Grainews by Farm Business Communications

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Rethink Your Operation

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READY FOR MORE EFFICIENT HAY PRODUCTION? Focus on these three factors. IN THIS ISSUE  SEE PAGE 24

Solar pasture-watering systems get more flexible and user friendly 14

Volume 43 · number 12 JUNE 6, 2017 · $4.25 Practical production tips for the prairie farmer www.grainews.ca

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Soil management

Measuring soil’s benefits from CTF A new test offers a way to measure improvements from controlled traffic farming By Julienne Isaacs

t can be called “fractal hierarchical aggregation” or just “fractal aggregation.” Whatever the moniker, the new method of soil health testing promises to offer producers an important metric for assessing soil quality and land stewardship, says Guillermo Hernandez, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. This spring he published a research paper demonstrating that fractal aggregation is a promising method for assessing soil quality. “There are different characteristics of the soil, and this specific method has the advantage of integrating several aspects of soil quality,” he says. “It’s very consistent and robust, and can separate good management from less beneficial management.” Over the past three years, Hernandez’ graduate students have led four projects looking at soil quality across Alberta. Their main focus was the impact on soil quality of converting native grassland into annual cropland. Their findings showed, unsurprisingly, that native grassland has superior soil quality to cultivated croplands. The fractal aggregation method puts a number on soil quality, Hernandez says, “and with that number we can assess how far along we are in a trajectory and whether we can recover.” Hernandez’ students’ work looked at soil benefits of controlled traffic farming (CTF), a management tool used to minimize the impact of heavy equipment in fields.

The tests showed improved porosity and hydroconductivity in the latter, says Hernandez.

Benefits and challenges Steve Larocque, a private agronomist and owner of a small grain farm near Calgary, was the first producer to sign on to CTF Alberta more than seven years ago. His interest was piqued, he says, after he did a Nuffield scholarship tour in England, New Zealand and Australia.

“You can’t just bolt on CTF and expect miracles,” he cautions. “Like no-till it takes years to see the benefits. With no-till we saw them quickly because we cut back on diesel, labour and power. With CTF we’re already fairly efficient, so it’s about improving soil structure and health.” But Larocque believes there are significant benefits to CTF. His operation has close to 70 per cent soil porosity, he says, and holds a lot

of moisture — “way more” than it did before. In side-by-side trials looking at how quickly rainfall washes down in CTF versus non-CTF fields, Larocque notes that his CTF fields can handle about six inches of rain in under two minutes; one inch of rain can absorb in six seconds. “It takes time for your soil to repair and to figure out what benefits you can achieve. For us the biggest one is timeliness,” he says.

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“How do you put a number on timeliness, getting onto the field when you want to? It could mean an application of fungicide for fusarium when you need it.” Larocque believes more data is needed on CTF in Western Canada before more producers will sign on. GN Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne.isaacs@gmail.com.

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Controlled traffic Kris Guenette, Hernandez’ graduate student, worked with Controlled Traffic Farming Alberta, a network of eight producers scattered around Alberta, each of whom compared random traffic to CTF. Controlled traffic farming keeps movement of heavy equipment confined to permanent tracks — reducing tracking to 15 per cent of the field or less, versus the typical 50 per cent seen with random equipment movement, according to Peter Gamache, project lead at Controlled Traffic Farming Alberta. It’s a system that’s been widely adopted in Australia by producers looking to minimize impacts of drought on soil quality. While only a handful of Alberta producers have adopted CTF, they have noticed improvements in water infiltration and soil quality. “You retain those large pores and allow water and air to move,” says Gamache, “and you have a better environment for root growth.” “Recurring compaction from equipment is a common factor in reducing soil health,” says Hernandez. Using the fractal aggregation soil test and other metrics, Guenette was able to demonstrate a significant difference between compacted soils in control fields and soils in CTF fields.

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Alternate energy

Incentives spur interest in solar energy Thanks to solar energy, this farmer received a credit on his mid-winter energy bill By Angela Lovell

im Sawatzky never tires of the sight of the 80 solar panels that make up his 20.8 kilowatt (kW) solar energy system on his farm near MacGregor, Manitoba. He’s happy to talk about how pleased he is with the system, which is already saving him money three months after he installed it. Sawatzky gave his solar system the acid test by seeing how it performed during the three coldest, snowiest winter months. He’s pleased with the results so far. He didn’t have the special meter, which counts backwards when more energy is being produced than being consumed, until mid-February, so he doesn’t know how much energy he was producing in December and January, but after the new meter was installed, he received a credit, granted a small one, of $3.90 on his very next energy bill.

Reducing his energy bill is the main reason Sawatzky installed the solar system, taking advantage of a two-year, Manitoba Hydro incentive program launched last April, which offers a rebate of $1,000 per kW on solar installations ranging in size from one kW to 200 kW. “What prompted me to do this is the fact that I’ve been involved with the Bipole III project as some of the proposed transmission towers will be coming across our land, and at the meetings there was a lot of talk about hydro going to go up in price, and nobody knows how much,” says Sawatzky. “I’ve always been interested in solar, and when they announced the program I thought it was a good opportunity to take advantage of the incentive and see if it actually makes sense.” Sawatzky estimates he will completely pay for the system, which currently powers his home, in 12 to 15 years. “That depends of course on where hydro rates go,” he says. “My

15 year payback estimate is based on hydro rates increasing by 3.95 per cent a year over those 15 years, so it could be faster or slower depending on what happens.” It may end up being a much quicker payback though, because installing the system has made him more conscious about reducing his energy consumption. “It started out basically as just a financial incentive but the more I get into it, the more I want to see how much I can decrease my consumption,” says Sawatzky. “I have put in LED bulbs and a few other things, so I can reduce my consumption even more and try to get that credit as high as I can.”

Hedging against energy price hikes Since Manitoba Hydro announced its solar incentive program, Justin Phillips, president of Winnipegbased Sycamore Energy, has seen an upsurge in interest in solar, especially from the agricultural sector.

“The uptake in the agricultural sector has been significant,” Phillips says. “Our company alone has either installed or will install over 2.3 million watts of solar here in the province, and the majority will be in the agricultural sector. The biggest portion of a producer’s overhead is electricity and some farms are maxing out on their systems. We’ve signed half a dozen farms that are 150 kW or greater, and three of them have maxed out their incentive with a 200 kW system to help reduce their dependency on hydro.” What’s helping to drive the uptake is the fact that Manitoba’s incentive program is currently the most lucrative in Canada. “There are various programs around the country to incentivize homeowners, businesses and farmers to install alternative sources of energy, specifically solar, but Manitoba’s is the best rebate available in Canada right now,” says Phillips. Costs to install a solar system vary

depending on the size, but the larger the installation, the greater are the economies of scale that a farmer can benefit from, says Phillips. Generally, the incentive will provide somewhere between a 25 and 40 per cent rebate on the total installation cost. “They are buying electricity in perpetuity,” he says. “What farmers are doing right now is hedging against electricity costs rising, and there’s certainly been a lot of talk about that lately with respect to hydro. They are seeing the upfront investment in solar as a smart move.”

Don’t expect to get rich selling power Homeowners, or commercial businesses and farms eligible for the program, will have the amount of the rebate calculated on their average electricity consumption over the past two years. An average home, using around 10,000 kW/h annually, would be eligible for an eight

Glacier Media strengthens its weather, ag-technology team CHATHAM, ON and CALGARY, AB – Glacier Media, a leading Canadian business information news, insights and data supplier, is pleased to announce that it has hired Jonathan Neutens as President of its Weather Innovations Consulting (WIN) group. Neutens, who has more than 20 years experience in North America’s agri-business sector, will lead the team at WIN to scale its business in the ag-technology space, building on the existing range of weather-driven products and services WIN currently offers its clients in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. “We’re very pleased to attract someone of Jon’s calibre to complement the great team at WIN,” noted Glacier Media EVP Bill Whitelaw. “His hiring is key to our plan to scale the range of tools we offer to Canadian and global agriculture as part of the sector’s shift to smarter and more data-driven solutions.” Neutens has held senior level executive roles at some of the leading companies in North American agriculture, including Nufarm and Syngenta, and served on the sector boards for CropLife Canada and CleanFarms Canada. He launched his career in their family, market-leading ag-retail operation, and he has owned and operated his own enterprise software business. “Jon is bringing to us exactly the About WIN: Weather INnovations Consulting LP (WIN) is a company right blend of strategic and ‘in-field’ experience; he’s originally developed at the Ridgetown Campus of the University of plugged into some of the key shifts currently shaping Guelph under the project name, Ontario Weather Network (OWN). Canada’s agriculture sector and the role it plays The company specializes in building turnkey monitoring, forecasting, globally,” noted Whitelaw. and data-modelling solutions for use across a number of agricultural Neutens is a graduate of the University of Guelph with crops, bringing the best and highest quality data and information into an undergraduate agri-business degree and holds a practice. Its vision is to make high quality weather-based modelling Masters of Business Administration degree from the standard practice in farm level decision-agriculture, minimizing Sauder School of Business at the University of British risk and maximizing return. WIN is experiencing rapid growth with Columbia. “I am excited to join Weather Innovations customers in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. and Glacier Media in this capacity. WIN’s founder, Ian About Glacier Media: Glacier Media is a Canadian business Nichols, has been quietly building and ground-proofing information and media products company. It provides news, market a suite of products and services for over 15 years... in information and sector-specific data within North America and this space currently coined ‘decision’ or ‘smart-ag’. internationally. Many companies in this space have yet to get to this Glacier is headquartered in Vancouver. Its primary operations are level of ground-proofing, and I am eager to grow WIN`s in Canada as well as London, England. It is publicly traded on the presence and establish it as the leader it is in this Toronto Stock Exchange under GVC. The company provides news, sector shift in agriculture”. data and analysis in a range of business sectors. These sectors  For more information, please contact include: Agriculture, Energy, Mining, Real Estate and Environmental Bill Whitelaw, Executive Vice President, Risk. Glacier also owns community newspapers and websites in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Glacier Business Information. 1-403-462-5108

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

allow them to do. They may be eligible for a 20 kW system, but if their physical roof space can only fit five kW they are limited to that size of system.” Budget is obviously a factor as installations — especially large commercial or agricultural ones — can cost up to $300,000, but can be selffinancing if they generate enough to eliminate the electricity bill, which has happened in some cases. It’s a long-term investment, but one that customers feel is well worth it, says Phillips. “We are going to be with our customers for the next 25 or 30 years because we’re monitoring these systems virtually through our computers, iPhones, and iPads, as is the customer,” he says. “Our customers are willing to invest in solar and lock in their electricity rates at a certain amount over a 30-year period.” Tim Sawatzky’s brother is going ahead with a solar installation in his own home, and the two of them, who farm together, are planning to convert their entire 4,500 acre grain farm over to solar next year. “We had natural gas put into our yard two years ago but, it would cost a lot to convert all our buildings to use natural gas, so we decided to stay with electricity because it is such low cost, and low

maintenance, and we don’t have to switch anything,” says Sawatzky. “All we have to do is put up the solar panels.” He expects the $300,000 system will pay for itself in seven to nine years, because a larger system is cheaper to install thanks to economies of scale.

Other prairie provinces Other provinces are also offering incentives for various renewable energy systems, including solar. Alberta recently announced a $36 million Residential and Commercial Solar Program that will begin this summer, and will offer up to 30 per cent off the cost to install solar panels on homes, businesses and farms. Saskatchewan already has a number of solar incentive programs including a Small Power Producers Program, which allows individual customers to generate up to 100 kW of electricity to offset their electricity purchases, or to sell back to SaskPower under a power purchase agreement with the utility. According to SaskPower’s website, the 2017 program price that it will pay for electricity is 10.82¢/kWh, which will increase at a rate of two per cent each year after that. Homeowners, farms and businesses in Saskatchewan can also

photo: thinkstock

kW solar system to ensure that it brings the homeowner to net zero and doesn’t overproduce. “A homeowner may overproduce if they reduce consumption, or they may not, they may add a hot tub and become a bigger consumer but generally speaking, most people are trying to reduce their consumption, so they get rid of the hot tub, or they put LED lights in,” says Phillips “The Manitoba Hydro program is not set up for them to make money from selling power.” Manitoba Hydro does not pay for excess energy production fed back to the grid. Instead, producers receive a credit against their hydro or natural gas bill for any extra power produced. Each system is essentially designed to produce only as much energy as the home, business or farm can use, not to produce any substantial amount of excess energy. Once a customer knows the rebate he or she is eligible for, the next step is to assess the type of system — a ground or rooftop mount — that a customer can accommodate, says Phillips. “In most cases outside of an urban centre, whether customers are farmers or not, they often have some available space to utilize so they can maximize their rebate. If they are in a city they may only be able to have what their roof will

Since Manitoba Hydo announced its solar incentive program, there has been an upsurge of interest in solar energy.

participate in the Net Metering Program, which allows them to generate up to 100 kW of energy, and feed it back to the grid for a credit against their electricity bill. They can bank credits for up to 12 months, after which they reset to zero if they haven’t used them. There is also a rebate available to cover up to 20 per cent of the cost to install a net metering system. Farms in Saskatchewan can also access a grant up to $500 towards the cost of purchasing and installing

a solar or wind-powered water pumping system for livestock. “In the Prairie provinces, we’re certainly seeing a significant uptake in solar, and that’s good because it’s a resource that needs to be utilized,” says Phillips. “Costs are coming down significantly too so it’s making it much more affordable.” GN Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.angelalovell.ca.

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Alternate energy

This is a completed year-round CAP Solar system over a cased well. Systems can be designed to supply anything from a few horses to a 500-head cow herd.

Bringing power to the pasture By Lee Hart

hether you need to water five bulls on pasture before turnout or 500 head of cows grazing corn in winter, solar powered pasture-watering systems offer a flexible and reliable year-round water source for Western Canadian producers, says a long-time manufacturer. Technology and equipment has improved over the years, making it possible to produce watering systems that work with a just about every water source there is, says Jason Wright, owner of CAP Solar based in Olds, Alta. (www.capsolar.com). “And as more producers are looking at developing year-round grazing systems, a solar-powered water system can provide a year-round, trouble-free, relatively low-maintenance source of water, whether it’s next to the farmyard or 10 miles from the nearest power pole,” says Wright. “Systems can be sized to supply water for everything from a few head of horses to a 500 head cow herd.” Solar powered watering systems certainly aren’t a new concept. CAP Solar was a pioneer in business, launching some of its first systems to the market more than 30 years ago. Design of the insulated and non-insulated water troughs, electrical and pumping equipment and remote monitoring of watering systems has evolved over the years. Technology has even greatly reduced the cost of the solar panels themselves. The Alberta Solar Energy Society recently reported a solar panel module cost about $75 per watt in 1977; today that cost is about $1 per watt. CAP Solar makes a range of porta-

ble and permanent solar-powered watering systems. The simplest portable system might involve a solar panel that powers a floating pump in a dugout or pond that pumps water into a nearby summer-season trough. They have also designed portable systems completely self-contained on a skid. A trough supported by a steel frame, with solar panels mounted overhead can be easily dragged from one pasture to another.

Year round systems One of their most popular systems is a year-round permanent, fully-insulated tank system that can be connected to almost any water source. “The tanks can be positioned over a drilled or cased-well, or used with a wet well which receives water from a nearby dugout, or connected to a pressurized water pipeline system,” says Wright. The heavily urethane-insulated circular tanks are eight feet in diameter and can be outfitted with up to four water bowls or drink tubes, depending on the number of animals to be watered. The bowls are mounted around the outside edge of the tank. At the centre of the tank is a 36-inch diameter cap where electrical connections and a submersible pump can be inserted into the water source below. Once sealed, the tank remains virtually ice free, due to the geothermal heat of the ground below the tank as well as heat from water circulating through the system. A common installation for CAP Solar is to position a tank on either a cement or well-packed gravel pad over a standpipe of the water source. Many producers place the tanks over drilled wells. The majority of the wells are 100 feet deep or less, but CAP Solar has installed several sys-

tems over wells 250 feet deep, and the system can be designed to work with drilled wells up to 500 feet in depth. Wet well systems involve extending a three or four inch pipe from the bottom of a dugout into a 24 inch diameter upright cribbing or stand pipe. The cribbing is often a galvanized culvert, a large diameter double-walled drain tile or a fibreglass tube. Whether it is a drilled well casing or wet well cribbing, a submersible pump is inserted through the top cap of the tank. While solar panels collect the sun’s energy, CAP Solar watering systems come with rechargeable battery storage, holding enough energy to power the watering system from three to five days. “Let’s face it, we are going to run into cloudy, overcast and foggy days” says Wright. “The batteries will carry the system when the sun isn’t shining. If we run into overcast days, and perhaps the sun comes out for only four or five hours, often that is enough to recharge the batteries.”

