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VO L U M E 9, N U M B E R 2 0

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Good growing and harvest season add to wildfire risk PLENTY OF FUEL  Cured grasses and fields of stubble make perfect wildfire tinder

BY SHERI MONK

AF STAFF / PINCHER CREEK

A

good growing season and a rain-free harvest are an ideal combination for farmers, but they were also ideal for creating plenty of easy-to-ignite material for the wildfires in southern Alberta this fall.

On Sept. 10, the city of Lethbridge and town of Coalhurst were facing imminent danger from another out-of-control wildfire similar to one in the same areas Jan. 4, which destroyed two houses near Nanton.

On Sept. 4, there were four wildfires in southern Alberta, the first of which started somewhere on the Blood Reserve (Kainai First Nation), spreading northeast toward Coalhurst and Lethbridge.

The wildfire jumped the river, and several outlying suburbs of Lethbridge and the town of Coalhurst were ordered to be evacuated. Air tankers were called in from Pincher Creek, and hundreds of firefighters from neighbouring communities were called in to help battle the blaze. Firefighters made their stand at Highway No. 3, hoping to cut the fire off before it could get to more populated areas.

“It did get across Highway

Massive smoke rises from the wildfire as it moves towards Lethbridge on September 10.

STUCK:

SEE WILDFIRE  page 6

PHOTO: JON GROVES PHOTOGRAPHY

BEEF INDUSTRY IN A RUT, SAYS MAJOR REPORT  PAGE 3

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2

news » inside this week

inside » Getting paid to graze Goats have an appetite for invasive species

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

livestock

crops

columNists

Bale grazing research

Early harvest bonus

34

news

Popcorn soon to cost more than the movie Limited supplies }

U.S. popcorn area now under 200,000 acres

25

Contract and hedging strategy for feeders

35

phil franz-warkentin Strong winds blow on canola market

Raising lamb without coyotes Reporter Alexis Kienlen visits Sweden

brenda schoepp

36

Roy Lewis Project focuses on grey wooded soils

31

A head start on fertility and weed control

13

Mycoplasma difficult to control in feedlot

33

Coyotes should be no barrier to raising sheep Predation } Losses can’t be totally eliminated, but good

management can keep them to a minimum by daniel winters staff / humboldt, sask.

chicago / reuters

For more than half a century, the Shew family has harvested mountains of popcorn kernels to be buttered, salted and munched by movie fans.

But as a crippling Midwestern drought sends commodity soybean and grain prices soaring, the family’s farmland in west-central Indiana is suffering. Plants are listing, stalks are spindly and corn ears small.

It’s a scene repeated across the Midwest and an ill portent for the snack food world.

“This is the worst season we’ve ever had,” said thirdgeneration popcorn purveyor Mark Shew, who runs the family’s farm in Vigo County. “In some places, they’re going to be down to counting kernels at the bottom of the storage bins.”

The situation has popcorn buyers — big and small — scrambling to line up their supplies. Small mom-andpop shops have seen prices jump from about $20 for a 50-pound bag to $30 or higher. Large distributors are trying to source new supplies by wooing farmers in Louisiana and elsewhere in the South into growing popping corn, as their growing season typically starts and ends earlier than the Midwest. They’re also scouting acreage in South America.

That may be a tough sell.

High prices for commodity corn in recent years has seen a slow but steady decrease in popcorn acreage, which was down to about 190,000 acres last year.

However, moviegoers may be spared.

“The popcorn portion of the product is a very low percentage of the price, and the prices are already so high, I think consumers would balk if they went up any higher,” said confectionery supplier Bob Goldin.

D

emand for sheep and goats is sky high and growing — so why aren’t more farmers raising them?

The most common reason is fear of coyotes, says Gord Schroeder, executive director of the Saskatchewan Sheep Development Board.

“I’m tired of people saying that coyotes are a problem and that’s why we can’t go ahead,” said Schroeder, in a presentation at a recent Multi-Species Grazing Conference hosted by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture.

“As goat and sheep producers, we’re going to learn to manage the problem. We’re going to grow in spite of coyotes and in spite of predation.”

Totally eliminating predator losses is impossible, but successful livestock operators have figured out ways to manage risk and prevent losses, he said.

When Schroeder ran a 450ewe operation near Drake, Sask., he said he often spotted coyotes running through his flock and within a quarter-mile of his house.

Not all bad

He generally left them alone because in his experience, not all coyotes are livestock killers, and a chorus of spine-tingling coyote howls in the evening did not always herald the appearance of mass carnage in the morning.

Indiscriminate killing opens up a territorial vacuum that will be filled by new, and potentially worse, coyotes, he added.

Practices such as night penning, so-called coyote-proof fencing, and noise and light deterrents may offer shortterm, temporary relief from the four-legged, furry terrorists.

“Coyotes will adapt to anything that you throw at them,” he said.

In one Ontario project he was involved in, a fence was built at enormous cost that was buried two feet in the ground and rose eight feet high, but coyotes still managed to get inside.

Gord Schroeder, a longtime sheep producer who is now executive director of the Saskatchewan Sheep Development Board, says fear of predation is one of the biggest obstacles to growth in the sheep and goat industry. photo: Daniel Winters “There’s no one tool that you can use to eliminate coyote problems. You’re going to have to combine a number of different ones,” said Schroeder.

No one tool

First, check stock regularly.

That means taking extra steps as soon as a problem appears.

Keep weak or sick animals closer to the house for protection. Coyotes survive the winter mainly by feeding on carrion, so keeping deadstock out of reach by composting it or burying it in a specially built vessel avoids lending them a helping hand.

Calling and shooting is one of the best ways to get rid of bad actors in the coyote population because the most aggressive, opportunistic predators are the first to respond to the sounds of an animal in distress. But don’t bungle the shot, because they won’t fall for it a second time, he said.

Coyotes are lazy by nature.

Their currency is food energy, and they are always looking for ways to conserve it by opting for the cheapest, easiest kills. That means they generally use the same paths, night after night.

Setting a power snare on a trail beaten in the grass under the fence will often catch the culprit.

A good guardian dog is the best of all predation control methods, said Schroeder.

Different breeds have different characteristics. Great Pyrenees tend to stay close to the flock, while Akbash dogs tend to roam farther, noisily patrolling the perimeter. Anatolian shepherds are a more aggressive breed that won’t hesitate to pursue attackers, and may get into trouble with neighbours.

Schroeder used three dogs of different breeds with his flock to provide overlapping layers of security.

Getting a dog to work requires patience, especially during the critical bonding period. A balance between the need to provide grooming and worming care must be struck to avoid turning a pup into a “useless” pet.

Dogs provide round-theclock protection from predators, and the sound of barking at night provides peace of mind because it means they are working hard.

Many shepherds and goat-

“There’s no one tool that you can use to eliminate coyote problems. You’re going to have to combine a number of different ones.”

Gord Schroeder

herds are reluctant to pasture their flocks on remote or bushy areas due to fears of predation, but a “good working dog will open all that land up for you,” he said.

Schroeder has heard from some producers that losses of up to 15 per cent per year due to predation must be accepted as the cost of doing business.

“But that’s your cream, your profit. You need to capture that,” he said. “Guardian dogs may not eliminate everything, but they sure will help.”

3

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Canada’s beef industry in a rut: Report TRADE BALANCE  Canada at risk of becoming a net importer of beef from the U.S.

BY ALEX BINKLEY

AF CONTRIBUTOR / OTTAWA

A

decade after rebounding strongly from the 2003 BSE crisis, Canada’s beef sector is stuck in a competitive rut with no clear idea of how to get out of it, says a report prepared by the Canadian Agriculture Policy Institute (CAPI).

The world market for beef has changed in the last 10 years, says the report, based on interviews with farmers and other players in the cattle industry. The “sector faces many new challenges, of which our balance of trade with the U.S. is a paramount concern.”

The beef industry “needs a robust, long-term strategy — and a sustained commitment to execute the strategy — if it wishes to secure its place as a competitive force in domestic and global markets,” the report adds.

About 85 per cent of Canada’s beef and cattle exports go to the U.S., it notes. While that generates $1.8 billion in total sales for Canadian beef, Canada needs to increase the proportion of exports to recently opened overseas markets, it suggests.

Among other key points in the report are: • Canada is at risk of becoming a net importer of beef; • Canada focuses on supplying the American market even though the returns are lower

•

•

•

•

than for beef exports to other countries and the U.S. benefits more from the arrangement than Canada does; In 2011, Canada had a net trade balance in beef of $42 million with the U.S. compared to a trade balance of nearly $1.4 billion in 2002, which suggests the industry is losing its competitive edge; The value of Canada’s exports to the U.S. is only about 60 per cent of the value of American imports to Canada because of the amount of Canadian beef and cattle processed in the U.S., which exports higher-value product back to Canada; While Canada backfills the U.S. market, that country is realizing a greater advantage by significantly expanding exports beyond Canada. Since 2005, U.S. beef exports are up 280 per cent on a value basis, and 159 per cent on a tonnage basis.

Canada’s exports beyond the U.S. have increased by 45 per cent in value, and 13 per cent in tonnage of beef; Canada’s cow herd has declined by one million head or 20 per cent since 2005, raising questions about whether Canada has a critical mass of cattle to meet future market opportunities.

Change overdue

CAPI says its research indicates the Canadian beef sector “is forgoing economic opportunities and its

“Stakeholders are keen to have a new dialogue on strategy. But this discussion can only occur if leaders in the sector are willing to act.”

CAPI REPORT

Looks tasty, but it might have come from the U.S. competitive position is falling behind.”

Many in the industry think change is overdue, it adds. “Stakeholders are keen to have a new dialogue on strategy. But this discussion can only occur if leaders in the sector are willing to act.”

It needs a strategy to take advantage of the opening of new foreign markets but also needs to pay more attention to the domestic market, the report recommends. Beef consumption has fallen by 10.7 per cent since 2001 while pork consumption has declined by 28 per cent and poultry has increased 3.4 per cent.

©THINKSTOCK

“Price is a key determinant.

Beef costs more to produce than other proteins. Moreover, despite improvements, more grain is required per kilo of beef production than for other meat proteins.”

This statistic is part of the charges “that beef’s environmental footprint is unsustainable and, for some, a reason not to consume beef,” the report says. “There are also concerns about the perceived healthfulness of beef and the ethical treatment of animals.”

CAPI suggests that a long-term strategy is needed “to build the beef brand and to generate con-

sumer trust in the product and production processes.”

Canada has a more advanced traceability system that can provide consumers with information about what they’re buying.

“While a strategy must be industry led, government can support the development of a robust industry strategy,” the report urges. “Government then must align its own policies, initiatives, funding and regulation to enable this strategy.

Importantly, government must also approach market access negotiations for the beef industry with a strategic plan which aligns with the industry strategy and positioning.”

As well, the reports call for the industry to create a national organization “to articulate and support an overall domestic and international strategy.”

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SEPTEMBER 24, 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

Agricultural expansion was part of the Lougheed vision

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

PRODUCTION director Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com

Legacy } Lougheed oversaw the Agriculture Ministry’s largest-ever

Director of Sales & Circulation

expansion into extension and diversification

Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com

CIRCULATION manager Heather Anderson Email: heather@fbcpublishing.com

By will verboven

Alberta Farmer | Editor

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

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T

he passing of former premier Peter Lougheed has seen an outpouring of sympathy from every sector of Alberta society. His long-term impact and influence on today’s Alberta economy is both recognized and highly respected. The mainstream urban media has seen stories, anecdotes and comments about almost every aspect of his contribution to the betterment of this province and Canada. But there has been a notable absence of any commentary on his influence on Alberta’s second-largest industry — agriculture.

The urban media has mentioned agriculture in the context of Lougheed’s legacy, but more in a somewhat derogatory perspective. City newspapers refer derisively to Alberta being an “agrarian hinterland” prior to Lougheed’s ascendancy as premier. They commented that he changed Alberta’s “rural-based” values to something more modern and acceptable. I should add that those comments were made by folks who either did not live in Alberta when the Lougheed administration began, or were not even born.

Just for the record, even in 1971, more Alberta citizens lived in cities and towns than in rural areas. Also the energy industry was already dominant over agriculture by that time thanks to massive discoveries in the 1930s and 1940s. The old Social Credit government had through prudent management laid the groundwork for the expansion of the oil industry that Lougheed later built upon. It should also be noted that although Social Credit governments had solid support in the countryside, most city ridings in Alberta were also represented by Social Credit members.

The Lougheed connection to agriculture and rural Alberta, with all due respect, was tenuous at best. The Lougheeds were city folks who had no direct connection to the ranching aristocracy of southern Alberta.

Peter Lougheed’s grandfather was a law-

yer who represented the CPR’s interests in the West, perhaps not the most admired position to be in from a farmer’s or rancher’s perspective at that time. Another political reality was that in the first two of Lougheed’s elections most of the PC Party’s elected MLAs were from urban Alberta, with much of rural Alberta still supporting the Social Credit party, although that quickly changed.

What Lougheed did do upon becoming premier, in a stroke of genius, was to appoint Hugh Horner as his minister of agriculture. Horner was a medical doctor, but he had personal and political assets that helped propel the venerable Alberta Department of Agriculture into its golden age. That in turn had a major impact on the development and direction of the industry for many years to come.

What Lougheed did do upon becoming premier, in a stroke of genius, was to appoint Hugh Horner as his minister of agriculture.

Horner was a forceful personality that was the equal to Peter Lougheed. I expect his appointment was by clever design considering Lougheed’s perceived lack of agriculture awareness. Horner quickly proceeded to shake the stodgy department to its very foundation and built it into a powerhouse within the bureaucracy and the cabinet. I recall anyone who did not share Horner’s plans did so at their own peril. He got what he wanted and Lougheed always backed him up.

Boosting extension

The department under Horner’s direction quickly embraced the Lougheed vision of

diversification and support of business. It expanded its presence into every corner of Alberta through the most comprehensive ag extension program this country has ever seen. Support programs of every kind were created to expand the industry and assist new operators to get established. The policy groundwork and incentives were also laid at that time which saw the creation of the massive cattle feedlot and processing industry that we now enjoy. Many of today’s marketing commissions like ABP and ALP owe their existence to legislation created by the early Lougheed government.

The predecessors to today’s AFSC were either created or revamped to better serve the expansion of the ag industry.

Those Lougheed/Horner years also saw the department begin its involvement in marketing and promoting Alberta genetics and food products in international markets. The building of the Prince Rupert grain terminal would never have happened without Lougheed’s vision and direct support. The lamb-processing plant in Innisfail would probably be a footnote in history if the Lougheed government had not guaranteed the original financing and later saving it from bankruptcy. Irrigation also received a boost as the Lougheed government saw its development as a tool for more ag production economic development.

It was also the Lougheed government that terminated the Communal Property Act, a highly discriminatory piece of legislation that was specifically designed to thwart and control the expansion of Hutterite Colonies in Alberta. No other group in society had such legislation designed to take away their property rights. It was gone within two years of Lougheed coming to power.

Alas, as much as Lougheed’s wisdom in appointing Horner as his agriculture minister catapulted the department and the industry to new heights of power and respect, the retirement of the premier and Horner ushered in an era of endless departmental restructuring and downsizing. The good old days, it seems, were the Lougheed days.

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Traceability needs someone in charge

F

or some time now there has been a growing sense that the livestock traceability issue has been drifting along without any clear sense of direction or purpose. A recent CCA committee meeting seemed to highlight the need for someone to be in control and make sense of all the various interests that have their own agendas.

The meeting saw various reports, presentations, discussions and ruminating over who was, or was not doing something, or nothing about some aspect of traceability. There were talks about creating a company to manage data aspects, there also seem to be various studies into cost/benefit, new tag technology, the impact of electronic manifests and on and on.

Consultants have been hired for various purposes by different players. Then there remains the never-ending suspicion as to what the CFIA and Agriculture Canada really want to do or not do with traceability. Who funds what and why remains a frustrating topic.

At last count there seemed to be more than 10 government departments and their agencies, producer

organizations and other advisory groups involved with traceability. And that’s just the cattle sector — never mind what goes on with the sheep and hogs.

Producers must be growing leery and weary of this disjointed exercise that seems to have lost its way.

All they are sure of is that in the end they will have to pay the cost. It’s become so confusing that what is needed is a road map and guidebook as to the who, what, where and why of livestock traceability. Millions have been spent on this issue if one starts with the implementation of national cattle ID tags more than 10 years ago.

What might be useful is for all the stakeholders, bureaucrats, and industry politicians to create the office of “national traceability dictator” so that we just might have someone in charge to sort out the confusion and politics and get traceability back on some sort of realistic direction. But don’t hold your breath for common sense to break out soon. After all if the history of this issue is any indication such an idea would probably need another study.

5

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Governments change the game for farm support programs SLEEPER CLAUSE  A drop in reference margins was expected, but not the new wrinkle on eligible expenses

BY LAURA RANCE

EDITOR, MANITOBA CO-OPERATOR

F

arm leaders expected the drop in AgriStability reference margins announced at this month’s federal-provincial agriculture ministers’ meeting, but the fine print was another matter.

Not only is the AgriStability trigger being increased from a 15 per cent to a 30 per cent drop in the farmer’s reference margin, there is a sleeper clause that apparently no one saw coming.

Payouts will now be based on 70 per cent of whichever is lesser, the reference margin or eligible expenses. In other words, the payments triggered will be significantly — and we mean significantly — lower than farmers might have expected in the past.

It completely changes the nature of the AgriStability program.

The remarkable speed at which the federal, provincial and territorial ministers agreed to this during their one-day meeting suggests the deal was done before they even got there.

