting the strict — and getting stricter — environmental laws and expectations of the region’s citizens, is no easy task, especially when there are manufacturers operating in parts of the world where the exact opposite business conditions exist. The only way the company thinks it can

remain a market leader is by staying on the cutting edge of the technology curve. “We’re working on achieving this through an innovation strategy,” Hille said. “We have very high research spending, approximately five million euros last year.” Outside the assembly plant a fleet of ag tractors, each from a different brand, was parked near the R&D shop. “We need to have these tractors to test our electronic control systems,” Hille said, pointing in their direction as we all walk past them on our way to the assembly building. “A couple of years ago a fertilizer spreader was a simple machine. Today we have electronics. You need maintenance; you need programming. So we need well-trained service technicians.” In fact, meeting all of Rauch’s workforce needs is a challenge. Inside the plant the diversity of the workforce is obvious, with more than a few women working on the assembly line.

Sound familiar? German machinery company Rauch must compete globally, but it faces higher wages, tighter labour supply, and tougher enviro-rules. Here’s how it is winning, and maybe how you can too

Continued on page 68

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Continued from page 67

“Our problem is (finding) a qualified workforce,” Hille explained. “We have a shortage of qualified labour. That is why we try to attract young women and interest them in working in typically male professions. It works quite well.” In fact, it works even better than the company initially imagined. “We noticed that since there are ladies in the assembly hall the overall climate, even for men, improved quite a lot,” Hille said. “The number of women working is increasing. And Rauch, as a company, is better for it.” But even that hasn’t been enough. To help fill the gap, the company has also looked to its neighbouring country and enticed French citizens to drive across the border each day to work in the factory. Economic conditions are a little slower in France so the unemployment rate is a little higher there. “Today, many workers come to work here and continue to live in France,” Hille said. “The border is just two kilometres away.” But staying price competitive requires keeping those high German payroll expenses down. For many jobs inside the plant, that has meant a switch to robotics, especially in the welding shop. “A good thing about a welding robot is it replaces manual labour,” Hille said. “Welders are very expensive in Germany compared to what they earn elsewhere. Where we use a robot, the cost per component becomes competitive. And we combine lower costs with better precision.” “We now have very highly trained specialists in the welding shop. We no longer need simple basic labourers. This is the secret to manufacturing in Germany. We have high labour costs but we have a lot of automation. To be competitive globally, German companies are constantly being forced to innovate.” Another of those innovations is the company’s decision not to build a new storage facility for the raw steel waiting to be formed into spreader parts. “A couple of years ago we had a storage facility here,” Hille explained as we continued to walk through the assembly plant. “But now we have a long-term contract with our supplier and use just-in-time delivery. Because of the long-term contract we can also depend on stable steel prices. 68

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

For us, the best storage facility is German highways.” In another area of the plant, Hille pointed out how impurities are removed from the raw steel before powder coating. “Here the steel is degreased,” he said. “This cleaning process produces waste water, but it’s not simply discharged into the sewer. We have our own sewage plant to purify this water. We’re not a burden to our environment here. For treatment of waste water you need heat. We get that from a nearby farmer who has a biogas facility. We get the waste heat from his power generator.” That farmer was actually invited to put his biogas plant right on the company’s property to allow for efficient heat transfer. “This is also an important principle of Rauch as a company,” Hille continued. “We supply the farmer with machinery, but the farmer is also a supplier to us. Farmers like connections like that. They want manufacturers to work with them. As a marketer it’s important for me to have connections like that and to show them.” That kind of deal may generate brownie points with potential customers when it comes to marketing equipment, but the overall environmental profile may be even more important. Compared to many regions here in Canada, Europeans seem to have a heightened sensitivity for environmental issues. “We also have 1,700 solar panels on the roof,” Hille said, pointing up as we walked back toward the main office. “It gives us the opportunity to produce 12 per cent of the energy we consume. This is our contribution to the next generation. We want to produce agricultural machinery with low C02 emissions.” As we walked past the outside of the welding shop, Hille pointed to large ventilation ductwork. “Toxic substances from the air in the welding shop are filtered out, and the air is made clean again before being vented outside,” he said. But despite all the sophistication built into the new factory, it’s who’s inside that Hille thinks is the most important aspect of the company’s business. “Every year we take on 35 apprentice trainees,” Hille explained. “We’re very proud that our average employee has 15 years of service with the company. That allows them to accumulate know-how. We have very highly motivated employees.” “Human capital is the most important kind a company can have.” CG