Peace of mind options As a further backup to overcast days, CAP Solar also offers an optional adaptor feature so batteries can be hooked up to a gas-powered generator. “It is an option we’ve found that producers really appreciate,” says Wright. “We can run into stretches, particularly during those short daylight days in winter when it is cloudy or stormy. On those occasional stretches producers can simply plug in their generators, just leave them running for the day and know if they have 300 or 400 head of cows out grazing swaths the watering system is running. It is fairly simple and provides peace of mind.” One other relatively new option

Photos: CAP Solar

Solar pasture watering systems get more flexible, powerful and user friendly

With all components in place, the tank will be capped. The 36-inch diameter core will capture and hold thermal heat from the ground and water.

that improves management of solar power pasture watering systems is a satellite-based tank monitoring system. The unit can monitor power levels and water supply at a tank installation and alert the producer’s smart phone if something isn’t working. “This is a particularly useful feature if you have a watering system in a remote area, it’s not handy to get to, or perhaps the producer is trying to get other field operations done, they don’t have feel like they have to run out and check a watering system everyday,” says Wright. “With a monitor installed, that operates off of satellite signal and not cell phone service, it doesn’t matter where the watering system is they can get an alert if there is any problem with the system. Some producers have wondered if it is really necessary and then they’ve come back to me and said the monitor has really changed their life in the sense the system is easier to manage and gives them peace of mind.”

CAP Solar, with largely a western Canadian market, and some sales into the U.S. Midwest and internationally, says designs, materials and technology have improved over the years to improve the operation, durability and longevity of the watering systems. If a producer has a pressurized waterline and is just looking for the year-round features of the water tank, the tank itself costs $3,300 complete. The cost of tank connected to a solar powered system, with batteries will range from $8,000 to $10,000 depending on the number of water bowls, pump size and solar panels needed. The satellite monitor costs $1,700 for the monitor plus $39 per month for the satellite service (although the monthly fee only applies to the months the service is used.) GN Lee Hart is a field editor with Grainews based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

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Plant disease

Identifying these three seedling diseases Know how to recognize these three top seedling diseases in your cereal crop

eedling diseases can weaken cereals, leaving plants susceptible to other stresses, Brittnye Kroeker told attendees at Bayer’s SeedGrowth Solutions Expo in Saskatoon this spring. Kroeker went through some of the top seedling diseases in cereals. Here are her tips for identifying three seedling disease in cereals. 1. Common root rot Fusarium and C. sativus are the two main pathogens that affect cereal seedlings in the field, said Kroeker. C. sativus is the main pathogen behind common root rot, she added. A common root rot symptom is browning in the plant’s sub-crown. “You can see C. Sativus occasionally, in real, real severe circumstances, come up above (the soil surface), with just a little bit of browning. But a lot of it’s happening under the soil as common root rot.” Farmers and agronomists are unlikely to find big patches of plants affected by common root rot, Kroeker said. She recommended counting plant stands and digging plants to look for the disease.

2. Fusarium Like common root rot, fusarium tends to appear sporadically in the field, Kroeker said. She recommends the same scouting practices for both fusarium and common root rot. Farmers and agronomists will likely see some browning at the bottom of the plant with fusarium. Pink on seeds and seedlings is another sign of fusarium. However, Kroeker said that pink discolouration doesn’t always show up in cereals in the field. Like common root rot, much of the discolouration is below the soil surface, but it can travel above the surface as well, Kroeker added. 3. Browning root rot Pythium is the main culprit in browning root rot. It favours low-lying areas. Unlike fusarium or common root rot, browning root rot appears in patches, Kroeker said. Plants may appear small and yellow. Other signs include pinchedoff roots early in the infection, as well as shrunken roots. GN Lisa Guenther is field editor for Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Follow her on Twitter @LtoG.

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Farm management

Putting new ag products to the test The SIA’s Outstanding Young Agrologist explains Cavalier Agrow’s approach to trials

or Bennie Dunhin, agronomy manager at Cavalier Agrow in northwestern Saskatchewan, the question isn’t whether or not a product works. “There’s no new product on the market that doesn’t work somewhere in the world. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a product,” says Dunhin, named Outstanding Young Agrologist by the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists this year. “It will work somewhere. We need to figure out where.” Figuring out whether a product will work for their farmers is at the heart of Cavalier Agrow’s on-farm research program. Since 2012, Cavalier Agrow has done 514 trials.

Focus versus experimental products Cavalier Agrow divides product trials into focus and experimental products. Experimental products include

products that aren’t yet widely available, but that Cavalier Agrow wants to examine. It also includes products that haven’t been tested in Cavalier Agrow’s area. “One thing, for instance, is plant hormones. Everybody wants to sell us plant hormones right now,” says Dunhin. Dunhin adds they don’t know which plant hormone products will work in their soils. Experimental product trials have one to three replications per year. If the product doesn’t work, Cavalier can cut its losses before investing too many resources in the trial. If it shows promise, it moves into the focus product trials. Each year Cavalier Agrow trials three focus products. Each of those products is trialed at 12 locations or more. Sometimes a trial is also replicated at the same location. Dunhin says they try to organize 14 to 16 replications, as they promise the manufacturer 12 sets of data. Products that perform in the focus trials are given Cavalier’s AgProve

trademarked label, Dunhin says, which shows the product has been tested to their standards. Dunhin says they’ve trialed products that don’t cut it, even at the focus stage. Manufacturers can’t argue with it, he says, because Cavalier Agrow has the data to back it.

Planning and executing a trial Dunhin says they start setting up trials in January. Cavalier Agrow approaches manufacturers to see what new products are out there, and what might make a difference to farmers in their area. Most of the trials are in place by mid-February to March, he adds, as that’s when growers start thinking about the growing season. Cavalier Agrow has a grower base willing to do trials every year. Dunhin says they approach those farmers to see if they’re interested in a particular trial. He adds farmers are willing to participate in trials every year once they see the value of local trials. A trial protocol outlines the expec-

Photo: Lisa Guenther

By Lisa Guenther

Bennie Dunhin was named Outstanding Young Agrologist by the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists this year.

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tations of growers, suppliers, and Cavalier Agrow staff. It includes how much product is needed for the trial and the cost. Growers need to buy the product used in the trial, Dunhin says. That helps keep everyone accountable, he explains. Cavalier Agrow will credit it back to them after the trial is finished. The protocol also includes the layout of the trial, what’s going to be measured, and when Cavalier Agrow is going to be taking any measurements. Details on seeding, spraying, or applying other products are also included in the protocol. Soil information and topography comes into play when they’re picking a site for the plot. Generally, they want an even slope, so they don’t have water sitting on the treatment. They might intentionally pick an area with nutrient deficiencies, Dunhin says, depending on the product they’re testing. Otherwise, they try to pick an even area. If the field is part of Cavalier’s variable rate program (dubbed iFARM), agronomists will already have the soil information they need. Agronomists take eight core samples per foot for the iFARM program. But if they don’t have the information, they’ll do a composite sample of the small area they’re using for the trial, Dunhin says. Dunhin said they aim to make plots

at least 1,200 feet long, and use GPS to measure accurately. That plot length is also part of the United Suppliers Total Acre Standard Protocol, which Dunhin helped develop. Cavalier Agrow tries to replicate trials twice within a field, but it’s not always possible. Dunhin says they replicate the trials at many different locations. Agronomists complete scouting reports on the trial through the growing season. Dunhin says sometimes there’s more to a product’s value than a yield boost. For example, something that pushes maturity has value. Dunhin says they prompt growers as harvest approaches, so Cavalier Agrow can get the weigh wagons to the site when it’s time to combine. They ask farmers to make sure combines are as empty as possible. Five pounds of seed can make a difference in yield with smaller plots, he explains.

Six tips for farmers 1. Dunhin says on-farm trials need to meet a set of standards, and it’s important that participating growers understand those standards. He suggests writing them down in a way that makes sense. 2. Yield monitors aren’t a good choice for trials. Dunhin recommends a weigh wagon or a grain cart with a scale.

3. Replication is vital. Dunhin recommended replicating the trial in two or three fields, or within the same field. Otherwise it’s hard to know whether differences between the treatment and check are due to the product or the soil. He also recommends farmers keep in mind that a product’s total value might go beyond yield. 4. Dunhin emphasizes the importance of trust. He recommends farmers stay away from flyby-night companies. Farmers need to work with agronomists and retailers that they trust as well. Will your agronomist tell you to try something she doesn’t sell if it looks plausible? Will your retailer tell a supplier if a product doesn’t work? 5. Dunhin also recommends partnering with an agronomist who has the “deep knowledge” of whatever the trial focuses on, whether it’s fungicide, nutrition, or another topic. 6. Producers concerned about being taken in by bad research can ask wtheir agronomists to attend grower meetings with them, Dunhin says. Or they can ask their agronomists to look at the research later. GN Lisa Guenther is field editor for Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Follow her on Twitter @LtoG.

Sometimes the proof is in the picture Bennie Dunhin worked as an agronomist for a seed company in South Africa for several years before immigrating to Canada in 2009. Arriving in a new culture spurred him to focus on plant nutrition. Dunhin started asking questions about fertilizer practices, and wondering what went into a lab’s fertilizer recommendations. Some of his inquiries have backed up the lab’s recommendations, and led to a deeper understanding of “why you need to do certain things with nutrition, why the plant reacts in a certain soil type.” For example, last year a Cavalier Agrow agronomist was puzzled by yellow spots in a client’s crop. Dunhin created a K to Mg ratio map, which showed the areas that had a potassium deficiency (relative to magnesium). The agronomist and farmer checked Dunhin’s map, and it matched the yellow spots in the field. “I could have told her it was a potassium deficiency, but I wanted her to see it with her own eyes and believe it,” Dunhin says.

During the interview Dunhin goes through field maps showing all kinds of relationships, such as correlations between high pH and high calcium levels in the soil. That emphasis on nutrition carries over to Cavalier Agrow’s variable rate program, dubbed iFARM. Dunhin says the goal of the iFARM program is to bring up the low-producing areas by figuring out what is limiting the crop. “It’s way cheaper than going out and buying more land.” Once the field is even, Cavalier Agrow’s focus becomes lifting the yield on the whole field, until they hit another limitation. Dunhin says that as the yield rises, a nutrient will become deficient. For example: “At a 30 bushel yield, copper might be sufficient. But at a 60 bushel yield, copper might be totally deficient.” It’s about improving production and being stewards of the land, says Dunhin. “We’re not going to over-fertilize where we don’t need to.” GN Lisa Guenther

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

weed management

Sociology and herbicide-resistant weeds Think weed management strategies are all about agronomy? There are other factors

By Angela Lovell

ould you tell your neighbour how to farm? Not likely. On the other hand, what if this reluctance to “stick your nose in” was creating a real barrier to the adoption of practices that could help slow down the spread of herbicide resistant weeds? Scientists have a word for this way of thinking. They call it “individual-

ism”, which basically means farmers’ belief that each individual farmer knows what is best for their farm and should be allowed to make these decisions without interference from others. It’s not a term they just plucked out of the air. An 2015 interdisciplinary study on weed resistance that brought together 10 focus groups of farmers from Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina and Arkansas, and surveyed 839 farmers from 28 U.S. States, identified that indi-

vidualism is a key factor influencing farmers ideologies that create a barrier to the adoption of Integrated Weed Management (IWM) strategies to help deal with herbicide resistance issues.

Ideology of the individual “An ideology of the individual has really grown over the past 50 years, and is strong in North America compared to other parts of the world,” says sociology professor Dr.

Raymond Jussaume, of Michigan State University, one of the researchers involved in the study. “If you look 150 years ago the West was settled by communities. But we’ve created this ideology of the individual and bought into it. There has been a decline of a lot of organizations that used to bring people together like co-operatives. Many farmers don’t talk to their neighbours any more. There is a strong belief that ‘I’ve got to do it on my

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own,’ and anytime a problem arises it raises the spectre of somehow they’re not a good farmer. It’s an important micro-level factor.” It’s not that farmers aren’t concerned about herbicide resistance, but there are all kinds of economic and sociological factors that exert tremendous pressure on their weed management decisions. It’s vital that farmers and everyone involved in the agricultural industry better understand these factors, so that they can develop effective, community-based solutions to the issue of herbicide resistance management. “There are certain structural conditions that influence farmers’ decision making, such as grain prices and how that affects their ability to do certain things because they only get so much for the grain, so they have to figure out how to allocate their resources,” says Jussaume. “Then there are societal pressures. I have colleagues looking at nitrogen management, fertilizer management and the effect of pesticides on pollinators. Each one of these issues is studied separately and is complex on its own. But the farmer, all of a sudden, has to juggle all these at a very micro level. How do they decide what to focus on? Is it their weed issue, soil fertility, a plant pathogen that’s in the soil, or labour issues? Part of the frustration of farmers is every other week they get a survey, or a team of regulators or whoever saying how come you’re not doing enough about X, or don’t you understand there’s a problem with Y?”

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No Silver Bullet At the same time, most farmers seem to want to believe there is a new silver bullet just around the corner in terms of a new chemical solution to herbicide resistance. This “technological optimism” seems to be a reflection of modern agriculture and its reliance on technology to increase productivity without exerting undue pressure on the farmers’ limited time and financial resources. As an Iowa grower participating in one of the study’s focus groups put it: “I think we’re all hoping somewhere in that chemistry, there’s something that comes around that’s a new version. Yeah, stall long enough, maybe they'll figure something out, give us another product.” Even though farmers in the study expressed their concerns about relying on new technology as a permanent solution to problems such as herbicide resistance for the long term, they still preferred to hang their hopes on a new, simple weed management chemical to come along rather than on other IWM strategies. “And chemicals has [sic] changed everything to the point where, you know, an extremely large operation

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Farm management

Rented land on the increase StatsCan Ag Census data shows big increase in rented land in Saskatchewan By Leeann Minogue Statistic’s Canada’s Ag Census asked farmers simple questions about their land. How much of your farm operation do you own? How much do you lease? Across the Prairies, on average, farmers own just less than two-thirds of the land they farm. This ranges from 66 per cent in Manitoba to 58 per cent in Alberta.

with not much manpower can farm a lot of acres, because they are — we have all become — chemical reliant. And to move away from that culture is going to be difficult,” said another Iowa farmer.

Co-operative Approach Needed Farmers are well aware that herbicide resistance is a regional issue that needs to have a co-operative, co-ordinated approach, but they are often unwilling to communicate with their neighbours about the issue. “While part of this attitude can be attributed to the notion that every farmer is doing their best and doesn’t need to be told how to manage their farm, there also appears to be a fear that discussing herbicideresistant weeds with neighbors may become a problem for the original complainant. Growers fear that they may be criticized for their own management practices if they point out a neighbour’s herbicide-resistant weeds,” says Jussaume in a paper about the study recently published in Choices Magazine Volume 31(4) — a publication of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association. “Yet, farmers also recognize the need for improved cooperation.” In reality there is no silver bullet to the problem of resistance management, but there is a need for a process that is more communal and collaborative that understands the sociological, economic and other factors influencing farmers and involves everyone in finding solutions, rather than apportioning blame. “People get frustrated when you can’t give them the answer, but there are no simple solutions, it’s a constant, creative, learning process,” says Jussaume. “There’s first going to have to be a shared sense among not just farmers, but everybody involved in agriculture, that collectively, we did things that led to this problem. It doesn’t mean we were trying to do it, or were doing bad things, but we overused certain products in certain ways and everybody at the time loved it. But now we need to take a step back and share the responsibility for what has happened, and if we do that, maybe we can share the responsibility for coming up with some creative solutions.” GN Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.angelalovell.ca.

