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CFIA might divest beefgrading supervision BETTER BEEF? } While similar, the U.S. allows beef to grade that Canada would reject.

Yet many in the industry want to harmonize the standards by sheri monk af staff / calgary

he proposal to harmonize Canada’s beef-grading system with that of the U.S. is currently in regulatory purgatory, thanks to the latest federal budget. “The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is basically doing some evaluation of their own processes and things, and they’re saying, ‘We’re health and safety, do we really want to be involved with grading?’” said Cindy Delaloye, general manager of the Canadian Beef Grading Agency (CBGA). When the budget came down earlier this year, the feds made cuts across the board, and the CFIA was no exception. As a result, Delaloye says it remains unclear whether the agency will continue to claim responsibility for the current industry standards. A proposal was sent to the CFIA before the budget was delivered and at that time, Delaloye was told the changes would have to go through all the ordinary scrutiny required to change regulations. “My experience has been that it takes about five years. Nothing has happened since and I don’t know that people understand that,” she said. Delaloye was hoping to hear at a May 30 board meeting from a CFIA official what the agency’s intent is with regard to overseeing the beef-grading standards. “Whose door are we knocking on to get things changed?” she said. The CBGA was privatized in 1996, but answered to the CFIA and had to continue to adhere to the federal standards. “Currently I am audited by the CFIA in our delivery, because we are still delivering federal government regulations. So the question becomes, does it stay a federal government

A beef grader inspects a carcass for marbling. Grading is also done by precise computers, but human eyes are still part of the equation. photo: courtesy of the Canadian Beef Grading Agency

see CFIA } page 6

PLUS

GRAIN-HANDLING FOCUS: MOISTURE KEY FOR STORED CANOLA } PAGE 20

NEWS » INSIDE THIS WEEK

INSIDE » MAKING SURE THE SLICE IS RIGHT Cigi’s top baker retires after 40 years of promoting Canadian wheat

JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

LIVESTOCK

CROPS

COLUMNISTS

POUND MAKER RAM SALE

KNOW YOUR HERBICIDE ACTIVES

DANIEL BEZTE SUMMER WEATHER SERIES PART ONE — HAIL

PHIL FRANZ-WARKENTIN

CANOLA’S HIGHS APPEAR TO BE IN FOR THE SUMMER

BEEKEEPING GETS BOOST CPRC revives a commercial course at Fairview

BERNIE PEET

Top seller Suffolk brings $1,650

Weed scientists urge farmers to use “many little hammers”

LITTER SIZES, HOUSING AND STRESS AFFECT REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS

BRIEFS Alberta winery wins awards Field Stone Fruit Wines of Strathmore has been awarded 10 medals from two recent competitions. At the NorthWest Wine Summit, at Hood River, Oregon, Field Stone was awarded a gold medal, three silver medals and four bronze medals. This year’s gold medal went to their Raspberry Fruit Wine. The Cherry Fruit Wine, Strawberry-Rhubarb Fruit Wine and Strawberry Dessert Wine won silver medals, and bronze went to their Bumbleberry Fruit Wine, Black Currant Fruit Wine, Wild Black Cherry Dessert Wine and Black Currant Dessert Wine. At the NorthWest Wine Summit Competition more than 2,000 wines were judged from wineries in British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. At Canada’s All-Canadian Wine Championships in Windsor, Ont., Field Stone was awarded a silver medal for Strawberry Dessert Wine and a bronze medal for its Strawberry-Rhubarb Fruit Wine. The All-Canadian Wine Championships is Canada’s oldest and largest wine competition, judged by a panel of approximately fourteen wine writers, sommeliers and accredited wine judges. In 2005 Field Stone Fruit Wines was the first business to be granted a licence under the Government of Alberta’s new cottage winery regulations. All Field Stone Fruit Wines are vinified from 100 per cent Alberta-grown fruit, 90 per cent of which is grown on the family’s Bumbleberry Farm south of Strathmore.

Specialty cheeses are appearing on more Canadian tables recently.

©THINKSTOCK

Opportunity awaits specialty cheese makers in Alberta CHEESE PLEASE  Canadians have a growing appetite for specialty

brands or those made by artisanal methods BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF / RED DEER

wiss, Gruyere, goat cheese — just uttering these words will make most people hungry. And pull out their wallets. Growth of specialty cheeses is extremely strong, says Chris Panter, an Alberta Agriculture livestock market analyst who has researched specialty cheese in Alberta. “Growth of cheddar consumption is positive but consumption of specialty cheese is up over seven kilograms per person per year,” Panter told attendees at a recent Alberta Agricultural Economists Association meeting.

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He defines specialty cheese as a high-quality product with special characteristics and commanding a premium price. That rules out cheddar, which accounts for one-third of the 413,000 tonnes of cheese produced in Canada annually, as well as cottage cheese or processed cheese products. Top specialty cheeses are Swiss or Emmental, Parmesan, Ricotta and Gruyere. Artisan cheese is a subset of the specialty cheese market, and emphasizes traditional production practices. Canadians are moderate consumers of cheese compared to most Europeans. We eat just under 13 kilograms each per year but meeting that demand means the country imports more cheese — about

16,000 tonnes in 2011 — than it exports (which are restricted because of a WTO ruling arising from supply management). And while there are over 1,000 specialty cheeses registered with the Canadian Cheese directory, the majority of them are made in Quebec, Ontario and B.C. All that creates opportunities for Alberta cheese makers, said Panter. “Artisan cheese makers may not need to look beyond Alberta to find a market,” he said. “The Edmonton-Calgary corridor is a high-income zone with over two million consumers who enjoy a reasonably good standard of living.” But price is still a big factor, he said. “Specialty cheese producers

“Growth of cheddar consumption is positive but consumption of specialty cheese is up over seven kilograms per person per year.” CHRIS PANTER

can often price themselves out of a market if it gets too high,” he said.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

Making sure the slice is right TOP BAKER  Cigi’s Tony Tweed hangs up his apron after four decades of breads, bagels and croissants BY LAURA RANCE STAFF/WINNIPEG

ony Tweed knew about the unique quality of Canadian bread wheats long before he was recruited to Canada in the mid-1960s to establish its first commercial baking school at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton. “I worked with a lot of Canadian wheat flour in England,” the British-born and -trained baker said. “Everybody knew that if you were making good biscuits, you used Australian flour, and if you wanted to make good bread, you used Canadian flour.” Tweed had actually been seconded by the Canadian International Development Agency and was planning to start mobile baking schools in Peru when he learned his wife was expecting. The family changed their plans, and he was looking for a new job in 1972 just as the fledgling Canadian Grains Institute, as it was then called, was looking for a head baker. The rest, as they say, is history — 40 years of it to be exact. An iconic fixture in the Cigi baking technology centre, Tweed has spent the past four decades working with customers from 115 countries on the technical aspects of products, travelling to dozens of countries as well as helping teach the 38,000 or so participants in the more technical courses Cigi has offered. What he learned upon his arrival at Cigi, as the Canadian International Grains Institute is now called, and what he has conveyed to customers ever since, has been the infrastructure that is behind Canada’s quality, everything from the variety selection, to farm practices, to clean handling and quality segregation systems, to a skilled team of troubleshooters that help processors sort out technical glitches. “You are really selling Canadian grain, but you are also selling Canada — clean air, fresh water, nice people, and the systems are honest here,” Tweed said. “It is a very unique place to work. Where else do you get to meet people from all these different cultures? You are working with the Japanese this week and the Sudanese next week.”

World-class expertise

Cigi’s staff has grown to 35, a group that collectively can boast some of the world’s best technical expertise when it comes to understanding the finer points of milling, baking and processing quality. He now has colleagues within the organization who are equally expert when it comes to noodlemaking ingredients and processes, Asian steam breads, and process-

After 40 years, Cigi’s head baker Tony Tweed is as passionate as ever about helping customers understand how to get the most from Canadian ingredients. PHOTO: LAURA RANCE ing pulse crops into food ingredients. A few floors down, pasta extruding researcher Peter Frolich is looking for ways to convince North Americans to eat more nutritionally dense pulse crops such as peas, lentils and beans. In some parts of the world, it’s as simple as mixing them with rice or making a paste. But Canadians are partial to snack foods. Frolich holds up what looks like a puffed cheese snack. “I can make a Cheeto-like product that has high protein, high fibre, folate minerals and vitamins that has the same mouth feel,” he says. “I think in the next five to 10 years these flours will be added ingredients to many if not all the foods processed in Canada,” Frolich says. But first, companies need to know that it can be done, and secondly, how to do it. As supporters of the Canadian International Grains Institute gathered to celebrate 40 years of its remarkable history this week, they were looking forward to a future that contains no small measure of uncertainty.

grain companies step up to fill the board’s marketing role. And if the City of Saskatoon has its way, the organization will be moved lock, stock and barrel to another province. Industry sources at the organization’s celebration offered mixed views on the possibility. Some say the organization has outgrown its space in the Canadian Grain Commission building in downtown Winnipeg and if the proposed Cereal Centre of Excellence for Winnipeg is off the table, considering such a move only makes sense. Others say Cigi’s strength is in its people and its close working relationship with the CGC, both of

which would be compromised in such a move. One thing is for sure. Cigi will be looking for a new top baking expert. Now in his 70th year, Tweed retired at the end of May, although he has already been contracted by British baker Warburton’s to continue running its wheat quality control program. Tweed has seen three generations of technical experts come through his lab, and witnessed an explosive growth in the sophistication of milling technology. “They have much more opportunity to buy different-origin wheats and they are more skilled in blending and cleaning,” he said. “But we are still in the driver’s

seat when it really comes to high quality, good-quality protein, good milling yield, absorption, all the things people are looking for,” he said. Tweed doesn’t quibble with those who say Canadian farmers should be growing more mediumquality wheats. “Some customers are buying those kinds of wheats. If Canada can do that and still be competitive to the customer, I don’t see why they wouldn’t.” “But there are still the customers, as much as we travel, who tell us there are two problems with Canadian wheat: the moisture content is too high, which we all know, and it’s too expensive. But they want it.”

Don’t miss the boat

New funding needed

The organization set up to soft sell Canadian grains, oilseeds and later pulses is looking for new ways of financing its operations. The federal government has temporarily stepped in to fill the void as the Canadian Wheat Board, one of its founding partners and key funders, loses its monopoly. But in the future, its operations will have to be financed, at least in part, through a farmer checkoff and feefor-service contracts. Cigi also finds itself working with a whole new type of client as

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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

Reporters Alexis Kienlen, Edmonton (780) 668-3121 akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

Calgary graduates its first class of vets

Sheri Monk, Pincher Creek (403) 627-9108 sheri.monk@fbcpublishing.com

PRODUCTION director Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com

Large-animal vets } That original goal has been tempered

Director of Sales & Circulation

but will still be achieved

Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com

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

ADVERTISING Co-ordinator Arlene Bomback Phone: 204-944-5765 Fax: 204-944-5562 Email: ads@fbcpublishing.com

PUBLISHER Bob Willcox Email: bob.willcox@fbcpublishing.com

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www.albertafarmexpress.ca or email: subscription@fbcpublishing.com 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., Wpg., MB R3H 0H1 Occasionally we make our list of subscribers available to other reputable firms whose products and services might be of interest to you. If you would prefer not to receive such offers, please contact us at the address in the preceding paragraph, or call 1-800-665-0502. 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 Communications assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any reader for this publication based on any and all information provided.

By will verboven

Alberta Farmer | Editor

his month will see the graduation of the first class of students from the University of Calgary faculty of veterinary medicine. Congratulations to those students. After four years of intensive study in one of the most difficult of professions, they have made a remarkable achievement. Veterinary medicine is sometimes seen as more difficult to master than human medicine simply because vets have to deal with such a wide variety of species, all with their own distinct anatomies, afflictions and needs. The vet faculty facilities at the U of C are perhaps some of the best in North America and its approach towards teaching is innovative and progressive. The founders and developers of this faculty had the opportunity to start from scratch and were not constrained by entrenched veterinary medicine teaching attitudes. Notwithstanding the quality of the graduates and the teaching, the question that now arises is the estimated $80 million of taxpayers’ money spent to create a veterinary school worth the effort. Knowledge and education are always worthwhile endeavours, but the establishment of this expensive faculty did originally have a goal of increasing the supply of large-animal vets for the Alberta livestock industry. That goal has been achieved with the graduation of the first class of veterinarians, but that increase has been tempered by accreditation hoops, student preferences and the economics of a large-animal veterinary practice. Indications are that many of the newly minted vets will be going into city pet vet practices and research. Those who are going

into large-animal practice will see their resilience and dedication severely tested under difficult working and economic conditions — it’s a hard way to make a living. The original goal will probably be achieved, but the new large-animal vets may be the most expensive graduates in veterinary medicine history. An underlying long-term concern is how many new large-animal vets can a static (perhaps declining) livestock industry actually absorb each year, keeping in mind the vet school in Saskatoon also graduates 20 vets a year from Alberta. In retrospect it would seem the establishment of the vet faculty at the University of Calgary may have been due more to circumstance and politics rather than an actual need. The decision to establish the school was made during the height of the BSE crisis around six years ago. The idea had been brewing for many years having to do with the shortage of large-animal vets in the countryside. It was felt that if Alberta established its own vet school it could expand the supply of those kinds of vets. However, what was first being discussed at the time was the need to set up a prion institute for research into BSE and related diseases. So in the Machiavellian world of provincial and university politics it was decided that the U of A would get the prion institute and the U of C would get the long-hoped-for veterinary school. Actual need for either facility or funding availability seemed to be overwhelmed by the BSE spectre at the time. Having Shirley McClellan, the deputy premier at the time, and one of the most powerful ministers of agriculture ever, supporting the vet school, probably guaranteed that it would be built. Politicians and bureaucrats stated that the facility could be established for around $20 million. Others suggested

$100 million would be more accurate — that prediction is close to coming true. The more suitable institution for the vet school would have been the University of Alberta which already had long-established facilities and experience in animal science education and research — veterinary medicine would have been an easy fit. The U of A had the laboratories, the animals, research farms and support staff, all of which could have been used and expanded to include a veterinary faculty. From a cost perspective the U of A was the more logical choice. But never underestimate competing university politics and bigcity rivalry to trump the issue of cost, particularly when taxpayer dollars are involved. Soon after creation of the faculty was underway it was realized that the goal of graduating mostly large-animal veterinarians could not be achieved. That was because the new school had to be accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association. That organization demanded that the new vet school had to offer a full spectrum of studies that included a small (pets) animal major. In retrospect that requirement may have been a blessing. The reality may well be that the livestock industry can only absorb a limited number of large-animal vets every year. That would mean that some new vets would have had to go into pet vet practice to survive, so it would be valuable to them to have a solid knowledge of small-animal medicine. That’s probably the real reality for the future of the faculty being that as our urban population increases, the urban pet population will increase and the need for pet vets will invariably increase. In the meantime if a few go into largeanimal practices the original goal will have been achieved.

