Alberta Farmer Express - Dec. 5, 2011 by Farm Business Communications

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CWB directors hold final meeting » PAGE 16

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Refundable checkoff takes heavy toll on Alberta Beef Producers

plenty of room to graze

REFUNDING FEEDERS } Refunds going to

cattle feeders represented 87 per cent of the total ABP refunds returned to producers by sheri monk

af staff | pincher creek

he move to a refundable checkoff from a mandatory one has affected different commodities in different ways. Alberta Beef Producers has taken approximately a 30 per cent hit, with 87 per cent of the refunded dollars going to the feedlot sector. “It’s disappointing, but not unexpected,” said Rich Smith, executive director of ABP. “They (feeders) were some of the strongest people pushing for it to be refundable. There’s no question that some of them, based on their marketings, pay a very substantial amount of checkoff and so they do have the most to gain.” However, there are 20,000 producers in the province paying checkoff, with the majority of the refund money going to a handful of producers. “The thing we need to keep in perspective is that in the most recent period we had nine producers who took 38 per cent of the refunds,” said Smith. “These are producers who marketed over 10,000 head in the period, so they are very large and 22 per cent of the requests came from producers that market over 1,000 head and (together) they represent 87 per cent of the refund value. “That leaves 13 per cent of the total refunds going to everybody else who markets fewer than 1,000 head, which I think you could safely argue are likely the vast majority of cow-calf producers.”

Smith says there are approximately 300 feedlots in the province that feed 1,000 head or more and about half seem to be requesting refunds. Feeders accounted for 156 of 411 requests and 87 per cent of the dollars refunded in the period ending June 30. That compared to feeders submitting 160 of 648 requests for 76 per cent of refund dollars in the period ending last December. In all, Alberta Beef Producers refunded between $2.2 million and $2.5 million. “It’s definitely had an impact on what we’re able to do,” said Smith. The Alberta Lamb Producers were caught in the cattle industry political crossfire over checkoffs, and along with pork and potatoes, were swept up in the legislative changes making checkoffs refundable. They too are feeling the heat. “We just completed our first year of refundable checkoff because our financial year starts the first of September, so we really just have a picture of what the first year has meant,” said Margaret Cook, executive director of ALP. There are 1,800 lamb producers in Alberta, and only 12 requested a refund. “It actually amounted to almost nine per cent of our checkoff because there were two big ones,” said Cook. “Forty-six per cent of the total refund amount was refunded to one producer and 62 per cent of the total to only two producers.

Two deer find plenty to graze in windswept grain fields along the Livingstone Range, near Cowley, Alberta. Photo by Wendy Dudley

see checkoff } page 6

special feature

m a n a g i n g y o u r fa r m ’ s f i n a n c e s } PAGE 8

news » inside this week

inside » Farewell CWB elected directors meet for the last time

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

livestock

crops

Neighbourly gesture

Tight security

columNists carol shwetz Dealing with equine arthritis

David Drozd

in brief Biodiesel demand greases restaurant thefts The Globe and Mail reports that another U.S. criminal practice is spreading north into Canada — theft of used restaurant grease. The price of “yellow grease” — the industry term for used cooking oil refined for use as biodiesel — has more than tripled since the 1990s. That’s an incentive for thieves to pull up behind restaurants late at night and make off with the drums of used cooking oil that traditionally had little value and was used only by rendering plants. In some cases the thieves are simply filtering the used oil and using it directly as fuel for diesel vehicles. Last March, Tom Cook, president of the U.S. National Renderers Association, told Reuters that one of his members was losing $1 million a year from the thefts. Larger restaurant chains are thwarting the practice by using large bulk tanks with locked couplings.

In a 1998 episode of “The Simpsons,” Homer and Bart go into the grease-collection business, but run into a few problems.

Hemp industry gets a boost The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) is getting $55,000 from the federal government to promote Canadian hemp products abroad. The investment will enable the Alliance to increase participation in key trade shows as well as invite international speakers to make presentations at its annual two-day national convention. In 2010, exports of hemp seed and hemp products were valued at more than $10 million.

Downturn continues in Chicago wheat

Russia returns World wheat prices dip on Black Sea supplies

Brenda Schoepp

Rancher fined for hauling another’s cattle

An AAFC lab studies the deadly Ug99 rust strain

Every livestock operation needs a biosecurity plan

Alberta Beef Producers chairman riding into the sunset after tumultuous times MAJOR PLAYER } Chuck MacLean played key role in checkoff

battle and creation of Canada Beef Inc. by sheri monk

af staff | pincher creek

huck MacLean never planned on being the chairman of Alberta Beef Producers, much less lead it through one of its most tumultuous periods. The outgoing ABP chairman only stepped up in 2009 when vice-chairman Kevin Boon unexpectedly left to become general manager of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association. “At that point there had been nobody that was in the progression,” recalls MacLean. “A couple of us put our name in and so I got elected, and then the next year I got elected again… it was more circumstance than a plan.” MacLean became chairman at a critical point in the organization’s history as the province had just replaced the mandatory cattle checkoff with a refundable one. It was a controversial move and one that not only threatened the stability of ABP, but also the Canada Beef Export Federation and the Beef Information Centre. Both national agencies depended heavily on the provincial levy, as $1 from the $3 checkoff was sent to them and Alberta, the country’s largest cattle producer, was a critical revenue stream. One of MacLean’s first tasks as chairman was to mount a furious effort to reinstate the $1 national checkoff as a mandatory levy, which required

co-operation and close work with the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association and Jack Hayden, the Alberta agriculture minister of the day. Their joint efforts worked, but the levy wasn’t reinstated until December 2010. “And that was a big turnaround because there had been a plan not to reinstate that $1 for at least two years, but no one understood the ramifications of that,” said MacLean. “The $1 is still on a ticking clock, it has a sunset clause on it and if ABP and the Alberta Cattle Feeders decide they don’t like the $1, it comes off the table again.” MacLean also played a significant role in the amalgamation of the two national beefmarketing agencies. During his final term, the industry moved to consolidate the national agencies and after much uncertainty, Canada Beef Inc. was created, with its governance chairman none other than MacLean. MacLean is proud of the new organization. “We have offices in five countries around the world, plus we have other people marketing our product there,” he said. “It’s a huge project. It takes about $15 million a year to operate Canada Beef, so your $1 checkoff gets a lot of things done.” Alberta Beef Producers also played a lead role in dealing with another contentious issue, the Land Use Framework legislation. “We didn’t get everything we

asked for, but at that particular moment we got more than most other organizations got because I have never seen anybody else that they listened to,” he said. “Now I hear there’s other bills coming down from the new premier, and that makes you feel good.” MacLean’s other highlights include helping secure disaster relief funding through AgriRecovery of $50 per head for Alberta producers affected by drought last year, and improvements on traceability and premise identification programs.

Diminishing cattle numbers

The biggest threat to the industry these days is the herd size, which is shrinking despite strong prices, said MacLean. “It’s hard, the price of the cattle is there, but it doesn’t appear that it’s enough to make people want to increase production,” he said. “Part of the reason is that the other segment of agriculture, the grain side, is so strong that there’s a competition for land.” MacLean has worked in virtually all sectors of the cattle business. He grew up in the Picture Butte area, left home to become a packer buyer, and later entered the feeding and order buying business. Today, in partnership with his two sons, he operates Porter & MacLean Livestock Management out of Medicine Hat, and South Island Farms, a feedlot and farming company near Bow Island. The companies employ 18 people.

“With a group and directors like that, how can a guy not look good?” Chuck MacLean

MacLean said it’s impossible to say which part of his business is his favourite. “There’s nothing better than watching those calves get born and grow up. If you like action, then it’s on the marketing side as a livestock dealer. I really like it all.” MacLean said he will miss serving as chairman, but a twomonth trip to Arizona will help cushion the blow. He used to go every year with his wife, but ABP has kept him too busy the past two years. But more than the job, MacLean said he will miss working with the people of ABP. “With a group and directors like that, how can a guy not look good?” he said.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Jim Dinning welcomed as head of Rail Service Review NOT ALONE  Grain shippers have plenty of company when complaining about service by the two major railways

WEATHERBUG  Earth Networks plans to continue program

BY MADELEINE BAERG AF CONTRIBUTOR | CALGARY

he federal government’s recent appointment of former Alberta cabinet minister Jim Dinning to lead a Rail Service Review is good news, say grain-industry leaders. “Getting the appointment done and moving forward is huge,” said Stephen Vandervalk, the Alberta-based president of the Grain Growers of Canada and vice-president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers’ Association. “For farmers in Alberta and all of Western Canada, rail freight is one of the most important things because we export so much of our product.” Dinning handled many portfolios including treasurer before leaving politics in 1997. He is currently board chair for the Western Financial Group, Liquor Stores NA Ltd., and Export Development Canada. “He has a really good track record with budgets in Alberta in the past,” said Vandervalk. Equally importantly, Dinning understands the priorities of shippers, says Richard Phillips, executive director of the Grain Growers of Canada. “Dinning comes from a province that exports a lot, so he understands that if you’re going to have strong industry, you need reliable transportation.” Dinning’s responsibility is to determine what a proper agreement should look like between a shipper and a railway. Over the next six months, he’ll work with all parties to develop service agreements and a dispute-resolution process.

All sectors have complaints

At issue is the fact that the Canadian rail system is notoriously unreliable. Grain companies can wait for days before a train’s scheduled arrival, but the railway pays no penalty. But if the cars aren’t loaded in time, the shipper must pay a penalty. While the two parties are wide apart on a solution, Phillips hopes Dinning will succeed in finding compromise. “There’s a lot of incentive for all sides to come to agreement. Otherwise, we’ll go to legislation, and no one wants that.” It isn’t only agriculture that will benefit from an improved transportation system. According to Phillips, frustration spans all industries that utilize rail transport. “What we found out is that, when we told our horror stories,

If the cars are late, the railway is off the hook, but if the elevator company is late loading them, it pays a penalty to the railway. PHOTO BY ALLAN DAWSON the fertilizer and the lumber guys had even worse stories than us. That’s when we realized it’s not just us, it’s everyone.” Three years ago, several interests including the automobile, lumber, mining, propane and steel industries banded together to form the Canadian Rail Shippers’ Coalition. Agriculture is strongly represented, with representatives from the Canadian Canola Growers Association, Canadian Fertilizer Institute, Grain Growers of Canada, Pulse Canada, Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, and Western Grain Elevator Association. Phillips said the grain industry itself is not big enough to take on the railways.

“When you’re just the grain sector lobbying by yourself, they can divide and conquer you. The attitude of the railways was that they could pick (each industry) off one by one,” said Phillips. “Together, our coalition represents about 90 per cent of freight revenue for CN and CP. We are tight and we stick together, and the government listens to us now.” After lobbying by the coalition, the federal government passed Bill C-8, which automatically started a Rail Service Review. Two years of hearings concluded last Christmas. Some have criticized the coalition’s choice to push for a service review rather than a cost review. Phillips agrees that rail-

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Weather station network to double in three years

shipping rates, which have been fixed for more than a decade, are too high, pointing out that railways have made major efficiency gains over that time. However, Phillips believes starting with a service review first is the right decision for agriculture. “We had to make a choice: do we want to fight on costing or on service? On a costing review, you might save a little. But, on a service review, you’ll save a lot. It’s costing about $11 a tonne based on lost revenues right now, and that comes right from the producers’ pocket.” Minister of Transport Denis Lebel says he plans to table railservice agreement legislation after Dinning completes the sixmonth facilitation process.

STAFF / Earth Networks, owner of the WeatherBug network and provider of equipment and data for the WeatherFarm program, says it plans to double its Canadian network over the next three years. “As the owner and operator of the largest weather network worldwide, Earth Networks is pleased to announce our plans to continue the WeatherFarm program and more than double the size of our network in Canada as part of our global expansion,” Earth Networks vice-president Jim Anderson said in a release. The company operates Canada’s largest network of weather, lightning and climate-observation stations. In a release Nov. 16, Earth Networks said it currently has more than 850 stations in Western Canada, and plans to deploy another 1,000 across Canada in the next three years. It said it plans to expand throughout Eastern and Atlantic Canada and the Pacific Coast. Earth Networks said it is also deploying additional lightning sensors in Canada, part of the world’s largest network of more than 500 sensors. The information will be used to issue warnings of severe weather. Real-time weather data is available at no cost to farmers through WeatherFarm (www.weatherfarm.com), which has more than 12,000 users. I addition to real-time temperature, wind speed data and forecasts at more than 850 stations, WeatherFarm also provides agronomic tools such as insect and disease forecasts.

WeatherBug plans to deploy another 1,000 stations across Canada in the next three years.

Find out more at ShutTheSellUp.com Can you find a seed company about the seed and not the sell?

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

EDITOR Will Verboven Phone: 403-697-4703 Email: will.verboven@fbcpublishing.com

PRODUCTION director

Is corn production the sleeping giant in Alberta?

Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com

AsSistant PRODUCTION manager Farrah Wilson Email: farrah@fbcpublishing.com

Director of Sales & Circulation Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com

Shorter season } Agronomic hurdles are steadily

being overcome by growers and seed companies

CIRCULATION manager Heather Anderson Email: heather@fbcpublishing.com

national ADVERTISING SALES James Shaw Phone: 416-231-1812 Fax: 416-233-4858 Email: jamesshaw@rogers.com

classified ADVERTISING SALES Maureen Heon Phone: 1-888-413-3325 Fax: 403-341-0615 Email: maureen@fbcpublishing.com

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By will verboven

Alberta Farmer | Editor

orn is one of those crops that has somewhat befuddled agriculture in this province for many years. It always seems to be just on the threshold of breaking out of its minor crop status to something more mainstream in crop production. It would seem that we have some ideal conditions for major grain-corn production, particularly in southern Alberta. We have the most sophisticated and technologically advanced irrigation infrastructure in the world, with room to expand; we have growers with vast experience in successfully growing a variety of sometimes difficult crops; we have a livestock market that would happily buy all the corn that could be grown; and we have seed genetics companies that are trying their damnedest to create varieties that will do well in this area. So why isn’t corn covering southern Alberta? It’s not for want of trying. Corn production has been going on in Alberta since it was hybridized back in the 1920s. There has been some success; sweet corn for human consumption is a regular crop with the famous “Taber Corn” reaching legendary gourmet status. But the real action is in commercial corn for grain and silage, with the giant livestock feeding industry in this province being a natural fit. Feedlot operators in this province would probably prefer to feed corn to cattle. It seems that whenever barley prices are anywhere near imported corn prices, trainloads of grain corn suddenly appear in Lethbridge. It’s not just price that matters either, operators tell me they like the consistency and quality of corn, its ability to be easily and nicely processed, and they feel

cattle just grow better on corn. They also like the easy logistics and endless supply, and the competitive pricing and hedging that grain corn offers. Alas, although most conditions seem favourable for more corn production, the province is plagued with a condition that is hard to resolve, except perhaps hoping for more global warming (there is a positive side to that issue). As most growers know corn is a warm-weather crop that just doesn’t like the cold. It needs fairly warm soil to germinate and a long growing season with lots of heat units to achieve its maximum potential. Cereal crops have corn beat on those agronomic realities. But seed genetics companies are steadily chipping away at the cold-weather phobia of the corn plant. For instance there was a time that corn grown for grain needed 3,000 heat units to mature. According to Bruce MacKinnon, an agronomist with Monsanto in Lethbridge, varieties have now been developed that need only 2,125 heat units. That makes grain corn production feasibly in most years in southern Alberta. He advises that more improvement is on the horizon. GM traits are being developed that will make corn more cold tolerant. Its a few years away though, he notes traits for drought tolerance and nitrogen efficiency have a higher priority in GM variety development. I would suggest that because seed genetics companies have the opportunity to use genetic engineering to constantly improve corn, that both wheat and barley production improvements will continue to stagnate as long as they continue to use traditional breeding methods. Indeed if it were not for a perhaps overzealous bureaucratic regulatory regime, new and highly efficient GM traits would be available a lot sooner for corn, soybeans and

canola. It now takes up to 10 years to see new GM traits in varieties approved. However, the regulatory process seems too entrenched to see it changed any time soon.

Silage potential

The one more immediate hope has been in growing corn for silage. Anyone travelling the central and even northern parts of the province over the past few years will have noticed the advance of production into what seems like frontier areas for corn. That advance is instigated by the seemingly unlimited yield potential of corn versus cereal silage. There is nothing like a yield of 18 plus tons to the acre to catch a livestock producer’s attention. It’s caught dairy producers’ attention as that is where most corn silage production expansion has occurred. Perhaps that’s because they are the only producers that can afford to grow corn for silage. Besides climate, economics is the other hurdle holding back corn production. Its a costly crop to grow with a significant weather risk. That makes growing cereal silage a lot safer for most producers. But MacKinnon says production is getting better every year. More producers are gaining confidence and experience in the agronomic skills needed to grow the crop and varieties are constantly being improved to reduce the weather risk. Will we ever see 200-bushel per acre grain corn crops and silage yields of up to 30 tons per acre in Alberta? It wasn’t too many years ago that corn yields were half those figures in the heart of the U.S. Corn Belt, and southern Ontario was considered the frontier of corn production in Canada. We now see silage corn growing in the Peace River area. I guess its just a matter of time and maybe more global warming, at least in Alberta.

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Learning to live on and off the land self-sufficient } The joys of living in the country make it all worthwhile by sheri monk

af staff | pincher creek

ecently, my two sons and I moved out of town and into the countryside, the fulfillment of a dream for me. We’re renting a ranch house northeast of Pincher Creek and there’s even some pasture available. But perhaps the most exciting part so far has been the pretty little black Drolet wood stove in the heart of the home. This is the first house we’ve ever lived in that actually had a source of backup heat. There is something very primal and intimate about lighting a fire to keep warm. The smell of the burning wood, the act of blowing gently on the embers, the need to monitor the burn rate and add fuel are reminders of both how far we have come, and how close we remain to our roots. I purchased a cord of wood from a local First Nations man, and I had a riveting conversation with him about the local

flora and fauna near our new home. I learned more in one hour about my adopted corner of this province than I have since I moved here. It was invigorating and renewing, I fell in love all over again with the notion of living close to, and off the land. Fittingly, I am taking a course to earn my possession and acquisition licence. I like picking berries and making bread, but I am the head of my household, so it is time I learn how to stalk and harvest more than just dessert. Equally important, I want to teach my sons self-reliance. I want to remove the many degrees of separation between what is on our plate, and how it came to be there. When I was a little girl, I was treated like one, no matter how I protested. I was taught to fish when I was older, but being raised in the city, I had little opportunity to really learn survival skills. I would stray from home as far as I could, I was lucky enough to live near a small patch of woods and there I would lay out the tools

I had snuck from my father’s tool bench to try and craft a treehouse by myself. Of course, I was never successful, but my furtive efforts were always a satisfying thrill. When I reflect on my career, it becomes less surprising that I would depart from the city and move to uncharted territory, leaving family and familiarity 1,000 kilometres away. Though it was the rattlesnakes that initially lured me west, it is the lifestyle and its romanticism that has compelled me to stay. Even more exciting than the wood stove and the .22 Magnum in my future is the opportunity to run a few head of cattle and a couple of horses. This has been a dream since I first started covering the cattle business. I did own two cows in Saskatchewan, but those were drought years, and I couldn’t find any grass to rent. After spending nearly a year at a feedlot, I sold them and their two calves, but I was very sad to have to do it. For the last couple of years, it seemed more possible to fly to the

moon than it did to run cattle. And while I know I will never be able to be more than a hobby rancher, and even that is generous, I will at least feel as though my coverage of the industry is more legitimate. And I’ll have a reason to register a brand here in Alberta. My timing is predictably bad, I can afford a bred cow these days like I can afford a condo in Hawaii, and there is no time-share option for cattle. Nonetheless, I have started putting away toonies and loonies and the day will come when I can go to an auction and do more than just report on it. I know I have a lot to learn about living out in the country. I know there is a difference between knowing something on paper, and doing it in real life. And I know that I will make mistakes, and I will fall down trying, but I will take solace in the fact that there are few eyes out here to see me do it. I will narrate these efforts for your pleasure and entertainment. sherimonk@gmail.com

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Remember the adage about the cure for high prices Beware } Don’t let current high lamb prices go to your head by Rob Fensom

t’s nice to see lamb prices are on the way up. There is more optimism and there is a level of confidence among producers not seen for some time. I remember a time back in the mid-’90s when we saw similar prices. That was when a dollar bought considerably more than it does now. So in reality, we are still not at a good price yet, however one interprets “good.” Rising inputs and overheads have created a narrowing of margins even when the price is up. It is about this time in the cycle of any farm commodity, whether livestock or grain, that with the tease of higher prices buyers and packers promise good times ahead and encourage producers to ramp up production. The farmers and ranchers oblige, as the only way to make more money is to sell more livestock or grain. So within 18 months to two years, the market peaks and starts its downward price spiral. Charlie Gracey, former executive vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, wrote a great little book about this and its effect on the cattle industry. Track it down and read it. The same can be said about any commodity, including the lamb industry, although due to sheep lambing

at a year of age the cycle can be shorter. About 20 years ago, give or take, government and industry groups were pushing multi-birth breeds, Romanov, Finn and the four new Canadian-made breeds. Also promoted was accelerated lambing in the form of three lambings in two years or even the Star system of five lambings in two-plus years. This all looked good on paper, but unless we treat the sheep like pigs (putting them in barns year round, which is common in Quebec and parts of Ontario) and pretend Canada doesn’t have winter, along with high stored feed costs compared to returns, it just won’t work with all the extra costs and man-hours required. If we had $3-per-lb. live lamb prices it might. The fact is there was a time when I could buy a full breakfast for $3 and lambs were $1.50 per lb. live. Now, the lambs are the same price, but breakfast is $8.

Mug’s game

The word is already out there to produce more lambs to fill an expanding market. But as we can see, producing more on a very narrow or non-existent margin is a mug’s game. Many of you have found profit in private farm gate sales, but it’s very tough to get the volumes up to a living wage. I sell for $7 to $8 per lb. to my customers. That’s cheap compared to the $10 to $14 per lb. they pay in a

I always find it ironic that folks will pay $12 or more per pound for fair trade coffee to ease their conscience, but will mercilessly grind their own countrymen into bankruptcy for a cheap grocery bill. A viable industry needs numbers to support the infrastructure, packing plants, trucking and distribution. Most of these are still in place so they at least have workable margins unlike some of their suppliers, who have sold off flocks or downsized. The downsizing of the national flock puts pressure on the packing side of things and I have been hearing British Columbia processors are having great difficulty finding lambs.