It’s equally remarkable that while farm leaders had been briefed and prepared for the first part, they didn’t see this one com-

ing. This is in addition to a reduction in the government’s contribution to the AgriInvest savings program from 1.5 per cent to one per cent.

OK, so farmers, and for that matter, the public, should have been consulted. As we’ve raised before, the federal government’s notion of consultations — closeddoor meetings for a few invited guests and no reporters — is a joke. A major change such as this should have been given a fulsome airing so people could fully appreciate the implications.

There is one possible explanation for why that didn’t happen, and we’re being generous here.

But farmers should consider this carefully before firing out their press releases. In the broader context, such a public debate might have proven embarrassing.

Asset rich

Consider this analysis from a series of papers assessing farm income prepared for the Canadian Agricultural Policy Institute (CAPI) in 2009-10. The analysis by economists with the George Morris Centre pointed out that net farm income, which is often reported in the media, isn’t a good measure of actual farm family wealth.

“Since farm families have a higher net worth, a wealth basis does not exist to argue the sector requires farm income support programs.”

GEORGE MORRIS CENTRE

For starters, the analysis noted, “business and family expenses are easily intertwined so that, like all small business incomes, net farm incomes may be understated.”

Anyone who has experienced both life as a farmer and life as a Joe Canadian worker knows this well.

Not only do farmers receive their family income from diverse sources, as do most families, farmers accumulate significant wealth through asset appreciation.

For example, despite stable net farm operating income between 1996 and 2007 the total value of

farmers’ land and buildings rose 31 per cent for grain and oilseed farmers, and 46 per cent for dairy farmers.

Average net worth over that period grew 20 per cent for grains and oilseeds and 35 per cent for dairy farmers.

Farmers’ average net worth is about triple that of the average Canadian family. This analysis suggested that is despite farmers having a slightly lower annual income, but more recent data released earlier this year, puts farm family incomes well above average family incomes in Canada.

“Since farm families have a higher net worth, a wealth basis does not exist to argue the sector requires farm income support programs,” the George Morris analysis states.

We don’t begrudge farmers wealth. They work hard for it.

But it’s a dilemma for government. High commodity prices and high yields mean a surge in reference margins. Based on the former trigger, prices could drop to still-profitable levels, but governments would be (and be seen to be) making unnecessary payments to a group who is already better off than most other Canadians.

There’s also the “moral hazard.” It’s widely acknowledged that farm supports are quickly capitalized into land prices, and with governments acting as a revenue backstop, farmers have proven willing to take on more debt.

Canadian farms carry almost twice the debt of their American counterparts, and their debt is growing faster. Paying up to $6,000 an acre for farmland might have something to do with it.

Farmers here have higher debtto-earning ratios, which means they carry more risk.

What happens when disaster strikes, as it invariably will?

The federal government changed the rules earlier this year making it harder for people to overextend themselves buying homes. It can hardly justify propping up a similar spree in farmland.

The farm lobby had best be reserved in its response to this one. In the long run, these changes might be doing the farm community a favour, especially if they take some of the heat out of the land market.

It should focus instead on making sure every dollar saved from program payments goes into research and innovation.

Secret to higher income? Produce less grain An excerpt from a weekly column by Daryll Ray and Harwood Schaffer of the University of Tennessee (www.agpolicy. org). The column explores why U.S. farm income is projected to be a record, despite the worst drought in decades.

S

ince corn planting this spring, the USDA has dropped its corn production projection from 14.8 billion bushels to 10.8 billion bushels, a decline of 27 per cent. During this same time, the price of corn has increased by about 40 per cent.

This is a rough illustration of what economists would expect. Why? Because it is well known that the corn market is price inelastic. (Stay with us here, it’s easier to see this than you might think.) The -27 and 40 per cent numbers are consistent with a demand elasticity of -0.675 or a price flexibility of -1.48. What this means in plain English is that for each one per cent drop in output, the price increases by 1.48 per cent.

So, in this illustration for the 27 per cent drop in output, the price increases by -1.48 times -27, or 40 per cent.

How this affects individual farmers’ bottom lines, of course, depends on how much yield reduction they experience on their farms. Those farmers whose yields decline by, say, 25 per cent or less will see higher revenues than they expected at planting time.

Farmers lucky enough to have trend or even higher yields could have their best revenue and net income years ever.

The profit or loss of farmers whose yields drop by more than the percentage decline at national level will

depend upon whether or not they bought crop insurance and what options they chose.

At one end of the spectrum, farmers with substantially reduced yields but who purchased a high level of coverage with the harvest-price adjustment could see per acre corn revenue greater than what they expected at planting time. For those who bought low levels of coverage and did not purchase the harvest-price adjustment, this year could well be a financial disaster.

6

Off the front

september 24, 2012 • Albertafarmexpress.ca

wildfire } from page 1 No. 3, but it didn’t get very far,” said Pincher Creek fire chief Dave Cox, who sent members to the scene.

Firefighters worked through the night and the following day extinguishing hot spots. The evacuation order for Coalhurst was lifted the next morning. No homes were lost in Lethbridge County, but one home on the Blood Reserve was razed. More than 12,000 acres were reported to have burned over a 25-mile stretch.

Also on Sept. 10, Milk River was evacuated due to a fire threat, and two other smaller fires near Fort MacLeod started, but were extinguished before spreading very far.

The cause of the fires is still under investigation.

All-year hazard

Last week fire departments across the south remained on alert. “It’s a combination of not having any rain (recently) after a pretty good growing season, so we have a lot of fuel.

While all that fuel was green and growing, it wasn’t available. Even with really hot and dry weather in June and July, it’s green so it’s not available as a fuel,” said Cox. “As a higher percentage of the grass becomes cured the risk increases and in late fall, it’s 100 per cent cured, and so it’s all available as fuel.”

Cox says rain can help, but it only provides a few days of protection as that moisture isn’t retained by the grasses and it quickly disappears.

“Snow is obviously a really good deterrent because it covers the field up. But when we have open falls, or an open winter, we have a fire hazard all year.”

Although available fuel is a risk factor, the danger is amplified by three critical factors — relative humidity, temperature and wind.

On Sept. 10, temperatures were near 30 C, the relative humidity was low and wind speeds were between 60 and 100 km/h. Cox says he’s heard reports that the fire was spreading at a rate of 132 metres per minute. A wildfire is considered fast spreading at 20-30 metres per second.

Cattle are going to have a tough time finding any grass left in the burned pastures outside of Milk River. photos: jon groves photography

“When we have open falls, or an open winter, we have a fire hazard all year.”

Dave Cox Pincher Creek Emergency Services

“When you start getting spread rates like that, normal guards like road allowances or even the river become meaningless because the fire will blow right across those kinds of barriers,” said Cox. Although the manpower and air support certainly helped contain the situation near Lethbridge, Cox says Mother Nature should receive equal billing. “As soon as we get into the evening and the temperatures start to drop, then the air’s capacity to hold moisture reduces, so the relative humidity comes up.

When that humidity comes up, the fuel starts to take on moisture again and it doesn’t burn as well.”

Fallen fences dot the burned wasteland around Milk River.

We create value out of canola that doesn’t make the grade.

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Former senator Herb Sparrow dies Soil at Risk } Senator headed a major review of soil health in Canada Staff

H

erb Sparrow, one of Canada’s leading champions of soil conservation, died Sept. 6 following complications from a stroke. He was 82.

The former senator coauthored the study Soil at Risk in the early 1980s, which highlighted the long-term effects of soil erosion. He was founder and first president of Soil Conservation Canada.

Sparrow was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Lester Pearson in 1968 and retired when he turned 75 in 2005.

The Saskatchewan-born politician farmed and ranched in the North Battleford area.

He was inducted into the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2000 for his efforts in soil conservation and in 2008 received the Order of Canada.

Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae said in a release Sparrow made significant contributions to Canadian agriculture, especially through his work in the Senate.

“Herb’s life was marked by his

Senator Herb Sparrow (r) was honoured for his lifetime of leadership in soil and water conservation with an induction into the Canadian Conservation Hall of Fame by Soil Conservation Society of Canada president Don McCabe last March. many years of service to Saskatchewan and Canada’s West,” Rae said.

“In addition to his love of the land, Herb was heavily involved in numerous projects aimed at combating poverty and hunger, and supporting people with disabilities. Herb’s dedication has been widely recognized, and he leaves behind a legacy that will be remembered.”

7

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Farm leaders say AgriStability no longer looks quite so stable CHANGED FOCUS  Ritz says it’s time to invest in research,

innovation and market development

BY ALLAN DAWSON FBC STAFF

C

hanges to AgriStability will vastly alter the program’s effectiveness and could ultimately kill one of farmers’ key business risk management tools, says the president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, Manitoba’s general farm organization.

“I’m going to predict today AgriStability will be losing support and subscriptions from farmers because it really has got to be questionable if you’ll ever see a payment,” Doug Chorney said Sept. 14 following the conclusion of the federal-provincialterritorial agriculture ministers’ meeting in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says governments will support farmers during severe challenges, but it’s time to invest in research, innovation and market development so farmers and agribusiness are profitable over the long term. To that end $3.06 billion will be spent in those areas over the next five years.

A newly created federal “agri-innovator committee,” with farm and industry representatives, will gather ideas on how the money should be spent.

“We must make sure that the programs in place make sense not only for today but are foundational for five or 10 years from now,” Ritz told reporters.

“The programs... must not hold us back or mask market signals.”

Changes to AgriStability are part of the new fiveyear federal-provincial “Growing Forward 2” agreement, which takes effect April 1, 2013.

In addition to AgriStability, the agreement covers AgriRecovery, AgriInsurance, AgriInvest, as well as the new emphasis on innovation.

“Not only will we continue to share the farming risk, but governments will continue to cover the vast majority of risk that farmers face,” Ritz said.

“BRM (business risk management) program reform… should create space for the development of private risk management tools,” agriculture ministers said in a news release.

Margins or expenses

As expected, farmers’ program year margins will have to decline 31 per cent, instead of the current 16, to trigger an AgriStability payout. However, future AgriStability payments will be based on either a farmer’s reference margin or allowable expenses, whichever is lower. Allowable expenses cover only 60 to 70 per cent of farmers’ operating costs and are usually lower than their reference margins, Chorney said.

“AgriStability, a program designed to stabilize farmers’ margins, is no longer a margin program,” Chorney said.

Just when grain farmers’ reference margins were improving, governments changed the rules, he said.

“The reason government is doing this is because they are concerned grain prices will stay high, or continue to rise, and that creates greater risk exposure for government,” Chorney said.

A farmer with a $100,000 reference margin and $100,000 in allowable expenses would get a $66,500 payment under AgriStability now in a year when his or her program year margin falls to zero, but only $49,000 under the new program — a drop of $17,500.

But if a farmer’s reference margin tripled to $300,000 and his or her allowable expenses stayed the same the current program would pay $199,500, but the new program would only pay $49,000 — $150,500 less.

Under the new program farmers will be paid at a rate of 70 per cent when their program year margin falls below zero instead of 60 per cent.

AgriStability will also cost farmers less — 0.31 per cent of their reference margin instead of 0.38. That’s a saving of $70 a year for a farmer with a $100,000 reference margin.

AgriInvest

Under AgriInvest farmers were allowed to contribute 1.5 per cent of their annual allowable net sales to an AgriInvest account and governments would match it up to $15,000 a year. Farmers’ contributions will be cut to one per cent, but governments will continue to match it up to $15,000 a year.

The AgriInvest account cap of at 25 per cent of annual net sales, will go to 400 per cent.

Ritz said if farmers run into financial difficulties they can withdraw money from their AgriInvest account to cover the first 30 per cent decline in their margins, then AgriStability kicks in.

Neither Ritz nor his officials would say how much AgriStability changes will save governments.

Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn says investing in innovation will help farmers take advantage of growing world food markets.

The Grain Growers of Canada had a mixed reaction.

“On one hand we have aggressively lobbied for more investment into research and innovation and so are pleased to see more funding there, but on the other hand there are substantial cuts to some key risk management programs,” Grain Growers president Stephen Vandervalk said in a news release.

BRIEFS Brian Otto chairs Barley Council Working Group

Midge survey underway

Brian Otto of Warner, has been appointed chair of the Barley Council of Canada (BCC) Working Group, which is finalizing the business plan, bylaws and corporate governance for the formal establishment of the Barley Council of Canada.

“This is an exciting time for Canada’s barley industry,” Otto said in a release. “The BCC will be a producer-led organization representing the interests of the barley value chain and working to grow and expand our industry and create new opportunities.”

The BCC has not yet been officially established.

“We plan to incorporate and elect our first board of directors before the end of this calendar year,” said Otto. “Right now, we are reaching out to all of our stakeholders, explaining what the BCC is all about, and seeking support and involvement from farmers, industry members and government.”

Otto operates a 4,300-acre farm near Warner. He is on the board of directors of the Grain Growers of Canada, past president of the Western Barley Growers Association, and a past director with the Alberta Barley Commission and the Western Grains Research Foundation.

Otto is supported at the Barley Council of Canada by acting executive director Matt Kjarsgaard of Winnipeg and project manager Lisa Bastarache of Calgary. The Alberta Barley Commission is providing administrative support for the new organization.

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development with assistance from Agriculture Canada and county and association staff started the 2012 wheat midge survey earlier this month, taking soil samples from fields in every county where wheat is grown in the province.

In a release, AARD said surveyors will be entering fields to take samples, so farmers are asked to understand that they are gathering samples for the generation of the 2013 wheat midge forecast map.

“The 2011 fall survey sampling included almost all municipalities in central and southern Alberta and the Peace,” said AARD pest specialist Scott Meers.

“It is important to note that once midge has established in an area, it is unlikely to ever completely disappear,” he said. “Low-lying and moist areas in a field provide a refuge, enabling the population to survive even when conditions are not favourable in the rest of the field. These low-level populations, however, also help sustain a population of natural enemies.

For more information on wheat midge and for questions about the survey, Alberta farmers can contact the Ag-Info Centre at 310-FARM (3276). The 2012 wheat midge forecast can be viewed at http://www1.agric. gov.ab.ca/$department/dep docs.nsf/all/prm13771.

ANNOUNCEMENT DuPont Pioneer prides itself on providing industry-leading agronomic services to growers across the country. With this in mind, we are pleased to welcome Doug Moisey in the position of Area Agronomist for the Edmonton area, effective July 23, 2012. Doug replaces Ray Gauthier who now holds the position of Territory Planning & Development Manager for DuPont Pioneer’s Western Canada Commercial Unit.

Doug brings in-depth knowledge of field crop agronomy in canola, and an extensive background in agronomic research, cropping techniques and agricultural extension.

Prior to joining DuPont Pioneer, Doug worked with the Canola Council of Canada as an agronomist, most recently as Senior Agronomy Specialist in Northeast Alberta.

Doug holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of Alberta.

Farming just got riskier. Surprise changes to AgriStability will vastly alter the program’s usefulness, farm leaders say. PHOTO: MICHELLE MEAUD

The DuPont Oval Logo is a registered trademark of DuPont. ®, TM, SM Trademarks and service marks licensed to Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited. © 2012, PHL.

PR389_DougMoisey_AnnounceAD _AF.indd 1

12-09-13 3:14 PM

8

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Could Chinese purchases push beans past the teens?

HOT DEMAND  International prices are high, but Chinese domestic prices are higher

BY GAVIN MAGUIRE REUTERS

T

he July-September quarter is traditionally a soft period for U.S. soybean exports as the world’s top buyers of the oilseed typically divert their buying interest to South American suppliers while the U.S. crop rounds out the growing season.

But the shortage of supplies in Brazil and Argentina following this year’s drought in that region has forced the world’s top buyer China to start the current quarter with a six-year-high purchase of U.S. soybeans for the month of July and show continued solid demand so far in August.

Record-high domestic soy prices suggest China may have further import buying to do in the weeks ahead, and should that buying occur amid fresh fears of potential U.S. crop shortages, could prove enough to push U.S. soy prices beyond the $20-perbushel mark.

Scraping the barrel

The primary factor underpinning the soybean price in recent months has been the fact that supplies of the crop have dwindled sharply following steep production losses in both South

America and the U.S. — the top exporting regions of the crop — just as global consumption of soybeans hit record heights.

Large end-users such as China were somewhat forewarned of and prepared for the prevailing supply tightness after having tracked the drought-hit South American growing season carefully throughout late 2011 and into 2012.

But with the subsequent U.S. crop also getting hit by cropthreatening growing conditions, soybean buyers are starting to grow concerned about the diminishing reserves of the crop.

So far China and other major importers have not started to deviate too much from normal purchasing patterns in terms of export market activity, as top suppliers Brazil and Argentina theoretically remain “open for business.”

Indeed, China’s total soybean imports for the month of July were at their highest level since June of 2010 to confirm that supplies were indeed still available for those willing to pay the prevailing price.

However, there have been some subtle adjustments in China’s soy-purchasing patterns that will be worth closer inspection in the weeks ahead after total soy imports from South America fell

short of previous highs for the month of July just as imports from the U.S. hit a multi-year high for that month. Indeed, Chinese imports from the U.S. in July were more than 10 times larger than for the same period in both 2011 and 2010, revealing that Chinese purchasers were forced to break with recent traditions in order to secure the desired amount of soy coverage last month.

And given that anecdotal evidence suggests South American soy supplies have declined further in recent weeks on additional Chinese purchases and domestic use, a further uptick in Chinese buying from the U.S. looks likely.

Coming to America

Indeed, there is evidence that Chinese traders have already picked up the pace of purchases and are closing in on the record-setting levels of 2011 over the final weeks of the 2011-12 marketing season.

It will be several more weeks before the official commodity import tallies for the month of August are known, but in the interim the usual weekly crop export sales reports will be closely followed for signs of continued strength in Chinese demand.