Motivation, by Rauch As Jens Hille, marketing manager for fertilizer spreader manufacturer Rauch, guided a group of international journalists on a tour around the company’s assembly plant, it was hard to miss the various pieces of competitors’ equipment parked near the R&D building. “Sometimes you’ll see different coloured machines,” said Hille, speaking in German and answering the question before it was asked. “We have all of our competitors’ machines here too. We test them; it’s very important to know how good they are, because we always want to be better. And you can only be better if you know exactly what your competitor is doing.” Knowing what to build to stay ahead of the competition is one thing. Doing it well is another, so Rauch has incorporated a number of quality control measures into its standard operating procedure inside the assembly plant to ensure it achieves the level of product quality it’s looking for. “Quality management is important,” Hille said. “Each production group puts a label on a machine, indicating which group assembled a component. If a farmer has a problem with a machine, we can trace back a problem to an individual worker. Those workers who have shown exemplary work will receive a bonus at the end of the quarter. Employees who’ve caused us problems will get additional training. “Workers like it, they want to be part of our success. And it’s important that they are. Ever since we introduced that system, motivation has risen.”

Rauch also markets its spreaders in France through a co-operative agreement with French manufacturer Kuhn, hence the different name on this machine. French farmers are considered “patriotic buyers” and are more likely to buy from a French company than a German one.

AME Management By Larry Martin / PhD, Agri-food Management Excellence

AME Management

What will the TPP mean for your farm? Overall, Canadian farmers get increased market access from TTP, plus better dispute settlement

he October 2015 Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is a substantial trade treaty for its 12 members, and like other trade treaties, it will introduce concessions on market access, such as tariff reductions and increased import quotas, as discussed below. But there is also considerable focus on food safety regulations as well as on biotechnology and organic standards, since these can be major sources of non-tariff barriers (eg. I may try to make my food inspection rules or my organic standards a little different than yours so I can keep yours out). TPP addresses transparency in such rules, using science-based criteria, and it also establishes dispute-settlement processes for some or all of them.

Supply managment wasn’t gutted, as many had feared, but Canada’s dairy farmers still face “adjustments” These may eventually be the most important parts of TPP. When market access barriers come down following trade negotiations, protectionist pressure is brought on legislators to replace them with non-tariff barriers, as illustrated by the U.S. mandatory countryof-origin labelling (MCOOL) that took Canada’s beef and pork industries eight years to finally bring down. Market Access The agricultural and food prize in TPP was the highly protected Japanese market, followed by Vietnam and Malaysia. Improved access to these markets will provide opportunities for many farm products, especially if additional countries eventually join, such as China. Many of the remaining signatories, although potential markets for some

Canadian products, tend either to be Canada’s competitors, such as Australia, the U.S., Chile and New Zealand, or they are relatively small, such as Brunei, Singapore and Peru. In addition to Canada’s gains in access, TPP levels the field with Australia, which had a major advantage in the Japanese market for products like beef and canola through a bilateral treaty between the two countries. TPP also contains potential gains for Canadian farms, agribusinesses and food companies. Some major opportunities are: • Japan reduces its 39 per cent tariffs for beef and pork to 9 per cent over nine years, and will phase out additional “over gate” tariffs on pork. • Vietnam and Malaysia phase out or substantially reduce tariffs for beef and pork (and most other products). Current Vietnamese tariffs are around 30 per cent. Detractors point out that these countries don’t import much, a fact consistent with 30 per cent tariffs! • TPP will substantially reduce tariffs for grains and phase out of Japan’s respective 10.9 y/kg and 13.2 y/kg tariffs on crude and refined canola oil. • Where tariffs are not immediately phased out, many countries will establish tariff rate quotas (TRQs), under which an amount of product can be shipped at no or very low tariffs. Supply management captured the most Canadian media coverage during the negotiations. The U.S. and New Zealand hammered Canada publicly, but in the end the yardsticks didn’t move that much. Canada increased dairy TRQs by 3.25 per cent and those for chicken, eggs and turkeys by 2.1, 2.3 and 2.0 per cent, respectively. Still, Canada’s dairy industry will have little opportunity to use U.S. TRQs and it faces increased pres-