In Saskatchewan, areas under rent or lease increased from 14.7 million acres in 2011 census to 17 million acres in 2016— a 15.8 per cent increase. When we talk about four-year crop rotations, herbicide rotations and building the soil for the long term, it’s important to remember that, depending on rental arrangements, not all farmers always have complete control of all of the land they farm. GN Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews.

LAND OWNERSHIP DATA FROM THE 2016 AG CENSUS

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Alberta

Millions of acres

2011

2016

2011

2016

2011

2016

Owned

11.9

11.6

39.6

37.9

30.2

29.3

Leased from gov’ts

1.8

1.7

8.2

7.5

9.7

9.5

Rented/leased from others

4.9

5.0

14.7

17.0

11.0

12.0

Crop-shared from others

0.2

2.3

2.5

1.5

1.4

Less: Land used by others

0.2

0.1

0.4

0.5

Total Farm Area:

61.6

50.5

50.2

Per cent of farmland owned:

66%

64%

62%

60%

58%

Source: Statistics Canada

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Crop management

Managing herbicide resistance costs Farmers considering herbicide resistance strategies are looking at the economics first

By Angela Lovell

Increasing herbicide resistance Some farmers don’t adopt best herbicide stewardship practices because they are overly confident that the industry will develop new chemical solutions to herbicide resistance, which traditionally has been the case when resistance problems have arisen. “Farmers with a greater degree of this confidence are less likely to adopt more diverse HRM strategies,” says Frisvold. “What is different now is that industry has not developed a new commercial herbicide mode of action in about 30 years. More and more weeds are evolving resistance to

photo: thinkstock

here are several reasons many farmers haven’t yet adopted herbicide resistance management (HRM) plans. These include a lack of information, the complexity of different management strategies and limited time. But a major reason is still economics. Many farmers worry about the costs of implementing a resistance management plan, especially if they’re uncertain about the potential benefits. Managing herbicide resistance is a long-term problem. Farmers implementing strategies often face increased costs in the short term, due to more chemical inputs, higher equipment costs or more labour. The benefits — better product stewardship and more options for long-term effective weed control — are delayed. “Two interrelated socioeconomic phenomena that create a barrier to HRM adoption for individual farmers are impatience and uncertainty,” says Dr. George Frisvold, agriculture and resource economics professor at the University of Arizona. “HRM can lower returns today with more or less certainty while the benefits are in the future and more uncertain. So farmers are weighing certain, upfront costs against less certain future benefits,” says Frisvold. Another economic reality is that North American farms are getting bigger, which has driven the need for intensive weed management systems that are less demanding of farmers’ time. “Going back to more diverse management systems is hard because time constraints are a bigger factor for managers on bigger operations,” says Frisvold. “There are also a lot of small, part-time farmers who get most of their income from off-farm jobs and businesses. For this group too, there is less time for management-intensive farming.”

Implementing strategies to stave off herbicide resistance can bring increased costs to individual farmers in the short term, while the economic benefits are delayed.

the existing modes of action (MOAs). Industry has and is developing herbicide tolerant crops that make the old MOAs more useful, but many weeds are already resistant to these older MOAs. Research suggests that herbicide resistant weeds are more mobile than previously thought, and that seed and pollen can spread in a number of different ways, including by wind, water, animals, farm machinery and transporting crop residues off the field. “When weeds are mobile, individual growers cannot prevent their neighbours from increasing the population of resistant weeds, that then infest their own fields,” says Frisvold. “If growers think individual actions are pointless they won't take them.” The problem arises when everyone thinks this way. In some cases — where weeds aren’t mobile — growers do have control over resistance. “If weeds are mobile, through seed dispersal, moving with custom machinery, etc. group action might be needed,” says Frisvold. “Getting farmers to organize and impose controls on each other is difficult. That said, we have seen successful programs like Boll Weevil Eradication where they have done just that.” The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) began the Boll Weevil Eradication in the 1970s, using integrated pest management to help cotton farmers eradicate most of the boll weevil pests across the country. The program resulted in an overall reduction in pesticide use and increased yields. Proving the long-term value of co-ordinated

strategies, the U.S. National Cotton Council says on its website, “The National Boll Weevil Eradication Program ranks close to Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin as one of the greatest advancements ever for the U.S. cotton industry.”

What’s the bottom line? Another big barrier to HRM is that farmers don’t have a true grasp of the economic implications of adopting HRM strategies on their specific farm and for their specific crops, because this kind of data is still not widely available in North America. Frisvold suggests there are three possible scenarios for farmers adopting HRM plans. The optimistic case is that a farmer adopts HRM strategies and is more profitable in the short term as a result. “This scenario is a no brainer, it makes sense to be doing it now,” says Frisvold. “We need to identify these cases as much as possible, wherever they are, and this is where traditional demonstration, education and extension may suffice if we are able to communicate to growers that this makes sense for you today. But the results must be clear and convincing so they know that it makes economic sense.” The intermediate case might mean farmers have to do things that reduce profits in the first few years but it only takes a few years after that to see a net gain from the HRM plan because the system is in place and they are preventing future resistance problems. “Simply providing information in this case may be insufficient because growers have to calculate how many years before it is going to pay

for itself,” says Frisvold. “Growers with more short-term economic stress, higher discount rates or plans to sell for development may be less likely to adopt HRM, and economic incentives may be needed to encourage adoption for these farmers.” The pessimistic case is one where the farm is less profitable for a large number of years or the benefits that farmers see are so far in the future they are discouraged from doing any HRM because they know it’s going to take too long to pay for itself. “In this case the messaging is the most difficult because the long time frame increases farmers’ uncertainty about achieving any benefits,” says Frisvold. “Additional economic incentives or cost sharing programs may be needed to encourage adoption.”

Multi-Faceted approach needed Many experts in the HRM field believe that governments need to provide short-term financial incentives or cost-shared programs to reduce the cost of developing and implementing field-by-field herbicide resistance management plans and encourage farmers who wouldn’t or couldn’t otherwise adopt them to do so. Agricultural extension specialists, academics, agronomists, industry representatives and consultants all have a role to play in communicating the effect of HRM on short-term and longterm farm profitability once this information is available. “Farmers need to know what’s the bottom line, what is this going to do on a per acre basis over different states and different production

systems,” says Frisvold, adding it’s not an easy thing to collect and analyze this kind of data. “You’ve heard the term, ‘This isn't rocket science?’ Well, the math involved in solving these bio-economic models literally is rocket science — it uses the same type of math.” The USDA, the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) and others are working to come up with predictive economic models for herbicide resistance management implementation. As an example the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) conducted an economic model exercise that demonstrated the benefits of proactive HRM of horseweed. Depending on crop type and production system, the HRM could pay for itself in as little as two years and increase farmer profits 14 to 17 per cent over 20 years. Researchers at the University of Arkansas and Texas A & M University are taking a slightly different approach, working on a palmer amaranth management (PAM) model, which is showing promise as a model for assessing the economics of other herbicide resistant weeds. This model should provide growers with a more usable, hands-on tool to consider different HRM options.

Community-based approach crucial Herbicide resistance isn’t going away any time soon, and it’s in the collective, long-term interest of all farmers and others involved in agriculture to delay resistance by implementing integrated weed management strategies. This includes biological controls such encouraging beneficial insects like crickets, which can reduce weed seed banks by eating weed seeds on the soil surface. This also includes mechanical solutions such as strategic tillage operations to meet the needs of a specific field or site, and cultural options such as crop rotations, cover crops, or adjusting seeding dates and row spacing. But most important is the need for a community-based approach to weed management that recognizes herbicide resistance is a shared problem. The most effective weed management programs will be those developed and led by farmers themselves, in collaboration with industry, governments and university researchers, and which are localized to meet site specific weed management needs. GN Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.angelalovell.ca.

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

New varieties

Acreage low, stewardship high for GE potatoes Few if any acres of Innate potato will be planted in 2017; more acres are expected in 2018 photo: Simplot Plant Services

By Julienne Isaacs

his year’s Canadian acreage of J.R. Simplot’s genetically engineered Innate potato will be “very small” to non-existent, according to a company spokesperson. Kerwin Bradley, director of commercial innovation for Simplot, says the company’s marketing strategy for new varieties is based on customer polls and identification of marketing channels. “We don’t plant potatoes, or give seed to growers, until we know that there is a place for them to sell them, so how quickly that develops depends on how quickly we develop routes to market for those potatoes,” he says. “That way we ensure we keep the risk really low for everybody, especially the growers.” The company has been talking to major Canadian retailers to “check the pulse” of their interest in the new potato, says Doug Cole, Simpot’s director of marketing and communications. First generation lines of the Innate potato, which boast lower bruising and acrylamide, were approved by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last spring. Second generation lines, which have late blight resistance and lower sugar levels for improved

The three varieties in Simplot’s Innate Gen 2 lineup are, from left to right, Burbank, Atlantic and Ranger.

processing, have already been approved in the U.S., and Canadian approvals are expected later this year. “Growers could be growing either first or second generation lines in Canada next year,” says Bradley. “In this crop season there’s a lot of interest in the second generation lines, so that adds complexity as well.” Any acres planted to Innate potato varieties will be in Eastern Canada, or potentially Manitoba, he says.

GE Stewardship Producers across Canada have been forewarned that growing biotech potatoes will present unique stewardship challenges. Innate potatoes are vegetatively propagated,

which means there’s no risk of “gene flow” to the environment via pollen or seed. Stewardship requirements exist to prevent biotech potatoes getting into the supply chain when they’re not wanted, and vice versa. But Bradley says the level of stewardship requirements will depend on the size and character of producers’ operations. In the U.S., where Innate potatoes are grown on small operations devoted entirely to the biotech varieties, stewardship is simple because there is no risk of mixing biotech and conventional spuds. Where producers are growing both, stewardship becomes more complicated. “If you have a whole farm that can be dedicated to Innate there is no further stewardship. If you have a packing facility that can be dedicated to Innate, there’s no further stewardship,” he says. “If you don’t have the scale to achieve total segregation, if you’re sharing farms for example, some of these other stewardship protocols come in.” Innate potatoes can be grown in the same field as conventional potato varieties, but buffer zones must be maintained between plots. Trucks must be cleaned out before moving between biotech and non-biotech fields. Potatoes must be processed separately and segregated in storage and packing sheds.

Bradley emphasizes that many best practices, such as tarping trucks, are also built into Innate stewardship requirements. “We’re trying not only to keep good segregation, but preserve the highest quality potato possible. That’s part of what we’re selling,” he says. Simplot provides lots of on-farm assistance to first-time growers adapting to the heavier stewardship demands. The company also provides highly trained agronomy staff for technical support. The new potatoes have plenty of advantages for growers and customers alike, which is fueling interest on both sides of the border, says Bradley. “From a fresh potato standpoint, growers should expect to get an increased packout of at least 10 per cent. What that means is that they’ll sell more of what they grow into a higher value market. We’ve never in the U.S. had a rejected load at a customer for bruising. That’s a big deal for growers,” he says. “In some areas of the country it’ll be worth more than other areas, where you have more bruising or cutting black issues.” GN Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne.isaacs@gmail.com.

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Disease management

Helping our plants to help themselves One day, farmers may be able to use natural products to fight blackleg and other diseases By Angela Lovell

ew research that could lead to a biological alternative to chemical fungicides began with work into food safety. “We were interested in whether food-fermenting lactobacilli would produce molecules that prevent fungal growth,” says Dr. Michael Gaenzle, who is leading the research into antifungal lipids at the University of Alberta. Gaenzle’s team came across some molecules produced by lactic acid bacteria that are similar to molecules produced by injured plants. “It appears that when plants are injured they produce a compound called coriolic acid which protects them against pathogens,” says Gaenzle. Now his research team is trying to prove whether his compound inhibit pathogens in plants or strengthens the plant’s defense against pathogens. The team has produces several compounds with antifungal activity, which is promising from the aspect

of being able to produce fungicidal products that use natural compounds, rather than chemicals, to prevent disease. “We are using compounds that are produced by plants as their own defense system,” says Gaenzle. “It’s similar to the use of probiotic material in human and animal health, where these organisms stimulate the host immune system, which allows us to better defend against pathogens. The same principle may be applicable for plant defenses because this compound, which is produced by the plant, is also a signalling compound, which activates the plant’s defense system. We may be able to get a dual activity so that we inhibit the fungi but also strengthen the plant’s immune system. That would be very interesting from a scientific point of view.” Researchers are applying the compounds to plants infected with blackleg and other susceptible fungi in the lab to see the results on infection, and data from these experiments should be available soon. Gaenzle is collaborating with

chemistry professor, Dr. Jonathan Curtis and professor of biochemistry, Dr. Nav Kat at the University of Alberta. The project is funded by the Alberta Wheat Commission and the Western Grains Research Foundation, Researchers have already discovered that the antifungal activity of these compounds is very selective, so their efficacy will depend on what disease pathogen they are dealing with. The organism that causes blackleg, and another that affects barley, Gaenzle says, “are reasonably sensitive to the fatty acids we produced, so we have a hope of being able to inhibit the organisms either after they attack the leaves or by treatment of the seeds,” says Gaenzle. “But a couple of other organisms including fusarium, are very resistant so I don’t think we have a great hope of being able to inhibit their growth on either the plant or to kill them on the seeds with these particular compounds.”

Scaling up Production One of the biggest barriers to developing these products for farm use is being

able to economically produce the compounds in large quantities. It took the researchers about a year to produce enough for the initial experiments. But the team believes there is potential make it available on an economic basis. “One source, which was unavailable at the time of project start, is a medicinal plant in Asia which contains 60 per cent of one of the active compounds. It is also relatively simple to produce the compounds using enzymatic reactions which we have mastered in the lab,” says Gaenzle. “I think there is great potential to scale that to an economical process, and if we can prove that these compounds are effective against blackleg, there will be justification to develop the process on a larger scale.” The researchers are also trying to find out why some disease pathogens are resistant and others sensitive to the compounds. “If we can identify the target of the compounds in sensitive strains and the resistant mechanisms, then we will be able to answer

whether it’s possible to circumvent that with the same class of compounds or do we have to abandon the approach to inhibit certain pathogens with hydroxy fatty acids,” says Gaenzle. Using a plant’s own natural weapons to defend it against disease is an advantage in avoiding some of the negative associations with other fungicide products, but there is a drawback in using natural plant compounds. “The drawback is that we have to face the fungal resistance mechanisms which have evolved over a couple of million years of evolution, because for any compound that the plant is using in defense, some fungi will have developed resistance,” says Gaenzle. “I hope that we can identify the mechanisms that may allow us to circumvent it but we are not quite there yet.” GN Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist living and working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.angelalovell.ca.

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Insect management

Nematodes: they’re molecular mimics Cyst nematodes secrete “chemical mimics” to trick plants like soybeans into feeding them Mitchum. “If we can identify the molecules and then mechanisms to block that process so the nematode can’t form feeding cells, we can create a novel form of resistance. If you shut down the feeding cell the nematode can’t survive.”

By Julienne Isaacs

Photo: Albert Tenuta

ematodes are tiny pests with big impacts: parasitic cyst nematodes are quickly becoming a major economic concern for soybean, corn, sugar beet and potato producers. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) made its grand entrance in the U.S. in the 1950s, and since then has become soybean producers’ top pest, causing significant yield losses annually. In Canada, it has spread through Ontario and Quebec. Though it has not yet been detected in the Prairies, its arrival is impending. But research is catching up to the miniature pests and offering hope for new, novel controls. Melissa Mitchum, an associate plant science professor at Missouri University, has discovered a mechanism by which cyst nematodes are able to feed on plants. Over 10 years ago, Mitchum’s team discovered that these cyst nematodes produce and secrete

Though soybean cyst nematode has not yet been detected in the Prairies, its arrival is impending.

“plant peptide mimics,” small molecules that look like and function like peptides, which provide chemical signals within the plant. In brief, the nematode finds a root and injects it with a chemical cocktail designed to look like the plant’s own chemical signals, and the plant is “tricked” into feeding the pest a steady stream of nutrients.