Some commodity market analysts are projecting that Chinese soy purchases from the U.S. and

elsewhere are bound to slow in response to prevailing high global prices.

But as high as the export price tags may be from origins such as Argentina, Brazil and the U.S., they remain below the domestic price of soybeans for many users within China, often by more than $100 per tonne.

And these high domestic prices prevail despite a recent recordlarge sale of Chinese government soybean reserves to domestic soy processors. The reserve program is part of an initiative designed to fend off inflation in food and feed staples, and is centred on the notion that state-level traders go to the export market to acquire and build inventories of key consumer and industrial crops which can then be sold into the domestic arena in order to dampen interior price rises of those commodities.

But it is clear from the inexorable climb in interior soy prices that such sales are so far having only a negligible effect at best.

Further, the fact that the recent record weekly sale of more than 400,000 tonnes has already been made ensures that Chinese traders will now have to replenish those reserves in addition to conducting their usual hand-to-mouth purchasing procedures.

As a result, additional strong

Chinese imports from the U.S. in July were more than 10 times larger than for the same period in both 2011 and 2010.

Chinese interest in U.S soybean supplies looks likely in the weeks ahead, and could well prove to be the catalyst that fuels U.S. soy prices deeper into uncharted territory and potentially beyond the $20 mark.

Gavin Maguire is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.

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Sale: 1 p.m.

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9

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

U.S. and Canada partner to reduce red tape

BY SHERI MONK

AF STAFF / PINCHER CREEK

Antiquated regulations slow cross-border trade SLOW GOING  The Canadian cattle industry has been pushing for an end to

old-fashioned paperwork for years, but a pilot trial may be four years away

BY SHERI MONK

AF STAFF / PINCHER CREEK

I

n an increasingly electronic world, cross-border cattle trade is comparatively stuck in the dark ages, but the industry is hoping for a renaissance.

Currently, cattle being exported to the U.S. must be first examined by an accredited veterinarian, and the completed export health certificate delivered to a CFIA veterinary inspector for approval.

Once it has an official CFIA stamp, the original certificate has to be returned so it can cross the border with the cattle.

That long paper trail slows down the cattle trail, and industry organizations want to develop an electronic certification method to minimize border-crossing wait times, cost and animal stress.

Reductions in the number of Canadian Food Inspection Agency veterinary inspectors has slowed the system even more, said Larry Delver, a member of Alberta Beef Producers’ cattle industry council.

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“What we would like to do is have an electronic signature from a CFIA vet because these guys are sometimes a little hard to find,” said Delver. “Sometimes you have to pay them overtime if you’re shipping outside of normal hours. They could go to a copy to the trucker, but also a copy right to the border so the veterinarian on the other side could have a look at it and say the paper looks good.”

Officials in B.C. and Washington state (the U.S. system is virtually the same as Canada’s) are supportive of a trial project, he said.

“We’re working on it, and what we would like to do is do a proof-of-concept pilot and we have quite a lot of support on both sides of the border,” he said.

Initially, there was talk of using the Kingsgate, B.C. border crossing, but nothing is confirmed yet.

“The CFIA indicated that for its cooperation, it needed to be more than just one site,” said Rob McNabb, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association’s general

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manager of operations. “It’s pending some additional work that needs to be done to advance the whole idea of a bigger pilot for e-certification of animals going from Canada to the U.S.” Security is one concern, but Delver said current technology could be used to prevent fraudulent export certificates for cattle. But that’s another matter that needs to be tested in a pilot project.

“We would run an electronic certification system in parallel with hard paper, but I think that what we’re trying to show is that the electronic certification would be so far superior that both sides would realize it was the way to go,” he said.

E-certification would also reduce the workload for CFIA staff and ultimately save both industry and taxpayers money, he said.

Still, progress has been painstakingly slow, Delver said.

“We have not had a lot of encouragement from CFIA,” he said. “They are talking 2016 before it can be done, and we are saying that’s unacceptable.”

In 2011, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama announced — with considerable fanfare — the United StatesCanada Regulatory Cooperation Council Joint Action Plan.

The plan was to cut red tape in trade in cross-border commerce, but it’s a challenging task.

“It’s not a new concept — there have been previous iterations of something like this,” said Rob McNabb, general manager of operations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

“They would look at opportunities to harmonize, opportunities to expedite, things that would accommodate and smooth trade and transition of goods and services between Canada and the U.S.” The council is focused on key areas affecting trade: agriculture and food; transportation; health and personal-care products; workplace chemicals; and the environment.

“They look for ways of streamlining the regulatory systems that both countries have, recognizing sovereignty where it was still necessary, but seeking other means of harmonization or equivalency,” said McNabb.

It’s hoped the council will add urgency for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to facilitate an e-certification system for crossborder cattle movement.

“I think that what we were particularly pleased about was agriculture and livestock even more specifically was of fairly high recognition in the co-operative council’s work plan,” McNabb said.

Industry consultation produced 29 initiatives to ease regulatory burdens. Working groups have been created to begin implementing the improvements before the end of the council’s two-year mandate.

“I think the level of consultation with stakeholders this time is at a much higher level,” said McNabb. “We are able to provide comment or take a look at progress or lack thereof, and either indicate support or tell them to move this along a little bit better.”

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To find out more about the Career Focus Program and to obtain a project proposal form: Visit: www.agr.gc.ca/careerfocus Call: 1-866-452-5558 E-mail: careerfocus@agr.gc.ca

Alberta Farmer 1 x 84 li B/W

NEWS » Markets

}production

10

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

China to slash corn imports China’s corn imports may plunge more than 80 per cent next year, says a government think-tank. Soaring corn prices and increased domestic production could prompt China to slash its buying, says the China National Grain and Oils Information Center. The agency predicts corn imports will fall to one million tonnes in 2013, down from an estimated 5.5 million tonnes for this year. China is on track to produce a record crop of around 197 million to 200 million tonnes of corn this year. The USDA is also expecting a steep fall, although it estimates China will buy two million tonnes next year.

Ukraine grain sowing advances Ukraine said it had sown 2.04 million hectares for the 2013 winter grain harvest as of Sept. 17, which is 25 per cent of the originally forecast area and a much larger area than the 1.45 million hectares sown by the same date in 2011. The Agriculture Ministry said in a report that the former Soviet republic plans to sow a total of 8.1 million hectares in 2013 winter grains, wheat and barley, which is about 2.5 per cent less than in 2012. Weather forecasters say conditions are favourable for sowing in most Ukrainian regions.

Prairie weather not done with grain markets just yet Ill winds } It appears that a significant amount of canola blew

away before it made it to the bin earlier this month

35.3 bushels per acre, which compares with the August forecast of 36.1 and the year-ago level of 41.5 bushels per acre.

Wheat futures in the U.S. posted the largest gains during the week, although the strength there was less a function of the USDA report and more tied to problems with wheat crops in other parts of the world. Reports out of Australia, Europe and the Black Sea region during the week were all pointing to smaller wheat crops in those key growing regions. Smaller crops elsewhere will mean more demand for U.S. supplies, which supported prices.

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

I

CE Futures Canada canola contracts posted solid gains during the week ended Sept. 14, as production concerns in parts of the Prairies, and expectations that supplies may not be enough to meet the demand going forward, provided support.

Canola ended the week with new contract highs in many months, and the bullish technical signals could be setting the stage for further gains. For the most active November contract, the clear break above $645 per tonne will leave that former resistance level as new support. As far as the upside is concerned, the weekly charts don’t show any real targets until the $680- to $690-per-tonne-area.

While harvest pressure does have the potential to slow any advances in the near term, the fact that production is unlikely to live up to earlier expectations should keep end-users as good buyers if they want to secure supplies going forward. Heavy winds and hail during the week damaged canola lying in swaths across the Prairies, although the extent of the damage to the crop as a whole remains to be seen. As long as there is still canola in the fields, expect weather issues to remain a factor in the futures going forward — especially as temperatures turn cooler and the risk of frost rises.

There wasn’t really very much trade in Winnipeg markets during the week, but the bids and offers that came forward were enough to take milling wheat higher and barley lower. Durum remained unchanged.

Exchange rates

USDA reports

In the U.S., wheat and soybeans were up, while corn was down. The big event of the week for the grains and oilseeds in Chicago was the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply/demand report on Wednesday.

The headline numbers were deemed bearish for corn and bullish for soybeans, and the two commodities reacted accordingly.

While both crops saw their yield forecasts revised lower from the previous month, the cuts to corn production did not live up to market expectations, while soybean supplies were pegged below trade guesses. USDA now forecasts U.S. corn yields at 122.8 bushels per acre, down from 123.4 bushels in August and the year-ago level of 147.2 bushels. Soybean yields are forecast at

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

Aside from the standard supply/ demand storylines, the key factor to watch in the grain markets these days is the global economy. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced new stimulus measures during the week as the central bank continues to try to prop up the U.S. economy. U.S. interest rates have already been effectively at zero for some time, leaving the Fed with fewer options to stir the pot. What the Fed did was announce an open-ended quantitative easing program, sometimes called QE3. This amounts to the government promising to buy US$40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities per month for an indefinite period, to put some more money into the economy. Many analysts see the QE3 as effectively printing money, which devalues the U.S. currency.

A softer U.S. currency makes U.S.priced commodities more attractive to international buyers, and the theory behind quantitative easing would see that increased demand offset the resulting weakness in the currency. How that plays out remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, a weaker U.S. dollar usually means a stronger Canadian currency — and the loonie was trading at very strong levels during the week. The stronger Canadian currency makes Canadian products less attractive in the international marketplace.

Another global factor circulating on the sidelines of the agricultural markets these days is the renewed uncertainty in North Africa and the Middle East.

The unrest has the potential to sway the financial and crude oil markets, making the international news just as important as the local weather reports when it comes to marketing decisions.

Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Resource News International (RNI), a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting

11

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

NEWS Monsanto scholarship winners for 2012 Ten graduating high school students from Alberta farm families have secured $1,500 entrance scholarships to pursue studies in agriculture thanks to financial assistance provided through the Monsanto Fund Opportunity Scholarship program.

The winners were selected by an independent panel of judges based on their academic performance, leadership capabilities and involvement in giving back to charitable or other service groups in their local communities.

All applicants were also required to submit an application essay that answered the question, “In what area of agriculture would you like to work and why?”

The 2012 Monsanto Fund Opportunity Scholarship winners are all Grade 12 graduates from a farm family who are enrolled in a first-year degree or diploma program in agriculture or an agricultural-related field this fall at a recognized Canadian educational institution.

Since its inception in 1991, the Monsanto Fund and Monsanto Canada have provided well over $1 million to hundreds of rural kids who have chosen to study agriculture and pursue careers in the agricultural sector.

This year’s winners are Peter Bos, Coaldale; Kelly Coppock, Castor; Becky Domolewski, Taber; Taya Hoar, Ponoka; Danica Nobbs, Bonanza; Tessa Nybo, Sundre; Kirsten Pallesen, Drumheller; Monica Sluijmers, Lethbridge; Heather Stanko, Lomond and Brandon Wagstaff, Trochu.

“Pink slime” allegations prompt lawsuit ABC News is being sued for $1.2 billion by a South Dakota meat processor that claims it was defamed and viewers misled by reports that suggested “pink slime” was unsafe.

In court documents, Beef Products Inc. sued says ABC falsely told viewers that its “lean finely textured beef” was not safe, not healthy, and not even meat.

Beef Products is the largest U.S. producer of the product, a filler made from fatty trimmings sprayed with ammonia to kill bacteria and sold to companies such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Safeway. The company says the media furor forced it to shut three of its four plants, eliminate more than 700 jobs, and lose more than $20 million of revenue each month.

The suit, which also names ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, is “without merit” and will be contested “vigorously,” said a senior ABC official.

U.S. drought pushes Big Sky Farms under Receivership } The company will continue to operate for now by rod nickel/reuters

C

anada’s second-biggest hog producer, Big Sky Farms, has entered receivership as the North American hog industry struggles under the bruising costs of animal feed.

Big Sky Farms, based in Humboldt, produces roughly one million pigs annually and accounts for 40 per cent of Saskatchewan’s total hog production.

Under receivership, an outside party controls a company until it can restructure its debt or be sold, said Neil Ketilson, general manager of Sask Pork, an industry group run by hog farmers.

Ketilson said he had spoken with Big Sky chief executive Casey Smit, and the company would operate for now with no plans to lay off staff or liquidate its pig inventory. He said the receiver would ensure that there was

money to feed the pigs. A severe drought in the United States has decimated crops, which has led to higher costs for feed grains.

Smit could not be reached for comment. In an interview with the Manitoba Farm Journal, however, he was quoted as saying that because of the drought driving up feed costs, Big Sky was losing $40 to $50 on every hog it sends to market.

“It really leaves the company with very few options,” he said.

Corn, barley and wheat prices are leading many North American hog farmers to liquidate their herds and send more pigs to slaughter, resulting in lower U.S. hog prices, Ketilson said.

“It’s all about the drought in the U.S.,” he said. “If it hadn’t been for that, I think the guys would have been just fine.”

If Big Sky, established in 1995, were to liquidate its herd, the broader western Canadian hog industry would be hit hard, including

“It’s all about the drought in the U.S.… If it hadn’t been for that, I think the guys would have been just fine.”

Neil Ketilson general manager, sask pork

feed mills, truckers and hog processors. Big Sky is one of the suppliers for packing plants owned by Maple Leaf Foods and Olymel. Canada is the world’s third-largest pork exporter.

Big Sky filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 after a similar run-up in feed costs and restructured its business.

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12

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

ONE HOT TRACTOR

Carseland Fire Department works to extinguish a tractor fire south of Namaka, Alberta. The tractor caught fire while working on a silage pile. No one was injured in the incident. PHOTOS: KEVIN LINK

IN BRIEF European maize a rare bright spot

Are you looking for…

Support the Wheat & Barley Check-Off. The check-off enables Western Canada’s farmers to continue funding variety research and market development in the open market.

This voluntary check-off of $0.48/tonne of wheat and $0.56/tonne of barley will be shown as a Deduction of Levy on your Cash Purchase Ticket upon grain delivery at a Canadian Grain Commission licensed company.

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These funds will be delivered to three important groups that work together to support your farm’s future. Visit their websites to learn more:

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KIEV / REUTERS Eastern European maize crops have survived a summer drought, but exporters are unlikely to benefit as domestic buyers seek alternatives to wheat and barley ravaged by the heat.

Top maize producers in the Black Sea region — Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria and Romania — are likely to produce a total of 37 million tonnes of maize this year, compared to 39.7 million tonnes in 2011.

However, most is expected to replace feed wheat, whose output has drastically fallen this year amid soaring temperatures.

Hot, dry weather in some European Union countries has severely hit prospects for this year’s EU maize harvest, adding pressure to a world market already reeling from huge drought damage in the U.S.

13

CARGILL ADDS REFINERY AT CLAVET

HEAD START  An open fall lets you attend to weed control and fertility tasks a few months early AGRI-NEWS

“It is especially important to evaluate active growth once frost events start to occur.”

A

s harvest continues in a timely manner across the province there will be an opportunity for producers to carry out post-harvest field activities this fall,” says Mark Cutts, crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “Some of the activities that could be completed include perennial weed control, soil fertility evaluation and fertilizer application. By completing these activities producers can gain efficiencies in time management and cost of production.”

Post-harvest perennial weed control — in fields where perennial weeds are present and a preharvest glyphosate application was not performed (e.g. malting barley) or producers are rotating to a lesscompetitive crop (e.g. peas), an early harvest will allow producers an opportunity to control these weeds.

“In order to achieve post-harvest control of perennial weeds, producers need to ensure that, first, the plants are actively growing, and second, that there is enough plant growth present to ensure sufficient herbicide uptake occurs,” says Cutts. “It is especially important to evaluate active growth once frost events start to occur.”

Evaluating the presence of active growth is best achieved one to two days after a frost. Effective uptake of the herbicide will occur if the weeds are actively growing and if 60 per cent of the plant material is still green. The amount of plant growth present will also impact

MARK CUTTS AARD

in a consistent manner in representative areas of the field and at the appropriate depths to capture meaningful nutrient information.”

®, TM, SM

Taking advantage of this year’s early harvest

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Crude canola oil coming out of agri-food giant Cargill’s facility in central Saskatchewan may soon be refined where it’s crushed. Cargill says it will build a world-scale canola refinery at its plant at Clavet, Sask., about 20 km southeast of Saskatoon. The facility, expected to be completed just ahead of the 2014-15 canola harvest, will be Cargill’s only such refinery in Canada. The Clavet plant’s oil is now shipped to other Cargill facilities and third-party plants for further processing.

*Source: Independent feeding trial conducted at the Lethbridge Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Lethbridge, Alberta (2009-2010).

 PROCESSING

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Fall fertilizer

In post-harvest situations quack grass plants should have a minimum of three to four green leaves in order to achieve control. MAFRI the effectiveness of the glyphosate application. For example, in postharvest situations quack grass plants should have a minimum of three to four green leaves in order to achieve control. If a field was swathed, obtaining this amount of growth will likely require a time period of three to four weeks. Refer to the Alberta Agriculture Crop Protection 2012 publication or product labels for timing of control for other perennial weeds.

Soil fertility evaluations

Soil testing in the fall is an excellent option for evaluating nutri-

ent levels in the soil. Soil testing in the fall offers producers several advantages including having more time to collect the samples as compared to spring; allowing more time to plan fertilizer programs for the next cropping season; and, taking advantage of lower fertilizer prices that may occur.