sure from the limited increase in our TRQs, largely because of decisions the industry made several years ago. These resulted in agreement by Canada that all Canadian dairy exports are subsidized and, therefore, not allowed. The problem is that Canada is short of dairy fats, but has a surplus in protein. Since Canada essentially can’t export, that creates a growing surplus of skim milk powder. Even a 3.25 per cent increase in imports, along with increased cheese TRQs in the European agreement, will put considerable pressure on Canada’s dairy industry at its current prices. Several alternatives exist for adjustment, but all suggest that “adjustment” will be the order of the day for dairy farmers. Canadian poultry industries have put themselves in a more positive position and can likely see some adjustment toward being more export oriented, so long as it is done carefully without encouraging trade disputes. Bottom Line The Harper government had offered supply management compensation if the deal injured them, but at press time, the Trudeau government had yet to lock itself into a specific compensation package. It is our expectation that the Liberals will focus support on agriculture, because its strength is essential in this economic environment. That said, the treaty’s ratification means most Canadian farmers will not only have increased opportunity, but also an increased need to be competitive with other countries that also got improved access. CG Larry Martin is a principal of Agri-Food Management Excellence and is one of the instructors in AME’s Canadian Total Excellence in Agriculture Management (CTEAM) program. www.agrifoodtraining.com COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

GUIDE LIFE hR

By Pierrette Desrosiers / work psychologist

Helicopter parenting

jeopardizes your successor

xperts agree today that we have a fragile young generation with low levels of resilience, the ramifications of which we see in many spheres but especially in business. Why is this crisis so widespread, and how can we prevent it in our own children? In my years as a farm psychologist, I’ve spoken with many farm families who are dealing with the process of succession. Many of these parents worry about whether their successor has what it takes to run the business. When I’ve met the successors, I sometimes worry too.

he more we can embrace T failure, the more we will be able to be open to it and the more confident and resilient we will become.” Karen Kimsey-House I often find myself in the unenviable position of advising the parents that their successors are far from ready, and some of them will probably never be ready. This happens for several reasons. First, perhaps because they have so many opportunities, today’s youth tend to choose their careers much later than the baby boomers did. They also change their minds more often. But another issue that I see is that they do not seem to be strong enough. They lack the force of character that enabled their parents to face the challenges that come in business. Now, one cause that is within our control has emerged in the research. It is helicopter parenting. The term “helicopter parent” was first used in Dr. Haim Ginott’s 1969 book, Parents & 70

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

Teenagers. It was used there by teens who said their parents would hover over them like helicopters. It became popular enough to become a dictionary entry in 2011, and recent studies have linked it with emotional difficulties and a sense of entitlement. It occurs when parents are too focused on their children and take too much responsibility for their experiences, successes and failures. They do too much and, as a result, prevent their children from developing resilience and proper coping mechanisms. Here are some examples: • Trying to choose the teacher and the baseball coach • Interfering with grades — calling a teacher or even a college professor because you feel your son deserves a better grade • Doing or over-supervising homework • Calling the teacher to explain why your child did not do his homework This style of parenting can even stretch into adulthood. Many employers now complain that they are dealing with employees’ parents. Some will show up for interviews! Have we as parents gone too far? I think so. Can you imagine the difficulties someone would face trying to lead a business if they had been coddled like this? As a parent of young adults, I know how much we all want the best for our children. However, we have to understand that our intentions don’t always give the desired results. Why are we helicopters? • Fear of dire consequences Worries about the future, the ecoomy, the job market, and the world in general can contribute.

Some parents can’t stand the thought that the child will not follow the path that his parents have envisioned for him. “A failure at age eight could be a disaster for getting into college,” they might think. • Anxiety Some people believe, “If my child doesn’t have the best grades or the latest phone, she will be angry, sad, and upset, and I can’t stand it.” This reflects the unconscious belief that, “As a parent, I have to protect her from all pain and failure.” • Overcompensation For some people, when they were children themselves, they were neglected, ignored, or even abused. As a reaction, they sometimes overcompensate. They want to be their child’s best friend. British psychoanalyst and pediatrician Donald Winnicott points out that, as parents, we have to be “good enough.” We should not aim to be perfect, and we should not expect perfection from our children. We must give enough love, warmth, supervision, security, discipline and stability, but they need the liberty to make age-appropriate choices for themselves and live with the consequences. As in the rest of life, balance is critical; too much is not better than not enough. 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. Contact her at: pierrette@pierrettedesrosiers.com. www.pierrettedesrosiers.com

