Grainews by Farm Business Communications

Volume 42, Number 10 | April 26, 2016

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HITTING A MILESTONE

By Scott Garvey

“

adies and gentlemen I present to you the 100,000th swather,” said Kyle Kitt, AGCO’s marketing manager, as he stood on stage in an auditorium at the brand’s Hesston, Kansas, combine and hay equipment manufacturing plant in late March. From then on, it was a little like a rock concert. Music played and lights flashed as the curtain

pulled back to reveal the milestone machine. The WR9870 on stage was the 100,000th swather to be built in that facility. Now part of AGCO, it has been turning out haying equipment since 1955 when the equipment was branded only as Hesston. It’s a name that is familiar to all Canadian farmers. Under AGCO ownership, the equipment has been wearing the “Hesston by Massey Ferguson” label since the two brands merged in 2006. “This is a great day for us as AGCO employ-

ees,” said Bill Hurley, vice president of sales for North America. We can definitely say we’ve arrived. 100,000 swathers; that’s something no other manufacturer can say. Not just manufacturers in the United States and North America, but anywhere else in the world.” “Anytime you’re celebrating 100,000 of anything, that’s a pretty big milestone,” added Robert Crain, AGCO’s senior vice president and general manager for North and South America. » continued on page 4

In This Issue

Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240

photo: agco

AGCO’s Hesston factory builds its 100,000th swather

Wheat & Chaff .................. 2 Features . ........................... 5 Crop Advisor’s Casebook . 8 Columns ............................ 11 Machinery & Shop............. 17 Cattleman’s Corner .......... 22

B:11.5” T:11”

Farmer Panel S:10.25”

Lee Hart page 7

Soil Test Q and A’s

FarmLife ............................ 27

Lisa Guenther page 10

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* 5 Demonstration Strip Trials under high sclerotinia pressure 2014-15. Applied between 20% and 50% bloom stage. High sclerotinia pressure was measured by a susceptible check that was greater than 10% disease incidence. Results may vary on your farm due to environmental factors and preferred management practices.

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Wheat & Chaff STAMPEDE

BY JERRY PALEN Leeann Minogue

“Oh come on, Elmo. You’re not that fat. You just look that fat.”

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On the road I don’t have the nerve to actually commit to a vacation by booking airline tickets for a late-spring getaway. What if we need to clean seed at the last minute? What if the weather warms up earlier than we expect? Luckily, we had an excuse for a short driving trip down to Billings, Montana. The Billings Studio Theatre was staging Dry Streak, a play I wrote a few years ago. Dry Streak has been produced quite a few times in small towns on the Canadian Prairies, but this was the first time it’s gone international. This play is a comedy set on a farm in rural Saskatchewan during the drought of 1988. I was a little

ENHANCED CORRECTION In the March 15 issue of Grainews we ran an article about Monsanto’s involvement in the biological business. (Biologicals include bacteria, fungi and other organisms that benefit the crop by controlling pests or helping roots access nutrients.) In our article, we wrote that Monsanto’s first yield-boosting biological corn inoculant would be called “Enhanced.” In fact, Monsanto has not yet released the name of the forthcoming inoculant. We’ll have to wait and see what it’s actually called. Leeann Minogue

photo: leeann minogue

ebruary may be the cruellest month, but I think early April is the most anxious. You know the time I mean — that two-week period when everything’s ready to go, but it’s just too early in the season to start seeding. That time of year when farmers wear out paths pacing around their yards, and find excuses to drive to town so they can cruise extra slowly by the neighbours’ farms to see if they’ve started seeding yet, or if they have their seeding equipment ready. These are the days when farmers hook up their air drills and get all ready to pull out of the yard, even if there’s still a thick layer of ice on the dugout. This is the time of year when making last-minute cropping decisions is tricky, but still possible. With the sun setting a little later, there are plenty of long spring evenings to contemplate “just switching a few more acres from spring wheat to durum.” Everything is ready. There’s just not a lot you can physically do, except drum your fingers on the table and question all of the decisions you’ve made for the season. In summary, this is actually the best time of year for farmers to take a holiday — a mini “spring break.”

My mom, dad and son on their way down from the top of the hill at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana. nervous about the show. Dry Streak has a lot of jokes about things specific to rural Saskatchewan — topics like Saskatchewan farmers complaining about the CBC, and references to former Saskatchewan Grant Devine. I was worried that a lot of the jokes would be lost on an American audience. There’s nothing worse than listening to the silence of a crowd not laughing at your best lines. It turned out that a lot of jokes about farm life are universal. (Well, maybe not universal, but they travelled just fine six hours south to Billings.) The audience laughed at most of the jokes, though there was dead silence after a one-liner about the Devine government’s Home Improvement Tax Credit, and they just ignored the references to Saskatchewan’s long-gone inschool dental program. Only one man in the audience laughed at an obscure joke about CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge. (It turned out he farms near the Saskatchewan border and listens to the CBC from his tractor cab.) I’ve seen this show in a few Saskatchewan community halls. It was very strange hearing the same words spoken with American accents. Especially the word “summerfallow.” The lesson, if there has to be one, is that stories about families passing on farms to the next generation and tales of new spouses trying to fit into traditional family farms are common anywhere people farm, even south of the border. We’re growing different crops with different weather and different government programs, but there are still more similarities than differences.

He had it coming While we were in the neighbourhood, we took time to see a few sights. One of these was the Little Bighorn Battlefield. You know that battle — it’s the one where Sitting Bull and his Lakota and Cheyenne warriors killed U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and his crew of 260 soldiers and staff in June, 1876. These days,

there’s a monument on “Last Stand Hill” where some of Custer’s men realized how outnumbered and surrounded they were and resorted to shooting their horses to duck behind. (They knew they weren’t getting down that hill alive at that point.) The view from the top of the hill is incredible. There’s not a lot of development in the area, so you can still imagine what it might have been like to be there on the day of the standoff. I’d packed snacks and bottle of water in the car for the hour-long drive out from Billings. How did a team of 260 men on horseback manage to bring enough food to get them through a battle on the top of the hill? What if their Thermoses ran dry mid-fight? What did they use instead of Thermoses? We were there on a cool day in early April. I can’t help but feel for everyone wearing leather pants or dirty soldier’s uniforms on a hot June day, and I’m willing to bet the area didn’t smell as fresh and spring-like during that battle as it did during our visit. Down the hill, there was a National Parks Service visitors centre with some historical displays and information about the events that led to the battle. (This included, and I’m not kidding, Custer’s actual toothbrush). The official Parks Service brochure says: “Although the Indians won the battle, they subsequently lost the war against the white man’s efforts to end their independent, nomadic way of life.” At least they managed to hold on to their sense of humour. A nativerun store near the park was selling bumper stickers that say “Custer had it coming.” We’re back at home now, and by the time you read this I’m sure seeding will be underway. My husband is outside, taking the last steps to get the air drill ready, and the new man we’ve hired to help on the farm has taken the truck and trailer to pick up the last of the canola seed. The waiting is over — let the games begin. Leeann

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Wheat & Chaff Farm safety

Agronomy tips… from the field

Rural community promotes safety

nyone who has ever worked with children has likely wondered at times if those children are listening and learning anything. One rural community knows for sure that their kids are listening and learning. On an annual basis, volunteers come together in the Humboldt, SK region to talk to school-aged kids about safety. The Progressive Agriculture Safety Days have been running since 2009, with the sole purpose of developing a culture of safety in the community. Shari Hinz, the executive director for Safe Communities Humboldt & Area, says that it’s always critical to address the hazards kids might encounter on farms in addition to general safety practices. “There are a number of students that either reside on the farm or visit farms on a regular basis,” she explains. The event sees children rotating through safety stations and while some of these may include local emergency response staff, others will feature a local veterinarian or a farm equipment dealer. “Our presenters are all volunteers, and a number of them are based within the ag sector,” Shari says. Hergott Farm Equipment has been a long-standing supporter, involved right from the first event she says. Chris Hergott gives credit to his uncle, who was general

manager at the time, for initially starting with the program and being enthusiastic about getting involved right from the beginning. “He likes children, he thought it was important, and so he started doing the presentations,” Chris recalls. Although they’ve always maintained a focus on equipment safety, the objective is general awareness rather than operational safety. “We’ve brought small tractors in, even yard tractors with three point lawn mowers, just to show how noisy they are, that it’s important to make sure the operator is aware of your presence, never to sneak up on somebody because they can turn quickly... that type of thing.” Once he got involved, however, Chris says the students quickly became teachers for him. “I would start my presentation by asking the kids if they knew anyone who had been seriously hurt on the farm and, boom, the hands just went up,” he says. “That made me aware of how important it was for us to be out there.” Until it was pointed out to him by children, he says he just never noticed the injuries that accompanied so many of his customers as they visited the dealership. “A guy can come up to the parts counter, you’ve seen him a hundred times, and it’s not until he mentions it that you see that the end of his finger is missing, and you never know how many toes a guy has.”

Children learn about fire safety at a Progressive Agriculture Safety Day in the Humboldt, Sask., area. Suddenly, he started to see how he did his job on a daily basis with fresh eyes. He admits that he used to grumble internally about guards getting in the way while he tried to repair pieces of equipment. Now he is grateful for the same guards he used to see as inconveniences. “PTO shields are phenomenal now, to the point where if you need to work on them, it’s a real pain to get them off but I appreciate that type of thing now.” He never expected to learn so much from these kids and laments that you can never really know if you made an equally strong impression. But Shari Hinz confides that in Humboldt, they know their event has saved lives already.

“We know they’re taking away positive messages from the day because we had a situation where a family was visiting relatives, the kids were at home by themselves, and they had a fire break out in the home.” Shari says the visiting children called 911 and evacuated everyone from the house safely. When asked by members of the responding fire department how they knew what to do, those same kids explained that they had been at the farm safety day in Humboldt more than one year before and that’s where they had learned exactly what to do. “Their experience saved lives that day,” she says. †

Pre-tillering: key time for cereal weed control

re-tillering is that critical time for your wheat where you set your yield. The longer you leave volunteer canola or wild oats in your field, the less your cereal seedlings are going to be able to compete for water and nutrients. Start with scouting your fields and pick herbicide products based on what your driver weeds are. In particular, we’ve seen volunteer canola becoming a bigger concern — especially as canola acreages increase and rotations get tighter. A good preseeding burn-off should help you get rid of that first flush of volunteer canola or wild oats. Once you’ve made your first herbicide application, keep a close eye on how effectively your products are performing. Generally, you should be seeing over 90 per cent weed control. If you use a Group 1 herbicide on wild oats, look for good activity at the growing points within seven to 10 days. Other chemistries, like Group 2s, might take up to two or three weeks until you start to see yellowing of the weeds. With volunteer canola, a fast-acting product should give you good activity in as little as three to seven days. A slower Group 4 might take a week to 10 days until you start to see leaves twisting and curling. †

This agronomy tip was brought to you by David Forster, agronomic service representative, with Syngenta Canada.

You might be from the Prairies if... By Carson Demmans and Jason Sylvestre

Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, www.casa-acsa.ca.

You have worn out a snow shovel.

Photo contest

GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT Winter is over, but it’s always a good time to look at the northern lights. Bruce Boldt sent us this beautiful picture. He wrote, “These pictures were taken on my farm near Osler, Sask., on New Year’s Eve, just after midnight. I decided to begin 2016 with a new venture, and came up with these results on my first attempt to photograph the northern lights.” Pretty amazing shot for a first attempt! We’re sending Bruce a cheque for $25. Send your best shot to leeann. minogue@fbcpublishing.com. Please send only one or two photos at a time and include your name and address, the names of anyone in the photo, where the photo was taken and a bit about what was going on that day. A little write-up about your farm is welcome, too. Please ensure that images are of high resolution (1 MB is preferred), and if the image includes a person, we need to be able to see their face clearly. † Leeann

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Cover Stories New equipment 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1 www.grainews.ca

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PUBLISHER

HITTING A MILESTONE

Lynda Tityk Editorial director

Laura Rance

Editor

Leeann Minogue field Editor

Lisa Guenther Cattleman’s Corner Editor

Lee Hart Farmlife Editor

Sue Armstrong photo: scott garvey

There will be six “special edition” machines built to celebrate the milestone. But number one of six is the official 100,000th machine. And its new owners, the family behind Moo Mountain Milk dairy farm of Idaho, were on hand to see the presentation and take possession of their swather. The milestone also coincides with the 70th anniversary of operations at the Hesston plant. In all, the Hesston factory turns out a combined total of about 42 machines of all types each day. And many of the components for those machines are fabricated right from flat steel on site, a process that is common in agricultural assembly plants but differs a lot from automotive plants that often only handle component assembly. “Half of all parts are made here from scratch,” said Robert Cieko, vice president of manufacturing at Hesston, as he guided a group through the plant’s assembly area. “We’ve been making windrowers here at this site for 60 years. We are definitely committed to two things: reliability and quality hay products. Without those two things we would not have existed for 70 years.” Typically at events like this, it is management executives and marketing staff that represent the brand to visitors and the media,

Unveiled to a group of visitors and its purchaser during a special ceremony, the 100,000th swather to be built at AGCO’s Hesston, Kansas, manufacturing facility was centre stage at the facility’s auditorium. and those people were certainly front and centre at this unveiling. But there was one other group present that figured prominently in the festivities that many visitors didn’t expect to see: the crew of factory workers who actually built the swather. In fact, those employees formed a kind of reception line to shake hands and thank visitors and the buyers of the milestone machine. “People (plant staff) are always curious

about who buys the products,” said Cieko. “It’s beneficial for employees to see who really pays their paycheque, and that is the customer.” For a video look at the 100,000th swather reveal, go online and watch the e-QuipTV episode, just click on the “video” link at Grainews.ca. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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With everything operational, a swather waits to go into a “quality gate,” where all systems are tested before further assembly.

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Riding on a carrier to move it forward, the basic chassis is bolted together at the start of the swather assembly line.

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Inside a sealed chamber, swathers are run through a test cycle.

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Employees ready the engine and transmission for installation.

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APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

Crop disease

Barley leaf diseases stealing yield Spot blotch, net blotch will join fusarium head blight as problems in Sask. and Alta. By Julienne Isaacs

usarium head blight (FHB) is the most highprofile of the diseases that threaten wheat and barley annually across the Prairies. But researchers say foliar diseases will likely be the biggest barley “yield culprits” in Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2016. “From a regional perspective, leaf diseases tend to be Prairiewide and are habitually something producers should be concerned about, especially in continuous barley or where you have a single year between barley crops,” says Kelly Turkington, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. In some areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Turkington says, 50 to 60 per cent of growers allow just a single year between cereals in the rotation. Short rotations mean net blotch diseases — like net-form net blotch and spot-form net blotch — can gain a foothold in crop residues. All of the leaf diseases of note — net blotches, spot blotch and scald — can be transmitted through the seed, but crop residue is generally the culprit in short rotations. Scald is always a concern in cooler regions of Alberta and northern Saskatchewan. But spot blotch (as distinguished from spot-form net blotch) is also becoming an issue for growers in those provinces. “Spot blotch is a different animal than net blotch — it’s the same fungus that causes root rot, seedling blight and kernel smudge, and it’s been more of an issue in the eastern prairies,” he says. “But we’re seeing more of it in Alberta now, while it is one of the more dominant leaf diseases in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.” Some variety guides, including Alberta’s, omit spot blotch ratings, but Turkington says his team intends to propose its inclusion for the 2017 Alberta guide. In Manitoba, 2015 saw fewer occurrences of leaf diseases than the other Prairie provinces, according to Xiben Wang, a pathologist at AAFC’s Cereal Research Centre in Morden, Man. “Leaf spots were normal. Cochliobolus sativus, the causal agent of spot blotch, and Pyrenophora teres, the causal agent of net blotch, were the principal pathogens — I would assume because farmers are spraying a lot of fungicide, so disease pressure overall was a bit lighter than normal in 2015,” he says. Manitoba growers will likely face FHB as the chief disease in 2016. Wang says their best defense is the use of resistant varieties, proper crop rotations and staying on top of timely fungicide applications.