Are farmers the bait in Fisheries Act changes? By Jan Slomp

National Farmers Union

griculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield seem to be using farmers as bait to get the public to swallow the changes to the Fisheries Act. By suggesting that the federal government is abandoning protection of fish habitat so that farmers don’t have to deal with red tape when they maintain their irrigation ditches, they have stretched credibility to the breaking point. And I’m sure that like me, many farmers resent the implication that we are not interested in being good stewards of the water on the land we manage, which is essential for healthy livestock and wholesome crops. As soon as Bill C-38 is passed, the fisheries minister will be able to allow exemptions to current habitat-protection provisions — by listing works, undertakings and activities that would be automati-

cally exempt, and by listing certain Canadian fisheries waters (oceans, rivers, lakes, streams) that would no longer be protected. The minister or cabinet will also be able to delegate their authority to permit harm to fish habitat to third parties. This setup is an invitation to industry lobbyists to push for automatic exemptions for their projects, or to get third-party regulator status. In other words, the fox would be asked to guard the henhouse. Later, the Fisheries Act will be amended to remove habitat protection altogether. Only fish that are part of a commercial, recreational or Aboriginal fishery will be protected, and only from being killed outright. It will be OK to damage, stunt or deform them. Anyone with a bit of sense knows that you need little fish to get big fish — so by not protecting spawning grounds or small, non-commercial species such as minnows, there is a real risk that even the seemingly protected commercial

fisheries will be seriously damaged as a result of this legislation. Farm ditches and irrigation channels contain water that flows into natural water bodies, so they do form part of the larger watershed, and it makes sense to take good care of them. Protecting the banks from erosion, reducing contaminated run-off, and providing cooling shade over streams improves water quality in our recreational lakes and streams where we can swim, fish and boat with our friends and families. Having intact fish habitat also helps with flood control and reduces the impacts of drought. According to the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) website archives, there have been no charges or convictions of farmers due to improper maintenance of irrigation channels or drainage ditches. Farmers are clearly willing and able to comply with habitat-protection requirements. To make DFO’s activities more farmer friendly, the government

could provide more support for farmers and fisheries officers to work together to come up with solutions to specific problems on individual farms. It could allocate money to help cover the cost of stream-side improvements. It could give courses on how to better manage riskier operations. It could reward farmers who invent new ways to protect water on their farms. These measures could easily be taken without changing the law. There is no conflict between farming successfully and protecting fish. So it looks like the line about the drainage ditches is just a red herring. Getting rid of red tape for farmers is not the purpose or intent of the Fisheries Act amendments. The proposed change is designed to benefit a very few industry shareholders for a very short time. As a farmer, I will not be used to justify their actions. NFU director Jan Slomp farms at Rimbey

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

Confronting the Green Giant under the bed ROOT PROBLEM } Growing up in a household where potato chips abounded

but even carrots were deemed exotic doesn’t teach you the best nutrition habits by sheri monk

af staff / pincher creek

’ve never met a vegetable I couldn’t grow to hate. Honestly, with the exception of corn and potatoes, I spent most of my life avoiding vegetables the way a cat avoids a bath. I like to believe that genetically, I come from a long and successful line of hunters. When I imagine my ancestors I envision great mammoth hunts and of course, I am among the loin-clothed hunters, handling a spear as deftly as I’ve ever handled a pen. After we’ve slayed the beast, we load its bounty on the backs of our well-trained giant pre-historic dire wolves and return home to our grateful mates who prepare a tremendous feast in our honour. Unfortunately, the reality is that I just wasn’t exposed to many vegetables. In fact, I wasn’t exposed to many different food types at all. My father was a junk food addict, and my mother wasn’t very interested in cooking. Both

were baby boomers with an upper middle-class income, but a very unrefined palate and the result was an incredibly poor diet. Both were heavy smokers and of course, smoked in the house and in their cars. I guess it should’ve come as no surprise when my father had a massive heart attack when he was just 59. But it was. I had unlimited access to cola, other than at supper when I had to have milk. There were always an array of potato chips and other snack foods in the house. They ordered take-out for dinner at least three times a week. Other meals were often highly processed and there was an abundance of white bread products readily available. There was never broccoli or cauliflower in the fridge. Or asparagus, or avocado, or even carrots. Occasionally, they’d crack open a can of peas or green beans, but the standby was corn. When I was little, they would buy corn on the cob. Then it was canned and finally, before I moved out, they were buying the prepackaged fro-

zen kind immersed in some kind of butter-like product. If we ever had fish, it was so heavily battered that it could have passed as chicken, or even squirrel. Nothing was made from scratch if it could be helped. I never saw anyone drink a glass of water in our house, not even once. I was nearly 17 before I tried pasta, tacos or even rice for the first time. We were a take-out family and if it wasn’t take-out, it was meat and potatoes. In other words, my sister and I were being groomed for obesity, an early death and a myriad of other weight-related health problems. When I had my own children, I definitely tried to raise them with a healthier lifestyle. They weren’t allowed pop and I tried to limit the junk food. Of course, that didn’t change my own eating habits much and as the years went by, the pounds packed on. Having an active and busy lifestyle helped, but it wasn’t enough, especially when I endured a 60- to

70-hour work week for a number of years. It wasn’t until about a year ago that I really started to take health and diet more seriously than merely losing a few pounds for the sake of appearance. Pop has been entirely eliminated from our household, with the rare exception of the occasional birthday party. Our rice is now brown and so is our pasta and bread. We very rarely eat out, maybe averaging one meal per month from a restaurant. Processed foods like frozen pizza or TV dinners are even less frequent. It’s made a tremendous difference, but it’s incredibly time consuming and if I didn’t work from home, I’m not sure I could have done it. The changes I’ve made have caused me to see food in an entirely different way, and I am aghast at how poorly we were eating before. Despite how rosy our food future now looks, we all have our crosses to bear, and my vegetable aversion remains as staunch as

starch. Sure, I eat lettuce and raw spinach. I’ll even eat finely diced peppers and raw peas and I love making fresh guacamole and avocado sauces for pasta dishes. But most vegetables still don’t even register in my brain as an edible option. If I were presented a plate with a chunk of drywall and a pile of brussels sprouts, I’d probably taste the drywall first. Slaying this last dragon of my childhood nutritional nightmare is going to be exceptionally difficult, but I know it must be done. My doctor has told me there is no taste bud removal surgery available, but I haven’t ruled out hypnotism just yet. I’ve scoured the Internet, and I have yet to find a recipe that can make vegetables taste like a rare steak. I am left with only one choice. Instead of growing my hatred for veggies, I’ve decided to start growing a garden — and only 80 per cent of it will be reserved for corn and potatoes. sherimonk@gmail.com

Grain freight regulations inhibit productivity Revenue cap } It is worth considering whether the cap on grain earnings is smart regulation

Grain Commission clarification The CGC has been contacted by Mr. Bill Toews who advised that he is concerned about the attribution of a statement in the feature on the CGC’s 100th anniversary printed in the April 9 issue. In the piece entitled “CGC guarantees Canadian grain quality worldwide,” the quote, “You have a disciplined system for putting grain into the market and you don’t have to deal as often with bad outcomes,” was attributed to Mr. Elwin Hermanson rather than Mr. Toews. The CGC certainly did not intend any disrespect to Mr. Toews and we in fact agree with his comment. Rémi Gosselin Manager, Corporate Information Services. Canadian Grain Commission

By Mary-Jane Bennett

he cost of railway infrastructure projects, such as the Rogers Pass tunnel or network acquisition, is staggering. In contrast, rail’s air, trucking and marine competitors have an advantage from the outset in not having to build or maintain infrastructure. And while rail can withstand underinvestment for years, eventually a lack of capital catches up and is reflected in lagging capacity and productivity. One significant reason behind railway underperformance is regulation and the reluctance of capital to invest in unnecessarily regulated industries. The Conference Board of Canada, which traced the relationship between regulation, investment and productivity in railways, found that, whereas regulation results in investment decisions being deferred and productivity negatively affected, deregulation has the opposite effect — attracting capital and increasing productivity. For example, during the highly regulated years of the Western Grain Transportation Act (WGTA) (1983-96), capital investment in Canadian railways suffered. By contrast, the 1996 Canada Transportation Act created a regulatory climate that encouraged new investment, resulting in the doubling of capital expenditures over a two-year period. At different points in their history overregulation has brought Canadian and U.S. railways to the brink of ruin. However, the two countries have dealt with their crisis differently. The U.S. Congress deregulated the rail industry in one fell swoop with the 1980 Rail Staggers Act. Although the Canadian government — in light of urgent findings tying the

rate to a financial crisis with Canada’s railways — committed in the 1980s to dealing with the 1897 Crow grain rates, it ultimately refused to deregulate. Not only did the Crow rate affect the railways and the Canadian economy, it also stalled grain industry advances and undermined Canada’s unique status as world leader on the grain portfolio. The 1983 WGTA replaced the Crow rate, but continued the preferential treatment of grain transportation. At heart, the WGTA allowed the railways to earn money for three years with productivity gains clawed back in year four — hardly enough to encourage capital investment in rail. The act also resulted in the excessive transportation of grain, in lowering grain prices in eastern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, in encouraging export grain production and in discouraging value-added processing and crop diversification. The WGTA was replaced in 1996 with a maximum rate scale on grain transportation. In his 1998 grain-handling and transportation review, Justice Willard Estey found the rate scale to be mileage oriented and insensitive to the true cost of transportation, discriminating against shipments to the Port of Prince Rupert.

Abandons market practices

Despite the Estey recommendation, that the rate scale be repealed and that Canada move to a commercial system, the Chrétien government opted instead for a cap on rail’s grain revenue and a penalty to railway earnings in excess of an amount established annually by the Canadian Transportation Agency. Although the government claimed the cap would replicate market conditions, the revenue cap abandons market practices such as price signals and shareholder return.

The Conference Board of Canada questioned the government’s commitment to a market-driven system in light of Ottawa clawing back $178 million from railway revenue at the outset of the cap regime. This, and the 2008 clawback of another $72.2 million, are the antithesis of a market-based system. With regulation increasing risk for capital investment, the Conference Board of Canada criticized the special legislation governing grain. It found regulation favouring one commodity to be unique among similar industries and to contradict business discipline that emphasizes price signals and market forces.

Lacks common sense

Given these impacts, it is worth considering whether the revenue cap is smart regulation. The revenue cap applies only to grain and within that commodity only to some grains, only to some railways, only to some ports, and only to movements west of Thunder Bay. To conform to a 2004 WTO ruling, U.S. grain moves through Canada under the revenue cap. With elevators, ports, trucking and marine providers moving the same grain without a cap on revenue, the common sense behind the regulation is lost. Grain politics has been part of the history of this country. While the preferential treatment of grain may have advanced a nascent grain industry, that era is long gone. By eliminating the special treatment of grain, the federal government can eliminate barriers to investment, boost railway productivity and enhance the movement of goods in Canada. Mary-Jane Bennett is a Vancouver-based consultant. She is author of Grain Freight Regulation in Canada published by the Frontier Centre, fcpp.org

Off the front

June 4, 2012 • Albertafarmexpress.ca

CFIA } from page 1 regulation audited by some other group than CFIA, or do they do what the hog industry did and rescind all the regulations and it becomes nothing national?” said Delaloye. “To me it would really hurt our export market if we did that, but maybe there’s a way to create something national that isn’t run by the government.” If the CFIA walks away from beef grading entirely, industry will have to determine what direction it desires for beef grading in Canada. “If there’s no standard to deliver, then things get a little bit fuzzy, right?” Delaloye said.

Quality and safety separate

In the U.S., the USDA still administers its beef-grading system, and the service has not been privatized. “The CFIA is health and safety. That’s their real focus, they want to make sure that there’s no E. coli, there’s no listeria — their focus is there. If you start talking quality, that’s kind of out of their realm. It is the marketing people who should be concerned about quality. So should we be under Agriculture Canada? I don’t know,” Delaloye said. The CBGA charges a per-carcass fee, which varies depending on the size of the operation. “It varies depending on the packing house and the economies of scale — that was the beauty of privatization. It’s a cost-recovery service based on economies of scale at the plant,” said Delaloye. Grading isn’t a legal requirement, except in Ontario which has a provincial law mandating the grade must be illustrated on the retail package. In the U.S. and Canada, there are both quality and yield grades

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assigned to each carcass. The current system of quality grading with respect to marbling is fundamentally the same between the two countries, but uses different terminology. “The quality grades, Canada AAA and USDA Choice are equivalent as far as I am concerned, with the exception of what we call the Canadian Advantage — no dark cutters, no yellow fat,” said Delaloye. “Currently, if a producer markets cattle north of the border, he might get more offgrades than if he markets south of the border.” Canada has three yield classes which represent how much lean meat comes out of a carcass. If a carcass is graded at yield three, the packer may apply discount to the price to the producer because the animal is overfat. In the U.S., there are five yield classes, and American packers don’t start discounting until a carcass reaches class four and five. However, packers don’t arbitrarily discount yield-three carcasses, and producers and packers pre-agree to overfat discounts in the sales contract. Delaloye compared 100,000 head of cattle and found that 15 per cent of Canadian carcasses are yielding class three, and thereby discounted. In the U.S., only eight per cent of carcasses were placed in class four and five. What that means for Canadian feedlots is that it’s easier to make grade in the U.S., and once grade is made, it may be less likely a carcass will be penalized for going overfat. Delaloye believes that is why the feedlot sector is pushing to harmonize. “It’s a matter of discount,” she said.

Peace Region crops off to a good start Forage seed } High canola prices are taking a bite out of the area’s traditional specialty crop by rebecca dika

af contributor / grande prairie

y all accounts, it’s shaping up to be a good year for Peace Region farmers. Perfectly timed spring rains coming on the heels of a series of heavy late-winter snowfalls have conspired to help replenish dry soils here. Alberta Agriculture market specialist David Wong said given low moisture levels this winter, the snowstorms and rain came in with “exceptional timing.” “Seeding is almost done across the district and went really well,” he said May 25. Now, he says, some warmer temperatures are all that’s needed. “Peace Region crops germinated really good but the relative coolness hasn’t allowed things to grow,” said Wong. “We were still

“Guys here aren’t afraid to stretch the rotation and put canola back to back.” David Wong

getting 0° overnight in the middle of May.” Jack Frost made a late-spring visit in some areas May 17 and 18. Still, with a 60-foot drill, it doesn’t take long to punch in a few hundred acres, he said. Peace producers are again favouring canola making it the No. 1 crop. Wong estimates about 1.3 million to 1.4 million acres will be seeded across the district this year. “Last year we seeded about 1.2 million acres and I think this year will be more due to the continued exceptional pricing,” he said. Wong said fall prices for canola are expected to be around $12/bushel. “Guys here aren’t afraid to stretch the rotation and put canola back to back,” he said. Total wheat area last year in the Peace was 964,535 acres, and with prices sitting around $7/bushel Wong expects that number to remain consistent this year. Coming in at a distant third in 2011 were alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures at 569,971 acres. As a result of strong canola prices, specialty forage crop acreage is again way down in the Peace, much the same as across the rest of the province. “Typically the Peace is such a big grass seed-growing area but those acreage numbers have been coming down steadily since 2008,” said Wong. Wong said farmers are on early bug watch duties, looking for cutworms and flea beetles before the spraying season kicks into high gear shortly.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

New social media is like the old..sort of TECH  New business is key side benefit to new world of communication BY REBECCA DIKA

AF CONTRIBUTOR / GRANDE PRAIRIE

he power of a well-told story is timeless, but traditional methods for passing wisdom from one generation to the next must make room for social media, marketing consultant Bill Baker says. Baker told a “strategic storytelling” workshop in Grande Prairie, social media mechanisms such as Twitter and Facebook are excellent new communication tools. “Farmers have always taken it upon themselves to talk about their work, the spirit behind it and the food that results from it,” Baker said. “That genuine human behaviour has not changed. What has changed — through social media tools — is their ability to communicate with more people, across greater distances and a heck of a lot faster.”

Seasonal downturn weighs on feed barley CORN  Lower prices

could bring it back into rations

BY PHIL FRANZ-WARKENTIN COMMODITY NEWS SERVICE CANADA

The relatively stable feed barley market in southern Alberta is starting to show signs of softening, as seasonal market factors cause demand to back away. The market is still working to ration the old crop until the new crop arrives, said Allen Pirness, a feed grains trader with Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. However, now that seeding is done for the most part, more barley is being offered for sale, he said. On the other side, seasonal trends in the cattle sector mean that as fat cattle are disappearing to slaughter plants, they are not being replaced. Pasture conditions were looking reasonably good as more animals go out to grass at this time of year, Pirness said. The big question will be what happens with wheat, he said. Feed wheat is still readily available, but rising world wheat prices may steal some of those supplies away from the cattle rations. U.S. corn and distillers grains are currently priced out of Alberta rations, as corn supplies are much tighter than barley or wheat. However, a drop in corn prices would also change the market outlook for barley, said Pirness. So far, any time the corn futures have dropped, the basis has taken up the slack, keeping corn prices relatively steady and too expensive for Canadian buyers, he said. Factoring in the recent weakness in the Canadian dollar, U.S. corn imports into the Lethbridge area are currently pushing $315 per tonne, which compares with domestic barley for about $254 per tonne, said Pirness.

The art of a good story is in the telling, and for it to be effective the story has to be true and believed by the teller. It’s a form of branding, said Baker. “Who more than the farmer feels a responsibility to the land?” he asked. “I think the strong motivation that has to be behind this type of life’s work can be evoked to the consumer in a good story.” Whether at the farm gate or farmers’ market, branding is a concept a savvy agribusiness must embrace, Baker said. Baker, who operates a marketing consultancy in Vancouver, was brought in by Alberta Tourism to deliver a series of workshops across the province last month. He noted the popularity of farmers’ markets in the Lower Mainland has exploded. “Traffic has increased ten-fold in the past four years,” he said. “Consumers want to know where their food came from, the face behind it,

and they will pay for that because its value is clear to them.” Sharing your story face to face or online, through a blog or a newsletter provides a valuable connection to your customer. “Use your blog to spark dialogue on your site but don’t try and control that dialogue,” he said. “Over time you can build equity in your story for increased financial value and brand value.” Baker points to Ontario crop farmer Wayne Black who made CBC News after he began Tweeting about farming. An increasing number of Canadian farmers are finding that Twitter or Facebook can be used to bridge the gap between farm and table, and connect with Canadians wanting to know more about their food’s origins. “We’re able to explain what we do on our farm,” Black has said. He’s answered questions on pesticide use and invited a consumer to his field. Other agribusinesses use Twit-

ter to talk about the farm business’s latest products or whether the cows are out to pasture. Like Black, they answer questions on pretty much anything. When it comes to introducing new products or services, Twitter et al. can prove beneficial for small businesses, said Baker. Farmers across Canada are sending off a Tweet about their day, whether it be the time the cows are down with milking or whether the weather is right for seeding. They say their followers’ list is growing consistently. Savvy farmers, said Baker, know that social media is more than just a way to connect with customers. Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, to name a few, are key business tools that can be used for networking with other farmers, for marketing efforts and following market prices. Organizations like the Alberta Canola Producers Commission use Twitter to let farmers know about upcoming

“Use your blog to spark dialogue on your site but don’t try and control that dialogue.” events or the newest barley disease. The commission estimated last year about 250 of Alberta’s 13,000 canola growers use Twitter, up from about 25 just a few months prior. Social media, says Baker, is one way to bridge an ever-widening gap between the hard-working people who produce our food and the people who buy and consume it. “As more and more of us move to the cities, having some connection to the people behind the food we eat is becoming increasingly important to us,” he said.