“Soil sample collection can occur once soil temperatures are below 7 C,” says Cutts. “Waiting until soil temperatures are cooler will provide soil nutrient levels that should closely reflect spring nutrient levels. It is also important to ensure sample collection occurs

The most common approach for applying fall fertilizer is to band nitrogen either as urea (46-0-0) or anhydrous ammonia (82-0-0).

Since nitrogen makes up the biggest volume of applied fertilizer, a fall application will enhance efficiencies during spring seeding.

“Fall nitrogen fertilizer applications can be made once soil temperatures are below 10 C,” says Cutts. “Applying urea or anhydrous ammonia fertilizer at cooler soil temperatures will help maintain nitrogen in the ammonium (NH4+) form. The ammonium form of nitrogen is preferred as it will be protected from losses that can occur as a result of denitrification or leaching. Another potential benefit of fall-applied fertilizer is the economic advantage that occurs when fall fertilizer products have a favourable price as compared to spring-priced products.”

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Dow agrees to safeguards for 2,4-D/glyphosate combination Education } Dow says it will amend the label and warn farmers about damage to sensitive crops by carey gillam/reuters

A

U.S. farmer group said Sept.

11 it is dropping its opposition to efforts by Dow AgroSciences to roll out a new biotech crop system in exchange for a series of commitments by Dow, including help investigating any accidental crop damage.

The deal calls for “several new safeguards” from Dow AgroSciences related to use of a reformulated herbicide and biotech crops that Dow has engineered to be used with the herbicide, and could help speed regulatory approval for the unit of Dow Chemical.

The farmer group, called Save Our Crops, represents more than 2,000 U.S. farmers and had filed legal petitions with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency opposing Dow’s new crops and herbicide system. Dubbed “Enlist,” it provides tolerance to both glyphosate and 2,4-D, and is designed to kill weeds such as waterhemp that have become resistant to glyphosate alone.

The group is one of many organizations that have protested the proposed new crop system, citing feared damage and contamination of other crops and harm to the environment and human health.

A large tomato grower and processor was among those worried about 2,4-D drift. ©thinkstock target movement, especially in areas with sensitive crops.

“With this agreement... we are no longer opposing the Enlist pro-

gram,” said Steve Smith, director of agriculture at Indiana-based Red Gold, the world’s largest processor of canned tomatoes,

and a leader of Save Our Crops, the coalition that had been battling Dow. “We think Dow has done a good job understanding the necessity to put several new safeguards in place,” Smith said.

Enlist is the first in a planned series of new herbicide-tolerant crops aimed at addressing a surge in weeds that have developed resistance to Monsanto Co.’s popular Roundup herbicide.

Chemical giant BASF and Monsanto plan to unveil by the middle of this decade crops tolerant to a mix of the chemicals dicamba and glyphosate. Smith said his group remains opposed to the dicamba product.

Many critics remain opposed to 2,4-D-tolerant crops. Among other things, they are concerned that greater use of 2,4-D, will add

Opposition remains

Strong opposition remains. But Dow officials hope to have regulatory approval in hand quickly so they can start selling Dow’s new biotech seeds in the next few months, Dow spokesman Garry Hamlin said. U.S. farmers generally start buying seed in the fall for planting in the spring, and the selling season is just kicking off this month.

“We’ve been signalling all along that we thought differences like these could be resolved,” said Hamlin. “We think we’ve reached a favourable resolution. We want to be able to provide this to growers for 2013.”

U.S. agricultural and environmental groups have been in an uproar over Dow’s intentions to commercialize new genetically altered corn, soybeans and cotton that will withstand dousings of the new Enlist herbicide.

The herbicide combines glyphosate with a reformulated herbicide known as 2,4-D that — while long proven as an effective weed killer — is controversial for its volatile nature and toxic effects, and tangential ties as one of the elements in the “Agent Orange” defoliant used in Vietnam.

Many farmers have protested Dow’s move because they fear rising use of 2,4-D will increase the damage already done when 2,4-D drifts on the wind into fields and gardens where it kills not just weeds, but other plants and crops.

Dow said it has reduced the volatility and risk of drift with the new formulation.

Amended labels

As well, Dow has agreed to amend its labelling instructions for farmers to specify for applications near sensitive crops. And Dow AgroSciences has committed to assist in investigating any damage claims on non-targeted crops, and in educating growers and applicators in proper application to reduce off-

BayerCropScience.ca/InVigor or 1 888-283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.

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to increased weed resistance. And several medical and public health professionals have expressed concerns that increased use of 2,4-D could be harmful to humans.

Critics have cited studies that report an association between exposure to 2,4-D and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells that can be fatal.

2,4-D has also been linked to birth defects, neurological damage in offspring, and interference with reproductive function, according to critics.

“Opposition remains. This deal is a real disservice to those of us who are trying to get responsible regulation on this,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, which has threatened to sue the government if it approves the new Enlist crops.

“We will sue.”

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Albertafarmexpress.ca • september 24, 2012

Western Canada farmland values soar as growers expand Alberta prices } Up 20-25 per cent over the past year as producers look to expand their operations

By Rod Nickel

winnipeg / reuters

W

estern Canadian farmland is soaring in value, as farmers expand their lands and look to cash in on high crop prices, a report by real estate organization RE/MAX said Sept. 10.

The price of high-end grain-producing land in southern Saskatchewan has jumped 20 per cent on average from last year to a range of $1,200 to $1,800 per acre, while the average price in central Alberta is up 20-25 per cent to between $2,000 and $4,500 per acre of non-irrigated land. “(With) the strong pricing in cereal grains and beef, a lot of Alberta farmers

are looking to expand and (are) buying Saskatchewan farmland — that has really increased the price,” said Elton Ash, regional executive vice-president of RE/MAX in Western Canada.

“And in the rest of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the largest demand is from local farmers wanting to expand their own operation.”

The average Canadian farm grew to a record size in 2011, and the number of farms shrank to a record low, according to Canada’s census. Improving machinery has made it possible to farm larger areas, and size also gives farmers negotiating power for selling their crops.

As in Western Canada, farmland values in the United States have risen sharply over the past several years, and not even this year’s drought could keep

prices from climbing in the second quarter.

Along with farmers scooping up more land, funds are steadily amassing large areas of the western Canadian Crop Belt, then leasing fields back to farmers to work.

“Certainly we don’t influence the price because we’re not big enough to do that,” said Doug Emsley, president of Saskatchewan-based Assiniboia Capital Corp., which owns 120,000 acres of farmland in the province. “But what does start to move the dial is when farmers start to buy land on the basis of farmer economics.”

Chinese investors are also buying western Canadian farmland, Ash said, although Saskatchewan, the top wheatand canola-growing province, restricts purchases by foreign interests to 10 acres.

“(With) the strong pricing in cereal grains and beef, a lot of Alberta farmers are looking to expand and (are) buying Saskatchewan farmland — that has really increased the price.”

Elton Ash RE/MAX

7.4”

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Japan boosts domestic wheat price to $17.30/bu. raised } Farm Ministry

marks up the price of imported product

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Japan will raise the price at which it sells imported wheat to domestic users by an average three per cent from Oct. 1 to reflect the recent rally in prices of Chicago wheat, marking the first price hike in a year, the Farm Ministry said Aug. 22.

Japan, the world’s sixth-biggest wheat importer, buys five types of milling wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia through import tenders and sells to millers at prices set twice a year.

The Farm Ministry usually revises the price of each wheat type based on a weighted average of its purchase prices in the six months to February for the first year-half and those in the six months to August for the second year-half.

The only exception after the ministry introduced the current market-oriented price-setting scheme in April 2007 was in October-March 2008, when it subsidized to curb a rise in the prices after Chicago wheat reached record highs.

The ministry’s wheat-selling price to flour millers for the October-March period will be an average 50,130 yen ($630 per tonne, $17.15 per bushel) compared with 48,780 yen in the previous six-month period and 57,720 yen in the same period a year earlier.

The Japanese government keeps a firm grip on wheat imports to supplement locally produced wheat, the second most important grain after rice, and holds to strict quality standards to reflect demand from Japanese end-users for high-quality grain.

The government usually buys about five million tonnes of foreign wheat a year for milling use, which accounts for about 90 per cent of domestic consumption.

16

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Kura clover an attractive option for pastures

MAKING HAY

STAYING POWER 

Forage specialist Ken Ziegler has a 10-year-old stand that has “been getting stronger and stronger”

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN

AF STAFF / ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE

Want to plant clover and then forget about it for 10 years? Kura clover might be the ticket.

Ken Ziegler has done just that.

“It’s a very aggressive legume that fixes nitrogen and it has a tremendous capacity to live for a very long time,” the beef and forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture in Rocky Mountain House said during the West County Ag Tour in Clearwater County.

Ziegler seeded Kura clover on several hills and has over five acres of the plant on his property. One stand was seeded with Kura along with reed canary grass and timothy in 2002 or 2003, and has been actively producing ever since.

That’s atypical for a clover — and there’s no end in sight.

“Every year, it’s just been getting stronger and stronger, and becoming a greater part of the stand,” said Ziegler. The area was straight seeded with the grasses and Kura without using a cover crop.

“We put on extra phosphorus because we could, so I’m going to guess-estimate we put about 40 to 50 pounds of actual P on with about 10 to 15 pounds of potash and sulphur and very little nitrogen,” he said.

The area was hayed around the end of August in the next year, so the legume could have lots of time to establish a stand and seed out. Late haying was practised again two years after seeding.

“Since then, I’ve grazed this twice per season,” Ziegler said.

Cows are allowed to take a lot of the clover down in order to use as much of the plant as possible. This year, they were on the clover from July 10 to July 16, and were slated to go back in mid-September for a second harvest.

“The thing that I really appreciate about the Kura is that it’s a long-term legume that will be in this stand for as long as I am managing this ground,” Ziegler said. “It’s a fairly expensive endeavour because the seed is not easily available and you have to plan far ahead with your seed company to ensure that you get what you need for the following summer.”

Kura clover is winter hardy and thrives under controlled and intensive grazing, but bloat can be a concern.

A rancher near Turner Valley, Alta., rakes hay while the horses continue to graze on pasture. An extended hot summer has farmers busy in the fields. High humidity in Alberta this year has made haying difficult. PHOTO: WENDY DUDLEY

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17

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Football golf? It works on this Swedish farm MIXED FARM  If strawberries and organic vegetables don’t grab your interest,

you can always try a little football golf at this Swedish farm

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF / SWEDEN

S

Marie Jonsson and her family run an agro-tourism farm which attracts Swedes from the cities.

wedish farmers, like Canadian ones, have had to diversify in order to earn more revenue.

On Marie Jonsson’s farm that used to mean U-pick strawberries. Now it means things such as paintball and football golf.

Jonsson and husband Roger Karttunen turned to agro-tourism, even though her farm is 80 kilometres from Stockholm and 50 kilometres from other smaller Swedish cities. The couple, along with Roger’s father and their children, run Morrarro Culture and Entertainment.

The farm, first purchased by one of Jonsson’s relatives in 1928, has 150 hectares of land and a 200-hectare lake. It originally produced vegetables and eggs, and was also a popular place for ice fishing. The farmers also maintained forests on

the property. In 1950, Jonsson’s grandfather and his four brothers took over the farm. Her grandfather began growing strawberries in the 1960s and sold them at local shops and a farmers’ market.

“He was one of the first in this area to have self-picking of strawberries,” Jonsson said. “At that time, it was not common at all in Sweden.”

But times have changed and so have the economics.

“When my grandfather bought the farm, there were five families who got their income on the farm,” she said. “But nowadays, my husband and I also have full-time work in the city. This farm is too small to sustain us.”

Their situation is common, she said.

“We rent most of our land out to a bigger farmer, but we have about 20 hectares that we use for the strawberries, sheep and vegetables that we grow by ourselves.”

Jonsson’s parents took over the farm in 1965, expanding the strawberry operation to 10 hectares and adding black currants for jam making, and sweet corn to the U-pick lineup. However, U-pick operations fell out of fashion at the end of the 1990s.

“No one cared about where their strawberries came from at that time,” she said.

They eventually stopped growing corn and black currants and scaled back the strawberry operations.

“Now we only have two hectares of strawberries,” she said.

“But it’s very funny these last few years because the self-picking has begun to rise again. It’s because people want to know where their products come from. They want to show their children where it comes from and they want to make their own jam again.”

So strawberry production is again expanding and the couple is selling pre-picked raspberries,

“I think it is very common in Sweden nowadays, that the farms are too small to live on. A hundred years ago, this was not a problem.”

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vegetables and potatoes at the farm and at the Saturday farmers’ market. Everything is produced organically, except for the strawberries, which are sprayed due to insect pressure. A few years ago, the family added 20 Gute sheep, a traditional Swedish meat breed, to their operation.

Five years ago, they began offering paintball and football golf, similar to regular golf, except it is played with a soccer ball and people have to kick the ball into the holes.

“Football golf is like mini-golf because you have to pass some things, but you have a football to kick. It’s quite a good activity because everybody from children to adults can play,” said Jonsson.

It’s also good for the farm, as the football golf and paintball season runs from April to October.

“When my father was running the farm, he did more farming and didn’t rent it out, but we like having activities where we can meet people on our farm,” Jonsson said. “The customer contact is very important for us.”

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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InVigor® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group.

Genuity®, Genuity and Design®, Genuity Icons, Roundup Ready®, and Roundup® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, used under license.

Always follow grain marketing and all other stewardship practices and pesticide label directions. Details of these requirements can be found in the Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers printed in this publication. ©2012 Cargill, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

EU chops requirement for blending biofuels for transport LIMIT  Blending requirement to be limited to the current five per cent

BY BARBARA LEWIS AND MICHELE KAMBAS BRUSSELS/NICOSIA REUTERS

T

An Oxfam cartoon produced as part of the campaign to limit use of food crops for biofuel.

he European Commission announced a major shift in biofuel policy on Sept.

17, saying it plans to limit cropbased biofuels to five per cent of transport fuel, after campaigners said existing rules take food out of people’s mouths.

Record-high global grain prices have intensified calls for changes in EU and U.S. biofuel policies, criticized for snatching away land that should be used for food.

EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard and energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger confirmed in a joint statement

they wanted to cap the use of cropbased fuel.

“It is wrong to believe that we are pushing food-based biofuels,” the commissioners said.

“In our upcoming proposal for new legislation, we do exactly the contrary: we limit them to the current consumption level, that is five per cent up to 2020.”

The draft proposal, which are expected to be published in October, will need the approval of EU governments and lawmakers to become law.

“The commission’s message for post-2020 is that our clear preference is biofuels produced from non-food feedstocks, like waste or agricultural residues such as straw,” the statement from the commissioners said.

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“These new types of biofuels are not in competition with food, nor do they require additional land. We are pushing biofuels that help us cutting substantial CO2 emissions, do not compete with food and are sustainable and green at the same time.”

Tough target

With the 10 per cent target looking very difficult, energy ministers meeting informally Sept. 17 in Cyprus, holder of the EU presidency, debated how biofuels could be developed sustainably.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Oettinger said increasing the use of biofuels depended on developing a new generation of sources. These second-generation biofuels are much more costly than those made from crops such as rapeseed and wheat.

“I think we agree that a higher figure for that mixture of biofuel beyond five per cent can only be achieved from a second-generation source, not from crops but agricultural waste and leftovers instead of from food crops,” he told reporters.

“We cannot continue to burn food in our petrol tanks while poor families go hungry.”

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Campaign group Oxfam urged ministers to support the proposed EU limit and to ignore warnings from biofuel producers that the plans would hurt Europe’s economy and result in job losses.

“European governments and the European Commission must not cave in to pressure from the biofuels industry,” said Natalia Alonso, head of Oxfam’s EU office. “We cannot continue to burn food in our petrol tanks while poor families go hungry.”

The EU’s biofuel goal to source 10 per cent of road transport from renewable sources by the end of the decade is part of an overall aim to increase use of renewable sources and limit carbon emissions.

It also has a goal to draw 20 per cent of the total energy mix from green energy.

Oettinger said the bloc was on track for the 20 per cent goal by 2020, but subsidies were an issue and he urged a more harmonized EU approach.

“A major disadvantage has been that in some member states, often budgetary consolidation has led to abrupt changes,” he said. “This is the opposite of protecting people’s confidence so they can safely plan, and it frightens off investors.”

Too much subsidy was as bad as sudden changes, and subsidies will have to dwindle as technology becomes more competitive, he said.

“What we have seen is that there has been too much support actually in some cases, more has been done to encourage than necessary, leading to free-rider effects,” Oettinger said.

21

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Stinky solution to the food versus fuel controversy DOUBLE CROP  In the U.S. Corn Belt, pennycress, otherwise known as stinkweed, could be planted after corn

BY CHRISTINE STEBBINS REUTERS

A

little weed common to roadside ditches is ready to go from nuisance to cash crop, thanks to the biofuels boom.

Pennycress, better known in Canada as stinkweed, is a member of the mustard family. It yields a tiny seed that can be squeezed into an industrial oil and processed into biodiesel, a growing market now dominated by soybeans.

For farmers, the best news is that growing pennycress is not an either/or choice. Pennycress grows all winter in the U.S. Corn Belt and can be harvested by farmers before they plant soy.

“It’s a rotation crop that is planted post-corn harvest in the fall and harvested prior to soybean planting in the spring. You don’t knock an existing commodity crop off its production cycle. That means food production doesn’t get interrupted,” said Terry Isbell, a U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist in Peoria, Illinois, who has researched pennycress since 2003.

That double cropping has special appeal this year. The debate over turning food crops such as corn and soybeans into fuel heated up as the worst drought to hit the United States in more than 50 years has slashed harvests, putting buyers of corn, soybeans and other crops on higher alert.