Recently, Mitchum proved that nematodes feed on cells near the plant’s vascular tissue. By using these “chemical mimics,” nematodes tap into a plant’s vascular stem cell pathway to form feeding cells that will last them the full 30 days of their life cycle. “These parasites have been coevolving with host plants for a long time. They’re highly adapted,” says

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Breeding challenges Mitchum’s project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, aims to understand how plant peptides function. Her lab has proven the mechanism in the model plant arabidopsis, as well as in soybean and potato; the next step is developing plants that are resistant to the nematode’s influence. “In soybean we have the advantage because we can do peri-root transformation — we can make transgenic soybean roots for testing,” she says. “We’ve done that as a proof of concept. If we see promise we can move this to whole soybean transformation.” But there’s a challenge to overcome:

if breeders block the mechanism nematodes use to help themselves to plant nutrients, they might also block the plant from feeding itself. Mitchum’s team has rich resources to do this in the form of new, precise gene editing technologies like CRISPR-Cas9, which can help them modify plants to resist nematodes without compromising growth. It might take five to 10 years to develop new resistant soybean varieties. Mitchum’s team is in the market for an industry partner to make commercialization possible. Like other pest controls, “this is not going to be a silver bullet,” Mitchum warns. “What we need is to have a diverse set of tools that we can use to try to keep the populations in the field below an economic threshold. “We need to come together and develop different strategies.” GN Julienne Isaacs is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and editor. Contact her at julienne.isaacs@gmail.com.

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Focus on These Three Factors for High-efficiency Hay More efficient hay production boosts productivity while improving quality

ith your know-how, the right equipment, the latest technology and a little bit of weather luck, high-quality hay is a beautiful — not to mention, valuable — thing. That’s where high-efficiency hay comes in. “Case IH hay tools are designed with the right mix of power, efficiency and versatility to not just get the job done, but to help you harvest each crop at peak nutritional value,” said Brian Spencer, Case IH Hay and Forage Marketing Manager. Whether you market your hay or feed it to your own livestock, you know how quality impacts your bottom line. You also know the important role timing plays. Most forages lose 20 percent of their total digestible nutrients and 40 percent of their protein just 10 days after their optimal harvest stage.1 To improve alfalfa quality for his 150+ customers, as well as his own operation, DJ Wassenaar, owner of County Line Custom Farming in Jarvis, Ontario, continually seeks productivity gains. “From upgrading to RTK guidance and ISOBUS automation for our hay tools to investing in Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVTs) on our tractors, we rely on our equipment to efficiently cover acres and, ultimately, provide better feed,” said Wassenaar. High-efficiency hay starts with three factors:

1. Select the right toolS Give your operation an edge this hay season with an equipment upgrade. The complete lineup of Case IH hay tools includes windrowers, mowers and conditioners, wheel rakes, balers and tractors. Here are a few highlights: DC3 series disk mower conditioners: Industry-leading cut and crimp for superior hay quality. The modular cutterbar is designed for high-capacity operation with heavyduty components including shearhub protected gearboxes and quickchange knives. LB series large square balers: For Wassenaar, the pickup is what makes the baler — and his LB334 models do not disappoint. “This is by far the best baler I’ve ever run,” said Wassenaar. “The pickup ensures

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County Line Custom Farming relies on Case IH round balers for high-capacity baling. quick and consistent crop flow that results in better bales.” In addition to baling faster, Wassenaar also benefits from reduced downtime thanks to less maintenance. RB5 series round balers: Wide pickups, high-capacity feeding systems and durable belts and rolls consistently build dense, uniform bales — driving down the cost of handling. Whether you’re baling hay, straw or alfalfa, heavy-duty pickups provide a clean sweep of crops and uninterrupted feeding. “Overall reliability on our Case IH balers is unbelievable,” Wassenaar said. Reliable tractors: Maxxum® (116145 hp), Puma® (150-240 hp) and Optum™ (271-300 hp) series tractors shine in hay and livestock applications. Best of all, they feature Selective Catalytic Reduction emissions technology for more fuel-efficient horsepower. With Case IH engines, there’s no particulate filter to clean, no regeneration period and 600 operating hours between oil changes. Just add a Case IH loader to your Maxxum or Puma tractor, and you have the ultimate utility tractor. “The MultiControl Armrest and electro-hydraulic joystick on our Puma CVT tractors put key controls right up front. This level of comfort reduces operator fatigue during long nights of bale wrapping and hauling,” Wassenaar added.

Case IH large square balers help Wassenaar bale more acres per day. 2. tap into new technology The latest haying technology can help you get more done with less fatigue. iSoBuS Class 3: This automated functionality provides two-way communication between the baler and tractor to optimize packaging, bale density, forage quality and bale consistency. It’s available for LB4 series large square balers; Model Year 2017 and newer RB5 series round balers; and Model Year 2016 and newer Maxxum, Puma and Optum CVT tractors. “For example, when you pair a Model Year 2017 or newer RB5 series

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round baler with a Maxxum CVT or Puma tractor, the tractor automatically stops when the target bale size is reached,” Spencer said. “The net wrap is applied, and the bale is ejected — all without operator input.” advanced Farming Systems (aFS) accuGuide™ autoguidance: Better guidance while cutting reduces overlaps and helps save on fuel, labor and machine expenses. “We recently upgraded to AFS RTK-level autoguidance for our disk mower conditioner,” Wassenaar said. “The improved accuracy and efficiency will pay off not only on our first pass, but every pass thereafter.”

3. harveSt at peak nutritional value “With the right equipment and technology, you can focus on a timely harvest,” said Spencer. When it comes to a more efficient harvest, he cites the following best practices: • Rake or ted at 40 to 50 percent moisture2 • Bale at 18 to 20 percent moisture (small square), 16 percent moisture (medium square, round bale), 14 percent moisture (large square or round bale)2 • Store hay off the ground and under cover • Adjust fertility immediately after the first cutting3 “The better feed you make on the farm, the more money you make on the farm,” Wassenaar concluded. “To put the best product in the barn, we recommend continually evaluating operational needs, soil types, fertilizer practices and overall conditions.” reSoUrCeS: 1

Henning JC, Wheaton HN. Making and Storing Quality Hay. University of Missouri Extension website. http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G4575. Accessed March 29, 2017.

Undersander D. Hay in a Day. Harvesting Technologies for Quality and Yield. University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Morrison J. Time to Fertilize Alfalfa Ground. Illinois Livestock Trail. University of Illinois Extension website. http://livestocktrail.illinois.edu/pasturenet/ paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=7436. Published June 6, 2005. Accessed March 29, 2017.

THEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR EFFICIENCY. Case IH hay equipment is designed to harvest every acre for peak nutritional value. And now, you can get more efficiency than ever before with these special offers. Talk to your dealer or visit www.caseih.com/springsalesevent for details.

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Farm financial planner

Succession can skip a generation This couple will hand the farm over to a grandson, keeping preferred shares for income By Andrew Allentuck

The plan There is a good deal of complexity in the transfer of interests, tax liability has to be considered. The goal is to keep average tax payable in a range of 26 to 33 per cent, rather than to defer

photo: thinkstock

n western Manitoba, a couple we’ll call Jurgen, 73, and Frieda, 71, have farmed for the last 52 years. Jurgen inherited the home farm of 320 acres in 1972. The farm grew slowly. Jurgen and Frieda expanded the farming by renting land and buying parcels as they became available. At present, the couple has 2,000 acres of grain land. Of this, 1,200 is included in their farming corporation and 800 acres is held in their personal names. Jurgen and Frieda have been successful. Their total estate has an approximate value of $3.7 million of which about $800,000 is off-farm financial assets in RRSPs, TFSAs and fully taxable investment accounts. Recognizing that the time has come to plan a generational transfer to their son, Luke, 50, and daughter, Mary, 48, each of whom has a wellestablished off-farm career and no plan or wish to farm, they have considered including their grandson, Herb, 32, who has been doing much of the farm work for half a decade. He can take over the farm. Jurgen and Frieda approached Don Forbes and Erik Forbes of Forbes Wealth Management Ltd. in Carberry, Manitoba for guidance in creating a financial plan for their grandson to take over farm management permanently while leaving shares to Mary and Luke.

In their plan to retire from their successful career as farmers, Jurgen and Frieda will include their grandson Herb in their succession plan. Herb has been doing much of the farm work for half a decade. Jurgen and Frieda’s son and daughter have off-farm careers, and don’t wish to farm.

as much tax as possible until the parents pass on. Taxes on the farm corporation if liquidated could be as much as 50 per cent. With planning, this potential tax rate can be reduced, Don Forbes says. Tax management begins with application of the $1 million Personally Owned Farm Land Capital Gains exemption to which Jurgen and Frieda are each entitled. There is also an exemption for their primary residence and one acre with a value of $100,000. So the first $2.1 million of capital gains on the property and farmed land will be tax-free, Erik Forbes explains. The farmland and farm assets

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can be transferred to the next generation or grandchildren at any price between book value and today’s market value, Don Forbes says. That would include all farmland, equipment and inventory. The goal is to use up all tax credits and tax exemptions while avoiding claiming full market value on the entire farm and having to pay all taxes due on the date of transfer. The asset transfer would be priced at current book value plus $2.1 million capital gains exemption. Any remaining taxable gain could be deferred to the future owner through a lower purchase price. The result would be a tax-free transfer of farming assets to Luke and Mary. Jurgen and Frieda can take back a zero per cent interest promissory note on the land. That would protect the farm if the grandson, who will run the farm, were to get into problems with debt or divorce. Creditors or an estranged spouse could pursue the farm for the value of its assets, but they would have to pay off the promissory note first, Don Forbes says. This process results in giving full title to the grandson while maintaining control for retirement income. The farming corporation is more complex. As a family farming corporation, it permits the shares held by Jurgen and Frieda to be transferred to grandson Herb at any price between book value and today’s market value. Any deficiency in value and tax due would be assumed by the new owner. There is an alternative: have the farm classified as an investment holding company. Normal business estate rules would apply to the company, Don Forbes says. On death of the owners, their shares would be value at current market value and relevant taxes paid. Redemption of preferred shares would be treated as taxable dividends when received by the shareholder. If redeemed all at once, then

a 40 per cent tax rate would be likely to apply. Using a valuation from December 31, 2015, if the farm’s retained earnings are $385,000 and preferred shares have a value of $661,000, then the 40 per cent tax (on the total of these figures) would be $418,000 leaving $628,000 after tax. In this case, shares of the farm corporation would be transferred to the next generation at book value. An estate freeze that locks the equity value of common shares into fixed price preferred shares would allow the grandson, Herb, to get the common shares at a nominal cost. The future increase in the equity value of the farming corporation would go to Herb while the parents’ value would remain locked in the preferred shares, Erik Forbes explains. The parents’ lawyer and accountant can do this reorganization into common and preferred shares with $600,000 converted into preferred shares. The remainder of the $628,000, likely very little after professional fees and related costs, would be common shares for Herb.

Future income For 2017 and future years, the parents would redeem $30,000 of preferred shares rather than receive salary income. The redemption would be taxed as dividend income. If the parents live another 20 years, their equity in the farm would have been reduced and Herb’s equity in the farm would rise. They could transfer the personally owned home quarter to Herb so that he has a place to live. More land can be transferred to him in future, Don Forbes suggests. Before the values of the farm and the farming corporation are crystallized in the transfer process, Jurgen and Frieda should add to their TaxFree Savings Accounts. At present, they have about $32,400 of the

allowable $104,000 combined limit in 2017. If they each top up their TFSAs and add $5,500 each year thereafter, they can have $120,000 each, including estimated appreciation, by 2025, Don Forbes estimates. There is more to do with the couple’s off-farm financial assets. They hold an astonishing $715,000 in Guaranteed Investment Certificates at a local credit union. The principal is safe within the credit union central’s backing, but the returns are in low single digits, taxable, and unable to pace inflation. If Jurgen and Frieda assemble a portfolio of diversified off-farm financial assets, then the nearly threequarter million deck of GICs would be able to generate gains and, given that capital gains and dividends are taxed at lower rates than interest, tax-efficient growth. For now, Jurgen and Frieda can have a $5,200 monthly income before tax consisting of $578 each of Old Age Security payments, $500 Canada Pension Plan benefits for Jurgen and $350 for Frieda, farm dividends of $2,500 for Jurgen, and Registered Retirement Income Fund payouts of $700 a month for Frieda, all of which will add up to $5,206. The couple’s living expenses are just $3,000 a month, so they will have a surplus for saving, travel, gifts to their children or perhaps for donations to good causes. “The process of going from Jurgen and Frieda’s operating farm to retirement with management and ownership held by the next generation is not really difficult, though it has several steps and some professional fees,” Don Forbes explains. “What we suggest is conservative and able to save taxes.” GN Andrew Allentuck is author of When Can I Retire? Planning Your Financial Life After Work (Penguin, 2011).

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Hart Attacks

Things I learned from auctioneers Lee Hart gets an education from the Livestock Markets Association of Canada By Lee Hart

ind me a microphone, a gavel, a cowboy hat and an unwanted emu and I might just become an auctioneer (The emu? Well, a person has to start somewhere.) This is my plan after recently being exposed to a major learning experience during the annual convention of the Livestock Markets Association of Canada (LMAC). This is an association of the owners and auctioneers, only a truly warped-ear might clearly understand. These are the people who use rapid-fire lingo to sell millions of dollars worth of livestock every year in one of the last bastions of human seller/buyer interaction known as a live auction. Yes, the virtual, video, electronic, or on-line auctions have a place too, but these guys (and as far as I could tell it was just all guys) firmly believe in the long running tradition of being perched above a sales ring, with livestock circling past, and rattling off a bidding call — known as a personalized chant — that compels serious buyers to keep placing bids before the gavel finally falls and they cry “SOLD.” For the uninformed, like myself, the word auction comes from a Latin word that means “I increase” or “I

augment.” The history of auctions dates back to 500 BC when the Babylonians sold women for marriage. I didn’t see any women sold at this LMAC event in Lethbridge, but who knows what happens when the media goes home. Actually, I think the worst thing that might have happened after the conference awards banquet is that the odd person might have had another beer. And as further enlightenment, the bidding call or “personalized chant” which I’m guessing no one is every expected to understand, is intended as a rhythmic monotone chant each auctioneer develops as a way to hypnotize buyers, while at the same time creating a sense of urgency — bid or lose out. As part of the LMAC event they hold the Canadian auctioneer championship — not just for the new and up and coming auctioneers, some of these guys have been chanting for 30 years or more. But veterans and novices alike apply their skills during an actual cattle sale, before a panel of seven peer judges. This year the 30 competitors in the competition all had their shot at selling batches from a total of about 3,500 head of cattle. The cattle sale was hosted at Perlich Bros. Auction Market at Lethbridge, which was celebrating 50 years in business.

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Lee Hart is a field editor with Grainews based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com.

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One of the features of the LMAC program was a tour into feedlot alley. Everyone knows cattle get fed in the Lethbridge area of southern Alberta, some reports peg the capacity at about 500,000 head, and here was a chance for guided tour. The tour focused on one of the most recent corporate farm structures, as two long-time southern Alberta family farms merged their operations. We visited VRP Farms, which is the 2015 union of Cor Van Raay’s (the VR part) large cattle feeding operation with the Rick Paskel (the P component) feedlot

feedlot is a large processing barn that can hold up to 1,000 head. May, June, July are the lower lamb placement months, with the facility filled by August and September. The facility is managed by VPR Farms employee Alfonso Osorinio, with a full time staff of between seven to 12 people depending on time of year. One other thing I learned, auctioneers enjoy a good meal. The tour stopped for lunch at VRP Farms, hosted by the Paskel and Van Raay families. We got the whole enchilada and more. With several long-time farm employees with Mexican heritage, the meal of traditional Mexican food was a nice change from conventional beef on a bun. I also learned I can’t hang out with these LMAC folks too much, they could be a bad influence. It was the first bus tour I’ve been on where the refreshment truck that followed the buses was loaded and unloaded with a forklift. I guess it is important everyone keep those chanting vocal chords lubricated. Seriously, they were a very responsible bunch, and very good hosts. GN

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and farm. And it is big, at least by Canadian standards. The combined farming operation is run by 180 employees. The farm has feeding capacity for 130,000 head of cattle over eight feedlots that range in size from 7,500 head to 30,000 head. They crop about 20,000 irrigated acres, which includes about 9,000 acres of corn and 7,000 acres of soft white wheat, along with winter wheat and other crops that all go into silage. VRP Farms buys about 40,000 Super B truckloads of grain each year, and feeds about 40,000 tonnes of silage, while cattle produce about 70,000 tonnes of manure. I was sort of prepared for big cattle numbers and large-scale farming. One thing I didn’t expect was the first stop at the farm’s 25,000 head lamb feedlot. The lamb feedlot is part of a separate company called Canada Gold Lamb, which in turn supplies lamb to the company-owned processing plant SunGold Specialty Meats Ltd at Innsifail, Alta., near Red Deer. The lamb lot was built on the site of a former beef cattle feedlot. Each pen has capacity to hold 250 lambs. The lambs arrive at between 65 to 75 pounds and are fed over about 100 days to a market weight of 120 to 125 pounds. A focal point of the lamb

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The cattle all got sold, but who did the best job? Who had the best chant, who was the most understandable? These were some of the criteria on a long tally sheet used for scoring. When the figures were tallied, Darren Rebalkin, of Alberta who works for the Meadow Lake, Sask., Livestock Auction, was named the 2017 Canadian champion. He now goes on to compete in the world auctioneering championship. I don’t know if Darren said he had ever sold emus but other contestants who have worked “odd and unusual sales” say an auctioneer has to be prepared for anything.