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

the biggest farm challenge By Liz RoBeRtson, M.A., CAFA exeCutive DiReCtoR

circumstances. No SPEC. Communication break-down means that absolutely no progress in succession planning can be made and situations can hit all time lows. Broken family communication leads to destroyed families and often, financial ruin.

s a national organization and an exhibitor at farm shows across the country, CAFA has a unique opportunity to observe the diversity of crops grown in the different climatic and geographic regions of Canada. But in contrast to the agronomic diversity, there are many consistent challenges farmers say they face from coast to coast. In talking with them and their advisors, many say that farm succession transition is by far the largest challenge facing Canada’s farming sector. A farm transition plan used to look like this: farm goes to oldest son. Simple. No questions asked. Today, things are not so cut and dry. Most farms are worth millions, and children believe they deserve, and parents want to deliver for the most part, some kind of equality when transitioning the family wealth. SPEC Keeping a Sustainable farm in the family, keeping Peace in the family that is Engaged in the business and keeping a viable Cash flow for the retiring and incoming farming generations are primary objectives. Sustainable, Peace, Engaged and Cash flow – SPEC. (Acronym

pronounced SPEAK.) Without question, communication is the only way that SPEC is possible. There are a number of CAFA members who help farm families manage or improve communication. They are known as family coaches. Coaches are often called in when farm family communication is broken – parents and children cannot agree, when spouses cannot agree – oftentimes, resulting in zero communication and very unhappy

Farm succession conference On May 18, 2016 CAFA is hosting its Farm Succession Update: 3 Circle Model — InDepth conference at the Ajax (Ontario) Convention Centre. It will be a day of high-level information about three areas that farm businesses must deal with: family, management and ownership. All are distinct yet need to be looked at because of their interconnectivity to make substantial advancements in moving the farm to the next generation. Farmers, owners and all farm advisors — not just CAFA members — are encouraged to attend in person or via live webinar. This is an informative day for those involved in farm advisory services or for those planning on transitioning their farm business. For more information, please contact Liz Robertson at 1-877-474-2871 or visit CAFA’s website at www.cafanet.com/confernces. It is important. We hope you will participate.

SavE thE datES! May 18, 2016: Farm Succession Update – 3-Circle Model In-Depth, Ajax, Ont. & via webinar June 2, 2016: Farm Management Update, Woodstock, Ont. & via webinar Fall 2016: Farm Tax Update

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

GUIDE LIFE

Etiquette rules for the farm Smooth manners are becoming at least as valuable on the farm as anywhere else By Helen Lammers-Helps

We all know the feeling, like when we’re at a meeting where we don’t know anyone and we’re feeling awkward about starting conversations. Or maybe we’re new on a board or a committee, and we aren’t sure how formal or informal it’s meant to be. Or when we’ve been invited to an event but we don’t know what to wear. What exactly does “business casual” mean anyway?

he actually did write the book about it. Dr. Patricia Tice of Adel, Iowa, has compiled advice for the above situations and many others in Agri Manners: Essential Etiquette for Professional Success. Tice has combined her formal training in psychology and human behaviour with her experience and training in manners and etiquette to create a comprehensive guide covering just about every scenario you might encounter. Below, she shares tips on some of the most common etiquette conundrums. But first, she encourages us to think a bit about the value of good manners. While the rules of etiquette tend to be more relaxed than in times past, Tice agrees, “People are more comfortable when they know what to expect.” Few of us really like free-for-alls, she explains. They make it harder for us to contribute and to make connections. That helps explain why there’s a real payoff to having good manners, Tice says. “Wellmannered individuals often have a more fulfilling and satisfying career and life.” To get your share, try these eight tips.

Introduce new people Make a point of introducing people. “It becomes uncomfortable if introductions are not made, especially at a formal dining table. Take the time. People will appreciate it,” says Tice. When introducing someone, Tice says the order does matter. She says you should introduce younger people to older people, junior-ranking professionals to senior-rank72

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

ing professionals, family members to business professionals when attending a business function, and guests to the host. “In other words, as a sign of respect, introduce those of a lower status to those of a higher status whether it means social or professional status… as archaic and unfair as it sounds,” says Tice. However she warns: “Under no circumstances should you use introduction rules to define people of another race, colour, religion, or sexual preference as someone of a lower social status. This is just not OK.” When you meet someone new, shake their hand with a firm grip and say, “I’m pleased to meet you,” along with their name. Tice says repeating the name will help you remember it. If the name is not one you are familiar with, ask, “Am I saying that right?” Try to use the person’s name two or three times in the first few minutes of conversation to reinforce it. Wearing your name tag on your right side will make it more visible when people shake your hand, she adds. If you are given a business card, jot down a few notes about the person on the back of the card, such as where you met them and a few key things they said. “This will help you remember them and continue the relationship,” says Tice.