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Delays cast doubt on CWB’s ability to run pools UNCERTAIN  As of last week, the CWB had agreements

with only two grain handlers BY ROD NICKEL

WINNIPEG/ REUTERS

he Canadian Wheat Board’s limited success in teaming up with grain handlers to survive the loss of its marketing monopoly is raising doubts about price pooling, a nearly century-old way for farmers to manage their price risk. The CWB, which loses its monopoly on Aug. 1 and becomes one of many buyers of farmers’ grain, is buying grain for its pools — which are a means of averaging out prices over a period of time and helping farmers avoid volatility. But farmers are hesitant to commit to the CWB without assurance that they will be able to easily deliver their next crops, since the CWB owns no grain storage elevators of its own. So far, CWB has struck agreements with only Cargill Ltd. — the third-largest Canadian grain handler — and the single-site South West Terminal. “It is a concern,” said Lynn Jacobson, a farmer and president of Alberta’s Wild Rose Agricultural Producers. “If the price (of wheat) starts to slide, you will do better in the pool.” Jacobson has committed a portion of his expected spring wheat production to the CWB’s pool in hopes that it will strike agreements with more grain handlers, which include Viterra

HELP WANTED  Alberta director says

farm labour issues need addressing BY SHERI MONK

AF STAFF / PINCHER CREEK

Inc., Richardson International Limited and Louis Dreyfus Corp. Viterra is the target of a friendly takeover bid from Glencore International PLC.

Prefer pooling

Farm labour organization hoping to carry on

Starting with the crop that farmers are now planting, farmers can shop around for the best prices based on a series of variables like quality grade and protein. “There’s guys who have never been marketers and they don’t want to have anything to do with marketing, so they like that pooling,” said Norm Hall, a farmer near Wynyard, Saskatchewan, and president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan. “It’s a whole new world out there.” The CWB’s chief executive, Ian White, said he expects to reach agreements with all Canadian grain handlers. “We understand farmers’ concerns and they’re going to want to make decisions as quickly as they can,” he said. “We’re working very hard to get these agreements in place as quickly as we can so farmers have that level of comfort.” White declined to say how much wheat the CWB has secured so far, but the board has set a goal of pooling one-third of Western Canada’s wheat and barley, based in part on how pooling volumes have grown in Australia, which dumped its own wheat monopoly several years ago.

“At this stage, I’m very confident we’ll have agreements with everyone” handling western grains, White said. The industry group that represents grain handlers also expects deals to get worked out eventually. “All of the different elements that need to be negotiated are on the table,” said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevators Association. “It just seems to be taking longer than people expected. It is very complicated.” Pooling wheat on the Prairies dates back to the 1920s through provincial co-operatives and moved under the wheat board’s monopoly control during the Second World War. The board has long maintained that by pooling so much of the crop, it could command higher prices. But it remains to be seen if the CWB, without its monopoly clout, can attract a similar volume of wheat, said Murray Fulton, professor of public policy at University of Saskatchewan. “If you’re going to get the kind of premiums the board was talking about earlier (under its monopoly), you need a lot of volume,” he said. “It’s a bit of a chicken and egg.” The CWB is already downsizing sharply to prepare for the open market. The CWB currently has around 300 employees, down from 400 in December, and will likely have fewer than 100 workers by the end of 2012.

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Supporters of a non-profit organization that helps farmers deal with labour issues say they hope to carry on despite an impending loss of federal funding. The six-year-old Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council was told last summer that its funding will be terminated in March 2013. “The council has been working toward becoming a selfsustaining organization by generating revenues through its products and services,” said Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst, the organization’s executive director. “The board of directors is striving to ensure agricultural stakeholders remain well supported and continue to have access to reliable labour market information and customizable solutions for their HR management and training needs through CAHRC.” Finding and keeping good help on farms is tougher than ever, said Grant Hicks, a CAHRC board member and honey producer in the Peace River area. Hicks has turned to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to get seasonal help, but says the paperwork burden needs to be addressed. “I started in September last year and I was doing paperwork until the first week of January and it’s all nonsensical,” said Hicks, who plans to increase the number of foreign workers on his farm to nine from his usual five this year. “These guys have been here for three or four years and some of them, seven or eight years. When they go home in the fall, they know that they want to come back here and

we know that we want them to come back here and yet we start our paperwork as though it was the first time that we ever approached this.” Serving on the council’s board has opened his eyes to the scale of agriculture’s labour woes, said Hicks. He said a fellow board member, a vegetable grower from the Maritimes, also couldn’t find workers — despite doubledigit unemployment rates in his region — and nearly gave up farming. “Then they were able to access offshore labour and now their kids are involved and they’re going to keep it going,” he said. “It’s become a profit-making thing because they could get labour that wanted to work at a cost that they could afford to pay.” The challenge in finding labour may be national, but each province has different criteria and thresholds, which Hicks says poses a secondary challenge. “The unemployment situation in the Maritimes is around 14 per cent and even with the 14 per cent unemployment rate, these vegetable growers were able to access foreign labour,” said Hicks. “That would not happen in the Alberta region — if we had eight per cent unemployment they would not approve it. Canada is not a level playing field, and that is the reality of it.” CAHRC has been working with the agricultural sector to develop best practice guides and HR management tools. Hicks said he hopes the organization can continue to fund that sort of work. “I would be a big fan of that. To me, that means they’ll become more responsive to the needs that are on the ground,” said Hicks.

WHAT’S UP Send agriculture-related meeting and event announcements to: will.verboven@fbcpublishing.com

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June 11: Alberta Pork Region #3 Meeting, GP Inn, Grande Prairie. Call: Barb 877-247-7675 June 11/13: Alberta Beef Producers Semi-Annual, Four Points Sheraton, Edmonton. Call: Rosanne 403-451-1174 June 12: Alberta Pork Region #3 Meeting, Dow Centre, Fort Saskatchewan. Call: Barb 877-2477675 June 13: Alberta Pork Region #2 Meeting, Westerner Park, Red Deer. Call: Barb 877-247-7675 June 13/14: 2012 Original Grazing School for Women, Location TBA, Vegreville. Call: Roxanne 780-3844100 June 14: Alberta Pork Region #1 Meeting, Coast Lethbridge Hotel, Lethbridge. Call: Barb 877-2477675 June 14/15: 2012 Ladies Livestock Lessons, Christian Camp, Pine Lake: Call: Ken 403-342-8653

June 14/15: UCVM Beef Cattle Conference 2012, Coast Plaza Hotel, Calgary. Call: Brenda 403210-7309 June 14/16: Peace Country Beef & Forage Assoc. Pasture Walk, Fairview. Call: Morgan 780-8356799 June 15/17: 42nd Alberta Provincial Plowing Match, Lerigher Grounds, Wanham. Visit: www.wanham.org June 18/19: Future Fare 2012, Deerfoot Inn & Casino, Calgary. Call: ALMA 780-638-1699 June 19: Controlled Grazing School, Location TBA, Olds/Bowden. Call: Amber 403-335-3311 June 20: Growing with Canola Crop Walk, 6 km west Highway 12, Consort. Call: CARA 403-664-3777 July 18: ACPC/CCC Canola Diagnostic Clinic, Research Farm 9:30 am, Fairview. Call: Michelle 780-835-5015 July 25/26: 9th Southern Alberta Grazing School for Women, Starland County, Delia. Call: Kerry 403-642-2255

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

U.S., Japan farm co-ops form new grain trade venture ORIGIN OPTIONAL  The commodities will

The only predictable thing about the weather, is

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it’s

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come from the U.S., Canada, Australia BY TOM POLANSEK CHICAGO / REUTERS

he biggest farm co-operatives in the United States and Japan are joining forces to improve delivery of U.S. wheat and barley to the biggest buyer, the latest sign of growing competitive pressure and supply anxiety in the global grain market. China’s fast-growing appetite for imported grain and food stuffs has fuelled concerns about the availability of global food supplies, with some firms shifting to favour long-term deals over spot buying. At the same time, several major takeovers or deals among the world’s leading grain merchants have stoked interest among Asian companies to get a bigger foothold in key markets. Marubeni Corp. is the leading contender to buy U.S. grain trader Gavilon. Minnesota-based CHS Inc., owned by farmers and ranchers across the United States, will own 51 per cent of a joint venture with Japan’s Zen-Noh. The joint venture, called CZL Inc., will primarily supply wheat and barley grown in the United States, Canada and Australia to Japan. CHS moves more than one billion bushels of grain annually to more than 60 countries, according to the company. The company had revenues of $36.9 billion last fiscal year. The deal gives Zen-Noh a stronger base in the United States, where it already runs a joint venture with Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. that buys, stores, sells and ships crops in the United States. Zen-Noh also operates a merchant business that includes grain facilities along the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico, traders say. The deal gives Zen-Noh more depth and better access to export facilities in the Pacific Northwest that serve Asia, traders said. It also provides access to a larger pool of supply. CHS Inc. says it is the country’s third-largest exporter of grain, and accounted for nearly seven per cent of all wheat and barley shipments between 2007 and 2010, according to Bill of Lading data aggregated by PIERS. Zen-Noh is far smaller, having shipped less than one per cent

“They want assurances from the people who they’re doing business with that they’re getting product. There can be no disruption of supply.” CHUCK CONNER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF FARMER COOPERATIVES

of all exports, or just over 1.2 million tonnes in the four-year period, the PIERS data show. “The headline country has been China,” said Chris Hurt, agricultural economist for Purdue University. “Their incomes are growing so fast... You see a lot of positioning for the possibility that Mother Earth’s resources just can’t keep up with demand. This causes people to want to have better assurances of available supplies.” Concerns about China gobbling up more of the world’s food supply have increased the urgency among grain companies to operate in the United States and Canada. The two countries account for more than a third of the world’s wheat and corn exports. The drive for a foothold in North America has fuelled the largest consolidation in the grain industry since Cargill bought grain storage, transportation, export and trading operations from rival Continental Grain in the late 1990s. Glencore, the world’s No. 1 commodities trader, saw a large value in Canada, striking a $6.1-billion deal in March to buy the country’s largest grain handler, Viterra.

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Japanese push

Japanese companies, in particular, have been pushing to expand in the United States, with Marubeni Corp. confirming May 7 it was interested in acquiring Gavilon. Japan was the world’s sixthlargest importer of wheat in the 2011-12 marketing year, taking 6.1 million tonnes, the most since the 1996-97 marketing year. It was the world’s largest importer of corn, with purchases of 16.1 million tonnes. Importers worry that increased grain buying by China will exacerbate any future supply disruptions. China’s corn imports are likely to jump almost 60 per cent in the year ending September 2013. That would make it the world’s fourth-largest buyer as Beijing strives to supply livestock feed to meet the fast-growing demand for meat and to cool near-record prices, according to a Reuters survey.

Assured supply wanted

Increasing worries about supply availability are a shift from a decade ago, when importers were more comfortable being spot-market buyers of commodities, said Chuck Conner, chief executive of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. “With the markets that we’re selling into in Asia, particularly on any product that involves feed, those customers are just simply demanding year-round contracts,” said Conner, a former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “They want assurances from the people who they’re doing business with that they’re getting product. There can be no disruption of supply.”

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NEWS » Markets

}OUTLOOK DIM

JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Wheat stocks at four-year low Global wheat stocks should fall to a four-year low by the end of the 2012-13 season with the crop outlook dimming in the European Union, Russia and Morocco, the International Grains Council said May 24. The IGC said global corn stocks, in contrast, should climb to a three-year high by the end of the 2012-13 season, buoyed by record global production. World wheat production in 2012-13 was cut by five million tonnes to 671 million, sharply below the prior season’s 676 million while end-season stocks were downwardly revised by 15 million tonnes to 191 million, a four-year low. Corn could replace some wheat in livestock rations, the IGC said. — Reuters

Russia’s Summa buys into the big league Russian investment group Summa will pay almost six billion roubles ($186 million) for a 50 per cent minus one share stake in Russian state grain trader United Grain Company (UGC), giving it a big role in one ofthe world’s biggest wheat markets. The stake in UGC could catapult Summa’s businessman owner Ziyavudin Magomedov into a powerful player on world agricultural markets as Russia may become the second-largest wheat exporter this year, recovering from 2010’s drought.

Canola’s highs appear to be in for the summer Seeking safety } Investors have been fleeing risky assets, including grains By Phil Franz-Warkentin

CE Futures Canada canola contracts bounced around during the week ended May 25, initially posting declines before climbing back to finish with small gains in most months by Friday. The bounce on Friday could be seen as supportive from a technical standpoint, but the general consensus right now seems to be that the highs are in for the summer and that any attempts at gains should be seen as good selling opportunities. The theory is that inevitable weather scares and sporadic good news on the economic front should provide occasional support, but the expectations for large North American crops and the general uncertainty with the global financial system will keep the path of least resistance to the downside. Milling wheat, durum and barley futures saw some light commercial activity during the week. Canadian wheat futures climbed sharply higher, playing catch-up with the U.S. wheat market that posted its gains earlier in the month. Barley edged slightly lower. In the U.S., the first week of nearly round-the-clock trading hours at the Chicago Board of Trade saw corn and wheat end lower, while soybeans were mixed. The general sense of economic uncertainty pervading many markets had investors bailing out of riskier assets across the board during the week; that selling spilled into the grain and oilseed futures as well. News that China was cancelling some soybean purchases also weighed on old-crop prices. However, new-crop soybeans managed to finish the week higher, while the losses in the new-crop grain contracts were less severe. Attention in those deferred positions will focus squarely on weather conditions going forward, with any threats to U.S. yields expected to provide some support. However, just as with canola, the pessimism in the outside economic markets will continue to overhang the futures.

Record expected

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada released updated supply/demand estimates during the week, forecasting canola production this year at 15.1 million tonnes. While that’s a little lower than earlier estimates, if realized it would still be a new record by about a million tonnes. At the same time, exports and the domestic crush are forecast to remain solid, and the Agriculture Department

now predicts two years in a row of ending stocks of 600,000 tonnes. The general rule of thumb in recent years has been that ending stocks below a million tonnes would be considered tight, but that low level hasn’t been seen since 2004 when production was about half the current levels. Much has changed in the industry over the past eight years, and end-user demand is also expected to be about double what it was back then. Global canola/rapeseed stocks are also expected to be much tighter by the end of 2012-13, which bodes well for canola prices from a fundamental perspective. The European Union’s rapeseed crops, which are seeded in the fall, suffered from adverse weather conditions over the winter, which has caused production estimates to steadily decline from the region. Oil World, the Hamburg-based international forecaster, recently pegged rapeseed production in the EU this year at 18.1 million tonnes. That would be the smallest crop in six years, and well below the 19.1 million grown in 2011. Ukraine, which is a major supplier for the EU, is

also expected to have a smaller crop, according to Oil World. “This will raise the global dependence on Canadian and Australian rapeseed and canola export supplies, and will keep prices of rapeseed and canola well supported,” said the company. A separate report from the Australian Oilseeds Federation warned that dry conditions in the eastern parts of the country were threatening the establishment of canola crops there. In its first production estimates of the year, the federation estimated Australian canola production in 2012-13 at 2.965 million tonnes, which would be down slightly from the 3.185 million grown in 2011-12. One of the largest customers of Canadian canola in recent years, China, is also

one of the world’s largest rapeseed producers and production there is forecast at 13 million tonnes, which would be unchanged on the year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s data. However, if ending stocks of 600,000 tonnes are considered tight in Canada, the USDA carry-out projections for China look very supportive for prices at first glance. USDA forecasts canola/ rapeseed stocks in China as of September 2013 of only 134,000 tonnes, which would compare with 1.424 million as recent as 2011. Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

Shareholders back Glencore takeover

Collect a cutworm for research

BIG WEEK }

Japanese trading house Marubeni also purchases the U.S. third-largest grain handler

Reuters

Shareholders of Canada’s largest grain handler, Viterra, voted overwhelmingly last Tuesday in favour of a friendly takeover bid by Swiss commodities trader Glencore International, pushing the biggest deal in years for the global agricultural sector closer to reality. The deal was supported by 99.8 per cent of shareholders, far more than the required two-thirds majority. Glencore offered Viterra $16.25 per share, or $6.l billion in March for the company, which owns the biggest share of Western Canada’s grain storage and farm supply outlets, as well as nearly all grain storage capacity in South Australia. The acquisition, which still needs regulator approval in Canada and Australia, would bring Glencore into the big leagues of global agriculture, which are dominated by Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus, the socalled ABCD quartet of the industry. Meanwhile, also last Tuesday Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. said it will buy U.S. grain merchant Gavilon for $3.6 billion, a landmark deal that may put it in pole position to benefit from China’s booming demand for imported corn from the world’s biggest supplier. It unites Gavilon’s huge U.S. network of grain elevators and infrastructure — the country’s third largest — with a powerful global trading desk that already supplies a fifth of China’s soybeans imports. Marubeni said the acquisition will nearly double its grain-trading volumes, extending an already wide lead over its Japanese rivals as it bets big that China’s demand for imported corn will continue to surge ahead, surpassing Japan’s 16 million tonnes a year of imports in as little as three years. A combination of Marubeni and Gavilon is seen by analysts as a good commercial fit, marrying Gavilon’s presence in the U.S. Central Plains and Midwest with Marubeni’s operations in the Pacific Northwest the shortest U.S. sea route to Asia. Marubeni is already the second-largest exporter of U.S. grains to China, with soybean shipments surging fivefold since 2008, based on data from trade intelligence firm PIERS.