It seems the players put too much emphasis on supply and demand, assuming if there is a demand we will jump to the pump like we always have to supply it. The average producer is 50-plus years old and has seen this part of the cycle several times and is finally getting smarter. With 95 per cent or more of producers earning income from offfarm sources, they have allowed lower prices to exist by continuing to produce lamb at unsustainable prices. In turn, the buyers and packers have grown accustomed to these low prices. Retailers in turn hold their prices, knowing full well that if they do, the packer can stay in business by lowering the price to the producer. As mentioned early in this article, even the current higher prices are still not high enough due to higher input costs and the reduced buying power of the dollar over time. This mess has been 30 years in the making and with many producers exiting the game due to old age and very few youngsters taking over, the industry as we know it may well be gone in the next few years, except for lucrative farm gate sales. However, there is still time to turn this around. The producer’s share of the red meat retail price 25 years ago used to be around 45 per cent to 55 per cent. With a $3-per-lb. carcass weight, it is now 25 per cent. I will suggest to be sustainable it has to be around a 50 per

cent return. I always find it ironic that folks will pay $12 or more per pound for fair trade coffee to ease their conscience, but will mercilessly grind their own countrymen into bankruptcy for a cheap grocery bill. Buyers and packers must ensure more money back to the producer, because if they actually make a few real dollars (not money saved by cutting costs, as there is nothing left to cut) they will ramp up production. The folks between the farm gate and the customer’s plate (read middlemen) need to accept narrower margins as we, the producers, have been forced to do for the last 30 years. Yes, it’s hard. But if you want to stay at the table, that is what it’s going to take. Remember most of your producers are of an age they can shut shop and walk away and you could be left with empty killing floors and mortgages to pay. But if you pay a “fair trade price” most of us aged producers would love to oblige and produce more lamb at a profitable price for many more years. Hey, if we can get profit back in the equation maybe we will get some young farmers back in the game, so your children can follow in your footsteps as buyers and packers too! Rob Fensom farms in B.C. and is a grazing mentor and agricultural educator. He has been active in the Canadian sheep industry since 1987.

R-CALF not happy with WTO’s COOL ruling

Trapping not the answer am totally disgusted with your cover article on trappers (Nov. 7). This practice should have gone the way of the caveman a long time ago. Any person who gets a thrill out of injuring an animal and creates suffering of any sort should be charged. This is a despicable practice and definitely should not be demonstrated to anyone. If a person has too many coyotes in a particular area then quickly shooting them is far more humane. Try live traps and relocating. How about showing them that? By the way make sure to

supermarket. Also, they meet me, see my farm and are happy with our pasture-raised product. I only need a quarter of the size of flock to generate the same income. For small producers this is acceptable, but for the industry as a whole it would be a death blow.

Excerpts from a press release issued by the U.S. Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF) following the announcement of a WTO panel upholding a Canadian complaint on the U.S. country-of-origin labelling (COOL) legislation

tell them that they should not be shooting or trapping them when they have young in the den so that the young can starve to death. I’m just sick of people and their heathen attitudes towards everything else on the planet besides themselves! Believe it or not other species live here, and no one has the right to kill everything that gets in their way. Let’s try to raise the intelligence level and move into the 21st century. Debbie Stamp Bluffton

oday, a panel of three foreign diplomats seated by the United Nation’s World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a decision regarding complaints filed against the United States’ country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law that informs U.S. consumers as to the origins of their food. The panel consists of a diplomat from Pakistan — the country that harboured the world’s most dangerous terrorist, Osama Bin Laden; a diplomat from Switzerland; and, a diplomat who is a former WTO employee. The complaint against the United States’ COOL law was filed with the WTO in 2008 by livestock importers Canada, which introduced mad cow disease into the U.S., and Mexico, which continually reintroduces bovine tuberculosis (TB) into the United States. Joining the complaint as third parties were 12 additional countries, including China, which has a long history of importing tainted products into the United States.

“Today’s news from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the WTO is consistent with rumours leaked in May,” said R-CALF USA COOL committee chair Mike Schultz adding, “We’re not surprised that a panel of countries that want to weaken the U.S. would support complaints by countries that want more control over our U.S. food supply. The WTO is trying to usurp our nation’s sovereignty.” According to the WTO, the panel found U.S. COOL is inconsistent with the United States’ WTO obligations and does not fulfil its legitimate objective of providing consumers with information on origin. “Since when do we allow an international tribunal to dictate to our U.S. Congress what is or is not a legitimate objective of providing information to United States’ citizens?” Schultz asked rhetorically.

OFF THE FRONT

CHECKOFF  from page 1 It’s very disappointing when they get a lot of benefit.” Alberta Pork dealt with the situation much differently and insisted on giving their 375 producers most of their checkoff back. “These guys have been feeling it really hard,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director of Alberta Pork. “That was the reason why our board just said, ‘Let’s just give back 85 cents of each dollar we collect,’ feeling that maybe that would help out some people.” This was the group’s first refund period, and producers could request refunds on May 1. By May 12, when Alberta Pork announced the checkoff rebate, only three producers had requested refunds. Fifteen cents of every dollar was retained to support the Canada Pork Council. “If we hadn’t given back the rebate, if more producers would have asked, I couldn’t say,” said Fitzgerald. “But given that we only had three up to that point, it was a pretty good signal I think.” Alberta Pork is using its financial reserves to operate for the year, and will be unable to refund the checkoff next year. Their annual budget is $3 million, and they collect $2.5 million annually from the $1 checkoff they collect from producers. The Potato Growers of Alberta were also affected by the refundable checkoff, but did not return any phone calls asking for comment.

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Senate stalling CWB changes RAPID PASSAGE  The legislation should be law before Dec. 16 BY ALEX BINKLEY

CONTRIBUTOR / OTTAWA

iberal senators have become more of a speed bump to the speedy passage of a bill to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its marketing monopoly than the government expected. Senators wrangled over a motion to refer the bill to the Senate agriculture committee during their sittings Nov. 22-24 without putting it to a vote. They advanced the same arguments that opposition MPs have employed complaining about the trampling of farmers’ democratic rights. The Senate debate was to resume Nov. 29. The Senate’s procedural rules are more flexible than the Commons, which gives the Liberal senators the latitude to pester the government. However, the government can use its majority in the Upper House to bring the issue to a vote. The government wants the Senate to take the unusual step of beginning to study the bill before it receives final approval from the Commons. MPs held

their final debate and vote on the bill Nov. 28 when it was expected to be passed. The government used its majority to defeat 12 opposition amendments to its Freedom for Grain Farmers Bill Nov. 23 and get the bill moved to third reading in the Commons. It has imposed a limit of one day for debate and a final vote on the bill after which it goes to the Senate. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says the bill has to pass before Parliament starts its Christmas recess, which is expected to begin Dec. 16 or sooner. Otherwise, farmers won’t be able to start forward contracting their 2012 crop in January.

Appointed directors remain

Speaking to reporters after a speech to the Grain Industry Symposium Nov. 23, Ritz said that as soon as the bill passes, he will order an audit of the CWB’s books “to see what shape they’re in.” While the farmer-elected CWB directors will be dispensed with when the bill passes, he plans to retain the five government-appointed directors to lead the CWB’s transition to its new structure. He said that CWB president Ian White and John Knubley, the deputy federal agri-

culture minister, “will continue to discuss the shape of the CWB after Aug. 1.” In a speech after the minister, Knubley said “the government wants to give the CWB a chance to reinvent itself.” It hopes the CWB will have a new business ready sooner than the four years the government is giving it. Knubley headed the working group this past summer that laid the groundwork for the CWB legislation. There’s still work to do on that file in regards to transportation and port facilities. The department is also working on a study on the working of the grain value supply chain, he added. The government also wants farmers to have the chance to learn to use marketing tools. Much of the first day of the conference was devoted to life after the CWB monopoly. Unlike the political debate, there was little board bashing or praising. The most critical comment came from Brant Randles, president of Louis Dreyfus Canada. He said the CWB brought a combative attitude to dealings within the grain system when a collaborative approach is needed for Canada to grow its export business.

Attention AlbertA FArmers: if you have not yet contracted your 2002 to 2011 carbon credits,

time is running out! RETROACTIVE CREDITS WILL BE ELIMINATED

WHAT IT COSTS

Carbon credits generated from 2002 to 2011 will no longer be accepted by Alberta Environment after January 1, 2012. If you haven’t contracted your retroactive credits by January 1, 2012, then you will miss out on the opportunity forever.

As a Terra Verde client, you will not only receive the highest net payment for your offsets, but you will also enjoy a commission fee of only 15%3. There are no additional costs to the Contract, hidden data collection fees or complicated credit formulas.

ACT NOW If you have not yet contracted your eligible credits generated from 2002 to 2011, you still have time! Terra Verde has just opened its 2011 Series IX Contract to Producers wishing to sell their retroactive credits. The application process may be easier than you think.

DON’T MISS OUT If you have not yet contracted some or all of your eligible credits, Terra Verde urges you to do so now.

WHAT IT’S WORTH TO YOU

Why wait?

Producers who sign up with Terra Verde can expect to be paid approximately $11 net per tonne1. For example, a 3,000 acre farm could net anywhere from $30,000 to $52,0002.

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1-866-949-1962 info@terraemissions.com www.terraemissions.com Depending on final sale price achieved. Based on tonnes generated from 2002 to 2011. 3 Plus verification costs of approximately 2%. 1 2

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Cargill considering a wheat pool

NO NEED TO PAW THROUGH SNOW

OPTIONS 

Canadian president says they will depend on farmer demand BY ROD NICKEL WINNIPEG/REUTERS

argill may run a pool for western Canadian farmers’ spring wheat in 2012 and will also be ready to offer farmers forward price contracts for their grains in an open market, the president of the company’s Canadian division said Nov. 25. If a government bill to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its monopoly as of August 2012 becomes law next month, grain handlers will be able to immediately offer farmers contracts to buy next year’s harvest. “We have considered all of those particular (pricing) approaches,” Cargill president Len Penner told reporters after speaking to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. “Part of what we need to assess is what role will (the CWB) play on the pooling side versus what other competitors will choose to do.” Penner said he thinks farmers will want to pool wheat, as they have in Australia after it ended its own wheat-marketing monopoly in 2008. The CWB may continue operating in the open market, albeit on a smaller scale without its monopoly. The number of pooling options Cargill may offer depends on how much demand there is for them, Penner said. Pooling options come in different styles and can allow farmers to capture the average price of a commodity over a period of time, or simply turn a combined grain volume over to a company for marketing during a year. Cargill, the third-largest grain handler in Canada after Viterra and Richardson International, is also “very prepared” to offer farmers forward price contracts for next autumn’s harvest, Penner said. What remains to be seen is how willing farmers will be to lock in wheat prices early in the new year, after six decades of selling wheat through a single marketer. “It’s not the industry that signs up the contracts, it’s the farmer,” Penner said. In a given year, farmers may sell about one-quarter of yearly production of other crops through forward contracts, and the signup for wheat might be slower, Penner said.

Strong chinook winds in southern Alberta have kept high pastures clear of snow for cattle kept on open ranges. This herd was spotted near Chain Lakes, south of Longview. PHOTO BY WENDY DUDLEY

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DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

FINANCIAL FEATURE

Price insurance helps livestock producers sleep better at night ALBERTA ADVANTAGE } Programs are unique to this province

but are being eyed by other governments

Feedlots have been subscribing to price insurance, but cow-calf signups have een slow. by madeleine baerg af contributor | calgary

oday’s high cattle and hog prices won’t last forever, yet surprisingly few producers are taking advantage of Agricultural Financial Services Corporation (AFSC)’s livestock price insurance programs, which are designed to protect hog and cattle producers from dropping prices. While it might seem backwards to buy price insurance when prices are high, it actually makes good business sense, says Ryder Lee, manager of federal-provincial relations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “With prices where they’re at, the risk (from not having insurance) is almost higher,” says Lee. “When prices are in the dumps, how much dumpier are they going to get? But, if they’re high and you can buy coverage at a pretty reasonable rate to make sure you keep making money, you’re ahead of the game.” Given the price of premiums is adjusted to reflect the latest market situation, waiting to purchase insurance until after the market falls will cost you. “In this day and age, any change in the market is pretty much instantaneous around the world,” says Bill Hoar, AFSC’s livestock price insurance co-ordinator. “The next day when we rate again, our coverage levels will be indicative of the new reality. Anyone who has already purchased, had a strategy in place to manage this price risk.” AFSC’s price insurance program offers protection from declines in calf, feeder cattle, fed cattle and hog prices. Premiums depend on the level of coverage a producer chooses, which ranges from break-even to varying levels of margin protection. Unlike a forward pricing contract, these programs provide a guaranteed base price, but allow producers to benefit from any upward movement in the market. More than two-thirds of the 500 to 600 eligible feedlots and farms that finish cattle

are already subscribed to the price insurance program.

Unfamiliar

However, uptake of the calf program launched last winter, and hog program launched in mid-July this year, are not yet seeing good uptake, says Hoar. Part of the problem is that cow-calf producers haven’t had access to price insurance in the past, so are unfamiliar with how the program works and how it can be of individual benefit. First and foremost, producers need to understand the programs are producer focused, market driven, and developed based on input from Alberta producers and producer associations (Alberta Pork, Western Hog Exchange or Alberta Beef Producers). “What we heard from producers is that they didn’t want to rely on ad hoc programs and handouts. They want to manage their own futures,” says Hoar. So although the Alberta government and the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency helped finance the research and development of the programs, producer premiums now fund 85 per cent of their operation. AFSC plans to continue adjusting and improving the programs based on ongoing producer input, and that may soon include additional coverage levels and the option for producers to roll contracts forward into subsequent time periods. To date, only Alberta producers have access to livestock price insurance. However, both Saskatchewan and Manitoba have expressed interest in creating similar, made-in-their-own-backyard price insurance products. “From CCA’s standing, we’d like to see a national program,” says Lee. Until other provinces build their own programs, Alberta will enjoy an advantage, says Lee. “By virtue of it only being in Alberta right now, the price insurance has the potential of being market distorting, because it has

Insurance also makes sense during times of high prices, says the CCA’s Ryder Lee. the potential to drive some market into Alberta,” he says. “It’s not that it adds more money to the market, but it helps producers in this province manage risk. If you can manage to run more confidently under that kind of program, you’re more likely to want to operate here rather than elsewhere.” Risk tolerance is closely tied to individual circumstances, he says. Each individual needs to calculate “what is the risk to their ability to continue farming in the event of a catastrophic drop in livestock price,” says Lee. “If they’re highly leveraged with banks and debt, certainly they need to pay very close attention to how they’re managing price,” says Lee. “If they have a million bucks in the bank, they probably don’t need our program.” But then again, maybe they do. “I used to sell herbicide to grain farmers,” says Lee. “I talked to a lot of guys who sold $5 crop because $9.50 crop was going to hit $10. “Price insurance gives you the ability to protect yourself from a down when you’re at a high. Guys need to figure out if it is something they want to spend a few bucks on so that they can hopefully sleep a little better at night.”

New-andimproved Cowbytes software Savings } Program

allows producers to make the most of homegrown feed

Agri-News / A new version of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s Cowbytes cattle-feeding software has been developed and is slated for release soon. ARD says Cowbytes helps producers make optimum use of their homegrown feeds, while only purchasing the necessary volume of supplementary feeds and taking advantage of lowercost alternative feeds or byproducts. Most producers can find $1,000 in feed savings using this program to prevent over- or underfeeding and to scout for cheaper alternative feeds, while still getting the performance they desire,” says Patrick Ramsey, a business development specialist with ARD. The Cowbytes program allows producers to select the type of cattle they want to feed and the productivity levels they want to achieve based on body weight, average daily gain in growing cattle, body condition score, stage of gestation or milk production level in cows. Producers can also adjust for climatic conditions such as temperature, wind speed, and mud in pens as well as for hide thickness and summer or winter hair coat depth. The program comes with a feed table based on the average values of Alberta feeds. “Producers can modify the nutrient content of the feeds listed on the table based on their own feed test results,” says Barry Yaremcio, beef/ forage specialist with ARD. Custom feeding and feed inventory reports can also be generated. These features help producers to make decisions about purchasing feed in advance or selling animals to match feed inventory with cattle requirements. One of the new features of Cowbytes Version 5 is a yardage calculator. This allows producers to enter their facility, equipment and operating costs (such as taxes, insurance, veterinary services, utilities, repairs, fuel, labour), along with the number of cattle and the number of days on feed to determine the yardage costs per head per day. The Cowbytes’ program manual has also been expanded to include a “beef ration rules of thumb” section and a primer on cattle nutrition. Producers will soon be able to download the demo copy of Cowbytes or purchase it through ARD’s website (www.agriculture.alberta.ca).

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

FINANCIAL FEATURE

Farm finances are not what they used to be CLEAR PICTURE } If you want to borrow more, your lender needs to know more by madeleine baerg af contributor | calgary

t’s no secret that farming today is a bigger and riskier business than ever before. Gone are the days when farmers just farmed and the finances, in large part, took care of themselves. Today, keeping a finger on the pulse of a farm’s financial position is vital, says Mike McGuire, TD’s district manager for southern Alberta. “In today’s world, good management is critical for survival,” he says. “Thirty years ago, farming was a way of life. Now it’s evolved into a way of business, and it’s directly impacted by global events. Now, it needs to be handled like any business. “Successful farming operations require more sophistication, better management, more equity, and a need for greater risk management strategies.” The good news is that opportunities for farmers today are huge, says McGuire. “Opportunities are probably better than they’ve ever been for those who can compete at the levels that they have to in order to survive in today’s world.” However, these opportunities also bring uncertainty, he says. “The uncertain global economy, changing weather patterns, and investor interest in commodities will all drive price volatility, and that will mean producers will need better and better management skills to compete.” First and foremost, McGuire counsels that producers need to be planning for the future. “There was a tendency years back to not look as far forward,” he says. “Now, planning should look two, five, 10 years into the future.”

Because expenses are high and margins are thin, it’s vital to know cost-of-production numbers, says McGuire. “Access to capital has become a very significant issue in today’s world and will be more so going forward,” he adds. “Producers today are looking for significantly more money, to the point that a lot of farm operations are capitalized to the level of a mid-size business.” Another key is having a sufficient line of credit and adequate liquidity while keeping leverage at a reasonable level. Banks have leverage guidelines for each farming sector derived from a peer group comparison. If a farmer is more highly leveraged than those guidelines, risk becomes a bigger issue. While farmers could get away

with growing just one or two commodities and selling to a single market three decades ago, spreading risk is almost mandatory today. In addition to crop insurance, there are many ways farmers can hedge, from diversifying into a new business, growing a variety of crops, or engaging in futures commodities or foreign exchange. “Hedging opportunities are there if you can learn how to use them,” says McGuire. “They offer some good opportunities to make money, as long as you don’t get into the speculating side.”

Work in progress

Farmers are more aware of their finances than they were years back, but additional effort is still necessary.

“Compared to 30 years ago, there’s no question that farmers are managing their risk better,” says McGuire. “But is everyone at the level they need to be? It’s a work in progress.” One of the most difficult things for many farmers today is understanding and managing the financial reporting required by banks. “Thirty years ago farmers resisted giving financial information because they didn’t have it, or it was all in their heads (or perhaps a shoebox). But, in today’s world, you need much more sophisticated reporting. If the information isn’t accurate, you’re really putting yourself at risk.” While hiring an accountant or financial planner can be a good first step, a farmer still needs to under-

stand his or her farm’s financial situation in order to make sound business decisions. This is increasingly important when applying for a loan. Lenders are willing to work with farmers but they require solid information when the loan application hits their desk. “It was an easier process 30 years ago,” says McGuire. “Now it’s a lot more complex: you have to prove you can make money, and there’s greater risk because there’s more money involved. “Understanding financial management is a component of overall management. It’s certainly a component of whether a bank will lend. The farmer who understands their full operation is undoubtedly a better risk.”

Rates may not last

And, he adds, farmers need to remember that the future won’t necessarily look like today. For example, assuming interest rates will stay at today’s historic lows would be a mistake, says McGuire. Instead, he suggests farmers make reasonable assumptions about the future and err on the side of caution.

Farm on.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

U.K. wool prices are at 25-year highs RECOVER  Farmers are happy but manufacturers are feeling fleeced BY ALESSANDRA PRENTICE LONDON/REUTERS

Wool prices in Britain are at their highest in a quarter of a century and look set to stay, bringing relief to farms that survived years of having to shear their sheep at a loss, the head of the British Wool Marketing Board said. Fewer sheep, strong demand from emerging economies such as India and China and a growing appreciation for British wool have caused prices to more than double in the last three years, said Malcolm Corbett, the board’s chairman. At U.K. auction, wool now sells at an average of 180 pence ($2.842) per kg while in 2008 it went for as little as 70 pence. “I’m not an economist, I’m a hill farmer... but it’s clearly all a question of supply and demand,” Corbett told Reuters by telephone Nov. 18 from Northumberland, northeastern England, where he has 800 Welsh sheep.

The revival for producers of wool, a fibre once so central to British prosperity that the Lord Speaker of Parliament’s upper house still sits on a sack of it, has hit the profits of carpet makers and fashion houses. While recognizing this was having an impact on consumers, Corbett said life for British producers of lamb meat and wool remains tough.

Still very difficult

“We do understand that we have a country almost in recession and that, down the line, these prices are more difficult for some of the end-users, but eking a profit out of some of these commodities is still very difficult,” Corbett said. “The other thing to remember is that our costs in terms of feed, fertilizer and fuel are absolutely rocketing as well and, if we didn’t have the prices we have, we really would be in a bit of a disastrous situation.”