Get better at small talk Many people dislike small talk but Tice says it has an important function in establishing relationships. Following a few simple strategies can make small talk enjoyable rather than disagreeable.

Tice recommends formulating openended questions and statements that start with “what,” “how,” or “tell me about that.” For instance, “What brings you to this event?” “What kind of work do you do?” or “What do you like best about your work?” Avoid questions that have “yes” or “no” answers. Encourage conversation when meeting new people by making sure your body language is welcoming. Make eye contact and give the person your full attention. Avoid crossing your arms over your chest or fiddling with your glass. If food is being served, never speak with food in your mouth. When it comes to navigating conversational groups, Tice says if you see someone you would like to talk to but they are already engaged with another group, approach the group, wait for a pause in the conversation, then say hello to your acquaintance and the rest of the group. If you do not know anyone in the group, make eye contact with someone in the group and then ease into the conversation when an opportunity presents itself. Once you have started interacting with the group, you can introduce yourself.

Choose the right words Tice contends our conversation tells people more about ourselves than anything else. Choose your language carefully. Avoid using slang, slurring your words, using profanity, speaking too loudly or talking only about yourself. Also, don’t overshare. Avoid talking about personal issues or family problems. “Some issues are private, keep them that way,” says Tice. Tice has some pet peeves about the language we use. In her opinion, we do not say “thank you” enough. Too often in the service industry people say “Have a nice day” when they should be thanking us for our business, she laments. When we are thanked, she says we should avoid saying “no problem.” Tice contends that when we say “no problem,” we

insult the person who has thanked us. She says a better response is: “Glad to help,” or “You’re welcome.” Other words she’d like to see people stop using include “Hey” in place of “Hello.” Tice says “Hello” is much more civilized and opens the way for a friendly conversation. She would also like to strike “whatever” from our vocabulary since it suggests the speaker is frustrated and doesn’t care.

Dress for the occasion If you aren’t sure what to wear to an event, err on the side of caution and dress one level up from what you think people will be wearing. Tice says you will never go wrong being slightly overdressed. Make sure your appearance is neat and tidy, your clothes are clean without any tears or rips, shirttails tucked in, and wear a belt if your pants have belt loops.

Author Dr. Patricia Tice has combined her formal training in psychology and human behaviour with her experience and training in manners and etiquette to create a book that is an effective resource for dealing with people, different attitudes, behaviours and manners in the world of agriculture. Agri Manners is available at www.AgriMarketing.com. Click on the “Bookstore” link.

Be mindful of the clock Be on time. “When you are late, you are stealing time from someone else and that is not fair to them,” explains Tice. Respect others by showing up on time or a bit early. If you are running late because something unexpected has happened, call or text to say you are running late.

Practice random acts of helping “Be aware of what is going on around you as you run your daily errands,” says

Tice. Watch for purposeful ways to help others, such as holding a door open or helping with heavy bags.

Be careful on social media Think twice before posting on social media since it all becomes public information, advises Tice. Increasingly, she warns, companies check out new people they are considering doing business with to see if they have posted anything that may be embarrassing to the company. “Don’t post anything on social media that you wouldn’t say in person,” Tice adds.

Show your gratitude If someone does something nice for you, take the time to send a handwritten note. Tice says people love to receive thank-you notes. “It’s the least you can do for someone who has taken the time to think of you,” she says. What do you when you someone is behaving rudely? First off, she advises, remember that the majority of mistakes are unintentional. Someone butting in front of you in line or speaking loudly on a cell phone in a restaurant probably isn’t aware of how their behaviour is affecting others, she says. If you are the one who is at fault, Tice advises admitting that you made a mistake and apologizing. “Saying sorry goes a long way,” she says. CG

! ay d. tod ite ter lim gis is Re ting a Se

This is a great opportunity to learn from great, powerful women in Ag and other industries. Sometimes it can be easy to forget all the possible connections we can make, so getting into a room with 570+ women really helps! – Jamie Y., Regina, Saskatchewan, AWC Delegate

LISTEN, LEARN, NETWORK & GROW Open your mind to the endless possibilities. Prepare to be inspired. Acquire the life skills you need to reach your goals. This conference could be life-changing. Register today! Visit advancingwomenconference.ca or phone 403-686-8407.