The Canola Council of Canada is looking for anyone willing to collect cutworms for research to help develop best-management practices for control, with a chance to win an iPad as an incentive. Through the Canola Agronomic Research Program (CARP), which is funded by the provincial canola grower organizations, a three-year scientific cutworm research study has been approved and is starting this spring. Visit the Canola Council of Canada website and scroll down to Recent News & Updates to read full contest information.

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Agricultural extension — old and new versions PROGRESS  Communications have brought extension into the modern age,

but a retired DHE wonders if there’s something missing

BY REBECCA DIKA

AF CONTRIBUTOR / GRANDE PRAIRIE

DHE Audrey Shapka greets Trout Lake School representatives on a trip there in 1983 to teach teachers nutrition and involve students in enjoying healthy food, often Alberta grown. Pilot for the trip was another DHE colleague, Susan Meyer, who reported that the airport at Trout was very busy but the horses moved for each takeoff and landing. SUPPLIED PHOTO

any remember the glory days of Alberta Agriculture’s extension services, but it’s been nearly two decades since the province moved away from a model that had served the fledgling province well for years. By the mid-1990s, generalists — in the form of the district agriculturist (DA) and the district home economist (DHE) — had outlived their shelf life. The shift from mixed farming to specialization required specialized support. “A century ago, extension services were about how to provide food,” says Barb Shackel-Hardman, head of the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) Extension Branch. Today, we have more specialized business as well as new opportunities such as ag tourism and local food production to promote and educate.”

There are now 13 ARD field offices in Alberta, with two in the Peace. Field office administrators can assist with farm fuel program renewals, premise ID numbers and traceability and facilitate access to specialists or information, says ShackelHardman. This past winter, ARD launched a series of webinars — one-hour web-based seminars hosted by resident experts every Wednesday afternoon from Feb. 22 to April 11. “Even though the live events are over you still have the chance to participate on your own time,” says ShackelHardman. “Best of all it is free and you can do it all from the comfort of your home.” In addition to the regular series, she says there have been other webinars on specific topics such as local market initiatives, commodity forecasts, etc. Specialists are still available by dialling 310-FARM through the

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A retired district home economist wonders whether some of the changes have gone too far. Born and raised near Provost, a young Susan Meyer thought the local district home economist was the most sophisticated and organized woman she knew. Meyer aspired to “be just like her” when she grew up. Eventually, she did become a DHE herself… sans the sophisticated part, but she was organized, Meyer says. After earning a bachelor of science in home economics, a degree no longer offered, Meyer ultimately took the position of regional home economist in Fairview overseeing a staff of nine there and in Grande Prairie. After marrying Arnie, who ran a saskatoon orchard just outside of Grande Prairie, Meyer asked for a demotion to your regular garden-variety DHE. When the tide turned for ARD’s extension services in the mid-’90s, she accepted a position as organization development specialist until her retirement in 2008. One of the things Meyer misses is the informal nature of the job back in her heyday. “The local MLA would often pop into the regional ag office to talk about what’s new and, more importantly, he would listen to the DAs, the DHEs and the rest of the staff.” Somewhere along the way, says Meyer, those ad hoc exchanges of information have been lost. “There’s been a shift in politics such that the estrangement between management and the union filtered through to politicians and the bureaucrats.” The fleet of DAs and DHEs were in the trenches, with access to the real front-line workers — the farmers, says Meyer. They knew what was going on, what to be aware of, when a program might not be making sense and would talk about that with the MLA over the counter of the district office. Now, says Meyer, there’s no trust in either direction.

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She acknowledges the speed and efficiency of electronic communications such as webinars. Yet Meyer says even today, many people continue to tell her how much they enjoyed that face of ARD in rural communities. The profile of the department seemed much larger then that it is now. DAs usually had a column in the local newspaper and the DHE might be found on the radio waves or in the classroom. “Farmers might ask the DA how much fertilizer they need and now this information comes from the manufacturer,” says Meyer. “If you’re a cynic you might question the authenticity of information coming from a person who’s selling the stuff telling us how much to use.” Meyer says that while the established businesses in agriculture can be well served by this new model of extension services, smaller operations and new entrants are at risk of falling through the cracks. “The people who rely on the the farmers’ markets to sell their product, the locavores who are trying to advance the concept — I believe if we are ever going to have a vibrant economy in rural areas, we still need people doing stuff at each level,” she says.

U.K. GM WHEAT VANDALIZED

AF CONTRIBUTOR / LETHBRIDGE

any herbicides about to go off patent are now for sale under new names, and producers are being urged to read labels more closely. “You definitely should check the mode of action group of the herbicide before you use it,” said Agriculture Canada weed scientist Hugh Beckie. “But you may also want to use a different active ingredient. There are differences among chemicals in some groups.” Some are prepared tank mixes, sometimes with a different surfactant, an activator or safener. Beckie said he has found mixtures of herbicides that attack a single weed are more effective at controlling herbicide-resistant biotypes — which can account for as much as 10 per cent of weed populations, especially in the black soil zone. “We have to hit resistant weeds with many little hammers, avoid doing the same thing at the same time year after year,” said Beckie. “Some of our new cereal varieties are very competitive. That can make wild oat control less of an issue. And winter wheat is a great tool — you may not even need to use wild oat herbicide on it. Of course, the more diverse your crop rotation, the more opportunities you have to control weeds where they’re relatively easy to control — grassy weeds in broadleaf crops and broadleafs in cereals.” More and more weeds are becoming resistant to herbicides. Of the

top 10 yield robbers, seven have herbicide-resistant populations, said Harry Brook, of Alberta Agriculture’s Ag Info Centre. That means farmers need to be familiar with the chemical names of active ingredients in order to manage the whole range of newly named tank mixes, he said. Alberta Agriculture’s website lists the active ingredients in products currently being sold in the province by their mode of action group, their chemical family, the name of the active ingredient and the trade names that include that chemical. The website address is www1.agric. gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs. nsf/all/prm6487.

Keep records

Brook also recommends keeping a record of the product you use so you can rotate your herbicides. Also, some active ingredients are more effective than others in the same group. Beckie has assessed the risk of target weed species developing resistant populations. Herbicides in Group 1, the fops and dims, and Group 2, the sulfonyl ureas and some other chemistries, are considered high risk, with resistant biotypes developing with 10 or fewer applications. But even within these groups, the Group 1 active ingredient clethodim (found in Arrow 240 EC, Centurion, Select, Shadow RTM) can be a little more effective. Beckie advises saving it for critical situations — fields where you suspect you have resistant grassy weeds and a less competitive crop. “Save your best products for your least-competitive crop,” he said.

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“There are no easy answers to weed resistance, we just have to use our tools as best we can — and use the little hammers that give the crop an edge over the weeds.” Even the herbicides that are low risk, glyphosate (Group 9) and Liberty (Group 10), can lead to herbicide resistance in 20 or 25 applications, said Beckie. “Many people could well have used glyphosate more than that since it became a low-cost chemical in the early or mid-’90s. Perhaps it’s time to add another active ingredient to glyphosate when we use it for a burnoff. That gives us two ways to fight weeds and reduces the risk of weed escapes.” It’s important to double-check that one of the active ingredients in a product you plan to use will control your problem weeds, said Brook. “You should also look at the resistance potential of each chemical — the more you use a single mode

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of action in a field, the more likely you’ll have resistant weed biotypes,” he said. “And some modes of action, such as the ACCase inhibitors of Group 1, can lead to resistant biotypes with fewer than 10 applications. Others take more applications.” Brook recommends checking the herbicide use pyramid developed by Beckie to figure what product to use. The pyramid shows how many applications it can take herbicides of each group to develop a resistant biotype. “Weed populations can have different ways to survive a single herbicide, too,” said Brook. “Some weeds survive glyphosate through hypersensitivity — the herbicide kills aboveground plant parts on contact, so the chemical is not translocated and the plant can recover. Other plants have so many copies of the protein synthesis system that glyphosate attacks that the chemical can’t block them all.”

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Britain’s first-ever field trial for genetically modified (GM) wheat was vandalized last month. An intruder broke into the trial at Rothamsted Research in eastern England and was arrested and charged with criminal damage. A statement issued by Rothamsted said the intruder had failed to disrupt the experiment. “This is criminal, and must be dealt with as such. It’s worse than that. It is the wilful imposition of ignorance, directly comparable to Nazi book burning in the 1930s,” Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers Union said in a speech to British parliamentarians. The GM wheat is designed to emit a pheromone that strikes fear into aphids and attracts a predator to devour them.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Lake Manitoba ranchers fear another year of losses — and that compensation will dry up Worried } Soggy ranchers appeal to province to extend last year’s compensation programs to include this year “You couldn’t get enough feed in here for them, and you couldn’t find enough dry area to calve out a herd that size,” said Teichroeb. “And obviously, there’s not going to be enough grass for them this year.”

by daniel winters staff / langruth

anitoba’s 2011 flood waters have receded, but residents and ranchers along the shore of Lake Manitoba are still dealing with the damage they caused. Flooded fields, clogged drains, downed fences and cattail-filled pastures where now only seagulls graze are common sights. Jonas Johnson and his wife Lydia live in a 94-year-old house about half a mile from the lakeshore on their farm near Langruth north of Portage la Prairie. The forage they produce on their five quarters and Crown leases provided a good living — until last year. On the wall of their porch, there’s an aerial photo of the farm taken when they were still grain producers. It shows a lush corn crop growing in a tightly managed field between the yard and the shore. Now, the view from the sevenfoot dike the government built to protect their yard site from the deluge, tells a different story. “We ain’t going to get a crop off there — and the rest of it is all black and dead and stinks,” said Johnson, co-chair of the Lake Manitoba Flood Recovery Committee. He said he’s satisfied with the compensation he received last

This year uncertain

Jonas Johnson stands on the seven-foot dike built around his yard. Behind him, formerly productive hayfields that extend to the Lake Manitoba shore, are a sea of muck. photo: Daniel Winters year for flood damage and lost production. “What scares the hell out of me is that they’re not talking about this year,” he said. Living so close to Lake Manitoba was never a problem, except for “minimal” flooding during the 1950 flood, he said. In 1961, the Fairford channel, halfway up the lake on the west side, was dug and farmers were told they’d never be flooded again. But in 1971, the Portage Diversion started bringing in three times as much flow as the Fairford channel takes out. “The Portage Diversion is the culprit,” said Johnson.

“The lake has been high since ’71,” added Lydia. Last spring, all eyes were on the Hoop and Holler Bend south of Portage la Prairie as the province worked feverishly to spare downstream residents in Winnipeg. But that effort just turned the flood into someone else’s problem — including Tom Teichroeb, co-chair of the flood recovery committee. The water that flooded 25 quarters of his 360-head cattle operation has receded, but pockets of trapped water and saturated land means his cattle will likely stay another year on rented pastures near Plumas, and his hayfields will go uncut this summer. T:10.25”

Compensation flowed at a decent pace last year, leaving him and many others with “no complaints,” he said. But things seemed to freeze up beginning in December, leaving “significant odds and ends” outstanding, he said. Appeals to the provincial government for clarification on whether compensation will be forthcoming for losses this year have gone unanswered. “Our situation here is exactly the same as last year,” said Teichroeb. “It would really be nice to have some confirmation that we’ll have the same program as we had last year.” Farther up the west side of the lake near Amaranth, Terry Dayholos, a rancher and councillor with the RM of Alonsa, said about 1,400 acres of land for his 275-head herd still “looks like a disaster area.” “It’s all cattails and mud. I have some grain land there, and it’s a soup,” said Dayholos, who added that his attempts at field work on even the drier parts nearly saw his tractor swallowed by the mire. Farther north, cattle ranches

around the end of the lake, near Eddystone and Vogar, are in worse shape than his. Dayholos said he’s still waiting on some of his 2011 compensation and hasn’t heard “a thing” about compensation for this year. Grain farmers can get unseededacre coverage but the $30-peracre payment offered for forages would hardly cover the cost of seed, spray, fuel and time. Dayholos said he won’t get on to his fields until mid-June at the earliest — meaning this year will also be a writeoff. “That $30 just doesn’t do nothing,” said Dayholos. “By the time you get in there, you won’t get nothing that you could use.” In an email, a spokesperson with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives said provincial officials are still in “assessment mode,” and no decision has been made on whether or not to extend last year’s programs. “No doubt some fields will have been damaged and others may remain flooded, but overall this is a much different spring which provides producers with more options on their farms for pasture and hay,” she wrote. “We will be assessing the ongoing impact as we move into the spring period. We will also work with producers to restore forage fields impacted by flooding in 2011.”

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

Monsanto supports CFGB growing projects Inputs } Monsanto’s $60,000 donation will support 86 CFGB growing projects in four provinces Staff

onsanto Canada has donated $60,000 worth of farm inputs to Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) growing projects his year. Community growing projects are a unique way for people to contribute grain and other agricultural commodities to help people who are hungry around the world. A typical project involves a group of people working together to farm a common plot of land. After harvest, the production is donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for use in overseas food aid and agricultural development projects managed by its 15-member agencies. “As a company 100 per cent focused on agriculture, we look for opportunities to give back to rural communities and rural residents through our corporate giving program,” said Trish Jordan, public affairs director with Monsanto Canada, in a release.

Working co-operatively with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Monsanto Canada area sales managers and their teams in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, went through the list of established and new growing projects provided by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and were able to co-ordinate access to Genuity Roundup Ready technology, Roundup brand agricultural herbicides, DEKALB seed and other Monsanto products for use in 86 different community growing projects. A total of 31 projects are being supported in Ontario, with the remaining 55 projects covering the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Last year, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank approved 116 projects worth $44 million in 36 countries to help over two million people. That included over $15 million for Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, three countries struck by last year’s severe food shortage in East Africa.

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Sugar beet growers agree to new contract Risk } High input cost and weather uncertainty prompt a push for a better deal helen mcmenamin

af contributor / lethbridge

egotiations that saw growers, plant officials, workers and businesses in Taber and other irrigation towns staring into the possibility of the closing of the Rogers Sugar factory in Taber have concluded with an agreement between growers and the sugar company. Sugar prices have been at record highs — up to 33 cents a pound — dur-

“But, the risk in beets isn’t just in growing and harvesting the crop…” Gerald Third Alberta Sugar Beet Growers

ing the life of the last three-year contract. The old contract was $321 a tonne of sugar, equivalent to about 6.5 tonnes of delivered beets. The new contract is more complex, with a base price of $340 a tonne of sugar (15.43 cents a pound), and a bonus of half of realized sugar prices between 16 and 22 cents. So, if Rogers achieves an average of 22 cents or more per pound of sugar, growers will receive $425 a tonne of sugar extracted. The 256 farmers who grow about 35,000 acres of beets in southern Alberta were determined to break out of their traditional role as pricetakers. The last contract period wasn’t encouraging for them. They weathered the disastrous fall of 2010, when winter ended beet harvest just a week after it started leaving much of the crop frozen in the ground and useless. Last year prices hit record levels but growers were locked into a contract based on lower prices. Growers felt they were shoul-

dering an unfair share of the risk and missing the rewards, so they pushed hard in contract talks this spring. They felt the returns haven’t kept up with those from some other irrigated crops. “Farmers are used to carrying crop risks,” said Gerald Third, executive director of the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers. “But, the risk in beets isn’t just in growing and harvesting the crop. Grower payments depend on the sugar extracted from the beets. So, growers take the risk that the factory runs efficiently and the beets don’t deteriorate in storage. Grower control and crop insurance end when the beets go over the scale, but the risk doesn’t.” Third describes negotiations between beet growers and Rogers as “playing with mutually assured destruction,” because neither can exist without the other. When negotiations all but stalled and the beet growers seriously considered not growing beets this year many people in Taber were worried. Although the area has other food

processors, sugar production is a big part of the economy. Rogers employs 120 people full time and about 300 between August and March. But, without an improved contract, beets weren’t looking all that attractive to growers. Beets fit well in southern Alberta irrigated rotations because harvest is late, usually October, after most crops are in the bin. Roundup Ready beets have also made growing a good, clean crop easier and greatly reduced the risk of soil erosion. But, the TUA (licence) for the RR beets is costly and fertilizer and irrigation costs have also risen — average input costs are $975 an acre. At $321 for a tonne of sugar — about 6.5 tonnes of beets and 20 to 25 tonnes per acre yields, growers weren’t making great money. And, the average contract is for 140 acres, not enough to justify investing in specialized new equipment. The contract gives growers a slightly better base price and half the extra returns of refined sugar prices above 22 cents a pound.