Sheep are shorn at Kilgram farm in Jervaulx, northern England in June. Britain’s Wool Marketing Board has reported that British wool prices are at a 25-year high. REUTERS/NIGEL RODDIS Corbett said the years of depressed lamb and wool prices, where the 1.5 pounds it cost to shear each sheep exceeded the wool’s final asking price, led some farmers to quit the industry, both in Britain and in top producer Australia. The total population of sheep in the U.K. fell by nearly 50 per cent over the last 10 years, he said, adding that flock numbers were not

expected to grow significantly over the next few years, supporting wool prices into the future. “Now the farmer can afford to pay the shearer and still have some profit left in his wool clip. The wool cheque is now becoming a meaningful income stream on the farm.” Carpetright, Britain’s biggest floor-coverings retailer, warned

WHAT’S UP Send agriculture-related meeting and event announcements to: will. verboven@fbcpublishing.com December 6: ACPC Growers Meeting, Lethbridge Lodge 7:30 am, Lethbridge. Call: Rick 780-678-6167 December 6/7: Alberta Beef Producers AGM, Sheraton Cavalier, Calgary. Call: Roseanne 403-275-4400 December 7: ACPC Growers Meeting, Social Centre, Vegreville. Call: Rick 780-6786167 December 7: 2011 Farming Smarter Conference, Lethbridge Lodge, Lethbridge. Call: Jannis 403-381-5118 December 7: Alberta Winter Wheat Producers Commission, Lethbridge Lodge, Lethbridge. Call: Elizabeth 403-345-6550 December 7/8: Alberta Barley Commission AGM, Banff Park Lodge, Banff, Call: Linda 403219-6261 December 8: ACPC Growers Meeting, Elks Hall 8:30 am, Vermillion. Call: Rick 780-6786167 December 8: Alberta Pork AGM, Executive Royal Inn 9:30 am, Leduc. Call: Barb 877-247-7675 December 10: M.C. Quantock “Canada’s Cow Sale”, 850 head, 12 noon, NBI, Vermilion, AB. Call Mac or Pat Creech 1-800561-2855. December 12: Alberta Soft Wheat Producers Commission, Luigi’s 1:00 pm, Taber. Call: Elizabeth 403-345-6550 December 15: Foothills Forage & Grazing Winter Grazing Tour, Acme Hall, Acme. Call: Laura 403-652-4900 January 17/20: 2012 Banff Pork Seminar, Banff Centre, Banff. Visit: www.banffpork.ca January 28, 2012: M.C. Quantock “Canada’s Bulls” Bull Sale, 450 bulls, 12 noon, Llyodminster Exhibition Grounds, Lloydminster, AB. Call Mac or Pat Creech 1-800-5612855.

Client: EVEREST

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in February that high wool prices were weighing on profit, while luxury clothes retailer Ralph Lauren blamed rising input costs for a sharp drop in quarterly earnings in November. The global carpet industry consumes 70 per cent of U.K. wool. Wool accounts for a mere one to 1.5 per cent of the global fibre market, but initiatives such as the Campaign for Wool, backed by Britain’s Prince Charles, have helped raise its profile. Last year the campaign turfed over London’s tailoring heartland, Saville Row, releasing sheepdogs to herd flocks of sheep along the street and promote wool’s use in the fashion industry. “We now feel like we’re respected and valued as producers, which for a long time was not the case, what with all the talk of subsidies and overproduction,” Corbett said. “The world is going to demand an awful lot more food and clothing in the future, all in all we have a positive outlook.”

NEWS » Markets

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Large barley crops weigh on PRO The Canadian Wheat Board projected lower wheat values in its latest Pool Return Outlook for the current marketing year. Wheat values are down $1 to $14 per tonne from last month’s outlook as concerns about the world economy and global wheat fundamentals pressure prices. Durum values lost between $1 and $25 per tonne. Malting barley dropped $4 per tonne, feed barley was down $3. Feed prices are under pressure from large barley crops in Australia and Argentina.

Plan deferrals early: CWB Farmers who plan to defer upcoming CWB final payments are encouraged to plan ahead and act early, well before the payment is issued. Farmers can defer online through e-Services, or by calling 1-800-275-4292 with their PIN and ID number. Deferral is available for farmers using direct deposit and those who receive cheques.

Global economic grief puts ICE canola under pressure MF Global } Bankruptcy woes seem to have thinned the speculator herd By Dwayne Klassen

anola futures on the ICE Futures Canada trading platform suffered some significant downward price action during the week ended Nov. 25. Much of the price weakness continued to be influenced by the worsening global economic outlook as well as by expanding financial problems in the euro zone. The modest to sharp declines in the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) soybean complex also contributed to the bearish price trend. The penetration of technical support helped to amplify the declines experienced by canola. Restricting the price drop in canola were steady domestic crusher demand and the pricing of routine export business to Japan by the commercial sector. The downswing in the value of the Canadian dollar and the absence of significant farmer deliveries into the cash pipeline also slowed the price declines. Western barley futures on the ICE platform continued to remain dormant, although there were some contracts traded. Much of the action in barley was the unloading of positions in the December future before the future becomes a cash delivery month. Cash bids for feed barley continued to hold steady at fairly firm price levels. CBOT soybean futures posted some major price declines during the week ended Nov. 25. Much of the downswing in values was associated with the bearish macroeconomic picture and the bailing out of positions by investors. The resulting climb in the value of the U.S. dollar added to the bearish sentiment. Additional weakness in U.S. soybeans was linked to news that Brazil’s soybean crop was developing under favourable conditions and will be record size. The early planting of the crop was also expected to result in an early harvest, making it available to be exported sooner than normal. The cheap South American

For three-timesdaily market reports from Resource News International, visit “ICE Futures Canada updates” at albertafarmexpress.ca.

crop was seen swinging business away from the U.S. Chart-related liquidation orders further weighed on soybean values. CBOT corn futures also lost ground during the latest reporting period. The poor export picture for U.S. corn, along with the uncertainty surrounding the global economic picture, stimulated the declines. Bearish chart signals helped to exaggerate the price drop. The losses in corn were slowed somewhat by sentiment that the market was oversold, and by the continued reluctance of U.S. farmers to deliver into the cash market.

Plenty of wheat

Wheat futures at the CBOT, Kansas City and Minneapolis exchanges experienced some modest to large losses during the reporting period. Ample world wheat supplies, the upswing in the value of the U.S. dollar, and the worsening financial situation in the euro-zone region all contributed to the downward price slide. The availability of cheap wheat from the Black Sea region also encouraged some of the price weakness. The grain and oilseed markets appear unwilling to move its focus away from the dismal macroeconomic picture and on to the fundamental picture. Canola supplies are tight, demand is good and the harvest is done, which

CBOT soybean futures posted some major price declines during the week ended Nov. 25.

suggests values should be moving higher. However, every time some bullish steam is built up, more bad news on the economic front is released. The bad news in the latest week included China’s economy starting to experience slower growth, the inability of a U.S. congressional “super committee” to come up with some sort of plan to halt the worsening debt crisis in the U.S., and news that a number of European government bond issues may default. This “divesting of risky assets” by global investors, unfortunately, is not going to go away anytime soon and will continue to have some serious bearish impact on values in the North American grain and oilseed sector. Some market participants, based on the poor economic picture, were now forecasting that CBOT soybean futures, basis the March future, will be heading back to the $10.50-a-bushel range. The decline was expected to be before the end of December if not a bit sooner. Some U.S. analysts were calling for CBOT soybean values to drop back into the $8.50 to $9-per-bushel range, especially if support in the January future is penetrated at $10.50. CBOT corn futures will also continue to reel from the bearish world economy, with some participants forecasting prices to drop into the $5.50 to

$5.25-per-bushel level also before the end of December. There was talk of progress by leaders in France and Germany to shore up eurozone banks and attack the debt crisis on the weekend (Nov. 26-27). Those talks sparked a sharp rally in European stock markets and pushed Asian markets up. As a result, commodities, including grain and oilseeds, have experienced a bit of a rally based on these headlines. The past couple of weeks have done an excellent job of forcing old longs to the sidelines and trashing old bullish sentiment in agricultural sector futures. Fallout from the MF Global bankruptcy filing in the U.S. also continues. The news definitely resulted in a number of speculators being forced out of the market and has in turn resulted in some thinner volumes in a number of commodities. MF Global Canada participants also had to liquidate contracts with the switch over to another firm which was allowed to clear — and that’s been seen as a lengthy process by individuals who had to make the switch. The loss of participants in the marketplace due to this situation was not seen as a good thing for the markets. Dwayne Klassen writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Downtrend continues in Chicago wheat Signals } When an emerging trend can be identified and

followed to its conclusion, it translates into opportunity by david drozd

heat prices at the CBOT have dropped more than $3 per bushel since peaking in February 2011. A twoweek reversal signalled a change in trend on Feb. 18, 2011. Chart analysis is not only useful for determining the market’s turns, but it can also be used to determine the price trend and where support and resistance to the trend may be anticipated. Prices over a period of several months are typically either moving up or down. This direction is the major or long-term trend of the market. Within the major trend there are a series of highs and lows that can be of several weeks duration which are the intermediate trends. There are also small fluctuations within the intermediate moves that are the minor trends. Therefore, it should be recognized that a trend may be interpreted in several ways depending on whether someone has a short-, intermediate- or longer-term outlook. The major trend for wheat is down, as defined by the parameters of the downtrending channel and illustrated by the lower highs (A) and lower lows (B) in the accompanying chart. Farmers can use the short-term swings within the long-term perspective to determine when to make a sale. For example, on September 2, 2011 another two-week reversal provided a sell signal at resistance, which was the upper boundary of the downtrending channel. This will be increasingly important for farmers to know when marketing wheat in an open-market system.

selling is not. When prices again begin to move down, some of these sellers jump in for fear of missing the move. The balance of unfilled selling will continue to trail the market in hopes of catching a bounce in price. Most of these sellers will gradually lower their offers as the market declines. Their selling, as well as that of longs eager to take profits during periods of price rallies, prevents remaining sell orders that are too far above the market from being filled. Eventually, there will come a point during a bear move when the decline begins to accelerate. This occurs as the patience of those waiting for a big rally will have worn thin and selling picks up at the prevailing price level. Perhaps the single most important idea we can relate is to study the charts to identify a trend, particularly as it emerges. Doing this will maximize your opportunities. Send your questions or comments about this article and chart to info@ag-chieve.ca.

wheat weekly statistics

David Drozd is president and senior market analyst for Winnipegbased Ag-Chieve Corporation. The opinions expressed are those of the writer and are solely intended to assist readers with a better understanding of technical analysis. Visit Ag-Chieve online at www.ag-chieve.ca for information about grain-marketing advisory services, or call us toll free at 1-888-274-3138 for a free consultation.

Everything You Need to Go All Out

Trendlines and channels

During the course of a trend and all the fluctuations which compose it, there is a characteristic for prices to follow a sloping straight line path. In the case of falling prices, the line is drawn across the rally highs, which serves as a point of resistance. For a trendline to be both valid and reliable, there should be at least three points of price contact. In a declining market the three points of contact correspond to the rally highs, each topping out at a lower level. When an emerging trend can be identified and followed to its conclusion, it translates into opportunity. The use of trendlines is a valuable tool for accomplishing this. Once a trend begins in earnest, it has a high tendency to persist. After a trendline is constructed and a trend is established, a line may be drawn that is parallel to the trendline depicting the channel within which prices will fluctuate as the trend proceeds. This is extremely helpful for studying the trend and determining when to hedge. In a downtrend, the channel’s upper boundary is the downtrend line. The lower boundary is the return line and is drawn parallel across the lows of each progressively lower decline.

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DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Seed of the Year West announces winner VARIETY  Fleet was the first Canadian release of meadow brome grass WESTERN GRAINS RESEARCH FOUNDATION RELEASE

Fleet meadow brome grass has been selected as the 2011-12 winner of the Seed of the Year West award. For 58 years, (until his passing in 1998) Bob Knowles bred new varieties of perennial grasses for Western Canada at the Saskatoon Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Many of the most popular dryland grass varieties in Western Canada, including Fleet, came from his program. “Dr. Knowles’ varieties produced high yields of high-quality seed,” said University of Saskatchewan’s Bruce Coulman, manager of the joint AAFC-University of Saskatchewan grass-breeding program. “Dr. Knowles recognized that no matter how good a forage grass was, if a seed producer couldn’t make money producing it, or a cattle producer couldn’t afford to buy it, it would not be used.” Fleet was the first Canadian release of

meadow brome grass and became the most widely distributed variety in North America. Fleet not only had higher forage yields than previous meadow bromes, it had higher seed yields and improved seed quality. For this reason it is AAFC still a leading variety in the marketplace, almost 25 years after its release in 1987. “I can think of no other forage variety that has had a more positive impact on pasture production in Western Canada than Fleet,” said Trent Whiting, marketing representative for SeCan and nominator of Fleet. Seed of the Year is designed to provide recognition to publicly developed varieties that have made a significant contribution to the economy, agriculture, and the Canadian public in general. Although the

name, Seed of the Year, indicates the contribution in a particular year, the program is much broader reaching and considers total lifetime achievement and contribution. It is important to recognize the value of our public plant-breeding programs, as well as encourage the entry of new plant breeders to the industry. Part of the western award is a scholarship of $4,000, awarded to a student enrolled in a western Canadian university and currently completing a masters or PhD in plant breeding or genetics. Bruce Coulman will review and select the scholarship award winner on behalf of Dr. Knowles. “The Seed of the Year Scholarship will help ensure the development of young plant breeders who will release more excellent varieties like Fleet in the future,” said Coulman. The Seed of the Year West award is sponsored by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Barley Commission, Canterra Seeds, Cargill, Canadian Wheat Board, Parrish & Heimbecker Limited, Canadian Seed Growers Association, Viterra, Richardson International, SeCan, and Western Grains Research Foundation.

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Pulses can help control blood sugar in diabetics PREVENTIVE 

Managing blood glucose levels can also prevent a future diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes Pulse Canada says that new research has found that adding pulses such as lentils and chickpeas to a meal can improve blood sugar control for diabetics. “Pulses (beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas) are a good food choice for people with diabetes because they contain carbohydrates that are slowly digested and do not cause a fast rise in blood sugar,” Julianne Curran, Pulse Canada’s director of Nutrition, Science & Regulatory Affairs said in a release. Blood sugar control is critical to the prevention of long-term complications such as heart disease, nerve damage and kidney disease. For people with prediabetes, managing blood glucose levels can prevent a future diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. Pulse Canada says researchers at the University of Toronto looked at whether eating pulses in combination with a high glycemic index (GI) food like pasta would result in lower blood sugar levels after the meal. The results showed that blood sugar levels increased at a slower rate when subjects ate macaroni with pulses compared to macaroni with cheese. “In this study, we also looked at whether eating pulses at one meal would affect blood sugar responses to the next meal that study participants consumed. The results showed that this was indeed the case,” said Dr. Rebecca Mollard, lead investigator of the study. “Our findings support the recommendation to include pulses in the diet to improve blood sugar control.”

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A University of Toronto study showed that blood sugar levels increased at a slower rate when subjects ate pasta with pulses compared to pasta with cheese. ©THINKSTOCK

NEW INVASIVE HAWKWEED

First in Canada

Spores are airborne

STAFF

The Morden lab, established in 1989 to study flax rust, is the first in Canada to be certified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as a Plant Pest Containment Level 3 (PPC3) facility — the highest security rating for plant pathogens. To achieve the higher level, some $250,000 was required on upgrades to the air handling and waste water treatment, as well as the installation

Leaf and stripe rust have also caused problems for crops. Spores for all types of rust are airborne, and are typically brought north from the southern United States after overwintering there in mid- to late June. AAFC scientists are accelerating their efforts to characterize new sources of resistance and develop new rust-resistant varieties. But this

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“One study found that at near-freezing temperatures, the spores don’t last very long at all. It’s a matter of hours and then they’re dead.” AAFC’s Khalid Rashid uses the PPC3 lab at Morden for ongoing research to maintain multi-genic disease resistance to flax rust. AAFC work is confined to growing chambers in the off-season, said Fetch. During the growing season, the spores are kept in a locked freezer at -80 C. “It can’t go anywhere,” he said. The Ug99 spore samples are transported to the lab by tracked courier shipments in sealed plastic vials that are enclosed in zip-lock bags, which in turn are enclosed in courier envelopes. Also, no samples are sent to the lab until October, well after the growing season ends. Even if an enterprising “bioterrorist” intercepted a shipment, odds are they wouldn’t be able to infect Canada’s wheat crop, even if they dumped a package of spores on a field of wheat in June. That’s because the spores aren’t terribly hardy. Even under ideal conditions in the lab, only half of the spores can be propagated. Ug99 spores can survive under “countertop” conditions for 30 to

TOM FETCH

60 days, depending on heat and humidity. “One study found that at nearfreezing temperatures, the spores don’t last very long at all. It’s a matter of hours and then they’re dead,” said Fetch. According to the latest international surveys, Ug99 is largely confined to continental Africa. However, it has broken out into Iran, and may spread next to wheat-growing areas in Pakistan and India. Support of the project came from AAFC’s Animal and Plant Health Research Initiative under the Growing Forward policy agreement. The renovation was completed in March 2011 and certified this fall. Morden is one of eight AAFC laboratories which received funding from the Modernizing Federal Laboratories Initiative under Canada’s Economic Action Plan. A total of $25.9 million was committed to AAFC for these upgrades.

proving ground.

cientists at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Research Station in Morden, Man. are putting a rogue strain of stem rust under the microscope. But forget the Hollywood thriller implications. Multiple layers of security ensure that the destructive pest Ug99 will stay contained, says Tom Fetch, the plant pathologist who heads up the Morden research program. Besides an extensive array of stringent biosecurity protocols, Canada’s inhospitable climate will serve as the ultimate backstop. “We are only doing our work in the winter,” said Fetch, adding that the permit allowing research on Ug99 at the facility runs from Oct. 1 to May 1. Even then, he still keeps the weather outside in mind before cracking open a vial of spores. “I wait until I am confident that there is no green host tissue outside,” said Fetch.

of showers and general cleaning and repairs. Because they deal with plant pathogens only, the researchers will wear hospital scrubs and follow a shower-in, shower-out protocol, not the “space suits” seen in Level 4 labs studying zoonotic diseases. By the latest estimates, 78 per cent of Canada’s spring wheat varieties are susceptible to Ug99. Worldwide, the stem rust pathogen has the potential to knock out 80 to 90 per cent of the wheat grown. However, unlike farmers in Uganda, where the highly virulent strain was first discovered, Canadian farmers would be able to limit the damage done by spraying their crops with fungicides, he said. “Fungicides can be used to control it, but we emphasize resistance because that’s the most efficient and environmental way to do it.” Farmers in Canada have been spared large-scale rust outbreaks for decades. The last big stem rust infestation in spring wheat occurred in 1955. A minor epidemic happened in 1986 in winter wheat which is typically more vulnerable.

BY DANIEL WINTERS

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to focus on developing Ug99-resistant strains of wheat

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Tall hawkweed, a new invasive, has shown up in the Hinton area, the first report of its presence in Alberta. “While these hawkweeds do lack stolons, it still is considered invasive through rhizomes,” says Nicole Kimmel, weed specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. All suspect meadow hawkweed (Hieracium caespitosum) sightings will now be scrutinized, as both meadow and tall hawkweed can be easily confused. “Although tall hawkweed is not yet regulated under the Weed Control Act, due to its invasiveness we would encourage eradication, if possible, when found.” — Agri-News

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

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DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Farmer-elected CWB board holds what’s likely its final meeting Farmer assets } Directors demand Ottawa

reimburse farmers for “expropriated” assets worth more than $300 million

that control reverts to the federal government. staff Once the bill becomes law, the board’s 10 farmer-elected direcith a mix of sadness and tors will be fired and the wheat resignation, the Canadi- board will be run by the incuman Wheat Board’s farm- bent five government-appointed er-controlled board of directors directors, including current board held what will likely be their last president and CEO Ian White, if meeting at its Winnipeg headquar- they agree to stay on. ters Nov. 24. Farmers, grain companies and “It was a bit of a historic occa- the government-owned and -consion I guess,” said board chair trolled “voluntary” board can also and Alberta farmer Allen Oberg. start forward contracting wheat Thirteen years ago, control of the and barley for the 2011-12 crop organization was turned over to year. However, the board’s curSEC_WHEAT12_T_AFE.qxd 11/23/11 5:46 PM Page 1 farmers and with the expected pas- rent monopoly remains until Aug. sage of Bill C-18 before year’s end, 1, 2012. by allan dawson

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The Canadian Wheat Board’s farmer-elected board of directors held what’s likely to be its last meeting last month. When Bill C-18 becomes law, five government-appointed directors will administer the board. The farmerelected directors are (l) Kyle Korneychuk, Stewart Wells, Bill Toews, Rod Flaman, Allen Oberg, Bill Woods, John Sandborn and Cam Goff. Submitted photo One of the board’s final acts was to pass a resolution demanding the federal government reimburse farmers for the loss of assets worth more than $300 million. “Really what’s happening here is a government takeover of a producer-controlled organization,” Oberg said in an interview Nov. 24. “We use the word ‘expropriation’ of assets in the news release, but this is worse than expropriation. In expropriation you usually get some compensation.” The wheat board’s assets belong to the farmers who paid for board operations, Oberg said. Those

assets include 3,400 hopper cars, an office building, a contingency fund and $28 million already paid towards the purchase of two lake freighters. The federal government should return the money to farm ers through the board’s pool accounts or crop research, Oberg said.

Contingency fund retained

According to Oberg, final payments from the board’s 2010-11 pools will be $25 million lower than they should be because of an Oct. 18 directive from Agriculture

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Minister Gerry Ritz forbidding the board from distributing monies exceeding the contingency fund cap through the pool accounts. The fund, used to offset board pricing programs, comes from administration fees and trading grains. The cap was $60 million but the government increased it to $100 million and then a few weeks later doubled it to $200 million. While there’s no guarantee the fund will get that high, Oberg is convinced the federal government will use the fund to offset the costs of winding down the board instead of footing the bill itself as Ritz promised. Ritz says he made the changes to protect the board from the elected directors’ “scorched earth policy.” Winding down the board will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, including hidden costs such as those related to transferring the cash-advance program to the Canadian Canola Growers Association to administer, costs of planning for and creating a new entity and a new supply-chain environment, Oberg said.