Scientists are encouraged by the

Stan Peacock of High Prairie with a field of pennycress in 2011. Peacock was part of a project to evaluate its biofuel potential by Alberta Agriculture’s Special Crops Division and the Olds School of Innovation. high oil content in pennycress. It produces 36 per cent oil, compared to the 18 per cent oil yield from soybeans. Pennycress also yields a high-protein livestock feed, comparable to soybean meal.

Pennycress, now sometimes used as a winter “cover” crop to protect soils, sprouts as a small

rosette but grows as tall as three feet (90 cm) by May. On average it produces about 1,500 lbs. (680 kg) of seed per acre (0.4 hectare) when harvested.

But it’s a weed

Scientists remind interested farmers that pennycress is a weed, so any residual seeds left from har-

vesting can survive the winter.

While the weeds can be managed with herbicides under a cornsoybean rotation, pennycress can compete and crowd wheat and alfalfa crops, making it more difficult to eliminate.

“It’s already in most of the fields in Illinois because it came in with wheat hundreds of years

ago. People already know how to manage it. Farmers recognize it as a weed,” Isbell said.

Ground zero is central Illinois where the USDA national lab in Peoria is working with a startup, Pennycress Energy, to commercialize the crop.

Pennycress Energy is contracting with farmers to plant the seed this autumn. Pennycress supplies the seed and planting to the farmer for free. But it is offering farmers six cents a pound for the harvested seeds in the spring, which the company says equates to about $100 net income per acre for each farmer.

“We have set a target to have 250,000 acres by 2017. They should be within a 60-mile (95km) radius so we can set up a seed-processing, storage and oil extraction facility at the centre of those 60 miles,” said Sudhir Seth, CEO of Pennycress.

The processing of pennycress so far has been done at the Peoria lab. As plantings and production grow, the company will plan to construct its own oilseed-processing facility.

A crop from 250,000 acres would produce 25 million gallons (95 million litres) of biodiesel, which could generate jobs and as much as $200 million for the local economy, Seth said.

Seth said he expects to plant about 2,500 acres in the commercial pilot program this autumn.

Nearly 1,000 acres were planted in 2011 under research conditions, he said.

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22

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Former collective farm a symbol of new capitalist Russia TRANSFORMED  Collective farm now an

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A worker watches sunflower seeds being loaded on a private farm in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region. The seeds are dried and sold as a snack, a great favourite across Russia. REUTERS/VLADIMIR KONSTANTINOV

BY MELISSA AKIN

STAROSHCHERBINOVSKAYA, RUSSIA / REUTERS

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T

his year’s wheat, piled in steel sheds on the Banner of Lenin collective farm, shimmers greyish gold in the dusty air, a vision of plenty worthy of a Soviet propaganda poster.

In Soviet times, the 15,000-hectare farm in Russia’s Black Sea breadbasket region of Krasnodar, stuck to growing wheat, but over the past two decades has turned itself into a one-billion-ruble($31-million-) per-year business producing wheat, fruit, sausages and sugar. It sells its 45,000 to 50,000 tonnes of high-quality milling wheat at the farm gate to be shipped to customers such as Turkey.

It is emblematic of a Russian agriculture industry trying to establish itself as a global force.

That’s a far cry from the time of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, who launched collectivization on these lands nearly 80 years ago. The town’s Bible was seized, its church razed and its people left to starve.

State quotas still governed the farm when Yuri Kharaman, a wiry man in his late 50s with a permanent sunburn from life in the fields, took over as the collective’s chairman.

“We don’t have that pressure anymore. We can focus on profit per hectare,” said Kharaman, who drives a sport utility vehicle and, like other members of the collective, owns a five-hectare share of the farm’s land.

Although hit twice by drought in the last three years, Russia is thinking big and aiming for grain exports of 40 million to 50 million tonnes by 2020.

For the Banner of Lenin farm, Russia’s re-emergence has brought modest prosperity and money for better technology, including John Deere combines to replace older models made in the nearby city of Rostov.

Growth potential

The potential for growth has not escaped the attention of Russia’s wealthy businessmen or the

world’s largest agribusiness companies. Oleg Deripaska, owner of the world’s largest aluminum company, owns an 84,000-hectare farm in his hometown of UstLabinsk north of the regional capital of Krasnodar. And along the North Caucasus Railway, which carries much of Russia’s export grain to the Black Sea Port of Novorossiisk, stand Soviet-built grain elevators, now owned by Glencore, Louis Dreyfus, Cargill and Bunge.

It’s a sharp contrast to the final decades of the Soviet era, marked by heavy dependence on grain imports and a mass slaughter of livestock in the ’90s because of feed shortages. That had another consequence: Russia met the global commodity boom with its grain storage and transport infrastructure configured for import.

It now requires billions of dollars in investment to modernize and expand to match Russia’s export ambitions.

Wealth has been slow to trickle down to farmers, too.

The collective’s shareholders receive 720 rubles (C$23) per month in profits, plus a share of the farm’s output, which has expanded to include fruit, vegetables, flour, sugar and sausage, all produced and marketed under the Banner of Lenin brand. Average monthly salaries for the 1,100 regular employees are 21,000 rubles (C$649), and up to 30,000 ($927) for machinery operators.

Kharaman is among those who worry that Russia could again ban exports, leaving his farm to sell at depressed domestic prices.

“When wheat costs $300 on the world market, and we get $150, we can’t buy new combines, planters or tractors,” Kharaman said.

The town got its Bible back after Soviet rule collapsed, and there are plans to reconstruct the long-destroyed church.

Kharaman says he hopes the church will serve as a moral guide for his people.

“Before, we had Communist ideology, which had elements of religion,” Kharaman said. “Now there is no ideology at all, and there is a vacuum.”

23

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Entry deadline near for young speakers program Young people between 11 and 24 have until Sept.

30 to enter the Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture (CYSA) public speaking event.

This year’s competition takes place Saturday, November 3, 2012 at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario.

“We have an excellent group of speakers who have already registered for the competition, but the stronger and deeper the field, the better the competition will be,” says CYSA president John J. MacDonald.

Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture contestants prepare and deliver a five- to seven-minute speech, in English or French, on one of five agriculture-related topics.

Cash prizes are awarded to the six finalists in both the Junior Competition (ages 11-15) and Senior Competition (ages 16-24).

All Canadians of these ages are eligible to enter.

For information about the 28th annual CYSA competition, including available topics, competition rules, accommodations assistance and registration, visit www.cysa-joca.ca.

FIELD FEAST  Annie and Mark Bertagnolli began swath grazing

a decade ago and are now in their third year of feed corn

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN

AF STAFF / ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE

S

wath grazing is touted for its ability to reduce machinery, fuel and labour costs and interested producers can get an up-close look this fall at the practice at Annie and Mark Bertagnolli’s farm.

The couple, who has been swath grazing for 10 years, allowed the Clearwater County Agricultural Services Board to conduct trials on their farm this year. The trial plots are located on Highway 22 at SE 13-38-07-W5 and are open to the public.

The Bertagnollis have 200 beef cattle. They began by swath grazing oats and barley and started swath grazing corn in 2010. Wet conditions delayed seeding the corn in the trials plots to June 7, when the soil temperature was about 10 C, with seed placed

about 1-1/2 inches deep to protect it from late June frosts.

“If we don’t get an early frost, hopefully it will be OK,” said Annie.

They planted Maizex Roundup Ready corn, an 80-day leafy silage variety, in 29-inch rows, with six to eight inches between plants.

The couple donated the seed, which costs about $75 an acre, and put on 100 pounds of nitrogen, 60 pounds of phosphorus and 30 pounds of potassium per acre.

“We are hoping for high energy and protein and we plan to graze it standing, not swathed,” she said.

Corn has nutritional value in plant stalks and leaves as well as cobs.

It was sprayed with glyphosate on June 8 and with Vantage at the seven-leaf stage.

“You can cut back a lot of yield if you don’t control those weeds when the corn is emerging,” said Matt Martinson, manager of Agri-

cultural Services with Clearwater County. “It’s not very competitive when it’s very small.”

The Bertagnollis use the same field each year for swath grazing corn, which allows cattle to manure the field. The 50 acres of corn produce a high yield, and should last 200 cows a month. Due to the crop’s height, electric fencing is needed for swath grazing.

The county is growing other crops in the trial including oats, canola, triticale, field peas, and barley. They are also experimenting with other crops not commonly grown in Clearwater County such as millet and sunflowers. Results of the trials will be provided at the Clearwater County’s Cattlemen’s day in November. The plots will be tested for dry-matter yield, feed value, forage yield, crops per acre, waste, nutritional value and palatability.

All seeds were donated.

“You can cut back a lot of yield if you don’t control those weeds when the corn is emerging. It’s not very competitive when it’s very small.”

MATT MARTINSON

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24

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

U.S. promises to comply with COOL ruling, but no immediate fix in sight SLOW PROGRESS  Revamp of country-of-origin labelling

rules may require legislation and supporters have turned to the courts to protect the current regulations

BY SHERI MONK

AF STAFF / PINCHER CREEK

T

he U.S. is promising to revamp its controversial mandatory Country-ofOrigin Labelling Act — but it doesn’t appear anything will happen soon.

The World Trade Organization has ruled the regulations, known as COOL, violate international trade law and with all of its appeals exhausted, Washington promised to comply with the ruling, said John Masswohl, director of government and international relations with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

The problem is compliance likely requires legislative changes, he noted, and that’s tricky in the partisan and complicated world of U.S. politics.

“We perhaps have a bit of a difficulty when the U.S. administration says they are evaluating options, because we don’t think that there is much that the administration can do within the constraints of the legislation,” said Masswohl. “And it’s a piece of the legislation that requires a U.S. label can only go to cattle that are born and raised in the United States. That’s the problem — that has to be eliminated.”

Meanwhile, two groups — R-CALF and the Made in the USA Foundation — filed a suit earlier this month asking the courts to prevent any such moves, arguing trade laws cannot supplant the laws of a nation.

“They do not have any more appeal options.”

JOHN MASSWOHL CCA

Moreover, consumers have a right to know where their food comes from, said Mike Schultz, R-CALF’s COOL committee chair.

A 2002 consumer survey found 93 per cent of respondents wanted the labelling, and support is increasing in the wake of food safety scares, he said.

“I think people are more aware today than they ever have been,” said Schultz.

Canada never took issue with labelling — only with the trade impediment it created, said Masswohl. Segregating cattle finished in the U.S. is expensive and, as a result, fewer are being imported.

Masswohl said his organization would like the U.S. to make a legislative change that redefines the origin rather than the label.

That would allow “any meat that is derived from slaughter in a U.S. facility would be eligible for U.S. label,” said Masswohl.

A second option would be to make the existing law voluntary, leaving the decision whether to

label in the hands of industry, he added. Schultz said both would undermine a country-of-origin labelling.

“Our deal is pretty simple and straightforward,” said Schultz.

“If it’s born, slaughtered and produced here, it ought to be a U.S.A. product, plain and simple.”

The U.S. has until October 2013 to make changes, but if the trade impediment isn’t removed, Canada and Mexico will be able to file a complaint of noncompliance with the WTO, said Masswohl. That would see the creation of a “compliance panel” and, if Washington is found not to have complied, eventually lead to Canada having the right

to retaliate by imposing tariffs on American exports to Canada.

“It is important for us at this point to be talking about the possibility of retaliation because the more you talk about the possibility of retaliation, the less likely it is that you’ll need to get there,” Masswohl said.

Schultz said Canadian producers shouldn’t take the matter personally.

“This is not a battle between producers,” said Schultz. “The Canadian people have taken a lot of pride in products of Canada.

I see stuff all the time that’s a product of Canada, but it’s the corporations that are trying to extract money that seem to be where the issue lies.”

R-CALF says a 2002 consumer survey found 93 per cent of respondents wanted country-of-origin labelling. ©THINKSTOCK

Q: What are my options now? Q: How can this new open market for wheat benefit me?

Q: Where do I find information about pricing?

Q: How will premiums and discounts be applied to my wheat? Q: How do I upgrade my wheat marketing skills and knowledge? Q: Who can I call if I have questions? Q: Who will do the best job of marketing my wheat? Q: Who can I go to for advice? Q: Who can I trust? Q: Is there a lot of high protein wheat in the world? Q: How do I figure out what the CWB is offering?

Q: Is the pool a safe place? Q: How do I know what quality of wheat I have? Q: How do I maintain the quality of my wheat in storage? Q: Are there times when the market will want my grain?

Q: How will the sale of Viterra impact the market? Q: How is rail transportation going to work? Q: What should I plan for next year?

25

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEME

Swedish and Canadian sheep producers share more than the cold NOT NATURAL?  Innovative producers lamb in January Kaj Sjunnesson, Swedish farmer with some of his sheep at his farm.

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN

AF STAFF / SODERMANLAND, SWEDEN

T

hey don’t have to worry about coyotes, but Canadian and Swedish sheep farmers face many of the same issues.

Consumer demand is high, but both sectors face challenges in growing.

“Until the ’90s, it was pretty lousy sheep farming here,” said Kaj Sjunnesson, who with wife Ann has 600 ewes and produce

lamb year round at their farm in Sodermanland.

“It’s a small sheep country with 250,000 to 300,000 ewes and not a big tradition of sheep and lamb production.”

The couple collaborates with four other farmers within 100 kilometres of each other to sell on contract to a wholesaler in Stockholm, who sells their products to Stockholm restaurants.

The group also works together to raise sheep dogs, although they’re herding animals as pre-

and market in spring — a move that first shocked and then enthralled Swedish consumers

dation is not a major problem in Sweden and most farmers do not have guard dogs. Wolves take a few lambs, but it is not an issue, Sjunnesson told a visiting group of agricultural journalists.

Although Swedes only consume a meagre two kilograms of lamb per year, demand is strong.

“Out of 10 lambs consumed in Sweden, about six are imported — we’re not at all self-sufficient,” he said.

Uruguay, Ireland and New Zea-

land are the leading suppliers, but quality varies wildly.

“You can get very cheap lamb and you can get very expensive,” Sjunnesson said. “Importers usually pick the cheapest and poor quality.”

In the 1980s, the trend in Sweden was to slaughter lambs in August to October and freeze them. Sjunnesson’s group wanted to change this pattern and sell fresh lamb in the spring — a strategy hatched when a group of rams accidentally got out in August 1984, and ewes lambed in January. That accident

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inspired them to mate their ewes in August, lambing in January and selling ewes in March and April.

“There was a big riot in Sweden when we started it because people didn’t think it was natural and that ewes should lamb on grass,” said Sjunnesson. “We didn’t give a damn and kept on going.”

Sjunnesson has two systems for raising lambs. He lambs some ewes in January and another 300 in April. This system allows for the slowdown in lamb consumption in Stockholm in the summer months, and gives the producers a break from production. Sjunnesson’s sheep are Finn/Dorset crosses or Suffolk bred with Dorset or Texel rams. The ewes are culled after five lambings and 25 per cent of the flock is replaced each year.

Sheep are housed indoors from the first of November until the end of April or beginning of May. The first group is housed outdoors and the second group mainly on grass.

“We have to have good housing, and good techniques for feeding all the animals inside,” he said.

The winter ewes are split into groups of 80, synchronized using hormonal sponges, and mated each Wednesday in August. Ewes are shorn in the first week of November, given pregnancy scans and divided into groups of singles, twins or triplets. Ewes start lambing in January in an old dairy shed as temperatures can dip to -20 C during the cold months. The cold can be advantageous, as it reduces potential pathogens and flies. Diseases don’t seem to be a major problem, due to the climate and small flocks, said Sjunnesson.

“The indoor lambs are healthier than the ones on grass,” he said.

Tail docking is not allowed in Sweden because of animal welfare regulations.

After two or three days, one group of ewes and lambs will go out of the lambing shed to be followed by the next group.

“The problem with housing a lot of sheep for a long time is that you have to do the feeding in a proper way,” said Sjunnesson.

He uses conveyor belts purchased in France to feed sheep good silage in the morning and afternoon. He also feeds whole grain barley and supplements with minerals.

“These lambs demand a lot of protein so we feed a very good pellet with a lot of protein in it and top it up with a bit of soymeal and mix it up with a bit of feed that the ewes get,” he said. “It’s a bit of a handicraft to feed lambs like this.”

Lambs are weighed every two weeks, and winter lambs from all four farms are brought to slaughter each week in March and the meat is for sale in Stockholm that same week. Lambs generally fetch about $120 each.

“Lambs are born in January and should be on the menu the first of March until the first week of May,” Sjunnesson said.

Lambs born in mid-April are usually slaughtered in midAugust.

26

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Fears of global food price crisis recede

YOWL MEOW

MORE COMFORTABLE 

USDA report paints less severe corn crop picture than feared

BY NIGEL HUNT LONDON/REUTERS

T An orange tabby cat hunts for mice in the long grass on a farm near Priddis, Alberta. She uses the remnants of a stump for a perch to get a bird’s-eye view of what is moving among the brush. PHOTO: WENDY DUDLEY

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30/08/12 2:16 PM

he third global food price spike in four years may have peaked after a summer of stunning increases on cereal markets, as a U.S. government report on Sept. 12 raised hopes that a full-blown food emergency could be averted.

Fears of unrest and hunger seen in the 2007-08 crisis emerged as the worst U.S. drought in over half a century and persistent dryness in other key grain-producing countries sent corn and soybean prices to successive record highs.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sept. 12 cut its forecast for the country’s corn crop by less than one per cent, indicating the worst drought in U.S. Midwest in 56 years may have done less damage than anticipated.

“The situation seems pretty comfortable compared to what many people feared,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist and grain analyst at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The U.S. drought had also sent wheat prices up by more than 50 per cent and prompted calls for an emergency meeting of Group of 20 nations and joint action to calm markets.