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CFIA pulls back on fertilizer tests Safety }

Assessments will continue on whether products affect health and safety

staff / Citing its focus on protecting health and safety, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it will no longer regulate the effectiveness of fertilizers sold in Canada. The agency confirmed May 25 that from now on, its activities in the Canadian fertilizer and supplement sectors “will concentrate on verifying that products are safe for humans, plants, animals and the Canadian environment.” CFIA said it will also continue “to verify that products are properly labelled to avoid product misrepresentation in the marketplace and protect consumers.” Shedding the focus on efficacy is done with the goal of “allowing CFIA resources to focus on protecting the healthJOB andID:safety of Cana4671-A dians,” the agency said. It addedDATE: that the change “also MARCH provides industry with greater flexibility, reduced costs CLIENT: and less red tape.” SYNGENTA CANADA The agency said it will work PROJECT: with “industry and other QUILT ON CEREALS stakeholders” to develop an implementation plan for the PUBLICATION: ALBERTA FARMER tightened focus. EXPRESS Fertilizers and supplements — that is, substances DESIGNER: CB other than fertilizers that “improve the physical condi( ) MECHANICAL ( ) PDF/X tion of soils, or plant growth” — SIZE: that are imported into FINAL 8.125" X 10" and/or sold in Canada are UCR: 240% governed under the federal Fertilizers CLIENT SERVICE Act and Regulations. PROOFREADING Regulated products under act include farm fertilARTthe DIRECTION izers, micronutrients and PRODUCTION various lawn and garden products as well as supplements such as water-holding polymers, microbial inoculants and composts. CFIA said its safety assessments on those goods examine all ingredients in a fertilizer or supplement, including its active components but also its formulants, carriers, additives, potential contaminants and byproducts that might be released into the environment as a result of product’s use and application to soil. Until now, CFIA’s assessments have also been expected to ensure the efficacy claims on a product label are “supported by scientifically valid information” and a product’s benefits are “substantiated in a clear and definite way.” Factors that CFIA evaluators have until now considered when evaluating product performance include “product application rates, nutritional requirements of the target crop, usage pattern, frequency of application, current agricultural practices, appropriate statistical methods, research trial designs, and Canadian climate and soil conditions.”

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

Beet growers looking at marketing options CO-OP  An Ontario beet growers’ group has access to a plant in the U.S. BY HELEN MCMENAMIN AF CONTRIBUTOR / TABER

outhern Alberta sugar beet growers have been unanimous in their support of their marketing group in their negotiations with Rogers Sugar, but in the long run they want to see more marketing options. The Rogers Sugar factory is the only plant producing sugar from beets in Canada. Its parent company, Lantic Inc. also owns canebased plants in Vancouver and Montreal. Sugar production from beets is limited to fall and winter because spring temperatures cause stored beets to lose their sugar content as they respire. Beets are stored in straw-covered piles with vented plastic pipes to keep them at temperatures close to freezing and minimize respiration. The Rogers plant extends its operating period by storing “juice,” a hot molasses beet extract that is an intermediate in sugar production. The company can crystallize sugar out of this product when temperatures are too high for safe storage of beets. Today’s corporate investment rules don’t generally support facilities that only generate product seven or eight months of the year, no matter how efficiently they run. Beet growers in southern Ontario have an alternative — they’re part of a 10-year-old co-op in the U.S., Michigan Sugar. Each share in the co-op entitles and obliges a grower to deliver beets from one acre per share to the co-op plant. Co-op director Mark Richards of Dresden, northwest of Chatham, Ontario, says taking beets across the border for processing is not a problem. “We pile our early-harvest beets at the end of the field and a commercial carrier picks them up within four days,” he says. “We have no real problems at the border. Our drivers have passes and the trucks pass through an X-ray machine that checks the load.” Richards says improved plant management has put more money into shareholders’ pockets. “We’ve invested in maintenance and updated the machinery in the plant,” he says. “We treat it like our own business, making all our decisions to maximize efficiency. It’s paid off in spades.”

$80 a ton compared to $35 before we formed the co-op,” says Richards. “Even if you update that to $50, we’re still doing a lot better owning the plant.” Gerald Third, executive director of the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers, has been looking into alternative marketing options for beet growers. He’s particularly interested about the potential to use industrial beets as feedstock for crop-based chemical production such as butanol, which can be polymerized into plastics for biodegradable pop bottles. It is also a biofuel that blends easily with gasoline and doesn’t absorb water as ethanol does. “There’s a lot of potential, but we’ll need to do more research and look hard at the financial viability of a plant based on industrial sugars.” Third would also like to see world sugar trade opened up, so Canadian farmers could sell into the U.S. and other markets when there is a shortfall in world markets. “We just want to be able to compete.”

The Rogers Sugar factory at Taber is the only plant producing sugar from beets in Canada.

“Every day I get to walk outside and see what we’re building.

We can see our future

when we step out our front door.” – Jason Rider, Ontario

Better markups

About half the co-op plant’s production is white sugar for retail sale, the other half is sold as industrial bulk product. Recently, the co-op has been producing powdered (icing) sugar and buying cane sugar to produce brown sugar. Both have much better markups than regular white sugar, and boost returns to growers. “Our gross prepayment is over

“There’s a lot of potential, but we’ll need to do more research and look hard at the financial viability of a plant based on industrial sugars.” GERALD THIRD

It’s time to tell the real story Canadian agriculture is a modern, vibrant and diverse industry, filled with forward-thinking people who love what they do. But for our industry to reach its full potential this has to be better understood by the general public and, most importantly, by our industry itself. The story of Canadian agriculture is one of success, promise, challenge and determination. And the greatest storytellers are the 2.2 million Canadians who live it every day. Be proud. Champion our industry.

Share your story, hear others and learn more at AgricultureMoreThanEver.ca

ALBERTA SUGAR BEET GROWERS

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

College revives original beekeeping course the BUZZ } Commercial industry sees major

new initiatives in Peace Country by rebecca dika

af contributor / fairview

Jean d’Eeckenbrugge completed the program after coming out west from Quebec and has been producing a natural, specialty honey as organically as possible.

ommercial beekeeping is enjoying the spotlight again in northwestern Alberta. After a 13-year hiatus, a beekeeper technician program is being offered in Fairview and a national honeybee diagnostic centre is on track to open this summer near Grande Prairie. Formerly Fairview College and now a Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) facility, the campus accepted four students to the commercial beekeeping program in January. After months of preparation, the resurrected program was approved at the beginning of

October. Allowing approximately seven weeks for promotion and recruitment, GPRC made the decision to run the course with a small first class commencing December 1. Three students are from Alberta and one is from Ontario. “Next year we hope to have about 12 students,” said program instructor Eric Stromgren. “We’ve had interest from across Canada.” Because of the length of the practicum component, the college was unable to accept international students due to work visa requirements. Stromgren said necessary adjustments will be in place for the next intake January 2013. Designed to prepare graduates to make a living as beekeepers,

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the 11-month program envelopes apiculture and the beekeeping business. Classroom study is combined with industry work experience and visits to large commercial operations. Stromgren said a unique feature is the 26-week practicum where students work for a salary while acquiring practical experience with beekeeping and honey production through placements with commercial beekeepers. “The goal of the program is that the students will leave with enough education to eventually run their own beekeeping business,” he said. The former Fairview College offered a similar program for nearly two decades before it closed it in 1999. Just a year prior, Jean d’Eeckenbrugge completed the program after coming out west from Quebec. By the time he earned his certificate, d’Eeckenbrugge had a 50-hive apiary. For the past 15 years, d’Eeckenbrugge has been producing a natural, specialty honey as organically as possible. Peace Gourmet Honey, sold currently at the Grande Prairie Farmers’ Market, offers specialty floral varieties of wildflower honey from the nectar of spring saskatoon, chokecherries, wild strawberries, raspberries, high-bush cranberries and wild rose blossoms. Summer varieties include honey from red and alsike clover and alfalfa hayfields. “We keep our bee yards at a minimum distance of one mile from the canola fields and out of reach of golf courses to avoid exposure to herbicides and pesticides,” he said. D’Eeckenbrugge, born in Africa and a resident of Belgium before coming to Quebec, has become an anomaly, said Stromgren. “We are seeing very little recruitment of new beekeepers,” he said. “Some are coming into the industry from a family of beekeepers but there’s very little new blood. He expects that to change with the new GPRC program. The federal government’s $2-million funding of GPRC’s National Bee Diagnostic Centre at the Beaverlodge Research Farm will help. The centre is expected to perform approximately 1,500 diagnostic services each year for businesses and other clients. These services will help increase the growth, international competitiveness and profitability of the sector. Dr. Carlos Castillo, applied scientist and manager of the National Bee Diagnostic Centre, said the facility is scheduled to be completed in June. The beekeeping program will be working with the new diagnostic centre, said Stromgren. Currently, a 300-hive apiary is being constructed and will be ready this summer at GPRC’s Fairview Campus, where the new program is based. The apiary will be in production by next year and Stromgren said though it is relatively small on a commercial scale, it “will be large enough to give GRPC students a good taste of what a commercial operation looks like.”

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

Temperature, organic matter and nitrogen bump yields

finally back out on the land

impact } Location

and weather affect input impact by alexis kienlen af staff / edmonton

A farmer west of Okotoks, Alta., harrows his field. Photo: Wendy Dudley T:8.125”

T:10”

Efficient use of nitrogen ranks right up there with seeding rates when it comes to increasing canola yields, an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher told the Alberta Canola Industry update recently. Neil Harker, a researcher in weed ecology and crop management, recently worked on a study comparing the yield payback from fertilizer levels, seeding rates and fungicide applications. The study was done in eight locations across Western Canada, with crops in a canola/wheat/canola rotation or in continuous canola. Data was collected in 2008 and 2010. In order to test nitrogen, sites were given 100 per cent of their nitrogen requirements or 150 per cent of their nitrogen requirements. Edmonton and Lacombe hit their target yields with 100 per cent nitrogen. All sites except Swift Current increased yield when 150 per cent nitrogen was added, but the yield increase wasn’t substantial in 2008. When the researchers looked at the economics of yield increases that occurred from adding more nitrogen, they found an economic benefit at only three of the eight sites in 2008. In 2010, five of the eight sites hit the target yields with a 100 per cent nitrogen regime. “Conditions were much better for increasing nitrogen at every single site and some were substantially higher,” Harker said. “It would suggest that if you had extra money and wanted to put it into inputs, nitrogen would be No. 1,” Harker said. All of the sites except Lacombe showed an economic payoff with an increase of nitrogen. When the data was crunched, all of the sites with extra nitrogen produced higher yields. However, when higher nitrogen rates are used, oil concentration was reduced. “That was consistent across the whole study,” he said. “It was also interesting to me that the higher oil concentrations improved with rotation. That was very consistent, as it was for yield,” he said. Researchers also found that high organic matter and cooler temperatures improved yields. All of the four highest-yield sites had the lowest number of days over 30 C. “Temperature and organic matter were well correlated with yield. You can see with some of the increases in soil organic matter which suggests cool conditions in some cases, because organic matter doesn’t burn off as well,” said Harker. When the researchers looked at the averages from the eight locations in 2008 and 2010, they found seeding rate and adequate nitrogen rates had a positive impact on both yield and oil concentration. In 2008 and 2010, an increase from 75 seeds to 150 seeds resulted in larger yields. Canola seeds only have about 50 per cent emergence, which is low compared to other crops so higher seeding rates also increased yield.

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GRAIN-HANDLING FOCUS

Moisture key for canola stored in grain bags CRITTERS  A longtime user says mice aren’t a problem, but ravens are BY DANIEL WINTERS STAFF

rain bags have a lot of attractive features for farmers, but are they good for storing canola? The answer is both yes and no, says Digvir Jayas, a University of Manitoba professor. “They market these bags as sealed, air tight, but our research shows that they are not as air tight as the companies would have us believe,” said Jayas, in a recorded video presentation at a recent Manitoba Canola Growers Association workshop last winter. Keeping the bags air tight is critical for bagged storage because trapped carbon dioxide emitted by the canola keeps it fresh. Jayas emphasized that the bags, first developed in Argentina 20 years ago, were designed to store dry grain for short durations. Based on experiments conducted last winter, he found that 20-tonne bags of canola filled at eight per cent moisture survived more or less intact for 10 months.

Keeping the bags air tight is critical for bagged storage because trapped carbon dioxide emitted by the canola keeps it fresh.

long as six months in the bags with little damage. But at 14 per cent, the grain suffered heavily from the effects of mould, insects and rodents, Moisture matters problems which became noticeAt 10 per cent moisture, there was able after eight weeks. some spoilage in the top layer, but The grain at the lower-moishe estimated that- 6itxcould last as12-04-12 ture percentages was EG - Grain Guard 6.625 -_AGI 10:40 AM Page 1 “free flow-

ing” and easily handled by the extractor. But the 14 per cent canola was badly caked, riddled with vermin colonies, had to be removed with a front-end loader tractor, and was livestock-feed quality at best. “You should not be storing canola in these bags at 14 per cent

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moisture content under Manitoba conditions,” said Jayas. Grain bags, typically nine to 10 feet in diameter and up to 250 feet long, are pitched by marketers as a handy alternative to fixed, metal bin storage, offering airtight, temporary in-field storage for times when bumper crops overflow a farmer’s storage capacity, or for niche and identity-preserved crops that need to be segregated.

Disagrees

Aaron Yaeger of Humboldt-based Grain Bags Canada, who has been using them on his own farm and selling the devices since 2005, disagreed with Jayas’s findings. “I don’t agree with that. We’ve done 14 per cent and even up to 15 per cent canola for years on our farm. Hundreds of farmers in Saskatchewan could prove that wrong,” he said, following a grainbag demonstration at the MCGA workshop. “If you have a properly closed bag, the grain is a living entity and it will consume the oxygen. For grain to spoil, it needs oxygen.” Yaeger added that if suitable precautions are taken to seal the bag, such as piling a sloped layer of dirt on top of the both ends, and taking steps to prevent ravens from pecking holes in the top, canola packed at 14 per cent moisture at harvest should be good until the following summer.

In Jayas’s experiment, he noted that the bag was sealed with boards nailed together, and claimed that method could have allowed water to infiltrate.

Ravens a problem

Mice haven’t been a big problem, nor have deer, but ravens are the bag users’ worst nightmare. “If they do come, and you shoot one, you hang the dead bird up near the bag. Then nobody’s coming,” said Yaeger. He added that he has stored oats in bags for up to three years with only limited spoilage. But having that storage alternative meant that he could wait for the price to climb from $1.40 to $3.50 before taking it to town. Also, conventional bin storage allows grain to dry out, which means that precious tonnage is lost. Bags, in his opinion, are superior because they don’t allow the grain to breathe. “If you put grain in a bag for three months, the bag ends up being free, because you didn’t have any shrinkage,” said Yaeger. Also, apart from the lower fixed costs and flexibility offered by bags, their narrow diameter allows the grain to cool in as little as a few days, rather than well into the winter. “The only guys knocking bags are the ones who don’t have them,” he said.