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Oberg isn’t surprised the debate is polarized, because it always has been, he said. What does surprise him is such an important change is being made so quickly and without any analysis. “The sad part has been the name calling the minister (Ritz) has done of late,” Oberg added. “I just think that’s completely uncalled for. I guess it’s his way of trying to intimidate the other side.” The single-desk wheat board’s demise will see Canada’s grain companies further consolidate and farms get bigger to survive, he said. “I hope I’m wrong with some of these predictions, but my personal view is they (farmers) will regret it,” he said. Government guaranteed borrowings and initial payments to farmers will help the voluntary wheat board survive in the short term, but Oberg isn’t sure it can stand on its own in four years when the supports end. Oberg said he is undecided as to whether he will use the new board, noting it will depend on how competitive it is, Oberg said. “If you’re asking whether there’d be some loyalty out there, I don’t think there will be that much,” he said. “Farmers are businessmen and they will go wherever they see the most value.” Oberg said he has no regrets with how the directors fought to let farmers decide the board’s fate. The $1.4-million advertising campaign is a small cost compared to the benefits of the single desk, he said. Some farmers don’t believe the board’s monopoly generates value for them. But Oberg says just imagine what a private company would pay to have the exclusive right to export Western Canada’s wheat. “That’s what farmers had, and now it’s being taken away,” he said.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Canadian farmers want more safety training, says 2011 FCC Report Card GOOD INTENTIONS  The majority of farmers says safety is a priority, but few have a written safety plan in place CASA RELEASE

Most of Canada’s farmers see safety as a priority on their farms — and nine out of 10 farmers want to know more about how to make their businesses even safer. According to the second Farm Credit Canada (FCC) Farm Safety Report Card, discussed at the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association’s (CASA) annual conference in Vancouver, 34 per cent of Canadian producers want training in the basics of preparing a safety plan for their operations. “Canadian farmers certainly have good intentions for keeping safe on the farm, according to our research,” says Rémi Lemoine, FCC executive vice-president and chief operating officer. “Now

what’s needed is concrete action using tools like the ones created by our partners at CASA.” Nearly 1,000 primary producers across Canada from various sectors who are members of the national research FCC Vision Panel participated in the study. “CASA is developing practical tools such as the Canada FarmSafe plan to help farmers improve their safety record,” says Marcel Hacault, executive director of CASA, “We’ve put the basic plan on our website at www.planfarmsafety.ca and we’re working with agricultural suppliers and provincial farm safety groups to put the plan in as many hands as possible. That’s mainly where farmers told FCC they look for safety information. ” The 2011 FCC farm safety snapshot showed there’s been little

change in the perceptions and practices around farm safety since 2008.

What’s going well?

Producers are driven to action once safety directly impacts their family: (91 per cent) of producers regularly take precautions for children, and a third (35 per cent) are interested in taking training on agricultural safety for children. When it comes to the individual, almost nine in 10 (88 per cent) of producers report they would be interested in pursuing training in at least one safety topic.

Where can we improve?

Although the majority of Canadian producers (85 per cent) believes safety is a priority on their farm, less than one in 10 (nine per cent) currently have a written agricul-

tural safety plan on their farm or ranch. When it comes to accessing information, less than a quarter (24 per cent) of producers report having tried to access resources related to agricultural safety in the past year. Fifty-two per cent say they would go to agricultural suppliers to get more safety information and tools.

Why is safety important?

Producers explain that safety is a priority on their farms for three key reasons: the potential for financial loss due to accidents (largely through lost productivity), safekeeping of their family members, and the need to keep employees safe. “We will use the suggestions and testimonials in this new survey to help build new national farm safety messaging and create targeted

“…we’re working with agricultural suppliers and provincial farm safety groups to put the plan in as many hands as possible.” MARCEL HACAULT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CASA

educational tools,” Hacault adds. “Our goal continues to be a Canada where no one is hurt farming.” To access the executive summary of the report, please visit www.fccvision.ca/Research

IN BRIEF

Canadian farmland values rise again Farm Credit Canada says the average value of Canadian farmland increased by 7.4 per cent during the first six months of 2011, following gains of 2.1 and 3.0 per cent in the previous two six-month periods. In its semi-annual Farmland Values Report, FCC said Alberta farmland values showed an average increase of 4.0 per cent during the first half of 2011, which followed increases of 1.5 and 2.9 per cent during the two previous reporting periods. Values increased by an average of 0.7 per cent per month between January 1 and June 30, 2011. Farmland values in Alberta have been rising since 1993. FCC said strong demand for good cultivated farmland was observed in southern Alberta. Large producers were competing for land, which pushed demand upward. Irrigated land suitable for specialty crops continued to be in high demand, with associated significant increases in value. Marginal land suitable for hay and cattle production also saw an increase in demand. Elsewhere on the Prairies. Saskatchewan had even greater price increases, rising 11.6 per cent in the first half of 2011 on top of a 2.7 per cent increase in the last half of 2010. Manitoba prices rose 2.4 and 1.3 per cent respectively over the same periods. Full figures and analysis are available at www.fcc-fac.ca

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DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

World wheat prices set to slide COMPETITION  FSU and Australia have big crops to sell with exports expected to exceed Canada’s BY ALLAN DAWSON STAFF

he heady days of high wheat prices could soon be history. “The world is not short wheat,” said ProFarmer Canada market analyst Mike Jubinville in an interview Nov. 17. “There is as much wheat in the world today as there has ever been in human history.” World wheat ending stocks are projected to be 202.6 million tonnes — equal to carryovers seen in the 1999 to 2001 era when wheat prices were under $4 a bushel. Meanwhile, the world is expected to produce a huge crop of 680 million tonnes of wheat in 2012-13. Jubinville, who notes wheat prices are still relatively strong, isn’t predicting they’re going to fall to 1999 levels in the near future. However, prices have been trending lower and unless a major wheat producer runs into production problems in

The

2012-13, prices could continue to weaken, he said. Canadian Wheat Board market analyst Neil Townsend has been bearish about wheat for weeks. In his Nov. 16 PRO (Pool Return Outlook) “Updater,” Townsend confesses to second guessing his pessimism until consulting with others in the grain trade. “All signs point towards a further lengthening in world wheat stocks, without significant weather-related production issues in one or more major wheat-exporting or -importing countries,” he wrote. “Outside of that, as long as weather patterns remain more or less neutral, the end of the bull market will happen in 2012-13. Of course, we have to get there first and the last twothirds of the 2011-12 marketing year should also see a significant reduction in futures prices.” Some Canadian farmers have said they’ll hold their wheat and sell it for higher prices in the open

market federal legislation promises for Aug. 1, 2012. “I would say it’s a low percentage bet on what we see today,” Jubinville said. “For me it’s a complete gamble to do this. I don’t say that it’s necessarily wrong.” Having sold a third of his “virtual” crop through the wheat board’s fixed contract, Jubinville said he planned on leaving the rest in the pool. Now he’s not so sure. “Maybe we should be using old-crop wheat board marketing programs like fixed-price or earlypayment options if we think this market is still going down further.”

Drought

Last year’s Russian drought — the worst in at least 50 years — followed by a ban on Russian grain exports, helped push world wheat prices to near-record levels. This crop year Russia is expected to export up to 25 million tonnes of grain, including wheat — 17

After an absence of several decades, Russian farmers are regaining their status as a major wheat exporter. ©THINKSTOCK million tonnes of it by the end of December. Ukraine says it will export a record 27 million tonnes of grain in the 2011-12 season, as reported by Reuters. Only a fifth of that has been shipped so far. The Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries of Russia, Ukraine and

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www.pioneer.com/yield 2-year (2010-2011) yield data collected from large-scale, grower managed trials across Western Canada as of November 21, 2011. Product responses are variable and subject to any number of environmental, disease and pest pressures. Individual results may vary. Multi-year and multilocation data is a better predictor of future performance. DO NOT USE THIS OR ANY OTHER DATA FROM A LIMITED NUMBER OF TRIALS AS A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN PRODUCT SELECTION. Refer to www.pioneer.com/yield or contact a Pioneer sales representative for the latest and complete listing of traits and scores for each Pioneer® brand product. Roundup Ready and Roundup are registered trademarks used under license from Monsanto Company. ® CLEARFIELD is a registered trademark of BASF. Pioneer® brand products are provided subject to the terms and ®

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46H75

Pioneer 45H73

Kazakhstan will account for 25 per cent of world wheat exports this crop year, placing them collectively as the world’s No. 2 wheat exporter behind the United States, Jubinville said. “They always undercut everybody but what happened last year is we eliminated the lowest-cost provider,” he said. “So we reshuffled the demand matrix amongst the traditional exporters and we saw a big bump in the futures market. Now they’re back and they’re undercutting the market again.” Australian wheat production is also on the rise following droughts that have limited production in parts of the country the last couple of years. As of Sept. 30, Australian wheat exports were up 36 per cent from last year to 18.6 million tonnes. A second straight bumper harvest theoretically means there’s about 27 million tonnes of Australian wheat looking for markets in the current marketing year, although some will stay in storage. The government expects exports to hit 20.4 million tonnes, which would be a new record.

# of Comp.

Pioneer Yield

Comp. Yield

Yield Adv.

Yield % Win

41.2

40.1

1.1

62%

23/11/11 11:15 AM

Australian wheat exporters are counting on lower shipping costs and higher-quality grain to give them the upper hand in southeast Asian markets, allowing them to fend off aggressive competition from FSU suppliers. While wheat production has surged in the FSU and Australia, Canada has struggled because millions of acres were too wet to plant in 2011 and 2010. “These things go in cycles... and what kind of weather you’ve had during the growing season,” said Bruce Burnett, the wheat board’s director of weather and market analysis. Canada, traditionally among the world’s major wheat suppliers, will fall behind the FSU and Australia because it has less to sell. But a year from now positions could be reversed. Good quality helps Canada compete. This crop year more than three-quarters of the crop is expected to be graded No. 1 or 2, Burnett said. However, protein levels averaging 13.1 per cent are lower than usual. “There is going to be some fierce competition as the Australians harvest and as the Argentineans finish off their harvest, specifically on the lower-protein side of the market because those are two lower-protein-producing areas of the world,” he said. The United States has remained a bit of an island of high grain prices, Jubinville said. But there’s evidence of arbitrage with confirmed reports of British feed wheat imported for livestock feeding because American corn and wheat prices are more expensive.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Small chip will be able to detect antibiotic residues Rapid } Technology will allow producers to find residues in milk in less than two minutes

Louis Dreyfus doesn’t plan a buying binge in Western Canada CWRS } Company official says farmers will face new demands for lower quality by rod nickel ottawa / reuters

lobal commodity trader Louis Dreyfus is gradually expanding its Western Canada grain-handling capacity, but is not looking to be active in mergers and acquisitions as the region moves to an open market, said the head of its Canadian office. Privately held Louis Dreyfus, based in France, is a major global grain trader but holds just six per cent of Western Canada’s grain-handling market share. Bunge Ltd. has said it plans to bolster its presence once Canadian Wheat Board’s marketing monopoly ends but his company isn’t planning to follow suit, said Brant Randles, president of Louis Dreyfus Canada. “(Company) valuations are very rich

in Western Canada,” said Randles. “In terms of (Louis Dreyfus) being a buyer of another company, I think that’s unlikely. It’s a mature basin in terms of production and the build-out of capacity.” Louis Dreyfus is adding storage space to two of its 10 Western Canada grain elevators and will look “selectively” to fill holes in its grain-handling network, but is not contemplating more sweeping moves, Randles said. But Randles said he expects to see major changes in the sector. Private grain marketers are likely to want farmers to plant more mid-quality, high-yielding wheat because under the wheat board’s control Western Canada currently produces too much top-grade wheat, Randles said. As much as two-thirds of Western Canada’s spring wheat harvest falls into the top two milling grades B:8.125”in some years, but

Randles said export and domestic market demand for top supplies usually amounts to no more than half of that. As a result, some of farmers’ top-quality wheat ends up sold to buyers who only need medium quality, he said. “Why don’t we target our production to our demand?” asked Randles. The switch to an open market also brings challenges for grain traders like Louis Dreyfus. It owns no Western Canada port terminal space of its own and in an open market, will have to work out access agreements to terminals owned by its competitors, in order to ship grain to customers abroad. Grain handlers will also need to pay more up front once they buy crops straight from farmers, meaning large or small, they will need more cash flow to participate. Neither is an insurmountable challenge for Dreyfus, Randles said.

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A small microchip could soon help dairy producers find out if there are antibiotic residues in their milk in less than two minutes. The device is portable, and can be used in almost any condition by anyone in the supply chain. “It’s also economical. It will be priced for less than five dollars, as compared to present tests which are hundreds of dollars,” said Rajan Gupta, president of the Edmonton-based company, SciMed Technologies. The chip, which is about one by three centimetres, is still in the prototype stage, but early models have been completed. As soon as a producer puts a drop of milk onto the chip, it will be able to detect antibiotic residues. The chip will have wireless connectivity and will be able to be connected to a computer, so results can easily be communicated to others. Funding is now in place so SciMed technologies, a company that specializes in diagnostic kits for food safety and nutritional testing, will be able to take the product from development to completion. “The timing of this investment is really critical for us, especially when we are entering the Chinese and Indian markets, the two largest markets around,” said Gupta. The company has already created similar devices which measure Vitamin A and Vitamin D levels in milk. At an event last month, Mike Lake, Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont, spoke on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, to announce the Government of Canada has provided more than $350,000 to assist SciMed Technologies. The project is being funded under the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP), administered by Alberta’s Agriculture and Food Council.

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Behold the humble

dung beetle Insect friends } While their name may conjure schoolyard

taunts, these helpful beetles play a role in profitable ranching By Daniel Winters staff

ntil you step in one, it’s easy to ignore cow-pies. They may be little more than stinky landmines to some, but for AAFC Lethbridge insect biocontrol researcher Kevin Floate, cowpies are host to such an array of fascinating insect activity that he can’t stay away from them. “But only in summer,” he said, in a recent telephone interview. “I’m not crazy.” Of particular interest to Floate are the dung beetles, just one of hundreds of fly, wasp and fungi species that begin colonizing the pizzasized piles of water, masticated and partially digested plant matter within seconds after it hits the ground. Interestingly, the majority of the 15 species of dung beetles that inhabit Canada’s cow-pies originally hailed from Europe, and are of a type that don’t degrade the dung very quickly, often taking weeks to munch through one. “There’s another group of dung beetles that can break down a cow-pie in days,” said Floate. They are present on the Prairies, but the problem is that they are only active for a short period during the summer, and they prefer sandy soils. With that in mind, Floate and his colleagues have in recent years brought in two species from south of the border to speed things up. Digitonthophagus gazella, which hails from Florida where it was deliberately introduced from overseas to control dung, succumbed to the cold weather in the first year. Onthophagus taurus, which may have hitched a ride to the same state on military equipment brought back from Germany, now ranges as far

north as Michigan and New Jersey, and continues to expand its territory. It did slightly better at overwintering than its counterpart in Alberta, but it seemed to dwindle off over time rather than thrive.

Why the need for speed?

Floate said that there are two main reasons for wanting to break down cow-pies more quickly. First, fresh ones are a breeding ground for pests such as horn and face flies, which can affect beef production by annoying the cattle. Second, the longer cow-pies linger on the pasture, the more they blot out grass production just by taking up space. Also, cattle don’t like to graze the rank grasses that grow nearby, which means that up to five times as much area as that taken up by the cowpie itself is lost to grazing, in some cases for months or even years. “If we can get dung beetles to rip apart those cow-pies so that it dries out more quickly, the maggots inside the pies don’t have time to turn into adult flies,” said Floate. Intensive graziers avoid this problem, he noted, first by rotating the cattle out ahead of the flies with frequent pasture moves, and also by using heavy stocking densities to trample the pies into the ground. Insect activity, such as breeding and feeding, and species diversity is greatest from mid-May to late June. But by late July to early August, the fun stops with the advent of summer’s blazing heat, and dry weather creates an insect-impenetrable crust. Cooler, wetter temperatures in early fall lead to a resurgence of dung beetle activity, he added. What’s the best way that a rancher can encourage dung beetles to set up shop?

One way to roll out the red carpet is to avoid using ivermectin-type anthelmintics in spring because the residues may linger in cow-pies and affect dung beetles for up to three weeks after treatment. For some fly species, that effect could last up to three months. “If it’s a pest fly breeding in the manure, those residues could be good. But the downside is that if the residue is killing pests, it’s probably affecting the dung beetles as well,” said Floate. If cattle are treated with a pour-on in fall, it would make no difference to the dormant dung beetles. In any case, due consideration should be given to the potential effect on a ranch’s bottom line. In dry climates like southern Saskatchewan and Alberta, parasite loads on grass are typically very low anyway. “Rather than automatically applying ivermectin for parasite control, ask yourself if you really need to,” said Floate.

Wiped out like the bison? Controversy } Observers debate

beetle’s choice of pie

The discovery that most dung beetles are European immigrants ignited a minor controversy among dung beetle observers, some of whom theorized that most of the dung beetles inhabiting North America’s vast pre-settlement bison herds died out with them. The opposing view, which Floate’s work supports, says that most of the bison dung beetles simply switched from buffalo chips to cow-pies after cattle began arriving after 1640.

Using a kind of blind taste test methodology — a Poopsi challenge, if you will — he compared dung beetle colonization of dung piles from both species and using various feed types. What he found was that a change in diet is more significant to dung beetles than the animal producing it. Mystery solved, he said. More information on Prairie insects can be found at: http:// www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/ english/grasslandsbook.htm.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

India’s farmers struggle to adapt Overweight } A carbohydrate-rich diet has left India with the world’s largest diabetes population

jit Govind Sable’s family has owned their farm in India’s western Maharashtra state for 10 generations, which even for a region that has been farming for more than 10,000 years is long enough to witness plenty of changes. Two generations back, they started cultivating sugar cane here in Shivthar, a village in Maharashtra’s highlands near the Krishna River. India’s most industrialized state soon became its largest sugar producer. Tod a y , i t ’ s n o t s u g a r t h e 35-year-old Sable is talking about as he sips sweet tea in the front yard of the low, two-storey farmhouse where half the ground floor houses his turmeric crop. He’s discussing peppers, which he is now growing under polythene plastic coverings. Like an increasing number of farmers in India, Sable is exploiting a shift in taste towards fruits and vegetables among Indians. “My colleagues grow flowers under poly,” Sable says. “But the investment for that is too much for me, so I’m trying out peppers. You can’t eat flowers if you can’t find buyers for them,” he notes. While many Indian farmers are eager to adjust to changing diets in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, the government continues to subsidize the cultivation of wheat, sugar and rice crops to ensure basic food needs for the country’s half a billion poor. The result is overflowing stocks of these carbohydrate-heavy staples and a huge subsidy bill that is adding to a ballooning budget deficit. India, many agricultural experts say, is spending billions to prop up a traditional farm sector at the expense of investment in new crops and agricultural innovation. But in a country where one out of five Indians goes hungry, the government has had to focus on foods that fuel or fill — carbohydrate-heavy wheat, rice and sugar. About 36 per cent of women and 34 per cent of men in India are underweight. The costs of that undernourishment is high in terms of health care, lost productivity and poor quality of life. At the same time, a growing urban middle class is consuming more higher-value, high-protein foods, which is stoking food price inflation — as well as changing business and farm models in rural India. The food chain in India is undergoing deep change. “There is a view that this is a structural shift and pulses, milk, meat, eggs, fish, protein items — these are sectors where you need to concentrate,” Abhijit Sen, who sits on the government’s planning committee, said in a speech on June 5.

Rising middle class

Those shifts have been underway for years but are accelerating with rapid urbanization and the expansion of India’s middle class. India is getting wealthier as well as healthier. Its eight per cent annual growth, second only to China among major countries, is boost-

A farmer prepares a pile of radishes in his vegetable field on the outskirts of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. Rising wealth is prompting Indian food culture to change towards more vegetables and fruit. REUTERS/Amit Dave mated 150,000 small farmers have University, most of them over committed suicide, according debts. to the Center for Human 11/10/11 Rights Increasingly, voices SEC-MERE11-T_AFE.qxd 2:46 PM Page 1 in governand Global Justice at New York ment and among experts are calling

for a different approach, one that curbs subsidy spending, tackles inflation and boosts agricultural production of higher-value foods.

Food security

Years of eating an oil-rich, sugary diet high in carbohydrates have left many Indians with a paunch and a health problem. India has the world’s largest diabetes population at just below 51 million people, while heart disease is the single-largest cause of death. Yet hunger is endemic among the country’s 500 million poor. The government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is drafting a Food Security Act that promises to expand subsidized wheat and rice well beyond the current 30 per cent of the population in a country that is home to 40 per cent of the world’s malnourished children. That could mean India spending about $25 billion a year on providing cheap food or about nine per cent of total spending this year — more than four times the expenditure on health care. While the farm sector is slowly diversifying, it is a declining contributor to growth, despite providing a living to more than half the country’s workforce. About 600 million Indians are dependent on farming — half the population of 1.2 billion — even though agriculture makes up only 14.6 per cent of the economy and has been declining from 30 per cent a decade ago. The average size of farms in India is a mere 1.33 hectares — about the size of two soccer pitches — and that figure has been steadily declining. Farmers are finding it ever more difficult to make ends meet. The introduction of high-yielding seed varieties and increased use of fertilizers and irrigation spawned the Green Revolution in the 1960s that allowed India to become self-sufficient in grains. But experts say agriculture innovation and efficiency has stalled in recent years and farmers are getting squeezed by rising costs and inefficient agronomy. Since the mid-1990s, an esti-

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ing incomes rapidly in the trillion-dollar economy. Per capita income surged to $1,265 in 2010 from $857 in 2006 — a nearly 50 per cent increase — according to the World Bank and IMF. Middle-class households are expected to grow 67 per cent in the next five years, bringing over 53 million households into an annual income bracket between 340,000 and 1.7 million rupees ($7,600-$38,000). Bijay Kumar, managing director of the National Horticulture Board, says having more money than your parents is pushing up demand for high-protein foods. “Rising income levels are allowing people to spend on high-value stuff,” he says. “People are more aware of health. They are increasing their intake of fruits in their regular diet.” In 2009-10, Indians boosted spending on fruit and vegetables by nearly nine per cent over the year earlier. They shelled out almost 31 per cent more on meat, eggs and fish. Spending on cereals, on the other hand, was flat. “A dietary transformation is underway in the country and demand for high-value, vitaminand protein-rich food such as fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs, poultry, meat and fish is increasing,” the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said in a study this year.

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DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

» QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Canada wins the WTO case… now comes the hard part Q&A } The CCA’s John Masswohl discusses the next step in regaining full access to the U.S. market by will verboven editor | calgary

“The appeal process is supposed to take three months, but there are so many opportunities to stretch this out to a year before there is a decision.”

The World Trade Organization (WTO) recently upheld a Canadian complaint that the U.S. country-oforigin (COOL) legislation is a trade barrier. This win is only the first round in resolving the process as there are a number of alternative actions available for both parties to consider. John Masswohl is the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) director of government and international relations. Alberta Farmer asked him about the next steps for the Canadian side.

trade representative not to appeal and to seek a resolution.