Scouting for leaf diseases Turkington says the best time to scout for leaf diseases is at the seedling stage, but unlike with FHB, control can happen well after symptoms are noted in the field. “The nice thing with leaf diseases is that you can follow them through the growing season. It’s not the same as FHB, where you have to make the call before you see symptoms,” he says. “With leaf diseases, you can note the presence of the diseases and then go back out.” For spot-form net blotch and spot blotch, growers should look for small brown spots on barley leaves. Higher severity will appear in the lower leaves, with severity decreasing toward the upper part

of the canopy. “As the symptoms become more mature and severe, you’ll see yellowing around the lesions,” he says. Spot blotch can be distinguished from net-form net blotch by the shape of the lesions: spot blotch lesions are larger and oval-shaped, whereas net-form net blotch lesions elongate, following the veins, with necrosis or browning between them. Unfortunately, Turkington says, symptoms of spot blotch and spot-form net blotch can be quite similar. Scald, on the other hand, will first appear as “water soaked spots” in oval, eye-shaped lesions on the leaves. “If you take a healthy leaf and crunch it up, the damaged tissue takes on a more intense green,

a ‘wet’ look,” says Turkington. The dead tissue will eventually turn tan-coloured with dark purpleblack margins. Turkington says the research suggests that fungicide should not be used on barley until flag leaf emergence or anthesis. Herbicide timing is not recommended. “My rule of thumb is to look at around flag leaf emergence — look at the lower canopy. Do you see signs of disease? And it has to be actual symptoms, not leaf yellowing due to heat stress or nitrogen deficiency,” he says. “Look at the third leaf down from the head, and look at 50 to 100 leaves in several locations, and if you’re not seeing any disease, or on average less than one to two

per cent of the leaf area is affected, chances are you don’t have a huge issue developing,” he says. “If you do see one to two per cent, I would re-evaluate as the crop is coming into head emergence, and then hit it with a fungicide if you see a problem.” Barley varieties with a good or very good resistance rating to leaf diseases will likely withstand disease pressure. “You’re better off relying on the resistance as your key disease management strategy, especially if it has the disease package required and meets your on-farm or marketing needs,” Turkington says. † Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne. isaacs@gmail.com.

You need something more than seed genetics alone to protect your canola from blackleg.

With tightened canola rotations and sole reliance on R-rated genetics for control, blackleg is on the rise across Western Canada. Your best defence is an integrated approach that includes Priaxor® fungicide. Tank mixed with your in-crop herbicide, Priaxor uses the unique mobility of Xemium® and the proven benefits1 of AgCelence®. Together they deliver more consistent and continuous control of blackleg and larger, healthier plants for increased yield potential2. For more information, visit agsolutions.ca/priaxor or call AgSolutions® Customer Care at 1-877-371-BASF (2273).

AgCelence benefits refer to products that contain the active ingredient pyraclostrobin. 2All comparisons are to untreated unless otherwise stated.

Visit grainews.ca to sign up for enews.

Always read and follow label directions. AgSolutions is a registered trade-mark of BASF Corporation; AgCelence, PRIAXOR, and XEMIUM are registered trade-marks of BASF SE; all used with permission by BASF Canada Inc. PRIAXOR fungicide should be used in a preventative disease control program. © 2016 BASF Canada Inc.

110201988-2015_Priaxor_Blackleg_GN_v2.indd 1

2015-12-09 4:18 PM

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Features

Ask The Experts

Are seed treatments worth the cost? Seed treatments come at a price, but some say they add enough benefits to pay that bill By Angela Lovell

ome farmers consider seed treatments an insurance policy to try and ensure their crop has every opportunity to germinate and establish healthy plants. Others see them as another added cost they don’t need, especially if they haven’t had any serious disease issues for a while. Invariably though, once a farmer has had a disease problem costing a significant amount of yield, seed treatments become standard practice. As is often the case, it’s “once bitten, twice shy” when it comes to seed treatments. “A lot of people who don’t use seed treatments get away with it for a lot of years, and then suddenly have a problem where they have too much smut or they’ll get common root rot or take all root rot. They then realize they should maybe have applied a seed treatment,” says Harry Brook, a crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “Seed treatments are a significant cost, so probably the best way to think them is as insurance, and it’s up to individual farmers to assess their risk based on their crop rotation, the conditions at seeding and how comfortable they are with the amount of risk that’s involved.”

Seed treatments may benefit short rotations Common root rot can be especially problematic because it affects most cereal crops. If farmers are growing another cereal crop this year, and had common root rot in the same field last year, they should certainly pencil in a seed treatment. Shorter crop rotations — such as wheat/canola — in general are at higher risk for disease problems. “A longer, varied crop rotation means there is less chance of disease organisms building up,” says Brook. “With a short, minimally varied crop rotation we’re setting ourselves up for disease issues because the more we grow the same crop, the more opportunities there are for pathogens that attack that crop to multiply and flourish. That increases the risk of disease and crop failure, so it might be more advantageous to use seed treatments.” But for farmers who have a long rotation, and a smaller number of acres to seed — so they can allow time for the soil to warm up and become moist — a seed treatment may not pay every year. Coping with smut and bunt used to be part of growing cereals on the Prairies, but fungicide seed treatments are now very effective in killing these pathogens. Invariably, says Brook, whenever he talks to farmers who have seen a lot of smut or bunt in their crops they haven’t bothered with a seed treatment. “The problem is if you are planting untreated seed with smut spores on the seed, you are going to get smut,” says Brook. “If you’ve never had smut and

you’ve got very warm soils — around 7 C to 8 C and there’s good moisture so you can seed shallow, then the big advantage of disease prevention through a seed treatment is removed.”

Seed treatments and fusarium Seed treatments’ effectiveness against fusarium depends on the species and levels of fusarium in the field. Infections due to fusarium, including F. graminearum, are another big issue that cereal farmers seem to be dealing with on a regular basis. The first defence against this disease should always be using clean seed, says Pratisara Bajracharya, a pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. It’s also important to know what species of fusarium is causing the infection, she says. Fusarium graminearum is an aggressive species of fusarium which causes problems in the field, including emergence problems and fusarium head blight,” says Bajracharya. “It’s always a good idea to get your seed tested, and if around two to three percent of the infection is due to F. graminearum, it might be worthwhile to invest in seed treatment. If there is five per cent of F. graminearumpresent, the seed treatment may not work very efficiently. In that case, a farmer would be better off not using that seed at all. If you do a seed test and find that the predominant species of fusarium in that sample is species other than F. graminearum then the tolerance level is about 10 per cent, at which stage it is effective to use a seed treatment.” Using a seed treatment will not prevent fusarium head blight during the later growth stages — such as during anthesis — but will help in management of early season issues like poor emergence and seedling blight caused by Fusarium spp, adds Bajracharya.

causing the shift away from the crucifer flea beetle to the striped flea beetle, or is it just naturally occurring because of weather patterns and conditions? There is some research being done but I don’t know that they have come to any conclusions other than they can see there is a shift in population.” As farms get larger and have many more acres to seed in a short window, more and more farmers are using a seed treatment as a matter of course, often to protect crops that they need to seed early into less than favourable conditions. Brook believes larger farms have less time to treat individual fields differently. “If they’ve got 10,000 acres of wheat to go in they will seed treat everything because they don’t have time to pick and choose,” he says. One seed treatment company is suggesting that the product in their seed treatment can improve

yield through making the plant more nitrogen-use-efficient, and although Brook says that might be the case, the impact is not always significant. “Ultimately, when it comes down to yield in our country, our prime limiting factor tends to be moisture,” he says. With such variability in weather conditions from year to year, it’s hard to assess how much risk you’re taking until something actually happens, says Brook. “Often once farmers have been hit with a disease they will use a seed treatment on a regular basis because they just don’t want it to happen again,” he says. “To seed treat or not to seed treat is a complicated decision based on current physical conditions, past history and perceived risk. It is a very individual decision.” † Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.angelalovell.ca.

Canola seed comes treated Farmers, of course, don’t have to make that decision when they plant canola, which comes with a seed treatment that includes both a fungicide and insecticide. Some researchers are looking at shifting populations of flea beetle species in canola crops. “Neonicotinoids insecticides in canola seed treatments are specifically designed to deal with crucifer and striped flea beetle. Canola is most susceptible to feeding by these pests just after emergence. But the population of flea beetles on the Prairies is shifting to the striped species. The interesting thing is that the crucifer flea beetles were well controlled by the neonicotinoids, and now they’re finding that it’s not as effective at killing off the striped flea beetle, which is gaining predominance,” says Brook. “Are the neonicotinoids on our seed treatments in canola 46844-02 DAS_2016 Tandem_13-1667x9_AFE_a3.indd 1

Canola is typically sold with a seed treatment that includes both a fungicide and insecticide.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

Farmer panel

Farmers just waiting on weather The farmers surveyed for this Farmer Panel are ready to hit the field for spring seeding By Lee Hart

armers in Manitoba were waiting for the snow to stop, a producer in central Saskatchewan was probably a month away from getting to fieldwork and in southern Alberta a producer was planning to start seeding durum in a few days (and some of his colleagues already had seed in the ground). That’s just how variable conditions were across Western Canada in early April as producers participating in the Farmer Panel where asked about what’s new on their farm for the 2016 cropping season.

JASON CRAIG DELBURNE, Alta. While he’s surrounded by brown field conditions in his part of central Alberta, Jason Craig says it was still a bit too wet in early April to get on

the land for some pre-seeding preparation. He had tried to harrow a few fields on his farm at Delburne, east of Red Deer, but it was muddy in places. In the meantime shop work awaited as he had just taken delivery of a new Valmar tank that he was adding to his John Deere 1910, three-tank air seeding system. “We are adding the Valmar tank to the air seeding system to give us more capacity,” says Craig who produces white wheat, fababeans, canola and malt barley. Craig has been incorporating variable rate fertilizer technology on his farm over the past four years, so the tanks on the John Deere are committed to fertilizer and seed depending on the crop. “I am planning to use the Valmar tank to apply granular inoculant when I seed fababeans and then it will be used for seed

when we plant canola,” says Craig. He says it will also be handy this year as he conducts micronutrient trials on his farm, evaluating both copper and zinc treatments. Also on the fertility side, he was planning a top-dress nitrogen fertilizer treatment on his canola this year. He had tried it in the past with mixed results, but wanted to try it again. “I am planning to top dress canola depending on how the year looks,” says Craig. “At seeding we’ll apply the full fertility rate that matches our yield goals, and then if growing conditions are favourable I will come back during the season and top dress with a 28-0-0 application.” He’ll apply a liquid foliar application if growing conditions are favourable. On the crop variety front, he is trying a new, high yielding white wheat variety called AAC Chiffon, developed at the

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ROD LANIER LETHBRIDGE, Alta. For the first time in a while, Rod Lanier, who farms near Lethbridge, says he isn’t planning any changes this spring and will stick with the program he had last year. Lanier who has both irrigated and dryland will be producing hemp, flax, peas and durum in 2016. He’s been one of the pioneers in the industrial hemp industry in Western Canada, evaluating and producing the crop for eight years. He has developed a hemp grain market for production of hemp hearts, but like many other hemp growers he’s still waiting for the fibre market to take off. And Lanier is a long time believer of the benefit of having flax in rotation. “We don’t grow canola, so flax is our canola,” says Lanier whose family farm has been practicing no-till farming for 28 years. “What I really like is what flax does for the next crop the following year. It has the highest mycorrhizae activity of any crop we can grow here. Any crop we grow after flax does really well.” Lanier says flax in rotation helps to stimulate the activity of beneficial soil microbes. And he even likes the straw. With combines equipped with stripper headers he leaves tall standing stubble which traps snow over winter. Although it has been a relatively dry winter in southern Alberta he says he was able to easily push a soil moisture probe down 30 inches, which tells him the moisture is there for the 2016 crop.

JEFF PROSKO ROSE VALLEY, SASK. With cool temperatures and still the odd snowflake in the air Jeff Prosko who farms with family members at Rose Valley, Sask. figured it would be another month (early May) before they are looking at 2016 fieldwork. Prosko along with his wife Ebony and other family members crop about 20,000 acres of oats and canola on the eastcentral Saskatchewan farm, due east of Saskatoon. The Proskos

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Lethbridge Research Station. While the crop is usually grown under irrigation, Craig says he has had good success growing a predecessor, Sadash white wheat. “They are high yielding varieties that perform quite well in my area,” says Craig. He has a feed market available for white wheat for hog rations, but if the quality is good, it can also be used for milling purposes.

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also own the ProSoils ag retail centre in Rose Valley. One new element of their 2016 program will be to contract the services of a helicopter for aerial application of fungicides. With rust in oats and sclerotinia in canola two of the common disease problems in their area, Prosko has in the past used fixed-wing aerial applicators, and most often just gone out to apply a fungicide treatment with the field sprayer. “ProSoil was able to line up a helicopter company that provided aerial application services so we will be trying that this year,” says Prosko. Price-wise it is quite comparable to fixed wing application, and he figures the helicopter can provide an improved level of application. The helicopter can apply product from about 10 feet above crop canopy, it can travel at a slower 70 to 80 miles per hour (a fixed wing is about double that speed) and the helicopter can apply product with four to five gallons of water per acre. “We are thinking the helicopter applicator can provide improved coverage of the crop,” says Prosko. “It can travel closer to the crop canopy at a slower speed, and apply product with plenty of water.” The large helicopter will have capacity to carry about 300 gallons of water and chemical. Prosko also hopes to test a few plots of soybeans, even though his area is “even beyond the fringe” for soybean production.

FRED FRIDFINNSON ARBORG, MAN. Fred Fridfinnson is looking forward to having an effective seed treatment for flax this year. There really hasn’t been an effective product that can be used with the oilseed, however after evaluating about 40 acres of flax treated with BASF’s Insure Pulse under a research permit in 2015, Fridfinnson is pleased to see the product now registered for use on flax. “We’ve always grown quite a few acres of flax and it is one of those crops that can appear quite wimpy when it comes out of the ground,” says Fridfinnson, who farms near Arborg in central Manitoba, just west of Lake Winnipeg. “And there hasn’t been an effective seed treatment product. But we were really impressed with the vigour of flax treated with Insure Pulse in 2015.” Another new or perhaps ongoing element in the Canadian agriculture industry is the continued consolidation of farm supply and ag retail outlets. While Fridfinnson says he is still fortunate to have a choice of suppliers in his area, consolidation and buy-outs are eliminating many of the independents and reducing competition. “This is something we as producers need to be paying attention to and do whatever we can to encourage competition in the ag retail business,” he says. † Lee Hart is a field editor with Grainews based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

2015-12-18 3:21 PM

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Features

Crop Advisor’s casebook

Durum turning yellow, stunted By Angie Berner

ale, a grain farmer with 10,000 acres of durum wheat, canola, lentils and chickpeas near Assiniboia, Sask., called in early July because he was troubled by the sad state of the durum in one of his fields. According to Dale, the plants, which were in the five- to six-leaf stage, were yellowing and stunted, and some of the crop was even beginning to die off. I knew the producer well, and I realized he wasn’t likely to contact us unless he couldn’t resolve a problem like this himself, so I knew the issue was serious. When I arrived at Dale’s farm and went out to inspect the problem field, I could see the entire durum crop looked moderately stunted and showed signs of interveinal chlorosis, or yellowing. The worst of the symptoms appeared

on plants in the southeast corner of the field and the yellowing appeared to be spreading out from that spot. However, the field overall looked ragged. Dale said he thought the yellowing within the crop seemed to be worsening, adding that his neighbour had recently tilled under some nearby winter wheat fields with similar problems. As I moved further into the affected area, many plants were showing severe interveinal chlorosis. These plants were clearly very stressed, and some of the older plant leaves had died off. Here and there, I could see random plants that were completely dead. Dale told me he had sprayed the field seven days previously with a tank mix combination of Group 2 pyroxsulam and Group 4 fluroxypyr herbicides, as well as 2,4-D. “The field has gone downhill fast

since I sprayed,” he explained. “I think it’s the chemical yellowing the crop from injury.” While Dale’s explanation was possible, there were other factors to also consider. The poor condition of the durum stand could be the work of not just herbicide injury but also environmental stress, fertility issues or disease. Confounding the issue was the fact that the characteristics I was seeing were not textbook nor anything I’d ever witnessed before — it was a real stumper. It had been a very dry spring in the area so environmental stress was a concern, although none of Dale’s other durum fields were exhibiting similar symptoms. When I enquired about his fertility program, Dale informed me the same products and applications rates had been used on each of his durum fields. Again, though,

there were no signs of nutrient deficiency in any of the other durum fields. I thought disease could be to blame, but if that was the case, which one? And if herbicide damage was indeed the culprit, as Dale suspected, was this kind of crop damage p—ossible in the span of just one week? If you think you know what’s going on in Dale’s durum field, send your diagnosis to Grainews, Box 9800, Winnipeg, Man. R3C 3K7; email leeann.minogue@ fbcpublishing.com or fax 204-944-5416 c/o Crop Advisor’s Casebook. The best suggestions will be pooled and one winner will be drawn for a chance to win a Grainews cap and a one-year subscription to the magazine. The answer, along with the reasoning that solved the mystery, will appear in the next Crop Advisor’s Solution File. † Angie Berner, B.S. Ag, P. Ag, CCA, is an ag retail manager with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Assiniboia, Sask.