“You should not be storing canola in these bags at 14 per cent moisture content under Manitoba conditions.” DIGVIR JAYAS

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Rains boost Aussie wheat crop

U.S. wheat harvest underway

Much-needed rainfall over Australia’s eastern Grain Belt May 26-27 raised hopes of higher yields for the 2012-13 wheat crop. Rains in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), which together account for a bulk of the nation’s high-protein hard wheat output, received between 25-50 millimetres of rain, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said. Weeks of dry weather had led some farmers to worry about yields. But despite the rains, analysts are still forecasting a smaller 2012-13 harvest of between 24 million and 26 million tonnes as farmers move away from wheat to canola and livestock where they achieve greater returns. — Reuters

Combines are rolling in top U.S. wheat producer Kansas, with indications of an average to aboveaverage crop, despite many drought-hit fields. Reported yields ranged from 43 to 57 bushels per acre for newly harvested fields, with test weights running from 58-62 pounds. Production in the state over the last 10 years has averaged 338.22 million bushels, with last year’s production of 276.5 million bushels the lowest since 2002. The highest production in the last decade in Kansas was notched in 2003 when farmers brought in a bumper crop of 480 million bushels. Average yield over the last decade is 38.5 bushels per acre. — Reuters

Summer weather review — Part one, hail dubious distinction } Alberta is No. 2, but would like

to be even lower on the hail-frequency chart by daniel bezte

s of press time last week it really hadn’t been very “summery” yet across much of Alberta, but summer is around the corner and maybe if we discuss summer-like weather it will finally move in to stay! If you’ve spent any significant amount of time living on the Prairies, then there’s a good chance you have probably experienced a hailstorm. While hail can occur pretty much anywhere across North America, there are two main regions where the chances of experiencing a hailstorm are significantly higher. The first region is the central United States and the second region is the Canadian Prairies, and in particular… yep, you guessed it — Alberta. For those of you who routinely read my column, then you know I have a fair number of weather peeves. Well, I have another one, and it has to do with hail, or rather, the improper use of the term hail. Hail refers to the falling of ice from a cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) cloud. Ice pellets, snow pellets, and graupel (a snowflake that has been coated in ice) are not hail and should not be called hail. These types of precipitation will often occur in the spring or late fall and are not associated with thunderstorms.

It can melt

One of the first questions I get asked about hail is: can it be too warm for hail? The answer is yes. If the upper atmosphere is warm, then the freezing level in the atmosphere is very high up. If a thunderstorm does develop, and if hail forms in the storm, chances are that the hail will melt well before it ever reaches the ground. So, the key ingredient for hail to form is to have plenty of cold air aloft and to make sure it is not too high off the ground. Most thunderstorms will produce hail. The question is whether the hail will grow large enough to make it to the ground without completely melting. As we have already discussed, a very low freezing level helps this happen, because the hailstone only has a short distance to fall through the relatively warm air.

Another way to keep a hailstone from melting before it hits the ground is to start off with a really big hailstone! This is one of the main reasons Alberta sees so much hail. The topography of Alberta is such that, while ground temperatures can be really warm, the freezing layer is not that high up relative to what it might be in other parts of Canada.

Height not necessary

Now, here is where a second common misconception about thunderstorms and hail lies. To get really big hailstones you do not necessarily need a really tall (or high) thunderstorm. Hail forms when a particle passes from the warm (liquid) part of the cloud into the cold (freezing) part of the cloud. When this occurs, any water on the particle freezes and you now have a small hailstone. If that hailstone just kept going up towards the top of the thunderstorm it wouldn’t accumulate much more ice and therefore it would remain small. For hailstones to get really big they must go back into the warm (liquid) section of the storm, pick up more water, then go back up into the cold section of the cloud so the water can freeze. Repeat this cycle a number of times and you can get some really big hailstones. When it comes to hail, size really does matter! Pea-sized hail will do little if any damage to structures and plants, while golf ball-sized hailstones can literally destroy everything in their path. When it comes to measuring hailstone size things become a little strange. That is, you don’t usually hear that the hail will be around 50 mm in diameter. Instead, you hear that the hail was the size of a golf ball or an egg. Of all the things we measure in regards to weather, hail has by far the most descriptive measurements. Here are some of the more common descriptive terms used for hail and the approximate size that hailstone would be (see chart above). Here are a few hail records. According to NOAA, the U.S. national weather office, a new record for the largest hailstone

hail size it up

Object Pea Marble Grape Ping-pong ball Golf ball Egg Pool ball Tennis ball Baseball Grapefruit Softball

Diameter 5 mm 10 mm 15 mm 40 mm 45 mm 50 mm 60 mm 65 mm 70 mm 100 mm 115 mm

ever was set on July 23, 2010 in Vivian, South Dakota. It was eight inches in diameter, 18.62 inches in circumference, and weighed 1.93 pounds. However, in 1983, hailstones reportedly as heavy as 2.2 lbs. fell in Bangladesh. In the next issue we’ll start our look at the other most damaging part of a thunderstorm — wind.

NOAA, the U.S. national weather office, says a new record for the largest hailstone ever was set on July 23, 2010 in Vivian, South Dakota. It was eight inches in diameter, 18.62 inches in circumference, and weighed 1.93 pounds. photo: NOAA

This issue’s map shows the total precipitation across the Prairies during the 30-day period ending May 22. Even without showing all the precipitation that fell from May 26-28, most of the Prairies saw significant amounts of precipitation in May. Nearly all regions reported at least 40 mm, with a good portion of Saskatchewan and part of eastern Alberta seeing over 100 mm.

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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

No. of weeks ______________ =

______________

Minimum charge $15.00 per week

❏

VISA

❏

MASTERCARD

Card No. __/__/__/__/ __/__/__/__/ __/__/__/__/ __/__/__/__/

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

________________

Add 5% GST

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Various

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – John Deere JD 7400 TRACTOR, 740 loader w/grapple, 7550 hours, new tires, mfwd, new seat, one owner, (780)367-2483

BUYING HEATED/DAMAGED PEAS, FLAX & GRAIN “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Kubota 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, Peas, etc. Green or Heated Canola/Flax

You always get what you want at: Richardson Pioneer Magrath - 403-758-3162

COMBINE WORLD located 20 min. E of Saskatoon, SK on Hwy. #16. 1 year warranty on all new, used, and rebuilt parts. Canada’s largest inventory of late model combines & swathers. 1-800-667-4515 www.combineworld.com

Combine ACCessories FARM MACHINERY Combine – Accessories 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.

BUYING:

HEATED & GREEN CANOLA

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd YOUR 28 4:17 PM NEED TO SUPPLEMENT Agricultural 2/24/12 Operation? Work P/T with F/T income potential. No decent “jobs” in your Rural small town? Make your own! Earn 30% commission selling Silpada -Sterling Silver jewelry. Become an Independent Representative and earn some extra cash/serious money! (306)468-3189 or silver@yourlink.ca, www.mysil“ON FARM PICK UP” pada.ca/lindsay.taylor 1-877-250-5252

CANOLA WANTED

Heated, Green, Damaged Buying all levels of damaged canola. Excellent Market Prices. Bonded, Insured.

CALL 1-866-388-6284 www.milliganbiotech.com

INC.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Annual L.A. Vintage Machinery Club Show!

BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting

FARM CHEMICAL SEED COMPLAINTS 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

Building Land Rollers since 1983

Includes: Silent Auction Saturday; Skills competition; Demos; Operating Sawmill; Vintage Tractor Pulls; Many Displays of Antique equipment, tractors & autos; Parade of Power daily at 1pm; Pancake breakfast daily; Kiddies’ barrel train ride; People mover; Sales Tables; also dry camping available.

158 & 148 JD loaders Willmar 500 Fertilizer spreader FINANCE, TRADES WELCOME 780-696-3527, BRETON, AB

NEW WOBBLE BOXES for JD, NH, IH, MacDon headers. Made in Europe, factory quality. Get it direct from Western Canada’s sole distributor starting at $995. 1-800-6674515. www.combineworld.com

Membership in the L.A. Vintage Machinery Club is open to anyone interested in preserving history. Membership cost is $20 per year. For More Information please contact:

Carol: 403-783-5322; Doug: 403-782-2231 Bill: 780-434-2014; Jim: 403-886-4075

ANTIQUES ANTIQUES Antiques Wanted WANTED: USED OR OLD guns, antique handguns, working or not, ammunition and related items. will pay cash. (403)816-1190

AUTO & TRANSPORT AUTO & TRANSPORT Semi Trucks & Trailers

2007 Kenworth T300 80,000 miles, 330 HP cummins, duel fuel tanks, 6 speed Allison auto tranny, DVD and headphones, 4 leather bucket seats & bench seat in 3rd row - seats 7 adults, differential locks, air ride & air ride hitch. Asking $85,000 - was $135,000 new. Contact Jared Sherman at Soderglen Ranches near Airdrie, AB. 403-333-0499

You always get what you want at:

MENZO

Cell: 403-380-0173 • http://www.menzo.ca ENGINES

Tillage & Seeding

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

1998 JD AIR DRILL, 735 tool, 40ft, 787 tank, 230/bu, single chute, excellent conditon, field ready. $30,000 OBO (780)387-1743, Millet, Ab.

FARM MACHINERY

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Air Seeders

FARM MACHINERY Grain Cleaners

1999 FLEXICOIL 5000, 57FT airdrill, 12in spacing, 4in rubber capped packers, dual chute, c/w flexicoil 3450 triple comp. tank, $39,000 obo (780)621-6704

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

FARM MACHINERY Haying & Harvesting – Various 2005 HESSTON 9260 C/W 15ft 9070 disc header, 25ft 5200 draper, w/fore & aft, triple delivery, pu reels, approx. 2000/hrs, very good condition. (780)963-0641, 780-203-9593

Combines FARM MACHINERY Combine – John Deere 2006 JD 9760 BULLET rotor, 950sep. hrs. loaded, exc. condition, JD 615 PU platform, done approx. 1000/ac, $185,000; JD 936D draper header, pu reel, w/upper cross auger. (403)344-2160, Aden Ab.

3 BUNNING MANURE SPREADERS for rent, call Lawrence 403-588-4787

You always get what you want at: Neufeld Petroleum & Propane Ltd.

Grande Prairie - 780-814-6111

510 INT SEED DRILL, w/grass seeder, mint condition, $2,800; 2 Int. #10 seed drills, fair condition, offers; 21ft IH deep tillage cultivator, $1,000; Fordson Major diesel tractor, w/bucket, not running, offers. 12ft Deep tillage cult. (780)919-9985 5710 BOURGAULT AIR DRILL w/midrow banders 6450 TBH tank; 100-ft. Flexicoil 67XL sprayer w/auto rake. Phone (403)312-4202 6200 IHC 24FT SEED drill, grass seed, rubber packers, factory mover, spare parts, markers, shedded, $5,500 OBO, (403)932-3047, 403-850-4395 ACREAGE EQUIPMENT: CULTIVATORS, DISCS, Plows, Blades, Post pounders, Haying Equipment, Etc. (780)892-3092, Wabamun, Ab.

www.PrecisionPac.com

Big Tractor Parts, Inc.

FLEXICOIL 1720 AIRTANK, (no monitor) $4,900; 2003 Case WDX 1101 swather, 25ft triple delivery, 2800hrs, header transport, $49,000 obo; 1996 Barrett 53ft tri-axle liner, hog rail, $12,500 obo; JD 7721 combine, $2,900; (780)621-6704

Geared For 2/24/12 FOR 4:17 SALE: PM 3PH MESOLPA (Vicon) 8 wheel rake, all new teeth & bearings, $2,500; 1-MF 7ft 3PH The Future Mower, $700. (403)934-4407 or (403)934-6666

DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 24

FARM MACHINERY Tillage Seeding DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC& & AB.indd 18 – Air Drills2/24/12

GRAIN CLEANING BY COLOUR sorting, mobile unit. improve your profits on cereal grains and pulses! Removing Ergot, off color and dirt, phone for rates. (403)377-2548

2002 JD 1820, 45-FT., 10-in. spacing, double shoot, dutch paired row, 3-1/2in steel, $27,000; 2004 McHale 991B bale wrapper, $8,500; (403)665-2341, Craigmyle, AB.

AEROWAY 15FT LOW ACRES, like new, $10,000 (780)524-2987, Valleyview, Ab.

www.PrecisionPac.com

Custom Fabrication 10’ - 30’ Land Rollers • 3pth Units Available

www.PrecisionPac.com

cover, $25,000; Case Int. 8500 Air Drills, 33ft, 54 points, 7in. spacing, $15,000; 70ft. Flexi-Coil SprayJD 2210, LDR, 3PTH, MFD DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC JD & AB.indd 2/24/12 er, 4:17Hyd. PM Pump, Auto fold, single wheels 16.5x16.1, 4430 c/w13 loader windscreens, $3,500; Leon 3000 Rock picker, hyd. JD 4440, loader available • JD 4450 c/w loader drive, $1,500; Blanchard swath roller 6ft. $200.; FARM MACHINERY Loaders: Sakundiak HD6-37 12hp Kohler motor, JD 4450 FWA, 280 loader Parts & Accessories $500., Sakundiak HD7-1000 c/w 13hp Honda motor JD 7200, ldr, 3pth FWA, $800; Co-op Press drill, 2-10, 6in. spacing, $1,000; JD 7710, FWA, ldr. avail. low hours 1975 Louisville 700-Gas 361, 58,980 miles, Steel Mustang 2044 Skidsteer, 1300hrs. box, wood floor, roll up tarp, 10.00R20 tires, $4,000; 1984 Versatile 4400 Hydrostatic swather, JD 6410 3pth, loader available Ford motor, 20ft, pu reel, Keer Sheer, heater, a/c, Clamp on duals, 20.8x38-18.4x38 radio, $3,500. All prices OBO. (403)734-2348

Rycroft - 780-765-2865

June 16th & 17th, 2012

Rycroft - 780-864-3778

FARM MACHINERY 1990 MF 8450 COMBINE, HYDROSTATIC MerBC & AB.indd 30 2/24/12 Tractors – Various DP2371_PPAC_Classified cedes engine, long auger, westward p/u hopper

NEW JD SINGLE POINT HOOK-UP CHANGE OVER KITS In stock, brand new, $825. Other header conversion kits also available. 1-800-667-4515. www.combineworld.com

Dunvegan Ag Solutions

Father’s Day Weekend

Richardson Pioneer

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

650 JD DOZER, READY for bush clearing, oilfield or land clearing, reasonable rates, contact Gordon (780)878-3515, (780)910-2120

Located at the South West Corner of Lacombe, Alberta on the Central Alberta Ag. Society Grounds The club has over 27 acres of show grounds!

Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc.

You always get what you want at:

www.PrecisionPac.com

CONTRACTING Custom Work

HAVE GUNS WILL TRAVEL! Gopher control in north Central Alberta, Call Cameron at 780-349-0343

You always get what you want at: High River - 403-652-3500

• Competitive Prices • Prompt Movement • Spring Thrashed

BUSINESS SERVICES

2003 CAT 928G WHEEL loader, 13,000hrs, 3rd valve, 2-3/4 yard bucket, tires 60%, very good condition. (780)963-0641, (780)203-9593, Stony Plain, Ab.

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

www.PrecisionPac.com

1-877-641-2798

FARM MACHINERY Loaders & Dozers

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Tillage 1997 JD 737 DRILL, 36ft, paired row, single chute, 3-1/2in. rubber press, 787 TBH 230/bu cart, primary blockage, shedded, exc. cond. (780)877-2518

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.

4:17 PM

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

RETIRED FROM FARMING, MOST machinery shedded, 1998 Peterbuilt, 460 Cummins, 18spd, w/36ft tandem Doepker grain trailer $75,000; Rock picker, $1,500; PTO wind power plant; 400 barrel fuel tank. $14,000 w/fuel; 3pth, 6ft cultivator $800. (403)586-0978, Torrington, Ab. RETIREMENT SALE: LZB JD 12ft hoe drill, 7in spacing, w/fine seed & fertilizer box, stored inside, exc. cond. $3,200; JD 702 10 wheel rake $5,200; 20ft cultivator w/shovels and spikes w/3 bar harrows, cable lift, $2,200; 12ft double disc w/3 bar harrows, $3,500; Phone (403)932-5522, Cochrane, Ab. 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

HIGH QUALITY MANDAKO ROLLERS, Summers discs, wing up rollers, 5 plex rollers, chisel plows, heavy harrows, vertical tillage implements, packer bars, rock pickers, (403)545-2580, 403-580-6889, Bow Island, Ab.

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Various 60FT 820 9IN SPACING cultivator, NH 3 kit and hitch; 36ft 8810 10in spacing cultivator, NH 3 kit & hitch; 42ft 7400 Ezee on deep tillage, 12in. spacing, (403)350-0744, Eckville, Ab.

TracTors FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Case/IH CIH 155 PUMA, FWA, 3pth, 220hrs, loaded, like new, offers, (403)546-2170, Swalwell area

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – John Deere JD 7810 840 LOADER, 4500hrs, mint. condition, never been a chore tractor, (780)990-8412

You always get what you want at:

Andrukow Group Solutions Inc.

Kneehill Soil Services Ltd.

www.PrecisionPac.com

Camrose - 780-608-2351

Drumheller - 403-823-4600

4:17 PM

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

REAL ESTATE

LIVESTOCK LIVESTOCK Cattle – Angus

John Deere 790, 30 HP, Diesel, 652 Hours, P/S, 3PTH, $12,500.

John Deere 2950, FWA, 85 pto HP, 6 Cyl Diesel,540 + 1000 Pto,s 3PTH, $22,500.

PB RED & BLACK Angus yearling bulls for sale. Canadian pedigrees, semen tested. Phone (780)336-4009, Kinsella, AB.