AF: Do you expect the U.S. to appeal the recent WTO judgment on cattle imports?

AF: Will the upcoming US election have an impact on how and if the WTO decision will be resolved?

John Masswohl: That’s been the usual practice in these types of trade decisions, but we would be encouraging them to consider looking at the alternatives such as negotiating a resolution. The appeal process is supposed to take three months, but there are so many opportunities to stretch this out to a year before there is a decision. The federal government would be presenting additional information to the appeal body as to why the original decision was correct; the Americans would do the opposite. The CCA will be involved in an advisory capacity to the government.

John Masswohl: There is a window of opportunity now, people in Washington have other things on their minds like the state of the economy. What we are pointing out is that this resolution has an economic stimulus for packing in the U.S. They are short of cattle, they have overcapacity in their plants and the U.S. needs these cattle from Canada. U.S. jobs depend on getting these animals and it doesn’t cost the U.S. taxpayers anything to fix this problem.

AF: What if the U.S. government does not accept the WTO decision even after losing an appeal. What would be the next step considering

John Masswohl, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association Director of Government and International Relations. they are not likely to change their COOL legislation? John Masswohl: That’s being speculative. We felt our arguments were very strong and the U.S. arguments were weak which is why we won the case. We want to resolve this matter and resolution is also in the Americans’ favour. We see this involving a legislative amendment and not throwing all the legislation out. We see it being very specific to cattle and not involving other commodities under COOL, like seafood. There are a lot of sena-

tors and congressmen from states that support COOL for other commodities and we want to give them some comfort and not attack those concerns. AF: Who, when and how is the resolution negotiated? John Masswohl: The actual negotiation is done between the Government of Canada and the American government. It would be up to them to define a resolution. We don’t necessarily wait for them to come up with that on their

own. The CCA has its own ideas and we would meet with senators and congressmen and industry associations to define what we think the resolution should look like. There are a lot of new players in Congress that don’t necessarily know the entire story. We will go to them to tell them we are not after all the COOL commodities, we just want to change cattle, its a surgical resolution we are after. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has been helpful, at their summer meeting they passed a directive that encourages the U.S.

AF: Is using NAFTA an option in dealing with this trade issue? John Masswohl: Its a whole different avenue than WTO. There is a double jeopardy provision in NAFTA that once you pick WTO you have to stick with that option.

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Agri-News

Alberta’s agricultural producers are encouraged to take advantage of the Growing Forward business opportunity program to help transform existing operations or pursue new ventures to capitalize on changes in the marketplace and consumer demands. The business opportunity grant program is targeted at Alberta’s primary agriculture producers and producer groups adapting their business to meet changing market and consumer demands. New entrants to the industry starting up a primary production business venture are also eligible. The grants support contracting services that contribute to making informed and calculated business decisions to take a new business direction. Examples of eligible expenses include opportunity assessments, market research, business management consulting or coaching for a new direction, business and marketing plans, and mentoring for developing

or diversifying a farming operation. Business opportunity applications are supported on a costshared basis. Grants cover 75 per cent of eligible expenses for approved activities and applicants cover 25 per cent, with grants awarded up to a maximum of $30,000 per applicant. Business opportunity grants are issued on a first-come, first-served basis, as per program terms and conditions and limited funding. Producers are encouraged to apply soon to take advantage of the program. Applicants must first be registered with Alberta’s Growing Forward initiative, then contact an Agriculture and Rural Development new venture specialist to submit a program application and budget that outlines how the grant will help their business respond to market demands. Full terms and conditions are available online at www.growingforward.alberta.ca or by calling the Ag-Info Centre at 310-FARM (3276).

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Rain delays Australia wheat Grain growers in eastern Australia had been hit by as much as 200 mm (7.9 inches) of rain in the seven days up until last Monday, and more was forecast for last week. Independent forecasters are predicting that Australia could reap a crop approaching the record 26.3 million tonnes harvested in 2010-11. However the rain is seen as affecting yield and protein in the New South Wales wheat crop which had been only 50 per cent harvested last week, with Victoria and South Australia even less. — Reuters

Rains delay Argentina soy Heavy rains in Argentina have delayed the planting of 2011-12 soy, but the moisture was expected to help speed plantings over the days ahead, the government said in a weekly report on Nov. 25. Farmers had planted 56 per cent of the 19 million hectares expected to be planted with 2011-12 soy. “Good soil moisture conditions (in central Santa Fe province) will allow for significant progress in terms of planting over the days ahead,” the report said. “We don’t see a change in planted area because of the late rains,” said Andre Pessoa, director at Agroconsult analysts. — Reuters

Where did this quiet, mild weather come from? average } The big blow across southern Alberta was one of the

few unusual weather events so far this fall

by daniel bezte

uring the year one of the most common questions I get asked is how I come up with all of the different topics I discuss. Usually it’s fairly simple and straightforward since our region sees some of the most active weather in the world. I also receive questions about different aspects of the weather and climate that I love to try and answer, so I encourage anyone to email me questions. Every once in a while, though, it does become a little tough to come up with new things to discuss when no new questions have come in, or when our weather has been relatively quiet. With a couple of exceptions the weather across much of the Prairies has been relatively quiet this past couple of weeks. There have been a few storm systems that have brought snow cover to most regions (check out the snow cover map), but nothing in these storms has been unusual and our snow cover is pretty much average. One of the two fairly noteworthy weather events across the Prairies this past couple of weeks has been the unusually mild temperatures over most of the Prairies, at least up until this was written last week. With a forecast for bitterly cold weather and lots of snow this winter, we have so far seen pretty much the opposite. All of the major centres across the Prairies have seen well-aboveaverage temperatures so far this month, with highs on most days making it above 0 C, and several centres and days seeing high temperatures near or even above 10 C! We did see a

In fact, any of the current long-term driving forces are still pointing toward colder-than-average conditions.

short cold snap centred on the 18th of the month, where overnight lows dropped into the -20 C range, but as quick as the cold air moved in, it moved out again. The second event was the high winds which rocked a good portion of southern and western Alberta with wind speeds of over 140 km/h reported.

High pressure continues

What is causing all of these warm temperatures and the high winds? Well, believe it or not, the weather pattern responsible appears to be an extension of the weather pattern we saw for much of the summer across the Prairies. Strong areas of high pressure have been continuously redeveloping over the western United States. These highs are not only surface based, but extend well into the upper atmosphere. This results in plenty of sinking air, which usually means plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. We have definitely seen the warm temperatures, although sometimes we’ve been lacking in the sunshine department. The reason for this is that the sinking air under the high can trap moisture near the ground. Combine this with the cooler temperatures we naturally see at this time of the year and you will often get plenty of low clouds and/or fog. While this will keep temperatures from really heating up during the day, cloud cover at night during the winter will almost always result in warmer temperatures. Along with the warm temperatures there have been some strong differences in pressure between the southwestern high and areas of low pressure moving through central and northern Canada. It was this situation that brought the extremely high winds on the 23rd of November.

Driving forces

The two big questions, I guess, are what is causing this particular pattern, and how long is it going to last? Both of these questions are tough ones. The first question, as to what causes this particular pattern, is difficult to answer since there does not appear to be any direct driv-

This is the first snow cover map of the season. This map is created by Environment Canada, but I do a fair bit of cleaning up of the map to make it easier to read. The amount of snow cover displayed on the map is approximate, as true amounts can change fairly quickly over a small area and this can make it fairly hard to map accurately. Overall, snow cover across the Prairies is about average for this time of the year in both depth and coverage.

ing force for it. In fact, any of the current long-term driving forces are still pointing toward colderthan-average conditions. Could it be the low ice cover we have been seeing in the Arctic? Well, new research shows there appears to be a connection between the low ice cover and a northward movement in the position of the jet stream. With a more northerly position of the jet stream it is possible that the usual southern upper high could be allowed to drift farther north than what normally happens. Since the jet stream is the location where most main storm systems will travel, it is not surprising that we have not seen much in the way of significant snow or rainfall so far this winter. The argument or question

around all of this is: What is driving what? Is the upper high simply pushing the jet stream farther north, or is the northern movement of the jet stream allowing the high to move north? We don’t really know the answer, and likely won’t — at least not for a number of years. If the pattern starts to show up more and more often, then it’s probably the drop in sea ice driving the change. The other big question is, how long will this weather continue? My first response is, “Who knows?” If we actually take a look at the medium-range weather models that forecast out to about Dec. 10, they lean toward an overall continuation of this pattern. We are moving deeper and deeper into winter and the amount of solar energy is continuing to

decline. This means that not only are we getting less energy and are continually cooling off, but over the Arctic, cold air is continuing to build. This will mean it will be increasingly difficult to maintain mild temperatures and it will also become harder and harder for the southern ridge of high pressure to keep the cold Arctic air at bay. Personally, until I see a definite shift in the weather models to a different pattern, I would say that we should expect warmer- and drier-than-average conditions to last well into December. For those of you who are superstitious, I guess I just blew it, and we’ll probably now see temperatures come crashing down soon.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Temple Grandin presenting at olds

BIXS launches online classifieds

Renowned livestock-welfare specialist Dr. Temple Grandin is the featured presenter at a one-day session being held at the Alumni Centre at Olds College on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. The session is hosted by the Foothills Forage and Grazing Association and Mountain View County. Registrations are being accepted until January 11, 2012, by contacting Laura Gibney at 403-652-4900 or via email at laura@ foothillsforage.com.

The Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) has announced a new online cattle sales listing service for registered participants at http://bixs-cattlelist.cattle.ca. It enables program members to advertise upcoming auction markets or private sales of their BIXS-registered cattle. Viewers can sort the listings by birth date, weight, breed/cross, geographical location, implant status, vaccination date or other optional information entered by participants. Anyone with Internet access can view the listings, but posting an advertisement is reserved for BIXS-registered participants only.

“So I asked him right out, point blank… ‘Did I just draw the short straw or was I singled out?’”

Rancher fined for helping neighbour haul cattle GREENER PASTURES } Next door in Saskatchewan, producers are allowed

to use farm plates more flexibly than in Alberta by sheri monk

It’s wrong, the law is wrong. We have to look at trying to modify this somehow.”

af staff | pincher creek

anchers often rely on each other — spring brandings are a community affair, and in the fall friends help one another haul their calf crop to auction. But this year, that neighbourly tradition turned into an expensive one for Pincher Creek rancher Bill Homans. “A friend and neighbour couldn’t haul all his cattle in one load, so he asked if I could haul some for him,” Homans said in an interview. “So sure, I mean, we all haul back and forth all the time. When I sold my calves this fall there was me and three other trailers hauling and when those guys sell, I will haul for them too. Homans was helping his neighbour Bob Westrop deliver calves to Fort MacLeod Auction on Oct. 24, the third time this year he had helped a neighbour do the job. “I think I had 13 of his steers in my trailer. It was my truck and trailer and he was also there with his truck and trailer hauling. The Department of Transportation officer pulled me over upon arriving at the auction market.” Homans said he produced his licence, manifest and registration, and the officer examined the truck and trailer. Everything passed inspection, all the while Homans had no idea why he had been pulled over. “After about 10 minutes, he told me to go ahead and unload, which I did,” said Homans, adding the brand inspector had no issue with the manifest. After being instructed to wait in his truck while the officer completed some paperwork, Homans finally figured out what the problem was — there had been some complaints about farmers hauling cattle for each other. “So I asked him right out, point blank… ‘Did I just draw the short straw or was I singled out?’ He said, ‘We’ve had a complaint about you in particular.’ So I was singled out, but by who, I have no idea,” Homans said.

Bill Homans

Alberta Transportation officials say it’s difficult to determine whether a neighbour is just being helpful, or a commercial hauler is using farm plates. The ticket Homans received was for the unlawful use of farm plates under the Traffic Safety Act and the fine associated with the offence was $354. As much as the ticket stung, it could have been worse. The officer was also checking to see whether he was using purple fuel. “There must be a screen or something and he couldn’t get

his hose far enough down to get a sample. Afterwards he said, ‘We’ll give you a break because I can’t get a sample,’ so I wasn’t charged for the marked fuel,” Homans said.

Protesting to the minister

Homans hasn’t paid the ticket yet. He has an appointment scheduled with his MLA Evan

Berger, who also serves as the minister of agriculture. Homans hopes the law may change. “As far as me hauling cattle to the auction market, that was my third trip this fall for somebody else. I thought everyone did it all the time. I am just doing it for the fellas that haul for me,” Homans said. “It’s wrong, the law is wrong. We have to look

at trying to modify this somehow.” Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Trent Bancarz says there are solid reasons why the practice of hauling someone else’s cattle is prohibited. “One thing is so you don’t have commercial haulers using farm plates, because if you have farm plates on a vehicle, you don’t have the same kind of safety and equipment requirements and inspection requirements and everything else that a commercial carrier would have,” Bancarz said. He said it would be difficult to create a method for authorities to be able to tell the difference between a legitimate rancher helping a neighbour from a commercial cattle hauler posing as a farmer. “The thing is, how do you determine that? It would be difficult because, how do you tell? Just because a guy says he is a farmer doesn’t mean he is one. Basically it’s (the law) there to prevent a commercial carrier from using a farm plate and being allowed to use purple gas and all that other stuff.” B.C. employs a similar law to the one used in Alberta, which prevents producers from using farm vehicles for any purpose not related to their own agricultural production. However, had Homans been hauling cattle for a neighbour in Saskatchewan, his story would have had a happier ending. Saskatchewan producers are permitted to transport agricultural products that are not their own, even for profit, provided the weight of the vehicle does not exceed 16,400 kg.

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Canada scores well on production costs but could improve performance peet on pigs } Producers in other countries are ahead on a key productivity measure by bernie peet

s a major pork exporter, Canada has to compete not only with the U.S. for market share, but also with countries such as Denmark and Brazil. So it’s important the industry has production costs that allow it to compete effectively and also leave producers a margin. While comparing costs between various countries is fraught with difficulties (including how various parameters are calculated, different market weights, and exchange rates), a group of pork industry economists carries out such a comparison each year. Called InterPIG, the group now gathers data from 14 countries, including Canada, but unfortunately excluding the U.S. The recently published 2010 results (Table 1) show Canada has low production costs compared with most European countries and similar costs to two Brazilian states. Only the Brazilian state of Matto Grosso (MT) has significantly lower costs than Canada, while the average production cost in the EU countries surveyed is 44 per cent above Canada’s. The EU’s cost regime is very different to Canada’s, with higher feed, labour and fixed costs, while Brazil has significantly lower labour, other direct costs and fixed costs, but higher feed costs. Although the U.S. does not participate in InterPIG, production costs are well documented and quite similar to Canada, but have been very much influenced by exchange rates in recent years.

The cost of feed ingredients, notably corn versus barley and wheat, sometimes varies between the two countries, giving one a competitive advantage. Feed manufacturing costs are generally lower in the U.S, as are labour costs, especially since the Canadian dollar strengthened. However, before we slap ourselves too hard on the back, it should be noted the Canadian data set is very limited and contains a number of anomalies, especially in the physical performance data. Table 2 shows several key performance parameters for a selected group of countries. It shows that Canada has significantly lower breeding herd performance than countries such as Denmark, France and the Netherlands. Despite a relatively high carcass weight, this results in a low figure for the amount of carcass weight produced per sow, although I believe these numbers underestimate Canadian productivity. Still, it is clear those countries with higher numbers of pigs produced per sow, combined with a high carcass weight, show the highest output of carcass weight. The reason those countries have higher breeding herd output is that they have capitalized on the availability of genetics with the potential to produce a high litter size. In France and Denmark, national breeding programs have delivered exceptional gains and the average number of pigs born alive on Danish farms is now 14.2. There are also commercial breeding companies with high litter size females. In order to remain competitive in

the future, Canadian producers must take full advantage of this opportunity to increase output and reduce production costs. Highly prolific sows need a different approach to management. The first important focus must be to supervise farrowing as closely as possible in order to minimize stillborn piglets, which increase in larger litters if the farrowing process is not monitored. Second, the management of colostrum intake needs to ensure that later-born (and usually smaller) piglets get sufficient colostrum to give them adequate immunity. This requires extensive use of split suckling, assisting small piglets to suckle, and the use of techniques such as stomach tubing and syringe feeding. Those herds that achieve over 14 born alive, and there are quite a few now, need to have strategies for keeping surplus piglets alive. The most usual method is to use a “piggy deck” and wean a strong litter of 10-day-old piglets into it, then move a whole litter of one- to two-day-old piglets onto that sow. The recently farrowed sow is then used to foster on surplus newborn pigs after they have suckled colostrum on their own mothers. Highly productive sows also need a nutritional regime that provides a higher level of nutrient intake at critical stages of the reproductive cycle. For example, Danish research has shown that increasing feed level in the first four weeks of gestation leads to increased litter size. Also, stepping up the feed level in the last three to four weeks helps fuel the high demand for nutri-

table 1 costs

Highly prolific sows need a different approach to management. The first important focus must be to supervise farrowing as closely as possible in order to minimize stillborn piglets…

Average costs of production in 2010 (C$/kg carcass) Italy $2.50 Great Britain $2.38 EU average $2.23 Germany $2.13 Spain $1.98 Netherlands $1.98 Denmark $1.97 France $1.95 Canada $1.55 Brazil (SC) $1.54 Brazil (MT) $1.42

table 2 performance parameters

InterPIG results 2010 – production data BRZ (1) BRZ(2) CAN DK

GER

20.6 26.3 25.1

23.4

20.8

26.5

Pigs weaned/litter 10.5 10.5

9.7

12.4

11.3

10.7

9.8

11.6

Litters/sow/yr.

2.3

2.4

2.3

2.4

Av. carcass wt. (kg) 88.0 86.0 92.5

81.4

89.1

93.2

78.3

91.1

Carcass wt./sow (tns) 2.04 2.06 1.91

2.14

2.23

2.16

1.63

2.42

Pigs sold/sow/yr.

23.2

24.1

2.3 2.4

ents from rapidly growing piglets. Maximizing lactation feed intake is the most critical aspect of sow feeding, and attention to pre-farrowing feed levels, room temperature, water availability, feed freshness and feed scale all play a role in increasing intake. In addition, it is worth considering increasing dietary lysine level to 1.2 to 1.3 per cent for younger females where possible or, if this is technically difficult, increas-

ing lysine to 1.15 to 1.2 per cent for all sows. Tapping into the potential for higher litter size and increasing the number of pigs sold per sow would have a big impact on production costs. If Canadian producers sold 25 pigs per sow at 92.5-kilogram carcass weight, the carcass weight produced per sow would increase to 2.31 tonnes, an improvement of 21 per cent.

Premier appoints task force to ensure landowners heard property } Albertans asked for input

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Premier Alison Redford has created a task force that will be asking Albertans for their concerns regarding property rights. “We have heard concerns from landowners that their property rights need to be better respected,” Redford said in a release. “We need to move towards a more commonsense approach when it comes to property rights.” The task force will be chaired by Diana McQueen, Minister of Environment and Water, with Evan Berger, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, as the vice-chair. Other members include Verlyn Olson, Q.C., minister of

justice and attorney general; Jeff Johnson, minister of infrastructure; Cal Dallas, minister of intergovernmental, international and Aboriginal relations; Frank Oberle, minister of sustainable resource development; Raymond Prins, MLA for Lacombe-Ponoka; and Arno Doerksen, MLA for StrathmoreBrooks. In December, meetings will take place with stakeholders. In January, open houses will occur in several communities. A website will allow for written input from Albertans. Further details on how Albertans can participate will be released in the coming weeks.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Every livestock operation, large or small, needs a biosecurity plan straight from the hip } Knowledge of regulations is central to a successful program By brenda schoepp

he Alberta Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recently released a workbook entitled “Biosecurity in Practice.” Designed for veterinarians, it includes recommended actions for livestock producers that would ensure biosecurity on their farms. For livestock operations, the three pillars of biosecurity are access management, animal health management and operational management. Access management is basically controlling who can be on your farm, where they go and on what terms they visit. Because disease likes to take a free ride, it is important to address people, animals, equipment and vehicles that enter your property. It may be as simple as putting a fence in place to ensure folks do not walk right into the chicken coop uninvited, or a little signage that encourages visitors to please come by the house or office before having a look around. In most intensive livestock operations, access is tightly limited or strictly forbidden because of the disease risk, and disinfecting or changing may be required. In most cattle operations, a little common sense helps protect both the livestock and the owner. Handling sick and new animals is also important on any size of operation. And although we seldom think about a quarantine area on the farm it is a good practice. Research has repeatedly proven that commingling immuneexposed and immune-naive cattle leads to respiratory and other diseases. If the farm has a quarantine area where new stock can be isolated from the rest of the herd for a period of adjustment time, this can prove beneficial to both the new and resident stock.

of a foot-and-mouth outbreak in your area, what would you do? What biosecurity measures would need to be in place to ensure that your herd was not exposed? And if the herd was exposed, how could further spread of the disease be mitigated or prevented? These are important questions in a world where we are just one traveller away from a potential outbreak.

Disposal

When things do go wrong there is often a carcass in need of disposal. And although provinces and municipalities have their own regulations, we are reminded that disposal in a timely manner, under 48 hours, is preferred whether that be by burial, incineration, composting or rendering. There are a host of regulations around burying,

burning or composting and these are available on the Alberta Agriculture website. Natural disposal or the consumption of a carcass by scavengers is also acceptable if the animal was not treated (scavengers tend not to eat treated cattle), euthanized or if you suspect the disease is reportable in nature. Every biosecurity plan must deal with manure and there is a strong emphasis on cleaning equipment, vehicles and buildings and that includes the cab of the tractor! It seems tedious but manure is manure and there have been incidences of cross-contamination to humans, between feeding areas or even farms. Sharing equipment without a good washing is risky. And although using a disinfectant is recommended, remember that disinfectants can be environmental pollutants and toxic to cattle.