HYATT REGENCY CALGARY, MARCH 28 & 29, 2016

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

Advancing Women Conference WEST 2016 / Country Guide National / 7” x 3.357”

GUIDE LIFE health

By Marie Berry / lawyer & pharmacist

A good night’s sleep

ith the var ious sleep aids being advertised, as well as mattresses for beds, you probably have the impression that no one ever sleeps well. Not so! Only one to two per cent of Canadians have insomnia, that is, a chronic problem getting and/or staying asleep. However, from time to time everyone experiences a sleepless night because of stress, anxiety, pain, or even something you ate.

Before you take a pill to help you sleep, first try to find out what is causing your sleeplessness While eight hours of sleep each night is considered “average,” there is no such thing as an average number of hours of sleep needed. Some people need more; some need less. As we age we need less as well. Think of a baby sleeping almost all the time, and the number of hours you sleep each night. The elderly may complain about not getting a good night’s sleep, but they may nap during the day and it is the total daily number of hours that counts, not just the ones in bed. In fact, recent reports show that daytime naps can be rejuvenating, even if you close your eyes for 20 minutes in the middle of the afternoon.

If you are having a problem with sleep, look for a cause. Pain associated with conditions like osteoarthritis or migraine headaches can keep you awake. Sometimes, medication such as cough and cold medication containing decongestants may cause stimulation and interfere with sleep. Ideally, check your medications, including nonprescription and natural remedies, for your health conditions to see if they could be causing problems. You want to aim for the best control possible of chronic health problems and opt for medications that don’t cause wakefulness. Lifestyle can also impair your ability to sleep well. Caffeine, fatty or spicy foods, exercise just prior to bedtime, and even stress can result in your tossing and turning. For the best sleep, you want to aim for regular bedtime habits and a cool, dark, quiet bedroom. A great idea is to keep a sleep diary for several days or weeks, and you may be able to pinpoint a cause for your sleeplessness. Ideally, if you need a sleeping tablet, you will want to use it for the shortest time possible. Most recommendations are for only seven to 10 days. At one time barbiturates were widely used as sleep aids, but because of the very narrow therapeutic margin (i.e. the difference between a therapeutic dose and overdose) today they are not used to treat insomnia. The most widely used sleep tablets are the benzodiazepines, for example temazepam, lorazepam, oxazepam. The “Z”

drugs like zopiclone are the other major group of drugs used to treat insomnia, and these are the ones that are advertised. It must be stressed that all of these drugs are intended for shortterm use, that is the seven to 10 days, which gives you a chance to address whatever problem may be causing your sleep difficulty. Elderly people, i.e. people over 65+, are not good candidates for sleeping tablets. Because people at this age have a greater likelihood of having one or more medical conditions and/or taking one or more chronic medication, the chance of adverse effects and drug interactions is high. And, for this group sleeping tablets increase the risk for delirium, confusion, falls, fractures, and morning drowsiness. If you are having trouble sleeping, try tracking your sleep habits to see if you can identify a problem. Then, rather than trying a sleeping tablet, try a glass of warm milk. It contains tryptophan, a natural remedy to aid sleep! CG

Marie Berry is a lawyer/pharmacist interested in health and education.

Next Issue From time to time you may experience pain due to something like a headache or backache and consider taking a non-prescription codeine-containing pain reliever. Recently, there have been concerns about the overuse of these products and some changes in how they are supplied. Next month, we’ll look at these exempted codeine products.