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Soils and crops

Natural controls on internal drainage of sloughs Whether or not your slough will drain quickly is a more complicated question than it appears

any farms in Western Canada are plenty wet, and the 1.25 inches of rain we got on May 7 is going to set seeding back a few days. When a rain like that comes we hope for a hot, dry wind to “dry it up.” But, evaporation is a small party of the overall equation. Sloughs do not “dry up” as much as they drain. Or not! We all know that sandy soils let excess water pass through quickly and the sloughs dry up quickly. Those with Henry’s Handbook can check page 140 to see a sandy slough near Saskatoon that drained away all spring snow melt water in 17 days. Clay soils pass water much slower so we expect the sloughs to dry up slowly. But it is much more complicated than that. Water moves more slowly through clay, but the aquifers beneath and the low water level in the aquifers is a big factor in slough drainage. Figure 1 shows a slough in clay soils on University of Saskatchewan land. The photo was taken from Preston Avenue north of College Drive, for those who frequent Saskatoon. Spring snow melt was early this year so by early April the slough was full and overflowing onto Preston Avenue. The frost delayed the early entry of water but by mid-April the area was shrinking a little each day. By April 28 the slough was dry. On that day I measured the 10 foot well (see Figure 1) that had been installed in August 2016. The water table was at 3.02 m. The message is that even in a high clay soil, internal drainage of excess surface water can be fairly rapid — provided the water has somewhere to drain. There must be a downward pressure gradient to allow downward drainage to proceed. At some depth there must an aquifer with low head because of drainage to the South Saskatchewan River. That low head provides the mechanism to allow slough water to drain relatively quickly. At this site there is about 15 feet of lacustrine (glacial lake) clay overlying glacial till deposited by the ice. No deep exploration has been conducted at this site but there must be a deep internal drain to facilitate the relatively rapid internal drainage of the sloughs. It is quite clear that internal drainage is controlled as much by the deep geology as by the near surface soil texture. We must also consider that

Very highly leached (white) sloughs In the Black soil zone it is not uncommon to see sloughs that are white as a sheet. In those cases the white colour is <not> salt but rather an indication of the low organic matter content. The white sloughs would have been poplar bluffs with leaf litter instead of grass and hence the low organic matter. This past winter I have scanned about 2,500 slides from my years at the University of Saskatchewan. Some were taken by me and some left with me when colleagues retired or left for greener pastures. Many of the landscape/ soil colour slides were from summerfallow fields. Those slides are a precious resource that must be retained for future generations. We all hope that there is no backsliding to millions of acres of summerfallow every year. In those slides there are examples of white, highly leached sloughs, in the Meadow Lake, Blaine Lake, Waldheim and Stockholm, Sask., areas to name a few. Figure 3 shows one such example near Meadow Lake. Even in 1993 summerfallow was a rare item at Meadow Lake so I was anxious to take a picture of something we may not see again for a very long time. Gleysol is a soil classification term referring to a poorly drained soil. I always argued with that definition. Theses soils are very well drained internally — they just have to let a lot of water pass through that collects because of poor surface drainage. It is of interest to note that these white sloughs are almost always very high in soil test phosphorus. Because of the wet spring conditions in sloughs they can be cold and still respond to a bit of P with the seed. So, be careful in how you approach sampling these special soils. In the next issue we will look at surface indicators of water coming out of the ground. GN J.L.(Les) Henry is a former professor and extension specialist at the University of Saskatchewan. He farms at Dundurn, Sask. His book, “Henry’s Handbook of Soil and Water,” mixes the basics and practical aspects of soil, fertilizer and farming. To order a signed copy, send a cheque for $50 (includes shipping and GST) to Henry Perspectives, 143 Tucker Cres, Saskatoon, Sask., S7H 3H7.

Figure 1. A slough on nearly level clay soil on University of Saskatchewan farm. This photo was taken on April 28, 2017.

Figure 2. A closer view of the well site and slough center on April 28, 2017.

photos: les henry

Les Henry

Mother Nature has been working at this internal drainage project for 10,000 years. It would make sense that some preferential pathways have been developed in that long time frame.

Figure 3. White, highly leached sloughs northwest of Meadow Lake. This photo was taken in May 1993.

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Understanding market bulls and bears

Review pre-signed contracts after seeding Once your crop is in the ground, revise your marketing plan to suit 2017 conditions Brian Wittal

bfwittal@procommarketingltd.com

ast spring I wrote about the dry spring weather and how to set up a marketing plan that would work for your farm regardless of what the weather did for the rest of the year. Now I’ll continue with that theme but with somewhat of a twist. It’s certainly not dry like it was last year, so that could definitely change the outlook. Let’s start with a global perspective. European and Baltic region harvests were estimated to be average to above average for volume with a mixed quality profile, but nothing of big concern that couldn’t be blended and sold. Australia just finished a bumper harvest of decent quality grains in March. South America is in the middle of harvest, which looks to also be a bumper crop. There have been some weather delays that could drop quality but this was in limited areas. India’s harvest is underway and it is a far bigger crop than they have had in the past two or three years; India won’t be near as reliant on imports as they have been in the past few years. The U.S winter wheat crop was the lowest acreage ever seeded and has recently faced weather issues — too much rain and then snow. Overall, spring weather across the U.S. and the Prairies has been unsettled — cool and wet — which has not helped seeding progress or helped to get the remains of last year’s crop harvested.

tion and break-even numbers in a spreadsheet and you have a marketing plan in place it won’t take you long to sit down and update the relevant information such as acres seeded, yield potential and price expectations. This will give you a better picture of your potential profit for the coming year. Then you can review your marketing plan and see what, if any, changes you need to make to your pricing targets your total tonnes to sell and/or the types

of contracts you should use to protect your profits. Reviewing your marketing plan at key strategic times such as right after seeding, part way through the growing year and right after harvest is critical in helping you determine if your earlier plans needs revising to ensure you’re maximizing your profits while protecting yourself from uncertainty or added risks. Weather events such as hail and or frost can severely impact your

production and or quality. This will no doubt have an impact on your profitability, but let’s not forget that it could also have a big impact on pre-priced contracts. If you’ve signed contracts earlier in the year and then end up short of tonnes or quality to meet your contract obligations what financial penalties will you face? These costs will be yours so make sure you review your plan as soon as you experience a weather event so that if you are going to be

short tonnes for delivery you can make decisions sooner than later, to ensure you aren’t at any more risk than is absolutely necessary. Good luck with seeding and be safe in the fields. GN 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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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Can’t take the farm from the boy

Putting in those long spring working days When there are clouds in the sky, there’s no time to waste when the crop’s not in yet Toban Dyck

tobandyck@gmail.com

had about 50 acres left to seed at 10 p.m. on May 15. The forecast was calling for rain starting at about midnight. But that was for Winkler. I wasn’t near Winkler. I was closer to the system that was rolling east. I didn’t think I’d be able to finish. The system was above me. The temperature plummeted. Farming has changed for me since I began working off the farm. It’s now both a priority and something I fit in. May 15 was a Monday. I had helped organize a photography workshop for the agronomists and staff of multiple commodity groups that day. I introduced the instructor, sat in on the workshop for an hour or so, then ducked out. The rain was coming and we needed to push. Most of the times it’s seamless, but sometimes it isn’t easy to shift from thinking about farming and

agriculture, in general, to being alone on a field trying to figure out what keeps plugging that drill run. I absolutely love both, and I’ll contend to the end that they are mutually beneficial. Since 2012, when my wife and I moved to my family’s farm, we’ve been able to get the crop in the ground without too many setbacks or too much anxiety. But there is always a push. And I wrestle with this. Do some farmers work until their eyes won’t stay open anymore because they’ve been burned by quitting at a reasonable hour? Or, do some farmers enjoy getting caught up in the frenzy? The land I was seeding that day was light. It could handle a bit of moisture before I’d start to get nervous about whether or not I would be able to get a crop in this year. For some farmers, that is exactly what stirs them to put in long days, long nights until the crop is in. They have experienced years where a chance of rain in the forecast has meant two or more weeks of conditions too wet for

seeding. Or, worse, a chance of rain or other inclement weather events have resulted in a complete inability to seed for that year. I get that, in theory. And it will remain theory until I experience it first hand.

The push I enjoyed the push. It was rewarding to work until the job was done. The clouds didn’t break open as I thought they would and I finished seeding mid-morning on May 16. I drove onto the yard, backed the drill into the workshop and woke up my wife, Jamie, for a ride back to the field to pick up the drill fill. It’s important for farmers to realize that when they push, they tax more than themselves. If they are awake and on the field at 3 a.m., that is felt a long way down the value-chain. Libertarianism is rampant in farming communities. The belief that government should have a limited role in the lives of the citizens it represents comes easy for those of us who are used to getting things done on our

own. But here’s the problem. We don’t get things done on our own. Service yards stay open late when we stay awake late. Mobile mechanics are on call. And those around us often make themselves available for things like meals or rides. When we break down, there is urgency to getting us back on the field. And too often we expect it and are unhappy when the things we need at 1 a.m. are unavailable. This is not a call for wholesale change. This a call to recognize that we rely on others, including government, in order to get our crops in the ground and see them through until harvest. There is a complex web of people, groups and industries working longer hours than we do in order to make sure agriculture remains competitive and profitable. And we are all intertwined. What I do on my farm affects more than my farm. This is important to consider when we push. This is important to consider when we have knee-jerk reactions to policies that seem meddling. It’s us vs. them when

we talk about GMOs or other issues of public trust. But those terms are argumentative conveniences, albeit important ones. Really, it’s just us, and the difference between us and them is as negligible as the difference between two shades of the same colour. We don’t operate on our own. Farmers are not in this by themselves. Like any industry, it’s a thick, mucky mess of connections, threads, trenches, relationship and human nature. The trickiest part about finishing seeding late at night (or early morning) is getting that last fill of the drill just right. In daylight, my dad and I would seed it out with me on the drill sweeping the last of the soybeans into the tubes of the seeder. It’s not the same at night, when you’re tired. I did well, I think. I didn’t run out of seed and I don’t think there is too much left in the drill to vacuum out. But that’s for another day. GN Toban Dyck is a freelance writer and a new farmer on an old farm. Follow him on Twitter @tobandyck.

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Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Reporter’s notebook

Getting back to the roots of our Prairie past Lisa Guenther takes a tour of what’s left of Cleeves, a once-thriving Saskatchewan town By Lisa Guenther

Photo: Lisa Guenther

t’s a safe bet that most people haven’t heard of Cleeves, Sask. While Google maps still marks the spot virtually, little is left of the abandoned hamlet beyond caraganas, a dirt road and the basement of the school. Growing up in the Turtleford area, I’d heard of Cleeves. I knew it was somewhere around Spruce Lake, but wasn’t sure where. Last summer I had the good fortune of meeting the Rallison family, who have roots in Cleeves. Al Rallison was a driving force behind an event held at the Cleeves site, so I decided to check it out. Organizers had old photos available showing the layout of the hamlet (I think they were taken from one of the grain elevators, but I’m not sure). They’d also set up signs marking where various buildings had stood so people could get a sense of what Cleeves looked like back in the day. Cleeves was established when the Canadian National Railway line was extended north from Turtleford, in 1920. The town site was located on a sandy flat, which wasn’t the best farmland, but did have great water. From what I gathered in the Turtleford Treasures history book, it was

Few visible signs remain of Cleeves. Pictured is the basement of the school.

built on land originally owned by George Cleve, hence the name. The Cleve family came to the area from North Dakota in 1912 and 1913. The railway’s arrival made a big difference in the daily lives of people living around Cleeves. Before the track was laid, Mabel Carr and her daughter Clara would do the grocery run to Turtleford by riding oxen. On the way home one day, one of the oxen lay in the Turtle River to cool off. Unfortunately that ox was carrying the sugar. The arrival of the steel also sparked a fair number of businesses in Cleeves, including a general store, blacksmith shop, livery barns, hotel and restaurant, a bakery, butcher shop, lumber

yard, pool room, and more. Along with grain, up to 1,000 head of cattle were shipped out of Cleeves each year. Over the years the community added more activities and infrastructure, such as a school, homemaker’s club, 4-H garden club, skating rink, and curling rink. Church services were held at the hotel and school. The curling rink only had one sheet of ice, so bonspiels ran 24 hours. That is possibly the most Saskatchewan thing I have ever heard about.

Health care in the early days The railway wasn’t just a means of transporting grain and cattle. When typhoid fever struck Cleeves in the

early 1930s, Dr. Ramsay traveled from Turtleford every day in his jigger to check on his patients. That epidemic “led to a story of romance,” Marilyn Bleakney, of the Turtleford and District Museum, told us. Nurse Peggy Kettles went to Cleeves to care for Della Willy. While there, she met and married Wilfred Willy. In those days, disease outbreaks would close the school, Turtleford Treasures notes. Cleeves students would have bouts of measles, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, whooping cough, mumps and chicken pox. It was also interesting to read about how babies were born in those days. Although Turtleford has a fairly new hospital, these days women travel to North Battleford to deliver babies. That was not the case in the early part of the last century. Many of the Cleeves family stories mention the doctors and nurses who attended the births. It’s easy to understand why those people deserved a mention —childbirth was risky. For many years other women served as midwives for their neighbours as well. Turtleford Treasures mentions the following midwives in the Cleves area alone: Sophia Cleve, Mabel Carr, Mrs. Muirhead, Mrs. Marchant and Vera Ingram.

The slow decline “Cleeves was the end of the steel until 1929, when the railroad was extended to Paradise Hill. The Cleeves trading area shrunk in size, and this spelled the slow decline of the hamlet of Cleeves,” Bleakney told us that day. The hamlet did hang on for many years after the rail line extended north. However, once the highway was built and cars and trucks became common, the Wheat Pool elevator closed. The general store and remaining business followed. In 1963, the school was shuttered. In 1966, the post office closed its doors. Cleeves is not unique in this way. Many other rural communities have slowly gone back to the earth. I suppose that could trigger existential angst in some, but that impermanence reminds me that the land will be here long after any of us are gone. Many thanks to the Turtleford and District Museum volunteers for organizing the event. If you’re interested in the history of your own rural community, you might be able to find information online at www. ourroots.ca. Many local history books have been digitized and stored on that website. GN Lisa Guenther is field editor for Grainews based at Livelong, Sask. Follow her on Twitter @LtoG.

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machinery & shop

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Shop class

Diagnosing and repairing a problem leak Checking all the parts showed this leak repair needed more than a new gasket By Scott Garvey

3. Gaps

6. Painting

The old pan gasket was thoroughly soaked and hadn’t been sealing the joint. To find out why, we checked the pan’s mating surface. That showed another major problem. Someone — maybe the guy who put the ATF in it — had severely over torqued the bolts and deformed the pan mating surface. There was no indication any gasket sealant had been applied, and the gaps were too large for the gasket to make a seal. In the image, a straight edge is held against the pan’s mating surface with a shop light behind it. The light shining through the gaps between the mating surface and straight edge shows how severely the pan is deformed.