Angie Berner is an ag retail manager with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Assiniboia, Sask.

CASEBOOK WINNER

The plants were yellowing and stunted and some of the crop was beginning to die off. Overall, the field looked ragged. The yellowing appeared to be spreading out from the southeast corner of the field.

This issue’s Casebook winner is Mallory Scott. Mallory is a sales rep with Crop Production Services, and she also farms with her husband’s family on a mixed farm near Landis, Sask. Thanks for entering, Mallory! We’re renewing your Grainews subscription for a year and sending you a Grainews cap. Thanks for reading and thanks for entering! Leeann Minogue

Crop advisor’s solution

Pythium root rot plagued canola By Rachelle Farrell

n early June, I received an urgent phone call from a local grain farmer concerned about one of his canola fields. Jason, who grows 1,000 acres of canola, wheat, barley and oats near Morinville, Alta., said some canola plants in one of his fields were turning purple and falling over, and he was sure cutworms were responsible. I told Jason I’d come right out to have a look. When I arrived at the farm, the grower assured me he’d been following proper crop rotations and he’d never had an issue with cutworms in this field before. I knew there were a number of factors to take into consideration, as environmental

stress caused by the cold, dry spring in the area had been a large factor all season. When I walked the field, I could see fallen canola plants scattered throughout the crop. The symptoms were similar to cutworm damage, with stems cut off just below the soil surface. However, the affected plants appeared randomly in the field, not in the patches that are typical of cutworm feeding. This, coupled with the fact that we couldn’t find any presence of the cutworms in the soil, ruled out this pest. Flea beetles had been an issue on Jason’s farm, so I also considered this insect as a possible cause. However, the four-leaf growth stage (where these plants were at) is usually past the time

when flea beetles cause a major issue in canola. Plus, while some plants had girdled stems, which were indicative of flea beetle feeding, it wasn’t enough to topple the canola at this stage in the crop’s development. I had a good idea of what was causing the damage in this field so I took some plant samples in for lab analysis. Sure enough, the results confirmed my suspicions Pythium root rot was to blame. The symptoms were consistent with Pythium, a soil-borne pathogen in the seedling disease complex that damages roots and causes plants to discolour and die. Pythium typically occurs in reduced tillage soils with high organic matter and acidic-neutral pH.

While the fungus-like organisms in the Pythium species typically like cold and damp soils, they can also survive in cold and dry conditions like what Jason had seen on his farm that spring. I knew that the slow start to the growing season had allowed diseases and pests like Pythium and flea beetles to take their toll on crops for other farmers in the area, so what was happening in Jason’s canola field wasn’t terribly surprising. While Pythium normally does not cause great yield loss only five per cent or so of plants are usually affected within a crop — it can turn severe in some instances. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for Jason, whose canola yield on the field of con-

cern wasn’t greatly affected since there had been a sufficient plant stand at the time Pythium was diagnosed. Because Pythium often results from environment stress, it’s a tough disease to avoid if the conditions are conducive. However, I informed Jason there were proactive steps he could take to mitigate the disease risk for future crops, such as using good seeding rates and utilizing seed treatments that target Pythium. I also stressed the importance of good crop rotation practices and scouting fields regularly to catch problems like Pythium before they became more of an issue. † Rachelle Farrell is a crop inputs manager with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Morinville, Alta.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Features

Weed management

Slow resistance with layered herbicides Gowan representatives say layering isn’t just about dressing for fickle weather anymore By Lisa Guenther

ayering herbicides is a way to manage or delay herbicide resistance on the farm. The key is to apply a residual before seeding. The residual creates a herbicide layer in the soil. That layer kills weeds as they try to push emerge. With fewer weeds, there is less selection pressure on herbicides used later in the season. “So you can put the Group 8 at the front part of the program, and then come back in with your in-crop… program, and you’re still getting that multiple modes of action against the same population,” says Mike Grenier, Canadian development manager at Gowan. Gowan’s stable of residual herbicides includes Avadex, Fortress, and Edge, which include Group 8s and Group 3s. The trio gives farmers options for controlling grasses or broadleaves in cereals, oilseeds, and pulses. The residuals are an extra cost for farmers. For example, Avadex runs between $15 to $25 per acre, depending on the application rate. Grenier and Brad Ewankiw, Gowan’s marketing manager, don’t recommend applying residuals to every acre on the farm every year. Instead, they suggest applying the products to 20 to 25 per cent of total acres. The plan is to make sure each field sees a Group 8 or a Group 3 every four to five years, to reduce the risk of herbicide resistance. “I do believe though that spending that extra $5 to $15 per acre to help mitigate the risk of that resistance is sustainable, is something that can be absorbed from a cost standpoint,” says Ewankiw.

ahead of time to break soil lumps. Lumps will hold weed seeds, and allow them to germinate above the herbicide layer. The granular products take a week or two to activate, but the liquid is active immediately. If any weeds emerge before the herbicides are activated, farmers will need to control them with a pre-seed burndown or in-crop application. Right now the label for Edge doesn’t include surface application. But Grenier expects a new label this spring. The granules need just enough moisture to move the active ingredient into the soil. The herbicide isn’t being pulled in by the weed’s roots, so the active ingredient doesn’t need to be in solution.

Ewankiw acknowledges that “It’s actually being taken up by the shoots of wild oats through liquid herbicides are easier to the gaseous phase of the active apply than granulars. Gowan is working with Salford, which ingredient,” says Ewankiw. If the residual is incorporated owns Valmar, to develop new into dry soil, he’d be hoping for solutions. Valmar equipment is a quarter inch to a half inch of commonly used to apply granurain to activate it, Grenier says. lar herbicides. “But generally there’s enough soil moisture there, that if you do No silver bullet get a shot of rain, it’s kind of a Crop rotation and diversity, bonus.” Snow melt makes the fall appli- seeding strategies, and harvest cations work more consistently. management all have a role in “The fall really sets things up controlling weeds, Grenier says. much better than the spring,” “There is Group 8 and 3 resistance historically. Group 8-resistsays Grenier. Farmers applying in the spring ant wild oats and Group 3-resistant foxtail,” says Grenier. need to apply the granular prodB:8.125” Saskatchewan survey data uct a couple of weeks before seedT:8.125” showed less than three per cent of ing, so it has time to activate.

acres had Group 8 resistant wild oats, Grenier says. Manitoba has a little over 10 per cent, mostly in the Swan River area. Alberta’s Group 8 wild oat resistance is a little higher, mostly in central Alberta. “We’re urging people to yes, of course, use Avadex. Use Fortress. Use Edge in your portfolio or your system because they’re effective and they can really help from a resistance management standpoint,” says Ewankiw. “But use them with caution. And let’s make sure that these tools are around for a long time.” † Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa. Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

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Although residuals were originally used in tillage systems, they work in zero till, says Grenier. “They only require a shallow incorporation by harrowing,” he says. Farmers can apply the residual in the spring or fall. If it’s cold enough, a farmer can apply it in the fall, leave it on the surface, and incorporate it in the spring, Grenier says. Fortress has an active ingredient that can suffer UV degradation. If it’s applied late in the fall, the label says farmers can get by without harrowing right away. If farmers are applying it in early October, Grenier recommends harrowing immediately. Farmers still tilling can use a liquid residual. At least 50 per cent of the soil surface needs to be black, but 70 per cent is ideal. Straw will intercept the liquid application. Farmers will need to harrow after applying the liquid residual. They might also need to harrow

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Features

Soil managemen

Five Q and As about soil testing Here’s what you need to know to make sure your plants have all the right nutrients By Lisa Guenther

oil testing will help you give your crop the best possible start. Dr. Jeff Schoenau, soil fertility expert at the University of Saskatchewan, delivered a free webinar on soil earlier this winter. Schoenau had answers to five common questions about soil testing and fertility.

1. How many samples?

more cores you’ll need, Schoenau said. “Sometimes rather than trying to get a whole bunch of cores gathered together to represent that variability, I think you’re better off just looking at what the origin of that variability is.” For example, farmers could keep samples from the low slopes and knolls separate, and have them analyzed separately.

2. Should I test for micronutrients?

Schoenau recommended gathering at least 15 individual cores If a field “is a bit of an unknown per 80 acre field. If you want to and has never been tested before,” create a single representative sam- Schoenau recommends testing ple, you can merge those cores “the whole package of macros into a representative sample. and micros.” FBC-JuniorAds-REVISED.pdf 1 07/04/2016 3:03:28 PM The more variable the field, the Most micronutrient levels in

soil are unlikely to change greatly over time. Schoenau said boron is an exception. Because it’s more mobile in the soil boron can vary season to season.

3. What about phosphorus deficiency? If soil is highly deficient, farmers are likely to see an economic benefit after applying phosphorus fertilizer, Schoenau said. In-soil placement methods are more efficient than broadcasting, but keep crop safety in mind. “So that may involve separating out your application. Some in the seed row, some somewhere else.” For example, a foliar application could “top up” the phosphorus in

the plant. But, Schoenau said, the plant leaves are unlikely to absorb all the phosphorus needed. Asked whether orthophosphates are more efficient than polyphosphates, Schoenau said any form of phosphate will be absorbed rapidly. Polyphosphates will undergo hydrolysis to orthophosphates, and be absorbed similarly to orthophosphate fertilizers, Schoenau explained.

4. What errors are common? The most common errors come from improper sampling and sample. This can also include simple oversights, such as filling out the wrong land description.

Cropping history, previous yield, residue management, and soil water storage are also “important pieces of information that you want to feed into the system so that you can get tailored recommendations back that are appropriate.” Another common error is subtracting existing nutrient levels from recommended rates. Schoenau said “those nutrient levels in the soil have already been taken into account. You don’t need to subtract those levels from the recommended rates.” Soil test reports typically include special comments that need to be looked at, Schoenau said. Those comments help farmers and agronomists interpret a recommendation that might include, for example, a range of rates instead of a single rate. Failing to read those special comments is another common source of error.

5. Could the test be wrong?

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Soil tests are rarely done wrong, Schoenau said. Labs are accredited, with strict quality assurance measures. They’re also enrolled in proficiency programs, he said. But it’s possible to throw off results by doing the wrong soil test — specifically “an inappropriate soil test for a region,” he said. Some soil test extraction methods work better on certain soils. For example, a soil test appropriate for acid soils might not work for calcareous soils. An inappropriate soil test is more likely to be used when soil samples are sent out of a region for analysis, Schoenau said. Asked which extraction methods are best for different pHs, Schoenau said the Olsen “would be entirely suitable for pHs six and above.” For more acidic soils, a Bray method would be more suitable, he added. Schoenau added he wouldn’t necessarily recommend picking soil tests for phosphorus based on pH alone. For example, the Bray method needs to be calibrated for the crops a farmer wants to grow in his region. Farmers and agronomists should check whether there’s an extensive database for the extraction method.

5. Why follow up? A good fertility assessment tool allows adjustments for the specific conditions on each farm, said Schoenau. Follow up to see how the soil assessment and prediction models performed with yield and fertilizer response. “The correct fertilizer recommendation is determined in hindsight.” † Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa. Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

Visit grainews.ca to sign up for enews.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns Off-farm income

Stallion stocks and your strategy Owning good stocks is a key part of a successful financial portfolio ANDY SIRSKI

few weeks ago a reader of StocksTalk sent me an article that outlined an interesting strategy. The strategy involves owning five or six good solid stocks and selling call options on them two months out. From what I see, and from what the article said, this strategy would bring in a pretty nice cash flow with not too much work. I have not been able to find the exact definition of “stallion” stocks so I made my own. I think a stallion stock is a stock of a good company that has a good business with a good moat and rising dividends. I personally would call Microsoft (MSFT) a stallion stock. New Flyer (NFI. TO) likely could be and I’m looking at shares of Visa (V) as a third. I suppose there is some judgment involved and some personal preference but you see what I mean. The number of shares of each stock you own will depend on how much money you have, but keep in mind you need some sort of critical mass number of shares to make this idea work. Also,

you might not want to own U.S. stocks so you don’t have currency risk. (That risk doesn’t bother me.) So let’s look at MSFT as a stallion stock. You likely know enough about MSFT so I don’t need to tell you what the company does. MSFT shares are trading at about US$50 per share, so 500 shares would cost around US$27,500. On April 5, the premium from selling a covered call for May with a strike price of $55 per share would bring in $1.60 x 500 = $800 for six weeks. New Flyer could be another stallion stock. It trades in Canadian dollars and makes busses. It has a $5 billion back order of busses and has raised its dividend regularly. Shares trade at about $35, and the calls for May with a strike price of $36 bring in $1.60 or about $800 on the 500 shares. That’s $1,600 for two stocks that would cost around $50,000. These prices change day to day so you need to look up your own values. Call me at 1-204-4534489 if you need help. I don’t tell people what to do but if you don’t have a whole bunch of money or you don’t trust stocks all that much, you might want to own only three stocks and maybe only 300 shares per stock. This is a good time to use one’s head. However, if we triple my numbers we could be looking to bring in around $5,000 every two months or about $30,000 a year. In a trading account that

money would be taxed as capital gain. In a TFSA the gains would be tax free. That would be a nice pension plan, but of course shares carry some risk, the U.S. dollar brings a currency risk and you do need to learn how to sell covered calls.

The federal budget The federal budget was released in March. It had very little for business or specifically farmers. It really was a consumers’ budget that leaned mostly towards taking some tax deductions away from families and replacing them with others. Families with lower incomes who have young children will win under the new tax rules and that’s fair enough. Raising children is an expensive proposition. The big point, in some peoples’ opinion, was to make the start up age for the Old Age Pension age 65 again. Some do not agree with this — saying the OAS was started when people did not live as long as they do now. Seems to me that for many individuals the extra $6,700 or so will just add to their taxable income and maybe that’s what the government is counting on. But the extra payout over many, many retired baby boomers could strain the federal government’s finances. Seems to me retirees should just learn how to make some extra money in their old age and stop relying on the government.

That’s one reason I learned how to sell covered calls. It brings in cash month after month, like milking a cow.