“The concern we heard about earlier on was related to a worsening of the situation and this report does not draw that conclusion,” Abbassian said.

U.S. corn prices were trading around $7.68 a bushel Sept. 12, down nearly 10 per cent from a record high of $8.49 a bushel set on August 10.

The most recent food price surge revived memories of the 2007-08 crisis which the FAO estimated added 75 million to the number of chronically hungry people in the world. Other estimates put the increase at up to 160 million.

Robert Thompson, a food security expert at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said grain prices probably climbed higher than they needed to, based on supply and demand.

“Probably we overshot a little bit on the scare a month or so ago but it sent a strong signal that we were going to have to ration a smaller crop,” he said. “It definitely got everybody’s attention and started changing intentions in the livestock and poultry sector. It was a shot heard around the world.”

Rich Nelson, chief strategist for Allendale, said the corn market had probably peaked.

“Drought rallies are based on the question of identifying production.

Once that question is answered, the rally is over,” he said.

Some analysts and traders were still wary of calling an end to the price rises, noting that the USDA may have been reluctant to cut its corn crop forecast too aggressively with the corn harvest only about 15 per cent complete. Major revisions often come in the October report.

27

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

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

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AGREEMENT The publisher reserves the right to refuse any or all advertising for any reason stated or unstated.

Advertisers requesting publication of either display or classified advertisements agree that should the advertisement be omitted from the issue ordered for whatever reason, the Alberta Farmer Express shall not be held liable. It is also agreed that in the event of an error appearing in the published advertisement, the Alberta Farmer Express accepts no liability beyond the amount paid for that portion of the advertisement in which the error appears or affects. Claims for adjustment are limited to errors appearing in the first insertion only.

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

(2 weeks prior)

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

FAx TO: 403-341-0615

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

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

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advertising deadline Wednesday noon

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

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

AD ORDER FORM

adveRtising Rates & infoRmation

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Miscellaneous Articles Wanted Musical Notices On-Line Services

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

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28

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted

FARM MACHINERY Haying & Harvesting – Swathers

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

2007 MF 9635 HESSTON swather, one owner, 267/Original hours, c/w MF 9175 15ft disc header, MF 5200 25ft draper header, 25ft Bergen header transport, pu reels, swivel gauge wheels, electric fore/aft, roto shears, factory hitch on tractor unit, asking $128,000 (780)955-2364, (780)554-4736, MACDON 972 30FT SWATHER header, 2002, split pu reel, triple delivery, excellent condition (403)886-4285

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

1-877-641-2798

Combines FARM MACHINERY Combine – Case/IH 2002 CASE IH 2388, AFX rotor, 30ft cutter, Excellent condition, $130,000. Phone (403)877-2020, Lacombe, AB. IHC 915 COMBINE, 1977, hydro, diesel, a/c, dual range cylinder, long auger, 2527/hrs, excellent condition, $4,500, (403)784-3248, Clive, AB.

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Ford/New Holland

BUYING:

HEATED & GREEN CANOLA • Competitive Prices • Prompt Movement • Spring Thrashed “ON FARM PICK UP”

1-877-250-5252

CANOLA WANTED

Heated, Green, Damaged Buying all levels of damaged canola.

Excellent Market Prices.

Bonded, Insured.

1998 TX 66 NH combine, 1600 Sep. hrs. 14ft rake up pu, excellent condition, $55,000 OBO (403)823-9222, 403-854-1044, Rosedale, AB. NH 1500 COMBINE, W/3208 Cat diesel, 2000 op. hrs, always shedded and ready for the field. $5,000 OBO (403)932-2343, 403-519-7815

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Various 1992 CIH 1660, EXTRA clean, 1800 hrs, pu header, $23,500; NH TR95, 2200 hrs, excellent condition, $6,450, both field ready, (403)392-8081, Red Deer, AB WOW! LOW LOW HOURS, 1480 IHC combine, shedded, upgrades, well maintained, 2436/hrs, great capacity, 30ft. straight cut header available, $21,000; (403)666-2111, Evenings.

SPRAYERS!

SPRAYERS!

SPRAYERS!

Are you having bad dreams about spraying your crops?

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

ANTIQUES Antique Equipment

Put money in your pocket!

JD 55 COMBINE, EXC. cond, always shedded; antique JD grain binder, 1936 w/book, (780)786-4310, Mayerthorpe, AB.

Because if you have this thought for more than 4 minutes you should call Ken Deal about a sprayer!

We can turn your nightmare into a dream come true!

KEN DEAL EQUIPMENT

“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

Tillage & Seeding

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Air Drills

NEW TRACTOR PARTS and engine rebuild kits, specializing in hard to find parts for older tractors, tractor seats, service and owners manuals, decals and much more, our 38th year! 1 800-481-1353, www.diamondfarmtractorparts.com

48FT BOURGAULT SERIES 4000 packer bar, heavy P30 packers, hyd. fold, used very little, $12,000; (403)666-2111, Evenings.

TracTors FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Agco

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Kubota

NEW TRACTOR PARTS and engine rebuild kits, specializing in hard to find parts for older tractors, tractor seats, service and owners manuals, decals and much more, our 38th year! 1 800-481-1353, www.diamondfarmtractorparts.com

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

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

AUTO & TRANSPORT AUTO & TRANSPORT Trucks

CASE IH 1990, 7110, 2WD, 18 spd, 4 rev.

1000/540 PTO, 130hp,; 1984 Hesston, 1580 DT, fwa, 140hp, 1000/540 pto, c/w 125 ezee on high lift loader; 1983 Ford 3/4T F250, 4x4, c/w suburban bale handler. (403)577-2296, 403-575-0987, Consort, Ab.

1978 KENWORTH TANDEM 5SPD auto, 3406A Cat motor, 20ft grain box w/3-way endgate, good condition, (403)227-2788 Innisfail, AB.

BUSINESS SERVICES

FARMING IS ENOUGH OF A GAMBLE...

BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting

FARM CHEMICAL SEED COMPLAINTS Advertise in the Alberta Farmer Express Classifieds, it’s a Sure Thing!

1-888-413-3325 FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

Combine ACCessories

CONTRACTING

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Accessories

CONTRACTING Custom Harvest

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.

CUSTOM COMBINING, 2388 CASE IHC, 20ft cutter, contact Pete Wierenga @(403)782-2596 or Cell: 403-877-2020

ALL THE TOP BRANDS!

2002 AGCO DT 160, 160/hp Cummins, 3799hrs, AM/FM CD, A/C, 4-way hyd. 2-way 1000 PTO, 18 Spd. factory duals, FWA, new tires on front, completely serviced and field ready $61,900, (403)784-0009, www.valleycitysales.com

1940 FORD 9N, $2,700, 3pth, 12V charging system (403)784-0009, www.valleycitysales.com

• JD • CIH • ROGATOR • WILMAR • SPRA COUP

Increase your productivity, ease your Operator’s fatigue level!

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Various

INC.

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

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

2011 AMITY 40-FT SINGLE disc drill w/430-bu variable rate cart, only 3500-acres. Call Dave (204)534-7531, $180,000.

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

ANTIQUES

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

JD 2210, LDR, 3PTH, MFD JD 4050 fwa, 3pth loader JD 4430 c/w loader JD 4440, loader available JD 4450 c/w loader JD 6410 3pth, FWA, loader available JD 7710 fwa, 840 loader JD 7200, ldr, 3pth FWA JD 746 loader, new Mustang 2044 Skidsteer, 1300hrs.

Clamp on duals, 20.8x38-18.4x38 158 & 148, 265, 740, 280, JD loaders FINANCE, TRADES WELCOME 780-696-3527, BRETON, AB

STEIGER TRACTOR SPECIALIST

RED OR GREEN 1. 10-25% savings on new replacement parts for your Steiger drive train.

2. We rebuild axles, transmissions and dropboxes with ONE YEAR WARRANTY. 3. 50% savings on used parts.

1-800-982-1769 www.bigtractorparts.com FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

FWA Tractor, 85 Pto HP, 3667 Hours, 3PTH

36 HP, 4 Cyl Diesel, 1700 Hours

1987 John Deere 2950

1996 John Deere 7200

FARM MACHINERY Parts & Accessories

ENGINES ASSORTED DEUTZ AND OTHER diesel engines.

KMK Sales, (800)565-0500, Humboldt, SK.

FARM MACHINERY Grain Bins RETIRED FROM FARMING: Selection of used Westeel flat bottom bins on wood floors, in 19ft dia., have 1 bin @3500/bu, 1 bin @2750/bu. in 14ft dia: have 7 @1750/bu. All 19ft bins priced from $1/per bu. All 14ft bins priced from $1.90/bu. Custom transporters available. Hussin Seed Farms, (403)936-5923, (403)680-4471 Calgary, AB

FARM MACHINERY 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 – Swathers

5,500

$

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. 1-800-667-4515. www.combineworld.com

Spraying EquipmEnt FARM MACHINERY Sprayers SPRAY-COUP 51FT MODEL 116, shedded, VW engine, wide flotation tires, 1547/hrs, 15in nozzle spacing = better chemical coverage. shedded, $7,250; (403)666-2111 Evenings.

2000 CIH 8825 SWATHER, 1130 eng. hrs. 21ft U2 PU reel, double swath, dual knife, stored inside. $35,000 OBO (780)986-0678, 780-906-4240 2000 WESTWARD 3000 SWATHER, $8,200, 25ft PT, new canvases, (403)784-0009, www.valleycitysales.com DON’T SPEND $80,000! 722 Cereal Implements (Massey Ferguson twin), 30ft swather, Isuzu diesel engine. Tractor unit shedded. 707/hrs, $29,500.

(403)666-2111 evenings.

Stretch your ADVERTISING DOLLAR!

1-888-413-3325

4065 Hours, 85 Pto HP, 97 FWA, 8602 Hours, 98 Pto HP, John 740 S/L Loader, With 8 Foot Eng HP, 3PTH, 260 S/L Loader DeereBucket + Bail Fork, 3PTH.

$ 11,900 19,500 www.doublellindustries.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 CIH 435Q, 535Q, 450Q, 550Q, 600Q pto avail.

NH TJ 450, New Triples, Big Pump 8100 Wilmar Sprayer

w/U2 PU JD 7700 condition; 2300/bu,

ACREAGE EQUIPMENT: CULTIVATORS, DISCS, Plows, Blades, Post pounders, Haying Equipment, Etc. (780)892-3092, Wabamun, Ab. 2002 JD 1820, 45-FT., 10-in. spacing, double shoot, dutch paired row, 3-1/2in steel, $24,500; 1996 Rogator 854, 800/gal, 80ft. 4x4, 2 sets tires, 3790/hrs, GFS boom, Raven auto-rake, Raven cruiser, GPS, spd. hydro. 195hp Cummins, $61,500; Case Dot 28ft Tandem disc. $3,800 (403)665-2341, Craigmyle, AB. 5100 IH SEED DRILL, hardly used, $3,500; 14ft deep tillage cultivator $800; 12ft deep tillage cultivator $500; MF #9 square baler $700; MF disc 12ft hyd. $800; #10 Seed drill with grass attachment, older, $500; 400 Versatile swather, $1,800; (780)919-9985 CASE IH 8230 HEAVY duty pull type swather.

1000 RPM. Great shape, always shedded; Bale trailer; Flail 3-PTH finishing mower. Call Ed (403)575-1423.

IHC 16FT CULTIVATOR W/HARROWS, $200; Rod weeder, 36ft, $200; JD side delivery manure spreader, $100; MH 6ft one way disc, $150; Co-Op 18ft, sp swather, $500; Co-Op 15ft pt swather, $150; Spot treatment sprayer, 2 tanks, plumbing for changing tanks and widths, $400; Bale stooker $100; (780)384-2366, Sedgewick, Ab. RETIRED FROM FARMING, MOST machinery shedded, 1998 Peterbuilt, 460 Cummins, 18spd, w/36ft tandem Doepker grain trailer $75,000; Rock picker, $1,000; (403)586-0978, Torrington, Ab. RETIRING: SHEDDED IHC 1460, sp combine, w/reverser, approx. 900 machine hrs; Ford 60ft. harrow bar w/harrows; 100 IHC 14ft. H6628 24x6 press drill; SR5000 Tag-a-long car dolly; 48ft. Morris rod weeder; 36ft. Morris deep tillage; 12ft Aerway hayland spiker; Quail cattle handling system; D7 Beale brush rake; 1984 Versatile Bi-directional tractor w/loader & 3pth; Male herdsire and female llamas. 8x60ft HD skid; Polaris Indy 700 High performance skidoo; 100 1400/lb bales hay; (403)342-4923, Red Deer, 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 We know that farming is enough of a gamble so if you want to sell it fast place your ad in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. It’s a Sure Thing. Call our toll-free number today. We have friendly staff ready to help.

1-888-413-3325.

Geared For The Future

780.905.8565 Nisku, Alberta 1992 Kubota L3450

1990 VERSATILE SWATHER, 4700, 22ft. reel and Honeybee knife 2043 hrs; 1978 combine w/1946 org. hrs, very nice Twister Hopper bottom bin w/aeration, (780)668-3104

Big Tractor Parts, Inc.

Double LL Industries Kubota M8950

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

38,500

$

JD 4710, 4720, 4730, 4830, 4920, 4930 SP sprayers JD 9770 & 9870 w/CM & duals CIH 3185, 3230, 3330, 4430, 4420 sprayers 9580 Kubota, FWA, FEL, low hours 3545 MF w/FWA FEL GOOD SELECTION OF JD & CASE HEADERS: 635F, 636D AND MANY MORE CASE & JD

“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

Tri-Axle 350 Bunning Manure Spreader For Sale: Wide Spread, Triple Axle, Rear Steering, Slurry Door, 2000 Bushels, Spring Suspension, 600/55R 22.5 Alliance Tires, 1000 PT0. (403)505-4610.

Barb Wire & Electric High Tensile Wire Spooler Adapter available to unroll new barb wire off of wooden spool

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

Buy and Sell

anything you need through the

1-888-413-3325

29

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous Used Flexicoil Aircarts, 4350, 3850,3450, 2340, 2320,1720 & 1330..........................................................................Call 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 chute, used 1 year, like new................................Call 42’ 820 Flexicoil chisel plow 4 bar MT harrows, nice shape ..............................................................................................Call 134’ Flexicoil S68XL sprayer, 2007, suspended boom, auto rate, joystick, rinse tank, triple quick jets, auto boom height, electric end nozzle & foam marker ..........$39,500 130’ Flexicoil 67XL PT sparyer, 2006, trail boom, auto rate, rinse tank, hyd. pump, combo jets, nice shape................................................$26,500 51 Flexicoil Bodies c/w GEN. 4” carbide spread tip openers, single chute, like new ..................................$3,500 150 MacDon swather, low hrs, 30’ header, roto shears, MTD Canola roller.....................................................................Call 2940 Premier MacDon c/w 25’ 972 header w/PU reel .............................................................................$65,000 4800 Prairie Star MacDon diesel swather, c/w 25’ 960 header w/PU reel.............................................................$30,000 8110 Hesston diesel swather, c/w 25’ header & PU reel, nice shape ...........................................................................$32,500 2360 JD swather, gas, c/w 18’ table & PU reel ......................................................................................$7,500 25ft Hesston 1200 PT swather, pu reel, nice shape ..............................................................................$7,500 21ft 8220 CIH PT swather, pu reel, nice shape ................................................................................$5000.

Flexicoil 10”x 50’ Grain auger.......................................$2,500 1372 MF 13’ swing arm discbine 4yrs, like new ................................................................................. $20,000 MATR 10 wheel V-Hayrake, hyd. fold, as new .......................................................................................$5,250

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous New E-Kay 7”, 8”, 9” Bin Sweeps ....................................Call 8x1600 (52.5’) Sakundiak auger c/w newer 30hp Koehler engine, gear box clutch, Haukass mover, spout, nice shape.......................................................................Call New Haukass fuel tank & Hyd. motor w/ring drives for SP auger mover ..................................................................Call New Sakundiak 10x1200 (39.97’) 36HP, Kohler eng.

E-K mover, P/S, electric belt tightener, work lights, slim fit, 12 gal. fuel tank.........................................................$18,000 New Sakundiak 7x1200 (39.97’) , 22HP Robin-Subaru 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 exc. cond..........................................................$7,000 New Outback Max GPS Guidance Monitor Available......................................................................................Call New Outback S3, STS, E drive, TC’s in stock New Outback E drive X c/w free E turns ...................................Call New Outback S-Lite.........................................................................$900 Used Outback 360 mapping........................................................$750 Used Outback S guidance.............................................................$750 Used Outback S2 guidance......................................................$1,000 Used Outback E drive Hyd. Kits. (JD,Case, Cat & NH) ......$500

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

ronsauer@shaw.ca

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Wanted

TIRES

WANTED: INTERNATIONAL 5000 SWATHER, needed hydrostatic pump. (403)638-2232

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

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

TRAVEL

CAREERS Employment Wanted

CAREERS Employment Wanted

Agriculture Tour Presentations Lloydminster ~ September 24, 2012 Lethbridge ~ October 2, 2012 Westlock ~ October 4, 2012

Upcoming Agriculture Tours Australia/New Zealand ~ Kenya Hawaii ~ South America ~ India Switzerland/Austria *Tours may be tax Deductible

Select Holidays 1-800-661-4326 www.selectholidays.com WATER TREATMENT WANTED: HESSTON 60A STACKER any condition, preferably central Alberta area, also wanted a 60B stacker. (403)845-0414. (403)722-2409

CAREERS CAREERS Truck Drivers DRIVER’S WANTED. EXPERIENCED OILFIELD vac truck or body job tank truck operator w/Class 3, H2 S, WHIMIS & T.G.D. certificates required. Consort Area. Phone Ed (403)575-1423. Fax resume & driver’s abstract Ed (403)552-3825.