Of course, no one is likely to ever see this part, unless we run over a gopher and he looks up. But thoroughly cleaning the pan and giving it a quick spray of rattle-can paint will protect the metal, and it will help give the repair a complete and professional touch.

’m always reminded of that famous Forrest Gump saying when working on an older machine or vehicle. Opening up a component like a transmission or transfer case, or looking behind the dashboard, is like opening a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll find. The latest repair job to come into the Grainews Garage certainly provided some unexpected finds. Initially, the objective was simple: replace a leaky gasket. But this repair demonstrated the importance of giving everything a careful inspection. Doing that in this case showed there was much more to do than drop in a new gasket to take care of this leak. Here’s how the repair went. 1. Leaking

7. Gasket

4. Hammer

The oil pan on the transfer case of this older four-wheel drive vehicle had more leaks than the Trump Whitehouse. Sometimes pinpointing the exact location of a leak on a machine can be easier said than done. In this case the source was obvious. But if it wasn’t, it would have been necessary to clean all the oil off the underside of the components and run the machine until it gets up to operating temperature, while looking for new drips to appear. Checking the fluid level inside the transfer case of this vehicle revealed it was low, and the red colour suggested someone had previously filled it with automatic transmission fluid (ATF) rather than the required, and much thicker, 80W90 gear lube. So aside from wanting to get rid of the annoying oil puddles left underneath the vehicle when it was parked and the need for refills to keep the fluid level up, it was necessary to drain out the ATF and replace it with the proper lubricant. After removing a steel skid plate below the transfer case, access to the oil pan was pretty good. With the fluid drained and a few bolts unscrewed, it came off. 2. Scrapes

Ideally, we’d have preferred to replace the pan with one in better condition. But in true Grainews style, we did the best we could with the parts on hand. Using a body hammer and a small anvil, the mating surfaces were pounded straight. Use light hammer blows for jobs like this, because the metal is relatively thin and moves easily. There’s not need to bash it. After every few blows, the pan was rechecked against a straight edge until it was as good and straight as we could get it. Next, we turned our attention to the area around the drain plug where the gear was rubbing. Using the rounded face on the opposite side of this same hammer, the dent was pounded out and the pan’s original shape was regained to provide adequate clearance for the gear. Again, just using light hammer blows and rechecking the progress frequently until the job was done

Because we weren’t able to hammer the pan mating surfaces perfectly flat, we’re going to apply a coat of gasket sealant to both sides of the new gasket. That will help compensate for the slightly uneven surface and create a seal. (We finished evening out the sealant just after this photo was taken.) The pan was then bolted back onto the transfer case, but only tight enough to get the sealant to start oozing out of the edges. After about an hour, the sealant will set up. Then the bolts can get a final tightening, which requires only about a half turn, just enough to snug them up. Remember, excessive torque deformed the metal edges of the pan and caused the leak problem in the first place. We don’t want to end up doing exactly the same thing again. 8. Finished

5. Sandpaper

Once the pan was off, we noticed the small bit of fluid left inside was heavily contaminated with a lot of glittery metal particles, which is a bad sign suggesting something inside the transfer case was wearing fast. At first, we suspected the particles were from a gear or a bearing surface. On close inspection, it appeared the pan was damaged. Scrapes in the pan near the drain plug revealed a gear had been digging into it. Something had deformed the pan, denting it and pushing the surface up and into interference with the gear. An inspection of the visible gears and surfaces inside the transfer case showed everything else looked okay, so we were satisfied the particles likely came from the grooves in the oil pan.

Before being reattached, the mating surfaces need to be clean, dry and free of any contaminants. The pan spent some time in a parts washer and was given another rub down with parts cleaner. Lastly, some 220-grit sandpaper was used to remove any gasket fragments or old sealant and lightly scuff the surface. This was done on the transfer case surface as well.

With the pan back in place, the bolts torqued and the transfer case filled with 80W90 gear lube, the gasket and sealant have worked to create a good seal. The joint is completely dry. We also wrapped the drain plug threads with Teflon tape to ensure it doesn’t leak either. Once the skid plate was reinstalled, the job was finished. During a road test after the repair, we noticed the odd, grinding noise coming from under the floorboards that had been annoying — and worrying — before we made the repair was now gone. Repairing the damaged oil pan cured the leak and the interference with the drive gear. Everything hums nicely now. GN Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

machinery & shop

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

New equipment

K-line Ag officially launches the Speedtiller Australian firm stakes a claim in the Canadian marketplace By Scott Garvey

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Bill Larsen is director of sales and marketing for K-line Agriculture.

the independently mounted discs provide for a high breakout force. The Speedtiller is available with 22-, 24- and 26-inch diameter discs. “The disc angle is not adjustable, but the disc tracking is,” Larsen says. “In primary tillage we find you have to be able to adjust the front and back row individually and move them sideways so the discs stay inline.” Speedtillers are available in working widths from 15 to 41 feet and are designed to work best at nine m.p.h. in the field. The company also builds three-point hitch mounted versions as small as eight feet. Some machines have been part of Flaman Rentals’ rental fleet over the past year, and Larsen says the decision to release them to the western Canadian market this year is a result of them having proved

photo: K-Line Ag

ith so many growers in Western Canada having made the transition to no-till production a decade or more ago, some might find it surprising that the number of new tillage implements and onceunfamiliar brands has proliferated in recent years. But a variety of factors now have many looking at incorporating “strategic tillage” into their operations. Bill Larsen, director of sales and marketing at Australia-based K-Line Agriculture, says those factors were the force behind the development of his company’s Speedtiller implement. And they’re the reason it has seen acceptance from farmers both at home and on this continent. “We’re selling a lot to farmers who for years now have been doing minimum till or zero till,” he says. “And they’re finding due to disease, chemical resistant weeds, or high residue issues, they’re falling back on strategic tillage, a one-pass tillage solution. And that’s really where this tiller has done really well.” The Speedtiller is a high-speed disc implement that is not only capable of ripping into sod on hayfields, it can also be used to bury trash and leave a finished field surface ready for seeding. “It takes the place of a tandem, offset disc and a vertical finishing tool all in one,” he adds. “It’s a dual-purpose tool.” That means the Speedtiller relies on a very heavy frame, and the rubber torsion components on

Australia-based K-line Ag is entering the North American market this year with the official product launch of its Speedtiller high-speed disc.

themselves under Prairie conditions that way. The company also showed them to growers last season at demonstration events like the Ag in Motion farm show. But February marked their official launch to the Canadian market. “It’s the first official launch, he says. “But we’re here and we’ve proved ourselves in Canada and the U.S.”

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coming over this summer. We’re going to run it and get the feedback. Then I think we’ll be launching it probably in the fall. It’s called the Trashcutter. It’s a bit of a unique product and I think it will have a spot in the marketplace. GN Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@fbcpublishing.com.

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The Speedtiller will be back at the Ag in Motion show, and the other western Canadian farm shows this season. But the company isn’t stopping there. It plans to bring a number of its Trashcutter tillage machines to Waestern Canada this summer and field test them to gauge growers’ reactions to their performance. “We have a new product that is

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machinery & shop

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017 tires

Forage equipment

NEW MOWERCONDITIONERS FROM KRONE German brand introduces a “new generation” of mounted disc mowers By Scott Garvey

rone, known for four decades as a forage equipment manufacturer, has recently added to its equipment line in North America, with the addition of the ActiveMow R and EasyCut R three-point hitch mounted disc mowers. The Germany-based brand describes them as an “elite new generation.a” The mowers use a low-profile design with welded-on plates to protect the cutters from damage. The SafeCut disc hubs use a shear pin to prevent damage. They also use Krone’s quick-change knife change system. Both mower lines are available in working widths up to 11 feet 10 inches (3.61 metres). GN

photo: scott garvey

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

to o

o kr

Krone has added the ActiveMow R and EasyCut R models to its line of three-point hitch disc mowers.

Demand for “super singles” grows At the U.S. Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, in August, tire manufacturers made their presence known. Michelin proudly proclaimed it now offers the largest ag tire in the industry: the LSW 1400/30R46. Product reps at the company’s exhibit said they are seeing a growing demand for large single tires in some areas of the U.S. and Canada, with producers opting for them rather than duals or triples. As a result, brands like John Deere now offer new wider single tire options right from the factory, like the 9410R on display wearing a set of those 1400s. GN Scott Garvey

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machinery & shop

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

New equipment

Case IH grows its Early Riser planter line Model 2160, 32- and 36-row models now available on wheels or tracks

n Early March Case IH added to its line of Early Riser planters with the introduction of the 2160. Available with either 32 or 36 rows, this big planter can be ordered in four different configurations with the steerable Rowtrac Carrier System or as a standard wheeled model. The 2160 gets Case IH’s latest planting technology too, so it’s capable of working at up to 10 m.p.h. (16 km/h) in the field. High-speed capability, it seems, is quickly becoming an industry standard for planters, as are tracks on large models because of the floatation they offer. “The 2160 Early Riser planter with steerable Rowtrac Carrier System provides up to 74 per cent increased floatation over a wheeled carrier to reduce soil compaction,” said Tony McClelland, Case IH planter marketing manger, in a press release. “With more square inches on the ground, toolbar weight is evenly distributed to

improve planting performance in areas of the country with soft, loamy soils and/or wet planting conditions.” The Rowtrac system is able to pivot on three different axes: pitch, roll and yaw (which sounds a little like the description of airplane controls). That, claims the company, allows the tracks to maintain consistent ground pressure when following uneven terrain. The Rowtrac design won Case IH an AE50 design award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). And because it’s also steerable, getting the planter through tight spaces or over narrow field approaches is a little easier. All 2000 Series planters, including the 2160, create what Case IH claims is the only flat-bottom seed trench in the industry to improve placement accuracy. Meter drive is electric and the planter uses hydraulic down force. GN Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact him at Scott.Garvey@ fbcpublishing.com.

photo: case IH

By Scott Garvey

New Early Riser 2160 planter offers 32- and 36- row working widths.

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machinery & shop

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

photo: agco

Seeding equipment

AGCO’s 9800VE White Planters are now capable of operating at 9.8 m.p.h.

AGCO introduces high-speed White Planters White 9800VE Series planters use new seed tube design

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GCO’s White Planter brand has recently debuted a new high-speed machine. The updated 9800VE Series planters, which made their first public debut at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky, in February, now offer the same placement accuracy at 9.8 m.p.h. as othwer non-high-speed machines can at less than four, according to the company. Their ability to operate at high speeds is the result of incorporating the SpeedTube seed tubes from Precision Planting into the design of the 9800VE models. “With SpeedTubes on White Planters 9800VE Series planters, they can now achieve precise seed placement of corn at speeds nearly double traditional operating speeds,” said Larry Kuster, senior product specialist for tillage and seeding, in a press release. With traditionally-designed seed tubes on planters, high field speeds create a ricochet effect as seed travels down the tube and bounces once it hits the furrow, resulting in inconsistent seed spacing. Instead, SpeedTubes control the seed all the way from the meter to the furrow and allow it to drop and remain in place. To do that, feeder wheels at the top take the seed from the metering disc and pull it into a flighted belt that places it in the bottom of the seed trench. The belt speed increases or decreases with planter speed and seeding rates. 9800VE models come standard with 12-volt electric meter drive motors that eliminate the problems associated with mechanical drive systems and help maintain accurate seed spacing. They also use a central fill hopper with a 90-bushel capacity. The planters are available in 12-, 16- and 24-row models. GN

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

Industry Quote: “ Equipment manufacturers supported over 1.4 million jobs between the United States and Canada in 2016, through direct, indirect and induced employment effects.” Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)

cattleman's corner

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

the markets

Cattle market endures volatility Beef oversupply will be an issue unless consumer spending picks up MARKET UPDATE Jerry Klassen

to note that cattle-on-feed numbers U.S. QUARTERLY BEEF PRODUCTION (MILLION POUNDS) were running very similar to year-ago Quarter 2013 2014 2015 Est. 2016 levels on the April report. More importantly, weekly beef production 1 6,172 5,868 5,664 5,935 is actually only coming in marginally higher than last year given the lower 2 6,517 6,183 5,857 6,187 marketing weights. 3 6,608 6,179 6,068 6,468 We're bound to see an increase in production but given recent data the 4 6,420 6,021 6,109 6,623 current estimate may be somewhat Thursday, June Thursday, June 22 overstated for the second22 quarter. By Total 25,717 24,251 23,698 25,213 the third quarter, we should see marketing weights increase and the WHOLESALE BEEF PRICES weekly slaughter run about 20,000 head above last year. I'm in agreement (Monthly Average US$/cwt) (Jan. 2015 to May 2017) with the USDA on the third quarter. In Canada, the weekly slaughter is running about 55,000 head per week, up from 49,000 head per week last year. Year-to-date beef production for the week ending May 6 was 347,534 mt, up about two per cent from last year but the THE U.S. NUMBERS number of cattle slaughtered is up The USDA continues to project a year- six per cent. In Western Canada, over-year production increase of 300 1:15 steerp.m. dressed carcass weights 1:15 are p.m. 2:15 p.m. 2:15 p.m. million for the second and third quarSee Cattle market on Page 42  ters of 2017. However, it is important nearby requirements with U.S. companies shopping aggressively for market-ready supplies across the Prairies and in Ontario. However, Canadian operators were in the same shape as our southern neighbours with feedlots moving cattle out of feedyards just over 1,150 pounds in some cases. As luck would have it, the Canadian dollar also dipped to 13-month lows, enhancing the overall price structure. Wholesale prices surged and remain at relatively lofty levels as of late May. Feeder cattle prices in the 800-pound plus categories jumped nearly $40 within a two-week period. As of mid-May, the fed cattle market has fallen back to the $185 area while 850-pound steers have held value trading in the range of $205 to $210 in southern Alberta.

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lberta fed cattle prices reached up to the range of $195 to $197 during the first week of May due to tight marketready supplies and adverse weather in the U.S. southern Plains. The futures market has been trading at a sharp discount to the cash trade throughout winter and spring, causing feedlots to be aggressive on marketings on both sides of the border. Carcass weights were declining and feedlots were moving a fair amount of green cattle in order to capture high fed cattle prices and historically large feeding margins. During the weekend of April 29, a severe snowstorm in Kansas and excessive moisture across much of the Midwest caused many feedlots to hold off on sales as off farm logistics became a nightmare in many counties. Packers scrambled to cover their

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cattleman's corner

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Penchecker Diary

Grocery bag certainly broke the boredom Finding a balance between being too subdued and chaos By Bruce Derksen

he onset of the summer doldrums brought to mind an incident from a few years back as I was pen checking. I had just begun my routine and entered a pen of feeder steers. It was a warm, breezy afternoon with a shimmering heat haze slowly rising from the remaining straw packs of winter and spring.

Other than the monotonous buzzing of summer flies the air was still and quiet. Roughly 200 feeders lay or stood randomly throughout the pen, chewing cud and swishing tails, giving the impression of complete boredom, when an empty grocery bag aided by a small whirlwind dust devil made its appearance under a plank fence not 20 feet from me. Old Sonny froze and I instinctively grabbed the pommel of my saddle, for I had a good idea of what was coming.

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Instantly the tranquility of summer gave way to the terror of a summer afternoon thunderstorm, but without any literal thunder. From south to north, as in unison of doing the “wave” at a football game, 200 cattle bolted upright and sprinted north, trampling and pushing their slower pen mates until all had crowded the north fence. As posts sheared off and planks and windboards crumbled, 200 more frantic steers in the neighbouring pen rose

to action, speeding north with more snapping of posts. When the false summer storm finally subsided, five pens were destroyed, and around 800 cattle were mixed with many injured. I’m sure most cattlemen have seen a similar situation and have wondered if there was a way to stop something like this from happening. We know cattle are followers. When the first steer rose and began running, there wasn’t an animal down-

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stream that ordered a stop. Did the rolling grocery bag really affect their quiet peaceful day that much? Should calmer heads have prevailed? No, cattle will follow almost to the end of their own world.