March 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

GUIDE LIFE Hanson Acres By Leeann Minogue / grainews editor

y mid-morning on Monday, Dale was taking full advantage of his first day in the house alone. While his wife Donna was off in Fernie for a week of skiing with a group of her women friends, Dale was sprawled out in the living room, snacking on taco chips, watching an “Ice Road Truckers” marathon on TV and trying to forget it was -34 outside. In fact, it wasn’t only the house. Dale had the whole Hanson yard to himself. Dale’s son Jeff and Jeff ’s wife Elaine had also left the farm the day before, taking their two small children to Mexico for a week on the beach. “I don’t really see how it’s a vacation, taking these two with us,” Jeff had kidded, loading his kids into their car seats in the back of their SUV for the trip to the airport. “At least I won’t have to cook,” Elaine said. “And it won’t be as cold as it is here�.” “Are you going to be OK here by yourself?” Donna asked Dale before she packed her skis into the trunk of her car. “Sure,” Dale said. “What could go wrong? You have a great time.” But the phone call came before Dale got through the first two episodes, just when one of the best ice road drivers was about to get stuck. It was Helen, Dale’s father’s girlfriend, calling from their Arizona trailer park with terrible news. “Ed’s had a stroke,” Helen said. Within a few hours Dale had phoned his sister to break the news, booked himself a plane ticket and found a neighbour to check in on the yard while he was gone. By 4:30, he was on his way to the airport, with a quick stop to drop the dog off at the kennel. “I know it seems crazy, bringing a farm dog here,” he’d babbled on to the kennel owner. “But he really likes people. After a few days alone, he might decide to take a hike to look for some new friends. And with this cold weather…”

Hanson Acres

Trucking north, into the snow It began to feel like it was the first time Dale had ever clocked such lonesome miles “It’s fine,” she said. “I just hope nobody tells Dad,” he’d tried to joke. “The very idea of paying for a kennel would give him another stroke.” Dale finally got hold of Donna at the ski chalet before his flight left. “Every year we think Dad’s too old to be much help on the farm, and every year he steps up to the plate like someone half his age and gets the job done.” “Let’s just hope he’s all right,” Donna said. “Do you know how much damage there was?” “I don’t think it’s that bad,” Dale said. “But he needs to get home. He won’t have any health insurance with a pre-existing condition. Helen doesn’t think he should be driving. I’ll pack him up and drive him home.

you sure you don’t want to stay here?” Dale asked Helen after they’d met with Ed’s doctor. Helen had only known Ed for a couple of years, and Dale wondered if she wanted to be tied down to a sick man. “I’m coming,” Helen insisted. “If I had a licence to haul this motorhome, I’d drive him home myself.” Dale and Helen packed things up together. Ed watching silently from the couch. Every hour that went by without Ed making a wisecrack broke Dale’s heart a little more. The drive was grim. On Wednesday morning, Dale started off the trip by pretending things were normal. “I’m wondering if we should put some lentils in on that Gibson quarter after all,” he asked Ed. “But with these high

The phone call came before Dale got through the first two episodes of “Ice Road Truckers” “I’ll fly from Calgary and meet you there.” “Don’t,” Dale told his wife. “It won’t be a very fun trip. You’ve booked a whole week, you might as well enjoy your vacation.” In Arizona, things could have been worse, but the situation wasn’t great. Dale could hardly bear to see his father limping and confused. Ed was no help when it came to packing up the trailer. “It’s pretty cold back home. Are

prices, I’m sure everybody will be planting them this spring.” Ed didn’t answer right away. Dale waited. “You should… plant,” Ed said slowly, “that… that new crop… You know… those green plants… Damn. I can’t remember the name.” After that, they mostly listened to the radio during the three-day ordeal, with Helen helping Ed in and out of gas stations and hotels. Continued ON page 76

COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA / MARCH 1, 2016

GUIDE LIFE

Reflections by Rod Andrews retired Anglican bishop

Continued from page 75

Dale could hardly bear to look across the truck at his father. Helen had him wrapped in extra sweaters, with Ed hunched up against the passenger-side door, looking about half as big as the man who had spent long days running the combine only six months before. Trying not to think about Ed, Dale turned to the rest of his list of worries. On Thursday night he’d used the hotel WiFi to check the weather at home. Still cold, and blowing. Dale clenched his jaw all through the Dakotas on Friday, imagining frozen, burst water pipes and a yard so blown in with snow that he’d never get Ed’s trailer down the driveway. Dale couldn’t remember when there had been no Hansons on the farm for so many days in a row. He tried to relax by imagining Jeff and Elaine’s family playing on the beach; then he worried that Jeff might not be putting enough sunscreen on the kids. It felt to Dale that all of the problems of the Hanson family were on his shoulders. He didn’t like the weight. After they crossed the border, Dale decided to take Ed and Helen back to the farm. “You don’t want to open up Ed’s condo all by yourself at this time of night,” he said to Helen, who looked relieved not to be left alone with the deflated Ed. Dale’s stomach tightened as he got near the yard. How much snow would there be in the driveway? Would he have to phone someone for help? But he turned in to find a perfectly plowed yard. Not just the driveway to the house, but a path all the way to the shed, so he could park the trailer inside. Then he saw lights on inside the house. Had someone broken in? Surely he’d turned them off before he left. But there was Donna in the doorway, pulling up the zipper on her parka. Dale got out of the truck, and the dog came running up to lick his gloved hand. “You came home early!” Dale greeted Donna as she trudged toward him through the blowing snow. “I called Brian to come and plow the yard so we could drive in. Luckily you left the phone number for the kennel on the counter so I knew where to find the dog.” Helen had already made her way out of the backseat of the truck and was helping Ed open his door. “He’s not good, is he?” Donna asked. “No,” Dale said. Donna put her arms around Dale. He felt a tear roll down his cheek, but he wiped it off before anyone noticed. “We’ll get through this together,” Donna told him. “Thank you,” Dale said, untangling from the hug and turning back to help Ed out of the truck. CG

Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews, a playwright and part of a family grain farm in southeastern Saskatchewan.

MARCH 1, 2016 / COUNTRY-GUIDE.CA

he images were more than arresting. They were haunting. Thousands of refugees were making their way through farm fields or walking along railroad tracks. People were leaving places where they have lived all their lives carrying a few possessions in a burlap bag or a pillowcase. Imagine leaving your home with only what you can carry, then walking hundreds of kilometres, or taking a dangerous sea voyage. Imagine not knowing where you are going or what will greet you. Migration has taken place throughout the whole of human history. The people of Israel escaped slavery in Egypt, and 60 million Europeans left home from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Jewish refugees secretly moved through occupied lands during the Second World War, but not all migrants fled in fear. Ships full of war brides came to Canada too. At the turn of the century, a writer named Michael Partfit predicted that migration would be “one of the greatest challenges of the coming century.” This is proving true in massive proportions. Thousands upon thousands are on their way to somewhere new. In airports, seaports and railway stations, people are on the move. What makes people want to move to another place? Is it the lure of good wages, freedom, adventure or greater opportunity? Country music singer Corb Lund wrote a song about moving from Alberta to Saskatchewan where he could buy more land for the same money. “My place here is five times the size.” People from the Prairies move to Victoria because they are tired of shovelling snow. There are a multitude of reasons why people try to start anew. Unfortunately, the massive human shifts we see today result from fear, desperation, overcrowding, repression and war. People see their best hope for freedom or success elsewhere. I have been reflecting how churches could help. Not every church sponsors refugees but they can advocate for them. We have numbers and we have convictions. We could use those strengths to accompany people through difficult times. People need companions to walk with them through challenges with bureaucracies and confrontations with institutions. When I was minister of a church in Vancouver one of our members received an unfair deportation order. She was ordered to get on a plane for South Africa. On the day of Veronica’s appeal hearing, 40 of us occupied the waiting room in a government building downtown. We held a prayer meeting, much to the consternation of the commissionaire. The prayers helped because Veronica is still a contributor to Canadian society. Do not underestimate the strength of representations by church members. A few years ago banks seized farms and farm property and put it up for auction. Church members joined friends and neighbours to stand with farmers. In some cases they prevented the auction from going forward. Why not start a discussion in your community? Churches bring people together. They help people connect in meaningful ways. Some churches have a potluck after the Sunday service, or the members meet for lunch at a local restaurant. The church can be a place where conversation begins. In every community there are people who know what is happening. They might be bartenders, store cashiers or coffee shop workers. If you don’t know any refugees ask these folks. They know what the problems are and where the needy people are. A few words, a letter, a phone call, a gesture of assistance can lift a huge burden from a person newly arrived in a strange community. Suggested Scripture: Deuteronomy 10:12-22, Matthew 25:34-45

Rod Andrews is a retired Anglican bishop. He lives in Saskatoon.

Agriculture is our way of life too Meet Jen With a lifetime of experience in ag, Jen helps Canadian producers build their dreams. Like everyone on your FCC team, Jen knows your industry and sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get to know you. Jen Masur

1-800-387-3232

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FCC Relationship Management Associate

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2016-01-28 1:38 PM

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