You’ll be surprised what you can find in the Alberta Farmer Express Classifieds

CAREERS Employment Wanted

Call Maureen at 1-888-413-3325

EARN $75,000/yr PART TIME in the livestock or equipment appraisal business. Agricultural background required. Classroom or home study courses available. 1-800-488-7570

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

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

Specialty LIVESTOCK Specialty – Goats Boer cross doelings, March born, available now.

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LIVESTOCK Livestock Equipment 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 PORTABLE CREEP FEEDERS, Lewis cattle oiler; BP 25/bale processor, w/bunk conveyor and recutter; New 4-5x7ft, 6-7x8ft treated fence posts; High tensile smooth wire (780)623-1008

ORGANIC ORGANIC Organic – Grains R.W. Organic Ltd. Currently Buying all grades of wheat, durum, rye, barley & peas. Immediate pickup.

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REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE Land For Sale LAND FOR SALE AT ELKTON Alberta, 20/ac, zoned agriculture, 1 hour NW of Calgary. $285,000 OBO (403)638-2232

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30

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

saving lives in rural Communities. one man at a time.

Giving the Gift of Grain

Animal activists go straight to the investors BAD INVESTMENT  The Humane Society of the United States is

Combines for Cures seeks to improve prostate HealtH in rural alberta

going direct to the shareholders

You would hardly think a grain donation might help save a farmer’s life, but that is exactly the strategy behind the new Combines for Cures™ (C4C) program.

BY P.J. HUFFSTUTTER REUTERS

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.

“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.

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.

“Through CPS and ourselves we’ll organize a central location where we can consolidate the pledged grain,” explains Burrows.

The C4C test pilot program officially launched in March, 2012, and from five testing locations the statistics proved the need for a rural Man Van. Over 70 per cent of those tested had never had a PSA test.

“We believe universal access in remote areas to prostate cancer 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.

T

he Humane Society of the United States has bought shares in four major financial services companies in a bid to use shareholder pressure to force two of the nation’s largest pork producers to stop housing pregnant sows in gestation stalls.

The animal rights group said Aug. 31 that its investment — a relatively small $3,000 or so worth of stock in each company, but large enough to introduce proposals during shareholder meetings — was targeted at investors in Tyson Foods Inc. and Seaboard Foods, a unit of Seaboard Corp.

The group has successfully used such shareholder advocacy in the past to pressure food and agriculture companies to change corporate buying habits and production practices.

Now, the Humane Society is taking a new strategy: tell investors in the livestock industry it’s a bad financial move for farmers to use this equipment.

The Humane Society said it plans to introduce shareholder proposals next year that, among other things, will point out that dozens of food retailers have vowed to eventually only buy pork from farmers and other sources that don’t use gestation stalls. By not changing over to alternative animal housing, claims the group, Tyson and Seaboard are putting their lucrative contracts with these customers at risk.

McDonald’s, the nation’s top hamburger chain by sales, vowed in May that its U.S. business would only buy pork from farmers and

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.

Notice to Farmers Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS).

Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of BiotechnologyDerived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship.

ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Genuity and Design®, Genuity Icons, Genuity®, Roundup Ready®, and Roundup® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. Used under license.

04/2012-18522

18552_02 PCC_C4C_JohnLee_AEF.indd 1

Trait Stewardship Responsibilities

4/19/12 9:07 AM

McDonald’s has already said that its U.S. business would only buy pork from farmers and other sources that do not use gestation stalls for housing their pregnant sows by 2022. other sources that do not use gestation stalls for housing their pregnant sows by 2022.

“We’ve tried talking with (Tyson and Seaboard) and they refuse to make any progress,” said Humane Society food policy director Matthew Prescott.

Alternative tactic

So the Humane Society decided to put the pressure on in a less direct route and press its case with Tyson investors: JP Morgan Chase, the biggest U.S. commercial and investment bank by assets; BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager; Jennison Associates, a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, the second-largest U.S. life insurer; and Ameriprise Financial, a financial services company.

BlackRock also is a leading investor in Seaboard, Prescott said.

Tyson Foods told Reuters in an email that it is committed to humane animal treatment at all stages of food production, and expects the same from those farmers who supply products to it.

“We buys hogs from thousands

of family farms, many of whom use gestation stalls for mother pigs and some of whom have group or pen housing. Experts believe both housing systems are humane for mother pigs when managed properly,” the company said in its statement.

Seaboard Foods, the nation’s third-largest pork producer, could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for JP Morgan Chase declined to comment. None of the other financial services firms could be reached for comment.

The Humane Society and other activists say their goal is to pull back the curtain on the nation’s food supply, and are using undercover videos shot at farms, social media campaigns and shareholder activism to prompt the food and agricultural industries to change.

The campaign has been increasingly successful in recent years: Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture temporarily shut down a California slaughterhouse after undercover video showed cows being mistreated during the slaughtering process.

NEWS Contest seeks photos to celebrate agriculture in Alberta AFC RELEASE

The Agriculture and Food Council of Alberta (AFC) is seeking photographs celebrating agriculture in Alberta for a chance to win cash prizes and exposure. “AFC is pleased to offer Albertans an opportunity to showcase their photographs of Alberta’s diverse agricultural industry,” said AFC chair Heather Broughton. “We are also excited to be able to continue promoting knowledge and appreciation of Alberta’s agriculture and agri-food sector to a broader audience as a result of this contest.”

Entries for the “Celebrate Agriculture in Alberta” contest will be accepted until Oct. 15, 2012. People who Like AFC on Facebook are eligible to vote for their favourite images between Oct. 16 and Nov. 15.

The winner in each of five categories will be determined by

the number of votes it receives on Facebook. The first place winner in each category will receive $100. The winning photographs and other selected entries will be featured in future Agriculture and Food Council publications, including the 2012-13 Annual Report.

The categories for entries are: 1. Farming Today: Depictions of modern farming, machinery and infrastructure in Alberta 2. Animals: Portraits of livestock, poultry and other farm animals in Alberta 3. Western Lifestyle: Depictions of rural living in Alberta 4. People in Agriculture: Portraits of people in an agricultural setting in Alberta (images that do not fit in Categories 1, 3 or 5) 5. Processing and Preparation: Images of food manufacturing, processing or preparation, machinery and infrastructure in Alberta Please visit www.agfood council.com/photo-contest for more information and to submit photos.

31

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

WEST MARSHALLING FEED FOR HAY EAST

B.C. CATTLE CAN NOW GO TO RUSSIA

Organizers are setting up a program to co-ordinate donations of hay from Western Canada for use by livestock producers in need in parched regions of Ontario and Quebec. The program, dubbed “Hay East” after the 2002 “Hay West” program that saw forages shipped to the Prairies from Eastern Canada, is co-chaired by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Mennonite Disaster Service. Western farmers willing to donate hay can email Ike Epp birwood@littleloon.ca or call the MDS region V office 1-866-261-1274.

Far-eastern regions of Russia are expected to show interest in breeding cattle from British Columbia now that Russia has reopened its ports to Canada’s westernmost province. The Canadian government announced Sept. 12 that Russia has lifted its ban on B.C. breeding cattle, allowing for “immediate” exports. That move, the government said, could be worth up to $8 million per year in Russian market access for Canadian cattle, up as much as 30 per cent from 2011 levels.

“The longer the temporary fence is, the more trouble you have with deer…”

Project evaluates bale grazing on grey wooded soil SITE SELECTION  Researchers are studying whether some

areas are better than others for nutrient retention

Ideally, bale sites should be moved slightly every year so that the additional fertility spreads across the field.

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF / DOVERCOURT

B

ale grazing is a proven way of feeding cattle in most areas of the Prairies, but so far little research has been done on the benefits of bale grazing in grey wooded soils. That’s changing thanks to a project of the Grey Wooded Forage Association, supported by Alberta Beef Producers and Agriculture Canada, and showcased on the recent West County Ag Tour.

Producer Doug Skeels tried bale grazing for the first time this year. He set bales out at 12-metre intervals in a field about 100 metres wide, with bales in rows of seven or eight between two fences.

“We needed the right spacing, so our temporary fence wasn’t too long and difficult to move. The longer the temporary fence is, the more trouble you have with deer and it’s more work,” said Skeels.

He was able to bale graze for about 60 days. It only took him one day to set out 180 bales, and another day to remove the strings. “There was no tractor doing this, other than that one day. You really trade tractor time for ‘man time.’ Man time is about the same, since you have to check on the cows, and see if they have water and see if the fence is up,” said Skeels,

who moved his temporary fences about twice a week.

Darren Bruhjell, senior resource specialist with Agriculture Canada in Edmonton, said bale grazing can have beneficial effects on pasture, especially in the areas around the bales. When cows are bale grazing, they urinate and manure directly in fields, adding nutrients to the pasture.

“At least 30 per cent of their nitrogen was captured by the vegetation on the fields, so that’s fantastic returns,” he said.

Bruhjell has only been researching bale grazing for about 10 months, and has drawn extensively on research done at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Manitoba. The study is being conducted at various sites in Manitoba, as well as at Dovercourt in Alberta and at another site near Vermilion in the thin black soil zone.

Researchers in Manitoba have said that a site should be bale grazed every five years.

Move them every year

The fertility benefit from urine will appear right away, creating areas of heavier growth that Bruhjell calls “bale centres.” He said that ideally, bale sites should be moved slightly every year, so that the additional fertility spreads across the field.

Researchers are currently using probes to monitor soil temperature and moisture at nine inches, eight feet and 15 feet.

“Fifteen feet deep is the farthest point where you can still see an effect from bale grazing,” said Bruhjell.

The goal is to find out all the benefits from bale grazing, including how nutri-

“At least 30 per cent of their nitrogen was captured by the vegetation on the fields, so that’s fantastic returns.”

DARREN BRUHJELL

ents interact in the field. Researchers will also be monitoring soil chemistry and are taking forage clips, soil samples and measuring a variety of parameters including the presence of nematodes and bacteria in the soil.

“The critters are way more active in the bale centres, so we expect to see that increase more in the next year, or the year after,” Bruhjell said. “We’ve got at least two more years of data here, so we can try to see the lag effect and monitor how long these high nutrient levels can last. Hopefully we’ll be able to come up with some recommendations in a grey wooded soil situation.”

Alan Stewart, a soils specialist with Agriculture Canada in Edmonton, said site selection is important, as some areas are suitable and others will lose nutrients. “You want to bring in those nutrients and retain them on site as much as possible,” he said.

The researchers will also track how nutrients move down into the soil profile, using nests of small wells across the field.

Essentially we want to look at nutrients moving down through the soil, along the line of wells,” Stewart said.

“We’re just in the stages of getting this part of the project organized and should have everything set up this fall.”

32

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Creep feeding only works when piglets consume the feed PEET ON PIGS  Recent research by the Prairie Swine Centre

found litters fed creep did not have a higher daily gain

BY BERNIE PEET

T

he benefits of creep feeding are notoriously variable, with some research trials showing a positive benefit and others showing no advantage.

Even taking into account factors such as weaning age, length of the creep-feeding period, and type of diet fed, it is somewhat of a mystery why the outcomes are not more consistent. So what’s the latest on this topic?

Work published last year by the Prairie Swine Centre (PSC) found no benefit. Pigs provided with creep feed for seven days prior to weaning were not heavier at weaning and, perhaps surprisingly, this

was true for both the heaviest and the lightest pigs in the litter.

“Moreover, this data showed that piglets from litters offered creep were less inclined to visit the feeder in the nursery immediately post-weaning,” said researcher Denise Beaulieu. “This implies that there were no behavioural benefits from the early introduction of solid feed.”

This latest research indicates variability in results is likely due to differences in feed intake between individual pigs. A recent trial involving 100 litters used creep feed containing a non-toxic dye so individual pigs that ate creep could be identified by taking anal swabs. Similar to the previous work, on average, litters fed creep

did not have a higher daily gain from 21 days of age, when creep feeding commenced, until weaning. Nor did they show improved growth rate during the early nursery stage. However, results for individual pigs had some differences.

“Approximately 37 per cent of piglets offered creep showed evidence of consumption after five days,” said Beaulieu.

“Within the creep ‘eaters,’ 45 per cent had evidence of consuming the Phase 1 diet when swabs were taken 48 hours after weaning. Within the creep ‘non-eaters,’ this figure was 55 per cent.” This, she said, corroborates a previous experiment where video tape observations showed pig-

lets from litters offered creep had fewer “feeder approaches” during the first 24 hours post-weaning.

Growth rate during the first three days post-weaning, of piglets classified as “creep and nursery eaters” was improved relative to other groups. Moreover, according to Beaulieu, there is evidence this improvement was maintained throughout the nursery period.

“Creep feeding improves weaning and nursery exit weights for those piglets which actually consume feed,” she said. “Further work is required to determine why not all piglets consume the creep feed and whether these piglets will show improvements in growth if they can be encouraged to consume the creep feed.”

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Can we feed according to growth potential?

During the grow-finish period, variability in the response of individual pigs and groups of pigs makes defining their nutritional requirements a challenge. Even when pigs are penned according to size, and diets fed according to weight, variability is still high.

In practice, we tend to feed a better-quality diet than we need to, in order to meet the needs of the smaller and slower-growing pigs. But what if we could categorize pigs according to their growth potential and feed them accordingly? A PSC trial looked at whether early growth rate is predictive of the efficiency of energy utilization later in life.

Sixty barrows were assigned to either a slow, average or fast potential growth rate (PGR) group on the basis of their growth from birth to 30 kilograms, then fed either a low- or a high-energy diet.

“The slow-growing pigs were about 98 days of age, almost four weeks older than the fastestgrowing pigs, which reached 30 kilograms at only 71 days of age,” said Beaulieu. “The average PGR group was 78 days of age.”

Despite the differences in growth rate to 30 kilograms, daily gain from 30 to 60 kilograms was only slightly higher for the fast PGR pigs. Also, energy concentration of the diet had no effect on growth rate — feed intake was reduced on the high-energy diet, therefore feed efficiency was improved for pigs fed this diet.

“The pigs were slaughtered when they reached 60 kilograms, then the carcasses ground and analyzed for nutrient content,” said Beaulieu. “Comparing the data with a group of pigs slaughtered at the beginning of each experiment allows the calculation of nutrient retention within each growth period.”

The efficiency of utilization of energy for growth, protein or lipid deposition was numerically lower for the fast-growing pigs relative to the average or slower-growing pigs, however, this difference was not significant.

“The efficiency of energy utilization for protein or lipid deposition was improved with the low-energy diet,” said Beaulieu. “Also, pigs fed the diet at 85 per cent of ad libitum intake utilized energy more efficiently relative to those allowed 100 per cent intake, regardless of PGR or dietary energy concentration. The ad libitum fed pigs took fewer days to reach 60 kilograms, grew faster, ate more and had improved feed efficiency. However, the efficiency of energy utilized for protein or lipid deposition was improved with the lower intake.

“The efficiency of the utilization of dietary energy for growth was comparable among pigs selected for high or low potential growth rate,” concluded Beaulieu.

This implies that segregating pigs and feeding based on their potential growth rate is not a tool that will improve our ability to match feed to requirements.”

Bernie Peet is president of Pork Chain Consulting of Lacombe, Alberta, and editor of Western Hog Journal

33

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

MYCOPLASMA —

a new disease in feedlot cattle

BEEF 911  Neither a bacteria nor a virus, there are no

vaccinations for the disease

BY ROY LEWIS, DVM

T

here has recently been lots of attention toward an apparent new disease in feedlot cattle. It is often associated with problems in the chronic pen, namely the chronic pneumonias and arthritis.

Researchers still don’t know all the ins and outs of the course of the infection. We do know that mycoplasma (which is classified between a bacteria and a virus) is present in the lungs of healthy cattle and is an opportunist. It sets up infection when the lungs or joints are dealing with other infections.

An autopsy shows well-established mycoplasma infections either in the lungs or joints so it is no wonder antibiotics and other medications have no chance of correcting the infection. Therefore the key is prevention, as treatment once infection is established is pretty much useless.

It is imperative to minimize stress, provide adequate nutrition and do all the things necessary to keep the calves’ immune system primed. There is no doubt that pre-immunization against the other respiratory pathogens (ideally before weaning and the stress of transport) will go a long way to preventing occurrence.

The respiratory pathogens like BVD, pasteurella, mannheimia and histophilus (the new haemophilus) all can be included in immunization programs.

Mycoplasma is always found in mixed infections with these other organisms. The damaged lung tissue provides the right environment for mycoplasma to grow.

There currently is no vaccine in cattle against mycoplasma but there has been one for pigs for years, so I am sure researchers are working on one in cattle.

good-quality antibiotics given to the whole group just before they become sick will drastically reduce bovine respiratory disease and keep the resulting mycoplasma pneumonias and joint problems at bay.

For years in the feedlots, histophilus was considered the primary infection we saw in arthritic conditions. When mycoplasma was first diagnosed we would see it in mixed infections with histophilus.

Commonly it will cause more purulent exudates even outside the joints and around the tendon sheaths. Perhaps the infection was there before and we simply missed it. With better culturing techniques the proper diagnosis is more common.

Again, with all the debris in the joints and lungs becoming very hardened and consolidated, it is no wonder antibiotics will not penetrate these areas. They become chronics and should either be humanely euthanized or in some cases (with the joint problems) shipped for salvage as long as all antibiotic withdrawals are met.

Prevention key

Prevention is a must at preventing mycoplasma. Generally, the larger the feedlot, the higher the risk with this disease. Why? A combination of many factors makes control at the large feedlots a real challenge. The preferred source for cattle should be single owner, farm direct

from those producers who preimmunize against all the significant diseases in the feedlot. If all procedures such as dehorning, castration have been done on farm, protection against disease will be greater.