Oil stocks It looks like oil is going to be lower for longer. The world is sloshing in oil and no producers seem to be willing to cut back production. Older oil wells will drop production as we head towards next winter and it looks like some producers are counting on that. I do not own any oil or gas stocks but I do keep my eye on about half a dozen to be ready: Baytex, Precision Drilling, Vermillion, Crescent Point, Bonavista and a few others. Many years ago two railroads were built across Canada, coast to coast. Somehow the rails crossed interprovincial borders and have continued to operate with little regulatory hassles. I think Canada needs pipeline rules that would let a developer/builder build a pipeline from oil wells to the coasts so we can move oil to water. Canada exports a lot of wheat, canola and other products and the country could have lot of good paying jobs if producers were allowed to export oil. † Andy Sirski is mostly retired. He travels a bit with his wife, plays with his granddaughters and has a small tax business. Andy also manages his family’s investments and publishes an electronic newsletter called StocksTalk where he tells all. You can read StocksTalk free for a month by sending an email to sirski@mymts.net.

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/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Columns Heart attacks

CPP needs your grain It’s good news: Viterra returns to the Canadian fold By Lee Hart

ell I am really hoping Canadian farmers get serious about being efficient and profitable and market all those No. 1 crops through the greatest grain handling company in Canada — Viterra. Hey farmers, no more dinking around with lacklustre yields and all that needless shopping around to the “other” grain buyers. Now that my Canada pension depends on the success of the grain handler I am a Viterra team player 100 per cent. To be honest until the announcement earlier this month it didn’t really register with me that “my” pension money was invested anywhere. I thought the government collected CPP and put the cash in a closet until I needed it, or they had to pay a senator’s generous, but necessary expense claim. But I was wrong. Apparently the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is very busy investing its $282.6 billion in pension funds in a wide range of ventures which hopefully turn a profit and pay dividends. You go CPPIB! The CPPIB says it is trying to build an agricultural portfolio. Where were they a few years ago when western Canadian beef

producers were looking for some backers of an estimated 48 beef-processing plants on the Prairies, all said to be profitable, and needed to save the Canadian beef industry? Glad the CPPIB stayed out of that actually... 48 proposals and now 10 years later we probably would have 47 shuttered plants and one struggling operation processing cows in the morning, yaks in the afternoon, and rented out on weekends to 4-H clubs wanting to process rabbits. Until this deal in early April where the CPPIB bought 40 per cent of Glencore Agri (Vittera’s parent company) for $2.5 billion (U.S. dollars) they really haven’t been involved in too much agricultural investing. The Board has investments in some 30 countries in a wide range of enterprises, but according to reports it only had about $800 million invested in agriculture and that included about 120,000 acres in the U.S. and another 115,000 acres in Saskatchewan it bought for $128 million in 2013. The last CPPIB annual report, which is some 120 pages of riveting reading, only mentions the word agriculture three times and essentially says it is looking to diversify more into agriculture. Well now here they go. They have bit into 40 per cent of Glencore Agri in Canada which is essentially 40 per cent

of Viterra. I haven’t read any reports on exactly what that 40 per cent got them — it could be country elevators or port facilities or some of both. I did hear rumours that CPPIB chair person Heather MunroeBlum has already ordered 12 grain shovels from Peavey Mart for herself and other board members, so that could mean they plan to be hands-on managers. None of them look like grain farmers, but really how long does it take to figure out the business end of a grain shovel. I don’t know about the business end, but I believe it is a good deal to have the CPPIB investment simply from a Canadian-ownership perspective. I didn’t hear anything negative about the Swissbased commodity giant, Glencore’s ownership... but still it will be good to see the Canadian flag planted on at least some of Viterra’s properties. And the CPPIB investment helps Glencore pare down some debt. Last year the company was sitting with about $26 billion in debt. Now, through the sale of some assets, the debt is down to about $17 billion. I know personally I get a little worried when my VISA statement starts to nudge that $1 billion credit limit, so I imagine someone at Glencore was having a couple of sleepless nights. As a an investment tip, if you are in need of an Australian coal

With the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board buying 40 per cent of Viterra, Lee Hart is hoping his share of the federal pension funds will turn a large profit. train or a Kazakhstan gold mining unit it is probably a good time to make Glencore an offer. They’re likely in the mood to deal. In the meantime, farmers, shop Viterra. Buy Proven Seed and any contract they push in front of you, sign it. And get those grain trucks serviced so you can get commodities delivered in a timely fashion. So far this outfit I am with hasn’t figured out that I am just some editorial “boy candy” in Alberta. But if they do, I will be knocking on the CPP closet door and I want something to be in there when it opens. And I hope it is more than a grain shovel. † Lee Hart is a field editor with Grainews based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

Agronomy management

The effects of soil compaction In the first of a two-part series, learn how to diagnose soil compaction in your fields By Ross McKenzie

oil compaction can be a serious form of soil degradation resulting in decreased crop production and increased risk of soil erosion. Soil compaction can reduce water infiltration into soil, crop emergence, root penetration, crop nutrient uptake and water uptake — all of which can reduce crop yields.

Compaction concerns Soil compaction is caused by tillage equipment during soil cultivation or from the heavy weight of field equipment. Soil compression can cause soil particles to become compacted closer together into a smaller volume. As particles are compressed together, the space between soil particles (pore space) is reduced, reducing the space available in the soil for air and water. Soil compaction can have a number of negative effects on soil quality and crop production including: • causing soil pore spaces to become smaller; • reducing water infiltration rate into soil; • decreasing the rate that water will penetrate into the soil root zone and subsoil; • increasing the potential for surface water ponding, water runoff, surface soil waterlogging and soil erosion; • reducing the ability of a soil to hold water and air, which are necessary for plant root growth and function • compaction force causing crushing of soil aggregates • reducing crop emergence as a result of soil crusting • impeding root growth, limiting the volume of soil explored by roots and penetration of roots into subsoil; and,

• restricting root exploration decreases the ability of crops to take up nutrients and water efficiently from soil All of these factors result in increased crop stress and yield loss.

Importance of Soil Porosity Soils consist of organic matter, varioussized soil particles referred to as soil texture (proportion of sand, silt and clay particles) and pore spaces that contain air and water. The connectivity of soil pores coupled with the size and number of pores is very important for water infiltration, water and nutrient movement within soil and the ability of the soil to hold water. Larger, inter-connected soil pore spaces enhance water infiltration into soil, water percolation into the root zone and subsoil, and air exchange with the atmosphere. Many important biological and chemical processes occur in soil pores that require both water and air. Reduced pore size and number will affect processes such as the reduced nutrient cycling and release of plant available nutrients. One way to quantify the change is by measuring soil bulk density. This procedure is done by carefully taking a soil core and measuring the diameter and length to determine the volume of the core, then oven-drying the core to determine the dry soil weight. Soil bulk density is the dry weight of soil divided by the volume of the soil. It is usually expressed in grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm3). As the pore space is decreased within a soil, the soil bulk density is increased. Normally, loam to clay loam soils have a bulk density of about 1.3 to 1.4 g/ cm3, and sandy loam to loamy sand soils

have a bulk density of 1.4 to 1.6 g/cm3. Naturally dense horizons in a Solonetzic soil will have bulk densities of 1.6 g/cm3 or greater, and root growth will be hindered. Disced or cultivated surface soils will have bulk densities in the range of 1.0 to 1.2 g/cm3. Large soil pores are the most effective in moving water through the soil. When large pores are absent, the hydraulic conductivity of soil (rate water will move through soil) will be greatly reduced. In addition, the exchange of gases in soil with the atmosphere slows down in compacted soils, causing an increase in the likelihood of aeration-related problems. Soil compaction increases soil strength, which means plant roots must exert greater force to penetrate the compacted layer.

Identifying Types of Soil Compaction Soil compaction can occur at the soil surface in the form of soil crusting, or it can occur in the subsoil. Soil compaction is sometimes blamed for reduced crop productivity, but it is important to correctly diagnose the cause or causes of reduced crop production. Poor plant growth can be caused by a number of factors, including soil compaction. The first step is to correctly diagnosis if a soil compaction problem exists, and then develop short- and long-term management practices to prevent further damage. Soil compaction can occur at different times of the year through different mechanisms. Careful observations can help diagnose the problem. If the answer to these questions is “yes,” you may have a soil compaction problem. • Is there poor crop growth in all years, with all crop types in the same area of the field?

• Is there a spatial pattern to the crop growth (associated with wheel tracks, windrows, equipment widths, haul trails)? • Does the soil surface appear smooth and crusted? • Has there been a change in equipment size, weight or operations? • Are there soil types in the field with naturally dense horizons such as eroded knolls? • If you scrape away the surface soil with a shovel or trowel, can you see dense layers and/or horizontal root growth?

Compaction causes Compaction of agricultural soils can be caused by various farming practices. Here are three of the most common. 1. Soil tillage that removes the protective residue from the soil surface, leaving the soil prone to natural environmental forces, or excessive soil tillage that causes surface soil aggregates to break down or degrade. This can lead to soil crusting, causing the surface soil layer to become hard and compacted. 2. Soil tillage implements can induce soil compaction just below the depth of tillage, particularly when soils are wet. This type of compaction is sometimes referred to as a hard pan or plow layer. 3. The weight of large farm equipment (tractors, seed carts, combines, trucks, manure spreaders) can cause wheel traffic compaction to a considerable depth within the root zone. As soil moisture content increases, so too does the depth of soil compaction. In the next issue of Grainews I’ll discuss the specific causes of soil compaction and how each should be managed. † Ross H. McKenzie, PhD, P. Ag., is a former agronomy research scientist. He conducted soil, crop and irrigation research with Alberta Agriculture for 38 years. He has also been an adjunct professor at the University of Lethbridge since 1993.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns Soil conservation

National soil conservation week

April 17 to April 23 was National Soil Conservation Week. The week was established by The Honourable Senator Herbert Sparrow, founding president of what became the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC). The Nutrients for Life Foundation Canada and SCCC have partnered with the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum in Ottawa to create a museum exhibit that will feature the link between soil science and food security. The exhibit will launch in 2017. The exhibit will also be the home for the SCCC’s Canadian Conservation Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was established in 1990 and now has 28 members. The most recent inductee is Dr. David Lobb, a soil scientist at the University of Winnipeg. † Leeann Minogue

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Columns forage production

The “other” moisture Surface moisture is easy to measure. Moisture from the water table is another story les henry

n making soil moisture maps as of freeze up the past few wet years, I have come to realize that we should have maps of areas where the surface moisture that we grow crops with has little or no connection to the water table. This piece adds a bit to that idea. In the 1980s we were busy chasing soil salinity all over Saskatchewan. One area we looked at was the Consul area in deep southwest Saskatchewan. Blair Bachman had been a student and colleague at the University of Saskatchewan, so we spent some time with him to learn about the area. Blair farmed big and was one of those farmers that had a habit of asking tough questions that we had no answer for. We were scouting one of his fields in spring and I was proudly showing him how our fancy soil probe (Backsaver) worked to determine the depth of moist soil and what that would mean for the current crop. When I found a place

where the moist soil went down about three feet I remarked that it would not take much more rain for the surface moisture to join up with the “other” moisture and then he would be good to go. His very quick response was “What other moisture?” We had our fancy auger rig that would go to 75 feet so had no trouble answering that question. That summer we went to one his summerfallow fields and went searching for the “other” moisture. Guess what? Blair was right. The water table was very deep (I do not remember the exact figure) and on much of his farmland there was likely little connection with the “other” moisture. Also as part of the soil salinity program we made water well maps for much of the agricultural area of Saskatchewan. These are the only maps of water wells that exist. We had “discovered” the Water Supply Papers that were available for all of Saskatchewan except the northeast. Some areas of Manitoba and Alberta were also surveyed. There was a Water Supply Paper for each rural municipality. These are called the Grey Books. (Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water tells the complete story of the Grey

Books — it’s on page 152 if you have a copy.)

Water well survey The data for the Grey Books came from a water well survey conducted in 1935 by the Geologic Survey of Canada. 1935 was the middle of the Dirty 30s. Shallow wells were going dry and the feds wanted to get a handle on how bad it was. It was a grand piece of work. The unique thing about that survey was the density of information — there were many farms in 1935. That was why we prepared the maps. I’ve included a small part of the map west of Milden, where I was raised. This map shows water wells in Tp 29 R13W3. This is the clay belt. There are no shallow dug or bored wells so there is no near surface water table. I’m not sure about the well on Section 22 — it’s probably in a slough. The question mark is mine. All wells are deep and the water is a long way down. That means that it is strictly a top-down situation and there is not much help coming from underneath. It is also easy to see that without including the 1935 survey there is not much to map. There are only two wells shown on this map that were dug after the 1935 survey.

This is a water well map for part of Tp 29 R13 W3, west of Milden, Sask. Legend: The “A”s next to well locations indicate that these wells date from before the survey, pre-1935. For the 2 wells that show a number instead of an A, the 74 and 70 indicate the year the well was dug. Next to the A or year, the top number shows the depth to water in the well (in feet); the bottom number shows the depth of the well (in feet). Where the circle is black, the well is assumed to be located next to buildings. Clear circles indicate that the well location is unknown within the quarter section. In hindsight, if we were to do the soil survey again it should be possible to map the “other moisture” possibilities. With the modern soil maps and with the water well maps and other groundwater information it might be possible, but who is going to do it? In the meantime, if you would like to peruse the water well map for your area, the good news is that the maps have been scanned and are housed at the Water Security Agency in Moose Jaw. They are not yet on the www. wsask.ca website but a map for you area (if made) will be dispatched by email upon request. The following link describes the maps and also alerts folks

to the limitations of the maps: https://www.wsask.ca/WaterInfo/Ground-Water/Mapping/. To get a copy of the map for your area, make your request by calling 306-694-3900 or emailing groundwater@wsask.ca. If they get enough request for maps, the maps will be placed on the website. † J.L.(Les) Henry is a former professor and extension specialist at the University of Saskatchewan. He farms at Dundurn, Sask. He recently finished a second printing of “Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water,” a book that mixes the basics and practical aspects of soil, fertilizer and farming. Les will cover the shipping and GST for “Grainews” readers. Simply send a cheque for $50 to Henry Perspectives, 143 Tucker Cres, Saskatoon, Sask., S7H 3H7, and he will dispatch a signed book.

Reporter’s Notebook

Getting the hairy eyeball By Lisa Guenther

have a few cows in my parents’ herd. But they barely outnumber my hayburning horses, so I’d never call myself a cattle producer. I haven’t decided how many cows I’ll collect in the long run. Right now they’re an excuse to help with the larger herd and a little extra income. This spring my dad noticed that one of my cows had gone off her feed, so over Easter he hauled her into the Turtleford vet clinic. I tagged along to see what would happen. I’d always thought of this particular cow as a quiet one. She was certainly friendly if there was food involved. In fact, shake a bucket of pellets in front of her and she seems downright couth. But the grid road into town was slick with mud, and the cow was put out by the slippery, bumpy ride in the stock trailer. Then, shortly after she stepped off the trailer, trying to co-operate with the annoying humans, the vet had the nerve to lock her head into the squeeze chute. Her tail swished like an angry cat. And if you’ve ever wondered where the term “hairy eyeball” originated, I’m sure it started with an irate cow much like mine. The vet narrowed her illness down to

either hardware disease or developing pneumonia. So my poor cow received a shot for the possible respiratory illness and a magnet down her stomach to remove the suspected metal. The vet also decided to tube her, to get some liquid into her. In case you’ve never tubed a cow, it involves sliding a tube into the mouth and down the throat. My cow did not like this. In fact, I think she likely lost all faith in humanity. I say this because it took two adults to hold her head even though she was in the squeeze chute. Meanwhile I hand-pumped a bucket down the tube. Personally, I thought it was all very interesting, and the vet was quite collected in the face of bovine anger. And perhaps a bucket of pellets will probably soften the cow’s hard feelings once she’s regained her health. None of this is the least bit unusual for a livestock producer, of course. I wonder if it’s possible to be a long-time rancher without ever tubing a sick calf.