Kubota L2850 FWA, 4 Cyl Diesel, 34 Eng HP, 27 Pto HP, P/S, 3PTH, $11,000.

John Deere 920, 40 HP diesel, REBUILT Motor, NEW Rear Tires, 3PTH, P/S, $11,500.

LIVESTOCK Cattle – Red Angus

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

REGISTERED RED ANGUS YEARLING bulls, quiet, various birthweights 70lb and up, semen tested, $2,250. Bellshill Angus, Lougheed Ab. (780)386-2150, 780-888-1374

38 REGISTERED RED ANGUS bulls, (from 6 sires) quiet, easy calving, low to moderate birth weight, good growth, EPD’s, guaranteed breeders, exc. for heifers or cows. Cleveley Cattle Company (780)689-2754, Ellscott, AB.

You always get what you want at: DynAgra

Standard - 403-644-3707

You always get what you want at: DynAgra (a division of) Beiseker Agri Services Ltd.

www.PrecisionPac.com

Beiseker - 403-888-1030 www.PrecisionPac.com

JD 9400, 9420, 9520, 8970 JD 7810 & 7210, FWA JD 9860, 9760, 9750, 9650, 9600 JD 9430, 9530, 9630 CIH 8010 w/RWD, lateral tilt, duals 900 hrs. Case STX 375, 425, 430, 450, 480, 500, 530 CIH 8010-2388, 2188 combine 9880, 9882, 9680, 9682 NH, 4WD CIH 435Q, 535Q, 450Q, pto avail. MF 8160 FWA Low hours NH TJ 450, New Triples, Big Pump STX 375 Case with Big Pump

JD 4710, 4720, 4730, 4830, 4920, 4930 SP sprayers JD 9770 & 9870 w/CM & duals CIH 3185, 3230, 4260, 3150, 4420 sprayers CIH Skidsteer 440 & 430 9580 Kubota, FWA, FEL, low hours 3545 MF w/FWA FEL Rogator 854 c/w tires. Selection of Combine Headers & Haying Equipment

REAL ESTATE

You always get what you want at: Cargill AgHorizons

APPROX. 275 HEAD QUALITY commercial reMobile Homes DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 19 2/24/12 4:17 PM placement heifers. Red & Black. No implants, herd health program, palpated. Ready to breed. Will sell Price Reduced! 1998 Mfg. Home, 1216/sq ft. MB in smaller packages. Contact John (403)934-3012 w/walkin closet, ensuite, and DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC &and AB.indd 20 2 more bdrms 2/24/12 4:17 PM or (403)934-7972 guest bath. Open kitchen & LR, cedar deck, w/enclosed porch. (403)653-2166 FULL FLECKVIEH BULLS, ONE and two year REAL ESTATE olds, born March & April, calving ease, and high maternal traits, (780)941-3843, New Sarepta, AB. Farms & Ranches – Manitoba

Vegreville - 780-632-2363

“LIKE MANY BEFORE, WE’LL HAVE YOU SAYING THERE’S NO DEAL LIKE A KEN DEAL” •Phone: (403)526-9644 •Cell: (403)504-4929 •Greg Dorsett (403)952-6622 •Email: kendeal@shaw.ca FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

LIVESTOCK Cattle Various

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

Interlake Farmland Meleb, MB. 157acres, 60/40 hay & mature trees, alongside water source 3 miles E of Hwy 7. $59,900.(204)477-9140,shelleyhenn@shaw.ca

www.PrecisionPac.com

LIVESTOCK Cattle – Charolais

Stretch your

You always get what you want at:

ADVERTISING DOLLAR!

1-888-413-3325

REGISTERED RED FACTOR/WHITE BULLS yearling and 2/yr/olds, big butted, seDP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 12big nutted, quiet,2/24/12 4:17 PM men tested, guaranteed, 50% down 50% upon free 50’ Flexicoil #75 Packer Bar, 1/yr as new ...$25,000 New Sakundiak 10x1200 (39.97’) 36HP, Kohler delivery. Call (403)933-5448, cell(403)608-1116. 2320 Flexicoil TBH airtank, 1997, clean always www.willowbrookcharolais.webs.com eng. E-K mover, P/S, electric belt tightener,

shedded, exc. cond ...................................................$20,000 Flexicoil 6 run seed treater ................................. $2,000 2006 51’ Flexicoil 5000 airdrill, 10”,5.5” rubber packers......................................................................................Call 2006, 39’ Flexicoil 5000 airdrill 10”,5.5 rubber packers, double chutes, used 1 year, like new.......Call 33’ CIH 8500 airdrill, 7” steel packers, Eagle Beak openers............................................................................. $8,500 134’ Flexicoil S68XL sprayer, 2006, suspended boom, auto rake, rinse tank, single tips...........$39,500 130’ Flexicoil 67XL PT sparyer, 2006, tail boom, auto rate, rinse tank, hyd. pump, combo jets, nice shape ...........................................$26,500 51 Flexicoil Bodies c/w GEN. SC 4” carbide spread tip openers, like new .................................................. $3,500 70’ Degelman Heavy Harrow, 9/16 tines good condition...........................................................$20,000 9435 MF Swather, 30’, 5200 header, PU reel 200hrs...........................................................$100,000 810H 25’ Hesston grain table - PU reel ........$10,000 9300 Westward MadDon swather, 1883 hrs. 21’, 960 header w/PU reel ................................................Call CIH WD1203 swather 2011, 280hrs, 36’ header, split PU reel, roto shears, header transport, top auger, floating rear axle 1/yr ...........................................$100,000 1372 MF 13’ swing arm discbine 4yrs, like new ....................................................................................Call

work lights, slim fit, 12 gal. fuel tank ............ $18,000 New Sakundiak 8x1200 (39.97’) , 25HP Kohler eng., E-Kay mover, battery, fuel tank............$13,000 New Sakundiak 7x1200 (39.97’) , 22HP RobinSubaru eng., battery & fuel tank ...................... $7,500 New E-Kay 7”,8”,9” Bin Sweeps .............................Call 2002 7000HD Highline bale Processor, c/w twine cutter, always shedded ......................................... $7,950 New Outback S3, STS, E drive, TC’s in stock New Outback E drive X c/w free E turns ........ CALL Used Outback 360 mapping.................................$750 Used Outback S guidance......................................$750 Used Outback S2 guidance .............................. $1,000 Used Outback E drive Case & JD Hyd. Kits......$500 Unused Outback Hyd. Kit Versatile 6 Series ........................................................................................... $1,000

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, Headsight Harvesting Solutions** Sales Rep for George’s Farm Centre

Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc. Stettler - 403-742-8540 www.PrecisionPac.com

You always get what you want at:

JUNE 23RD THE ALBERTA Sheep Breeders AsDP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 17 2/24/12 4:17 PM sociation will be holding the 2nd Annual Barn Burner Pen Show at the Cow Palace in Olds Alberta. This event will showcase purebred male & female sheep from across the province. For more information and a list of Exhibitors check our website www.albertasheepbreeders.ca or call the ASBA office at 1-866-967-4337

Taber - 403-223-2807

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Wanted WANTED: NH BALE WAGONS & retrievers, any condition. Farm Equipment Finding Service, P.O. Box 1363, Polson, MT 59860. (406)883-2118 WANTED: Small square balers and end Wheel Seed Drills, Rock Pickers, Rock Rakes, Tub grinders, also JD 1610 cultivators (403)308-1238 Advertise your unwanted equipment in the Classifieds. Call our toll-free number and place your ad with our friendly staff, 1-888-413-3325.

www.PrecisionPac.com

Specialty LIVESTOCK Livestock Equipment

LIVESTOCK Cattle – Hereford BULLS FOR SALE, REGISTERED Polled Here-

- 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

Neerlandia - 780-674-2820

www.PrecisionPac.com

ford’s, Registered Black Angus, 2/yr The Icynene Insulation DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 15 Yearlings and 2/24/12 olds, Double N Ranch, Sundre, 403-638-2356, System® www.doublen.ca

Adapter available to unroll new barb wire off of wooden spool

Neerlandia Co-op Association Ltd.

Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc.

ronsauer@shaw.ca

HEAT & AIR CONDITIONING

Barb Wire & Electric High Tensile Wire Spooler

You always get what you want at:

LIVESTOCK Sheep For Sale

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

www.penta.ca

MAINE ANJOU BULLS FOR sale purebred and half blood, black yearling bulls. Semen tested and guaranteed! Rocky Lane Farms, Rumsey, AB. (403)368-2114, (403)742-9835

IRON & STEEL

You always get what you want at: Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc.

You always get what you want at:

Torrington - 403-631-3900 www.PrecisionPac.com

IS ENOUGH OF A GAMBLE...

You always get what you want at: Kneehill Soil Services Ltd.

Linden - 403-546-4050 www.PrecisionPac.com

RECREATIONAL VEHICLES RECREATIONAL VEHICLES 2/24/12 Motor Homes

DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 21

Advertise in the Alberta Farmer Express Classifieds, it’s a Sure Thing! 4:17 PM

2008 Monaco Camelot Motorhome, Loaded

$214,000

Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc.

DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd Medicine Hat - 403-526-9499

www.PrecisionPac.com

FARMING

DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 23

4:17 PM

LIVESTOCK Cattle – Maine-Anjou

1-888-484-5353

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

5’X10’ PORTABLE CORRAL PANELS, 6 bar. Starting at $55. Storage Containers, 20’ & 40’ 1-866-517-8335, (403)540-4164, (403)226-1722

2/24/12 4:17 PM

You’ll be surprised what you can find in the Alberta Farmer Express Classifieds Call Maureen at 1-888-413-3325 Book your ad for 3 weeks & get 2 weeks free

(403) 347-0723 Torrington, AB

1-888-413-3325

2/24/12 4:17 PM

JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

TRAILERS Trailers Miscellaneous

2012 29½ ft Chaparrall 5th Wheel Trailer $29,900

You always get what you want at:

Richardson Pioneer

Dunmore - 403-527-6600 www.PrecisionPac.com

COMMON SEED Forage

DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 26

•Used 2 Weekends •Like New

TRAVEL

www.PrecisionPac.com

Agriculture Tours

DP2371_PPAC_Classified 2/24/12 INDUSTRIAL 4:17 PM BC & AB.indd 29 FOR leather and 2/24/12 4:17 PM SEWING MACHINE upholstery (403)749-3871, Delburne, Ab.

GRASS SEED, MEADOW BROME, common #1 Alfalfa Seed, Certified Beaver and common, excellent quality, will deliver, (403)793-1705, Brooks, Ab.

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“Making a grain donation is easy”, says Jay Burrows of Western Feedlots Ltd. “Just allocate a portion of your currently contracted deliveries (or pledge a portion of your new crop production) to Western Feedlots Ltd. (barley), or to Richardson Pioneer (oilseeds and wheat). Simply allocate an amount and we will make a split payment, with your grain donation going to “Combines for Cures”. We will do the paperwork, and forward a cheque to the Prostate Cancer Centre (PCC) on your behalf.

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Burrows says the cash value of a grain donation will be the price of grain on an existing contract, or if not contracted, the day it is delivered. After the donation is made, PCC sends you a tax receipt. Agrium Crop Production Services (CPS) retail outlets in the pilot test area (central Alberta) are also accepting cash donations or grain pledges.

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Olds College School of Agriculture has an opportunity available for an individual to instruct Western The C4C test pilot program officially launched in March, 2012, DP2371_PPAC_Classified BC & AB.indd 32 2/24/12 4:17 PM horsemanship, ground training, and training the young Western horse within the Equine Science and from five testing locations the statistics proved the need for program. This is a permanent part-time position that a rural Man Van. Over 70 per cent of those tested had never had involves full-time hours from late August to the end of April annually. Please forward a resume quoting a PSA test. competition #12059F by June 10, 2012. For further information on this and other employment opportu“We believe universal access in remote areas to prostate cancer nities, please visit our website at www.oldscollege.ca/employment.

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The Prostate Cancer Centre and Prostate Cancer Canada created this innovative program to increase the number of men in rural Alberta (aged 40+) to have a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test. This simple blood test can help with early detection and treatment of prostate cancer. Part of the program asks farmers to give the gift of grain. Grain collected as donations from now until the end of the year will help Combines for Cures purchase a mobile testing clinic – a Man Van™ – with money raised in rural Alberta. This vehicle will be dedicated to testing men in rural Alberta.

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awareness and PSA testing is clearly important,” says Pam Heard, executive director of the PCC. “When we involve communities in an important health initiative we stimulate change for a healthier future. It’s a call to action for men to take charge of their health.” Airdrie rancher John Lee encourages his rural colleagues to get that PSA blood test when the Prostate Cancer Centre brings the Man Van to their community. Lee had five years of baseline blood tests that proved critical in his cancer diagnosis in September, 2009. “Early diagnosis is important because it gives you so many options. With today’s medical technology it gives you such a huge opportunity for a complete cure,” says Lee. Burrows agrees with Lee. “We know our farm friends and clients are often too busy to go to the doctor,” says Jay Burrows of Western Feedlots, one of the locations where farmers can make their donations. “With the purchase of the mobile testing unit, we’ll help bring the medical experts to you.” Heard says statistics show that establishing a baseline PSA level at age 40, can help detect the early onset of prostate cancer, which will allow for more rapid access to treatment if necessary. “Ultimately, we will save lives,” she says. For more information about Combines for Cures go to www.prostatecancercentre.ca.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

hawks keep gopher numbers down

Alberta stables road map

One nesting pair of ferruginous hawks can eat 500 gophers in a season, but a 2010 inventory estimated the Alberta population at only 643 pairs (plus or minus 169), less than half the number found in a 1992 survey. Multisar, an organization that works within the Grassland Natural Region of Alberta, is working to install artificial nest poles, which can help increase the number of nesting hawks. Landowners who would like to join the growing number of participants who benefit from having these hawks on their land are welcome to get in touch with Brad Downey, ACA biologist and Multisar coordinator at brad.downey@ab-conservation.com.

The Horse Industry Association of Alberta (HIAA) has released the Alberta Stables Road Map, which highlights participating stables and provides Alberta stable shoppers with the right tools to make an informed decision. These maps feature Alberta Stable Industry (ASI) participating stables, a boarding stable checklist, and a comprehensive list of different disciplines. For more information, and to view the map, visit the ASI home page at www.findalbertastables.com or to have a map sent to you, call the Alberta Equine Federation (AEF) office toll free at 1-877-463-6233.

“It’s become quite a social event for people too, which is nice.”

Pound maker ram sale draws large crowd

Research project to study dairy feed amino balance

Top seller } A Suffolk consigned by Bert and Andrelei Grisnich

funding } Taking

sold for $1,650 to Paul Preston of Hays

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has announced funding of $133,000 to Alberta Milk to support a pioneering study on how to maintain high milk yields while reducing the use of amino acids in animal feed. Conducted by the University of Alberta Dairy Research and Technology Centre, the study will show how reducing the use of specific amino acids in the diet of dairy cows could allow producers to optimize the protein content in their cattle’s food intake, resulting in lower feed costs and mitigating the environmental impact on their farms and waterways through reduced excretion of excess nutrients. Nutrient intake and milk yields will be measured throughout the two-year study to eventually enable farmers to strike the right balance between protein intake and milk yields. “This project is an excellent example of the importance of research partnerships and how collaboration among multiple stakeholders benefits the lives of Canadians,” said Lorne Babiuk, University of Alberta vice-president (research). “The University of Alberta is proud to partner with Alberta Milk and the University of Calgary on this project which could have a substantial impact on the dairy industry.” This investment comes from the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP). In Alberta, CAAP is delivered by the Agriculture and Food Council of Alberta. www.agr.gc.ca/caap.

In Alberta, even the shepherds wear cowboy hats photos: sheri monk by sheri monk

af staff / fort macleod

ttendance was up and the bidding action was hot at the Fort MacLeod Auction market where the sixth annual Pound Maker Yearling Ram Sale was held on May 24. Warren and Norine Moore, who operate Second Chance Livestock Company near Stavely, hold the event every year, with Andy and Frances Pittman, Bert and Andrelei Grisnich, Graham and Janice Rannie and Freda Horton consigning stock as well. There were 185 people bidding on 106 head, which sold for an average of $866 each, up from last year’s average of $785 per head and 120 people in attendance. Top-selling ram was a Suffolk consigned by Bert and Andrelei Grisnich, which sold for $1,650 to Paul Preston of Hays. Of the breeds sold, there were eight head of North Country Cheviot, which averaged $1,019 per head, up from $796 last year, 65 head of Suffolk, averaging $913, up from $858 last year, nine head of Dorset, averaging $827, up from $587 last year, seven head of Hampshire, averaging $818, up from $609, 15 head

These Suffolk rams were popular — 65 head were sold at an average of $913. of Rambouillet at $648, down from $688 last year, and a new breed was added — two Coloured sheep, averaging $725. Warren says a good time was had by all, especially at the feast following the sale. “It’s become quite a social event for people

place at U of A Dairy Research Centre

too, which is nice. We had 120 lbs. of boneless leg of lamb, and we had one five-pound roast left. When all was said and done you couldn’t get enough potato salad or beans to serve a sparrow and the keg of beer was gone in an hour.”

JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Early life influences on breeding performance Effects } Litter sizes, sow housing and stress can affect how

sows’ and boars’ reproductive organs develop

By bernie peet

he North American pork industry is increasingly focusing on sow lifetime performance as a key goal for the breeding herd rather than pigs weaned per sow. After all, if high replacement rates and moderate lifetime productivity can be improved, the cost of producing piglets will be reduced. This was the theme of the recent Swine Breeding Management Workshop held at the University of Alberta, at which a panel of specialists from both Canada and the U.S., presented the latest research findings and practical experience. One relatively new area of study is the impact of early life experiences on the productivity of the gilt through her breeding life and also the impact on the boar. Not only does this include the suckling and rearing phase, but also the embryonic and fetal stages of development. Dr. Mark Estienne, from Virginia Tech in the U.S., described some of the effects that may influence gilt and boar performance. “A growing body of evidence supports the notion that the maternal environment in which a gilt fetus develops plays an important role in the development of the reproductive and other physiological systems,” he says. “If you put stress on the female during its development, it can affect development of

the reproductive organs, which won’t be evident until much later in life.”

Uterine environment

The impact of the uterine environment has become a lot more relevant in high-litter-size females because some embryos may suffer from intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) due to insufficient uterine capacity. Piglets in these low-birth-weight litters will have underdeveloped reproductive organs, compared to those in high-birth-weight litters. “Low-birth-weight boars may have poorer reproductive performance at sexual maturity and preliminary evidence from our laboratory supports this hypothesis,” Dr. Estienne said. He recently found that the birth weight of boars that were impossible to train for semen collection were lower than those that could be trained. Also, the low-birth-weight boars had lower sperm concentrations and total sperm per ejaculate than those classified as high birth weight. IUGR also impacts follicular development in gilts and the onset of puberty. One of Dr. Estienne’s studies showed that age at first standing estrus was negatively correlated with birth weight. Stress during the gestation period is another factor that affects the fetus. “A study in which sows were stressed by restraining them daily for five minutes during

weeks 12-16 of gestation looked at how this impacted the onset of estrus in female offspring,” he said. “Age at first estrus was significantly delayed in gilts farrowed by stressed sows (average 172 days) compared to gilts farrowed by control females (average 158 days).”

Sow housing

The type of sow housing used in gestation can also influence growth performance of the sow’s offspring and their onset of puberty. Dr. Estienne and his team compared the progeny of sows housed in pens, stalls or stalls for 30 days after breeding, followed by stalls for the remainder of gestation. “In our study, fewer gilts farrowed by females kept in crates throughout gestation reached puberty by 165 days of age compared with the other two groups,” he points out. Research from nearly 40 years ago compared the performance of gilts reared in litters of six with those in litters of 12. “At 25 days post-mating, the gilts from small litters had more embryos than those from litters of 12 pigs,” notes Dr. Estienne. “Moreover, through three parities, sows raised in litters of seven pigs or less were less likely to be culled and had higher farrowing rates and larger litters than sows raised in litters of 10 or more pigs.” Another study showed that boars raised in litters of six pigs or less reached puberty sooner and produced more sperm

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cells per ejaculate compared with boars raised in litters of nine pigs or more. “This all suggests that lactation litter size can impose some type of stress that negatively impacts future reproduction of the suckling pigs,” he said. Environment and management during the rearing phase also influences subsequent reproductive performance. “Inadequate floor space during the grow-finish stage has been shown to affect the onset of puberty,” he said. “Also, one trial which compared gilts reared in pens of eight or 16 animals showed that females reared in the smaller groups ultimately farrowed one more pig per litter than gilts reared in the larger groups.”

Crowding

Crowding during the nursery phase appears to have a significant impact on reproductive performance. “In one study, gilts kept in pens of 16 during a five-week nursery period subsequently farrowed 1.25 live pigs less during Parity 1 and 3.5 live pigs less during Parity 2, compared to gilts kept in pens of eight in the nursery,” Estienne said. “Another study also showed the bigger impact of crowding on second-parity performance. These studies demonstrate that the potential detriment increases in Parity 2 after the female has experienced the normal rigours of the Parity 1 lactation.”

Dr. Mark Estienne, speaking at the recent Swine Breeding Management Workshop held in Edmonton. Clearly there are some significant effects of conditions in the uterus and in the early development of breeding boars and gilts on subsequent reproductive performance, in addition to those during the rearing phase. A better understanding of these factors will help to develop future management strategies that will contribute to higher lifetime performance. “Research will continue to identify prenatal or early-in-life stressors and to develop management strategies for mitigating adverse effects on reproduction and increasing sow longevity,” concludes Dr. Estienne. Bernie Peet is president of Pork Chain Consulting of Lacombe, Alberta, and editor of Western Hog Journal

Study refines animal care practices for poultry producers NEW STUDY } Creates provincial protocols

for ammonia and humidity in Alberta poultry barns by alexis kienlen af staff / edmonton

A new initiative will result in made-in-Alberta standards for ammonia and humidity in provincial poultry barns. The effort to set provincial standards stems from the Canada Animal Care initiative, which was implemented in 2010 and has since seen all 238 of Alberta’s chicken producers audited and certified on their animal care protocols. “We’re the first province to achieve that,” said Karen Kirkwood, executive director of Alberta Chicken Producers (ACP). “We’re proud of that and the work our producers have done.” But the standards for ammonia and humidity in the national code don’t reflect harsh Prairie winters, which can result in less air exchange as producers conserve heat. “One of the questions that came up at that time was how

ammonia and humidity levels compared to what we would see here in our province,” said Trevor Prout, producer program manager with ACP. “We thought it would be prudent of us, if we’re going to be auditing these programs, to make sure that we’re auditing it fairly.” Chickens, like humans, suffer from stinging or burning eyes when ammonia levels are too high. Dry conditions make them itchy while high humidity results in wet litter and foot problems. Forty Alberta producers volunteered to participate in the study, which will consider barn size, age and construction; the operation’s location; and the time poultry spends in a barn before being market ready. Relative humidity, temperature and ammonia will be measured every hour for an entire year. Once complete, researchers hope to issue Alberta-specific standards and protocols for dealing with problem situations.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

China faces tight pork supply on disease, high costs Squeeze } Analysts say wild swings in China’s pork prices

could force small farmers out of business By Naveen Thukral and Coco Li

singapore / beijing / reuters

hina is likely to face tighter pork supply in the second half of the year as a disease among piglets reduces the number of animals for slaughter and higher feed grain costs force small farmers in the world’s most populous nation to curb production. A squeeze in China’s pork supply during the high-consumption winter months and near-record feed grain prices could push up prices, prompting authorities to import more meat and supporting the price of U.S. hog futures. Although the porcine epidemic diarrhea among piglets in China has not reached alarming proportions, analysts say it is starting to raise concerns over supplies. “In the second quarter food prices will remain low but in the third and fourth quarter we will see food inflation coming back as pork prices will gradually move higher,” said Jean-Yves Chow, a senior feed industry analyst at Rabobank in Hong Kong. “There is a disease in piglets right now, so in the next four months pork prices will go up as there will be less pigs available for slaughter.” China’s hog industry, responsible for annually producing 50 million tonnes or half of the world’s pork output, suffered a deadly outbreak of blue ear disease in 2007 and 2008, which reduced the country’s supplies of staple meat and lifted prices. “We need to pay more attention to the disease and if it spreads as it can influence pork price at the end of this year and early next year,” said one analyst with the official think-tank China National Grain and Oils Information Center. China has seen prices of its staple meat slide for 12 consecutive weeks, falling below cost of production. In late April, pork was quoted around 21 yuan a kg, down 22 per cent from the beginning of this year and 30 per cent lower than an all-time high of 30 yuan a kg in September, according to Rabobank. As a result, China will increase state purchases of frozen pork to lift prices, amid mounting concerns that farmers’ profit margins are being squeezed as the prices of live hogs fall. Analysts say wild swings in China’s pork prices could force small farmers out of business, having an impact on supplies as they still account for around 30 per cent of the supply.

“I think the small farmer will be hit the most as they have a weaker management of the disease,” said Rabobank’s Chow.

Surge in demand

China, which is witnessing a surge in pork demand, is likely to source more corn and soybeans from the global market in coming months as domestic supplies shrink. It has already bought more than four million tonnes of corn from the United States this season. For soybean, China’s demand is seen as more bullish as the world grapples with lower supplies after a drought in leading exporters Brazil and Argentina earlier this year curbed output,

lifting U.S. prices to a near fouryear high. In addition to lower South American supplies, analysts see relentless demand from China — which saw purchases climb 21.6 per cent in the first quarter — as a leading market driver. China’s pork imports from the United States climbed more than threefold in 2011 and the nation could be in the market for more meat later this year, even though lower prices in this quarter mean a slowdown in shipments. “Imports will rise this year as happened last year,” said Zhu. “It can’t make a significant difference in supplies because China is such a huge market, but it does have a psychological impact.”

Sows feed at Whiteshire Hamroc farm in Albion, Indiana. These animals have been bred for one purpose: to be flown halfway around the world, on a journey fuelled by China’s appetite for food independence. In a country where pork is a culinary staple, the demand for a protein-rich diet is growing faster than Chinese farmers can keep up. REUTERS/John Gress

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JUNE 4, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Bigger freight bill on the tracks HIGHER  Revenue cap to rise 9.5 per cent BY ALLAN DAWSON STAFF

et ready to dig a little deeper to ship this year’s harvest to export ports. The Canadian Transportation Agency has approved a hefty 9.5 per cent raise in the revenue cap, which is the maximum railways can earn from shipping grain, a boost that could cost farmers an extra $87 million or about $3 per tonne. The move is prompting farm groups to ask Ottawa for a review of the revenue cap formula. “We’ve seen with this increase how creative railway accounting can work to the railway’s advantage,” said Keystone Agricultural Producers president Doug Chorney May 2. He was alluding to changes in how the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) now calculates some railway costs.

But calls for a full review of railway costs are muted, with some fearing it could make farmers worse off. Keystone Agricultural Producers’ (KAP) standing policy favours a review, but Chorney is wary. A year ago, then minister of state for transport Rob Merrifield warned a costing review could see farmers pay even more. “It’s (revenue cap) only gone up 6.2 per cent — less than the cost of living in a decade so it’s not something that’s getting out of hand on us,” he said. Chorney said he doesn’t believe such a big jump is justified given the healthy profits the railways are earning. The previous record increase was eight per cent in 2008-09 due mainly to projected higher fuel costs. The CTA announced April 30 a 9.5 per cent increase in the Volume-Related Composite Price Index (VRCPI) used to determine

how much the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP) can earn annually from transporting western grain. The VRCPI adjusts railway costs such as labour, fuel and materials, for inflation. However, the index doesn’t take into account increased railway efficiency, which farmers argue they have contributed to by having to haul grain farther, to bigger elevators, which they ultimately paid for through elevation charges. As a result, some farm groups believe railway profits from grain have never been higher.

Variable costs

A study commissioned by the wheat board several years ago estimates the railways were earning close to 60 per cent of their variable costs, compared to 20 per cent in the late 1980s. The report concludes farmers were collectively overpaying the rail-

ways $6 a tonne or a total of $200 million a year. Most of this year’s 9.5 per cent increase is due to changes in how the CTA calculates the contribution the railways make to their pension plans (4.6 per cent) and the cost of capital (3.3 per cent). Inflation accounts for 1.6 per cent of the increase. Under the CTA’s old calculations the cap would have increased by 1.6 per cent, the CTA said. That would’ve been just under the 1.9 per cent annual rate of inflation. The CTA said under its old calculation the cost of railway capital would’ve fallen 14.6 per cent due to lower equity and tax rates. “This represents a significant jump in freight rates,” Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association president Kevin Bender said in a news release. “The government needs to review the components of the revenue cap and come up with a better approach

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“The government needs to review the components of the revenue cap and come up with a better approach to ensure farmers are not hit with unwarranted freight increases.” KEVIN BENDER

to ensure farmers are not hit with unwarranted freight increases.” Instead of adjusting the revenue cap to simply reflect higher rail costs, the Wheat Growers say the cap should be adjusted to reflect costs in a competitive market. For example, the allowance for wages should reflect averages for similar type of work where there’s competition, such as the trucking industry. The railways would then work to keep labour costs, including pensions, in check. National Farmers Union president Terry Boehm agrees the railways are powerful and they could undermine a costing review, but says government oversight could counter it. A review is necessary to prevent farmers from being overcharged, he said. Under the Western Grain Transportation Act, rail costs were reviewed every four years and rates adjusted to reflect increased rail efficiency. The Wheat Growers want the cap inflation formula reviewed and even tweaked, but oppose a full costing review, partly because the government has rejected it, said association executive director Blair Rutter. “It’s just not on,” he said. “It would take so much manpower.”

Market discipline

The association would prefer market forces discipline rail rates, but acknowledges it’s not possible with railways operating as duopolies. However, the Wheat Growers hope the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk will stimulate enough domestic processing to force the railways to compete to attract grain. The revenue cap has increased an average of 2.1 per cent a year since 2000, matching the rise in the Consumer Price Index. However, last year the cap rose 3.5 per cent adding about a buck a tonne to the average cost of shipping grain. It went up 7.4 per cent or more than $2 a tonne in 201011. Even though the cap, which is also adjusted for the volume of grain moved, is going up dramatically, the railways don’t have to charge more. The federal government introduced the cap in 2000 so the railways could set their own freight rates, while protecting farmers from being gouged. The railways said competition would keep revenues well under the cap, but most years they’re close to it or exceed it. Farmers say that’s proof competition doesn’t exist between the railways. When the railways exceed the cap, the overage, plus a five per cent penalty, must be paid to the Western Grains Research Foundation.

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JUNE 4, 2012

Hutterites well known but little understood COMMUNITY STRENGTHS  Gord Tait says a strong faith and sharing resources are an

advantage but colonies still have to run their businesses well BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF / RED DEER

early a century after their arrival on the Prairies, Hutterites remain a mystery to most Canadians. Hutterites, who make up about 10 per cent of Alberta’s agricultural economy, are well known, but little understood, says Gord Tait, a chartered accountant and director of Hutterite services with MNP, which has worked with Hutterite colonies for about 50 years and has more than 300 colonies as clients. Tait gave a presentation on Hutterite business structure at the Alberta Agricultural Economists Association conference. Hutterites, a movement which began in Austria and Switzerland in the 1500s, are Anabaptists, which mean they are baptized as adults. They are pacifists and believe the Bible commands them to live communally. “There is truly a commitment to the group and to the whole and a sacrifice of the self and personal belongings,” said Tait. An average Alberta colony has about 10,000 acres of cultivated land, a 100- to 125-cow dairy, 7,500 to 10,000 layers, and 400 to 500 sows. Some colonies also have sheep, cattle or broiler operations, while others are involved in processing, carpentry, manufacturing and welding. A colony consists of 100 to 125 people, made up of 25 families. When colonies reach a size of 140 people, they will buy a new farm and create a new colony.

Hutterites, such as this group receiving an award in Manitoba, have been particularly successful with hog production. PHOTO: LAURA RANCE

“They still need to purchase far more than they would ever produce on their own,” he said. If assets were to be divided, each family would receive only a small acreage, which would be insufficient to allow them to farm in today’s economy, said Tait. The overhead costs of a colony tend to be lower than the average business. “They are very successful farming organizations and some are more successful than others,” he said. “But they have a very simple lifestyle and that leads to some economic success.” They also save a lot by using shared resources, including communal kitchens, schools and churches. “Their infrastructure gives them strong advantages in terms of lifestyle and their strong foundation in faith is one of the things that allows their lifestyle to continue to succeed,” said Tait.

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“They are very successful farming organizations and some are more successful than others.” GORD TAIT

Hutterite colonies are legally incorporated entities and have a formal, organizational legal structure, although it doesn’t really affect their day-to-day operations. “They do follow a corporate model and have a president, who is the minister, and a vice-president, who is the second minister,” said Tait. Other positions include secretary-treasurer and farm manager. These positions make up the board of directors who make decisions as a group. Voting is done by men, but women have a lot of influence behind the scenes. Colonies are incorporated under a special notfor-profit structure without shareholders and profit distribution. One of the myths is that colonies have free labour, said Tait, noting colonies take full responsibility for all members from cradle to grave, paying for homes, food, clothes and medical needs. “It’s a different labour cost, but it’s far from free labour. One thing that is nice about their model is that their labour cost is fixed,” said Tait. Colonies have very skilled labour, but still have to go outside for supplies such as lumber, farm equipment, and many goods and services.

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