Of course, a farm has more residents than people and livestock. There are also pets and pests, both of which can become transporters of disease. We can’t see the bacteria and often do not see our bad habits. A hug to a dog that has just rolled in the manure is common. A few barn cats are a pleasure, while a few too many pose a health hazard to all farm residents, and the squirrel that just took up residency in the shop attic is storing future problems. Although the term biosecurity has never really been defined, the AVMA includes precautions to reduce the risk of disease exposure, preventing the introduction of infectious disease and minimizing the risk of the transmission of disease as the definition. It is really a multitude of little things and the implementation of standard oper-

In most cattle operations, a little common sense helps protect both the livestock and the owner.

ating procedures that ensure the safety and security of people and animals on your farm. Brenda Schoepp is a market analyst and the owner and author of Beeflink, a national beef cattle market newsletter. A professional speaker and industry market and research consultant, she ranches near Rimbey, Alberta. beeflink@cciwireless.ca

FarmTech 2012

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The sick pen

Just as important is a separate area for sick animals. In feedlots, the sick pen is standard. Moving cattle to the sick pen could come after observation or treatment and may be a short- or long-term stay. Those that just simply do not get well or cannot compete will go to a sick pen for long-term residency, like palliative care. Those that fully recover and can be competitive at the bunk will return to their home pen. In all cases, a careful record of treatment is retained. On the ranch there has been a habit of treat and return. This could be costly in terms of exposing other animals to a health risk and to the treated animal itself. Observation is key to recovery and a correct diagnosis of the problem. For example: dark, watery feces accompanying respiratory distress is not simple BRD and the animal is highly likely to be contagious. Implementing a system that separates the sick, even baby calves and their mothers, helps with rapid diagnosis and recovery. As 70 per cent of the world’s diseases are zoonotic in nature, meaning they can transfer from animal to human or human to animal, it is imperative that each farm have a disease-response plan. This plan is something to work on with your veterinarian to ensure the safety and security of the human and livestock residents. In the case

FarmTech 2012 Speakers General Rick Hillier Former Chief of the Defence Staff Canadian Forces

Glen Hodgson Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist Conference Board of Canada

John Shmorhun President & CEO - Harmelia Holdings 73,000 ha farm in the Ukraine

James Peck Managing Director & Nuffield Scholar P.X. Farms Ltd. Contract farming agri-business in England

Gerry Dee Award Winning Comedian FarmTech 2012 Banquet

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FarmTech 2012 promises to be bigger and better than ever. The Edmonton EXPO Centre is allowing FarmTech to grow to meet the demand: more participants, more educational sessions, bigger meeting rooms, and a bigger tradeshow. The new agenda has expanded to include 60 concurrent sessions covering the latest in technology, environment, agronomy and farm business management.

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Toll Free 1-866-FARMTEC REGISTER BEFORE JAN. 6th, 2012 for Early Bird Discounts!

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DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Dealing with equine lameness Prevention } Decisions made in the management of your

horse from its earliest days influence joint health By carol shwetz, dvm

rthritis is the most common type of lameness in horses and recent estimates show that approximately 60 per cent of lameness problems are related to arthritis. The diagnosis and treatment of arthritis in horses has become a multibillion-dollar industry and yet little of this has much to do with touching its underlying causes. Arthritis can serve as an indicator revealing what needs to be recognized and addressed in management and lifestyle. Nutrition, environment, exercise, and foot balance influence joint health in every stage of a horse’s life. All parts of the body are highly intertwined and decisions made in the management of your horse from its earliest days influence joint health. These decisions are especially relevant with young horses. Arthritis is a broad term that describes inflammation of one or more joints. The joint is a highly evolved partnership of many specialized tissues. Whenever any one of these structures becomes diseased, instability of the joint results, and a cascade of compensating patterns in movement ensues, enlisting more and more of the horse to ease responsibilities of the painful joint(s). Although arthritis can stem from an obvious sudden cause such as an injury or infection, more often its development is insidious. Limping is not necessarily the first sign. Initially,

subtle telltale signs are slight stiffness which resolves when the horse warms up, and reluctance and/or resistance to perform manoeuvres previously unchallenging. The horse’s gait may become asymmetrical as it attempts to find a way of going that feels best. Limping, tenderness over the joint, and pain upon flexion of the joint becomes more obvious over time.

Nutrition in utero

In embryonic life, construction of a musculoskeletal template has begun, and so at this stage the nutrition of the dam is critical for the future health of the unborn foal. While growing horses require raw materials from a quality diet to construct, maintain, rebuild and repair a strong physical foundation, their performance capabilities and longevity rely on a strong, stable internal scaffolding created during all stages of growth. After being built, the scaffolding still requires proper nutrition for maintenance and repair. Specific nutrients and their balance have a significant impact on joint health in all ages of horses. Poor nutrition, rich diets, and/or imbalanced nutrition results in joints that are vulnerable to damage. Over time weaknesses in physical structure are revealed, often appearing as arthritis. Moderate body condition is important for all horses, either to prevent arthritis or to alleviate the pain of arthritis, as in older horses. Weight greater than the healthy range creates, compounds, and accelerates arthritis

as it chronically overloads joints and bones. Excessive or restrictive exercise are both equally harmful to horses, and even more so to the younger horse. Horses have evolved to graze for up to 17 hours a day, and to do so they are always moving. With each step the horse gently compresses and releases the sponge-like cartilage of joints. This continuous low impact promotes fluid circulation and strengthens the cartilage of all joints in the body keeping them healthy. Regular exercise in good body carriage enhances the overall body condition of a horse and strengthens muscles and connective tissue structures which protects joints from stress. Horses whom are poorly conditioned, receiving little exercise, fatigue easily. This leads to poor form and leaves the horse vulnerable to a misstep and/or injury. Horses with poor body carriage have hollow backs, overflexed necks, high head positions, and are overloaded on the forehand. Since joints function optimally around a specific angle, these postures place joints in a disadvantaged weight-bearing position. When the biomechanics that govern fluid joint movement are incorrect, unreasonable stressors strain and tax joints. Over time, wear and tear due to poor posture manifests in arthritis. The hock joint is particularly sensitive to poor body carriage as it is a particularly complex joint requiring four years to become fully developed and stable. Correct foot balance is also impera-

Turnout that allows horses to move freely over varied terrain is an all-around conditioning tool that can help prevent stressed joints. photo by Laura Rance tive for optimal function of joints. Proper trimming can change the biomechanics of movement, and so reduce the strain on the joint.

Keep them moving

Standing in stalls for prolonged periods of time followed by the intensive exercise asked of many performance horses, places unreasonable stressors on joints and denies them of their means to maintain optimal health. It is also important to note that excessive repetition of individual training exercises localizes cumulative stress and damage, targeting select joints, so variation is a requirement. As well, in the routine of the performing horse warm-up and cool-down are of immense value. Horses are large animals with large muscles that require effective warming up to optimally engage

muscles, ligaments and tendons which are instrumental in protecting and supporting efficient joint mechanics. Sensible exercise is advisable for all ages of horses, but it is the young horses that are least forgiving when placed under unreasonable expectations and demands. Pasture living with varied terrain is ideal for young stock as they develop conditioning while participating in activities which encourage them to develop within their own capabilities. When allowed to physically develop properly a horse beyond five years is much hardier to physical stressors since the body of a young horse needs to develop sufficiently before carrying a rider. Carol Shwetz is a veterinarian specializing in equine practice at Westlock, Alberta.

Top court closes book on milk minimums in cheese Cheese } Processors argued the

standards will raise the price staff

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an appeal by two dairyprocessing giants to overturn minimum standards for milk content in cheese sold in Canada. The Nov. 24 ruling closes the book on efforts by cheese manufacturers to change the ration of whey protein to casein ratio, which would allow them to use more whey cream or milk powder in their processes. The cheese makers had gone in February to the appellant court aiming to overturn nationwide compositional standards for cheese that had come into effect in late 2008. The standards apply to cheese marketed in import, export or interprovincial trade. The regulations in question require that cheese imported into Canada or made in Canada and marketed in international or interprovincial trade to meet a minimum casein ratio and whey ratio. Cheeses, under Canada’s standards, also must have a wheyprotein-to-casein ratio no greater than the ratio of whey-protein-tocasein ratio of milk itself.

The federal amendments were first published in December 2007 and the new rules took effect in late 2008. Saputo and Kraft had claimed in February that the main purpose of the cheese regulations has been “to effect an economic transfer in favour of dairy producers to the detriment of dairy processors.” The companies previously claimed the new rules would increase their costs and raise the price of cheese to consumers, and predicted a $185-million annual boon to dairy producers from higher milk sales.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

DECEMBER 2011 DECEMBER 2011

Presents… Presents…

· SPECIAL FEATURE · · SPECIAL FEATURE ·

What’s What’s on on your your favourite favourite horse’s horse’s Christmas Christmas wish wish list list this this year? year?

essa Hockley, who wrote the essa Hockley, whoa wrote the book, Is Your Horse Rock Star? book, Is Your Horse a Rock Star? Understanding your Horse’s Understanding your Horse’s Personality, checked in with her checked with her horses and Personality, found some uniqueinthings on horsesChristmas and found some unique their list. People whothings work on or their Christmas list. People who work or share their lives with horses, are well aware share their lives with horses, are well aware that like people, each horse has his or her that like people, each horse has his or her own unique personality. own unique personality. The The four four traits traits listed listed after after each each personality personality type below, are a combination type below, are a combination of of eight eight perpersonality sonality traits traits — — Dominant Dominant or or Submissive, Submissive, Energetic Energetic or or Lazy, Lazy, Curious Curious or or Afraid, Afraid, Friendly Friendly or or Aloof Aloof — — that that will will help help you you do do aa quick quick assessment assessment of of your your horse. horse. If If you you want want more more information information on on determining determining your your horse’s horse’s personality, personality, take take the the short short online online quiz quiz at at www.horsepersonalities.com. For For aa more more ininwww.horsepersonalities.com. depth look, look, you you can can order order the the book book from from the the depth website or or from from amazon.com. amazon.com. website Twas the the month month before before Christmas, Christmas, Twas And the horses were talking And the horses were talking About what what they they might might find find About In their their socks socks or or their their stockings. stockings. In

THE RELUCTANT ROCK STAR THE(DLCF: RELUCTANT ROCK STAR dominant, lazy, (DLCF: dominant, lazy, curious, friendly) friendly) “I’ve got curious, it. I know what I want this

“I’ve it. how I know wantSanta this year. Yougot know theywhat have Ithese year. You know how they have these Santa Claus parades? Well, I want to be in it. No, Claus parades? Well, I want to be in it. No, not just in it, maybe lead it. Oh yeah and I not just in it, maybe lead it. Oh yeah and I don’t mean pulling a cart like some of the don’t mean pulling a cart like some of the other poor equines, I mean riding on the other poor equines, I mean riding on the float float and and all all my my fans fans will will line line the the sidewalk sidewalk and cheer as we pass by. Ahhh and cheer as we pass by. Ahhh … … II can can see see it it now.” now.”

THE MACHO MAN (DECA: dominant, energy, curious, aloof) “Christmas! Bring Bring it it on. on. II can can do do the the parpar“Christmas! ties and and II can can do do the the work. work. And And II can can do do it it ties bigger and and better better and and longer longer and and later later than than bigger anyone else. else. Presents? Presents? Don’t Don’t pander pander me. me. II anyone look after after me me and and II can can get get whatever whatever II want. want. look If you you must must get get me me something, something, how how about about If one of of those those bitless bitless bridles, bridles, it’s it’s not not that that II one listen to to you you anyway.” anyway.” listen

THE ACCOUNTANT ACCOUNTANT THE (DLAF: dominant, dominant, lazy, lazy, (DLAF: afraid, friendly) afraid, friendly)

“I would would like like aa calendar calendar this this year. year. It It can can “I have lovely lovely pictures pictures of of wild wild horses horses on on it it have or kittens for that matter, but I would like or kittens for that matter, but I would like my owner to put it up in the tack room my owner to put it up in the tack room and write on it what we might be doing in and write on it what we might be doing in the upcoming year. Some schedule, some the upcoming schedule, routine, some year. headsSome up on what’s some comroutine, some heads up on what’s coming. I’ve even had to buck them off to get ing. even had to buck will themthey off to get that I’ve point across. When figure that point across. When will they out that I do not like surprises, andfigure I feel out that I do not like surprises, and really bad when I have to do thingsI feel like really bad when I this have to we do can things that. So hopefully year startlike off that. hopefully this year organized we can start off on a So fresh foot with a well plan. on a fresh foot with organized plan. Merry Christmas anda awell Happy New Year.” Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

So we went out to the herd to find out So we went out to the herd to find out what each unique personality would like for what each unique personality would like for Christmas. Here is what we found out:

Christmas. Here is what we found out:

THE ROCK STAR THEdominant, ROCK STAR (DECF: energy, (DECF: dominant, energy, curious, friendly)

curious, friendly) “I love this season! What’s not to love love this season! What’s Inot love — “I people, parties, presents. cantogo to — people, parties, presents. I can to three parties a night and never playgoout. And, Iparties look good in black OK,play the work three a night andtie. never out. the next day might suffer a OK, little. I really And, I look good in black tie. the work like next music. Domight you think an the day suffer Iacould little. have I really iPodmusic. so I can my Idance in like Dowork you on think couldmoves have an my stall at night? I’vemy heard you saying iPod so I can work on dance moves in thatstall my stall alwaysI’ve looks like Iyou have been my at night? heard saying partying all night — maybe I should.” that my stall always looks like I have been partying all night — maybe I should.”

THE SKEPTIC (DLAA: THEdominant, SKEPTIC lazy, afraid, aloof) lazy, (DLAA: dominant,

“Why would I getaloof) excited about this afraid, Christmas? (said in his usual slow, Eeyore, “Why would I get excited about this monotone voice). Christmas? (said in Nothing his usualever slow,changes. Eeyore, I’ll probably just get a lump of coal in my monotone voice). Nothing ever changes. stocking. When will they start to listen to I’ll probably just get a lump of coal in my me and realize I have a lot of good ideas? stocking. When will they start to listen to So much chatter — when will they quiet me and I have lot of good ideas? down sorealize they can hearame?”

THE WILD CARD (DEAF: energy, THEdominant, WILD CARD afraid, friendly)

(DEAF: dominant, energy,

“Hmmm! What would I like for afraid, friendly) Christmas? How about games? I love play“Hmmm! What would I like for ing them. I keep my owner up nights tryChristmas? How games? love playing to figure outabout which game Iwe will be ing them. I keep my owner up nights playing tomorrow when she comes outtryto ing figure outI am which we and will full be ride.toSometimes big game and bold playing tomorrow she comes out to of confidence and when just when she starts to ride. I am big and bold and full trust Sometimes that, I am suddenly totally terrified of of confidence and when she starts to that little thing in just the corner. Then when trust that,really I am suddenly terrified of she gets frustratedtotally with me, I bring that little thing the corner. Then out the cute andin cuddly guy that shewhen can’t resist andreally all is frustrated forgiven. What fun!”I bring she gets with me,

So much chatter — when will they quiet down so they can hear me?”

out the cute and cuddly guy that she can’t resist and all is forgiven. What fun!”

THE BOSS (DEAA: dominant, energy, afraid, aloof) THE BOSS

“Hum Bug! There is work to be done (DEAA: dominant, energy, here, we have no time for all this hulafraid, aloof) labaloo — and that means you. Fine, you “Hum Bug! There is work to be done can call me the Scrooge of Christmas if here, we but havesomeone no timehas fortoall this hulyou like, take care of labaloo — and that means you. Fine, you business.”

can call me the Scrooge of Christmas if you like, but someone has to take care of business.”

THE PRIZEFIGHTER (DLCA: dominant, lazy, curious, aloof) THE PRIZEFIGHTER

“I want some piercings, some dreads, (DLCA: dominant, lazy, maybe a few tattoos. Oh yeah, I play hard. curious, aloof) I need to do all I can to keep up my tough “I want some piercings, some dreads, guy persona, because I really do not want maybe few tattoos. Ohme yeah, I play hard. anyoneato see the real — the sensitive Ishy need tothat do all I can to keep up my tough guy tries really hard.”

guy persona, because I really do not want anyone to see the real me — the sensitive shy guy that tries really hard.” ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE ELSTON

Christmas List

continued on page B2

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE ELSTON

Christmas List

continued on page B2

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

SPECIAL FEATURE

Christmas List

THE STEADY EDDY (SLCF: submissive, lazy, curious, friendly)

from page B1

THE GODDESS (SECF: submissive, energy, curious, friendly) “I’m so excited. Where can I begin? Well, I’d really like a new blanket, not one of those drab canvas things, how about something in a pink and purple plaid. I’d like a new bridle and let’s have a little bling — maybe a rhinestone brow band. I’d like to live in a fine stable at night as I really hate when my coat gets long and shaggy. I’m not really your pasture horse kind of girl. And of course I’ll have to have my girlfriends in with me. I’d like a new brush, maybe one of those mohair really expensive ones, because I am worth it.”

THE WORKER BEE (SECA: submissive, energy, curious, aloof) “I like toys. Fun things that I can play with — balls to roll around. I’d like a Lickit. I’m not much into the social scene with all the parties, the office party will be enough for me. I think I could even figure out electronic toys because I am pretty smart and I have a lot of energy to work at things. I’ve been pigeon holed. People think all I ever do is work but I like to be creative and have new, interesting things to figure out.”

THE PERFECTIONIST (SEAA: submissive, energy, afraid, aloof) “I would like for my owner and I to get one of those 10 DVD training sets for Christmas, one that has that slow progressive stepby-step method, that so many of the other personalities hate. I am not like them at all. I get stressed and confused in training because my rider doesn’t stay consistent. This might help us. I like to repeat things until I am doing them really, really well before we move on to new things.”

THE PEOPLE PLEASER (SEAF: submissive, energy, afraid, friendly)

“I really like my family so we could just have a quiet, stay at home, eat a lot kind of Christmas. Let me repeat — eat a lot. Or maybe a beach holiday with food, drinks and lounge chairs. No galloping on the beach for me, thanks. Or how about a new trailer, the kind with living quarters, as I like to go places and see new things, especially looking out my window. We could camp. You could cook. I could eat. Christmas morning, we can start with a stocking filled to the brim with apples, carrots (not so big on the Christmas oranges or nuts) and your home made cookies full of molasses and oats.”

“Don’t even think about getting me a P90X for Christmas or any other kind of fun work out stuff, I like my figure as large as it is. I do like books. A good mystery is fun to solve. And puzzles, especially mensa. By spring I will have found 10 new ways to frustrate my rider. I have a great sense of humour, if I do say so, and I like those Garfield books. I actually see myself as the Garfield of horses. Most other horses are like Odey, always bouncing around trying to please their owners. Really!”

THE WALLFLOWER (SLAF: submissive, lazy, afraid, friendly)

“If I could have anything in the world, I think what I would like is a sweet, little girl that would love me and play with me. Someone who wouldn’t be bossy or demanding, those kinds of riders make me sooo anxious — a little friend that would come out to the barn and braid my hair and brush my coat and sit on me bareback. Wouldn’t it be fun if she could be in my stocking with a red ribbon around her neck?”

“I might like some warm slippers and a teddy bear and a flannelette blanket — I need my security blanket wherever I go. I’d like to just stay home and cuddle in with my special, close friend. We could watch movies and eat oat snacks. I don’t mind watching TV, especially those Spruce Meadows specials. It amazes me the kinds of things those other horses do. Oh my!”

THE LONE WOLF (SLAA: submissive, lazy, afraid, aloof) “The holiday season is too much. Could I just be left alone? What part of ‘lone’ don’t you understand? OK, if I have to pick something could we just spend some quiet time together out in the field. I do love it when we are quiet together, without a lot of talking, or touching … let’s just BE together this season.”

Looking for a career as an Equine or Canine Body Worker? Look no further than Hoof and Paw Body Workers in Canada! R E C O GNI Z E D P ROG RA MS

THE SOLO ARTIST (SLCA: submissive, lazy, curious, aloof)

Home of the International Equinology and Caninology programs you can formulate your own education with a choice of multiple classes or specialties while studying with industry leading professionals! All graduates are eligible to become members of the IEBWA and able to get group liability insurance discount.

Already have a practice? – contact us about continuing education or IEBWA Membership!

Old-Fashioned Country

Upcoming courses include: Date 2012

Course # & Location

Course Name

Course Level

Instructor

Early Registration: Register BEFORE…

Regular Rate:

Jan. 5-8

EQ700 Calgary, AB

Saddle Fitting and Shoeing Dynamics Level I

EEBW II

Kerry Ridgway DVM

November 5, 2012 - $1395

$1495

EQ1000 Calgary, AB

Understanding Farrier Science and Current Trends

EEBW II

Henry Heymering

December 21, 2012 -$425

$500

Jan. 21-22

Tel: (403) 556-0716 B2

Email: info@hoofnpaws.ca

Huge Savings Storewide! Save on Hats, Boots, Jackets, Vests, Quality Tack, Saddles and much more!

A Great Opportunity to SAVE on your Christmas Shopping!

To see our Full 2012 Class Schedule please visit our website: Hoof and Paw

www.hoofnpaws.ca

2 DAYS ONLY

Friday, Dec. 9, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. • Saturday, Dec. 10, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Body Workers Ltd. Home of Equinology and Caninology Canada

www.horsesall.com

TOP HAND WESTERN SHOP

In appreciation for all your support in Our first year and half

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

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WHAT A YEAR! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR CUSTOMERS FOR THE PAST YEARS SUCCESS

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INVENTORY IS CHANGING DAILY!

Shop online@ www.allandale.com

DECEMBER 2011

for new & pre-owned trailers

www.horsesall.com

You can now visit allandale.com from your smartphone!

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

SPECIAL FEATURE

Online shopping offers limitless selection By Heather Grovet

HERE ARE SOME POPULAR WEBSITES THAT OFFER A HOST OF HORSE-RELATED ITEMS.

his holiday season, why not forego the crowded malls and packed parking lots and shop when it’s convenient for you with a simple click of your mouse. Online shopping has come a long way. There is more selection, more security and many other benefits:

e B a y. c o m : e B a y i s a n online auction site selling every imaginable item under the sun. You can find saddles, tack, training DVDs, books and show clothing.

SHOPPING ONLINE CAN SAVE YOU MONEY In case you haven’t noticed, horse tack, accessories and show clothing are expensive! Shopping online offers you the chance to compare prices on hundreds of new, brand name items. And sites such as eBay and TackTrader also sell second-hand or consignment items at even greater savings.

Equine.com: Equine.com is a North American classified site that sells horses as well as various tack and clothing, most coming out of the United States.