Risks and decisions A cow-calf operation isn’t a grain farm, yet they have a few things in common. Both require managers who keep an eye the numbers. Both are vulnerable to risk

from weather and markets. Producers in both sectors have adapted their practices as science and technology have advanced. And both require producers to make decisions on the run. Can I treat that cow myself or should I call the vet? Should I spray my canola for flea beetles? Should I cut hay today or is it going to rain? Will this crop recover from that late-spring frost or should I reseed now? Some of those choices have a short expiry date, and it’s not always easy to know the right answer. A while ago, Leeann shared some web stats with the rest of us. Grainews.ca had the highest number of Google searches of all our company’s websites. It looks like producers are turning to Grainews when they need specific information. Since our motto is practical production information, those numbers are one sign we’re getting it right. I’m not going to pretend that I know the ins and outs of running a grain farm (or a cow-calf operation, for that matter). If your canola leaves are turning purple, I’m not the person you should call. And please don’t call me about fencing, either. But I can report on the science behind herbicide resistance or the latest residue management research. I hope that’s been useful to you this winter. I hope you’ve

photo: lisa guenther

A cow in distress can turn on the humans that are trying to help

I took this photo when we tried to move the herd to a different part of the pasture. They calmly arrived at their destination, then ran in a big circle, back to where we had started. It was weird. I think they thought they were escaping. picked up a few things from Grainews to help you make better decisions through the busy season. Good luck with seeding, calving, spraying, haying and everything else you’ll be doing this spring and summer. † Lisa Guenther is field editor for Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.Guenther@fbcpublishing.com or on Twitter @LtoG.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Columns Understanding market bulls and bears

Marketing grain in a dry spring Dry early season weather can bring marketing opportunities. Get ready to take advantage Brian wittal

pring is officially upon us, though you could argue that it has been here since Christmas! I have seen equipment in the fields in Central Alberta since mid-March. Everyone wants to get the crop planted, but they realize the risks of seeding early. They may be out on the land more for their state of mind, in an effort to occupy their time until the season is right to plant. The unseasonably warm and dry winter and spring are something we may need to be concerned about — some spring showers would be a welcomed blessing. This brings to mind an old saying that you often hear repeated in the rural coffee shops at this time of year when we are faced with a dry spring season: Seed into the dust and your bins will bust! While this is by no means a guarantee of certainty it did seem to prove out last year for many across the Prairies, but can or will it happen again?

based on what they need to cover their sales. They can’t afford to speculate or hold off buying even if they think the markets may go lower — they must buy continually to ensure they keep their sales needs met. Grain companies will go on selling grain to their buyers, but with a perceived or potential production shortage they will no doubt raise their asking prices. They are taking on pricing risk until they are able to buy grain from producers to cover their sales commitments. In order to buy from farmers, grain companies may need to narrow their basis levels as an incentive to get farmers to commit stocks.

Take opportunities If the futures are moving higher and/or grain companies are offering attractive basis levels to entice deliveries, you need to consider these pricing opportunities. They may not last for long. Weather conditions should change, which could impact production potential and markets. A dry spring in Western Canada or North America doesn’t necessarily mean that world stocks will be short or that world markets will go up, so one must be aware of all world market factors in order to make the best overall marketing decisions. Is this weather

situation a localized event or is it a broader global event? If it persists will it impact local or world stock levels to any great extent? Could local or world market prices be influenced and pushed higher? If you wait too long to price because you are trying to ride out the weather market rally and pick the top, instead of pricing at profitable levels, you are exposing yourself to a lot of additional market risk. Pre-pricing at profitable levels when the opportunity is there and then using futures or options strategies to keep you in the markets for a potential rally is far less risky and a more disciplined approach to market-

ing. It should provide better results over the long term than trying to ride rallies and pick the top. Disciplined marketing is about knowing your costs and break evens, understanding market dynamics and using that knowledge to consistently lock in profits. It’s about utilizing strategies that will help you extract extra value out of the markets when it makes sense as opposed to risking it all on a game of picking the top. Be safe this spring season. † Brian Wittal has 30 years of grain industry experience, and currently offers market planning and marketing advice to farmers through his company Pro Com Marketing Ltd. (www.procommarketingltd.com).

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Selling in a dry spring A dry open spring can be a nightmare when it comes to marketing your grain. It provides hope (false or otherwise) that prices could go higher if the dry spring persists. The risk is that, if there happen to be good pricing opportunities in the springtime and farmers don’t take advantage of them because they see potential for higher prices due to drought, growers may miss out on locking in decent profits for the sake of false hopes. This is why it is important to know your break even prices for the crops you grow when setting up your marketing plan. When you know this, you can stick to your plan and take opportunities to lock in profitable prices when they are available. You can be mindful of changing market conditions but not miss opportunities. A spring weather market can provide some good pricing opportunities. The threat of lower production can push market prices higher and make grain companies narrow in their basis levels in an effort to get you to commit some of your tonnage to them. When weather uncertainty grips the marketplace no one knows what may happen or what the end results will be. Buyers will make decisions

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/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Columns Farm financial planner

Building up those off-farm assets With a big farm and few takers from the next generation a couple focuses on off-farm assets By Andrew Allentuck

n a 4,000 acre farm in southWestern Manitoba, a couple we’ll call Herb, 56, and Lorie, 45, grow grains and raise 600 head of cattle. They have been successful over the years with Herb and his brother buying the family farm in equal shares. That buyout provided Herb’s parents with a retirement income and gave Herb and his brother a chance to expand the farm. Herb and Lorie’s part of the original farm included 800 acres and half the parents’ machinery. Today, Herb and Lorie have three young children. They hope that at least one will take over the farm. Herb’s brother’s two young children have not expressed an interest in farming. Their reluctance to commit to continuing the family farm has forced Herb and Lorie to postpone succession planning. They want to build a substantial off-farm income for retirement. That way, selling off the farm would not be necessary, and one of their children could still choose to farm. Boosting offfarm investment income is the goal. Herb and Lorie approached Don Forbes and Erik Forbes of Don Forbes Associates in Carberry, Manitoba, for guidance. Their object is to develop a plan for retirement that would separate them from the farming operation. As well, they want to provide savings for each child’s post-secondary education. Herb currently takes $60,000 a year in salary from the farm and Lorie earns $38,000 a year teaching part-time. Their pre-tax income is $98,000 a year. They can and should raise their payouts, Don Forbes advises. That would provide money for more contributions to their Registered Education Savings Plans, RRSPs and Tax-Free Savings Accounts. They can easily add $8,000 to Herb’s

income from farm operations. If he then contributes $18,000 to his RRSP, he will bring his tax rate down from 43 to 33 per cent, Erik Forbes estimates. Lorie can take a $70,000 bonus from the farming corporation to add to her $38,000 teacher’s salary. Before tax, the couple’s income would be $176,000. Lorie would put $18,000 into her RRSP and thus bring her tax rate down from a 48 per cent marginal rate to 38 per cent. Herb and Lorie can set up RESPs for their three children and contribute $2,500 each every year until the kids — currently ages 11, 13 and 15 — turn 18 and are no longer eligible for the lesser of 20 per cent or $500 per year per beneficiary maximum Canada Education Savings Grant. If they contribute at that level, they will get the full 20 per cent Canada Education Savings Grant. When the children are ready for university, the eldest would have $16,550 for tuition, the middle child $29,000 and the youngest, receiving $2,500 from the parents and $500 from the CESG for seven years $42,750. The parents could even out the sums and given each child $29,450 for tuition. When opening a new RRSP for the older children in their teenage years, a double contribution of $5,000 the opening year will allow for an additional bonus raising the total to $1,000 per child. These results are in future dollars with no inflation adjustment and five per cent annual growth. The kids could get summer jobs to supplement the RESP payments, Erik Forbes notes. Herb and Lorie have contributed $5,000 each to their Tax-Free Savings Accounts. They have a present limit of $46,500 each for their TFSA. Thus each has $41,500 room for contributions. They can shift cash from their savings accounts to fill that space with income from their higher

salaries plus one-time payouts from the farm corporation. The payouts would attract tax, but long-term growth tax-free inside the TFSAs makes it worthwhile, Don Forbes says. Herb and Lorie have $32,200 each in their RRSPs. If they add draw additional pay from their farm corporation this year and in subsequent years add 18 per cent from their prior year farm salaries, the maximum allowed, then in nine years when Herb is 65, they would have $258,400 or $516,800 total in their RRSP accounts. Annuitized when herb is 65 at the same five per cent annual growth, this balance would generate $31,600 a year for 41 years. If the TFSA accounts receive $41,500 each this year and thus have $46,500 by the end of 2016 and then receive $5,500 for each for nine years to Herb’s age 65, each TFSA, growing at five per cent a year, would have a balance of $135,800 assuming the money goes into each account at the beginning of each year. The couple would thus have $271,600 when Herb is 65. If at that time this balance is annuitized for 41 years and still generating five per cent a year before inflation adjustments to Lorie’s age 95, it would generate $16,600 a year. At age 65, based on Service Canada data, Herb would receive $700 per month from the Canada Pension Plan. At her age 65, Lorie would get $650 a month from CPP. When each is 65, Old Age Security would pay $571 a month, assuming that the qualification age for OAS is rolled back to 65, as the present government has promised. The farm, still in the family, could produce $250,000 a year before tax. We will assume that this income is left in the farm corporation as retained earnings or is paid to Herb and Lorie as income from the corporation. For present purposes,

Tip of the issue

What to watch for in young corn A strong start to your corn crop will ensure you a rewarding harvest By Glenda Clezy, DuPont Pioneer

he first step in guaranteeing a profitable harvest is ensuring corn plants are thriving in the early stages of growth. At the planting to seedling stage, corn is most susceptible to seed and root rot diseases. Disease such as seedling blight, and root rots caused by pythium, fusarium or rhizoctonia could affect seedlings, particularly in cool or wet soils. Visual symptoms of affected seedlings include poor (or no) emergence, and yellow or stunted corn plants. Fungicide seed treatments are recommended. Depending on what is prevalent, insects such as wireworms, cutworms, corn rootworm larvae and seed corn maggot should be scouted for. These insects can feed on corn seed, roots or early leaf material. A corn insecticide seed treatment is the

recommended control method. Different insecticide treatments for corn are available at different rates, so understanding what pests are preasent in the area, and selecting the recommended corn seed treatment can aid in the successful establishment of a corn crop. Corn is a poor competitor with weeds in the early stages, so effective weed control from the time of planting through to the V5 stage, often referred to as the “Critical Weed Free Period” is very important to maximize corn establishment and yield. Consider your herbicide choices carefully; corn hybrids can be sensitive to some postemergent herbicides. Some herbicides have the potential to impact the development of the nodal root system or cause injury to the corn plant itself. Therefore, it is always good to check the product label for the correct timing and product rates for corn in your area.

Scout weekly to gain information on diseases, insects and weeds that may be present or at risk in the field will allow for effective, informed management decisions. Fertilizer can cause potential damage or injury to corn. Corn has a high nutrient requirement. The best time to put some fertilizer down is in the fall or in spring prior to seeding. Too much fertilizer with the seed can cause damage to the plant. Follow guidelines for fertilizer rates and placement to avoid injury to the crop. Correct seed choice at planting followed by excellent seedling care help ensure healthy, high-yielding plants. Caring for corn seedlings by familiarizing yourself with common diseases, insects, and weeds that can affect plant health and scouting for these potential problems is key to maximizing yields and profits. † Glenda Clezy is an agronomy trials manager at DuPont Pioneer.

the corporate farm income could be regarded as a top up. When the farm is sold, its appreciated value, which could be as much as $2.4 million including a capital gain of $1.5 million, might be realized without tax via the Farm Land Capital Gains Exemption for $1 million per owner, Erik Forbes explains. That money could become part of the couple’s retirement planning. Erik Forbes notes.

At retirement When Herb is 65, the couple would have RRSP income of $31,600 a year, TFSA income of $16,600 a year, Herb’s CPP at $8,400 a year and OAS at $6,846 a year. The total, $63,446 a year before tax, could be supplemented with a farm buyout from the one son they expect to continue farming. When Lorie is 65, she would add $7,800 from CPP and $6,846 a year from OAS. That would make their combination of annuitized retirement savings and government pensions $78,092 a year. If income is split, an allowance is made for TFSA tax-free income, which would be about a third of total income, then after 10 per cent average tax, they would have $5,860 a month to spend from savings and pensions plus whatever income could be derived from the farm buyout. Their 2.9 per cent mortgage with $90,000 outstanding and $1,064 monthly payments will have been paid by the end of 2024, a year before Herb’s retirement. That will free up $12,768 a year for other spending when the following year, Herb’s retirement begins. “This is a success story,” Don Forbes says. “Herb and Lorie have ample time and capital to build a comfortable retirement.” † Andrew Allentuck is author of “When Can I Retire? Planning Your Financial Future After Work” (Penguin, 2011).

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop Classic machinery

“Hesstonizing” hay Classic ad from Hesston’s early days By Scott Garvey

hen AGCO unveiled the 100,000th swather to roll out of the factory doors in Hesston, Kansas, in March, it seemed like a good time to look back at an advertisement from the original Hesston brand’s early days. Today, the original Hesston and Massey Ferguson brands have been merged, but when swathers built in that same factory were marketed in the early 1960s, this is how at least one of the ads looked. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

Publication

MacDon: Used Combine Market Source: Grainews, 1/2 page, 10.25" x 7.75", CMYK, April/June Issue

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Machinery & Shop

Anniversaries

photo: versatile

CELEBRATING MILESTONES By Scott Garvey

photo: versatile

Ag machinery anniversaries and production milestones you may not have heard about

Leaving the factory a few years after tractor production began, this truck is loaded with model 145 Versatile tractors.

Marking the 50th anniversary of tractor production in Winnipeg, Versatile introduced the Legendary Limited Edition models late last year.

achinery brands have been publicly celebrating a lot of anniversaries lately — and for good reason. They provide marketing staff with a great opportunity to emphasize past achievements and build on brand loyalty. We don’t always mention them in the pages of Grainews. But with our cover story detailing AGCO’s latest production milestone, we thought we’d take a look at a few of the others brand marketers have told us about in the past couple of years. Here’s a look at a few of them.

Case IH celebrated 50 years of combine production at its Grand Island, Nebraska, plant last July.

Case IH Last July Case IH celebrated 50 years of production at its Grand Island, Nebraska, plant, which is home to the brand’s Axial-Flow combines, along with some of sister company New Holland’s CR machines. Axial-Flow models began coming down the assembly line in Grand Island with the introduction of the AFX8010 series in 2003. The following year manufacturing of the 2388 Axial-Flow series was relocated from East Moline, Illinois, to Grand Island. Harvesting research and development along with product testing is also located at Grand Island.

Banners hanging above the main entrance to New Holland’s North American head office in Pennsylvania in 2014 pointed out a number of corporate milestones.

A special graphic was included on Golden Anniversary NH T7 tractors celebrating the Basildon England assembly plant’s 50th birthday.

New Holland

At the introduction of the John Deere W235 windrower, the brand emphasized 50 years of continuous swather production.

Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcbpublishing.com.

photo: scott garvey

John Deere In 2013 John Deere first introduced members of the farm media to its W235 self-propelled windrower at an event in Columbus, Ohio. The debut of that machine was held 50 years after the first green swather made its appearance. The new W235 included a host of engineering updates and for the fist time used the same cab previously introduced on the brand’s S Series combines. At that same 2013 event the company also displayed a classic 4020 tractor to mark another anniversary. That series was first introduced in 1963, 50 years before. †

“Pre Force” Ford tractors move down the line in what is now New Holland’s Basildon England assembly plant.

photo: scott garvey

At a press event held at the company’s New Holland, Pennsylvania, headquarters in 2014, NH was proud to point out it, too, had passed some significant milestones. 75 years ago the company that originally started as a local machine shop eventually bought the rights to a square baler with a unique — and for the the first time — reliable knotter system. 2014 also marked a total of 120 years of business under the New Holland brand name. There were other anniversaries to mention that day as well. Fifty years of mower conditioner production, as well as 40 years or round balers and combines. Across the Atlantic, the company had other anniversaries to mention. It celebrated 50 years of tractor production at its Basildon England assembly plant. On May 15, 1964, Ford’s farm equipment division opened a tractor assembly plant there. Since then, that facility has been in continuous operation churning out tractors, with ownership eventually evolving into the current New Holland. To mark the Basildon factory’s golden anniversary, NH unveiled the limited edition “Golden Jubilee” versions of its T6.160 and T7.270 Auto Command tractors at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California.

photo: scott garvey

With the first-ever Versatile four-wheel drive tractor driving out the door of the Winnipeg assembly plant in 1966, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of tractor production for the brand. Although machines built there have worn a couple of paint colours and marquees over the years, the original name has long since returned, and the company is celebrating with the release of 50 Limited Legendary Edition models that feature throwback paint schemes to the early Series II models. The company will also be giving away a classic 1966 Chevy pickup truck decked out in the same classic livery. Watch for it at farm shows this summer.

photo: case ih

Versatile

Introduced in 1963, a 4020 John Deere tractor celebrated the 50th birthday of the 20 Series. It was parked beside new 2013 machines at an event in Columbus, Ohio, that year.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Machinery & Shop

shop class

Understanding hydraulic systems By Scott Garvey

ith so many large implements now demanding multiple oil flows from high-output hydraulic systems, every producer understands meeting those specifications will almost certainly require a tractor with a closed-centre hydraulic system. Less efficient, open-centre systems were once the industry standard. And there are still many new tractors on the market today that rely on them, especially tractors in the utility horsepower class. Demands on their hydraulic systems are usually much lower than those put on high-horsepower field tractors. “Value” tractors are typically fitted with these systems as well, because they are less expensive and require a less sophisticated arrangement to function. So how, exactly, do open- and closedcentre systems differ from each other? Although specific hydraulic systems can vary somewhat in their designs and be quite complex, the fundamental concept behind each type is simple to understand. Here’s a look at what makes them different.

The open-centre system. This design uses a constant displacement pump, usually a gear type, that supplies oil continuously, whether there is a demand for it or not. When no flow is required by any individual circuit, the spool inside the control valve stays in the neutral position, which allows oil to pass right through the centre of the control block and return to the reservoir. (See Figure 1.) In the neutral position, the valve doesn’t cause a lot of restriction to oil flow, which helps keep the oil from overheating and maintains a longer service life. Persistent

high pressure caused by being forced through a restriction creates heat that would degrade oil over time. When oil flow is needed and the operator pushes a control lever (or presses an electric switch which activates a solenoid at the control valve to accomplish the same result), the spool inside the control valve moves in relation to the openings in the valve block and diverts oil flow to the circuit that requires it. (See Figure 2.) When that oil is needed to control a hydraulic ram (or cylinder), high pressure oil moves into one side and displaces oil from the other. The displaced oil flows back through another opening in the control valve and eventually into the reservoir. To ensure pressure doesn’t exceed the maximum limit, open-centre systems rely on a pressure relief valve. One fault of open-centre systems is the pump output is directly related to engine r.p.m. That means at low engine speeds pump output drops, therefore hydraulic circuits respond slowly. Another problem arises when more than one valve is activated at once. Because of the requirement that oil flow continuously, it must flow through all control valves. With valves connected in series, activating one valve can cut off or diminish oil flow to the others in a multi-valve system, so the second circuit in operation will function slowly or not at all. To overcome that problem, open-centre systems commonly use valves connected in a series-parallel arrangement. It uses a second parallel route for oil flow that connects to the valve inlet and dead ends at the last valve in a series, allowing oil to flow to all valves all the time. But with that configuration the circuit requiring the lowest system pressure will move first, followed by the next lowest, and so on.

photo and graphics: scott garvey

A look at the basics of open- and closed-centre systems

Large implements, like air drills, place very high hydraulic demands on a tractor. Only an efficient hydraulic system is up to the job of handling them.

The closed-centre system. This one offers dramatic improvements in efficiency and circuit response. Unlike the open-centre model, oil does not flow continuously through the valves. So, the engine doesn’t waste power pumping oil for no reason. (See Figure 3.) To accomplish this, closed-centre systems use a variable-displacement pump. It pumps only long enough to build up pressure at the valve inlets, then it stops. When a valve is opened, the pump senses a reduction in pressure and begins pumping again to supply oil flow. That also eliminates the need to have a pressure relief valve plumbed into the system. (See Figure 4.)

CONTROL VALVE

Figure 1. An open-centre OIL FLOW FROM PUMP

TO TANK

control valve. Oil flow from the pump passes directly through it and back to the reservoir when it is not required.

SPOOL IN NEUTRAL POSITION

OIL FLOW TO TANK

OIL RETURNING TO TANK THROUGH CONTROL VALVE

PRESSURE RELIEF VALUE

OIL FLOW FROM TANK

CONTROL VALVE PUMP

HIGH PRESSURE OIL PUSHING UP ON LOAD

OPEN-CENTRE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM IN OPERATION

Figure 2. When in operation, the spool valve moves and diverts oil flow to where it is needed, cutting off direct flow back to the reservoir. CONTROL VALVE

FROM PUMP

Figure 3. Oil pressure in a closedcentre system dead ends at the control valve when it is not required. There is no continuous flow of oil when the valve is in the neutral position. SPOOL IN NEUTRAL POSITION

OIL FLOW TO TANK

OIL RETURNING TO TANK THROUGH CONTROL VALVE

OIL FLOW FROM TANK

CONTROL VALVE

PUMP STARTS OIL FLOW ON DEMAND CLOSED-CENTRE HYRAULIC SYSTEM IN OPERATION

Figure 4. A variable displacement pump provides oil flow only when the control valve opens.

HIGH PRESSURE OIL PUSHING UP ON LOAD

BKT Tires (CANADA) Inc.

Tel: AG/IND 905-641-5636 AG/IND 604-701-9098

Because oil doesn’t have to pass through all the valve blocks in series on a closed-centre system, flow can be divided to multiple circuits at the same time. To provide better circuit responses the sizes of lines, valves and cylinders can be tailored to the flow requirements of each function. Components in an open-centre system, on the other hand, must all be sized to accept the pump’s full output. And in a closed-centre system a larger pump can be used to allow for reserve oil flow at full engine speed and still provide high efficiency at low engine r.p.m. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Machinery & Shop

Utility tractors

NH re-engineers its T5 tractors New Holland’s two-model line of T5 tractors gets a number of major updates for 2016 By Scott Garvey

photo: new holland

New Holland introduced its updated line of T5 tractors in February.

he New Holland brand started off by making a name for itself in haying equipment. Over the years as the brand has expanded its product line and global reach, that presence and reputation in the forage equipment market has remained its main marketing advantage. I’ve spoken to many of the brand’s executives several times over the past few years and one message has always been consistent: they intend to hold onto that reputation. To do help that, the company has been releasing a steady stream of updates to products like its balers and windrower. But execu-

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tives have said they see a need to look beyond updating just those implements. To really stay ahead in the forage equipment market, they think it requires offering producers an equipment package that includes a baler and tractor designed specifically to work together. So, NH tractors have recently seen a number of mechanical and digital upgrades that make them better companions for the brand’s round and square balers. In February, NH announced its latest tractor update, saying it “reengineered” its T5 tractor line, which is now Tier 4 emissionscompliant. “New Holland is a strong brand with a loyal customer base in livestock operations, hay producers and family farms,” said Gary Wojcuk, brand marketing manager for New Holland North America, in a press announcement. “The upgrades made to our T5 Tier 4B tractor build on that family heritage, to create a tractor that is more technologically advanced, better balanced, and more comfortable in every aspect for the operator. Styling has also been brought into line with that of the higher powered T6 and T7 series.” The T5s are now available with the optional Terraglide suspended front axle. And to smoothen out the ride for the operator even more, that can be paired with the Comfort Ride cab suspension feature. And front axle brakes are now available. There is also a new heavy-duty, fixed front axle option to go along with a beefier chassis that will allow the tractor’s gross weight to jump from a maximum 16,320 pounds to 17,637 (7,418 to 8,016 kilograms). It also makes the tractor more durable for front-end loader work. At the back end, engineers have beefed things up there as well, boosting three-point hitch lift capacity to 8,084 pounds (3,674 kilograms). SCV connections have been moved to a more convenient location, too. Under the hood the 3.4 litre diesels use compact SCR and low rate EGR emissions treatment systems. The company claims these engines now offer 345 foot-pounds of torque in the 107 horsepower T5.110 model and 362 foot-pounds in the117 horsepower T5.120. They hit that number at 1,500 r.p.m. And buyers get a choice of four transmissions to mate to those engines, including a new, optional AutoShift function with road and field modes. The field mode controls both engine speed and transmissions gear shifting. In the cab buyers can now choose a mechanical or electrohydraulic joystick that combines loader and transmissions shifting functions. An NH IntelliView III or IV monitor can be ordered with these models so the tractor can control any Class 2 ISOBUScompatible implement. And to keep going into the night, a new LED four-light package is available that puts out 7,800 lumens in a broad spread pattern. † Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Cattleman’s Corner ALTERNATIVE LIVESTOCK

The bison industry is on the move It takes specialized management, but there are opportunities in bison BY EDNA MANNING

27 YEARS IN BISON BUSINESS Kroeger has been raising bison since 1989 and today he and his wife Kathy run a herd of 150 animals on their 650-acre farm near Hanley, Sask. His enthusiasm hasn’t diminished since he and his father purchased their first four cows. “One of our reasons for getting into bison was the romance of the animal,” says Kroeger. “There’s just something that grabs you when you start working with them.” “They’re majestic and intelligent animals,” says Kathy. “I think there’s a spirituality about them as well. They looked after themselves long before we decided to take care of them.” Les and his father initially purchased the bison as an alternative to their dairy operation. Grain prices were low and farm diversification was the buzzword in agriculture at the time. The bison remained a hobby for the first few years while Les continued to help with the grain operation and worked off farm as an automotive technician. Les’s father passed away in 1991. As Les began focusing on building good breeding stock, the bison operation gradually expanded. Prices for breeding stock were high in the 1990s with bred cows selling for $8,000 to $10,000, and breeding bulls as high as $10,000 to $15,000. There were over 400 producers in Saskatchewan at the time. “Then BSE closed the borders to the U.S. markets,” he says. ”We were also in a marketing crunch — the industry hadn’t developed a good infrastructure for the meat market. The economy also took a downturn, so many people exited the bison industry.” Today, the bison industry is strong, with about 1,900 producers across Canada, the majority (80 per cent) of which are in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The rest are in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and B.C. “The demand for the product is high — we’re developing a phenomenal mar-

photo: edna manning

hile North American bison populations are nowhere near where they were 200 years ago, conservation measures and private breeding programs have helped to bring numbers back to support a successful, albeit specialized, agriculture sector. An estimated three to four million bison once roamed freely on the North American continent, providing the aboriginal peoples with many of their basic necessities including food, clothing, shelter and tools. By the 1880s the bison had been slaughtered to where less than 1,000 animals remained. In 1905, because extinction seemed imminent, the American Bison Society was formed to protect the animals. About 50 years later parks and game preserves began selling surplus bison to private farmers. “Today there are probably only between 7,000 and 8,000 bison free ranging on public land in North America; 3,000 to 4,000 in Canada,” says Les Kroeger, president of the Saskatchewan Bison Association and owner of Rosedale Bison. “However, we now have over 200,000 bison on privately owned farms. Altogether in North America, we’re getting close to half a million bison back again. It’s been a very successful conservation effort by many people. Without getting bison back into agriculture, that wouldn’t have happened,”

Saskatchewan farmers Les and Kathy Kroeger have been sold on bison for nearly 30 years. ket,” says Kroeger. “It’s a niche market, but we’re not filling it. We’re exporting in excess of 60 per cent of our slaughter animals to the U.S. And domestically, we’re hardly scratching the surface on the possibilities. Currently, most of our focus in the industry is expanding the herd size and getting the numbers high enough to meet market demand.”

ACCESSING MARKETS Marketing bison meat and other products is one of the greatest obstacles facing producers, Les says. One option is local bison sales. “We have larger (wholesale) marketers willing to buy animals right off your farm, and many farm-gate their meat products. So there are a number of different avenues, and, as the industry develops, those markets are built with it.” While there are provincially inspected processing plants that help local producers, there are no federally inspected processers in Saskatchewan, which limits out-of-province meat sales. In order to sell to other provinces or export the meat into the U.S. the animals have to be sent to a federally inspected facility. Many Saskatchewan bison are transported live to a federal plant in Lacombe, Alberta, to North Dakota or Denver, Colorado. With the growing trend in “locally grown” as well as an interest in organic, grass-fed meat, bison is the perfect fit for conscientious consumers. Bison meat is a nutrient-dense, flavourful meat that is high in protein, low in cholesterol, and very low in fat. It also has a greater concentration of iron, zinc, and essential fatty acids than beef.

EASY KEEPERS Bison are healthy and hardy animals that require very low maintenance. They thrive on the native prairie grasses and are adept at converting the energy from lower-protein forage more efficiently than other species. Les has never seen any calving problems. Because cows don’t breed until they’re two years of age, they are physically mature when they give birth. Calves generally weigh between 40 - 50 pounds. “If you’re feeding cows grain late in pregnancy, they might be trying to give birth to 70 - 80 pound calves, and that’s when you could see difficulties,” he says.

Breeding season for bison starts late August and goes into October. Bulls are very protective of the cows at this time and can be dangerous. Cows are similarly more protective when they have small calves. Generally, however, bison pose minimal danger. Because bulls do not reach maturity until they’re two, they are left intact and go for slaughter about that age. “Leaving them intact is like a natural growth hormone,” says Kroeger. “We don’t use any antibiotics, growth hormones or stimulants of any kind — that’s an industry standard.” There are three important health factors producers have to keep in mind. Having mineral supplements available is recommended. Treating animals annually for parasites is also important. Bison were nomadic animals historically, so they may have only grazed the same ground every second year. Now that they’re confined in smaller areas, their resistance to parasites is lower. The third health consideration is stress, which poses a big factor in their ability to stay healthy. Anytime they are under stress it makes them vulnerable to illnesses and diseases.

LOW-STRESS HANDLING The Kroegers are advocates of low-stress handling procedures. “Our members have a strong commitment to animal welfare. In our operation, we handle them as little as possible,” he says. “We’ve got handling facilities built specifically for bison, which is a huge asset. We don’t do anything fast when we work with bison — the less activity around them means we can work them calmer and slower. Once a year we separate the calves, put ear tags in and treat the cows. Then they go right back out to pasture.” “The way Les handles the animals is incredibly humane,” says Kathy. “You never see them upset or agitated, even when he works around them.” The animals are monitored closely during shipping to keep stress at a minimum. This includes the use of proper trailers and limiting the amount of time they’re in transport. Bison do not require man-made shelters. They seek out natural shelter in trees, and their thick coats are well designed for cold winters. Bison do require more substantial fenc-

ing and handling equipment than cattle. Kroeger uses high tensile wire on eightfoot posts. “We have all our perimeter fences five feet high,” he says.

THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE What advice does he have for anyone who would like to get into raising bison? “Talk to other producers and have your plan in place before you begin,” says Kroeger. “There are many different ways you can get into the industry and markets are there for everybody — straight cow-calf producers or breeders, for example. “There’s also a lot of information available through the Canadian Bison Association. Every region has a local association, including B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec that all work together.” The Kroegers butcher bison for their own use and do some farm-gate sales. “By doing the slaughtering here means there’s less stress on the animal and a better quality meat as a result,” he says. The couple has converted all their grain land into pasture and they’re currently focusing on building good breeding stock and growing high quality forage. “By putting more effort into growing good grasses, we’re getting more grazing days and the bison are utilizing the forage more effectively,” says Kroeger. Kathy works full time as a superintendent in a school division. She also helps Les with paperwork and herd record keeping for breeding purposes. Les frequently gives presentations to school students about bison farming. He also works with agriculture and veterinary students on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon. Educating the youth serves two purposes, says Kathy. “First they learn about farm life and where food comes from, and secondly, they learn to have an appreciation for these animals and how healthy bison meat is,” she says. “These students will be our industry’s future consumers, so the more we can help educate them on what we’re doing on our farms and ranches, the better off we’ll be. This is a labour of love for both of us,” she says. For more information visit www.canadianbison.ca † Edna Manning is a Sask. based freelance writer.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner FARM INNOVATIONS

All-season solution to hand-feeding hay heather smith thomas

ach year on our ranch we keep a few heifer calves to raise as replacements for the cow herd. We keep them in a field next to the calving barn and pens, close enough to electricity that we can run an extension cord through the barn pens to their water tank for the tank heater. In sub-zero weather it’s nice to have water for the heifers that won’t freeze; they drink more and we don’t have the chore of chopping ice. We feed them a big grass bale every few days in their bale feeder, using our most palatable grass hay. They grow nicely, having free-choice feed in front of them all the time. Since the grass hay isn’t high enough in protein for growing calves, we also feed them alfalfa hay twice a day, morning and evening. We stack a few big bales of alfalfa in the hold pen next to their field. There’s usually snow on the ground through winter, so we’ve been using a big plastic sled to take alfalfa hay out to them during morning and

evening chores. In dry fall weather we used a big wheelbarrow. As the heifers grow, however, they eat more and need more hay, and the big plastic sled (the same one we’ve used for many years to bring a newborn calf to the barn in cold weather) holds more hay than a wheelbarrow. We prefer to feed them this way — with a wheelbarrow or sled, rather than use a truck, since it doesn’t take very much alfalfa hay per feeding, and this makes the heifers very gentle and used to people. When we walk among them twice a day to feed alfalfa, they become very easy to handle. They come running and follow us anywhere whenever we call them. They are very user-friendly cows for the rest of their lives. The hay sled works great most of the winter, sliding nicely over the snow or frozen ground. Springtime and mud is more difficult. It can be a challenge pulling the loaded sled. I am usually the one feeding the heifers, often by myself, and as I get older I am not as strong as I used to be. This spring we made it easier to pull. We actually have two sleds. One is older and the bottom was wearing out after serving multiple tasks (such as pulled behind a fourwheeler to haul firewood or other

things, often during times of year there was no snow), dragged along the driveway. These uses had worn a few holes in the bottom, so we covered the bottom with tin to eliminate those holes and reinforce the bottom. After the snow melted this spring and it became harder to pull a sled over dry ground or mud, we mounted the tin-bottom sled onto a little four-wheeled cart platform. These little light-weight cart frames are not very expensive but we got ours even cheaper; it was a used one at our local farm-feed store — it had been used for hauling salt blocks from one place to another around the facility. They didn’t need it anymore and we got it for $20. The sturdy little tires and cart frame can easily carry several hundred pounds so we’ll never overload it hauling hay. The handle makes it easy to pull. We bolted our old sled onto it, and now it’s much easier for one person to haul alfalfa hay out to the heifers, and my grandchildren love to help. Now we have a winter sled and a summer sled/cart, making the feed chore an easy task no matter what the ground surface is like. † Heather Smith Thomas is a long time Grainews columnist who ranches with her husband Lynn near Salmon, Idaho. Contact her at 208-756-2841.

photos: heather smith thomas

With a few modifications it works on all terrain

Attaching a sled to this heavy-duty cart makes it handy to haul hay to cattle regardless of the ground conditions.

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Cattleman’s Corner FARM MANAGEMENT

Something magical about 10:2:1 ratio A per cent here and there in reproduction and growth makes a difference BY SEAN MCGRATH

f it is possible to have a favourite ratio, 10:2:1 is mine. The reason for the favouritism is this ratio comes from one of my favourite pieces of extension material, done by Melton et al. way back in 1995. The 10:2:1 ratio reflects the relative importance of reproduct ion:production:product, particularly for those marketing calves directly from the cow herd. We often forget about this ratio in our everyday operations, but it is an especially important one to remember during bull-buying season. The math seems pretty simple. Reproduction is five times more important than growth and 10 times more important than carcass in terms of profitability, if we are marketing our calves out of the cow herd. In reality it is a lot more nuanced than that and may even be shifting for your cow herd.

photo: file

HOW IT WORKS

A.I. service can be an option for introducing improved genetics and overall herd performance 10:2:1 RATIO PRODUCTION SYSTEM

REPRODUCTION

PRODUCTION

PRODUCT

Traditional

Value Chain

Integrated

why grow winter wheat?

ROI

winter wheat

than spring wheat

see the proof at growwinterwheat.ca

Source: Statistics Canada CANSIM Table 001-0017 http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=0010017&tabMode=dataTable&srchLan=-1&p1=-1&p2=9 © Western Winter Wheat Initiative 2014

I thought working through some basic examples would help to illuminate how this relative emphasis works. Let’s use a 100head cow herd. The herd breeds 100 cows, and has a 15 per cent culling rate. If you think that’s high, I would suggest it is actually rather low for most of us. To put that in perspective if you keep all your own replacements you would have to keep only 30 per cent of your heifer calf crop to maintain herd size. With a 15 per cent culling rate from our 100 cows we are instantly at 85 calves. If we assume another five per cent loss to weaning, we would produce 80 calves for every 100 cows that are bred to a bull the year before. Let’s use a 500-pound average weaning weight in our example. Based on these numbers a one per cent improvement in weaning weight will result in five pounds more per calf, or 400 pounds of calf (80 weaned calves x five pounds per calf). This also has the effect of slightly lowering the price per pound for the group if we consider a normal price slide, where heavier calves are worth slightly less per pound. If we make a one per cent improvement in fertility across our 100-cow herd, this means that we produce one more calf. The result is 500 pounds. This is not quite as simple as adding 500 pounds though. Remember that 15 per cent culling rate. That means we need to keep 15 to 20 replacement heifers to keep our cow numbers up, assuming we cull open cows and have that same 15 per cent open rate on our replacement heifers. Improving fertility by one per cent equates to one less open cow, which means we only need to replace 14 cows, and thus we have freed up another entire calf for sale. Additionally, when you do the math, it means we wind up with more bred heifers that we can either market or retain into the cow herd. Another important aspect of

this ratio is the consideration that more performance may come at a cost concerning cow size and the resulting cow maintenance cost. Finally, since calves are sold as pounds of calf, the driver of growth, trumps that of carcass characteristics.

USE THE RATIO Once you start figuring out the angles, the 10:2:1 ratio makes quite a bit of sense. It also is something that deserves marked consideration as the industry evolves. Because genetic change takes a long time in the beef industry, thinking about where we are today is not good enough. Market signals are increasingly moving backward down the chain. Recently this has been highlighted by the announcement of the agreement between BIXS and Cargill to exchange data. As well marketing avenues have changed to include more forward selling and contracting of calves, and direct selling and sourcing. It is entirely likely that there will be a monumental shift in a lot of operations towards the more integrated methods of production, where the farm is more closely tied to the consumer. This means an increased focus on performance and on carcass and endproduct qualities. If we retain ownership and market on a grid system the reproduction:production:product ratio actually is closer to 2:1:1. This means fertility is still the prime profit driver, but it is now only twice as important as either growth and carcass, and carcass and growth characteristics are tied in terms of driving profit. The extreme other end of the scale is where the owner of the cow herd, also owns the retail outlet and markets specific cuts on the shelf. In this case, profit is driven squarely by endproduct merit and growth and reproduction take a back seat in importance. Because each calf is worth more, and the value is driven by end-product quality on the shelf getting more calves is less important than getting the right quality of calf for the market. If you have the scale where you can use different types of sires in the cow herd, or you are purchasing replacements you can have the best of all worlds in many ways by maintaining fertility and focusing on carcass and growth traits with your terminal sire. It is very important to maintain the focus on the right balance of traits for each type of sire used in these systems. No matter what your system, there are definite signs that the shift towards integration is in full force, and breeding beef cattle takes a long time. Now might be an opportune time to have a look at your cowherd and your future direction and start planning your ratios moving forward. † Sean McGrath is a rancher and consultant from Vermilion, Alta. He can be reached at sean@ranchingsystems.com or (780)8539673. For additional information visit www. ranchingsystems.com.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Cattleman’s Corner FORAGE BREEDING

Drought-tolerant alfalfa studied Plants hold more water, produce more biomass benefits in other forage crops such as red clover, and allow them to grow on marginal land. The benefits could be two-fold for cattle producers facing high land prices, allowing them to use marginal land for forage acres, or potentially providing a source of revenue as a bioenergy crop. “In order for alfalfa to be competitive as a bioenergy crop it needs to be able to grow on marginal land,” says Hannoufa. “So the ability of this gene to allow alfalfa to grow under drought conditions, in addition to the increased biomass production, and improved nitrogen fixation, would allow it to be grown on marginal lands and not compete against food crops like corn, soybean or others.” It will be some time before farmers will be able to plant commercial varieties of droughtresistant alfalfa. All the research to date has been under controlled greenhouse conditions and the next step, says Hannoufa, is to work with collaborators to test the new strains under normal field conditions across North America. † Angela Lovell is a freelance writer based in Manitou, Manitoba.

AAFC

griculture Canada researchers have discovered a gene in alfalfa that could help to make the crop more drought resistant. A team of researchers, led by Dr. Abdelali Hannoufa at AAFC’s London Research and Development Centre in Ontario, working in collaboration with industry partner, Forage Genetics International in the United States, discovered the gene called microRNA156. MicroRNA156 “is a master gene regulator,” says Hannoufa. “It functions by regulating a network of other genes, called downstream genes, which control yield, stress tolerance, and other traits.” The gene works in a number of ways to make the alfalfa plant more drought tolerant. “In alfalfa, we found that this gene causes certain effects that make the plants more resistant to drought stress,” says Hannoufa. “One of the physiological effects is it allows the plant to maintain water, so it reduces water loss under drought conditions, and allows the plant to survive longer under water shortages. Also, plants with high levels

of this gene have longer roots and more branched roots, which allow them to reach deeper into the soil to absorb water. These plants have enhanced levels of chemicals called compatible solutes in their cells, which also help the plant to retain water.” The gene also produces more biomass and delays flowering; two characteristics that are very desirable for cattle producers. “Alfalfa producers want to maximize forage yield and so they try to delay harvest as much as possible, but delaying harvest usually reduces forage quality,” says Hannoufa. “This gene delays flowering, so producers can increase yield but without negatively impacting quality.” Another effect of the gene is to improve nitrogen fixation. “The plants have longer roots but they also have more nodules, which allow them to fix nitrogen at a higher rate,” he says. “This basically means reduced fertilizer use because the plants are able to get the nitrogen from the soil, which benefits farmers, and also the environment because you reduce fuel use and nitrogen losses.” Hannoufa says the gene has potential to provide the same

photo: courtesy

BY ANGELA LOVELL

Agriculture Canada’s Dr. Abedlali Hannoufa says identifying a genetic regulator in alfalfa could lead more drought tolerant varieties.

A WELL WORKED FIELD IS A THING OF BEAUTY

Kubota’s family of hay tools —more power, better design and outstanding efficiency just when you need it the most. kubota.ca

/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Cattleman’s Corner Dairy Corner

Tips for preventing selective eating Cows have a knack for sorting out the parts of a ration they like best BY PETER VITTI

ecently, I attended the 2016 We s t e r n C a n a d i a n D a i r y Seminar and took in several of the excellent presentations. One of the talks was by Tom Oelberg, who discussed the mixing of the milk cow’s Total Mixed Ration (TMR) as well as some of the improper diets that are often put down in the feed bunk. This lecture made me think we should always implement good mixing and feeding practices to prevent lactating cows from sorting out their diets. Dr. Oelberg is a dairy field technical specialist with Diamond V an Iowa-based animal nutrition and health company. This is pertinent TMR information, because I find that given the chance, lactating dairy cows can become skilled masters at sorting their rations. For example, I have literally seen cows lay their heads flat against the concrete bunk floor and pick out the more tasty grain/concentrate particles and leave the rest of the diet. Unfortunately, when they gobble up this part of the diet, it tends to be low in effective fibre and therefore makes them susceptible to subclinical acidosis or SARA. If left unchecked, SARA will eventually compromise their milk performance and health. From a dairy nutritionist’s standpoint,

I believe that if I can reduce the conditions that cause cows to sort their bunk ration; SARA and other related feed problems are not likely to become a significant issue. I find that there are two major reasons, which makes some TMR diets easier to sort than others by dairy cows: (1) a “dry” dairy diet and/or (2) large particle size variation amongst added feedstuffs. In the first case, an excessively dry TMR has a low physical density. This allows dairy cattle with a shake of their head, to separate the finer grain and protein supplement material from coarser forage fibres. Subsequently, it is much harder for them to separatea well-mixed lactating TMR that is about 50 per cent moisture. In order to achieve this goal, dairy producers can add up to seven kg (15 lbs) of water per lactating head into a TMR diet in order bring moisture content into this optimum range. Again, a dairy diet with various feed particle sizes makes it easy for cows to sort out dairy diets because they can literary “un-mix” their diet. One way to stop them is to add forages with a modest particle length of four to 7.5 cm (1.5 - 3.0 inches). The idea being that cows tend to sort and reject long particles, but are willing to eat medium-sized ones; those often long enough to help meet forage-fibre requirements.

TIPS FOR A MIXED TMR Given these two underlying reasons for sorting, most people either have a general sorting problem in the milking barn or one pops up on occasion (re: hot weather). Therefore, I have five suggestions that helps us mix a proper TMR and is harder for dairy cows to sort: 1. Moisture testing — It is a good idea to test the dry matter content of the major silages (re: corn and/or barley silage) and the other added wet by-products (re: wet distillers grains) added to the TMR and also of the entire bunk ration fed to the cows. If water is added to the diet, the amount should be recorded. Such information is useful when future moisture adjustments are made. 2. Particle testing — Use the Penn State particle separator to determine particle variations within the diet. A sample of the daily mix should be taken, separated out, and fractions calculated. Between six to 10 per cent of the sample weight should lie on the top screen. It should also be something that the cows like to eat; not cobs or woody alfalfa stems. If more than 15 per cent of the ration remains on the top screen, the chances are good that cows will sort this ration. 3. Grind forages — Long-stem hays should be coarse ground (ahead of time) to match the particle size of the other

feed components of the TMR. This is most important when more than 2.0 kg of hay per head is fed. 4. Manage the mixer — Many typical TMRs require about three to six minutes of actual mixing time to make a consistent uniform diet. Furthermore, dairy producers should make sure that their mixer wagons are in good working order and consider a checklist for scheduled maintenance (Tom Oelberg, 2016 WCDS). 5. Measure feed refusal — Take a sample of the feed refused by the cows. As part of good bunk management practices, dairy cows should leave about two to three per cent of the original feed put down. Although, it could be picked through, daily feed refusal should be similar in appearance to the fresh TMR. If particle profile of a sample is tested, the amount left on the top screen should not be greater than 10-points compared to the original TMR. It’s anybody’s guess why many cows sort TMR rations. Maybe it’s part of their natural grazing nature or a modern opportunity to eat the tasty treats in their feed. Regardless, dairy producers should follow these few practical steps when mixing up a dairy TMR, which should be eaten in its entirety by all cows coming up to the feed bunk. † Peter Vitti is an independent livestock nutritionist and consultant based in Winnipeg. To reach him call 204-2547497 or by email at vitti@mts.net.