CONTENTED OR BORED? We always hear that non-stressed contented cattle gain more efficiently, but does that include bored cattle? Is it possible that somewhat stimulated cattle would be more efficient cattle? It is a fact that bored cattle can develop destructive habits like excessive riding, fence chewing, aggressive grooming, dirt digging and straw piling. Of course, overly stressed cattle are on the other end of the spectrum and are undesired due to poor carcass yields, contagious wild behaviour, and more dark cutters, so there is a balance to be sought. Some feedlots have experimented with attempting to slightly vary their animal’s behaviour. Like responsible dog owners taking their animals for walks, some feedlots open their pen gates on schedule and allow cattle to explore the alleyways on a limited basis. This is sometimes done with the primary goal of allowing for the easier emptying of a pen when sorting out finished animals but maybe it brings other positives. Many feedlots play music for their cattle, or place random objects like large inner tubes, tractor tires or manufactured livestock toys within their fence lines. The feedlot managers claim the sound or “toys” have created success in avoiding poor behaviour. Of course, I would definitely recommend staying away from toys that look and act like grocery bags. We aging pen checkers are never impressed when our workload expands into the realm of corral fence building. But do these other actions allow for the limited and controlled positive stimulation of cattle? Is there value? For some the answer might be that a bored steer is preferable to a minimally stimulated steer. They could be right. Both have the ability to develop the unwanted destructive habits that cost weight gain, time and money. Would a pen of slightly stimulated feeder cattle have been able to withstand the rolling grocery bag challenge better than the obsessively bored pen because their minds would have been somewhat conditioned to absorb the shock? I sometimes think of myself as a minimally stimulated and relatively simple person. If I go home from work and proclaim myself bored, it can become a dangerous situation. My better half would quickly deliver “positive stimulation” in the form of chores if I begin to resemble a lazy bored steer with negative attitudes and actions. Happy and at least slightly stimulated is not really a bad place to be. GN

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cattleman's corner

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

animal health

Aiming at dart gun pros and cons Effective yes, but need to be used with the proper diagnosis and product ANIMAL HEALTH Roy Lewis

emote drug delivery (RDD) devices are becoming more common in some modern cow-calf operations. The olderstyle capture guns used in the past were generally used by veterinarians to tranquilize and “capture” cattle needing further treatment. Tranquilized animals could then be loaded and transported if that was necessary or put in a smaller compound if further treatment was necessary. Capture guns have also been used by veterinarians to capture escaped stock in areas where there are no collection corrals. Wildlife officers also use these same capture guns with potent drugs to catch and relocate wildlife. But there are advantages and disadvantages on relying on these RDD for treating cattle — primarily

those running on large pastures where the ability to restrain and examine cattle is limited. Strong, elusive and fractious bulls may even see these devices used on them. Initially the older capture guns were cumbersome and used hard metal darts that could inflict lots of damage themselves. Today's modern RDD (capture rifles and handguns) shoot lightweight darts that are loaded easily and are very accurate. The two makes I am most familiar with are the Dan-Inject and the Pneu-Dart systems. Both have darts that can carry up to 10 cc of product each and have projection systems that accurately deliver product up to 20 to 30 metres away. Wind must be taken into account when firing these.

PROPER DIAGNOSIS/PROPER TREATMENT? The first question to ask with these devices is if a proper diag-

nosis can be made from a distance, with no close examination and identification of the animal. Secondly, does the delivery device put the product where it needs to be according to protocols from a Verified Beef Production standpoint? Can we get the proper dosage delivered? If you are going to use products, especially prescription drugs, in these devices your veterinarian should work out the protocols for the specific conditions you can treat with these remote devices. Many of today’s modern medicines are effective products at low dosages, are long lasting, and most are approved for subcutaneous delivery. The darts can be used with shorter needles so although not a guarantee, most of the product can get delivered subcutaneously. Aiming for the side of a mature animal’s neck or shoulder area is a decent target area with these accurate rifles.

A producers needs to take into account when darting a calf, yearling, cow or bull, the skin thickness is very different between these groups. Be ever cognizant of location of the jugular vein. Most products, if given intravenously, are most likely to create a severe allergic reaction. Always have epinephrine on hand any time antibiotics or other products are being injected. If RDD hits in the shoulder area, I have seen instances where animals limp for a few days. The shoulder blade may have been hit. If possible, never dart cattle while they are on the run.

EFFECTIVE TOOLS From our producer and rancher viewpoints these dart guns offer easy and timely treatments, save labour and place minimal stress on the cattle. If the correct treatment is given one day or even several hours earlier than it would normally be, treatment response

See pros and cons on Page 42 

Sharing

Common Ground

Images courtesy of Kathrin Lowe (left); Sam Wirzba (middle); and Canadian Cattlemen’s (right)

Interactive workshops for producers on production innovations, a tradeshow, market outlooks, and presentations about how we can work together to advance connectivity, productivity, beef demand and competitiveness in the industry PLUS excellent networking opportunities including a golf tournament and tour

is improved. Fewer treatments may be necessary and it can be much less stressful than roping and stretching the cattle out for treatment. The darts fall out shortly after contact so can be gathered up. Some darts are for one-time usage, others are reusable. They are colourful so are seldom lost. One needs to work out with your veterinarian standard operating procedures for common pasture conditions with prescriptions as necessary. As a veterinarian, there is also concern we might have some cattle treated unnecessarily, and antimicrobial products may be used with a lack of proper knowledge and usage. Since the diagnosis is made while looking at an animal from a distance, the wrong diagnosis could be made. With lameness issues, we can observe cattle for a couple days for

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cattleman's corner

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

DAIRY CORNER

Avoid giving your baby calves gut aches It takes time for a calf stomach to develop to handle certain feeds By Peter Vitti

visit literarily hundreds of dairy farms across Canada each year. On most, pre-weaned dairy calves are raised away from the main lactation barn or older replacement heifer facilities. Whether these baby calves are housed in hutches, group pens or brand-new calf barns, when I find a group of calves that are sick and not growing, a lot of their poor performance can be traced back to poor nutrition causing indigestion. I see a lot of commonality in these unfortunate situations. They often fall into four main categories of gut aches, namely: nutritional scours, abomasum bloat, rumen acidosis and hay belly. In order to take corrective action, I recommend a return to a simple calf feed and management program. A large part of this problem stem from feeding pre-weaned calves as if they were mature dairy cows. A newborn baby dairy calf starts

off with a small, undeveloped rumen without an established microbe population (it gets this from its surrounding environment later on). It must rely upon a few selected enzymes released by its own abomasum and small intestine in order to break down simple-type essential nutrients, which are only found in milk such as casein and other milk proteins, lactose sugar, and saturated fats. By four weeks of age, the calf's abomasum and small intestine become a little more developed. Now, the calf’s rumen has a variety of new digestive enzymes as well as a limited type of microorganisms, which together can convert simple starches/sugars from grain-based calf starters into volatile fatty acids (VFA) which are absorbed across the rumen wall. It is these absorbed VFAs, particularly butyric and propionic acids, which stimulate the absorptive tissue lining of the young calf’s rumen to become

scouring and life-threatening dehydration. For example, I often see milk replacer scours in calves when producers mix milk replacers at a rich 150 grams of powder per litre of solution, rather than 130 grams per litre of solution, which is the natural dry matter content of whole cow’s milk. 2. Baby calf rumen acidosis: It has been proven that pre-weaned dairy calves can get acidosis eating too much grain-based calf starter, much like a milking cow that eats too much grain. For example, the University of Tennessee (1998) fed a conventional calf starter pellet formulated with corn and other common feed ingredients to a group of milk-fed calves from one week to 12 weeks of age. As a result, these researchers found that SARA (sub-clinical rumen acidosis; depicted when pH in a cow's rumen falls below 5.8) was reported in experimental calves at two weeks of age.

very active — rumen papillae elongate and the rumen walls thicken. The whole rumen grows, and the small calf is on its way to become a true ruminant.

THE RESULTS OF UNSOUND PROGRAMS Rather than promote steady ruminal development in six- to eight-weekold dairy calves; many askew and unsound pre-weaned calf-feeding programs do just the opposite and cause the following digestive upsets: 1. Milk and milk replacer scours: It is frequently seen as bright yellow, cream-coloured or nearly white liquid; all signs that a recently consumed milk or milk replacer meal was poorly digested. Not only does poor milk digestion lead to poor absorption of essential nutrients that the calf requires to live and grow, but unabsorbed nutrients left in the calves’ gut tend to draw retained water from the calf’s tissues, which amplifies

Similarly, some producers have told me that when they feed more than 3 lbs. of texturized calf starter or on a free-choice basis found that many calves seem to go off feed after a couple of days of vigorous eating of calf starter — a possible sign of acidosis. 3. Abomasum bloat: This is caused by the rapid proliferation of clostridium perfringens that produces a severe buildup of excess gas in the abomasum of preweaned calves. From the outside, there is severe distension on the right side of the calf, while similar ruminal bloat is distension on its left side. Unfortunately, abomasum bloat seems to occur suddenly, and the calf often perishes before any treatment can be administered. Some research suggests that feeding higher concentrations of milk replacer than 130 grams per litre of mixed solution that supply a See gut aches on Page 42 

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hanges to farm safety regulations are expected soon — and that might not be a bad thing for Alberta farmers, says the president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture. “Workers’ compensation or private insurance really is a great risk management tool for farms nowadays,” said Lynn Jacobson. “That protection against litigation is one of the big selling fac-

Mike Millar

tors for workers’ compensation.” Oneil Carlier, the new NDP agriculture minister, has vowed to extend workplace safety regulations to farm workers who aren’t currently covered by workers’ compensation or Occupational Health and Safety regulations. Today, only around seven per cent of Alberta farm employers voluntarily carry workers’ compensation for their operations. But offering that protection — both for employers and employees — is one of the realities of farm-

ing today, said Jacobson, who farms near Enchant. “There’s getting to be more and more hired help on the farm and we’re employing more people,” he said. “It gives protection from litigation and other advantages, and if you don’t have it, there can be some serious consequences.” And farm workers today “aren’t just interested in a paycheque,” he said. “They’re starting to realize, ‘If I get hurt on this job, where’s the protection for my family?’ When it comes down to it, a farm that has some type of

protection for those people is going to have a lot easier time hiring people.”

senior executive with CP Rail says the com company is “well positioned” to move this year’s g ra i n c r o p d e s p i t e re c e n t cutbacks in staff and locomotives. con Grain is, was and will continue to be Canadian Pacific Railway’s biggest cargo, John Brooks, vice-president of sales com and marketing for bulk commodities, said in an interview Aug. 6. And the historic railway founded in 1881 is investing to move even more in the future, he said. “Make no bones about it, grain is king at CP,” he said. “It is our life-bread. There is nothing we want to do more than move a lot of grain. “I think we feel pretty good about our handling capacity… to move this new crop.” see ee CP Rail on page 7 »

see COVeRAGe } page 7

High tunnel production has potential to extend the Manitoba grower’s season, says MAFRD’s fruit crops specialist Anthony Mintenko. He and the provincial PHOTO: LORRAINE STEVENSON LORRAINE STEVENSON vegetable crop specialist are evaluating fruit and vegetable crops for high tunnel production at the AAFC site at Portage la Prairie. PHOTO:

BY LORRAINE STEVENSON

Cost and paperwork

Co-operator staff / Portage la Prairie

There are “some misconceptions” about workers’ compensation that have made Alberta farmers reluctant to offer coverage to their workers, said Jacobson. “Some people don’t like that administrative role and the paperwork that is associated with the program at this point in time,” he said.

production system that extends the growing season, offers growers a competitive edge in the marketplace and potential to make more money sounds mighty tempting. That’s why fruit and vegetable growers were out in large numbers at Hort Diagnostic Days in late July to hear more about construction of high tunnels. This is the first year a variety of fruits and vegetables has been planted in the high tunnel built in 2014 at the Agriculture Agri-Food

Canada location in Portage la Prairie. Growers are keen to hear what Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (MAFRD) specialists are learning. High tunnel production is commonplace in other parts of Canada and in northern and central U.S. where nearly every type of fruit and vegetable is now grown, even tree fruits. MAFRD staff are researching how high tunnels work in Manitoba growing conditions. “We have a lot of recommendations from other places like Minnesota and Ontario about what to grow in a high tunnel but nothing for under Manitoba conditions,” said fruit

crop specialist Anthony Mintenko, who is evaluating day-neutral strawberries, early-season June-bearing strawberries, fall-bearing raspberries and blackberries at one end of the 100x15x7.5-foot tunnel. Provincial vegetable specialist Tom Gonsalves is experimenting with vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers at the other. High tunnels are like greenhouses, except they don’t have a double layer of poly, and no permanent heat or electricity. But they have a similar function — they keep cold out and, conversely, heat in. see ReseaRCheRs on page 6 »

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BY BRIAN CROSS SASKATOON NEWSROOM

More cops, more cameras or more common sense? What’s the best way to fight crime in rural Saskatchewan? Questions related to rural crime generated plenty of discussion during the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities’ annual convention in Saskatoon last week, and some controversy as well. SARM is one of the best barometers of public sentiment in rural Saskatchewan. At its annual convention March 14-16, the organization welcomed more than 1,000 delegates — mostly elected reeves and councilors — from 296 RMs across the province. And according to delegates attending the event, rural people are fed up with what they see as threats to their property and personal safety. “For a lot of (rural people), I think it’s a concern about RCMP coverage itself,” said SARM president Ray Orb, when asked about delegates’ frustration. “They don’t feel safe because there aren’t enough police out there to cover the whole province.…It’s (about having) the confidence that the RCMP are there and that when they’re called, they’ll be able to (show up) in a timely manner. Added another delegate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity: “Policing in rural Saskatchewan is inadequate and the criminals know it.… People in remote areas have had enough.” SEE PROTECT PROPERTY, PAGE 4

WE HAVE ADDED

Cold weather doesn’t stop calving but at -23C Brenda Stahl takes a minutes-old calf to the warmth of the barn at the Cayley Colony near Cayley, Alta., earlier this month. FOR MORE CALVING PHOTOS FROM THE CAYLEY COLONY, SEE PAGE 70. | MIKE STURK PHOTO

TRADE

Canada, China explore trade talks Eliminating tariffs could increase annual exports to China by $1.2 billion BY SEAN PRATT

China buys one-third of Canada’s

canola exports and is an important market for soybeans, pulses, wheat, barley, beef and pork. A study commissioned by the Canola Council of Canada found that eliminating tariffs could increase exports of seed, oil and meal to China by up to $1.2 billion per year. That would be the equivalent of shipping an extra 1.8 million

SASKATOON NEWSROOM

Farm groups are excited that Canada has launched exploratory free trade agreement talks with China. The Asian country accounted for $5.6 billion in Canadian agri-food exports last year, making it Canada’s second largest market after the United States.

tonnes of canola per year to that market, or 10 percent of annual production. “We see incredible opportunity for grow th in China and part of that opportunity hinges upon better market access,” said Brian Innes, vice-president of government relations with the council. SEE TRADE TALKS, PAGE 5

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cattleman's corner

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

Better bunks and pastures

Controlling liver flukes in beef cattle

Parasite often not identified until after an animal dies Peter Vitti

couple of years ago, a beef producer from southeast corner of Manitoba showed me a test tube filled with water. It contained a worm that was about three inches long, one inch wide and flat enough to almost see through. He told me that it was a deer liver fluke that the vet had taken it from a dead cow from his 100-cow operation that graze pastures along a strip of swampland. Until she was found dead and the vet posted her for liver flukes, this producer never associated this particular parasite with several chronic cow herd problems that were tolerated for years. With his vet’s discovery, he has routinely treated his herd with available flukicides and now has the situation under control. This is a powerful message. Grazing cattle in pastures near muddy or shallow water makes them very susceptible to such infestations of the common liver fluke (fasciola hepatica) or deer liver fluke (fasciola magna). It’s my understanding the deer liver fluke is commonly found in lowland areas of southern Manitoba. There are no classic symptoms that show grazing cattle are infected with either species. Yet confirmed cases involving liver flukes report it as a typical wasting disease similar to those affecting deer or Johnne’s disease in dairy cattle. Its symptoms are general in nature and appear as weight loss, reduced body condition and depending upon infestation severity, some cases of chronic diarrhea. Limited university research on spring post-calving cows with liver flukes have reduced milk production and poorer rates of fertility. These conditions usually dovetail into calves with lower weaning weight as well as lowered cow conception rates in the fall.