SHOPPING ONLINE OFFERS MANY ITEMS NOT AVAILABLE LOCALLY Would you like to buy your daughter a royal blue showmanship jacket in extra-small? It’s unlikely you’ll find such a specific item at a nearby tack store. But online you’ll find hundreds of new and used showmanship jackets in every size, colour and style imaginable. And if that isn’t enough, many sites will link you to professional seamstresses who will gladly sew you a jacket to your exact specifications. Likewise, equine items such as show tack or training videos can be difficult to locate in Alberta; shopping online solves that problem.

There can be a limited selection of good quality show clothing locally, but the Internet offers an unlimited selection of items such as show chaps, shirts and jackets in every colour, size and style imaginable, either new or second-hand!

to browse when it’s convenient for you. Many of us are afraid of online shopping, but when used properly the Internet is no more dangerous than shopping in a store or at the mall. Here are a few tips on how to avoid some common hazards: • Carefully assess the item you’re looking at. It can be difficult to evaluate items such as leather goods if you haven’t seen them in person, so do your homework. If possible, purchase brand name items you’re familiar with, and stay away from no-name leather tack, especially if the price seems too good to be true. A $40 show

THE WORLD WIDE WEB IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY One of the biggest benefits of online shopping is the ability

Animals benefit tremendously from the power of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF). As they do not suffer from the so-called placebo effect, you can observe instant results virtually every time. MediConsult, the worldwide leader of PEMF devices for home use offers a very special promotion on the Enerpuls® effective September 1st to December 31st, 2011 (while supplies last). The Enerpuls® assists to: • Improve performance • Promote bone healing • Increase circulation

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halter might seem like a good deal initially, but it’s probably made of flimsy leather with brittle fittings. Ask for photographs of each item, and study them carefully. Also, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the online store’s return policy, especially if you’re purchasing a gift. • Check the seller’s reputation. Sites such as eBay allow you to check the seller’s reputation. Try to opt for a seller that has sold at least 10 items, preferably ones similar to your interests, and ensure they have a high satisfaction rating. Take a few minutes to read the customer’s feedback. And pay close attention to the seller’s responses when you correspond with them. A seller that is slow to respond (within reason, they all have lives!), abrupt, vague or impolite is not likely to improve after you purchase an item from them. • Be careful when sharing your credit card information. Many people are nervous of sharing their credit card information over the Internet, but credit cards actually have some advantages. Most credit cards can help with purchase disputes, and even potentially reverse them if necessary. When paying with your

credit card, check for signs of site security such as a gold paddock logo, and the letter “s” after the “http” in the site’s address. And don’t give unnecessary private information such as your date of birth or social insurance number. • Try PayPal if offered. PayPal is a financial middleman. You give PayPal your financial information, and then when you buy an item they pay the merchant without displaying your personal details. PayPal also has a dispute process in case you have problems with a seller. • Insure expensive items. It will cost you only a few dollars to have an item insured before being shipped. This price could literally save you thousands if your expensive item disappears or is damaged in transit. Also, ask the seller to provide tracking abilities on any parcels being shipped to you. • Lastly, know your obligations as a buyer. If you agree to buy an item on eBay, you have entered into a financial agreement with the seller and are legally bound to buy it, even if you change your mind later. Also, keep in mind all your other expenses that come with purchasing over the Internet such as shipping, duty and taxes. 

Take the challenge to Save money, save time, and reshape your body!!

Henriette Chomiak • 780-603-4772 • chomiak@digitalweb.net

www.harmonymeadows.ca

Hobbyhorseinc.com: Hobby Horse Clothing Company sells a large number of off-the-shelf and limited-edition clothing items at mid-range prices. It has an annual “Broke Hearts” sale each fall, which is worth checking out. Karenskustoms.com: This U.S. site sells top-end new and consignment items such as chaps and tack. Kijijialberta.com: Kijiji Alberta is a local classified site that sells everything under the sun, including clothing and tack. Prices are often reasonable, but because this site is not specifically equestrian, you can expect to deal with non-horse people, who might not understand the difference between a barrel racing saddle and a show saddle. Northernhorse.com: Northernhorse specializes in horses, but you can also find tack, trailers and other equine equipment, mostly located in western Canada. Showmeagain.com: This Arizona based site carries a large number of good quality consignment items such as chaps and showmanship outfits. Showtimeshowclothing. com: Showtime is a top-end show clothing manufacturer located in the U.S. Much of its site displays new clothing, but it also has a consignment area with good quality photos of top brand name items. TackTrader: TackTrader offers a large selection of new and used equestrian items of every sort, including saddles, show clothing and headstalls. Most sellers are horse people, so they are knowledgeable and should be able to answer your questions.

PROUD TO Be YOUR SOURce fOR SUPeRiOR QUaliTY anD cUSTOm fiT A Full Line of Horse Blankets, Coolers, Show Sheets and Hoods Also available • A wide selection of Bags for Sport Equipment, Tack and Clothing • Stall Drapes, Valances and Stall Guards NEW - Embroidery, and Home Décor

1-888-245-8088

www.pegasusequine.com Quality Products Built to Fit Your Horse and Fit Your Lifestyle!

Leather items such as saddles and headstalls can be difficult to evaluate without seeing them in person. Ask detailed questions from the seller, study photographs carefully, and try to stick to good quality brands that you are familiar with.

www.horsesall.com

DECEMBER 2011

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Buffalo Girl Studio Maureen Janssens is a self-taught Canadian Artist who resides in Southern Alberta. She is drawn to the “majestic landscapes” that surround our extraordinary countryside. Inspired by the pallet of color that “mother nature” provides with each new sunset, sunrise and the changing seasons, Maureen’s artistic eye and passion for color are translated to canvas. Her abstract, impressionist paintings offer viewers a look at the world through her eyes, as well as an insight into her introspective journey-one charged with enthusiasm and curiosity. When first viewing Maureen Janssens jewelry collection one is struck by the sheer brilliance and magnitude of her designs. Upon adorning one of her creations, whether it is funky, classical, contemporary, spiritual or south-western one feels strongly complete. The positive energy and unabashed creativity is obvious in each of her designs. Each piece is a treasure of colour and light that has utilized high quality semi-precious gemstones, sterling silver, original artisan designed pendants and unique beadwork. Like a pearl comforted in its own shell, each one of Maureens designs tell their own tantalizing story. Each morsel is an artistic sculpture that is truly infectious!

STOCKMAN’S EDITION

Quality should not have to come at a premium, Buy this trailer for the low low price of

17,995 + GST

STOCK TRAILER • All aluminum frame and structure

• Calf gate • Escape Door • 20 Feet of floor • 2 Interior lights • Interlockin Rumber flooring • Exterior horse ties material • 7000 lb Axles • Slider Gate rear door • No exposed wiring • Center cut gate • Light weight and durable

• Load light • All LED lights • Spare tire • One piece Aluminum roof skin • 7 Year Warranty on Frame and structure

25 Alberta Road Claresholm, AB

Phone: (403) Fax: (403)

625-4466 625-4744

www.shadowtrailers.ca

Anchor BAr Bronze Donna Wilson

www.anchorbarbronze.com

403-646-5714 DECEMBER 2011

403-998-5586

EASY TO WISH FOR AT THESE PRICES!

Come in and see why a new Shadow trailer should be your next trailer!!!

CAM CLARK TRAILERS

2011

Maureen Janssens www.buﬀalogirlstudio.ca

2011 Sooner Ranch 7 x 24 Stock.

18,460

$ T2179

Slight hail damage on roof

2012 Exiss 7408 LQ 8’ SW, awning, AC, sofa.

37,957

$ T2211

Check our website for current inventory:

1-888-948-6660 FINANCING AVAILABLE

www.camclarktrailers.com Bay 1, 925 Veterans Blvd. NE Airdrie, AB

MAKE YOUR KIDS CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR WITH OUR NEW COWGIRL FINESSE KIDS CLOTHING LINE Contact us for our amazing line of great Christmas ideas

www.cowgirlfinesse.com or 780-842-4339

www.horsesall.com

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

SPECIAL FEATURE

veryone has a special wish at Christmas so we’ve put together a few of the things our Horses All staff have asked Santa to put under the tree. Here’s wishing you all a happy holiday season!

Carnelian rhombic carved sterling silver pendant, natural turquoise and natural carnelian, handmade by self-taught Canadian artist, Maureen Janssens, Buffalo Girl Studio, www. buffalogirlstudio.ca. $300.00.

From Rustic Ranch, its most popular table, now available in dark wood finish. Comes in two heights — standard and gathering height — can seat up to eight people, the middle acts as a lazy susan, and is adjustable up and down. Table: $1949.99. Chairs: $239.99 each. Visit www.rusticranch.ca

The Ice Turtle Premium Turnout Rug: maximum protection for extreme winter environments. Designed to protect your horse in extreme weather conditions and give you many years of service. This turnout has all of TurtleNeck Premium Horse Clothing’s patented features and much more. It is incredibly tough yet flexible and comfortable. This rug offers you the best fit and protection you can buy for your equine companion. Satisfaction guaranteed. Available at Jones Boys Saddlery & Western Wear in Red Deer and Ponoka. Visit www. jonesboyswesternwear.com

Buck is one of the biggest documentary hits of the year. The DVD follows Buck Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. Winner of the Sundance film festival, critics choice and many more. Available at Jones Boys Saddlery & Western Wear in Red Deer and Ponoka. $39.95.

WE MAKE

Perfect Scents

Montana Silversmith’s statue for this season. The piece is titled “The Crossroads” and depicts a cowboy kneeling in prayer alongside his trusty steed. The design is from Paul Cameron Smith, and retails at $99.95. Available at Lammle’s Western Wear & Tack.

Enjoy 80+ Scentsy Fragrances

Scentsy Wickless candles are wickless, ﬂameless, smokeless, and lead-free. The exclusive Scentsy wax bar is melted in one of our unique decorative warmers by a low-watt light bulb. Scentsy Wickless candles are safer, stronger, and longer lasting than wicked candles.

Advanced Agri-Direct Inc Phone: 1-866-789-3336 • Fax: 780-789-2447

www.cancrete.com Email: monty@cancrete.com

GerriLynn Cromarty

STOP BY AND SEE US DURING

Scentsy Independent | Star Director

Shop online at: www.gerric.scentsy.ca

Email: rickngerri@telus.net

1-888-214-0960 • 1-780-209-4415 B6

BUY | HOST | JOIN www.horsesall.com

Agri Trade Expo – Red Deer AB Agribition – Regina SK DECEMBER 2011

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • DECEMBER 5, 2011

Horse Breeders & owners ConferenCe Internationally recognized speakers on a wide range of topics of interest to horse owners, breeders and professionals, including: Terry GranT (Alberta)...................Tracking with Terry Derrick McGouGan (Alberta) . “Bombproofing” Your Horse Lori Warren (Florida) ....................What’s New in Equine Nutrition and Conditioning with Cross Training SuSan HarriS (NewYork) .................. Understanding Athletic Movement in Horses anDy anDerSon (Oklahoma) ...... Respect Begins on the Ground and How to Load Your Horse JaSon BrueMMer (Colorado) ............. Reproductive Technologies for Stallions eD PaJor (Alberta).................................. Animal Welfare and the New Social Ethic Frank anDreWS (Louisiana)............. Management Practices to Reduce the Risk of Colic in Horses Vern Baron (Alberta)..........................A Common Sense Approach to Managing Fructans and Laminitis cHarLeS BriGGS (Alberta) ................ Medications and Soundness in the Competition Horse ron anDerSon (Alberta) ................. Bits and Bitting connie LarSon (Minnesota) ........ Feeding the Equine Foot anDreW caMPBeLL (Ontario)..... Social Media for Horse Owners kaTie TiMS (Mississippi)................... The New Realities of the Horse Market JaMeS carMaLT (Saskatchewan)....New Technologies in Diagnostics

The opening speaker on Saturday morning is Terry Grant, famous for apprearing on the popular show “Mantracker”! Discounts for multiple advance registrations from the same farm!

Ride the “Conference Shuttle” from Grande Prairie and points en route

ALBERTA HORSES

anDreW caMPBeLL (Ontario) ...... Social Media for Stable Owners neTTie Barr (Alberta)......................... Positive Networking DarreLL DaLTon (Alberta) ......... Biosecurity for Stables ron anDerSon (Alberta) ............Bits and Bitting for Lesson Plans

Horse Industry Association of Alberta

January 13-15, 2012 • Red Deer, Alberta

DECEMBER 2011

• Equine trade show of sponsor exhibits • Friday evening “Open Barn” Welcome • Saturday reception, Distinguished Service Award presentation, live entertainment and social.

Presented by:

Stable Owners Seminar - Friday, January 13

For more information or to register:

Plus...

Horse Industry Association of Alberta 403.420.5949 hboc@albertahorseindustry.ca

www.albertahorseindustry.ca www.horsesall.com

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

YOUR ONE STOP

CANADA’S

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CAMPING AVAILABLE

Tel: (403) 946-4246 or 1-877-946-9494

Shop online: www.irvinetackandtrailers.com

www.horsesall.com

DECEMBER 2011

Albertafarmexpress.ca • december 5, 2011

1-888-413-3325 • abclassifieds@fbcpublishing.com

inDEx Tributes/Memory Announcements Airplanes Alarms & Security Systems ANTIqUES Antiques For Sale Antique Equipment Antique Vehicle Antiques Wanted Arenas AUCTION SAlES BC Auction AB Auction Peace AB Auction North AB Auction Central AB Auction South SK Auction MB Auction Parkland MB Auction Westman MB Auction Interlake MB Auction Red River Auction Various U.S. Auctions Auction Schools AUTO & TRANSPORT Auto Service & Repairs Auto & Truck Parts Autos Trucks Semi Trucks Sport Utilities Vans Vehicles Vehicles Wanted BEEKEEPING Honey Bees Cutter Bees Bee Equipment Belting Bio Diesel Equipment Books & Magazines BUIlDING & RENOVATIONS Concrete Repair Doors & Windows Electrical & Plumbing Insulation Lumber Roofing Building Supplies Buildings Business Machines Business Opportunities BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting Financial & Legal Insurance/Investments Butchers Supply Chemicals Clothing/Work wear Collectibles Compressors Computers CONTRACTING Custom Baling

Custom Feeding Custom Harvest Custom Seeding Custom Silage Custom Spraying Custom Trucking Custom Tub Grinding Custom Work Construction Equipment Dairy Equipment Electrical Engines Entertainment Fertilizer FARM MAChINERy Aeration Conveyors Equipment Monitors Fertilizer Equip Grain Augers Grains Bins Grain Carts Grain Cleaners Grain Dryers Grain Elevators Grain Handling Grain Testers Grain Vacuums haying & harvesting Baling Equipment Mower Conditioners Swathers Swather Accessories Haying & Harvesting Various Combines Belarus Case/IH Cl Caterpillar Lexion Deutz Ford/NH Gleaner John Deere Massey Ferguson Versatile White Combines Various Combine Accessories Hydraulics Irrigation Equipment Loaders & Dozers Parts & Accessories Salvage Potato & Row Crop Equipment Repairs Rockpickers Snowblowers/Plows Silage Equipment Specialty Equipment Spraying Sprayers Spray Various Tillage & Seeding Air Drills Air Seeders Harrows & Packers Seeding Various Tillage Equipment Tillage & Seeding Various Tractors Agco Allis/Deutz

Belarus Case/IH Caterpillar Ford John Deere Kubota Massey Ferguson New Holland Steiger Universal Versatile White Zetor Tractors 2WD Tractors 4WD Tractors Various Farm Machinery Miscellaneous Farm Machinery Wanted Fencing Firewood Fish Farm Forestry/Logging Fork Lifts/Pallets Fur Farming Generators GPS Health Care Heat & Air Conditioning Hides/Furs/Leathers Hobby & Handicrafts Household Items lANDSCAPING Greenhouses Lawn & Garden lIVESTOCK Cattle Cattle Auctions Angus Black Angus Red Angus Aryshire Belgian Blue Blonde d'Aquitaine Brahman Brangus Braunvieh BueLingo Charolais Dairy Dexter Excellerator Galloway Gelbvieh Guernsey Hereford Highland Holstein Jersey Limousin Lowline Luing Maine-Anjou Miniature Murray Grey Piedmontese Pinzgauer Red Poll Salers Santa Gertrudis Shaver Beefblend Shorthorn Simmental

display Classified

• Minimum charge — $15.00 per week for first 25 words or less and an additional 60 cents per word for every word over 25. Additional bolding 75 cents per word. GST is extra. $2.50 billing charge is added to billed ads only. • Terms: Payment due upon receipt of invoice. • 10% discount for prepaid ads. If phoning in your ad you must pay with VISA or MasterCard to qualify for discount. • Ask about our Priority Placement • Prepayment Bonus: Prepay for 3 weeks and get a bonus of 2 weeks; bonus weeks run consecutively and cannot be used separately from original ad; additions and changes accepted only during first 3 weeks. • If you wish to have replies sent to a confidential box number, please add $5.00 per week to your total. Count eight words for your address. Example: Ad XXXX, Alberta Farmer Express , Box 9800, Winnipeg, R3C 3K7. • Your complete name & address must be submitted to our office before publication. (This information will be kept confidential & will not appear in the ad unless requested.)

• Advertising copy deviating in any way from the regular classified style will be considered display and charged at the display rate of $34.30 per column inch ($2.45 per agate line). • Minimum charge $34.30 per week. • Illustrations and logos are allowed with full border. • Advertising rates are flat with no discount for frequency of insertion or volume of space used. • Terms: Payment due upon receipt of invoice. • Price quoted does not include GST.

Published by Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 WINNIPEG OFFICE Alberta Farmer Express 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 Toll-Free in Canada 1-888-413-3325 Phone 403-341-0442 in Winnipeg FAX 403-341-0615 Mailing Address: Box 9800, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3K7 • •

•

AGREEMENT The publisher reserves the right to refuse any or all advertising for any reason stated or unstated. Advertisers requesting publication of either display or classified advertisements agree that should the advertisement be omitted from the issue ordered for whatever reason, the Alberta Farmer Express shall not be held liable. It is also agreed that in the event of an error appearing in the published advertisement, the Alberta Farmer Express accepts no liability beyond the amount paid for that portion of the advertisement in which the error appears or affects. Claims for adjustment are limited to errors appearing in the first insertion only. While every endeavor will be made to forward box number replies as soon as possible, we accept no liability in respect to loss or damage alleged to a rise through either failure or delay in forwarding such replies, however caused, whether by negligence or otherwise.

MAiL TO: Alberta Farmer Express, Box 9800, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3K7

(2 weeks prior)

REAl ESTATE Vacation Property Commercial Buildings Condos Cottages & Lots Houses & Lots Mobile Homes Motels & Hotels Resorts Farms & Ranches British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Pastures Farms Wanted Acreages/Hobby Farms Land For Sale Land For Rent RECREATIONAl VEhIClES All Terrain Vehicles Boats & Water Campers & Trailers Golf Carts Motor Homes Motorcycles Snowmobiles Recycling Refrigeration Restaurant Supplies Sausage Equipment Sawmills Scales SEED/FEED/GRAIN Pedigreed Cereal Seeds Barley Durum Oats Rye Triticale Wheat Cereals Various Pedigreed Forage Seeds Alfalfa Annual Forage Clover Forages Various Grass Seeds Pedigreed Oilseeds Canola Flax Oilseeds Various Pedigreed Pulse Crops Beans Chickpeas

FAx TO: 403-341-0615

TRAIlERS Grain Trailers Livestock Trailers Trailers Miscellaneous Travel Water Pumps Water Treatment Welding Well Drilling Well & Cistern Winches COMMUNITy CAlENDAR British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba CAREERS Career Training Child Care Construction Domestic Services Farm/Ranch Forestry/Log Health Care Help Wanted Management Mining Oil Field Professional Resume Services Sales/Marketing Trades/Tech Truck Drivers Employment Wanted

PhOnE in: Toll-Free in Canada 1-888-413-3325 OR (403) 341-0442 in Alberta

NAME ___________________________________________________________ ADDRESS ____________________________________________ PROVINCE ___________________________

All classified ads are non-commissionable.

advertising deadline Wednesday noon

ORGANIC Organic Certified Organic Food Organic Grains Personal Pest Control Pets & Supplies Photography Propane Pumps Radio, TV & Satellite

Lentil Peas Pulses Various Pedigreed Specialty Crops Canary Seeds Mustard Potatoes Sunflower Specialty Crops Various Common Seed Cereal Seeds Forage Seeds Grass Seeds Oilseeds Pulse Crops Common Seed Various Feed/Grain Feed Grain Hay & Straw Hay & Feed Wanted Feed Wanted Grain Wanted Seed Wanted Sewing Machines Sharpening Services Silos Sporting Goods Outfitters Stamps & Coins Swap Tanks Tarpaulins Tenders Tickets Tires Tools

AD ORDER FORM

adveRtising Rates & infoRmation

RegulaR Classified

Miscellaneous Articles Wanted Musical Notices On-Line Services

South Devon Speckle Park Tarentaise Texas Longhorn Wagyu Welsh Black Cattle Composite Cattle Various Cattle Wanted lIVESTOCK horses Horse Auctions American Saddlebred Appaloosa Arabian Belgian Canadian Clydesdale Draft Donkeys Haflinger Miniature Morgan Mules Norwegian Ford Paint Palomino Percheron Peruvian Pinto Ponies Quarter Horse Shetland Sport Horses Standardbred Tennessee Walker Thoroughbred Warmblood Welsh Horses For Sale Horses Wanted lIVESTOCK Sheep Sheep Auction Arcott Columbia Dorper Dorset Katahdin Lincoln Suffolk Texel Sheep Sheep For Sale Sheep Wanted lIVESTOCK Swine Swine Auction Swine For Sale Swine Wanted lIVESTOCK Poultry Poultry For Sale Poultry Wanted lIVESTOCK Specialty Alpacas Bison (Buffalo) Deer Elk Goats Llama Rabbits Emu Ostrich Rhea Yaks Specialty Livestock Various Livestock Equipment Livestock Services & Vet Supplies Miscellaneous Articles

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CAUTION The Alberta Farmer Express, while assuming no responsibility for advertisements appearing in its columns, exercises the greatest care in an endeavor to restrict advertising to wholly reliable firms or individuals. However, please do not send money to a Manitoba Co-operator box number. Buyers are advised to request shipment C.O.D. when ordering from an unknown advertiser, thus minimizing the chance of fraud and eliminating the necessity of a refund where the goods have already been sold. At Farm Business Communications we have a firm commitment to protecting your privacy and security as our customer. Farm Business Communications will only collect personal information if it is required for the proper functioning of our business. As part of our commitment to enhance customer service, we may share this personal information with other strategic business partners. For more information regarding our Customer Information Privacy Policy, write to: Information Protection Officer, Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1. Occasionally we make our list of subscribers available to other reputable firms whose products and services might be of interest to you. If you would prefer not to receive such offers, please contact us at the address in the preceding paragraph, or call (204)-954-1456. The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Alberta Farmer Express and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists and Alberta Farmer Express and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Alberta Farmer Express and Farm Business Communication assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any reader for this publication based on any and all information provided.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CLASSIFICATION _____________________ ❏ I would like to take advantage of the Prepayment Bonus of 2 FREE weeks when I prepay for 3 weeks. No. of words _________________ x $0.60 x

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Minimum charge $15.00 per week

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Add $2.50 if being billed / Minus 10% if prepaying

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DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted

BUYING: GREEN CANOLA

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted

HEATED CANOLA • COMPETITIVE PRICES • PROMPT MOVEMENT • SPRING THRASHED

“ON FARM PICK UP” 1-877-250-5252 BUYING HEATED/DAMAGED PEAS, FLAX & GRAIN “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252 BUYING SPRING THRASHED CANOLA & GRAIN “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252

BOW VALLEY TRADING LTD.