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Home Quarter Farm Life SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Best Mother’s Day gift ever? It could be responsible, respectful adult children Elaine Froese

opefully you are reading this in May because you’ve been so busy getting the crop in. I’m writing this on the last day of March after a road trip out west coaching families. The theme lately has been older brothers and young brothers (a good bit younger) trying to figure out how to farm together. It is a bit of a trick since the older brother has usually got quite a bit more equity due to the fact that he has been on the farm for a decade or more. This dilemma of trying to give each sibling what they need as a successor sometimes breaks a mother’s heart. She loves all of her children, as Dad does, and she is trying to figure out what is the way ahead so that the family will be in harmony, and the farm will have a strong team. What is the best Mother’s Day gift ever? It could be adult children who show up as loving adults, respon-

sible, respectful and ready to create solutions. It is the farming successors who show that family relationships are the core value to be protected. How can this work? 1. Come to the table. Be willing to discuss ideas and options. What is your big-picture vision of farming with your parents and your siblings? 2. Involve the daughters-inlaw. Readers have been asking for an article on daughters-in-law who farm. I am that person. I am a farm partner who supports the farm team. Some DILs are more active agronomists, livestock keepers and bookkeepers. Everyone’s role can look different, but all are important. In my books, the farmer’s spouse can be a DIL or an SIL (son-in-law). The DIL needs to understand what kind of debt is going to be serviced, and be clear that she is willing to help bring in cash or income for family living. If she is a homemaker, that is fine, but the farm will have to cash flow more revenue for debt servicing. Is this viable? 3. Know your family living costs. Once you cover your basic living costs, what do you have left

for servicing debt or buying assets? You need disposable cash to grow. 4. Realize that you will always be the oldest, middle or youngest child. You cannot change your birth order or become older to “catch up” to your older farming sibling. You can grow up, be mature, and make responsible choices with your time, resources, and energy. I know a young rancher who worked hard with neighbours to make hay arrangements for his growing cattle herd, and he also bartered his labour to get ahead. He was not using his youth as an excuse to just coast. 5. Visit your lender and find out what you are good for in terms of loans. Do you know your net worth? How much money could you come up with quickly to leverage some debt for an awesome opportunity to gain assets to farm? You might not be able to afford land, but can you access some rented land and pay for inputs? 6. Be patient. It took your parents 40 years to get where they are today. Be open to learning more about financial transparency. Negotiate what you are willing to commit to and for how long. If your parents are going to

roll over or gift assets they want to know that their wealth will be protected. They also want your marriage to be strong and enduring. Set some reasonable timelines and dates on a paper so that everyone can digest what a workable timeline is for everyone to get closer to their farming goals. 7. Remember to book time for fun. May is a hard month for moms to get time off to celebrate Mother’s Day when the crop-planting machine is hungry for more acres. Strong families celebrate. Appreciation and encouraging the heart of your farm business is done with words of affirmation, gifts, and time spent together with gratitude. Don’t kid yourself that all the stuff you collect in your house is important; life is not about things. Write your mother some nice words in a card this year. 8. Decide every day how you are going to intentionally add to your farm family’s emotional bank account. When siblings farm together, especially at different stages of the family life cycle, they need to recognize that they will always be in different phases of the life cycle. Parents are not responsible for making all of their children economically equal, yet

their heartstrings are pulled to want to help each child achieve success. Farm owners may want to help the younger siblings, just as they have helped the older farm and non-farm siblings. This is not easy. The founders need to take care of their own income streams for the next 30 years, and protect their wealth as they make transition of ownership gradually. It also helps if there is a personal wealth bubble, as Merle Good says, to help draw non-farm cash for living needs as we age. 9. Your mom will always be your mom. Someday she and Dad may also be your business partner. This is where role confusion really mucks people up. They cannot switch “hats” as they relate to each other in the different roles they play. Practise saying, “As your child I feel valued and respected as a member of this family, and as your future business partner I am looking forward to creating solutions to make a great future for my own family.” † Elaine Froese, CSP, CAFA, CHICoach writes with real people in mind, but her stories are compilations of many years of coaching farm families. Buy her books at www.elainefroese. com, like her at “Farm Family Coach” on Facebook and tweet @elainefroese. Be thankful if your mom is still with you on this earth.

Watch AgCanada TV and be inspired AgCanada TV web series informs and motivates farmers Gain a new perspective on your farm, your family and your future with this informative video series from Farm Credit Canada.

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J.P. Gervais, explains the relationship between exchange rates and Canadian exports and why Canada remains competitive despite the declining dollar. 

Ag Industry Scores Viral Victory Greg Peterson, from Peterson Farm Brothers, discusses his success using various forms of social media to promote agriculture.

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/ grainews.ca APRIL 26, 2016

Home Quarter Farm Life

Baked pork chop rice — Hong Kong style This may look intimidating to make but it is well worth the effort

BY DIANA CHAN

izzling fried rice and crispy breaded pork chops topped with a flavourful tomato-based sauce and gooey cheese, all baked together in the oven. Gook joo pah fan, or baked pork chop rice, is a very popular quintessential Hong Kong dish that can be found in casual Chinese cafés called cha chaan teng all over Hong Kong and Macau. It may seem a bit peculiar at first to see fried rice together with cheese, but it’s a perfect, and might I add delicious, example of how Chinese and western influences meet in Hong Kong cuisine. With a mom from Macau and a dad from Hong Kong, I ate, if possible, more than my fair share of this dish while growing up in Vancouver, B.C. (With a large Chinese population, Vancouver has an abundance of all sorts of Chinese restaurants.) But now that I’m living in Moose Jaw, Sask., I find myself far from any cha chaan teng and so I set out on a bit of a mission to replicate this family favourite in my own kitchen. This dish has three parts to it, but do not be intimidated. I promise you — it’s worth the effort! The secret to proper fried rice is you actually need cold, preferably leftover, rice. If you use freshly cooked rice, you’ll end up with mushy fried rice. For breading the pork chops, I use flaky Japanesestyle panko bread crumbs, which you can find in any chain supermarket. However, you can substitute with regular unseasoned store-bought or homemade bread crumbs. †

BAKED PORK CHOP RICE (THIS SERVES 4) Sauce: 1/2 yellow onion 1/2 tbsp. canola oil 1 c. low-sodium chicken stock 1 can (156 ml) tomato paste 1/2 c. ketchup 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 1-1/2 tbsp. sugar 2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp. lukewarm water 2 tomatoes Salt and pepper Rice: 4 c. cold cooked jasmine rice, refrigerated for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight (1-1/2 cups uncooked rice) 2 large eggs 1 tbsp. canola oil 1/4 tsp. salt Pork chops: 4 boneless pork loin chops 2 large eggs 1/2 c. all-purpose flour 1 c. panko bread crumbs Salt and pepper Canola oil for frying 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

photo: diana chan

Editor’s note: Amy Jo Ehman will return. We are happy to have Diana Chan as a guest columnist while Amy Jo is away.

First, cut up onion into large chunks for the sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the onion with the oil until the onion starts to turn translucent. Lower the heat and stir in the chicken stock, cornstarch mixture, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and sugar. Let it gently simmer with a lid on for 10 minutes. Chop up tomato into roughly bite-size pieces, toss them in, and let the sauce simmer for another few minutes uncovered. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Next is the fried rice. In a

bowl, whisk eggs together with salt. Heat up the oil in a wok or large frying pan over mediumhigh heat. When the oil is nice and hot, add your rice and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Now create a well in the middle of the rice and pour in the eggs. Very casually start stirring the eggs into the rice and then stir-fry it all together for a few minutes. Spread the fried rice into either a 9-inch pie plate or a casserole dish. Preheat the oven to 350 F and start heating up oil for frying pork chops. If you don’t have a deep fryer, you can use

a wok, a large pot or deepwalled saucepan. You’ll need at least an inch of oil heated to 325 to 350 F. Using a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin, pound the pork chops between some cling wrap until they are about 3/4 inch thick. Set out three large plates: one for the eggs, which have been lightly beaten, one for the flour, and the final one for the breadcrumbs. Season the pork chops with some salt and pepper and then one by one, dredge in the flour, making sure you completely coat the pork chop. Next, dip into the egg, again making sure it’s completely coated, and then press into the bread crumbs. Fry the pork chops one or two at a time (you don’t want to crowd the oil) for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Let the pork chops rest for a couple of minutes on some paper towel and then cut each into 1-inch strips. Finally, it’s time to assemble everything together. Scatter the strips of pork over the rice and then pour the sauce all over top. Sprinkle on the cheeses and then pop into the oven for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

FROM THE FARM

Making cheese from our goats’ milk We love cheese so what could be better plus some is used for making soaps and lotions Debbie Chikousky

e absolutely love baby goats. They are so cute and full of energy, and the arrival of them means milk. From this we make fresh cheese, feta, goat kefir and the leftovers go into soaps and lotions. We are trying to share this year with the kids and get started slightly earlier than usual. A friend insisted that at six weeks of age she separates the dams from the kids for the night, and many farms wean completely at this age, so we were confident that it wouldn’t harm them in any way. We were just concerned the mothers would hold back the milk and it would be a waste of time. The dam pen has beautiful alfalfa hay for the night and water, and they love it. They can see and hear the kids but get to have special feed. They are milked then reunited. The best part for us is on Sunday we don’t have to milk before church, which definitely speeds up chore time. The other advantage is the does seem to be milking heavier this way, and we don’t mind feeding them well to keep their body conditions up. We have also noticed that when we freeze goat milk before pasture season

begins the milk doesn’t go clumpy when thawed, the way pasture milk always did for us. For soap making this doesn’t matter, but for drinking, a cottage cheese-textured milk takes a bit of getting used to. By far, the favourite goat milk treat for our family is feta. It doesn’t freeze well due to its high salt content so it is truly seasonal and a very easy cheese to make.

FETA CHEESE 1 g allon whole goat’s milk (store bought or your own) 2 ounces mesophilic starter culture Warm 1 gallon whole goat’s milk. Add 2 ounces of mesophilic goat cheese culture and mix in thoroughly. Allow to ripen (set) for 1 hour. Check to make sure the milk is at 86 F. Dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet (or 1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet) in 1/4 cup cool water. Stir gently into the milk for several minutes. Cover and allow to set for 1 hour. Still at 86 F — Cut the curd into 1/2inch cubes. Allow to set undisturbed for 10 minutes. Still at 86 F — Gently stir the curd for 20 minutes.

Line a colander with cheesecloth. Pour the curds into the colander. Tie the four corners of the cheesecloth into a knot and hang to drain for 4 hours. Take down the bag and slice the curd into 1-inch slices. Cut the slices into 1-inch cubes. Sprinkle the cubes with 1 tablespoon of coarse salt (we used 1 tablespoon per gallon, but you may need to gauge this for your own taste) and cover. Place in the fridge, covered for 4-5 days to ripen. If a stronger-flavoured cheese is desired the cheese may be stored in a refrigerated brine solution for 30 days. The brine is made by adding 2-1/4 ounces (1/3 cup) of coarse salt to 1/2 gallon of water. Another of our family favourites is chevre — a soft goat cheese. It freezes very well, and is also extremely easy to make. We also use it for any recipe that calls for cow’s milk cream cheese.

SOFT GOAT CHEESE 1/2 gallon whole goat’s milk 1 ounce mesophilic starter Liquid rennet (vegetable rennet is fine for this cheese) Warm 1/2 gallon whole goat’s milk to 72 F. Stir in one ounce of mesophilic

goat cheese starter culture. Place 5 tablespoons of cool water in a measuring cup. Add 1 drop liquid rennet and stir. Add 1 tablespoon of this diluted rennet to the milk. Stir thoroughly. Cover and allow the milk to set at 72 F for 18 hours, until it coagulates. Scoop the curd into goat cheese moulds. These moulds are of foodgrade plastic and measure 3-1/4 inches in height. When they are full they should be placed to drain in a convenient spot. After 2 days of draining, the cheese will have sunk down to about 1 inch in height and will maintain a firm shape. The cheese can now be eaten or wrapped in plastic wrap and stored for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. (I place butter muslin in a colander and drain it the same way we do the feta. When it stops dripping I divide into 250gram pieces and double wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.) The cheese-making supplies we use come from www.glengarrycheesemaking. on.ca/, phone (613) 347-1141. There is a company now in Winnipeg that carries supplies: http://grapeandgrain. ca/?s=cheese. Our family is very fond of cheese so we are hoping that we can make enough and still meet our soap production needs this summer. † Debbie Chikousky farms at Narcisse, Manitoba

APRIL 26, 2016 grainews.ca /

Home Quarter Farm Life

A celebrity chef in the community BY SHARON ELLIOTT

hen people call Deanna Brown a celebrity chef it makes her laugh. “I’m neither a celebrity nor a chef! But I love to cook!” And after being a contestant on season two of the national televised cooking competition, “MasterChef Canada,” she’s keen to continue learning everything she can about cooking — on and off camera. Deanna and her husband, Jeff, live in Milestone (30 minutes south of Regina) and farm with Jeff’s three brothers and their families at Brown Family Farms. The brothers invented a grain bag roller and with it a new business: Brown Bros. Welding. Deanna embraces the farming experience. At harvest, she loves taking lentils off the combine to cook for the next meal, or handpicking a sample of durum and grinding it to make fresh pasta. She, her sisters-in-law, and mother-in-law have a schedule for preparing meals when the men are working in the fields. When it’s her turn, she thrives with the challenge and the logistics of planning and preparing a meal, then keeping it hot while transporting

and serving it from the back of a vehicle. For the past 10 years, she has been collecting (and creating) recipes to make an annual recipe book (complete with pictures) for herself and for Christmas gifts. As a mother of two children (ages nine and 13), manager for the house and business accounts, and involved in the community, she still makes time to watch her favorite show, “MasterChef Canada.” “I have always been interested in cooking shows and follow all the episodes,” she said. “I have pretended to have a cooking show since I was a little girl growing up in Avonlea!” Brown applied online to “MasterChef Canada” in May 2014 “on a whim… to amuse my children,” she says, never dreaming she’d get in. She didn’t even tell her husband as he was busy seeding. A few weeks later she received a call from a production assistant and was interviewed over the phone. She was invited to Calgary to present a dish for tasting and an on-camera interview. “At the time I was thrilled, but I didn’t tell anyone (except for my husband and children)!” She had the summer to prepare to go to Toronto, if she was selected. So she filled the freezer, cleared

photo: sharon elliott

Deanna Brown from Milestone, Sask. made it to top 20 on the TV show ‘MasterChef Canada’

Deanna Brown was thrilled to be selected as a contestant. her calendar, helped the kids get ready for back to school, and got ahead on the farm accounts. She picked and canned saskatoon berries for a dish she had created and hoped to use: a 10-layer cinnamon torte. She practised cooking techniques (like filleting a fish). All along she expected to be eliminated. “I’m just a mom in southern Saskatchewan.” Yet she thought the producers would be looking

for someone from Saskatchewan. Why not a mom from rural Saskatchewan? The call came in mid-August that she had been selected as a contestant on the show. They wanted her in Toronto in a few weeks: right in the middle of harvest. Her sisters-in-law and momin-law adjusted their schedule of preparing meals for the men so she could get away. Those who knew of Deanna’s upcoming adventure were sworn to complete secrecy! Of the thousands of people who apply, only 50 are chosen for the on-air cooking competition. After the first round, 25 receive the white apron indicating they can go on in the contest; the other half of the group are sent home. Deanna received the white apron — a highlight of her time on the show — and was promoted to the second round: the 60-minute ‘pressure test’ — and yes, you only have 60 minutes to plan, prepare, and serve a meal. She was more excited than nervous and thrived with the challenge. Season two was filmed in the fall of 2014. Just before it was aired in February 2015, the contestants were announced; she remembers the people in her community were surprised and

excited when they heard she was going to be on “MasterChef Canada.” Although eliminated after the second round, everyone was proud that she made it to the top 20. “My downfall was putting too much food on the plate. Coming from a farming background the goal is to have all the essential food groups and a substantial serving — not how the food is ‘plated!’ We dish out from the pots at home — except on special occasions when we might use serving dishes!” All in all, it was a terrific learning experience and has inspired her to share her love of cooking with others. She has since had numerous opportunities to speak with women’s groups, demonstrate cooking on television, and support fundraising and farmers’ market events always with a focus on food. “People were pretty excited to have a ‘celebrity chef’ in the community. People are still interested in the experience.” You can follow Deanna Brown at http:// kitchenmarathons.blogspot.ca/ on twitter: @DeannaMKB, or Instagram: deanna.brown. † Sharon Elliott is a freelance writer and lives in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

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