Four stages The accompanying diagram shows the complete liver fluke life cycle from the time the fluke egg is initially shed in the manure of infected cows on pasture until a new generation of eggs are laid. The cycle takes 16 to 24 weeks. There are four major stages from fluke egg to hermaphroditic (contain both sex organs) adult liver flukes, which ultimately reside in the bile duct of cattle: 1. Egg stage — eggs are shed in the manure of the beef cow from adult liver flukes. 2. Miracidium stage — eggs hatches (10 days to several

months) into free-swimming, ciliated larvae called the miracidium. Within hours of hatching, the miracidium finds and penetrate snails living on wet pastures. 3. Cercariae stage — Within the snail, one miracidium takes about five to seven weeks to develop into hundreds of cercariae or tadpolelike 2nd larvae stage. After they leave their snail host, attach to grass and becomes encysted metacercaria. 4. Adult stage — The grazing cow ingested the encysted metacercaria-contaminated grass. Once ingested, juvenile liver flukes are released from metacercaria capsules. They penetrate the intestinal wall and burrow their way to and through the liver, which takes up to eight weeks. These fluke larvae enter the bile duct, where they mature into egglaying adults to repeat the cycle.

SEVERITY VARIES Severity of liver fluke parasitism in cattle depends on the degree of infestation. Cattle seldom die from liver flukes, but it can elevate the cow's susceptibility to a host of secondary problems such as clostridium haemolyticium infections causing Redwater disease. That’s because the migrating juvenile flukes damage the liver and the clostridium bacteria grows inside these damaged areas. Death is a possible in infected animals that are not properly vaccinated. Once juvenile flukes reach the bile duct, they mature into adults. Their spines cause abrasions along the surface duct lining, which causes internal bleeding. The adult liver flukes feed upon this blood, which leads to common anemia of the cow. Other chronic damage includes liver tissue scarring, hardening of the bile ducts and enlargement of the cattle’s gall bladder. Treatment of liver flukes in cattle comes down to a few flukicides; albendazole (Valbazen), corsulon (Ivomec Plus), and triclabendazole (Fasinex 240, United Kingdom). The first two flukicides are only effective against mature adult liver flukes. Triclabendazole is the only

product effective against very early immature flukes (two weeks old) through adulthood. There is no available flukicide treatment against shed eggs in cow manure. Producers interested in using triclabendazole require a veterinarian prescription before purchase (which include special instructions for its use). Those people interested in using the other two flukicides should find their protocols are straightforward. For example, albendazole is to be drenched for its first treatment for confirmed fluke infections in cattle in autumn. This is to remove any buildup of adult flukes that matured over the grazing season. A second treatment is then given again in the following April/May, which reduce the number of eggshedding adults before letting cattle out on pasture. It is noted that albendazole should not be given to any pregnant cow or replacement heifer during the first 45 days of gestation, otherwise it may cause early embryonic deaths. Most of the time, flukicides are given to the cow herd after liver flukes are found in a dead cow. I believe this is hardly proactive in controlling a growing problem among beef herds. However, there is hope for a new type of liver fluke diagnosis. Recently I watched a YouTube video entitled: Science Squad on liver flukes with Tyndall and Teagasc (Dec. 15, 2014). The Tyndall National Institute (Ireland) is developing a simple plus/fail test for the presence of liver flukes in cattle and sheep. These scientists employ microchip technology that detect antibodies in a drop of blood from animals exposed to liver flukes. The chip is linked electronically to a farm-friendly computer reader. The video’s commentators concluded that this new research for early detection of liver flukes may be the key to effective control in the immediate future. GN Peter Vitti is an independent lives tock nutritionist and consultant base d in Winnipeg. To reach him call 204-254-7497 or by email at vitti@mts.net.

 Cattle market from Page 37

829 pounds, down from 884 pounds last year. Choice wholesale beef has rallied nearly US$40/cwt since early April reaching US$248 in mid-May. Select product has lagged which reflects larger supplies of green cattle coming on the market. Select wholesale prices were trading at US$225/cwt but these are both very good prices from a historical perspective. The problem is that retail beef prices have been grinding lower over the past year and we now see retail margins coming under pressure. It takes time for retailers to increase prices. If we see a similar jump in retail prices as in the wholesale market, the retail market will function to ration demand and slow consumption, which is not what the market needs heading into the third quarter. We need to see the retail market remain relatively flat or increase slightly so that beef consumption doesn’t slowdown. Feedlot margins have been historically strong, reaching over $300 per head for an extended period. However, it wasn’t until we saw the jump in fed cattle during the first week of May that feedlot operators bid up the price of replacements.  pros and cons from Page 39

natural improvement and then treat if necessary. Carry a good set of binoculars so you can at least make a good visual exam. One person doing all the locating, identifying, diagnosing and treating is a cost-effective approach. But it is important to understand the labels, withdrawal times of product, and don’t over treat or treat unnecessarily. Always work with your veterinarian when planning to use an RDD device. It is imperative you get the ID of the animals and record the treatment and also record where the animal was hit. Have very legible ear tags making it is easier to identify animals with the naked eye or binoculars. For more serious ailments that require further testing or diagnosing, it is advisable to catch and remove the animal to a treatment area. These are the sort of decisions the person in charge of animal health must deal with on a case-by-case, day-by-day basis.

 gut aches from Page 40

high level of lactose sugar to the bacterium, which may lead to a high incidence of abomasum bloat. 4. Hay belly: Many good studies prove that feeding straw or other low-quality forage for its “scratch factor” is a myth. Virginia Tech (2010) showed that two- to fourmonth-old calves fed a textured grower diet had similar growth to calves that were fed texturized feed plus added wheat straw. The wheat straw group did weigh 21 lbs. heavier at the end of the test, but it was attributed to 21 lbs. of gut fill and water. Similarly, I find that many calves fed in this manner suffer from semi-impaction and/or bloat — literarily walking balloons on sticks for legs.

The inability for feedlots to lock in margins in the deferred positions kept a lid on feeder cattle prices earlier in spring. There was no way any operator would go out on a limb and bid aggressively for feeders if they couldn’t lock in a profit. We’ve now seen 600- to 650-pound steer calves trade in the range of $240 to as high as $255. I’m expecting the feeder market to remain relatively flat through the summer. The fall period is a bit uncertain. In conclusion, cow-calf producers should use this recent rally in the futures market to take some price protection on their fall marketings. I’m worried the feeding margins will come under pressure in the third quarter and feedlots may lower bids on replacements. Given the yearover-year increase in the U.S. calf crop, the market will have some very large supplies to work through this fall as well. GN Jerry Klassen manages the Canadian office of Swiss-based grain trader GAP SA Grains and Products Ltd., and is president and founder of Resilient Capital specializing in proprietary commodity futures trading and market analysis. Jerry consults with feedlots on risk management and writes a weekly cattle market commentary. He can be reached at 204-504-8339.

Overall the RDD devices offer lots of potential use and labour savings for you producers. Be aware there are some negatives that include over treatment or product not delivered where it should be. All the negatives deserve consideration. Although you don’t need a firearms safety course to use an RDD, be careful because they are like a real gun. A firearms safety course may be a good idea for anyone who has never handled guns. The RDDs may have more of a role into the future as they may be used for vaccinations, or for giving nutritive supplements in some instances. If necessary to treat and timeliness is critical, the RDD may be a useful tool, but know your equipment and proceed with caution. GN Roy Lewis is an Alberta-based veterinarian specializing in large-animal practice. He is also a part-time technical services vet for Merck Animal Health.

RECOMMENDATIONS To avoid each of these four gut ache or indigestion problems, I strongly recommend following a simply nutritious calf-feeding program. Make sure colostrum is fed to newborn calves and afterwards provide whole milk or a milk replacer at 2.54.0 litres per calf per feeding (twice a day) at approximately the same times (a.m./p.m.) each day. Subsequently, start to feed a high-quality grainbased calf starter to calves at two to three weeks of age. Avoid feeding any forage until after weaning. Finally, assure that clean water is provided in addition to all whole milk or milk replacer feedings. GN Peter Vitti is an independent livestock nutritionist and consultant based in Winnipeg. To reach him call 204-254-7497 or by email at vitti@mts.net.

home quarter farm life

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017

SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Farm dads and emotions of quitting farming Are you at a loss and grieving or looking forward to a new chapter in life? Elaine Froese

www.elainefroese.com

1. Respect. The transitioning manager (not boss) who is letting go of being the ultimate decision maker still wants and needs his opinion considered. A seed grower retired and abruptly felt like his opinion was not important anymore. I found this surprising as I put a high value on elder wisdom and experience. I think young farmers are wise if they consider the sage advice of their parents. If you are sad about a lack of respect in your farm experience, talk about it, don’t just stuff away your disappointment. Showing respect earns more respect. 2. Appreciation. Small-business coach Tom Hubler, says, “the lack of appreciation” is one of the key stumbling blocks in a successful farm succession plan. Just last week a farmer confessed that he could likely show more appreciation to his farming son. This is urgent, because the son is not convinced he can work alongside his parents for the next 15 years. The emotions they showed at that table were tears of fear when they realized that their 40 years of toil, risk and growth may not be a secure legacy to the next generation. How are you showing appreciation to others on your farm? Father’s Day is the perfect chance to make a special effort to write a short card to Dad and express words of appreciation. 3. Success mindset. What is your definition of success? If it is richness of relationship then a harmonious culture on your farm will make you feel deeply grateful and satisfied. If you are not on speaking terms with siblings, inlaws, or grandchildren due to silent treatment and conflict, you are likely feeling like a failure. Unfortunately as a coach I do not possess magic fairy dust to sprinkle on grumpy people to make them behave well as emotionally mature adults. If success is eluding you, are you ready to call in help for counselling and do deep communication work? 4. Timely effort, a healthy work ethic. Farm dads who have a hard time stopping their work are likely “lazy in relationship,” as they tend to overwork and underrelate. If

photo: thinkstock

t’s my 22nd Father’s Day column and I will do my best to not make “Charlie from Saskatchewan” feel like I am beating up farm dads! A reader asked me to write about the emotions of quitting farming. Let’s take the approach of the farm culture attributes farm founders appreciate. What might it feel like when those qualities are present or missing on the farm team?

your identity is tied to what you “do,” then the crisis of letting go of your roles on the farm is likely going to leave you floundering and grieving. Healthy managers who hand over responsibility over time usually have a new dream or goal to work towards that energizes them. I can’t say that I know that many retired farmers. One who is happy has moved to town, supports his farming children by driving out to help on request, and spends lots of time playing with grandchildren. If farm work has become an untamable monster, what are you going to do when you wake up in a hospital bed someday and wonder where all your friends have gone? It’s time to feel great about what you have contributed, be grateful for the years left to create new meaning and purpose. You are “getting ready” for a new chapter that no longer includes 100-hour workweeks. You will be OK.

more helpful. Your body is not a John Deere/Case IH tractor. We need rest and renewal, and we need to pay attention to sadness that just doesn’t lift which might be depression. Emotionally, I want you to give yourself permission to enjoy the fruit of your labour and have some fun!

7. Leadership. Strong fathers are great leaders of their families and farms. They also allow team engagement and other family members to “lead from any chair.” They don’t have a need to always be in control,

Elaine Froese, CSP, CAFA, CHICoach farms on mile 16 near Boissevain, Manitoba. Contact her at www. elainefroese.com/contact or @ elainefroese, or on “Farm Family Coach” on Facebook. She hopes “Charlie” will feel good about this column.

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5. Growth in business, technology is exciting or fear inducing! Don’t forget to grow the skill sets of your people. One farm founder is causing grief because his sense of self-worth is dependent on the farm business continually expanding. He is not listening to the younger generation whose energy is maxed out, while they are begging for more time with children. If your self-worth is tied to the size of your net worth statement you may be sad that you aren’t as rich as you thought you would be at this stage in your life. Again, what is true wealth? Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “your health is your wealth.” 6. Fun. It is OK to play and have a culture of fun on your farm. If folks are happy and getting along as a team you are likely a very happy farmer. Many folks who request coaching think that increasing their communication skills will help them get along better. Sometimes I wonder if a good holiday and long rest would be

Be radical and stop working on Sundays! This works at our farm.

or to have the last word on key decisions. Brene Brown talks about leading a “wholehearted” life. She suggests that writing down experiences of heartbreak and grief have emerged as the most help in making clear to people what they were feeling so they could articulate it to each other. Be an empathetic leader. “Time is the most important gift you can give your family,” says Frederick Goddall. I would be really interested to hear about the feelings you experienced when you “quit” farming. I have a new presentation called “Planting Hope Amidst Grief and Loss on the Farm.” We need to recognize there are many kinds of losses in life, not just financial ones. I lost my farming dad to Alzheimer’s and then to death five years ago. Be grateful if you have a live, loving father to celebrate with. Make good memories this June, and be free to share your true feelings. Blessings on your journey. GN

TOFIELD

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home quarter farm life

Grainews.ca / june 6, 2017 Jødekager

PRAIRIE PALATE

Time to get outside for a picnic Amy Jo Ehman

ave we forgotten the pleasure of picnicking? Long before the convenience of slow cookers and Crock-Pots, Prairie folks were quick to pack a basket and enjoy a pleasant meal outdoors in the company of family and friends. Many occasions called for a picnic: sport days, rodeos, end-of-school celebrations, church gatherings, Canada Day, 4th of July (a good many homesteaders were American), berry picking and, of course, harvest time. With the arrival of automobiles, picnicking became an outing in itself. Picnic fare was simple because, as we all know, fussing is anathema to fun. And everything tastes better in sunshine and fresh air, no? I have fond memories of family picnics that were no more than bologna sandwiches, freshly scrubbed carrots and homemade

applesauce cookies. Sometimes, if we were lucky, there might be watermelon or plums. Dad would invent a game on the spot, perhaps a scavenger hunt or a contest to see who could stand on his or her head the longest. He always won. Our picnics were most often associated with camping, picking saskatoons, outings with cousins, tea parties with Grandma and summer suppers in the backyard. In my mind’s eye, they are simple but abundant, filled with dappled sunshine and shady trees. One of my favourite picnic stories comes from Julie Feilberg, a homesteader who arrived from Denmark in the spring of 1911 with five of her seven children, joining her husband Ditlev, who had come out the year before. They farmed at Nokomis, Sask. One day in 1915, Ditlev arrived home with the news that he had discovered a “forest” not too far away. Trees! This was such a novelty, they hitched the horses, packed a picnic and went to see it. In a letter to her family in Den-

mark, Julie writes that this forest was not much bigger than a “Danish hedge,” but it was the first time her boys had climbed trees since coming to Canada. Their picnic included egg sandwiches, bread and butter, citron marmalade, layer cake, rhubarb pudding with cream and a popular Danish cookie called Jødekager. Jødekager is an interesting story in itself. According to a Danish source, the name means “Jew cake,” or “Jew cookie,” and is associated with Jewish peddlers of the 18th century who sold small items from their carts. Among the goods for sale were simple crisp cookies, flavoured with cardamom, such as this one. Jødekager is still popular in Denmark, particularly at Christmastime, but is also quite at home in a Prairie picnic basket. GN Amy Jo Ehman is the author of Prairie Feast: A Writer’s Journey Home for Dinner, and, Out of Old Saskatchewan Kitchens. She hails from Craik, Saskatchewan.

photo: amy jo ehman

Pack up a basket with no-fuss food and enjoy a meal outdoors

1 c. soft butter 1 c. sugar, separated 1 egg 2-1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cardamom 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1 egg white, lightly beaten

Cream butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cardamom. Gradually mix flour into butter mixture until well blended. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and rest on the counter for an hour. Working in batches, roll the dough on a floured surface. To prevent sticking, cover dough with floured wax paper. Roll to a scant 1/4 inch. Cut cookies and place on a baking sheet. Combine the scraps and roll again. Mix cinnamon and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Brush cookies with egg white and sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture. Bake at 375 F until the edges are just starting to brown, about 10 minutes.

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