WE BUY DAMAGED GRAIN Wheat, Barley, Oats, Green & damaged Canola

1-877-641-2798

Market Your

DAMAGED CANOLA

to a

LICENSED & BONDED

BUSINESS SERVICES

We also specialize in: Crop Insurance appeals; Chemical drift; Residual herbicide; Custom operator issues; Equipment malfunction; Yield comparisons, Plus Private Investigations of any nature. With our assistance the majority of our clients have received compensation previously denied. Back-Track Investigations investigates, documents your loss and assists in settling your claim. Licensed Agrologist on Staff. For more information Please call 1-866-882-4779

CONTRACTING

ENGINES ASSORTED DEUTZ AND OTHER diesel engines. KMK Sales, (800)565-0500, Humboldt, SK.

ENTERTAINMENT

AUTO & TRANSPORT Auto & Truck Parts 6 MICHELIN LTX/AT 10 ply, 245/75Rx17, only 13,000kms. $1,100; “Buckstop” front steel bumper with brush guard and driving lights, winch compatible, for Ford F250/350, 2008-2010, powder coat made in Oregon, $1,100; (780)352-0792 Round up the cash! Advertise your unwanted equipment in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. Phone Maureen Toll Free 1-888-413-3325.

2 JD 9870 COMBINES, loaded, GS 3 auto track, 26ft auger; 2010 900hrs, 615P header, $255,000; 2011 450hrs, PW7 header, $315,000; (403)818-2816

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Massey Ferguson

Combine ACCessories

MF 1805 4WD TRACTOR, duals, fair condition, open to offers. (780)919-9985, Vermilion Area.

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Accessories

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

RECONDITIONED COMBINE HEADERS. RIGID and flex, most makes and sizes; also header transports. Ed Lorenz, (306)344-4811 or Website: www.straightcutheaders.com Paradise Hill, SK.

JD 2210, LDR, 3PTH, MFD JD 4430 c/w loader JD 4240 c/w loader JD 4455, FWA JD 6410 fwa, c/w loader, 3pth JD 7200, ldr, 3pth FWA, Steiger ST 270, 4WD Thomas 173 HL skidsteer 14’ Schulte rock rake Clamp on duals, 20.8x38-18.4x38 IHC 5600 DT 33’ 158 & 148 JD loaders Willmar 500 Fertilizer spreader FINANCE, TRADES WELCOME 780-696-3527, BRETON, AB

Tillage & Seeding FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Air Drills

SPIRITUAL PSYCHIC PREDICTIONS, TAROT cards, palm readings, past life readings, revealing the past, explaining the present, unfolding the future! Spiritual reader will help you in all problems in life! Such as, love, any type of business transactions, private and confidential readings, and also call for one free question. (403)510-2902

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

Big Tractor Parts, Inc. Geared For The Future

STEIGER TRACTOR SPECIALIST

RED OR GREEN 1. 10-25% savings on new replacement parts for your Steiger drive train. 2. We rebuild axles, transmissions and dropboxes with ONE YEAR WARRANTY. 3. 50% savings on used parts.

1-800-982-1769 www.bigtractorparts.com

FARMING IS ENOUGH OF

CASE IH 8500 AIR HOE DRILL 36-ft., hyd. drive fan, loading auger, steel packers, 7 inch spacing, $9500. 780-910-6221, Westlock, AB

A GAMBLE...

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Various

Barb Wire & Electric High Tensile Wire Spooler

CONTRACTING Custom Work

1-866-388-6284

AUTO & TRANSPORT

USED KUBOTA Utility Tractors (780)967-3800, (780)289-1075 www.goodusedtractors.com

FARM CHEMICAL SEED COMPLAINTS

SUPER CARBIDE PRODUCTS AT VW Mfg. Many products in stock! VW Mfg, Dunmore, AB, See our website: www.vwmfg.com or call (403)528-3350.

www.milliganbiotech.com

FARM MACHINERY Combine – John Deere

BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting

company

MILLIGAN BIO-TECH

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Kubota

Combines

Adapter available to unroll new barb wire off of wooden spool

- Hydraulic Drive (roll or unroll wire) - Mounts to tractor draw bar, skidsteer or bobcat, front end loader, post driver, 3pt. hitch or deck truck (with receiver hitch & rear hydraulics) - Spool splits in half to remove full roll - Shut off/ Flow control valve determines speed - Works great for pulling out old wire (approx. 3--5 minutes to roll up 80 rod or 1/4 mile) The Level-Wind Wire Roller rolls wire evenly across the full width of the spool automatically as the wire is pulled in Ken Lendvay (403) 550-3313 Red Deer, AB email: kflendvay@hotmail.com Web: www.levelwind.com

JOHN DEERE 9350 DISC DRILL 40-ft., factory transport, hyd. markers, JD grass attachment, rubber press wheels, shed most of the time, $8000. 780-910-6221, Westlock, AB

TracTors FARM MACHINERY Tractors – John Deere

FARM MACHINERY

1998 7810 FWD, L/H reverser, w/power quad, w/JD 740 loader, always shedded, grapple fork and joy stick, w/8ft silage bucket. (780)674-5516, 780-350-7152, Financing Available. Barrhead, AB.

FARM MACHINERY Haying & Harvesting – Baling

2009 JD 8130 FWA, 3pth, 60/gal per min. hyds. duals, front fenders, GS2 auto track, 1150/hrs, $135,000. (403)818-2816

WANTED: Jd 7810 c/w fel & 3pth; sp or pto bale wagon; JD or IHC end wheel drills. Small square baler. (877)330-4477

JD 7810, MFD, CW 741 loader, has IVT trans. 5000hrs, 3PTH, shedded, excellent condition. (780)990-8412

Round up the cash! Advertise your unwanted equipment in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. Phone Maureen Toll Free 1-888-413-3325.

Advertise in the Alberta Farmer Express Classifieds, it’s a Sure Thing!

1-888-413-3325

Is your ag equipment search more like a needle in a haystack search?

Find it fast at

Albertafarmexpress.ca • december 5, 2011

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

1984 International 784, 67HP Diesel, New Clutch, 3PTH, 540+1000 PTOs, IHC 2250 Loader, $11,500

1994 John Deere 5300, 58HP Diesel, 3PTH, P/S, $6800.00 Each

1999 Massey Ferguson 271, 65HP Diesel, 960 Hours, 3PTH, $13,500

White 700, 65HP Diesel, 3094 Hours, 3PTH, P/S, $8800

www.doublellindustries.com 780-905-8565 NISKU, ALBERTA

IRON & STEEL

CAREERS Professional

TRAVEL

CAREERS

Agriculture Tours

CAREERS Help Wanted

PIPE FOR SALE 3-1/2IN., 2-7/8in., 2-3/8in., 1in. Sucker Rods. Henderson Manufacturing Sales. (780)672-8585

LIVESTOCK LIVESTOCK Cattle Various

Safe new

One-Man

corral designs plus 80 Safe new ideas to cut Tub costs & labor - 120 diagrams, OneManCorrals.com Free look!

JD 6400 FWA, w/FEL, grapple JD 4450 2WD, P/S JD 9400, 9420, 9520, 8970 JD 9860, 9760, 9750, 9650, 9600 JD 9430, 9530, 9630 CIH 8010 w/RWD, lateral tilt, duals 900 hrs. CIH STX450 c/w PTO Case STX 375, 425, 430, 450, 480, 500, 530 CIH 8010-2388, 2188 combine TM190, FEL, 3PT 9680-9682 NH, 4WD 3630 Spray Coupe

CIH 435Q, 535Q, 450Q, pto avail. JD 4710, 4720, 4730, 4830, 4920, 4930 SP sprayers CIH 9770 w/CM & duals CIH 3185, 3230, 4260, 3150, 4420 sprayers CIH 3185 sprayer, auto steer, boom shut off 90-ft., 921 hrs, hyd. tread adj. CIH Skidsteer 440 & 430 Rogator 1064-854-664 Selection of Combine Headers & Haying Equipment

1995 CATERPILLAR, D5C-lgp, 6-way blade, cab, canopy, winch, 8500 hrs, good condition, $45,000. (780)963-3850, Stony Plain, Ab. EZEE-ON Heavy loader, 2130 model, 8ft bucket, mounts to fit JD 7000 series, loader like new, Excellent condition (780)674-5516, or (780)350-7152, Barrhead, AB

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous 1977 MASSEY 285, LOADER, 3pth, exc. tires, approx. 5000/hrs, $5,200; Lely broadcast spreader, model L1250, 3pth, 1400/lb capacity, seeds grass cereals and fertilizer, as new, $1,800; 15-1/2ft x 42in. Landroller c/w hyd. drag, holds water, exc. conditon. $3,200; (403)931-3977, 403-888-4270 2002 JD 1820, 45-FT., 10-in. spacing, double shoot, dutch paired row, 3-1/2in steel, $31,000; 1998 Agco Star, 8425, 425-hp, 3,400-hrs, duals, auto steer, $52,000; 2004 Hesston 1365 discbine, 15ft 3in. steel rollers, swivel hitch, 2pth or draw-bar adaptor $13,000; 2004 McHale 991B bale wrapper, $10,000; (403)665-2341, Craigmyle, AB.

LIVESTOCK Livestock Equipment 430 FARM AID FEED wagon, used very little, excellent condition, (780)889-3798, Heisler, AB 5’X10’ PORTABLE CORRAL PANELS, 6 bar. Starting at $55. Storage Containers, 20’ & 40’ 1-866-517-8335, (403)540-4164, (403)226-1722 AI KIT, ULTRA SONIC pregnancy tester, Stewart hair clipper; Circuiteer hog blower/dryer; Calf puller; Burdizo, tatoo set, ear labeling tools; Scrotum tape; (403)227-4403, Innisfail, Ab.

•Phone: (403)526-9644 •Cell: (403)504-4929

FARM MACHINERY Loaders & Dozers

Specialty

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE JD 2955, MFD, 265 ldr, no cab, $22,500 JD 4020, cab, 3pth, 158 ldr. $9,500 JD 4450, 265 ldr, joystick, $34,000 JD 7210, 6300hrs, 740 ldr. $50,000 JD 7510, 740 ldr., $52,000 JD 7810, mfd, pth, 6400hrs, $64,000 JD 7600, 740 ldr. MFD, no cab, $25,000 JD 8400, p/s, duals, $57,000 CASE 530, 3pth, loader, $3,750 Case 7230, 5000hrs, 3pth, $58,000. MF 255 loader, 3pth, $10,500 JD 347, 338, 348 balers. Call Melroe 6 bottom plow, $2,000 JD loaders, 148, 260, 740, Call 2 blades for JD tractors, Call Sakundiak 10x60’ swing auger, $4,500 CIH 595 manure spreader, exc. $7,500

JIFFY 220 SILAGE BUNK feeder, always shedded, excellent condition, $6,000; (403)227-4403, Innisfail MORAND BUFFALO SQEEZE, W/SCALE, exc. conditon, could also be used for cattle, asking $5,000 obo (780)349-2346 SHAVINGS FOR BEDDING Britewood Industries manufactures high quality pine shavings & supercompresses them into 4X4 bales. Call for truckload quotes or for a dealer in your area. www.britewood.ca. sales@britewood.ca Tony (250)372-1494, Ron (250)804-3305

PERSONAL COUNTRY INTRODUCTIONS, MATCHING YOU with down-to-earth country people like yourself, personal interview, criminal check required, in business since 1989! 1-877-247-4399

REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE Farms & Ranches – B.C. BEEF, DAIRY, HORSES AND Hay! 375 acre ranch on 2 titles, 2 water licenses, 200 head range permit 45 minutes north of Kamloops, BC www.91ranch.com/forsale

(403)732-4647 or (403)394-5115

REAL ESTATE Farms & Ranches – Alberta

ACREAGE EQUIPMENT: CULTIVATORS, DISCS, Plows, Blades, Post pounders, Haying Equipment, Etc. (780)892-3092, Wabamun, Ab.

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Wanted

DEINES FRONT MOUNT, ZERO turn mowers, w/flip up decks, 03-20HP 72in. reconditioned; 1-04 60in., 240hrs; 1-2010 60in., 140hrs; very good condition. See KIJIJI. Call Dean 1-800-886-9429

WANTED: NH BALE WAGONS & retrievers, any condition. Farm Equipment Finding Service, P.O. Box 1363, Polson, MT 59860. (406)883-2118

200 COW RANCH, CYPRESS Hills area, 500 deeded, good crop & hayland, Chinook climate, 640 ac. Alberta lease, plus 2 separate grazing leases, good set buildings w/treed yard site, good water, gas well revenue, Must Sell, (403)937-3901

JD 7721 COMBINE, $3,900; JD 9340 press drills, 30ft, c/w grass attachment, $3,500; Case WDX 1101 SP swather, 25ft header, triple delivery, pu reel, $49,000; Terragator 1803 floater sprayer, 90ft booms, $29,000; (780)621-6704

WANTED: Small square balers and end Wheel Seed Drills, Rock Pickers, Rock Rakes, Tub grinders, also JD 1610 cultivators (403)308-1238

RETIRED FROM FARMING, MOST machinery shedded, 1998 Peterbuilt, 460 Cummins, 18spd, w/36ft tandem Doepker grain trailer $75,000; Flatdeck car trailer, 16ft, $3,000; (403)586-0978, Torrington, Ab.

HEAT & AIR CONDITIONING

RETIRING - CASE 8480 rd baler 1200 bales ($17,000); Case 8330 9’ haybind ($7,000); Tram 10 ton farm wagon ($3,900 ); All low hours, shedded. field ready. Older reel rake ($500); 92 GMC 2500 150K km 2wdr Rcab safety inspection ($3000); 09 Silverado 2500 Gas LTZ 30K km 4wdr Ccab Full Warranty til 2016 07 ($39,000). 780-963-1155. Spruce Grove AB.

The Icynene Insulation System®

SCHULER 280 SILAGE WAGON, hyd. drive, good condition, $4,200 OBO (780)786-4150, Mayerthorpe, AB. USED GRAIN CARTS: 400-1050/BU, large selection. Gravity wagons: used 200-750/bu, new 400/bu, $6,700; Richardson Hi-Dump wagons. Used fertilizer spreaders. Call: 1(866-938-8537 www.zettlerfarmequipment.com WIRELESS DRIVEWAY ALARMS, calving/foaling barn cameras, video surveillance, rear view cameras for RV’s, trucks, combines, seeders, sprayers and augers. Mounted on magnet. Calgary, Ab. (403)616-6610. www.FAAsecurity.com

50’ Flexicoil #75 Packer Bar, 1/yr as new .............Call 45’ Flexicoil 5000HD airdrill, 10” space, 4” rubber packers, DC 3850 TBT-V Flexicoil airtank .................Call 2320 Flexicoil TBT airtank c/w seed treater .........................................................$25,000 2320 Flexicoil TBH airtank w/320 third tank .......................................................................$22,500 51 Flexicoil Bodies c/w gen. SC 4” carbide spread tip openers...................................................................... $3,500 9352I I Westward Swather, 2005, 800hrs., PU reel, 30’, 972 header, roto shears ..........................................$65,000 4952 I 30’ Prairie Star swather, 2005, 800hrs, 30’, 972 header, roto shears, header mover ...................$65,000 810H 25’ Hesston grain table - PU reel ..................Call 910 - 14’ MacDon hay table & crimper.........$10,000 2-CIH WD 1203 swathers 2011, 240hrs, 36’ headers, PU reel, roto shears, header transports, 1yr ............Call New Sakundiak 10x1200 (39.97’) 36HP, Kohler eng. E-K mover, P/S, electric belt tightener, work lights, slim fit Eco Hopper..........................$18,000 New Sakundiak 8x1200 (39.97’) auger, 27HP Robin Subaru, E-Kay mover, P/S, electric belt tightener, work lights.....................................CNT$15,500 Used Sakundiak 8x1200 (39.97’) auger, c/w new 25HP Robin Subaru eng .......................................... $4,750

• Sprayed foam insulation • Ideal for shops, barns or homes • Healthier, Quieter, More Energy Efficient®

Australia & New Zealand – Jan/Feb. 2012 Kenya/Tanzania – January 2012 Costa Rica – February 2012 South America – February 2012 Ukraine/Romania – June 2012 Scotland/England/Wales – June 2012 Tours may be Tax Deductible Select Holidays 1-800-661-4326

DOUBLE F FARMS at Kirriemuir is looking for 3 cattle herdsmen to carry out breeding programs, recognize and treat livestock health, check pens, formulate feeding programs, farm duties. Full-time, permanent, salary $18 Canadian/hr. Must have 4 years experience. Contact: 403-552-3753 or fax 403-552-3751 Email: craigference@hotmail.com Round up the cash! Advertise your unwanted equipment in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. Phone Maureen Toll Free 1-888-413-3325.

NO GOPHERS NO BADGERS! 1/2 section, cow/calf operation, complete set of buildings, Hay & pasture, 70/Ac cultivated, Excellent Water, Evansburg area. (780)727-2919

REAL ESTATE Land For Sale CHOICE FARMLAND FOR SALE, adjoining Lake McGregor, 10,559/ac dryland mainly one block; 2,534/ ac grazing lease, gravel pit. Priced $27,602,145.00. For viewing call Harold or Lyle Magnuson @ Magnuson Realty Ltd. Harold @403-485-0368, Lyle @403-485-6901 LAND TRADER ADVERTISING means world wide exposure. Sell it yourself, save commissions. One time fee of $189.-that’s all. Visit www.landtrader.ca call Shelley toll free 1-(877)729-4841. Free information brochure available

SEED / FEED / GRAIN SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Feed Grain

www.penta.ca

1-888-484-5353

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous Used J208x51’ Westfield auger, 25HP Kohler Wheatheart mover.................................................$7,000 Used 8x33 Buhler Farm King Auger 20HP Kohler, exc. cond......................................................$3,500 New E-Kay 7”,8”,9” Bin Sweeps...........................Call 2002 7000HD Highline bale Processor, c/w twine cutter, always shedded...........................$8,500 2004 2620 Haybuster Bale Processor, 1000 PTO all hyd. drives, like new ...................$8,000 New demo Outback baseline X ..................$6,500 New Outback JD STS Hyd. Kit ........................$1,000 New Outback S lite guidance .............................$900 Used Outback 360 mapping...............................$750 Used Outback S guidance....................................$750 Used S2 Outback guidance.............................$1,000 WANTED: 60’ Vibrashank cultivator 50-70’ Heavy Harrows

Ron Sauer Machinery Ltd. (403) 540-7691 **Flexi-Coil, Westward MacDon Swathers, NuVision augers, Sakundiak, Farm King, Outback GPS Systems, EK Auger Movers, Sweeps, & Crop Dividers, Degelman** Sales Rep for George’s Farm Centre

ronsauer@shaw.ca

BUYING ALL TYPES OF feed grain. Also have market for light offgrade or heated, picked up on the farm. Eisses Grain Marketing 1-888-882-7803, (403)350-8777 Lacombe. FEED GRAIN WANTED! ALSO buying; Light, tough, or offgrade grains. “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Hay & Straw HAY FOR SALE. 1,000 round @ 1300lbs., 2010 crop, very good, alfalfa/grass mix, asking $15/bale. 1140 round @ 1400 lbs., 2011 crop, mix, excellent quality, asking $30/bale. Volume discounts & delivery available. Delia, AB (403)364-2129. QUALITY ROUND HAY, VARIOUS mixes, delivery or loaded, volume discounts, Oat hay also available, (403)637-2258, Didsbury, Ab. SMALL SQUARE BALES HORSE hay, Crossfield, Ab. 50/lb bales $3.00/per bale, (403)946-5481, (403)613-4570 SM. SQ. BALES (403)442-2642

MIXED

hay,

$5/per

obo

SEWING MACHINES INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINE FOR leather and upholstery (403)749-3871, Delburne, Ab.

TIRES FEDERATION TIRE: 1100X12, 2000X20, used aircraft. Toll free 1-888-452-3850

Welcome to the Prairie-wide Classifieds. You’ll be surprised what you can find in the Alberta Farmer Express Classifieds Bonus: Prepay your ad for 3 weeks and get 2 more for Free!! Call 1-888-413-3325

DECEMBER 5, 2011 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

MYTH To grow the highest yielding canola I have to wait for sunny spray days.

FACT Genuity® Roundup Ready® systems, with high yielding canola hybrids and superior weed control, also give you the flexibility of a wide window of application, under any condition. Don’t compromise. Get all the yield potential plus the flexibility you need. Genuity Roundup Ready systems are effective across a wide window of weed life stages. They also allow you to spray under a broad range of environmental conditions, whether it’s wet, dry, cold or hot, so weather is never an issue. Leave the myths behind. See your local retailer for details, or go to www.genuitycanola.ca.

Individual results may vary, and performance may vary from location to location and from year to year. This result may not be an indicator of results you may obtain as local growing, soil and weather conditions may vary. Growers should evaluate data from multiple locations and years whenever possible. Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through StewardshipSM (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through StewardshipSM is a service mark of Excellence Through Stewardship. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Genuity®, Genuity and Design®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup WeatherMAX®, and Roundup® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Monsanto Canada, Inc. licensee. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2011 Monsanto Canada, Inc.

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