This is near to impossible to achieve in a large feedlot, but even if some pens are sourced this way, attention can be funnelled elsewhere.

The larger the feedlot, the farther afield cattle must be sourced.

It has been proven that the farther calves are shipped and the longer the time away from goodquality feed and water, the higher the incidence of disease.

You need to recognize infected animals in your chronic pen and develop a strategy with your

herd veterinarian on when it is time to cull or try to salvage those with a reasonable chance of recovering.

Good preventive medicine, pre-immunizing before weaning and minimizing stress can go a long way to avoiding mycoplasma in feedlot cattle. Even if a vaccine is developed it will not be a magic bullet and will need to be given ahead of any active infection. Work with your herd veterinarian, and autopsy some from the chronic pen to get a better appreciation of apparent antibiotic failure.

Roy Lewis is a large-animal veterinarian practising at the Westlock Veterinary Centre. His main interests are bovine reproduction and herd health.

“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

The key is prevention, as treatment once infection is established is pretty much useless.

POWERED BY FArM CrEdIT CAnAdA

Long-term costs

As with other respiratory pathogens, long-distance transportation, mixing of cattle from multiple sources and through auction markets will no doubt increase the incidence. Large feedlots which have to multi-source cattle from long distances will have a higher incidence.

It is not only the increased death loss which makes this disease extremely costly to the cattle industry. Long-term chronics, increased treatment costs and poor weight gains and feed efficiency on those that do hang on mean this disease should be high on your list to prevent or control.

Extremely stressed cattle (multi-sourced, long haul or purchased in bad weather) should be given metaphylactic antibiotics. In other words if you think a group of cattle has a high likelihood of getting sick,

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 05/12-18723-1E C

18723_1E_C Boots 8.125x10.indd 1

5/17/12 7:28 AM

34

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

These herds get paid to graze Invasive species } Goats have an appetite for poplars,

spurge and wolf willow

by daniel winters

staff / near humboldt, sask.

E

ric Weisbeck had one big problem on the 17,000-acre community pasture he manages — brush was taking over.

Brian Payne had a simple solution — 700 of his goats.

“And then when he told me that I wouldn’t have to do a whole bunch of fencing, I was even more in favour of that,” said Weisbeck, pasture manager of Wolverine AESB, a PFRA pasture established in 1941.

One summer of goat grazing was enough to set the wolf willows back dramatically and there’s hardly a poplar branch below what a goat can reach standing on its hind legs. The best part of all, was that the goats left the grass more or less alone for the 1,350 cattle owned by 45 local patrons.

“I’m hoping to make this a long-term thing and hopefully move the goats to other spots throughout the pasture,” Weisbeck said at the recent MultiSpecies Grazing Conference.

Payne, who camped out all summer in a rustic van on a hilltop next to a picturesque lake, calls it “bare-naked goating” and a great opportunity to scale up a flock without spending big dollars on land.

“The opportunity that this provides all of us is huge,” he said.

Multi-species grazing essentially combines the leaf- and weed-browsing tendencies of goats with the grass-munching nature of cattle. It’s a win-win, but first cowboys need to be educated about the

A flock of goats grazes on the Wolverine AESB community pasture near Humboldt, Sask., with goatherd Brian Payne’s rustic camper in the background. photo: Daniel Winters

advantages, said Payne. Another obstacle is goats’ reputation for being environmentally destructive, but that’s where herding comes in, he said.

“We want to displace that myth,” said Payne.

“You actually can improve your carrying capacity by getting rid of the brush and increase income on your ranch by adding another enterprise.”

Another enterprise

Striking a partnership with a cattle operation or providing a “browsing service” for municipal governments could be one way for young people without deep pockets to get into agriculture, he added. Herding goats could be highly lucrative — as much as $1 per doe per day for grazing invasive species, he said.

“So, if I have 1,000 does for 90 days, that’s 90 grand for camping out all summer,” and that doesn’t include the value of the fall kid crop, he said.

Donna Lindblom, who has operated Rocky Ridge Vegetation Control with husband Conrad for 13 years, has earned that kind of money grazing reforested cutblocks in the mountains of British Columbia.

When a local First Nations band was concerned about the effect of aerial spraying on their blueberry-picking grounds, they were hired by the logging company to open up the vegetative canopy that was hindering tree growth. The goats went in like a “horde of locusts” and ate all the weeds and woody shrubs, she said.

With a herd of 1,500 goats, a few good saddle horses, guardian dogs and riders, they were paid up to $1.50 per head/day. That lucrative work has dried up recently because of a slump in forestry, but the Lindbloms are branching out into greener pastures, grazing ski hills, clearing thistles from city parks and areas with heavy weed problems such as gravel pits.

This past July, her outfit has hired by the city of Kamloops to graze invasive toadflax in a city park, and now there is talk of hiring them on as their “official herd” for five years to clear up a neglected 200-acre former penitentiary site overgrown with thistle.

“Cities want their own herd of goats that can first look after all their weeds within the city, then do other jobs as well,” she said.

An Peischel explains the details of breeding goats optimized for land enhancement at the recent Multi-Species Grazing Conference hosted by AAFC and Saskatchewan Agriculture. photo: Daniel Winters

Goat breeder shoots for the stars, and gets there Woody appetite } Owner of Tennessee-based Goats Unlimited “culls ruthlessly” to build a doe herd that thrives on a diet of brush in rough conditions by daniel winters staff / humboldt

A

n Peischel aimed high when she began breeding goats back in 1985.

“My goals were to produce the highest-quality breeding stock that I could sell to producers and sleep at night, and also to hang the best carcass on the rail off of native vegetation,” the University of Tennessee extension agent said at the recent Multi-Species Grazing Conference here.

Her work began in Hawaii, where conditions range from lush pastures to snow-covered mountain tops, and she obtained bucks in New Zealand during winter because she wanted select breeding stock under the “worst weather and worst possible conditions.”

In the freezing rain, she hiked into the hills armed with a paintball gun.

“The owner said, ‘Shoot the ones you want, and we’ll bring them down for you on a nice day,’” she said.

In the end, she has settled on the Kiko breed as the basis for her breeding program.

Brush eaters

The Equipment Authority

www.ironsearch.com

Over the years, she has selected characteristics that maximize high-lignin, “brush-eating” efficiency, particularly big mouths, big feet, deep bellies with good body capacity, strong bipedal tendencies for reaching higher leaf growth, and especially an ability to consistently produce twins.

Does need to kid quickly in the brush, clean them up and begin nursing immediately, and eat the placenta, which Peischel describes as “very high-quality feed” that can sustain a doe through the first couple of days spent hiding the kids in the “nest.”

“Goats that don’t fit the protocol are pastrami — they become lunch,” says Peischel, who has worked with dairy, meat and fibre breeds.

Culling is done at three and eight months of age, and she looks for lively kids willing to jump off of rocks or trees, but which respect portable electric fences.

Does are also selected as a base for “repeatability” — the capacity to produce predictably uniform

offspring — while bucks are chosen based on carcass attributes.

She also looks at how birth weight interacts with weaning weight, and how temperament jives with motherability, milkability and milk quality.

Closed herd

Peischel has a closed herd of nine “families” that have been selected for resistance to internal parasites and foot rot, which she calls a “real treat” because it allows her to look for additional behavioural traits.

“I want my does quiet and peaceful,” she said. “They don’t have to like me, but I want them to have a very close social bonding to the group.”

Selecting for bipedalism, or goats that can walk on their hind legs, allows her herd to aggressively reach up and create a “seven-foot browse line.” Longevity is also important. Does are first bred at 18 months but Peischel keeps an “old ladies mob” composed of does over age 12 that have never failed to produce twins.

Udders must be compact with two perfect nipples high above the hocks to enable grazing in rough, thorny environments. Goats with less-than-perfect teeth, or narrow jaws, are culled.

By managing grazing in her brush pastures, she has increased the carrying capacity of the bud regrowth and improved average daily gains from one-third of a pound per day to 0.4 pounds/ day with no supplemented hay or grain. Wethers are brought into grazing areas near the farm for about three weeks prior to slaughter and given high-quality hay and fresh water to remove lactic acid from the meat, which causes toughness.

On the carcass side, a key metric is the size of rib-eyes. When she started, they averaged 1.5 square inches. After 10 years they grew to 2.4 square inches, and today are 2.73.

Breeding for carcass characteristics is critical, because consistent size and quality is key for her customers, especially restaurants, said Peischel, whose business is called Goats Unlimited.

“Be careful you don’t select for too many traits at once,” she said.

“Genetics takes time, testing and perseverance.”

35

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Contracts and hedging critical to market this fall: PART 1 FROM THE HIP  High-performance cattle will be much in

demand this fall and winter

BY BRENDA SCHOEPP

T

he fall of 2012 was to be our transitional time in the cattle industry. As the final frontier to price suppression, we most certainly looked to late 2012 as the fundamental turning point. Then came the drought.

With a lack of moisture also comes a severe culling and every time we take cattle and put them into the system because of a feed shortage, we add beef tonnage to the pipeline. In that regard it is highly unlikely we will be short of beef for the rest of 2012. What we will be short of is risk management skills and avenues to protect inventory from volatile price swings and currency value.

The shortage of heifers will become apparent in 2013-15, and that is the big play. As the fall comes into view, price volatility may not be as big of a concern as to what or when to sell.

We see it simply. Heifers will be the valuable property and at points in the fall will look like a poor sell compared to steers. This is especially true when the cost of gain is high, such as it is now.

Feedlots will go hard on steers to capture the gain and heifers may trail back. For sellers this means that heifers should not be sold in the fall run. For buyers it is the perfect time to buy.

With barley kissing $6 a bushel and inconsistency in feeding regions, we know that it is hard to get quoted on absolute cost of gain. The condition and breed of the cattle as well as their grass and feeding history dictates the feeding program and the complimentary bid price. Despite the shortage of females and males, the feed yards will need to pressure heifer calves to make the cattle work or the cost will just be too high. This means that the heifer calf must go into a “valueadd” program, one that keeps the heifer at home until she is very desirable. This market for heifers starts to blossom in late winter and is in full bloom by late spring.

Cull cows will continue to be strong based on packer need and the desire to keep the better females at home. It would be highly improbable for cull cow prices to soften given the shortage of cattle for the rail in Western Canada. Packers will increase their efforts in locking up inventory to ensure they can stay in business. Bulls and heiferettes will also be in good demand.

The value of Canadian currency is tightly tied to crude oil and that keeps the lid on feeder and fed cattle prices. Feedlots are not going into the winter in good shape, as they swallowed huge losses on the fed cattle that were sold on the cash market. Cattle

Heifers will be the valuable property and at points in the fall will look like a poor sell compared to steers.

sold in a forward contract agreement when prices were decent did well in comparison.

Risk management

Risk management involves a systems approach to cattle production. It is everything from having guards on PTOs, life insurance, good fences and adequate feed to forward contracts and hedging.

As cattlemen look at the potential in the April market, they must protect the buy and the sell. A fellow cattleman always reminds me that when you do not sell an animal, you have just bought it.

If you had to pay the price for feeders today, could you make it work?

Working out the kinks in marketing also means to look ahead

at the potential in the market and decide and accept a level of profitability. Taking a chance on the current markets by staying open on the cash may not be a cash play. The world has changed and cattle marketing is a numbers, not a production game.

If you think you can keep your calves and background them, remember that the cost of gain for backgrounding is also based on a grain formula. I would shop for backgrounding this year, because it is not pretty. If that is your game, then the high cost of putting on those pounds had best be protected in a sell strategy. Steer calves that are capable of really good gains over 3.5 lbs. per day should never enter a backgrounding lot. That is akin

to putting a rock on your child’s head so they cannot grow. And heifers that are highly terminal and have a relatively close performance potential to a steer are also a strong candidate for selling, providing they are marketed as high-performance heifers.

Selling feeder cattle today is fun and relaxing. Technology has allowed for us to market everything without stressing the producer or the calf. We need to talk about this in the next issue.

For now, consider that the fall will be somewhat volatile and at points it would seem stalled out. This is because of the Canadian dollar and the high cost of gain. If we were not faced with such an inventory reduction, we could expect feeder cattle at a

strong $20 cwt back from where they are. Unless unforeseen circumstances drastically alter the market and retail environment, expect a steady market to the day.

Brenda Schoepp is a market analyst and the owner and author of Beeflink, a national beef cattle market newsletter. A professional speaker and industry market and research consultant, she ranches near Rimbey, Alberta. Contact her at Brenda Schoepp is a market analyst and the owner and author of Beeflink, a national beef cattle market newsletter. A professional speaker and industry market and research consultant, she ranches near Rimbey, Alberta. Contact her at brenda. schoepp@cciwireless.ca or www. brendaschoepp.com.

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PR186 ProvGrnd V3 Layout AB 2.indd 1

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} forecasts

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

El Niño short and weak

Flood waters recede in Argentina Flood waters in parts of Argentina’s biggest grains-producing province had receded last week, but last month’s downpours have saturated fields and raised the risk of further flooding, a weather forecaster said last Monday. Argentina had the heaviest rainfall in decades in August. The heavy rains moistened soils in time for 2012-13 corn and soy plantings while also benefiting wheat in many areas.

However, the rainy weather is expected to continue over the coming months and that could trigger fresh flooding in areas where soils are already soaked.

El Niño weather conditions have emerged but will likely be weak and short lived, New Zealand scientists said Sept. 4. El Niño is a warming of sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific that occurs every four to 12 years.

“Borderline El Niño conditions are present in the tropical Pacific, and a weak short-lived El Niño is predicted for the spring and summer periods,” the National Institute of Water and Atmosphere said in its latest climate outlook.

— Reuters

Meeting the seven conditions for Indian summer Repeat } Conditions across the Prairies so far are mostly similar to last year

by daniel bezte

I

nterestingly enough, it was about this time last year that I was in the process of writing a similar article to this one. The eastern Prairies have seen a fairly warm fall so far this year, with average temperatures during the first two week of September around 2 C above the long-term average. Over western regions it has been even warmer, with temperatures over much of Alberta averaging a good 4 C warmer than the long-term average so far this month.

Last year we also saw a really nice first half of September before the bottom dropped out in the middle of the month, at least for everyone except southern Alberta. Here is a clip from the article I wrote last September: “The cold weather moved into Alberta first, with the northern areas seeing low temperatures in the -1 C to -3 C range on the morning of Sept.

12. Southern regions fared better and escaped the frost, with overnight lows only falling to around 3 C. This cold air mass then moved into Saskatchewan, where on the morning of Sept.

13, the overnight lows dropped below freezing for the first time this fall across most regions.

The following night the bottom really fell out, as several locations recorded temperatures as low as -6 C. Around this same time the cold air moved into Manitoba, but slightly higher wind speeds combined with a few more clouds, kept the temperatures slightly warmer. Overnight lows on the 13th and 14th did fall below freezing in most regions though, with the coldest readings coming in around -3 C.” Well, this year isn’t an exact copy of last year, but frost has already made an appearance in a few locations across the Prairies and it does look as though the eastern Prairies are going to follow last year’s pattern. Last week a deep trough of low pressure looked to be developing over east-central North America. Out west it looked as if some regions would be experiencing a taste of Indian summer, as a ridge of high pressure built over the West Coast.

Uncertain origin

Each year I usually discuss this unique topic. Some people say that simply using the term “Indian summer” is politically incorrect and that I should come up with another term. While the term has some fairly uncertain origins, the earliest reference found in the literature dates back to January 17, 1778, when St. John de Crevecouer wrote in a letter: “Sometimes the rain is followed by an interval of calm and warmth which is called the Indian summer; its characteristics are a tranquil atmosphere and general smokiness. Up to this epoch the approaches of winter are doubtful; it arrives about the middle of November, although snows and brief freezes often occur long before that date.”

The fact that de Crevecouer stated that this was called Indian summer, suggests that this term must have been in use before that time.

I have never been a fan of political correctness just to be politically correct and I personally don’t see an issue with this term, but if you think there is a better way to describe what most people consider the best part of fall, feel free to let me know.

So just what is considered Indian summer? It’s defined by a particular set of criteria, which should help us to determine when it is occurring. It is generally accepted that for Indian summer to occur the following conditions must be met: 1. There needs to have been a hard or killing frost.

2. Mostly clear skies (or perhaps local fog at night).

3. No precipitation.

With the agricultural year coming to a close, I thought it would be appropriate to look back at 2011-12 and see just how much precipitation fell across the Prairies. From the map you can see that much of southern and central Manitoba saw below-average amounts, with a good portion of this region reporting a precipitation deficit of more than 100 mm. Much of central and northern Alberta also saw amounts that were more than 100 mm below the long-term average. The wet areas during this past agricultural year were found in northwestern agricultural Manitoba, much of north-central Saskatchewan, and parts of east-central and extreme western Alberta.

4. L ight winds and generally calm nights.

5. Daytime maximum temperatures greater than 18 C. 6. Nighttime minimum temperatures staying above freezing.

7. Conditions lasting for at least three days.

Most regions on the Prairies have now seen at least one hard

frost, so now we have to wait to see if the rest of the criteria can be met. Points 2 to 6 are usually not that hard to meet. What can be difficult is Point 7, that is, the warm, dry conditions need to last for at least three days. For those of us who follow the weather across the Prairies we know that this can be a tough thing to happen. The

best chance over the next couple of weeks looks to be over the west in Alberta. It looks as if those over in the eastern Prairies will have to deal with some cold fall weather, at least for a little while. But there is still plenty of fall left and let’s hope that the nice weather out west continues and spreads east for October.